Delhi

New Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram described the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill as "patently unconstitutional" on Tuesday and said with its passage in Parliament, the battleground will shift to the Supreme Court.

He claimed that the elected lawmakers were abdicating their responsibilities in favour of lawyers and judges.

New Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) The air quality remained in the "very poor" category in the national capital for the seventh consecutive day on Tuesday as the cold weather and calm winds allowed accumulation of pollutants.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) in the city was recorded at 356 at 8.45 am.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered "good", 51-100 "satisfactory", 101-200 "moderate", 201-300 "poor", 301-400 "very poor" and 401-500 "severe". An AQI above 500 falls in the "severe plus" category.

New Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday put on hold the proceedings in a criminal defamation complaint against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for re-tweeting an allegedly defamatory video circulated by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in May, 2018.

Justice Suresh Kait issued notices to the state and the complainant, seeking their stand on a plea by Kejriwal challenging the summons issued to him in the case by a trial court.

New Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) One of the convicts in the December, 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape-and-murder case, who was lodged in the Mandoli Jail here, has been shifted to Tihar, jail officials said on Tuesday.

Pawan Kumar Gupta, who was lodged in the Mandoli Jail, was shifted to Tihar recently, Director General (Prison) Sandeep Goel said.

New Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) The BJP is confident of the passage of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Rajya Sabha which will be introduced in the upper house on Wednesday, sources said on Tuesday.

The bill piloted by Union Home Minister Amit Shah was comfortably passed in the Lok Sabha on late Monday night as the ruling BJP enjoys a clear majority in the house.

Sources in the party said that the legislation will also sail through the Rajya Sabha as the ruling NDA has the numbers.

Following text was released by USCIRF yesterday;

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 9, 2019

Delhi; 10 Dec 2019 (UMM): Speaking to a gathering at Jawaharlal Nehru University; writer and activist Harsh Mander said that he will declare himse a Muslim if Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) is passed.

Mander was quoted by Ansil KM, a student at JNU, who took to Facebook to publicise the comments, told DoolNews that the former bureaucrat further said he will boycott the NRC process and will not submit any documents.

New Delhi, Dec 9 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said in Lok Sabha that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 is not against minorities but against infiltrators.

Introducing the bill, Shah said the Congress "divided" the country on the basis of religion that is why it was necessary to bring the bill.

Shah said the proposed legislation is being brought on the basis of reasonable classifications provided under the Constitution and it does not violate any of its provisions.

New Delhi, Dec 8 (PTI) Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan said India is in the midst of a "growth recession" with signs of deep malaise in the Indian economy that is being run through extreme centralisation of power in Prime Minister's Office and powerless ministers.

New Delhi, Dec 7 (PTI) Several people under different banners gathered at the Jantar Mantar here on Saturday to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) and the NRC.

Organised by an NGO named United Against Hate, the protesters were carrying placards with slogans like: 'Reject CAB! Boycott NRC!', 'India need jobs, education and health care, not nationwide NRC!'

Students from different universities, including JNU, Jamia Millia Islamia and the Aligarh Muslim University, as well as members of the All India Students' Association (AISA), joined the protest.