CWC PASSES RESOLUTION ASKING GOVT TO STOP NPR, WITHDRAW CAAThe Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Saturday passed a resolutiondemanding a rollback of the Citizenship Amendment Act, which was notified bythe Home Ministry on January 10, and stopping the process of updating theNational Population Register (NPR). The meeting was attended by Congresspresident Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and partyGeneral Secretary Priyanka Gandhi among other members.The CWC, the party's highest decision-making body, said the ill-conceivedAct had led to spontaneous nationwide protests and the Centre used brutepower to suppress the voice of students and youth."CAA has raised bonafide questions regarding its Constitutional validity andpolitical morality. The CAA and proposed NRC have created an environment offear and anxiety in the country especially among the religious andlinguistic minorities, tribals, poor and the vulnerable sections of thesociety," a CWC statement read."The CWC demands that Citizenship Amendment Act should be withdrawn and theprocess of NPR be stopped forthwith," the statement said.Taking a strong stand on the violence against students in the universities,the CWC said, "Modi Government has unleashed the entire might of the bruteState power to suppress, subjugate and stifle the voice of the youth andstudents across the country. Prime Minister and the BJP Government havebetrayed the trust of the youth."In her opening remarks at the meeting, Sonia Gandhi said the NationalPopulation Register (NPR) exercise was a disguised attempt at implementingthe National Register of Citizens (NRC) to stoke religious tensions inIndian society."At first, the government thought that the NRC exercise could be carried outthroughout the country. After the disastrous results of the Assam NRC, thegovernment has hit upon the idea of NPR. Let us not be under any illusionthat the NPR is a benign exercise. In form and content, NPR 2020 is adisguised NRC," she said.Calling the CAA a discriminatory and divisive law, Gandhi said, "Thesinister purpose of the law is clear to every patriotic, tolerant andsecular Indian: it is to divide the Indian people on religious lines."The leaders also deliberated on other issues of national importance at themeet, such as economy, Kashmir shutdown, and implications of US-Irantensions on India.MODI-MAMATA MEETING AMID ANTI-CAA PROTESTS IN KOLKATABlack flags and angry chants of "Modi, go back" greeted Prime MinisterNarendra Modi as he arrived on a 2-day visit to Kolkata on Saturday butnicety was not abandoned as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee shared dais withhim while remaining insistent on annulment of the CAA.Banerjee, arguably the most bitter critic of the prime minister on the CAA,met him at Raj Bhavan, after deciding not to receive him at the airport, andalso shared stage at a colourful programme to celebrate 150 years of theKolkata Port Trust."I told him that we are against CAA, NRC and NPR. I told him there should beno discrimination among masses and no citizens are left out and tortured,"she told journalists after meeting Modi at Raj Bhavan.Moments later, she was present at an anti-CAA protest nearby. Banerjee, whocalled her meeting with Modi a "courtesy visit", said the prime minister hadasked her to come to New Delhi to discuss the vexatious issues.Hundreds of protesters staged demonstrations at the crossing outside airportgate number one despite strict security.The politically significant meet, which had exposed chinks in the oppositionunity, came just two days after the TMC chief had declared to boycott anopposition meeting called by Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi onJanuary 13 over the JNU violence, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and other"anti-people" policies of the Centre.The meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Banerjee drew sharp reactionsfrom the Congress and CPI(M), which said Trinamool Congress' "doublestandard" is now exposed.Banerjee tried to clarify by saying the decision to meet the PM was her"constitutional obligation" and tried to pacify the protesting students. "Iam the only leader who met Narendra Modi and told him that CAA, NRC and NPRcannot be implemented," Mamata told the students."We have been protesting from the day one against CAA. The issue of both ofus is the same. So please don't deviate from it. I would request you all toprotest in a democratic way," sheModi will also participate in the sesquicentenary celebrations of theKolkata Port Trust on Sunday.The prime minister and the chief minister will share dais at the programmeat Netaji Indoor Stadium on Sunday. West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankharwill also be present.US CALLS ENVOYS J-K VISIT 'IMPORTANT STEP', EXPRESSES CONCERN OVERDETENTIONSThe United States state department on Saturday reacted to the recent visitto Jammu and Kashmir by a group of foreign envoys, including the USambassador to India, Kenneth Juster, and termed it an "important step". Thesame tweet by the state department, however, added that it remained"concerned" by the continued detention of political leaders and residentsalong with the restrictions on the internet.A group of 15 envoys and diplomats had interacted with security officials,politicians and civil society representatives over a recent two-day visit toJammu and Kashmir organised by the government since Jammu & Kashmir'sspecial status was revoked on August 5, 2019, and restrictions on movementand communication were imposed along with detention of several politicalleaders.READY TO TAKE POK WHENEVER GOVT GIVES GO-AHEAD: ARMY CHIEF NARAVANEWhile maintaining that both Northern and Western frontiers are equallyimportant for India, Army chief General M.M. Naravane on Saturday saidwhenever government gives the go-ahead, his force is ready to take awayPakistan occupied Kashmir.Making it clear that accordingly rebalancing of deployment of the forces andweapons are being carried out, the General commenting on Pakistan occupiedKashmir said: "If Parliament wants that area should be taken we willdefinitely do so and action will be taken accordingly."The Indian Army chief's comments came at the annual press conference, wherehe said there was a parliamentary resolution that entire erstwhile Jammu andKashmir is part of India. Whenever the government directs it will be done.Naravane stressed: "If that be the mandate so be it."In September 2019, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had said that PoKis a part of India. "We expect one day we will have physical jurisdictionover it," he said.On August 5, 2019, Home Minister Amit Shah had asserted in Lok Sabha thatPoK and Aksai Chin are part of Jammu and Kashmir and that Kashmir Valley isan integral part of the country.On border issue with China, India have had several rounds of talks. GeneralNaravane said their priorities are to maintain peace and tranquility on theborder. "We are conscious of the fact there are threats from the both side,"he said. On his recent visit to Siachen, General Naravane said: "As far asland borders are concerned this is where (Siachen) the two countries --(China and Pakistan) are the closest. So the chance for collusivity is themost. Here and in Shaksgam valley."IRAN ADMITS IT SHOT DOWN PLANE IN ERROR, APOLOGISES AFTER DENIALSIran announced on Saturday that its military "unintentionally" shot down theUkrainian jetliner that crashed earlier this week, killing all 176 aboard,after the government had repeatedly denied Western accusations that it wasresponsible.The plane was shot down early on Wednesday, hours after Iran launched aballistic missile attack on two military bases housing US troops in Iraq inretaliation for the killing of Iranian Gen Qassem Soleimani in an Americanairstrike in Baghdad. No one was wounded in the attack on the bases.A military statement carried by state media said the plane was mistaken fora "hostile target" after it turned towards a "sensitive military centre" ofthe Revolutionary Guard.The military was at its "highest level of readiness", it said, amid theheightened tensions with the United States. "In such a condition, because ofhuman error and in an unintentional way, the flight was hit," the statementsaid. It apologised for the disaster and said it would upgrade its systemsto prevent future tragedies.It also said those responsible for the strike on the plane would beprosecuted.Iran's acknowledgement of responsibility for the crash was likely to inflamepublic sentiment against authorities after Iranians had rallied around theirleaders in the wake of Soleimani's killing.But the vast majority of the plane victims were Iranians orIranian-Canadians, and the crash came just weeks after authorities quashednationwide protests ignited by a hike in gasoline prices.TAIWAN LEADER WINS 2ND TERM IN REBUKE TO BEIJINGTaiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen declared a landslide win in Saturday'selection as voters delivered a stunning rebuke of Beijing's campaign toisolate the self-ruled island and handed its first woman leader a secondterm. Ms. Tsai, 63, announced her victory as thousands of jubilantsupporters cheered and waved flags outside her party headquarters with theongoing vote count revealing an all but unassailable lead."Taiwan is showing the world how much we cherish our free, democratic way oflife and how much we cherish our nation," she told reporters.Her main rival, Han Kuo-yu of the China-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) party, hadconceded defeat shortly beforehand.QUEEN TO HOLD PRIVATE MEET WITH FAMILY TO DISCUSS PRINCE HARRY AND MEGHAN'SDECISION TO QUIT AS 'SENIOR' ROYALSThe British Queen has reportedly called a private meeting with PrinceCharles, Prince William and Prince Harry to discuss the recent royaldevelopments that have unfolded since Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke andDuchess of Sussex, announced their decision last week to "step back as'senior' members of the royal family" and work towards becoming "financiallyindependent."The Royal family will attend the meeting on Monday at the queen'sSandringham estate, a Buckingham Palace source told CNN. Meghan is alsoexpected to call into the meeting from Canada.The Sussexes said last week that their decision to step back came "aftermany months of reflection and internal discussions." The Duchess of Sussexhas since returned to Canada, where the couple spent the holidays with hermother. It's unclear when Meghan will return to the UK from Canada.TEJAS LANDS SUCCESSFULLY ON AIRCRAFT CARRIER INS VIKRAMADITYAIn a major milestone, the naval version of indigenously built Tejas aircraftSaturday made its first landing on the deck of the aircraft carrier INSVikramaditya.Military officials involved in the "arrested landing" of the aircraft saidthe successful test has put India among a select group of nations having thecapability to design a jet that can land on an aircraft carrier.Congratulating the DRDO and the Indian Navy for the successful test, DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh said that the successful landing of the aircraft onINS Vikramaditya is a "great event" in the history of Indian fighteraircraft development programme.As per officials the successful "arrested landing" of the prototype of thenaval version of Tejas on the deck of INS Vikramaditya is expected to speedup development of the jet for the Indian Navy.AAP LAUNCHES ITS CAMPAIGN SONG 'LAGE RAHO KEJRIWAL'Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia onSaturday launched the party's campaign song 'Lage Raho Kejriwal' for theFebruary 8 Assembly election in the city.Launched in the presence of other senior party leaders, including RajyaSabha MP Sanjay Singh, Atishi and Pankaj Gupta, the song speaks about theDelhi Chief Minister's doggedness in making the lives of Delhi's peopleeasy.The 2.52-minute song by Vishal Dadlani, is on the lines of the party'sslogan for the Delhi Assembly election: 'Acche Beete Paanch Saal--Lage RahoKejriwal'.Sisodia said the song is the "voice of the people".STUDENT OLIVE BRANCH AND RIDER AT JNUThe JNU students' union extended an olive branch to the administration onSaturday by asking students to resume registering for the new semester, butinsisted they do so without paying any higher fees.What this means is that the students are free to pay the tuition fee of Rs120 but not the hiked hostel fees."We have taken one step," students' union vice-president Saket Moon toldreporters, six days after a campus rampage by an allegedly ABVP-led mob leftstudents' union president Aishe Ghosh and a professor with head injuries."It is for the VC to take the next step," he added.But registrar Pramod Kumar said registration was granted only after the feeshad been paid in full, leaving open the possibility of a fresh stalemate.A student leader said that if registration was not accepted on the paymentof tuition fees, the students' union would consider further agitation and alegal recourse.The Left-led students' union had been resisting the registration process inprotest at the hostel fee hike, which has led to a strike that completed 75days on Saturday. On Saturday, the students' union clarified that its classboycott would continue. "We want to send out a message that we want tostudy, and we don't want further seats to be cut in this university,"students' union general secretary Satish Chandra Yadav said. "But we alsoinsist that until the new hostel manual has been rolled back and thevice-chancellor has resigned, we will continue our strike."Over the past couple of days, the university has partially softened itsstand on the hostel fee hike, freezing the newly introduced utility andservices charges (Rs 1,000 a month) for this semester but retaining the roomrent hike.BUSINESS HEADS BRIEF PM ON GROUSEPrime Minister Narendra Modi has come across an appeal from business leadersin Calcutta, too, to draw a distinction between business failure andfinancial fraud.Modi, who arrived in the city on Saturday afternoon, squeezed in twomeetings with business figures where the refrain was that the governmentneeded to stop demonising investors for their failure to pay back debts whenbusiness bets went wrong.Bankers have been loath to lend to businesses that have racked up unpaiddebts, fearing that any show of accommodation might invite intense scrutinyand harassment at the hands of federal investigative agencies if the badloans piled up.Businesspersons belonging to the Indian Chamber of Commerce and theMerchants' Chamber of Commerce met Modi in separate batches at the RajBhavan on Saturday. They urged the government to stop vilifying businessmenfor genuine business failures.At least one member of the Merchants' Chamber of Commerce delegation, whichwas led by Vivek Gupta, who also happens to be a Trinamul Congress MP in theRajya Sabha, said the Prime Minister had agreed that there ought to be adistinction between fraud and failure."The PM said he's working with the RBI and others to ensure that businesslosses were not penalised," Gupta said.Last month, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had met the chiefs ofpublic-sector banks and tried to soothe their fears of repercussions,including vigilance enquiries, if loans turned bad. Bankers were assured atthe meeting that they would be protected if they had acted in good faith andobserved all the practices of prudential commercial decision-making whileextending credit.KOCHI'S MARADU FLATS DEMOLITION BEGINS, THROUGH CONTROLLED BLASTSTwo of the four apartment complexes found to have violated CoastalRegulation Zone norms were reduced to debris within seconds of controlledimplosions that brought them down in Kochi on Saturday.Watched by thousands of onlookers who had arrived from across Kerala, thehigh-rises were brought down like a pack of cards, kicking up a thick cloudof toxic dust over the Maradu neighbourhood, including the picturesqueVembanad Lake.The buildings that were 19 floors high each were demolished based on aSupreme Court order in May 2019 that cited violation of CRZ norms since noneof them had maintained the necessary distance from the lake.While Holy Faith H20 was the first to be imploded at 11.18am, the two towersof Alpha Serene apartment complex were reduced to debris minutes later.The remaining two apartment complexes would be demolished on Sunday by usingthe same controlled implosion technique. This would reduce the five towersof the four high-rise complexes that house 500 flats to 70,000 tonnes ofdebris.Alpha 1 crashed within the defined parameters, but some debris from Alpha 2crashed into the lake.Ernakulam collector S. Suhas later clarified that was part of the plan tosave a nearby house. "The debris of all the buildings fell inside theircompounds. Even Alpha 1 was contained inside the compound. Only some debrisof Alpha 2 fell in the water, which was deliberately done to save a housethat stood just metres away," he told reporters at the site.HC DIRECTS 'CHHAPAAK' MAKERS TO GIVE CREDIT TO ACID ATTACK SURVIVOR'S LAWYERFOR INPUTSThe Delhi High Court on Saturday directed the makers of DeepikaPadukone-starrer 'Chhapaak' to give credit to a lawyer, who represented acidattack survivor Laxmi Agarwal on whose life the film is based, for inputsshe shared with them.Justice Prathiba M Singh said the changes be made in the movie slides inmultiplexes by January 15.The court pronounced the order on a plea by Fox Star Studio, the producer ofthe movie, challenging a trial court's Thursday order asking it toacknowledge the contribution of advocate Aparna Bhat.The film was released in theatres on Friday.While hearing the plea on Friday, the court asked the filmmakers as to whythey had not acknowledged the lawyer for inputs she shared with them. Itasked where the difficulty was to acknowledge the advocate and why did themakers even go to her seeking her inputs.To this, senior advocate Sandeep Sethi, appearing for film director MeghnaGulzar, had said there was no contract between the parties and seekinginputs did not confer any legal right on her to be acknowledged.