NPR will be buried if 10 more states oppose it like Kerala, Bengal: Karat

Current Affairs
CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat on Thursday said if ten more chief ministers stick to their promises and put work on National Population Register on hold like those of Kerala and West Bengal did, the Centre's plan to have an NPR would be "buried".
"Twelve state governments have so far announced that they will not take up the NPR. What Kerala and West Bengal have done should be done by 10 (more) chief ministers," he said, referring to the Kerala and West Bengal governments' orders putting the NPR work on hold in their respective states.
Karat was speaking in a seminar organised to protest against amendments in the Citizenship Act.
"The Narendra Modi government has planned a 'Trishul' (attack) against the Constitution. First thing was the CAA, second is the National Population Register and the third one is the National Register of Citizens. All three are interconnected. All three are one single package and cannot be separated," he said.
After witnessing the widespread protests across the country against the Citizenship Amendment Act, the BJP government, however, has understood that it needs to tread cautiously in implementing the NRC, said Karat.
"Accordingly, they (BJP) have now adopted a manoeuvre and claim that the NPR has nothing to do with the NRC," he added.
"You read the citizenship Act and the rules, it is there in the black and white. The NPR is only for the purpose of creating a national register of citizens. There is no NRC without an NPR," he said.

"To foil the BJP's game plan, we must concentrate on getting the NPR scuttled because once the NPR is created, you cannot stop the NRC and that is a legal process. It is there in the law," he said....Read More

CBI questions Kolkata top cop, ex-TMC MP in Saradha, Rose Valley scams

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar during the Joint Investiture Ceremony of West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police, in Kolkata

Current Affairs:

The CBI has been questioning Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar and former TMC MP Kunal Ghosh by making them sit face to face at the probe agency's office here in connection with the Saradha chit fund and Rose Valley scams, officials.

The marathon questioning of Kumar, that began at 10.30 am, was still on at 9.30 pm when this report was filed.

The questioning by the CBI, being done as per the directions of the Supreme Court, continued for the second day on Sunday.

A two-member CBI team, who are the Investigating Officers in the Saradha and Rose Valley scams, arrived here in the afternoon.

Kumar and Ghosh were grilled in the initial period by a 10-member team of the CBI, the officials said.

The Kolkata Police chief was quizzed for nearly nine hours on Saturday by three senior CBI officers about his alleged role in tampering of crucial evidence in the case, they said.
Kumar had led the special investigation team (SIT) formed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to probe the Saradha scam before the case was handed over to the CBI by the apex court.

 Officials in Delhi said the CBI has not acceded to the demand of Kumar to have his questioning session videographed.

BJP trying to make West Bengal a laboratory for its experiments: Congress

Current Affairs:

The Congress Sunday said the BJP was "unsuccessfully" trying to build a laboratory in West Bengal for its experiments, on a day the Bengal government denied permission to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to land his chopper in the eastern state.

"What would have happened had he (UP CM) gone? He had also gone to Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. What did he do? He revealed the caste of Hanuman and you know the results," Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said at a news conference here.

"People voted for the party it wanted. They (BJP) want to make West Bengal a laboratory for its experiments and they are not achieving any success in it," he said.

The tussle between the TMC and BJP got uglier Sunday, with the West Bengal government denying permission to Adityanath's chopper to land in the state and let him address two scheduled rallies.
Adityanath had to address the rallies via telephone. He later lashed out at the "anti-people" Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in the state, saying the days of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's rule were "numbered".


 Responding to a question on the Centre's decision to accord sanction to prosecute former Union home minister...Read More

Modi in panic mode, criticising EVM committee as elections near: Congress

Current Affairs:

The Congress said that because Lok Sabha elections are on the horizon, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started panicking and therefore is criticising the formation of the four-member committee for EVMs.

Speaking to the media, Congress leader P L Punia said: "As elections are approaching, Prime Minister Modi is panicking and is in anxiety and doesn't know what to say. We have objections with EVMs and we have informed the election commission about the same."

"We want that vote should be done on ballot papers. Ballot paper should be used for voting instead of EVMs," Punia added.


 West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said that a four-member committee had been formed to clarify opposition parties' stand on EVMs in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections..Read More