A look at the headlines right now:

  1. Citizenship Act protestors need to expose activities of Pakistan, not oppose Indian Parliament, says Narendra Modi: The prime minister is on a two-day visit to Karnataka.
  2. India told other countries that CAA does not alter Constitution, says Ministry of External Affairs: The ministry’s spokesperson said India’s missions across the world had been instructed to share information on the amended law with the host governments.
  3. Nobel laureates Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo call for a rethink on NRC, Citizenship Act: The CAA and the NRC introduce ‘meddlesome officialdom into a question as fundamental to people’s lives as citizenship’, they said in an article.
  4. Calling Faiz’s poem ‘Hum Dekhenge’ anti-Hindu is absurd, says Javed Akhtar, criticises IIT-Kanpur: The institution has set up an inquiry committee to decide if the poem offends Hindu sentiments.
  5. Man dead for six years booked by UP Police, 90-year-olds on list of troublemakers: Meanwhile, an activist couple and 56 others in Varanasi were granted bail two weeks after being detained.
  6. Gross GST collection for December crossed Rs 1 lakh crore: The gross GST revenue for December showed a growth of 16% from its December 2018 figure, the finance ministry said.
  7. At least 21 killed in floods due to heavy rain in Indonesia, tens of thousands evacuated: The natural disaster has been marked as the worst flooding since 2013 when dozens were killed due to monsoon rainfall.
  8. Mayawati criticises Sonia and Priyanka Gandhi for their silence over Kota infant deaths: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister criticised the two leaders and said they were unable to ‘understand the sorrow of the mothers despite being women’.
  9. Marginal respite from cold spell in North India, over 20 trains delayed due to low visibility: Authorities have extended the school holidays till January 5 in Patna.
  10. Passport officer rapped in Ambala for seeking nationality certificate from sisters who ‘looked Nepali’: The Ambala deputy commissioner told the passport officer to continue the process after verification of the prescribed and required documents.