NEWS

As the Centre extended the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (Afspa) for another six months in Nagaland, Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday held out hope that the northeast could see the scrapping of the controversial law.

“Even though there has been a six-month extension in Nagaland, it can still be repealed,” Conrad K Sangma told HT amid howls of protest in Nagaland that is still mourning the killing of civilians in a botched army operation and the ensuing violence.

Sangma’s party, the National People's Party (NPP), is an alliance partner of Bharatiya Janata Party in Meghalaya which helped him come to power after the 2018 assembly elections. In Manipur, NPP which had four MLAs till recently - one of them crossed over to the BJP this week - supports the BJP government led by N Biren Singh. Conrad’s party plans to contest the Manipur elections scheduled for early next year on its own.

The Centre on Thursday urged states and UT's to step up vigil as India recorded over 10,000 new cases, the highest in 33 days. The government has stressed that there is a need for heightened vigil in view of sharp rise in coronavirus infections.

The Union Health Ministry in a press conference said that eight states and UTs - Delhi, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Jharkhand have reported a major rise in Covid cases. These states and UTs have witnessed an uptick in weekly Covid-19 cases and and increased case positivity rate.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to visit Ayodhya and address a public rally at GIC ground under Ayodhya Sadar Assembly seat on Friday (December 31, 2021). 

The Union Home Minister will visit Shri Hanumangarhi Temple in Ayodhya at 10:15 AM, followed by his visit to Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Temple in Ayodhya at 10:30 AM. 

Bharatiya Janata Party's Twitter handle on Thursday announced that Shah will address a public meeting in Ayodhya (Rural) at noon today. 

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, currently on his statewide “Samaj Sudhar Abhiyan” (social reform campaign) yatra to create public awareness on liquor prohibition, slammed those opposed to prohibition. He said those who drink and have a problem coming to Bihar because of the unavailability of liquor didn’t need to come to the state.

Delivering a speech last Sunday, Chief Justice of India N V Ramana had cited the Bihar prohibition law as one example of “lack of foresight” in drafting legislation that leads to courts being inundated with cases and “a simple bail application” taking a year to be disposed of.