Daily Bulletin: Amit Shah to address seminar on NRC in Kolkata today; SC to hear batch of pleas challenging scrapping of Article 370; day's top stories and more

Amit Shah to visit Kolkata today; scheduled to address seminar on contentious NRC in West Bengal  All eyes are on Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s scheduled seminar on the contentious National Register of Citizens and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 slated to be held on Tuesday in Kolkata. Shah, who is also the BJP president, will visit the city on 1 October and inaugurate a community Durga Puja besides addressing the seminar, party sources said on Monday. This will be Shah’s first visit to West Bengal since he assumed the office of the Union home minister earlier this year. [caption id=“attachment_7306041” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Home Minister Amit Shah. ANI[/caption] The seminar assumes importance as it is being held at a time when there have been 11 deaths in the state allegedly due to panic over the implementation of NRC in West Bengal. Shah had repeatedly said that the NRC exercise will be conducted across the country and Mamata Banerjee-headed TMC government in West Bengal had avowed that the NRC exercise will not be allowed in the state. According to state BJP sources, Shah’s seminar is of immense importance as he likely to address all allegations by TMC and “misconceptions” created by it over NRC. “The TMC has deliberately tried to create a panic in the state over NRC. So Amit Shah ji will give us a clear picture over the issue and dispel all the fears and misconceptions,” a senior state BJP leader said. In Assam, the only state in the country where the exercise was carried out to update the NRC, names of over 19 lakh people were omitted from the final list which was published on 31 August. Of them about 12 lakh are Hindus. NRC was one of the provisions of the Assam Accord of 1985 and was carried out under the supervision of the Supreme Court. Supreme Court to hear a batch of pleas challenging scrapping of Article 370 today Referring a clutch of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir to a Constitution Bench, the Supreme Court on Monday said that the matter will be taken up for hearing on Tuesday as the bench does not have time due to daily hearings in the Ayodhya case. The petitions include the pleas filed by Kashmir Times editor Anuradha Bhasin against the communications blockade, and by child rights activists against the “illegal” detention of children in the newly-formed Union Territory. Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said the bench did not have time to hear the petitions because of the daily hearings in the Ayodhya case, adding that the Constitution Bench on Kashmir would take up “all issues from tomorrow”, said reports. “We do not have the time to hear so many matters. We have the Constitution bench case (Ayodhya dispute) to hear,” he said. A Constitution Bench headed by Justice NV Ramana, comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Subhash Reddy, BR Gavai and Surya Kant, will hear the plea filed by Bhasin, which is seeking the removal of the communication blockade in Kashmir, which was imposed on 4 August as a “preventive measure” before the government abrogated the law which accorded the restive region with a degree of autonomy. Bhasin has also petitioned for the “free movement of journalists and the press in Kashmir”. In addition to this, the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by child rights experts Enakshi Ganguly and Professor Shanta Sinha, alleging “illegal detention” of children in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation, will also be taken up on Tuesday. DK Shivkumar to be produced in court today on expiry of his judicial custody A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on remanded senior Congress leader DK Shivakumar to judicial custody till 1 October in a money laundering case. Shivakumar is to be produced before the at Rouse Avenue Court on expiry of Enforcement Directorate’s (ED’s) custody. “So far as the application for remand of the accused to judicial custody is concerned, having considered the facts and circumstances, the accused is remanded to judicial custody till 1 October," said special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar. The court directed that Shivakumar be first taken to hospital. Only if his medical condition is stable he should be sent to judicial custody in Tihar jail. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, also representing Shivakumar and seeking bail for him, said he was a 7-time MLA and not a flight risk. It is a case based on documentary evidence and there was no ground to keep Shivakumar in custody as he has no criminal antecedent, said Rohatgi. He further said that this is a case of granting bail and the court can impose conditions; if not, then granting medical bail to Shivakumar should be considered. Opposing the bail plea, ED said that it had taken care of his medical conditions. The Congress leader was arrested by the ED on 3 September after almost four days of interrogation over charges of money laundering. The ED cited Shivakumar’s non-cooperation during the questioning as the reason for his arrest. 12th tranche of electoral bonds to be issued from today Ahead of Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana, the government on Monday announced the issuance of 12th tranche of electoral bonds that could be used to make donations to political parties. Polls will be held in both Maharashtra and Haryana on 21 October, while counting will take place on 24 October. Electoral bonds are being pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding. “State Bank of India (SBI), in the XII phase of the sale, has been authorised to issue and encash electoral bonds through its 29 authorised branches with effect from 1-10 October,” the finance ministry said in a statement. The 29 specified SBI branches are in cities such as New Delhi, Gandhinagar, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Mumbai, Jaipur, Lucknow, Chennai, Kolkata and Guwahati Reddit revises its policies to fight harassment quicker The front page of the internet has brought changes to its anti-harassment policies so that abusive content can be dealt with quickly. New changes have been introduced that defines threats, harassment and bullying on a broader scope. This new policy is already under effect as several subreddits have already been banned that violated the policies. The front page of the internet has brought changes to its anti-harassment policies so that abusive content can be dealt with quickly. New changes have been introduced that defines threats, harassment and bullying on a broader scope. This new policy is already under effect as several subreddits have already been banned that violated the policies. Javelin thrower Annu Rani becomes first Indian woman to reach finals at World Athletics Championships Indian woman javelin thrower Annu Rani qualified for the final round of the World Athletics Championships by smashing her own national record on Monday. The 27-year-old Annu sent the iron spear to a distance of 62.43m in her second-round throw, bettering her earlier national record of 62.34m, which she achieved in March, to book a place for Tuesday’s finals. In the process, she became the first Indian to reach the finals of the women’s javelin throw in the World Championships. With inputs from agencies