Daily Bulletin: Narendra Modi to address rally in Delhi amid anti-CAA protests; newly-elected Karnataka MLAs to take oath; day's top stories

Modi to address rally in Delhi as capital Amid tight security, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kick off the Bharatiya Janata Party’s election campaign ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls with a rally at the Ramlila Maidan. His rally comes amid protests over the amended Citizenship Act, which resulted in clashes between police and the protestors on Saturday, resulting in the detention of 26 people. Ramlila Maidan is situated close to Old Delhi’s Daryaganj, which was hit by violence on Friday during the protest against the Citizenship Act. [caption id=“attachment_7812501” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Cut-outs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah at Ramlila Maidan. PTI[/caption] The prime minister is scheduled to address the mega rally around 11.30 am. PM Modi is expected to bring up the CAA issue in his speech, given the widespread protests against the amended Citizenship Act across the capital and the country. Protests against Citizenship Act to be held in Rajasthan, Delhi Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is scheduled to lead a peace march in the state capital Jaipur from 11 am onwards. Meanwhile, protests are scheduled to be held in Delhi’s Connaught Place at 2 pm, Bengaluru’s Town Hall at 10 am and Chennai’s Besant Nagar at 4 pm. Additionally, even a protests turned violent in Mangaluru, travel arrangements were made to evacuate students from Kerala in the town by deploying five Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses, shortly after Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai claimed that people from the neighbouring state indulged in violence over Citizenship Act in the coastal district. Newly-elected Karnataka MLAs to take oath at Vidhana Souda The newly-elected Karnataka MLAs, who won the recent bypolls, will be sworn in at 10 am at the Vidhan Soudha. Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde will administer the oath. The bypolls to 15 constituencies were held on 5 December, after sitting MLAs resigned in July, triggering the collapse of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government. The results were announced on 9 December, in which BJP won 12 out of the 15 seats. Congress was able to win in two, Janata Dal Secular (JDS) drew a blank while a BJP rebel won as an Independent candidate. UP, Bihar, Delhi remain tense amid violent anti-CAA protests Violent protests against the amended Citizenship Act raged on across Uttar Pradesh on Saturday taking the death toll to 16 in the state, while large-scale vandalism and disruption of rail and road traffic were witnessed in Bihar during a bandh called by the RJD. The Congress, Left and other opposition parties led demonstrations in many states including Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, demanding that the contentious law be scrapped. UP police said as many as 705 persons have been arrested and 4,500 were detained for the violence during the last two days. They said 260 security personnel were injured, of whom 57 suffered gunshot wounds. A day after massive protests and clashes in the national capital, Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad was arrested when he came outside Jama Masjid, where he had taken part in a demonstration on Friday, and was later sent to judicial custody for 14 days by a court. Fifteen people arrested for Friday’s violence in Daryaganj were remanded in judicial custody for two days, while 11 others were sent to jail for a fortnight in connection with the Seemapuri incident. The situation in Assam, where protesters carried out rallies against the amended law, was peaceful while mobile internet services were restored in Meghalaya. Maharashtra farmers to get loan waiver of upto Rs 2 lakh The Maharashtra government announced a loan waiver of up to Rs two lakh for farmers, with a cut-off date of 30 September. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray made the announcement in the Legislative Assembly on the last day of the winter session of the legislature. Crop loans outstanding till 30 September will be waived off under the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule loan waiver scheme, Thackeray said. Besides, a special scheme would be offered for the farmers who repay their loans on time, he said. Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis alleged that the government had not fulfilled its original promise of full loan waiver. He also said the Sena-led government failed to give assistance of Rs 25,000 per hectare to farmers who suffered losses due to unseasonal rain, a demand which Thackeray himself had made earlier before he became the chief minister. The Assembly’ Budget session will begin from 24 February next year. Toll in Europe storm rises to eight The death toll from a storm that battered Spain, Portugal and France rose to eight on Saturday as the region braced for more violent winds and heavy rain. A 32-year-old South Korean woman died Saturday, a day after being struck on the head by falling debris from a building in central Madrid, the Madrid region’s interior minister said. The building had passed an inspection in 2015 “but weather like this, with heavy rain and wind, causes these fateful cases,” Enrique Lopez told reporters. A man died Saturday after his car was swept away by a swollen river near the town of Huescar in the southern province of Granada, the regional government of Andalusia said in a statement. Emergency services in Andalusia said a 68-year-old Dutch man who went missing while windsurfing in rough weather in Huelva province Friday had drowned. Storm Elsa flooded rivers, brought down power lines and disrupted rail and air travel across the region. Six of the deaths have been in Spain and two in Portugal, where the extreme weather interrupted train services Saturday between the capital Lisbon and the second city Porto due to flooding on the rail tracks. Storm Fabien has already brought winds of 170 kilometres (105 miles) per hour in Galicia in northwestern Spain, forcing the cancellation of 14 flights according to Spanish airport operator Aena. Another 13 flights were diverted from airports in Galicia to other parts of Spain or Portugal, it added. Cuba names tourism minister to be first PM since 1976 Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel was on Saturday named Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz as the country’s first prime minister since 1976. Marrero, 56, has been tourism minister for 16 years, presiding over a rise in visitors and a hotel construction boom that has made tourism one of the most important sectors of the Cuban economy. Diaz-Canel cited Marrero’s experience in negotiating with foreign investors as one of his prime qualifications, according to state media. Marrero’s confirmation by the National Assembly was expected later Saturday. The position of prime minister was held by Fidel Castro from 1959 to 1976, when a new constitution changed his title to president and eliminated the post of prime minister. Castro and his brother Raúl held the presidential post along with Cuba’s other highest positions, like Communist Party leader, until this year, when Raúl Castro stepped down as president and a new constitution divided the president’s responsibilities between Castro’s successor, Miguel Diaz-Canel, and the new post of prime minister. Confident India look to clinch series decider against West Indies in Cuttack After fashioning a convincing win in second ODI in Vishkapatnam, India will be eyeing the series win against West Indies in Cuttack. Hit by injury trouble, India lost seamer Deepak Chahar ahead of the third ODI and Delhi fast bowler Navdeep Saini, who is incidentally making a return from injury, has been called in as a replacement. The Caribbean side will be hoping to end their long tour of India, which started in early November against Afghanistan, on a high before the Christmas holidays.