Daily Bulletin: SC to hear pleas challenging CAA, 2012 Delhi gangrape case convict's review petition; day's top stories

SC to hear pleas challenging Citizenship Act; protests to resume

Petitions against Citizenship Amendment Act will come up for hearing in Supreme Court at around 11.30 am. The petitions have been filed by various political parties, former bureaucrats, NGOs and students.

Meanwhile, protests will continue against the legislation all over the country, with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to hold a march from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade in Kolkata for the third consecutive day. The Bahujan Samaj Party will meet President Ram Nath Kovind at 10.30 am to seek the repeal of the new Citizenship Amendment Act.

Protests against the Citizenship Act. PTI

Protests by students of Jamia Millia Islamia, Madras University and Central University of Kerala, will be held in Kasargod. Employees of the Assam government will cease work in protest against the amended act.

Former Congress MLA Asif Khan has been named as an accused in the FIR for his alleged involvement in the Jamia Millia Islamia incident that took place on 15 December.

The Kolkata High Court will hear three writ petitions challenging Mamata Banerjee’s statement about the Citizenship Act not being applicable to West Bengal, an advertisement given in the media to this effect using public funds and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim’s ate speech, blaming BJP for violence in the state.

SC Bench to hear 2012 Delhi gangrape convict’s review plea

A new Supreme Court Bench will hear the review plea of 2012 Delhi gangrape convict Akshay Thakur, a day after Chief Justice of India SA Bobde recused himself from hearing the matter. The hearing will be held at 10.30 am.

Additionally, a Delhi court will hear a plea seeking issuance of death warrants against four people convicted in the gangrape and murder case. Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora deferred the matter till 18 December, noting that the review petition of one of the convicts was pending before the Supreme Court.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to address maiden rally in Jharkhand

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi is scheduled to address her maiden rally in Jharkhand ahead of the fifth and final phase of Assembly elections in the state.

Priyanka will address a joint public meeting for Pakur and Barhait constituencies along with Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has addressed five rallies in the state. The Congress is targeting the incumbent government on the issues of economic slowdown and security.

The last phase of polling will be held on 20 December, while the results will be declared on 23 December.

India-US 2+2 ministerial dialogue to be held in Washington

India-US 2+2 ministerial dialogue is scheduled to take place in Washington, where the two countries are likely to exchange views on salient regional and global issues.

US State Department will be hosting the second annual US-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence, Mark Esper with their Indian counterparts, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar and Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh.

Nirmala Sitharaman to chair pre-Budget consultations, GST council meet

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will meet industry chambers’ representatives on Wednesday, as a part of pre-budget consultation meeting that began on Tuesday and are likely to continue till 23 December. She is likely to present the budget on 1 February.

The minister will also chair a meeting of the GST Council at 1.45 pm after GST collections were recorded to be lower than expected, leading to a widening fiscal deficit.

Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp are the decade's most downloaded apps

Facebook and its acquired properties are dominating the list of the most downloaded apps of the decade. Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram stand serially on top according to App Annie. In terms of consumer spends, Netflix dominates the lot followed by Tinder and Pandora Music. Do note all of this is based on the decade which is 2010-19 and on a worldwide use-case.

West Indies chase series win in second ODI against India

Virat Kohli-led India will look to avoid a home series loss when the hosts take on West Indies in the second ODI in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. Centuries from Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer powered the Windies to an eight-wicket win in the first ODI while chasing a target of 288. It was a rare batting failure for captain Kohli, who scored just four runs.

The Indian bowling department will face a huge test. While Mohammed Shami and Deepak Chahar were the only wicket-takers in the first ODI, debutant Shivam Dube leaked plenty of runs in his spell that lasted 7.5 overs.

If West Indies win the encounter, it will be their first ODI series victory over India since 2006. The match starts at 1.30 pm IST, and you can catch over-by-over updates on Firstpost.