Month: December 2019

GST collection up 6% in November, crosses Rs 1 lakh crore mark

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Festive season demand helped the government collect Rs 1.03 lakh crore in goods and services tax (GST) in the month of November, up 6 percent over the same month last year.

The positive growth, a possible sign of recovery, has come after two months of negative growth.

During the month of November, the GST collection on domestic transactions witnessed a growth of 12 percent, highest during the year. The GST collection on imports continued to see negative growth, down 13 percent.

“The gross GST revenue collected in the month of November, 2019 is Rs 103,492 crore of which CGST [central GST] is Rs 19,592 crore, SGST [state GST] is Rs 27,144 crore, IGST [integrated GST] is Rs 49,028 crore (including Rs 20,948 crore collected on imports) and cess is Rs 7,727 crore (including Rs 869 crore collected on imports),” a finance ministry statement said.

The total number of GSTR 3B Returns, summary monthly returns, filed for the month of October up to November 30, 2019 was 77.83 lakh.

“The government has settled Rs 25,150 crore to CGST and Rs 17,431 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. The total revenue earned by Central Government and the State Governments after regular settlement in the month of November, 2019 is Rs 44,742 crore for CGST and Rs 44,576 crore for the SGST,” the finance ministry said.

This is the eighth time since the roll-out of GST in July, 2017 that monthly collection has crossed the mark of Rs 1 lakh crore. Also, November 2019 collection is the third highest monthly collection since introduction of GST, next only to April 2019 and March 2019 collections.

“Crossing Rs 1 trillion (Rs 1 lakh crore) in a festive month after a few months of tepid collections would act as sentiment-booster and help in keeping the fiscal deficit under control- hoping that this trend continues in the coming months,” said MS Mani, Partner, Deloitte India.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

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Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut says Devendra Fadnavis’ haste to come to power sank BJP in Maharashtra

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday said former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ haste to attain power and “childish comments” sank the BJP in Maharashtra and the latter became the opposition leader.

With the coming together of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, what has happened in Maharashtra is acceptable to the country as well, Raut claimed in his column ‘Rokhthok’ in the Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.

In a veiled attack on the central BJP leaders without naming anyone, he said Maharashtra did not bow down to the “mob-rule” like functioning of Delhi.

What is significant is that Uddhav Thackeray came to power by dethroning the powerful “Modi-Shah hold”, remarked Raut, who is the executive editor of ‘Saamana’.

He also expressed confidence that “this government (of Sena-NCP-Congress alliance) will survive for five years.”

“I find it amusing that the people who dubbed Ajit Pawar’s tie-up with Fadnavis as a ‘scripted’ plan of Sharad Pawar, are now bowing before the NCP chief after formation of the (Maha Vikas Aghadi) government,” Raut said.

Ahead of the Assembly polls, Fadnavis made “childish comments” like there would be no opposition party left in the state, the era of Sharad Pawar was ending and Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi would be main opposition, wrote Raut.

“But he (Fadnavis) himself became the opposition leader,” the Rajya Sabha member quipped.

Fadnavis said he would come back, but his haste to attain power sank the BJP within 80 hours, he commented.

“Over-confidence and his (Fadnavis’) reliance on Delhi-based senior leaders destroyed his politics. The developments of last month look like a new script of the film ‘Sinhasan’ (throne),” Raut said.

He was referring to the 1979 Marathi film of the same name, which was loosely based on late author Arun Sadhu’s novels ‘Sinhasan’ and ‘Mumbai Dinank’.

Raut further said the Maharashtra governor’s office played the role of a “villain” in the 80-hour-long government of Fadnavis and NCP leader Ajit Pawar.

“Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari once told me he would not do anything beyond the Constitution’s framework. But he later administered oath to Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar in a haste. The order from the ‘top’ (apparently referring to the Centre) seems to have played a bigger role,” he said.

Ajit Pawar’s “desperate act” (to support the BJP) brought the Sena, NCP and Congress closer and cemented their alliance, he said.

It also created pressure on other NCP MLAs, who rebelled, and as everyone went back to Sharad Pawar, his nephew Ajit Pawar also returned, he said.

“Had Sharad Pawar not taken the initiative, this alliance would not have materialised,” Raut stated.

Everyone in the Congress was doubtful of joining hands with the Shiv Sena. It was Sharad Pawar who told Sonia Gandhi that late Sena supremo Bal Thackeray had cordial relations with former prime minister Indira Gandhi, he said.

The Sena did not field its candidates against the Congress in the state Assembly polls held after the Emergency in the country, Raut pointed out, adding that his party also supported the candidature of Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee for the president’s post.

“The Hindi-speaking community in Mumbai also votes for the Sena, hence the party continued to win elections of the city civic body. Sharad Pawar also informed this to Sonia Gandhi,” the Sena leader added.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Govt plans to invest $1.39 trillion in infrastructure to spur economy after weak GDP data

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Union government will unveil a series of infrastructure projects this month as part of a plan to invest Rs 100 trillion ($1.39 trillion) in the sector over the next five years, the finance minister said on Saturday, in a push to improve the country’s economy.

Nirmala Sitharaman’s comments, as cited in local newspapers, followed data released on Friday that showed India‘s economic growth slowed to 4.5 percent in the July-September quarter — its weakest pace since 2013 — upping the pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to speed reforms.

“A set of officers are looking into the pipeline of projects that can be readied so that once the fund is ready, it could be front-loaded on these projects,” Sitharaman said at a business summit in Mumbai, the newspapers reported.

“That task is nearly completed. Before December 15, we will be able to announce frontloading of at least ten projects,” she said.

Modi came to power in 2014 on the promise to improve India‘s economy and boost foreign investments, but he has struggled to meet those aims due to a lack of structural reforms. Modi won a second term in May and has taken various measures since 2014 to spur growth, including cutting the corporate tax and speeding up privatisation of state-run firms.

But several economic indicators show domestic consumption is weak, and many economists expect the current slowdown could persist for another two years.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Nothing to fear, says Amit Shah after Rahul Bajaj quips people are afraid to criticise government

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Home minister Amit Shah said there is no need to fear about anything after industrialist and Bajaj Group chairperson Rahul Bajaj said there is an atmosphere of fear and people are afraid to criticise the government and do not have the confidence that the government will appreciate any criticism.

Bajaj’s comments come the day after India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)  growth fell to at 4.5 percent, the lowest in at least six-and-half years.

Shah said the government is working in the most transparent manner and that the government tries to improve depending on whether the criticism has any merit.

>> 3 other instances when Rahul Bajaj spoke his mind

In his comments, Bajaj raised the issue of Bhopal MP Pragya Singh Thakur’s controversial comment on Wednesday praising Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi. “Is there a doubt who shot Gandhi?… I don’t know,” Bajaj said.

Shah responded that the government and Bharatiya Janata Party strongly condemned Thakur’s remarks. Shah added that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has already condemned her remarks and the party has taken action against her.

The BJP barred Thakur from attending its parliamentary party meeting in the ongoing session and removed her from the consultative committee on defence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier said that he would never forgive Thakur for insulting Mahatma Gandhi by calling his assassin Nathuram Godse a true patriot.

The home minister also asked people from the industry to visit the Valley with family and assess the real situation.

“As home minister of the country, I am urging you to please visit Kashmir. Situation is normal there, you will see,” he added. As far as the timeline for removing restriction on internet, the minister said that as this is a law and order issue, the local administration would take decision in this regard. Further, he said that today only 630 people are in jail and out of that, less than 112 are political prisoners.

(With inputs from PTI)

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

12 global companies evinced interest to shift base from China to India: Nirmala Sitharaman

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on November 30 said about 12 global companies have evinced interest to shift their base from China to India, taking advantage of competitive tax rate of 15 percent announced recently.

In a biggest reduction in 28 years, the government in September reduced corporate tax rate by almost 10 percentage points in a bid to give a boost to sagging economy.

Base corporate tax for existing companies has been reduced to 22 percent from 30 percent, and for new manufacturing firms incorporated after October 1, 2019 and starting operation before March 31, 2023, it was slashed to 15 percent from 25 percent.

“I had said that I will form a task group, which will look into those companies which want to get out of China, and in the meanwhile I announced the corporate tax cut. There were many companies which were showing interest and wanting to come back.

“So, this task force has already started contacting many of these companies. The last count, I came to know was about 12 of them have already been spoken to, their minds understood, their expectation listed out so that the government can come up with a concrete offer for them to shift from where they are now, so that the ecosystems can get built here, new industries can come,” she said.

The minister said the word that was given for bringing newer industries, which are moving out of China, is actively moving forward.

“And I am sure, I will be able to report some progress on that,” she added.

With regard to investment of Rs 100 lakh crore in the next 5 years, she said, the task force will come out with a list 10 major infrastructure projects by December 15 and investment in these projects would be front-loaded.

“We made sure that a set of officers were looking into pipeline that can be readied, so that once the fund is ready and it will be front-loaded…that task is near completion,” Sitharaman said.

Before December 15, she said the government will be able to announce the front-loading of at least a 10 major projects.

The finance ministry in September set up a task force headed by Economic Affairs Secretary to prepare a road map for the “national infrastructure pipeline” from 2019-20 to 2024-25 under a Rs 100 lakh crore infra plan. The task force expected to cover greenfield and brownfield projects costing above Rs 100 crore each.

The finance minister also listed some of the measures taken by the government to boost consumption and liquidity in the system since August this year.

Talking about the GDP growth rates, she expressed hope that the next numbers should be better.

India’s growth falling to a more than six-year low of 4.5 percent in the second quarter of 2019-20 is sub-optimal and below the potential of the economy, the industry pointed out.

During the loan outreach programme in October, public sector banks have disbursed more than Rs 2.5 lakh crore, the finance minister said while outlining various measures taken by the government to revive economy.

“They (banks) reached out to 400 districts, literally the hinterland where the money went. And as a result, now I can see somewhat that kind of spend has helped in somewhat reviving the consumer spirits and purchases have gone up and I also hope that it will lead to improvement in tax collections,” she said.

She, however, said the progress on partial guarantee scheme is not very satisfactory.

“I’d like to draw your attention to the partial guarantee scheme which we brought in, so that all the pooled assets could be bought over by the banks and for which the government would give the partial guarantee with a minor haircut… A lot more is going to be done on that and I admit that things have been a bit slow,” she said at the Economic Times Award event here.

To ensure transparency in the taxation, Sitharaman said that faceless assessment has been introduced in direct tax, and indirect tax too will have this system soon.

“And the last word on GST. The systems are really being worked on so that it becomes as simple as we claim it to be. We would further like to simplify it,” she said.

As regards the rationalisation of the taxation, she said, “We are having a good conversation with all the states and want to make sure that those essential items may be put to the lowest if not exempt, but for the rest of them, we are trying to rationalize”.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

At the Marrakech Festival, a Moroccan tradition of celebrating Indian cinema continues

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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In Marrakech, the ‘Red City’ of Morocco lying in the foothills of the majestic Atlas Mountains, the love for Indian cinema is real. Most of the residents of the city famous for its red washed buildings can reel off the list of Bollywood stars who have come here to present their movies and won their hearts.

Bringing Shah Rukh Khan and Shashi Kapoor or Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan to their Moroccan fans has been a task religiously undertaken by the Marrakesh International Film Festival over the years. The 18th edition of the festival in the Western African nation this year is no different.

One of the highlights of the Marrakech film festival, which opened on Friday, is the appearance of Priyanka Chopra Jonas at the city’s iconic Jamâa El Fna square. On December 5, the festival will pay tribute to Priyanka at the sprawling festival venue for the public in Marrakech’s historic old quarters, for her two-decade-long career spanning two continents as an ambassador of world cinema.

Historic Honour

The Marrakech festival, which was founded at the beginning of the new millennium to promote cinema in Africa and the Middle East, has described the tribute to Priyanka at the Jamâa El Fna square as the “first in the festival’s history”. “For the first time in the festival’s history a tribute will be paid on the mythical Jamâa El Fna square, where Bollywood icon Priyanka Chopra will receive a tribute before the people of Marrakech,” says the festival.

Three films of Priyanka — Krrish 3, Bajirao Mastani, and The Sky is Pink — are part of the festival line-up this year besides an In Conversation With Priyanka Chopra. Krrish 3 and Bajirao Mastani have also received the honour of a public screening at the Jamâa El Fna square, which draws over 20,000 people every evening for a festival show. “It is such an honour to be recognized this year with a tribute on Jamâa El Fena square before the Moroccan public, who have always shown so much love and support throughout my career,” says Priyanka.

The Marrakech festival, which paid tribute to American actor Robert De Niro last year, boasts of an impressive list of celebrated film personalities from around the world in its homage section this time. American actor-director Robert Redford and French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier will be receiving the festival’s tributes while Priyanka becomes the only film personality selected for the honour at the millennium-old Jamâa El Fna square. Priyanka is joined in the In Conversation With programme by Redford, Tavernier, Oscar-winning French actor Marion Cotillard, Palestinian director Elia Suleiman and American actor Harvey Keitel among others.

Intimate India

The Indian connection this year extends to an entry in the prestigious competition section of the Marrakech festival. Gitanjali Rao’s animated film Bombay Rose, which opened the Critics’ Week parallel programme of the Venice festival this year, is vying for the Golden Star, Marrakech’s top prize. The competition race also has The Unknown Saint by Moroccan filmmaker Alaa Eddine Aljem, Babyteeth by Australian director Shannon Murphy, Chinese director Zhai Yixiang’s Mosaic Portrait and Scattered Night by South Korean directors Lee Jih-young and Kim Sol.

“Art can never be a competition,” says Oscar-winning Scottish actor Tilda Swinton, who heads the competition jury in Marrakech this year. Swinton, who has just completed shooting a movie (Memoria) with Palme d’Or-winning Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul in Colombia, says the jury will be keeping an open mind while judging the 14-strong competition line-up. “Cinema can hold the best of our dreams and the worst of our fears,” adds the Michael Clayton and Okja actor. “We are all in our psychic pyjamas when we go to cinemas.” The jury includes Afghan author and filmmaker Atiq Rahimi, British actor Andrea Arnold and French actor Chiara Mastroianni.

The festival, which opened with Daniel Craig and Jamie-Lee Curtis-starrer Knives Out, an Agatha Christie-like murder mystery by Stars Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, has gathered a host of A-list stars this year. Born with the aim to bring the finest films from around the world to Morocco and inspire the region’s new generation of filmmakers, the festival has several debut features from West Africa and the Middle East. The festival’s industry platform, the Atlas Workshops, has 28 projects in development and post-production stages selected from 130 submissions representing the depth of ambition in filmmaking in Africa and the Middle East.

Australian cinema has been chosen this year for the festival’s honour to a national cinema, bringing to Marrakech film personalities from Down Under like Driving Miss Daisy director Bruce Beresford and Twin Peaks: The Return TV series actor Naomi Watts. In its 18 editions, the Marrakech festival has bestowed this honour to Indian cinema thrice—first when the homage section began in 2004 and again in 2006 and 2012.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Maharashtra: Congress’ Patole elected unopposed as assembly speaker

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Senior Congress leader Nana F. Patole is set to be declared elected unopposed as the new Speaker of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly here on Sunday.

This became possible after the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday withdrew its nominee, Kisan Kathore from the contest for the prestigious said, according to state party chief Chandrakant Patil.

Patole was the candidate of the ruling Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) which won the vote of confidence in the assembly on Saturday afternoon with 169:000.

A formal announcement is likely to be made later when the Maharashtra Assembly meets later on Sunday for a two-day Special Session.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Maruti Suzuki November sales decline 2%

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Maruti Suzuki India reported a nearly 2 percent drop in sales of its vehicles as the country’s biggest carmaker by market value struggled with a wrenching slowdown, one of the worst in the industry’s history.

Total sales in November fell to 1.5 lakh units and domestic sales were down 1.6 percent at 1.43 lakh from a year ago, Maruti said in a statement.

The year-on-year total sales figure was above a CNBC-TV18 poll of 1.47 lakh units.

Indian automobile sales have been falling for several months, with the industry also battling a credit squeeze, higher insurance costs and a shift towards ride-hailing services such as Ola and Uber.

Maruti’s mid-size car Ciaz showed a 62 percent drop in sales at 1,448 units in November from a year ago. Exports declined 7.7 percent at 6,944 units.

Only compact models such as the new WagonR, Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire as well as Super Carry light commercial vehicle showed an increase, rising by 7.6 percent and 6.5 percent in November.

Maruti reduced production in August and September to cope with the slowdown. The company reduced the number of its temporary workers in August.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Protests across Northeast intensify as Citizenship Bill likely to be passed in Parliament by December 10

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Centre is set to pass the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in the winter session of Parliament as protests in Assam and Northeast by people opposed to it intensified. Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday indicated that the contentious bill, which has already been passed in Lok Sabha, would be tabled in the Rajya Sabha by December 10. “The bill would be tabled in Parliament by December 10. We are hopeful that it will be passed,” said Sarma in Delhi.

“Before the Bill is passed, Assam and the indigenous people of the state will be given constitutional safeguard,” he added, also emphasising that the Centre would implement every recommendation by the high-level committee on Clause 6 of 1985 Assam Accord, “without changing a comma or full stop”.

Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is also the Convenor of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) reiterated that the special provisions in Citizenship Bill would not override the existing provisions in State Acts – indicating that the areas under Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime and those under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution would not come under the ambit of the Bill.

The state minister also outlined the procedural rules under the Bill.

“After the implementation of Citizenship Bill, the applicants (non-Muslim minorities of neighbouring countries) will have to apply for citizenship within a year of its implementation. A self-submission is desired from the applicant stating that he/she suffered religious persecution at a particular location of the neighbouring country, and this will be later verified by the Indian embassy in Dhaka,” said Sarma.

On Saturday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah met political leaders and members of civil society organisations of Assam to discuss about the Bill. Earlier, he had a discussion on the Bill with the stakeholders and political parties of Tripura and Mizoram on Friday. In a final push, the Home Minister is also scheduled to hold talks with the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), on December 3.

“We are satisfied with the clarifications which the Union Home Minister made on the Citizenship Bill. We feel the people of the Northeast have nothing to be worried about,” said Rajya Sabha member from Assam Biswajit Daimary after a discussion with Shah.

However, various organisations in Assam who were present in the meeting with the Home Minister today believe that the tweaked version of the Bill would spell disaster for the state.

“We strongly oppose the Bill, and we have clearly stated that we will not accept anything that violates the Assam Accord,” said AAMSU Advisor Azizur Rahman.

“I would rather choose to die than accept the Citizenship Bill – it will be more dangerous for Assam if some states of the Northeast, which are protected by ILP (inner line permit) and the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, are kept outside the purview of the Bill,” said RTI activist and leader of peasants’ body Krishak Mukti Sangram Samitee (KMSS), Akhil Gogoi.

“Quoting Amit Shah, Daimary said Clause 6 of the Assam Accord will be implemented prior to the Citizenship Bill’s passage. However, under this clause, there are no political and economic safeguards for Assam. Assam will not be safe even if Clause 6 is implemented without the implementation of Clause 5 which says the immigrants, who came after March 24, 1971, are not detected and deported,” Gogoi added.

Badruddin Ajmal’s All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) also said the party would keep opposing the bill which seeks to grant Indian citizenship to “persecuted” non-Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who migrated to India till December 31, 2014.

“We oppose the Citizenship Bill as it is based on religion. We ask the Union Home Minister as to how the government will know if people were religiously persecuted. What machine does it have to detect persecution? Who will give the data on the number of people who came to Assam before December 31, 2014?” the AIUDF asked.

The party said the Bill, if passed, would render the updation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) meaningless.

“If the Bill is passed, it will violate Articles 14 and 19 of the Constitution,” the AIUDF added.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh told journalists in Guwahati that the party would oppose the Bill as well as the country-wide NRC.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow