Daily Briefing: Pak summons top Indian diplomat over hate speeches; 5G to be rolled out next year in major cities first

From the Front Page

In an unusual intervention days after a ‘Dharam Sansad’ held in Haridwar saw a series of hate speeches targeting Muslims and calling for violence and assassination, Pakistan’s foreign ministry summoned the most senior Indian diplomat at the High Commission in Islamabad and asked him to convey their “serious concerns”. While critical statements by foreign ministries are common, summoning of Indian diplomats about incidents related to minorities in India is rare.

Hours after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted that the “Union Ministry froze all bank accounts” of Missionaries of Charity, the iconic Kolkata-based organisation founded by Mother Teresa, the Ministry of Home Affairs said it “refused” to renew the NGO’s registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) on December 25 based on “adverse inputs”. The Home Ministry did not specify what the “adverse inputs” were. The Ministry and Missionaries of Charity said in separate statements, however, that the organisation’s accounts were not frozen by the Government. 

Fifth generation wireless technology (5G), which will allow faster and more responsiveness Internet services, will be rolled out in the four metros and other big cities next year, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said. While dates are yet to be decided, 5G spectrum auctions will be held ahead of the rollout.

Must Read

In the run up to the Punjab Assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party scored a big win in the Chandigarh municipal polls, wresting 14 of the 35 wards. The BJP, which had swept the previous polls, finished second with 12. The Congress won eight wards and the Akali Dal 1. AAP managed to trump the BJP despite fielding first-timers and running a low-key campaign. The BJP in contrast roped in Union ministers as well as several of its chief ministers to canvass for its nominees, and sought votes in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

It’s the “hush-hush” wedding that no one can stop talking about in Bihar. Twenty days after Tejashwi Yadav tied the knot with his school sweetheart Rachel Godinho — a.k.a. Rajshree — the marriage is the message in the state’s caste-driven politics. And as his rivals read between the lines, the young RJD president’s honeymoon may have just got extended.

And Finally

Sport loomed large on their legend all their life. Then Covid struck snatching away lives and leaving entire families grieving and without a safety net or earning members. Some of the tragic tales.

Delhi Confidential: Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP MPs seemed closest to the BJP in the just-concluded winter session of Parliament – the party’s leaders even tried to mediate in order to break the stalemate in Rajya Sabha over suspension of 12 Opposition MPs. On Monday, YSRCP leader Vijaysai Reddy surprised everyone, tweeting pictures of himself with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.

In today’s Three Things podcast, we talk about why 93 Aam Aadmi Party leaders, including 10 college students, have been jailed in Ahmedabad for the past one week; concerns over how the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2021 will affect personal laws; and a recent religious event in Chhattisgarh that was similar to the controversial Dharam Sansad that took place in Haridwar