Context: Twenty Sikhs from Afghanistan have been granted Indian citizenship in the past week in New Delhi. Some of these Afghan Sikhs arrived in India as far back as 1997 and have been residing in the country on a long-term visa. 

• Additionally, there are approximately 400 Afghan Sikhs whose applications for Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Act, 1955, have been pending since 2010. 

• Many of these individuals fled Afghanistan in 1992 following the collapse of the Leftist government.

• Apart from above, a Hindu man from Bangladesh, living in Silchar, Assam since 1988, became the first in northeast India to receive citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) amends the 1955 Citizenship Act. It was passed on December 11, 2019 and received presidential assent the following day. 

Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019

• It amended the Citizenship Amendment Act, 1955, making key modifications to facilitate citizenship to undocumented migrants belonging to 6 non-Muslim groups — Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who entered India on or earlier than December 31, 2014.

• It reduced the period to qualify for citizenship from the existing requirement of continuous stay of 11 years to continuous stay of five years.

• However, Pakistani Hindus have been eligible for citizenship under Section five and Section 6 (1) of the Citizenship Act, 1955. The CAA handiest helped rapid tune the application manner. 

• The Rules provide the very last authority to accord citizenship to an empowered committee headed via the Director, Census Operations, at the same time as the scrutiny of applications filed on-line at the portal was accomplished by a district degree committee (DLC) headed by means of Department of Post officials.

• On successful verification of documents, the DLCs administered the oath of allegiance to the applicants. 

Challenges with the Act

• The right to equality: The challenge to the CAA rests on the ground that it violates Article 14 of the Constitution, which says that “the State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India”.

• Secularism: There is also the bigger difficulty of whether making religion a ground for eligibility for citizenship violates secularism, that is a basic feature of the Constitution.

• Section 6A of The Citizenship Act, 1955 and Assam: Section 6A was introduced in the Citizenship Act after the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985 which determines who’s a foreigner inside the nation of Assam and units March 24, 1971 as a cut off date which contradicts the reduce off date given inside the CAA 2019. 

Citizenship

• Citizenship is listed inside the Union List underneath the Constitution and therefore is under the one-of-a-kind jurisdiction of Parliament.

• The Constitution does not outline the term ‘citizen’ but details of various classes of individuals who are entitled to citizenship are given in Part II (Articles 5 to 11).

• The provisions relating to citizenship have been dealt in Part II of the Constitution of India under Articles 5 to 11. However, these provisions do not contain either any permanent or any elaborate provisions towards citizenship.

• It only identifies the persons who became citizens of India at its commencement (i.e., on January 26, 1950).

Acquisition of Indian Citizenship

• The Citizenship Act of 1955 prescribes five methods of obtaining citizenship:

1. Citizenship conferred by birth

2. Citizenship by descent

3. Citizenship by registration

4. Naturalization leads to citizenship.

5. Territorial incorporation (by the Government of India)

• Under The Indian Citizenship Act, 1955, Persons of Indian Origin aren’t allowed twin citizenship. If a person has ever held an Indian passport and has obtained the passport of some other country, they’re required to surrender their Indian passport.

Termination of Indian Citizenship

1. Renunciation: Any Indian citizen who is also a country wide of any other country who renounces his Indian citizenship within the prescribed way thru a statement ceases to be an Indian citizen.

2. Termination: An Indian citizen’s citizenship can be revoked if he or she knowingly or voluntarily adopts the citizenship of any other country.

3. Deprivation: In some cases, the Indian government may additionally deprive a person of his citizenship. However, this does not apply to all residents. Conditions for deprivation are:

• Obtained the citizenship by using fraud.

• Citizens have shown disloyalty to the Constitution of India.

• Citizens have unlawfully traded or communicated all through the times of battle.

• Within 5 years of naturalization, the stated citizen is imprisoned for a term of  years.

• Citizen has been broadly speaking resident out of India for a period of 7 years.

India is celebrating its 78th Independence Day on August 15, 2024, a historic day that signifies the country's release from the bonds of British colonial control. The government of India has declared the theme for Independence Day celebrations this year as Viksit Bharat or Developed India which represents the vision of a developed nation by 2047 and reflects the centre's commitment to transform India.

This day honours when India became an independent nation by severing its ties to British colonial control in 1947.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoisted the national flag at the iconic Red Fort this morning, today and outlined India’s commitment to become a global leader in semiconductor production, aiming to reduce dependency on imports and enhance technological self-sufficiency.
• He emphasized on driving innovations and positioning the country as a global leader across various sectors including Manufacturing, gaming and design.
• The Prime Minister said that India will become ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047 by overcoming all obstacles if the 140 crore people of the country resolve and move together in one direction.

India is celebrating 78th Independence with great enthusiasm today( 15 august 2024). On this special day Indian army installed Army tank T-55 as a symbol of victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war at Babri bypass in Gurdaspur town. 

 This tank played an important role in the victory and defeated the enemy in Nanokot, Basantar and Garibpur areas.

The Central Armed Forces Combat Vehicle Depot Pune has presented it to the Gurdaspur authorities as a war trophy.

This tank was included in the Indian armoured unit in 1966.

The Environment Ministry Shri Bhupender Yadav on Wednesday (August 14, 2024) said that three more wetlands in India have been designated ‘Ramsar sites’. This brings the total number of such sites in India to 85.

The three new Ramsar sites are Nanjarayan Bird Sanctuary and Kazhuveli Bird Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu and Tawa Reservoir in Madhya Pradesh.

Nanjarayan Bird Sanctuary - The Nanjarayan lake is large shallow wetland in Tiruppur district of Tamil Nadu. The wetlands in this region depend mainly on weather conditions, especially on heavy rain water flow from Nallar drainage. 

Kazhuveli Bird Sanctuary - The Kazhuveli Bird Sanctuary covering an area of 5151.6 ha is a brackish shallow lake located on the Coromandel Coast in Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu. The lake is connected to the Bay of Bengal by the Uppukalli creek and the Edayanthittu Estuary.

Tawa Reservoir - Tawa reservoir has been constructed at the confluence of the Tawa and Denwa rivers. Tawa originates from Mahadeo hills in Chhindwara district, flows through Betul district and joins river Narmada in Narmadapuram district. 

India will host the third Voice of Global South Summit in the virtual format on August 17 with a view to pitch for a sustainable future for the developing countries.

• India had hosted the 1st Voice of Global South Summit (VOGSS) on 12-13 January 2023, and the 2nd Voice of Global South Summit on 17 November 2023, both in virtual format. 
• The 3rd VOGSS, with the overarching theme of "An Empowered Global South for a Sustainable Future”, will act as a platform to expand discussions held in the previous Summits on a range of complex challenges that continue to affect the world, such as conflicts, food and energy security crises, climate change - all of which disproportionately affect developing countries in a severe manner.
• At the Summit, the countries of the Global South would continue deliberations on challenges, priorities, and solutions for the Global South, particularly in the developmental domain.

Senior IAS officer Govind Mohan was appointed the next Union Home Secretary, succeeding Ajay Kumar Bhalla, according to an official order.

Mohan, presently serving as Secretary, Ministry of Culture, will join as Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

He hails from Uttar Pradesh and served as joint secretary and additional secretary in the Union Home Ministry before being appointed as secretary in the Ministry of Culture in October 2021.

Actor Khushbu Sundar, a national executive member of the BJP, has resigned as a member of the National Commission for Women.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development has accepted her resignation with effect from June 28.

She thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the opportunity to function as a member of the NCW.

She said she will start engaging in active politics immediately.

National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma's tenure ended on Tuesday(6 August 2024 ). Sharma, 60, assumed the charge of the NCW chairperson on August 7, 2018.

• She has been associated with the NCW as a member since August, 2015 and held the additional charge as the chairperson from September 29, 2017 before becoming its chief in 2018.
• Sharma has been a vocal advocate of gender sensitisation of the police personnel since they are the first point of contact for the victims.
• Sharma courted many controversies in her tenure with the latest one being the alleged non-action in Manipur.

Morne Morkel, the former South Africa fast bowler, has been appointed as the bowling coach of the Indian men's team.  After weeks of speculation, the signing was formally confirmed by BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Wednesday (14 August 2024)

Morkel replaced former India fast bowler Paras Mhambrey, and his appointment completes India's coaching staff, which comprises head coach Gautam Gambhir, assistant coaches Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate, and fielding coach T Dilip.

Morkel was Pakistan's bowling coach until last December.

His name was recommended by Gambhir, who worked with him for two seasons (2022-23) at Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL as well as at Durban Super Giants in the SA20.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Army have successfully conducted a series of comprehensive test firings of indigenously developed Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM) at Pokhran Field Firing Range in Jaisalmer district.

The trials,  were witnessed by a panel of experts from both Army and DRDO, who thoroughly evaluated the missile's performance across various flight configurations and operational parameters.

• MPATGM is a a shoulder-launched, portable missile system, specifically designed to counter enemy tanks and armoured vehicles.
• It Weighs approximately 14.5 kg, with an additional 14.25 kg for the command launch unit (CLU), the missile is a lightweight, cylindrical weapon featuring two sets of four radial fins.
• Its high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) shaped charge warhead, combined with an operational range of 200 to 4,000 metres, makes it a formidable asset on the battlefield.