On Tuesday, November 21, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Akbaruddin Owaisi, notorious for his inflammatory speeches, threatened an on-duty police officer who asked him to follow the model code of conduct during a poll rally in Lalitabagh, Hyderabad.
The AIMIM leader warned that the police inspector better leave the venue, indicating that a “signal” from him to his supporters would be sufficient to ensure that he had to “run” from the site.
Akbaruddin Owaisi, who is contesting from the Chandrayangutta Assembly seat in the assembly elections, was enraged when a police inspector from Santoshnagar arrived and requested his party leaders to end the meeting on time.
AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi's brother sparks a row.
“Goliyaan chaku ki baat sunke samjhe hum kamzor hogye haan? (Do you think I became weak after facing knives and bullets?). Abhi bhi bohot himmat hai (I still have a lot of courage in me). Paanch minute hain, bolunga panch minute (Five minutes are remaining, and I’ll address the crowd). Koi maai ka laal paida nahi hua mujhe rokne ke liye (No one is born yet who has the guts to stop me). If I give them [crowd] a signal, you’ll have to run; should we make him run? This is what I mean when I say they come like this to weaken us,” Owaisi harangued.
Notably, Akbaruddin Owaisi has a history of making inflammatory and inciteful speeches. Back in 2012, Akbaruddin Owaisi made an inflammatory speech against Hindus. In his speech, he was seen taking many jibes at Hindu Gods and Goddesses while making an open challenge to Hindus for their survival if the police were to be removed for 15 minutes.
Akbaruddin Owaisi, who is running for reelection in Chandrayangutta, is the wealthiest candidate in his party. According to the latest affidavit, the AIMIM legislator has immovable properties worth approximately 4.50 crore, and those of his spouse are worth approximately 4.95 crore. Their respective liabilities are 2.89 crore and 5.96 crore. Four separate FIRs have been filed against Owaisi at different police stations.
In October 2022, two protestors of the UK-based group ‘Just Stop Oil’ Marcus Decker and Morgan Trowland disrupted traffic for almost 40 hours on one of the busiest bridges in the United Kingdom. In support of the Just Stop Oil ‘activist’ group, they climbed the cables supporting the Queen Elizabeth II suspension bridge in Dartford, Kent, and stopped the traffic flow. Both of them were convicted of causing a public nuisance.
(Convicted Just Stop Oil protestors, Image Source – The Standard)
Decker was served two years and seven months jail term while Trowland received a three-year sentence. As per British media reports, these were the longest sentences passed on ‘non-violent protesters’ in the UK.
Earlier in the day (21st November), a UN expert while defending both the protestors slammed the UK government. He argued that these long jail terms violate International law adding that this could have a follow-on effect on civil society.
The UN expert said that long sentences handed to two Just Stop Oil protesters for scaling the M25 bridge over the Thames are a potential breach of international law and risk silencing public concerns about the environment, as reported by The Guardian.
The UN’s rapporteur for climate change and human rights, Ian Fry said that he was “particularly concerned” as according to him the sentences were “significantly more severe than previous sentences imposed for this type of offending in the past”. He defended them noting that Decker and Trowland have the right to peaceful protest.
He said, “I am gravely concerned about the potential flow-on effect that the severity of the sentences could have on civil society and the work of activists, expressing concerns about the triple planetary crisis and, in particular, the impacts of climate change on human rights and on future generations.”
Rishi Sunak slams UN expert
Hours after the UN expert raised questions on the UK government, UK PM Rishi Sunak slammed him for arguing that lengthy sentences for climate protesters could curb freedoms in the UK. Sunak asserted that it was “entirely right” to hand “tough sentences” to “selfish protestors” who cause misery for the general public.
Taking to X, he wrote, “Those who break the law should feel the full force of it. It’s entirely right that selfish protestors intent on causing misery to the hard-working majority face tough sentences. It’s what the public expects and it’s what we’ve delivered.”
Those who break the law should feel the full force of it.
It's entirely right that selfish protestors intent on causing misery to the hard-working majority face tough sentences.
UN’s rapporteur for climate change and human rights Fry had also sought an explanation from the UK government asking, “why, in light of the current climate crisis, it was necessary to introduce and pass the Public Order Act and how both the Public Order Act and the sentencing of Mr. Decker and Mr. Trowland are compatible with international norms and standards.”
He demanded that ministers should highlight “what steps have been taken … to ensure that non-governmental organisations, civil society organisations, and all human rights defenders can carry out their peaceful work free from threat, violence, harassment or retaliation or any sort”.
However, the UK government has not given any reply to Fry’s letter, which was reportedly sent on 15th August. His letter dated 15th August, also highlighted that a letter was also sent on 22nd December in which he demanded an explanation of how provisions in the Public Order Act could be reconciled with international human rights law. The earlier letter was signed by Fry and four other rapporteurs which also remained unanswered by the UK government, Fry’s second letter noted.
Just Stop Oil
In the meantime, there has been no response from the UK Home Office to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Just Stop Oil said, “Our politicians are planning to kill countless million souls and destroy the rights and freedoms that we have struggled to achieve. That is the brutal reality of climate collapse, hinted at by Dr Ian Fry.”
Calling people to hit the street, the Spokesperson of the ‘activist’ group added, “If the government is willing to ignore a letter from the UN what chance they will listen to ordinary people writing letters to their MPs? We need to get on the streets, we need to resist and stand with those political prisoners jailed for defending their future. Slow march with us in London, from Trafalgar Square … 12 noon every day.”
As per the activist group, ‘Just Stop Oil’ is a nonviolent civil resistance group. It wants the UK Government should stop licensing all new oil, gas, and coal projects in the country. On their website, the group provokes people to hit the street stating “When petitions don’t work we hit the streets,” amplified multiple times. They appeal to them to join its ongoing ‘Slow March’ luring protestors with two options. If they skip the protest they would have to spend their own money whereas the protestors will enjoy “Free” Breakfast at the Police station and get ‘media attention’ as well.
(Incentives for Slow March as per the group’s Website – Free Media publicity)
(Electricity generation bucket for UK, Image Source – BBC)
As per a BBC report, around 40% of the Electricity generation of the UK is powered by these resources. i.e., Coal, Oil, and Gas.
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has issued an order to provisionally attach properties worth Rs. 751.9 Crore in a money-laundering case investigated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 against Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and Young Indian (YI), a release said.
Investigation revealed that Associated Journals Ltd. (AJL) is in possession of proceeds of crime in the form of immovable properties spread across many cities of India such as Delhi, Mumbai and Lucknow to the tune of Rs. 661.69 Crore and Young Indian (YI) is in possession of proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs. 90.21 Crore in the form of investment in equity shares of AJL.
ED initiated a money-laundering investigation on the basis of a process issued by the Court of Metropolitan Magistrate of Delhi after taking cognizance of a private complaint vide order dated June 26, 2014.
“The Court held that seven accused persons including Young India, prima facie committed offences of criminal breach of trust under section 406 of IPC, cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property under section 420 of IPC, dishonest misappropriation of property under section 403 and criminal conspiracy under 120B of IPC,” the release added.
The Court held that the accused persons hatched a criminal conspiracy to acquire properties worth hundreds of Crores of AJL through a special purpose vehicle, Young Indian. AJL was given land on concessional rates in various cities of India for the purpose of publishing newspapers. AJL closed its publishing operations in 2008 and started using the properties for commercial purposes.
“AJL had to repay a loan of Rs. 90.21 Crore to All India Congress Committee (AICC), however, AICC treated the said loan of Rs.90.21 Crore as non-recoverable from AJL and sold it for Rs.50 lakhs to a newly incorporated company—Young Indian without any source of income to pay even Rs.50 lakh. By their action, the shareholders of AJL as well as donors of Congress Party were cheated by the office bearers of AJL and Congress Party,” the release said.
ED investigation revealed that after purchasing the loan of Rs.90.21 Crore from AICC, Young India demanded either repayment of the loan or allotment of equity shares of AJL to it. AJL held an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) and passed a resolution to increase share capital and issue fresh shares worth Rs.90.21 Crore to YI.
“With this fresh allotment of shares, shareholding of more than 1000 shareholders was reduced to a mere 1% and AJL became a subsidiary company of YI which also took control over properties of AJL,” the release added.
Further investigation is under progress.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
On 21st November (Tuesday), a two-judge Supreme Court bench pulled up Patanjali Ayurved for “publishing misleading claims and advertisements against modern systems of medicine”, Live Law reported. The bench also issued a stern warning to the company stating that it would impose a Rs 1 crore fine on every product if the company made false claims that the product ‘cures’ a particular disease.
The two-judge bench hearing the matter comprises Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Prashant Kumar Mishra. Justice Amanullah said, “All such false and misleading advertisements of Patanjali Ayurved have to stop immediately. The Court will take any such infraction very seriously, and the Court will also consider imposing costs to the extent of Rs. 1 crores on every product regarding which a false claim is made that it can “cure” a particular disease.”
#BREAKING#SupremeCourt comes down heavily at the advertisements of #Patanjali Ayurveda against modern medicines and vaccination.#SupremeCourt asks #Patanjali to not make any misleading advertisements or false claims; warns that hefty penalties will be imposed.
The bench directed Patanjali that it must refrain from making casual statements in the press and shall not make any such advertisements in the future.
However, the bench asserted that it did not wish to make the issue an “Allopathy v. Ayurveda” debate rather it wanted real solutions to the problem of misleading medical advertisements.
The bench has asked the Union government to come up with a viable solution to solve the problem of misleading medical advertisements. The next hearing in the case will now take place on 5th February 2024.
Notably, the bench is hearing a petition filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) against misleading advertisements. In its writ petition, the IMA has raised concerns which according to them are a “continuous, systematic, and unabated spread of misinformation” regarding allopathy and the modern system of medicine.
IMA accuses Patanjali of making disparaging remarks on allopathy
According to the IMA’s petition, Patanjali’s misleading advertisements disparage allopathy and make false claims about curing certain diseases. The IMA has also accused Patanjali of spreading false rumours about COVID-19 vaccines and contributing to vaccine hesitancy.
Last year, the Supreme Court pulled up the company’s founder Baba Ramdev for making statements against modern medicine systems like Allopathy while while issuing notice in this matter.
The then Chief Justice of India NV Ramana had said, “What happened to Baba Ramdev? He can popularise his system, but why should he criticise other systems? We all respect him, he popularised yoga but he shouldn’t criticise other systems. What is the guarantee that his system will work? He cannot refuse the doctor system. He must exercise restraint in abusing other systems.”
On Tuesday (21st November), Kerala police charged 14 CPM and DYFI workers for attacking Youth Congress individuals who allegedly raised black flags and rushed in front of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his ministers’ Nava Kerala Sadas bus. The Pazhayangadi police department has opened an investigation into the case.
According to the FIR, the activists attacked the Youth Congress workers with helmets, flower pots, and iron rods. Earlier, six KSU and Youth Congress workers were arrested on Monday (20th November) whilst waving black flags at the Kerala Chief Minister’s cavalcade.
As part of the state government’s outreach program, Nava Kerala Sadas, CM Pinarayi Vijayan, and his cabinet were passing through the Pazhayangadi area in north Kerala when the Youth Congress members staged a protest.
Following the incident, CM Vijayan asserted to a large crowd at Taliparamba that those who rushed in front of his cavalcade were given specific instructions and had an agenda. He stated that Congress will not be able to “undermine the event’s success” by flying a black flag.
Pinarayi Vijayan also praised DYFI workers for their ‘efforts’ in rescuing protesters who jumped in front of the bus carrying him and cabinet ministers. He described it as an exemplary act. He also said that the intention of the CPM and DYFI activists was to save the protesters.
Meanwhile, in a statement, the CPI(M) state secretariat expressed similar sentiments, claiming that the Congress party was attempting to disrupt the Nava Kerala Sadas by causing disruption. The injured members of the Youth Congress have been admitted to a private hospital in Taliparamba. The Youth Congress also claimed that police had taken a few of their workers into preventive custody earlier in the day.
“A large section of the public is attending the Nava Kerala Sadas. The frustration at seeing its success leads to these reckless protests. Such demonstrations are not appropriate for a democratic system,” CM Vijayan said. He further urged protesters to refrain from such actions.
“We don’t oppose democratic protests against government action. But what happens if you jump in front of a moving vehicle with a black flag? It’s not protest, it’s aggression. An accident involving such an act would cause all kinds of publicity. The intention behind it is to change the normalcy,” he added.
Hindu groups in Canada have taken it upon themselves to counter misinformation against the Swastika amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. A rise in anti-semitism has been symbolised by the growing display of the Nazi symbol, the Hakenkreuz, meaning the tilted cross, which the West conveniently calls as Swastika, thereby demonising the Hindu symbol and safeguarding the original hateful Hakenkreuz.
On 5th November, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called out a display of the Nazi Hakenkreuz during a pro-Palestinian rally in Ottawa, however, he called the symbol a Swastika, which is originally a Hindu symbol.
Hindu netizens slammed Trudeau and now, Canadian Hindus have launched a campaign to reclaim the Swastika. Under the ‘Reclaim Swastika’ campaign, Canadian Hindus are explaining the difference between the Nazi Hakenkreuz and the Hindu Swastika.
The Canadian Organisation for Hindu Heritage Education (COHHE) took to X, formerly Twitter, to announce the campaign. “Our #ReclaimSacredSwastika campaign needs your support to get the message to all police forces and politicians across Canada to decriminalize our Sacred Swastika.”
Our #ReclaimSacredSwastika campaign needs your support to get the message to all police forces and politicians across Canada to decriminalize our Sacred Swastika. We ask all Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and our allies TO REPLY WITH A POST OF A PHOTO OF THE SACRED SWASTIKA inside… pic.twitter.com/Mt9lwmveKC
The group has also reached out to Buddhists, Jains and all allies to post images of the Swastika inside and outside their homes, temples, stores and elsewhere for awareness.
“We are looking for 1008 photos. Will you please help? Let’s all work together to educate everyone about the sacred Swastika and have it delinked from the Nazi Hate Symbol,” COHHE stated on X.
On 15th November, COHHE wrote a letter to the Toronto Police and Mayor Olivia Chow requesting them to call the Nazi hate symbol Hakenkreuz or Hooked cross and not Swastika, a Hindu symbol described by a Hindu word.
“Call For Action! Reclaim Swastika. @TorontoPolice website declares the swastika as a hate symbol and its public display a hate-motivated crime. https://tps.ca/hate-motivated-crime/ COHHE has written a letter to them and the @MayorOliviaChow requesting them to call the Nazi hate symbol Hakenkruez or Hooked Cross and not as a swastika which is a sacred symbol and word for Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, among others. We invite individuals and organizations to co-sign this letter so @TorontoPolice, police services across Canada, and all politicians can be educated to delink the Swastika from the Nazi hate symbol,” the group wrote.
In the wake of Bangladesh’s poor performance in the World Cup 2023, a video of Shakib Al Hasan being pulled, and thrashed by a mob is going viral on the internet. It is being claimed that the Bangladeshi Captain Shakib was mobbed by angry Bangladeshi fans on his return to the country. The viral video was also shared by some media portals claiming that the Bangladeshi skipper was ‘brutally beaten’/ ‘assaulted’ after the team’s World Cup debacle.
Kalesh b/w Bangladeshi Fans and Shakib al hasan, when he returned to Bangladesh after poor World Cup campaign pic.twitter.com/C7DQK93gAk
Journalist Anil Tiwari who writes for Qatari mouthpiece Aljazeera, as per his Twitter bio, tweeted, “Bangladeshi fans assaulted their captain Shakib Al Hasan. Just yesterday, they were celebrating India’s defeat. Utterly disgraceful behaviour.”
Bangladeshi fans assaulted their captain Shakib Al Hasan. Just yesterday, they were celebrating India's defeat. Utterly disgraceful behavior. #CricketWorldCup#Cricket#Bangladesh
Here are some headlines from media portals making those claims alongside sharing the viral video.
A Cricket portal named OneCricket headlined (Archive) “[Watch] Shakib Al Hasan Gets ‘Brutally Beaten’ By Bangladesh Fans After Horrific World Cup Run”
(Screenshot of the article making those claims)
Notably, Bangladesh performed badly and finished in the eighth spot in the recently concluded World Cup, falling way below the fans’ expectations. The Shakib Al Hasan-led side only managed to win 2 games and the skipper himself had an unforgettable outing. He had to bench himself in some games due to injury concerns.
However, the claims being made on the basis of the viral videos are fake. The video doing rounds on the internet is an old video. The said incident involving Shakib Al Hasan captured in the video took place in March this year, that is the video is 8 months old. It is not linked with Bangladesh’s poor performance at the World Cup or Shakib’s below-per-performance. Additionally, the Bangladeshi skipper was not assaulted or mobbed on his return to the country after the team’s World Cup debacle, as claimed on the internet.
The incident took place in Dubai on 16th March when Shakib Al Hasan went for a commercial event at a Jewelry store.
After his series against England in March this year, Shakib flew to Dubai to inaugurate a gold jewelry shop that was owned by Arav Khan. Khan is a Bangladeshi fugitive and wanted in the murder case of a police official.
At the time of the incident, Shakib was surrounded by fans who went out of control and he tried to rush out. However, in the chaos, he almost fell over while fans kept pulling his collar to stop him and take selfies with him. As seen from the video and confirmed by media reports of that time, he had no security around him to keep fans in check.
Regarding the Dubai incident involving Shakib, the Additional commissioner (detective) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) told the media that the man (Robiul Islam) who uploaded the video is from Bangladesh. The Police official added that Islam had murdered a police officer and had taken an Indian passport. He noted that the accused then went on to live in Dubai and despite knowing his criminal past Shakib went to his event.
It is important to note here that Arav Khan’s original name is Robiul Islam. He hails from Kotalipara in Gopalganj and fled the country after charges of murder.
The officer added that as part of the investigation, the Bangladeshi Cricket team’s captain might also be quizzed.
Sharing reports and details of the original incident, several Twitter users called out the fake claims being made about Shakib Al Hasan. The users slammed individuals and media outlets for peddling these false claims, particularly those who connected the recent setback for Bangladesh with an older video depicting fans pulling his shirt, falsely portraying it as a case of him being manhandled or assaulted while attempting to take a selfie.
This footage from Dubai in purposes of business and the audio was taken from a tv Drama
I hope you recover from the hated of your own bitrthland. Fake voice alert This is a 8 months old video from dubai.where he went for promotion and fans wanted to take it photo with him.Crowd went out of control.Such a disgusting thing that it is morphed by a Bangladeshi Kohli fan pic.twitter.com/89qzTQvfsf
Some users accused that the fake claims were peddled by Kohli fans in Bangladesh. A Twitter user wrote, “I hope you recover from the hated of your own birthland. Fake voice alert. This is an 8-month-old video from Dubai where he went for promotion and fans wanted to take it photo with him. Crowd went out of control. Such a disgusting thing that it is morphed by a Bangladeshi Kohli fan.”
On 21st November (Tuesday), Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in a bizarre argument, blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for India’s defeat in the ODI Cricket World Cup Final. The Wayanad MP argued that the unbeaten Indian Cricket team would have went on to win the world cup but Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he referred to as ‘Panauti’ (bad omen/unlucky charm), made them lose the match.
The Congress prince made this remark while addressing an election rally in Rajasthan’s Jalore. Rahul Gandhi said, “Modi comes on TV and says ‘Hindu- Muslim’ and sometimes goes to a cricket match. It is a different matter that the match was lost. Panauti.”
Targeting PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi added, “Achhe bhale hamare ladke waha pe World Cup jeet jaate, par panauti harwa diya (our boys were almost winning the World Cup, but the ‘bad omen’ made them lose).”
Taking to its official X (formerly Twitter) handle, the Congress party also shared the clip with the caption in Hindi, “Panauti (with a wink emoji)”.
It is important to note that PM Narendra Modi was accompanied by Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, which was a scheduled event as part of India’s reformed ‘Cricket Diplomacy’ rather than a personal outing of the Indian Prime Minister. Additionally, by the time, both leaders made entry into the stadium to watch the 19th November Cricket World Cup final, Australian batters had heavily titled the match in their favour.
However, according to the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, PM Modi’s entry at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad turned the match on its head otherwise Indian bowlers would have bundled out remaining seven Australian batters for less than 70 odd runs.
Following his remark, BJP leader and former Union Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad slammed Rahul Gandhi for his ‘Panauti’ remark. He said, “Rahul Gandhi chose the wrong words. What has happened to him?”
Prasad reminded Rahul Gandhi that earlier his mother Sonia Gandhi called PM Modi ‘maut ka saudagar’ at a poll rally in Gujarat and suffered political consequences for it. The BJP leader added, “Your party has not been able to win in Gujarat after your mother’s remarks. You should learn from the past.”
Cricketers lauded PM Modi for motivating Indian players
Meanwhile, yesterday (20th November), Indian Cricketers Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammad Shami shared pictures with Prime Minister Narendra Modi noting that his visit to the dressing room was ‘special’ and ‘motivating’. In the visuals, PM Modi was seen hugging pacer Mohammed Shami.
#WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Team India in their dressing room after the ICC World Cup Finals at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on 19th November.
The PM spoke to the players and encouraged them for their performance throughout the tournament.
Earlier in the day (21st November), ANI shared a video revealing PM Modi’s conversation with the Indian players when he went to console them following the upset for the host side. During the interaction, PM Modi personally Invited them to meet him in Delhi and asked Indian players to keep their spirits high. He said, “You reached here after winning 10 matches. These things happen.”
Despite tall promises by Punjab’s Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of putting an end to stubble burning in Punjab, the farm fires in the state rose to 35,000+ in the recent Kharif season. In November 2022, CM Bhagwant Mann and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal held a press conference that promised to end stubble burning by 2023. However, things did not go as per their promises and the so-called plans.
Source: gis-prsc.punjab.gov.in
Stubble burning usually starts around 15th September and continues till the third week of November, which is the time for sowing wheat for the Rabi season. This year, stubble-burning incidents were minimal for the first thirty days as Punjab reported only 1,389 incidents between 15th September and 17th October.
Source: gis-prsc.punjab.gov.in
However, things went south quickly in the following 30 days. From 18th October, there was a rise in the incidents. By 27th October, it was clear that stubble burning was going to be a significant issue for this year as well, and on that day, Punjab reported 766 incidents in a single day.
The situation kept getting worse, and on 29th October, the incidents crossed the 1,000 mark, with 1,068 stubble-burning incidents in a single day. On 5th November, the highest number of such incidents in a single day was reported at 3,230. It continued to remain between 1,500 and 2,000 for the next three days.
Source: gis-prsc.punjab.gov.in
From 8th November to 10th November, the Supreme Court of India slammed the Punjab government for its inability to curb farm fires and ordered the state machinery to stop stubble burning. On 10th November, there were only six reported incidents; on 11th November, there were only 104 incidents reported by the state.
However, on the day of Diwali, i.e. 12th November, the state reported a severe spike, and 984 incidents took place. For the next few days, the incidents stayed above the 1,000 mark and peaked with 2,544 incidents on 15th November. The number of incidents came down between 18th November and 20th November, with 637 and 634 incidents reported on these two days. Still, it is not because of the actions that the government took but because wheat sowing is almost complete in the state. Ideally, Wheat sowing should be done by 15th November to get a good yield.
Meanwhile, AAP leaders pointed fingers at Hindus and Diwali for rising pollution in the national capital. However, data showed that after Diwali, Delhi’s AQI was far better compared to peak stubble-burning days. They also blamed Haryana and UP for the pollution while giving Punjab a clean chit. Interestingly, reports suggest that during the Kharif season, only 2,085 stubble-burning incidents were reported in Haryana and 2,649 were reported in Uttar Pradesh.
With 35,000+ stubble-burning incidents in Punjab, there is a stark difference compared to the two states bordering Delhi. It is unclear on what basis AAP leaders claimed Haryana and UP were responsible for the pollution and not Punjab.
Interestingly, Delhi minister Atishi blamed UP for polluting the Yamuna River as well in a recent statement despite the fact that Yamuna water flows from Delhi to UP and not from UP to Delhi.
Supreme court rapped Punjab government over stubble burning, asked to learn from Haryana
On 21st November, the Supreme Court of India criticised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Punjab government for handling stubble burning. Notably, the court has categorically stated that stubble burning is one of the significant contributors to air pollution in Delhi-NCR. However, the court also observed that farmers are being “unfairly” portrayed as villains in the situation. The apex court emphasised the need to listen to their concerns.
SC: The Committee will look at the solutions.
Sr Adv Vikas Singh: Action needs to be taken against …
Justice Dhulia: Because farmer is being made villain, and not being heard. He must be having some reason for doing this. But whom can we issue notice to?#SupremeCourt…
During the hearing, it was highlighted that despite 8,481 meetings with farmers and farmer union leaders, the efforts to curb stubble burning did not yield significant results. The court was informed that legal action was being taken against those who indulged in stubble burning, and 984 FIRs were registered in related matters. Furthermore, the state imposed fines worth Rs 2 crores on farmers, some of which have already been recovered.
The bench comprising of Justice SK Kaul and S Dhulia questioned the Punjab government why the process of crop residue disposal could not be made entirely free. The court suggested Punjab should learn from Haryana as the state provides financial incentives to the farmers for not burning stubble.
The court pointed out the issue of depleting water table and arid land in Punjab. Furthermore, it urged farmers to understand the consequences of growing paddy. The apex court advised the state of Punjab to explore alternatives and encouraged the Bhagwant Mann-led government to learn from the Manohar Lal Khattar-led Haryana government for sustainable practices around farming and stubble. The Attorney General of Punjab was asked to find ways to discourage paddy cultivation and promote other crops in the state.
Farmer unions protested against FIRs
On 20th November, 18 farmer unions protested over legal actions taken by the Punjab government against farmers in cases related to stubble burning. They protested at deputy commissioner offices across 34 locations. Fifteen Samyukt Kisan Morcha-affiliated unions and 18 other farmer unions participated in the protests. They demanded the withdrawal of FIRs, fines and other punitive measures taken by the state government. Union convener Sarwan Singh Pandher expressed his concerns over FIRs, environmental compensation, and red entries in land records of the farmers and land owners where stubble was burnt.
The four-hour symbolic protest led by farmer unions was meant to criticise the authorities for alleged inaction towards industries causing pollution. At some locations in Ludhiana, farmers also clashed with the police. On the other hand, in Mohali, farmers burnt stubble outside the DC office. The union leaders called for introspection on post-Diwali air quality and challenged the tendency to blame farmers. They further vowed to reveal the next course of action soon, highlighting broader discontent and demanded a sustainable solution in the agriculture sector.
Notably, the FIRs and fines imposed on farmers for stubble burning were revoked in previous years after farmers protested over it.
OpIndia’s detailed coverage of stubble burning can be checked here.
Trouble is mounting for edtech major Byju’s. Reports claim that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a notice to the firm asking it to pay Rs 9,000 crore for allegedly violating foreign funding laws.
Byju’s has denied receiving any such communication from the central agency. Taking to X, the company wrote, “Byju’s unequivocally denies media reports that insinuate Byju’s of any FEMA violation. The company has not received any such communication from authorities.”
The development comes a day after the company failed to meet the deadline to clear the dues of the employees who were laid off. According to Moneycontrol, Byju’s had shifted the date of payment from September to November. The employees were reportedly promised their dues by 17th November.
The financial allegations come following ED raids at three premises in Bengaluru in a case linked to Byju’s founder and CEO Byju Raveendaran and his company ‘Think & Learn Private Limited’ under the FEMA provisions in May.
Byju’s reportedly received foreign direct investment (FDI) amounting to about Rs 28,000 crore between 2011 and 2023. The edtech major reportedly remitted around Rs 9,754 crore to foreign jurisdictions during the same time in the name of overseas direct investment.
According to the ED, Think and Learn Pvt Ltd, which runs the ed-tech platform BYJUs, had spent around Rs 944 crore in the name of advertising and marketing expenses.
At the same time, the company did not prepare its financial statements from the financial year 2020-21 and did not audit the accounts. Therefore, it is being investigated.
The ED raids came following complaints made by private individuals. Many summonses were issued in Raveendran’s name, but he avoided ED and never appeared.
