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Kerala Youth Commission head and former SFI leader in plagiarism row for allegedly copying her dissertation from an online platform

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala Youth Commission head and former SFI leader in plagiarism row for allegedly copying her dissertation from an online platform

Kerala Youth Commission chairperson, and former SFI leader, Chintha Jerome has found herself in the middle of a controversy over the allegations of plagiarism in her dissertation submitted for the doctorate. The Save University Campaign Committee (SUCC) has filed a petition in the matter to Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan to direct the authorities to review her doctorate.

Reports suggest that Jerome faced criticism for incorrectly attributing poet Changampuzha Krishna Pillai’s popular work Vazhakkula to another well-known poet Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon. She submitted her dissertation titled ‘Ideological Underpinnings in Select Malayalam Commercial Films of the Post-Liberation Era’ in 2021.

In the petition, RS Sasikumar, chairman of SUCC, and convener M Shajarkhan alleged that the error showed the candidate has a lack of knowledge. They also accused Jerome of negligence. Furthermore, it has been alleged that parts of her thesis were directly copied from Bodhi Commons, an internet portal.

SUCC also accused the research supervisor of the lapse. They demanded action against both Jerome and the supervisor. They said the university authorities, including the Vice-Chancellor, are responsible for quality control in the process leading to the award of Ph.D. degrees. They said the university authorities should also be held accountable for the errors.

SUCC demanded that former Pro Vice Chancellor of Kerala University, PP Ajayakumar, who was Jerome’s guide, should be removed from his post as director of the Human Resource Development Centre. They said that her dissertation was picked from various published articles and the internet. Calling it a serious lapse on part of the guide, they said, “Universities are supposed to ensure originality and creativity. Those holding top positions in these institutions should not encourage the deliberate violation of ethical and academic standards.”

The Kerala Students Union (KSU) also demanded the cancellation of Jerome’s doctorate. In a statement Aloysius Xavier, KSU President, said that the degree without proper scrutiny has brought Jerome under suspicion.

In a statement, Jerome expressed regret for the errors she made in the dissertation. She said, “Many academics read the thesis but the mistake was not noticed. The error was incidental and will be corrected when the dissertation will be published in book form. Thanks to those who pointed out the error.”

Speaking about the accusations of plagiarism, she said that the content was not copied but the “idea was taken”. She further added that the references were properly cited in the dissertation including Bodhi commons.

Gujarat: Asaram Bapu gets life imprisonment in 2013 rape case

ANI
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Gujarat: Asaram Bapu gets life imprisonment in 2013 rape case

A court in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar on Tuesday sentenced self-styled godman Asaram to life imprisonment in connection with a 2013 sexual assault case. 

Asaram is sentenced to life imprisonment under Sections 376 & 377 in a sexual assault case. Court ordered Rs 50,000 ex-gratia to the victim, Public Prosecutor RC Kodekar said. The 81-year-old is currently serving a life sentence in a Jodhpur case in another case of raping a minor girl at his ashram in Rajasthan in 2013. 

In the 2013 case, a girl from Surat accused Asaram of rape. Statements from 68 people were taken in the case. There was a total of seven accused, including Asaram. 

Earlier there were a total of eight accused but one of them became a government witness. 

Asaram was presented virtually for the hearing. He is currently lodged in Jodhpur jail and has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Jodhpur court. 

In the 2013 case, Asaram was accused of rape by a Surat girl, while Narayan Sai was accused of rape by her younger sister.

Narayan Sai has been sentenced to life imprisonment whereas today the verdict came on Asaram, in which, he was found guilty. 

In this case, apart from Asaram, his wife Lakshmi, daughter Bharati and four female followers Dhruvben, Nirmala, Jassi, and Meera were accused. All of these were acquitted. 

The police have said that in this case, they had received strong evidence against Asaram. 

(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

Nidhi Razdan quits NDTV again, had returned to the channel 11 months back after her fictitious stint as a ‘Harvard professor’

OpIndia Staff
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Nidhi Razdan quits NDTV again, had returned to the channel 11 months back after her fictitious stint as a ‘Harvard professor’

On January 31, Tuesday, NDTV’s ‘star anchor’ Nidhi Razdan called it quits at the leftist propaganda news outlet. Though the journalist herself has not yet confirmed the development, a report by Newslaundry has shared the update.

Interestingly, the news comes just three days after controversial news anchor Sreenivasan Jain announced his departure from the media house. On January 28, Jain tweeted his exit from the leftist media house. “Hi all. An amazing, nearly three-decade-long run at NDTV comes to an end today. The decision to resign wasn’t easy, but .. it is what it is. More later,” tweeted Jain.

Like, Jain, Nidhi Razdan’s career graph has also been quite interesting. Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, when every other person was losing their jobs, NDTV’s journalist Nidhi Razdan got “lucky” as she was invited by Harvard University to join as a faculty member in the Journalism department. Nidhi, who had over 21 years of experience in journalism, took the opportunity wholeheartedly and announced that she would be starting the “new chapter” of her life very soon as an Associate Professor of Journalism at Harvard on June 13, 2020. She announced her decision to quit NDTV at the same time.

However, there was a catch. Things were not as rosy as Nidhi thought they were. On January 15, 2021, Nidhi issued a public statement that the job she had been bragging about for seven months was actually fake. She alleged that she was a victim of a phishing attack.

In February 2022 she returned to NDTV after her fictitious stint at Harvard University as a professor. She tweeted, “It’s time to stop the excuses, the whataboutery and the obfuscation. Happy to be back home @ndtv. Watch ‘No Spin’, Monday to Thursday at 9:30 pm.”

Furthermore, Razdan had helped propagate the opposition’s lies about the Modi government’s Citizenship Amendment Act. In fact, she was caught regularly engaging with the Twitter account of ISIS suspects who incited Muslims to participate in anti-CAA protests.

Nidhi Razdan has also been caught making false claims about Kashmir. In 2019, she falsely claimed that Kashmiris are not being allowed to pray at the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar and are being denied full communication.

Soon, Nidhi was countered by several people who posted videos of thousands of people congregating at Hazaratbal shrine to offer prayers on the occasion of Eid-Milad-un-Nabi.

Delhi: BJP hits back at CM Kejriwal for blaming biomass burning by security guards and drivers for air pollution

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi: BJP hits back at CM Kejriwal for blaming biomass burning by security guards and drivers for air pollution

On Monday, Bhartiya Janata Party MP Parvesh Verma criticized Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for claiming that biomass burning by security guards and chauffeurs is a source of air pollution in the national capital.

“According to Delhi’s CM, the pollution of Delhi no longer increases with the stubble of Punjab’s farmers. The Aam Aadmi Party government has done deep research and talked to experts and found out that now pollution in Delhi is increasing due to security guards and drivers. This is the statement of a CM who always run away from his responsibilities,” he tweeted slamming the Delhi Chief Minister.

This follows Kejriwal’s speech about the different causes of rising pollution in the national capital at the opening of a real-time pollution data analyzer supersite in Delhi.

Speaking at the occasion, Kejriwal said that biomass burning is responsible for one-fifth of the state’s pollution, which rises considerably during the cold months when security guards and drivers burn wood and other biomass, leading the city to become a gas chamber due to temperature anomaly. He said that when security guards and car drivers at night burn wood to keep themselves warm in the winter seasons, it causes severe air pollution in the capital city.

Kejriwal unveiled the supersite, which includes ‘state-of-the-art’ air analyzers and a mobile air quality monitoring system for a real-time ‘source apportionment study’ to pinpoint the causes of air pollution in the national capital. The supersite, located on Rouse Avenue in Delhi, examines real-time source attribution and aids in pinpointing the causes of an increase in air pollution at any given place in the city.

It was reported in October this year that the state of Punjab witnessed around 8147 incidents of stubble burning from September 15 to October 27 this year. The state also recorded a 20% increase in such incidents in comparison to the number of farm fires in the same period last year, affecting the quality of air in the major parts of Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.

NIA chargesheets Mohammad Mohsin Ahmad for raising money and sending it to Islamic terrorist outfit ISIS

ANI
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NIA chargesheets Mohammad Mohsin Ahmad for raising money and sending it to Islamic terrorist outfit ISIS

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday filed a chargesheet against a resident of Bihar in a case linked to a conspiracy hatched by a member of ISIS– a proscribed terrorist organization– for the propagation of the ideology and to raise funds for the organization and send the amount to his Syria based handlers through cryptocurrency channels.

Mohammad Mohsin Ahmad, a resident of Patna in Bihar, has been charge-sheeted under sections 120B and 204 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 17, 18, 39, and 40 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The NIA filed the chargesheet in a special court in Delhi. The case was suo-moto registered by the NIA on June 25 last year.

Investigations have revealed that Ahmad conspired with an ISIS handler and others for the propagation of the ISIS ideology, with the ultimate objective to radicalize the Indian youth and recruit them for the outfit, said the anti-terror agency in a statement.

Ahmad was also involved in raising funds for ISIS from the ISIS sympathizers in India and sending the collected funds to his Syria-based ISIS handlers through Crypto-currency channels, thereby supporting ISIS in furtherance of its terrorist activities, said the NIA.

(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

Kerala: Former madarsa teacher rapes, impregnates his minor daughter, sentenced to three life terms

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: Former madarsa teacher rapes, impregnates his minor daughter, sentenced to three life terms

On Monday, a Kerala Court convicted a man, a former madarsa instructor, to three life sentences for repeatedly sexually assaulting and impregnating his minor daughter. According to special public prosecutor (SPP) A Somasundaran, Manjeri Fast Track Special Court judge Rajesh K, convicted the accused of rape, penetrative sexual assault, and victim intimidation under the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The accused was given three life sentences for committing the POCSO Act offences, and the court ordered that he be imprisoned for the remainder of his natural life, the SPP stated. The court is also said to have imposed a fine of Rs 6.6 lakh on the culprit.

The accused reportedly raped his girl for the first time in March 2021, whilst no one was at home. The 15-year-old girl was studying at home due to the COVID-19 outbreak when her father forced her into his bedroom and assaulted her.

After the victim objected, the accused threatened to kill the girl’s mother. The assault continued to take place until October 2021. The accused, a former madrasa instructor, continued to rape his daughter on several occasions when nobody would be home. 

After COVID limitations were relaxed in November 2021, the child returned to school. After a few days, she complained of stomach pain and was taken to the doctor, but nothing was found wrong with her. She complained of discomfort again in January 2022 and was sent to a government hospital for a check-up, where it was revealed that she was pregnant, according to the SPP.

She shared her ordeal then about her father raping her. Following that, a case was filed against the accused, and he was arrested. A DNA test later revealed that the girl’s father was the perpetrator. The victim’s pregnancy was medically terminated.

Rajya Sabha MP Mahesh Jethmalani hints at a BBC-China-Congress nexus, talks about BBC being funded by Huawei

OpIndia Staff
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Rajya Sabha MP Mahesh Jethmalani hints at a BBC-China-Congress nexus, talks about BBC being funded by Huawei

On January 31, senior advocate (Supreme Court) and Rajya Sabha MP Mahesh Jethmalani hinted at a BBC-China-Congress nexus. In a tweet, he said, “Why is BBC so anti-India? Because it needs money desperately enough to take it from Chinese state-linked Huawei and pursue the latter’s agenda (BBC a fellow traveller, Comrade Jairam?). It’s a simple cash-for-propaganda deal. BBC is up for sale.”

Mahesh Jethmalani was referring to a report from August 2022 that pointed out that despite the ban on Chinese company Huawei over security issues in the United States and the United Kingdom, BBC was still getting ads from it.

In August 2022, The Spectator published a report suggesting that BBC was taking money from Huawei. Notably, Huawei was sanctioned by the US in 2019 and the UK barred the company from the 5G network in 2020 citing security issues. Later, it was also revealed that Huawei had provided support to the Chinese government in creating a surveillance system targeting Uyghur Muslims. The report pointed towards the paid adverts by Huawei about ‘The new frontier of education: How can we bridge the education gap and bring bright young minds into the digital future?’ Notably, the content was not available in the UK. It was made by StoryWorks, the paid content team of BBC.

In a statement, BBC’s spokesperson said that the company was funded via advertisements outside the UK which allows them to invest in their “world-class journalism and bring it to a global audience”.

Mahesh Jethmalani hit out Congress leader for his alleged Huawei links

Earlier, Mahesh Jethmalani hit out at Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and urged him to come clean about his Huawei connections. In a tweet, Jethmalani said, “Since 2005, Jairam Ramesh has been lobbying for Chinese telecom co Huawei’s activities in India (see below excerpts from his book). Huawei has been banned in several countries as a security threat. Jairam now questions GOIs China stand. It behoves him to disclose his Huawei links.”

He also accused Jairam of sabotaging vital projects when he served as the Environment Minister in the UPA government. Jethmalani had called Ramesh a “mouthpiece of Chinese disinformation” in an earlier tweet.

Huewai’s surveillance tech for the Chinese government to target Uyghur Muslims

In 2021, IPVM, a video surveillance research group along with Washington Post and BBC reported that Chinese company Huawei had filed for a patent for its Artificial Intelligence technology capable of tracking Uyghur Muslims. Despite the reports, BBC continued to run ads of BBC on its international platform(s).

Chennai: Ruckus breaks out over plans to erect a statue of late DMK supremo Karunanidhi in ecologically sensitive Coastal Regulation Zone

OpIndia Staff
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Chennai: Ruckus breaks out over plans to erect a statue of late DMK supremo Karunanidhi in ecologically sensitive Coastal Regulation Zone

On Tuesday (January 31), the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), BJP and Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) parties opposed the DMK government’s move to construct a 42-metre tall statue of former party supremo, M Karunanidhi, on Marina Beach in Chennai.

The incident took place during a public hearing, organised by Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), at the auditorium Kalaivanar Arangam. The fishermen community also opposed the decision to build ‘Kalaignar Pen Memorial’ on Marina Beach.

It must be mentioned that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is planning to construct the statue at a cost of ₹80 crores. The memorial is proposed to be built just 360 metres away from the shoreline.

Despite the best attempts by the District Collector, Amritha Jyothi, to pacify the protestors, the situation got out of hand. In a video that has now surfaced on social media, the workers belonging to the different political parties were seen shouting over each other.

As per a report by DTNext, the project falls under the ambit of the ecologically sensitive Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) but has been given a green signal by the Tamil Nadu State authorities.

While reacting strongly to the government proposal, Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) Head Seeman said, “If the ‘Pen statue’ is erected in the sea, I will break and destroy the statue. If you (DMK) want to erect the ‘Pen statue’ in memory of Karunanidhi, you can do it in your party’s head office Arivalayam.”

Reportedly, several leaders of the fishermen community in Chennai have formed the ‘Marina Fishermen Protection Committee’ to safeguard Marina Beach and coordinate protests against the construction of the ‘Kalaignar Pen Memorial.’

Internet explodes with memes over report of Mickey Arthur’s appointment as “online coach” of Pakistan Cricket Team

OpIndia Staff
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Internet explodes with memes over report of Mickey Arthur’s appointment as “online coach” of Pakistan Cricket Team

On Monday, January 30, reports emerged that Pakistan is in the process of finalising Mickey Arthur as their cricket team’s ‘online coach’. While the story can not be confirmed as yet, the very idea of an online coach baffled everyone, including the chairman of selectors, Shahid Afridi.

Mickey Arthur was previously the coach of the Pakistan team from 2016 to 2019. He is currently serving as the head coach of Derbyshire county in England. With his reluctance to leave Derbyshire, and Pakistan’s keenness to appoint him as the coach, reports emerged that he may take up the position as an online coach. The report sparked off a meme fest online as cricket fans couldn’t believe a cricket board would seriously consider the idea.

Twitter user Allah Baksh tried to predict the future of the online meetings conducted by Mickey Arthur.

Another Twitter user by the name of Hussaina used a famous scene from the popular sitcom ‘The Big Bang Theory’ to predict how this online coaching would go.

Usama used the meme of the ‘disappointed Pakistani fan’ to say how Mickey Arthur would feel while trying to coach the Pakistan team online.

Predicting scenes of the online coaching, and indifference of Pakistan players was a common theme across most of the memes.

Some users predicted what will happen if there is a network error during the online coaching.

While it remains to be seen if this concept of ‘online coach’ actually comes to fruition or not, internet is definitely having a lot of fun around it.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has undergone a lot of changes recently, following the change of government, as is the norm in Pakistan. Former test cricketer Ramiz Raja has been removed as the chairman of the board and replaced by journalist Najam Sethi. The selection panel has been changed as well, and now they are searching for a new coach, or maybe just an ‘online coach’.

Visakhapatnam to be Andhra Pradesh’s new capital, says CM Jagan Mohan Reddy, pitches for investment in the coastal city

OpIndia Staff
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Visakhapatnam to be Andhra Pradesh’s new capital, says CM Jagan Mohan Reddy, pitches for investment in the coastal city

On Tuesday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy announced that Vizag will be the new capital of the state. “I am here to invite you to Visakhapatnam, which will be our capital. I will also be shifting to Vizag. I invite you and your colleagues to see for yourself how easy it is to do business in Andhra Pradesh,” Reddy said while speaking at the International Diplomatic Alliance Meet in New Delhi.

According to the reports, the state CM also pitched for investment in the coastal city. “We’re organizing a global summit… an investors summit on March 3-4 in Visakhapatnam and I want to take this opportunity to personally invite all of you to the summit… and request all of you to not only come but also put in a good word, a strong word, to colleagues abroad,” he said.

Previously, Reddy said categorically that the future of the state lay in decentralized development, recommending Visakhapatnam as the state administration’s headquarters. As the state’s headquarters, it will also serve as the governor’s residence, while the legislature will be based in Amaravati. He stated that the high court would be relocated to Kurnool, the former capital.

Reports mention that Reddy’s decision to relocate to Visakhapatnam, approximately 500 kilometres east of Hyderabad, gives it power in converting the Eastern Seaboard urban agglomeration into a booming city. The city has the potential to grow in size and stature, surpassing the capitals of the newly formed states of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and, more recently, Telangana.

Amaravati is the present capital of Andhra Pradesh. The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government in the year 2020 repealed the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority Act, 2020, and passed the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020, paving the way for Amaravati to be the Legislative capital, Visakhapatnam the Executive capital, and Kurnool the Judicial capital of the Andhra Pradesh.

Later several petitions, also backed by the opposition TDP were filed challenging the government’s move at the High Court. However, the Chief Minister criticized the TDP government for choosing Amaravati as the capital as it lacked basic infrastructures, such as roads and drainage systems.

Jagan stated that his administration presented the three capitals law to promote equal and balanced development of the state while taking people’s aspirations into account. He went on to say that the opposing party was disseminating misinformation and creating legal obstacles in the process.

Recently on November 28 last year, the Supreme Court stayed in time both directions passed by High Court. The High Court had issued directions to construct and develop Amaravati’s capital city and capital region within six months’ time. The Supreme Court stated that the directions had set out unrealistic timelines.

“What kind of directions have the High Court passed? Can the High Court become a town planner and a chief engineer? The Court has no expertise in such matters, therefore we do not interfere. Without expertise…the High Court wants an entire city to come up in two months,” the SC had noted. The Bench has decided to hear the matter next on 31st January 2023.

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