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RTI reply reveals that the Delhi AAP government gave Rs 101 crores to the Delhi Waqf board in seven years

OpIndia Staff
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RTI reply reveals that the Delhi AAP government gave Rs 101 crores to the Delhi Waqf board in seven years

An RTI response has shown that the Delhi government under Arvind Kejriwal has granted the Delhi Waqf board more than Rs. 101 crores of public funds in the last 7 years. In just the past year, the AAP Government has granted the Waqf Board more than Rs. 62 crores.

RTI activist Ajay Bose inquired about the grant in aid received in the office of the Delhi Waqf Board since 2015. In the response received, it was found that the Delhi government led by Arvind Kejriwal granted crores of rupees to the Delhi Waqf Board. In the financial year 2015-16, the Delhi government granted Rs. 1.25 crores to the Waqf Board. In the subsequent financial years 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 the number went on increasing to Rs. 1.37 crore, Rs. 5 crores, and Rs. 8.85 crores.

In the financial year 2019-20, the Delhi Waqf Board received Rs 22.72 crores from the Delhi government. In the financial year 2020-21 alone, Rs. 62.57 crores were given to the Delhi Waqf Board. The total of these grants comes to be more than 101 crores.

In September 2022, it had come to light that the Congress-led-UPA government gifted 123 government properties in Lutyens’ Delhi to Waqf in 2014.

As per a news report by Times Now, the decision was taken by the Cabinet and conveyed through a secret note, just days prior to the 2014 General election. The properties are located in prime locations such as Connaught Place, Ashoka Road, Mathura Road and other VVIP enclaves.

Times Now reported that it took just a phone call to identify the 123 government properties in favour of the Delhi Waqf Board. The news channel also shared the secret note, which is dated March 5, 2014, and signed by Additional Secretary JP Prakash.

World T20: Memes flood the internet as Zimbabwe pushes Pakistan toward World Cup exit with a 1-run win

OpIndia Staff
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World T20: Memes flood the internet as Zimbabwe pushes Pakistan toward World Cup exit with a 1-run win

Pakistan succumbed to their second successive loss at the ongoing ICC World T20 in Australia as they fell short by 1 run while chasing Zimbabwe’s total of 130 runs. Needing 3 runs to win off the last ball, Pakistan could only get a single sparking joyous celebrations in the Zimbabwe camp and reducing Pakistan to repair.

Having lost its opening encounter to India, Pakistan is in a perilous situation right now in the tournament and needs a string of results to go its way if they hope to progress to the next stage of the tournament. Most of these calculations rely on Pakistan winning their remaining 3 matches, which is not a guarantee as well given their current form.

While there was doom and gloom in the Pakistan camp after the result, the internet was full of jokes after this unexpected result as Zimbabwe pulled off one of the biggest shocks of this World Cup. There were memes about the result all over the place to mark the huge shock.

A Twitter user @vishcomical posted a famous photo of Rahul Gandhi saying ‘maza aaya’ with the caption, “Whole of India after watching Pak vs Zim today”.

Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag posted two pictures of Mr. Bean, that is, Rowan Atkinson and his Pakistani look-alike Asif Mohammad, also known as Mr. Paki Bean with a caption that read, “Pic 1 – Pakistan After 20 overs of Zimbabwe batting. Pic 2- Pakistan after 20 overs of their batting.”

It is notable that a Zimbabwean cricket fan wished that Zimbabwe beats Pakistan in this match just because Pakistan sent a fake Mr. Bean for a comedy show that charged $10 per ticket.

Another Twitter user posted a short video from the TV serial Ramayana with the caption, “Zimbabwe Beat Pakistan, Shoaib Akhtar to Babar Azam.” In this video, Ravana says to his brother Vibhishan, “Go. You are a blot on our clan. You have no place here.” Following this scene, Ravana kicks Vibhishan out of his palace.

Another Twitter user @memesbybadshah shared a meme that read, “I took that personally”, a reference to the Michael Jordan memes from ‘The Last Dance’ where Jordan shared how he elevated his game every time someone offended him. This was again about Zimbabwe and Mr. Paki Bean, and how Zimbabwe players raised their game to take revenge for that fraud on the people of Zimbabwe.

Twitter user Abhishek posted a meme that read, “Aur Padosiyon, aa gaya swad?”

There were several other memes and jokes online as Pakistan, one of the favourites leading into the tournament, hang on for dear life after this disastrous start.

Pakistan next faces the Netherlands on Sunday, October 30, as they look to finally kickstart their World Cup campaign. Zimbabwe faces Bangladesh in a crucial encounter earlier on the same day to keep up their momentum in the tournament.

‘Chief Twit’ Elon Musk assures advertisers that Twitter will not become a ‘free-for-all hellscape’ amid concerns of softened moderation under him

OpIndia Staff
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‘Chief Twit’ Elon Musk assures advertisers that Twitter will not become a ‘free-for-all hellscape’ amid concerns of softened moderation under him

Ahead of acquiring Twitter in the $44 billion deal, ‘Chief Twit’ Elon Musk today assured advertisers that Twitter will not become a free-for-all hellscape. Musk’s assurance came amid speculations in the media that advertisers may abandon the platform if Twitter removes restrictions on hate speech after the transfer of its ownership.

Elon Musk posted a note addressed to advertisers today on Twitter, where he shared his motivation behind purchasing Twitter and what he thinks about advertisements on social media. “There has been much speculation about why I bought Twitter and what I think about advertising. Most of it has been wrong,” he said.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said that he has not acquired Twitter to make more money, but to provide a common digital town square. He said that it is needed as current social media platforms are in the danger of splitting into far-left and far-right echo chambers. He said that the traditional media houses are also fuelling such polarised extremes for money.

“The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence,” he wrote. Musk said that he bought Twitter to help humanity, not to make money, and not because it was easy.

However, Musk said that despite his goal of serving the humanity, content moderation on the platform will remain. “Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences,” he said. The soon-to-become Twitter owner said that while Twitter will adhere to rule of the law, it must be warm and welcoming to all.

He also had some advices for advertisers on online platforms, asking them to make their ads entertaining and informative, and not turn them into spam. He said that Twitter must show advertisements to people as relevant as possible to their needs. “Low relevancy ads are spam, but highly relevant ads are actually content,” he said.

At last, he said, “Twitter aspires to be the most respected advertising platform in the world that strengthens your brand and grows your enterprise.” “Let us build something extraordinary together,” he appealed to everyone who have partnered with Twitter.

The full text of Elon Musk’s note is given below.

I wanted to reach out personally to share my motivation in acquiring Twitter. There has been much speculation about why I bought Twitter and what I think about advertising. Most of it has been wrong.
The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence. There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society.
In the relentless pursuit of clicks, much of traditional media has fueled and catered to those polarized extremes, as they believe that is what brings in the money, but, in doing so, the opportunity for dialogue is lost.
That is why I bought Twitter. I didn’t do it because it would be easy. I didn’t do it to make more money. I did it to try to help humanity, whom I love. And I do so with humility, recognizing that failure in pursuing this goal, despite our best efforts, is a very real possibility.
That said, Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences! In addition to adhering to the laws of the land, our platform must be warm and welcoming to all, where you can choose your desired experience according to your preferences, just as you can choose, for example, to see movies or play video games ranging from all ages to mature.
l also very much believe that advertising, when done right, can delight, entertain and inform you; it can show you a service or product or medical treatment that you never knew existed, but is right for you. For this to be true, it is essential to show Twitter users advertising that is as relevant as possible to their needs. Low relevancy ads are spam, but highly relevant ads are actually content!
Fundamentally, Twitter aspires to be the most respected advertising platform in the world that strengthens your brand and grows your enterprise. To everyone who has partnered with us, I thank you. Let us build something extraordinary together.

Responding to Trump’s tweet, Twitter’s chief customer officer, Sarah Personette, tweeted that she had a discussion with Elon Musk on Wednesday evening over the matter. “Our continued commitment to brand safety for advertisers remains unchanged. Looking forward to the future!” she tweeted.

Earlier today, the Wall Street Journal published a report claiming that advertisers are concerned about the billionaire’s plans to soften content moderation, and they were also worried about conflict of interest in automobile advertising as Musk runs Tesla. WSJ claimed that some advertisers are contemplating exiting the platform if former President Donald Trump’s account is reinstated on Twitter.
Notably, Trump has said that he won’t return to Twitter if the ban on him is removed. He now runs his own social media platform Truth Social.

In another development, Elon Musk visited Twitter headquarters earlier today, carrying a ceramic sink. He shared a video of his entry with the caption “Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!”

“Let that sink in” is an English phrase used to ask someone to realize the importance of a statement, or event. His visit to the Twitter HQ means that he is finally acquiring Twitter after the deal saw many twists and turns after Musks announced his intention to buy the social media platform in August.

Musk has also changed his Twitter bio to ‘Chief Twit’, and has added ‘Twitter HQ’ as the location. He had earlier shared that buying Twitter is the first step towards making X, the everything App.

Kerala: Islamists assault Tamil family, abuse women and children for celebrating Diwali- Report

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: Islamists assault Tamil family, abuse women and children for celebrating Diwali- Report

On 24th October 2022, at around 8:30 pm, a group of Islamists attacked a Tamil family in Muvattupuzha in the Ernakulam district of Kerala for celebrating the Hindu festival Deepavali, Organiser reported. The attack was led by one Rafeeq who is a police officer in the Armed Reserve Police, who along with his three accomplices barged into the house of the Tamil family and attacked the members of the family including women and children.

Thankapandyan lives in the marketplace area of Muvattupuzha with his family. His family members include his parents Meena and Bhaskaran, his wife PT Pandyan, and his two kids who are seven and five years old. The family earns their living by cooking and selling snacks. On October 24, the Islamists attacked them because the family burst firecrackers on the occasion of Diwali.

Attackers demolished their stoves while they were cooking Deepavali sweets and snacks. All the family members were brutally beaten as well. The kids, ages five and seven, were slammed to the ground. Bhaskaran was attacked by a small knife, causing him to incur an injury below his eye. A woman’s gold chain was also attempted to be snatched.

The injured, including women, are being treated in hospitals. The Tamil family complained to the police that they had been assaulted for lighting fireworks in celebration of Deepavali. The “Tamilian Collective” complained to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and the Muvattupuzha Police. Police officers initially refused to register the case as local political leaders took the lead and lured the victim with some compensation money. As the senior police officers arrived, these people left the spot and the case was registered.

The incident is seen with severe concern by the locals. These kinds of acts come as no surprise to anybody because Kerala is a stronghold for religious extremists who enjoy the support of both the Left Democratic Front, led by the CPM government, and the United Democratic Front, led by the opposition Congress.

Rajasthan: NHRC issues notice over reports that minor girls are being auctioned on stamp papers and refusal leading to rape of their mothers

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan: NHRC issues notice over reports that minor girls are being auctioned on stamp papers and refusal leading to rape of their mothers

Taking suo moto cognizance of a media report that minor girls are being auctioned off on stamp papers and their refusal results in their mothers being raped in half a dozen districts in Rajasthan, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to the Congress government in the state on Thursday (October 27, 2022). The Rajasthan government has been given 4 weeks to respond to the matter.

The National Human Rights Commission took to Twitter to share a link to a press release it issued in this regard, in which it stated that it had issued a notice to the Chief Secretary and DGP of Rajasthan. It said that it has requested the state authorities to provide a detailed report on the matter, as well as an action taken report, qua measures already taken and, if not, proposed to be taken to prevent such heinous incidents.

Notably, two days ago, Hindi media outlet Dainik Bhaskar had reported on the issue. BJP leader Sambit Patra also took to Twitter today to post the media report drawing attention to the horrific crime being committed with impunity in different areas of Rajasthan.

Taking cognisance of the same, NHRC stated in its press release, that a notice was issued to the Director General of Police, Rajasthan, to provide a thorough report mentioning the initiation of criminal prosecution against the perpetrators of such crime and their abettors/sympathizers.

“It must also contain the status of cases, including the registration of FIRs, charge-sheet, arrest, if any, in such incidents and the mechanism initiated to apprehend the people involved in such systematic crimes of flesh trade in the State. The report must also mention steps being taken or proposed to be taken against the public servant(s), who purported to have neglected perpetually prevention of such incidents,” read the press note.

The commission said it took suo motu cognizance of a media report in this regard that said “whenever there is a dispute between the two parties particularly involving financial transactions and loans etc, the girls aged between 8-18 are auctioned to recover money.”

These girls are being sent to Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Mumbai, Delhi and even abroad and subjected to physical abuse, torture and sexual assault.

NHRC said media reports have documented the ordeal of many victims of such crimes, adding that if true they amount to gross human rights violations.

Without naming any particular media outlet, NHRC said that “according to the media report, carried on 26th October 2022, the Caste Panchayats in Rajasthan are committing this crime like Syria and Iraq where the girls are enslaved. Reportedly, in Bhilwada, whenever there is any dispute between the two parties, they instead of going to the police, approach the Caste Panchayats for its settlement. It becomes the starting point of making the girls slave, if they are not sold, their mothers are ordered to be raped.”

“The news report further reveals that in order to pay off Rs. 15 lakh dept a Caste Panchayat force a man to sell his sister first and even after this when the debt was not cleared, he was forced to sell his 12 year old daughter. The buyer purchased the girl for Rs. 8 lakh. Thereafter, all the five sisters became slave but still their father could not pay off his debt. In another incident a man was forced to sell his house and further take a loan of Rs. 6 lakh for the treatment of his wife, who later died, he take Rs. 6 lakh more for the treatment of his mother. In order to settle the loan, he sold his small daughter for Rs. 6 lakh to some people, who took her to Agra. She was sold three times and became pregnant four times,” the NHRC press release further read.

Notably, Hindi media outlet Dainik Bhaskar had, two days ago, published a report on the matter.

Screenshot of the report published by Hindi daily outlet Dainik Bhaskar

It revealed how minor girls are being auctioned on stamp papers in half a dozen districts of the state of Rajasthan. If refused, their mothers are subjected to rape on the diktats of the local caste panchayats for the settlement of disputes, revealed the report.

Source: Dainik Bhaskar

As evidence, the media outlet had also shared a screenshot of a stamp paper on which a caste panchayat in Bhilwara conducted a similar deal to resolve an alleged dispute between two parties.

Gujarat achieves 100% household tap water connections under Jal Jeevan Mission, 91.73 lakh houses connected to tap-water

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat achieves 100% household tap water connections under Jal Jeevan Mission, 91.73 lakh houses connected to tap-water

On Thursday, the state of Gujarat was declared a ‘Har Ghar Jal’ state which means that all households in the state now have access to running tap water. The project has been completed in stages over the years as part of the ‘Jal Jeevan Mission.’ According to government officials, all 91,73,378 homes in the state now have a tap water connection. 

The news was confirmed by Minister of State for Home, Harsh Sanghavi who said, “Yet another achievement on the auspicious occasion of New Year. Gujarat declared as 100 percent Har Ghar Jal state. Under the eminent leadership of PM Narendra Modi, CM Bhupendrabhai Patel, and the efforts of MLA Rushikesh Patel, Gujarat’s every household is now having Jal” on Twitter.

The Water Supply Department, Government of Gujarat, also took to Twitter to share the achievement. “Today is a marvelous day in the history of Gujarat as it becomes 100 percent tap water connected. Every rural household is now connected with individual Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC), providing safe, adequate, and regular drinking water”, he tweeted.

Meanwhile, water supply minister Rushikesh Patel also tweeted the news and said that the state had achieved the milestone under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on the occasion of the Gujarati new year.

According to a government official, a total of 91.73 lakh households in rural areas of the state are being provided water through tap connections under the mission. “The 100 percent coverage of rural households is possible by laying 63,287 kilometres of distribution pipelines, 3,498 underground pumps, setting up 2,396 high tanks, 339 wells, 3,985 tube wells and 324 mini schemes and 302 solar-powered drinking water distribution systems”, the government official was further quoted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ‘Jal Jeevan Mission,’ from the parapets of Red Fort on August 15, 2019. The ‘Har Ghar Jal’ project is a part of the mission, which aims to provide regular drinkable tap water in sufficient quantity and quality to each and every rural household in India by 2024. The initiative aims to liberate sisters and mothers from practices of fetching water for domestic use. The initiative is bringing comfort and dignity to people in the country’s rural areas.

Notably, apart from the Jal Jeevan Mission, the state’s water supply department has begun to work on new schemes worth Rs. 15,989 crore to provide rural citizens with pure, consistent, and adequate water. Reports mention that many other Indian states including Haryana, Goa, Telangana, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Puducherry, Andaman, and Nicobar Island have achieved 100 percent tap water connection in households as part of Centre’s Jal Jeevan Scheme.

‘Like Kejriwal, like MLA’: After AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, Netizens mock his MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj for following ‘adult’ Twitter account

OpIndia Staff
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‘Like Kejriwal, like MLA’: After AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, Netizens mock his MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj for following ‘adult’ Twitter account

Days after Arvind Kejriwal was mocked for reportedly following a Twitter account that posts adult and pornographic content, his loyalist and party MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj, has supposedly been caught in a similar predicament. On Thursday, October 27, social media was abuzz with posts lampooning the AAP MLA for following in Kejriwal’s footsteps when he was found following a Twitter account named @edynwaifu, the display picture of which showed a woman clad in skimpy attire.

The account has more than 260.8K followers and follows 48 Twitter accounts. The account’s Twitter bio reads, “your favourite anime barbie”. A visit to the Twitter account with the handle @edynwaifu [NSFW link] shows several nude and semi-nude photographs.

Twitter account @edynwaifu

Twitter users shared photos and videos as evidence to back their claim that Bharadwaj was indeed following the pornographic content account. A Twitter user Ambuj Mishra shared a screen recording of the list of Twitter users whom the AAP Greater Kailash MLA follows on Twitter and the adult content account Edyn was one of them.

“Like Kejriwal, like MLA”, Tweeted the social media user taking a dig at the Delhi CM and his MLA for their similar online antics.

Another Twitter user also shared the screenshot of Edyn’s Twitter profile to back his claim that the AAP MLA was indeed following the pornographic content account.

Inquiring into the assertions made on the microblogging site Twitter, we at OpIndia checked the Twitter account of Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bharadwaj, only to discover that the adult content account Edyn is indeed on his ‘following’ list.

SS from Saurabh Bhadawaj’s Twitter account

Interestingly, only a few days ago, Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was spotted allegedly following an adult content account named Esmee. Social media users took a swipe at the AAP supremo, mocking him with memes for following an account that posted pornographic content.

Following the social media uproar, we checked if Arvind Kejriwal is indeed following @Esmee4Keeps. However, at the time of writing that report, Kejriwal’s following list had no such account. We could not confirm if Kejriwal had indeed followed the said account as alleged by social media users or if he unfollowed it after the online furore.

However, hours later, the Twitter account @Esmee4keeps responded to Kejriwal, welcoming him on her OnlyFans page and promising to chat with him later.

“@ArvindKejriwal awesome to see you on my onlyfans, chat with you later,” the account tweeted.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader demands Balasaheb Thackeray’s photo on currency notes, BJP MLA wants Shivaji, Ambedkar, Savarkar and Modi

OpIndia Staff
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Shiv Sena (UBT) leader demands Balasaheb Thackeray’s photo on currency notes, BJP MLA wants Shivaji, Ambedkar, Savarkar and Modi

After Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal demanded images of Hindu Gods on currency notes, now a leader of the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena has demanded photo of Bal Thackeray on Indian banknotes. On 27th October 2022, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former Maharashtra minister Anil Parab said that he wants Balasaheb Thackeray’s photo on currency notes. Anil Parab made this remark while speaking with the media on various issues.

Anil Parab said, “The Shiv Sena has not made any official demand for whose photo should be on the note. Shiv Sena is a party of the poor, so Shiv Sena does not go into all this mess. But if you ask me whose photo should be there, I will say that it should be of Balasaheb Thackeray. The reason is that if everyone wants his leader’s photo, then I am from the Shiv Sena. I would like to think that there should be a photo of Balasaheb.”

Anil Parab added, “But my feelings don’t matter. In the end, it is the government that decides what should be on it. These are deliberately created disputes.”

Amid these demands for various photos on banknotes, Maharashtra BJP MLA Ram Kadam has demanded the images of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Veer Savarkar, Babasaheb Ambedkar and PM Narendra Modi to be printed on notes. He made the ‘proposal’ by posting morphed images of Rs 500 note showing the image of these four personalities.

He wrote, “Akhand Bharat, Naya Bharat, Mahan Bharat. Jai Shri Ram. Jai Mata Di” in the tweet. In following tweets, the BJP leader without naming Kejriwal said that some leaders are demanding the pictures of deities on notes motivated by petty politics ahead of elections. ‘They remember our gods only in elections’, he said. Rama Kadam said that images of Shivaji and Amnedakar on notes will inspire crores of people in the country, and it can’t be denied.

On Modi, he said, “How can we ignore Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s great sacrifice, dedication and hard work as he makes the country proud across the globe? Not only the country but the whole world will remember the efforts of Modiji in making India great till thousands of Yugas and Manvantara (the age of Manu)”.

For the past two days, there has been a lot of controversy over the currency notes in India and the photo of MK Gandhi on these notes. All this controversy started with a demand made by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday appealed to PM and the Central government to include images of Lord Ganesh and Goddess Lakshmi on currency notes. Kejriwal said that he wants everyone in India should be rich and sometimes, no matter how much one tries, something falls short. “Efforts are fruitful only when we have blessings of gods and goddesses,” he said.

“Day before yesterday was Diwali. We all prayed to Lord Ganesh and Goddess Lakshmi. We prayed for health, wealth and prosperity. We know how businessmen have images of Lord Ganesh and Lakshmiji in their rooms and before starting their work pray to them. Today I want to appeal to Central government and Prime Minister to include Lord Ganesh and Goddess Lakshmi on the Indian currency. The image of Gandhi ji can be as it is. To improve our economy we need to make a lot more efforts but we also need blessings of our gods and goddesses,” he said while addressing media.

Kejriwal further said that MK Gandhi’s image should remain as it is, but if the other side has images of Lord Ganesh and Goddess Lakshmi, the entire country will be blessed. He added that the current currency notes can be kept as is but the new notes which are printed can have the images of Hindu god and goddess.

He claimed that Indonesia, a country with 85% Muslim population and only 2% Hindu population but even they have Lord Ganesh image on their currency notes. “Hence I feel that this is an important step that the central government should take up,” he said. He added that the idea struck him when he was doing Lakshmi Pujan on Diwali night.

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Amit Malviya to pursue criminal and civil proceedings against “The Wire” over their fraudulent reporting targeting the BJP leader

OpIndia Staff
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Amit Malviya to pursue criminal and civil proceedings against “The Wire” over their fraudulent reporting targeting the BJP leader

Member of BJP’s National Executive, and in-charge of BJP’s National Information & Technology Dept, Amit Malviya has decided to pursue criminal and civil proceedings against the leftist propaganda outlet “The Wire” over their fake reporting targeting the BJP leader.

The Wire, founded by American citizen Siddarth Varadarajan, had alleged that Amit Malviya has been given access by Facebook’s parent company Meta to delete anti-BJP posts from Facebook and Instagram. After The Wire’s claims fell flat in the face of technical scrutiny, they tried to fabricate evidence in the shape of forged emails, but when even those claims were revealed to be frauds, The Wire withdrew their reports.

Amit Malviya, who has been maintaining a stoic silence throughout this saga, finally took to Twitter on Thursday, 27th October, to share that based on the recommendations of his lawyers, he has decided to pursue the case against The Wire legally. Malviya shared that not only will he pursue the case in criminal court, but he will also be seeking damages in a civil court.

After being shamed across the world for its lax editorial standards and an obviously fake story, the ultra-leftist news portal permanently retracted the stories. They also issued a tame half-hearted apology to their readers. The formal retraction of the story by The Wire means that now it admits that it has no evidence to prove the outlandish and bizarre claims made by it, and therefore admits that the entire story was fake.

Notably, this is not the first time that The Wire has targeted Malviya with fake news. Before The Wire conjured up Meta story targeting Amit Malviya, they had come up with the fiction called ‘Tek Fog’, the super app with impossible capabilities. The Tek Fog nonsense was authored by Devesh Kumar, the tech expert of The Wire who co-authored the Meta story on Amit Malviya.

The trigger for Tek Fog was a few tweets by an absolute obscure Twitter account by the name ‘Aarthi Sharma’. The Twitter account was created in April 2020.

In January 2022, The Wire published the first of its two-part series on ‘Tek Fog’, the mysterious app first talked about by ‘Aarthi Sharma’. The Wire even credited ‘Aarthi Sharma’ as being a whistleblower and claimed they interacted with this individual for over a year and a half to gather all evidence against the BJP IT Cell and Malviya.

The entire article was based on the ‘proofs’ provided by ‘Aarthi Sharma’ but ‘Aarthi Sharma’ did not give any access to ‘Tek Fog’ to The Wire writers, Devesh Kumar and Ayushman Kaul. Even back then, the BJP denied having employed either any ‘Aarthi Sharma’ or the existence of ‘Tek Fog’.

The Wire report claimed that the Tek Fog app is linked to Sharechat, but Sharechat has denied any link with the purported app. In a response from the company added to the report later, Sharechat said that they are not aware of the Tek Fog app. Sharechat had repeatedly denied being part of any such nexus as claimed in The Wire report. After things unraveled for The Wire in Meta case, Sharechat again issued a statement reminding Indians about the previous fraud pulled off by The Wire.

The Wire, after standing by both these stories for days, has removed them from its website, without any contrition or apology.

Anti-Hijab Iranian protesters call on Elon Musk to ban Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei from Twitter

OpIndia Staff
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Anti-Hijab Iranian protesters call on Elon Musk to ban Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei from Twitter

On Thursday, anti-hijab protesters in Iran asked the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, who is due to conclude a deal with Twitter tomorrow, to ban Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei from the social networking site. Khamenei has been noticed to be using his Twitter account to spread hate against the people who oppose him.

Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad stated on Twitter that while Khamenei has prohibited 83 million Iranians from the micro-blogging platform, he himself is using the network to order assassinations. “Join me and call on @elonmusk to #BanKhamenei Surreal, @khamenei_ir banned 83 million Iranians from Twitter but he himself is allowed to use the same platform to order killings. These days teenagers are getting killed by his regime for protesting against the murder of #MahsaAmini,” she tweeted.

This came a day after the Iranian protesters were seen sitting on their knees in front of armed security forces and shouting, “shoot, we are not afraid of your bullets”. The fearless Iranian youngsters gathered in the Iranian city of Amol to protest against the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini who died on September 16, three days after her arrest in Tehran by the notorious morality police for wearing the hijab inappropriately

The video of the protests was shared by Alinejad on Twitter where she said the she was amazed by the fearlessness shown by the anti-hijab activists. “I am in awe. These unarmed men and women walking towards security forces, one by one they open up their arms and shout; we are not scared of bullets, kill us. This is Amol city where dozens of protesters got killed over the past months”, she said.

According to the reports, some of the women activists at Isfahan’s University of Medical Sciences also waved their headscarves as they chanted, “freedom, freedom, freedom”. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people gathered in Saqez, Mahsa Amini’s hometown, to mourn her, despite government threats and barriers. “Woman, life, freedom”, and “Death to the dictator”, they constantly chanted as Iranian security forces opened fire on Wednesday.

Notably, Elon Musk has informed co-investors who have agreed to help fund his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter Inc that he intends to complete the transaction by Friday. Musk’s attorneys have provided the necessary papers for the financial commitment to equity investors such as Sequoia Capital, Binance, Qatar Investment Authority, and others.

Mahsa Amini’s custodial death sparks anti-hijab protests across Iran

According to the reports, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was abducted by the ‘morality police’ in Tehran for not complying with the mandatory hijab laws of the country. Amini, who was on a pleasure trip to Tehran, had not covered her hair properly under the hijab. She was arrested by the police and then beaten in the police van while being taken to a detention centre, dubbed as a ‘re-education class’ for not conforming to the country’s mandatory hijab rules.

The police took her to the police station on Vozara Avenue where already dozens of other women were being held for not following the hijab rules. They beat the women and schooled them about the proper dress rules of the country. Mahsa was brutally beaten and taken to the hospital after she stopped responding in the custody. The doctors at the hospital stated that her heart continued to beat but her brain was no longer functioning. She breathed her last three days after the incident.

Her killing has sparked massive protests in Iran, with women taking to the streets to raise their voices against the regime. Several ladies, including school-going girls, burnt their hijabs in her support, while women throughout the world trimmed their hair as part of the protest. Protests erupted in dozens of places around Iran in the aftermath of her death after which the government retaliated with a harsh crackdown.

However, weeks after the death of Amini, Iran’s Forensic Organisation revealed a report stating that the woman had died due to illness and not due to blows and beatings given to her in police custody. Earlier, the Police had also tried to cover up the matter claiming that Mahsa was already suffering from a heart problem and that she was never beaten in the custody.

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