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Gujarat: Botad ‘don’ Siraj threatens businessman with ‘Kishan Bharwad’ style fate over loudspeakers for Hanuman Chalisa

લિંકન સોખડિયા
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Gujarat: Botad ‘don’ Siraj threatens businessman with ‘Kishan Bharwad’ style fate over loudspeakers for Hanuman Chalisa

In a shocking incident in Botad, one local ‘don’ Siraj alias Siro Don alias Don Hussain Khalyani Botadwala is accused threatening businessman and VHP leader Mahendrabhai Laljibhai Mali alias Munnabhai Mali. Threatening to kill Munnabhai, Siraj Don said, “You will face the same consequences as Kishan Bharwad.” The incident took place on 5th May 2022.

A complaint in this regard was lodged by Munnabhai Mali at Botad police station on 7th May 2022. The Botad police took further action and the accused was nabbed. The accused Siro Don has a long criminal history and complaints have been registered against him for several offenses in the past.

Speaking to OpIndia, the complainant Munnabhai Mali said that on 5th May 2022, when he was on his way to the shop from his home at around 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the accused Siraj alias Siro Don alias Don Hussain Khalyani Botadwala came in a numberless Swift car from the front of the road near a medical store at Nagalpar Darwaza. The accused allegedly threatened Munnabhai Mali by saying “In the village, you have put loudspeakers on Hanumanji’s temple. Get it down or else you will face the same consequences as Kishan Bharwad. What will you do to us? If I get you in the car and kidnap you, you can’t do anything to me. We are watching all of you. Stay within your limits, or else I will kill you.” And further he spoke in a loud voice and again threatened to kill him (Munnabhai Mali).

Speaking further, Munnabhai said that after the incident, he called up Rasikbhai Talshibhai Kanjaria, chairman of the Bhavnagar division of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and told him about the entire sequence of events. On his advice, Munnabhai Mali lodged a complaint against the accused at the Botad police station on 7th May 2022.

When OpIndia contacted Rasikbhai Talshibhai Kanjaria, chairman of the Bhavnagar division of the VHP, he said, “Like all over India and Gujarat, in Botad too, mikes and loudspeakers were installed in many temples to recite the Hanuman Chalisa. Munnabhai Mali has been associated with the VHP for the last 20 years and this Sira Don first did his recce. Then on the 5th of May, when Munnabhai was on his way to his flower shop from his house at 3 PM, seeing the opportunity, Siraj stopped him and threatened to put him in a car and threatened to kill him like Kishan Bharwad.” Rasikbhai Kanjaria further said that he has a clear demand that the strictest possible action should be taken against anti-social elements like Siraj rather than spoiling the atmosphere of religious harmony in the area.

On 25th January 2022, a 27-year-old youth, Kishan Bharwad, was shot dead in Dhandhuka taluka, which falls in Ahmedabad (Rural), over an allegedly blasphemous social media post. Kishan Bharwad’s murderers Shabbir and Imtiyaz Pathan were arrested by the police and further investigations also revealed the involvement of a Muslim cleric.

Note: Report originally published in Gujarati. You can read it here.

Jammu Kashmir People’s Forum holds rally to pay homage to Pakistan Occupied Jammu & Kashmir’s martyrs

OpIndia Staff
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Jammu Kashmir People’s Forum holds rally to pay homage to Pakistan Occupied Jammu & Kashmir’s martyrs

Members of different political and social organizations, under the banner of the Jammu Kashmir Peoples Forum, held a rally on Sunday, 8th May 2022 in Jammu to pay homage and floral tributes to martyrs of Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) since independence.

People from all walks, including PoJK refugees, participated in the rally. This event was named the Punyabhoomi Smaran Sabha. This event was organized at the Padma Sachdev Government Post Graduate College for Women located in Gandhi Nagar in Jammu on 8th May 2022 at 10:30 AM.

Image source: Youtube Channel Jammu Kashmir NOW

In their brochure, the organizers have said, “On August 15, 1947, India was liberated after the constant struggle, sacrifices and efforts of many great men and heroes, but then, Pakistan invaded on October 22, 1947, and killed thousands of people in Jammu and Kashmir, thousands had to leave their native land and suffer. In 1965 and 1971, many were displaced even from the Chhamb region. Let us participate in the meeting organized to pay homage to those who sacrificed during that time and to remember the holy land of our forefathers.”

Image source: Youtube Channel Jammu Kashmir NOW

Informing more about the Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and the exodus from there, the brochure further added, “After independence in 1947, Pakistan invaded Jammu and Kashmir on October 22 with the intention of occupying it. In this attack, thousands of square kilometers of territory of Jammu and Kashmir was occupied by Pakistan. This includes areas of Mirpur, Bhimber, Kotli, Bagh Puldari, Sadnoti, Muzaffarabad, Gilgit, Baltistan, and Poonch. This land of our ancestors is called Pak-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and the displaced people who hail from there are called the refugees of the POJK.”

Image Source: Twitter handle of Farrago Abdullah

It further said, “Thousands of the POJK refugees were forced to wander from pillar to post outside the state of Jammu and Kashmir due to the planned policy of the then government of Jammu and Kashmir. Unfortunately, they were deprived of various rights by the State Governments for seven decades. The present Government is trying to give powers to all these displaced people.”

Image Source: Twitter handle of Farrago Abdullah

Talking about the people who were displaced from Chhamb, the organizers said, “The society is currently living in different places after migrating from the border area of Jammu and Kashmir. Forced to migrate during the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971, they are now known as the Chhamb migrants. Under the weak policies of the then governments and under the Shimla Agreement, the ‘Chhamb migrants’ could never return to their villages and were forced to live in different areas of the state.”

Image Source: Twitter handle of Farrago Abdullah

Mentioning the atrocities on the native Hindus and Sikhs of the POJK region, the organizers said, “During that time, thousands of Hindus and Sikhs were brutally murdered and their families burnt alive in their homes. Thousands of mothers and sisters were raped and insulted. Thousands of Hindu and Sikh families had to flee their native lands and property due to this genocide. During this exodus, members of many families separated from their loved ones and they have not been traced to date.”

Image Source: Twitter handle of Farrago Abdullah

In this rally, former MLC Ramesh Arora said, “So many brave sons of this soil were martyred in 1947, when there was an attack in the POJK area on 22nd October 1947. Now China has also occupied the parts of POJK along with Pakistan. China’s interference is increasing day by day. Recently, a suicide bomber blew himself up and killed some Chinese citizens in Pakistan. The Pakistani Army is being very harsh on the Baloch rebels. Our point is that people from POJK have said from time to time that they want to be with India.”

Image Source: Twitter handle of Farrago Abdullah

He further said, “Our resolution of 1994 is very clear. It says that the only dispute between India and Pakistan is that we want to take back the POJK illegally occupied by Pakistan. The maximum number of refugees from the POJK have settled in Jammu only. So today we have organized a rally to pay homage to all the martyrs of the 1947-1948 war. Thousands of people were martyred at that time. We hereby resolve to walk on the path shown by the 1994 resolution and I am sure that the times will change and the POJK will be a part of India soon.”

Suneet Raina, corporator of ward number 9 of Jammu, said, “I think this is the first incident when the people who migrated from the POJK in 1947, 1965, and 1971 are gathering at a place and their pain and sorrow are being addressed for the first time. Their voices are being listened to for the first time in history. This message should go to the country as well as to the world so that the demand of the people of the POJK to be with India is heard by everyone out there. I am sure it will be fulfilled soon.”

Image Source: Twitter handle of Farrago Abdullah

In this program, various banners and posters were exhibited on the premises to make people aware of the brave soldiers and officers of the Indian Army who were martyred in the war of 1947-1948 to save the lives of their countrymen hailing from POJK.

The posters and banners also told the stories of various places in Pak-Occupied Kashmir and significant people who resisted the attack of 1947.

Hindustan Times’ Mint wants brands to cancel YouTuber Gaurav Taneja for ‘politically motivated’ posts

OpIndia Staff
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Hindustan Times’ Mint wants brands to cancel YouTuber Gaurav Taneja for ‘politically motivated’ posts

A few days back, a former pilot and YouTuber, Gaurav Taneja, popularly known as Flying Beast, tweeted a picture of himself performing a housewarming ritual with his wife Ritu Rathee and younger daughter.

In his tweet, Gaurav Taneja said that Hinduism is a science-based way of life to reveal that two families remained unaffected by the Bhopal gas leak on December 3, 1984, as they performed regular Havan अग्निहोत्र (हवन), which is a natural antidote to pollution.

The tweet put out by the influencer went viral on social media, with close to 65,000 people liking it and over 9,000 people retweeting it.

However, Gaurav Taneja’s unapologetic display of his Hindu way of life seems to have not gone well with the ‘liberal-secular’ media. The usual suspects jumped onto the scene to criticise Gaurav Taneja for not being ‘woke’ enough. For them, a YouTuber with more than 14 million subscribers/followers across YouTube, Instagram and Twitter displaying his Hindu credentials openly was not a happy sight.

Several far-left Twitter trolls with large followings, such as Akash Banerjee and Abhishek Baxi, took to Twitter to hit out at Gaurav Taneja for making such claims, which according to them, were ‘unscientific’ and ‘WhatsApp university’ knowledge, a bogey used by the left often to dismiss prudent arguments made by right-wing intelligentsia and nationalists.

The attack on Gaurav Taneja, his wife and two daughters is not limited to a few specific trolls. The left-liberals media ecosystem has also descended upon him to criticise him for his tweets. They also want to ‘cancel’ him for the open display of his faith.

Mint, a subsidiary of Hindustan Times, has published an article calling for brands to disassociate with the popular YouTuber by claiming that Taneja peddled propaganda, apart from reeking misogyny, child abuse, and abuse of their pet dog.

LiveMint report targeting Gaurav Taneja/ Image Source: Mint

The Mint article apparently called for popular brands such as Google India, Airtel, Tata Cliq, Realme, Dell India, Mamaearth, and Rage Coffee to disassociate from supporting the popular YouTuber. The Mint wants Gaurav Taneja to be ‘cancelled’ for his ‘politically motivated’ post.

“Their videos attract a vast majority of the Hindi-speaking audience who find this content real, relatable, and unfiltered. Naturally, major brands flock to collaborate with them for influencer marketing campaigns,” lamented Mint reporter Shephali Bhat in her report.

According to the ‘journalist’, several social media users on Twitter, Instagram, Reddit and YouTube have frequently pointed out that the content put out by Gaurav Taneja, aka Flying Beast, reeked of misogyny, child abuse, and abuse of their pet dog. 

“This is about the brands that continue to associate with content creators who are called out for visibly bigoted content. Most brands don’t even seem to be aware of the content a creator produces, forget the criticism it fetches daily,” the report read, calling brands to ‘cancel’ the pilot-turned-YouTuber for being a Hindu.

Bhat claimed that she reached out to eight brands that have collaborated with Flying Beast or its associated channels recently. However, among them, only three brands responded to her. As the far-left ‘journalist’ lamented over the growing popularity of Gaurav Taneja and the way major brands ignored her demands of boycott, she called for a regulatory body to review the quality of the content creators like Gaurav Taneja puts out or the impact it has on society.

Fact check: Old image of Home Minister Amit Shah with IAS Pooja Singhal shared as recent one, details

OpIndia Staff
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Fact check: Old image of Home Minister Amit Shah with IAS Pooja Singhal shared as recent one, details

Two days after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seized crores of rupees in cash from the house of the Chartered Accountant of IAS Pooja Singhal, the usual troupe of fake news peddlers tried to pass off an old picture of Amit Shah with the civil servant as a recent image. In a desperate attempt to link Amit Shah to Pooja Singhal, an image from 2017 was called ‘recent’.

Regular fake news peddler and alleged film director Avinash Das was among the first to start this fake news when he posted a picture of IAS Singhal whispering in the ears of the Union Home Minister. While sharing the image, he tweeted, “This picture of Pooja Singhal was taken a few days prior to the recovery of crores of rupees.”

Screengrab of the tweet

The same picture was posted by another Twitter user named Shahid, who insinuated that the duo are hand-in-gloves in the case of embezzlement of MNREGA funds in Jharkhand.

Screengrab of the tweet

Another user claimed that the picture was clicked before the ED recovered ₹19.1 crores in cash from IAS Singhal’s CA’s house.

Screengrab of the tweet

Similar allegations were also made by another Twitter user named Saba Khan.

Screengrab of the tweet

The Truth behind the Amit Shah- Pooja Singhal image

Popular Twitter user Lala (@FabulasGuy) pointed out that the said image was clicked during an event in September 2017. He had shared a screenshot of a Prabhat Khabar article where a wide-angle shot was captured.

Lala lambasted the fake news peddlers for passing off a 5-year-old image as new.”Who made IAS Pooja Singhal the Managing Director of Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation Limited”, he asked.

The Case against Pooja Singhal

Pooja Singhal is a 2000 batch IAS officer of the Jharkhand cadre. On May 6, 2022, six places in Ranchi were raided by ED, one of which is a super specialty hospital of her second husband. Her first husband is a 1999 batch IAS officer in Jharkhand.

The probe pertains to a case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act by the Enforcement Directorate in 2020 against Jharkhand junior engineer Ram Binod Prasad Sinha.

The central probe agency had taken cognizance of 16 FIRs and a charge sheet filed by the Jharkhand Vigilance Bureau against Sinha, according to which Sinha was accused of misappropriating government funds worth Rs 18.06 crore. Ram Binod Prasad Sinha was a junior engineer in Khunti when Pooja Singhal was the District Collector of Khunti.

Sinha is reported to have told the investigators that Pooja Singhal had obliged two NGOs, Welfare Point and Prerna Niketan with Rs 6 crores fund and had granted a mining lease on 83 acres of forest land in contravention of the environmental regulations. As deputy commissioners in Chatra, Palamu, and Khunti districts, she is alleged to have committed irregularities in the MNRGEA funds as well.

Court ordered Gyanvapi structure survey halted after Muslim mob blocked the gate, Hindu motifs seen on outer walls by survey team

OpIndia Staff
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Court ordered Gyanvapi structure survey halted after Muslim mob blocked the gate, Hindu motifs seen on outer walls by survey team

The court ordered survey and videography of the disputed Gyanvapi mosque structure in Varanasi had to be stopped today, as a protesting Muslim prevented the survey team from entering the mosque on Sunday. While the team were able to survey the outer façade of the structure, they could not enter the structure for survey despite a court order, as the entrance to the mosuqe was blocked by the protesting Muslims. The survey process has been stopped now due to the protests, and the survey team will approach the court for further orders.

After stopping the court-directed documentation for the day in Varanasi, a videographer who accompanied the survey team involved in the process has revealed the presence of Hindu motifs including the Swastika, Nandi (bull associated with Shiva) and lotus motifs all over the outer side of the mosque walls.

Some of the team members from the documentation committee have reported about the challenges faced by them to continue their work amidst protests. While talking to the media, it was revealed that the videography of the outer facade of the disputed structure has been completed. One of the videographers, while talking to Times Now, has revealed that he saw a number of Hindu sacred motifs on the outer facade of the erstwhile temple, which have been converted to a mosque.

The videographer said, “Today, we saw Swastik symbols at two places on the walls of the temple. There are a number of lotus symbols all over.” When asked whether he saw images of Goddesses, Ganesh on the western wall of the temple (as claimed), he said, “Yes. We saw Nandi while doing a Parikrama and other Hindu religious symbols.”

They said that due to the presence of large number of Muslims, survey could not be conducted inside the premises, and only the outer façade was surveyed and video recorded. The team members said that the mob prevented them from going inside by blocking the door, and therefore the local administration officials didn’t allow them to entre the premises.

One of the advocate member said that today’s proceeding had started amid the barricade, but they found that a large number of Muslims were present inside the mosque. When the team reached the site, the Muslims came out and blocked the gate. He said that the administration also didn’t cooperate with the survey them and didn’t allow them to proceed. As a result, they had to return form the spot.

This was a blatant violation of court order by the mob, as the court has ordeded to survey and video record the entire disputed structure of Gyanvapi mosque. The survey team will now file an application with the court regarding the matter to survey the inside of the disputed structure. As a result, the court-ordered survey has been stopped for now, and it will resume only after the court orders the administration to ensure survey inside the mosque.

Last week, In the ongoing hearing of the case related to the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque dispute of Varanasi, the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday ordered the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board to present on record all the documentary evidence pertaining to State surveys wherein allegedly the property was declared as waqf property Advocate Rastogi, the appointed next friend of Lord Vishweshwar, asserted that the property was always a Hindu property as the land belongs to ‘swayambhu’ (self-manifested) Lord Vishweshwar and Aurangzeb had no right to acquire the land. The Gyanvapi Mosque is located in the Kashi Vishwanath temple complex where Hindus believe that Vishveshwara still sits in the disputed complex. The Court has adjourned the hearing till April 29.

How Sadanand Dhume passed off a Turkish ethno-supremacist as just another international figure

Abhishek Banerjee
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How Sadanand Dhume passed off a Turkish ethno-supremacist as just another international figure

As India grows more powerful, our enemies become more and more sophisticated. Here is a recent example that went relatively unnoticed.

Sadanand Dhume’s tweet

At first, this may look like just another page from a now familiar script. Some activist, pornstar, footballer, actor whatever from some foreign land (Germany, in this case) tweets about supposed human rights violations in India, especially those of Muslims. Of course, this gets retweeted like 30,000 times on social media. Some angry Indians also show up in the mentions, asking what the hell these people are talking about. And then some Indian Gunga Dins with blue ticks, or at least some Indian heritage, show up to defend the “international figures.” Their defense is peppered with condescension for the political culture of India. We Indians are trolls, we are Whatsapp University, and so on…

But this one is different. Because Mesut Ozil is not your usual actor, activist, footballer or pornstar. We need to talk about who this individual is. Because that will give us a full picture of the kind of people who have been mobilized for propaganda against India. And then you can draw your own conclusions about the motivations of the Indian liberals who have been lined up to support and amplify his message.

First, we need to know this.

Ozil supporter Azerbaijan

Now, Ngorno-Karabakh is not a name that would be familiar to most Indians. I wonder how many of us could pronounce it correctly, or would be able to say if it is a real place. But as we have seen during the Ukraine war, places whose names are difficult to pronounce can have a huge impact on our lives. At least anti-India propagandists realize this. We have to catch up.

So here is a two minute version of the history of this region. Ngorno-Karabakh is a disputed region claimed by both Armenia and Azerbaijan. As long as both countries were part of the Soviet Union, it was no big deal. What makes the situation particularly complicated is that the Azeris are Turkic Muslims, while the Armenians are Christians.

So in 2020, when the world was focused on Covid, Azerbaijan took the opportunity to launch a full scale invasion of the disputed region. No, these weren’t “clashes” like the Turkish govt puppet outlet Daily Sabbah claims in the article above. This was a full scale invasion, launched by Azerbaijan with the backing of Turkey’s Erdogan. Because Azerbaijan is one of the six Turkic states, the others being Uzbekistan, Kyrghystan, Kazakhastan, Turkmenistan and Turkey itself.

The result? Some 90,000 ethnic Armenians, according to the UN, had to flee their homes in Ngorno Karabakh and take refuge in Armenia. And let me repeat, the Turks did this at a time of Covid. The Azeris uprooted an entire population and turned them into refugees. They destroyed historical sites of relevance to the Armenians, including churches. That is what ethnic cleansing actually is, unlike the lies what Mesut Ozil is spreading about India. And don’t forget they did this at a time of Covid.

Mesut Ozil is a Turk. No, he is not just any random member of the large Turkish community in Germany. Ozil is a hardcore Turkish supremacist, seen here with Erdogan.

Mesut Ozil with Turkey President

This photo was released shortly before the presidential election in Turkey, where Ozil is widely loved as a star. And even though it was not an official political endorsement, everyone understood the political messaging. This was widely reported in even liberal media at the time. In fact, the backlash over this photo in Germany was so severe that Ozil had to quit the German national soccer team.

Ozil getting backlash in Germany

And here is Erdogan more recently… officiating as “best man” at Ozil’s wedding.

Turkey President at Ozil’s wedding

So, Ozil is not your average “international figure” as Dhume and some others would like us to believe. This is a man infamous for being a supporter of Erdogan. The same Erdogan who is on warpath against India over Kashmir.

The same Ozil who endorsed genocide against Armenians in 2020 is spreading propaganda against India. What a surprise!

Did I say genocide? Yes I did. Because the historical context of the oppression of Armenians by Turks is among the darkest in history. In 1915, then Ottoman Turkey carried out a genocide of 1.5 million Armenians living within their borders.

So, Ozil’s ancestors have been trying to finish off the Armenians for a while now. As such, Ozil endorsing Azerbaijan in 2020 is essentially like an ethnic German footballer today endorsing a war of extermination against Jews. Now tell me how the world would react to such an endorsement? Would he still be seen as just an “international figure,” as folks like Dhume say?

I should note here that the Turkish government even today continues to deny the Armenian genocide. And Erdogan is especially vocal about it. In fact, acknowledging the Armenian genocide continues to be a criminal offense in Turkey even today, and carries severe consequences. And before you ask, Mustafa Kamal of Turkey was Hitler’s idol. The Nazi state was modeled on the genocidal Turkish state.

But in India of 2020, Turkish ethno-supremacists and genocide supporters are trotted out as “international figures” who are concerned about human rights violations in India! That’s modern liberalism for you. For that matter, after World War 1, the Indian National Congress endorsed the demand to restore the Caliph of Turkey who had carried out the Armenian genocide. That’s what the Khilafat movement was all about. So, I guess Indian liberals joining hands with Turkish ethno-supremacists is not new after all.

The average Indian could be forgiven for not knowing about Ozil’s past, his agenda, the ethnic cleansing in Ngorno-Karabakh or the Armenian genocide. But the threats of the India of new, just like the India of old are many. We need to be aware of these threats, and actively counter them. Don’t let the elites shame you into submission by calling you troll or Whatsapp University. Check out their histories and their motivations. Most of the time, what you will uncover is really ugly.

Rahul Gandhi inadvertently admits LPG cylinders cost more under the Congress-led UPA govt than under Modi sarkar

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi inadvertently admits LPG cylinders cost more under the Congress-led UPA govt than under Modi sarkar

On Sunday (May 8), Congress scion Rahul Gandhi ended up scoring a self-goal while trying to blame the Modi government for rising prices of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) and increasing the price of gas cylinders in the country.

In a tweet, he claimed the price of an LPG cylinder during the Congress era in 2014 was ₹1,237 compared to 999 Rupees under Modi government. Rahul Gandhi explained that the consumer then used to pay ₹410 from his/her pocket directly while the government would spend an additional ₹847 of taxpayers’ money per cylinder on subsidy.

The Congress dynast then lamented how the Modi government had stopped paying subsidies, resulting in consumers paying an amount of ₹999 in total for an LPG cylinder in 2022. While doing so, Rahul Gandhi accepted that a gas cylinder was actually costlier in 2014 than it is in 2022 and the Congress government just used taxpayers to fund the additional amount.

Screengrab of the tweet by Rahul Gandhi

“2 cylinders then for the price of 1 now. Only Congress governs for the welfare of poor and middle-class families. It’s the core of our economic policy,” he had tweeted.

Interestingly, the net price of an LPG cylinder is now cheaper than what it was 8 years despite the year-on-year inflation. As per an article in Macrotrends, the inflation rate in India was 6.65% (2014), 4.91% (2015), 4.95% (2016), 3.33% (2017), 3.95% (2018), 3.72% (2019) and 6.62% (2020). The value of 1,237 Rs in 2014 would be around 1,950 in 2022 with inflation further destroying Rahul Gandhi’s argument.

Year-on-year inflation in India, graph via macrotrends

LPG production, crude oil prices, and imports

In its defense, the Congress party could claim that the prices of crude oil and natural gas were high during their tenure. After all, LPG is produced during the crude oil refining process or is extracted during the natural gas production process.

An article in Elgas stated, “LPG comes from two sources, with roughly 60% stripped from raw natural gas during natural gas processing and the approximately 40% of the LPG coming from crude oil refinery process. LPG is a co-product that occurs naturally. It is stored and distributed in LPG gas cylinders and larger vessels.”

“LPG gas is made from an LPG gas manufacturing process (LPG production process) that occurs during the natural gas processing and fractional distillation of crude oil,” the report added. India imports the majority of crude oil from the Gulf area.

It must be mentioned that Brent crude is the benchmark used for the oil markets in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. As per the available data, the price of 1 barrel of crude oil was around the same price i.e. $113 in 2014 as it is today.

Screengrab of Brent crude oil prices between 2014 and 2022, graph via Trading Economics

Given that crude oil prices were similar, what could possibly explain the disparity of more than ₹200 in the prices of LPG cylinders? Although Rahul Gandhi tried to insinuate that the Modi government’s policies were affecting the middle class, he ended up proving how LPG cylinders are now cheaper than before. The money further saved in subsidies is now being channelized for several other projects by the government.

Chinese workers and citizens in Pakistan feel insecure as they lose confidence in Pakistani security systems

OpIndia Staff
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Chinese workers and citizens in Pakistan feel insecure as they lose confidence in Pakistani security systems

In an embarrassing development for Pakistan, it is reported that the Chinese people, especially Chinese workers in Pakistan have no confidence left in the Pakistani security systems. The Chinese workers feel insecure in Pakistan and they think that the Pakistani security systems are not able to protect them in an hour of crisis. It is notable that China has made heavy investments in Pakistan in various infrastructure projects. Chinese workers and Chinese funds both constitute an important part of the projects, one of which is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

According to a report by The Dawn, senator Mushahid Hussain, chairman of the Senate Defence Committee, said, “The Chinese confidence in Pakistan’s security system’s ability to protect their citizens and their projects is seriously shaken.” Mushahid Hussain led a Senate delegation to the Chinese embassy last week to express his condole­nces over the loss of three Chi­nese lives in a suicide att­ack on their van on the university’s premises last mon­th. The Karachi University attack is the third time this year that the Chinese citizens in Pakistan are directly attacked.

Mushahid Hussain said, “It has caused serious concern and understandable indignation in China. More so, the pattern of attacks is so recurring and it’s clear that Pakistani promises of foolproof security are mere words, not matched by countermeasures on the ground.”

Criticizing the security agencies and the arrangements supposed to be taken care of by them, Mushahid Hussain said, “Security agencies seemed to have been caught napping. If such attacks continue, not just Chinese but other foreign investors will be forced to review their role in Pakistan.”

Reportedly, many Chinese workers went back to their motherland after the Karachi University attack and it was being seen as equivalent to an exodus. Denying such reports, a Chinese source said that such movement of Chinese citizens and workers on the flights is a weekly practice. But that person also did underline that the terrorist attacks definitely make an impact on the Chinese citizens living in Pakistan.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lijian Zhao said in a press conference in Beijing, “The plot of terrorist forces to undermine the two countries’ mutual trust and cooperation will not succeed. The Chinese side would work with Pakistan to conduct a thorough investigation, reveal the truth, bring the perpetrators to justice, and explain to the people of both countries.”

He further said, “China attached importance to Pakistan’s strengthening security measures to protect Chinese personnel, projects, and institutions in Pakistan and stood ready to work together with the Pakistani side to ensure safe and smooth progress in bilateral cooperation and prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.”

On Tuesday 26th April 2022, a massive explosion took place in a vehicle outside the Commerce Department of Karachi University. The varsity is located in the Sindh province of Pakistan. A total of 4 people, including multiple Chinese nationals, died in the blast that occurred around 2:30 pm.

Taking the opposite stand to Rahul Gandhi, health ministers from Congress-ruled states slam the WHO report on Covid-19 deaths in India

OpIndia Staff
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Taking the opposite stand to Rahul Gandhi, health ministers from Congress-ruled states slam the WHO report on Covid-19 deaths in India

The Central Council Of Health And Family Welfare Conference (CCHFW) comprising health ministers from 20 different states has slammed the World Health Organization (WHO) report on Covid deaths in India in the years 2020 and 2021. The CCHFW which includes health ministers from Congress-ruled states and states ruled by Congress allies has taken an opposite stand to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who used the flawed report to target the Indian government.

In its recent report on excess deaths due to Covid-19 in India, The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that nearly 47 lakh Indians died due to the pandemic collectively in the years 2020 and 2021. The figure by WHO contradicts heavily India’s official figure of casualties of 4.81 lakh at the end of 2021, going almost 10 times above it. On a rare occasion, health ministers from even the states ruled by opposition parties joined the central government to slam WHO’s claims.

On Friday, CCHFW passed a resolution that the assumptions and estimates made by WHO in its COVID-19 report were ‘flawed’ and ‘unacceptable’. After the Central Government slammed the report, the CCHFW comprising of health ministers from 20 states said, “The Council is ‘deeply disappointed and distressed’ with the WHO modelling which is based on ‘very high estimates’ of excess mortality in India during the pandemic.”

Headed by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in Gujarat’s Kevadia, the conference was led by state health ministers including those of Congress. When the report was published, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi attempted to ignite a political slugfest by backing the death estimate by WHO. “47 lakh Indians died due to the Covid pandemic. NOT 4.8 lakh as claimed by the Govt. Science doesn’t LIE. Modi does,” said Rahul Gandhi in a Tweet.

However, Chhattisgarh health minister and Congress leader T. S. Singh Deo said at the conference that the WHO estimates were just ‘projections and extrapolations’ from estimates from other countries. “These are just projections and they are taking it far too seriously. It really doesn’t mean India saw so many deaths,” he said.

Punjab Health Minister from AAP Vijay Singla too alleged that WHO’s death estimate was “fabricated” and that it has not made a proper calculation to arrive at the figure of 47.4 lakh Covid-related deaths. “India has a strong data collection system and there is no reason to doubt its authenticity. The modelling methodology used by the global health body was not scientific,” he added.

With Congress health Minister Deo from Chattisgarh and other parties unequivocally condemning the WHO numbers, Rahul Gandhi has isolated himself in his failed attempt at targeting the government over the unscientific WHO report.

Did Vietnamese youths build a replica Bugatti Chiron car using clay as claimed in viral video: A fact-check

Raju Das
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Did Vietnamese youths build a replica Bugatti Chiron car using clay as claimed in viral video: A fact-check

A video clip was shared by several social media users yesterday, claiming that it shows some Vietnamese youths building a replica Bugatti car using clay. However, the video has been shared with misleading claim, because the final replica car is not made using clay, and the short video has been prepared by editing a 45-minute-long original video which was widely reported two months ago.

The 2:20 min long video shows the youths picking up clay from a field, placing it on a frame of steel pipes and plastic sheets, shaping and chiselling the clay to give it the shape of a Bugatti Chiron supercar. The video also shows the youths driving around a steel frame with an engine mounted on it, giving the car a proper paint job, and finally driving the Bugatti Chiron replica in its traditional blue and black livery on the streets.

The video was posted by a verified Twitter handle named fgnszen, with the text, “A one-year study of Vietnamese youth who built their own Bugatti out of clay mud”. The Tweet has got almost 74000 retweets, over 8000 quote tweets, and over 384000 likes.

The Tweet also received thousands of replies, with many wondering how long a ‘clay car’ will last. Many commented that the car won’t be able to sustain even a road bump, and it will be shattered into pieces after a crash. Others commented that it will be very heavy and therefore will consume a lot of fuel etc.

The same video was also shared by several other Twitter users with same or similar claim, that the youths made the car using clay.

The fact of the ‘clay Bugatti car’

However, the claim that the replica car is made of clay is completely wrong and misleading, because, the final car was made using steel and fibreglass, which actually makes it a very strong car. The short video does show some bits of fibreglass work, and the steel frame, but due to the accompanying text, many people blindly believed that the final car was also made of clay. Many other netizens fact-checked the video, saying it was not made of clay.

The short video has been made from the original video posted by the youths themselves who built the car. The Vietnamese youths have a YouTube channel named NHẾT TV dedicated to their efforts of building replica car, and the video posted on Twitter was edited from a 46-minute-long video of the entire process of making the car they had posted on February 1 this year, with the title Full 365 days to homemade a million dollar Bugatti supercar. This video, and other videos of the car posted by the youths, were widely reported by media all across the world.

The video shows the youths starting with a steel frame and wrapping plastic, roughly the shape of the car body, forming the base to hold a mould. They then apply loads of clay on it, and painstakingly shape it to look like a Bugatti Chiron, in a process that must have taken weeks or months, the entire car was ready in a year. After they polish the clay car to give it a very smooth surface, the clay model is ready, however, it is not the final car, but only the model to form a mould, to be used to make the final car’s body.

After the clay model is ready, they apply plaster to it. The youths secure the plaster with metal rods, and after the plaster hardens, the clay is removed from under the plaster mould. Now the car enthusiasts are left with an exact negative copy of the car made of plaster.

After the mould is ready, the youths apply fibreglass on the entire inner surface of the mould using resin. After the fibreglass is cured and hardened, the plaster mould is removed, exposing the fibreglass panel body of the car, which is exact replica of the original clay model.

The youths also built a chassis for the car using steel pipes, and even made discs for the brakes and an A-arm suspension system. The car gets a small four-cylinder Toyota engine, far cry from the turbocharged 8 litre 16 cylinder engine that comes with the original, one of the most powerful engines on a commercially produced car. However, the engine is installed in the middle, like a proper sports car.

The video shows that the youths then install the fibreglass body on the steel frame, attach wheels, and give it a proper paint job. Some parts were bought, like the windshields, windows, LED lights etc, but the tail light unit was made from resin. The interior of the car including the dashboard is also made using fibreglass using the same clay modelling techniques. For some parts, they just used cardboard instead of clay.

Therefore, the original video posted by the youths who made the car makes it clear that the car was actually made using steel, fibreglass and other material used in cars, and it was not made using clay. The clay was only used for making the model of the car to shape the fibreglass, which is a standard practice.

While the 365 days video shows the entire process of making the car, it does not include everything. The NHẾT TV channel has posted several other videos, showing how they made and installed several other parts of the car. They are also continuously modifying and improving the car, and have posted several videos of the same as well.

In other videos, we can see them making seats, wing, steering wheel etc, and installing windshields, power windows, rear-view mirrors, electrical and electronic systems etc, and other videos show the detailed works done in various phases, parts of which were shown in the 365 days video.

Clay modelling in automobile sector

While many people expressed shock that the car was made using clay, actually most car models we see on the road starts as clay models only, just like the ones made by the youths. After car designers finalise a design for a new car model, a clay model is made based on it, which is a 3D representation of the new car. It lets designers see what the car will actually look like. A clay model also lets the designers identify changes needed to be done to the design, which may not be identified in paper or computer drawings.

Even though nowadays computerised modelling and 3D printing are used to make models of a new car design, many car makers still use clay models. While some automakers no longer use it for mass-produced cars, high-end luxury car makers still use this process. For example, this video shows Porsche using clay modelling to design its new 911 car.  

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