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Father-in-law of actress Sonam Kapoor duped of ₹27 crores, 10 arrested so far: All you need to know

OpIndia Staff
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Father-in-law of actress Sonam Kapoor duped of ₹27 crores, 10 arrested so far: All you need to know

On Friday (March 11), the Faridabad police informed that an export-import firm of businessman Harish Ahuja has been duped of ₹27.61 crores. Ahuja is the father-in-law of Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor.

As per reports, the fraudsters had misappropriated the Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (ROSCTL) licences of Harish Ahuja’s ‘Shahi Export Factory’ using his forged digital signature. Thereafter, funds to the tune of ₹26,61,00,000 were transferred fraudulently to a fake company named ‘Black Curve Incorporation.’

Faridabad Deputy Police Commissioner Nitish Aggarwal explained the government provides incentives to export companies through ROSCTL licenses that in turn can be used to get rebates in duties and taxes. He added that the said licenses are similar to digital coupons and are worth lakhs of rupees.

DCP Aggarwal pointed out that the miscreants had obtained a total of 154 ROSCT licenses, which were meant for ‘Shahi Export Factory’ and were worth ₹27.61 crores. The accused then encashed the amount by transferring the licenses to other fake companies operated by them.

The Faridabad police informed that a total of 9 people have been arrested in connection to the case. The accused men have been identified as Praveen, Manoj Kumar, Manish Kumar, Lalit, Manish Kumar Moga, Ganesh Parsuram, Rahul Raghunath, Bhushan Kishan, Santosh Sitaram and Suresh Kumar.

They were nabbed from different parts of the country, including Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The last arrest was made on December 23, 2021. DCP Aggarwal said that the police had been working on the case, following a complaint by Harish Ahuja last year.

It has come to light that four of the accuse, namely, Manoj Rana, Manish Kumar, Praveen Kumar and Manish Kumar Moga, worked as former employees and clerks at the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). Their knowledge of the technicalities helped them secure codes of big export-import firms and ascertain the value of ROSCTL licences.

Husband of Sonam Kapoor accused of evading tax and duties

Earlier in February this year, the International shipping company MyUS outed actor Sonam Kapoor’s husband, Anand Ahuja, for using doctored invoices to avoid paying taxes and custom duty. In a series of tweets in reply to Ahuja’s complaint on Twitter, MyUS mentioned the problem was not with their services but with the documents Sonam’s husband had provided.

Anand Ahuja, on January 27, had tweeted and questioned if anyone had contacts in MyUS as his shipment was delayed. He wrote, “Does anyone know someone at MyUS – I have had HORRIBLE experience recently. They are holding items improperly, rejecting formal paperwork & refusing to acknowledge any reasoning.”

Initially, the company had replied to Ahuja and said they had limited resources on Social Media accounts and advised Ahuja to contact via email or chat. The Bombay Times then picked up the story and published an article on Sonam and Anand’s ordeal. However, after the article was published, MyUS, too, took to Twitter to clear the air.

MyUS had clarified, “This is not a matter of customer service quality, new policies, or holding items improperly as was tweeted. Mr Ahuja misrepresented the price he paid for sneakers purchased on eBay, which would result in him paying fewer duties and taxes.” 

The shipping company added that the invoices attached had up to 90% less value mentioned compared to what he had paid for the goods. Ahuja then took to Twitter again to allege that MyUS refused to validate the PDF receipts and bank statements and accused them of trying to overcharge him and hold his goods for long.

Setback for TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee as Delhi HC dismisses his petition challenging ED summons in Coal Scam, wife’s in PMLA case: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Setback for TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee as Delhi HC dismisses his petition challenging ED summons in Coal Scam, wife’s in PMLA case: Details

In a big setback to Trinamool Congress (TMC) Member of Parliament Abhishek Banerjee and his wife, the Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed the petition filed by them challenging the summons issued to them by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a case related to the coal scam in West Bengal.

According to the reports, single-judge Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar has also dismissed another plea by Rujira Banerjee in which she had challenged the ED’s complaint with the Rouse Avenue court for her non-appearance and the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s (CMM) order taking cognisance of the same.

The ED had summoned TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, a Member of Parliament from the Diamond Harbour seat, and his wife Rujira Banerjee to appear before the investigating officer of the case on September 10. In addition, Rujira Banerjee, the wife of Abhishek Banerjee, was also asked to appear before them in a case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED had accused TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee of being a beneficiary of funds obtained from this illegal trade. However, he has denied all charges. It was alleged that the present case involves money laundering to the tune of Rs.1,300 crores.

In their petition, the TMC leader and his wife argued that the news of summons being issued was put in the public domain even before they were served, proving the ED’s mala-fide intentions.

They claimed that as the petitioners are residents of Kolkata, they can only be examined by ED officers under Section 50 of PMLA at Kolkata.

Rejecting the arguments, the court held that the authorities under the PMLA are not restricted as per the territorial caskets envisaged under the CrPC and added that the authorities would naturally exercise jurisdiction depending upon the exigencies of special investigation.

The court said that while Section 160 of CrPC is limited to witnesses or who may become accused in the future, Section 50 of PMLA operates on a larger level that includes the power not only to summon witnesses but to summon and enforce the attendance of any person.

Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek and his family benefitted from the coal scam: ED

Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate had submitted before a special court alleging that incumbent Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, TMC MP from Diamond Harbor Abhishek Banerjee and his family received illicit funds from illegal coal mining in the state. It further stated that the “deep system” of political patronage driven by “well-oiled” machinery made it possible.

The ED, in this remand note, alleged that certain illegal mining instances were flourishing in the state under the “patronage” of the political party in power. The note, which was a remand note seeking enhanced custody of a West Bengal police officer Ashok Kumar Mishra, the inspector in charge of Bankura police station, had a detailed mention of these allegations.

The policeman had led the agency to the prime suspect – Majhi alias Lala, a local trader, Vinay, a TMC youth wing leader, and his brother Vikas Mishra. The ED had stated that the link goes all the way up to Abhishek Banerjee’s family.

In the statement informed, the ED had said, “it is further revealed that in a span of fewer than two years, an amount to the tune of Rs Majhi has illegally generated 1,352 crores through illegal coal mining. The investigation also revealed a deep system of political patronage and well-oiled network by which the system was subverted to carry out these illegal activities in a brazen manner.”

On the basis of a recorded statement of an unidentified “close associate” of Majhi, the ED alleged that the kingpin of this coal scam ran the “illegal coal mining business smoothly by managing senior functionaries of the political party of West Bengal though Inspector Mishra.”

‘Event for Kindergarteners’: White House meets TikTokers to brief on US’ strategic objective in Russia-Ukraine war and some of them are not happy

OpIndia Staff
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‘Event for Kindergarteners’: White House meets TikTokers to brief on US’ strategic objective in Russia-Ukraine war and some of them are not happy

On Thursday, the Joe Biden administration briefed around 30 TikTok influencers on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine clashes, reports Washington Post. According to the Post, the White House met the social media influencers over Zoom to discuss the ongoing clashes in Ukraine. The meeting was led by White House press secretary Jen Psaki and National Security Council special communications adviser Matt Miller.

The White House briefed the TikTok creators on “strategic goals in the region” while National Security Council staffers. Meanwhile, Psaki “answered questions on distributing aid to Ukrainians, working with NATO, and how the United States would react to a Russian use of nuclear weapons.”

Following the interaction with the influencers, Rob Flaherty, White House digital strategy director, said the briefing is part of an effort to provide reliable information from an “authoritative source”. He said that the White House acknowledged TikTok as a “critically important” source for updates on Ukraine.

Jules Suzdaltsev, the operator of the TikTok account Good Morning Bad News, criticised the Biden administration, saying it felt like a press event “for kindergarteners”. Another TikTok news provider, Marcus DiPaola, also said the White House did not address its involvement in other invasions.

Kahlil Greene, who has more than 534,000 followers on TikTok, said that it made sense the Biden administration would want to partner with creators like him. 

“People in my generation get all our information from TikTok. It’s the first place we’re searching up new topics and learning about things,” he said. 

Greene also criticised the Biden administration for not acknowledging America’s own involvement and connection to “occupations, invasions, in general, bad faith actions throughout the world”. 

This is not the first time the Biden administration has roped in TikTok creators and celebrities to spread various messages. They had utilised the services of social media influencers to spread the news about the Covid-19 vaccines.

The US government had enlisted 50 Twitch streamers, YouTubers and TikTokers to help them drum up their vaccination numbers and combat the scourge of vaccine misinformation being spread on social media.

Haryana govt declares Vivek Agnihotri’s latest movie ‘The Kashmir Files’ tax-free, no state GST to be charged on tickets

OpIndia Staff
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Haryana govt declares Vivek Agnihotri’s latest movie ‘The Kashmir Files’ tax-free, no state GST to be charged on tickets

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri’s much-awaited movie ‘The Kashmir Files’ released on 11th March 2022, and on the same day the government of Haryana has declared it tax-free in the state. The Excise and Taxation Department of Haryana has issued an order on 11th March 2022 about this saying that the government of Haryana has allowed for the reimbursement of the state GST on entry to the exhibition of the film The Kashmir Files in cinemas and theatres from the date of this order.

Directorate of Information, Public Relations, and Languages Department, Haryana has shared this order in a Twitter post from its official Twitter handle saying, “The Haryana government has made the film ‘The Kashmir Files’ tax-free in the state.

The order stipulates that the theatres will not collect the state GST from the customers, and the tickets have to be sold at a price after deducting the state GST amount. Moreover, the multiplexes and theatres can’t increase the price of tickets.

The order says, “The tickets sold for entry to the exhibition of the film ‘The Kashmir Files’ during the period of this order shall bear prominently the words ‘State GST not collected by the orders of Government of Haryana’. The registered taxpayers (multiplex/cinemas theaters) during the period of reimbursement allowed by this order shall not charge State GST from the customers and the tickets will be sold at a price after reducing the amount of State GST.”

It also clears that the order shall remain in force for six months from the date of the order and the theaters shall not make any change in the seating capacity of different classes.

At present the GST on entertainment is 18%, but as only state GST has been waived by Haryana govt, the ticket price will go down by 9%.

Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, the director of this film has posted from his Twitter handle, “Thank you very much Honorable ML Khattar Ji. After the financial problems of the corona period, this decision of yours will be of great help to the normal families to watch this film. At the same time, the business of cinema halls will also gain strength.”

Film enthusiasts were eagerly waiting for this film to be released and the decision by the Haryana government to make it a tax-free film has added to the excitement. A Twitter user Aashish has written in his post, “Dear ML Khattar, thanks for declaring The Kashmir Files tax free in Haryana.”

The film is based on the genocide of the Kashmiri Hindus by the fanatic Islamists in Kashmir in 1990 and the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus following that. The film stars Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Pallavi Joshi, Darshan Kumar, Chinmay Mandlekar, and Mrinal Kulkarni are in lead roles. The film was opposed by many Islamists before its release. A petition was also filed in the Bombay high court after the trailer of the film was published on YouTube. The petition sought a ban on the release of the film citing that it could potentially hurt the sentiments of the Muslims in the country. The Bombay high court had dismissed the petition clearing the way of releasing the film ‘The Kashmir Files’.

Russia moves to label Facebook’s parent Meta as ‘extremist organisation’ after the company allowed death threats to Russians on its platforms

OpIndia Staff
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Russia moves to label Facebook’s parent Meta as ‘extremist organisation’ after the company allowed death threats to Russians on its platforms

A day after social media giant Meta Platforms Inc. eased their hate speech policy to allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers, the Russian Prosecutor General’s office, on 11th March 2022, has asked the courts to declare Meta an extremist organization.

On Thursday, Meta Inc. had made temporary changes to its hate speech policy to allow users to post content that calls for violence, including a call for death to Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko amidst the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Belarus is allying with Russia in this war.

Responding to this, Russia opened a criminal case against Facebook’s parent Meta Platforms Inc on Friday and moved to designate it as an “extremist organization”. The Prosecutor General’s Office has requested the courts to label Meta as an extremist organization under Russian law and ban all its activities in Russia. The Prosecutor General also asked for an investigation into whether Meta broke laws on “terrorist propaganda” and “inciting hatred.”

The state prosecutor also asked Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor to restrict access to Meta’s Instagram social networking service. Russia had already blocked Facebook in the country last week.

According to a report by The Jerusalem Post, Russia’s Investigative Committee has said, “A criminal case has been initiated … in connection with illegal calls for murder and violence against citizens of the Russian Federation by employees of the American company Meta, which owns the social networks Facebook and Instagram.” This committee directly reports to the Russian President Vladimir Putin and the immediate consequences of the said criminal case are not known.

Reportedly, the office of the Russian state prosecutor has said, “Such actions of the company’s management not only form an idea that terrorist activity is permissible, but are aimed at inciting hatred and enmity towards the citizens of the Russian Federation.”

Earlier, a Meta spokesperson had said in a statement, “As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as ‘death to the Russian invaders.’ We still won’t allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians.”

The same thing was said in the internal email accessed by Reuters. In these emails, it was mentioned that the Meta would allow posts that call for the death of Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko only if they did not contain other targets or discuss methods or locations.

This came after Russia had announced that it was banning Facebook in the country after the tech giant had enforced restrictions on Russian media on its platform. The Kremlin had cracked down on tech companies, including Twitter, over their arbitrary restriction of Russian state media RT and Sputnik regulations.

Hillary Clinton calls the Russian bombing of maternity hospital a ‘war crime’: Here’s the sordid US track record she conveniently glosses over

Dibakar Dutta
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Hillary Clinton calls the Russian bombing of maternity hospital a ‘war crime’: Here’s the sordid US track record she conveniently glosses over

A day after Russian warplanes bombed a maternity hospital in the besieged city of Mariupol in war-torn Ukraine, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday (March 10) condemned President Vladimir Putin for committing ‘war crimes.’

The deadly attack by Russia on the maternity hospital in Mariupol left three dead and 17 injured. The civilian building was targeted several times with high explosive Russian bombs, thereby, forcing pregnant women to deliver their newborn in the basement.

In a tweet, Clinton wrote, “If Russian leadership would rather not be accused of committing war crimes, they should stop bombing hospitals.”

Screengrab of the tweet by Hillary Clinton

While Hillary Clinton has been upfront in calling out the atrocities committed by Russia in Ukraine, the United States also has a long history of targeting hospitals and civilian buildings. Many such ‘war crimes’ were committed by the States during her tenure as the 67th Secretary of State between 2009 and 2013.

NATO bombied civilians and hospitals in Libya

In June 2011, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), of which the United States is a part, acknowledged that a missile intended for a ‘military missile site’ struck a civilian home in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.

“It appears that one weapon did not strike the intended target and that there may have been a weapons system failure which may have caused a number of civilian casualties,” NATO had conceded.

As per a report in The New York Times, at least 9 people were killed in the ‘misfire.’ “The blast knocked the top off the structure, leaving a concrete staircase reaching into the air. Several carports on the block collapsed, crushing the vehicles within,” the report emphasised.

Screengrab of the NATO statement

A month later, The Atlantic reported that NATO bombed a hospital in Zliten town in Western Libya. The deadly attack killed 7 people and destroyed several food warehouses, besides the town’s hospital.

An eyewitness named Osama Mahmoud told the reporters that the military operation took place overnight. He had said, “In this whole area there is no military.” While speaking about the bombings, Major General Nick Pope claimed that the NATO forces had attacked only staging posts near Zliten.

Screengrab of the 2011 news report by The Atlantic

Popular Twitter user, Hadi Nasrallah, pointed out how the US misadventure in the North African country had left it in tatters. “Look at the destruction Russia’s bombs did to Ukraine. This is a war crime. Sorry, I meant NATO’s bombs in Libya,” he had tweeted.

Following reports that Muammar Gaddafi was killed by NATO-backed rebels, a ‘joyous’ Hillary Clinton had announced, “We came, we saw, he died.” While lambasting the US for leaving Libya in ruins, journalist Richard Mehdurst stated, “Ten years on Libya has slave markets, a shattered economy, and its resources plundered.”

During the 2011 invasion of Libya, the NATO forces deliberately targeted State-owned water installations and crippled Libya’s water supply. Even to this day, the North African country is struggling with the water crisis.

“The deliberate destruction of a nation’s water infrastructure, with the knowledge that doing so would result in massive deaths of the population as a direct consequence, is not simply a war crime, but potentially a genocidal strategy,” wrote Nafeez Ahmed in The Ecologist.

US bombed hospitals in Afghanistan, Pentagon refused to call it ‘war crime’

During the Obama administration, the US Air Force launched an airstrike on October 3, 2015, targeting a clinic named Kunduz Trauma Centre in northern Afghanistan. The hospital was run by the charity ‘ Médecins Sans Frontières’ (Doctors Without Borders). The incident had claimed 42 lives and injured 30 others.

While MSF labelled the attack as ‘war crime’, the Pentagon had denied the allegations and called the attack ‘unintentional’. It claimed that the airstrike at the hospital was the result of technical and human errors.

According to General Joseph Votel, the US ‘mistook’ the Kunduz hospital for a building captured by the Taliban. Although he assured that disciplinary action would be taken against 16 US personnel, the accused would not face any criminal charges. “The fact this was unintentional takes it out of the realm of being a deliberate war crime,” he had claimed.

Screengrab of the BBC news report

Médecins Sans Frontière had informed that the US officials did not stop the air raid despite multiple requests. On April 29, 2016, the charity’s President remarked, “Today’s briefing amounts to an admission of an uncontrolled military operation in a densely populated urban area, during which US forces failed to follow the basic laws of war.”

Khalid Ahmad, one of the victims gravely injured in the aerial raid, had said that the US Air Force personnel are criminals, who ought to be jailed.

US targeted hospitals in Somalia, Yugoslavia and Sudan under Clinton administration

Hillary Clinton served as the First Lady between January 1993 and January 2001. During her husband Bill Clinton’s tenure as the 46th US President, ‘war crimes’ were committed in Somalia, Yugoslavia and Sudan.

Journalist Alan MacLeod pointed out how in September 1993, the US Army Rangers had fired two mortars outside the Digfer Hospital in the Somalian capital of Mogadishu.

The Chicago Tribune had reported, “Hospital director Dr Fuji Mohammed says three women were killed when the bomb exploded. He says the hospital received six or seven hits, but he does not know the total number of victims because patients and their relatives fled when the attack started, taking the dead and wounded with them.”

A similar incident took place in May 1999 when NATO warplanes used laser-guided missiles to destroy a hospital in Belgrade in Yugoslavia. The tragic attack claimed the lives of 3 people and injured several others, including 2 women in labour and medical staff.

“Nato spokesman Jamie Shea acknowledged that one of its laser-guided bombs had gone astray over the capital and struck a building about 450 metres away from its intended target,” The Guardian had reported.

Reportedly, the Al Shifa factory in Khartoum in Sudan manufactured half of the country’s pharmaceutical products, including anti-malarial drugs. However, on August 20, 1998, the Clinton administration ordered the bombing of the medicine factory.

“Fourteen years later, its wreckage remained, a shrine to an incident that locals still refer to as a terrorist attack. The Al Shifa plant had been taken out on the direct orders of Bill Clinton. The strike was in retaliation for Osama bin Laden’s recent bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania,” it was stated.

Journalist Alan MacLeod had tweeted that the deliberate attack destroyed Sudan’s main source of drugs, leading to tens of thousands of deaths.

While Hillary Clinton is busy calling out Russia for bombing a maternity clinic, she did not speak a word against the atrocities committed by the US against civilians of different nations during her husband’s administration or that of her tenure as the US Secretary of State.

BJP shatters traditional caste equations in UP, makes inroads into Samajwadi Party’s vote bank

OpIndia Staff
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BJP shatters traditional caste equations in UP, makes inroads into Samajwadi Party’s vote bank

With its glorious performance in the recently held Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the BJP has returned to power in India’s most populous state with a 2/3rd majority. As the party returns to power in a state plagued by casteist and communal politics, BJP has shown it has managed to rise above the traditional caste politics.

Out of the 370 seats it contested, BJP managed to win 255 seats, for a 69% success rate. By winning seats across the board among various demographics, BJP has disproved the traditional caste and religion equations followed by psephologists from Noida. It was widely believed that the elections will go down traditional caste lines. Some of the opposition parties were so sure of this caste based voting that they spent 5 years addressing Yogi Adityanath as Ajay Bisht in order to portray BJP as party of Thakurs.

However, once the results were out, people found out that the Thakurs voted for BJP, as did Brahmins, as did Jats, as did Dalits, and even Yadavs and Muslims. Some of the ‘safe seats’ for Samajwadi Party ended up going with BJP because of some Yadav-Muslim votes going with the ruling party.

BJP workers celebrated after a historic win. Image Source: Hindustan Times

Brahmins, Thakurs, Jats, Yadavs, Dalits, and Muslims are the main segments of the society in Uttar Pradesh who influence most of the seats in the state. Even among Dalits, there is a clear distinction between Jatavs and Non-Jatav Dalits and their voting patterns. It, therefore, becomes necessary to see how the BJP has performed in the constituencies dominated by these communities and how it won across the board.

BJP has comfortably won in Brahmin majority seats

The number of Brahmin voters in Uttar Pradesh constitute around 14%. In 115 seats of the state, it is the Brahmin voters who end up deciding the winner and the loser. So, all political parties were taking special efforts to lure the Brahmin voters ahead of the elections. Ever since the Yogi government came to power in 2017, CM Yogi Adityanath was accused of being anti-Brahmin. The encounter of dreaded don Vikas Dubey, who killed eight policemen, gave the opposition a chance to label Yogi Adityanath as an anti-Brahmin figure.

Yogi Adityanath has led the BJP campaign in Uttar Pradesh and won the election for his party.

Some Brahmin MLAs of the BJP also questioned the government on the issue. Before the elections, the opposition made all sorts of promises to woo this Brahmin vote bank but to no avail. The results of the top 10 Brahmin dominated assembly seats show that the Brahmins very much kept their faith with the Yogi government. Out of these ten constituencies having a Brahmin population from 90000 to 160000, BJP won 9 while Samajwadi Party managed to win one.

Dalit voters chose BJP

Election after election, BJP’s vote share among dalit voters keep rising even if JNU activists keep trying to portray BJP as an anti-dalit party. In the Uttar Pradesh elections, once again BJP got overwhelming support from the dalits, not just from non-Jatavs but also from BSP’s Jatav vote-bank. Even Mayawati admitted that the fear of Samajwadi Party’s goonda raj made many dalits vote for BJP.

8 out of the top 10 Thakur majority seats elected a BJP candidate

As soon as Yogi Adityanath became the CM, he was accused of favoring Thakur leaders and officers, and his birth name was used by all leftist media outlets. There were also allegations of posting only Thakur officers in government jobs, similar to Akhilesh posting Yadavs during his time.

The Thakur class is considered to be the opinion makers in Uttar Pradesh. That is why no one can ignore them, particularly when incumbent CM’s Thakur ancestry was made such a big issue. During the 2022 elections, BJP expectedly emerged as a winner in the Thakur dominated seats winning 8 out of the 10 seats with highest Thakur population.

PM Modi also campaigned in areas covering more than 200 seats and his efforts paid off.

BJP has caused a dent in Yadav-majority seats in Uttar Pradesh

The loyal Samajwadi voter, Yadavs, who are 9% of the population in UP are one of the most significant vote banks in the state. If you look at the results of the top ten Yadav majority seats, Samajwadi Party has won 7 out of them. All these seats are in close vicinity of Etawah and a traditional bastion of the Party.

Image SOurce: India Times

However, BJP with its ally Apna Dal has managed to win 3 seats out of these ten Yadav majority seats. In Chhibramau and Bakhshi ka Talab constituencies, voters preferred BJP candidates. BJP’s ally Apna Dal candidate won in Kayamganj giving BJP another seat in the Yadav stronghold.

BJP triumphed in the Jat dominated assembly seats

Jat voters constitute around 6 to 7 percent of the voters in Uttar Pradesh, but their influence rises significantly in western UP. After the farmers’ protest against the farm laws, it was widely expected that western UP will deliver a big blow to BJP.

Jat Representational Image
Source: India Today

However, the results from western UP suggest that nothing of that sort happened. Even though Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) managed to retain their core Jat voters, a large number of Jats still ended up voting for BJP. The results of the top ten Jat populated seats show that BJP has managed to win most of them.

BJP starts entering into the Muslim-dominated seats

Uttar Pradesh has around 20% Muslim population. There has been a lot of resentment in this section about the BJP government. BJP has been described as an anti-Muslim party even though BJP governments extend maximum welfare funds to Muslim communities.

Image Source: Times of India

Still, surprisingly, the BJP has won 2 out of the top ten Muslim majority seats where the Muslim population ranges from 168000 to 250000. BJP has won in Dhaulana and Saharanpur, while Samajwadi Party has managed to expectedly win the other 8 such seats. Notably, the AIMIM party of Asaduddin Owaisi has miserably failed in these constituencies.

This performance of the BJP demonstrates how it has made the Uttar Pradesh voters transcend above caste and religious barriers, and vote for law & order and development.

Netizens break into meme fest after India admits to accidentally firing a missile into Pakistan

OpIndia Staff
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Netizens break into meme fest after India admits to accidentally firing a missile into Pakistan

India on Friday said it accidentally fired a missile into Pakistan stating that a technical malfunction during the course of maintenance caused the incident. The Ministry of Defence issued a statement, expressing its ‘regrets’ over the incident and informing that a high-level court of inquiry has been ordered.

However, the occurrence, unprecedented as it is, tickled the funny bones of many social users, who took to social media websites to share hilarious memes and videos to mark the incident.

Social media platforms were awash with a meme fest as netizens shared funny posts over India’s admission of accidentally firing a missile into Pakistan.

Netizens share memes after India says it accidentally fired a missile into Pakistan

A social media user shared on Twitter a snippet from the popular Bollywood movie ‘Ek aur Ek Gyarah’ wherein actors Sanjay Dutt and Govinda, perched inside a battle tank, indiscriminately press the buttons that lead to the firing of missiles and bullets at the villains.

A Twitter user shared an image of PM Modi allegedly involved in some experimentation, to insinuate that the missile was fired by him and to poke fun at Pakistan.

Another social media user shared a popular meme from the movie Hera Phera to insinuate the accidental firing of a missile was intentional.

Yet another social media user shared pictures of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and PM Modi engaging in repartee over the firing of the missile into Pakistan.

‘Missile accidentally fired into Pakistan during maintenance’: India

India on Friday issued a statement acknowledging that on 9 March 2022, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile that unfortunately landed in an area of Pakistan. Fortunately, there has been no loss of life due to the accident.

The Government of India has taken a serious view and ordered a high-level Court of Enquiry, said the Defence Ministry in a statement.

The Ministry also added that while the incident was “deeply regrettable, it is also a matter of relief that there has been no loss of life due to the accident”.

The acknowledgement came a day after the Pakistani Army claimed that a ‘missile’ from India was launched from Hisar, violated the Pakistani airspace and fell in Mian Channu city in Khanewal district of the Punjab province of Pakistan. The incident allegedly took place on Wednesday (March 9) evening.

As per the Pakistani army’s DGISPR, the missile was without a warhead and had come close to civilian airlines, and had come over 124 km inside Pakistan. General Major Babar Iftikhar stated “It was a supersonic flying object, most probably a missile, but it was certainly unarmed. When it fell, it damaged civilian properties.”

DG ISPR alleged that the ‘flying object’ travelled 124 km from Sirsa in India to land in Mian Channu city of Pakistan. Genera Babar, however, made it clear that the flying object was not shot down and that it fell on its own.

Bolivian soldier who had shot dead leftist fighter Che Guevara dies at 80 in Santa Cruz de la Sierra

OpIndia Staff
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Bolivian soldier who had shot dead leftist fighter Che Guevara dies at 80 in Santa Cruz de la Sierra

The Bolivian soldier Mario Teran who is credited to have shot dead the leftist fighter Che Guevara has died at the age of 80 in Santa Cruz de la Sierra on Thursday 10th March 2022. After his retirement, Mario Teran was living in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. He was ill and hospitalized for the last three weeks. He is survived by his two children and his wife.

Leftist leader Che Guevara had fought in the Cuban revolution that won power in 1959 under Fidel Castro by toppling the regime of Fulgencio Batista. Che Guevara had worked for some time in the Cuban government as an official and later moved his focus to African and South American countries to needlessly incite the people in those countries for insurrections against their own state.

Mario Teran had shot dead Argentina-born Guevara on 9th October 1967 in the eastern Santa Cruz province of Bolivia during the cold war. According to a report by WION News, Gary Prado, who is a former Bolivian soldier and also who helped capture Guevara 54 years ago, has said, “He died. He was ill and nothing could be done.”

A Twitter user Chitrangada has posted in her tweet, “Dear Mario Teran, thank you for your service and ending the life of this miserable wretch Che all those years back. RIP! Bolivian soldier who shot dead revolutionary Che Guevara dies at 80.”

After Bolivian soldiers had tracked down Che Guevara, Mario Teran was chosen to kill Guevara as per the orders to execute had arrived from the Bolivian capital.

Minor girl gangraped by ‘boyfriend’ Biki Ali and his 4 friends in Guwahati, case filed after they uploaded video of the crime on social media

OpIndia Staff
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Minor girl gangraped by ‘boyfriend’ Biki Ali and his 4 friends in Guwahati, case filed after they uploaded video of the crime on social media

Guwahati police is looking for five youths named Biki Ali, Faizur Ali, Puna Ali, Pinku Ali, and Raja Ali for gangrape of a minor girl, all of whom are absconding. After committing the crime, the youths led by Biki Ali had uploaded the video of the same on social media, which had gone viral.

According to reports, the class ten minor girl was in an alleged affair with Biki Ali. On February 16th, he took her to his home along with a friend and both of them had raped her together. They had also recorded the act. They threatened that they will upload the images and the videos on social media if she disclosed about the incident to anyone.

While the 16-year-old girl kept quite due to this threat, it emboldened Biki Ali to commit the crime again. On 19th February, he blackmailed her to accompany him to an Oyo hotel, threatening that if she does not agree, the visuals will be made viral.

In the hotel room, Biki Ali was joined by four other friends named Faizur Ali, Puna Ali, Pinku Ali, and Raja Ali. They gangraped the girl together, and again made video of the same. This time, they also uploaded the videos on social media.

After keeping mum for some days, the girl informed her family about the incident, and immediately her parents registered a complaint at the Panbazar Women Police Station in the city. Based on the complaint, a case under POCSO has been registered against the five named by the victim.

While the girl is aged 16 and thus a minor, all the accused are adults as they are in their early twenties. The police have launched a manhunt to nab the five accused, as all of them are on the run at present.

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