The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) demanding a stay on an order passed by the Kerala High Court grating bail to CPI(M) members accused of “brutally killing” an RSS member.
Dismissing the petition, a bench of Justices SM Kaul and MM Sundresh stated that it had grave reservations on the factual findings of the case, along with the fact that the CBI did not bring up the case for more than a year and no aggravating circumstances were shown after the respondents were released in pursuant to the impugned order.
However, the premier probe agency also contended that the Kerala HC granted bail through the impugned order in 2021 taking into consideration that the accused were in jail for over six years without a trial, which the CBI said was not due to any delay on its part.
Kerala HC granted bail to accused despite noting they were prima facie guilty of the offences: CBI
The CBI in its petition had argued that the Kerala HC granted bail to the accused despite noting that it was “prima facie convinced that the accused are guilty of committing the offences alleged against them.”
The accused, members of CPI(M), are charged with brutal broad daylight murder of RSS member Shri Janithottathi Manoj and an attempt to murder of one Mr Pramod.
According to the charge-sheet filed in the case, the attack which involved targeting the victim and Pramod with bombs, swords, choppers, etc., which led to the death of RSS member Manoj, was a well-thought-out conspiracy and a planned murder.
In the preliminary charge-sheet, 19 people were named as accused, and later a supplementary charge-sheet was filed which added another 6 to the list of accused.
The court took cognisance of the case in March 2015 and a trial has been pending before the Special Judge (CBI) since then. The CBI noted that the accused had filed several applications from 2015 to 2018, which were rejected on merits while observing that prima facie allegations against them were true.
Historian Vikram Sampath has been under attack of Leftists and Islamists in the recent weeks, making false allegations of plagiarism against him. It was led by three professors from universities in the US, Ananya Chakravarti, Rohit Chopra and Audrey Truschke. While the allegations were proved fake, Hinduphobic professor Audrey Truschke has now launched a massive attack against Sampath, including vandalising his Wikipedia page.
It was pointed out by Vikram Sampath himself on February 27, when he tweeted that his Wikipedia page was vandalised by an editor with a history of vandalising pages linked to India.
Even as the forged signatures unravel Trangabellam continues to vandalize my @Wikipedia pg, which she joyfully acknowledges?. Note Trangabellam created Dr Truschke’s page; vandalized @sanjeevsanyal ‘s page & also Balakot strikes!! Are they the same person – AT & TB: alter-egos? pic.twitter.com/0ByGymX8VU
The Wikipedia page of Vikram Sampath is seeing hectic edits for last few weeks, and every random allegation made against the historian was added to the article. Although Wikipedia rules say that only verified information backed by credible sources should be added to its articles, baseless allegations and plain opinions were added to the page, mostly by an editor with the ID TrangaBellam, like a Scroll article titled “How historian Vikram Sampath uses decolonisation rhetoric to make Hindu domination sound reasonable”.
As the Audrey Truschke continued to make charges against Vikram Sampath, all of them were updated on the Wikipedia page. And interestingly, the professor herself proudly announced that her allegations against Sampath had made their way to Wikipedia.
It is notable that the changed to Wikipedia were made on nearly real-time basis, which means they were added to the page immediately after the allegations were made against the historian, completely violating the Wikipedia policy of publishing only verified information.
The page had added details about an ‘open letter’ against Vikram Sampath purportedly signed by several persons in India and across the globe, a majority of which were found to be fake.
Audrey Truschke had tweeted about the letter, claiming that ‘75+ concerned scholars’ have signed it.
Open letter of support by 75+ concerned scholars for Drs. Ananya Chakravarti, Rohit Chopra, and Audrey Truschke regarding their service to the profession and academic freedom in calling attention to Dr. Vikram Sampath’s plagiarism. https://t.co/4GO10qC9PY
However, after several ‘signatories’ of the letter including Ramchandra Guha, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Sanjay Raut etc clarified that they had not signed it, the reference to the letter was later removed. It is notable that actually the name of Ramchandra Guha was not even in the letter, a name Ram Guha was there. But the Wikipedia editor assumed it to be Ramchandra Guha and added that he had signed the letter before removing the entire para.
Later, it was found that the ‘open letter’ by Audrey Truschke was filled with forged signature, and it has no mechanism to verify the identity of the signatories to make such grave allegations against Sampath. It was just an open Google document which anyone could sign by giving any name.
However, even after it was comprehensively proved that most signatures on the open letter were forged, and they were added either by Audrey Truschke or someone from her team, the Wikipedia editor TrangaBellam refused to believe that. While one prominent name after another, name of whom appeared in the letter, had clarified they had not signed it and didn’t even see the letter before, the editor claimed it was ‘not a forgery’.
In the talk page of the article, when one user had pointed out that the letter comes under forgery, TrangaBellam said that he had removed the reference to the letter, but added, “It was not a forgery but a harebrained way of using technology”. The editor implied that Audrey is not well versed in technology, and that’s why she created the open letter in such a way that anyone could sign it using any name. This raises the question, how does TrangaBellam know that Audrey Truschke is not good with technology, do they know each other personally?
Morever, this is a shocking defence of an open forgery done by Audrey Truschke, and proves that the editor TrangaBellam is highly partial to the professor, who might be personally known to her. Therefore, the editor should not even be eligible to edit the page of Vikram Sampath as he has direct interest in defaming him.
Several editors also rightly pointed out that the plagiarism section has become too large compared to the overall article. The Wikipedia page of Vikram Sampath is very brief, but now the new section added to it had increased its volume by more than double. They said that a 300 word section on the plagiarism allegations is too much for a 570 word bio. But TrangaBellam rejected all these arguments, saying that “Coverage of “alleged plagiarism” is on a steady increase,” pointing out media reports on the allegations and the case filed by the historian against it at the Delhi High Court.
There are more arguments by TrangaBellam showing that he is openly biased against Vikram Sampath, and he was showing most interest in editing the historian’s page to add as much unverified allegations against him as possible. In fact, reacting to the clarification given by Sampath to the allegations, the editor said, “I am not buying Sampath’s arguments.”
After several prominent left-liberal personalities issued statements that their signs were fraudulently added to the letter, Audrey had blamed ‘Hindu Right IT cells’ of vandalising it.
Social media user Soumyadipta also recorded the vandalism of the Wikipedia page by the team of Audrey, and said that due to this, his IP address was blocked from the site. He alleged that TrangaBellam is part of a team of Wikiepedia editors, some of whom have admin rights, and therefore they can block people who expose them.
Alert: Wikipedia Admins have blocked my IP after gaining access to my profile. Both Vanamonde93 & Newslinger are Admins and have those rights. They might be after you too. If you have interacted with me citing specific conversations with Kautilya or TrangaBellam, please delete it pic.twitter.com/Z3HfUHVmPw
Most of the edits against Vikram Sampath in the Wikipedia page are made by one single editor, TrangaBellam, who has a history of vandalising Wikipedia pages to defame India and Hinduism. Anytime any Wikipedia adds a single line that seems to be favourable to Vikram Sampath, this editor appears and reverts the changes. And any time any allegation against Sampath appears, the same editor adds that even without verifying the facts.
The Wikipedia page of Audrey Truschke was created by this editor, and seems to regularly maintain the page of the Hinduphobic professor. This again points out to the possibility that both may be linked beyond Wikipedia.
This incident of Wikipedia editor TrangaBellam being biased towards the leftist Hinduphobic and Aurangzeb apologist professor Audrey Truschke is just one example of the larger problem at Wikipedia, its senior editors and moderators are dominated by Leftists and Islamists. Time and again we have recorded such bias of Wikipedia, and this has been confirmed by none other than Wikipedia cofounder Larry Sanger, who is no longer with the organisation now. He had said on several occasions that nobody should trust Wikipedia, because the site has been taken over by leftists who reject content that doesn’t fit their agenda.
In a sensational disclosure, Melinda French Gates on Thursday criticized her ex-husband Bill Gates for meeting Jeffrey Epstein, the financier accused of child sex crimes, multiple times.
In her interview with CBS News on Thursday, Melinda Gates revealed that she had met Epstein once, saying that afterwards, she “had nightmares.” “I wanted to see who this man was, and I regretted it from the second I stepped in the door,” the former wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates said.
This is the first interview of Melinda French Gates since her divorce from multi-billionaire Bill Gates.
Melinda Gates referred to Epstein as “abhorrent” and “evil personified” but did not disclose whether she asked her husband to stop meeting with him.
Jeffrey Epstein, who was awaiting charges of sexual exploitation of underage girls, hanged himself in his Manhattan jail cell in August 2019.
On the question of whether her husband’s relationship with Epstein played a role in their divorce, Melinda Gates said that it was one of “many things” that contributed. In the interview, Melinda disclosed that she cried for days after the divorce, questioning herself about how she would move forward following the split.
“Well, I think it’s really important to say, look, I had a lot of tears for many days. I mean, days where I’m literally laying on the floor and the carpet, you know, this close to me, thinking, “How can this be? How can I get up? How am I gonna move forward?'” she said.
Gates said she started on this journey of healing, and she felt like she was starting to get to the other side. “And I do feel like I’m turning a page in the chapter now. I mean, it’s 2022, and I’m actually really excited about what’s to come and life ahead for me,” she said in the interview.
Melinda admitted that she and Bill Gates are “friendly at this point” and continue to have a working relationship.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Melinda had announced in May last year that they were getting divorced after 27 years of marriage. Bill Gates and Melinda Gates got married in 1994, and they have three children together.
It was reported Bill Gates’s March 2020 departure from Microsoft and the subsequent divorce occurred following an investigation into an affair he had with an employee in 2000.
Bill Gates, who founded Microsoft in 1975, has reported a wealth of $129 billion. He stepped down as the company’s CEO in 2000 and left his full-time role at Microsoft in 2008 but held onto his board seat until March 2020.
The Peel police in Toronto, Canada, have arrested three Canada based Punjabi men responsible for the series of break-ins, vandalism and theft that have been happening in Hindu temples in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) from November 2021 until March 2022. The fourth suspect is still at large.
The arrested accused have been identified as Jagdish Pandher, a 39-year-old man from Brampton, Gursharnjeet Dhindsa, a 31-year-old man from Brampton and Parminder Gill, a 42-year-old man from Brampton. They have been slapped with as many as 78 charges including Disguise with intent (13 counts each) and Break, enter and commit an indictable offence (13 counts each).
OpIndia had reported in February how there had been a series of attacks on Hindu temples in the Greater Toronto Area in a span of two weeks. According to reports, six temples had been vandalised in ten days. In addition, the attackers have stolen cash from donation boxes and ornaments that were adorned on the stolen idols. The incident had happened amidst the truckers’ protest in Canada.
Meanwhile, according to the latest reports, the accused have been charged for the loot and vandalism that occurred in nine Hindu temples, two Jain temples and two Gurdwaras in Peel Region which include Maa Chintpurni Mandir and Shri Gauri Shankar Mandir in Brampton as well as the Hindu Heritage Centre in Mississauga and the Hamilton Samaj Temple between November 2021 and March 2022.
These incidents started in November last year when the first break-ins happened at the Hindu Sabha Temple and Shri Jagannath temple, both in Brampton.
The spate of these attacks on Hindu temples increased with a failed attempt of a break-in at the Shri Hanuman Mandir in Brampton, Ontario on January 15, 2022. Unfazed, the criminals have been on the loose ever since.
According to the report, in a span of the next ten days, the miscreants vandalised and burgled nearly half a dozen temples in the vicinity. They broke in into the worship places, vandalised, stole cash from donation boxes and even ornaments adorning idols.
Another temple in Brampton, the Maa Chintpurni Mandir, was broken into on January 25, followed by a series of similar incidents at the Gauri Shankar Mandir as well as the Hindu Heritage Centre in Mississauga.
The management committee of Maa Chintpurni Mandir and Shri Gauri Shankar Mandir in Brampton confirmed that more than $30,000 cash was stolen from these two mandirs.
Hindu Heritage Centre in Mississauga, Canada had also taken to its official social media page to share the news on February 9, 2022.
“Devotees and priests have been left traumatised with this incident,” the Hindu Heritage Centre had said in a statement released after the incident.
source: Hindu Times Canada
On January 30, two persons created a hole in the wall to enter the Hindu Heritage Centre (HHC) in Mississauga. The miscreants rummaged through donation boxes and stole the cash. Multiple statues of Hindu gods and goddesses were broken. The centre’s office and gift shop were ransacked as well.
CCTV footage showed masked men wearing winter gear and carrying backpacks entering the temples. They appeared to spend a significant amount of time examining the temple premises for cash in donation boxes or other valuables such as jewellery adorning the deities. The loot was carried out mostly in the wee hours of the day.
The centre had reported the incident to Peel Regional Police, which in turn said in a release issued on February 11 that the 21 Division Criminal Investigation Bureau is investigating 10 breaks and enters that occurred at multiple places of worship across Peel since November 2021.
Meanwhile, all three arrested Punjabi men had been presented at the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton for a bail hearing on March 4, 2022.
The police said that they are continuing their hunt for the known fourth suspect. According to them, there is no evidence, as of now, that these crimes were motivated by hatred, and they appear to be purely theft-related acts. However, as the investigation continues, all conceivable motives will be investigated, they said.
In a huge relief to the Indian medical students evacuated from Ukraine, the National Medical Commission (NMC) on Saturday announced that it would allow Foreign Medical Graduates to apply for complete internship programme in India provided they clear the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE).
Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, many of the Indian medical students with incomplete internships had to return to India and are facing hardships in getting themselves registered in the State Medical Councils. The NMC said that it has opened the doors also for those students who came back to India during the COVID times and are not able to continue their education in the countries out of India now.
“It has been observed that some Foreign Medical Graduates with incomplete internship due to situations beyond their control are face stress and agony. Therefore, the application to complete the remaining part of their internship in India is considered eligible”, the letter by NMC read.
Amid the ongoing evacuation of Indian medical students from #Ukraine, National Medical Commission (NMC) allows Foreign Medical Graduates with incomplete internships due to compelling situations like the Covid19 & war…to apply to complete internships in India if they clear FMGE pic.twitter.com/tqxeCNPdYy
The NMC also said that the students intending to appear for the FMGE and internship further will have to submit all the relevant identity documents and papers of completion of their primary medical education or successful completion of physical training.
The Commission reiterated that the provisions contained in the FMGL Regulations, 2021 would not apply if the graduates have acquired a foreign medical degree or primary qualification, prior to November 18, 2021. However, candidates who have joined their undergraduate medical education in a foreign institution prior to November 18 will be included in this category.
National Medical Commission is an Indian regulatory body of 33 members which regulates medical education and medical professionals. It has regulated that all those medical students who have returned from Ukraine and who intend to complete their internship in India, shall appear for FMGE. FMGE is an exit exam medical students must take in order to be able to pursue their postgraduation in Medicine and become eligible to get a license to practice medicine in India.
It is worth noting that the Indian government has undertaken a special evacuation operation named ‘Operation Ganga’ for the stranded Indian students. Several special flights have been running from Poland, Romania, and Hungary to bring the students home. Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, and SpiceJet have joined the Operation Ganga mission operating multiple flights from Ukraine’s neighboring countries to Delhi and Mumbai.
Nearly 20,000 Indian students, most studying medicine were stuck in Ukraine amid the conflict. Out of the total number, 60% have already reached India and efforts are being made to evacuate the balance 40% of the Indian nationals.
Two weeks ago, in a surprise move, Russia launched a large-scale military operation inside Ukraine, causing a geopolitical disruption. The Russian military intervention in Ukraine has altered the strategic dynamics, making countries adopt prudent ways to deal with the ongoing crisis.
India, as a responsible global power, has so far taken a nuanced stand on the Ukraine-Russia crisis considering its own strategic interests. India has abstained from voting on the US-sponsored United Nations resolutions that “deplores” Russia in the strongest terms, with New Delhi saying dialogue is the only answer to settling differences and disputes.
The Indian government has called both parties to adhere to UN Charter and international law while asking them to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. In fact, for the first time in seven decades, India has taken an independent and balanced position on a critical issue. Ever since the clashes broke out, the Indian government has made it clear that Western countries cannot force them to take a stand that compromises their national interest.
Some in the west, including a few within India, view this as a pro-Russian stand and often claims that India has a ‘moral’ compulsion to stand with west-backed Ukraine and not its time-tested ally Russia.
However, this decision does not tantamount to supporting any side. On the contrary, it means that India will not take anyone’s side in an ongoing intra-European conflict and wishes to see it resolved through dialogue and discourse. For India, the evacuation of its stranded citizens in Ukraine has been the greatest priority in this hour of crisis and has been working to evacuate its citizens from the war-torn country safely.
In fact, this neutral stand of the Indian government has yielded good results, with both Ukraine and the Russian government are actively helping the Indian government to evacuate its citizen despite the absence of any ceasefire agreement. Perhaps, India is the only country in the world that has managed to bring its citizens back home safely within two weeks of the military intervention.
However, a certain vested interest within India is now dispirited after realising that the Indian government can take its own decisions to protect its strategic integrity and cannot be bullied by the west to blindly accept the diktats issued by them, as was the case in the past. These vested interests are now making all efforts to persuade the United States, another strategic ally of India, to act against the Indian government for its alleged support to Russia.
On Friday, controversial far-left ‘news’ outlet NDTV did something similar to persuade the United States government to take a firm stand against the Modi government for abstaining from voting on a US-backed UN resolution targeting Russia.
NDTV news anchor Sreenivasan Jain was caught pleading with the United States representative desperately to be ‘disappointed’ against the Indian government’s supposed ‘fence-sitting’ in the ongoing Ukraine-Russia clashes. Speaking to Patricia Lacina, the chief of the US mission to India, Jain told the US diplomat that India had taken a stand that was contrary to the US interests.
.@OnReality_Check | “We understand that the relationship that India has with Russia is very different from the relationship that the US has with Russia,” says Patricia Lacina, chief of the US mission to India, on India-Russia relations.pic.twitter.com/5qjXP8PRK3
The news anchor asked whether there was any sense of disappointment within the Biden administration after India, one of its strategic allies, as it abstained from voting on the US-backed resolution.
However, to Sreenivasan Jain’s disappointment, Lacina did not want to make any unnecessary comment on India’s stand on the current issue but insisted that the US did not believe India is in “Russia’s camp” on the Ukraine war. The American diplomat said that America understood that India’s relationship with Russia is “very different” from the US relationship with Russia.
Interestingly, the United States has also been consistent in its position regarding India’s approach to the Ukraine-Russia crisis. The Biden administration has time and again repeated that India’s relationship with Russia is “distinct” from that the US shares with the latter and that they have no problem.
“India has a relationship with Russia that we certainly don’t have. India and Russia have a relationship, including in the defence and security sector, that we don’t have. And again, we have asked every country that has a relationship, and certainly those countries that have leverage, to use that leverage in a constructive way,” the state department had reiterated last week.
Despite the United States of America making it clear that it cannot dictate India anymore, the left-liberals are desperately attempting to goad the west to make an intervention and command the Modi government to take decisions even at the cost of India’s national interest.
The Islamic State (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the deadly bomb blast inside a Shia Mosque in Peshawar. During Friday prayers, a bomb exploded, killing at least 56 people and injuring nearly 200 others. It is one of the bloodiest attacks in Pakistan.
The Islamic State’s regional unit, Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K, claimed responsibility for the attack, according to an ISIS statement. According to the statement, the explosion was performed by an Afghan suicide bomber.
According to authorities, at least one assailant on a motorbike shot two police officers before entering the mosque and detonating what seemed to be a suicide vest.
The blast occurred during Friday prayer in a Shia mosque in Qisa Khwani locality of Peshawar.
Sheikh Rashid, Pakistan’s Minister of Interior Affairs, stated that the intelligence agency did not issue an alert or directive that the attack was initiated from overseas. He made no mention of any country or group. However, he stated that it is a big conspiracy to destabilize Pakistan.
The devastating attack occurred on the opening day of a cricket Test match between Pakistan and Australia in Rawalpindi, 190 kilometres to the east. For the first time in 24 years, Australia’s cricket team is in Pakistan. The Australian team was hesitant to travel to Pakistan for the bilateral series, but consented when Pakistan stated that it was ready for “anything.”
At least 56 people were killed in a blast at a Shia mosque during Friday prayers in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar https://t.co/taUQkDSWwm
According to sources, Australian team officials were keeping a close eye on the issue and communicating with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The Australian team is in Islamabad for the ongoing Rawalpindi test match, and they have presidential-level protection for the entire tour. The remaining games of the series will be played in Lahore and Karachi.
Following an attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in 2009, international cricket in Pakistan was halted for a decade.
The Farmer organisations seem to have found new, overarching reasons to protest. On Friday, Balbir Singh Rajewal, President of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) strongly opposed the bail to Ashish Mishra, son of MoS Home Ajay Mishra Teni who was named as the prime accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. “Cancel bail of MoS Ajay Teni’s son”, Rajewal said as he held protests along with the members of 22 farmer organisations outside the Governor’s house in Chandigarh.
Punjab | Members of 22 farmer orgs protested outside Governor’s house in Chandigarh, over several issues
Our issues are, Centre has taken control over our dams. School Education Board has distorted info in history books. Punjab should have its own capital: BKU pres BS Rajewal pic.twitter.com/5rQCqT8IqK
This is a day after the Supreme Court has nodded to hear the plea seeking the cancellation of Ashish Mishra’s bail in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case on March 11. Mishra was granted bail in the case on February 10 by the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court.
The petitioners then moved to the Supreme Court seeking an urgent appeal before the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana who has agreed to hear the case this month. Mishra was arrested on October 9 last year, accused of being primarily involved in the incident that took place in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3.
On October 3, eight people were killed amidst violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit to the area. Four farmers died and a driver and two BJP workers were lynched by farmers.
Other new demands for which the farmer organisations have now decided to start protesting
The farmers demanded a separate capital for Punjab and accused the Centre of taking control of the state dams. He also complained that the School Education Board had distorted information in history books and that the students were made to learn the wrong history.
BKU President, Balbir Singh Rajewal amid the protests on Friday also opposed the privatization of the Power department of Chandigarh which is scheduled to be executed by the end of April this year. “We don’t allow privatization, as Chandigarh admin tried to privatize electricity board”, he affirmed.
Punjab | Members of 22 farmer orgs protested outside Governor’s house in Chandigarh, over several issues
Our issues are, Centre has taken control over our dams. School Education Board has distorted info in history books. Punjab should have its own capital: BKU pres BS Rajewal pic.twitter.com/5rQCqT8IqK
The privatization of the power department of Chandigarh will be executed as it will be transferred to the Kolkata-based Eminent Electricity Distribution company by the end of April. According to the reports, the transfer is said to affect its 700 regular employees, 90% of which will be transferred to the private bidder with financial security and benefits.
It is important to note that the move of transferring the power department in the private hands is being opposed by its stakeholders, employees and also the consumers fearing of the raised tariff rates to satisfy the private pockets. Earlier the All India Power Engineers Federation also urged the govt to scrap the decision of privatization.
Meanwhile, Rajewal also commented on the ongoing war in Ukraine and India’s efforts to get back the Indian nationals safe back to our country. He stated that many of the Indian students were stuck in Ukraine and the speed with which the Indian government was evacuating the students would result in severe loss.
Pertinently, the BKU President happened to ignore the fact that the Indian government has undertaken a special evacuation operation named ‘Operation Ganga’ for the stranded Indian students. Several special flights have been running from Poland, Romania, and Hungary to bring the students home. Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, and SpiceJet have joined the Operation Ganga mission operating multiple flights from Ukraine’s neighboring countries to Delhi and Mumbai.
Nearly 20,000 Indian students, most studying medicine were stuck in Ukraine amid the conflict. Out of the total number, 60% have already reached India and efforts are being made to evacuate the balance 40% of the Indian nationals.
Even the Taliban seems to be not very happy with Pakistan standards. According to reports, the Taliban has criticized Pakistan for providing low-quality wheat in aid while praising India for supplying high-quality wheat. A spokesperson of the Taliban slammed Pakistan saying that the wheat sent by Pakistan is rotten and is not fit for consumption.
However, it is reported that the Taliban official who made these statements about Pakistani wheat’s poor quality was fired from his position.
A video of a Taliban spokesperson making comments about wheat given by Pakistan and India is making the rounds on social media sites.
Indian Wheat Vs Pakistani Wheat!
Recently, India and Pakistan have donated tons of wheat to #Afghanistan in #HumanitarianAID package, now Taliban authorities claim that Pakistani Wheat is rotten and not healthy to be distributed to people while Indian Wheat quality is so good? pic.twitter.com/CQGUalTrjo
Many people have seen the clip, and many Afghans have expressed their gratitude to India for its generosity.
A Twitter user based in Afghanistan wrote with the video, “Hear the difference between a Muslim neighbour and a Hindu neighbour. Hey India! Thank you #India for your continued support to the Afghan people. Our Public to public-friendly relations will be forever. Jai Hind!”.
د یو مسلمان ګاونډي او هندو ګاونډي د مرستې فرق د دوﺉ د خپلې خولې واورﺉ.
جۍ هند! Thank you #India for your continued support to the Afghan people. Our Public to public friendly relations will be forever. Jai Hind! pic.twitter.com/eBStTOMZBZ
It is notable that after declaring humanitarian assistance for the Afghan people, India dispatched the first consignment of 2,500 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan via Pakistani land routes.
We’re extending our humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, in the form of 50,000 tonnes of wheat. We’re flagging off our 1st consignment of 2,500 tonnes in 50 Afghan trucks, today. It’ll be delivered to the World Food Program for dissemination: Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla pic.twitter.com/vxfv9knnTL
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Afghan Ambassador Farid Mamundzay, and World Food Program Country Director Bishaw Parajuli sent off the first convoy of 50 trucks delivering the shipment during a ceremony in Amritsar in February.
The second humanitarian assistance convoy carrying 2000 MTs of wheat left Attari, Amritsar, for Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on Thursday.
Second convoy of India’s humanitarian assistance carrying 2000 MTs of wheat left Attari, Amritsar today for Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
All this is part of India’s 50,000 MT wheat pledge to the Afghan people, which will be distributed by the UN’s World Food Programme.
India has committed to provide 50,000 MT of wheat and life saving drugs to the Afghan people as humanitarian assistance: MEA in Parliament pic.twitter.com/Gh9iYdW4eD
On October 7, India made a proposal to Islamabad requesting a passage route to transport 50,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan via Pakistan. On November 24, it received a positive reply. Following that, both parties communicated to finalize the shipment’s transit methods.
On Friday (March 4), Russia’s communication regulator Roskomnadzor blocked Facebook for allegedly restricting the dissemination of news content by state-owned media channels.
As per reports, Roskomnadzor claimed that the social media giant had ‘discriminated’ against Russian media on 26 occasions since October 2020. It further alleged that Facebook has been imposing restrictions on State-controlled media outfits such as Russia Today (RT), Sputnik and RIA. Citing these reasons, the communication regulator blocked the services of Facebook.
The social media giant has over 7.5 million users in Russia, as of 2021, and over 122.2 million users across Instagram, Messenger and Whatsapp. Social media giants have been under immense pressure to take action against Russia after it launched a full-scale invasion in Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Facebook issues statement, claims efforts underway to restore services in Russia
President of Global Affairs at Facebook’s parent company Meta, Nick Clegg, informed that Facebook will do everything to ensure its services are restored in Russia. He stated, “Soon millions of ordinary Russians will find themselves cut off from reliable information, deprived of their everyday ways of connecting with family and friends and silenced from speaking out. We will continue to do everything we can to restore our services so they remain available to people to safely and securely express themselves and organize for action.”
On the Russian government’s decision to block access to Facebook in the Russian Federation: pic.twitter.com/JlJwIu1t9K
In a blog post on Friday, Meta stated, “Despite the Russian government’s announcement that they will be blocking Facebook, we are working to keep our services available to the greatest extent possible. However, due to the difficulties of operating in Russia at this time, ads targeting people in Russia will be paused, and advertisers within Russia will no longer be able to create or run ads anywhere in the world, including within Russia.”
On February 26, the Head of Security Policy at Meta, Nathaniel Gleicher, announced that Facebook would stop Russia’s State-controlled media from running ads or monetising their content. The Russian government had earlier limited access to the social media giant partially for turning down a request to allow ‘independent fact checking’ by State-controlled media outlets.
Russia enacts ‘fake news law’, global media suspends reporting
The Russian government, led by President Vladimir Putin, has enacted a new ‘fake news law’ that has provisions to jail journalists for up to 15 years for publishing ‘fake news.’ The law also imposes fines against those calling for sanctions on the country for invading Ukraine.
Russia has also objected to the use of the word ‘war’ to describe the invasion of Ukraine. It has instead directed media channels to use ‘special military operation’. The new move by the Russian government is aimed at censoring independent journalism and intimidating journalists with retaliatory measures.
Keeping the situation in mind, global media outlets have temporarily suspended reporting from Russia. These organisations include the BBC, CNN, CBC, CBS News and Bloomberg News. Many news outlets also removed the bylines of Russia-based journalists, after assessing threats to their security.
In its defence, Russian communication regulator Roskomnadzor had claimed that false information was being peddled in the country on the behest of its enemies, including the US and its Western European allies.
“We have with great regret decided to temporarily suspend our news gathering inside Russia. The change to the criminal code, which seems designed to turn any independent reporter into a criminal purely by association, makes it impossible to continue any semblance of normal journalism inside the country,” Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait remarked on March 4.
Bloomberg to temporarily halt work of its journalists in Russia: “The change to the criminal code makes it impossible to continue any semblance of normal journalism inside the country,” says Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait. https://t.co/ZQo3rxu43w via @business
BBC Director-General, Tim Davie, said: “It leaves us no other option than to temporarily suspend the work of all BBC News journalists and their support staff within the Russian Federation while we assess the full implications of this unwelcome development. Our BBC News service in Russian will continue to operate from outside Russia.”
“Our top priorities are the safety of our employees and covering this important story fairly and fully. Being in Moscow, freely able to talk to officials and capture the mood, is key to that mission,” reported Dow Jones spokesperson Steve Severinghaus.
The international news outlet, The New York Times, had attempted to defend fake viral stories under the pretext that it is a part of warfare tactics and crucial to keep the morale of Ukranian soldiers high.
Viral stories like the Ghost of Kyiv — a Ukrainian pilot who supposedly single-handedly shot down several Russian fighter jets — are of questionable veracity. But they’re a key part of Ukraine’s war plan, experts say, as it tries to keep morale high. https://t.co/oNUZArrGUy
“Viral stories like the Ghost of Kyiv — a Ukrainian pilot who supposedly single-handedly shot down several Russian fighter jets — are of questionable veracity. But they’re a key part of Ukraine’s war plan, experts say, as it tries to keep morale high,” it had tweeted on Friday (March 4).
