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Amit Shah chairs high-level meeting on Nagaland firing incident, committee formed to look into withdrawal of AFSPA and Disturbed Area Act from the state

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Amit Shah chairs high-level meeting on Nagaland firing incident, committee formed to look into withdrawal of AFSPA and Disturbed Area Act from the state

Amid the ongoing demands in Nagaland for withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the state that gives special power to the Army and Central Armed Forces, the union govt has decided to form a committee to look into the demand. It was decided in a high-level meeting chaired by Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah on December 23, where he directed the formation of a committee to review the withdrawal of the act in the Northeastern State. The development comes in the aftermath of the December 5 incident during which 14 civilians were killed by armed forces due to mistaken identity.

As per reports, the meeting was attended by Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio, Deputy CM Yanthungo Patton, Naga People’s Front (NPF) leader TR Zeliang and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma. In a press release, the Nagaland government informed that a committee will be instituted to look into the withdrawal of AFSPA and the Disputed Area Act from the state.

The Committee will be headed by the MHA’s Additional Secretary of North-East, the Chief Secretary of Govt of Nagaland and the Director-General of Nagaland Police. Other committee members will include a representative of the CRPF and the Inspector General of Assam Rifles (North) and a representative of the CRPF. The Committee will be tasked to submit its findings within 45 days and the decision to withdraw the Disturbed Area Act and Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Nagaland will be taken based on its recommendation.

“A Court of Enquiry will initiate disciplinary proceedings against the army unit & army personnel, who are directly involved in the Oting incident and action will be taken immediately on the basis of fair enquiry,” the Nagaland government further said in its press release. It also added that the identified persons who will face the enquiry will be placed under suspension with immediate effect.

The meeting chaired by Amit Shah (courtesy Himanta Biswa Sarma)

The press release further added that the family members of the deceased will be given government jobs. The DC and the SP of Mon district will carry out the necessary procedures in this regard in consultations with concerned village councils, and government jobs will be given on compassionate grounds on the basis of eligibility.

The delegation of Nagaland also urged the union home ministry to replace the Assam Rifles Unit in the Mon district with immediate effect.

Nagaland govt said it is grateful to Amit Shah for taking the matter with utmost seriousness and appreciated the union for taking necessary steps to ensure justice and responding to the voice of the people.

Amit Shah earlier assured that action would be taken at the highest level

On December 6, Home Minister Amit Shah addressed Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the Nagaland firing incident in which 13 civilians lost their lives. HM Shah said that the security forces had got a tip-off about insurgents movement in the area.

A battalion of 21 Para Commandos had laid down an ambush to attack the insurgents on December 4 evening. During that time, a vehicle was passing by that was asked to stop by the security forces. Instead of stopping, the driver tried to escape the scene. The security forces suspected there were insurgents in the vehicle, and they opened fire. Six out of eight people died. Later it was found that it was a case of mistaken identity. Learning about the incident, the enraged villagers attacked the security forces, and in retaliation the soldiers opened fire on them, killing and injuring more civilians. One personnel was also killed in the mob attack, and some more were injured.

HM Shah said that on the evening of December 5 after the incident, a mob of around 250 people attacked the operating base of Assam Rifles in Mon and vandalized the base. They also set COP’s house on fire. The Assam Rifles personnel had to open fire to disperse the crowd that resulted in the death of one more civilian. Another Civilian got injured. HM Shah added, “Additional forces have been deployed in the area to ensure law and order is maintained. In a press note, the Army has expressed regret over the death of civilians.”

P Chidambaram insinuates TMC and AAP are vote-cutter parties, says they will split non-BJP votes in Goa

OpIndia Staff
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P Chidambaram insinuates TMC and AAP are vote-cutter parties, says they will split non-BJP votes in Goa

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram in a recent interview with news agency PTI stated that non-BJP votes in the forthcoming elections in Goa will be fractured by Trinamool Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, according to reports. The former finance minister of India further mentioned that whether the splitting of the non-BJP votes in Goa will benefit Congress or BJP remained to be seen.

Chidambaram, who will play the part of Congress senior election observer for the coming Goa elections, when asked about the defection of Congress leaders to the opposition parties said, “99 per cent of Congress workers remain with the Congress. I am not unhappy that Mr Reginaldo Lourenco defected to the TMC. The TMC has taken a losing candidate from our hands and, if it fields him in the election, he will remain a losing candidate”. A few days back, Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco had defected to Trinamool Congress after resigning as a Congress MLA.

On the speculations about TMC and Aam Aadmi Party posing as B teams of the Bharatiya Janata Party, P Chidambaram stated that he would refrain from commenting on the motives of any party and noted, “In a straight fight between the BJP and the Congress in 2022, the Congress will emerge as a clear winner.” adding, “The TMC and AAP are fracturing the non-BJP vote. Whether that will benefit the BJP, I cannot say,”

Furthermore, according to Chidambaram, Congress is the only party with deep roots in all the Goa constituencies. He said, “There is an overwhelming desire for change. The only party that has deep roots in all the 40 constituencies of Goa is the Congress. The people know that it is only the Congress that has the capacity to defeat the BJP despite the latter’s money power and misuse of state power. We hope to do well in the 2022 elections,”

Recently, a number of Congress leaders from the Porvorim assembly constituency with the support of independent MLA Rohan Khaunte submitted their resignation from the Congress party. Some even claimed that the Congress leadership in Goa lacked seriousness to contest the upcoming Goa elections. Gupesh Naik, the former Zilla panchayat member heading the Porvorim group made similar claims to the media where he alleged that the Congress party lacked seriousness for the coming elections.

Earlier, 5 Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders had left the party for playing vote bank politics. Names of the leaders who had quit TMC included Ram Mandrekar, Kishor Parwar, Komal Parwar, Sujay Mallik, and former MLA Lavoo Mamledar. These leaders expressed their dissatisfaction in a letter addressed to the West Bengal CM Banerjee where they claimed TMC did not understand Goa and Goans.

Girls chant Modi-Yogi at Priyanka’s rally in Uttar Pradesh, viral video shows them getting assaulted: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Girls chant Modi-Yogi at Priyanka’s rally in Uttar Pradesh, viral video shows them getting assaulted: Details

On December 26, a group of girls that were attending a marathon-cum-rally of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi at Jhansi chanted Modi-Modi and Yogi-Yogi. Several videos of the girls raising slogans favouring Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at Congress’s rally went viral on social media platforms.            

Shweta Bhattacharya, Journalist, Times Now, said in a tweet that Congress workers misbehaved with the girls that led to the chants of Modi-Yogi at the rally. She said, “These pictures are of Priyanka Gandhi’s Marathon in Jhansi! when Congressmen misbehaved with them, the girls told them ‘Ladki hain lad sakti hain’ and protested against Congress by raising slogans Modi-Modi, Yogi-Yogi.” Notably, “Ladki hun lad sakti hun (I am a girl, I can fight)” is a political slogan Priyanka Gandhi is using in her UP campaign.

Another video from different angle was shared by Vikash Maheshwari who echoed the similar statement that the Congress workers misbehaved with the girls.

It is noteworthy that BJP leader Priti Gandhi shared a video where the girls were seen being trashed. She wrote, “On one hand, @priyankagandhi Ji, you raise slogans of women empowerment, and on the other hand, your workers beat up girls in your program!! Very shameful incident!!”

A man could be seen snatching some bands from the girls in the video.

Apparently, tens of thousands of girls were called to participate in the ‘Ladki Hoon Lad Sakti Hoon’ marathon where Congress workers reportedly misbehaved with the participants who chanted Modi and Yogi slogans.

The Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled for early 2022.

Australia: Hospital in Sydney apologises after it mistakenly tells 400 Covid-19 patients that they tested negative

OpIndia Staff
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Australia: Hospital in Sydney apologises after it mistakenly tells 400 Covid-19 patients that they tested negative

On Sunday (December 26), a prominent hospital in Sydney in Australia tendered an apology for mistakenly sending a text message to 400 Covid-19 patients, informing them that they tested negative for Covid-19. Even though those people had tested positive for the Chinese virus, the hospital had wrongly told them that they have tested negative.

As per reports, the message was sent on the previous night allegedly by ‘human error.’ In a statement, the St. Vincent’s Hospital informed, “SydPath last night incorrectly messaged more than 400 people, advising them they had tested negative to Covid. These people had tested positive to Covid.”

Screengrab of the statement by St. Vincent’s Hospital

The hospital is urgently contacting those 400 people to inform them that they are infected so that they don’t potentially spread the virus among family and others during the Christmas festivities.

The hospital became aware of the negligence on Sunday (December 26) morning and has set up an emergency response team to investigate the matter. It further added, “As soon as we became aware of the issue this morning, SydPath immediately commenced a process to contact impacted people. We sincerely apologise to all those impacted.”

According to SydPath Medical Director Prof Anthony Dodds, the error occurred as the hospital had to deal with large volumes of tests. He said, “Owing to the very large volume of tests that we’ve been contending with at SydPath, last night, we incorrectly messaged 400 patents who had been swabbed at our cent from December 22nd and December 23rd, advising them they had tested negative to Covid.”

As of December 26, 2021, Australia has reported a total of 3,01,280 Covid-19 cases and 2,190 fatalities.

India Today deputy editor tries to dismiss visuals of over-crowded Park Street Christmas celebration in Kolkata as old, gets fact-checked

OpIndia Staff
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India Today deputy editor tries to dismiss visuals of over-crowded Park Street Christmas celebration in Kolkata as old, gets fact-checked

On December 25, a large number of people gathered on Park Street in Kolkata to celebrate Christmas. The photographs and videos of the overcrowded area have been making rounds on the social media platform, with the majority of the people criticizing such a crowd amidst the fears of the spread of the new variant Omicron of Covid-19.

Interestingly, Indrajit, Deputy Editor, India Today, however, tried to dismiss the photographs as old. While replying to Pooja Mehta, Journalist of Zee News, who had shared the pictures of Park Street, Indrajit said, “I think it’s an old image. I just crossed Park Street. No pedestrian allowed on the main road, on vehicular traffic. Just a little crowd near Allen Park.” He also shared a video that he had shot himself of the area with the minimal crowd.

His claims were, however, refuted by netizens who not only shared photos and videos that they shot but also ridiculed Indrajit for spreading false information.

The Poll Lady said, “You claim it’s an old image, really? Are you blind that you can’t see masks in this video, or you are just lying to defend the ruling govt?”

Mehta also replied to Indrajit, clarifying her stand. She said, “Vehicular traffic was closed for several hours, and it was converted into a walking street. Vehicular traffic was resumed only a few hours ago.”

She also shared screenshots of Kolkata Traffic Police’s official Twitter handle where they had informed about the stoppage and opening of the area for vehicular traffic.

Another netizen, Avi, said, “Bhai Indrojit, don’t be a liar and spread this kind of misinformation. As a journalist, you are bound to share the truth. Shame on u. I was also there & traffic was not allowed on the main road of Park Street after 5/5.30 PM. Here is the proof…” and shared a video shot by him.

According to a Free Press Journal report, the crowds were seen fighting with each other to get seats at the restaurants. All the mess was allegedly happening in front of the heavy police force deployed in the area. FPJ quoted a civic volunteer saying that the crowd started to build up in the area around noon. Despite being warned, the people refused to wear masks. He said, “We have been asked to find people for not wearing masks, but despite stringent action, no one is following any protocols.”

It is noteworthy that the Central Government has issued an order to send a delegation to ten states, including West Bengal, to study the active Omicron cases. In a memorandum issued by the union government, the ten states, including WB, Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, etc., have lower vaccination rates compared to the national average.

The teams deployed by the central government would stay in these states for three to five days and work with State Health departments to ensure Omicron does not become a threat in the coming months. As per reports, the delegation would collect information on the patients with and without travel history to understand how the disease was contracted.

Ludhiana court blast a handiwork of ISI, accused cop radicalised in jail by Khalistani, says Punjab DGP

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Ludhiana court blast a handiwork of ISI, accused cop radicalised in jail by Khalistani, says Punjab DGP

The DGP of Punjab Siddharth Chattopadhyaya has said that December 23 Ludhiana court blast was the handiwork of Pakistan’s spy agency ISI and the deceased accused was in touch with the Khalistani groups and the drug mafia.

Chattopadhyaya who addressed his first press conference on December 25 after assuming charge as the head of the Punjab Police claimed that accused Gagandeep Singh was taking directions from handlers in Pakistan.

“It was an external conspiracy aimed to scare the judiciary,” he said. DGP informed that two persons facing trial in drug cases have been taken for interrogation whereas a woman constable has been detained for questioning.

Punjab DGP said that the Ludhiana court blast case was a dangerous cocktail of terrorism, organized crime, mafia, and narcotics.

The DGP naming Pakistan and Khalastani elements behind the blast must have left Punjab Congress and state government embarrassed as the Congress and Charanjit Singh Channi led government have always been in denial mode to realize Pakistan fomenting fresh troubles in this bordering state.

Gagandeep Singh, a resident of Mohalla Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar of Lalheri road in Khanna was dismissed Punjab Police head constable. He died while fixing wires of the bomb inside a toilet of Ludhiana Session Court when it exploded.

This former munshi (clerk constable) at the Khanna police, was arrested by the Special Task Force of Ludhiana police on August 11, 2019 while possessing 385 gm of heroin.

Police had arrested his two accomplices — Amandeep Singh alias Mauli and Vikas Kumar alias Lara of Ludhiana city. A total of 785 gm heroin was recovered from the trio. He was part of a drug cartel run by a Nigerian national Harrison Chenew alias William alias Ajuka Ikechukwu.

Gagandeep was recently released on bail and DGP said that the accused must have developed contacts with criminals and terrorists inside the jail and picked-up terrorism. Gagandeep was set to appear before the court on December 24 for the hearing of his case.

Chattopadhyaya said that the preliminary investigations suggested that pro-Khalistani elements used Gagandeep to target the court premises to inflict damage of the life and property besides creating unrest.

As the source of the explosive has yet not been ascertained, Punjab Police is carrying an audit of the malkhaana of the police station to ensure whether he stole away the confiscated explosives kept in malkhaanas.

Asked if the explosive was RDX, the DGP said that nothing can be said conclusively and one will have to wait for forensic report. However, he said that it was unlikely to be RDX.

Chattopadhyaya also ruled out human bomb angle. He said that the accused went to the toilet to connect wires.

Intelligence agencies hint role of Pakistan based Khalistani radical

Quoting intelligence inputs, media reports have claimed that a Pakistan-based Khalistani radical, Harvinder Singh Sandhu along with a pro-Khalistan terrorist in Germany had played a crucial role in the Ludhiana court blast case.

Notified as ‘Category A’ criminal in the police record he is living in Pakistan under the protection of ISI and he is has been tasked to carry out terror attacks in Punjab ahead of the assembly elections next year.

Rohingya family arrested in Tripura, had entered India through Dawki, Meghalaya

OpIndia Staff
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Rohingya family arrested in Tripura, had entered India through Dawki, Meghalaya

A Rohingya family consisting of six members has been arrested from the Unakoti district of Tripura on Saturday after they had illegally crossed the Bangladesh border and entered India, according to reports. The Rohingya family with two adults and four children were brought to the Kailashahar police station following arrest and would be taken to Court on Sunday.

As per reports, Tripura police with the help of Tripura State Rifles (TSR) arrested the family after raiding the house of one Sahnaj Ali from Ichabpur area in the Gournagar Block near Kailasahar. The arrests were made after the police received a tip-off about the Bangladeshi infiltration. Abdul Rakim (32), the head of the family revealed that they illegally entered India from Bangladesh via Dawki, Meghalaya. The Rohingya family then travelled to Assam from where they took an Agartala bound train.

Reportedly, the Rohingya family planned to obtain fake documents and establish themselves as Indian citizens. They tried to stay in Agartala and later moved to North Tripura area of Ichabpur.

Earlier, Chakma organisations in Tripura told the Tripura police that a minimum of 108 Rohingya refugees were arrested between 2018 and March 2021 as per records. The organisations further noted, “The government should conduct a State-wide inquiry in Tripura against the influx of foreigners, irrespective of their ethnic origin or religion,”.

Reportedly, the Chakma organisations also stated in a memorandum that Tripuris in Bangladesh faced repeated attacks from Bengali Muslims in the area around Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh which caused a rapid influx of the ethnic Tripuris into the Dhalai and South Tripura districts of Tripura, India.

Pakistan: Two Hindu girls abducted, forcibly converted and married off to their Muslim abductors in Sindh

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Pakistan: Two Hindu girls abducted, forcibly converted and married off to their Muslim abductors in Sindh

Two back-to-back cases of abduction, conversion for the forceful marriage of Hindu girls have been reported from Sindh of Pakistan. One victim is a minor aged 13 years, while the other is 19 year old. Both were abducted and married by men much older than them.

Imran Khan’s ‘Naya Pakistan’ has turned into a nightmare for Hindu girls as a large number of cases of abduction, forceful conversion and marriage have been reported especially in Sindh which is notorious for conversion, and these are the latest such incidents.

A 13-years old Hindu girl Roshni Meghwar of Mirpur Khas district of Sindh province of Pakistan was abducted, converted to Islam, and married a man more than double her age.

Pakistan’s minority leader Lal Chand Malhi who is a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan shared details of the victim. He alleged victim Roshni was kidnapped, converted, and married off. He criticized the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party for its failure to stop atrocities on minorities and their forceful conversion.

Netizens and rights activists condemned the atrocity and said that minorities continue to face prosecution in Pakistan. Roshni Meghwar has now been named Razia and married to her abductor Mohammad Moosa, a native of Tharparkar.

It is apparent that the girl was abducted months back and kept in illegal confinement. Another user Pakistan Untold said that girls of minority communities in Pakistan are abducted for sex slavery.

Another user Veengas J, Journalist, and Founding Editor-in-Chief, The Rise News who has been reporting on minority issues, especially on Forced Conversion termed it a case of forced conversion adding “Sindh and Federal governments both don’t bother to legislate the bill on forced conversion.”  

While Pakistani media blackout such incidents or dismiss these as a case of willful conversion and consent marriage, senior Sikh leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that a 19 years old Hindu girl met the same fate as Roshni.

Sirsa claimed that 19-years old Hindu Girl Hariyan Meghwar from Sindh was abducted, gang-raped, forcibly converted to Islam, and married to her abductor, Bhai Khan who is 31 years old and already married. She has been named Rabia Sheikh.

While for Hindus and other religious minorities, it is a curse to be born and stay in the Islamic country Pakistan, girls of minority communities are vulnerable to Islamic fundamentalists.

Earlier in March, 13-year-old Kavita Bai was kidnapped in Kashmore district in Sindh. Converted to Islam she was married off to her abductor. In fact during February and March as many as four cases of abduction, conversion and marriage of Hidnu girls.

One Pooja Meghwar, daughter of Chetan Meghwar from Hyderabad district was abducted and converted to Islam.

Reena Meghwar was kidnapped on 13 February by a middle-aged man named Muhammad Qasim from Kario Ghanwar town in Sindh province. She was forcefully converted to Islam and named Maryam and then married to Qasim. She was abducted by the same person whom she had tied rakhi. Aarti Meghwar is another unfortunate minor girl from Daharki who was abducted and converted to Islam.  

Salman Khan gets bitten by a snake during Christmas celebrations: Details

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Salman Khan gets bitten by a snake during Christmas celebrations: Details

On December 26, actor Salman Khan was bitten by a non-venomous snake at his Panvel farmhouse in the wee hours. The actor was at the farmhouse to celebrate Christmas. He was rushed to the MGM hospital in Kamothe for treatment. He was kept under observation for a few hours and was later discharged at around 9 AM. Khan was bitten on his hand by the snake.

Last year, the actor, his family and actor friends, including Jacqueline Fernandez, had gotten stuck at the farmhouse for a significant part of the lockdown. The farmhouse, which was named after his sister Arpita Khan Sharma, is surrounded by forest areas and mountains. Wild animals have been often spotted at the farmhouse. Last year, during the lockdown, the actor had shared several videos and pictures of him working at the farm. He also uses the farmhouse to shoot songs etc.

Khan will be celebrating his 56th birthday on December 27. On the work front, Khan had recently announced that a sequel of Bajrangi Bhaijaan would hit the floor very soon. He had already shot a cameo for Pathan starring Shah Rukh Khan. Tiger 3 is also on the cards in 2022. Recently, his film Antim, in which his brother-in-law Aayush Sharma was in the lead with Salman, was released in the theatre that did not do well on the box office front.

Jan Shakti, Pariksha pe Charcha and cleanliness: Here are key takeaways from the last episode of ‘Mann ki Baat’ of 2021

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Jan Shakti, Pariksha pe Charcha and cleanliness: Here are key takeaways from the last episode of ‘Mann ki Baat’ of 2021

On Sunday (December 26), Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation during the 84th episode of his monthly radio programme of ‘Mann ki Baat.’

At the very onset, PM Modi applauded the collective fight put up by the people of India against the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic. Hailing the spirit of ‘Jan Shakti’, he said that India’s vaccination coverage was increasing due to the zeal of scientists and the trust reposed in them by the people.

“For me, Mann Ki Baat is not about highlighting the work of the government, which could have been easily done. Instead, it is about collective efforts by grassroots level change-makers,” PM Modi emphasised. He also paid tributes to former CDS Bipin Rawat and Group Captain Varun Singh, who died in the infamous chopper crash on December 8.

“Group Captain Varun Singh had written a letter to the principal of his school. In his letter, Varun Singh ji did not boast of his valour; instead he referred to his failures. He talked about how he converted his shortcomings into abilities,” Pm Modi said.

The Indian Prime Minister announced that ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha‘ will be held early next year to help motivate students, prepare for examinations. PM Modi advocated the idea of popularising the habit of reading books. He had urged everyone to share the list of books that they read this year so that it can help others prepare their Reading list for the following year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi added, “It is our duty to preserve and popularise our culture. It is equally gladdening to see global efforts that celebrate Indian culture.” He appreciated the effort undertaken by Greek students in singing India’s national song, ‘Vande Mataram.’

He applauded efforts taken by the people to improve Swachhata (cleanliness) and reiterated that it was also the mission of the government. PM Modi informed that a start-up by the name of ‘Saafwater’ is working to provide information about water quality and purity to the people in their area, with the aid of the Internet of things and Artificial Intelligence. Highlighting the government’s efforts, he said that the Civil Aviation Ministry is working to make stationery items from waste paper.

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