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Rajiv Gandhi’s vanity project: How the PMO was renovated and beautified months after the Bhopal Gas tragedy

Jinit Jain
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Rajiv Gandhi’s vanity project: How the PMO was renovated and beautified months after the Bhopal Gas tragedy

21 May 2021 marked the 30th death anniversary of the 6th Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi. The sombre occasion saw countless articles written paying tribute to the Prime Minister, who was assassinated by an LTTE terrorist while he was on an election campaign in Tamil Nadu. An interesting trivia cropped up in one of the articles, authored by one Sunita Kohli, which was published in The Week. According to the author’s account, Rajiv Gandhi authorised and commissioned the renovation of the PM’s office months after the country witnessed the horrifying spectre of Bhopal Gas Tragedy.

Kohli had reportedly worked with Rajiv Gandhi on a host of projects—the redecorations of prime minister’s secretariat in South Block; the prime minister’s office and cabinet meeting room in Parliament House, Rashtrapati Bhavan, Hyderabad House, Panchsheel Bhawan, Jawahar Bhawan and two official Boeing aircraft. However, the beautification of the Prime Minister’ Secretariat grabs the spotlight, since it was carried out just months after Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister and in the wake of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy.

As per the author’s own admission, the most significant work she undertook with Rajiv Gandhi was the restoration and redecoration of the prime minister’s office (PMO) and secretariat in South Block in 1985. Kohli says Gandhi wanted to restore the “dignity and ordered beauty” of the secretariat as envisioned by its creator, Herbert Baker. Crores of money was spent in renovating and beautifying the Prime Minister’s Office when the aid could have gone for those who were suffering from the debilitating effects of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy.

Source: The Week

Speaking on the design changes brought in the office of the PMO, Kohli says in the article, “The prime minister’s own chamber was totally redesigned. The room itself is handsome and symmetrically proportioned, but this was lost in the earlier arrangement. All items of furniture were custom-designed for this office. A new desk was manufactured, like the earlier one made in the 1950s for Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had been shifted to Teen Murti Bhavan. Its replica, used by Indira Gandhi, was now in the prime minister’s Parliament House office.”

Source: The Week

Kohli says Rajiv Gandhi had a flair for furnishings and was meticulous in adorning his office with the cultural artifacts. The original and carpet was organically cleaned and re-laid. The upholstery fabrics were hand-woven and developed in natural fibres. The Prime Minister also wanted his office to represent India’s culture and artistic skills. He also took on loan some paintings and murals, such as the Somaskanda, from the reserve section of the National Museum and the National Gallery of Modern Art.

Even the general entrance to the PMO office was converted into an exclusive entrance for the Prime Minister and other eminent visitors. On the eastern face of the South Block, Rajiv Gandhi demanded the construction of a higher wall and Kohli dutifully obeyed the Prime Minister, constructing a sandstone wall in line with Baker’s techniques.

Bhopal Gas tragedy

Bhopal gas tragedy was a gas leak incident on the night of 2–3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is considered among the world’s worst industrial disasters. Over 500,000 people were exposed to methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas. The highly toxic substance made its way into and around the small towns located near the plant. At least 3,700 people lost their lives, as per official estimates, while the real tally is claimed to be closed to 16,000. More importantly, the toxic gas altered the metabolic system of people, including pregnant women, affecting generations of people, causing birth defects and disabilities. Activists estimate more than 5 lakh people were affected by the Gas leak tragedy.

However, Rajiv Gandhi nevertheless went ahead with the beautification project of the PMO office. Gandhi had assumed the office of Prime Minister on 31 October 1984 following the assassination of his mother and India’s then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. Bhopal Gas Tragedy took place a month after he took the PMO office. And months later, in 1985, the Prime Minister Office’s renovation started. A decision to renovate the Prime Minister’s Office is not an off the cuff decision. It takes months of consideration, planning, shortlisting contractors to commence the beautification project. Given that Rajiv Gandhi assumed office in November 1984 and the project started in 1985, it cannot be discounted that Rajiv Gandhi gave its approval for the project when India was reeling under the Bhopal Gas Tragedy.

Rajiv Gandhi’s government had allowed Union Carbide chairman Warren Anderson to escape to America

It is worth noting here that Rajiv Gandhi has also been accused of helping Warren Anderson, the chairman of Union Carbide, escape the country. Four days after the deadly leak, Anderson was arrested on his arrival in the capital city of Madhya Pradesh. However, after being held under arrest for only a few years, Anderson posted bail and quickly left the country, never returning to face trial.

Several news reports suggest that the Congress government at the Centre, headed by Rajiv Gandhi, enabled Warren Anderson to escape the country. Anderson, who is considered as one of the accused in the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, was let off the hook by Rajiv Gandhi’s government.

Not only did Gandhi provide a safe passage to the accused, but he also used the public exchequer to bankroll the renovation of the Prime Minister’s Office, which was unnecessary and not pressing in the view of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. It is also notable to mention that Gandhi also went on to use the country’s resources for his personal indulgences. In 1987, Rajiv Gandhi had used the Indian Navy’s INS Viraat as his “personal taxi” to transport his family and their companions for their vacation in the Arabian Sea.

Rajiv Gandhi and his family had used INS Viraat for his personal vacation

The holidaying group included Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi’s mother, her brother and a maternal uncle. Also present were then Amitabh Bachchan, his wife Jaya Bachchan and their two children, Amitabh’s brother Ajitabh, and former minister Arun Singh’s brother Bijendra Singh’s brother’s wife and daughter. The location for the vacation was Bangaram, a small uninhabited island in the Lakshadweep archipelago.

INS Viraat, the lone aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy at that time, was used to ferry the Gandhi family and their guests, which moved in the Arabian sea for 10 days for this vacation. An aircraft carrier does not move alone in the sea, a carrier is the nerve centre of a carrier battle group and it is always surrounded by several warships and support vessels. Even a submarine was also present during the trip. This means a huge expenditure. Gandhi was not fazed by the astronomical cost incurred from the usage of the INS Viraat. Nor was he bothered by compromising the security of India’s maritime borders by using a warship for his personal family holiday.

The Hindu’s claims about ‘minor faceoff’ with Chinese PLA in the Galwan Valley debunked by the Indian Army

OpIndia Staff
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The Hindu’s claims about ‘minor faceoff’ with Chinese PLA in the Galwan Valley debunked by the Indian Army

On Sunday (May 23), the Indian army debunked misleading claims by The Hindu newspaper about a ‘minor face-off’ with Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the Galwan valley.

The article in question was published on Sunday and was authored by journalist Vijita Singh. Titled, “Minor face-off with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley,” it claimed that the incident took place in the first week of May this year. The Hindu cited a ‘senior government official’ to substantiate its claims. It further added that there was ‘no clash’ and that both the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA quickly disengaged.

The English daily alleged that the ‘minor faceoff’ occurred near the Y-junction of the Galwan valley, where a no-patrolling zone of 3 kilometers (1.5km on each side) was created. Citing its ‘sources’, the Hindu claimed that the faceoff took place when both the Indian and Chinese patrols reached the no-patrolling zone to check whether the other side had crossed the line. The newspaper said that it was at that point, the two sides engaged in a minor faceoff.

Screengrab of the misleading article by The Hindu

As per the report, the unnamed ‘senior government official’ alleged that the Chinese side had camps beyond the non-patrolling zones and that it has not reduced its troop deployment since 2020. He claimed that both sides sent patrols periodically ‘out of suspicion’ of the other. The official concluded, “There has been no reduction in the number of troops on either side. China is currently doing some exercise so they have enhanced their presence along the LAC. There was some talk to pull back Indian troops to deploy them on COVID-19 duty. However, that was later ruled out.”

Indian Army rubbishes claims by The Hindu, calls out attempts to derail ongoing mediation with China

Hours after the contentious report was published by The Hindu newspaper, the official Twitter handle of the Indian Army (@adgpi) debunked the misleading claims. In a Twitter thread, it said, “An article titled “Minor face-off with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley” published in The Hindu on 23 May 2021 has been taken note of. It is clarified that NO such minor face-off has taken place between Indian and Chinese troops at #Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh in the first week of May 2021 as reported.”

“The article seems to be inspired by sources who may be trying to derail the ongoing process for early resolution of issues in Eastern Ladakh,” the Indian army emphasised. It further cautioned, “Media professionals are requested to clarify actual versions/positions on incidents involving the Indian Army from authorised sources in the Indian Army and not base reports on un-corroborated inputs from third parties.”

The Hindu spreads fake news about China occupying new regions in Pangong Tso

In October last year, the Hindu had claimed that Chinese forces have occupied the finger 2 and finger 3 regions on the north bank of Pangong Tso lake. Quoting former MP Thupstan Chhewang, the newspaper had published a report saying that Chinese troops have further transgressed into Indian territory and occupied new positions on the bank of Pangong Tso.

But the claims of Chhewang reported by The Hindu were also rejected by Army officials. Reacting to the news, Retired Lieutenant General Satish Dua said that it was fake news. He confirmed that there were no civilians living in the area, therefore the civilians quoted in the report were incorrect. A tweet by PIB Fact Check also said that the claims made in the report were false.

On-site registration for Covid-19 vaccine for 18-44 years age group to be initiated at govt vaccination centres

OpIndia Staff
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On-site registration for Covid-19 vaccine for 18-44 years age group to be initiated at govt vaccination centres

In a move to boost the largest vaccination drive, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has announced its plan to initiate on-site registration/facilitated cohort registration on the CoWIN digital platform for 18-44 years, age group.

The decision was based on the various representations given by the states/UTs and inputs received by the Union Health Ministry for the vaccination of the 18-44 years age group. 

The step aims at reducing vaccine wastage and facilitate those without access to the internet, smart phones or mobile phones with limited access for vaccination to get themselves inoculated. 

“In case of sessions exclusively organized with online slots, towards the end of the day, some doses may still be left unutilized in case the online appointee beneficiaries do not turn up on day of vaccination due to any reason. In such cases, on-site registration of a few beneficiaries may be necessary to minimize the vaccine wastage,” read the statement issued by the govt of India. 

The feature for now will be initiated only at government Covid vaccination facilities and not for private centres. Additionally, every state will be responsible for activating on-site registrations in their respective states. 

The release further states, “State/UT must decide on opening of on-site registrations/facilitated cohorts’ registration and appointments for 18-44 years age group based on the local context just as an additional measure to minimize vaccine wastage and for facilitating vaccination of eligible beneficiaries in the age group 18-44 years.”

The Ministry of Health has advised the states/ UTs to issue clear guidelines and instructions to all District Immunization Officers and recommends strict adherence to decisions of respective state governments regarding the extent and manner of using the on-site registration and appointment feature. 

To ensure maximum beneficiaries avail the feature, the Union Health Ministry says that fully reserved sessions can also be organized for providing vaccination services and efforts must be taken in advance to mobilize such beneficiaries in sufficient numbers.

The Ministry has further advised the states/ UTs to ensure maximum safety and caution to be exercised while opening up of on-site registration and appointment for 18-44 years age group, in order to avoid overcrowding at vaccination centres.

In a landmark achievement, more than 19 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccine has been administered so far.

After maligning the Kumbh Mela, read how propagandists at Alt News, ‘journalists’ are defending mass gathering at farmer protests

K Bhattacharjee
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After maligning the Kumbh Mela, read how propagandists at Alt News, ‘journalists’ are defending mass gathering at farmer protests

An interesting development occurred on Twitter on Monday. It was one of those rare occasions when ’eminent journalist’ Barkha Dutt spoke sense. Barkha Dutt condemned the ongoing ‘farmer protests’ and also spoke out against the opposition parties supporting them.

She said, “Protests by Farmers during this calamity are just as irresponsible as Kumbh Mela or election rallies were. Opposition parties backing them playing with lives. Anything that encourages mass gatherings at this time is an affront to health workers and those who have lost loved ones”.

Given the devastating second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic, what Dutt said made sense. However, it did not go down well with her liberal comrades who chose to criticise her for her ostensibly sensible take.

Prominent among them was Pratik Sinha of Alt News. According to him, it is the government that ought to be blamed and also, it is apparently a “false equivalency” to compare the Kumbh Mela with the ‘farmer protests’. “The onus is on the Govt, not the people. No one wants super spreader events,” he said.

Barkha Dutt
The argument between Pratik Sinha and Barkha Dutt

‘Journalist’ Amrita Bakshi disagreed with Dutt as well and pinned the blame on the government. She apparently disapproves of the government passing the laws as per provisions enshrined in our Constitution. Bakshi clearly believes the Parliament is not the appropriate place for passing laws but the streets are.

Barkha Dutt
Amrita Bakshi speaks

Aditya Menon, too, demonstrated his ample love for mobocracy. According to him, this is a crisis of the government’s own making. It appears that he wants the government to bow down to every mob that decides to hold the country ransom. Such antics are then justified by inventing fake excuses of the laws being ‘unjust’.

Barkha Dutt
Source: Twitter

The template appears to be the dominant one today, the template that says ‘farmer protests’ are not comparable to the Kumbh Mela. It’s true they are not comparable, but for entirely different reasons. For instance, it is still debatable the extent to which Kumbh contributed to the second wave of the pandemic and there were safeguards in place.

On the other hand, there are no safeguards in place at the protest sites and we have concrete evidence to suggest that it was responsible for spreading the UK variant of the novel Coronavirus. A Punjab Minister even admitted that the protests were responsible for the crisis in the state.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh pleaded with the protesters to not go ahead with the superspreader event. But his request was rejected outright.

Nevertheless, liberals insist that the comparison is not justified because the protests are apparently for ‘livelihood’, even though there is no evidence to suggest that it will destroy the livelihood of actual farmers. Meanwhile, the Kumbh is “personal indulgence”. In other words, the comparison is not justified simply because liberals support one and not the other and they say it is not.

Source: Twitter
Source: Twitter

Thus, we see a clear attempt to defend the indefensible after maligning the Kumbh Mela. It is understandable why actors such as Pratik Sinha are so overeager to give a free pass to opposition parties. Recently, Alt News was given documents by the Congress party in order to absolve them of any guilt over the toolkit conspiracy.

It made it abundantly clear that the platform works as the propaganda wing of the Congress party. Under such circumstances, it is not really surprising that its co-founder Pratik Sinha is inventing flimsy excuses to whitewash the ‘farmer protests’.

On Sunday, 12 opposition parties including the Congress and their allies, NCP and Shiv Sena, apart from parties such as Trinamool Congress and CPI(M) lent their support to the ongoing protests against the farm laws.

Their conduct only reveals that they were never really concerned about the possible spread of Covid-19 during the Kumbh Mela, all they wanted was to play petty politics and use the pandemic to boost their failing fortunes.

If they were indeed concerned about the pandemic, then they would not have supported the farmer protests which have undeniably contributed to the severity of the second wave. Following their support, it appears that their minions in the media have received the message as well who are now working overtime to whitewash the Covid threat from the ‘farmer protests’.

Landomus group appeals to PM to invest USD 500 Billion in India through an ad, here’s what we know about the strange company

Anurag
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Landomus group appeals to PM to invest USD 500 Billion in India through an ad, here’s what we know about the strange company

On May 24, a strange ad appeared in the English daily Times Of India. The ad space was bought by a company named Landomus Group, and it was an attempt to communicate with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The ad itself raises a question mark as the group talks about investing USD 500 Billion in India but approached PM Modi via ad rather than using a proper channel.

In the ad copy, the company claimed that it has a concrete plan to make India pandemic free. It reads, “Landomus Realty Ventures Inc., USA, would like to invest USD 500 Billion in Equity as the first phase of investment into the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) and Non-NIP projects listed by the Government of India under the India Investment Grid for “Invest India” initiative.“

Ad published in TOI. Source: Times of India epaper

Landomus Realty Ventures aims to make India a global destination by supporting the completion of NIP and Non-NIP projects along with investors and developers under the India Investment Grid in sectors such as Energy, Social Infrastructure, Manufacturing, Transport, Food Processing & Agriculture, Water & Sanitation etc.

Landomus Group aims to assist the Government in its endeavour to rebuild India and achieve the USD 5 Trillion GDP target. Landomus Group requests you to provide us with an opportunity to contribute to your vision of a New India.”

The ad raises several red flags

Signed by Pradeep Kumar S, this “open letter” sort of advertisement has a lot of red flags attached to it. Let’s examine the problems one by one. First of all, as this is going to be a Foreign Direct Investment, the company has to submit a proposal using Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal (FIFP). The application will be directed to the appropriate authority to examine the proposal and allow investment only if it is in compliance with the guidelines and laws.

Even if some company wants to approach PM Modi to talk about the investment, the correct way would be through Prime Minister’s Office and not via an advertisement in the newspaper. At first glance, it looks like a PR stunt on the similar lines of CM Kejriwal, who runs such ads periodically in print and electronic media.

NIP and non-NIP projects

In December 2019, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the NIP under which the central government projected total infrastructure investment worth Rs 111 lakh crore during FY20-25. During the 2021 Union Budget, the projects in NIP were expanded from 6,835 projects to 7,400 projects.

Possibly dubious website

OpIndia examined the website of the company. The one-page website landomus[dot]com has a similar announcement. It reads, “Landomus Realty Ventures Inc., USA, would like to invest USD 500 Billion in Equity as the First Phase of the USD 2 Trillion investment under Build India into the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) and Non-NIP projects listed by the Government of India under the India Investment Grid for “Invest India” initiative.”

When we tried to check the Whois record of the website, we found that it was registered in 2015, and the Whois information was modified on May 24 and made private, few hours before this report was published. According to MoneyControl, it was revealed that the domain was registered by United Land Bank, which is located in Sivan Chetty Gardens in Karnataka, India.

Whois information. Source: Godaddy

The website does not share much information about the owner and partners in the company. It names five people in the team. Pradeep Kumar Satyaprakash, who is the Chairman & CEO and four directors named Mamatha H N, Yashas Pradeep Kumar, Rakshith Gangadhar and Gunashree Pradeep Kumar. There are five advisors named Pamela Keough, Praveen Oscar Shiri, Praveen Muralidhar, AVV Bhaskar and Naveen Sajjan.

Team members. Source Landmous.com

The US address of the company, according to the website, is 6453 Riverside Station Boulevard, Secaucus, NJ 07094, USA. When we checked the address on Google Maps, it showed a residential area and not any commercial offices.

Street map view of the US office location. Source: Google Maps

Company details of Landomus

Opindia investigated the existence of the company in India and in the US. According to information available on Zuabacorp.com, there is one Landomus Realty Ventures Private Limited in India. The registered address of the company is S-415, 4th Floor, Manipal Center, # 47, Dickenson Road (Off M.G.Road) Bangalore. The company was registered in July 2015. It has an authorized capital of Rs.10 lakh and a paid-up capital of Rs.1,00,000.

Directors of Landomus Realty Ventures Private Limited. Source: Zuabacorp.com

There are three directors in the company, Yashas Pradeep Kumar, Sathyaprakash Pradeep Kumar and Rakshith Gangadhar. the three names also appeared in the list of team members on the website, which confirms that the us company that published the ad and the company registered in india are linked to the same group of people.

According to the information on zoominfo, the us company Landomus Realty Ventures Inc. Has a revenue of $5 million. It has 19 employees.

List of directors of LANDOMUS REALTY VENTURES INC. Source Zoominfo

Pradeep Sathyaprakash is the chairman and CEO, Naveen Sajjan and Praveen Muralidhar are the directors. Notably, Sajaan and Muralidhar are named advisors on the website and not directors.

List of advisors. Source Landmous.com

In fact, the company is so obscure, that it has zero internet footprints. The only news about this company are about the bizarre ad it put up in today’s leading daily.

Indian business magnate Rakesh Jhunjhunwala hails PM Modi’s fiscal policies, gives 9 out of 10 to his economic management

OpIndia Staff
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Indian business magnate Rakesh Jhunjhunwala hails PM Modi’s fiscal policies, gives 9 out of 10 to his economic management

In a candid interview with senior journalist Prabhu Chawla, Indian business magnate Rakesh Jhunjhunwala disapproved of the media’s sentimental evaluation and asserted a positive outlook for India’s economy. 

Chawla spoke to Jhunjhunwala on a wide range of issues including investment, growth rate, GDP insisting that India is currently facing a grave economic crisis. However, investor Jhunjhunwala shot down all his worries and predicted a 10% growth for the current financial year.

Market to get better from July

Considering the repercussions of the pandemic to be temporary, Jhunjhunwala said that the market situation will witness an improvement from July that is with the receding of the second wave of the pandemic.

Chawla, however, throughout the interaction insinuated that the economic management continues to remain poor with unemployment on a rise, decline in demand and loss of purchasing power. 

In what seemed like an attempt to dissuade any positive sentiments, Chawla in a perplexed tone remarked that when people are fighting a pandemic, losing their loved ones, no money in their pockets and bodies floating in the river, how is the stock market doing well?

To this Jhunjhunwala replied that markets work on reality and not on sentiments. Visibly upset by the fear psychosis created by the media, Jhunjhunwala reiterated the GST collections which stood at Rs 1.41 lakh crore in April and visible rise in income of all the big companies of the country has increased in the last 3-4 quarters. 

Chawla insinuates market manipulation

Chawla in an attempt to understand the positive sentiments shown by the investors made an allegation that there might be an invisible hand to keep the market floating. He also asked how the market and companies are performing well despite job loss. To this Jhunjhunwala disregarded his suspicion calling it bogus and said that investments are made on future growth predictions which seem promising. 

Confident of positive economic growth

Assuring that the economy of the country is far from sinking, Jhunjhunwala giving a score of 9 out of 10 for the Centre’s economic management, also lauded the government’s efforts of introducing major reforms in the agricultural, mining, labor and power sectors, the effect of which will be seen later. 

In a sharp rebuttal to Chawla’s claim of people not having money in their pockets, Jhunjhunwala was quick to remind him of the digitization which has made it possible for even the poorest to have a bank account and transfer money within 30 minutes as opposed to hefty money transfer chargers made 20 years ago to transfer money which took 7 days to reach the recipient. 

Adamant on his predictions, Jhunjhunwala said the GDP growth is in the right direction. He also expressed that the Modi government which still seems to be socialist should act as a capitalist. The veteran investor believes that the only way to get rid of poverty is growth which will, in turn, allow wealth creation.

Media and fear psychosis  

Ending the interaction on a sarcastic note, Jhunjhunwala said that the media has found just another “opportunity” amidst the pandemic to hit at the government despite them doing a good job. He also urged the media, especially India Today to run one story guiding people on how to fight the pandemic rather than portraying the pandemic as an ‘all has been lost’ situation.

Burning of Dalit colony by Islamists in Bihar’s Purnia: NCW writes to DGP for fair and speedy probe

OpIndia Staff
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Burning of Dalit colony by Islamists in Bihar’s Purnia: NCW writes to DGP for fair and speedy probe

On May 22, OpIndia had reported how a Dalit colony in Majhuwa village under Baisi police station of Purnia district in Bihar was engulfed with raging conflagration on the night of May 19 (Wednesday) as Islamists in the region launched a brutal attack against the Dalit settlement. At least 13 Mahadalit houses were reduced to ashes, and several Dalits rendered homeless after a Muslim mob of 150 to 200 from three to four nearby villages, armed with weapons, surrounded the colony and set it on fire.

In the attack, an elderly retired watchman namely Mewa Lal Rai (70) was lynched to death. Besides, a 3-year-old Diwana Rai went missing after the incident. A pregnant lady named Laxmi Devi was mercilessly assaulted by the rampaging mob. She sustained critical injuries on her head but managed to flee the spot.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad had issued a strong statement condemning the incident and demanding immediate action against the perpetrators. It also approached the National Commission for Protection Of Child Rights and the National Commission of women to take cognizance of the atrocities meted out at Laxmi Devi and the 3-year-old child Diwana Rai, who is still reportedly missing.

Taking note of the complaint, the National Commission of Women chairperson Rekha Sharma has written to DGP Bihar for immediate intervention and carrying out a fair investigation in the matter. NCW has also asked for directing police to protect women and children who’ve suffered an immeasurable loss.

BJP condemns the attack on Dalits in Bihar’s Purnia, demands immediate action

Meanwhile, BJP leaders who reached the trouble-torn village on Sunday to meet the destitute Dalits also demanded immediate arrest of all accused persons, speedy trial in the case, proper security and financial assistance for the victimized families from the state government.

NCPCR issues notice to Purnia SP seeking detailed report on the attack on Dalits

Earlier, the National Commission for Protection Of Child Rights had also taken cognisance of the incident and issued a notice to the SP of Purnia seeking immediate action against the kidnapping of the 3-year-old Diwana Rai during the incident of mob attack on May 19th. The Commission has asked police to submit a comprehensive report regarding the May 19th incident in the next 48 hours.

It also ordered the Child Welfare Officer of the district to record the statements of the victimised children under the Juvenile Justice Act 2015, and submit the same to the commission along with the report.

Muslims working under local MLA and AIMIM leader Sayed Ruknuddin’s guidance: VHP

The VHP leaders had told Opindia in clear terms that the Muslims in the region were being able to carry out these crimes against Dalits in connivance with the administration and the local police. He confirmed that these incidents are carried out with the help of local MLA and AIMIM leader Sayed Ruknuddin.

We learnt that since the incident, 3 FIRs have been lodged in the Baisi police station against 7 identified and over 100 unidentified Islamists, but the local police, under alleged pressure from the administration, has made only two arrests thus far.

The arrested accused were identified as Md Sakir and Md Ibrahim.

AIMIM leader tries to absolve Islamists of their crime

Interestingly, 5 days after the incident, AIMIM broke its silence on the matter and tried to whitewash the communal nature of the incident.

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FAkhtarulImanAIMIMbihar%2Fposts%2F4513471592020714&show_text=true&width=500

AIMIM Bihar state president Akhtarul Iman took to social media to remarks that the “India Fascists” are trying to milk the incident by giving it a Hindu-Muslim colour. “They want to use it to fan communal tensions and incite riots”, said the AIMIM leader.

India Today, Hindustan Times, others water down radical Sikh extremism, refer to Khalistan Tiger Force members as ‘activists’

OpIndia Staff
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India Today, Hindustan Times, others water down radical Sikh extremism, refer to Khalistan Tiger Force members as ‘activists’

On Saturday (May 22), the Punjab police apprehended two Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) terrorists involved in firing at a priest and murdering a follower of Dera Sacha Sauda. The accused, identified as one Ram Singh (Sonu) and Lovepreet Singh (Ravi), were arrested from the Moga district from behind a senior secondary school.

The duo was working at the behest of the Canada-based KTF chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The cops had recovered 0.32 bore pistols with 28 live cartridges and one 0.315 bore pistol with 10 live cartridges and two magazines. With their arrest, the Punjab police foiled their plan to murder another Dera Sacha Sauda follower allegedly involved in the sacrilege of the Sikh holy book ‘Guru Granth Sahib.’

On November 20 last year, Sonu and one Kamal had murdered Dera Sacha Sauda follower Manohar Lal in Bhagta Bhaika in Bathinda district. They had also fired at a priest named Kamaldeep Sharma in Bhar Singh Pura village in Phillaur on January 31, 2021. During the firing incident, the priest sustained three bullet injuries and was gravely injured. Sonu and Ravi, who are now arrested, also tried to murder Sharma Sweets’ owner in Moga district.

Kamal, Ravi, and one Arshdeep had also murdered their own aide Sukha Lamme through poisoning on June 27 last year in the Dala village. On Sunday, Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta informed that 3 KTF terrorists namely Arshdeep, Ramandip, and Charanjit were hiding in Surrey in Canada. While Ravi and Sonu had been arrested, Kamal is still on the run from the law enforcement authorities.

India Today, Hindustan Times and Tribune India attempt to whitewash the terrorists

Despite the severity of their crimes and the terrorist links of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), several news publications attempted to trivialise the criminals and their association with the separatist terrorist organisation. One of the publications was that of India Today, Instead of referring to the two accused as terrorists or even extremists, they labelled the duo as ‘activists’.

Screengrab of the article by India Today

Another news publication, which pulled off a similar stunt to water down the severity of their crimes was Hindustan Times. Following the footsteps of India Today, it too labelled the two terrorists as ‘activists.’

Screengrab of the article by Hindustan Times

Tribune India too downplayed the arrest of Ravi and Sonu by referring to them as KTF ‘activists’ and ‘members’.

Screengrab of the article by Tribune India

KTF and the terror activities of its chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar

It must be mentioned that the KTF chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar had migrated to Canada in 1995-1996 and now lives in Vancouver. He was among the names that Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh had provided to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau during his visit in 2018. Reportedly, Nijjar has been involved in several terrorist acts in India including bomb blasts. He has been actively involved in recruiting and training pro-Khalistani terrorists.

Nijjar became the head of KTF after former chief Jagtar Singh Tara was arrested in connection to the assassination of former Punjab CM Beant Singh case. Nijjar was mentored by Tara during his visit to Pakistan in April 2012. It must be mentioned that a red corner notice was issued against him in 2014 for ‘raising terrorist modules’. Nijjar has also been put on the ‘No Fly list’ by Canadian authorities. Despite Sonu and Ravi working with the terrorist outfit, mainstream media publications chose to refer to them as KTF ‘activists’.

Sun Halo: Rainbow ring spotted around the sun in the Bengaluru sky. Read what it means

OpIndia Staff
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Sun Halo: Rainbow ring spotted around the sun in the Bengaluru sky. Read what it means

On Monday morning, the Bengaluru sky was lit up with a rainbow ring encircling the Sun.

Spectacular images of the sun went viral on social media.

The phenomenon is popularly known as the 22-degree halo because the ring has a radius of approximately 22 degrees around the sun or moon.

A 22-degree halo is an optical phenomenon that belongs to the family of ice-crystal halos. The halo of the sun or occasionally the Moon (also called a moon ring or winter halo), occurs when the sun’s or moon’s rays get deflected/ refracted through the hexagonal ice crystals present in cirrus clouds. These clouds contain millions of tiny ice crystals, which refract, split and even reflect the light to give an impression of a circular rainbow ring. The crystals have to be oriented and positioned just so with respect to your eye, in order for the halo to appear.

Another phenomenon that results in the formation of a ring around the Sun or Moon—and therefore sometimes confused with the 22-degree halo—is the corona. Unlike the 22-degree halo, however, it is produced by water droplets instead of ice crystals and it is much smaller and more colourful.

While it may appear as a rare cosmic occurrence, a cursory Google search will reveal that halos are common phenomenons that are spotted regularly across the world. Though their occurrence is more common in cold countries, it is rare and unpredictable in India because of being a tropical country.

Uttar Pradesh: Social media user Ashraf Ali arrested for threatening SDM over demolition of illegal mosque

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Social media user Ashraf Ali arrested for threatening SDM over demolition of illegal mosque

Social media user Ashraf Ali of Dariyabad was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday for threatening the SDM Divyanshu Patel over demolition of the 100-year-old illegal mosque earlier this month. As per reports, in his social media post, he referred to the demolition of the structure and accused him of being biased. He also threatened that the SDM will bear consequences of his actions.

On May 17, following the SDM’s instructions the illegal structure was demolished. Officials confirmed that an illegal residential structure situated inside the ‘tehsil’ premises in Ram Sanehi Ghat area in the district, which the outraging Muslim organisations and opposition is claiming to be a ‘mosque’, was demolished on the orders of a sub-divisional magistrate’s (SDM) court in Ram Sanehi Ghat. As per officials, a notice was served on the people, who had been residing there, asking them to produce documents in support of their claim but they fled after serving of the notice.

As per officials, the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court had disposed of a petition filed in this connection on April 2, which proved that the construction was illegal. A case was filed in the court of the Sub Divisional Magistrate, Ram Sanehi Ghat, and its orders were complied with on May 17. Joint magistrate Divyanshu Patel also termed the construction as illegal and the building was brought down on court orders, he said.

A case of disturbing communal peace and harmony has been registered against Ashraf Ali. He was produced before the court and sent to jail. On Friday, five people were detained under suspicion of creating communal unrest. Mohammad Matin Khan, Mohammad Saad, Suleiman, Farooq Ahmed Khan and Mohammad Kamil were arrested and produced before the court. Following that, they were also sent to the jail.

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