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“Most generous gift”, “gesture of compassion and generosity of PM Modi”: Maldives, Bhutan express gratitude for vaccines sent by India

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“Most generous gift”, “gesture of compassion and generosity of PM Modi”: Maldives, Bhutan express gratitude for vaccines sent by India

Just days after India started vaccinating frontline workers against Covid-19, the country has already has started sending the vaccines to its trusted friends. Today India send the first batch of vaccines to Maldives and Bhutan as grant, after which both the countries expressed their gratitude for the same.

Maldives thanks India for “most generous gift”

As India on Wednesday shipped 1 lakh doses of Serum Institute made Covishield vaccine to Male to boost their fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih thanked PM Modi, the Indian government and the people of India for the “most generous gift”.

The Maldives got the COVID-19 vaccine as a goodwill gesture from India and it was sent to Male within 96 hours of its India’s countrywide roll-out.

Solih expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Indian government during his address to the nation. Speaking in fluent Hindi, Solih said, “This vaccine is a generous donation from the Government of India to the people of the Maldives. On behalf of the people and the Government of the Maldives, and in my own name, I thank the friendly people and the Government of India, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.” 

Solih further added, “With the grace of Allah, we have secured enough vaccines to kickstart vaccination drive in Maldives. Our goal is to provide free vaccines to all Maldivians and residents in the coming months.”

The shipment of Serum-developed vaccines was handed over to the Maldives Government by the Indian High Commissioner Sunjay Sudhir in a special ceremony held at Male airport. Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid and Health Minister Ahmed Naseem were present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, the Indian High Commissioner said, “With the help from India, Maldives will be able to commence its vaccination drive early in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.” He also added that the arrival of the vaccines in Male marked yet another milestone in the bilateral relations between the two countries.

Bhutan becomes the first country to receive India’s gift of COVID-19 vaccines

Besides the Maldives, Bhutan also received its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines from today India today. An Indian Airforce AN-32 aircraft delivered the first consignment of 150,000 doses of Serum Institute’s Covishield vaccines to Bhutan on Wednesday. The vaccines were received by the Bhutanese PM Dr Lotay Tshering.

As per the official press release by the Indian government, the AN32 aircraft carried the vaccines to Bhutan, just 96 hours after India’s ambitious roll-out of the immunisation exercise. Bhutan became the first country to receive the Government of India’s gift of the COVID-19 vaccines, the press release said.

The Indian Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj handed over the consignment of vaccines to Dr Tshering, Health Minister Dechen Wangmo, in presence of prime minister Lotay Tshering, foreign secretary Kinga Singye and a few other senior officials at the Paro International Airport.

Receiving the delivery, PM Tshering thanked India saying that the vaccines are a gift from a ‘trusted friend’ who has been with Bhutan all through the decades. He also said, “as we celebrate the arrival of the vaccine as the new milestone in our battle to beat the pandemic at home, we applaud the gesture that signifies the compassion and generosity of the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, and the people of India for the wellbeing of the humanity.”

The Prime Minister noted that India has sent the vaccines to Bhutan while the vaccination has just started in India. He said, “it is of unimaginable value when precious commodities are shared even before meeting your own needs, as opposed to giving out only after you have enough.”

India has assured that enough doses will be sent to Bhutan to cover its target population of around 533,500 with two doses of the vaccine. The remaining consignment will be shipped soon.

India to honour its commitment of helping neighbours in their fight against coronavirus

On Tuesday, India reiterated its commitment of helping Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles from Wednesday in their fight against the pandemic by providing them with COVID-19 vaccines. Earlier this month, India had stated that it would ship COVID-19 vaccines to Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Maldives and Mauritius in the next few weeks, in a bid to help them in kickstarting their vaccination process against the coronavirus.

The COVID-19 vaccines will soon be delivered to Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Mauritius after confirmation of pending regulatory clearances. The first shipment will be a goodwill gesture and subsequently, countries concerned would be able to get the vaccines on a payment basis from either Serum Institute or Bharat Biotech.

Farmer Protests: Union government proposes to suspend the implementation of farm laws for 1-1.5 years to end the protest

OpIndia Staff
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Farmer Protests: Union government proposes to suspend the implementation of farm laws for 1-1.5 years to end the protest

After the 10th round of talks between the union government and the farmer organisations protesting against the new farm laws, a resolution seems to be arriving. The government has proposed to suspend the laws for one or one and a half years, in hope that the farmers from Punjab will end the protest they are holding on the Delhi border.

After the end of the meeting today, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that the govt has said that it is ready to put on hold the farm laws for one or one and half year. He also informed that the farmer unions have taken this proposal ‘very seriously’. The left backed farmer unions have said that they will discuss the offer among themselves tomorrow, and inform their decision in the next round of meeting scheduled on 22nd January.

“I feel that talks are progressing in the right direction and there is a possibility of finding a resolution on Jan 22”, minister Tomar told media after the meeting.

The Centre has proposed to submit an affidavit in Supreme Court for suspending the three laws for a mutually-agreed period. The govt has also proposed to form a committee to discuss various aspects on Minimum Support Price (MSP) and the three farm laws.

In a press release, the govt said that in all the meetings no discussion has taken place on the content of the three farms laws that the unions want repealed. The minister said that if the unions have any complaint against the laws or want to give any suggestions on them they can submit the same with the ministry. He said that the issue can be resolved by addressing the specific problems with the laws they may have instead of repealing them.

In the past meeting, no discussion took place on alternate solutions other than the demand to repeal that laws, and that’s why no resolution could be arrived at after those meetings. The govt is trying to work out alternatives from the beginning, the press release said.

Responding to the rumour that the new farm laws allow grabbing of farmland, the minister reiterated that nobody has the power to grab farmers’ land in the presence of these laws.

In an attempt to end the farmer protests during the shivering winter, the govt has proposed that the implementation of the farm laws can be suspended for 1 to 1.5 years. During this period, representatives of the farmers and the govt can discuss on the farmers issues in detail to arrive at a proper solution.

Farmers already reject the proposal

However, although the farmer unions have said that they will discuss the govt’s proposal tomorrow, it appears that the protestors already continuing with their hard stand on the issue. One farmer leader said that farmers have said that there is no point in suspending laws and made it clear that they only want the repeal of the laws.

It is notable that the Supreme Court has already stayed the implementation of the farm laws in view of the protests, but the unions were not satisfied with that and continued demand for repeal of the laws. The farmers have also refused to participate in discussions on the issue with the committee appointed by the apex court.

Niira Radia Tapes: Read how Navika Kumar was in thick with the infamous lobbyist known for brokering ministerial berths in the UPA regime

OpIndia Staff
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Niira Radia Tapes: Read how Navika Kumar was in thick with the infamous lobbyist known for brokering ministerial berths in the UPA regime

A few days back, the leaked screenshots of alleged chats between Republic TV Editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami and former BARC COO Partho Dasgupta stirred a political furore. The opposition political parties, along with Arnab’s nemesis in the media, fell over themselves to cash in on the anti-Arnab sentiment and discredit him and his brand of journalism.

Recently, Times Now anchor Navika Kumar, the former protégé of Arnab Goswami, also entered the fray, weighing in on her views on the current predicament of the Republic TV Editor-in-chief. During her show on the leaked conversations, Navika spoke about her one-time mentor Arnab Goswami. In about a 9 minute long monologue, she talked about how she filled in the chair vacated by Goswami after he left Times Now and started Republic.

She then talked about ethics and sanskar and how those who talk about them are mocked. Navika further talked about the twelve years she worked with Goswami. Comparing Goswami’s exit from Times Now to Republic’s launch to that of a small bird which developed wings to fly away in sky, a visibly emotional Navika said that after Arnab left, the most difficult thing for her was to fill in his shoes.

While Kumar held forth on the morals and ethics in her monologue on Times Now, it is worth revisiting the alleged conversation Navika had with the lobbyist Niira Radia. When the Niira Radia tapes were outed, Navika had emerged out of it somewhat unscathed since there were more prominent personalities whose role in brokering ministries in the Congress government had taken the centre-stage.

However, Navika’s alleged role in Radia tapes came under spotlight after the then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in 2015 posted a snarky tweet questioning the credibility of the Times Now journalist. Swaraj’s critical tweet against Navika led to the resurfacing of tapes in which the Times Now journalist could be heard speaking to lobbyist Niira Radia.

Navika Kumar’s alleged telephonic conversation with lobbyist Niira Radia on an imminent revolt within the BJP

In a telephonic conversation dated 10 June 2009 allegedly between Niira Radia and Navika Kumar, the latter could be heard prising out information from the lobbyist about a possible revolt brewing within the BJP. Initially in the tape, Radia appears a little sceptical in sharing the information she has with Navika on a suspicion that she would share it with the BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley, who was a close friend of the Times Now journalist. Radia then says something big is going to happen in the BJP meet which she could tell her only at 5 PM.

After Navika assures Radia that she would not seek out information from the BJP leaders, the lobbyist mentions that a revolt against the higher leadership, including Rajnath Singh, LK Advani, Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley, Narendra Modi and others is going to take place in the BJP meet. Radia further adds that the rebellion would be led by none other than Jaswant Singh.

“BJP needs a shake-up. Between Rajnath Singh and his own group, between LK Gandhi and his group, Arun Jaitley, Narendra Modi, Sudheendra Kulkarni and others have destroyed the party,” Niira is heard saying in her conversation with Navika.

To this Navika responds, “They need a thrashing…that should be interesting…at least BJP would hit the headlines, although for the wrong reasons, as they used to.”

Throughout the conversation, Niira could be heard beseeching Navika to not seek out information from the BJP leaders or trumpet about the coup before 5 PM. “Please don’t talk about this before 5 PM. Let him enter the meeting and circulate the letter. Once I receive the letter, I will forward it to you. You will anyway get the letter from your friends in the party,” Radia said.

Towards the end, the conversation drifts to friendly banter, with Navika commenting on how Radia, despite having the wherewithal to go on holidays to exotic locations such as London and other European countries, is stuck with the work in the country. Later, the duo decide to meet at lunch sometime in that week.

Niira Radia said Navika was going overboard with regard to Maran and Sunil Mittal: Report

Navika finds mention in another conversation between Niira and Ranjan Bhattacharya as well when the two are discussing who would preside over the Telecom Ministry. Niira informs Bhattacharya that Raja is most likely going to get the Cabinet Ministry for Telecom, adding that Navika was allegedly working at the behest of Virat Bhatia for Maran, who, too, was coveting the Telecom portfolio. Virat was an AT&T man, who used to be a point-man for Maran in Delhi.

Arnab Goswami to sue Congress, challenges Rahul Gandhi to one-on-one debate

OpIndia Staff
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Arnab Goswami to sue Congress, challenges Rahul Gandhi to one-on-one debate

Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami has decided to sue Congress and take strong action against the alleged lies peddled by the grand old party and its senior leaders including Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi.

In a statement released by Goswami, he said that he is filing a criminal complaint against every Congress leader who has uttered lies against him. He said that their statement that classified documents were shared is a falsehood.

He further challenged Rahul Gandhi to a one-on-one debate and argue how he ‘helped’ Pakistan.

“Don’t send your groupies. Face me, one on one, Rahul if you can,” he said in a statement. He further said that those chats where he spoke about a retaliation of Pulwama attack were nothing but what every Indian expected at that time. “Every Indian expected India to thrash Pakistan black and blue after Pulwama. To even suggest that the Prime Minister gave me this information is a horrendous act of falsification,” he said.

Meanwhile, Congress has decided to raise the WhatsApp leak controversy in the upcoming Parliamentary session. In a press briefing, senior Congress leaders AK Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Salman Khurshid and Pawan Khera revealed Congress’ plan of raising the issue of WhatsApp chat messages of Arnab Goswami leaked by Mumbai police in the upcoming session of the parliament.

Congress also demanded strict action against the Republic TV Editor-in-chief for allegedly compromising the national security and exploiting matters of a national tragedy to boost his chancel’s TRPs. The principal opposition party also raised aspersions on a possible nexus between the BJP and the Republic Network and went on to attack the Prime Minister.

‘Bengal mangoge toh cheer denge’ – TMC’s Madan Mitra threatens BJP ahead of West Bengal assembly elections

OpIndia Staff
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‘Bengal mangoge toh cheer denge’ – TMC’s Madan Mitra threatens BJP ahead of West Bengal assembly elections

On January 19, Trinamool Congress leader and former state transport minister Madan Mitra issued an open threat of Bharatiya Janata Party and said, “Those from BJP listen, ‘doodh maango to kheer denge, agar Bengal maango toh chiir denge’ (if you ask for milk, we will give you kheer, But if you ask for Bengal, we will rip you off).” Mitra was addressing a public rally in Howrah.

Mitra further added that if Mamata Banerjee does not win by a margin of one lakh votes in upcoming Assembly elections from the Nandigram seat, he will slit his wrist. Recently, BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari had claimed that he would leave politics if he fails to defeat Banerjee by a margin of 50,000 votes in Nandigram. Notably, Adhikari has a stronghold in Nandigram. He had won the assembly seat in the last state elections with TMC’s seat. Mitra also warned Adhikari that he should keep his mouth shut.

People will teach TMC a lesson – Dilip Ghosh

On January 20, Bengal BJP Chief Dilip Ghosh while replying to the threat issued by Madan Mitra said that such dialogues are not going to serve the purpose. He said, “Who will tear whom? Dialogues won’t serve any purpose. People are so upset with them that all scores will be settled. Law and order situation is in shambles. People want to get rid of this, so they’re coming to us. This made them (TMC) anxious and they are attacking us.”

Massive plan for West Bengal Assembly elections

BJP has planned regular rallies and visits by top leaders for campaigning ahead of upcoming assembly elections. Till the elections, Home Minister Amit Shah will visit the state every month. Senior leader Kailash Vijayvargiya is handling the election campaign in WB. BJP has claimed that it will win 200 seats, while TMC claimed that BJP would not be able to cross 99 seats.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting West Bengal on January 23 to participate in a program on the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Recently, the Central Government has announced January 23 as Parakram Diwas.

Former BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta denied bail despite deteriorating health conditions

OpIndia Staff
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Former BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta denied bail despite deteriorating health conditions

On Wednesday, a Mumbai Sessions Court rejected the bail plea of former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) Partho Dasgupta in connection with the fake TRP scam.

According to the reports, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Shishir Hirey, appearing for Maharashtra opposed the bail plea, claiming that Dasgupta had misused his position as CEO of BARC for personal gain. He added that former BARC CEO’s conduct amounted to “tainting the sanctity of the post he held.”

The Mumbai Police arrested Partho Dasgupta on December 24 for his alleged TRP Scam involvement. He was in police custody till December 31, after which he was remanded to judicial custody for two weeks. He is currently admitted at JJ Hospital by Taloja officials presumably and is in a very critical condition. 

Referring the dubious leaked chats allegedly released by the Mumbai Police to select media houses, the SPP contended that Goswami and Dasgupta had conspired to manipulate the TRPs of Republic TV channels.

Dasgupta’s health is deteriorating, says lawyers

Advocate Shardul Singh, appearing for Dasgupta, informed the Court that Partho Dasgupta’s health was fragile and it would deteriorate further leading to a diabetic coma if he continues to stay in custody. Singh reiterated that the highest decision-making body at BARC was the board and that Dasgupta was not a member of that board.

Responding to Hirey’s claim that Dasgupta had violated the sanctity of the post and the organisation, Singh said that there are no complaints alleging cheating or criminal breach of trust by advertisers.

Singh also reiterated that other accused were granted bail and some were even granted anticipatory bail even though the investigation was supposedly at a “nascent stage”, however, Mumbai Police had not challenged any of those orders.

Dasgupta had approached the Sessions Court after Chief Metropolitan Magistrate had rejected his bail application. The former BARC CEO had rejected the Mumbai Police’s allegations that he had misused his position as CEO to manipulate TRPs and submitted that he had no control over the data as it was collected and provided by the Hansa Research Company.

It is important to note that the former BARC CEO’s family has accused Maharashtra government of carrying out custodial torture against Partho Dasgupta to implicate Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami falsely.

Fake TRP scam

In October, Mumbai Police had made some sensational claims against some TV channels, saying they were manipulating TRP ratings. In a press conference, the Mumbai Police commissioner said that three TV channels, including Republic TV, were involved in manipulating BARC viewership data by paying those households where Bar-o-meters, the devices that track TV viewership, are installed. 

The police had specifically mentioned that Hansa Research had filed a complaint with the police. Hansa Group is an organisation that regulated the devices to record TRP for BARC. Interestingly, in this FIR filed by Hansa Research, Republic TV was not mentioned even once. The channel that was mentioned several times was India Today. 

During the investigation, several evidence and witnesses came forward that alleged Mumbai Police have been intimidating them to speak against Republic TV, including Hansa officials. Hansa has also complained that the Mumbai Police are harassing them to give statements against Republic TV.

‘Kerala model’ still struggling to fight coronavirus, accounts for 45% of the country’s total fresh cases

OpIndia Staff
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‘Kerala model’ still struggling to fight coronavirus, accounts for 45% of the country’s total fresh cases

Communist-led Kerala has now become the major concern in terms of the fresh coronavirus cases in the country as it accounted for nearly 45% of the all fresh cases recorded in the country on Tuesday.

According to the reports, the state reported 6,186 positive cases, the second-highest daily tally in this month, while 13,821 fresh infections were detected in the country.

Kerala and Maharashtra together contributed more than 61% of India’s case count on Tuesday. Maharashtra, where 2,294 new cases were recorded, has shown a slight improvement in the past few days whereas the pandemic continues to rage in Kerala.

The test positivity rate in Kerala stood at 9.34%, the state government said while the count of active cases crossed 70,000 as the state saw 4,296 recoveries.

The district-wise statistics of positive cases are – Ernakulam – 1019, Kottayam – 674, Kollam – 591, Thrissur – 540, Pathanamthitta – 512, Malappuram – 509, Kozhikode – 481, Alappuzha – 475, Thiruvananthapuram – 404, Kannur – 301, Wayanad – 245, Palakkad – 242, Idukki – 130 and Kasaragod – 63.

On Tuesday alone, 26 deaths were recorded in Kerala, higher than the toll in the previous two days.

Kerala and Maharashtra were the only two states to report fresh cases in four figures on Tuesday. Karnataka had the third-highest case count at 645, followed by Tamil Nadu with 543 cases, Gujarat with 485 cases and 112 new cases in Bengal. In all these states, however, the pandemic appears to be on the wane, with daily numbers on the decline.

Is the ‘Kerala Covid model’ nothing but a national shame?

The fresh wave of coronavirus in Kerala comes at a time when the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala government has been finding it tough to handle the pandemic in the state. The Kerala government is accused of not only underreporting of the coronavirus cases in the state but also has been accused of deliberately hiding the number of people who have succumbed to the pandemic to keep their image intact.

Recently, a group of volunteers in Kerala has made a sensational claim accusing the Kerala government of fudging their COVID data to show a lesser number of coronavirus deaths in the state. The group recorded every Covid-19 related death in the state as per media reports and found that it is much more than the number of deaths reported by the state govt.

The group of researchers have compiled a list containing names of all the people who succumbed to the Chinese pandemic. These group of researches have put months of painstaking research to record data of these deceased persons, picking up from local papers and news networks to report almost all deaths that occurred in the state due to the pandemic.

According to the researchers, there were 3,543 COVID-19 deaths from Kerala till November 2020. However, the official death toll from the disease is 2,023 only. If one goes by the data of recorded deaths by Madhavan and his team, there has been a whopping 43 per cent of underreporting of COVID deaths in Kerala. 

The increasing gap between the official numbers claimed by the government to the actual number of the people who are deceased to the pandemic, as reported by Madhavan and team, comes at a time when the ‘liberal-secular’ media have hailed the so-called Kerala model of handling coronavirus despite the fact that Kerala has been one of the worst affected states in the country.

The ‘left-liberals’, who were all along bragging about the sham called ‘Kerala model’ by deliberately hiding the reality of Kerala’s terrible management of coronavirus, seems are yet to speak about the dangerous the situation of the pandemic has turned in Kerala.

Kerala’s perception managed by left-liberal propagandists

For months, Kerala’s Covid-19 model was lauded across the country. Media houses praised the CPI(M)-led Kerala government in every possible way while ignoring notable work done by other states like Uttar Pradesh in containing the disease. Even the World Health Organization published a report on Kerala’s Covid management in July. 

The hold that communists have over media ensured that these facts regarding Kerala’s terrible management of Coronavirus crisis get pushed under the rug. Several propagandists, far-left ‘journalists’ enabled the Communist-led government to cover up their inability to handle the pandemic. In December 2020, The Covid-19 positivity rate has reportedly reached 10% between December 13 to December 26. This rate was 9.9 per cent between November 30 and December 13. At that time, Kerala was the only state in India with an R-value above 1.

However, with fresh cases emerging from Kerala every single even as most of the states have successfully stopped the transmission, questions are being raised against Kerala government for its failure to control the pandemic.

Congress to raise the issue of Arnab Chat Gate in the upcoming Parliamentary session

OpIndia Staff
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Congress to raise the issue of Arnab Chat Gate in the upcoming Parliamentary session

Congress on Wednesday questioned PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the BJP on whether the country was up on sale and stated that it will raise the issue of Arnab Chat Gate in the parliament.

In a press briefing, senior Congress leaders AK Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Salman Khurshid and Pawan Khera revealed Congress’ plan of raising the issue of WhatsApp chat messages of Arnab Goswami leaked by Mumbai police in the upcoming session of the parliament.

Congress also demanded strict action against the Republic TV Editor-in-chief for allegedly compromising the national security and exploiting matters of a national tragedy to boost his chancel’s TRPs. The principal opposition party also raised aspersions on a possible nexus between the BJP and the Republic Network and went on to attack the Prime Minister.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has created a Lutyens’ Gang and Arnab is the CEO of that gang,” Congress said.

The party also raised questions on Prime Minister’s Office and Arnab Goswami in connection with the alleged Whatsapp chat leaks between the Republic TV Editor-in-chief and Ex-BARC official Partho Dasgupta that had gone viral on the social media platforms.

The Maharashtra Congress Unit had earlier demanded an immediate arrest of Arnab Goswami in the light of the leaked Whatsapp chat between him and former BARC COO Partho Dasgupta. The Congress had claimed that the chat between Arnab and Partho amounted to treason and therefore the Republic TV Editor-in-chief should be arrested.

Arnab Goswami slams allegations levelled by the Congress party

Earlier yesterday, Arnab Goswami had rubbished the allegations levelled by the Congress party. He said, “I am horrified that the Congress party thinks that any journalist in India expressing the views publicly stated by the Government is committing a crime.” Goswami stated that it is absurd to suggest that expecting India to strike back at Pakistan, after the Pulwama attack, was a crime. 

Goswami also narrated the ordeal he has been made to go through in the last 10 months. “From an attempted acid attack on me to the framing of fake and false cases to arresting me illegally (in a case which the Supreme Court said had no prima facie merits) to assaulting me, my wife and my son, and slapping cases against them to filing an omnibus case against my entire newsroom and all my editors to putting me in jail on the trumped-up charges to assaulting me in custody to interrogating my colleagues for 500 hours to whiplashing my colleague Ghanshyam with a chakki belt in custody and now joining hands with Pakistan to questioning my love and commitment to this great nation. I have been through it all.”

Congress admits Mumbai Police leaked the Whatsapp chats

There has been an alarming development in the state-sanctioned persecution against Arnab Goswami initiated by the Maharashtra Government. Former Chief Minister of the state from the Congress party and an elected MLA from the ruling alliance, Prithviraj Chavan, has admitted that it was the Mumbai Police which leaked the private chats of the Editor-in-Chief of Republic TV.

Prithviaj Chavan said, “The voluminous transcript of Mr Goswami’s chats released by Mumbai Police is deeply disturbing. Who gave access to such sensitive information from national security to constitutional amendments and political appointments?”

“The Government of India must launch a thorough probe. Also, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence must take this matter with utmost priority,” he added. The admission by Chavan is, again, a stark reminder of the extent to which the Mumbai Police and the Maharashtra Government have gone to in order to target Arnab Goswami.

The leaked WhatsApp chats pertain to discussions between Arnab Goswami and former BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta. The leaked chats surfaced ‘magically’ on the internet recently and have been a matter of hot debate among the opposition parties and their puppets in the media. The opposition political parties and their lackeys are trying to exploit the situation by levelling preposterous allegations against Arnab Goswami.

Every child is born a Muslim: Islamic hate preacher Zakir Naik claims in his latest video

OpIndia Staff
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Every child is born a Muslim: Islamic hate preacher Zakir Naik claims in his latest video

Islamic hate preacher Dr Zakir Naik in his latest video posted on his YouTube channel has claimed that every child ‘is born a Muslim’.

Naik claims that Prophet Muhammad said that every child is born in the innate religion. “Every child is born as a Muslim. He submits to Allah. Later on, the elders, the parents, the teachers, they influence the child. He may remain on straight path or he may become a fire worshipper, he may become an idol worshipper and then he may go out of the fold of Islam,” he says.

He further claims that every child, irrespective of the child being born in Hindu, Christian or even Jewish family is born as a Muslim. “He submits his will to Allah,” he claims. He claims that hence, when a person converts to Islam, the ‘appropriate’ word is ‘revert’. “He was on the straight path, he went on a wrong path and now he is back on the straight path,” he claims.

To prove that every child is born as Muslim, Naik talks about ‘Kapaku and Australian aborigine tribes’. He claims that these people, who were away from civilisation, lived their lives like Muslims, without really knowing they were Muslims. However, that is not true. Islam came to Australia through the Muslim visitors from Indonesia as early as 16th or 17th century.

Naik used this ‘fact’ to base his assertions that every child is born a Muslim.

Vellore: Christian man vandalises Hindu temple by painting Cross on its walls

OpIndia Staff
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Vellore: Christian man vandalises Hindu temple by painting Cross on its walls

In yet another incident of temple attack, a Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore district has been vandalised by painting Christian symbols all the walls in an attempt to convert it into a church, reports Commune Mag.

According to the reports, the Amman temple in Tirupattur district was found vandalized with Christian cross symbol painted all over the walls of the temple. The incident happened at Ellappalli village in Naatrampalli Taluk of Tiruppatur district.

According to the complaint registered by the villagers with the Naatrampalli police, the temple is very old and is worshipped by 250 families of the village as per Hindu traditions. The villagers suspect that the act was an effort to convert the temple into a church.

Image Source: The Commune Mag

The complaint states that one Baskar, son of Mahendran and Baby had earlier broken the idols and the hundi for which a complaint was registered twice with the police in July and November 2020. Now the same person is accused of vandalising the temple again.

On the night of 14 January (Pongal day), Baskar had allegedly turned off the street lights and painted the cross on the walls, floors etc of the temple to convert it to a Church. He had also painted the cross on electric poles and on the bridge near the temple.

The villagers further alleged that Baskar abused them using vulgar words as they confronted him on the matter. They said that Baskar threatened them by saying they cannot do anything to him as he is backed by five people. He had told them that he did the act upon the incitement of those five people and that nothing can be done to them.

The villagers have now demanded strict action against the perpetrators for trying to incite religious clash.

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