Matze’s social media platform Parler became the first choice for conservative supporters of Donald Trump for a short span after Twitter and other social media platforms banned him. However, Parler has to go offline after Apple, Google removed the app from their app stores, and Amazon decided to terminate its web hosting services. Amazon alleged that Parler played a role in the Capitol Hall incident that took place on January 6.
Fox News obtained the litigation filed by Parler that read, “Although AWS’s motion to seal focuses only on its own employees, Parler’s employees have been similarly harassed and threatened.” It was also reported that the employees of the company are facing harassment and hostility. They fear their and their families’ safety. In some cases, including Matze himself, have fled their homes. The filing further stated, “Matze himself, as the CEO of the company AWS continues to vilify, has had to leave his home and go into hiding with his family after receiving death threats and invasive personal security breaches.”
While talking to Fox News, Matze had said that he would take any step to protect his family. He mentioned a group called UGNazi that was targeting him. He said, “They published my street address, they threatened to come through my front door.” Matze, who did not take threats directed to him too seriously in general cases, had to go into hiding with his family.
Amazon claims harassment of its employees
Earlier this week, Amazon claimed that both sides are harassing its employees. Parler mentioned Amazon’s claims in its filing and said, “Both sides of this dispute have shown that their employees have suffered real harassment and threats — including, on both sides, death threats — owing to the charged nature of this litigation.”
The Capitol Hill riots
On January 6, a large number of alleged Trump supporters barged into the Capitol Hall when the final counting of the Electoral College was in process. World leaders, including Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, condemned the violent attack on the Capital Hill. In the aftermath of the riots, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms suspended sitting President Donald Trump’s personal account from their respective platforms. The action taken by the social media giants was seen as unwarranted censorship resulting in a significant dip in the share prices of both Twitter and Facebook. The tech giants had lost around $51 billion in market cap in just two days.
The Day 3 of the final Test match between India and Australia in Brisbane began with a jolt, with the Indian side losing the crucial wickets of ‘The Wall’ Cheteshwar Pujara and skipper Ajinkiya Rahane. By the end of the morning session, Australia got rid of the two set batsmen and stopped them from making it big at the Gabba cricket ground.
When the team resumed playing post-lunch, Mayank Agarwal dominated the Australian spin attack. On the second ball of the 57th over, Agarwal stepped out of his crease to play a massive shot for six against ace spinner Nathan Lyon. The six went for a whopping 102-metres, leaving the crowd enthralled at the aggressive batting display. “He goes all the way over the rope”, the commentator highlighted.
By then, Mayank Agarwal had posted a total of 28 runs on the scoreboard in 63 balls. While Nathan Lyon chose to make things difficult for the batsman by bowling round the wicket, a shrewd Agarwal decided to take on the bowler head-on.
However, as has been the case with India’s first innings, Mayank Agarwal, just like his predecessors, failed to put up a big partnership as he nicks off the ball of Josh Hazelwood to Steve Smith. Tweeting about the same, cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle said, “Was so important, India went through this session losing no more than one wicket. Losing Mayank is a big blow because it exposes a newcomer and the tail.”
Adani Group on Saturday issued a rebuttal on allegations of not paying bank loans saying it maintains an impeccable record of not having a single NPA in three decades of its existence.
On Friday, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy took to Twitter Twitter to allege that Adani has not paid loans worth Rs 4.5 lakhs crore, which has allegedly turned into an NPA. Calling Gautam Adani – the chairman of Adani group, as a ‘Trapeze artist’, Swamy had claimed that his wealth was doubling every year two years since 2016, however, the industrialist did not repay the banks.
The Rajya Sabha MP also took a jibe at Adani that he would buy out all the banks that he owed like the six airports he has ‘bought’.
Trapeze Artist Adani now owes Rs. 4.5 lakh crores as NPA to banks. Correct me if I am wrong. Yet his wealth is doubling every two years since 2016. Why can’t he repay the banks? May be like with the six airports he has bought he might soon buy out all the banks he owes money.
In 2019, Adani Group won the bid to operate six major airports in India.
Following the allegations made by Subramanian Swamy, Adani has put out a statement clarifying that it does not have any NPA in the three decades of its existence.
Adani group’s response to Swamy’s allegation
In a statement on Twitter, the Ahmedabad-based conglomerate said it has built stellar infrastructure assets in the nation adopting prudent corporate governance and capital management processes that have consistently enhanced credit quality.
“The group maintains an impeccable record of not a single NPA in the three decades of its existence,” it said responding to a tweet by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy.
Adani on Saturday called the number quoted in the tweet as “incorrect and fictitious number.” “Aligned to our core philosophy of nation-building, the Adani Group has built stellar infrastructure assets mitigating critical demand gaps in India,” it said.
The Adani Group in its statement said, “Given our prudent corporate governance framework and capital management processes, our credit quality has consistently enhanced and the net debt to EBITDA ratio is less than 4, which demonstrates high credit rating quality and almost all of our businesses enjoy a high credit rating from international and domestic rating agencies.”
While it is widely believed that China has not disclosed full facts regarding the origin of the Novel Coronavirus that cause the global Covid-19 pandemic, the US state department has levelled new allegations against the Communist govt in China. In a fact-sheet released on 15th January, the state department raised possibility about the virus being accidentally released from Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, from where the pandemic started.
The sheet says that for more than a year, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has systematically prevented a transparent and thorough investigation of the COVID-19 pandemic’s origin, choosing instead to devote enormous resources to deceit and disinformation. It said that the US government does not know where, when or how the COVID-19 virus was initially transmitted to humans, and they have not determined whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan, China.
Although humans getting infected from animals is not uncommon, the previously undisclosed information in the fact sheet also brings the highlights that possibility of the laboratory being the origin, the state department says. To justify that claim, the fact sheet has made three points, which it says deserve greater scrutiny.
First, the fact sheet says that during the autumn in 2019, several researchers inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) had become sick, with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses. This raises questions about the credibility of the Chinese govt’s claim that there was “zero infection” among the WIV’s staff and students.
Accidental infections in labs have caused several previous virus outbreaks in China and elsewhere, including a 2004 SARS outbreak in Beijing that infected nine people, killing one, the fact sheet says. It also notes that the CCP has prevented independent journalists, investigators, and global health authorities from interviewing researchers at the WIV, including those who were ill in the fall of 2019.
The second point is that WIV has been conducting research on the bat virus that is closest to the SARS-CoV-2 virus causing the Covid-19 disease. WIV is conducting research on RaTG13, the bat coronavirus, since 2016. The state department says that WIV has a published record of conducting “gain-of-function” research to engineer chimeric viruses, but it has not been transparent or consistent about its record of studying viruses most similar to the COVID-19 virus, including “RaTG13,” which it sampled from a cave in Yunnan Province in 2013 after several miners died of SARS-like illness.
“WHO investigators must have access to the records of the WIV’s work on bat and other coronaviruses before the COVID-19 outbreak. As part of a thorough inquiry, they must have a full accounting of why the WIV altered and then removed online records of its work with RaTG13 and other viruses,” the fact sheet demanded.
In the third point, the state department has pointed towards secret military activity at the WIV. It says that despite the WIV presenting itself as a civilian institution, the United States has determined that the WIV has collaborated on publications and secret projects with China’s military. “The WIV has engaged in classified research, including laboratory animal experiments, on behalf of the Chinese military since at least 2017”, the fact sheet says.
Therefore, US and other donors who funded or collaborated on civilian research at the WIV have a right and obligation to determine whether any of our research funding was diverted to secret Chinese military projects at the WIV.
The state department notes that these new revelations just scratch the surface of what is still hidden about COVID-19’s origin in China. “Any credible investigation into the origin of COVID-19 demands complete, transparent access to the research labs in Wuhan, including their facilities, samples, personnel, and records,” it said.
Noting that the WHO has started to investigate the origin of the virus after a delay of more than a year, it says the virus’s origin remains uncertain. The fact sheet says that The United States will continue to do everything it can to support a credible and thorough investigation, including by continuing to demand transparency on the part of Chinese authorities.
When the Indian cricket team began its tour of Australia in November last year, it would have never imagined that the team would eventually be marred with injuries. As India went into the fourth and final Test match against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Friday, the team was devoid of star players.
With experienced bowlers such as Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and RS Ashwin still recovering from injuries, India desperately needed the 29-year-old yorker specialist T Natarajan to come to the team’s rescue. The match at Gabba kicked off on a positive start, with Indian side picking the wickets of David Warner and Marcus Harris early in the game.
However, the game soon turned its course with a dropped catch off Marnus Labuschagne’s bat by skipper Rahane. Labuschange and Matthew Wade began pulling off a formidable partnership and was looking to turn the match in Australia’s favour. But T Natarajan had other plans in mind. He beautifully set them, prompting them to play a pull shot, resulting in the quick dismissal of two set batsmen. And with that, the Indian team got back the momentum to keep their hopes alive for the second day.
However, as interesting as it might sound, T Natarajan did not initially find a place in the Indian squad ahead of India’s Tour of Australia. The All-India Senior Selection Committee had instead decided to send the left-arm pacer to travel with the Indian contingent as a ‘net bowler’ alongside Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kartik Tyagi, and Ishan Porel.
How Natarajan made his debut in the ODIs?
Ahead of the first One-Day International (ODI) match in November last year, T Natarajan was added to India’s ODI squad as a backup for Navdeep Saini, who had been suffering from back spasms. Although Saini went on to play the first two matches, he was replaced by Natarajan in the final game.
Screengrab of the article in Espncricinfo
While Natarajan remained expensive, on his debut in white-ball cricket, with an economy of 7.0, he was able to get the first breakthrough by taking the crucial wicket of Marnus Labuschagne. The initial blow to the Australian side, proved fatal as India ripped through the middle order and secured a 13 run victory in the game. Interestingly, this happens to be the only match the Indian side managed to clinch against Australia in the ODI series.
‘Luck’ favours Natarajan and he exhibits his bowling prowess in T20Is
While the Indian cricket team started the tour of Australia on a wrong foot, fortunes turned for the players in the International T20 series against their arch rivals. The team went on to clinch the series 2-0, thereby boosting the morale and laying the foundation ahead of the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
A ‘fortunate’ T Natarajan was picked by the BCCI as a replacement for injured Varun Chakravarthy. A report in The Hindu noted, “Left-arm pacer T. Natarajan, picked as a back-up bowler for the Australia-bound contingent, has replaced mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy in the T20I squad. Varun, who is nursing a shoulder injury, has been ruled out for at least a month.”
In the first T20 International against Australia, the India side managed to put up 161 runs on the scoreboard with a loss of 7 wickets. T Natarajan proved his mettle in the 10th over by taking the crucial wicket of Glenn Maxwell, known for playing the big shots. With one aggressive batsman down, the left-arm pacer took the wicket of T Arcy Short, who looked set with his individual contribution of 34 runs. In the 18th over, Natarajan also helped get rid of Mitchelle Starc who has the ability to hit over the boundaries in the death overs. While conceding 30 runs in 4 overs, he along with Chahal steered the team to its first victory in the series.
Screengrab of the bowling performance of the Indian team in 1st T20I via Cricbuzz
The Australian side bounced back with a bang in the 2nd T20 International. With a spectacular performance of Matthew Wade and Steven Smith, the team put up a score of 194 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. While pacer Deepak Chahar and Chahal were thrashed for 48 and 51 runs respectively, the biggest contribution of T Natarajan was keeping a tight check on the economy.
With a strategic bowling plan, Natarajan just conceded 20 runs at an economy rate of 5, the lowest among all the bowlers. At the same time, he claimed the two crucial wickets of D Arcy Short and Maxwell once again and stopped them from putting up even a bigger total on the scoreboard. The Indian fans had lost hopes and had conceded a defeat in their minds. However, with the power-hitting of Hardik Pandya and the initial momentum provided by Shikhar Dhawan’s innings, India was able to chase down the target and secure victory with 6 wickets remaining.
Screengrab of the bowling performance of the Indian team in 2nd T20I via Cricbuzz
In the final T20I played at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground, the Australian enmassed a total of 186 runs. With a strong performance from Matthew Wade and Maxwell, Australia completely dominated the Indian bowling attack. The Indian side went on to lose the match, falling short of just 12 runs. Natarajan, took the wicket of Maxwell yet again in the 19th over, thereby restricting the arch-rivals to 186 runs. While the left-arm pacer wasn’t able to replicate his performance like the earlier matches, his performance overshadowed that of the two other pacers in the team.
3rd T20
The ‘Test’ of a lifetime
Such has been the enigma of the left-arm pacer from Tamil Nadu. Natarajan not only remained consistent with his line and length but fulfilled the void in the pace department, created due to the absence of a quality left-arm pacer. With his deadly yorkers, Natarajan will one day take on the role, which the likes of Mitchelle Starc and Johnson took for the Australian side.
And it was indeed a spectacular sight when he was handed the Indian team cap. He thus became the 300th Indian cricketer to ever play a Test match. “The stuff dreams are made of. A perfect treble for Natarajan as he is presented with Team India’s Test cap No. 300. It can’t get any better! Natu is now an all-format player,” BCCI tweeted.
And his entry to the Test cricket arena makes him the only Indian player till date to debut in all three formats of the game on a single tour. And as luck would have it, Natarajan was added in the team as a replacement for an injured But this incredible journey has been far from smooth. His father worked as a daily wage labourer and his mother continues to sell chicken on the roadside. Natarajan consistently performed for the Tamil Nadu domestic team and ultimately found a place in the IPL in 2017.
Screengrab of the article in Cricaddictor
With that, he was able to educate his siblings, buy a house for his family and start a cricket academy for youngsters in Chinnappampatti village in Salem district. Natarajan’s example goes on to show how skill and perseverance can turn dreams into reality, even for those with the humblest of economic background. While Indian fans await his splendid performance in the second innings of the Brisbane Test, for T Natarajan, the game has just begun.
PM Narendra Modi launched the world’s biggest inoculation drive in the country today at 10:30 am via video conferencing. The COVID-19 vaccination drive has been planned in a phased manner, identifying priority groups. The first phase of India’s coronavirus vaccination drive started at 11 am across several cities in India and ended at 5:30 pm.
In the first phase of the vaccination drive, around 3 crore frontline workers including doctors, healthcare workers, Safai Karamcharis etc will be given the vaccine. After that, people above 50 years of age, and people below 50 with co-morbidities, estimated around 27 crore, will be selected for vaccination. Therefore, around 30 crore people will be vaccinated in this round.
According to the Health Ministry, by the end of day-1 of the coronavirus inoculation drive, 1,91,181 beneficiaries were vaccinated at 3,352 sites in the country. In a press briefing, Additional Health Secretary M Agnani added that 16,755 personnel were involved in the drive.
The additional Health Secretary informed that both types of vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, were supplied for vaccination. While the Covishield vaccine developed by Serum Institute of India Ltd was supplied to all states and UTs, Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech International Ltd, was given 12 states.
The Ministry furthered that adequate quantities of vaccine and logistics were ensured at all COVID-19 vaccination session sites across the country.
Since today was the 1st day of the vaccination drive, minor hiccups with the Co-Win app, which not only does the inventory management but also the beneficiary management, were highlighted during the campaign which the government resolved simultaneously. Amongst the problems incurred were delay in uploading of the beneficiary list at some sites which was countered by optimising speed and system performance. Secondly, few healthcare workers, though not scheduled for today’s session, were vaccinated today. To ensure that this does not happen in the future, the Health Ministry advised states to upload details of such health workers in Co-Win database.
The Health Ministry summarised the press briefing by informing that, all in all, the day-1 of the vaccination drive was successfully conducted all over the country with no cases of post-vaccination hospitalization reported from any states/UTs.
The state-wise number of people vaccinated today is given below.
Sl No.
State/UT
Beneficiaries vaccinated
1
Andaman And Nicobar
225
2
Andhra Pradesh
18412
3
Arunachal Pradesh
829
4
Assam
3528
5
Bihar
18169
6
Chandigarh
265
7
Chhattisgarh
5592
8
Dadra and Nagar Haveli
80
9
Daman and Diu
43
10
Delhi
4319
11
Goa
426
12
Gujarat
10787
13
Haryana
5589
14
Himachal Pradesh
1517
15
Jammu and Kashmir
2044
16
Jharkhand
3096
17
Karnataka
13594
18
Kerala
8062
19
Ladakh
79
20
Lakshadweep
21
21
Madhya Pradesh
9219
22
Maharashtra
18328
23
Manipur
585
24
Meghalaya
509
25
Mizoram
314
26
Nagaland
561
27
Odisha
13746
28
Puducherry
274
29
Punjab
1319
30
Rajasthan
9,279
31
Sikkim
120
32
Tamil Nadu
2945
33
Telangana
3,653
34
Tripura
355
35
Uttar Pradesh
21291
36
Uttarakhand
2,276
37
West Bengal
9730
38
Defence Personnel (HCWs)
2,182
All India
191181
State-wide number of people vaccinated
Billed as the world’s largest vaccination program, covering the entire length and breadth of the country, the drive aims to first inoculate millions of its healthcare and frontline workers and reach an estimated 3 crore people by the end of its first phase. The drive will be held daily from 9 am to 5 pm, except on the days earmarked for routine immunisation programmes.
Manish Kumar, a sanitation worker, became the first person to receive the Coronavirus vaccine at the AIIMS Delhi under India’s coronavirus vaccination drive that was launched today. Kumar received the vaccination in presence of Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.
A day after claiming she was scammed, Nidhi Razdan has now penned a blog detailing how she fell victim to a phishing attack. Ever since her revelation, there have been suspicions regarding her version of events but her blog, although it addresses them, only serves to raise further questions. And in the end, only ends up adding further fuel to the fire.
Nidhi Razdan says that she was invited in November 2019 to speak at a Harvard Kennedy School event that was scheduled for early 2020. And an ‘apparent organizer’ of the event contacted her separately to inform her of a vacancy in a teaching position.
Nidhi Razdan has now penned a blog detailing how she fell victim to a phishing attack.
One wonders here what precisely is an ‘apparent organizer’. Someone is either an organizer or they are not. It is not clear what precisely happened here. No names are taken and neither are any identities revealed. Neither here nor in the entire blog.
She says, “A few weeks later I was “interviewed” online for 90 minutes. It all seemed legitimate, the questions were thorough and professional. I did a basic google search and found a journalism degree programme being offered by the Harvard Extension School.”
“Contrary to what many are tweeting, Harvard has a school called the Extension School offering a Journalism Degree Programme. The actual programme is called the Master of Liberal Arts, Journalism degree. The Extension School lists 500 faculty of whom 17 are categorised as journalism faculty. A number of these people are working journalists. I believed I fit this profile,” added Nidhi Razdan.
In January 2020, she received an email from an “alleged Harvard Human Resources person” offering her the job. She says, “The offer letter and the agreement appeared to be on a genuine letterhead with the University insignia, and contained the “signatures” of all senior Harvard University officials who actually do hold those positions even today. The emails from this individual were all marked to what appeared to be an official group university ID.”
Nidhi Razdan has now penned a blog detailing how she fell victim to a phishing attack.
Intriguingly, there was communication between them and her employers at NDTV as well. And curiously enough, not even NDTV believed there was anything amiss. Nidhi Razdan announced her decision in June after a great deal of communication between both parties when she was convinced of the authenticity of the claim.
The Visa Conundrum
Then comes the bit that people on social media have been grappling with for hours now. The Visa question. Nidhi Razdan says, “I had been told a work visa had been issued in the US for me which would be sent to me only when travel was required. I would have also needed a visa from Delhi but it never reached that stage since no travel was on the cards immediately.”
This, again, does not make sense. How was the Visa issued without an interview? She does not say that she ever appeared for one. Moreover, the Visa is issued by the local consulate and how could it be issued without her passport? She has travelled a lot and must be aware of the details. How, then, could she have bought into the claim that her Visa had been arranged for in the United States? Did she send them her passport? Did they have access to her passport?
Ultimately, frustrated with the whole affair, she contacted the office of the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in January 2021. Prior to that, she had written to the HR department but did not hear back. Let us pause for a minute here. The whole affair begins in November 2019 and she did not make any attempt to contact the authorities at Harvard until December 2020. This is some absurd level of gullibility that we see here.
Nidhi Razdan says that it was only earlier this week that she learnt that it was all a scam when she was told that there there was “no record of my appointment and that the people claiming to be their HR staff do not exist!”
She states finally, “I have filed a police complaint and handed over all the documents and communication. This was a gross criminal act. I am very shaken by this and keep kicking myself for being such an idiot. With the benefit of hindsight, could I have done more due diligence? Absolutely, yes. But these scams succeed because they look so real. What these scamsters put together was good enough for me to throw away a 21-year career in TV.”
The Nidhi Razdan fiasco: Questions that still persist
Nidhi Razdan may believe that she has quietened the rising suspicions regarding the story but all she has done is further the highlight the inconsistencies of her version of events. Firstly, who was the “apparent organizer” who informed her of a vacancy? Who was she interviewed by for 90 minutes? If it was a video interview, which it seems to be, then she should certainly be able to recognize the individuals.
Furthermore, she says that money was not involved in the whole situation. Thus arises the question, why would anyone go to such an extent to target someone if they were not interested in money? “My lawyer read all the emails and realised that this was a massive phishing exercise, in all likelihood aimed at stealing my money and taking my personal data to misuse it,” she says.
But Nidhi Razdan does not elaborate on how they could have gained access to her personal data. If it was indeed aimed at stealing her money, then they would have required access to very personal details. And yet, we can safely assume that if it was really money they were after, then they would have gotten it by now. But she doesn’t appear to have lost any money here.
Therefore, it again begs the question, who did it and why? And if it was to gain access to her personal details, it again begs the question, to what end?
The most intriguing revelation here is the fact that it was not just Nidhi Razdan who was fooled by the alleged phishing attack. Her employers at NDTV were fooled as well. Therefore, they should be embarrassed of themselves as well. Also, it is intriguing to note that despite her ordeal, Nidhi Razdan has not taken any names and has provided any details regarding the people who she claimed conned her. Why is that?
Also, we have not yet seen evidence to suggest that this was a phishing attack. All that we have is a claim by her lawyer, whose foremost priority would naturally be to protect his or her client. Thus, while the blog does answer some questions, it only raises many more.
Amidst the continued attacks on Hindu temples in Andhra Pradesh, renowned seer Shri Vishvaprasanna Teertha Swamiji, the holy seer of Pejavara Mutt, Udupi, has written a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah seeking his attention over the issue. The seer has sought the home minister’s intervention in the attacks on temples in Andhra Pradesh, especially the shocking desecration of 400-year-old Lord Ram idol in the Ramatheerthan of Vizianagaram district.
In his letter, the Hindu seer has expressed his disappointment over the recent attacks on Hindu temples in Andhra Pradesh and pointed out that more than 120 temples have been attacked in the state over the last one and half years.
He said that the recent desecration of Hindu temples have enraged the entire Hindu community and added that the malicious acts of temple desecration appear to be a premeditated plan.
“The recent desecration of Lord Ram at the ancient Sita Lakshmana Kondandarama temple on the Bodikonda hillock in Ramatheerthan of Vizianagaram district, Andhra Pradesh, has enraged the entire Hindu community. As you are aware, miscreants broke open the historic temple and desecrated the 400-year-old Ram idol in the sanctum sanctorum, The severed portion of the idol was later retrieved from the nearby temple pond,” he wrote in his letter to Home Minister.
Shri Pejavara Swamiji also added that the horrific incident took place about 20 days ago but the Andhra Pradesh government has done precious little to apprehend the miscreants. The state government’s indifference in dealing with the issue is quite different, the seer added in his letter.
Pejavara Mutt is one of the Ashta Mathas of Udupi, which was built by Sri Adhokshaja Tirtha, who was a direct disciple of Sri Madhvacharya, the founder of the Dvaita school of Hindu philosophy. Pejavara Mutt is one of the most influential mutts in the country.
Temple attacks are not a stray incident, affects whole Hindu community: Pejavara Shri writes letter to Home Minister
Asserting that the attack on the Ramatheertham temple is not a stray incident, the spiritual leader highlighted how Andhra Pradesh has been witnessing a series of spiteful incidents of temple vandalism for the past one and half years.
Citing a few incidents of temple vandalism in Andhra Pradesh, the seer wrote, “The gutting of temple chariots in Bitragunta (Nellore) in February, Antarvedi (East Godavari) in September, and desecration of several Hindu idols at Pithrapuram in January are some of the prominent malicious acts reported last year. In the past one and half years, as many as 120 attacks have taken place on temples. These attacks appear to be the premeditated plan”.
He continued, “Miscreants as it appears, are resorting to evil acts because of inaction by the state government. No serious action was taken to trace and arrest the people behind the barbaric incidents of temple vandalism. the state administration has been unresponsive to the call and appeal of the Hindu community to protect the temple.”
Urging the center to act on the attacks, the Hindu seer that this is a sensitive issue affecting the whole Hindu community. “Since the state government is not taking any decisive action to prevent attacks on temples and bring the culprits to the book, I urge you to intervene in the issue, especially attack against the Ramatheertham temple, and take stern action those indulging in these vicious acts,” said Sri Vishvaprasanna Teertha Swamiji, the holy seer of Pejavara Mutt, Udupi.
Seer Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamy had decided to take yatras over continued attacks on temples in the state
Earlier, renowned Hindu spiritual leader Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamy has said that he would undertake a yatra from January 17 to temples that were vandalized in the recent past. Seer Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamy has decided to start a yatra to seek protection for Hindu religious places.
The seer had expressed his disappointment over the continued attacks on temples and mentioned that over 50 temples have faced attacks in recent months. He also said that in a temple in Singarayakonda, the Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy idol was damaged and asked authorities to ensure that there will be no such attacks in the coming days.
He also demanded strict action against miscreants who vandalised the temples and sought a committee of intelligence department officials to conduct a transparent inquiry. The seer said he will not remain silent when there is a threat to the very existence of temples.
A series of temple attacks in Andhra Pradesh
Attacks on Hindus and its temples in the state of Andhra Pradesh are continuously increasing. In a short span, several temples have been reportedly vandalized by the miscreants. From destroying idols to burning century-old chariots, a lot has happened in Andhra Pradesh.
On December 30, in another case of temple vandalization in Andhra Pradesh, the miscreants had targeted the famous Ramatheertham in Vizianagaram district and desecrated a 400-year-old idol of Bhagwan Ram. The priest had found that the idol of Bhagwan Ram was desecrated by unknown assailants when he reached the ancient Sita Lakshmana Kodandarama temple on the Bodikonda hillock in Ramatheertham. The idol was ‘beheaded’ and broken to pieces, the pieces were thrown into a nearby pond.
400 years Old Ramatheertham Temple Near Nellimarla, Vizianagaram in #AndhraPradesh.
Just a few days after Ramatheertham incident, the idol of Goddess Sita was found vandalised near Pandit Nehru bus stop in the Sitaram Temple in Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday. The incident came to light days after idols of Lord Subrahmanya and Shri Ram were similarly found damaged in the state.
Thread Despite y’day drama by @YSRCParty & @JaiTDP Netas attacks on temples continue.
After #LordRamaidol, 40yr old Maa Sita Devi idol vandalised in Vijayawada today.
On January 1, a Lord Subrahmanya murti in Lord Vigneshwara temple was found desecrated in the Rajahmundry district. The priest of the Vigneshwara temple found the murti of Lord Subrahmanya desecrated with two severed limbs of the murti lying on the ground.
Not just it, there have been several attacks on temples in Andhra Pradesh over the last few years. Last year alone, more than five temples have been vandalizedand burnt down by miscreants. The YSRCP government has been facing severe criticism for failing to prevent attacks on Hindu temples.
Michelin Star chef and recently turned filmmaker, Vikas Khanna, recently joined the list of celebrities who have strongly shown their remonstrance towards the alleged culture of nepotism and favouritism in Bollywood, the topic around which a heated debate was rekindled following the tragic death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Backing actress Kangana Ranaut, the celebrity chef stated that he recently fell prey to the cultural phenomena of nepotism and cronyism in Bollywood.
It may be recalled that Kangana Ranaut was one of the first actors who had spoken against the allegedly prevalent nepotism and mafia culture in Bollywood, after the untimely demise of actor Sushant Singh Rajput last year. Following Kangana’s assertions, the debate over the purported issue had caught considerable momentum. While many spoke against The Queen actor and called her out for bad-mouthing the industry, a handful had rallied her cause and the latest entrant is chef Vikas Khanna.
In a strongly worded Tweet, Vikas Khanna wrote that hearing about nepotism from Kangana, used to ‘break’ his heart. However, today he had experienced it first hand. “Minions won’t let outsiders enter even if they put their heart & soul in craft. It’s painful to hear “Pay or we’ll destroy you”, Tweeted Khanna.
When I used to hear @KanganaTeam speak ab this issue of critics & favoritism & nepotism it used to hurt my heart. But today I experience it first hand.Minions won’t let outsiders enter even if they put their heart & soul in craft. It’s painful to hear “Pay or we’ll destroy you”
Prior to the above Tweet, Vikas Khanna had taken to Twitter Thursday to lament that people condemned favouritism and nepotism, but did not give an opportunity to the self-made. He added that people admired the ‘gatekeepers’ but were ‘unkind’ to the new.
Sharing the poster of his directorial debut with Neena Gupta starrer The Last Color, Khanna claimed that the “‘New’ can’t flourish without encouragement & love. When ‘new’ rises, it makes way for “more new”, for all of us.
The Michelin Star chef was particularly miffed by the treatment meted out at him by the so-called film fraternity biggies. He alleged that many had asked him for money and when he didn’t oblige, they gave his movie a 2-star rating to ‘destroy’ him. Sharing some positive reviews from critics, he urged everyone to watch the movie on Amazon Prime.
My 2 Greatest Icons have spoken@VikasSwarup@bhawanasomaaya While many critics are asking for money or they will give me 2 Stars or destroy my movie or not give me AWARDS I ONLY care for my viewers & not reviewers My Award is YOUR love. Pls watch #TheLastColor on Amazon Prime pic.twitter.com/FI7tsdtHu7
For the uninitiated, the Indian chef made his directorial debut with Neena Gupta-starrer The Last Color, which had released in January 2019. The movie, which is a screen adaption of Chef Vikas Khanna’s novel also by the same name, has been felicitated at numerous international film festivals. The movie also made it to the Oscar 2020 and was a part of the Oscars shortlist. In light of the same, Vikas Khanna was looking forward to the reviews that film critics had to offer. However, the new filmmaker is not particularly happy with what the industry had to offer to his debut project.
Amazon Prime recently dropped Saif Ali Khan starrer political drama series Tandav on its platform. It has hardly been a day since the Ali Abbas Zafar’s show premiered on the OTT but it has already found itself in a pickle over its controversial content.
The web series has received has a torrent of disparaging reviews, with many painting the show as “Anti-Hindu series”. Netizens have pointed out several instances where the web series has hurt the sentiments of Hindus by mocking their Gods and Goddesses or by attempting to deliberately sow seeds of divisions among various sects of the Hindu society.
As a section of Twitter user started raging over the controversial content in Tandav, #BanTandavNow and #BoycottTandav started trending on the microblogging website. Social media users were particularly miffed with a scene where Hindu Gods were shown in a poor light.
Netizens criticise Tandav for its Hinduphobic content
In the first episode of the political drama, one of the protagonists played by Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub was seen apparently playing the character of Lord Shiva and holding Trishul in his hand at a college theatre festival. The host facetiously talked about the character’s social media following, and how he should post a tweet or upload pictures to increase his followers. This is followed by the infamous ‘Azaadi’ slogans by the audience.
Another short clip from the web series that is doing the rounds on the internet is when the character of Dino Morea berates the character played by actor Sandhya Mridul for dating a man from a lower caste. In the video, Mridul, who is married to Dino Morea, asks her husband to sign their divorce papers so that she could tie knots with the character played by actor Anup Soni. Soni is portrayed as a man belonging to a lower caste while Mridul and Morea are both apparently from the higher caste.
When Sandhya Mridul asks her husband to sign the divorce papers, a jilted Dino says, “When a lower caste man dates a woman belonging to a higher caste, he is exacting revenge for centuries of oppression through just that one woman.”
Besides, there are several other instances in the web series when the character played by Anup Soni is humiliated by others, ostensibly belonging to higher castes, with churlish casteist slurs.
In another instance, the web series insinuates that is easy for police to kill Muslims and casts aspersions on the integrity of the law enforcement officials by alluding that many Muslim youths are branded as terrorists to justify their killings.
In the scene, when actor Ayyub inquires a man held in jail about two missing individuals, he responds, “Those two guys are murdered. One of them was Saleem and the other one was Anwar. It is all too easy to kill people like us…one day, these people would link me to a terror organisation and assassinate me.”
Social Media users call for a Boycott of Tandav and down-rate the web series on IMDB
However, the insult meted out to Hindu Gods, the subtle branding of Indian police as anti-Muslim and the racist slurs used against lower castes, did not sit well with the netizens and they took to Twitter and other social media platforms to lambast the web series and demand a ban on it. Many of them even tagged Union Minister Prakash Javadekar and requested him to get the Hinduphobic web series off the Amazon Prime platform.
When will you realize that it’s all about How to hurt Hindu sentiments using their gods and dharma and not about Entertainment at all. I want every Hindu to speak up on these issues… #BoycottTandav#Tandavpic.twitter.com/9IYyjITZ7T
The hatred propagated by Tandav web series against Hindus, including Dalits, was also acknowledged by BJP leader Kapil Mishra, who took to Twitter to urge his followers to write an email to Union Minister Prakash Javadekar and inform him about the objectionable content hosted on Amazon Prime.
Tandav is anti Dalit and full of communal hatred against Hindus
Some Twitter users also called for legal action to be taken against the web series for hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Goel warned that complaint will be filed against the actors and makers of the web series if it hurts the sentiments of people.
If someone is hurtung the religious sentiments then complaint shall be filed against the producers/persons performing in the movie.#BoycottTandav
Subsequently, Tandav web series also faced the ire of the netizens on IMDB (Internet Movie Database) where enraged downrated the web-series and posted scathing reviews of the show. Aggrieved by the Hinduphobic content of Tandav, social media users gave a minimum rating to the web-series on IMDB and urged others to follow the suit.
The overall IMDb score of the Tandav web series is 3.9, with just 6,674 users having registered their ratings. A large section of those who have reviewed the show has provided it with the minimum allowed rating of 1 star, out of the available 10, and panned the movie as “Utter garbage”, “Propaganda driven”, “Anti Hindu series” and “Shoddy attempt at JNU image cleansing exercise”.
OTT platforms airing Anti-Hindu content
It appears that there is a competition of sorts among the over-the-top(OTT) media service providers in India to broadcast hateful content about Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Last year, a controversy was kicked up after Netflix’s new Telugu film “Krishna and his Leela” showed a male character named Krishna having sexual encounters with many women, one of them with a girl named Radha.
Amazon Prime, Zee5 and others have also been accused of providing a platform for Hinduphobic content. Anushka Sharma produced web series Pataal Lok, which was released on Amazon Prime last year, had faced flak for its content that offended Hindus and Hinduism.
Following the premiere of the series, several Hindu organisations, along with Sikhs and BJP leaders, had alleged that the series had attempted to tarnish their image. Anushka Sharma was subjected to fierce criticism for bankrolling a series that had hurt the feelings of Hindus and was served a notice from the court seeking her reply.
Another OTT platform, Zee5, was under the fire of Hindu organisations and senior BJP leaders over the blatant Hinduphobia pushed by the platform through its new Tamil web series ‘Godman’. Several Hindu groups, including prominent voices BJP MP Subramanian Swamy, social media users had raised their voices against the anti-Hindu web series. The blowback from the Hindu organisations and Hindus on social media was so severe that Zee5 had to suspend the release of the controversial web series.
