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Income Tax raids underway at 28 properties of Christian Evangelist Paul Dhinakaran in Tamil Nadu

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Income Tax raids underway at 28 properties of Christian Evangelist Paul Dhinakaran in Tamil Nadu

The Income Tax department is carrying out raids at 28 locations in Chennai, Coimbatore and other places connected to controversial Christian Evangelist Paul Dhinakaran and his Christian missionary organisation ‘Jesus Calls’.

According to the reports, the Income Tax sleuths on Wednesday raided 28 premises associated with Dinakaran, including the ‘Jesus Calls’, an organisation run by Evangelist Paul Dhinakaran that preaches Christianity across Tamil Nadu.

The Karunya Institute of Technology and Science was raided too, as per reports.

The IT officials carried out searches at properties belonging to Dhinakaran at Chennai, Coimbatore and various other locations in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday morning. The Income Tax department also raided the Karunya Christian School, run by the Christian organisation.

The IT raids were conducted based on complaints of tax evasion and foreign funds irregularities against Dhinakaran and ‘Jesus Calls’.

Paul Dhinakaran, who is the son of the late televangelist DGS Dhinakaran, has a large follower base among Christians in Tamil Nadu and runs several organisations. 

Mission Rozgar Scheme: Over 3.75 lakh govt jobs provided in less than four years of Yogi rule

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Mission Rozgar Scheme: Over 3.75 lakh govt jobs provided in less than four years of Yogi rule

On January 19, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath said that over 3.75 lakh youths in the state have been recruited for jobs in a transparent manner. He added that the selection process has been honest and without any bribery, corruption or favouritism. Not even a single selection can be doubted or questioned.

CM Yogi was addressing a function organized to distribute appointment letters to 436 newly selected assistant teachers of secondary education and associate professors at his government residence. Six selected candidates were given appointment letters by CM Yogi, while the rest got the appointment letters from public representatives.

Over four lakh youth will get government jobs by March 2021

CM Yogi Adityanath said, “By March 19, 2021, the present state government will complete a four-year term. The dream of a government job for four lakh youths will be fulfilled by then.” He further added that Mission Rozgar would continue at its pace. Deputy Chief Minister Dr Dinesh Sharma said that the Department of Secondary Education of the state has an example of a transparent system. All arrangements, including new appointments, transfers and results, are now online.

It has to be noted that in December 2020 36,950 assistant teachers were appointed for council government schools. In August 2020, 31,227 assistant school teachers were given appointment letters.

Posting of teachers was based on their preference

Vinay Pandey, Director of Secondary Education, said that the teachers had been given the facility to choose the schools in the order of preference as per their wish. The selected candidates praised the Uttar Pradesh government for transparency and said that they had not imagined transparency at this level. They further added that under this regime, they are getting posting as per their choice.

114 female and 24 male candidates have been selected for the post of assistant teacher of arts in government schools. The remaining 298 candidates, out of which 189 were women, and 109 were men, have been chosen as lecturers.

Over 1.5 crore youths now self-employed

During his address, Yogi Adityanath said that in less than four years, the government had provided support to over 1.5 crore youths in the state to be self-employed.

Maximum recruitments in the police department

Since 2017, the Uttar Pradesh government has provided maximum government jobs in the police department. So far, 1,37,253 police personnel have been appointed in the state. The second department to get maximum appointments is education. Over 54,000 jobs have been provided in the primary education department.

As per the reports, over 16,000 posts in the police department, 69,000 posts in the primary education department, and 5,000 posts in UPSSSC will be filled soon. There are over 28,000 vacant posts in different departments, including transport, PWD and others, for which the process will be commenced soon.

Nearly 40% of cases filed under SC/ST act, 39% cases for atrocities against women in 2020 were fake: Rajasthan Police

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Nearly 40% of cases filed under SC/ST act, 39% cases for atrocities against women in 2020 were fake: Rajasthan Police

In a significant disclosure, the Rajasthan police have revealed that nearly 40 per cent of the cases filed in the state in 2020 under The Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 were found to be fake, reports Indian Express.

According to the Indian Express report, the Rajasthan police have shared the official records which show that 39.55 per cent of all cases filed for atrocities against women were also found to be fake.

The details were announced in an annual press conference at the Rajasthan Police Headquarters at Jaipur on January 11.

According to state government data, under the SC/ST act, cases involving members of the Scheduled Castes (SC) went up by 3 per cent while those involving Scheduled Tribes members went up by 5 per cent.

42% of atrocity cases involving SCs and 40% of those with STs are found to be fake: Rajasthan police

However, as many as 42.17 per cent of all cases filed for atrocities against SCs and 40.04 per cent cases filed for atrocities against STs were found to be fake during the investigation.

The Rajasthan police further said that a total of 7,017 cases were registered for atrocities against SCs in 2020. Out of these, a Final Report (adam vaku) was filed in 2,959 cases. An FR (adam vaku) is filed when during the investigation, it is found that the alleged offence did not occur. Similarly, a total of 1,878 cases were filed for atrocities against STs in 2020 and, of these, FR (adam vaku) was filed in 752 or 40.04 per cent cases.

Speaking to the media, DGP ML Lather said that barring the two offences of murder and attempt to murder, cases lodged under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in 2020 had decreased by 14.21 per cent, mainly due to the coronavirus pandemic.

He also added that there has been a reduction of 16.49 per cent in the registration of cases for crimes against women from 41,115 in 2019 to 34,368 cases in 2020. These figures include the numbers of dowry death, rape, molestation, kidnapping, and so on. Of the total 34,368 cases filed in 2020, 13,594 or 39.55 per cent cases were found to be fake.

In 2020, a total of 1.93 lakh IPC cases were lodged across Rajasthan. Nearly 25 per cent or 47,481 cases were found to be fake. An FIR was filed in 29,917 cases after the police could not find the given evidence or in absence of evidence.

Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act

The Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, also known as the SC/ST Act, was enacted to protect the marginalized communities against discrimination and atrocities.

The law lists various offences relating to various patterns or behaviours inflicting criminal offences and breaking the self-respect and esteem of the scheduled castes and tribes community, which includes denial of economic, democratic, and social rights, discrimination, exploitation, and abuse of the legal process.

Under Section 18 of the act, provision for anticipatory bail is not available to the offenders. Any public servant, who deliberately neglects his duties under this act, is liable to punishment with imprisonment for up to 6 months. An amendment was added to the original act in 2015 to make the act more stringent by adding more instances of “atrocities” as crimes against SCs and STs.

The controversial law has fuelled a major debate in the country pertaining to the cases of rampant misuse by the SC/ST communities by falsely registering cases against the members of other communities. Taking this to cognizance, the Supreme Court, in its 2018 judgment had diluted the stringent provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

However, the Union government brought another amendment act to nullify the Supreme Court’s 2018 order pertaining to the SC/ST atrocities act. Subsequently, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018.

‘Missing’ Jack Ma makes first public appearance, Chinese state media claims

OpIndia Staff
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‘Missing’ Jack Ma makes first public appearance, Chinese state media claims

Chinese state media Global Times on Wednesday released a video where in Jack Ma makes his first public appearance. As per Global Times’ claims, the Alibaba founder showed up at a rural teacher-themed social welfare event via video.

As per Chinese state media, he attended the Jack Ma Rural Teachers Award ceremony, an annual event launched by the Jack Ma Foundation in 2015. As per the report, Ma addressed 100 rural teachers across China and said he would meet them once the Chinese coronavirus pandemic was over.

Jack Ma mysteriously disappeared soon after criticising Chinese govt

The business tycoon had been mysteriously missing after he made disparaging statements against Communist-ruled China’s government and was reported off the radar by several Chinese run media outlets.

Ma had gone on a tirade against China’s current banking system, the financial regulatory structure of the Communist-ruled country and how it was unsuitable for his fintech giant, Ant group. Ma’s critical remarks for the Communist regime, which demands nothing more than complete and utter obedience, terminated the planned IPO of his fintech giant, Ant Group, on November 3, just two days before it was scheduled to begin trading.

Days after his unflattering opinion of the Chinese authorities, Ma was summoned to a meeting with Communist Party officials. His other venture, Alibaba is also under investigation for monopolistic behaviour, as per a statement released by the Chinese Communist Party’s market supervision arm.

This is Jack Ma’s first ever public appearance since October 2020.

Earlier, reports had emerged that Jack Ma has been ’embracing supervision’ at an unknown location. However, Duncan Clark, the chairman of BDA China, said that he does not believe that Jack Ma was under custody.

Ma’s disappearance from the public sphere is a part of a bigger design by the CCP to exact compliance and loyalty from individuals who hold great sway in shaping public opinion. It is apposite to note that Jack Ma is not the first high-profile man to have disappeared out of a thin air.

Watch: ‘Swamiye Sharanam Ayyappa’- the war cry of Indian Army’s Brahmos regiment

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: ‘Swamiye Sharanam Ayyappa’- the war cry of Indian Army’s Brahmos regiment

Just a week from now, the sacred chants of ‘Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa’ will reverberate on Raj Path in New Delhi on the occasion of Republic Day parade. The 861 Brahmos regiment, one of India’s most lethal forces, will take part in the celebrations in the national capital, which is gearing up to chant the enthralling prayers to Lord Ayyappa.

The 861 Missile Regiment, a part of the Regiment of Artillery of the Indian Army, will display the Brahmos missile during the Republic Day celebrations this year at Raj Path. The war cry of the regiment is ‘Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa’.

Recently, the 861 Missile Regiment and its Brahmos missile systems had participated in the 73rd Indian Army Day, that was observed on January 15, where the sacred chants to Lord Ayyappa were first heard.

Incidentally, the war cry is raised along with Durga Mata ki Jai and Bharat Mata Ki Jai by the regiment. The Brahmos regiment’s war cry is seen as a fitting tribute to Lord Ayyappa as the deity is symbolized to have defeated the evil forces by riding atop a tiger holding a bow and arrow.

The 861 Brahmos Missile Regiment

The 861 Missile Regiment, is one of the three Brahmos regiments currently in the Indian Army. It was first raised as the 863 Light Battery by merging the 121 (Independent) Heavy Mortar Battery (Congo) and a battery of 35 Heavy Mortar Regiment on 20 June 1963. Lieutenant Colonel Sewa Ram was the first Commanding Officer.

The Regiment has provided fire-power to 28 Infantry Brigade of 10 Infantry Division in the Battle of Chamb in the India-Pakistan War of 1971. The Regiment was awarded the battle honours “Laleali” & “Picquet 707”. The Regiment has also taken part in Operation Meghdoot, Operation Vijay and Operation Parakram.

Gujarat Government renames dragon fruit as ‘Kamalam’. Here is why

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat Government renames dragon fruit as ‘Kamalam’. Here is why

On January 19, the Gujarat government announced that they have decided to rename Dragon Fruit to ‘Kamalam.’ Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said that the word dragon is not suitable for a fruit. Thus, they have decided to change the name. “As the outer shape of the fruit resembles a lotus, hence Dragon Fruit shall be renamed as ‘Kamalam’,” he added.

The state government has sent a petition through Gujarat Forest Department to the Indian Council of Agriculture Research to rename the fruit Kamalam. The state government has applied to patent the name.

Notably, in the last few years, Kutch and Navasari have producing Dragon fruit in large quantities. Over 150 farmers in Gujarat are growing the fruit, and it is being sold across India and abroad.

PM Modi mentioned dragon fruit in Mann Ki Baat

On July 26, 2020, in Mann Ki Baat’s episode, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had talked about the fruit. He said that farmers of Kutch are making commendable efforts in the cultivation of Dragon fruit. “I have been told that the popularity of Dragon Fruits is constantly increasing, especially usage in breakfast has increased considerably. The farmers of Kutch have resolved that the country should not import Dragon Fruit, and this is what self reliance is all about,” he added.

Day before US President elect Joe Biden takes office, Trump administration declares China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims as ‘genocide’

OpIndia Staff
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Day before US President elect Joe Biden takes office, Trump administration declares China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims as ‘genocide’

The Trump administration, in in last few hours of being in power, has declared that China is committing ‘genocide and crimes against humanity’ against the Uyghur community group. Condemning mass repression, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday accused China of imprisoning, torturing and carrying out forced sterilisation against Uyghurs, a Muslim minority group.

US officials, while briefing reporters said that the move came after exhaustive documentation of China’s own policy, practices and abuse in Xinjiang which was viewed by Pompeo. “After careful examination of the available facts, I have determined that the PRC, under the direction and control of the CCP, has committed genocide against the predominantly Muslim Uighurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang,” Pompeo said in a statement.

He further added that he believes the genocide is ongoing and the Chinese party-state is systematically trying to destroy the Uyghurs. “Since at least March 2017, local authorities dramatically escalated their decades-long campaign of repression against Uyghur Muslims and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups, including ethnic Kazakhs and ethnic Kyrgyz,” Pompeo said in the statement.

Earlier, the US Department of State had estimated that up to two million Uyghurs as well as members of other Muslim minority community have been detained across intermittent camps in the region. A report by CNN states that camp detainees face food and sleep deprivation and forced injections. Further, some Uyghur women were forced to use birth control and undergo forced sterilisation as a part of deliberate attempt to bring down population of the minority.

China, however, has denied the atrocities and human rights abuse. It claims that these steps are important to curb religious extremism and terrorism in an area which is home to about 11 million Uyghurs.

‘Will implemented changes to address concerns raised against Tandav, thank Ministry of I&B for guidance,’ says Director Ali Abbas Zafar: Details

OpIndia Staff
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‘Will implemented changes to address concerns raised against Tandav, thank Ministry of I&B for guidance,’ says Director Ali Abbas Zafar: Details

Ali Abbas Zafar, the director of Tandav, has announced that the makers of the controversial web series will implement the changes to address concerns with regards to hurting religious sentiments. The filmmaker also expressed gratitude towards the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for their guidance during the whole controversy.

The makers of Tandav will implement changes, says director Ali Abbas Zafar
The makers of Tandav will implement changes, says director Ali Abbas Zafar

Ali Abbas Zafar said in a statement, “We have utmost respect for the sentiments of the people of our country. We did not intend to hurt or offend the sentiments of any individual, caste, community, race, religion or religious beliefs or insult or outrage any institution, political party or person, living or dead.”

“The cast & crew of Tandav have made the decision to implement changes to the web series to address the concerns raised towards the same. We thank the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for the guidance & support in the matter. We once again apologize if the series has unintentionally hurt anybody’s sentiments,” he added.

Ali Abbas Zafar had earlier issued an ‘unconditional apology‘ for hurting religious sentiments after Hindus protested against the derogatory manner in which Hindu gods were portrayed. An FIR was also registered by the Uttar Pradesh police regarding the matter.

Amazon Prime’s India head of original content, Aparna Purohit, producer Himanshu Krishna Mehra and others have been named in the FIR. The Information and Broadcasting ministry had summoned the makers as well over the alleged Hinduphobic content.

It is unclear whether implementing necessary changes will settle the matter as people on social media remain unconvinced of the integrity of the apology.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav tries to cash in on India’s great cricket victory, leaves netizens in splits with his bizarre poll promise: Details

OpIndia Staff
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SP chief Akhilesh Yadav tries to cash in on India’s great cricket victory, leaves netizens in splits with his bizarre poll promise: Details

Hours after the Indian Cricket team registered a historic win at the Gabba International ground in Brisbane and sealed the series 2-1, the Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav posted a rather bizarre tweet congratulating the team and promising to recognise “Tennis Cricket” if it is elected to power.

“Heartfelt congratulations to the Indian cricket team for winning the Test series in Australia. When Samajwadi Party would come to power, we will recognise ‘Tennis Cricket’,” Yadav tweeted.

Akhilesh Yadav’s tweet promising to approve ‘Tennis Cricket’ elicits hilarious reactions from netizens

The absurd promise of authorising ‘Tennis Cricket’ if SP is elected to power had the Twitterverse in splits, with several users posting amusing responses on Akhilesh Yadav’s tweet.

A Twitter user who goes by the handle @theskindoctor13 asked what Tennis Cricket meant. He further asked if Tennis Cricket entails batsmen batting on a cricket ground with Tennis racket or batting on a tennis court with a cricket bat. Taking a dig at Akhilesh Yadav, the user asked him to come on ‘Google Maps’ to respond to his query.

Another popular Twitter user @KyaUkhaadLega shared the picture of Shoaib Malik and Sania Mirza on Akhilesh Yadav’s tweet on ‘Tennis Cricket’. It is pertinent to note here that Shoaib Malik is a Pakistani cricketer who had married tennis player Sania Mirza.

Baffled by Akhilesh Yadav’s promise of approving ‘Tennis Cricket’ if his party comes to power, a Twitter user said he thought it’s a parody account but he forgot that Akhilesh himself is a parody of RaGa, presumably Rahul Gandhi.

Another Twitter user shared the pictures of Australian Tennis player Ashleigh Barty practicing her trademark forehand volleys with a cricket bat. The user claimed that after Akhilesh Yadav’s announcement, the number 1 tennis player has started practicing tennis with a cricket bat and would soon fight the upcoming Australian elections on an SP ticket.

Another Twitter user responded to Akhilesh Yadav’s tweet saying, “pehle tonti cricket ko manyata dijiye(First give approval to ‘Tonti Cricket’).”

India’s historic win at Gabba Test match

In a historic feat, a callow Indian side defeated the Australian cricket team in its own bastion at the Gabba cricket stadium in Brisbane.

With an aggressive batting masterclass from Rishabh pant and Washington Sundar, India chased down the mammoth target of 328 runs with 3 wickets remaining. The temperament of the last day was set by Shubman Gill with his crucial 91 runs. It was followed by the resilience and defensive gameplay of Cheteshwar Pujara. While skipper Rahane failed to make it big, a cameo by Washington Sundar and a stellar knock from Pant did the job for India.

Until today, Australia was unbeaten at the Gabba cricket ground since 1988, a record broken by the superlative performance of the Indian team. The last time Australia had lost a match at Brisbane was against West Indies when the latter managed to win the match with 9 wickets.

‘Today Malaysia kept our aeroplane, tomorrow someone will keep the PM over non-payment of loans’: Pakistani lawmaker takes a dig at Imran Khan

OpIndia Staff
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‘Today Malaysia kept our aeroplane, tomorrow someone will keep the PM over non-payment of loans’: Pakistani lawmaker takes a dig at Imran Khan

In a rarest of rare cases in the history of international civil aviation, Malaysian authorities had seized a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Boeing-777 aeroplane at the Kuala Lumpur Airport owing to non-payment of aircraft lease dues.

While the seizure of the PIA plane over non-payment of dues gave the world a sneak peek into the current economic condition of Pakistan, it also gave an opportunity to Imran Khan’s opponents to poke fun at him and his government, which has cautiously led the country into a state of deep financial crisis.

Amidst the entire fiasco, a video has surfaced where a Pakistani lawmaker Molana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party is heard taking a dig at Pakistan PM Imran Khan. At around 9.20 minutes into the video that has since gone viral, the Pakistani lawmaker is heard asking: “Today Malaysia has halted our aircraft in lieu of loan repayment. Tomorrow if any airport detains the Prime Minister over non-payment of loans…what will happen?”

The opposition leader appears extremely confident as he asserts that the day is not far when the Prime Minister will be detained for non-payment of loans. “Rokenge… agar aap karze wapis nahi kange toh rokenge” (they will stop, if we do not repay loans, they will stop us), claimed Haideri in his speech in the Senate on January 18, 2021.

Calling it a matter of shame and embarrassment, he alleged that the country was taking loans but not repaying them. “If Malaysia…which is an Islamic nation…a country that is our friend… has been forced to take this action, I can confidently say that tomorrow our Prime Minister will also be detained,” he says.

PIA flight detained after Pak fails to repay loans

According to reports, the PIA aircraft was seized on the orders of a local Malaysian court over the non-payment of aircraft lease dues. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had leased two aircraft, including the Boeing-777, from a Vietnamese company in 2015. However, they had failed to pay the dues to the Vietnamese company.

Reportedly, the authorities seized the plane after passengers had already boarded the aircraft. The aircraft’s 18-member staff also become stranded in Kuala Lumpur due to the seizure and will now quarantine for 14 days as per protocols.

Pakistan and its debt trap

Pakistan has been grappling with economic woes and the situation is not likely to change anytime soon. As per reports, following the footsteps of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) might seek repayment of its $3 million debt from the Pakistani government.

Saudi Arabia had asked Pakistan last year to repay its debt of $3 billion, which the Arab country provided as a financial support package to the latter in 2018. Besides the package, Saudi Arabia had also announced a credit facility of $3.2 billion for deferred oil payments. Pakistan, which had attempted to form an alliance with Malaysia and Turkey as ‘alternative Islamic powers’, had drawn the ire of Saudi Arabia.

According to the Pakistani Ministry of Finance and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Pakistan had taken a loan from China to repay a $3 billion loan taken from Saudi Arabia. A desperate Pakistan did so because had it defaulted the payment, Saudi Arabia would have reduced its financial suppo

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