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Priyanka Chopra seen visiting a salon amid Covid-19 lockdown in London, stylist let off with a warning

OpIndia Staff
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Priyanka Chopra seen visiting a salon amid Covid-19 lockdown in London, stylist let off with a warning

Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas was reportedly seen flouting the Covid-19 lockdown in London, by visiting a salon along with her mother. Priyanka Chopra accompanied by her mother Madhu Chopra, pet dog and an assistant was clicked outside celerity hairstylist Josh Wood’s salon located in the posh area of Notting Hill on Wednesday.

Priyanka Chopra had gone for a hair colouring session for a movie

According to a Daily Mail report, the actress managed to escape police action after showing a document stating the hair colouring appointment was for a film. The actress’ spokesperson reportedly said that the actress was following government guidelines and that the appointment was for a film that she is currently shooting. As per the report, the salon was privately opened for the production and everyone involved had been tested.

The actress who is married to American singer, songwriter and actor Nicholas Jerry Jonas, popularly known as Nick Jonas, had reportedly entered the salon on (Wednesday) January 6 and soon after some cops arrived at the salon to asking to vacate it. The police let off Josh Wood with a warning without imposing a fine.

Personal care facilities are restricted under the lockdown guidelines

The UK has again gone into a strict national Covid-19 lockdown again following the announcement by Prime Minister Borris Johnson on Monday. As per tier-5 coronavirus restrictions that are in place in London, personal care facilities like hair salons, beauty salons, spas, tanning salons, nail salons, tattoo parlours and massage parlours, etc, are required to remain closed to the public.

These services can neither be provided at people’s homes. Under the restrictions, the government can impose fines up to £10,000 for violations.

Was a Hindu man holding a saffron flag present during the violence that erupted at Capitol Hill? A fact-check

OpIndia Staff
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Was a Hindu man holding a saffron flag present during the violence that erupted at Capitol Hill? A fact-check

In the wee hours of the morning of 7th January 2021 (Indian time), many watched in horror as Capitol Hill burnt. As lawmakers counted electoral votes certifying Joe Biden as President-Elect, supporters of incumbent President Donald Trump stormed Capitol Hill in Washington DC and violence had ensued. Capitol Hill is where the US Senate and House of Representatives are seated at. In the latest update, at least 4 people have died and at least two pipe bombs have been found at the RNC and DNC. 

World leaders, including Prime Minister Modi, condemned the violence and urged that all parties ensure the peaceful transfer of power in the United States of America. But as we saw the shocking scenes from the seat of democracy, Indian liberals were busy losing their mind, not because of what was happening at Capitol Hill per se, but because they had found another opportunity to falsely blame ‘Hindu supremacists’.

Many quintessential, self-proclaimed ‘liberals’, some of whom also masquerade as journalists, took to Twitter to insinuate that “Hindu supremacists” were present at the rally that turned violent at Capitol Hill and thus, by extension, Hindus had shamed India.

Ashok Swain, who is a professor in the United States and regularly comment on issues he knows nothing of, took to Twitter to wonder whether ‘Hindu supremacists’ truly believe they will ever be accepted by ‘white supremacists’. In saying so, he attached a picture of a man who was seen holding a saffron flag in front of the Capitol Hill.

Sagarika Ghose too shared a tweet by some handle called ‘Hindutva Watch’ to insinuate exactly the same thing.

While the man holding the Indian flag has been identified as one Vincent Xavier who is an anti-Communist from Kerala, had also met Shashi Tharoor in the past and is in no way a ‘Hindutva extremist’, the main picture in contention was a man, purportedly holding a saffron flag in front of Capitol Hill.

The photo being peddled as one taken during the Capitol Hill violence

It is important to mention here that there is no evidence that Vincent Xavier had in any manner participated in any form of violence at the Capitol Hill and as a resident in the US, he had the right to protest for or against any political candidate he deemed fit.

While the Liberals painted a target on his back merely for holding the Indian flag and satisfy their own delusional propaganda, another man was seen caught in their lies.

The man holding the saffron flag in one hand and the American flag in the other was immediately branded as a “Hindutva extremist” who was celebrating the violence at Capitol Hill or participated in the violence in some fashion.

However, this was patently false.

This image of a Hindu man holding a saffron flag in Washington was from August 5th 2020, right after the Bhoomi Pujan of Ram Temple at Ram Janmabhoomi, Ayodhya. It was vastly covered even by Financial Express in an article where they had chronicled how Hindus across the world celebrated the historic event.

Report by Financial Express dated 5th August 2020

Under the specific photograph in question, it was explicitly mentioned that the PTI photo is of a man holding the saffron flag and the American flag in Washington, in front of the Capitol building, celebrating the Bhoomi Pujan of Ram Mandir on August 5th 2020.

Screenshot from the Financial Express article

Essentially, the Liberal cabal ended up spreading vicious lies about an Indian living in the USA without any due diligence of verification thereby endangering his life in the US.

After the violence at Capitol Hill, the law enforcement agencies are looking for information on the individuals involved in the violence, that could be treated as sedition. The Liberals, by insinuating that these two Indian origin men were involved in the violence without any proof whatsoever, have only ended up endangering the lives of two individuals just to get back at the Hindus back in India. While the USA burns by the fire lit by their ‘liberals’, ‘liberals’ continue to behave like fascists back in India.

40 victims, most over age of 50: Six including Waris, Rayees and Wahid arrested for running online sextortion racket

Aditi
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40 victims, most over age of 50: Six including Waris, Rayees and Wahid arrested for running online sextortion racket

Cyber Cell of Delhi police has unearthed a cybercrime racket that was allegedly extorting money from people on Facebook by blackmailing them. According to Times of India (TOI), Delhi police Cyber Cell has arrested six men from Bharatpur Rajasthan who were allegedly running an online extortion racket. The culprits have been identified as Waris, Rayees, Annay Khan, Wahid, Mufeed and Akram. All are residents of Bharatpur.

25 lakhs recovered from 10 bank accounts by police

The culprits reportedly used to create fake profiles on Facebook and would send friend requests to unsuspecting people, their victims are mostly men over 50 who are generally active on social media. They would ask these people to talk over video calls and would show them obscene videos over video calls. While the victims watched these videos, the culprits would record them watch the video. Later, the culprits would pose as senior officials of social media platforms and would demand money for deleting the video.

According to the TOI report, 40 victims have been identified so far and the around 25 lakh rupees from 10 bank accounts has been recovered. The police have material including seized 17 mobile phones, 2 ATM cards, cheque books, etc. that was used by the culprits in the crime. Most of the victims are reportedly over 50 years of age and active users of Facebook. The profiles of victims include catering service provider and stationery business, as per the TOI report.

Victims shown adult clips and were recorded watching them

According to DCP (Cyber Cell), Anyesh Roy, the Cyber Crime Unit received several complaints in last few weeks regarding an online extortion racket run by some men who had been blackmailing people by threatening to upload obscene videos online. “An inquiry revealed that the victims were contacted over social media platforms like Facebook. The victims were engaged in a brief chat and then asked to make a video call over Messenger or WhatsApp. The victims were shown adult clips and the video call was simultaneously recorded. After some time, they got extortion calls demanding Rs 2,000-3,000”, said the DCP.

Some of the victims reportedly gave the money but some filed a complaint with the police. DCP (Cyber Cell) Anyesh Roy told that the location of the accused was found to be Bharatpur and they were found using SIM cards and bank accounts obtained through fake IDs. They would change the SIM cards, issued from different parts of the country, frequently usually after a day or two. The bank in which the culprits transferred the extorted money were of Alwar. The culprits were nabbed during a raid.

Subramanian Swamy defends CM Jagan Reddy after temple attacks in Andhra, calls those questioning him ‘religious fanatics’

OpIndia Staff
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Subramanian Swamy defends CM Jagan Reddy after temple attacks in Andhra, calls those questioning him ‘religious fanatics’

Even as the YSR Congress-led government is facing a tremendous amount of criticism for failing to stop the continued attacks on temples and Hindu deities in Andhra Pradesh, Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy has come to the rescue of Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy claiming that the attacks are a conspiracy to target the state government.

Speaking to a local media channel regarding the ongoing attacks on temples in the state, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy defended the YSR Congress government and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy saying that the temple attacks are nothing but a conspiracy to target the government. He also called Hindus ’emotional’ and ‘being manipulated’ for expressing their anger over temple attacks.

Blaming Hindus for voicing their anger against temple vandalism in the state, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy said, “Our people are emotional and being manipulated, they scream because he (Jagan Mohan Reddy) is Christian…He does a pooja at Tirupati at 2AM in the morning but does not publicise it”.

The Rajya Sabha MP also said that the temple attacks are a conspiracy hatched by TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu to return back to the limelight in Andhra Pradesh politics. He said that the TDP leader was maligning the Chief Minister by making politically motivated statements and with an intention to brand the YSRCP government as a Christian government.

Subramanian Swamy said that since Chandrababu lost elections he was trying to use Hindutva as an agenda to come back to power in the next elections.

Swamy also said that the TDP was making false propaganda that the YSRCP government was employing people from other religions. ‘That is false’, he said, adding that there were only seven people from other religions who were appointed during the previous TDP government.

During the interview, the MP appreciated YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for allowing the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to audit the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam  (TTD) accounts showing transparency.

Subba Reddy and his wife are more Hindu than PM Modi: Swamy

He also said that the TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy, who is the uncle of CM YS Jagan Reddy was more Hindu than Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself.

Accusing social media users of carrying out a targeted campaign against the YSR Congress government, Swamy said that Hindutva does not mean that everybody has to fall in line with the ‘crazy concept’ of Hindutva that they believe in. In the end, Swamy said that they cannot allow such kind of ‘religious fanaticism’ that is taking place in the name of Hindutva.

It is interesting to note his new statements, because just months back, Swamy had himself called Jagan Reddy a ‘Chritsian CM’.

Swamy’s strong attack on Hindu groups and defence of YSR Congress government comes at the backdrop of a series of attacks on Hindu temples being carried out in the state. Within less than a week, more than five temples have been vandalised, idols have been desecrated leading to a massive uproar in the state. However, Swamy, who positions himself to be the savior of Hindus, is now trying to defend the government that has not only failed to act against the culprits but also failed to stop the continued attacks on temples.

A series of temple attacks in Andhra Pradesh

Several attacks on Hindu temples have been reported in the state in the last few months.

On December 30, in another case of temple vandalization in Andhra Pradesh, the miscreants had targeted the famous Ramatheertham in Vizianagaram district and desecrated the 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.

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.

On January 1, a Lord Subrahmanya murti in Lord Vigneshwara temple was found desecrated in 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. 

ED summons India Today Group CFO in fake TRP investigation: Here are the exclusive details

OpIndia Staff
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ED summons India Today Group CFO in fake TRP investigation: Here are the exclusive details

There has been an interesting development in the investigation into the fake TRP scam, even as Mumbai Police continues to hound Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami and executives of the channel. According to sources, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned India Today’s Group CFO for questioning in the case related to fake TRP.

Sources in the know inform OpIndia that the Office of Joint Director has summoned the Group CFO for questioning into the fake TRP case. The Group CFO has been summoned to Mumbai from Delhi in the course of the investigation into the fake TRP scandal and is expected to appear on Monday. OpIndia reached out to India Today’s news director Rahul Kanwal for a comment on the development, however, Mr Kanwal has not responded yet.

This development comes even as the Mumbai Police has continued to allege that it was Republic TV which had indulged in manipulating TRPs, even though the original FIR based on the Hansa Research Report had implicated India Today in the case. It is pertinent to note here that so far, the Mumbai Police has not summoned or investigated India Today in the matter.

ED registers ECIR in TRP case

The Enforcement Directorate had earlier registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), the equivalent of FIRs filed by the Police, in the TRP case. The ED is investigating money laundering allegations and it was reported that all channels mentioned in the original FIR would be probed. It was also reported that along with the channels named in the original FIR, which did not have the name of Republic TV, the Mumbai Police probe could also be under scrutiny. The ED is the second central agency to come into the matter after the CBI. The CBI had earlier registered an FIR over the matter.

ED reveals that Mumbai Police have not examined raw data from BARC

In December 2020, ED had already summoned officials from Hansa Research, based on whose FIR the original probe was initiated.

During the time, OpIndia had reported that Hansa Research, while being questioned by the ED, named India Today and not Republic TV. Further, when two BARC officials were summoned, one from their vigilance department and another from the IT department, both attested to the fact that the Mumbai Police had not summoned any raw data from BARC. Raw data here would essentially mean the details of bar-o-meters installed and should have ideally formed the starting point of the investigation. However, it is alleged that this data was not examined by the Mumbai Police at all.

It is interesting to note that while it is alleged that Mumbai Police had not analysed the raw data by BARC, only within the first 48 hours of the FIR being lodged, the Mumbai Police had held a press conference alleging that Republic TV was involved in the TRP scam, when the original FIR and the Hansa Research Report it was based on did not mention Republic TV to begin with.

The TRP Case

On 8th October, Param Bir Singh, Mumbai Police Commissioner, said in a press conference that several channels have indulged in malicious practices to increase their TRP ratings. He alleged that Republic TV is one of the main accused. The complaint was filed by the Hansa group that regulated the devices to record TRP for BARC.

However, the initial FIR did not name Republic TV but named India Today network as one of the main suspects. 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 they are being harassed by the Mumbai Police to give statements against Republic TV.

Uttar Pradesh: Aalam Ansari makes a fake Instagram account with Hindu name to lure girls, Police investigate after he absconds with one minor girl

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Aalam Ansari makes a fake Instagram account with Hindu name to lure girls, Police investigate after he absconds with one minor girl

The Uttar Pradesh police have been in a lookout for a Muslim youth named Aalam Ansari after he allegedly went missing with a minor girl on January 2. According to a report by the Hindi daily Jagran, the Uttar Pradesh police have informed that Ansari had made a fake Instagram account under a Hindu name, Anumol Misra, to implicate the minor into a love trap and then ran away with her.

Interestingly, the fake account of ‘Anumol Misra’, who was actually Aalam Ansari, had ‘I love Indian Army’ written in the bio to make the page look more authentic.

Instagram account of Aalam Ansari posing to be Anumol Misra

The police said that Aalam Ansari, a resident of Shohratgarh town in Siddharthnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, befriended young girls on social media. He spent hours chatting with this minor girl on Instagram posing as Anumol Misra. After she got entrapped, the youth took her and fled. The police are now on the lookout for the duo.

The incident came to the fore when the minor girl did not return home until late evening on January 2. The kins of the minor girl approached the police with a missing complaint. Based on the complaint, the UP police registered a case against Ansari and started investigating the case.

The Uttar Pradesh police have constituted a team of two police officers to search for the duo. A surveillance team has been deployed to search for the duo based on their mobile locations. However, the police have until now been unsuccessful in tracing the duo.

On January 3, the surveillance team traced their location to be near Radhakrishna temple in Balrampur. Immediately a team led by SI Hari Narayan Dixit left for the location. But when they reached there, the accused along with the minor victim had already fled. The police were of the opinion that Ansari might have been cautioned by someone, because of which he fled the premises before the police could nab him.

The display picture on Anumol Misra’s Instagram account was that of Aalam Ansari.

The police came to know that Aalam Ansari had charmed the minor girl, through his Instagram account, under the pretext of being a Hindu. Actually, the display picture on the Instagram account of Anumol Misra is that of Aalam Ansari. This is how the police initially concluded that this Anumol Misra is indeed Aalam Ansari.

Now, the police are also scanning through his social media profiles and contacts to find out what led Ansari to create a social media account under a fake name.

Grooming Jihad- an extremely deep-seated phenomenon gaining a foothold in India, especially Uttar Pradesh

This is, however, not the only case in which a Muslim faked his identity as a Hindu to lure innocent and vulnerable girls. Over the years, several victims of Grooming Jihad have come forward with their stories. Their horrifying experiences include being deceived into a relationship or marriage by a Muslim boy disguised under a Hindu name, who only revealed later that he is a Muslim and forced the woman to convert. The pressurising tactics mostly include threatening to make viral their intimate photographs and videos, isolating the victim from her family, boy’s family members ganging up against the woman, beatings or threatening them with physical assault, force-feeding beef, insulting Hinduism and Hindus etc.

Though this phenomenon is long-established and extremely deep-seated, the year 2020 has seen many states not only acknowledging the occurrences but also enacting laws to curb the menace of Grooming Jihad. This includes many BJP ruled states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.

We at OpIndia have closely followed and reported many Grooming Jihad cases in the past.

Sushant Singh Rajput’s face revealed that he was innocent, sober, and a good human being: Bombay High Court

OpIndia Staff
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Sushant Singh Rajput’s face revealed that he was innocent, sober, and a good human being: Bombay High Court

Hearing a case related to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, the Bombay High Court today said that Rajput was innocent and sober, and a good human being. The comment was made by justice JJ Shinde, who is heading a division bench hearing a petition filed by Sushant’s sisters Priyanka Singh and Meetu Singh.

The petition was filed by the sisters of Sushant Singh Rajput seeking to quash an FIR filed against them which accuses them of fabricating medical prescription for anti-depressants for Sushant. The FIR was registered by suburban Bandra Police on a complaint by Sushant’s former girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, who had also named doctor Tarun Kumar of Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia hospital.

While reserving the verdict for the case, justice Shinde praised Sushant’s work in the movie “M S Dhoni: The Untold Story”, and remarked that one can make out from the actor’s face that he was a good human being. “Whatever the case…from Sushant Singh Rajput’s face one could make out that he was innocent and sober…and a good human being,” Justice Shinde said. He also added that everyone liked him especially in the biopic of former Indian Cricket team captain.

Rhea Chakraborty has been alleging that Sushant Singh Rajput was taking anti-depressant medication. She claimed that his sisters had obtained a prescription for the drugs from the Delhi doctor, and had advised their brother to take them. She alleges that one of the circumstances that may have led to Rajput’s death was the “dangerous cocktail of drugs and narcotic substances and medicines”.

Rhea is the accused in the death case, after Sushant’s father had filed a case of abetment of suicide against her and her family members. After a long political drama by the Maharashtra government in the issue, the case was handed over to the CBI on Supreme Court’s order. Accordingly, the case against Sushant’s sisters also have been transferred to the CBI.

Congress party fudges FDI data to falsely claim that Chinese FDI into India increased during the Modi government

OpIndia Staff
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Congress party fudges FDI data to falsely claim that Chinese FDI into India increased during the Modi government

In yet another incident of the Congress party spreading fake news to target the Modi government, the party has made a false claim regarding FDI into the country from China. On 4th January, the official Twitter handle of the Congress party posted an ‘infographic’, which claimed that under the Modi government, Chinese FDI into India has been increasing.

Screenshot of Congress tweet

The chart posted by the Congress party showed that from $2.8 billion in 2017, the Chinese FDI into India rose to $3.94 billion in the next year and $4.14 billion in the year 2019. The party also said that during UPA govt, the amount was $0.3 billion in 2011, $0.31 billion in 2012 and $2.7 billion in 2013.

This shows, while the Congress alleged that Chinese FDI increased during Modi govt, the same had also increased during the UPA government. In fact, their own claim shows a significant jump from 2012 to 2013.

But the fact is, the figures posted by Congress for the Modi government are completely fake, as actually the Chinese FDI has been coming down in the recent years, reflecting the increased tension between the two nations.

Contrary to the claims made by the Congress party, Chinese FDI into India during the financial year 2019-20 was only USD 163.77 million, not $4.14 billion. Moreover, it has come down in the last three years. It was $350.22 million in 2017-18, and $229.0 million in 2018-19.

Source: Lok Sabha

These figures were revealed by minister of state for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur in Lok Sabha on 14th September last year, responding to a question on the matter.

It is not that the Congress party lied about Chinese FDI during the BJP government, they also lied about the same during the UPA government. While they claimed $2.7 billion FDI in 2013, actually the Chinese FDI in India has never crossed $1 billion. The amount was $148 million in 2013, which had decreased to $121 million in the following year. The figure had reached $505 million in 2015, after that, it has been coming down.

Source: Statista

It is notable that to curb Chinese takeover of Indian firms taking the opportunity of weakened financial position of companies due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the govt of India has tightened the norms for FDI from China. In April this year, the union government had issued a Press Note 3 wherein it had informed that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from countries that share a border with India will only be allowed after Government approval.

While the rule does not name China, the fact that it targets countries that share land border with India makes it clear that the main target of the rule is China.

Was Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla’s daughter selected for civil services without appearing for the exam? A fact-check

OpIndia Staff
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Was Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla’s daughter selected for civil services without appearing for the exam? A fact-check

Anjali Birla, the daughter of Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, was selected for the civil services by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Monday. Her name was among the list 89 candidates selected by UPSC from its reserve list from the 2019 civil services exam. She has studied political science (honours) from Ramjas College in New Delhi.

However, after the news came out that Anjali Birla was selected for the civil services from the reserve list, a claim is being circulated on social media that she was selected without appearing for the exams, only because her father is a senior BJP leader and the speaker of the lower house.

Several Twitter users, mostly supporters of Congress and other opposition parties, made the claim on the micro-blogging site, alleging nepotism and favouritism in selected UPSC exam candidates. Referring to photographs of Anjali in fashionable clothes in her social media accounts, many also alleged that she is a model, and she was selected due to her looks, without having to appear for the test.

The fact that Anjali Birla was selected in the reserve list was twitted by people to allege that she was selected in a reserved quota. Supporters of opposition parties tried to say that there is a reserved quota for politicians in the civil services, and Anjali was selected in that quota.

But this is a completely baseless allegation, as the reserve list does not mean reserved quota. After every civil services examination, the UPSC prepares two lists, the main list and the reserve list. While the main list is published immediately, the reserve list is kept confidential, and it is published after all the candidates in the main list are allocated in available seats.

This is done as per Rule-16 (4) & (5) of Civil Services Examination Rules, 2019. As per this rule, in the main list, the total number of candidates is deducted by the number of candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes who acquire the merit at or above the fixed general qualifying standard. As a result, a reserve list is prepared for that deducted number of candidates, according to marks obtained by the candidates.

The reason for this rule is that, in case the reserved category candidates who are selected at general standards, wish to choose services and cadre based on their reserved status instead of the general category, the general category seats remain vacant. To fill up those seats remaining vacant, the candidates from the reserve list is used, which contain both general and reserved category candidates.

As it is not known how many reserved category candidates qualifying at general category will choose reserve category posts and how many will choose general category posts, the reserve list can be published only after the allocation of all the candidates from the main list is completed. After that process is over, for the seats remaining vacant, candidates from the reserve list are selected according to the order of merit.

Therefore, the reserve list of UPSC is not reservation quota list, it is like a second merit list, or like a waiting list. It is prepared from the candidates who appeared in the preliminary and mains exams conducted by UPSC, and it is not any privileged list. The number of candidates that will be selected from this list depends on the selections made by reserved category candidates obtaining general category in the main list.

Due to this reason, while there were vacancies in 927 posts, the main result announced in August last year had 829 candidates, as the rest of the posts were to be filled from the reserved list. This means, in the 2019 exams, 98 candidates from the reserved category had obtained general category standards. From them, 89 candidates didn’t select seats available for general category candidates, which remained vacant. To fill those vacant seats, the reserve list was announced with 89 candidates, which included the name of Om Birla’s daughter.

The 89 candidates include 73 General, 14 OBC, 01 EWS and 01 SC category candidates. Anjali Birala’s name appears in the serial number 67 of this list. This means, she had appeared for the exams, and secured enough marks to be placed in the reserve list. It is completely incorrect to claim that she was selected without having to appear for the examinations. All the 89 candidates had appeared, and their roll numbers are given in the list published by UPSC.

As if unleashing Rahul Gandhi on India was not enough, now out-on-bail Robert Vadra reveals his desire to join politics

OpIndia Staff
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As if unleashing Rahul Gandhi on India was not enough, now out-on-bail Robert Vadra reveals his desire to join politics

As if it was not enough that the Gandhi family unleashed Rahul Gandhi on the country, now, Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra, on Thursday, revealed his desire to join politics and said that he has to be in the Parliament to “fight this kind of dynamics”. His response came against the backdrop of the ongoing investigation against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Benami property case.

News agency IANS reported Vadra saying: “I am related to a family that has for generations served the people of this country & have even been martyred for the country. I have seen, learnt, campaigned, spent time in different parts of the country & I suppose to fight this kind of dynamic I have to be in Parliament.”

Vadra alleged that he was subjected to such treatment because he is related to a prominent political family.

Vadra furthered he will take the decision to join politics at an opportune time. “When I see a place where people will vote me to represent them and I can make a difference for people in that area and if my family approves of it,” he said.

“Priyanka is always supportive. I am talking about the entire family and when they approve of it, I can be in politics and fight my issues in the political arena,” said Vadra on Thursday at his Sukhdev Vihar office.

Earlier this week, the ED sleuths grilled Robert Vadra for consecutive days questioning him over the alleged Benami properties matter. The total value of these properties, allegedly purchased by Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, between 2005 and 2010, is believed to be 12 million pounds.

Interestingly, this is not the first time Vadra’s political aspirations have been revealed. In 2019, Vadra had indicated that he is ready for a “larger role in serving the people”. And what was even more interesting was that within hours after Vadra had posted his intention to plunge into politics, posters had been raised in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh which requested Robert Vadra to contest elections from Moradabad Lok Sabha constituency.

A month later, posters urging him to contest from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh had also come up. 

At this point, it becomes almost imperative to remind Vadra that on March 6, 2019, while speaking to ANI he had vowed not to join politics until his name is cleared in the money laundering cases.

Robert Vadra is accused of money laundering case and dubious land deal cases

As per the ED, Vadra was beneficially controlling the £ 1.9 million London property. Vadra had also allegedly executed renovation work for the same and arranged for funds. Absconding defence dealer Sanjay Bhandari, Vadra’s aide, allegedly purchased the property for £ 1.9 million and sold it to a Vadra-controlled firm for the same amount after allegedly spending £ 65,900 on renovating it. The ED maintained that Bhandari was not the actual owner of the property, but it was beneficially owned by Vadra and accused him of money laundering.

Besides this, there are two more properties worth 4 million pounds (around ₹ 37.42 crore) and 5 million pounds (more than ₹ 46.77 crore). Six other flats are also suspected to be owned by Mr Vadra, according to sources Enforcement Directorate.

Moreover, Vadra is also being investigated in the Bikaner land scam. The ED had registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in this matter in 2015, after the state police had filed FIRs based on a complaint by local tehsildar alleging forgery in the deal.

Besides, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had in 2019 also filed a fresh money laundering case against the firm, Skylight Hospitality, linked to Congress’ Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, Robert Vadra in connection with financial and other irregularities in land deals in Haryana’s Gurgaon in 2008.

Robert Vadra is presently out on anticipatory bail in a money laundering case.

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