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Ujjain stone-pelting incident: Madhya Pradesh police books Ayaz, Wasim, Shadab and Altu under NSA

OpIndia Staff
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Ujjain stone-pelting incident: Madhya Pradesh police books Ayaz, Wasim, Shadab and Altu under NSA

Two days after a Muslim mob targetted Hindu groups and pelted stones at them in Begum Bagh area in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, the police have booked four people under the National Security Act (NSA). The attack took place on Friday when Hindus took out a Ramnidhi Sangrahan rally to collect donations for the Ram Mandir constructions at Ayodhya.

As per reports, the accused who was booked under the NSA include Ayaz Mohammad, Wasim Aslam, Shadab Akram and Altu Aslam. At the same time, the cops had booked three people, including two women, for an attempt to murder, rioting, giving a false statement and voluntarily causing hurt. Inspector Arvind Singh Tomar of Mahakal police station stated that 11 people were injured during the stone-pelting while one individual sustained grievous injuries.

Ujjain SP Satyendra Kumar Shukla informed, “Begum Bagh area is communally sensitive and those booked under the NSA had criminal records. The police investigation is objective and FIR has been recorded from both sides.” He further added, “In the first FIR, seven people have been booked, the second FIR is against unidentified persons, while in the third FIR, a person from the rally has been identified.” He had also dismissed accusations of siding with the Hindu group, as alleged by Ujjain Seher-e-Kaazi Khaliqur Rehman.

Mob pelts stones at Ramnidhi Sangrahan rally

Several Hindus had taken out a Ramnidhi Sangrahan rally on Friday for collecting donations for the construction of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. The rally was scheduled to start from the tower area and stop at Bharat Mata Mandir in Mahakal area. However, when the rally reached the Muslim-dominated locality of Begum Bagh, a mob started attacking the rally with stones from rooftops. The people in the rally ran for safety and even left their vehicles behind in a hurry.

In the videos of the incident that went viral on social media, women and young children could be seen hurling stones at the people in the rally. Over 10 people got severely injured in the stone-pelting. The mob did not stop after the people ran away leaving their vehicles behind. The mob then came on the road and vandalised the vehicles in a display of absolute audacity and no fear of law.

Cops demolish house used for stone-pelting

On Saturday, the Ujjain police along with teams of municipal corporation demolished a house from where some women and children pelted stones at the people taking out the yatra. In a swift action, the house, which was reportedly an illegal construction, was pulled down by the authorities using a JCB extractor.

Congress trolls trying to shield Rahul Gandhi left red faced after party confirms Wayanad MP is on vacation

OpIndia Staff
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Congress trolls trying to shield Rahul Gandhi left red faced after party confirms Wayanad MP is on vacation

After media reports emerged that Rahul Gandhi had left for Milan, Italy, on an impromptu surprise vacation in middle of Punjab farmers vs Govt of India farm laws tussle, Congress trolls kept themselves busy trying to refute these as ‘fake news’. Rahul Gandhi loyalist Saket Gokhale cried himself hoarse claiming that Rahul Gandhi has not gone for vacation.

He tried hard. Quite hard. He was joined by other Congress supporters who did not want to believe Rahul Gandhi was vacationing. Suddenly everyone wanted to compare his vacation to PM Modi.

Some Congress workers, however, quite easily accepted he was vacationing.

Foul mouthed Twitter handle of IYC Punjab, too chimed in.

However, the trolls were left red faced after Congress accepted that Rahul Gandhi has indeed gone off on a ‘personal trip’. While the party did not disclose the destination of his vacation, they have not denied Milan in Italy as the destination either. Congress also celebrates its 136th foundation day today.

Confirmed: Rahul Gandhi leaves India on a personal trip, will not attend the party’s Foundation Day celebrations

OpIndia Staff
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Confirmed: Rahul Gandhi leaves India on a personal trip, will not attend the party’s Foundation Day celebrations

On December 27, there were speculations that Rahul Gandhi, who is in the race of becoming party president once again, has left India on a personal trip and will not be attending Foundation Day celebrations of the Congress Party. The MP from Wayanwad has reportedly decided to go on a trip just a day before the grand old party’s 136th Foundation Day program. Randeep Surjewala, general secretary, Congress, said that “Rahul Gandhi is currently travelling on a short personal trip.”

Gandhi left India amidst farmers’ protest

In the last few days, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has spoken multiple times supporting the protesting farmers against the Agriculture Laws. He also led a delegation that met President Ram Nath Kovind on December 17 to submit the memorandum along with the signature of farmers against the Agriculture Laws that were recently enacted by the central government.

Gandhi missed the review meeting in Kerala

The Congress MP from Wayanad, Kerala, did not attend the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee meeting to review the party’s performance in the recent local body elections. Tariq Anwar, the state in-charge, is holding the review meeting on the issue, as reported by ANI.

Events including Tiranga Yatras planned for Foundation Day

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has asked the state units to organize different campaigns, including Tiranga Yatras and ‘Selfie with Tiranga’ named social media program on Foundation Day. AICC said, “December 28 marks the 136th year of the foundation of Indian National Congress (INC). On this day, the PCCs are requested to observe the party foundation day in state and district headquarters and instruct office-bearers, MPs, MLAs/MLCs to participate in the functions.”

Rahul Gandhi’s trip raised suspicions among netizens

Usually, Rahul Gandhi has a habit of leaving India during crisis or important events. He has done it multiple times in the past, and him leaving the country at the time of farmers’ protests would not have raised eyebrows as everyone expect the same from him. However, he had left the country during the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic that has raised some concerns.

Earlier, Rahul and his sister Priyanka had attracted the criticism for abandoning party workers during the Bihar elections and holidaying in Shimla.

After reports emerged that Rahul has left for Milan via a Qatar Airways flight, some social media users wondered how did he manage to obtain a permit to enter Italy. India is currently in the E-list countries as per Italy’s official website that means anyone from India can enter Italy only for work, health or study reasons. While people can only speculate, it is up to the grand old party of Rahul Gandhi himself to provide any clarification on the issue. Until he does so, which is highly unlikely, Congress workers can only wait for his return and hope he will spend time in isolation for 14 days on arrival as per the regulations.

Amitabh Bachchan apologises to poet Tisha Agarwal for sharing her poem ‘Chai’ without giving her due credit

OpIndia Staff
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Amitabh Bachchan apologises to poet Tisha Agarwal for sharing her poem ‘Chai’ without giving her due credit

Days after Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan was accused of plagiarism by poet Tisha Agarwal, the actor has apologised on Sunday night. The controversy originally began on Thursday after Amitabh Bachchan had shared a poem on his social media account.

A woman named Tisha Agarwal had tagged the actor, saying that the poem was originally written by her and the actor should have given her credit for it. Tisha’s post was shared by thousands of social media users, informing the actor to credit the writer.

On December 27, Amitabh Bachchan tweeted, “This tweet credit should go to Tisha Agarwal, I was not aware of its origin .. someone sent it to me, I thought it to be good and posted .. Apologies.” He had also quoted a few lines from the original poem, as a reference to his earlier tweet.

While responding to his apology, poet Tisha Agarwal expressed her gratitude to the actor for acknowledging her work. “Having my name on your Twitter wall is a matter of pride, fate, happiness and the highest acknowledgement of my work. This isn’t just credit but your compassion and my pride. If a small writer gets recognition from you, then what does she need more? This is something that I will remember forever.”

However, it must be mentioned that the original tweet, posted without credits, which was uploaded by the actor on December 23 was not deleted at the time of writing this article.

The plagiarism row involving Amitabh Bachchan

The Bollywood actor took to his Facebook and Twitter accounts on December 24 (Thursday) to share a few lines of a poem in Hindi along with a picture of himself. However, he missed out on sharing the name of the poet. The controversy, however, erupted after the woman who reportedly wrote that poem replied to the superstar’s posts. One Tisha Aggarwal, took to Facebook and Twitter to claim that the poem Big B had shared was actually written by her. “Sir, these lines are mine. At least give credit”, wrote Agarwal.

Agarwal had shared other screenshots where many people have been sharing her work without giving credit.

Agarwal also wrote: “When Amitabh Bachchan copies your post and does not even give credit, should you be sad or overjoyed?” She requested him to atleast give her the due credit. She said she would have been very happy had the actor given her credit for her work.

Tisha’s tweet had gone viral and many social media users had reminded Amitabh Bachchan of the time in 2017 when he had sent a legal notice to poet Kumar Vishwas for sharing a part of his father Dr Harivasnsh Rai Bachchan’s work.

US Pres Donald Trump signs COVID relief bill which promises millions of relief to Pakistan and other countries

OpIndia Staff
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US Pres Donald Trump signs COVID relief bill which promises millions of relief to Pakistan and other countries

US President Donald Trump on Sunday signed the 2.3 trillion USD COVID relief bill, days after calling it a disgrace. His decision to sign the bill averts a government shutdown since the funding was set to expire on Monday night.

Prior to this, he had released a statement that he would send a redlined version of the bill accompanied by a formal request insisting that the Congress removes certain funding from the bill. However, Presidents do not have such veto power. He could either accept the bill in full or reject it.

Trump had recommended the payments be increased to USD 2,000 per person from current USD 600. The House will vote on the proposal on Monday.

In his statement on Sunday, Trump said, “I am signing this bill to restore unemployment benefits, stop evictions, provide rental assistance, add money for PPP, return our airline workers back to work, add substantially more money for vaccine distribution, and much more.”

Criticising the bill last week, President Trump had said, “It is called the Covid relief bill but has almost nothing to do with Covid. This Bill contains 85.5 million dollars for assistance to Cambodia, 134 million dollars to Burma, 1.3 billion dollars for Egypt and the Egyptian military which will go out and buy almost exclusively Russian military equipment.”

“25 million dollars for democracy and gender programmes in Pakistan,” Trump said and listed out other relief packages for other countries. He had also pointed out how the relief packages contain money allocated to various facilities like the Kennedy Center in Washington DC and others which are currently not operational. He questioned why the Kennedy Center in Washington DC was set to receive 40 million USD when it is not open, and over 1 billion USD has been allocated to museums and galleries in the capital.

Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhisek Banerjee calls Suvendu Adhikari an asymptomatic COVID-19 patient for joining BJP

OpIndia Staff
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Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhisek Banerjee calls Suvendu Adhikari an asymptomatic COVID-19 patient for joining BJP

After TMC stalwart Suvendu Adhikari joined BJP in the presence of union home minister Amit Shah, his former party colleagues are continuously attacking him for changing loyalty. In the latest such incident, TMC MP and Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee has compared him with an asymptomatic COVID-19 patient.

Banerjee, who is also the chief of TMC’s youth wing, said that Suvendu Adhikari is like an asymptomatic COVID-19 patient who betrayed the party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and was sabotaging it from inside. “There were some people in the party who were like asymptomatic COVID-19 patients. We tracked their activities and identified them. We are happy to get rid of such viruses who had betrayed the party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and had been sabotaging the party since the past few months,” Abhishek Banerjee said while addressing a rally in his constituency Diamond Harbour.

He added that those who want to leave TMC for selfish reasons are free to do so.  “If you have the courage, float your own party like Mamata Banerjee did in 1998. She had not joined the BJP or the CPI (M),” he said.
Banerjee also reacted to Suvendu Adhikari calling him as “extortionist bhaipo (nephew)”, saying that his name didn’t came up any scam. He added that it was Suvendu Adhikari whose name had emerged in Narada sting operation. He said, “You have raised the slogan to remove extortionist ‘bhaipo’ (nephew). Whose name figured in Narada sting operation? I am not involved in either Narada sting or Saradha scam. You took a sudden political somersault to save yourself from central agencies like CBI and ED.”

Asserting that he is not involved in extortion, Abhisek Banerjee said, “If you can prove that I had ever been involved in extortion activities, I will accept any punishment in the court of the people. If you have guts, deploy CBI or ED after me.”

The Trinamool Congress leader also mocked Suvendu Adhikari for failing to shift his father and two brothers from TMC to BJP. “You have failed to bloom the lotus in your own house. How can you make the lotus bloom in the entire state?” he said.

Suvendu Adhikari’s father and Kanthi MP Sisir Kumar Adhikari, his brother and Tamluk MP Dibyendu Adhikari and another brother and Chairman of Kanthi Municipality Soumendu Adhikari are still leaders of TMC. The Adhikari family have played a major role in the growth of TMC in the East Midnapore district. Sisir Adhikari and his three sons have been controlling the Kanthi and Tamluk Lok Sabha seats, the assembly seats and urban bodies in the region for more than a decade now.

Wife of Sanjay Raut summoned by ED in connection with PMC Bank Scam worth over Rs. 4000 crores : Read details

OpIndia Staff
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Wife of Sanjay Raut summoned by ED in connection with PMC Bank Scam worth over Rs. 4000 crores : Read details

Wife of motormouth Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, Varsha Raut, has been summoned by Enforcement Directorate on the 29th of December in connection with the PMC Bank scam.

As per reports, Varsha Raut has been summoned over a Rs. 50 lakh transaction with the wife of another accused, Pravin Raut. It is believed to be the same transaction where she allegedly took a loan to buy a property.

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya said that Sanjay Raut should explain whether any financial transaction has occurred on his family’s part. Ram Kadam also said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance should not attach politics to investigative agencies. He said, “It’s the double standards of the Sena for when the state acts in Maharashtra it’s transparency and when Central agencies act it’s an act of revenge.”

What is the PMC Bank scam?

The Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank is one of the largest cooperative banks, which was put under scrutiny by the Reserve Bank for fraud and misreporting of bad loans. Later, the bank had admitted that one large account, HDIL was the main reason for the current crisis.

Following this, the Mumbai Police’s EOW had arrested HDIL directors Sarang Wadhawan and Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan in connection with a fraud of over Rs 4,355 crores. According to the reports, PMC Bank officials gave loans to HDIL between the year 2008 and August 2019 despite the Wadhwans defaulting on previous loans.

Former MD of PMC bank, Joy Thomas aka Junaid Khan was also arrested by a special investigation team (SIT) of the EOW of Mumbai Police on the 4th of October, 2019. He had been absconding until then. The EOW had filed an FIR on September 30 last year against HDIL and PMC Bank officials in the PMC bank fraud case.

Later, it was revealed that Joy Thomas, former MD of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank had converted to Islam, married his assistant at the bank as per Islamic rituals in 2012, changed his name to Junaid Khan and owned 10 properties in Pune with his second wife allegedly as part of the Rs 4,355 crore scam.

The Enforcement Directorate had registered a case of money laundering and initiated their own investigation into the scam. Senior NCP leader Praful Patel was also accused of having links with the Wadhwans.

How did Rahul Gandhi manage to bypass COVID regulations for his Milan vacation? Netizens raise suspicions

OpIndia Staff
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How did Rahul Gandhi manage to bypass COVID regulations for his Milan vacation? Netizens raise suspicions

On Sunday, we were informed by the media that Rahul Gandhi is off to one of his foreign trips again. Ahead of New Years eve, the senior Congress leader left for Milan on a Qatar Airlines Flight. The Congress party has not confirmed the departure but they have not denied the media reports either as of now.

Under normal circumstances, Rahul Gandhi’s foreign trip at a time when his party is backing the ‘farmer protests’ while almost begging him to return as the party president would not raise eyebrows, it is what the country has come to expect of him.

But amidst the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic, a certain aspect of his purported visit to Milan has come to light that demands a closer inspection. People on social media have pointed out that under the Covid norms that are in place Italy, it will be extremely difficult for Rahul Gandhi to enter the country.

India is currently in List E countries according to the official government website. According to the rules in force for the Christmas and New Year period, people in List E countries can travel to Italy only for work, health or study reasons, absolute urgency and return to one’s own domicile, home, or residence.

The rules state, “Return/entry into Italy from this group of countries is always allowed to Italian/EU/Schengen citizens and their family members, as well as to holders of long-term resident status and their family members.”

“The Ministerial Decree of December 3, 2020 also confirms the possibility of entry into Italy, from these countries, for people who have a proven and stable relationship (even if not cohabiting) with Italian/EU/Schengen citizens or with individuals who are legally resident in Italy (long-term residents), who need to reach their partner’s home/domicile/residence (in Italy),” it adds.

One wonders what specific reason did Rahul Gandhi provide for entering Italy. Health or study reasons seem unlikely. And it is also unlikely that Italy will consider New Year celebrations as an “absolute urgency”. Then the two options that remain are either work or personal familial reasons.

Rahul Gandhi is the leader of a political party in India, therefore, a secretive trip for work-related reasons to a foreign country would naturally raise suspicions. And if it is for work related purposes that he was allowed entry, then Indians deserve more details about the nature of the work.

The other possibility is that Rahul Gandhi has family in Italy who he visits. A lot of people on social media appear to find this reason to be far more plausible. Rahul Gandhi’s maternal family is of Italian origins. Hence, that would be one possibility. Only other family he could have in Italy would be through marriage. And that is not a possibility, as far as we know.

But all of this is a matter of speculation and only the Congress party and the politician himself can provide more clarity to the situation.

BJP leaders have regularly cornered Rahul Gandhi on his foreign trips. In 2017, Amit Shah had stirred the hornet’s nest by asking Rahul Gandhi why he had not taken his SPG cover on his foreign trips and asked him what he was trying to hide. Rajnath Singh, then Home Ministerm, revealed that in the previous two years, Gandhi had been on 6 foreign tours spread over a total of 72 days where he did not take along his SPG cover.

Union Minister Ramdas Athawale gives new slogan for new coronavirus strain

OpIndia Staff
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Union Minister Ramdas Athawale gives new slogan for new coronavirus strain

Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Sunday gave a new slogan to combat the new strain of coronavirus, “No corona, corona no”.

Earlier this year, when the pandemic had broken out, Athawale had given a slogan, ‘Go corona, corona go’, which had gone viral on social media.

In March this year, he was spotted chanting ‘Go corona’ slogan with candles, wishing for the virus to go back to China, where it originally originated.

He had also said how after his slogan, the virus subsided in 8 months and with the vaccine on its way, the pandemic is likely to end soon. Union Minister Athawale himself had eventually tested positive for coronavirus and has since recovered.

Flights of UK origin suspended after mutated virus

A new strain of Covid-19 was reported in the UK, after which the civil aviation ministry has suspended flights originating from the United Kingdom from December 22. The new mutated virus is believed to having higher transmissibility.

Despite Capt Amarinder’s appeal, ‘protesting farmers’ destroy 150 telecom towers overnight

OpIndia Staff
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Despite Capt Amarinder’s appeal, ‘protesting farmers’ destroy 150 telecom towers overnight

In spite of Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s appeal, the ‘protesting farmers’ have destroyed 150 more telecom towers overnight. This takes the total number of telecom towers damaged to 1,388.

The ‘protestors’ have been targetting Reliance Jio towers because of the claims that Reliance as well as Adani group, are out to exploit the farmers with help of new farm laws. However, it is not true. The corporates do not stand to gain anything as they do not procure foodgrains from farmers.

News agency PTI citing sources said that site managers were slapped and abused for trying to stop the protestors from destroying the infrastructure. Power lines are snapped and attempts to axe towers were undertaken by the ‘protesting farmers’.

The attacks have impacted telecom services and operators who are struggling to maintain services in absence of action by law enforcement agencies, the report said.

On Friday, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder had appealed to the ‘protesting farmers’ to not inconvenience the general public by disrupting power and destroying infrastructure. He had also urged the ‘protestors’ who are supported and given logistical support by the Congress leaders, to not shut down connectivity and manhandle the telecom workers.

However, it seems the ‘protesting farmers’ did not pay any heed to the chief minister’s appeal.

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