In a scathing indictment of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s leadership abilities, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said that the Gandhi scion lacks the consistency needed to be accepted by the country as its leader.
In an interview with Lokmat Media chairman and former MP Vijay Darda, Pawar said that there are issues with Rahul Gandhi’s consistency. When asked if the country is ready to accept the Wayanad MP as the country’s leader, Pawar responded, “There are some questions in this regard. There seems to be less consistency.”
It is pertinent to note that Sharad Pawar’s NCP is in alliance with the Congress party and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and are part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government that is currently governing the state.
Pawar slams Obama for crossing the “limit” of commenting on foreign leadership
However, Pawar was disapproving of Obama’s unfavourable view on Rahul Gandhi. Obama, in his recently published memoir, has said that the Congress leader appeared to be like a student eager to impress the teacher but lacking aptitude and passion to master the subject. Responding to Obama’s remarks, Pawar said that it is not important to accept everybody’s view.
Slamming Obama for his “presumptuous” remarks on Gandhi, Pawar said, “I can say anything about the leadership in our country. But I will not comment on the leadership in another country. One should maintain that limit….I think Obama crossed that limit,” he said.
When asked about Congress’ future and if Rahul Gandhi was becoming a “burden’ for the party, Pawar appeared to speak in defence of the Wayanad MP, saying that a hallmark of a leader is the acceptance he or she has within the organisation.
“I have differences with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her family but even today scores of Congressmen have a sense of affection towards the Gandhi family,” the NCP chief responded, implying that Gandhis are best to lead the Congress party.
Congress defends Rahul Gandhi after remarks by Sharad Pawar, says he is more consistent than any other opposition party leader
The Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant was circumspect in giving a reaction on Pawar’s remarks on Rahul Gandhi. Sawant said, ” We don’t know in what context Pawar saheb has made the comments. However, to be specific, the Congress and our leader Rahul Gandhi has been more consistent than any other party in its opposition to RSS and the Modi government.
Rahul Gandhi is one of the very few politicians who have the uncompromising courage to speak against the current regime in the country, especially when it is shamelessly muzzling the voice of the opposition, trampling democratic norms while constitutional institutions are watching helplessly, having lost their independence and credibility.”
Mounting internal dissent within the Congress party against the Gandhis
Though Congress has come out in defence of Rahul Gandhi, there have been growing clamour within the party against the leadership. Rahul Gandhi, who quit the Presidency of the Congress party after a disastrous poll debacle in the 2019 General Assembly elections, has been facing dissent from party members as rumours of his return gathers momentum. Several party members, including senior party loyalists, shot of a letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi in August 2020, demanding sweeping changes in the party. The rumblings have been bolstered by the embarrassing poll drubbing in the recently concluded Bihar elections.
According to several reports, 23 senior Congress leaders had written a letter to interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi demanding that an immediate CWC meeting be called to discuss the poll debacle in Bihar. They have reportedly also demanded organisational elections for the party president’s post be held at the earliest in the view of the electoral drubbing.
The letter reportedly points to the fact that at the peak of Bihar campaigning and even on result day, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were holidaying in Shimla instead of being with the party and leading the way.
Latest studies have pushed back the use of controlled fire by humans in India by 30,000 years. Evolutionary scientists have discovered that the first use of controlled fire by human beings happened some 50,000 years ago in the Belan river valley, 80 km away from Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. Until now, studies suggested that the first reported use of fire in the Indian subcontinent was from 18,000-20,000 years ago.
As per a report published in The Times of India, the sedimentary deposits of the sites situated in the Belan river valley offered a unique opportunity to scientists to understand the linkage between the prehistoric human environment and fire events.
“Before this, the first reported use of fire in the Indian subcontinent was from 18,000-20,000 years ago. Hearths were found in the same valley, considered the first direct evidence of human use of fire,” Times of India quoted Prasanta Sanyal, co-author of the paper being published in Elsevier journal ‘Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology’, as saying.
The evolutionary scientists identify the discovery of fire as one of the greatest sparks of human intelligence. To study when exactly the use of controlled fire began in the Indian subcontinent, the scientists from IISER-Kolkata looked at macro charcoal (larger than 125 microns) from six archaeological sites in the valley — Deoghat, Koldihwa, Mahagara, Chillahia, Chopani-Mando and main Belan.
A charcoal sample from Belan Valley, source: TOI
Prasanta Sanyal explained that it is possible to get charcoal from two sources — forest fires and human-made fires. Suppose, there was a forest fire in the Himalayas. It could have produced this charcoal, which was transported and deposited, said Sanyal, explaining how in man-made fire the charcoal cannot be transported. “But we found that the internal structure of these charcoal samples was still well-preserved, which could not have happened had they been transported.” Then, there was the topography. The paper says the “gentle slope of the Belan valley and its small catchment area make long-distance transportation unlikely.”
Microscopic image of a charcoal sample, source: TOI
Sanyal furthered that the scientists then reconstructed the climate patterns for the last 100,000 years. It turned out that the period the charcoal samples dated back to the period which had very high rainfall. “Besides, the vegetation was characterised by trees. Both factors are not very conducive to forest fires. You can have a natural forest fire only in dry and arid conditions,” Sanyal explained.
“We concluded that the charcoal in these archaeological sites came from human use of fire,” said Sanyal. This meant that at that time- around 50,000 years ago the human brains were developed sufficiently to control fire.
“This is the time that the cognitive abilities of prehistoric humans developed. This coincided with the period when they started creating different types of tools,” Deepak Kumar Jha, lead author, told TOI.
Once the knowledge of how to harness fire was acquired it was transferred. “The use of fire was persistent from Middle Palaeolithic to Neolithic (from 55,000 to 3,000 years ago)- from the earlier prehistoric populations to the later farming communities,” the paper says.
This recent study has made India move up to the 13th position amidst 15 oldest sites in the world with evidence of human-controlled fire. It is now the 13th oldest evidence of the use of fire in the world. The oldest is from 1.6 million years ago, at Koobi Fora in Kenya.
India has moved up to the 13th position in the table of 15 oldest sites in the world with evidence of human controlled fire, image via TOI
“If you see China, human-controlled fire has been discovered from 400,000 years ago. Why this gap? Maybe we have not studied Indian sites enough”, maintained Prasanta Sanyal.
Prominent human rights activist Vanessa Kogan linked to Hungarian-American billionaire investor George Soros is all set to be expelled by the Russian government after the former president Dmitry Medvedev claimed that there’s an organised campaign by international organizations to foment unrest in the world’s largest country.
Kogan, the director of the Stichting Justice Initiative project, admitted to the British newspaper The Guardian that the Russian authorities have informed her about the revocation of her resident permit. With Moscow cancelling her residence permit, Kogan has two weeks to leave the country.
The Stitching Justice Initiative project is an NGO which reportedly provides legal support to Russians who are victims of the human rights abuses. It has been cagey about its funding in recent years but back in 2010 and 2011, it was financially supported by the Dutch government and the Hungarian billionaire George Soros through his ‘Open Society’ pressure group, which was deemed as undesirable and banned by the Russian government.
Kogan’s organisation has been working in the North Caucasus region, helping people who have been allegedly victimised at the hands of the authorities. Its activities in the Muslim majority region has allegedly stoked tensions with local leaders, such as Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the Republic of Chechnya.
Deputy chairman of Security Council of Russia says NGOs exploiting networks in Russia to foment unrest in the country
Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council on Thursday told reporters that well-funded foreign groups were exploiting networks in Russia to “exacerbate the internal political situation in certain regions, including through Russian non-profit groups they associate with”.
He further added that such NGOs went to the extent of depending on the internet media, using several dubious reasons to rewrite the events of our national history. He termed it a “large-scale information campaign, being conducted to discredit the leadership of some specific territories and Federal Subjects”.
Earlier last month, the country’s State Duma argued a new law that would expand the scope of what constitute foreign agents, allowing them to apply to not only to NGOs and media organisations but also to ordinary citizens. Two years back, the United States incarcerated a Russian citizen, Maria Butina, stating her to be a foreign agent working for the Russian intelligence agencies. The US authorities had then alleged that she had infiltrated into conservative-leaning organisations to advance better ties between Washington and Kremlin. She was incarcerated for 5 months, some of it in solitary confinement, before being repatriated to Russia.
Soros’s OSF has a history of funding highly biased political NGOs across the world and its interference in India
The link between Vanessa with Hungarian-American George Soros is particularly intriguing, given that the philanthropist’s Open Society Foundation (OSF) is well known for funding highly biased political NGOs worldwide. For instance, the list of grantees of the OSF includes a number of Israeli NGOs that also includes some beneficiaries that deny the legitimacy of Israel.OSF has also funded Palestinian NGOs Al-Haq and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, both of which have ties with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel.
Earlier this year, speaking at the world economic forum, Soros had said he will commit $1 billion to start a global university to ‘fight nationalists’, whom he referred to as ‘authoritarian governments’. He accused the Indian Prime Minister of ‘creating a Hindu nationalist state’.
Soros’s OSF grasped stronghold in India during the Obama regime. Ever since its entry in India, it has tried to interlope in the internal affairs of the nation through the vast and interconnected network of organisations funded by him. These organisations play a vital role in manipulating the original narrative and take the help of the judiciary and media to hinder the national interest.
The Human Rights Law Network has been a chief campaigner against the Indian sedition laws and has even been providing legal aid to the Rohingya Muslims. The French NGO, Sherpa, that filed the complaint against the Rafael deal is also funded by the OSF. Another such organisation facilitating the agenda of George Soros is Amnesty International which is also funded by the OSF. The organisation also told the US lawmakers that the Citizenship Amendment Act stands in violation of not just the Indian Constitution but also international human rights law.
On Thursday, a 32-year-old teacher named Ranjitsinh Disale was awarded the much anticipated Global Teacher prize and prize money of $1 million for his extensive work in the field of the girl child education and revolutionising textbooks in India. His massive feat drew praise internationally and exemplified how the resolve of one man, to make an impact, can change lives.
Ranjitsinh Disale hails from Paritewadi village in Solapur district of Maharashtra. He wanted to be an IT engineer and had enrolled in an engineering college. But when things did not work for him, he was persuaded to take up teacher training programme by his father. Although Ranjitsinh Disale was initially hesitant about the decision, his time at the teacher training college made him realise that teachers were the real change-makers in the world.
The story of Ranjitsinh Disale
His first assignment was at the Zilla Parishad Primary School in 2009. The school was located between a storeroom and cattle shed. He observed that most of the female students in the class hailed from tribal communities, where the underage marriage of girl child was prevalent and their education was not taken seriously. To add to the social challenges, Ranjitsinh found that the textbooks were not in Kannada, the mother tongue of the students, and it affected the learning outcome of students.
He then took upon himself to redesign the books from Std 1- 4 such that students can comprehend the subject better. Besides learning Kannada, Ranjitsinh helped re-design textbooks to include QR codes that would contain video lectures, assignments, stories and audio poems for better understanding. The innovation, on his part, helped his students develop problem-solving skills, creativity and better communication.
Video Courtesy: Youtube/ Global Teacher Prize
Ranjitsinh is also a part of ‘Let’s Cross the Borders’ project where he has connected with over 19,000 students from eight countries, including, India, Pakistan, Israel, Palestine, US, North Korea, Iraq and Iran.
The programme is aimed at building peace among students in conflict zones. Ranjitsinh also teaches students in schools from other parts of the world through Microsoft Educator community platform and takes them to virtual trips. He also demonstrates scientific experiments to students from his home laboratory to help them better understand concepts.
100% student attendance, no underage marriage
As a result of his efforts, the attendance of girl children in his school recorded 100%. Not only that, no teenage/underage marriages were reported in the village as well. Impressed by his innovative endeavours and a successful pilot scheme, the Maharashtra government had announced in 2017 that it would introduce QR-embedded textbooks for all grades in the State. Moreover, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) had also announced in 2018 that all NCERT textbooks would include QR codes in the future.
Recognised by Microsoft CEO
Prior to receiving the Global Teacher’ prize, Ranjitsinh was recognised by Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, in his book ‘Hit Refresh.’ He was named 2016 Innovative Researcher of the Year by the Union government and was also awarded the National Innovation Foundation’s Innovator of the Year prize in 2018. He was among one of the top finalists, selected from over 12,000 nominations from over 140 countries. The Global Teacher Prize, established in 2014 by Varkey Foundation, will provide the prize money in equal instalments over a 10-year-period, besides financial counselling.
Ranjitsinh Disale leads by example, shares prize money with co-finalists
Ranjitsinh, who believes in revolutionising the education sector worldwide, has decided to share 50% of his prize money of $1 million dollars with 9 other finalists. As such, each of them will now receive a sum of over $55,000.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed education and the communities it serves in a multitude of ways. But in this hard time, teachers are giving their best to make sure every student has access to their birthright of a good education. Teachers are the real change-makers who are changing the lives of their students with a mixture of chalk and challenges. They always believe in giving and sharing. And, therefore, I am very pleased to announce that I will share 50 per cent of the prize money equally among my fellow top 10 finalists to support their incredible work. I believe, together, we can change this world because sharing is growing,” he said.
Video Courtesy: Youtube/ Global Teacher Prize
He further added, “By sharing the prize money, you teach the world the importance of giving…I now encourage you to use this platform to give all teachers a voice. There is not a moment to lose as it will fall on young people to find solutions to problems that their parents and grandparents have lacked the will to solve, including climate change, conflict and global pandemics.”
With his prize money, he hopes to start an initiative that would help recruit 5000 students from war-torn areas to Peace Army. UNESCO Assistant Director-General (Education) Stefania Giannini, stated, “Teachers like Ranjitsinh will stop climate change and build more peaceful and just societies. Teachers like Ranjitsinh will eliminate inequalities and drive forward economic growth. Teachers like Ranjitsinh will save our future.”
After gaining early leads the BJP had maintained its surprising performance in the Hyderabad GHMC elections. The party which had won only 4 seats in the last GHMC elections, has made a massive gain, all set to win 43 seats. The TRS is leading on 65 seats and the AIMIM leads in 43 seats, as per latest trends at 6.15.
BJP supporters were seen celebrating near party office, declaring that the gain in GHMC will set the tone for 2023 assembly elections in the state.
Latest news showed that TRS is leading in 65 seats, BJP in 43 and AIMIM in 43 seats. BJP has stated that the gains registered by the BJP are an indication that the people of Hyderabad are fed-up with the TRS and they want a change in leadership in the state.
TRS has already won 46 seats, AIMIM has won 41 seats and BJP has won 32 seats.
Congress has won only 2 seats. The GHMC polls were conducted on December 1 amid much fanfare and loud campaigns by all parties.
The counting was started at 8.30 am for the 150 seats under GHMC. The counting is going on at 30 locations and the Telangana State Election Commission has deployed over 8000 personnel.
The results will determine the fate of as many as 1122 candidates in 150 constituencies. The mayor’s post is reserved for a woman this year. As the elections were held on ballot papers and not EVMs, the final results will take time.
BJP leaders celebrate
As early trends pour in, BJP leaders, who had campaigned extensively in the elections, are positive that the party has remarkably improved its support base in Telangana. MP Aravind Dharmapuri has stated that in recent months, the BJP had gained a lot of support from the people in Telangana as was evident in the Dubbaka by-polls.
The GHMC election was a battle for dominance and political prestige for the TRS, BJP and AIMIM. The BJP, which recently won the by-poll at Dubbaka assembly constituency, is trying to consolidate its position in the southern state.
In 2016 elections, the TRS had contested in alliance with AIMIM and had swept the GHMC elections. TRS had won 99 of the 150 seats, while AIMIM had won 44 seats, and Congress 2. The BJP-TDP alliance had won 4 seats in 2016 GHMC elections.
A few months ago, the top US universities, such as Princeton and Harvard, decided to allot code names to Chinese students to protect their identities following Communist Party of China (CCP) new censorship rules on its students barring them to debate on topics that it deems controversial.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, the Chinese nationals studying at Harvard and Princeton universities will be using code names to shield their identities this semester as a protection measure against surveillance by China’s Communist government. The university classes will also carry warning labels such as “This course may cover material considered politically sensitive by China”.
Rory Truex, an assistant professor who teaches Chinese politics at Princeton, said that assigning code names to Chinese students is better than choosing not to discuss controversial topics. “We cannot self-censor,” Truex said adding, “If we, as a Chinese teaching community, out of fear stop teaching things like Tiananmen or Xinjiang or whatever sensitive topic the Chinese government doesn’t want us talking about, if we cave, then we’ve lost.”
Confirming the same, Professor Meg Rithmire of Harvard Business School said that she will have her students use code names to prevent persecution.
Avery Goldstein of the University of Pennsylvania said that he encouraged international students to make their own decision before enrolling in his political science courses. As a result of teaching a course that will cover Chinese politics, Goldstein added he himself has restricted his own travel to China due to concerns for his safety.
“We have to leave it up to the students whether they enrol because it is ultimately their lives that are going to be affected,” Goldstein said. He added, “I will make it clear that there is nothing I can do to protect them”.
Meanwhile, commenting on the drastic measures taken by US universities to avoid Chinese censorship, Senator Tom Cotton stated that it was ironical for these institutions to use codenames to protect them from the CCP at a time when they do not shy away from accepting millions of dollars from the very same Chinese communists.
The Chinese Communist Party is trying to censor students at American colleges.
Schools are giving their students codenames to protect them from the CCP, yet these same schools gladly accept CCP donations. https://t.co/2G3WK2B4F1
Various reports, senate findings also strengthen Senator Cotton’s allegations against the deep presence of Chinese in US universities. Lately, it has been revealed how the Communist Party of China has funnelled a massive amount of money into ivy league US universities including Stanford, Harvard in an effort to infiltrate into these research institutes.
China gifted close to $58 million to Stanford, Harvard
Stanford University, one of the topmost universities in the world, recently faced massive criticism over its relationship with the Chinese government. The university reportedly received $58 between 2013 and 2019 as gifts and contracts from China and its communist government.
Reportedly, Stanford University accepted $58 million in gifts and contracts from China after it partnered with several Chinese institutes. In 2009, Stanford University entered into a partnership with China’s Confucius Institute to promote Chinese culture and language on campus. Three years later, Stanford partnered with Peking University in Beijing, China.
According to the US Department of Education, Stanford has accepted more funds from China than nearly any other university or college in the United States. Not just Harvard, USC, and the University of Pennsylvania have taken money from China.
Interestingly, the “Biden Centre” at the University of Pennsylvania also has financial ties with China. An investigative report had accused the centre of failing to disclose $70 million in gifts from China between 2017 and 2019 recently.
Considering the growing Chinese involvement in the US, the US State Department had cautioned the governing boards of US universities about the threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party. These universities were also advised to have clean investments and endowment funds by disclosing Chinese firms in such funds.
Recently, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had also asserted that dozens of Chinese-government funded Confucius Institute cultural centres on US campuses will be shut down by year-end. In August, the US Department of State had also designated the US headquarters of the Confucius Institutes as a foreign mission.
Harvard enjoys intimate relationship with China
According to journalist Soumyadipta, Harvard University enjoys a close relationship with the Communist Party of China. Reportedly, China has doled out billions of dollars for Harvard University in the last few years, turning it as the world’s leading higher education hub for the Chinese Communist order.
One of the interesting details about China’s sudden involvement with Harvard University comes from the fact that Xi Mingze, the daughter of Chinese President Xi Jinping, studied at the university for four years till 2014. Xi Mingze referred to as ‘Princess of China’ was enrolled at Harvard University in 2010 under a pseudonym and finished her graduation amidst high-level Chinese security inside the United States.
Xi Mingzhe was enrolled at Harvard University under a pseudonym and was protected by bodyguards at all times. She did her undergraduate degree and then returned to complete her post graduate degree. Mingzhe was the reason why Xinping started a romance with Harvard University pic.twitter.com/nt5YUcIQj3
It is often said that it is because of Mingze, China began to develop a relationship with Harvard University. Apparently, Chinese President Xi began to frequenting visit Harvard University, both privately and sometimes as an official trip.
Interestingly, the Chinese President developed a close relationship with Harvard University President Lawrence Bacow and his wife, Adele Fleet Bacow. The visit by Xi Jinping to Harvard university assumes extreme significance as it is rare for a head of the state, especially the Chinese President to visit a university in the United States.
In March 2019, both Lawrence Bacow and Adele Bacow had visited China and were beneficiaries of luxurious Chinese hospitality. Chinese President Xi Jinping had received the couple at The Great Hall of the People in Beijing during their visit to China.
Harvard University President Lawrence Bacow and his wife, Adele Fleet Bacow being received by the Chinese President at The Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 20, 2019/ Image Source: Soumyadipta
China has funded more than a billion dollar to US universities
Reportedly, the Communist Party of China under the leadership of Ji Xinping has pumped a lot of money money into Harvard ever since his daughter joined the university as a student. Another Ivy-league University Yale also began to receiving grants and gifts from China. Many top Chinese leaders enrolled their children into Yale University.
Soon after his daughter’s enrolment, Xinping starts pumping money into Harvard. Another Ivy-league University Yale too starts receiving grants and gifts. Many top Chinese leaders enrolled their children into Yale. How much money do you think Harvard received from China?
It is estimated that the total tally of gifts and contracts from China to US universities since the start of 2013 is estimated to be around $1 billion.
Nearly 115 colleges received monetary gifts, contracts or both from sources in mainland China from 2013 to 2019, according to US government data. Harvard University alone received a whopping amount of $93.7 million, the majority as gifts. The University of Southern California and the University of Pennsylvania were second and third in the list of receiving millions of Chinese donations. Another university Middle Tennessee State University also received $1.1 million in contracts, almost all of it for a Chinese music and culture centre that opened in 2016.
The sudden influx of Chinese money into US universities had prompted US security agencies to stay on high alert. They had even launched an investigation into Yale and Harvard universities for not disclosing millions of dollars in gifts and contracts from foreign donors, especially China.
Why is China funding billions into Chinese university?
Most suspect that China was investing billions of dollars into university after fully realising the need for trapping the world’s most brilliant minds who teach at these universities. The Chinese establishment reportedly started approaching senior faculties and researches by offering millions of dollars to work for Chinese interests.
In 2008, China had also started its infamous ‘Thousand Talents Plan’ – an ambitious programme launched by the CCP to fund foreign scientists and researches of the top universities in the name of recognize and recruit leading international experts in scientific research, innovation. Under this programme, it has recruited thousands of researchers from countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore, Canada, Japan, France and Australia.
According to a 2019 Senate report, the ‘Thousand Talents Plan’ (TTP) is part of China’s ‘strategic plan to acquire knowledge and intellectual property from researchers, scientists, and the US private sector. The report further stated that the ‘Thousand Talents Plan’ is one of more than 200 CCP talent recruitment programs, that drew more than 60,000 researchers between 2008 and 2016.
Both the United States and Canada have repeatedly warned that China intends to use massive funds to trap scientists to gain access to new technology for economic and military advantage.
Interestingly, the Chinese government has established more than 600 recruitment stations globally. At least 146 such stations operated at one point of time in the US, 57 each in Germany and Australia, and more than 40 each in the UK, Canada, Japan and France.
These recruitment agencies contracted by the CCP are paid anywhere between $30,000 to $50,000 annually plus incentives for each successful recruitment. As a fallout of the TTP, more than 54 scientists have lost their jobs for failing to disclose this external funding, and more than 20 have been charged on espionage and fraud allegations in US alone.
Under the project, the Chinese achieved a good amount of success. They bribed and recruited senior faculty members from these universities. With massive outlay for the project, China took the expertise of these researchers and enabled knowledge transfers to various Chinese faculties back home. Essentially, China was funding the researchers in these top universities in the US, who were working for Chinese interests.
Charles Lieber – the Harvard research scientist trapped by China
One of the major success of China’s TTP came in the form of the alleged recruitment of one of America’s topmost chemist and pioneer in nanoscience and nanotechnology – Dr Charles Lieber. Lieber, who was considered as the leading chemist in the world, was one of the beneficiaries of China’s ‘Thousand Talents Plan’.
Prof. Lieber, who was a research scientist at Harvard, was allegedly recruited by Chinese for carrying out projects that aligned with their nationalist interest from labs in the US. According to the US Dept of Justice, he was arrested and later indicted by the court for lying about getting bribed by China and taking part in a Communist programme.
As per reports, Dr Lieber had entered into a three-year employment contract with China’s Wuhan University of Technology in July 2012 as a ‘High-Level Foreign Expert’ under TTP project. Under the contract, Dr Lieber was paid a salary of $50,000 per month, $158,000 per month in living expenses, and more than $1.5 million to establish a lab in China.
During his participation in the Plan, Dr Lieber had also organized international conferences, published articles, and applied for patents on behalf of WUT.
At the same time as his involvement with the Chinese, Dr Lieber’s Harvard research program in the US had received millions of dollars of funding from the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health. The DOD and NIH grants required the recipient to disclose foreign collaboration, potential conflicts of interest, and sources of financial support. However, Dr Lieber hid his participation in the TTP and his association with the Chinese university and made false statements regarding the same.
Not just Lieber, the other past participants in the TTP includes a former General Electric engineer, Xiaoqing Zheng, who was indicted in April 2019 for allegedly stealing GE’s trade secrets related to turbine technology while he was working with GE Power & Water in Schenectady, New York.
China running a spy network inside top universities in US
Addition to its ‘Thousand Talents Plan’, the China has successfully established a spy ring at top US universities, including Harvard and other Boston universities.
Reportedly, the Chinese military sends its spies disguised as students, who are specifically trained to steal intellectual property and research documents from the university labs and send it back to China.
The US security agencies became aware of such a Chinese spy network in US universities after the arrest of Lieber. Along with Lieber, two Chinese spies disguised as researchers were also charged as agents of a foreign government. The two Chinese spies had lied about their research work, wh used their access to smuggle research samples out of the country.
One spy was a lieutenant in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, which she did not disclose when she obtained a visa to enter the United States. She is accused of passing information on research conducted at Boston University to China’s government. Another spy – Zheng was arrested at Boston’s Logan International Airport as he tried to leave the United States by smuggling 21 vials containing sensitive biological samples.
A 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death by two youths over the issue of a love affair in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
According to the reports, Rahul Tandi, a 17-year-old resident of Raipur was brutally stabbed in the middle of streets by one intoxicated minor youth over a dispute regarding common love interest. Shockingly, Zubair, the elder brother of the accused recorded the video of the stabbing act, which has now gone viral on the internet.
In the horrific video that has gone viral on the internet, the accused minor, allegedly in an inebriated state, was caught continuously stabbing Rahul Tandi, who can be seen lying on dead on the middle of the streets.
रायपुर से सामने आया हत्या का दिल दहलाने वाला VIDEO..रविवार देर रात हुई हत्या का वीडियो..बेरहमी से नाबालिग पर चाकू से वार कर रहा आरोपी जावेद..आरोपी का साथी जुबैर और अन्य लोग बनाते रहे वीडियो। दो आरोपी गिरफ्तार। @SudarshanNewsTVpic.twitter.com/wLnoBLNPvWhttps://t.co/HgYB9Q2E0p
Raipur additional SP Tarkeshwar Patel said the incident took place around midnight on Sunday in Tikrapara area of Raipur. The victim, Rahul Tandi, was sitting with a friend at Budhatalab when the accused’s elder brother, a 19-year-old Zubair, approached him and asked for a lift home. The police also said that the victim and the murderer had clashed in the past over a common love interest.
Rahul picked Zubair on the bike to Tikrapara area, where the accused was waiting for him. The accused then dragged Rahul off the scooter and began stabbing him without warning. Zubair pulled out his smartphone to record the savage attack. In the video, Zubair was even heard encouraging his brother to keep stabbing.
According to the police, the accused, who himself is a minor, was heavily drunk and kept dragging Rahul’s body around and stabbing him even after he was dead. The elder brother was reportedly heard telling him in the video, “It’s done, he’s dead, leave it.”
The minor boy was also seen waving the knife in his hand and tripping around. The duo then left the dead body on the streets and escaped from the spot.
Reportedly, Rahul Tandi was killed over a love triangle. The 17-year-old accused and his elder brother Zubair, who shot the video, have now been arrested. Following the horrific incident, the police have asked e-commerce firms not to send knives ordered by Raipur residents.
The murderers had a criminal history, got inspired from Crime Patrol
The accused brothers were reportedly part of a group that has a history of indulging in such crimes. According to the police, the two youths had indulged in such criminal activities in the past and plotted the murder of Rahul Tandi to prove themselves in front of the criminal group. Some reports have stated that the deceased Rahul and the murderer had fought several times in the past.
According to the police, the two youths had got inspired from TV serial Crime Patrol, crime movies and plotted the murder of Rahul Tandi. To execute their plan, the two accused duo had selected an empty road in a secluded area.
Meanwhile, the Raipur police have registered a case under Sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) IPC. During the investigation, the arrested youth confessed to the police and said that they recorded the video of the act to ‘create fear in the locality’ and prove their dominance.
ASP Patel said that a police patrol said that locals at the locality, which was a slum, did not intervene during the murder. They stepped out of their homes only when police arrived.
Hours after Marsha Blackburn, US Senator from Tennessee, thanked President Donald Trump for putting a ban on cotton imported from a major Chinese producer for forced Uyghur labour, a senior reporter at China Daily, a mouthpiece of the Chinese regime, resorted to calling vile names to the legislator. In a tweet, Blackburn had stated that the United States would not support companies that make a profit out of slave labour.
Thank you @realDonaldTrump for banning cotton produced by forced Uyghur labor. The U.S. will not support companies that profit off of slave labor.
A few hours later, Marsha Blackburn tweeted, “China has a 5000-year history of cheating and stealing. Some things will never change.” However, her tweet did not go down well with Daily Mail senior reporter and columnist Chen Weihua. A fired-up Chen then resorted to calling the US Senator ‘b*tch’, not once but twice.
Although Chen Weihua had initially referred to Marsha Blackburn as a ‘b*tch’, he later added, “This is the most ignorant and racist US Senator I have seen. A lifetime b*tch.”
Screengrab of the contentious tweets (Image Courtesy: Twitter/Martha Blackburn)Screengrab of the contentious tweets (Image Courtesy: Twitter/Martha Blackburn)
Even after two misogynist tweets, slandering the US senator, the reporter from Chinese mouthpiece China Daily wasn’t satisfied. Continuing his rant further, Chen Weihua tweeted, “Wonder why the US Congress would have approval rating as low as 9% (according to Gallup)? It is because people like lowlife Marsha Blackburn were there.”
Screengrab of the contentious tweets (Image Courtesy: Twitter/Martha Blackburn)
Marsha Blackburn hits back at Chinese reporter
US Senator Marsha Blackburn decided to take Chen Weihua, head-on, instead of backing down. She replied by calling him a ‘thug’ and a ‘puppet’ of Chinese Premier Xi Jinping. “Chen, you’re a puppet in Xi Jinping’s delusional China dream for global domination. From Tiananmen Square to (the) Uyghur genocide, Communist China is an expert at slaughtering populations. America will not bow down to sexist communist thugs,” she wrote.
Chen, you’re a puppet in Xi Jinping’s delusional China dream for global domination. From Tiananmen Square to Uyghur genocide, Communist China is an expert at slaughtering populations. America will not bow down to sexist communist thugs. https://t.co/PrRyTlpnFc
The House of Representatives have passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act with 406-3 votes. The act is aimed at banning product imports from China to the US, manufactured using forced labor. The bill is now pending before the Senate and is expected to be signed by the incumbent President Donald Trump or the new President Joe Biden.
In a whitepaper published by the State Council Information Office in September this year, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had insinuated that the Uyghur Muslims were responsible for what China is doing to them. In a startling claim, China had revealed that it had placed over 1.29 million people in re-education camps between 2014 and 2019 in the Uyghur-dominated province of Xinjiang.
The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee on Thursday sent a legal notice to actor Kangana Ranaut over her tweets that allegedly targeted farmers, activists protesting against the new farm laws.
The legal notice sent on behalf of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee President Manjinder Singh Sirsa, said that the actress defamed the farmers, protestors and activists involved in the ‘farmer protests’ against the Modi government. In its notice, the Sikh organisation has demanded an unconditional apology and unequivocal withdrawal of the ‘defamatory and derogatory’ tweet.
The notice was sent to Kangana Ranaut by a Delhi-based lawyer Raj Kamal on behalf of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee.
“We’ve sent a legal notice to Kangana Ranaut for her derogatory tweet calling the aged mother of a farmer as woman available for Rs 100. Her tweets portray farmers protest as antinational. We demand an unconditional apology from her,” said DSGMC Pres Manjinder Singh Sirsa.
Another notice to Kangana Ranaut for misidentifying an old woman
Similarly, another member of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee has also sent a legal notice to Kangana Ranaut for misidentifying an old woman at the farmers’ protest in the national capital as ‘Shaheen Bagh dadi’.The notice was sent by advocate Harpreet Singh Hora on behalf of the committee member Jasmain Singh Noni.
In a legal notice dated November 30, Advocate Harkam Singh said that Ranaut should have authenticated information before posting it on social media and demanded an apology over her tweets, claiming that actress had misidentified the woman. The legal notice said Ranaut had allegedly claimed that Bilkis Bano was present at the farmers’ protest and was available for hire as a protestor in Rs 100.
Kangana had later deleted the tweet after it was clarified that the woman in the photo is an elderly woman named Mahinder Kaur from Punjab and not Shaheen Bagh fame Bilkis Bano, who, was also seen at the ongoing farmer protests recently.
Kangana Ranaut’s spat with Diljit Dosanjh
The notice to Kangana Ranaut comes at the backdrop of a recent spat between Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut and Punjabi actor Diljit Dosanjh, who locked horns on social media platform Twitter over the ongoing farmer protests.
The argument started when Dosanjh shared a video of the elder woman, Mahinder Kaur, who was allegedly misunderstood as one of the protesters from anti-CAA protests.
In one of her tweets, Kangana Ranaut had also posted a tweet put out by Congress MP from Ludhiana Ravneet Singh Bittu, who had accused Dosanjh of pushing Khalistani propaganda on Indian soil. Enraged by her expose, Diljit Dosanjh lost his cool and began to hurl abuses against Kangana Ranaut.
Earlier, we had published a detailed report on the Khalistani inclinations of Punjabi actor Diljit Dosanjh and his past associations with ISI’s Rehan Siddique.
There seems to be no end to the sufferings of religious minorities in Pakistan where cases of abduction, rape and forced conversion are reported on a routine basis. Another such case has been reported from Pakistan where a minor Hindu girl was kidnapped in Sindh, Pakistan. As per the information shared by Pakistani activist Rahat Austin on Twitter, a minor Hindu girl named Momal Kohli was kidnapped in Nawab Yousaf Talpur village in Kunri, Sindh.
A 15-Year-Old Hindu girl Momal Kolhi d/o Chandar Kohli is abducted for Child rape and conversion to Islam in Village Nawab Yousaf Talpur, Kunri, Sindh-Pakistan. It is said that Member National Assembly, Nawab Yousaf Talpur’s employee Muhammad Majeed is involved in this abduction. pic.twitter.com/70DfMNzdqf
Nawab Yousaf Talpur is a member of pakistan’s National Assembly. According to Austin, Talpur’s employee Muhammad Majeed is involved in the kidnapping of the minor Hindu girl.
“Armed men entered our home they beaten us & take my daughter with them. Muhammad Majeed who is working for Nawab Yousaf Talpur MNA was leading” Says Chander Kohli a Hindu, whose 15-Year-Old girl Momal Kolhi is abducted for Child rape & conversion to Islam in Kunri,Sindh-Pakistan pic.twitter.com/0yJIubsPYe
The victim’s parents told that some armed men barged into their home and assaulted them. They forcibly took away their daughter. The girl’s father alleged that Muhammad Majeed was leading the men who abducted their daughter.
A father died protecting his daughter in Pakistan
In October this year, a Hindu father was brutally killed by a group of armed men in Sindh, Pakistan when he was trying to save his daughter from the criminals. The armed men had barged into victim Shiva Kohli’s house and had tried to rape his daughter. When Shiva Kohli tried to protect his daughter, the perpetrators brutally tortured and killed him.
Abduction, rape and forceful conversion of minor Hindu girls from poor families has been a constant issue in Pakistan.
