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After public suggestions, Karnataka CM does a partial roll-back of blanket firecracker ban on Diwali: Read details

OpIndia Staff
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After public suggestions, Karnataka CM does a partial roll-back of blanket firecracker ban on Diwali: Read details

On Friday, Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa announced that he was imposing a blanket ban on firecrackers ahead of the auspicious Hindu festival of Diwali. “We have discussed this issue and have decided to ban fireworks this Deepavali. An order is being issued. This is on account of Covid-19,” Yediyurappa had said.

However, after rampant disenchantment with the decision, the Karnataka CM has decided to partially roll-back his decision.

The Chief Minister’s office of Karnataka released another statement just 8 hours after imposing the blanket ban on firecrackers during Diwali. It said, “We received many suggestions after we proposed a ban on firecrackers this #Diwali. People should celebrate in a simple manner considering the safety of their children & themselves. I request people to burst only green crackers & celebrate the festival in simple way”.

Several states have imposed a blanket ban on firecrackers this year ahead of Diwali. This includes the Punjab government that has been unsuccessful in managing the stubble-burning problem that is the real reason of increasing pollution in the Delhi-NCR-Punjab area.

The Punjab government had even boasted recently that they had launched a ‘crackdown’ against firecrackers and its sale even as the stubble-burning issue was at a 4 year peak in the state.

Other states where Hindus can be arrested for celebrating Diwali with firecrackers, like they have been doing for centuries is – Odisha, Delhi, West Bengal, Sikkim and Rajasthan.

Karnataka, though had imposed a blanket ban earlier, it has now said that people can burst green-crackers and celebrate Diwali if they choose to do so. So far, Karnataka is the only government that has paid heed to public sentiment and rolled back its decision of imposing a blanket ban on firecrackers during Diwali.

IT Dept unearths scam in ‘Believers Eastern Church’, funds for charity used to run Churches, proselytisation, got Rs 7,000 crore over the years: Details

OpIndia Staff
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IT Dept unearths scam in ‘Believers Eastern Church’, funds for charity used to run Churches, proselytisation, got Rs 7,000 crore over the years: Details

In a major crackdown, the Income Tax Department had raided the premises of Believers Eastern Church in Thiruvalla in central Kerala. The Church is led by evangelist KP Yohannan and is accused of diverting funds collected for charity for religious proselytisation.

As per reports, the I-T Department had unearthed a major financial scam and recovered a whopping ₹8 crores in cash. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs had earlier cancelled the FCRA licence of Believers Eastern Church for carrying out evangelic activities using charity funds. This was despite the fact that the Church had received the donations through proper channels.

According to Times Now, Believers Eastern Church received over ₹7,000 crores in the past 7 years, according to TimesNow, through other trusts. The Church had also used their funds in real estate dealings and construction of institutions. In fact, the Believers Church reportedly continued to get funds from various trusts even after their license was cancelled.

According to Times Now, the Believers Eastern Church also funds several political parties. According to Indian Express, the IT department is looking into the transactions of over 10 years.

“The Church had got the foreign contributions through the proper channels. But they had diverted the charity funds for religious purposes. Even after the cancellation of the FCRA account, the Church tried to get funds through other trusts”, said an official according to Indian Express.

While speaking on the development, an IT official informed, “The raid began Thursday and is still on in Kerala and elsewhere in the country. So far, we have recovered Rs 8 crore in cash from various premises. Our action is still going on… We, prima facie, assume that the Church had invested around Rs 1,000 crore in real estate development. The funds for charity have been used for running churches, which is a religious purpose. As the raids are still on, we cannot come to any conclusion about the magnitude of the violations.’’

Government crackdown on evangelical organisations

Earlier, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had suspended the Foreign Contribution Regulations Act (FCRA) licences of 13 NGOs after allegations were raised against them for indulging in forced religious conversions of tribals to Christianity in tribal-dominated areas. The MHA has also frozen the bank accounts of these NGOs after intelligence inputs pointed out their conversion-related activities targeting the tribal areas of several states, including Jharkhand.

Ministry of Home Affairs had given the 13 NGOs six months to respond to suspension notice. The centre has recently suspended the FCRA licence of four Christian evangelical organizations, namely the Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church, Ecreosoculis North Western Gossner Evangelical, New Life Fellowship Association, and Evangelical Churches Association.

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting asks NBSA to take action against Aaj Tak for violating HC order on Hathras case reporting

OpIndia Staff
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Ministry of Information and Broadcasting asks NBSA to take action against Aaj Tak for violating HC order on Hathras case reporting

On Thursday, the India Today Media Network faced yet another embarrassing situation after the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) issued a notice to its Hindi news channel Aaj Tak news channel for violating Allahabad High Court’s order on maintaining the confidentiality of the investigation in the Hathras murder case.

According to reports, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had asked the authority to take appropriate action against the channel after receiving a complaint filed by Congress party supporter Saket Gokhale.

Congress supporter Gokhale had written a letter to the Additional Chief Secretary of the UP Government accusing Aaj Tak of broadcasting a news report about the ongoing CBI investigation despite there was a clear direction from the High Court to maintain confidentiality with regard to the investigation of the case.

“In this report, news channel Aaj Tak purportedly claimed to report on the investigation of the CBI in the Hathras case and about questions asked by the CBI team to the victim’s family during the investigation. May it be noted that this is a brazen violation of the orders of the Hon’ble Allahabad High Court,” the letter noted.

Following the complaint, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has now asked NBSA to take appropriate action against Aaj Tak within 15 days for violating HC order in Hathras Case. ‘

Image Source: Live Law

On 14th September, a 19-year-old woman was strangulated, who succumbed to injuries on 29th September. The Hathras case has become the ground for political drama and media propaganda.

NBSA orders Aaj Tak to apologise live, pay fine for spreading fake news

The India Today group has been facing the wrath of country’s news regulators and was recently penalised by NSBA for airing fake news relating to actor late Sushant Singh Rajput.

The Hindi news outlet of India Today group – Aaj Tak had peddled several fake news relating to Sushant Singh Rajput. It had published an elaborate piece on late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s “last tweets” on June 16, two days after the actor was found dead in his house in Mumbai. However, the media network had telecast fake tweets attributing to late actor Sushant Singh Rajput and had passed off them as his last tweets.

Following that, the NBSA asked Aaj Tak to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh and had asked the broadcaster to air an apology admitting on national television that it did not conduct the due diligence required prior to telecasting the tweets. The NBSA had found Aaj Tak guilty of violating guidelines, had ordered Aaj Tak to submit the proof of compliance of the telecast of the apology to the association within 7 days of telecast. 

After being convicted of contempt by the SC and lying through his teeth, Prashant Bhushan apologises yet again: Read details

OpIndia Staff
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After being convicted of contempt by the SC and lying through his teeth, Prashant Bhushan apologises yet again: Read details

Weeks after he accused the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh government of providing a ‘special helicopter’ to Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan has now expressed regret over the ‘error’.

On October 21, Bhushan had tweeted, “The CJI avails a special chopper provided by the MP Govt (authorised by the CM) for a visit to Kanha National Park & then to his hometown in Nagpur, while an important case of disqualification of defecting MLAs of MP is pending before him. Survival of MP govt depends on this case.” He insinuated that the Madhya Pradesh government was trying to influence the CJI, prior to the hearing of a pending case that could decide their fate.

Screengrab of the tweet by Prashant Bhushan

Prashant Bhushan’s change of heart

However, the senior advocate took to Twitter on November 4 to express his ‘regret’. Prashant Bhushan regretted, “Elections were held yesterday to seats of defecting Cong MLAs in MP who were made ministers in the Shivraj Govt. Survival of Shivraj govt will depend on their re-election, not on (the) decision of (the) case in CJIs court challenging their ministership. I regret this error in my tweet below.”

His tweet came after the Chief Justice of India dismissed a petition that raised the issue of disqualification of Congress MLAs, who defected to the BJP in the aftermath of the political crisis in the State. Senior advocate and Congress leader Kapil Sibal, who reportedly represented Congress MLA Vinay Saxena in the apex court, informed that the by-polls had already been conducted for the vacant seats and argued that the petition had become ‘infructuous’.

Fake Claims of Prashant Bhushan against CJI

Apart from the obvious contempt of court in the tweet posted by Bhushan, it is also based on lies. He accused that MP govt has provided a special chopper to the CJI, and tried to paint this as a favour done to CJI Bobde. That accusation is completely baseless, because the CJI is one of the top VVIPs in the country, and he is eligible for travel arrangements made by states whenever he visits any state.

According to the protocol of govt of India, any visit, official or unofficial, by the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India, Governors of other states and several other such VVIPs are considered as state visits. Therefore, by treating the CJI as a state guest, the Madhya Pradesh government is not giving any undue favour, they are just following the standard protocol. The allegation made by Prashant Bhushan that the CJI is visiting MP while important matters are pending before him is also baseless, because CJI Bobde is visiting his home state during holidays. 

Therefore, while the MP govt is providing transport facility to CJI Bobde as per existing norms and protocol, Prashant Bhushan needlessly linked the same with the MLA disqualification case to attack him again.

However, it is interesting to note that Prashant Bhushan apologised only after the CJI passed an order that he deemed to be correct. Had the decision gone the other way, Bhushan would have continued to cast aspersions on the integrity of the Supreme Court and the CJI simply because his urge to see BJP loose is far greater than the truth or even, his integrity as a lawyer. Essentially, Prashant Bhushan seems to think that he can bully the court into delivering favourable judgements by doubting its integrity before every upcoming case, and hopes to get away with it scot-free.

The Contempt case against Prashant Bhushan

On August 14, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court held Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court for his tweets against the judiciary and the Chief Justices of India. The Supreme Court had convicted senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan after holding him guilty in contempt of court, with a fine of Re 1.

The court had added that if Bhushan fails to pay a fine of Re 1, he will be sentenced to 3 months in jail and suspension of his lawyering for 3 months. The case pertained to two tweets where Prashant Bhushan had cast aspersions against the Supreme Court and specifically, CJI Bobde.

Case of cheating registered against YouTuber Gaurav Wasan on the complaint of ‘Baba ka Dhaba’ owner Kanta Prasad

OpIndia Staff
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Case of cheating registered against YouTuber Gaurav Wasan on the complaint of ‘Baba ka Dhaba’ owner Kanta Prasad

After a complaint was filed by the Kanta Prasad, owner of the famous eatery ‘Baba ka Dhaba’, earlier this month with Delhi police alleging misappropriation of money, a case of cheating has been registered against Food Blogger and Youtuber Gaurav Wasan of Swad Official. Journalist Sakshi Chand shared the information on Twitter.

Kanta Prasad had filed a complaint against Gaurav Wasan under sections of cheating, mischief, criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy, misappropriation of funds and other relevant sections of IPC. Prasad said that he wanted a fair and impartial investigation into the management of the funds raised by Wasan. Prasad’s lawyer Prem Joshi said that Prasad did not want anyone to be sent to prison and that he only wanted his name to be cleared of the controversy.

“We want a fair investigation. Baba ji is not interested in sending anyone to prison. He just wants to come clean in public as he is being trolled for turning greedy. The public was supporting him, but then a few people started trolling him due to which he faced some problems. People started asking him whether he got money collected in his name”, said Joshi.

The controversy around Baba ka Dhaba

Gaurav Wasan had approached Kanta Prasad on October 6, 2020 to shoot a video which was shot the next day. Wasan published on his channel Swad Official on several social media platforms, including Youtube, Facebook, and Instagram. In the video, Gaurav Wasan tried to convince people to support the old couple running the eatery. In the video, Wasan said that Prasad did not have a mobile number and he asked for donations in his own account.

In his complaint Prasad alleged that Wasan “intentionally and deliberately” shared his and his family/friends’ bank details/mobile number with them and “collected a huge amount of donations through different mode of payments”, the complaint alleges.

On October 26, YouTuber Lakshay Chaudhary published a video alleging that Wasan has misappropriated donations, and he was not paying the collected funds to Prasad. Thereafter, Wasan published a video denying all the allegations. He showed his bank statement saying that he had collected around Rs.2.3 Lakh during the donation drive that he had paid to Prasad. He claimed that he was being defamed and that he did not receive Rs 25 lakh in his bank account as was being alleged.

Vienna terror attack: Austria shuts down ‘radical’ mosques frequented by the terrorist, to close more if deemed threats to national security

OpIndia Staff
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Vienna terror attack: Austria shuts down ‘radical’ mosques frequented by the terrorist, to close more if deemed threats to national security

Days after an ISIS sympathiser Islamist terrorist had killed four people and injured several in a terror attack in Vienna in Austria, the Austrian govt has decided top shut the mosques which were frequented by the terrorist. The terror attack was conducted by 20-year-old Austrian Macedonian, Kujtim Fejzulai, was killed by police during the assault.

According to reports, the authorities are shutting down two in Vienna with immediate effect, as it is suspected that these institutions had played vital roles in radicalising Fejzulai. The two mosques are identified as Melit Ibrahim mosque in the Ottakring district and the other being the Tewhid mosque in the Meidling area. During the probe, it was found that the terrorist had visited these two places frequently.

It is reported that only one in these two mosques are officially registered as a mosque, while the other is registered as an Islamic Association.

“We are dealing with a violent perpetrator who was evidently intensely involved in the network of political Islam, of sympathisers, who took on their ideology,” Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said.

Confirming the development, the Islamic Religious Community of Austria said that in discussion with the relevant authorities, they are closing one officially recognised mosque. The statement by the organisation said that the most was being shut down after it was found to have broken rules over religious doctrine and its constitution. The mosque had also violated well as national legislation governing Islamic institutions.

The Ministry of the Interior said that the govt will close more mosques if found to be having links radical Islamists. The ministry said that the Austrian govt will order the closure of mosques that it deems a threat to national security.

Austria has arrested 15 people so far in relation to the terror attack. Interior Ministry officials of Austria have confirmed that all these 15 people are part of the radical Islamist scene in the country. The authorities also said that seven of them have criminal convictions, and four among them were convicted for terrorism charges.

Staffer in Joe Biden’s campaign staff is a strong supporter of Narendra Modi: Read Details

OpIndia Staff
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Staffer in Joe Biden’s campaign staff is a strong supporter of Narendra Modi: Read Details

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is on the verge of being declared the winner of the US presidential elect 2020. There is significant speculation with regards to what the new administration’s policy be towards India given the fact that significant sections of the Democratic base has been overtly tilted against the current Indian government on significant matters such as Kashmir and the CAA.

As it so happens, a prominent staffer of the Joe Biden campaign, Amit Jani, is an avid supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to the official website of the NJ Leadership Program, he currently serves in Governor Phil Murphy’s Administration in New Jersey. He is also the Director of the National Asian American Pacific Islander as per his profile on Twitter.

Amit Jani has served as an adviser to the presidential campaign team of Joe Biden. In May 2019, after Prime Minister Modi secured a second term in office, Amit Jani posted a series of photos on Facebook with the caption, “Loved the energy and jubilation throughout the state on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s victory in the Indian national elections! Proud of Deepti Jani for all the work you did during the campaign!”

Deepti Jani is the mother of Amit Jani according to a report on News India Times from 2018. The Intercept reported that the Facebook post, which appears to have been deleted since then, had photos where Deepti Jani was identified as “Community Activist, BJP Supporter” during an appearance on TV Asia.

Amit Jani also apparently met Prime Minister Modi during the latter’s official visit to the USA in 2017. His father is reportedly one of the founders of the Overseas Friends of the BJP in the USA. Suresh Jani, who has passed away, is from the same village in Gujarat as Narendra Modi and the two met at a gathering of the RSS, The Intercept reported. A photograph in a ToI report shows Suresh Jani receiving a much younger Narendra Modi during a visit to the United States in the 1990s.

Suresh Jani receiving Narendra Modi during one of the latter’s earlier visits to the USA

“My mother liked Modi so much that when he was leaving, she blessed him and predicted that one day he would become a great man. She gifted Modi $51 as a shaghun (an auspicious symbolic gift). Around eight years later, when he was about to be sworn in as chief minister, Modi called and asked me to connect him with my mother. He said he still remembers the shaghun and her blessings. Then my mother told him ‘You will become bigger’,” Suresh Jani told Rediff in 2014.

The appointment of Amit Jani in the Joe Biden campaign staff caused a lot of outrage from the far-left section of the Democrat party due to what they claimed were his links to a ‘far-right Hindu Nationalist party’. He was subsequently removed as the Muslim outreach coordinator but he was retained in his position as the campaign’s Asian-American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) national vote director.

Major reforms announced by Modi government, eases Work From Home norms and liberalises regulations for Other Service Provider sector

OpIndia Staff
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Major reforms announced by Modi government, eases Work From Home norms and liberalises regulations for Other Service Provider sector

In a significant move aimed at reforming the BPO and ITeS Sector, the government of India has announced liberalisation of the regulatory regime for the ‘Other Service Provider’ Industry in the sector.

‘Other Service Provider’ an entity providing Application Services like tele-banking, tele-medicine, tele-education, tele-trading, e-commerce, call centre, network operation centre (NOC) and other IT-enabled services to its clients. The OSPs provide their services using Telecom Infrastructure provided by authorised telecom service providers, and there are guidelines on how such telecom resources can be used by the OSPs. The reforms have been brought to these guidelines of the Department of Telecom, simplifying the norms.

The government has removed the requirement for registration of Other Service Providers. The BPO industry engaged in data-related work have also been taken out of the ambit of OSP regulations. In addition to this, requirements such as deposit of bank guarantees, requirement for static IPs, frequent reporting obligations, publication of network diagram, penal provisions etc. have also been removed entirely.

Along with this, the govt has also removed several provisions which had prevented companies from adopting ‘Work from Home’ and ‘Work from Anywhere’ policies. Plus, Additional dispensations to enhance flexibility for the Industry have been allowed.

– Registration requirements for OSPs have been done away with altogether
– Requirement of Bank Guarantee done away with
– Requirement for static IPs withdrawn
– Frequent reporting obligations removed
– Requirements for publication of network diagram removed
– Penal provisions eliminated
– Enhanced flexibility for Industry has been introduced

These provisions are expected to boost the IT/ITeS/BPO industry in India with several restrictions and requirements removed. This will make India an even more attractive destination for the IT/ITeS industry.

According to earlier norms, Other Service Providers (OSPs) were required to make a security deposit of Rs 1 crore for each office to let its employees work from home. Companies were also required to obtain prior permission if large number of employees need to work from home. The companies were also required to obtain a “provider-provisioned” (virtual private network) VPN connection with static IP. Further, the companies were required to provide a “network diagram” with a list of components to the DoT, and such diagrams were needed to be counter-signed by the service provider they are using. Now these requirements are withdrawn.

OSPs were also required to obtain permission from DoT for starting work from home, but now that won’t be required.

Hailing the reforms, PM Modi tweeted, “Committed to furthering ‘Ease of Doing Business’ and making India a tech hub! GoI has significantly simplified Other Service Provider (OSP) guidelines of the Telecom Department.”

Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Electronics & Information Technology Minister, said that this move will boost the IT/ITeS/ BPO industry and create a friendly regime for Work from Home in India.

With the Coronavirus pandemic, Work From Home has become a norm across the world. After the revised norms, companies would be able to continue with WFH even after the pandemic is over.

Some of these measures, like relaxation from bank guarantee and disclosure requirements for employees working remotely were already announced temporarily due to Coronavirus. Now, those relaxations have been made permanent.

The IT industry was already demanding these measures, and the TRAI had also recommended to make the relaxations permanent.

Munger Shooting: Complaint filed against SP Lipi Singh and several other police officials, alleges police brutality when devotees were about to perform Aarti

OpIndia Staff
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Munger Shooting: Complaint filed against SP Lipi Singh and several other police officials, alleges police brutality when devotees were about to perform Aarti

A complaint has been filed against former Munger SP Lipi Singh and several other police officials in a local court over the incident of police brutality on the occasion of Vijaya Dashami, Hindi daily Prabhat Khabar has reported. The complaint mentions seven police officials by name including Lipi Singh and current SDO Khageshchand Jha.

The complaint has been filed by one Kelu Yadav aka Dayanand Kumar through advocate Nirmal Kumar. The complaint names SP Lipi Singh, SHO Khageshchand Jha, Krishna Kumar, Dharmendra Kumar, Kotwali officer-in-charge Santosh Kumar Singh, Kasim Bazaar officer-in-charge Shailesh Kumar and Mufassil officer-in-charge Brajesh Kumar as accused.

The complainant said that on 26th October, the murthi of Maa Durga was carried along pre-decided paths and was kept at Teenabatiya on the ACN channel. The aarti ceremony was being carried out by the devotees when the accused came and allegedly threatened to unleash destruction while being abusive. Then the accused allegedly proceeded to brutally thrash the devotees with lathis.

A stampede ensued and everyone ran helter-skelter. Then, in light of the letter from the SDO, the devotees gathered and managed to reach Bata Chowk with the Murthi of Maa Durga. The Mahaarti ceremony was supposed to occur there. But soon, sounds of gunfire came from Deendayal Chowk and another stampede ensued.

Then, the accused proceeded to brutally thrash the devotees again. The victims sustained several serious injuries as a consequence of the assault. The devotees went to register a complaint with the Police but since it was related to the police itself, they were abused and chased away. After the vacation for the Court got over, the victim proceeded to register a judicial complaint.

The Munger Shooting

The violence that gripped the town of Munger in Bihar during the Durga Puja immersion ceremony led to the death of one participant. SP Munger Lipi Singh defended the police brutalities on the devotees, claiming that the stone-pelting from devotees provoked the ensuing violence. She also asserted that 20 policemen were injured by stone-pelting from the crowd. Singh further added that one of the members of the crowd opened fire which led to the death of the 18-year-old devotee.

Later, a CISF report from a local unit to police headquarters says that the first shot was fired by the police on the attendees of the Durga Puja procession ceremony. The report is in stark contrast to what the SP Munger Lipi Singh had claimed earlier while justifying the police action against the Durga Puja attendees. Singh had alleged that one of the members of the crowd opened fire which led to the death of the 18-year-old devotee.

As stubble burning in Punjab reaches 4-year high, police launches “major crackdown” against “illegal crackers” ahead of Diwali

OpIndia Staff
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As stubble burning in Punjab reaches 4-year high, police launches “major crackdown” against “illegal crackers” ahead of Diwali

While the Punjab government has failed to check the rising cases of stubble burning in the State causing huge pollution in the region, it has now launched a ‘major crackdown’ on what it deems as ‘illegal firecrackers.’

On Friday, Jalandhar Police Commissionerate informed that they have unearthed two godowns in Pakka Bagh locality of Jalandhar wherein illegal firecrackers and Chinese kite-flying strings were stocked. In a Twitter post, the Punjab police stated that it is acting strongly against illegal hoarding and selling of firecrackers ahead of Diwali as per the policies of the Supreme Court, Punjab High Court and the State government. As such, the Punjab police is conducting surprise raids to unearth more such godowns with illegal stockpile of firecrackers.

The Punjab police have informed that they have nabbed one history-sheeter named Gurdeep alias Gora. According to the police, Gora and his father Khazan Singh was responsible for a blast in October 2019 at a plot in Mohan Das Nagar. The cops have recovered 44 boxes of illegal firecrackers and 15 boxes of Chinese kite-flying strings. Gora has been booked under the Explosives Act and Indian Penal Code Section 286 (negligent conduct with explosive substance). A special investigative team has also been constituted to probe the source of the explosive substances and unearth the motives behind hoarding them.

Stubble burning incidents record 4-fold rise in Punjab

Stubble burning incidents in Punjab has increased by nearly four times in 2020 as compared to last year. According to Anil Sood, Head of ACM division, Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, Ludhiana, they have recorded 2,873 incidents so far between 21st September and 12th October. Last year, during the same period, 755 cases were recorded. In 2018, 510 cases were recorded in Punjab.

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