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‘There are govt and intelligence report that show insurgency increased in the Northeast with FCRA money’: BJP MP SP Singh in Lok Sabha

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‘There are govt and intelligence report that show insurgency increased in the Northeast with FCRA money’: BJP MP SP Singh in Lok Sabha

Amidst severe brouhaha from the Opposition, the Lok Sabha on September 21 passed the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill 2020 by voice vote. Defending the amendments to the regulation, BJP MP SP Singh said in Parliament that there are government and intelligence reports that confirm how insurgency has increased in the northeastern region of the country through money received under the FCRA.

During the debate in the Parliament, the BJP MP alluded that cases of forced conversions have been on the rise in the Northeast as the Christian missionaries have, over a period of time, systematically lured and coerce the gullible tribals into religious conversion by utilising the unrestricted foreign aids received by them under the FCRA. “We know what happened in the northeast, how things changed there over the past 50 years and a particular religion became prominent,” said BJP leader SP Singh.

SP Singh went on to add, “There was uproar over Graham Staines. What happened to him and his 2 children was wrong. But CBI, Odisha Crime Branch and Justice DP Wadhwa Commission probe concluded that tribals were being converted there. It was the biggest reason that people turned against him.” Graham Staines was a Christian missionary who was murdered in Odisha by a mob allegedly for his conversion activities.

MHA suspends FCRA licences of 13 NGOs

It is pertinent to note here that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has 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 had 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 and Manipur.

Bill proposed to bring more transparency and accountability in the functioning of NGOs

Meanwhile, the amendments to the FCRA Bill, which was tabled by HM Amit Shah on September 20 (Sunday), will streamline the provisions of the FCRA by strengthening the compliance mechanism, enhancing transparency and accountability in the receipt and utilisation of foreign contribution worth thousands of crores of rupees every year. It will now make Aadhaar mandatory for NGOs to receive foreign funds.

Further, the amendments will limit the use of foreign funds received under FCRA for administrative purposes from the current limit of 50% to 20%.

Bihar to become first state to connect all villages by Optical Fibre Internet, PM Modi inaugurates project to improve infra and connectivity

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar to become first state to connect all villages by Optical Fibre Internet, PM Modi inaugurates project to improve infra and connectivity

In a major boost to internet connectivity in Bihar, PM Modi today inaugurated an infrastructure project to connect all 45,945 villages across the state of Bihar with Optical Fibre Internet Service.

Launching the high-speed internet services project, PM Modi said that the day is not only historic for Bihar, but the entire country as the Government is taking major steps to make its villages the mainstay of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. PM Modi added that in the next 1,000 days six lakh villages across the country will be connected through Optical Fibre Internet Service.

PM Modi spoke at a virtual event, elaborating on the benefits of the high-speed Internet services by stating that it would enable access to best reading material to students, along with access to telemedicine and access to information on seeds, new techniques, nationwide markets to the farmers and equip them with real-time data on weather conditions. Farmers can also easily transport their products all over the country and world, he added.

The Prime Minister said that it was inconceivable a few years ago to imagine that the number of Internet users in India’s rural areas would exceed those in urban areas. He also said that India has become a leading nation across the globe in terms of digital transactions, with the amount transacted through UPI crossing Rs 3 lakh crore mark in August this year.

“With the increased usage of Internet in rural areas, it is important that the villages are powered by good quality and high-speed Internet,” he said. He said that his aim is to provide urban facilities to the rural population of the country.

As per the press release, the project will be completed by combined efforts of Department of Telecom, which has already connected 1.5 lakh Gram Panchayats across India with optical fibre internet service, along with Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology and Common Service Centres(CSC). There are 34,821 CSC centres across the state of Bihar and they will use their workforce, not just for implementing the project, but also for running it professionally to provide Optical Fiber Internet Services for common citizens at every village of Bihar. Bihar will also become the first state to have all its villages connected through optical fibre internet, the press release says.

PM Modi laid foundation stone for 9 new national highway projects in Bihar

The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for 9 new national highway projects worth Rs 14,258 crore in poll-bound Bihar. The nine highway projects involve a road length of over 350 kilometres.

Stating that the pace of the construction of highways has doubled since his party came to power in 2014 and expense on it rose to five times since then, Modi said that Rs 110 lakh crore will be spent on infrastructure in the next 4-5 years, with Rs 19 lakh crore earmarked for highway construction alone.

As of now, the construction of national highway grid in Bihar is progressing at breakneck speed, with 5 projects already underway to connect the eastern and western parts of the state through the four-lane highway. Modi also added that all the rivers in the state will have bridges in accordance with the 21st-century specifications and all major national highways will be widened and strengthened.

Nepal: Former Deputy PM reiterates demand for reinstatement of country’s Hindu identity on Constitution Day

OpIndia Staff
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Nepal: Former Deputy PM reiterates demand for reinstatement of country’s Hindu identity on Constitution Day

Former Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal, Kamal Thapa, reiterated his demand for the government to abdicate the ‘secular’ tag and restore the country’s Hindu identity on the Himalayan country’s Constitution Day on the 19th of September, reports Hindi Daily Jagran.

The long-pending demand for the restoration of Nepal’s earlier status as a Hindu state, which the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, led by Kamal Thapa has been putting forward in front of Nepal’s Communist Party-led government time and again, gained momentum amidst the escalated tensions between India and Nepal over the border issue.

Kamal Thapa tweeted that Nepal should be declared a Hindu republic in view of the larger interests of the nation. His party workers are also raising this demand by running a signature campaign. Jitendra Kumar, secretary of the World Hindu Council of Nepal, opined that about 82 per cent of Nepal’s population is Hindu. The original nature of Nepal has been tampered with by snatching the status of Hindu nation. Hence he said that it is the collective demand of the people of the country that the status of Hindu nation is restored.

Former Deputy PM of Nepal hoped to get support from PM Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath

Kamal Thapa said that people of Nepal are hopeful that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Hindutvavadi CM of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath would cooperate and help them to attain complete religious freedom by revoking the provision of secularism and reinstating Nepal’s Hindu identity.

Last year too, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, which has been in continuous pursual, in a memorandum handed to Prime Minister K P Oli demanded that Nepal should be declared a Hindu state. Nepal was declared a secular state in 2008 after the success of the communist movement of 2006 that saw the abolition of the monarchy.

Abolition of the monarchy led to an increase in conversion cases in the Himalayan country

Hinduism is the largest religion in Nepal. Abolition of the monarchy in the erstwhile Himalayan kingdom had led to evangelical Christian missionaries flooding the country and converting poor and vulnerable Hindus to Christianity. This alarming shift in the country’s demographic profile had triggered calls for jettisoning secularism that has facilitated and encouraged rampant proselytism by Christian missionaries and restoration of the country’s Hindu identity. 

Christian evangelicals have targeted the Dalits and marginalised communities like the Tharus in Nepal. They have lured them into Christianity by not only offering free education in missionary institutions,but also money and other material benefits. Another preferred method of conversions is through miracles and faith-healing which many people unwittingly fall prey to.

‘Whoever doesn’t want to watch the show, can go and read a novel, or turn off the TV’: Justice Chandrachud on Sudarshan News ‘UPSC Jihad’ case

OpIndia Staff
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‘Whoever doesn’t want to watch the show, can go and read a novel, or turn off the TV’: Justice Chandrachud on Sudarshan News ‘UPSC Jihad’ case

Hearing a plea that had sought a stay on the Sudarshan News’ ‘UPSC Jihad’ show, the Supreme Court justice Chandrachud remarked today that if the show is putting allegations on Zakat Foundation, people having an issue with it should refrain from watching the show and instead ‘read a novel’, or turn off the TV. 

Justice Chandrachud’s remarks were in response to the prosecution counsel’s assertions that Sudarshan TV Editor-in-chief Suresh Chavhanke’s statements on the ‘UPSC Jihad’ show amounted to “classic hate speech” and alleged that photographs which can inspire students appear for civil services had been misrepresented by Suresh Chavhanke and the channel to portray them as a part of wider ‘jihadi conspiracy’.

However, Justice Chandrachud retorted back, stating that nobody is forcing people to watch the show and those who are uncomfortable with the telecast can choose to ignore it. Justice Chandrachud also wondered if the Supreme Court should spend the time it is spending on the case if the show is about allegations against the Zakat Foundation.

SC had put a stay on the broadcast of the ‘UPSC Jihad’ show

Earlier, a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court comprising of Justices D Y Chandrachud, Indu Malhotra and KM Joseph had passed an order restraining the telecast of the programme. 

Justices Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra had noted that the pictorial representation of ‘Muslims’ with a beard, donning a green t-shirt, with flames in the background serves to alienate even the good members of the community and defended the injunction order lamenting that in absence of a potent regulatory mechanism, the courts had to step in and prevent the channel from broadcasting controversial content.

However, Sudarshan News filed a plea challenging the stay order from the court on their ‘UPSC Jihad’ programme. The counsel representing the channel argued that the programme shed light on the funding received by the Zakat Foundation that finances civil services coaching. 

The Editor-in-chief had then said that it is in national interest that a debate and discussion is held on source of such funding for organisations like Zakat Foundation. Chavhanke further clarified that in the four-episode series there is no such statement that member of particular community should not join the UPSC.

OpIndia, Indic Collective and UpWord Foundation file an intervention application in the Sudarshan TV case

Earlier today, OpIndia, Indic Collective and UpWord Foundation had filed an application in SC seeking intervention in the Sudarshan TV case. 

The applicants have moved an intervention application in the matter of Firoz Iqbal Khan v. Union of India concerning permissible free speech which the apex court is seized of in the Writ Petition as also in light of the ad-interim order dated September 15, 2020, passed in the Petition, both of which have implications on the treatment of content under the legal framework in India.

They have raised pertinent questions regarding the jurisdiction of the court to directly restrain content during the pendency of an examination by the appropriate State authority on the legality of the content under applicable laws.

OpIndia Impact: Trinamool deletes tweet acknowledging praise by a dubious organization after our investigation

OpIndia Staff
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OpIndia Impact: Trinamool deletes tweet acknowledging praise by a dubious organization after our investigation

On 20th August, we published an investigative report about the Mamata government receiving appreciation from an organisation based in Japan that was apparently linked to the United Nations. It called itself the United Nation World Peace Association. During our investigation, we did not find any proof of their association with the United Nations. In their appreciation letter, they hailed West Bengal as Mamata Banerjee’s ‘kingdom’ and the message was shared by Trinamool Congress from its official handle.

After our story, All India Trinamool Congress has quietly removed the tweet describing the appreciation letter the West Bengal government got. However, Dr. Nirmal Maji still has the letter on his timeline on Twitter.

As it so happens, the organization did give them an appreciation letter, but it was not issued by the headquarters located in Japan. The Indian ambassador of the organization, Pinky Dutta, aka Priya Dutta, might have issued the letter, as suggested by the United Nation World Peace Association’s reply to OpIndia. The organization had first denied issuing any certificate that showed the appreciation letter was issued without taking prior permission of the UNWPA.

The news was covered by several news portals including Times of India, Deccan Herald and Outlook and many others. In fact, news agency PTI referred to the UNWPA as a ‘UN-linked NGO’, a claim that was carried by several outlets. The logo of the organisation appears to have been deliberately designed to give one the impression that it has some association with the United Nations. Furthermore, it calls itself United ‘Nation’ WPA and not United ‘Nations’.

These glaring bits should have rung the alarm bells but it appears that in their eagerness to shower applause on Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool Congress and the media merrily ignored them.

Bollywood drug web has extended links internationally, money is used for narco-terrorism: NCB chief Rakesh Asthana

OpIndia Staff
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Bollywood drug web has extended links internationally, money is used for narco-terrorism: NCB chief Rakesh Asthana

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has reportedly unearthed the international links of the alleged drug scandal involving actress Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Souvik Chakraborty and other drug peddlers.

In an interview with the Outlook magazine, NCB Director Rakesh Asthana has informed that the central agency is speeding up the probe in the case. He revealed that the drug syndicate of the film industry could be the ‘tip of the iceberg’. Asthana stated that the investigation has exposed the ‘international’ connections of the drug racket to Dubai and terror organisations. He stated, “Drugs were procured for rave parties and the funds were used for narco-terrorism.”

According to the NCB Chief, ‘curated marijuana buds’ sell for upto ₹8,00,000/kg in the international market. He added that the role of Rhea Chakraborty cannot be overlooked in the drug racket and drug peddlers cannot be pardoned. Asthana emphasised that Bollywood stars are role model for the youth and it can have a bad influence on them. He informed that NCB has knowledge about the drug abuse in Bollywood parties and that the agency is currently gathering more evidence.

80% Bollywood stars on drugs, claimed Rhea Chakraborty

Earlier, Rhea Chakraborty had revealed to the NCB that 80% of Bollywood stars are on drugs. In her statement, Rhea had reportedly accepted her role in procuring drugs for Sushant Singh Rajput. She had also stated that actress Sara Ali Khan and Rakul Preet Singh, designer Simone Khambatta had consumed narcotics substances. The names of Sushant’s friend Rohini Iyer and filmmaker Mukesh Chhabra had also been mentioned by Rhea during her interrogation.

Reportedly, the NCB officials have recovered electronic devices and phone data which establishes Bollywood connection of the drug cartel. The NCB has now prepared a dossier to summons all the suspected celebrities in the coming days.

PM Modi’s Twitter handle registered record high engagement level on the day agriculture bills were passed

OpIndia Staff
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PM Modi’s Twitter handle registered record high engagement level on the day agriculture bills were passed

Amidst the barrage of misinformation and brouhaha created by the Opposition over the various agriculture Bills passed in the Upper House, PM Narendra Modi’s Twitter handle witnessed the biggest single day engagement on September 20 (the day the Bills were passed in the Rajya Sabha), which has been a record.

This number, which is published by a platform named Twitteet, has been confirmed to be the highest engagement for a single day by any twitter profile in India for the month of September 2020.

Top trending Indian politicians on Twitter

The next highest Twitter engagement on September 20 was that of senior Congress senior leader Rahul Gandhi which was around 20% of what PM Narendra Modi could register.

Rahul Gandhi way behind PM Modi on rankings

Most of PM Modi’s tweets on September 20 revolved around the agriculture Bills, which he has called the need of 21st century India.

The tweet wherein PM Modi put the facts on record that the MSP (minimum support price) for agriculture produce will not be discontinued and that government will continue to purchase from farmers got the highest traction.

This tweet of PM Modi was in response to the misinformation spread by senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who had cast aspersions on the government doing away with the MSP.

Record breaking engagement for PM Modi’s tweet

Sandeep Amar, co-founder of www.twitteet.com, the analytics platform representing ratings, rankings and curated feeds based on Twitter engagements while speaking to OpIndia said, “PM Modi’s twitter handle crossing half a million engagements is the first time our algorithm has registered this kind of engagement in India for a single day. It’s a single-day record, for the month of September 2020.”

The platform captures Twitter engagement data for politicians, journalists, sportsperson, Bollywood, Businessmen and other celebs, and reports a ranking on a daily basis.

Normally one would expect that PM Modi’s handle will have most engagement on his birthday, which was a day earlier. However, the fact that his handle registered record-breaking engagement on the day various agriculture Bills were passed signifies that people not only listened to what the PM had to say about the farm sector reforms Bills but also understood the historical changes brought about in the agricultural sector by the central government.

The methodology used to ascertain engagements of PM Modi’s Twitter handle

Explaining the methodology which the platform uses to deduce the results, Amar explained that the Twitteet engagement number is the result of a certain algorithm which takes into account tweets from 12 midnight of Day 1 to 11:59 PM of day 1. Furthermore, engagement is measured by the total number of retweets and likes. 

For some profiles like politicians, where the same profiles come in multiple ranking categories – the engagement data may be slightly different, the reason for the same is a different time of data collection (max time difference is 30 mins). For this particular study, Twitteet considered PM Modi’s personal Twitter account and not the official Twitter account of PMO India.

PM Modi’s popularity

PM Modi’s popularity is unprecedented. PM Modi is currently most followed Indian politician on Twitter with over 62.5 million followers. Similarly, in August 2019, the tickets to ‘Howdy Modi’ event in Houston, Texas in America was sold out within hours. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi and Congress, which has used bots in the past to boost the popularity, has been losing the edge.

Pronoun man asks parents to choose between Donald Trump and his grandkids and son

OpIndia Staff
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Pronoun man asks parents to choose between Donald Trump and his grandkids and son

Leo Guinan, an aspiring writer in the United States, has asked his parents to choose between their grandkids and Donald Trump. In what could very well be a satirical post on Medium, but there does not appear to be any indication that it is, Guinan narrates his emotions when he saw his dad had put up a Trump sign in his backyard ahead of the Presidential elections in November.

Guinan, who prefers to be addressed with the pronouns He/Him as per his bio on Twitter, says that he sent a text to his parents with his “Hands shaking, tears in eyes”. He claims to have sent the following text: “Due to the signs in the yard, the kids and I will not be down. The current occupant of the White House is preaching hate and violence, endangering the lives and safety of many of my friends. This is not acceptable to me at all. There is a complete disregard for women, minorities, science, ethics, and morality. Please consider if you support Trump that much. Because I hate him that much. I wanted to be upfront and honest about my feelings.”

Lei Guinan reasoned, “You can vote for whom you wish. But I can choose who I surround myself with. I love my dad, but I can’t be around him until he understands how vital I believe this election to be and what is truly at stake.” A lot of people in replies appeared to agree with that sentiments in the post.

Some agree with Leo Guinan

Some said, “I think I know how the non-Nazis felt when Germany was spiraling into the monstrosity it became during WWII.” Others said ‘Trumpism’ is basically a ‘death cult’.

‘Trumpism’ is a ‘death cult’ some argued

However, most believed Leo Guinan went way out of bounds for making such threats to his parents. People did not hesitate to point out that Leo Guinan had pronouns in his bio.

While Leo Guinan may be a parody or a satirical account, it cannot be discarded that at least some section of the anti-Trump do feel that way about his supporters. Ruining personal relationships over political differences does appear to be a bit of a stretch but such actions appear rational on the part of people who genuinely believe that Donald Trump is a fascist.

Delhi riots: Court rejects Umar Khalid’s plea to meet his family, police say he is ‘non-cooperative’

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi riots: Court rejects Umar Khalid’s plea to meet his family, police say he is ‘non-cooperative’

On Saturday, a Delhi Court rejected the plea of Delhi riots accused and former JNU activist Umar Khalid, seeking permission to meet family members during police remand.

In his plea, Khalid had argued that verbal assurance was earlier given to him that he would be allowed to meet his family members. His lawyer told the Delhi court that the accused seeks permission to meet his family as he has been in the police custody for an ‘extraordinarily’ long period.

Khalid has been sent to police remand till September 24.

Umar Khalid had sought permission to meet his family for 30 minutes on at least 2 days. The investigating officer revealed that Khalid was non-cooperative when confronted during the investigation. Arguing against the grant of relief, the investigating officer stated that permitting the accused to meet his family can be ‘a hindrance’ to the investigation process. He added that if Khalid wanted, then, he could convey his message to his family via his lawyer.

Delhi court rejects plea of Umar Khalid

Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat did not find any merit in his application. He stated that Khalid’s lawyer had requested a special meeting time during his police custody. The Court observed that the permission for the same was granted and the counsel was allowed to meet the accused every day for a period of 30 minutes.

The Delhi Court noted, “There was also an apprehension of safety raised by the counsel for the accused and thus a specific direction was also given to the concerned DCP (Deputy Commissioner of Police) to ensure the safety of the accused.” When approached with a new application again this time, Justice Amitabh Rawat ruled, “In the totality of facts and circumstances of the case, I see no merit in the application and accordingly, the application is dismissed.”

The role of Umar Khalid in Delhi riots

Umar Khalid, along with several others such as Jamia media coordinator Safoora Zargar, RJD’s youth wing president Meeran Haider, Pinjra Tod activist Natasha Narwal and several others have been booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly instigating the violence that swept over large swathes of the northeast Delhi in February earlier this year.

The Delhi Police Crime Branch in its FIR dated 6th March 2020 had stated that the anti-Hindu riots that took place in North East Delhi between 24-26 February during the visit of US President Donald Trump were pre-planned. The FIR copy stated that the anti-Hindu riots conspiracy was hatched by ex-JNU student Umar Khalid and his associates who are linked with two groups.

As part of the conspiracy, Umar Khalid gave provocative speeches at two different locations and appealed to people to take to streets during the visit of US President Donald Trump so that the propaganda that minorities are oppressed in India can be internationalized. The FIR also claimed that in this conspiracy, firearms, petrol bombs, acid bottles and stones were collected at numerous homes.

Indian Air Force to induct its first woman pilot in the Rafale squadron: Reports

OpIndia Staff
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Indian Air Force to induct its first woman pilot in the Rafale squadron: Reports

The Indian Air Force will soon induct its first woman pilot in the Rafale squadron, reported India Today. The said pilot is currently undergoing ‘conversion training’ in Ambala to fly Rafale jets.

The woman pilot, who had earlier operated MiG-21 fighter jets, has been placed under the ‘full fighter training course’ and will join ‘active duties’ soon in the 17 Squadron. As per the report, the training regimen for both men and women pilots are identical. Every pilot, irrespective of gender, has to mandatorily undergo conversion training while switching from one fighter jet to another. Currently, there are 10 women fighter jet pilots in the Indian Air Force.

They have operated a range of fighter jets, including Su-30 MKI and MiG-29 UPG. The Centre had cleared women for flying fighter jets in 2016. “Women fighter pilots are inducted and deployed in IAF as per strategic needs and operational requirements within the laid down policy, which is reviewed from time to time,” Subhash Bhamre, India’s Minister of State for Defence was quoted as saying.

Rafale jets formally inducted in IAF

The Rafale jets were inducted into the Indian Air Force’s Golden Arrows Squadron on September 10. Reportedly, the IAF pilots had been training and flying sorties on Rafale jets over Ladakh, Leh as a part of operational readiness. While there are currently 5 ready-to-fly Rafale jets with the IAF, more fighter jets are scheduled to join the squadron by October and December.

The Rafale jets are India’s first major acquisition in 23 years after Sukhoi jets that were bought from Russia. Rafale can carry deadly weapons, including Scalp cruise missile and MBDA’s Meteor beyond air-to-air missile. Rafale jets are being inducted in the Indian Air Force amid increasing tension between India and China. The Ambala Air Base is considered to be the strategic location to provide air support on the border areas with China and Pakistan.

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