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Indian economy shows signs of recovery as exports go up by 13% in the first week of September

OpIndia Staff
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Indian economy shows signs of recovery as exports go up by 13% in the first week of September

As the economy of the country limps back to normalcy with gradual unlocking of the Coronavirus Lockdown, international trade in several key items have displayed positive signs of recovery. The weekly trends for the first week of September are encouraging in this regard.

In the week 1st September to 7th September, the value of total commodity export was USD 6.12 billion, registering a year-on-year growth of 13.35%. In this, the export of non-Petroleum items grew by 19.1% to reach USD 5.7 billion and the exports for items other than Petroleum and Gems & Jewellery was valued at USD 5.16 billion, which went up by 23.30%.

On the hand, the value of imports came down significantly across several sectors. The total imports came down by 21.37% during the first week of September and it was valued at USD 685 billion, while the same declined by 14.67% for non-Petroleum items and by 13.85% for items other than Petroleum and Gems & Jewellery.

In terms of individual product groups, exports of Engineering Goods saw an increase of 18.18%, Organic and inorganic chemicals went up by 36.81%, and the exports of Drugs and Pharmaceuticals increased by 33.73%. On the other hand, exports of Petroleum Products, Gems and Jewellery, and Cashew shrunk by the highest amount, at the rates 31%, 10% and 69% respectively.

The imports of Electronic Goods continued upwards trend, which was valued at USD 73.32 million, reflecting an increase of 6%. Imports of vegetable oil and pulses increased significantly, the value of which went up by 39% and 101%.  Imports of Petroleum, Crude & products came down by 41%, Machinery, electrical & non-electrical decreased by 43% and the same for Coal, Coke & Briquettes etc came down by 36%.

Despite deteriorating relations between the two countries, economy seems to be insulated from it as China remains a major trade partner of India. During the week, India exported goods worth USD 187.61 million to China, which was an increase of 7.49. Exports to USA went up by 20.15% reaching USD 179.87 million, and Malaysia was at third place with USD 86.86 million, a 2.62% rise. Exports to UAE, Singapore and Belgium saw sharp decline, at 29.13%, 52.14% and 47.75% respectively.

For imports, Indian imports from Ghana was highest at USD 48.99 million, witnessing a massive increase of 1521.26%. Imports from China was 36.38%, which saw an increase of modest 2.72%. Imports from Nigeria, USA and Iraq came down significantly.

Amid the Coronavirus pandemic that is not showing any sign of slowing down, these are encouraging signs for the economy. Increase in export and decrease in import in several sectors indicates that manufacturing activity is picking up with the gradual unlocking.

Traditional Sarva Dharma Puja performed to mark the formal induction of the first five Rafale fighter jets into the Indian Air Force

OpIndia Staff
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Traditional Sarva Dharma Puja performed to mark the formal induction of the first five Rafale fighter jets into the Indian Air Force

The first batch of five Rafale fighter jets was formally inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF) at Ambala airbase on Thursday. The traditional Sarva Dharma Puja was performed as the IAF welcomed the fourth-generation Rafale jets in its arsenal. The Puja involved the recitation of special mantras and religious chants as per the norms of Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Sikh faiths.

The priests chanted lines from religious scriptures and prayed for the victory of Indian soldiers in any challenge they might face.

Many special dignitaries including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, his French counterpart Florence Parly, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria and Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar attended the ceremony.

The French delegation at the ceremony included French envoy Emmanuel Lenain, Air Gen Eric Autellet, Vice Chief of French Air Force, Chairman and Chief Executive of Dassault Aviation Eric Trappier and CEO of missile maker MBDA Eric Beranger. 

The Dharma Puja was followed by the Sarang aerobatic team performing various manoeuvres in an air display at the Ambala airbase. Water cannon salute was given to the Rafale fighter jets.

With today’s ceremonies, the Indian Air Force has formally inducted the first batch of the 5 Rafale jets into the 17 squadrons named ‘Golden Arrows’ based in Ambala Air Force Station. From today onwards the Rafale jets are to be fully operational with the IAF.

Rafale fighter jets arrived in India on July 29

The first batch of five Rafale fighter aircraft had arrived at the IAF Air Force Station in Ambala on 29th July. The five fighter aircraft, which were flown by Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots, landed at Ambala Air Force station after covering a distance of 7,000 km with air-to-air refuelling and a single stop in the United Arab Emirates. India has purchased 36 Rafale aircraft from French aviation major Dassault, which is expected to boost the capacity of the Indian Air Force significantly. “Swagatam”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had Tweeted as he had posted a video of the jets landing at the air force ground.

The Rafale jets are India’s first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 year after the Sukhoi jets were imported from Russia.

Pro-Congress, AAP trolls spread fake news that Kangana Ranaut will campaign for BJP in Bihar elections

OpIndia Staff
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Pro-Congress, AAP trolls spread fake news that Kangana Ranaut will campaign for BJP in Bihar elections

As Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut and Shiv Sena led Maharashtra government face-off intensifies, pro-Congress social media users and Aam Aadmi Party supporters have taken upon themselves to share fake news that she will be campaigning for the BJP in upcoming Bihar assembly elections.

The tweet is shared by one social media handle Neetu Trivedi.

Screenshot of tweet attributing quote to Kangana

Many other pro-Congress and anti-BJP social media accounts too shared the above same screenshot.

These tweets were further propagated by other Congress and Aam Aadmi Party sympathisers like Bollywood actor Mona Ambegaonkar and lawyer Dushyant Arora.

As one can see, in the above screenshot, the logo of ABP news appears along with the text where it appears like a quote is attributed to Kangana Ranaut that she will campaign for BJP in Bihar elections. However, there are a few discrepancies. To begin with, there is no such screenshot or news clip run by ABP News in past 24 hours. Further, there is a semi-colon before hyphen, thereby suggesting a typo. Next, there are no other reports of the above claims except for this one viral screenshot being shared by fake news peddlers and propagandists.

Further, only last week, Kangana has tweeted that she has never been close to the BJP.

She has also clarified multiple times that she is not associated with any political party and that her support to PM Modi is irrespective.

Meanwhile, OpIndia has reached out to Kangana for an official statement. We shall update the report once we hear back from her.

Retired SC judge Markandey Katju to depose in favour of Nirav Modi in UK court, says he is being made a ‘scapegoat’ by BJP govt: Report

OpIndia Staff
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Retired SC judge Markandey Katju to depose in favour of Nirav Modi in UK court, says he is being made a ‘scapegoat’ by BJP govt: Report

Economic Times has reported that retired Supreme Court judge Markandey Katu will depose in a UK court in favour of fugitive Billionaire Nirav Modi. The retired judge and chairman of the Press Council of India is to speak in Nirav Modi’s favour, to support his claims against his extradition to India.

Speaking to Economic Times, Justice Katju has reportedly even confirmed that he will be deposing in favour of Nirav Modi as a witness before a UK court tomorrow, on September 11, via video conferencing.

Katju has stated that he will not be commenting on the merit of the case and will only say that Nirav Modi will not get justice in India. He added that he does not support the Indian government’s plea seeking the extradition of Nirav Modi to India.

Katju supports Nirav Modi, says he is being targeted to hide govt’s failure

Katju further stated that he has already given a written statement to the court. He has reportedly written that Nirav Modi is unlikely to get a free and fair trial in India as he has already been ‘convicted’ by the Indian media.

He further stated that Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, in one of his statements, had referred to Nirav Modi as a criminal. “How can a law minister declare someone as a criminal? Only a court of law can do that”, Katju stated.

As per the ET report, Katju has told that the Indian judiciary is subservient to the Modi government. He further added that the Indian media has already made the atmosphere very hostile against Nirav Modi and he will be made a ‘scapegoat’ to hide the failures of the government to check the falling economy.

Katju will appear as Nirav Modi’s witness on Friday, September 11. He will also be questioned by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Nirav Modi is the prime accused in the 2 billion USD PNB scam

Nirav Modi is the prime accused in the USD 2 billion PNB scam. He had fled India after the PNB scam was brought to the light. He had left the country and fled just when PNB had reported a massive 11,300 crore loan fraud by Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi.

After evading detection for over a year, he was finally arrested in London on March 20 last year. He had been living in an ultra-luxury apartment in West London. His bail petitions have been repeatedly denied and he has been in UK jail since.

The other main accused Mehul Choksi has taken up the citizenship of Antigua and has been living there. The Indian government is trying for his extradition too. Both Nirav Modi and Choksi’s properties, houses, luxury items and business premises, worth thousands of crores, have been attached by the ED in India.

In June, the ED had recovered several consignments of diamond and luxury pearl jewellery by the duo in Hong Kong and had brought back over 108 consignments of various entities, totalling over Rs 1300 crores.

Kejriwal breaks yet another promise: 17 Delhi Police cops lost their lives in coronavirus duty, no compensation received as promised

OpIndia Staff
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Kejriwal breaks yet another promise: 17 Delhi Police cops lost their lives in coronavirus duty, no compensation received as promised

In April this year, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced Rs 1 crore compensation to those coronavirus warriors who lost their lives in line of duty while fighting COVID-19.

In May this year, Delhi Police constable Amit Kumar lost his life while he was infected with coronavirus while being on duty in NorthWest Delhi. His wife was pregnant with their second child. Kejriwal promised Rs 1 crore compensation to him.

But compensation is nowhere in sight yet. She also lost her job as a teacher in North MCD school but lost her job. She got to know of her second pregnancy when she was admitted to quarantine centre after her husband succumbed to the Chinese virus.

As per reports, while 17 Delhi Police personnel have lost their lives while fighting coronavirus, none of their families are compensated yet. As reported by The Hindu, Delhi Police commissioner S. N. Shrivastava confirmed that all 17 families are still awaiting compensation from Delhi government. Most of these families have already submitted documents to the Revenue Department. He added that the Delhi government had raised some queries for some proposals and that replies were sent to all.

As per The Hindu report, Delhi govt spokesperson claimed that they are yet to receive all the papers from Delhi Police. Pawan Kumar, son of Assistant Sub-Inspector Karambir Singh, told The Hindu that he has submitted all documents and was informed that his file is already processed. However, he has not received any compensation yet. Similarly, Akash Borghare, son of Sub-Inspector Ram Lal Borghare, has also not received any compensation from Delhi government as promised.

Media reports of villages in Arunachal Pradesh near China border being vacated are false, says Defence Ministry

OpIndia Staff
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Media reports of villages in Arunachal Pradesh near China border being vacated are false, says Defence Ministry

On Thursday, the Ministry of Defence rejected the media reports that falsely claimed that people living near the Tibet border in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh have been fleeing from their villages amidst the mounting tensions between India and China along the LAC.

Earlier, a news portal East Mojo had reported that amidst high tension at the LAC in Ladakh, the villagers near the McMahon Line in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh have been vacating their homes.

Image Source: East Mojo

Similarly, HW News Network, which has a history of peddling fake news, also shared the similar news claiming that villagers along the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh are being vacated from their village amidst mounting tensions between two countries.

Image Source: HW News

Responding to such misleading news reports, the Public Relations Officer, Tezpur from the Ministry of Defence called such reports “malicious” and suggested that people of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam should not to pay attention to the rumours.

“The news of vacation of villages near LAC are fake and malicious. The public of Arunachal Pradesh & Assam are advised not to pay heed to such rumours and get all news confirmed by authorities before retweeting it,” PRO, Defence, Tezpur tweeted.

The clarification from the Ministry of Defence comes amidst the ongoing border stand-off between India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at Ladakh.

India occupies strategic heights along LAC near Pangong Tso

The Indian Army had recently outfoxed China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) by taking preemptive action and securing strategic height near Pangong lake’s southern and northern bank. Last week, the Indian Army had announced that they had occupied strategic heights on in the Panging Tso regions to prevent Chinese incursions into Indian territory.

Indian troops had taken control of the dominating heights, connecting through a ridgeline along the LAC from the southern bank of Pangong Tso to Spanggur Tso till Chushul-Rezang La. Their positions extend up to Requin La, which overlooks the crucial PLA camp in Moldo, as per reports.

These locations, which are strategically important for India, overlook the Spanggur Gap, China’s Moldo Garrison, and also of Spanggur lake. From these tops, the Indian troops can keep a vigil on PLA troops that are deployed in the Chushul sector.

Following India’s action, China has rattled and has been issuing a series of threats against India through its communist-controlled media.

Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal fact-checks Subramanian Swamy on JEE aspirants issue

OpIndia Staff
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Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal fact-checks Subramanian Swamy on JEE aspirants issue

Union Education Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal on Wednesday fact-checked his own party colleague BJP MP Subramanian Swamy after the senior leader took to social media to put misleading numbers pertaining to the total number of students who had attended the recently held JEE exams.

Earlier on Wednesday, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy on Twitter had claimed that only 8 lakh students out of the 18 lakh who had downloaded the JEE admit card actually appeared for the exam.

The senior BJP leader, who was advocating for the postponement of the NEET-JEE examination for the last few weeks, said that the decision to conduct JEE exams was a disgrace for the nation that extolled ‘Vidhya and Gyan’.

Responding to the claims made by Subramanian Swamy, the Union Minister for Education Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank placed some facts pertaining to the recently held JEE exams. The Union Minister said that the number of applicants were 8.58 lakhs and not 18 lakhs as Swamy suggested.

The Minister said that out of the 8.58 lakh JEE Mains applicants, nearly 6.35 lakhs had appeared for the exam. He added that both the central and respective state governments assured all possible assistance to the students. This entire effort displayed the spirit of cooperative federalism, the Education Minister added.

Rejecting the claims of low attendance during the JEE exams, the Union Minister added that the JEE exams are held twice in a year. Dr Pokriyal pointed out that several students who did not appear for the exam in September may have done well in the January exam hence may not have to sit for the exam held recently.

“We are ascertaining those numbers,” the minister said adding that any further delay in the exams would not have been in the interest of students and their plans for college admissions.

Explaining the rationale for holding exams amidst the pandemic, Dr Pokhriyal said, “Any further delay of the exams would not have been in the interest of our hardworking students and their plans for college admissions. Our NDA Government has always been unwavering regarding student welfare and student safety. We will always work for the interests of our youth.”

Swami shifts goalposts when fact-checked

After getting fact-checked by the Education minister, Subramanian Swamy changed tracks. He then claimed that the the number of JEE applicants mentioned by the ministry in court and mentioned by the minister in his reply were different.

Without bothering to explain why he had claimed the number 18 lakhs, that is more than twice the original number, Swamy stated that the Education Minister’s statement that the number of applicants for JEE was 8.5 lakhs did not match with what the ministry had submitted at the Supreme Court.

Swamy’s tweet

The JEE Mains 2020 examination was conducted by the National Testing Agency from September 1 to 6, 2020, at various centres across the country. The tentative date for the declaration of result is September 11.

#HappyBirthdayCharsiAnurag trends on Twitter. Read why

OpIndia Staff
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#HappyBirthdayCharsiAnurag trends on Twitter. Read why

#HappyBirthdayCharsiAnurag was trending on Twitter from Wednesday night through Thursday morning when it became one of the top trends.

Happy birthday ‘charsi’ Anurag trends on Twitter along with ‘Maharashtra ka CM napunsak (impotent) hai’

Turns out it is filmmaker Anurag Kashyap’s birthday on 10th September and his critics took to Twitter to wish him in a unique way. Charas is a form of cannabis.

Twitter user shared a video where Kashyap appears to be rolling a joint while interacting with some men. Some shared screenshots of the video for better clarity.

A day prior, Kashyap had revealed how he had refused to work with Sushant Singh Rajput because he found him ‘problematic’. He had also painted the late actor as ‘unprofessional’ just after his last film Dil Bechara released in July after his death. Sushant died of alleged suicide in June this year and his death has led to CBI probe where the investigating agency is probing a drug angle amongst other things.

Mumbai: 12th pass Alfaz Jamani arrested for stalking, blackmailing and child pornography using Instagram photos of minor girls

OpIndia Staff
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Mumbai: 12th pass Alfaz Jamani arrested for stalking, blackmailing and child pornography using Instagram photos of minor girls

Cyber Unit of Mumbai police has arrested 20-year-old Alfaz Jamani from Gujarat for stalking, blackmailing, hacking and child pornography using images of minor girls between 9 to 15 years of age. As per the reports, police have found over 700 nude photos of minor girls on his mobile phone. He managed to get these photographs from girls after hacking in their Instagram accounts.

Dr Rashmi Karandikar, DCP (Cyber), said that they received a complaint from some girls’ parents on 6th September that someone has uploaded nude pictures of their children on Instagram. “All the girls are aged 9 to 15,” she added. The cyber police initiated the investigation and traced the accused’s location in Mahua village of Bhavnagar district, Gujarat.

Afzal morphed minor girls’ photographs and shared them on fake accounts

Police said that they sent a team to arrest Alfaz Zamani. During initial interrogation, he admitted to the crime. He said that he used to send friend requests to minor girls. Once they accept the request, he would start talking to them regularly. He used to download their photos from the Instagram account and morph them to upload on his other Instagram account. He then takes a screenshot of the morphed image and sends it to the victim, claiming that someone has uploaded her nude photo. He then asks them to share their username and password to remove the image which most of the panicked girls shared.

“Once the girl shared the login credentials, he would change the password, the password recovery email id, and mobile number, to ensure that the girl cannot recover the password. He would then again blackmail them to send their nude photographs and videos,” said a police officer at cyber cell Mumbai.

The accused pretended to be the victim and made other girls send nude photos and videos

Zamani also informed that he would talk to the victim’s friends pretending to be her. He would ask them to share their nude photos and videos, claiming that he would share diet and medicine details to keep their bodies in shape. DCP Karandikar said, “We found out 17 fake Instagram profiles made by the accused, which he used to become friend with minors.” Police officials are also asserting where else he could have saved photos including storage devices, cloud storage and others.

Jamani left his studies after 12th and took a job in an onion dehydration plant. This is not the first time his name had appeared in such a case. He was arrested in 2019 for cyberstalking, but at that time, he was granted bail.

The cyber police have registered a case against him under IPC section 354 D (stalking), POSCO Act Section 12 (punishable for sexual harassment),13 (Use of child for pornographic purposes), and Cyber law Sections 43, 66, and 66 (a). A metropolitan magistrate has remanded him for six days in police custody.

US State Dept releases detailed account of abuses perpetrated against Uyghur Muslims by Chinese Communist Party

OpIndia Staff
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US State Dept releases detailed account of abuses perpetrated against Uyghur Muslims by Chinese Communist Party

The United States administration has released a new web page that highlights the human rights abuses perpetrated by the Communist Party of China against the Uyghur Muslims and members of the other minority communities in China.

On Wednesday, the US state department released a detailed account of the Chinese human right violations against the minority Muslims in China. Releasing a dedicated web page to highlight the human right abuses, the Donald Trump administration said that they are committed to leading the global fight against these egregious human rights abuses.

The web page accounts the targeted campaign unleashed by the Communist Party of China against Uyghur women, men, and children, and members of other Turkic Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang, China.

Uyghurs are a Turkish-Muslims ethnic group living in Xinjiang, the largest and most western of China’s administrative regions surrounded by Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

US highlights human rights abuses by China against Uyghurs

The state department also accused China of carrying out human rights abuses against these minorities that include coercive population control methods, forced labour, arbitrary detention in internment camps, torture, physical and sexual abuse, mass surveillance, family separation, and repression of cultural and religious expression.

“In recent years, these egregious abuses have increased through government policies under the pretext and justification of fighting the ‘three evils of ethnic separatism, religious extremism, and violent terrorism’,” the web page reads.

The US State Department also alleged that the CCP was perpetrating a sustained campaign of forced sterilization, forced abortion, and involuntary implantation of birth control. It added that the documented evidence of such practices in Xinjiang demonstrated CCP’s utter disregard for the sanctity of human life and basic human dignity. 

Forced Labour, Religious freedom violation of Uyghur Muslims

The US administration pointed out that since 2017, the CCP has increased its campaign of brutal repression of Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minority groups and have detained members of these groups based on spurious “birth policy violations”.

“The CCP’s use of forced labour to target members of ethnic and religious minority communities is not confined to the Xinjiang region and is increasingly taking place throughout China through the CCP government-facilitated arrangements with private-sector manufacturers,” the document stated.

The Donald Trump administration also pointed out that CCP is among the worst violators of religious freedom in the world as it has displayed a blatant disregard for religious freedom and exercises extreme hostility to members of all religious faiths, including Protestants, Catholics, Tibetan Buddhists, Uyghur Muslims, and Falun Gong.

US to block key exports from Xinjiang

Following allegations against human rights abuse by the Communist Party of China in Xinjiang province, the US is all set to block key exports from the region saying that they are produced using forced labour.

The proposed bans include cotton and tomato products which are two of China’s major commodity exports.

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will be withholding release orders which allows it to detain shipments based on suspicions of forced labour involvement. The law is aimed at combating human trafficking, child labour and other human rights abuses.

Earlier this year, the US lawmakers had proposed legislation which would automatically assume all goods produced in Xinjiang were made with forced labour.

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