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Lalbaugcha Raja will not come this year, Mandal decides not to hold Ganesh Utsav due to Coronavirus pandemic

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Lalbaugcha Raja will not come this year, Mandal decides not to hold Ganesh Utsav due to Coronavirus pandemic

Lalbaugcha Raja, the most visited idol of Lord Ganesh in Mumbai, will not be a part of Ganesh Utsav this year. The famous Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal has announced that they will hold any festivities this year amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Many well-known celebrities, politicians, and business tycoons visit to get a glimpse of Lalbaugcha Raja every year.

This year, Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal decided to celebrate ‘Aarogya Utsav,’ and they will set up blood and plasma donation camps. The Mandal holds several social activities every year, including medical health check-up camps and blood donation camps.

Many Mandals decided not to have celebrations

Many Ganesh Mandals have already announced that they will either have low key celebrations or cancel the plans altogether. Lalbaug Sarvajanik Utsav Mandal, another famous Mandal, has announced that they will not have ‘Utsav Murti’ and will only bring in a four-foot Ganesh idol. They have decided to arrange an online darshan to take part in the Utsav from their homes.

GSB Mandal, Wadala, said that they would postpone the celebrations to February 2021. A couple of days ago, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced that Ganesh idols would not be more than four-feet tall this year. Also, the Maharashtra government put a blanket ban on processions.

Other festivals canceled or having a limited gathering

Jagannath Rath Yatra of Puri is currently happening with a limited number of devotees. Rath Yatra in Gujarat got canceled after High Court put stay on it for this year. Chithirai Festival in Madurai got cancelled in April. The UP and Haryana government withdrew Kanwar Yatra on 21st June. It is still uncertainty over Amarnath Yatra. The annual Ambubachi Mela at Kamakhya temple in Guwahati this year was also cancelled, which sees a congregation of a large number of seers from across the country, and temple priests performed the necessary rituals on the occasion without any gathering of devotees. Around 25 lakh devotees and sadhus had attended the mela last year. In the next few months, many festivals may see the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, including Saawan, Krishna Janmashtmi, Rakshabandhan, Navratri, Vijaydashmi, and Diwali.

Former attorney general Mukul Rohatgi refuses to represent Chinese video-sharing app TikTok in Supreme Court

OpIndia Staff
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Former attorney general Mukul Rohatgi refuses to represent Chinese video-sharing app TikTok in Supreme Court

The former Attorney General of India and senior advocate, Mukul Rohatgi has expressed his unwillingness to be a lawyer for TikTok and has said that he will not appear for TikTok before the Supreme Court as he doesn’t want to represent a Chinese company against the Government of India.

TikTok is challenging the decision of govt of India to ban it in the country, along with 58 other apps from China.

TikTok goes completely off play store

The popular Chinese video-sharing app TikTok has been banned by the government of India over security concerns. On Tuesday, the app was removed from Google Play Store and Apple store in India. Which means that new users cannot download the app until the ban is lifted if it is lifted. Moreover, existing users are unable to access the app.

The Chinese video sharing app banned in India

The government of India has announced a ban on 59 Chinese apps that were listed on the Google Play Store and the Apple iOS App Store in India over concerns that these apps were engaging in activities that threatened national security, defence of India, sovereignty and integrity of India. The list includes the popular short video service TikTok, which considers India as its biggest market, UC News from Alibaba Group, CM Browser, file sharing service Shareit, shopping app Shein, popular mobile game Clash of Kings, and more.

TikTok India released statement, claims does not share data with Chinese govt

Following the ban, TikTok’s India office had released a statement, in which Nikhil Gandhi, head of TikTok in India claimed that TikTok continues to comply with data privacy and security requirements and has not shared information of users to any foreign government including the Chinese government. 

However, since the Government of India did not concede to TikTok’s request to restore its services in India, the Chinese app has now decided to take the Government of India to court. However, displaying his patriotism towards the country, the former Attorney General of India has categorically refused to represent the Chinese app in the Supreme Court.

Mother of Aatish Taseer calls mother of a martyred soldier ‘BJP troll’, claims she is more patriotic because she grew up in ‘army stations’

OpIndia Staff
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Mother of Aatish Taseer calls mother of a martyred soldier ‘BJP troll’, claims she is more patriotic because she grew up in ‘army stations’

Tavleen Singh, who happens to be mother of writer and columnist Aatish Taseer who lost his OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) card last year, has fallen further in grace in her public utterings as she insulted mother of a martyr earlier today.

After the Government of India banned 59 Chinese apps over security concerns, Singh had put up a ridiculous analogy and questioned whether banning these apps will ‘scare’ away the Chinese soldiers into retreating from our territory.

Meghna Girish, mother of a martyred soldier, called out her unsavoury comment and said how disrespectful it is of her to say something like this after our brave soldiers lost their lives.

However, Singh, thought of one-upping the patriotism against the mother of a martyred soldier by claiming that she’s more patriotic because she is daughter of a soldier and grew up in army stations. And since she knows people who have died for the country, she is more patriotic. “I don’t need to wear my patriotism in my Twitter handle like BJP trolls do,” she said.

To Meghna Girish’s polite disagreement, Tavleen Singh resorted to name-calling and accused her of being a ‘BJP troll’.

Tavleen has been petulant since her son, writer Aatish Taseer was denied OCI card because he had concealed that his father was of Pakistani origin. Taseer was given the opportunity to submit his reply/objections regarding his PIO/OCI cards, but he failed to dispute the notice. “Thus, Mr Aatish Ali Taseer becomes ineligible to hold an OCI card, as per the Citizenship Act, 1955. He has clearly not complied with very basic requirements and hidden information,” the MHA said.

However, ever since, the mother-son duo have upped their anti-BJP and anti-Modi tirade. So much that Singh had even endorsed global ummah and indulged in fear-mongering and spreading falsehood regarding the Citizenship Amendment Act. That she abused mother of a martyred soldier and called her a troll just goes out to show how highly they think of themselves and anyone questioning them is a ‘BJP troll’.

Meghna Girish is mother of Major Akshay Girish Kumar who had immortalised himself at Nagrota on 29th November, 2016 when terrorists attacked the Indian Army base. Singh’s son Aatish Taseer spends his free time displaying Hinduphobia and speaking the language of Islamists, the very people who killed his Pakistani father over blasphemy.

Bahuda Yatra: Lord Jagannath in Puri is returning to his temple today, read about the festival and rituals associated

OpIndia Staff
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Bahuda Yatra: Lord Jagannath in Puri is returning to his temple today, read about the festival and rituals associated

On the auspicious day of Devshayani Ekadashi, Lord Jagannath, his brother Lord Balbhadra and sister Devi Subhadra have begun their return journey to Shree Mandir from the Gundicha temple. The Jagannath Rath Yatra of Puri was commenced on 23rd June this year with a limited number of servitors amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The return journey or Bahuda Yatra will also have a limited number of servitors and is being conducted without the gathering of devotees or the general public.

The word Bahuda means ‘return’ in Odia.

After spending nine days in his aunt’s home, Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra will return to their abode in the Puri temple today in their grand Rathas. Shree Mandir administration released the Yatra schedule according to which Bahuda Pahandi commenced at 8 AM and will continue till 10 AM. After that, Chera Panhara will take place between 10:30 AM and 11:30 AM, followed by the Bahuda Yatra.

Chhera Pahanra is the ritual where the Gajapati, the king of Utkala (Odisha’s ancient name) sweeps the Rathas of the Lord, a symbolic ritual conveying the meaning that Lord Jagannath is the true ruler of Odisha and the kind only serves under him.

Bahuda Yatra and associated rituals

There are many rituals involved in Bahuda Yatra. Mangal Aarti takes place early morning around 4:00 AM as the first ritual. After that, the priests perform Tadap Lagi and Rosa Homa. It takes around 30 minutes to complete both rituals and they are followed by Abakash and the Puja of Surya Dev. Before the Yatra, the priests worship the gatekeepers of the Lord Jagannath, known as Dwarpala Puja. It is followed by the Gopal Ballav and Sakala Dhupa that continues for about an hour. After that, the Senapatalagi ritual is performed. This is the time when chariots will begin their journey back to Shree Mandir.

The three grand Rathas will be pulled by servitors who have been already tested for COVID-19 cleared for the ceremony. The Yatras continue till afternoon and the Rathas are halted before the temple for two days. ‘Suna Besha’, where the three deities are decorated with a lot of gold ornaments, will take place on 2nd July, and Adhara Pana, on 3rd July. Niladri Bije, the final ritual where the deities are taken back to the Ratna Singhasana (‘Gemstone Throne’ in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple) will be conducted on 4th July to conclude the Ratha Yatra festival for this year.

File image of the Suna Besha or Rajarajeswar Besha, where the deities are adorned with hundreds of kgs of gold, via pragativadi

A victory of temple traditions

The Jagannath Rath Yatra is an age-old tradition. Every year thousands of devotees reach Puri to take part in the Yatra. Devotees pull three giant wooden chariots. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, only a limited number of people participated in the Rath Yatra. The Supreme Court of India banned the Rath Yatra in 18th June but later allowed the Yatra on 22nd June after widespread outrage and the temple administration’s assurance that the Yatra will be held without public gathering. The court asked the temple administration, state government, and central government to work together and ensure all the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health are imposed during the Yatra.

Ayush Ministry grants approval for Patanjali’s ‘Coronil’ kit, to be sold as an immunity booster and not as a cure for coronavirus

OpIndia Staff
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Ayush Ministry grants approval for Patanjali’s ‘Coronil’ kit, to be sold as an immunity booster and not as a cure for coronavirus

The AYUSH Ministry on Tuesday approved the sales of Patanjali’s Coronil as an ‘immunity booster’ and granted them the license to produce three medicines and also allowed clinical trial under the rules. 

According to the reports, the AYUSH Ministry, while granting the approval for the sale of Patanjali’s Coronil kit, said that they will not be able to market the medicine as a ‘cure’ for coronavirus. The Ministry also said the Patanjali cannot display COVID-19 on its Coronil packaging.

“It may be ensured that on the package and label displayed on the medicines (Divya Coronil Tablet and Divya Shwashari Vati), no claim for the cure of Covid-19 should be mentioned,” said the notification according to News18 report.

The approval for Patanjali Ayurved comes after the company had launched a drug called Coronil last week, claiming that it will cure coronavirus within a week. It also claimed that they took part in a trial conducted at the privately-run National Institute of Medical Sciences in Jaipur.

We never claimed it can cure coronavirus infections: Acharya Balakrishna

The firm’s Chief Executive Officer Acharya Balkrishna also clarified on Tuesday that the firm never claimed it can cure coronavirus with its medicines, Coronil and Swasari tablets. The firm’s Chief Executive Officer Acharya Balkrishna added that it just shared the favourable outcome of clinical trials on patients. 

The Centre had stopped the firm from advertising their products after it had said that the facts of the claim and details of the stated scientific study are not known to them yet. In the notification, AYUSH Ministry had also asked Patanjali to submit details of the medicine such as name and composition, research study details, Institutional Ethics Committee clearance, CTRI registration and result data.

Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali launches Coronavirus treatment kit, claims 100% cure within a week

As the coronavirus outbreak rampaged through the country, Patanjali Ayurved, which is run by renowned Yoga guru Ramdev had launched an Ayurvedic medicine combination which claimed to cure the Wuhan originated Coronavirus disease within 3-7 days.

The Ayurveda based pharmaceutical company launched a kit containing ‘Coronil’ tablets, Swasri tablet and Anu oil, claiming that these ayurvedic medicines have shown up to 100 per cent favourable results during the clinical trials.

Fact-check: Was Wikipedia updated with time of Sushant Singh Rajput’s death even before he had died

OpIndia Staff
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Fact-check: Was Wikipedia updated with time of Sushant Singh Rajput’s death even before he had died

Sushant Singh Rajput’s death has become a topic of discussion for many. While a group of fans is trying to get ‘justice’ for him, those who ‘rule’ the film industry have taken a step back and completely stopped talking about him or problems with the industry. Amidst all this, various social media users have come up with another conspiracy theory revolving around Sushant’s death. They claimed that the actor’s Wikipedia page was edited, and someone added the information of his suicide much before he committed suicide.

As per the police, the postmortem report suggests that he committed suicide at around 10:30 AM. Social media users claim that the Wikipedia page was edited at 8:59 AM, where the editor added the info of his death and claimed that he committed suicide. The fan also shared screenshots of the edit.

Other twitter users also jumped in and supported the theory that there is a bigger conspiracy behind Sushant’s death. The claim made its way to some entertainment websites as well.

Fact Check

Before we jump to any conclusion, we must understand how things work on Wikipedia. It is an open-source encyclopedia where anyone can make changes in the information provided. The editors check and confirm the changes, and if they find any problem with it, they reverse the difference and, in some cases, ban the user. Because Wikipedia is an open-source website, it is not considered to be an authentic source of information by academia. In the past, Wikipedia showed its biased attitude based on political ideology as well.

Here the issue is with not the information per se but with the time zone. According to the “View History” section of Wikipedia, someone started editing Sushant’s page at around 8:55 AM on 14th June 2020. Before that, the last change was made on 8th June 2020. At 8:59 AM, the Wikipedia user added the information that he has committed suicide.

Edit history of Sushant’s Wikipedia page

The IP location of the editor is 139.5.242.88 that can be traced to New Delhi. That means someone from India edited it.

IP location of the editor who added the information about Sushant’s suicide

Though the time shows 8:59 AM, it is not according to Indian Standard Time. Wikipedia uses Coordinated Universal Time or UTC that is 5:30 hours behind IST. Anyone who changed the article on Wikipedia on Sushant Singh Rajput did it at 8:59 AM UTC that converts to 2:29 PM IST.

UTC to IST

The claim that the fan made about someone being aware of Sushant’s death before he committed suicide is false.

ED attaches assets of Aijaz Hussain Khawaja, a National award-winning artisan cum LeT terrorist and hawala operator. Read details

OpIndia Staff
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ED attaches assets of Aijaz Hussain Khawaja, a National award-winning artisan cum LeT terrorist and hawala operator. Read details

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday attached assets of Aijaz Hussain Khawaja, a national award-winning artisan and also a Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist for his involvement in a terror funding case of 2006.

According to the reports, the Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached assets worth Rs 7.32 lakh of Aijaz Hussain Khawaja, who is a convicted Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist. In 2003, Khawaja was one of the 44 winners of the President’s National Awards for artisans and handicrafts.

In 2006, the special cell of Delhi police had arrested Aijaz Hussain Khawaja with one bag containing 2.05 Kg RDX and Rs 49 lakh in cash. He was later convicted with a sentence of imprisonment for a period of seven years under section 5(b) of Explosive Substances Act, 1908 along with Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. 

Aijaz Hussain Khawaja’s business was a hawala front

The Delhi Police investigations had revealed that Khawaja’s business was just a front, and he was an active hawala operator for a terrorist network. The Delhi Police had claimed that he laundered approximately Rs 3 crore to terror modules active in Kashmir valley. 

Following the Delhi Police’s FIR and charge-sheet, the ED had conducted an investigation pertaining to the charges of money-laundering. “As a hawala operator, he was in touch with Muktiar Ahmed Bhatt, a Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba operative who was in touch with the Inter-Services Intelligence. Khawaja used to undertake hawala transactions for separatists and militant activities,” said the ED in a statement issued on Tuesday.

The ED accused Khawaja of taking a commission for his hawala activities and generate income from the crime worth Rs 8.50 lakhs. In 2012, the Delhi High Court had upheld the conviction of trial court but Khawaja was set free on the claim that he had already served five years and five months of imprisonment.

China wrote to Doordarshan protesting Taiwan coverage, DD aired programs on Tibet too

OpIndia Staff
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China wrote to Doordarshan protesting Taiwan coverage, DD aired programs on Tibet too

In January this year, the public broadcaster Doordarshan aired a special broadcast on reelection of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

Tsai Ing-wen also firmly rejected China’s ‘One country, two systems’ model and reiterated her opposition in her victory speech, as per Doordarshan. In its 13th January program, Doordarshan had also invited Taiwan’s representative in India Tien Chung-kwang who also asserted and talked about Taiwan’s independence and rejected China’s ‘One country, two systems’ model. “This election shows that ‘One country, two system’ will never be accepted by the people of Taiwan,” he had said.

Upset with this, the Chinese embassy in India wrote to Doordarshan and expressed dissatisfaction over airing of the above episode. According to sources, the Chinese embassy in India in an email dated 16th January 2020 claimed that by providing platform to Taiwanese independence, Doordarshan violated the ‘One China’ policy. Chinese embassy claimed that there is only ‘one China’ in the world and that both mainland China as well as Taiwan both belong to China.

China took control over Taiwan after the World War II ended in 1945. And while Taiwanese resisted the Chinese rule, China continues to hold control over the island country.

Unperturbed, Doordarshan continued the coverage of Taiwan. In February, Doordarshan aired a program on the lantern festival of Taiwan.

However, soon after in March, Doordarshan ran another special program, this time on Tibetans in exile in India.

The program focussed on the life of Tibetans in India and other political implications. China also governs the western and central part of Tibet, known as Tibet Autonomous Region.

US telecom regulator designates Chinese firms Huawei, ZTE as national security threats

OpIndia Staff
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US telecom regulator designates Chinese firms Huawei, ZTE as national security threats

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) designated Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. as national security threats, in a move to drive out the Chinese manufacturers from the US market.

According to the reports, the declaration by the FCC will now stop US firms from tapping into an $8.3 billion government fund to purchase equipment from these companies.

The US telecommunications regulator issued the declaration and proposed requiring rural carriers to remove and replace equipment from the two Chinese companies from existing US networks.

FCC chairman Ajit Pai said that the “weight of evidence” supported the decision. He added that the federal agencies and lawmakers have long claimed that because the tech giants are subject to Chinese law, they could be obligated to “cooperate with the country’s intelligence services,” Pai said.

“We cannot and will not allow the Chinese Communist Party to exploit network vulnerabilities and compromise our critical communications infrastructure,” the Republican-majority FCC said in a separate statement.

Image Source: Bharti Jain on Twitter

US says equipment from Huawei an ZTE can be used for spying

The FCC had kept an eye on the Chinese tech companies while the tensions mounted between China and the US over trade, the coronavirus pandemic and security issues. The FCC is considering banning these two Chinese telephone companies along with China Mobile Ltd, which was banned last year from entering the US market.

The United States contends that Huawei’s equipment could be used by China for spying. However, the company has repeatedly rejected that it poses any security risk and insists that it is independent of the Beijing government.

In November of last year, the FCC had announced that companies deemed a national security threat would be ineligible to receive any money from the Universal Service Fund. Huawei and ZTE were already “initially designated” as security threats at the time, but the formal process of assigning them that status has now been completed and the current declaration was made.

US administration had cut Huawei off from global chip suppliers

Earlier in May, the US administration had issued an order barring Huawei and its suppliers from using American technology and software.

The US administration had decided to block shipments of semiconductors to Huawei Technologies from major global chipmakers. The US Commerce Department had stated it was amending an export rule to “strategically target Huawei’s acquisition of semiconductors that are the direct product of certain US software and technology.”

Social media account of an opera singer being censored due to his resemblance with Chinese President Xi Jinping

OpIndia Staff
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Social media account of an opera singer being censored due to his resemblance with Chinese President Xi Jinping

A well-known opera singer living in Berlin who bears a striking resemblance to the President of China Xi Jinping is repeatedly being censored on social media. As per reports, the account of Liu Keqing, 63, on the Chinese Tik-Tok like Douyin was locked by the Chinese authorities for allegedly violating the ‘leader’s looks’.

Liu Keqing posted a video on May 10 claiming that his social media handles are being censored due to profile picture violations. Liu Keqing used to share singing tutorials on his 41,000 follower Douyin account since 2019.

Reportedly, he wrote, “Dear friends, my Douyin account has been reported and banned because of my profile picture’s violation. I have provided my identification materials again, and I am currently waiting for approval. This is the third time that my account has been banned because of ‘image violation.”

In a conversation with New York times, Liu Keqing said that he had opened another Douyin account before but it was suddenly deleted by the authorities because the profile picture had resemblance with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

However, Liu Keqing is still active on his social media platforms but many comments on his videos appear to remain blocked.

Other Dopplegangers of Xi Jinping

In fact, Mr. Liu is not the only doppelganger of Xi Jinping, last year a food vendor in China became an internet sensation because he looked much like the Chinese President. Videos emerged in December showing a Chinese man serving pork buns and smiling and waves at the camera was highly resembling with President Xi Jinping.

Xi’s Doppleganger
courtesy: The jj report

China is accused of over-protecting the image of President Xi Jinping after it banned Winnie-The Pooh because some netizens compared President Xi with the cartoon character in 2017.

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