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IIT Bombay students march in support of CAA, rue misinformation against the act and politicisation of educational campuses

OpIndia Staff
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IIT Bombay students march in support of CAA, rue misinformation against the act and politicisation of educational campuses

IIT Bombay students on Tuesday took out a march in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

IIT Bombay march in support of Citizenship Amendment Act

The students at the premier institute welcomed the persecuted religious minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. “IITB students stand against the violence and politicisation of educational campuses for fuelling protests mainly in JMI and AMU. IIT B Students stand against spread of misinformation on CAA,” the banners held by IIT Bombay students read.

IIT Bombay students also urged the protestors to go and read the Act to form an opinion. As quoted by Mumbai Mirror, one student, Narayana Eeti said that the CAA is not discriminatory and does not go against Indian ethos as it pertains to only three neighbouring Islamic countries.

Read: Aligarh Police releases CCTV footage showing rioting students breaking AMU gate from inside, pelting stones on police

Following the passage of Citizenship Amendment Act, a deluge of misinformation had led to nation-wide protests which quickly turned violent especially in educational institutes like Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia and Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh Muslim University. The protesting mob took to violence and also pelted stones at police force and other security agencies. The police had to use force to control the mob including lathicharge and teargas.

‘When UPA does the NPR, it is okay. When we do it, we are questioned. What is this?’ Amit Shah to ANI

OpIndia Staff
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‘When UPA does the NPR, it is okay. When we do it, we are questioned. What is this?’ Amit Shah to ANI

The Union Cabinet, earlier today, had approved the updating of the National Population Register. Following the announcement, usual suspects had started indulging in fearmongering and claimed that it was the first step towards the NRC. Now, in an interview with ANI, Home Minister Amit Shah has completely denied any links between the NPR and NRC.


The Home Minister again reiterated that there was no need for a debate around the NRC as there is no discussion on it in the Cabinet or the Parliament. Amit Shah also requested the Chief Minister of Kerala and West Bengal to not stop the initiative. He said, “It will include the poor people who would then get benefits from the Central Govt. They should not take away the benefits extended to the poor.”


Amit Shah clarified that no one’s citizenship will be revoked if their name is not included in the NPR. He said it is completely different from the NRC. He also iterated that NPR and NRC derive themselves from completely different laws. Shah said that there’s no proof needed for NPR, no documentation is needed from people and it is only for making a register of information.


Issuing further clarification on the NPR, the Home Minister said, “NPR takes away no one’s citizenship. It is a decadal exercise. It maps people who have shifted to new states. It registers new children and removes people who’re dead. Nothing new is being done. Everything has been done in the past.”

Assuaging the concerns of the minorities, Amit Shah said, “It is a Constitutional provision to conduct Census every 10 years. No one should think that it will be used for NRC. Minorities, especially, should not fear this. These are two different practices.” The Home Minister also said that the NPR and Census were being done together as the processes involved were similar.

The Home Minister stated further, “The constitutional provision of census of the country is to be done in 10 years. The last census was done in 2011, so the next one is to be in 2021. The census process will begin in April 2020. Then the mapping of the houses will begin. Complete census and NPR will be in 2021.”

Amit Shah also said that the NPR was first devised during the UPA regime and it was in 2010 that the exercise was first conducted. Appearing a bit exasperated, Shah remarked, “Why wasn’t it questioned then? When we do the same thing, we are questioned. What kind of questioning is this?” He also pointed out that now that the protests around the CAA are dying down, attempts are being made to fan a fresh political debate, involving the NPR and the NRC.

Aligarh Police releases CCTV footage showing rioting students breaking AMU gate from inside, pelting stones on police

OpIndia Staff
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Aligarh Police releases CCTV footage showing rioting students breaking AMU gate from inside, pelting stones on police

Amidst the anti-CAA violence that gripped several parts of north India, especially left-leaning universities, there were allegations raised against the police of barging into the University by breaking down the college gate. However, the UP Police denied those allegations saying they did not break the University’s gate.

Now, the UP Police have released a video that vindicates their stance. In the video, it can be seen that the gate of Aligarh University was broken down by the agitating students from the inside.


Students by thousands rhythmically pushed at the gate of the University in an attempt to break loose the gate while the police officials outside the University feverishly tried to barricade the gate. The gate eventually broke down and many rioters forcibly came out charging at the police personnel deployed outside the University.

The UP police had earlier shared a video in which they are seen appealing to the protestors for maintaining order and warning them against the unlawful gathering. Some policeman were injured from stone-pelting by the violent protestors after which the police had to resort to firing tear gas shells to bring the situation under control.

The video shows that a mob of frenzied protestors broke the AMU gate and charged at the police officials after which the UP Police initiated its action against the protesting hoodlums.

In fact, yesterday the AMU students shamelessly demanded compensation from UP CM Yogi Adityanath for property loss due to police action against them when in the video released by the UP police it can be clearly seen that it was the students who had caused damage to the college property and forced the UP police to take action against them.

A campaign to malign the Aligarh police was diligently put into motion as allegations of them using stun grenade against students also started floating. However, putting an end to such unfounded rumours, the Aligarh police refuted of having used stun grenades against the anti-CAA rioters in AMU.

Kerala: Police file charge sheet against ‘Kiss of love’ organisers under POCSO in connection with online sex trafficking case

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: Police file charge sheet against ‘Kiss of love’ organisers under POCSO in connection with online sex trafficking case

The crime branch of Kerala police on December 23 (Monday) filed a charge sheet at the POCSO Special Court in Thiruvananthpuram against the model-cum-activist Reshmi R Nair and her husband Rahul Pashupalann in connection with an online sex trafficking case.

Reports alleged that the husband-wife duo was helping a gang that supplied children to paedophiles.

Inspector General (IG) of the crime branch S Sreejith filed the chargesheet. Sreejith had also headed the month-long undercover operation, code-named ‘Operation Big Daddy’ that busted the racket which was indulging in the trafficking of women and minor girls and using them for prostitution, The duo was arrested from Nedumbasserry in 2015.

According to reports, Resmi has been named in the chargesheet for allegedly ‘pairing off’ underage girls with wealthy clients looking for paid sex. Rahul was accused of being aware of the racket, and co-operating with it. The chargesheet has been filed, four years after the First Information Report was registered in 2015.

The chargesheet says that the duo, who were part of the ‘Kiss of Love’ campaign, had trafficked minor girls from Bengaluru to Kerala and used them for prostitution. Out of the 11 detained in 2015, the crime branch had finally arrested the husband-wife duo, along with four other people for their alleged involvement in the sex racket.

Kerala police’s cyber wing stumbled upon the alleged sex racket while investigating a complaint on a Facebook paedophile page called ‘Kochu Sundarikal’.

“We had filed an FIR in the ‘Kochu Sundarikal’ case and decided to pursue more links. This is when we stumbled on the sex racket, though it had nothing to do with the Facebook page. First, we followed the leads of one particular woman who was used for sex work and supplied to clients. Then we tracked down two minors who had been brought in from Bengaluru,” a senior police officer said following the arrest of the accused in the ‘Kiss of Love’ racket in 2015.

Unaware of the fact that the police were probing the activities of a sex racket in which he and his wife were a part, Rahul Pashupalann was closely monitoring the progress of the probe into the Facebook page Kochu Sandarikal in the garb of a morally-right social activist. Ironically, the police cracked both cases simultaneously and his arrest too was recorded on the same day the perpetrators behind the offending Facebook page were arrested.

Both the cases were probed by the same team led by crime branch IG S Sreejith, who launched ‘Operation Big Daddy’ to curb the online prostitution and escorting activities that were found thriving in the state.

Modi govt announces major Railways reforms to break a 150-year-old legacy: Railway Board restructured, cadres to be merged

OpIndia Staff
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Modi govt announces major Railways reforms to break a 150-year-old legacy: Railway Board restructured, cadres to be merged

The Modi government has taken a momentous decision approving the restructuring of the Indian Railways. In the revamped structure passed by the PM Modi-led cabinet, the Railway Board will now have Members for Infrastructure, Rolling Stock and Traction, Finance, Operations and Business Development. A statement issued by the Indian Railways said that the government has taken a bold and historic decision of restructuring the Railways organisation to break a 150-year-old legacy.

Besides, the cabinet has also given its nod to the merger of railway cadres. The eight Group A services of the Indian Railway will now be unified into a central service called Indian Railway Management Services (IRMS). The existing service of the Indian Railway Medical Services(IRMS) will be rebranded as Indian Railway Health Services(IRHS).

Source: Indian Railway officials

The creation of the IRMS will be done in consultation with DoPT and UPSC to facilitate recruitment in the next year. The modalities and unification of the services will be worked out by the Ministry of Railways in consultation with DoPT with the approval of Alternative Mechanism to be appointed by Cabinet in order to ensure fairness and transparency. The process shall be completed within a year.

Read- Tejas Express is the REAL reform: Indian Railways on road to privatisation

Railway Board will no longer be organised on departmental lines, & replaced with a
leaner structure organised on functional lines. It will have a Chairman, who will act as ‘Chief Executive Officer (CEO)’ along with 4 Members responsible for Infrastructure, Operations & Business Development, Rolling Stock and Finance respectively. The Chairman shall be the cadre controlling officer responsible for Human resources (HR) with assistance from a DG (HR). The Board will have distinguished professionals with experience and 30 years of experience as Independent Members.

Putting an end to the “Departmentalism” of the Indian Railway that has long hobbled its progress, the move to amalgamate the disparate services by the Modi government is aimed to break the 150-year-old legacy of the Indian Railways and will put an end to the culture of working in ‘silos’ and expedite decision making and enabling coherent vision for the organisation.

These reforms were long overdue as the Indian Railway, unlike the Railway organisations across the world, is not corporatised but managed by the government of India. There are various departments such as Traffic, Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Signal and Telecom, etc. The departments are vertically divided and each department is headed by a Secretary level officer in the Railway Board. As a result, such an arrangement engendered the culture of working in silos.

With these reforms, the government will not only achieve unification of diverse services but it will also succeed in improving efficiency and fixing accountability for the lapses, that so far eluded Indian Railway. The reorganisation will provide the officers with the ownership of the projects their service may have previously opposed. Promotion of such officers will be based on their performances in these projects.

Read- Indian Railways: The old and creaky behemoth is undergoing large-scale transformation at rapid pace

The reorganisation will also save cost to the Indian Railway as duplication of the efforts, which hitherto happened, will be stopped. The faster implementation of the projects will ensure that the cost overruns are kept in check. The entire array of services will be thrown open for the Railway staff to learn which will train them to be a multitasker and acquaint them with newer skills that will expand their horizons of job specialisation.

According to the Modi government, the reforms that have been initiated today are in line with the recommendations suggested by various committees in the last 25 years. This reorganisation includes recommendations from Prakash Tandon report(1994), Rakesh Mohan Committee(2001), Sam Pitroda Committee(2012) and Bibek Debroy Committee(2015).

The reforms were undertaken with an overwhelming support of the Railway officers during the two-day conference”Parivartan Sangoshthi” held in New Delhi on 7th and 8th December 2019.

Amruta Fadnavis vs Shiv Sena: Wife of Former Maharashtra CM slams the party for crass demonstration

OpIndia Staff
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Amruta Fadnavis vs Shiv Sena: Wife of Former Maharashtra CM slams the party for crass demonstration

The war between Amruta Fadnavis, wife of former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, and the Shiv Sena has escalated. On Tuesday Fadnavis slammed the Shiv Sena for a distasteful demonstration where female workers of the former BJP ally slapped a portrait of her with slippers and shoes.


Quoting a rhyme, Amruta Fadnavis said that pelting stones and showing slippers were old hobbies of the Shiv Sena and that she will emerge from it stronger. The crass demonstration by Shiv Sena was presumably in response to a tweet where she had said that “One cannot be a ‘Thackeray’ also by just putting ‘Thackrey’ surname after his name ! One needs to be true, principled & should think for betterment of people & party members above his own family & power dynamics !” She had proceeded to tag the Shiv Sena and current Maharashtra CM in the same tweet.


The Shiv Sena appears to be on a spree of crass behaviour. On Sunday, a mob led by Shiv Sena functionaries Samadhan Jukdeo and Prakash Hasbe thrashed a man and tonsured his head outside his residence in Shanti Nagar area for making comments on Uddhav Thackeray on Facebook. Today, instead of condemning the behaviour of the party workers, MLA Aaditya Thackeray went ahead and called the victim a nasty, low-life troll.

UP Police asks abusive troll Swati Chaturvedi to calm down after she loses her cool when they put her on ‘Watch list CAA Protests’ on Twitter

OpIndia Staff
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UP Police asks abusive troll Swati Chaturvedi to calm down after she loses her cool when they put her on ‘Watch list CAA Protests’ on Twitter

Uttar Pradesh Police today put abusive troll masquerading as a journalist Swati Chaturvedi on ‘Watch list CAA Protests’ on Twitter.


As expected, she quite lost her cool and referred to UP Police as “Yogi’s Gestapo”. Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany.

Uttar Pradesh Police did clarify that they have put her on the Twitter list to quickly reach out to people like her for public discourse around important issue.


Following this, however, Uttar Pradesh Police has either deleted the list or set it up as private.

Union Cabinet approves creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff, to be a four-star General and head of the Department of Military Affairs

OpIndia Staff
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Union Cabinet approves creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff, to be a four-star General and head of the Department of Military Affairs

In a landmark decision to reform the top-level defence management of the country, the Union Cabinet today approved the creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff. The CDS will be a four-star General with the salary and perquisites equivalent to a Service Chief. A statement issued by the press information bureau said that the Chief of Defence Staff will also head the Department of Military Affairs (DMA), which will be created within the Ministry of Defence and function as its Secretary.

The DMA headed by the CDS will deal with the matters of the three armed forces which are the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, the Integrated Headquarters of ministry of defence which includes the three service headquarters along with the defence staff headquarters, the Territorial Army, works related to the three forces and procurement exclusive to the defence forces except capital expenditure.

The mandate for the Department of Military Affairs includes promoting joint procurement, training and staffing of the various defence services through joint planning and integration of requirements, restructuring of Military Commands for optimal utilisation of resources by bringing about jointness in operations, including through establishment of joint/theatre commands, and promoting use of indigenous equipment.

Apart from heading the DMA, the Chief of Defence Staff will also be the permanent chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee. The CDS will act as the Principal Military Adviser to the Defence Minister on all tri-Services matters. But the three individual Chiefs will continue to advise the minister on matters exclusively concerning their respective Services, and CDS will not exercise any military command over the three Service Chiefs. This will enable the CDS to provide impartial advice to the government, the statement said.

The functions to be performed by the CDS includes the administration of tri-service organisations. Tri-service agencies/organisations/commands related to Cyber and Space will be under the command of the CDS. The CDS will be member of Defence Acquisition Council chaired by Defence Minister and Defence Planning Committee chaired by NSA. He will also function as the Military Adviser to the Nuclear Command Authority.

The Chief of Defence Staff will bring jointness in operation, logistics, transport, training, support services, communications, repairs and maintenance, etc of the three Services, within three years of the first CDS assuming office. He will ensure optimal utilisation of infrastructure and rationalise it through jointness among the three services.

The CDS will also implement a Five-Year Defence Capital Acquisition Plan (DCAP), and Two-Year roll-on Annual Acquisition Plans (AAP), as a follow up of Integrated Capability Development Plan (ICDP). He is expected to bring reforms in the functioning of three services aimed at augmenting combat capabilities of the Armed Forces by reducing wasteful expenditure.

The creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff was announced by PM Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech on 15th August this year. He had announced that to further improve defence coordination and preparedness, India will now have a Chief of Defence Staff. Although modalities of the post were not finalised at that time, which were announced today.

The most important aspect which had created a lot of speculation was whether the CDS will be a five-star general or four-star general. A five-star General as CDS is superior to the three service chiefs who are four-star officers, a true chief of the entire defence force of the country. On the other hand, a four-star General has the same rank as the three chiefs, but is considered first amongst equals. Now the government has decided to go with the second option with a four-star general being the CDS. This means the CDS will not have direct command over the three services. The Naresh Chandra task force, formed to review the recommendations of the Kargil Review Committee, had also suggested the creation of CDS with four-star rank.

After the creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff, it is expected that the post of Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee will be abolished. This post was formed in 2001 as a compromise as the creation of CDS was facing hurdles due to opposition from some sections. At present Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa is the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.

The government will announce the name of the first Chief of Defence Staff of India soon. It is speculated that Indian Army Chief General Bipin Singh Rawat is likely to be appointed as the country’s first CDS.

Days after Shiv Sainiks thrashed a man for over FB post on Maha CM, Rajasthan Police detains a man for ‘objectionable’ post

OpIndia Staff
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Days after Shiv Sainiks thrashed a man for over FB post on Maha CM, Rajasthan Police detains a man for ‘objectionable’ post

A man in Rajasthan has been detained for allegedly making derogatory comments on Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, officials said on Tuesday. An FIR was registered against two people, Lilaram Sharma and Bhim Singh Golwar, by a man named Harikishan Saini, who runs a Facebook page.

“We have detained Lilaram Sharma from Alwar on Monday night. He is being interrogated in Jaipur,” SHO, Murlipura police station Ramavtar Takhar said. Saini claimed that the two had made defamatory and objectionable comments against the Congress Chief Minister after a post was uploaded on the page on Sunday. He had then proceeded to register a case against them.

Read: Aaditya Thackeray terms the man who was beaten up by Shiv Sena workers as ‘nasty low life troll’, doesn’t condemn behaviour by party men

The arrest of the man in Rajasthan comes a couple of days after a mob led by Shiv Sena functionaries Samadhan Jukdeo and Prakash Hasbe thrashed a man and tonsured his head outside his residence in Shanti Nagar area in Maharashtra for making comments on Uddhav Thackeray on Facebook. He had criticised Thackeray for comparing the police action against anti-CAA rioters to Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Today, instead of condemning the behaviour of the party workers, MLA Aaditya Thackeray went ahead and called the victim a nasty, low-life troll.

Uttar Pradesh: SP leader Azam Khan’s close aide Parvez amongst 150 identified for vandalism in anti-CAA riots in Rampur

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: SP leader Azam Khan’s close aide Parvez amongst 150 identified for vandalism in anti-CAA riots in Rampur

Large scale rioting and arson took place in several places in UP in the name of anti CAA protests last week.

Now coming as a major embarrassment for the Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, one of his close associate is amongst the 150 people whom the police have identified for vandalism in Rampur during the violent anti-citizenship law riots that claimed a civilian’s life.

After the last week violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur district, police have now produced pictures and video footages of the incident as evidence, where Parvez, a driver and close associate of Samajwadi Party strongman, Azam Khan’s, who himself has been implicated and convicted in innumerable cases, can be seen hurling stones at the police personnel,” Rampur Superintendent of Police Ajay Pal Sharma told PTI.

The police have held these rioters responsible for rioting and for causing damages to public and private property to the tune of Rs 15 lakh so far which would be compensated by those involved in its destruction, a senior official said.

Read: Suar MLA and SP leader Azam Khan’s son Abdullah Azam disqualified from Uttar Pradesh Assembly

Uttar Pradesh had turned into a war zone last week with anti-CAA rioters taking to the streets resorting to arson and severe vandalism, claiming as many as 11 lives. UP police have informed that 218 persons have been arrested and 3305 detained for defying prohibitory orders. Section 144 was enforced in the state on Wednesday night. It has been extended in the state till 31st January.

Protesters in the state vandalised of torched several police vehicles in Amroha, Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar, BulandShahr and Hapur, and police were unable to stop them even after using teargas shells and batons. Rioters resorted to stone-pelting and other violent activities during the anti-CAA protests. In several cities, self-imposed curfew was seen as shopkeepers kept their shutters down in fear of vandalism.

A 22-year-old man died of a bullet injury on Saturday in Rampur during the violence in which several locals and policemen were injured, and six vehicles, including a police motorcycle, were torched.

The police have assessed the total damage to property to the tune of Rs 15 lakh so far which would be compensated by those involved in its destruction, a senior official said. The process is underway to attach the properties of those identified so far, he said.

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