Congress party has filed a petition seeking disqualification of its Rae Bareli MLA Aditi Singh. Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhana Mishra had filed the petition before the Speaker of Vidhan Sabha Hriday Narayan Dikshit today.
The petition stated that Singh had defied party’s whip to boycott the special session of the state assembly on October 2, organized by the Uttar Pradesh government to mark 150 years of Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday.
Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhna Mishra (in pic): Party has filed a petition before state Assembly Speaker seeking disqualification of Rae Bareli Sadar MLA Aditi Singh, for defying party whip of boycotting special session of state Assembly on October 2, organized by govt pic.twitter.com/rpKq7ei1u0
“She had been indulging in a number of activities that are not in consonance with the party’s thought and action. She was the first one to congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi on abrogation of Article 370. Then her sudden appearance for the special session was a violation of the party whip,” said a party leader.
Last month the Congress Rae Bareli MLA was served a show-cause notice for defying party’s boycott call during the special assembly session called by the BJP in UP Assembly to discuss sustainable development goals defined by the UN.
Congress workers, too, had protested outside Aditi Singh’s residence for attending the session which was boycotted by the Congress party and had asked for her resignation.
Aditi Singh had, however, justified her decision to attend the session by invoking Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy. “If we want to pay true tributes to Mahatma Gandhi we will have to follow his path and it can only happen if the country develops,” she had said.
In the past as well, she has refused to toe the party line on certain matters and sided with larger national interests. Singh had gone against the party’s stand on abrogation of Article 370 and supported the move. Singh had also stayed away from the elaborate ‘peace march’ organised led by Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Lucknow on Gandhi Jayanti.
Recently, Congress had expelled 11 senior party leaders including former MLAs, MPs and ministers from Uttar Pradesh.
The Supreme Court in a historic decision had established that the Hindus have a right on the entire 67-acre Ram Janmabhoomi and had granted an alternate 5-acre land to the Muslims to build their Masjid. After weeks of back and forth, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has decided to file a review petition in the Ram Janmabhoomi, Ayodhya case.
All India Muslim Personal Law Board: Exercising our constitutional right, we’re going to file a review petition in the Ayodhya case during the 1st week of Dec. Sunni Waqf Board’s decision not to pursue the case won’t legally affect us.All Muslim organizations are on the same page
AIMPLB said that they will ‘exercise their constitutional right’ and file a review petition in the Ayodhya case during the first week of December. They also said that the decision of the Sunni Waqf Board not to file a review petition in the case won’t affect the AIMPLB legally.
Interestingly, AIMPLB said that “all Muslim organisations” are with the AIMPLB and are on the same page.
Earlier, the Sunni Waqf Board had decided against filing a review petition in the Ayodhya case.
The Sunni Central Waqf Board was also to discuss whether to accept the 5 acres land to be offered by the government or not. As per reports, the board has put off the discussion and has stated that they will deliberate it after the land options are provided by the government.
The Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind (JuH), a key Muslim litigant in the Ayodhya title suit which has been indulging in constant rabblerousing since Supreme Court’ historic verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi case, had also taken a U-turn and said that it will not file a review petition against the Supreme Court’s Ayodhya verdict.
“Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has passed a resolution that it will not file a review petition against the Supreme Court verdict on Babri Masjid & mosques managed by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Waqf properties,” it had said.
Following the verdict, many prominent Muslims welcomed the Supreme Court’s verdict, while several others expressed strong disapproval of the same. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi couldn’t stomach the fact that the court has finally ordered the construction of a Ram Temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi site where the Mughals had destroyed a previously existing temple.
With the aim of whipping up a frenzy among Muslims of India, Asaduddin Owaisi continued his harangue against the verdict saying, “I want my masjid back”. Many other ‘liberal-secular’ elements had also exhorted the principal litigant Sunni Waqf Board to file a review petition.
A user on the video sharing app TikTok shared a video where she attempted to spread awareness about the ongoing persecution of Uighur Muslims in China. She began her video with the words, “Hi, guys. I’m going to teach you guys how to get long lashes.” Then, after a few seconds, she said, “Use your phone that you’re using right now to search up what’s happening in China, how they’re getting concentration camps, throwing innocent Muslims in there.”
The video gained huge popularity on the app, garnering nearly five lakh likes. However, Feroza Aziz’s account was soon suspended on the app. ByteDance spokesman, Josh Gartner, said Aziz was blocked from her TikTok account because she violated the terms and conditions by posting a video that contained an image of Osama bin Laden through an earlier account.
I am blocked from posting on tik tok for a month. This won’t silence me.
The suspension of Aziz’s account on TikTok after she highlighted the Chinese persecution of Uighur Muslims has triggered concerns about the Communist regime’s censorship patterns on the social networking sites it owns and the businesses it exerts influence over. As we have reported earlier, TikTok is owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance which is often touted to be the world’s most valuable start-up.
It is widely known that Chinese businesses are intimately linked to the Chinese regime and its foreign policy. The Communist party uses businesses as means to undermine the interests of foreign nations. TikTok is no different and it has sent the alarm bells ringing in the highest echelons of foreign governments.
Furthermore, there is no such thing as ‘independent businesses’ in China. Even multinational corporations that operate in the country must avoid incurring the wrath of the regime in any manner whatsoever. For instance, the NBA had to prostrate profusely before the Chinese regime and apologize vehemently after one of the team owners tweeted in favour of the Hong Kong protesters. China was not pleased and the NBA was overeager to make peace with it in order to preserve its business interests.
Social Media censorship, however, is not unique to Chinese owned platforms such as TikTok. Facebook, Twitter and Google, too, enforce ridiculous censorship on its platforms that consistent with the opinions of the US establishment. Therefore, in the current instance, TikTok’s conduct is not out of sync with how other social media giants operate. However, it does raise concerns about the overarching influence on narrative that Big Tech enjoys and can enforce.
A police sub-inspector, posted at the Kadipur police station in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh was suspended from his duties for allegedly posting objectionable photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media.
According to police, sub-inspector Anand Gautam allegedly uploaded indecent photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media and also made derogatory comments on Union Home Minister, the BJP and the RSS office bearers. Sultanpur Superintendent of Police (SP), Himanshu Kumar, added “Gautam also accused the government of working against the interest of a particular caste.”
After receiving the information from the cyber cell of police on Sunday, Kumar suspended the officer with immediate effect and ordered an inquiry into the matter. He has asked a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) rank officer to review Gautam’s Twitter and Facebook posts which allegedly includes six posts against the Prime Minister and four against the RSS and BJP leaders. These posts were reportedly made between 2016 and 2018 and were not deleted despite warnings.
“The suspended officer has been asked to explain his conduct. The social media cell of the district police will review the social media accounts of all police personnel. A warning has been issued to all to refrain from objectionable posts,” the SP said. The posts were reportedly highly objectionable and against the police manual amounting to indiscipline.
An Argentinian court has sentenced two Catholic priests to more than 40 years in prison in Mendoza on Monday after they were found guilty of the sexual abuse of as many as 10 deaf children of a Catholic-run school.
Incidentally, Pope Francis is from Argentina and it has been reported that Church officials, including Pope Francis, were made aware of allegations against one of the convicts as early as in 2014 but the church did not begin an investigation until after he was arrested in 2017. Many Argentinians protested against the refusal by the Church to close down the school and prevent the abusers from having access to their victims.
On Monday, a three-judge panel in the city of Mendoza sentenced Father Nicola Corradi to 42 years and Father Horacio Corbacho to 45 years, as well as gardener Armando Gómez to 18 years, for 20 counts of abuse from 2005 to 2016 at the Antonio Provolo Institute for Deaf and Hearing Impaired Children.
Shockingly, Father Nicola Corradi was earlier investigated for abusing children at the institute’s school in Verona, Italy, in the 1970s, but was never charged.
Sergio Salinas, a lawyer for several victims, called for Pope Francis to “make a public apology.” Salinas said in an interview on Monday that the church has not acted honourably in this case, “It hasn’t just failed to give evidence, it has hidden information,” said Salinas furthering, “It has failed to recognize the facts and has mocked the victims by not recognizing them as such and saying that their testimony is unbelievable.”
The Catholic Church across the globe has faced an avalanche of child sexual abuse crime in the last few decades and Pope Francis has been long accused of helping to cover up such sexual misconducts.
In fact, last year, former papal nuncio (ambassador) to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, had unleashed a new controversy on the Vatican as he claimed in an open letter that Pope Francis was aware of the sexual abuse allegations against Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI’s sanctions against him, and yet did nothing to punish but went to elevate him to a position where he was helping choose powerful American Bishops. Vigano had also called for the resignation of the Pope.
Recently, three more former altar boys had accused two Catholic priests of sexually abusing them inside Vatican Church. These fresh allegations come just months after Catholic leaders had gathered for an unprecedented summit at the Vatican to tackle widespread paedophilia within the church. At the close of the summit in February, Pope Francis promised the church would “spare no effort” in bringing abusers to justice and would not cover up or underestimate abuse.
In a bizarre incident, the Congress party in Kerala has filed a complaint against BJP Yuva Morcha leader after the latter had filed a missing person complaint against Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi.
According to the reports, the Congress party in Kerala filed a complaint against BJP Yuva Morcha state Secretary Aji Thomas on Tuesday stating that the missing complainant filed against Rahul Gandhi had insulted the MP.
As per a report in The News Minute, Aji Thomason, the BJP Yuva Morcha state Secretary had filed a complaint on Monday with at the Edakkara police station in Malappuram district urging the police to find Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Edakkara is located in Nilambur, an Assembly segment that falls under the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency.
In his complaint, Aji had stated that he is concerned and anxious over social media reports which says Rahul Gandhi ‘has gone missing’.
“The absence of Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi, in his constituency and while the parliament session is in progress, draws attention. Social media reports suggest that he is missing. Being a voter and a citizen in his constituency, I’m really concerned about this. In this regard I would kindly request you to consider this petition and take necessary action to locate the MP”, read his complaint.
After filing the complaint, Aji Thomas had said that he has filed this complaint because he was really concerned. “No one knows where he is. He is not in the parliament and not coming to the constituency either. Being a voter in his constituency I think I’m entitled to know where he is”, said Aji Thomas.
On Tuesday, following the complaint against BJP leader, the Edakkara police have also confirmed that they have booked Aji based on a complaint filed by the Congress party in Kerala on Tuesday.
“We booked him based on two aspects: The complaint is in a manner that insinuates that the MP is in hiding, and insults a political leader. Besides, the police, too, have been misled. The party used the police to propagate such a false message,” a police official at the station said.
Aji has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, including section 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause a riot) and under certain sections of Kerala Police Act, 2011.
The Labour Party in the UK is in an unpleasant spot as its anti-semitism is now being called out not only from expected denominations like the Hindus and the Jews but also a section of Muslims and Christians. British Hindu leaders have joined the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Muslim Council of Britain in backing Britain’s Chief Rabbi today after he condemned Labour over its anti-Semitism crisis. The main contention is Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi led Congress had espoused recently.
Ephraim Mirvis, the Jewish Rabbi had made scathing and unprecedented intervention against the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn. He said that a vast number of British Jews were gripped with fear and anxiety at the thought of Corbyn being elected.
He accused Jeremy Corbyn of allowing the ‘poison of anti-Semitism’ to take root in Labour, saying it could no longer claim to be the party of diversity, equality and anti-racism. Urging voters to examine their consciences in the polling booth, he warned: ‘The very soul of our nation is at stake.’
The Hindu Council also backed Rabbi Mirvis and said that the Labour party was the festering ground for anti-Hindu prejudice. Anil Bhanot, the Hindu Council’s director for interfaith relations, said: ‘It is a sad state of affairs that a major political party in our country which used to be a progressive socialist voice has veered towards what is almost a fascist ideology.’ Bhanot wrote a letter to the Jewish Rabbi supporting his intervention. In his letter, he said, “Labour has increasingly become anti-Semitic and anti-Hindu”. Anil Bhanot is a founding member of the Hindu Council in the UK.
Letter by Hindu Council UKLetter by Hindu Council UK
The letter by the Hindu Council clearly states how Jeremy Corbyn is fanning anti-Hindu sentiments. The letter says that he remained silent as the most important festival of Hindus, Diwali, saw anti-India protests that culminated into anti-Hindu sentiments, fanned by Labour Party. It also says that the Labour Party hobnobs with terror outfits and has dumped the Hindu community from its candidate selection.
The letter also mentions Jeremy Corbyn’s ridiculous stand in Kashmir and says that Article 370 essentially discriminated against people and the same special status, Kashmiri Hindus were cleansed ethnically from the state.
“Jeremy Corbyn always speaks against Islamophobia, whereas any anti-semitic and anti-Hindu position remains unchallenged”, the letter says.
The Rabbi had taken Corbyn on for supporting terrorists who murder Jews and describing them as ‘friends’.
Another Rabbi, Rabbi Julia Neuberger has warned that Jews may have to leave the UK if Jeremy Corbyn becomes the Prime Minister.
She said, “Since Jeremy Corbyn has been the leader of the Labour Party there has been this insidious anti-Semitic tone to quite a lot of what’s happened and an unwillingness to really face it. There’s been an unwillingness at the top and people of the Jewish community have seen that unwillingness and thought ‘what’s going on? A major political party – what is going on here? Why are they not gripping it?”
“People will look for ways of moving or having a place somewhere else, or whatever they can possibly do to mitigate what feels oppressive, uncomfortable, dangerous”, she added.
While antisemitism and the anti-Hindu political bent of the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn are not new revelations, the Hindus and Jews found support from unexpected quarters.
The Muslim Council and the Archbishop of Canterbury have also extended their support to the Hindus and the Jews. The Muslim Council has said ‘some politicians have shown courage but too many have sat silent’ when confronted with racism. The group has said that ‘Today’s announcement by the Chief Rabbi highlights the real fear many British Jews have, regarding the unacceptable presence of anti-Semitism in Britain and politics today. However, the Muslim Council furthered its own agenda while extending support as well. They also lashed out at Tory’s party for their apparent failure to deal with Islamophobia.
According to reports, the Archbishop and the Jewish Rabbi have been faced with vicious abuses because of their stand against Jeremy Corbyn and antisemitism of the Labour Party. The Jewish Rabbi was even viciously called a ‘sewer rat’ and while the anti-semites complaints of ‘Israeli interference’.
Some Labour party members have also come out and expressed their understanding of what the Rabbi is saying.
Amidst all of this, Jeremy Corbyn has refused that racist, anti-Jew sentiments have risen in his party since he has become its leader and has refused to apologise.
Jeremy Corbyn has an extremely chequered past with him extending support to violent Islamists including Hamas and Hezbollah, rhetoric against Jews and Hindus, and support to Radical Left. Recently, he has also tried his best to support the Islamists in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir who have been waging a Jihad in the state for decades and have also been responsible for the ethnic cleansing of the Hindus of the state.
IIT Guwahati professor Brijesh Rai has alleged illegality in ‘construction’ of a temple on the campus. As per a report by Economic Times, Brijesh Rai, assistant professor at IIT Guwahati has alleged that a structure of a temple was constructed on campus four years ago without institute’s permission. The institute has claimed that the temple structure has been on the campus even before the institute came into existence and has been there since ‘time immemorial’.
Rai hai filed a petition in the Guwahati High Court challenging the construction of the temple. On 17th March, IIT Guwahati students had taken out candle light march in support of professor Rai who has also alleged other malpractices like corruption in the working of the institute.
The ET report states that Rai has claimed that the temple was a ‘chabootra’ till 2015 next to a peepal tree with some pictures of deities. However, according to him, it was turned into a permanent structure in 2015. He had filed an RTI (Right to Information) query, in response of which the institute had said that the construction work on premises will require approval of competent authority. The institute also reportedly said that it has not aided in construction of the temple in any way.
IIT Guwahati in its RTI response also claimed that the temple has been on the campus even before the institute came up and has been there since ‘time immemorial’. Rai, however, shared images with ET from Google Map which show changes in the structure of the temple which indicate construction work having been carried out.
Other than this, Rai has also alleged discrepancies in finances as well as recruitment procedures and even awarding degrees to ‘ineligible’ students. He has accused faculty members of awarding an M.Tech degree ‘illegally’ to a student. After he brought the matter to the authorities, he says that the degree was revoked but no action was taken against faculty members. He has also alleged nepotism and misuse of power in recruitment.
As former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis resigned from his post after Ajit Pawar withdrew his support from the coalition government, Amruta Fadnavis, the wife of Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday tweeted an Urdu couplet to convey that ‘she will be back soon’.
Amruta Fadnavis, a banking professional and singer, tweeted a poetic verse hours after her husband resigned from his post.
पलट के आऊंगी शाखों पे खुशबुएँ लेकर,
खिज़ां की ज़द में हूँ मौसम ज़रा बदलने दे! Thanks Mah for memorable 5yrs as your वहिनी !The love showered by you will always make me nostalgic! I tried to perform my role to best of my abilities-with desire only to serve & make a positive diff? pic.twitter.com/ePUzQgR9o5
The couplet shared by Amruta Fadnavis meant, “I will come back with a fresh fragrance, let there be a change in the season. Thanks, Maharashtra for memorable 5 years as your Vahini. The love showered by you will always make me nostalgic! I tried to perform my role to best of my abilities-with desire only to serve & make a positive diff,” she added.
After a sudden oath-taking ceremony on Saturday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday quit from his post, hours after Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar withdrew his support by submitting his resignation.
The BJP, which had won 105 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly, was short of 40 MLAs to prove a majority. The BJP had relied on Ajit Pawar to bring in 54 NCP MLAs. However, the political gamble failed as Ajit Pawar shied away from supporting the BJP led government at the last moment.
Later, the Sena-NCP-Congress leaders conducted a meeting in the late Tuesday evening where they decided to nominate Uddhav Thackeray for the post of Chief Minister of the state.
Uddhav Thackeray will be leading an alliance of the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress, called Maha Vikas Aghadi, in Maharashtra. With this, Maharashtra will have a Shiv Sena Chief Minister after 20 years.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will swear in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on 28th November 2019. In a letter last night, Maharashtra Governor Koshyari invited the new alliance ‘Maha Vikas Aghadi’ to form a government under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray.
Continuing its efforts to improve the administrative efficiency of officials, and reduce corruption, the Centre has compulsorily retired another 21 corrupt tax officers in the fifth phase of its crackdown, as per reports.
The agency that oversees income and corporate tax collections, namely, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), has sacked 21 Group B or junior officers holding the rank of Income Tax Officer under Fundamental Rule 56 (J) of Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972, in the public interest, due to corruption and other charges and CBI traps, said the Finance Ministry.
The officers who were part of this latest round of clampdown had demanded or received bribes which ranged between Rs 20,000 and Rs 6 lakh, sources said. These officers were posted across the country, from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand to Mumbai and Hyderabad.
Apart from the revenue department, other central government agencies too, have identified tainted employees and speeded action against them.
According to another report, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) has suspended Deepak Pandit, Assistant Commissioner, on grounds of owning disproportionate assets. The Finance Ministry has alleged that Pandit has expended huge amounts of money in the marriage of his two sons and acquired expensive unaccounted properties in posh areas of Mumbai.
Finance Ministry Sources: It’s alleged that Deepak Pandit, Assistant Commissioner,expended huge amounts of money in marriage of his 2 sons&acquired expensive unaccounted properties in posh areas of Mumbai,value of which are disproportionate to his known&declared sources of income https://t.co/7iG3RrWHbd
The Centre had initiated it’s zero tolerance for corruption’ policy, tightening its noose on tainted officials in June this year. With this progression, the total count of corrupt officers, who have been sacked by the Centre until now, stands at 85, including 64 high ranking tax officers out of which 12 were from the CBDT.
Prior to this, the Centre in a similar exercise, sacked 15 Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) officials on charges of corruption in the month of September this year, 22 in August and almost 39 in June, out of which 12 were senior officials, sitting atop bureaucratic ranks.
The government had asked all the departments to conduct a periodic review of officials and list the names of officers with questionable credentials in the monthly report to be submitted to the Department of Public Enterprises on the 15th of every month.
As mentioned in the directive passed on to various departments, based on these reports the compulsory retirement provision will be used to get rid of more tainted officials.
