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Jharkhand: 17 students suspended for chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ in Jamshedpur’s Church School Beldih

OpIndia Staff
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Jharkhand: 17 students suspended for chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ in Jamshedpur’s Church School Beldih

17 students studying in class 12 in Church School Beldih were reportedly suspended for allegedly chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram‘ in the school. School Principal L Peterson says they were sent on five days ‘study leave’ as their activities breached discipline and were ‘disturbing school environment’.

As per reports, the students were suspended on Tuesday for chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ which led to protests by the ABVP at the school. The matter came to light when some parents approached the district education officials.

Following the protests by ABVP, on Wednesday, the school authorities reportedly called up the suspended students and asked them to return to school. The suspended students are expected to resume the school from Thursday. The district education officer had asked the school to clarify its position on the matter. To this, the school replied by saying that they had not suspended any student. The school has alleged that the disciplinary action was taken against students for ‘bunking a library class’

Congress disintegrating: 10 Tripura leaders step down after state party chief’s resignation

OpIndia Staff
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Congress disintegrating: 10 Tripura leaders step down after state party chief’s resignation

A day after Tripura Congress president Kirit Pradyot Manikya DebBarma resigned from his post, ten party leaders in the state have stepped down today sending the Congress party into a tizzy.

These leader’s who have put down their papers have said that they would soon float a new political party which would address tribal and non-tribal issues.

According to a report by The Indian Express, Pradesh Congress general secretary Dinesh Debbarma said: “We squarely blame the AICC general secretary Luizinho Faleiro for the present condition of Tripura and the party here and the circumstances in which ‘Maharaja’ Pradyot Kishore had no alternative but to tender his resignation.”

Kirit Pradyot Manikya DebBarma, the head of the erstwhile reigning dynasty of Tripura and the president of Tripura Congress, resigned from his post on September 24. Taking to Twitter, Pradyot shared a note where he wrote that he is looking forward to spending his days without listening to criminals, back-stabbing colleagues and without having to take the High-command’s order to accommodate corrupt people in high positions.

He also stated that there is no space for him in the party anymore. His note speaks about differences with colleagues and the corrupt practice of getting people into a high position on the high command’s order. He has stated that his health and life were being affected in Congress.

Congress which has been undergoing immense pressure due to the string of resignations and defections by party leaders in the last few weeks. Over the past few weeks, several young Congress leaders have revolted against the party by either resigning from key posts, joining rival parties or accusing the party top brass of not doing enough to safeguard their interests.

Recently, former Jharkhand Congress chief Ajoy Kumar joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday in the presence of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. He also revolted against the party’s senior leaders before he resigned from the post last month blaming the party top brass of seeking “to grab political posts for personal benefits” and making “every attempt to bypass the systems that have been put in place to benefit the party”.

Students resorting to ‘false conversions overnight’ to gain admission into minority colleges: Supreme Court

OpIndia Staff
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Students resorting to ‘false conversions overnight’ to gain admission into minority colleges: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court, today, while dismissing pleas challenging Government Orders  issued by the Government of Andhra Pradesh observed that “The right of minority institutions is not absolute, and is amenable to regulation. The protection granted to Minority Educational Institutions to admit students of their choice is subject to reasonable restrictions.” The said G.O.Ms (Government Order – Manuscript), came into effect from the academic year 2006-07.

As per the said G.O.Ms, minority colleges were granted the right to fill up 85% of their seats through the management quota with students belonging to minority communities. It further mandated that unfilled seats in the 85% management quota be allotted to non-minority students on merit. The petitioners contended that it violated the Article 30(1) of the Constitution which granted minority communities the right to administer their own institutions.

However, a more interesting detail surfaced during the course of the judgment. The Bench, comprising of Justices Indu Malhotra and Sanjiv Khanna, observed that ineligible candidates were converting to minority religions ‘overnight’ in order to gain admission to minority institutions. The order states, “G.O.M. No. 57 prescribed a uniform criteria for determination of the status of all minority students. It safeguards the interest of genuine minority students, so that their seats are not taken away by those who resort to false conversions over­night, for the purpose of securing admission. This would preserve the minority character of the Institution, rather than act as an intrusion of the same.”

The Government of Andhra Pradesh stated in Court that statistical data “revealed that many students were converting over­night so as to obtain admission in the Management Quota of Minority Educational Institutions.” The Court noted that “a large number of admissions were made on the basis of converted certificates. The enquiry conducted revealed that 67 out of 200 students in New College of Education, Nizamabad; 90 out of 136 in Rayalseema College of Education, Kurnool; 82 out of 102 in Bhongir College of Education, Bhongir; 60 out of 85 in Jyoti College of Education, Siricilla; 91 out of 102 in Anebesent College of Education, Khammam; 85 out of 102 in Trinity College of Education, were admitted on the basis of Baptism Certificates.”

The Court further observed, “In most of these cases, the candidates declared themselves to be Christians subsequent to the date of submitting their applications for the Entrance Test.” The Court concluded, “All Minority Educational Institutions in the State of Andhra Pradesh, including the Petitioner Institution, have been following these G.O.Ms since the past over 13 academic years without any complaint. There is no justifiable reason why the same should be discontinued at this stage.”

The Andhra Pradesh government order had issued several provisions to prevent the admission of recently converted students into minority institutions. The order had said that SCC certificate would be taken as a basis of determining the minority status of students, to prevent misuse of Conversion Certificates by ineligible candidates.

Upholding the order to fill up vacant seats by non-minority candidates, the court said that it is based on statistical data showed that the number of colleges, and the seats available for minorities, were highly disproportionate, and far in excess of the population as per the 2001 census. If seats remain vacant, it would not in the interest of the Minority Institutions every year, that is the reason why govt asked to fill those vacant seats with non-minority students from the merit list. This does not interfere with the right of a Minority Educational Institution to manage its affairs for the benefit of the Minority Community, the Supreme Court said. The order says that on the contrary, it ensures that the seats are not wasted.

‘Pakistan was split after 1971 war, don’t repeat 1971 mistake, else you understand what will happen to PoK’: Rajnath Singh warns Pakistan

OpIndia Staff
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‘Pakistan was split after 1971 war, don’t repeat 1971 mistake, else you understand what will happen to PoK’: Rajnath Singh warns Pakistan

Keeping up the ante against Pakistan on the matter of Pakistan occupied Kashmir, defence minister Rajnath Singh today warned that Pakistan will split again like 1971 if it continues its activities, and it will lose PoK.


Speaking at a public rally in Dhanukya in Rajasthan today, Rajnath Singh said, “we are advising Pakistan again and again, in 1971 Pakistan was split into two, Pakistan and Bangladesh were created. I say don’t repeat the mistake of 1971 again, otherwise understand clearly what will happen to PoK”.

The defence minister said that by abrogating Articles 370 and 35A, the BJP government has proved that there is no difference between what it promises and what it does. But our neighbouring country is not able to digest this. But they will have to digest it.

After the war between India and Pakistan in 1971, Pakistan was split into two countries, and East Pakistan became an independent nation in Bangladesh. The war was triggered by the struggle in East Pakistan for independence, which was supported by India.

After Pakistan started knocking at the door of the international community over the abrogation of Article 370 in India, senior ministers of the Indian government have been talking about action on Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Last month, Rajnath Singh had said that If talks are held with Pakistan, it will be only on Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Just a few days ago External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said that PoK is an integral part of India and one day India will exercise physical jurisdiction over it. Two days ago, Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat has said that Army has war-gamed any possible action in Pakistan occupied Kashmir, and accordingly plans are ready for the same. He also said that the focus should shift from J&K to PoK.

Madhya Pradesh: 14 year old girl gang raped by her own classmates by using her pictures and videos to blackmail

OpIndia Staff
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Madhya Pradesh: 14 year old girl gang raped by her own classmates by using her pictures and videos to blackmail

A 14-year-old minor girl, Pinky (name changed) hailing from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh was allegedly gang-raped by her own classmates, Ahmed (name changed) and Usman (name changed). The victim and the two accused were classmates studying in St. Joseph’s Convent School in Madhya Pradesh.

The two accused had been blackmailing Pinky with her photographs and videos for the last one month and had many a time extracted money from her by threatening her of posting her private photo and videos on social media. The accused even used the picture and video to rape the victim a couple of times.

After being traumatised for over a month, the victim narrated her ordeal to her parents who in turn lodged a complaint with the Ratlam police on Wednesday. According to reports, the police have arrested the two accused and registered a case against them under the POSCO Act.

In what transpired, the accused, who had been blackmailing the victim with her pictures and videos for over a month, had on September 9, at around 3.30 pm called up the victim and said that they would be coming to her house. When the accused reached the victim’s house, Pinky was alone in her house. The two taking advantage of the situation raped Pinky in her house. The brutality left Pinky bleeding.

Ten days later, the accused again called her up and asked her to come to a hotel where they again gang-raped her. The repeated assaults started showing on the victim’s health. Fed up of the mental and physical trauma, Pinky then narrated her ordeal to her parents.

Meanwhile, the police along with the two accused have also arrested the hotel manager and another employee and have also seized the CCTV footage from the hotel where the purported crime took place. The hotel owner who is also a Congress leader, Nimish Vyas, has informed the police that the accused had hired the room shortly before the incident.

After the news gained traction students from the Kanya Mahavidyalay and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, took to the streets and staged protest in front of the Ratlam police station demanding justice for the minor girl. Meanwhile, SP Gaurav Tiwari reached the station and assured the protesting student’s that the case would be investigated and the guilty would be punished.

BJP distances itself from rape accused Swami Chinmayanand, says no more a party member

OpIndia Staff
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BJP distances itself from rape accused Swami Chinmayanand, says no more a party member

The Bharatiya Janta Party’ Uttar Pradesh unit has today distanced itself from Swami Chinmayanand. The BJP leader who was arrested by the SIT following charges of rape and physically exploitation on September 20 has been expelled from the party. “Chinmayanand isn’t a BJP member anymore,” confirmed UP BJP spokesperson Harish Chandra Srivastava.

“I am saying this as a spokesperson of the BJP. I am saying this with responsibility. He is not a BJP member and the law will take its course against him,” said Harish Shrivastava, the UP BJP spokesperson.

After the controversy erupted, no BJP leader has come forward to extend any kind of support to Swami Chinmayanand, who has been in judicial custody since the last five days.

Chinmayanand was accused of rape by a law student in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur. She had accused him of raping her and “physically exploitation”, had alleged that the former MP recorded videos of her while she was in the bath and used them to blackmail and rape her.

Meanwhile, Swatantra Dev Singh, UP BJP chief, when asked whether the party proposed any action against Chinmayanand, said: “He was never a BJP member and hence the question does not arise.”

The statement came after the law student who was accused in an extortion case was arrested and sent to 14-day judicial custody. It is alleged that she and her friends demanded money from Swami Chinmayanand. She was arrested after the SIT probing the case confirmed that they had found sufficient evidence against the law student in the extortion case. SIT chief Naveen Arora said the student was arrested after “enough” digital and forensic evidence was found and statements of people recorded.

“We have sufficient evidence that Rs 5 crore extortion money was demanded from Chinmayanand. Those arrested said they sent messages to Chinmayanand on directions of the girl in panic as they were not getting money and were upset,” he told reporters here.

Meanwhile, after a huge controversy, Swami Chinmayanand, who was arrested on September 20 from his Mumuksha Ashram in Shahjahanpur, had admitted to almost every allegation levelled against him and had said that he was ashamed of his deeds.

Editors Guild of India erroneously mentions Telangana instead of Andhra Pradesh while criticising YSR Congress government

OpIndia Staff
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Editors Guild of India erroneously mentions Telangana instead of Andhra Pradesh while criticising YSR Congress government

The ignorance of self-proclaimed media watchdog of the country, Editors Guild of India, which is otherwise known for its ideological prejudice, was once again out in the open after they that wrongly mentioned YSR-Congress as the ruling party in Telangana instead of its neighbouring state Andhra Pradesh.

The gaffe occurred on Wednesday as the Editors Guild of India, in a press release, pledged their support to two TV channels -TV5 and ABN over an alleged ‘unwritten’ ban over these channels. The Editors Guild condemned the action taken by what it erroneously mentioned as ‘YSR-Congress led Telangana government’ instead of Andhra Pradesh. The Telangana government is headed by a Telangana Rashtra Samiti government led by K Chandrashekhar Rao.

By the time they realised that YSR-Congress was the ruling government in Andhra Pradesh and not Telangana, the stupidity of the media watchdog was exposed across the social media.

Editors guild of India

With no respect for southern states and their respective governments, the Editors Guild of India went on to provide a moral lecture to the state government of Andhra Pradesh over the alleged restrictions to the media in the state while making the most basic error of wrongly associating a government to a different state.

The blatant disregard for basic information by the Editors Guild was soon picked by the social media users. The social media users questioned the gaffe of the Editors Guild asking them whether it was ‘tyranny of distance’ which caused them to such basic error.

As they faced embarrassment, the Editors Guild of India soon deleted the tweet, without any apology or clarification. However, they soon tweeted another post rectifying their mistake to replace Telangana with ‘Andhra Pradesh’.

The controversies are not new to Editors Guild of India. The media watchdog led by the controversial journalist Shekhar Gupta is known for taking political and ideological sides before standing up for the cause of the fellow journalists.

NIA continues to tighten its grip on JMB terror module in Bengaluru, recovers explosives making materials from Electronic City

OpIndia Staff
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NIA continues to tighten its grip on JMB terror module in Bengaluru, recovers explosives making materials from Electronic City

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has recovered several incriminating materials used for making improvised explosives and grenades, during a raid conducted in the Electronic city, Bengaluru. NIA had conducted the raid following the information disclosed by a Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), terrorist Jahidul Islam alias Kausar, whom the agency had arrested on September 19, in connection with JMB Bengaluru module case.

Kausar has disclosed that after Burdhwan blast in 2014, he and his JMB associates took shelter at various hideouts in South India to escape arrest and to further the activities of JMB in India, NIA said.

“Accused Islam also pointed out the places in Krishnagiri hill in Tamil Nadu where he along with his JMB associates namely Habibur, Arif, Fahim alias Fahad had test-fired three rocket shells prepared by them using a crude device during June-October 2017 and the place where they had concealed the remnants of the third test-fired rocket shell,” the agency said.

The NIA has in the recent raid also seized the remnants of explosive materials such as eight batteries of 1.5 volts each, a hollow cylindrical carton used for launching the rocket shell and pieces of electrical wire.

A case had been registered after the NIA had on July 9, 2019, busted the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh terror module in Bengaluru and arrested 3 terrorists belonging to the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) module in Chikkabanavara village in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Live Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), hand grenades and other incriminating materials have also been recovered from the terror module. A plan to bomb several places in Karnataka has been foiled by the investigating agencies.

The NIA has seized 5 fabricated hand-grenades, 1 Timer-device, 3 electronic circuits and suspected explosives and ready-made IEDs from the location. It is speculated that NIA was fed the information of this terror ring by arrested JMB operative Habibur Rehman Sheikh.

Bengaluru has been the preferred location for the JMB terror outfit for carrying out their nefarious activities. In the past, the Bengaluru police had retrieved two live bombs from Ramanagara, 50 kilometres from Karnataka’s capital Bengaluru. The discovery of bombs came hours after a key operative of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh Habibur Rehman Sheikh (28) alias Habibur or Sheikh was arrested in Karnataka.

Media spreads lies that Azamgarh school girl who was raped in a moving car has been suspended from her school

OpIndia Staff
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Media spreads lies that Azamgarh school girl who was raped in a moving car has been suspended from her school

In a horrific incident, a school girl in the Uttar Pradesh town of Azamgarh was allegedly raped by two men in a moving car while she was returning back from her school. A student of class XI, was reportedly kidnapped by two car-borne youth who raped her and later abandoned her near a pond on Saturday.

A medico-legal test was conducted on the victim and an FIR was filed in the case by the father of the victim on Sunday. The police caught the two accused in the sexual assault case the following day and slapped charges under IPC sections 376-D (gangrape), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) along with relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against the accused.

The girl forcibly picked up by the two men in an SUV and was subjected sexual assault by them. She was later thrown out at a secluded place from where she trudged along to a country-liquor shop where she recounted her painful ordeal.

After the gang-rape incident came to light, several media houses published stories claiming that the girl was expelled from the school.

Indian Express report which states that the school principal barred her from school

However, the Azamgarh police have refuted the rumours saying that the girl is not removed from the school and is continuing with her studies.

While talking to OpIndia, the CRO to Azamgarh SP Triveni Singh, Devendra Pratap Singh dispelled the rumours floating about the suspension of the victim from the school. “The victim is continuing her studies in the school and all the rumours of her being expelled from the school are baseless,” Singh said. He also said that the two accused- Sikander, who worked as a driver and Rishi Kapoor, who ran a mobile shop have been arrested and the matter is in the court.

Pakistani media celebrates Khan-Trump presser as ‘roaring success’ even as Imran Khan laments failure over Kashmir

K Bhattacharjee
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Pakistani media celebrates Khan-Trump presser as ‘roaring success’ even as Imran Khan laments failure over Kashmir

Pakistani media outlet The Nerve Center (TNC), that claims to transform the media in the country “through research, data analytics and innovation” claims that their Prime Minister Imran Khan’s meeting with POTUS Donald Trump was a “roaring success”.


In their view, Mr Trump has a “special relationship” with Imran Khan despite being ruthless in the international area. Perhaps, they haven’t realized it yet but as part of his ‘America First’ policy, Mr Trump keeps his enemies far but allies farther. Therefore, ruthlessness comes naturally to him.

Praising Imran Khan

One of the five successes listed by TNC is the praise that the US President had for Imran Khan. As anyone would have observed, these are diplomatic courtesies that are the norm whenever two heads of government meet each other. For instance, Mr Trump calls Chinese President Xi Jinping great as well but that doesn’t stop him from accusing China of cheating or imposing tariffs on them. But given Imran Khan’s track record, when he has often been driving the leaders of other countries around in hope of favourable deals, this can certainly be construed as a diplomatic triumph by Pakistan’s own standards.

Criticism of Trump’s predecessors

The second point listed was Donald Trump’s criticism of past US Presidents. His statement that Pakistan had been treated unfairly by his predecessors has been touted as another diplomatic triumph. It appears they haven’t been following Mr Trump for long. He has regularly criticized the foreign policy of erstwhile US governments and slammed them for the deterioration of his country.

His campaign literally said ‘Make America Great Again’ which means that his predecessors had ruined the country. Therefore, it’s not really a surprise that Mr Trump criticized US foreign policy with respect to Pakistan as well. How did he change it? By putting an end to millions of dollars in aid to Pakistan, which again, doesn’t really work in Pakistan’s favour. Apart from that, TNC conveniently ‘failed to mention’ the other part he said which was “I wouldn’t say Pakistan has treated us too well either, but maybe there was a reason.” This perhaps explains why he has put an end to the millions of dollars Pakistan was receiving as financial aid.

Mediation in Kashmir

The most interesting point, however, was on Kashmir. TNC claimed that the US President’s remarks that he was willing to mediate on Kashmir were a great diplomatic triumph for Pakistan. However, when one looks at his words closely, Mr Trump says clearly that he would mediate only if both countries agree to it.

Again, that is perfectly consistent with what India has been saying on the matter. India doesn’t want mediation. Therefore, Donald Trump won’t media as both parties aren’t agreeing to it. It’s a simple matter of putting two and two together. However, that appears to be too much for Pakistani media.

Great concern?

In response to a question about alleged human rights violations in Kashmir, Mr Trump said, “Sure. I’d like to see everything work out. I want it to be humane. I want everybody to be treated well. You have two big countries, and they’re warring countries and they’ve been fighting.” This statement was pinned as “great concern” by TNC. Donald Trump may not be known for ‘heavy words’ but even in his vocabulary, there are much better words to convey “great concern” than that. As Donald Trump would say, “This is the worst demonstration of “great concern” in the history of demonstrations of “great concern”, maybe ever.”

Even later, when Imran Khan emphasized on Kashmir and said it was a humanitarian issue, Donald Trump carefully navigated the issue without saying anything at all that could be construed as a slight to India. The full transcript of the joint press conference can be read here.

Trade, not Aid

The fourth triumph that was mentioned was “Trade not Aid”. It’s pretty hilarious considering the fact that stopping the flow of money to Pakistan hurts only them. Besides, it’s not really a surprise that Mr Trump is speaking of trade. He was a businessman before he became President and he performs his duties pretty much like a Businessman. Therefore, his emphasis on trade is not surprising.

Calling out Modi

The last on the list was “Calling out Modi”. Donald Trump praised the ‘Howdy, Modi’ mega rally in presence of Khan and said PM Modi made “very aggressive statements” on the issue of terrorism at the Houston event. He added that he was surprised himself but the statements were received well by the crowd of Indian-Americans present at the event. That isn’t ‘calling out’ anyone at all. Normally, when somebody ‘calls someone out’, there’s is an intention to cause some damage to that other person’s image.

In this particular instance, it didn’t have that effect at all. In fact, everyone agreed that the comments were a compliment which became obvious when Donald Trump praised Narendra Modi profusely during his press conference with the Indian Prime Minister. He even called Modi the ‘Father of India’ and likened him to the legendary musician Elvis Presley.

What Imran Khan himself thinks

Amusingly enough, not even Imran Khan had such a positive outlook about the success of his trip to the USA. He said at a press conference on the sidelines of the UNGA, “I am disappointed by the international community. If eight million Europeans or Jews or even eight Americans were put under siege, would the reaction have been the same? There’s no pressure yet on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lift the siege. We’ll keep putting the pressure… What are 9,00,000 troops doing there? Once the curfew is lifted, god knows what is going to happen after that”. Khan lamented the global support India enjoys on Kashmir and its prominence in world affairs.

TNC’s claims of Pakistan’s triumph during Imran Khan’s press briefing with Donald Trump is little more than propaganda designed for consumption by its domestic audience. The Pakistani media serves as an extended hand of the establishment to assuage the concerns of its population and convince them of the might of the Pakistani state. After all, the establishment has even succeeded in making their citizenry believe that they have actually won every single war against India, including the one in 1971 where they surrendered meekly and lost half of their territory.

In the age of the internet, it’s extremely difficult to keep an entire country dumbed down as information is easily accessed. However, in the case of Pakistan, when the ministers and army spokesperson keep proving again and again that their collective IQ barely touches that of the donkeys they export to China, even the internet seems to have little effect in terms of enlightenment.

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