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Congress to use the amended Motor Vehicles Act to target BJP ahead of the assembly elections

OpIndia Staff
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Congress to use the amended Motor Vehicles Act to target BJP ahead of the assembly elections

The Congress party has decided to make the much-debated ‘Motor Vehicles Act’ as their election issue to target the ruling BJP ahead of the state assembly elections, reports Hindustan Times.

Reportedly, the Congress party has decided to rake up the issue of the recent amendments in the Motor Vehicles Act in the upcoming assembly elections in three states to target the BJP. The Congress party plans to use the issue of hefty fines and the refusal of some states including those ruled by Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) to implement the law as a poll plank in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand.

The newly appointed Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kumari Selja said the MV Act will definitely be one of the issues apart from others in the upcoming elections. She said the party will raise it in the campaign and the party will highlight the issue after the MV Act confronted a backlash across the country.

Few states including BJP ruled Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttarkhand have either modified the rate of fines prescribed by the Act and opposition ruled states like West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh have outrightly refused to implement the act.

Congress leader Kumari Selja said the MV Act was an instance of an unpopular policy being forcefully implemented by the BJP. She added that Congress stood a chance in the assembly elections in Haryana, where just months ago in the general elections, the BJP won all 10 Lok Sabha seats.

“Those issues were different that time and (now) people want things on the ground. Look at this latest thing (MV Act). I mean go down any road in Haryana, people are reeling under this Motor Vehicle Act. Just see that,” she said.

There were reports from parts of the country that few violaters were made to pay hefty fines under the new law. Otherwise, the law is being welcomed with backers of the act calling it as a deterrent against rash driving and traffic violations.

“Saving lives is one thing and extortion is another. Which was the first state to oppose it? It was the model state of Gujarat. A model state doesn’t believe what the government of India is doing,” said Selja.

Reacting to the Congress accusations, Haryana BJP spokesperson Rajeev Jaitley said that it showed Congress’s negative mindset. “The MV Act is for people’s safety. Are they trying to say that rural people’s lives don’t go in accidents? Why does Congress always do negative politics?” said Jaitley.

One Congress strategist who HT spoke to said that the party was firming up ways in which to use the implementation of the MV Act in the election campaign. “There’s no point getting into security issues like Balakot and this issue is one that the BJP is firefighting with so it would be good to use that,” he said, requesting anonymity.

The new Motor Vehicles Act 2019 which came into effect from September 1 has made stricter rules for those breaking traffic rules. From higher penalties for driving errors to imprisonment up to one month for racing and speeding and up to six months for offences relating to accidents, the new Act is bringing back things in order by instilling fear and discipline on roads.

As per the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways data in 2017, 4.64 lakh accidents had occurred in that year that claimed lives nearly 1.47 lakh people. The two-wheelers accounted for over a third of all road accidents. With states begining to implement the provisions of the Act with heftier fines and imprisonment for drunken driving, driving without a licence and insurance and juvenile offences, people will start to follow rules and road accidents may actually reduce.

In the last one week itself, there has been a rush among motorists to renew their lapsed insurance policies, driving licenses, etc. Additionally, valid motor insurance is needed for the aggrieved parties to get compensation in case of road accidents. However, the act passed by the central government is just a model act. The state governments are free to make their own laws and rules.

The Congress party in a hurry to put the blame on the centre and then making it as an election issue can be counterproductive to them as the reforms introduced by the BJP government is being welcomed by most of the citizens of the country barring a few. From demonetisation to GST reforms to Balakot strikes, the Congress party have not only erred in picking up the right narrative to target the BJP but also played into their hands by taking the wrong sides on developmental and reformative issues.

West Bengal: Majidur Rahman fakes Hindu identity to develop relationship with Hindu girl, later rapes and murders her

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: Majidur Rahman fakes Hindu identity to develop relationship with Hindu girl, later rapes and murders her

A week after the body of a half-naked girl was found in a river in Gangarapur area in West Bengal’s Dakshin Dinajpur district, two men arrested with the case has confessed to having raped and murdered the girl. The main accused in the case is one Majidur Rahman, who had started a relationship with the girl introducing himself as Pintu Sarkar, hiding his religion.

On September 7th, the body of a girl was recovered from the Punarbhaba river in Jahangirpur under Gangarampur police station. The girl was killed by slitting her throat, had deep injury marks on the face, and her lower garments were missing. Three days later, the girl was identified as Jaba Roy. Upon investigation, Majidur was identified as a suspect and he was arrested from the India-Bangladesh border by police on September 11.

Now it has been revealed that Majidur is already married, but he had hidden his marital status and his religion to Jaba while developing the relationship with her. It is alleged that he had identified himself as Pintu Sarkar. Majidur works in a diagnostic laboratory in Gangarampur, and the girl, who was suffering from an ailment, used to visit the lab for tests. They got to know each other during such visits, and that had developed into a relationship.

According to reports, the girl became pregnant as a result of the relationship, and after that, she came to know the true identity of Majidur. She insisted that he should marry her, but he kept refusing it. On 6th September, he called her on the pretext of talking about the mater and took her to an isolated place near the river bank. There, two of his friends joined them, one of whom is his colleague in the laboratory. There, the three men brutally raped the girl, killed her, and dumped her body in the river.

Two of the accused, including Majibur, has been arrested and has been remanded to police custody by the local court, while the third accomplish is still absconding. The incident had triggered a huge protest in the area, and several organizations, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad, took out marches and blocked national highway 512 on 13th September. Protesters had clashed with the police also, after which police lathi-charged the agitators. Several people were injured in police action, and many were arrested later on.

On the same day, BJP MP Locket Chatterjee visited the family of the victim. She has assured all kinds of legal assistance to the family. Although protests have been controlled by huge presence of police force, the situation remains tense in Gangrampur. The people in the area demanding that the accused should be hanged.

One Kamruddin Qureshi lynched to death with sharp weapons, Shabuddin Sheikh, Gafur Khan and 4 others arrested

OpIndia Staff
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One Kamruddin Qureshi lynched to death with sharp weapons, Shabuddin Sheikh, Gafur Khan and 4 others arrested

Six people have been arrested by Malegaon Police thus far in the murder of a 20-year-old youth in the area on Thursday evening. Kamruddin Qureshi, alias Amin Goli, was murdered by 6 people following an argument, Times of India reported.

Shabuddin Shaikh Raees, Istiyak Khan Abdul Gafur Khan, Shaikh Asif Shaikh Maksood, Shaikh Shoaib Shaikh Maksood, Shaikh Wasim Shaikh Yunus and Salman Khan Zakir Khan have been arrested by the Police. All of them are residents of Malegaon. A manhunt has been launched for another accused who is believed to be on the run.

Reportedly, on Thursday evening, Kamruddin got into an argument with the group following which he was threatened with murder. When he told his mother about the fight after returning home, his mother barred him from leaving the house. However, he managed to give his mother the slip and rushed out.

He was accosted by the group near the Kallu Stadium Road where he was attacked with sharp weapons. He suffered grave injuries to his head, neck, back, hands and stomach. He was declared brought dead upon reaching the hospital. The accused, meanwhile, have been remanded to six-day police custody.

In recent times, we have seen such crimes being used to perpetuate a certain narrative. In the current instance, if the accused had belonged to the Hindu community with all other factors remaining constant, another wave of the ‘rising intolerance’ charade would have hit the country.

The now-defunct Hate Crime Watch database by factchecker.in would have certainly considered it a hate crime had the perpetrators been from any other community. But since the perpetrators were from the same community, there hasn’t been much noise around it. Such crimes reveal the duplicity behind the narrative surrounding hate crimes in recent times.

‘Kashmir free from shackles of Pakistan sponsored terrorism’: Pakistani org representing Pashtuns refuses to support Imran Khan’s Kashmir protest, backs India

OpIndia Staff
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‘Kashmir free from shackles of Pakistan sponsored terrorism’: Pakistani org representing Pashtuns refuses to support Imran Khan’s Kashmir protest, backs India

After facing global isolation and humiliation for its failed attempts to internationalise the Kashmir issue, the Imran Khan-led terror state of Pakistan is now facing a legitimacy crisis within its own country as a prominent Pashtun group has backed India’s decision on Jammu and Kashmir, reports Economic Times.

Reportedly, Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), the principal body representing Pashtuns in Pakistan, has rejected Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent call to people in Pakistan urging them to come out and support Pakistan’s narrative on Kashmir.

In a statement issued on social media, the movement supported India’s decision to end the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and refused to protest against India. A part of the statement read Jammu and Kashmir is now “free from shackles of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and vested interest groups.”

PTM, a social movement for Pashtun human-rights based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, is gaining in prominence as a champion of Pashtun rights in Pakistan. It organised a long march on January 26 last year, demanding rights and justice for Pashtuns including in cases of enforced disappearances.

Recently, the PTI government of Pakistan led by Imran Khan had asked all its citizens, and political and social groups to step out on streets in solidarity with the people of Kashmir.

Further, the leaders of PTM also advised PM Khan to learn from India to manage the crisis without using fighter jets against its own people. They also held the Pakistan government responsible for the displacement of 100,000 Pashtuns from their native places in a decade and missing of 3,300 youth.

It called on US President Donald Trump to put pressure on Pakistan to shun violence in Jammu and Kashmir instead of offering to mediate between the two neighbouring countries.

According to the PTM leaders and other Pashtun leaders residing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 362 Kashmiri civilians may have been killed at the hands of forces in Kashmir in comparison to the demolition of 120,000 houses of Pashtuns during the past two decades, leading to deaths of many Pashtuns in the past 15 years.

Facing decades of repression, the minorities in Pakistan are now taking up the fight against the state of Pakistan for inflicting human rights abuses on them. Recently, one of the prominent leaders of the minority Mohajir community, Nadeem Nusrat had slammed Pakistan government stating that Pakistan had “no moral right to speak on behalf of Kashmiris.”

Nadeem Nusrat had also warned Pakistan that it could face a “potentially existential threat” and advised Islamabad to restructure Pakistan into multiple autonomous states suggesting that it is the only viable solution to save the country.

Pakistan hospitable, BJP govt spreading lies about Pakistan for political gains: NCP supremo Sharad Pawar at minority event

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan hospitable, BJP govt spreading lies about Pakistan for political gains: NCP supremo Sharad Pawar at minority event

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday expressed his admiration for the terror state Pakistan stating that the people of Pakistan are “very hospitable” while blaming the BJP government for spreading lies about Pakistan for its political gains.

According to the reports, addressing a special event for minorities at the NCP headquarters in Mumbai, the NCP chief Sharad Pawar said that he had experienced great hospitality in Pakistan when he had visited the country during his tenure as BCCI president.

He added that people in Pakistan are happy but the BJP-led government at the Centre has been spreading lies about Pakistan only for political gains.

“I have visited Pakistan and received hospitality there. Pakistanis believe that even if they can’t go to India to meet their relatives, they treat an Indian as their relatives. People here say Pakistanis are facing injustice & are unhappy but it is not true. Such statements are being said only for political gains without understanding the actual situation in Pak. Ruling class here is spreading false things for political benefits,” Pawar said.

During his address to the party workers, Pawar also talked about issues like mob lynching and Article 370. Pawar criticized the Centre for abrogating Article 370, said that the article existed to give some special powers to people of Jammu and Kashmir. Hitting out at the Narendra Modi led union government, the NCP chief said that the move will result in more terrorism in the Valley.

“By scrapping Article 370, the government wants to convey that they are opposing a minority state and in the process, this action of theirs will lead to more terrorism in the Valley,” Pawar noted.

Sharad Pawar also dared the government to revoke Article 371 in north-eastern states. “Why is the government not lifting Article 371? Why are they [BJP] doing it in Kashmir where minorities are in a majority. They are showing that they are making decisions against minorities,” said Pawar.

Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar is ready to embark on a state-wide tour from September 17 to begin his preparations for the assembly elections as his party NCP is facing an existential crisis after several senior party leaders quit the party to join the BJP and Shiv Sena ahead of the Maharashtra elections.

The 79-year-old NCP patriarch will visit ten districts of Solapur, Osmanabad, Beed, Latur, Hingoli, Parbhani, Jalna, Aurangabad, Ahmednagar and Satara in the first phase of the tour, the NCP said on Twitter.

During the first phase of his tour, Pawar will focus on the stronghold districts of Marathwada and western Maharashtra. NCP has witnessed a mass exodus in the recent past as senior leaders including Satara Udayanraje Bhosale and former state president Bhaskar Jadhav recently resigned from the party in order to join BJP and Shiv Sena respectively.

Prashant Kishor’s team starts reaching out to media and influencers with ‘paid content’ offers ahead of West Bengal assembly elections

Nupur J Sharma
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Prashant Kishor’s team starts reaching out to media and influencers with ‘paid content’ offers ahead of West Bengal assembly elections

Leading news and opinion portal from Darjeeling thedarjeelingchronicle.com, which supports the formation of Gorkhaland as a separate state has published a report with a sensational claim. Backed with screenshots of communication from political strategist Prashant Kishor led IPAC, Darjeeling Chronicle has exposed how IPAC is reaching out to ‘influencers’ on social media and digital portals to carry out paid campaigning for TMC and Mamata Banerjee ahead of 2021 West Bengal state elections.

The portal claims that a few weeks after the news of Prashant Kishor led IPAC working with TMC for the upcoming West Bengal state elections became public, Darjeeling Chronicles got an email from a member of the IPAC team. The first email was from one Nikita Chatterjee.

Email from Nikita Chaterjee (source: Darjeeling Chronicle)

The email says:

“Hello Sir/ Madam,

Hope you are doing well!

We are reaching you through a Well-known Political Agency.

We are aiming to participate and make a meaningful contribution to political affairs and governance of the country, without necessarily being inclined to any political party. We integrated with so many political parties across the Country to make successful democracy and achieved tremendous victory in all the footsteps followed. We are heads up to work for a popular political party of West Bengal.

We completely appreciate the consistency and standards of your Facebook group. I hope you people will grant us access to reach your group members to make them understand the Political pride of West Bengal. We are completely prepared to aware of the west Bengal peoples what to consider for their state development. The country knows West Bengal as a generous state. The state with superabundant famous personalities of the World. Let’s make the state more established together.

Our team will be happy if you accept and revert on our e-mail.

Thanks,

Nikita” [sic]

The email clearly states that the paid promotion is for West Bengal and was from a ‘well-known political agency’. Logical reasoning dictates that the email was from a member of IPAC working for TMC and Mamata Banerjee ahead of Assembly elections.

Today, however, Darjeeling Chronicle claims that they got a second email from one Avesh Singh. The email address mentioned in the communication is [email protected] which appears to be an official email address of someone working with Prashant Kishor’s IPAC.

The report on Darjeeling Chronicle says the content of his email is similar to what Nikita had sent, only this time it was sent in poster form, and this time around there is specific mention that they are going to PAY for their contents to be shared through our platform.

The report also says that attached with this email was an infographic where monetary benefits in exchange for participation was mentioned.

IPAC email (source: Darjeeling Chronicle)

The poster that was emailed to the Darjeeling Chronicle clearly states the following:

1. They would want Darjeeling Chronicle to “helping followers get more awareness about the politics of THEIR state”.

2. IPAC reached out to Darjeeling Chronicle as it is playing a “vital role in the upcoming West Bengal Elections”.

3. Monetary benefits: The flyer mentions, “we will also give monetary benefits in two variants. You will get paid for sharing our content and also, merchandise directly from THE PARTY”.

4. Opportunity to work closely with THE PARTY and get a position in the party.

Darjeeling Chronicle ends its report by saying:

However we have this counteroffer to make to IPAC and through them to Mr. Prasant Kishor – get Mamata Banerjee to come out openly in support of Gorkhaland statehood – our entire team will volunteer for you and TMC for free.

Till then, please do know OUR PAGE IS NOT FOR SALE.

OpIndia reached out to one of the people directly involved in campaigning from IPAC to ask him about their plans on social media for TMC during the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections. When asked about the email, the IPAC executive sounded confused and attempting to shield TMC.

The executive of IPAC, who wishes to stay anonymous said that this email was not regarding TMC at all and IPAC was, in general, trying to build an ecosystem of influencers who would help in political campaigning. When questioned that since the email pertains to West Bengal elections and since IPAC has already teamed up with TMC for the West Bengal elections, would it not mean that IPAC was contacting digital portals and influencers for paid promotion of TMC, the executive strangely said that the ‘party was not decided yet’.

The correspondent, to prod further, asked that if “the party was not decided yet”, would it mean that Prashant Kishor led IPAC was willing to collaborate with parties other than TMC for the upcoming West Bengal elections. To that, the executive confirmed that it would not be possible for IPAC to collaborate with other political parties since it has already collaborated with TMC.

If one notices, in the email sent by Avesh to Darjeeling Chronicle, it clearly mentions that the promotional offer is for West Bengal Assembly Elections, however, it smartly covers its tracks by saying that they wish to supply content that would help Darjeeling Chronicle readers ‘choose their leader’ wisely. Later it says that the promoters would also get monetary benefits and position in the political party.

Since the email concerned West Bengal elections and the IPAC executive, despite his best efforts confirmed that Prashant Kishor led IPAC was working exclusively with TMC in West Bengal, it stands to reason that the promotion offer was for content favourable to TMC and Mamata Banerjee.

While reaching out to influencers is normal for political lobbyists and agencies including for brand promotion, it is interesting that even a digital portal was approached for paid promotions. One certainly does wonder how much of the political content in the run-up to West Bengal Assembly elections would be paid for when in favour of Mamata Banerjee led TMC.

Malala Yousafzai spreads fake news, claims girl from Kashmir missed her exams on August 12 which was an Eid holiday

OpIndia Staff
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Malala Yousafzai spreads fake news, claims girl from Kashmir missed her exams on August 12 which was an Eid holiday

Malala Yousafzai, the face of the ‘signature feminists’, has yet again woken up from her deep slumber to expose her dubious intellect and hypocrisy, and spread fake news on Kashmir.

In a series of tweets, Malala Yousafzai resorted to parroting fake Pakistan propaganda after she attempted to sell ‘fiction’ stories as the current reality of the state of Jammu and Kashmir following the revocation of special status in the state. In doing so, ‘Nobel laureate’ Malala was caught peddling lies by social media users and was also schooled for her ignorance on the ongoing issue.

Malala Yousafzai, who otherwise remains silent fearing Islamists and Pakistani establishment, on Saturday, tweeted that she was concerned about alleged reports of 4,000 people, including children, arbitrarily arrested and jailed in Kashmir and called on leaders to work towards peace in Kashmir.

Furthering her propaganda, Malala said she spoke to people living and working in Kashmir, especially the journalists, human rights lawyers and students last week and that she directly spoke to girls living there.


However, in her attempt to spread her anti-India propaganda, Malala said that she heard from the people Kashmir directly despite having a ‘communication blackout’. One wonders what ‘communication blackout’ are the ‘activists’ outraging about when all of them claim to have spoken to people living in Kashmir. Furthering her lies again, she added that Kashmiris were cut off and unable to make their voices heard to the rest of the world.


Malala does not stop there. She claimed that she spoke to three Kashmiri girls, who said to her that the current situation in Kashmir was of ‘complete silence’ and said that all they could hear was the steps of troops outside their windows which was ‘really scary’.

The best part of Malala’s story is that when she claimed that one of the three girls said to her that she could not go to school to appear for her exams that were supposedly held on August 12. As the girl missed her exams, she cried to Malala that she was now purposeless and depressed. “I feel my future is insecure now. I want to be a writer and grow to be an independent, successful Kashmiri woman,” said one of those three girls to Malala.


Malala Yousafzai, with her astute quality for fiction writing, may win her second Nobel prize for her literature as well. According to Malala, one of the three girls missed her exams on August 12. However, August 12 is a notified holiday declared across India on the occasion of Bakr Id or Eid ul-Adha.

Official List of Holidays in 2019. (Source: rsintranet.nic.in)

Even on the Jammu and Kashmir General Administration Department website, 12th August is clearly marked as Eid.

Jammu and Kashmir calendar (source: jkgad.nic.in)

Malala is indulging in spreading fake news when she claims that a Kashmiri girl missed her exams on August 12 due to the alleged restrictions placed in Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

Malala’s outright lies do not end here with her stories pertaining to Kashmiri girls. She is also being schooled on social media with facts regarding her claim of the so-called ‘communications blackout’ in the Kashmir.

Journalists and social media users are pointing out to the fact that they themselves had visited Kashmir valley following the revocation of special status. They also rejected the claims of any communication blackouts and other restrictions placed in Kashmir as tweeted by Malala.


Harsh Vardhan Tripathi, an independent journalist has also exposed Malala’s claims of communications blackout. Sharing the video of his reportage in Kashmir taken on the day of Muharram, Tripathi accused Malala of spreading rumours pertaining to the situation in Kashmir.


Contrary to Malala’s claims of India attacking people of Kashmir by arresting people including children, it is her own country Pakistan that is targetting children in Kashmir. As usual, it is the Indian Army despite being ill-treated by the Kashmiris are helping and aiding the Kashmiris against the terror perpetrated by Pakistan against the of the people of Kashmir.


Malala Yousafzai, who is known for her selectivity in condemning human rights abuses, has always chosen to remain tight-lipped against the atrocities that Islamic societies inflict on other societies. Her own country Pakistan has been exporting terror to other countries while killing its own citizens including Pashtuns, natives in Balochistan and Sind.

Fearing for Pakistani establishment, Malala has also chosen to remain silent on the barbaric incidents of conversions that has become rampant in Pakistan. However, when it comes to taking moral high-ground on issues pertaining to non-Islamic countries, Malala sticks her neck out express her own hypocrisy.

Pakistan terrorises its own citizens, carries out atrocities against its own people

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan terrorises its own citizens, carries out atrocities against its own people

In a shocking disclosure about Pakistan Army’s rampant brutality against its own dissenting citizens, Major Gaurav Arya (retired) posted 2 horrifying videos sent to him by his sources illustrating the atrocities meted out on the people by Pakistan’s Armed Forces on his Twitter page on Saturday.


Sharing macabre videos of two fatally injured Pakistani soldiers, Major Arya claimed that 2 Pakistani Army soldiers had gone into Spin Waim Tehsil, Aba Khail Village, in North Waziristan to carry out targeted killings. However, the locals there killed the soldiers.


Major Arya further enunciated that the videos uploaded by him were shot by the locals of North Waziristan and shared to him before Pakistani establishment imposed crippling restrictions, snapping communication links and enforcing curfew in the region. Major Arya further added that Pakistani Army personnel and locals are at each other’s throats.

According to him, the two killed Pakistanis were serial offenders known to have committed excesses such as rapes and murders. Putting end to the rumours that civilians were killed in the incidents, he also asserted that Pakistanis would now try to distort the details of the incident in order to dodge humiliation.

Ever since India abrogated Article 370, stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its separate status, Pakistan has been restlessly fanning falsehoods and utter lies about the situation in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, with the aim to internationalise the Kashmir issue. Pakistan PM Imran Khan has been sermonising India on the alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the latest incident in North Waziristan exposes Pakistan’s hypocrisy as it unrepentantly imposes paralysing measures against its own people and subjecting them to worst levels of atrocities while moralising India over human rights.

Houthis, the Islamic religious-political-armed movement of Yemen, claims responsibility for attack on Saudi oil facility

OpIndia Staff
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Houthis, the Islamic religious-political-armed movement of Yemen, claims responsibility for attack on Saudi oil facility

Houthis, the Islamic religious-political-armed movement of Yemen, on Saturday claimed responsibility for the drone attack on two Saudi Aramco factories, which led to massive fire at the world’s largest oil processing facility. The Houthi-run Al Masirah TV broadcast the group’s statement.

As per reports, the group also threatened to widen its scope of attacks against the kingdom. Though Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry confirmed the fire was brought under control, it was however, uncertain whether the incident had caused any damages to the facility. As many as 10 drones targeted Saudi Aramco oil facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais.

“The industrial security teams of Aramco have started dealing with fires at two of its facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais as a result of… drones,” said the spokesman as per the local media. He further added, “The two fires have been controlled.”

Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company is a Saudi Arabian national petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The state-owned oil company is one of the companies in the world in terms of revenues. It operates and controls the majority of the kingdom’s refinery production and oilfields. It is said to be the most profitable company around the globe.

According to a report, in some online videos that seem to have been shot in Buqyaq one can hear gunfire sounds in the background. Flames are also seen rising out of the Abqaiq oil processing facility, rising over the skyline. It is said that the huge flames were visible from a distance.

Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry statement asserts the fire engulfed the facility after it was “targetted targeted by drones,” and that investigation is on. The Ministry’s statement was run by the Saudi Press Agency.

For over four years, Saudi Arabia has been on the forefront to lead a military coalition of the Arabs against Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen. This coalition is supporting Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the President of the internationally-recognized government of Yemen, who has been living in exile.

Mega shopping festivals to taxation incentives, FM Nirmala Sitharaman announces comprehensive measures to boost export and housing sector

OpIndia Staff
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Mega shopping festivals to taxation incentives, FM Nirmala Sitharaman announces comprehensive measures to boost export and housing sector

In a press conference convened by the Finance Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman today announced a plethora of measures to restore dwindling confidence of people in the Indian economy and arrest the slump. The government’s specific focus is on lifting the exports and real estate sectors which have been the worst hit in the economic slowdown.


Being optimistic about the economy, Sitharaman stated that the government has been able to control the inflation which is just under 4 per cent. She also asserted that the Annual Investment Rate is going up and the signs of economic revival are palpable and very encouraging. Finance Minister is also set to meet the heads of the public sector banks on September 19. She has assured that there has been an increased flow of credit from the banks in the last few weeks. In a big relief for small taxpayers, Sitharaman declared that small taxpayers with marginal default will not be prosecuted.

For addressing issues of economic woes in the Exports and Housing Sector, Nirmala Sitharaman listed down comprehensive steps to be initiated by the government to invigorate growth in these sectors. The steps are:

New measures adopted by the government to boost exports:

  1. Extend the scheme of Reimbursement of Taxes and Duties for Export promotion: The government has decided to extend the scheme of Reimbursement of Taxes and Duties for promoting exports. The finance minister has announced new scheme-Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products to replace the existing all Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) from January 1, 2020. Existing MEIS and old ROSL in textile to continue till December 31, 2019.

  2. Fully automated electronic refund route for Input Tax Credit in GST: The second measure to be adopted by the government in boosting exports is ‘Fully automated electronic route for Input Tax Credit(ITC) in GST’. The finance minister emphasises that the fully electronic refund module for a quick and automated refund of Tax Credit will be implemented later this month. “There will be the total removal of human interface in tax assessment,” the finance minister said.
  3. Expanding the scope of Export credit Insurance Scheme(ECIS) by ECGC: In its third step to goose exports, the government has taken the decision of expanding the scope of Export Credit Insurance Scheme(ECIS) by Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC). The ECGS will offer higher insurance cover to banks lending working capital for exports. The Premium incidence for MSMEs will be moderated suitably. The move aims to enable a reduction in the overall cost of export credit including interest rates.

  4. Revised Priority Sector Lending norms for Export Credit: Priority Sector Lending(PSL) norms for Export credit have been evaluated and enabling guidelines are under consideration of the RBI. This will provide an additional corpus of Rs 36000 crores to Rs 68000 crores as export credit under the priority sector.
  5. Effective monitoring of Export Financing by Department of Commerce: The government plans to monitor Export Finance with the help of an Inter-Ministerial Working Group in the Department of Commerce, tracked through a dashboard, reviewed with institutions and interventions will be carried out as and when needed.
  6. Leverage technology to reduce “Time to Export or Turn-around time”: Technology will be used further to reduce the time to export and for completion of seamless process digitisation of all export clearances. An action plan to reduce time to export/turn-around time at the airports and ports in accordance with the international benchmark will be implemented by December 2019. Airports and ports will be informed of their actual turn-around time to prod them into improving their performance. An Inter-Ministerial Group will overlook this.
  7. Annual Mega shopping festivals: Annual Mega shopping festivals will be organised in 4 places in India by March 2020 with 4 themes(G&J, Handicrafts/Yoga/Tourism, Textiles and Leather).

  8. Special FTA Utilisation Mission: A senior officer in the Department of Commerce will preside over FTA Utilisation Mission which will work exclusively with FIEO and export houses to utilise concessional tariffs in each FTA. Specific goals will be set for FTA utilisation and an effective FTA monitoring system will be established.
  9. Online “Origin Management System”: An Online “Origin Management System” will be launched in the next few weeks to help the exporters get the Certificates of Origin-CoO by DGFT in collaboration with Exports Inspection Council.
  10. Time-Bound adoption of mandatory Technical Standards: The government has committed to time-bound adoption of all necessary technical standards to improve the performance ecosystem and quality, inculcate competitiveness and tackle the issue of substandard exports. A Working Group of Standards will be set up in the Department of Commerce to create a blueprint of implementation of Standards, timelines and enforcement. This is aimed at providing a big boost to the Indian products over non-tariff barriers in export.
  11. Affordable Testing and certification infrastructure: Affordable testing and certification will be developed in India in PPP mode to aide exporters in getting all the internationally accepted tests and certification to be done in India.
  12. Enable the handicrafts industry to effectively harness e-commerce for exports: Special exemption will be provided for facilitating and on-boarding handicrafts artisans and cooperatives on e-commerce portals and enable seamless export.

New Measures adopted to boost Real Estate Sector:

  1. Relaxation of ECB guidelines for Affordable Housing: In consultation with the RBI, the government proposes to ease the ECB guidelines to enable financing of home buyers for people who are eligible under Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana(PMAY).
  2. House Building Advance: The interest rate on House Building Advance will be lowered and connected to the 10 year G Sec yields. The government believes that this move will encourage more government employees to buy new houses.
  3. Special Window for affordable and middle-income Housing: The government will provide a special window for last-mile funding for housing projects which are non-NPA and non-NCLT projects and are Net worth positive in the affordable and middle-income category. The primary objective to focus on the construction of the unfinished units. The government of India, similar to NIIF, will contribute to the fund while the rest of it will be invested by LIC and private capital from banks/sovereign funds/DFIs etc. Rs 10000 crore to be invested by the government, while the approximately same amount will come from the outside investors.
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