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Ahmedabad based Assamese scientist excluded from NRC because he didn’t apply, journalists use it to propagate fake news

OpIndia Staff
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Ahmedabad based Assamese scientist excluded from NRC because he didn’t apply, journalists use it to propagate fake news

On September 3, North East based news portal NENow posted one news saying that Prominent scientist from Assam Jitendra Nath Goswami, who is an advisor of the Chandrayaan II Mission, and his family has been excluded from the recently published NRC in Assam.

Today this news has been widely circulated by several journalists, most of whom are against the NRC, to point out how flawed the NRC is.

India Today journalist exclaimed ‘wow, seriously’, while sharing the news.


Controversial journalist Suhasini Haidar also declared that “Chandrayaan advisor and family also off NRC list”.


Journalist Saikat Datta went one step ahead, claiming that Dr Jitendra Nath Goswami has been declared an illegal immigrant, as his name is missing from final NRC.


Trinamool Congress propagandist Garga Chatterjee declared that the advisor has been made non-citizen by anti-Bengali NRC.


Such messages were posted by many users on Twitter, who wanted to spread the message that even an ISRO advisor was not spared by the evil NRC, by quoting the NENow story. But all of the chose to deliberately ignore the details mentioned in the story.

According the report they are quoting, Goswamy told the media house, “We have been living in Ahmedabad for last 20 years. Perhaps we failed to do whatever was required for inclusion of our names in the NRC”. He also said that “we live in Ahmedabad and have voting rights in Ahmedabad. Since I have no plans to go back to Assam, I don’t think it will matter much”.

This quotes by Goswami himself shows how journalists are spreading misleading information. The National Register of Citizens is only applicable for residents of Assam, it is not yet applicable in rest of India. And for someone’s name to be included in it, they were required to complete certain formalities and documentation. Now Dr Goswami himself has said that he is living in Ahmedabad for 20 years, he is a voter in that city, and he has no plan to return to Assam. Therefore, he didn’t do what was required for inclusion of their names in NRC.

Jitendra Nath Goswami is the brother of Hitendra Nath Goswami, the speaker of the Assam Assembly. He has also informed media that his scientist brother did not apply for inclusion of his and his family members names in the NRC. “He is now a permanent resident of Gujarat where he along with his family has voting rights. My brother didn’t apply for inclusion of his name in the NRC list. Actually, he didn’t show any interest to apply for the NRC,” Hitendra Nath Goswami was quoted in an India Today report. The report confirmed that Jitendra Nath Goswami had opted not to apply for inclusion of their names in the NRC list.

Just because Dr Goswami’s name is not in NRC, he is not declared illegal as Saikat Datta claims, because is not residing in Assam. By that logic, as names of every Indian outside Assam are excluded from NRC, all of them should be declared illegal immigrant, but that is not the case.

Like all other government identification documents like Aadhaar card, Passport etc, people in Assam needed to apply for NRC and complete the formalities. If one does not apply for the same, their name will not be there in the NRC, just like they will not be issued Aadhaar or Passport if they do not apply. This does not show any flaw in the process, it just means that the person was not interested in the process.

Before working as an advisor in the Chandrayaan II mission, Dr Jitendra Nath Goswami was the chief Chief Scientist of Chandrayaan-I, and was also the developer of this project. He is also associated with the Mangalyaan mission of ISRO. He had served as a director of Physical Research Laboratory situated at Ahmadabad, Gujarat from 2005 to 2014.

It is interesting to note that while journalists from mainland India are trying to focus on people excluded from NRC, even focusing on persons who deliberately excluded themselves, people in Assam, including all political parties, are criticising the NRC alleging that it includes too many illegal immigrants. The governments at state and the centre were aware that there were flaws in the NRC, and they had applied for re-verification of data and extension of NRC publication with the Supreme Court. But the apex court refused both, and therefore a flawed NRC was published. Finance minister Himanta Biswa Sharma has alleged that legacy data, based on which the NRC is prepared, was tampered with, which led to the inclusion of many illegal immigrants in the NRC.

Multiple FIRs have been lodged against Prateek Hajela, the Coordinator of Supreme Court-monitored NRC, alleging that he deliberately excluded “genuine Indians” from the list. Senior Congress leader and former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi also wrote to the Chief Justice of India, requesting to review the NRC. He has alleged that Prateek Hajela did not discharge his duty efficiently.

Bangladesh to UN aid agencies: Support relocation of Rohingyas to Bhasan Char island or leave the country

OpIndia Staff
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Bangladesh to UN aid agencies: Support relocation of Rohingyas to Bhasan Char island or leave the country

Bangladesh has informed the United Nation that if the aid agencies do not support the government’s move to relocate around 1 lakh Rohingya refugees to Bhasan Char island, the agencies will be asked to leave the country. Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, in an interview with DW, said that the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar are overcrowded and some of them need to be relocated to the newly constructed dwellings on the currently uninhabited island on the Bay of Bengal.

Bangladesh is completing the construction of 1440 buildings on Bhasan Char island, each building meant for 16 families. The rows of identical houses made with concrete blocks and steel with red roofs are almost ready, with a group four buildings around a pond. The housing complex also will have 120 cyclone shelters, built to protect the residents from strong cyclones. These buildings will also function as hospitals, schools, community centres, aid agency offices etc.

The Bhasan Char Island is a new island, formed only twenty years ago from silts. Apart from being hit by cyclones, the island also gets flooded during high tide. To protect from that, a flood barrier has been constructed around the housing complex. The constructions started in 2018, and most of the works have been already completed.

The decision to construct the housing complex on the island was taken after more than 7 lakh Rohingya refugees has entered Bangladesh from Myanmar in 2017. Bangladesh government had settled them in makeshift camps in the coastal town of Cox’s Bazar. The camps made of corrugated metal sheet and tarpaulin are overcrowded, and the entire refugee area has become a hotbed for crimes like murder, abductions and rape. Located near the water, the camps also face regular landslides.

Rohingyas are also increasingly getting involved in crimes, and conflicts with local Bangladeshis are increasing, creating a huge headache for police. With no sign of the refugees going back soon, the government decided to shift some of them to the recently emerged island, which is around 30 km from the mainland.

At present, houses for around 1 lakh people are nearing completion, and the Bangladesh government wants to start the process of relocating. But refugees, and aid agencies working for them, are refusing to shift to the island. Refugees cite the danger of flooding in island for their refusal. They also don’t want to shift to an isolated island from crowded mainland.

But Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has alleged that aid agency workers are instigating the refugees to refuse to relocate. He says that the agencies working in Cox’s Bazar stay in five-star hotels, and they don’t want to move to another place. He added that government is identifying international NGOs who are politicising the Rohingya issue.

He said that Bangladesh will relocate the refugees even if the UN agencies don’t support the move. Rohingyas have refused to go back to Myanmar unless their demands are not met, and so far, Myanmar has accepted only one demand, providing safety, security and mobility. Demands such as granting citizenship to Rohingya, punishment for people involved in the Rohingya massacre, recognizing Rohingya as an ethnic group, and allowing them to return to their own homes have not been met.

The minister said that UN has to agree to the relocation plan or it can take the refugees with them, adding that already some of these people are getting involved in criminal activities. He said that already the number of refugees is double the number of local citizens in the area. That is why the government can force their relocation, he added.

Momen said that Bangladesh is willing to send the Rohingyas to anywhere, to anyone who wants to take them. Saying that they can’t afford to keep the refugees forever, he added that even the Bhasan Char is a temporary arrangement.

He said that UN is not helping Bangladesh much in this regard. “Why don’t these UN aid agencies work in Myanmar? They should go to Myanmar, especially to Rakhine state, to create conditions that could help these refugees to go back to their country. The UN is not doing the job that we expect them to do”, The foreign minister said.

When asked if Bangladesh will expel the UN agencies if they don’t support the relocation plan, he said that they will do that if necessary. He also asserted that Bangladesh has the capability to relocate 1 lakh refugees to Bhasan Char without the support of the UN.

He also refuted the allegations that the island is unsafe, saying that they have built embankments and beautiful houses there. “If we tell Bangladeshi people to go there, they would definitely go there”, he added.

Eknath Gaikwad appointed as Acting President of the Mumbai Congress, replacing Milind Deora

OpIndia Staff
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Eknath Gaikwad appointed as Acting President of the Mumbai Congress, replacing Milind Deora

The Congress Party on Friday approved of former Lok Sabha MP Eknath Gaikwad’s appointment as the Acting President of the Mumbai Congress. In a letter, duly signed by AICC General Secretary, KC Venugopal, it has been mentioned that Gaikwad, a three-time MLA from Dharavi, Asia’s largest slum, and a former minister in the Maharashtra government would replace Milind Deora, who had earlier resigned from the post of Mumbai party chief.

It also said, “The party appreciates the contribution of the outgoing president of MRCC, Milind Deora.”

 

The Congress general secretary KC Venugopal had earlier announced the appointment of Gaikwad as the working president of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC).  On July 26, Venugopal in a statement had said: “Hon’ble Congress President has approved the proposal for appointing Shri Eknath Gaikwad as the working president of Mumbai Regional Congress Committee.”

The letter signed by Venugopal then said that Gaikwad’s appointment has been approved by outgoing Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

Soon after Gaikwad appointed as chief of MRCC, Milind Deora in a statement has said: “I wish E Gaikwad my best on his appointment as Working President of MRCC. He is one of Mumbai Congress’ most experienced leaders. I’m certain his experience and connect with people will be of great value to party in upcoming assembly elections and beyond.” He also hoped that party will also take a decision on the post of Mumbai Congress President at the earliest.

Milind Deora, who was appointed as Mumbai Congress president just weeks before the Lok Sabha polls had resigned from the post owing to the party’s loss in five of the six seats it contested in the city in the Lok Sabha polls. The post was lying vacant since then.

Ending a month-long drama, Rahul Gandhi had on July 3, publicly announced his resignation from the post of Congress President. He posted a self-contradictory, four-page letter on Twitter reiterating his decision to step down from the post of Congress president and also taking responsibility for the election results.

Before putting down his paper’s the Congress prince had expressed his angst over Congress leaders being nonchalant with the poll rout and not owning up the responsibility of the loss. Following this, mass-resignation had rocked the Congress Party. Many Party bigwigs like Jyotiraditya Scindia, Indian Youth Congress Chief, Keshav Chand Yadav had resigned from their respective posts taking responsibility of the poll debacle. Moreover, veteran leaders like Kamal Nath had also offered to resign from the post of the Chief Minister and that of the Chief of Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC).

First in India: Jagga and Balia, conjoined twins born with brains fused, separated successfully by doctors at AIIMS

OpIndia Staff
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First in India: Jagga and Balia, conjoined twins born with brains fused, separated successfully by doctors at AIIMS

The first successful craniopagus conjoined twin separation surgery from India, where both the children survived, was performed by doctors at AIIMS over two years. The two children from Odisha, Jagga and Balia, who were joined by the head, are now finally ready to go home.

The surgery employed all modern technology such as 3D print model technology for brain and skull model development, venous bypass, staged surgeries among others. While Jagga is normal, Balia cannot speak yet and would need prolonged rehabilitation.

“He will get better over the years, but Balia is unlikely to be 100% normal, ever. How can we even expect that? The brains of the both the children were never fully formed. Luckily for Jagga, he had a proper blood circulation in the brain. We had to put in a venous graft for Balia to maintain blood supply. Even then some parts of his brain are likely to atrophy or die off,” Dr Deepak Gupta, head of the surgical team and a paediatric neurosurgeon at AIIMS-Delhi, said. Dr. Gupta added that when the twin first came to the hospital in July 2017, not only were their skulls connected, their brains were fused too and they shared the circulatory system.

Craniopagus twinning is the rarest of form congenital abnormalities, accounting for just 2–6% of all conjoined twins. Mortality in such twins are very high, and only 25% Craniopagus twins survive after birth.

The doctors were congratulated by Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan. He stated, “It is such a great coincidence that Jagga and Balia will reach home on 7th September and Chandrayaan II will also touch the moon on the same date. It’s not only India’s scientists that are doing India proud, it is the commendable determination and commitment of the doctors also that is making India proud. This rarest of the rare surgery is one such shining example. It can be called “AIIMS Delhi Jagga and Balia craniopagus surgery”.”

He further said, “The doctors did an excellent job over the last 2 years and two months. Despite multiple complications, the surgeries were successful. I still believe picture is not over yet. It’s just the beginning. The twins still have a long journey to cover. They will be rehabilitated, and the time is also ripe for them to go to school. I think they have the blessings of Lord Jagannath and He will take care of them.”

India gifts solar panels worth $1 million to the United Nations headquarters in New York

OpIndia Staff
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India gifts solar panels worth $1 million to the United Nations headquarters in New York

In a bid to reaffirm its commitment to combat Climate change, India has gifted solar panels to the United Nations as a goodwill gesture. The gifted solar panels are installed on the roof of the Conference Building at the United Nations headquarters. The panels are powered up to reach a maximum of 50 KW of generation power. A green roof also has been installed on the building as part of the gift from India.


The Conference Building at the UN headquarters faces the East River, and it is located between the iconic Secretariate Building and the General Assembly Building of the UN.


India has contributed $1 million for installing the solar panels on the UN building in New York City. In September last year, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin had tweeted saying that India was the first responder to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call for climate action.


He had said that India was funding the solar project at the United Nations headquarters to reduce carbon footprint & promote sustainable energy. While handing over the contribution, Akbaruddin had said,  “It is my hope that installing solar panels at UN Headquarters would set in motion enhanced solar energy cooperation at the international stage.”


India has been a frontrunner in propounding the Paris agreement on Climate change and has set itself ambitious targets to play its part in mitigating global warming. The International Solar Alliance was formed on the initiative of the Modi government in 2016. The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an alliance of more than 122 countries, most of them being sunshine countries, which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, and receive plenty of sunlight.

With the US showing little interest in honouring the Paris agreement, the world is looking up to India to carry the baton of climate change and spearhead the campaign to protect the environment. India has been a staunch proponent of harnessing the renewable sources of energy such as solar energy, which hitherto hasn’t been utilised to the fullest. The recent endowment of solar panels to the United Nations is a move in this direction.

Why do you want to destroy the Delhi Metro? SC slams Kejriwal govt over free Metro rides to women

OpIndia Staff
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Why do you want to destroy the Delhi Metro? SC slams Kejriwal govt over free Metro rides to women

The Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra slammed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi on Friday over its proposal of providing free metro rides for women.

Questioning the financial implications of this proposal, SC asserted that the State government should refrain from spending taxpayers’ money in sops. “Must properly use public money and should refrain from giving free sops to people,” observed Justice Arun Mishra while hearing the petition filed by petitioner MC Mehta, who has opposed the Delhi government’s move.

The bench, which is monitoring the construction of the fourth phase, said that DMRC will run into heavy losses and maintenance, facilities will suffer. The apex court said, “You (Delhi government) will make travel free and the Central government will have to pay for it. Why do you want to destroy the Delhi Metro?”

Notably, the Delhi Metro Corporation is jointly owned by Union Government and Delhi Government with 50 per cent share each.

Noting that losses on this count will run up to Rs 1,500 crore per annum, the bench said that as a result, DMRC may not remain a profitable venture. “DMRC annual revenue is between 6000 and 7000 crores. Its loss for last year was 100 crore. If free sops are given, there would be a direct loss of Rs.1500 crore per annum and DMRC cannot pay its long term debt obligations on time, its expansion would get hampered and its facilities and maintenance would come down,” observed the court.

Going by its old habit of offering populist subsidies just before elections, Kejriwal government had on June 3 proposed that women in Delhi will be allowed to travel free of cost in all DTC (Delhi Transport Corporation) buses, cluster buses and metro trains in Delhi. He said that this has been to ensure that women can have safe travel experience and access modes of transport which they were not able to do so due to high prices.

Arvind Kejriwal added no subsidy will be imposed on anyone for this scheme and added that those women who can afford to pay, they can purchase the tickets. Taking a leaf out of PM Modi’s, ‘give it up scheme’ for LPG subsidies, he said that Delhi govt will encourage those who can afford to not avail this scheme so that others can benefit.

AAP’s dole of free Metro rides to women was shunned by former Delhi Metro chief, E Sreedharan, popularly known as ‘Metro Man’, who in his letter to the Prime Minister dated June 10 wrote: “One shareholder cannot take a unilateral decision to give concession to one section of the community and push Delhi Metro into inefficiency and bankruptcy.”

Urging the Prime Minister to “not agree” with Kejriwal government’s decision, Sreedharan had then said that once the scheme is implemented by August-September, it would put an additional burden of around Rs 700-800 crore in the current financial year.

NDTV, Reuters and AP journalists occupying palatial govt bungalows in Srinagar asked to vacate, Kashmir Press Club miffed

OpIndia Staff
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NDTV, Reuters and AP journalists occupying palatial govt bungalows in Srinagar asked to vacate, Kashmir Press Club miffed

The Government has recently asked NDTV’s Bureau Chief Nazir Masoodi, Reuters senior representative Fayyaz Bukhari and Associated Press’s Aijaz Hussain, who have been occupying sprawling bungalows in Srinagar without meeting the required criteria, to vacate them at the earliest.

According to a report in Organiser, these journalists have been enjoying government bungalows, without meeting the necessary criteria, since it has been allotted to them by the previous government in lieu of their “journalistic services”. However, since such benefits cannot be extended under any rule of the government, their stay is clearly illegal. And taking this into consideration, the government has now asked these journalists to vacate the government accommodation immediately.

This decision has obviously irked the group of journalists who have until now enjoyed the entitlement given to them by the past governments. The Kashmir press club, a motley group of entitled journalists, has now accused the state government of victimizing these journalists by asking them to vacate the government accommodation.

The Kashmir Press Club has said in an official statement that the government’ order to vacate the bungalow is “nothing but harassment aimed at coercing journalists to ‘toe a particular line'”.

Kashmir Press club’s statement. Courtesy: Twitter

Interestingly, this protest spearheaded by Press club of Kashmir has been backed by the Press Club of India and Editor’s Guild too.

It is notable here that many Indian and international journalists have been echoing Pakistan’s statements over the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir.

In fact, it was NDTV’s Nazir Masoodi, whose report from Srinagar was used by Pakistan’s ruling party PTI to peddle their anti-India propaganda. Masoodi, without showing video clips or naming persons, had claimed tha he has been talking to locals in Srinagar and they are just waiting for security to be relaxed to start violent protests against India.

The NIA, during its investigation into terror funding cases, had also reportedly stated that many members of the Kashmir Press Club and the Kashmir Editor’s Guild are being funded by ISI.

Many journalists from Kashmir and from outside have also been desperately tring to pass off blatant fake news to claim civil unrest in Kashmir and have been trying to build up a narrative that the Indian security forces are unleashing atrocities in the Kashmir valley.

As normalcy is returning back to Kashmir, the ‘liberal-secular’ forces seem to be in discomfort and have now resorted to putting pro-Pakistan agenda to discredit the Narendra Modi government’s decision to correct the historic blunder.

No ‘Aryan Gene’ in Rakhigarhi skeletons, Indus Valley population largest source of ancestry for South Asians: Study

OpIndia Staff
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No ‘Aryan Gene’ in Rakhigarhi skeletons, Indus Valley population largest source of ancestry for South Asians: Study

The primary source of ancestry in modern South Indians is a prehistoric genetic gradient between people related to early hunter-gatherers of Iran and Southeast Asia, a newly published study titled ‘An ancient Harappan genome lacks ancestry from Steppe pastoralists or Iranian farmers’ said.

The paper makes three crucial points, as noted in the Economic Times, The skeletal remains from the Rakhigarhi individual was from a population that is “the largest source of ancestry for South Asians”; the “Iranian related ancestry in South Asia split from Iranian plateau lineage over 12,000 years ago”; the “first farmers of the fertile crescents contributed little to no ancestry to later South Asians”.

The study which involved the inspection of DNA samples of the skeletons found in Rakhigarhi, an Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) site in Haryana, found no traces of the R1a1 gene or Central Asian ‘steppe’ genes, colloquially called the ‘Aryan gene’. “The population has no detectable ancestry from Steppe pastoralists or from Anatolian and Iranian farmers, suggesting farming in South Asia arose from local foragers rather than from large-scale migration from the West,” the study said.

The study further notes, “After the Indus Valley Civilization’s decline, its people mixed with individuals in the southeast to form one of the two main ancestral populations of South Asia, whose direct descendants live in southern India. Simultaneously, they mixed with descendants of Steppe pastoralists who, starting around 4000 years ago, spread via Central Asia to form the other main ancestral population. The Steppe ancestry in South Asia has the same profile as that in Bronze Age Eastern Europe, tracking a movement of people that affected both regions and that likely spread the distinctive features shared between Indo-Iranian and Balto-Slavic languages.”

The study says that the section of the IVC population that mixed with northwestern groups with Steppe ancestry to form the “Ancestral North Indians”(ANI) and also mixed with southeastern groups to form the “Ancestral South Indians” (ASI), whose direct descendants today live in tribal groups in southern India.

“The Iranian related ancestry in IVC derives from a lineage leading to early Iranian farmers, herders and hunter-gatherers before their ancestors separated, contradicting the hypothesis that the shared ancestry between early Iranians and South Asians reflects a large-scale spread of western Iranian farmers east. Instead, sampled ancient genomes from the Iranian plateau and IVC descend from different groups of hunter-gatherers who began farming without being connected by substantial movement of people,” the paper states. It means that farming was developed in the Indian subcontinent by indigenous populations.

Vagheesh Narasimhan, one of the researchers involved in the study, noted on Twitter, “Our results also contradict the hypothesis that the shared ancestry between early Iranians and South Asians reflects a large-scale spread of western Iranian farmers east.” He added, “Instead, sampled ancient genomes from the Iranian plateau and IVC descend from different groups of hunter-gatherers who began farming without being connected by substantial movement of people.”


The new study suggests the Iranian-related DNA in both the Indus individuals and modern Indians actually predates the rise of agriculture in Iran by some 2000 years. In other words, that Iranian-related DNA came from interbreeding with 12,000-year-old hunter-gatherers, not more recent farmers, geneticist David Reich from Harvard University explained.

“The paper indicates that there was no Aryan invasion and no Aryan migration and that all the developments right from the hunting-gathering stage to modern times in South Asia were done by indigenous people,” Prof Vasant Shinde, lead author of the paper, told Economic Times.

Mother of all ‘divert attention’ formats: ISRO launched Chandrayaan 2 to ‘divert attention’ from economic condition, says Mamata Banerjee

Nirwa Mehta
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Mother of all ‘divert attention’ formats: ISRO launched Chandrayaan 2 to ‘divert attention’ from economic condition, says Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused ISRO of launching the moon mission ‘Chandrayaan 2’ to ‘divert attention’ from the economic slowdown. She did not mean it as a joke.


Mocking the moon mission, where India is all set to create history by being the fourth country on the moon, the TMC chief said that the Chandrayaan 2 mission is an attempt to ‘divert attention from economic disaster’. With this bizarre rant, Banerjee has trumped Raj Thackeray’s allegations last year when he had said that Sridevi’s death was used as a ruse to divert attention from Nirav Modi scam.

Whenever the news cycle changes and people move on to newer topics, the ‘intellectuals’ of the country often wonder whether people have moved on to other issues to divert attention from something they themselves are obsessed about.


Because law taking its course is PM Modi’s attempt to divert attention from decline in truck sales.


Or when democracy is in danger. Remember the time when PM Modi demonetized Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency in a surprise move to divert attention from the missing JNU student Najeeb?


Or how the bullet train was launched to divert attention from journalist Gauri Lankesh’s murder?


And now, Mamata has trumped everyone. She has floated conspiracy theory that the moon mission was launched to divert attention from ‘economic disaster’.

Chandrayaan 2 was actually announced in August 2009, when Congress-led UPA was in power. It was slated to be launched by end of 2012. However, G. Madhavan Nair, the architect of Chandrayaan 1 had alleged that the UPA government wanted to show “some major event” (the Mangalyaan Mars orbiter mission) before the 2014 election. Because of that, the Mangalyaan, Mars mission was launched.

If Mamata Banerjee’s rant is to be believed, PM Modi, even before he became the prime minister for second time, knew back in 2009 that there would be an economic slowdown in 2019 and hence he got the Congress-led UPA, where Banerjee-led TMC was an ally, to announce the moon mission.

Facing probe in Saradha case, TMC MP Shatabdi Roy returns Rs 30.64 lakhs to ED

OpIndia Staff
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Facing probe in Saradha case, TMC MP Shatabdi Roy returns Rs 30.64 lakhs to ED

Trinamool Congress MP and Bengali film actor Satabdi Roy, who has been facing probe in the Saradha chit fund scam has returned around Rs 30.64 lakhs to the Enforcement Directorate. She has stated that she had received the money from the tainted Saradha group for being its brand ambassador.

Roy had handed a bank draft of the amount to ED officials on September 2 (Monday), the ED sources said confirming that it was delivered through a messenger.

The TMC leader had charged Rs 49 lakh for signing up a contract with the Saradha group to work like its brand ambassador when the Ponzi scam was operating and fleecing ordinary people by offering lucrative schemes with high returns to its customers.

The MP, however, claimed that she had received Rs 30.64 lakh of the contract amount excluding taxes which she returned.

In mid-June 2015, former TMC Rajya Sabha MP and Bollywood actor Mithun Chakraborty had also returned Rs 1.16 crore he had received from the same group to ED.

The Saradha Scam was brought to light in 2013. Many political leaders like TMC leader Derek O’ Brien, Education Minister Partha Chatterjee and Bengali film actors like Prasenjit Chatterjee, Rituparna Sengupta, and Madan Mitra were summoned by the ED for their alleged connection with this Ponzi scheme that was run by a consortium of over 200 companies. Ex-Kolkata top cop Rajeev Kumar was also under the scanner in the Saradha Chit Fund scam.

The Saradha Group had reportedly collected more than 200 billion rupees from lakhs of small investors. The Group had collapsed in April 2013 and a year later, the Supreme Court of India had ordered the CBI to take over the investigation from the state SIT.

The CBI had also alleged that the CM Mamta Banerjee government of West Bengal is impeding the investigations going on in the multi-crore Saradha ponzi scam. It has alleged that the “hostile” government is delaying the filing of the final charge sheet. It further stated that the banking security fraud branch, special crime branch and the economic offender wings of the premier investigative agency had been rendered non-operational after West Bengal had withdrawn the general consent to CBI, last year.

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