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Andhra Pradesh ex-speaker accused of stealing govt furniture, his son accused of stealing 30 laptops from corporation office

The YSR Congress Party government in Andhra Pradesh have levelled serious allegations on the previous Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker, Kodela Siva Prasad Rao. The government accused Rao of stealing a Nizam-era table, designer chairs, sofas, air-conditioners and some ‘personal’ computers among other things from his Speaker’s office in Hyderabad.

According to officials of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, many of the pieces of furniture were found in a motorcycle showroom owned by Rao’s elder son, Kodela Sivaram, in Guntur city.

Interestingly, the same day news broke out that the Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Corporation has lodged a police complaint against Sivaram for allegedly stealing 30 laptops and a printer from a Rural Skill Development Centre in Sattenpalli, in July 2018.

“The laptops allotted were lying unopened at the Nagarjuna Sagar Project (NSP) guesthouse since June 2017, and on July 2018, the 30 laptops, printer and solar CPU were diverted to SVR College”, said Sattenapalli Rural Skill Development Officer, Baji Babu, in his complaint lodged on Friday.

Meanwhile, Rao claimed that it was out of fear of damage or stealing when the office was being shifted from Hyderabad to Amaravati that he moved the furniture and electronic gadgets into his personal care.

According to reports, Rao said a Nizam-era table, designer chairs made of Burma teak, 14 peacock-shaped visitors’ chairs, a centre table, 117 plastic chairs, 3 chairs from the Speaker’s ante-chamber, a 3-seater sofa, two split air-conditioners and a tower AC were lying at his various offices.

Rao claimed that he had only kept the furnishings with an intention to safeguard them until the new Assembly complex was being readied. “I wrote a letter to the Assembly Secretary on June 7, as soon as the government changed, stating that I would return them or, if they could quote a price, I would pay for them. But I have not received any reply yet,” he said.

“When the Assembly was in the process of shifting to Amaravati, it was a peculiar situation- we had two Assembly buildings. When the new Assembly became functional, APCRDA (Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority) officials said there was no need for the old furniture or electrical fittings as the new House was already furnished. There was the issue of maintaining this furniture and electronics, and the possibility of damage and loss, so I shifted the furniture to my offices at Sattenpalli, Amaravati and Narasaraopet to keep them safe,” Rao claimed.

However, the YSRCP legislator from Sattenapalli Ambati Rambabu said: “He (Rao) is lying that he wrote a letter. Why didn’t he return the furniture when he was the Speaker for the last five years? Why did he take the furniture and electronics belonging to the government to his home in the first place?”

Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh Assembly Deputy Speaker, Kona Raghupathi said that some of the pieces of furniture that Rao had taken away were purchased during his tenure. “I am not sure if air-conditioners or electrical equipment have been taken, but some pieces of furniture have been taken. During shifting of office, furniture is taken by some members on a returnable-basis. In this case, the former Speaker failed to return them. He should have returned them when the new Assembly building was ready. We have not lodged a police complaint yet. If Rao returns the furniture, we will take it back and the issue will be resolved,” Raghupathi said.

39-year old Rahim acted as ‘facilitator’, held for links with six LeT terrorists who sneaked in from Sri Lanka disguised as Hindus

On Saturday, the Kerala Police arrested 39-year-old Rahim Kolliyil of Kodungalloor in central Kerala, for suspected links to the six Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists who had sneaked into Tamil Nadu by sea from Sri Lanka and were plotting a major attack across south India.

According to the reports, Rahim was arrested from the premises of Ernakulam first class judicial magistrate where he had come to surrender before the law after his profile was put on lookout notices across the state. A woman hailing from Wayanad and reported to be Rahim’s partner has also been taken into custody earlier.

Reportedly, the intelligence officials said that Rahim acted as a “facilitator for the infiltrators”. The intelligence officials are now in touch with Kochi city police to collect more details about his activities.

Rahim worked as a car mechanic in Bahrain for about 18 years and returned to Kerala in 2018 to set up a high-tech garage at Aluva. He had gone to Bahrain this July on a visit visa and came back to Kerala last Thursday and a hunt was on for him in Tamil Nadu and Kerala over the last two days.

A team of Tamil Nadu police has also reached Kochi to help with the interrogation. On Saturday, the Tamil Nadu police arrested three individuals, including the suspected partner of Rahim for allegedly having links to the group of Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists who have sneaked into the state from Sri Lanka.

Following the arrest of the woman, the Thrissur rural police began to search Rahim’s house in Kodungalloor on Friday but could not find him.

Out of the six Lashkar terrorists, one member is a Pakistani national named Ilyas alias Anwar, while five others are Tamil Muslims from Sri Lanka.

Intelligence agencies had sounded a warning on Thursday midnight that six Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists may have entered Coimbatore from Sri Lanka for possible attacks in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The reports said that the LeT terrorists have disguised themselves as Hindus and may carry out attacks across the state.

Following the terror alert, the security forces have beefed security arrangements at important installations, foreign embassies, tourist spots and worship centres, which could be among the targets of the terrorist group. The officials are also monitoring the coastal areas, particularly the movement of ferries and boats.

‘Will perform in Pakistan if invited, stop me if you can’: Congress leader and actor Shilpa Shinde defends Mika Singh

Actor-turned-politician Shilpa Shinde has not only decided to stand in support of singer Mika Singh, who was banned from performing in India by AICWA and FWICE but has also challenged the federation to stop her if they can from performing in Pakistan.

According to the reports, Congress leader Shilpa Shinde speaking to the media attacked the two entertainment bodies for banning Mika Singh for performing in Pakistan. She said that she will be performing in Pakistan if she gets an invitation and also asked whether she had to shout ‘Pakistan murdabad’ to show her love for India.

Talking about the entire controversy, Shilpa Shinde said, “I think rather than criticising you should be proud of the fact that Mika Singh has been called to perform there despite them having good singers and musicians. If our government is giving him a visa who is federation to stop him from performing in Pakistan. How can they stop him? I would like to tell the federation that you have much bigger problems in the industry to deal with, please try and solve them. You haven’t been able to put a regulation on working hours of artists and crew members. People still work for 12-15 hours when in your rule book it says 8 hours shift. We are bringing shame to our own artistes by commenting about them.”

“Do I need to say Pakistan murdabad to show my love for country?” she further questioned while saying that no one else can decide if one loves their country or not.

“People have relatives, families, friends and they want to maintain that relationship. Why does federation have a problem with it? I want to challenge the federation that I will go to Pakistan, please stop me if you really can,” challenged Shilpa Shinde.

The ever-controversial singer Mika Singh was banned and boycotted by All India Cine Workers Association (AICWA) after facing severe backlash on Twitter for his performance at an event hosted by Pervez Musharraf’s kin in Pakistan.

The association had released a statement articulating that it has taken a tough stand of immediately boycotting all associations of Mika Singh with movie production houses, music companies and online music content providers.

The singer came under fire for performing at the wedding festivities of the daughter of former President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf’s billionaire cousin. The Indian popstar was invited along with a crew of 14 people for the event. He had reportedly charged USD 150,000 (Rs 1 crore) for his performance at the wedding.

Netflix issues apology: Kerala man gets unwanted calls after his number was attributed to a fictional gangster in Sacred Games 2

Netflix has managed to leave a Kerala man living in the UAE vexed after it mistakingly used his mobile number in its newly launched web series Sacred Games 2. Kunhabdulla CM, a 37-year-old Keralite who works for an oil company in the UAE has been receiving unwanted calls from all over the world, since the web series flashed his number to be that of a fictional gangster Sulaiman Isa’s number in the first episode of the new season released on August 15.

“I have been getting incessant calls on my phone for the last three days from India, Pakistan, Nepal, the UAE and around the world. I don’t know what is happening,” Kunhabdulla told the Gulf News.

“Hearing my phone ring sends shivers down my spine. I want to cancel my number. I want this problem to go away,” he said.

Unaware of the popular series on Netflix, Kunhabdulla said, “What’s Sacred Games? A video game? I work from 8 am to 7 pm. I don’t have time for such things.”

“I got more than 30 calls today [Sunday] and it’s draining my battery. In the last hour, I got five calls asking for someone called Isa…Who is Isa? I don’t have anything to do with him,” he said. The Indian fears that the mistaken identity might get him in trouble. Fearing he might be now be mistaken for an infamous gangster, he said: “he will be detained at the airport and questioned over a possible mistaken identity.”

Sacred Games 2, the popular web series, mistakenly made the Keralite’s number public after it shows an uncover Indian agent from Kenya, handing over a small chit to Ganesh Gaitonde (Nawazuddin Siddiqui- playing the role of a gangster in the Indian web television thriller series) bearing the number of the gangster, Isa played by Saurabh Sachdeva in the show. While the digits were not visible on paper in the screen, the gaffe happened as the subtitles give it away.

Netflix has issued an apology for this blooper, saying that they had removed Kunhabdulla’s number from the show. “We apologise for any inconvenience caused. As soon as we were alerted to the situation, we resolved the issue and removed the phone number from the subtitles,” Netflix said in a statement to Gulf News on Monday.

The sensational web series based on Vikram Chandra’s 2006 novel of the same name, was caught in controversy soon after its release. Delhi BJP spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga had filed a police complaint against filmmaker Anurag Kashyap (the newfound cultural hero of the ultra-left wing, who has a long history of abusing people and resorting to fake news on social media) for allegedly insulting religious sentiments of the Sikh community in the second season of the web series ‘Sacred Games’ on Netflix.

In his complaint, Bagga has alleged that “In the said Web-Series, the Accused has intentionally and deliberately depicted a Scene in which a character belonging to the Sikh community (played by Actor Saif Ali Khan) removes his Kada and throws it away in a disrespectful and insulting manner.”

Akali Dal MLA Manjinder S Sirsa has also objected to the scene, demanding it to be removed.

The first season of the sensational web series, which had released on July 2018, also almost immediately made the headlines for allegedly ‘defaming the Congress party’ over the Shah Bano case.

A chameleon changes less colour than our own Arvind Kejriwal: Principled or Opportunist?

Let’s take a call on how you define Arvind Kejriwal: Principled or Opportunist? Is he for power or people?

The man who changes more colours than a chameleon does has opted for deep silence on the recent drama surrounding P Chidambaram, former Union minister.  He doesn’t want to be seen supporting an allegedly corrupt politician nor does he want to oppose the Centre which he senses has people’s support.  With Delhi assembly elections less than six months away, Kejriwal has simply ducked.

Kapil Mishra, his former colleague but now with BJP, wasn’t the one to let go the moment.  He tweeted: “Why there is such a deep silence @Arvind Kejriwal.  Are you in a spell of mourning? During Anna (Hazare) agitation, (our own) people had braved batons in front of Chidambaram home…”

But Kejriwal isn’t falling for the bait. He has shown skin as thick as armour on taunts that he is rebuked almost daily by Congress—be it on gimmicks of buses, electricity waivers, women safety or CCTVs—which also had spurned his advances most disdainfully during the 2019 General Polls. Yet he is not rubbing salt into Congress’ wounds. Interesting!

On Friday, Kejriwal was raving about the Modi government on a public platform in the Capital.  “I hope and I have full faith that in the coming time, Centre will take concrete measures to deal with the (economy) issue…We want to assure that the Delhi government will support and help the Centre in whatever steps they take to fix the economy,” he said.

This is the same Kejriwal who had termed Modi illiterate and questioned if the prime minister understands the economy at all!

Kejriwal and his AAP was one of those Opposition flanks which supported Modi government when it tore down the contentious Article 370 and 35A  and announced the plan to turn Jammu and Kashmir into Union territory. He probably has the votes of tens of thousands of Kashmiri Pandits in mind who are settled in his territory. The Janus-faced Kejriwal, at the same time, doesn’t allow police to persecute members of the “Tukde-Tukde gang” like Kanhaiya Kumar and others.

It doesn’t mean that he couldn’t care less about Muslim votes. His analysis of drubbing in the 2019 Polls was that Muslims had ditched the Opposition.  That’s why he didn’t say a word when a Hindu temple was desecrated right under his nose in the Capital. He didn’t say a word in condemnation nor did he visit the vandalized Durga temple in Chandni Chowk (Delhi).  He similarly didn’t vote in favour of Triple Talaq Bill in the Parliament.  Like a clever Bania (trader), he must have worked out that less Muslims are bound to feel outraged about decisions on Jammu and Kashmir than the majority who would be hostile if he was to oppose abrogation of Article 370 and 35A.

Kejriwal, side by side, isn’t turning his back on Hindu votes too. He is sponsoring“religious tours” for the elderly in the Capital and a willing media, fattened on his advertisements, is completely smitten.

A good gambler never spreads himself thin. You can’t hedge your bets beyond a point. You can’t bet on all blocks on the board and hope to earn a profit.  Kejriwal seems unaware of this time-tested logic.

History tells us that good or bad, a leader can’t afford to be neutral on matters which concern people.  Masses aren’t ignorant that this man once opposed corruption and is now seen in an embrace with those very forces. He hauls people to court on corruption and then apologizes to them. He is one day supporting Congress and venting venom the very next day.  He once chose vilest of terms for prime minister Narendra Modi but now doesn’t throw even a flower in his direction.

More so, all his trusted lieutenants have deserted him. None is seen in his corner. You could begin with Shazia Ilmi, Prashant, Bhushan, Yogendra Yadav and peer through the ever-expanding list of Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Alka Lamba and now Kapil Mishra.

Arvind Kejriwal feels only those who’ve deserted him know his true face. The succession of debacles in elections after elections has probably not made him wiser that people too have seen through his mask. Or maybe he knows it already and hence his zipped mouth.

Babri Masjid litigant Iqbal Ansari slams Rahul Gandhi: Modi govt right in abrogating Article 370, visit PoK and ‘resolve issues’ instead

Iqbal Ansari, the main litigant in the Babri Masjid dispute, on Saturday attacked Congress president Rahul Gandhi over his visit to Kashmir. Questioning the timing of Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Srinagar, Ansari asked Rahul Gandhi to do his politics in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir rather than indulging in petty politics in Kashmir.

A delegation of opposition party leaders had accompanied former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on his visit to Jammu & Kashmir but were sent back from Srinagar on Saturday.

According to the reports, Iqbal Ansari slammed Rahul Gandhi as the latter visited the Srinagar on Saturday along with other opposition parties. Iqbal Ansari questioned Rahul Gandhi and asked that if he and the Congress party were concerned about the country, then they should visit Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir and resolve the issue or go elsewhere to solve the issue, but they should not do politics on Kashmir.

Praising the Narendra Modi government for abrogating Article 370, Iqbal Ansari said the government has established the rule of a law in the country by removing Article 370.

“Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi government has removed the Article 370 and established the rule of law in the country. With the abolition of Article 370, the people of Kashmir have benefited. If Rahul and Congress are concerned about the country, then go to Pakistan and resolve the issue. Visit other places to do resolve issues too,” said Iqbal Ansari.

He blamed Congress for the situation in Kashmir saying it was the Congress which implemented Article 370 in Kashmir for its political advantage. He said Congress played politics in the name of Kashmir for 70 years which led to the worsening of the condition of the people in Kashmir. The politics of the Congress party is going to end now, said Ansari.

Further, Iqbal Ansari compared Indian Muslims to Veer Abdul Hameed and said that Indian Muslims are ready to fight Pakistan for the country.

Pakistan uses India Today journalist who created a drama at Srinagar airport to show India in bad light

India Today journalist Mausami Singh created a massive drama at the Srinagar airport yesterday. While following around opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi to Srinagar, she alleged that police personnel manhandled her at the airport.

Now, this theatric by Mausami Singh is being used by a desperate Pakistan to further their own narrative about Kashmir.


Pakistan media used the clip by Mausami Singh on India Today to essentially show that India is perpetrating atrocities in Kashmir. This has been a long-standing and usual ploy of Pakistan. It has falsely tried to show that the Indian state uses excessive force in Kashmir.

However, in the video that was posted by India Today, nobody could be seen manhandling Mausami. Srinagar is a defence airport and it is common knowledge that videotaping there is prohibited. When security personnel tried to tell Mausami that, she lost her cool and tried to blame them of manhandling her.

Srinagar’s Sheikh Ul-Alam airport at Srinagar is a defence airport owned by Indian Air Force, and the Airports Authority of India operates a civil enclave at the airport. Another such defence airport is Pune in Maharashtra, where there are instructions issued to passengers to refrain from using their mobile phone’s camera on the airport, failing which the authorities might confiscate their phones. In all defence airports across the country, the passengers are expected to follow a strict set of norms which includes a prohibition on the use of cameras in the airport premises.

Earlier, Pakistan had used videos of opposition leaders including Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad to project India’s decision to abrogate Article 370. They had also come out in support of P Chidambaram after he was arrested in the INX Media scam. Pakistan senator had asserted that he was arrested because he had opposed Modi govt’s move to abrogate Article 370 in Kashmir. Moreover, Pakistan panellists had reposed their faith in leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and ‘activist’ Arundhati Roy to further their propaganda in India.

This is not the first time Mausami Singh has been in the news for things other than her reportage. During the run-up to the 2019 general elections, she was caught on camera ‘directing’ Congress workers to appear excited about Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Mausami Singh had gone to the extent of shielding Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar who had not only abused and misbehaved with the Republic reporter but she had also prevented a reporter belonging to rival Republic TV from doing his duty. In a viral video, Mausami Singh was seen taking the side of Mani Shankar Aiyar and asking the fellow journalist not to ‘peddle his agenda’ there.

Abusive ‘journalist’ Swati Chaturvedi spreads fake news, tweets photoshopped image of PM Modi wearing Arabic attire

Swati Chaturvedi, abusive troll masquerading as a journalist, has yet again been caught red-handed after propagating fake news. This time, she has been caught sharing a morphed image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On Saturday, Chaturvedi tweeted a morphed image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in which he can be seen wearing an Arabic attire “Bisht or Ghutra” during his state visit to UAE.

Swati Chaturvedi in her post shared the morphed image with the text ‘offered without comments’ in an effort to mock Prime Minister Modi.

In the picture shared by Swati Chaturvedi, one can see that the Prime Minister who can be seen wearing a Bisht in the photo has been circled in red. The insinuation that Swati wanted to make was perhaps that while back in India, PM Modi displays his ‘Hindu faith’ when in UAE, he has happily adopted the Arabic attire.

Tweet by Swati Chaturvedi

However, in the original image posted by the Ministry of External Affairs, it can be seen that PM Modi is wearing his usual attire with his signature ‘Modi Jacket’ contrary to the claims of Swati Chaturvedi who thinks that PM Modi wore the Islamic attire during his state visit to the United Arab Emirates.


After she was caught by several people, Swati Chaturvedi deleted her post saying that the ‘picture was photoshopped’.


Swati Chaturvedi, who doesn’t have much credibility to her name, has time and again resorted to false propaganda and fake news against the ruling establishment to stay relevant.

Just after 2019 Lok Sabha election, Swati Chaturvedi had resorted to sharing fake news concerning India’s Home Minister Amit Shah. In a tweet put out by Swati, she had alleged that the former BJP president Amit Shah was merrily sleeping in the parliamentary session. However, it was proved fake.

Swati Chaturvedi, who finds tough to comprehend logic and facts, has a chequered history of sharing fake news and fanning falsehoods on Social Media. In the past, Swati had falsely claimed an image of a girl beaten up by a jilted man as being an image capturing violence in Benaras Hindu University. She had also fabricated statements of a national leader on national television.

In another instance, she had spread lies about a simple speech by Amit Shah, the former BJP Party President. She gave credence to fake news, from a dubious website. She had earlier spread false claims that Kanhaiyya Kumar attacker was a BJP office-bearer. However, after ruining her credibility by sharing fake news time and again, she had blamed OpIndia for ‘costing her readership’ and ‘damaging her credibility’ in the eyes of her peers by pointing out all the fake news that she had shared over the years.

Congress mouthpiece’s obituary on Arun Jaitley is the worst in recent memory and an absolute disgrace

Following Arun Jaitley’s untimely demise, while the nation was mourning the irreparable loss, liberals and Pakistanis have been celebrating and indulging in slander against the deceased stalwart. The mouthpiece of the Congress party, too, appears to have joined the charade.

The National Herald published an obituary that could only be described as extremely insensitive and downright distasteful. They said Jaitley will be remembered as a “failed FM” who will only be remembered as the most successful “spokesperson” the rightwing ever produced.

National Herald’s tweet on Arun Jaitley’s obituary

In the obituary, they make insensitive remarks such as “Jaitley earned more admirers (most of them were flatterers) than distractors” and that “He balanced his contradictions with charm and eloquence.”

Apart from such inconsiderate remarks, the Congress mouthpiece accused Jaitley of “failing the nation” in its obituary. They write, “As a Finance Minister, Jaitley would be remembered for failing the nation and surrendering in front of Modi’s whim to announce and implement demonetisation overnight, yet he would be considered better than the present FM Nirmala Sitharaman.”

National Herald also claimed that Jaitley’s appointment as Union Finance Minister in 2014 was a ‘quid pro quo’ gesture. It states, “It is said that it was Jaitley who saved Modi from the legal trap that followed the 2002 Gujarat riots. His appointment as the Finance Minister by Modi was seen as a quid pro quo gesture.”

The obituary is entirely made up of such thoughtless remarks. It quotes one unnamed TV journalist as saying that Jaitley “liked bitching”. Other crass statements included, “He did not garland those who kill people in the name of cow vigilantism. He, very cleverly distanced himself from the politics of Gau-Gobar which dominate the narrative today.”

The obituary easily qualifies as one of the worst ever written in the history of politics. It is a perfect demonstration of the pettiness that the Congress party symbolizes today. It clearly couldn’t have been written by someone with a sane mind. That it was approved by the editor speaks volumes about the editorial standards of the Congress mouthpiece.

Delhi University administration takes down Savarkar statue under pressure from NSUI

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Following string protest from NSUI over the installation of busts of Veer Savarkar, Bhagat Singh and Subash Chandra Bose in Delhi University campus, the Delhi University administration has removed the statues on the assurance by the university that after DUSU elections, busts of freedom fighters will be re-installed following the procedure required.


A couple of days back, NSUI activists blackened the bust of Veer Savarkar to protest against its unauthorised installation. They also put a shoe garland around Savarkar’s statue. ABVP has demanded strict disciplinary action against the miscreants to stooped down to such low levels and insulted India’s freedom fighters.

The president of the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU), Shakti Singh of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), on Tuesday installed busts of the three historical figures at the North Campus of the university without seeking approval from the university or civic authorities.

According to Singh, he repeatedly wrote letters to the administration seeking permission to install the statues in the campus but his letters didn’t elicit any response from the administration. “We submitted a couple of letters to the varsity administration and even met the Vice Chancellor in March. However, our requests fell on deaf ears. When we realised that the students’ union is not being taken seriously, we had to helplessly install the busts in the hope that the youth would be inspired by them,” said Singh.