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While West Bengal burns, Rahul Kanwal conducts a jolly interview with newly elected Trinamool MP Mimi Chakraborty

K Bhattacharjee
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While West Bengal burns, Rahul Kanwal conducts a jolly interview with newly elected Trinamool MP Mimi Chakraborty

Mimi Chakraborty, the newly elected Trinamool MP from the Jadavpur Lok Sabha Constituency, appeared on India Today on Wednesday. During the interview, ‘esteemed journalist’ Rahul Kanwal asked her to sing a song and appeared to be in awe of the actress. Thus, while West Bengal burns, the interview with Chakraborty was quite a jolly affair.


Kanwal met Nusrat Jahan as well, the Trinamool MP from Basirhat. The show was called ‘Jab We Met’ and in the clips, it can be seen that the journalist and Chakraborty are eating phuchkas together and playing football at a time when elected representatives from West Bengal, especially from the ruling disposition, ought to be questioned on the chaos that the state is facing.


The interview also reveals that the media itself does not take Mimi Chakraborty seriously merely because she is a young actress. In its own way, it is a very obnoxious brand of sexism where attractive young women are reduced to their mere beauty and are not taken seriously.

From the tweet, it appears clear that Rahul Kanwal was not interviewing Chakraborty in her capacity as an actress but as a ‘star MP’. Kanwal, then, ought to have asked her questions that concerns people and her solutions as an elected representative. Instead, the interview came across as a PR propaganda for a politician.

Especially given the circumstances, when there is great angst among the people of Bengal due to the deteriorating law and order situation, such an interview appears rather disgraceful. On Monday, nearly 200 people descended at the NRS Hospital in Kolkata and attacked doctors and interns after the death of an old patient due to natural causes.

Following the incident, doctors have started protests demanding adequate safety, immediate arrests of the perpetrators and an inquiry into police inaction during the violence. They have shut down services which is impacting patients as well. Moreover, the violence has spread to other colleges and regions as well.

In Burdwan, a mob attacked the students and doctors of Burdwan Medical College and Hospital injuring several of them. All because they were protesting in solidarity with the aggrieved students of NRS Hospital. There are reports of violence at other places coming in as well.

Under such circumstances, an elected representative from the ruling party in West Bengal was interviewed by India Today and it doesn’t appear she was asked a single question about the ongoing crisis. It is extremely unethical on the part of a media outlet to act and behave as the propaganda wing of political parties which is exactly what India Today has done here. It was also extremely sexist in the sense that Mimi Chakraborty was reduced to her attractiveness and not treated with the seriousness that she, as an elected representative, commands.

Kerala villagers want to keep an elephant alive, media sees ‘rise of BJP’ in the state

Sanghamitra
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Kerala villagers want to keep an elephant alive, media sees ‘rise of BJP’ in the state

Thrissur Raman is a superstar. He is tall, dark and majestic. He has thousands of fans who flock to catch a glimpse of him when he comes out walking in his royal style in the Thrissur Puram festival. Raman, or ‘Thechikottukavu Ramachandran’ that is his official name is a 54-year-old elephant.


Raman, the beloved Kerala elephant is a Bihari by birth. He was called Moti Prasad before coming to Kerala in 1984. At 54, Raman is the tallest elephant in India and the second tallest in Asia. He is the star attraction at the famous Thrissur Puram festival and has thousands of fans in and outside Kerala.

Raman is the resident elephant in the Thechikottukavu temple, a few miles away from the Thrissur town. Year after year, it is Raman who formally opens the Thrissur Puram festival when he walks out of the town’s Vadakkunnathan Temple with gold adornments.

Raman is old and was sick. He has reportedly lost vision in one eye and faces digestion issues. Earlier this year, there was a massive outrage when the Communist government in Kerala had tried to ‘ban’ Raman from the Thrissur festival. The government stated that Raman is violent and has caused the death of over a dozen people and 3 other elephants so far. The devotees were not amused.

The Kerala Elephant Owners’ Federation had threatened to even boycott the Thrissur festival if Raman was banned. “One Pulsar bike may get involved in an accident, so will we ban all Pulsar bikes?”, the federation’s president P Sasikumar was quoted as saying.

Raman’s ‘ban’ had called for widespread outrage and reactions in Kerala. The people, especially Hindus, who had witnessed and endured the communist government’s atrocities attempting to defile Sabarimala since last year’s SC verdict was certainly not amused.

Raman is old and will probably retire soon. But that does not lessen his stardom. As mentioned in the report by Livemint, the Thechikottukavu temple has seen immense growth in its stature and fame after Raman’s arrival. The temple, the village has prospered with Raman. And the locals are willing to do their bit for their beloved elephant.

The roughly 3500 families in the two Panchayats near the temple are reportedly trying to raise Rs 2 crores, to create a fund that will help with Raman’s healthcare and expenses after he retires. An elephant is very expensive to maintain, and the villagers are willing to contribute so that their superstar spends his last days in comfort.

Kerala’s love for temple elephants is nothing new. Elephants in temples are celebrated here. Last year, when Thiruvambadi Sivasunder, another ‘star’ elephant that belonged to the Thiruvambadi temple in Kerala breathed his last, thousands of devotees, with children had flocked to pay homage. There were tearful goodbyes, floral tributes and a grand farewell that had Sivasunder’s admirers weeping for their beloved elephant.

Guruvayur Kesavan, the famous, majestic temple elephant of Kerala’s Guruvayur temple was so loved and celebrated that after he breathed his last, on the auspicious day of Guruvayur Ekadasi in 1976, the temple had taken it to observe the days in his remembrance ever since. The temple board erected a life-size statue of Kesavan at the entrance, with his grand tusks placed to welcome the guests. Each year, on his death anniversary, the temple lines up its elephants to pay respects and the chief elephant garlands Kesavan’s statue.

Image via @gajendramoksha on Twitter

The traditions of elephants in temples of Kerala is also being subject to continuous attacks and slandering by dubious NGOs and activists. As it happens with any major Hindu tradition and cultural celebration, there are attempts to attach the stigma of shame and guilt to the traditional festivals of the temples where the elephants are the main attraction.

In the Livemint article, the love for the villagers and the public emotion surrounding Raman is conspicuously linked with the ‘rise of saffron politics’ in the state. Titled ‘The Malayali develops a taste for saffron’ the article discusses the issue of Raman and the public sentiments attached with him in parallel with the surge if RSS and BJP in the state.

Article in Livemint

It attempts to draw parallels with West Bengal ‘Jai Shriram’ phenomenon. However, it ignores the fact that Kerala had loved and wept for its elephants much before BJP or the RSS became stakeholders in the state’s politics.

The idea behind the article stems from a narrative of ‘anti-Hindu anti-RSS ideology that is so common in most of India’s mainstream media. The beliefs of Kerala’s millions of Hindus were trampled upon mercilessly by the Communist government after the Sabarimala verdict. The LDF government went as far as ‘sneaking’ their female activists through the prohibited entrance in the wee hours of the night, just to assert their dominance and belittle the Hindu faith.

The ‘surge’ in Kerala’s Hindus was a reaction of the communist government’s apathy and atrocities, not the doing of RSS or BJP. The RSS did not ask Mamata Banerjee to behave like a woman possessed at the utterance of Jai Sriram. The RSS did not ask Pinarayi Vijayan’s government to kick, beat and drag defenceless devotees in Sabarimala to jail. The idea of painting the inherent love and respect of Hindus for their traditions as a result of ‘politicisation’ by BJP is as flawed as the leftist’s narrative that Hindu rituals and festivals are regressive and patriarchal.

The only thing that has changed in the last few years that with the advent of social media and awareness, it had become difficult for the leftists to peddle their propaganda. Hindus across India are beginning to question why they are being demonised despite living as quite adherents of their faith who have never asserted or enforced their beliefs upon others.

The political rise of BJP is the symptom of a larger awakened consciousness among Hindus, not the cause. Just like a Bihari Moti Prasad was celebrated in Kerala as Thechikottukavu Ramachandran for what he represented, the Hindu identity that the leftist media has tried desperately hard to confine to the ‘cow belt’ was never limited by imaginary regional barriers either.

Shiv Sena slams Mamata Banerjee, says the “sleeping Hindus of Bengal” have been “awakened by her excesses”

OpIndia Staff
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Shiv Sena slams Mamata Banerjee, says the “sleeping Hindus of Bengal” have been “awakened by her excesses”

Shiv Sena has criticised West Bangla chief minister Mamata Banerjee for the events happening in the state after the elections. Slamming Mamata Banerjee for her role, Shiv Sena in an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamna has said that the “sleeping Hindus of Bengal” have been “awakened by her excesses” and that Banerjee was responsible “for her own downfall,” reports Times Now.

Responding to Mamata Banerjee’s declaration that she would not allow BJP to turn “Bengal into Gujarat”, Shiv Sena attacked the Trinamool Congress chief saying that the state would turn into Gujarat and could even turn into ‘Ayodhya or Varanasi’.

“What does she mean by won’t let Bengal become Gujarat? Bengal has become Gujarat; tomorrow it may become Ayodhya or Varanasi,” the party said in its mouthpiece, saying that the state of Bengal could undergo the transformation to Varanasi or Ayodhya if “Lord Ram was angry.”

Shiv Sena through its mouthpiece also slammed the TMC supremo over the ‘Jai Sri Ram’ slogan controversy in the state. The editorial read, “Saying ‘Jai Shri Ram’ is a crime there. They have put up ‘Jai Hind’ posters against it. That is just a form of discomfort on their part.”

The political slugfest in West Bengal has reached its extremity. TMC has been unleashing its terror in the state. The West Bengal police have also been working hands in gloves with the ruling party to torment the BJP workers in Bengal.

A day after violent clashes erupted between BJP and TMC in Sandeshkhali, Bashirhat, Mamata Banerjee played the blame game and alleged that the Centre and the BJP were organising violence in a bid to topple her government.

Speaking to reporters, Banerjee had said, “The central government and BJP party cadres are trying to incite violence in West Bengal..we will not let Bengal turn into another Gujarat.”

All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) in a letter addressed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah had objected to the advisory issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to the government of West Bengal in view of the recent incidents of violence.

Calling the advisory a “deep-rooted conspiracy” and an “evil ploy to grab power”, the WB CM said that BJP wanted to grab hold of the states with a non-BJP government.

Meanwhile, BJP denied all the allegations and instead observed a ‘Black Day’ on Monday in order to protest the killing of its workers in West Bengal. The BJP blamed the TMC government for the “deteriorating” law and order situation in the state. In the wake of violence across the state, the BJP had also demanded the resignation of West Bengal Chief Minister and All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) Chief Mamata Banerjee as the Home Minister of the state.

Sri Lanka blast accused Zahran Hashim’s Facebook friend among the arrested men in NIA’s Coimbatore ISIS module raid

OpIndia Staff
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Sri Lanka blast accused Zahran Hashim’s Facebook friend among the arrested men in NIA’s Coimbatore ISIS module raid

Yesterday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided several locations in Coimbatore over suspected links between an Islamic State (IS) module in Coimbatore and serial blasts in Sri Lanka on Easter eve.

Six men who were led by a man named Mohammed Azarudeen has been arrested in yesterdays raids. Azarudeen is known to have been in touch with Zahran Hashim, the main accused in the Sri Lanka bombings, over Facebook.

The NIA has said that the two were Facebook friends, first came in contact in October 2018 and have been spreading the ISIS ideology over social media. Azarudeen handled the Facebook page “KhilafahGFX” through which he spread the Daish/ISIS ideology and radical contents attributed to Hashim.

An official has said, “during initial questioning, Azarudeen told us that he had plans to carry out a big attack in Tamil Nadu and Kerala but first wanted to hire more men who will be ready to take up jihad”.

32-year-old Mohammed Azarudeen is a resident of Ukkadam in Coimbatore. He also ran a tour and travel agency company known as KhilafahGFX. Azarudeen was questioned for 14 hours after which he was arrested by NIA, he would be produced to a special NIA court today.

The NIA has also seized several electronic devices from the raids conducted in seven locations across Coimbatore.


Last year in September, the NIA had busted an ISIS module in Coimbatore arresting seven men for planning to accomplish ISIS objectives by targeting Hindu leaders and activists. From the gathered evidence, including videos of Zahran Hashim, a possible terror attack was suspected in Colombo following which India had warned relevant authorities in Sri Lanka well in advance of the Easter Sunday bombings.

CBI registers case against former Samajwadi Party MP Atiq Ahmed for kidnapping and assaulting realtor inside jail

OpIndia Staff
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CBI registers case against former Samajwadi Party MP Atiq Ahmed for kidnapping and assaulting realtor inside jail

The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a case against former Samajwadi Party MP Atiq Ahmed and 17 others after real estate dealer Mohit Jaiswal had accused them of kidnapping and assaulting him inside a prison in December 2018, reports ANI.

According to the reports, the Supreme Court had earlier instructed the state government to seek CBI to initiate an enquiry against Ahmad in connection with the abduction of realtor Mohit Jaiswal and his torture inside Deoria Jail.

The Samajwadi Party leader, Atiq Ahmed had allegedly beaten up real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal in Deoria Jail in Uttar Pradesh and had demanded extortion money from the businessman.

Jaiswal had accused SP leader of kidnapping him from Lucknow and alleged that he was forcibly taken to Deoria Jail. When he reached Atiq Ahmed’s barracks, he was asked to sign away his four companies worth Rs 40 crore to Ahmad. Jaiswal had said that he was thrashed by Ahmed himself and his goons inside the jail when he refused to do so.

Following the incident, the Supreme Court had directed to shift former MP to a high-security jail in Gujarat. However, Mafia-turned-politician was still lodged in Naini Central Jail and was not shifted to a high-security prison in Gujarat, despite a recent Supreme Court order to make the shift.

The fat tail of terrorism and why the graphs shared by Bill Gates mislead

Mayuresh Didolkar
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The fat tail of terrorism and why the graphs shared by Bill Gates mislead

Recently, Bill Gates shared an infographic showing causes of death in the US, what people most commonly search for and what media reports on. The graphic showed that while only 0.01% of people actually died of terrorism, it constituted over 7% of the google searches and media devoted over a third of its time reporting on it. Gates commented that he was amazed at what we see in the news and the reality of the world around us. He exhorted upon us to fight the fear instinct that distorts our perspective.

Should we, really?

This note is meant for the layperson with almost no background in statistics and one who is convinced (rightly) that 1) Gates is a smart man and 2) Gates means well. If you do not qualify one of these criteria then you may stop reading.

Not to be left behind, “data journalism” handle IndiaSpend tweeted an article showing terrorism accounted for 0.007% deaths in India while over 2/3rd were due to non-communicable diseases like heart attack and diabetes. And yet India’s defence budget is larger than its health budget. A few of us would also remember similar data put out by Steven Pinker that showed that more people die in car accidents every year than terrorism.

Does it mean the fear of terrorism is greatly overestimated? That it is a bogeyman created by immoral politicians and TRP hungry media?

Well, not exactly and let’s see why.

Motor accidents (or deaths due to toaster malfunction or death due to falling off ladders or heart attack) can be represented by what is known as normal or Gaussian distribution. At the risk of oversimplifying- what it means is if there are 10,000 deaths in 10 years due to any of the above, then simply dividing the total number of deaths by the number of years will still give you a fair estimation of how many people actually die of it every year. Even further simplified it means that removing one observation from the sample is unlikely to change the shape of the curve or the average.

Terrorism doesn’t work like that. There were 3,042 deaths due to acts of terror in the USA in 30 separate incident between 2000 and 2009. However, just one incident; 9/11 accounted for 2,996 i.e. a staggering 98.48% of the total fatalities. If terrorism was a normally distributed event then we could make a fair assessment of its risk by dividing the number of deaths by the number of years and arrive at the conclusion that the potential number of fatalities due to terrorism would not exceed 30.42 (3042/10) in a year.

However as 9/11 proved, the actual fatalities exceed the estimate by 100 times. Further, taking one observation out of the sample would change the curve totally. If you take 9/11 out of the above data, the average number of deaths per year would fall to 5, thus further distorting your estimation of the threat terrorism poses. This is why you cannot use the yardstick to measure deaths due to illness or accident to assess the threat posed by terrorism.

Here’s another way to look at it- If somehow the US was able to prevent 9/11, the fatalities would have been reduced by close to 98%. That right there is the reason for vigilance against terrorism. Vigilance prevents. And while better prevention in normal distribution would only mean marginal gains (think how better diagnostic would not reduce deaths due to heart attacks beyond a point), in case of terrorism the rewards are exponential.

Lastly- the low number of deaths due to terrorism are more attributable to better vigilance and advances in prevention mechanisms. However, that does not automatically mean a reduction in its potential for fatalities. As Taleb shows here– while deaths due to Ebola (another example of fat-tailed distribution) in 2016 were far less than even deaths due to bedsheet tangling, tomorrow if we read in the newspaper that 2 billion people have died suddenly Ebola is far likelier to be the cause than death due to bedsheet tangling. Worrying about bedsheet tangling will only have marginal payoffs. Worrying about Ebola might prevent the disaster of the magnitude of an Armageddon.

‘Modi hain to mumkin hain’, says US Secretary of State in his major policy speech

OpIndia Staff
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‘Modi hain to mumkin hain’, says US Secretary of State in his major policy speech

The US Secretary to State Mike Pompeo used BJP’s popular electoral slogan, ‘Modi hain to mumkin hain’, in his major India policy speech at the India Ideas Summit of US-India Business Council on Wednesday.

“As Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi said in his latest campaign, ‘Modi hai to mumkin hai,’ or ‘Modi makes it possible’, I’m looking forward to exploring what’s possible between our people,” citing the slogan Mike Pompeo has sought to take the bilateral relationship with India to the next level and said the Trump and Modi Administrations have a “unique opportunity” to make it happen.

Stressing on airstrikes and development PM Modi had given out this slogan during his electoral campaign in Uttar Pradesh before the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.

Listing out some of the “big ideas and big opportunities” that can take the bilateral relationship to a new level, Pompeo said that he was very much looking forward to his trip to New Delhi later this month, and meeting Modi, and his new counterpart, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

Admitting that differences between the two countries remain in some of the key trade and business issues he said he truly believes the two nations have a unique opportunity to move forward together for the good of their people, the Indo-Pacific region, and the world.

“But we remain open to dialogue and hope our Indian friends will drop their trade barriers and trust in the competitiveness of their exporters and private-sector companies,” said Pompeo.

Mike Pompeo will be travelling to India, Sri Lanka, Japan and South Korea from June 24 to 30. His four-nation trip is aimed at deepening US partnerships in the strategic Indo-Pacific region. This is Pompeo’s second trip to India as the Secretary of State.

He claimed under President Donald Trump, the US has taken a tougher stand on Pakistan’s unacceptable support to terrorism. “Forging strong ties means formalizing these individual friendships. Last year, we kicked off the ”2+2 dialogue” alongside the Department of Defence. We’ve also reinvigorated the Quad Dialogue among India, the United States, Japan, and Australia – all like-minded democracies in the Indo-Pacific. These are all good steps.”

Pompeo furthered that India and America should embrace the strategic framework that works for both the countries. “We respect India as a sovereign power, with its own unique politics and strategic challenges. We realise it’s different to deal with the likes of China or Pakistan from across an ocean than across a border,” he said.

“It’s only natural that the world’s most populous democracy should partner with the worldn’s oldest democracy to maintain their shared vision for the Indo-Pacific, “The US State Secretary said maintaining that the US has already enabled American companies to export more high technology items to India, including cutting-edge defence platforms like armed UAVs and ballistic missile defence systems”.

Pompeo also claimed, “These are solid achievements, but we want to do much more. We clearly have overlapping interests in defence, energy, and space.”

Pompeo said that the first batch of India’s Apache helicopter is coming off Boeing’s production line in Arizona. Lockheed Martins F-21 and Boeing’s F/A-18 are the state-of-the-art fighters that could give India the capabilities to become a fully developed security provider in the entire Indo-pacific region.

Adding that the steps taken will give Indians reliable and abundant energy and help reduce dependence on regimes like Iran and Venezuela, Pompeo said: “On energy, we want to complete the Westinghouse civil nuclear project, and deliver more American LNG and crude.”

On space, NASA is already working with the Indian Space Research Organisation on the world’s most advanced earth-observation satellite and India’s second lunar mission, he informed.

On previous occasions too the US has spoken about the ties between India and the US reiterating that it has flourished under Modi’s leadership.

In March 2019 a US official had said, US-India relationship has really flourished since Modi took power. The highlight, I would say, was Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the White House in the June of 2017 where a lot of progress was made on the relationship.”

Last year, in a statement the US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had backed Modi’s initiative to fight terrorism and reiterated that, “The United States and India, in Prime Minister Modi’s work, have overcome hesitations of history, carrying forward the legacy of friendship and making clear there is no contradiction between strategic autonomy and strategic partnership”.

In fact, soon after Donald Trump was elected as the President, Modi became the 5th world leader Trump spoke to. Since then the relationship between the two countries has just become stronger.

Because of Narendra Modi’s consistent efforts in the last five years, India is now considered to be a global power and a major security partner by the United States. So much so that the US President had once described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as his friend.

Match preview – India v New Zealand: A mouthwatering contest if the rains allow

OpIndia Staff
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Match preview – India v New Zealand: A mouthwatering contest if the rains allow

India and New Zealand, the only two unbeaten teams in this World Cup so far, will face each other to continue with their winning streak. However, again, the weather will play a crucial part, and there are high chances of rain predicted for today.

India’s problem with number 4 was sorted out after KL Rahul scored a hundred in the warm-up game, but now with Dhawan’s injury, the problem is back again. Rahul will open with Rohit now, and Indian think-tank has to pick one from Karthik and Shankar for number 4 slot.

As a unit, India still looks more strong than the Kiwis despite losing the warm-up game against them. India won the real battle without a fuss against the two strongest teams of this World Cup, South Africa, and Australia. India also won the ODI series (4-1) against the Kiwis on their home turf earlier this year.

New Zealand has won all their three matches in this world cup but against the weaker teams of the tournament. This match will be their first game against a dominant team, and they will be tested for sure.

The bowling has been brilliant so far for the Kiwis as they bowled out every opposition below the score of 250. The concern would be batting as Kiwis have not batted first in this tournament, either in the warm-up or the three league games. So it will be interesting to see if they score easy runs against India’s bowling, which is considered to be the best in the competition.

The weather has been the most frustrating part of this world cup, and it will be continued to be the same for today at least. Win the toss and bowl first to take advantage of weather conditions.

Players to watch out

Having lost his successful opening partner Dhawan, Rohit Sharma has to provide a solid start against the quality bowling side of New Zealand. He has been in sublime form; a fifty and a hundred in the first two games shows his dominance in white ball cricket. If he scores well here, India will go on to score something around 300.

Ross Taylor who is playing his last World Cup desperately wants to win the trophy for New Zealand for the first time. He is the leading run scorer for New Zealand in this competition. Ross is known for his power-hitting in the middle overs which maintains the run-rate of the team. Being the most experienced player of the team, he surely needs to score big today against the quality spin attack of India.

India v New Zealand in ODIs:

Overall: Matches 106, India Won 55, New Zealand Won 45, Tie 1, No Result 5

World Cup: Matches 7, India Won 3, New Zealand Won 4

Recent Form (most recent first): India  W W L L L, New Zealand W W W W W

ICC Rankings: India (2), New Zealand (4)

Upcoming Records:

Virat Kohli needs 57 more runs to reach the 11,000 runs milestone, and he will be the 3rd Indian after Tendulkar and Ganguly to reach the milestone.

Martin Guptill has scored 907 runs in World Cup and needs 93 more to become the second New Zealand player to reach the 1,000 runs milestone.

Hardik Pandya needs six wickets to reach 50 wickets milestone in ODIs while Coulter-Nile needs 2.

Squads:

India: Virat Kohli (capt), Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan, MS Dhoni (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Vijay Shankar, Rohit Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav.

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt), Tom Blundell (wk), Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (wk), Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.

Reach office on time, avoid working from home: PM Narendra Modi to council of ministers

OpIndia Staff
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Reach office on time, avoid working from home: PM Narendra Modi to council of ministers

To ensure effective, efficient and timely decision making Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked his council of ministers to ensure that they reach office on time and also directed them to avoid working from home.

According to the reports, PM Modi in the first meeting of the council of ministers of the newly formed government has asked all ministers to try to reach the office by 9:30 am and advised the senior ministers to guide the first time ministers.

PM Modi has also sought to give more responsibility to the ministry of state (MoS) and asked cabinet ministers to share important files with their junior ministers to enhance productivity. To ensure faster approval on files, PM Modi has advised both the cabinet minister and his junior colleague to sit together to clear proposals.

PM Modi has also asked his colleagues not to plan any outside visit during the 40 days when Parliament is in session. He has asked the ministers to keep meeting party MPs and the general public on a regular basis and can start by meeting parliamentarians from their respective states while suggesting that there is not much difference between a minister and an MP.

In the first cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Modi has also talked about the five-year agenda and has asked every ministry to come up with their five-year agenda and to formulate an impactful decision, which needs to be taken in the first 100 days of the government.

During the meeting, Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar has reportedly made a presentation on optimal utilisation of the Parliament session beginning Monday. Narendra Singh Tomar was the parliamentary affairs minister in the previous government.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also made a presentation on inviting inputs for the Union Budget which will be presented on July 5. Railway minister Piyush Goyal made a presentation on five-year vision document for each Union ministry.

In the first cabinet meeting, the Narendra Modi government had also approved the expansion of the PM-KISAN scheme to cover all farmers who will get Rs 6,000 financial assistance per annum.

Fact check: Bhojpuri song didn’t rock the streets of London during the Cricket World Cup

OpIndia Staff
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Fact check: Bhojpuri song didn’t rock the streets of London during the Cricket World Cup

A video has been going viral in social media platforms where hundreds of people are seen dancing to the super hit Bhojpuri song ‘Jila Top Lagelu’ in an open street. Some of the media including the Indian Express had attributed the performance to the ongoing ICC cricket world cup in England.


Indian Express report on Bhojpuri song paying in London

However, it has been found ‘fake’ as the performance was not performed after India’s victory over Australia at London as the Indian Express article claims.

Contrary to the Indian Express report, the dance was part of an event called “Carnival of Cultures” which was held in Berlin from 7-10 June 2019 to celebrate the cultural diversity. The festival culminated in a colourful street parade with music and dance on Pentecost Sunday. Interestingly, some of the Indian groups were also part of the event, where some of the Bollywood and other peppy numbers were also played.

The famous ‘Garba’ of Gujarat was also featured in the Carnival of Culture, where some of Indians dressed in traditional Gujarati attire performed to popular songs.


Hence, it can be conclusively said that the ‘victory dance’ in England during the ongoing Cricket World Cup was actually part of a carnival in Berlin.

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