Home Blog Page 6268

Here are the ten Goa Congress MLAs who switched to BJP and are set to leave for Delhi to meet Amit Shah

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Here are the ten Goa Congress MLAs who switched to BJP and are set to leave for Delhi to meet Amit Shah

Trouble for the Congress party, which is already grappling with the Karnataka crisis, has deepened after ten MLAs out of its total strength of fifteen in Goa defected to the state’s ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), Wednesday. The leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Chandrakant Kavlekar, was also among the Congress lawmakers, who defected.

In the latest, the 10 Goa Congress MLAs who defected yesterday have left with the Goa Chief Minister, Pramod Sawant, for Delhi, Thursday, to meet Union Home Minister, Amit Shah and the party working President, JP Nadda.

Pramod Sawant said that no decision has yet been taken, regarding the reshuffle in his cabinet. Talking to reporters, Sawant said that the party’s central leadership will take a call in this regard.

The state assembly speaker, Rajesh Patnekar, yesterday, accepted the MLAs request to merge their group with the BJP. “Ten Congress members of the legislative assembly have merged with the BJP. Chief minister Pramod Sawant has also informed this office that the strength of the BJP in the (40-member) state assembly has increased to 27. I have accepted both the requests,” Patnekar said.

The 10 Congress MLAs who defected the party are:
  • Chandrakant Kavlekar
  • Isidore Fernandes
  • Francis Silveira
  • Filipe Neri Rodrigues
  • Jennifer
  • Atanasio Monserrate
  • Antonio Fernandes
  • Nilakanth Halarnkar
  • Clafacio Dias
  • Wilfred D’Sa
The 5 members left with the Congress are:
  • Digambar Kamat
  • Luzinho Faleiro
  • Ravi Naik
  • Pratapsingh Rane
  • Aliexo Reginaldo

As two-third Congress MLAs have quit the party, they will evade the anti-defection law and hence will remain as MLAs. At present BJP has 17 MLAs, and it is running the government with the support of Goa Forward Party and independent MLAs. After the 10 MLAs formally join BJP, the ruling party will have 27 MLAs in the 40-member assembly, and it will not need the support of others.

Chandrakant Kavlekar, leader of Opposition in the Assembly said that the 10 MLAs were forced to join the ruling party as they were frustrated in the opposition. “We have been in the opposition for so long. And to continue in the opposition at the cost of development in our constituencies was not possible. We have joined to strengthen the hand of the chief minister as well as to ensure development in our constituencies,” Kavlekar said.

One of the defected Goa Congress MLA, Filipe Neri Rodrigues said, “We have already joined the BJP. We are part of it now. Its the collective opinion of all the Congress legislators and BJP has got the mandate of people. What we could not deliver to the people in Goa being in the opposition, we will also try to take benefit of this government to the people”.

Ayodhya hearing: Supreme Court seeks interim report from the mediators

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Ayodhya hearing: Supreme Court seeks interim report from the mediators

Today, while hearing a petition for an early hearing on the Ayodhya land dispute case, the Supreme Court has said that it had set up a mediation panel and it should wait for the interim report from the mediators. The court has ordered Justice Kalifullah to submit status regarding the progress of mediation by next Thursday.


The Court has also said that if the matter is not resolved by mediation then the case would be heard from July 25 onwards on a day to day basis.


The petition to have an early hearing of the Ayodhya case was filed on July 9 citing the slow progress of the progress in the court-supervised mediation efforts. The Supreme Court had set up a 3 member mediation panel headed by retired Justice FM Kalifullah. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and senior advocate Sriram Panchu as its other members. The mediation process was expected to be completed in 8 weeks.

However, in May the panel had asked for an extension of time to reach an amicable solution. Following which the court had granted time until August 15.

The court has had earlier directed that the mediation proceedings shall be kept confidential. There should not be any reporting of the proceedings either in the print or in the electronic media during the process of mediation.

An unapologetic Kangana Ranaut dares the ‘pseudo journalists’ to ban her, calls them ‘termites’

OpIndia Staff
-
0
An unapologetic Kangana Ranaut dares the ‘pseudo journalists’ to ban her, calls them ‘termites’

After the Entertainment Journalists’ Guild of India decided to ban her till she apologises for an alleged spat with a reporter, Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut has hit back at the Guild while requesting them to ban her.

In a four-minute video posted by Kangana Ranaut’s sister Rangoli Chandel, Kangana has shot back at the Entertainment Journalists’ Guild for her their alleged bias and propaganda.

“I am here to talk about the Indian media. There are good people as well as bad people in every place. The media has always supported and inspired me, I have found good friends and guide from the media fraternity. They have a major role to play in my success and I am grateful to them,” said Kangana Ranaut.


Kangana then began her defence against the arbitrary ban on her. She said, “A section of media functions like ‘termites’ who attack our country’s grace, honour, unity and integrity and often spreads rumours. They spread false propaganda, fake news and seditious views to the people. Our constitution neither has penalty nor any punishment for these crimes. I feel these people, so-called ‘liberals’ and ‘secular’ sold out media, are not secular as they peddle propaganda on communal lines.

“I met a journalist in Delhi recently, he has been making fun of many serious issues. I  campaigned for a ban on plastic recently and he ridiculed it, he also made fun of my campaign against cow slaughter, animal cruelty. I made a movie on a martyr, he made fun on the movie as well,” said Kangana referring to PTI journalist Justin Rao. Evidently, Rao isn’t a huge fan of the actor and has been mocking her for quite some time.

In her second video, Kangana Ranaut launches a scathing attack on these journalists and their dubious nature of work.

“These people do not have any proper argument or comment to make as journalists are supposed to do. Rather, they resort to attack and abuse me personally like professional trolls. They attend press conferences to get free food. These people do not have any work to quantify their existence as a journalist.”

“If I call myself an artist, I should have some work. Please show me one article that you wrote. How can you call yourself a journalist? I refused to answer his question as I have zero tolerance against anti-nationalists. These three or four people formed a guild against me, I think it was formed yesterday. It does not even have any recognition.”


Responding to the guild, Kangana said that these people are threatening to ban me, destroy my career. “These people are threatening to ban me, spoil my career. You incapable and anti-national people, one doesn’t need lakhs of rupees to buy you out, you people are so cheap that you get sold out for Rs 50-60. Do you think you can destroy me? If things were according to pseudo-journalists like you and the movie mafia, I wouldn’t be the country’s top actress and the highest paid actress. I ask you to please ban me, I do not want that there is no food at your home because of me.”

The spat between Kangana Ranaut and a ‘journalist’ began in a film’s song launch event on July 7, 2019. Kangana Ranaut had publically criticised PTI Journalist Justin Rao for his bias and his alleged propaganda against her movie ‘Manikarnika’. Soon, the Entertainment Journalists Guild of India had decided to boycott the actress from any kind of media coverage.

Balaji Telefilms and producer Ekta Kapoor had apologised for the incident and Entertainment Journalists’ Guild of India had responded by saying that they accept the apology but would continue to boycott Kangana until the actor apologises.

However, with Kangana Ranaut being unapologetic about the incident and instead further exposing what she refers to as ‘pseudo-journalist movie mafia’, the incident is expected to take a lot of twists and turns further giving free promotion to the movie ‘Judgemental Hai Kya’.

India vs New Zealand: Dhoni gambled, but Guptill pulled out an Ace at the end

Sandeep Singh
-
0
India vs New Zealand: Dhoni gambled, but Guptill pulled out an Ace at the end

At 5/3 after 4 overs, memories of Champions Trophy Final came rushing back. For the past 2 years, India’s biggest worry was what happens if the top 3 fail, and the worst fears came true during that opening burst by Boult and Henry in the World Cup Semi Final match against New Zealand on Wednesday.

Most of the Indian runs were scored by Rohit, Rahul and Kohli in the competition, and now they were gone after scoring 1 each. DK never looked the part in his limited outings in the competition and when he was dismissed for 4, India were staring down the barrel. The young Turks Pant and Pandya put together a decent partnership and rode out the initial storm but the quiet, unassuming Santner tightened the noose and both of them got out trying to break the shackles.

At 92/6, it looked like all is over but there was one ray of hope, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He is at the end of his career, he doesn’t score as quickly as before, he gets stuck against the spinners, but as long as he was there, we believed.

He found a perfect ally in Ravindra Jadeja, Manjrekar lit a fire in Jadeja’s heart with his comments earlier in the week and Jadeja was playing like a man possessed. He was miserly with the ball, typically sensational in the field, and now with the bat, he set about chasing the target with a vengeance.

Dhoni, who has played a lot of cricket with Jadeja for India and CSK, let Jadeja take the aggressor role while he quietly went about building his innings with singles. Jadeja’s heroics meant the required run rate was kept around 9-10 during the backend of the chase.

The stage was set, this was Dhoni territory, this is where he made his name as the greatest finisher in ODI history, Dhoni played out Santner, he played out Ferguson, he knew Neesham or de Grandhomme will have to bowl 1 over, the over he can use to catch up and close in on the target. Williamson knew what Dhoni is waiting for, he kept holding Neesham back and bowled Boult, Henry and Ferguson.

A sensational 47th over from Henry made things difficult, only 5 runs were scored, 42 from 24 became 37 from 18, Dhoni still waited. Boult backed Henry up beautifully in the next, concedes just 6 and dismissed the dangerous Jadeja, India needed 31 from 12, Dhoni couldn’t wait any more.

Williamson still held Neesham back and went with his leading wicket taker Ferguson in the 49th over against a man who backs himself to get the better of any bowler in such a situation.

The first ball of 49th over, short outside off, Dhoni murdered it over Covers with both feet off the ground for a six. A nation believed again, it was just like old times, Dhoni is going to pull it off. He blocked the second ball back to the bowler, the target was within his zone now, he didn’t need to risk a big hit every ball with the weaker 5th bowler’s over to come.

Next ball, Ferguson went short directed at the body, cramped for room, Dhoni flapped at it and it went to square leg with no fielder in the circle, Dhoni knew he needed to get back on strike, he pushed for that second as Wicket keeper chased the ball.

23 from 9 would have been in Dhoni’s range, but Martin Guptill has other ideas. He ran in from deep square, picked the ball up and with one stump to aim, smashed them with the most accurate of throws. Dhoni knew, Guptill knew, Kettleborough knew, India knew, but we still waited for 3rd umpire to confirm it to us, the World Cup was over, Dhoni fell short by inches.

He gambled on making up the dot balls at the death against the Kiwi bowlers but the freakish piece of fielding by Guptill upstaged him.

Rahul Gandhi finds easy being in the Opposition, maybe that’s why he is where he is

Shashank Bharadwaj
-
0
Rahul Gandhi finds easy being in the Opposition, maybe that’s why he is where he is

The realm of teleserials seems to have crept into the Indian political scenery, especially within the Congress party. The drama not only continues to be perpetual but with time, it also becomes predictable.

The current story of Rahul Gandhi and his party seems to be following the screenplay of a daily soap. The drama is long and the story seems to be moving on the predictable lines.

Rahul Gandhi lost the ‘family seat’ of Amethi to BJP’s Smriti Irani in 2019 elections. After the humilating loss he returned to his constituency for the first time since his defeat. In Amethi, he addressed Congress party workers. The former Congress President did what he does the best – abdicating his responsibility of being a ‘leader’.

Rahul Gandhi in Amethi

“Narendra Modi is Prime Minister, Yogi ji is Chief Minister and Smriti Irani is the Member of Parliament from BJP. We have to do the work of opposition now, it is the most enjoyable, it is easy,” he said.


Through these words, Rahul Gandhi signalled his intentions of being an opposition leader perpetually rather than taking up the mantle of leadership. This comes at a time when the party is sliding into irrelevance. At a time when the party is battling for existence, it needs strong leadership to stabilise the party from its downward spiral. However, Rahul Gandhi, does not appear in the mood to be a ‘leader’ of the party to inspire his cadre. His stand-offish and casual attitude doesn’t help the party either.

With Rahul Gandhi making his intentions clear in Amethi stating that he finds joy in being in opposition party as it easy, it is nothing but gloomy for the Congress party. Since the early 2000s, the structure of the Congress party has been in a way that without the Gandhi-Nehru parivar at the helm of the affairs, it is bound to reach a state of anarchy.

Crisis in Congress

Right now, if reports are to be believed, Congress has started a franatical search for the party president. The party has asked its leaders to send in suggestions for the top post. However, they are reluctant to do so since they are afraid what if they do not make it. The infightings within the party has reached new heights.

Some Congress leaders even believe that Sonia should become the interim President since they feel only the Nehru-Gandhi family can keep the party together.

Meanwhile, the Congress leadership tried its best to blame several factors for its loss. They were also successful in finding a scapegoat for Rahul Gandhi’s incompetence in the form of Praveen Chakravarty, Congress’ Data Analytics Department’s head. The Congress party believes that it was the wrong data provided by Chakravarty that led the party to a defeat in the 2019 elections. Editorials were written that Rahul Gandhi’s fault was only that he put his trust in wrong person.

Amidst all this, the defeatist attitude of being excited at being in the opposition should be a cause of worry for those who still believe in Congress.

Uttar Pradesh: 6 arrested after illegal weapons recovered from Madrasa, ferried weapons using car with ‘Shiv Sena’ sticker to hide identity

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Uttar Pradesh: 6 arrested after illegal weapons recovered from Madrasa, ferried weapons using car with ‘Shiv Sena’ sticker to hide identity

The Uttar Pradesh Police has recovered a huge cache of illegal weapons from a madarsa in Bijnor. As per Police, they received information that some anti-social elements visited the madarsa regularly.


The car which reportedly smuggled weapons was also recovered from the madarsa. As per Amar Ujala report, the car had ‘Shiv Sena’ written on it.

According to police, the madarsa also operated as a ‘hikmat’ (a place where a hakim prescribes medicines). The illegal weapon smugglers would come pretending to be patients. No one suspected that the ‘patients’ were actually arms smugglers.

Police suspects that Sabir, who hails from Bihar, was the main supplier. He got a ‘Shiv Sena’ sticker on his car used for smuggling so that no one suspects him.

5 pistols and several cartridges have been recovered and six people, including Zafar Islam, Noor Ali, Mohammad Sabir, Azizurahman and Fahim are arrested. Further investigation is currently underway.

As per reports, the Darul Hamidiya madarsa is operational since a few years. About 25 students currently study here. On Thursday, police received information that weapons are kept in the madarsa. Following the tip-off, the police raided the madarsa.

CBI raids Indira Jaising and husband Anand Grover’s residences in connection with FCRA violations by Lawyers Collective

OpIndia Staff
-
0
CBI raids Indira Jaising and husband Anand Grover’s residences in connection with FCRA violations by Lawyers Collective

The residences of lawyer and activist Indira Jaising and husband Anand Grover are being raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with FCRA violations in the NGO Lawyers Collective, according to a report in Republic TV.


Searches are also taking place at the Mumbai and Delhi offices of the NGO. Recently, The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed an FIR against Advocate Anand Grover and NGO Lawyers’ Collective for FCRA violations.

The FIR was filed under sections 120-B, 406, 120, 199 of the Indian Penal Code, 33, 35, 37, 39 of the FCRA, 2010 and other sections of the PC Act, 1988. The FIR also mentions several other office-bearers and functionaries of the NGO and unknown private persons and public servants under IPC sections that deal with forgery, cheating and criminal conspiracy.

Earlier in May, Indira Jaising, Anand Grover and Lawyers’ Collective were issued a notice by the Supreme Court based on a PIL filed by a voluntary organization of lawyers, Lawyers Voice, seeking an SIT investigation into the inaction of the Central Government over the violation of FCRA laws by the entities concerned. The notice was issued by a bench headed by CJI Gogoi.

The FRCA licence of the NGO was cancelled by the Modi government in 2016 for using foreign funds to achieve political objectives. Indira Jaising also appeared on behalf of one of the petitioners who wanted to desecrate the Sabarimala Temple.

Actress Swastika Dutta pulled out of the car and threatened by Uber driver Jamshed

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Actress Swastika Dutta pulled out of the car and threatened by Uber driver Jamshed

In Kolkata, West Bengal, a Bengali serial actress, Swastika Dutta was pulled out of her Uber taxi and threatened by the driver, Jamshed. The actress took to Facebook to pen down her ordeal.

What Swastika Dutta said

In her Facebook post yesterday, the actress wrote that she felt humiliated after this incident. According to Dutta, the driver of the Uber taxi, one Jamshed, took her to a remote area, pulled her out of the taxi and threatened her. She says that she had booked the taxi from her studio and midway during the ride, Jamshed cancelled the ride and asked her to get out of the cab. When she refused, she says, he turned the taxi in the opposite direction, took her to ‘his locality’ and started abusing her.

She said that it was at this point of time that he opened the door, pulled her out of the car and started threatening her. When she tried to retaliate, he said: “ki korbi kor, dekhi ki korte parish” (Do what you think you can, let’s see what you can do). According to Dutta’s Facebook post, the driver also threatened to call ‘other boys’.

The entire incident took place in a span of half an hour, between 8:15 and 8:45 in the morning. Swastika Dutta said the encounter took place in front of a restaurant near the busy EM bypass in Kolkata.

Police takes cognisance

Yesterday evening, the Kolkata police took to Twitter to assure that all necessary action will be taken and the culprit won’t be spared.


Earlier, former Miss India, Ushoshi Sengupta had faced a similar ordeal when she was dragged out of her car and attacked by several men. After Sengupta’s Facebook post went viral, the Kolkata police finally swung into action and arrested seven men, Sheik Rahit, Fardin Khan, Sk. Sabir Ali, Sk. Gani, Sk. Imran Ali, Sk. Wasim and Atif Khan, for allegedly harassing the complainant, assaulting an Uber driver and vandalising the cab.

In another incident, Uber driver Aftab had gotten abusive with a passenger after he got angry upon seeing a Shivaji temple.

We had also reported how a lady with the Twitter handle @sona2905 was subjected to rude and obnoxious behaviour of an Uber driver, Usman, who got aggressive on seeing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s picture on her phone cover. He started off with refusing to turn on the air conditioner in the Uber and even told her to ‘ask Modi to send her a cab’.

Uber responds

Uber has issued a statement responding to the incident, narrating it as deeply concerning. They have also informed that the concerned driver’s access to the app has been removed. The statement issued by a spokesperson of Uber says, “What’s been described is deeply concerning. This is a clear violation of the safety standards set by our community guidelines, and we have removed the driver’s access to the app. We stand ready to support law enforcement authorities in their investigations.”

Kapil Sibal backed Tiranga TV channel disappears from some platforms, fired employees file complaint to Press Council, Editors Guild

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Kapil Sibal backed Tiranga TV channel disappears from some platforms, fired employees file complaint to Press Council, Editors Guild

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal backed ‘Tiranga TV’ channel has disappeared from some platforms. Airtel Digital TV has confirmed that the channel is no longer available on its platform.


Meanwhile, the fired employees of Tiranga TV, have reportedly filed a complaint agaist Sibal and News HTN (Tiranga TV).


On 9th July, Tiranga TV’s fired employees also met Shekhar Gupta and submitted a memorandum to the Editors Guild of India.


Gupta is the Editor of an online digital platform, ThePrint and President of the Editors Guild of India. ThePrint is often accused of distortion and spreading fake news. The Editor’s Guild has not yet issued any statement on the Tiranga TV employees’ memorandum.

Tiranga TV controversy

Launched ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, English News channel Tiranga TV that started off as Harvest TV, has landed in fresh turmoil. The employees of Tiranga TV have alleged that they were fired abruptly. Later, the fired employees took to Twitter to register their grievances on sudden dismissal. They had also protested outside Sibal’s house demanding justice.

Many fired employees have alleged that they had left lucrative job offers to join the channel. The employees claimed they were assured before joining that company would run for around 3 years. The move has left them in the lurch as they have no clarity about the situation. They have demanded six months salary from the management as compensation for unceremonious dismissal.

The media outlet has often been severely critical of the Modi government. It witnessed the return of many prominent journalists including Barkha Dutt, Karan Thapar, and Punya Prasun Bajpai. The channel was launched on the Republic Day this year as Harvest TV.

Later, Harvest TV was rechristened as Tiranga TV, after the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) allowed Sibal’s channel to use the new name and logo without the colours saffron and green.

India finally bans pro-Khalistan outfit ‘Sikhs for Justice’ for its separatist agenda and militant activities

OpIndia Staff
-
0
India finally bans pro-Khalistan outfit ‘Sikhs for Justice’ for its separatist agenda and militant activities

India has finally banned the pro-Khalistan outfit ‘Sikhs for Justice’ (SFJ) for its separatist agenda. The SFJ is an ISI backed organisation that has been pushing for the Sikh referendum in 2020. They have been now banned under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act).

Gazette notification issued by Home Ministry

A Gazette Notification issued by the Home Ministry said that the Central Government is of the opinion that the SFJ is indulging in the activities which are prejudicial to the integrity and security of the country. The notification says that SFJ is involved in anti-national and subversive activities in Punjab and elsewhere, intended to disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India; it is  in close touch with the militant outfits and activists, and it is supporting violent form of extremism and militancy in Punjab and elsewhere to carve out a sovereign Khalistan out of India; and SFJ is encouraging and aiding the activities for secession and supporting separatist groups fighting for this purpose.

The government is also of the opinion that if the unlawful activities of the SFJ are not curbed and controlled immediately, it will escalate its subversive activities including attempts to carve out Khalistan out of India, continue advocating the secession of Khalistan, propagate anti-national and separatist sentiments, and it will escalate secessionist movements, support militancy and incite violence in the country.

In view of these observations, the government decided to ban Sikhs For Justice under sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,
1967.

Chief Minister of Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh has hailed this decision and described it as the first step towards protecting the nation from the anti-India/secessionist designs of ISI-backed organisation.


‘Sikhs for Justice’ is a UK based that group that is allegedly supported by ISI, Pakistan’s intelligence agency. The group had organized an event calling for a referendum for the separation Punjab from India at London’s Trafalgar Square last year in August. They had held what is known as the ‘London Declaration’ for the referendum in 2020. The group also had to face a large gathering of Indians who arranged a counter-protest, displaying support for India’s sovereignty.

Just today a group of Sikh protestors sporting “Punjab Referendum 2020” were evicted from the stadium for chanting pro-Khalistani slogans during the World Cup semi-final between India and New Zealand.

The government had previously taken several steps to clamp down the Khalistani separatists. In September 2018 Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, SFJ’s legal advisor, was banned from WhatsApp. The government had also successfully taken steps to limit his Facebook and Twitter reach.

Pannun is notorious for his numerous lawsuits against Sikh political leaders. Following the WhatsApp ban, he had also uploaded a video threatening the Punjab CM Amarinder Singh and insulted the Indian national flag. In 2017, the Punjab Government had filed a sedition case against him for putting up posters of the ‘referendum 2020’ supporting the Khalistan demand.

Pakistan’s close nexus with the Khalistani extremists was evident in December last year. Members of a Canada based Khalistani organisation had honoured Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and their Army Chief, General Bajwa for opening the Kartarpur Corridor.

1...6,2676,2686,269...7,666Page 6,268 of 7,666