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‘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.

Cyclone Vayu: Gujarat safe as the cyclone diverted towards Oman

OpIndia Staff
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Cyclone Vayu: Gujarat safe as the cyclone diverted towards Oman

In what comes as a relief to Gujarat, the Cyclone Vayu has now diverted its route towards Oman. Private meteorological company Skymet has reported that the Very Severe Cyclone Vayu may not hit Gujarat and may just drift away from the Saurashtra coast. According to Skymet, there are fair chances that the cyclone may just skirt the Gujarat coast near Porbandar, close to Dwarka or Okha coast.

The very severe cyclone Vayu which is currently category 2 storm is likely to weaken into a category 1 storm however, heavy winds may continue to cause damage. At present, cyclone Vayu is centred around 260 west of Mumbai and 320 km south of Porbandar and the periphery of the system is already reaching Gujarat coast.

Earlier visuals from Gujarat showed how the sea had turned rough ahead of the landfall of Cyclone Vayu.


As per the IMD, while the eye of the cyclone may or may not hit Gujarat, the system will hit along the coast of Porbandar. Hence, the heavy rains, thunderstorms and wind continue to remain threat factors. The IMD has adviced not to relax the preparedness.

Last month the extremely severe Cyclone Fani had hit the state of Odisha. The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (ODRR) has praised India for achieving a minimal loss of life from Cyclone Fani.

119 persons booked for posting derogatory remarks against the CM of Kerala since the Pinarayi Vijayan government came to power

OpIndia Staff
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119 persons booked for posting derogatory remarks against the CM of Kerala since the Pinarayi Vijayan government came to power

Amidst the fresh row regarding freedom of speech and expression which was kicked off by the arrest of a journalist named Prashant Kanojia in UP who had posted highly derogatory remarks against Hindu gods and goddesses on social media, the State of Kerala was noticeably left out from the outrage despite having not a very impressive record in safeguarding freedom of speech and expression.


According to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, 119 people have been booked in Kerala for making derogatory remarks against the Chief Minister on social media ever since the Pinarayi government came to power.

Reportedly, CM Vijayan himself stated these numbers in a recent written reply to questions in Kerala Assembly by Congress MLA V T Balaram and Indian Union Muslim League leader M K Muneer in January this year. As per the numbers provided by the Chief Minister, over 150 people in Kerala are facing either police cases or disciplinary actions for insulting CM Vijayan on social media. Out of the 119 persons who are facing legal action for posting derogatory comments against CM Vijayan on social media, 12 are State government employees and one is a central government employee. Among those facing disciplinary actions including suspension from service are, 41 State government employees out of whom 12 have cases registered against them. 26 persons have also been arrested for allegedly making objectionable remarks against CM Vijayan in connection with the Sabarimala temple entry issue.

Earlier in the day, the Kerala government had announced that it would be withdrawing the award given to cartoonist K K Subhas for publishing a cartoon mocking rape accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal.

“We are not sheep or buffaloes to be purchased”, former Telangana Congress MLAS that merged with TRS deny allegations of being lured

OpIndia Staff
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“We are not sheep or buffaloes to be purchased”, former Telangana Congress MLAS that merged with TRS deny allegations of being lured

The 12 MLAs of the Congress Party in Telangana who joined the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) today retaliated to the allegation of their former party that they were lured by the TRS.

Refuting the allegations of the state leadership of the Congress Party, MLA Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy, one of the 12 MLAs, said that they were not sheep or buffaloes to be purchased. “Congress Party leaders’ comments are surprising. (They say MLAs) joined after being offered inducements, purchased or out of fear. We are not kids to be made to fear. We are not the ones to fall for inducements. We are not sheep or buffaloes to be purchased”, said Reddy.

He said that the MLAs merged with the TRS abiding by the Constitutional provisions. “We, 12 MLAs, met the Speaker on 6th June of this month. It is clearly said in 10th Schedule of the Constitution that of 2/3rd of MLAs wish, they can merge. Accordingly, we met the Speaker on 6th (of June) and gave a letter”, he said.

He added, “We requested the Chief Minister to admit us into TRS Legislature Party. As per that letter, Speaker allowed us to be admitted, for merger”. Reddy rejected Congress’ allegations and said that the decision was taken for people’s welfare and the development of their constituencies.

Reddy asked the Congress Party to introspect for its defeat in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections, last year’s Assembly polls, the Lok Sabha elections, and the recent rural local body polls. He said that EVMs cannot be blamed for the Party’s defeat as ballot papers were used in local body polls.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra ‘warns’ Congress workers that she’ll find out which workers were not working wholeheartedly during the elections

OpIndia Staff
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Priyanka Gandhi Vadra ‘warns’ Congress workers that she’ll find out which workers were not working wholeheartedly during the elections

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has said that she will find out which workers did not work wholeheartedly for the party during the Lok Sabha elections.

Today Priyanka Vadra and her mother Sonia Gandhi were in Raebareli on a thanksgiving visit as Sonia Gandhi had won from the Lok Sabha constituency as the lone Congress MP from Uttar Pradesh in the recently concluded general elections. Addressing the party workers, Priyanka Vadra repeated the party’s stand that the party did so badly in the elections as some party workers didn’t work hard enough.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGtDa3bgd1I]

Priyanka Vadra said she thanks the people of Raebareli from her heart electing Sonia Gandhi. She said that she does not want to give a speech but wants to review and express her feelings. But as she was asked to say something, the truth will sound bitter. She said, “the truth is that, this election has been won by Sonia Gandhi and general public. Truth is that, among you who worked from their hearts, you know them. And those who didn’t work from heart, I will find out.”

Priyanka Vadra’s comments indicate the party leadership’s analysis that the defeat in the elections was the result of some workers not giving their best in the campaigning. The Congress general secretary has also made it clear that the party will find out who didn’t work their best, and perhaps will take punitive actions for the same.

This is not the first time the Gandhi family has blamed the others in the party for the election results. Earlier it was reported that Rahul Gandhi still thinks ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ was a good campaign, but it did not work because it was not taken up by other Congress leaders.

West Bengal: After NRS hospital, students at Burdwan Medical College and Hospital attacked by mob, police again mute spectators

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: After NRS hospital, students at Burdwan Medical College and Hospital attacked by mob, police again mute spectators

Since Monday night, doctors in West Bengal are having a tough time in the state. At the NRS Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, nearly 200 people descended on its premises and attacked doctors and interns after Mohammed Sayeed, apparently an 85-year-old man, died due to natural causes as per the medical fraternity. Two junior doctors were critically injured with one of them believed to be in coma.

Now, another medical college has been attacked, allegedly by families of patients, after the Doctors shut down services in solidarity with the protesting students at the NRS hospital. As per reports, stones were pelted at students and interns of the Burdwan Medical College and Hospital (BMCH) as a consequence of which four students have been injured.

“The doctors were peacefully holding a dharna when some hooligans pelted stones from outside around 11 a.m. One intern Mayank Agarwal, 22, was seriously hurt on the forehead, while three others received minor injuries,” Amitava Saha, Deputy Superintendent of the hospital, told IANS.

There are attempts being made by a certain media outlet to deny that such a thing ever occurred. The Quint quoted Dr. Utpal, Medical Superintendent cum Vice-Principal at the college, to claim that such violence did not occur.

However, as is clear from Amitava Saha’s statement to IANS, the doctors were pelted with stones and some of them were injured. Sources have confirmed to OpIndia.com as well that doctors at the institution were pelted with stones.

The violence occurred at the institution late night on Tuesday and continued on Wednesday. Aniruddha Hazra, a junior doctor, was reportedly injured on Tuesday. Allegedly, apart from patient parties, local goons got involved as well.

Social media is flooded with the images of the injured junior doctors. The images clearly show that individuals have been gravely injured. Videos are also being circulated which allegedly show a mob pelting stones at the doctors.

According to some accounts, the goons who attacked the doctors at BMCH were associated with the ruling political dispensation. However, OpIndia.com can neither confirm or deny such allegations. In this particular instance, too, the Police were said to be mute spectators. Allegedly, female students at the institution were injured as well.

OpIndia.com was told by a source who was an eyewitness to the entire series of events, “When we sat for a protest in front of the Emergency gates, suddenly stones started being pelted at us. Then, the agitated crowds barged into the institution and continued pelting stones at us. Many people were injured, interns and students. We somehow managed to protect ourselves in a room at the Emergency section. The Police were present but did not help us. We could hear people screaming outside. We were stuck for nearly 2 hours.  Only then the Police cleared the people and we somehow managed to escape.”

Another source told us, “A student of the Dental College was stopped on his bike by the mob and attacked viciously. He suffered severe injuries. He was stopped after they saw the medical symbol on his bike. There is another student who has been critically injured as well.” This source, too, suggested the involvement of local goons. We were further told that despite the violence being stopped, the situation remains tense.

People on social media are demanding the resignation of the Health Minister. Such calls were already being made after the violence at NRS hospital and such calls are gaining momentum after the violence at BMCH. The violence at NRS Hospital followed by the violence at BMCH reflect the continuous deteriorating law and order situation in the state under Mamata Banerjee.

Meanwhile, protests by the medical fraternity continue. As we had reported earlier, the protesting junior doctors are demanding concrete and immediate action against the perpetrators of the vicious attack on Monday night and also an inquiry into police inaction over the matter.

Patients and their families were already suffering due to the disruption in normal services as a consequence of the protests. Now, the attack on students and interns at BMCH will be further fuel to the fire that is already burning. The state government must take immediate steps to assuage the concerns of the medical fraternity. Failure to do so would cause further chaos and will result in casualties which is completely avoidable.

Delhi police arrests one Imran for slaughtering a cow just to create communal tension on Holi

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi police arrests one Imran for slaughtering a cow just to create communal tension on Holi

A Muslim man called Imran has been arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police on that charge of attempting to create communal tension in Delhi. According to a report by Jagran, Imran, along with his friends Parvez, Lukmaan and Inshallahum had conspired to create communal disharmony on the day of Holi.

According to the Jagran report, during interrogation, Imran has admitted that on the day of Holi, he had deliberately slaughtered a cow in Delhi’s Harsh Vihaar to incite communal tension between Hindus and Muslims.

It is also being reported that Imran has a criminal background and currently the Delhi police is in the process of interrogating him.

Imran comes from a family that has traders and businessmen who deal in selling cows and buffaloes.

On 23rd March 2019, Navbharat Times had reported that body parts of slaughtered animals were found in a farm in Harsh Vihar. Some women had found the body parts in the farm on Holi. The body parts were reportedly found only 500 meters away from the Harsh Vihar police station.

After the women found the slaughtered animals on Holi, a businessman from the area called Deepak Mawi alerted the police. He informed the police that the body parts of slaughtered animals were found on the boundary wall of Arora Farmhouse.

In fact, reports indicate that after the slaughtered animals were found, a large crowd had gathered in the area who were visibly enraged by the situation. The police informed the nearby police stations as well and the Rapid Action Force was deployed in the area.

According to reports, the police spoke to the agitated crowd and pacified them. The police then filed a case under IPC section 429 and started their investigation.

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