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Karnataka: Congress MLA threatens to chop off hands and legs of forest official

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka: Congress MLA threatens to chop off hands and legs of forest official

Karnataka Congress MLA B K Sangameshwara reportedly threatened to chop off hands and legs of a forest official for allegedly stopping construction of a temple in Bhadravati. As per reports, Sangameshwarwa was caught on camera threatening a forest official for objecting to the construction of a temple in the forest land.

In a brazen display of power, Sangameshwara even threatened the official against visiting the piece of forest land. As per reports, the villagers wanted to construct a temple in the Bhadravati region in Karnataka and laid the foundation stone on 31st December. However, a forest official objected to the same citing lack of proper permissions to initiate construction of any building on forest land. The villagers then approached the MLA Sangameshwara who called up the official and abused him.

The MLA reportedly warned the official and said, “They have conducted rituals here today. No one should object to the construction here. If they do, I will have their hands or legs chopped off. You don’t seem to understand kind words.”

BSP-SP give jolt to Congress’ mahagathbandhan dream, keeps it at bay with two seats in UP

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BSP-SP give jolt to Congress’ mahagathbandhan dream, keeps it at bay with two seats in UP

As 2019 General elections inches closer and Congress is trying hard to forge a Mahagatbandhan (grand alliance) with regional satraps to counter BJP, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party have delivered a huge setback in Uttar Pradesh, the state with the highest number of Lok Sabha constituencies.

According to reports, SP and BSP are engaged in negotiations to cobble up an alliance, along with other parties of Uttar Pradesh, to repeat Gorakhpur-Phupur by-poll results and defeat BJP in elections. BSP and SP are ready to share seats with Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal but are in two minds about sharing seats with Congress.

“The SP-BSP alliance is the main force which will take on the BJP. The Congress might be there in one or two seats, it is for the Congress to decide what position it wishes to see itself in,” SP’s vice-president Kiranmoy Nanda was quoted by reports.

BSP-SP, reportedly, will contest in 37 seats each out of total 80 seats in the state, and RLD, NISHAD along with others will contest in 4 seats. The remaining two seats are of Rae Bareli and Amethi, represented by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi at present, which the alliance will leave uncontested for Congress.

SP Vice President Nanda said that Congress is not willing to share seats with regional parties, where it is strong, but wants large share where regional forces are at the helm. SP-BSP is likely to announce the seat-sharing on 15 Jan, on the occasion of BSP supremo’s birthday.

Not only in Uttar Pradesh but in Madhya Pradesh too, BSP has kept Congress at bay. The party is planning to contest all Lok Sabha seats of MP on its own without allying with Congress. In Karnataka too Deve Gowda’s JD(S) is also preparing to go in polls without Congress. JD(S), which is in alliance with Congress in the state government of Karnataka, asserted that the party’s local leadership is unhappy with the attitude of Congress. The party cited meeting of workers with Deve Gowda in districts and complaints about Congress’ ‘Big Brother’ attitude, undertaken by the national party after victory in three assembly elections.

Troubles for the Mahagatbandhan is not limited to this alone. KC Rao, CM of Telangana, has also given Congress party reason to worry. Since the recent win in assembly elections, KC Rao has embarked on countrywide visits to regional forces’ head in order to cobble up a Third Front or The Federal Front, which will be free of both BJP and Congress. Andhra Pradesh CM Naidu has already expressed his scepticism over the alliance, while Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi has said that the alliance will only help BJP in elections.

In the 2014 general elections, BJP had grabbed 71 seats in UP, which is considered unprecedented. BSP had scored zero, and SP had only managed to win from its Yadav bastions.

In a first, Central Govt planning to provide banking facilities to sex workers and human trafficking survivors

OpIndia Staff
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In a first, Central Govt planning to provide banking facilities to sex workers and human trafficking survivors

According to a report by Times Of India, the Centre is contemplating initiating a process to see how the survivors of human trafficking and those involved in commercial sexual exploitation could be brought into the framework of ‘financial inclusion’. The clandestine nature of the job and the stigma surrounding it refrains female sex labourers to benefit from any financial services provided by the Centre. Economic exclusion of these sex workers from government and other formal financial institutions is both a cause and an effect of their occupation.

The ministry of finance has set up a special task force on January 2. In a meeting scheduled to be held next week, this high-level task force will decide on how to connect this stratum of society with banking facilities and introduce them to the advantages of such financial inclusion.

The Centre is “working out the modalities for extending the benefits of financial inclusion to women victims of sex trafficking” and is expected to finalise the same by January 15.

According to the ministry of finance, the task force would be led by a senior official from the department of financial services and would include representatives from ministries of health, women and child development, home affairs, Unique Identification Authority of India, National Aids Control Organisation, representatives of the State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and few NGOs.

The primary focus of this task force would be linking these female workers with various banks which would primarily give them power over their own money, said Ravi Kant, chief of NGO Shakti Vahini, who is also one of the representatives of this task force.

Another member of this special task force, Amod Kanth, founder secretary of an NGO named Prayas, emphasised that “In the backdrop of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, the existence of sex workers is shrouded by fear and they mostly live away from the mainstream. It is because of this segregated existence and fear of being identified that they are unable to access social entitlements and banking facilities.” He felt that this attempt of making financial inclusions would prove to be a game changer for these sex workers and victims.

Associated Journals moves double bench of Delhi High court challenging the court order to vacate Herald House

OpIndia Staff
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Associated Journals moves double bench of Delhi High court challenging the court order to vacate Herald House

In the latest, Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) has moved a double bench of Delhi High court challenging the single bench order which had directed AJL to vacate Herald House within two weeks.


What had come as a major setback to the Gandhi family, the Delhi High court on December 21, 2018, had dismissed the petition filed by Associated Journals Limited challenging the eviction order issued by the central government on October 30 and had asked the publishers of the Congress mouthpiece National Herald to vacate the ‘Herald House’ within two weeks.

According to the reports, the Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) had filed a plea in the Delhi High Court challenging the order issued by the Union Government asking them to vacate the premises of Herald House building in Delhi, which houses the offices of Congress mouthpiece National Herald.

The Union government in October last year had decided to take over the Herald House building in Delhi belonging to the Congress mouthpiece National Herald for violations of the specified conditions on which the land was allocated.

According to the reports, the Herald House was not being used for the specified purpose of printing the newspaper, which was the primary condition of leasing the land to the publisher at a highly nominal rate. The publishers have allegedly violated the condition and misused the allotted land. The inspection team had then also reported of finding unauthorised construction in the building.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, speaking before Justice Sunil Gaur of Delhi High Court had argued that AJL was given this property on a nominal cost to run a publication house but the company had rented out three floors of the building for a rent of Rs 15 crores, which according to lease terms was illegal. Following such irregularities, the Delhi High court had in December last year asked AJL to vacate the Herald House.

It is notable here that the much spoken about ‘National Herald case‘, which has made headlines quite a number of times, is considered one of the most eminent cases in Indian history as none other than the Gandhi’s, which is the oldest and most ‘prestigious’ Indian political family, are directly accused in the scam.

The Mother-Son duo of Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia, along with their aides – Oscar Fernandez, Motilal Vohra and Sam Pithroda are alleged to have involved in massive ‘cheating and breach of trust’ in the acquisition of Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) by Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YIL), as assets worth crores of rupees had been allegedly transferred for purposes other than originally intended for a paltry sum. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi got unconditional bail in the case in December 2015.

Suspended Punjab AAP MLA Sukhpal Khaira resigns from primary membership of the party

OpIndia Staff
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Suspended Punjab AAP MLA Sukhpal Khaira resigns from primary membership of the party

One more disillusioned Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, Punjab AAP MLA Sukhpal Khaira today resigned from the primary membership of Aam Aadmi Party. In his resignation letter sent to AAP Supremo Arvind Kejriwal, Khaira wrote that the “party has totally deviated from the ideology and principles on which it was formed post Anna Hazare movement.”

Hitting out on Kejriwal, Khaira said that the AAP chief’s ‘dicatorial attitude’ has “shattered the dreams of Indians and the Punjabis for a clean alternative to the decayed and rotten system.”

Stating that Kejirwal failed to understand the psyche of the Punjabis due to his ‘overconfidence’, Khaira said, “You only listened to the two “Subedars” you had appointed to run Punjab and never bothered about the sentiments of AAP volunteers on the ground.”

Khaira, along with AAP leader Kanwar Sandhu were earlier suspended from AAP for indulging in “anti-party activities”.

The rift within the Punjab unit of AAP has been well known for quite some time now. In July last year, Khaira was removed from his post of Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, which led to a sense of growing discontent in the party. He had then said that he would not be leaving the party and had stated that he would ensure that no defection takes place from the party.

It is reported that the rift in the party started when Kejriwal had to apologize to senior Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia for falsely accusing the latter of running a drug trade. At that time, Khaira and Bhagawat Mann had objected to Kejriwal’s decision and Mann had also resigned from the post of state chief.

The AAP Punjab Unit’s co-president Balbir Singh had accused him of accepting money from party workers. It was also reported that Khaira was alleged to have supported “referendum 2020”, which intends to create a separate state for Sikhs.

Sukhpal Singh Khaira, MLA from Bhulath, was appointed as the leader of opposition after HS Phoolka resigned from the post as he has decided to step away sighting conflict of interest, to fight the cases relating 1984 Anti-Sikh riots in the Supreme Court.

Recently, AAP leader HS Phoolka, who was against the formation of alliance with Congress also resigned from the party. Years after AAP founding members Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav were kicked out of the party, in August last year, AAP senior leader Ashutosh and Ashish Khetan had also quit the party.

Rajasthan: Loan waiver scam brewing in state? Non-existent names found in the list of beneficiaries

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan: Loan waiver scam brewing in state? Non-existent names found in the list of beneficiaries

After facing severe embarrassment for failure to waive farms loans across various states, Congress party seems to have caught up in another controversy. Farmers in Rajasthan have alleged that the loan waiver scheme has now turned out to be another scam, reported Times Now.

According to Times Now, the loan waivers promised by the state government has allegedly turned out to be a massive scam after the farmers found out that the list of beneficiaries contains the names of those farmers who had never availed any loan. The non-existent beneficiaries in the list of farm loan waivers point towards a scam committed by the co-operative banks allegedly under the aegis of the Congress government.


Reportedly, the names of more than 1,700 farmers were found in the list of beneficiaries from Dungarpur district alone and none of the farmers had never availed a loan. The farmers in the state are now fearful of the fact this alleged scam of fake beneficiaries could be replicated under the guise of farm loan waivers across the state.

The officials of a co-operative bank in Sagwara, Dungarpur have allegedly stated that as soon as they found out that Ashok Gehlot government ordered to write-off farms loans, they issued loans in the name of those people who had never availed a loan.

Within weeks of Congress party forming a government in Rajasthan, an alleged scam has been surfaced in the state pushing Congress party into a state of a fix. With the loan waiver scheme in Rajasthan turning out to be another possible scam by the Congress, the credibility of Rahul Gandhi in implementing such promises has once again gone down.

Rahul Gandhi led Congress which came to power in various states promising several sops of loan waivers, high MSP to the farmers seems to have started on a very bad note. The false promise of loan-waiver by the Congress party has taken three lives in Madhya Pradesh.

The Congress soon after assuming power in Madhya Pradesh had set in new conditions to waive-off farms loans contrary to its earlier promise of unconditional loan waiver. Addition to this, the Congress governments in both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are facing severe outrage from the farmers within weeks of their government formation, as both governments in the respective states had created a crisis by mismanaging the supply of urea.

Robert Vadra virtually owns a £ 1.9 million flat in London, ED tells the court

OpIndia Staff
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Robert Vadra virtually owns a £ 1.9 million flat in London, ED tells the court

In a major development in the money laundering investigation allegations against Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s brother in law Robert Vadra, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) told a Delhi Court on Saturday that Vadra is the virtual owner of a £ 1.9 million flat at 12, Bryanston Square in London. According to a report by the Times of India, the ED made the revelations in the court while seeking to secure an open-ended non-bailable warrant under Black Money Act against Vadra’s close aide Manoj Arora.

As per the report, the ED made these allegations in a special court of judge Arvind Kumar, claiming that the property in London was purchased using money laundered through Dubai and in violation of the Black Money Act. The ED said that Arora was crucial to the transaction and therefore, a key witness.

As per the ED, Vadra was beneficially controlling the £ 1.9 million London property. Vadra had also allegedly executed renovation work for the same and arranged for funds. Absconding defence dealer Sanjay Bhandari, Vadra’s aide, allegedly purchased the property for £ 1.9 million and sold it to a Vadra-controlled firm for the same amount after allegedly spending £ 65,900 on renovating it. The ED maintained that Bhandari was not the actual owner of the property, but it was beneficially owned by Vadra.

In December last year, while carrying out an investigation against middlemen and lobbyists in arms deals, a lookout circular was issued against Arora, Vadra’s Executive Assistant. He is being probed in the case against arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, who is a close associate of Vadra.

On December 8, The ED had questioned Manoj Arora along with several other persons connected to the case, which included Congress worker and another close aide of Robert Vadra, Jagdish Sharma. ED had raided several places connected to Vadra as part of the investigations. Few other employees working for Vadra were also questioned by ED.

The case against Sanjay Bhandari goes back to 2016 when during a raid by Income Tax department, confidential defence ministry documents were found in his possession. He had several documents related to meetings and decisions of Defence Acquisition Council (DAC). During further probe, email exchanges between Bhandari and Vadra were recovered.

One mail trail recovered from Bhandari’s computer was an exchange between Sanjay Bhandari, Robert Vadra and Manoj Arora. The mail conversations were regarding payments and renovations of the London house. According to official records, a UAE based company had bought the property for around ₹19 crore.

The emails were sent to Sumit Chadda, a relative of Sanjay Bhandari’s based in London. In one of the emails, Sumit Chadda had reported the progress of repair and renovation work done in the house to Robert Vadra and asked for payment for the expenses. In reply, Vadra wrote that he will look into the issue and his “secretary Manoj” will be in touch for follow up. After that, Manoj had exchanged emails with Sumit regarding the matter. This email communications clearly indicated that Vadra is the real owner of the London property.

Sanjay Bhandari is wanted by Indian authorities under several cases, who at present lives in London.

Karnataka: Farm loan burden drives a family of six to commit suicide

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka: Farm loan burden drives a family of six to commit suicide

42-year-old Shekharaiah in Karnataka poisoned his wife and four daughters before committing suicide by hanging himself. The incident took place in Koppal Taluk of Metagal village in Karnataka where the police have registered a case of suicide.

Shekharaiah, a farmer, is believed to have taken the extreme step due to the loan burden. As per reports, local villagers claim that Shekharaiah had borrowed loans worth Rs. 6 lakh from banks and private money-lenders. While the family went to sleep as usual on Friday night, they didn’t wake up till late morning on Saturday. Frightened villagers broke open the door and found them dead.

Karnataka Agriculture minister, N H Shivashankara Reddy, who was incidentally in Koppal for private work, expressed shock at the suicides. As per local reports, the family was distressed due to crop failure.

This takes the farmer suicide toll to eight in Karnataka in a span of weeks. In December, two farmers in Karnataka had committed suicides within five days for not being able to repay the debt.

The Congress party led by Rahul Gandhi who claims to have waived off farm loans in Karnataka has been exposed yet again after series of farmer suicides occurring in the state due to the failure of state government to waive-off these farm loans. Several farmers have also been issued notices after they failed to repay farm loans taken in various banks.

Recently, it was reported that Karnataka state government itself had admitted that Rs 44,000 crore loan waiver had helped only 800 farmers in the state. They had confirmed that only a few of the farmers had benefited from the so-called ‘loan-waiver’.

Fancy dress enthusiast MP Naramalli Sivaprasad resorts to cosplay to demand for special status for Andhra Pradesh

OpIndia Staff
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Fancy dress enthusiast MP Naramalli Sivaprasad resorts to cosplay to demand for special status for Andhra Pradesh

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Member of Parliament (MP) Naramalli Sivaprasad has taken to cosplay as a means to protest to demand special status for Andhra Pradesh. The former actor-turned-politician has taken this measure to protest against the government for not granting a special state status to Andhra Pradesh. Here are various avatars of Sivaprasad.

Sivaprasad cosplays as Dr Ambedkar while demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh
TDP MP Sivaprasad dresses up as a Muslim man to demand special status for Andhra Pradesh
“Modi is a bad boy” – TDP MP dressed as a school boy
Sivaprasad as Lord Krishna
Dressed up as ‘Swachha Bharat worker’ to protest demanding special status
Sivaprasad as Sathya Sai Baba
Former actor dresses up as a ‘magician’ with a wand too.
Sivaprasad as Lord Ram
Sivaprasad dressed as Shivaji Maharaj
TDP MP dresses as Hitler, the first foreign dignitary, who was responsible for killing millions.
TDP MP dressed as a woman

There are many more roles he has played demanding the special status for Andhra Pradesh. Sivaprasad was once a state actor and had acted in several movies before joining the TDP in 1998. Seems like he is still not over his former role.

AgustaWestland Case: Christian Michel received money from other defence deals, routed money through hawala, says ED

OpIndia Staff
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AgustaWestland Case: Christian Michel received money from other defence deals, routed money through hawala, says ED

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has accused the alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal, Christian Michel of accepting money from various other defence deals, reported Times of India.

According to the report, the ED on Saturday told the court that Christian Michel received 24.25 million euros and 1,60,96,245 pounds from the AgustaWestland deal. The ED further added that during the interrogation Michel revealed that he had received money from other defence deals as well.

The ED agency also told the court that the “accused routed money through ‘hawala’ operators for acquiring cash and for the purchase of property”. The ED has identified the properties, it said. The court has now sent him to judicial custody till February 27.

The ED added that it had investigated how money was transferred through ‘hawala’ and multiple bank accounts and found information about other defence deals. “We need to investigate the money flowing there as well. We have documents to show that they misled the Italian court,” said ED in the court.

After his 14-day custodial interrogation, the ED had produced Christian Michel before the court and requested the court to send him to judicial custody, alleging he might flee if left free.

“The accused is a British national and has no roots in India. There is every likelihood that he may abscond from India and evade the process of law, especially in the light of his past conduct. He has been brought to this court through rigorous extradition proceedings. His fleeing away from justice again cannot be ruled out,” the ED said.

The court had restricted his meetings with his lawyers after the ED said he was misusing legal access by passing slips to them, asking them how to tackle questions on “Mrs Gandhi”.

Earlier, the court had granted 7 days of custody to the ED on December 29. The ED had dropped several bombshells in the Court and had even asserted that Michel had mentioned a certain “Mrs Gandhi” during interrogation. Officials also verbally mentioned that Michel has also named “Italian lady’s son R who might become PM’.

Christian Michel is accused of money laundering, bribery, and fraud in connection with the Rs 3,600-crore worth AgustaWestland scam. It is believed that not only did he pay kickbacks to politicians, officers and agents but also involved certain celebrity journalists to swing the deal.

India had signed a deal in 2010 to buy 12 AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters for the service of the Prime Minister, the President and other VVIPs. It is alleged that some politicians and public servants had abused their official positions to reduce the service ceiling of the VVIPs helicopter from 6000 metres to 4500 metres to make AgustaWestland eligible for the contract and had awarded the contract for an amount of Euro 556.262 million in 2010.

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