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Loans waived by Congress govt in MP, but here are the ‘conditions apply’ that farmers should see

With Kamal Nath being sworn in as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, his first decision was reported to be to waive off farmer loans.

This is being widely hailed as a tall promise delivered by Rahul Gandhi, moments after his chosen man being sworn in as the Chief Minister.


However, the loan-waiver comes with terms and conditions that not too many farmers might be aware of.

The following glaring problems are being ignored by most of the media when they hail the newly formed Congress government for living up to their promise.

Upper ceiling of loan waiver

The order that has been signed by Kamal Nath sanctioning the so-called farmer loan waiver in Madhya Pradesh mentions that the upper ceiling for the outstanding amount to be waived off is Rs. 2 lakhs. Which means that any farmer who has racked up a repayment amount of more than 2 lakhs gets hardly any benefit from the state at all.

Only the outstanding till 31 March 2018 to be waived off

The order signed by Kamal Nath says that only the outstanding amount till March 31st 2018 would be waived off by the state government. This poses another problem for several farmers. Congress and Rahul Gandhi’s rhetoric had suggested that all farmer loans would be waived off.


In the run-up to Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections, last month it was reported that several farmers had stopped repaying their loans owing to Rahul Gandhi’s promise of full loan waiver to the farmers. Times of India had reported that loan repayment had dropped by 10% due to Rahul’s promise.

However, with the order stating a cut-off date going months back from the date promise was made, several farmers who had banked on Rahul Gandhi’s promise would be left high and dry.

Only short-term loans

The order clearly mentions that only short terms loans would be waived off. Short term loans to farmers are those which are given for seasonal crops and hence, loans such as those taken for digging wells, buying irrigation equipment, animals, etc. that usually come under medium to long-term loans, are not to be waived off.

Eligibility?

The loan waiver sanction signed by Congress says that only those farmers who are “eligible” would be able to avail of the benefits. Other than the restrictions already mentioned, one has got to wonder if there are other surprises and restrictions in store that would effectively leave out many more farmers from the blanket promise that was made by Congress and Rahul Gandhi.

In the Assembly Election results of 11th December 2018, the incumbent BJP government in the state was defeated and Congress came to power. Loan waiver promise is supposed to have helped the Congress party, which kept repeating that the BJP government was a ‘suit boot ki sarkar’ and that only Congress would do what is needed to benefit the farmers.

Even during the Karnataka elections, Congress had promised full farmer loan waiver. After the Congress-JDS government came in power, for the longest time, the loans of farmers were not waived off.

When they were, it then emerged that it was mere lip-service by the coalition government. It emerged that the farmers were still getting recovery notices from banks for the loans they had availed. The government had also admitted that out of the Rs. 44,000 crore farmer loan waiver, only a paltry 800 farmers had benefited.

While the Congress party seems to demonise the Modi government and drum up support for itself by indulging in farm loan waiver rhetoric, the reality of the situation seems to be very different for the farmers.

After performing worse than NOTA, AAP gears up for Telangana Panchayat elections

It is often said that it is good to be ‘confident’ but erroneous to be ‘overly-confident’. This has been the plight of the Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party in the recent past.

Even after facing a staggering defeat in the Telangana Assembly elections, the state wing of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) refuses to concede defeat or simmer down. Unfortunately, the party did not manage to take hold of even one seat out of the 41 seats they contested in Telangana (out of the total of 119 seats), but not willing to give up, the AAP party is now said to be intensively preparing for the State’s Gram Panchayat elections slated in January next year.

As per a report in The News Minute, The party’s observer for Telangana elections from Delhi, Priyanka Kakkar, justifying her party’s disastrous performance said, “One has to understand the circumstances under which AAP contested polls in Telangana. “The party has been working on the ground actively for just eight months preparing for the Gram Panchayat elections in January but then the Telangana assembly got dissolved prematurely on September 6, six months before end of term and we entered into state election mode,” she added, hinting that the party was not well prepared to handle the early elections in the state.

The AAP has reportedly registered only 13,500 votes among their 41 candidates combined this Telangana election. All its candidates have lost their deposits.

The party has also had a dismal performance in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. In Madhya Pradesh, the party contested in 208 seats and lost all seats. AAP’s CM candidate Alok Agarwal got only 823 votes. In all the states it had contested, NOTA had a higher vote share than AAP. It has lost deposits in all the states it has contested.

The party, under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal, has faced successive defeats from Punjab to Goa to Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections in Delhi to Bypolls in Punjab to Municipal elections in Punjab. Gujarat  Assembly elections 2017, had also proved a major setback for the party.

Amongst all the other defeats, the Gujarat Assembly elections 2017 had proved to be one of the biggest heartbreak for the AAP as, despite an elaborate campaign, the party had lost deposits in all but 2 seats.

According to the reports back then, AAP had lost all 27 seats it contested, out of which in 26 seats it fetched far lesser numbers as even compared to NOTA. While the AAP got a total of 29,517 votes in the 29 seats, people used NOTA 75,880 times in these seats.

The total vote percentage of AAP in Gujarat was .08%, which means only 8 voters out of 10,000 voters supported Kejriwal.

AAP had lost Goa in 2017, the only state where it was expected to do well. Hobnobbing with Khalistani elements also could not save AAP from losing Punjab.

AAP failed to retain Rajouri seat in the by-polls in Delhi. And then ultimate decimation came in the MCD elections in Delhi in April 2017, where BJP won 181 seats, while AAP won a mere 49 seats.

In 2018, the AAP also failed to open an account in Nagaland and Mizoram. Similarly, the party’s performance in the 2018 Karnataka assembly elections was no exception. The AAP had then forfeited deposit in all 29 seats it had contested.

Kejriwal has lost every single election for AAP except one freak win in 2015. Kejriwal’s hatred for PM Modi and BJP is well known and as the 2019 general elections draw close, speculations are rife that AAP might look at Congress for an alliance. With AAP’s track record of consistent loss, it is doubtful whether the party will be entertained as an alliance partner among the opposition parties.

After spreading negativity during Diwali, Times Now is in a festive mood during Christmas

People on social media are furious with Times Now for their tweet on Christmas which is starkly different from their tweet on Diwali.


Before Diwali, Times Now urged their followers to exercise restraint to achieve their weight loss goals. With Christmas around the corner, however, Times Now has no such words of caution for their followers and even urge them to taste the ‘perfect plum cake recipe’.


Times Now’s tweets reflect the general attitude of the Indian elite towards Hindu festivals. While everything negative is associated with Hindu festivals, an aura of celebratory mood is spread on the occasion of Abrahamic festivals.

Every festival deserves to be celebrated with pomp and vigour and it’s simple courtesy to wish people joy during their cultural festivals. However, the mainstream media and the intellectual elite create a narrative of doom and gloom around every Hindu festival while indulging themselves in the festivities of Abrahamic faiths.

The intellectual elite is reminded of pollution and air quality only during Diwali. While Delhi continues to suffer from extremely poor air quality, no attention is paid to it. While ordinary citizens are urged to not celebrate Diwali in a manner of their own choosing, celebrities organize a show of fireworks during their own wedding.

Concern for animal rights develops only during Jallikattu and other Hindu festivals while no such concern is shown during Bakr-Eid. Water conservation becomes a hotly debated issue as Holi approaches, on the other 364 days of the year, hardly anyone bothers.

The elites discover patriarchy only during Karvachauth while maintaining a stoic silence on Nikah Halala and Triple Talaq. Some even go on to criticize an attempt to ban Triple Talaq and Nikah Halala merely because it’s an alleged Hindu Nationalist party that seeks to ban it.

Women Rights become an issue at the Sabarimala Temple, where it’s not supposed to even be an issue as the tradition is not based on misogyny, but such rabid feminists suddenly lose their voice when it comes to the entry of women at Mosques.

At the core of the issue is the fact that the intellectual elite has developed an ingrained aversion towards anything and everything Hindu. In their world, contrary to observable reality, Hindu festivals are associated with negativity while only Abrahamic festivals are ought to be celebrated in a festive mood. Thus, they see no contradiction when they do not wish people in a proper fashion during Hindu festivals and spread abject negativity while participating in the festive mood during Abrahamic festivals.

In their heart, Liberals have been Abrhamicized to the extent that they cannot bring themselves to participate in the festivities during Hindu festivals. However, celebrating Abrahamic festivals comes almost naturally to them. Thus, what we would call hypocrisy is actually reflective of their innate opposition to everything Hindu as a consequence of their losing touch with their cultural roots.

Facebook account of Israeli Prime Minister’s son blocked for criticising Islamic terror attack

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Facebook has temporarily blocked the Facebook page of Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu’s son Yair Netanyahu, for demanding revenge of an Islamic terrorist attack that left two Israeli soldiers dead.

Yair Netanyahu had expressed anger for the Islamic attack, labelling the Palestinians as monsters disguised as human beings.

After his post was removed, he wrote another post with screen-grab of the blocked post.

“The thought police of the radical progressives at Facebook have reached me as well! Hamas, Hezbollah and the Iranian regime have official pages on Facebook. There are also endless pages calling for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews. Thousands of violent and extreme left-wing posts against me and my family, including threats of physical violence and immoral murder threats.” Netanyahu wrote.

Further, he had posted that Iceland and Japan are terror-free because there are no Muslims there. He also had added that there can never be peace until Muslims evacuate the land of Israel. In other words, co-existence of Jews and Muslims can never bring peace.

After all these posts, Facebook blocked the account of junior Netanyahu.

Yair then took to Twitter to express bafflement over Facebook community guidelines. Along with the screenshot of the blocked post, he wrote: “Unbelievable. Facebook blocks me for 24 hours for simply criticising it! Thought police.” In subsequent tweets, he reprimanded Facebook for turning a blind eye on hate directed towards him on Facebook.

“What’s even more amazing is that my post was removed in 5 minutes. But when I  report to Facebook about the posts of people inciting hate against me, it takes them a month to come back to me and tell that the post ‘does not violate the rules of the community.”

In the earlier post, he also had also criticised media of harbouring a left-bais and had called them traitors.

Last Thursday two Israeli soldiers were shot dead by a Palestinian driver in a car-ramming attempt. Hamas later claimed that perpetrators were its operatives. The perpetrators killed in the incident were reportedly the same attackers who wounded 7 Israelis on 9 December on the Ofra junction of Samaria district, including a pregnant woman whose prematurely born baby later died.

Hamas is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamist terrorist organization founded in 1987 with an aim to turn the land of Israel into an Islamic country.

Odisha: Man thrashed, abused by wife and mother-in-law for refusing to convert to Christianity

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A man was mercilessly beaten up by his wife and mother-in-law in front of Govindpur Tehsil Office in Odisha’s Gajapati district last week after he refused to convert to Christianity, reported Kalinga TV.

According to reports, the victim is identified as Thabir Panda. Panda works as a Revenue Inspector (RI) at the Govindapur Tehsil office in the district. Thabir Panda is a Hindu, while his wife Surabhi is reportedly Christian. Both had lawfully married each other in Bhawanipatna court in 2014. Thabir’s refusal to renounce Hinduism post his marriage had resulted in differences between the couple.

Reportedly, Panda was attacked by Surabhi and her mother in front of his office in Govindpur on Thursday evening. They beat him up while repeatedly abusing in foul language.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_u1O_cRWcw]

Speaking to media persons, Thabir said, “I and Surbhi loved each other. Since we belonged to different religions we decided to get married in Bhawanipatna court on 30 March 2014. She and her family started torturing me after I refused to convert to Christianity post marriage. Her family also wanted to have a Christian marriage”.

Thabir said that they hardly stayed together as whenever they were together, the dispute over his conversion turned worse. Thabir had refused to convert into Christianity as he was the only son of his parents. After Thursday’s incident, Thabir lodged a complaint at the local police station against his wife Surbhi and his mother-in-law.

However, Surabhi and her mother have refused to give any statements to the media and claimed that this their personal matter.

Yogi government to constitute 3 women battalions in Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC)

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath while speaking at the Founding Day of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) said that it is often felt that there should be women’s representation in PAC forces and therefore he has decided to constitute 3 battalions of women in PAC.


Congratulating the workers and officials of the PAC, Yogi lauded the achievements of the PAC. He said, ” The PAC with its dedication and commitment has made significant achievements in its 70 years of glorious history. There is a feeling of appreciation in every faction related to security and a sense of satisfaction in every section of society. Whether it is maintaining the law and order, assuring the smooth conduct of festivities or providing relief in the times of disaster, the PAC has proved itself in every difficult situation.

The CM of UP also stated that the PAC is an inspiration for other state security forces in the country.

Yogi had earlier in March had announced to have a separate women company in PAC as an effort in the direction of women empowerment.

Praising the relief work done by the PAC in disaster-hit areas, Yogi said, “I have closely observed the relief work done by the PAC in flood-hit areas in the past 25 years. When there was a requirement of Jawans in ATS, STF, and SDRF, all the soldiers selected during the recruitment were from PAC. There is a growing demand for PAC soldier”.

He suggested that PAC soldiers should be deployed in the eastern and the northeastern parts of the country during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.” I think that PAC soldiers should be sent to the Eastern and North Eastern parts of India during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the country. When we came to power in UP we revived the 74 companies of PAC which had been dissolved”.

Rafale deal: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman slams Congress for deceiving the nation

A day after the government filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday convened a presser reiterating her government’s stance on the Rafale verdict. She said that the process has commenced, the pricing details were handed over to the CAG, which will study it and later pass it on to the PAC for evaluation.

Congress stirred a fresh furore over Rafale deal after the apex court dismissed all the petitions pertaining to it. The Supreme Court also noted that due process was followed in acquiring the fighter jets from Dassault and there appears no wrongdoing in the deal. Congress in its defence stated that the government had misled the Supreme Court by claiming that a CAG report on the Rafale Deal has been evaluated by the Public Accounts Committee

Countering Congress’ allegations, Sitharaman said that the government had provided the data and information in an affidavit to the Supreme Court. The government filed an affidavit in the court to make a ‘factual correction’ in a paragraph in the Rafale judgment passed a couple of days ago. Denying the grave charges of misleading the court, the government stated that there was a “typing-error” which was susceptible to misinterpretation.

Sitharaman also contended that the entire process has been explained to the Supreme Court. The misinterpretation was caused due to incorrect use of tenses in the report and it wouldn’t affect the verdict.


Alleging that Bofors JPC ended up converting kickbacks to winding up charges, Nirmala Sitharaman claimed that Congress’ demand to constitute a JPC is an insincere attempt to score political mileage than to genuinely seek Rafale details.


If one evaluates the Supreme Court verdict, it will be amply clear that the judgment was not based on CAG report alone. The SC had considered pricing details closely to reach the conclusion. Though the Central Government had filed a petition for correction in the Supreme Court, the judgement would still hold since it is formed on the basis of pricing details reviewed by the Court and not just the CAG report.

Why CM Manohar Parrikar was seen inspecting a bridge in Goa and why critics should lay off

Images of an ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, inspecting a bridge in Goa may evoke varied reactions from the average Indian, but those who know him closely, know exactly what is happening.

While the physical appearance of Parrikar may have changed over the years, he is the same Parrikar who was seen in 2004, supervising works for the International Film Festival of India (IFF), well into the night. He is the same Parrikar who was seen jumping on to the roads on Panaji to manage traffic on the opening night of IFFI when he saw that the traffic cops had made a mess of the situation. He is the Parrikar, who loves his work more than anything else in this world.

Coming to the most recent picture, it shows Parrikar inspecting a bridge in Goa. It is no ordinary bridge though. It is the third bridge connecting entire North Goa, to Panaji, Parrikar’s constituency for the past many years. The bridge is expected to resolve a lot of traffic woes for Panaji, with its multiple flyovers.

Such a grand bridge is being attempted for the first time in Goa, at an estimated cost of Rs 482 crores. It will be the third longest cable-stayed bridge in India, once completed.

Not only is it Parrikar’s dream project and important to Goa, but Parrikar also wants it completed as soon as possible. The current target date for inauguration has been set as 12 January 2019, with the possibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating it being explored.

Parrikar spent nearly an hour on the bridge, accompanied by his son Utpal, three doctors and his personal secretary. Parrikar is understood to have ordered L&T to complete the illumination of the bridge by this year-end. He also instructed that the crash barriers and painting has to be completed by 12th January.

When he was informed about some traffic issues slowing down some part of the work, Parrikar is reported to have instantly called deputy superintendent of police (traffic), to sort out the issue. Parrikar also suggested that the national flag could be flown from atop the pylons of the bridge at a height of around 35m.

This is the hands-on, thoroughly involved Parrikar that Goans have come to see and love over the past few years. And hence, it is unfathomable that Parrikar was being coerced to appear at the site of the bridge. On the other hand, it is most likely that Parrikar coerced his medical team to allow him out in the open.

It is laughable to imagine how Modi or Amit Shah could force Parrikar to continue as the Chief Minister, as insinuated by Omar Abdullah and several other politicians, when they couldn’t force him to stay on as perhaps India’s finest defence minister.


Besides the fact that this is the quintessential Parrikar, watching over his pet project, one cannot ignore the elephant in the room: his fight with cancer.

Cancer is a debilitating disease. It eats at a man’s body and attacks every living fibre with all it has got. For some, the physical ailment affects their mental strength. For others, it gives them renewed grit to live every moment and cherish everything they loved while in the pink of their health.

It is said that cancer patients heal better if they are mentally and emotionally strong. For several inspirational individuals, the upkeep of their emotional strength meant trying as much as they could, to live as if the disease did not exist at all. Several patients try to alienate the disease from their existence and that gives them the strength to carry on their fight against the invasive disease.

Parrikar seems to be doing just that. While fighting the arduous battle, he seems to be keeping his emotional strength up by carrying on his work as usual and by deriving pleasure from what his passion really is, that is, to see Goa develop.

Fugitive Vijay Mallya to face fresh trouble as UK court orders bankruptcy proceedings against him

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Trouble seizes to stop for the liquor baron Vijay Mallya, as a UK court has now begun bankruptcy proceedings against the fugitive business tycoon. Mallya is facing proceedings over fraud and money laundering charges amounting to an estimated Rs 9,000 crores.

According to reports, Vijay Mallya is facing bankruptcy proceedings in a London court brought by a consortium of lenders led by the State Bank of India and 12 other banks. The lenders want the court to declare Vijay Mallya bankrupt as part of their efforts to seize his assets in the UK to recover their loans amounting to 1.145 billion pounds, extended by them to Kingfisher Airlines which Mallya had guaranteed to repay.

Mallya had earlier lost his appeal in the UK’s Court of Appeal, against a High Court order in favour of 13 Indian banks to recover this loan. In fact, earlier a London Court had also ordered the confiscation of the six highly expensive cars of Mallya to repay loans to Indian Consortium of Banks.

However, the businessman is planning to contest the fresh petition which, according to him, is “not sustainable”. When Sunday Times approached Vijay Mallya for his reactions on this latest predicament, Mallya replied: “Nothing different to what has been happening over the past four years since the (Indian) government began hounding me.”

The out on bail, 62-years-old, Kingfisher boss had earlier too, suffered a big blow in his quest to save his posh London home from foreclosure by Swiss bank UBS. It was reported in October 2018, that Swiss bank USB had moved the UK High Court seeking an order of eviction against Vijay Mallya, his mother and son from their plush multi-million-pound mansion overlooking Regent’s Park in London. The bank has sought repossession of the property over the non-payment of a 20.4 million pounds’ mortgage loan.

The court had passed the judgement after rejecting all the arguments relied on by Mallya’s legal team. This case relates to a mortgage taken out by Rose Capital Ventures, one of Mallya’s companies. The bank says that Rose Capital, through which the house was originally purchased in 2005, had not repaid the loan, which was stated to be for a period of five years and subject to early termination by the claimant.

According to UBS, despite the loan’s expiry and the claimant’s request that defendants vacate the property, the defendants’ had refused to move out.

The Kingfisher chief has been facing immense turbulence for a while now. The long-fought battle by the CBI, ED and the Indian Government to expedite the extradition process of the fugitive businessman, who was is fighting extradition to India on charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs 9,000 crores, has ultimately paid off with the Westminster Magistrates’ Court recently ordering the extradition of Vijay Mallya to India.

Vijay Mallya, however, defending himself, had asserted in court that the charges were politically motivated. He had also asserted that he had drawn the loans to keep his now-defunct company afloat and there is no fraud involved.

Lalu’s son Tej Pratap announces his comeback as Lord Krishna, ready to play the role of charioteer for his brother Tejashwi

Fodder scam convict Lalu Prasad  Yadav’s elder son Tej Pratap intentionally or unintentionally finds a way of being in news, however mostly for the wrong reasons. This time he has declared his brother Tejashwi as ‘Arjun’ and himself as Lord Krishna who was the charioteer of Arjuna in Mahabharat. Earlier he was seen dressed as Lord as Lord Shiva blowing a conch shell (Shankh) before leaving for the Kanwar yatra. He had also appeared as Lord Shiva on another occasion.

Tej Pratap Yadav declared on Sunday that he was back in politics after he made a sudden appearance at his party’s State headquarters in Patna. After holding discussions with party workers, Pratap held a press conference where he heaped praises on Congress President Rahul Gandhi for leading Congress to victory in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan in the Assembly polls. Referring to the BJP-RSS as principal opponents in Bihar, he said the party’s detractors will be slayed with ‘Sudarshana Chakra’.

“I have returned to Bihar after receiving the blessings of Lord Krishna during my pilgrimage. The state will emerge as Kurukshetra in the Lok Sabha polls and our detractors will be slayed with the Sudarshan Chakra of popular vote,” Tej Pratap who was wearing his trademark “Bhasmatilak” on his forehead said.

He dismissed the speculations of strained relations with his brother Tejashwi. However, he said that he had no intentions to return to his 10, Circular Road, house, which is allotted to his mother Rabri Devi. “I have requested the state government to allot a bungalow in my name. I have also tried to telephonically contact Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the issue,” he said.

He had earlier vacated the bungalow allotted to him accusing Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi of releasing ghosts inside it. He refused to comment on the question regarding his relationship with his wife Aishwarya.

Tej Pratap who got married in May this year had filed for divorce from Aishwarya citing compatibility issues. He had also said that he was forced to marry Aishwarya Rai, the daughter of a former minister, Chandrika Rai and granddaughter of former BJP chief minister Daroga Rai, for political benefits. After filling for divorce and meeting father Lalu Yadav in Ranchi where he is serving his jail term, Tej Pratap had disappeared on his way back. Later he was found to be in Haridwar, where he said that he won’t return until his family backs his decision of divorce. On November 29 several media houses had reported that Tej Pratap has decided to withdraw his divorce plea, but he had denied such reports and said that he wants the divorce.