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Book by Indian Express deputy editor, Sushant Singh, has plagiarised content from a 9 year old article

A shocking case of plagiarism has come out in a book written by Indian Express deputy editor Sushant Singh, who is also a former army officer. The book in question is Mission Overseas: Mission Overseas: Daring Operations by the Indian Military. The first book written by Sushant Singh, it gives detailed accounts of Indian military in foreign countries. The book narrates Indian operations in Maldives, Sri Lanka and Sierra Leone, which was published in March 2017.

But now it has been revealed that the Jaffna chapter of the book contains content from an article published 9 years ago on the same topic. In 2009, military aviation historian Jagan Pillarisetti had published a series of articles under the category The Sri Lankan Interlude 1987-90 on the website Bharat Rakshak.

In that series, the article titled Chapter 3: Descent Into Danger – The Jaffna University Helidrop contains the text that finds a place in the book by Sushant Singh. The book is actually a compilation of three books, and the plagiarised content is in the book named Operation Pawan.

Last year NDTV too published an excerpt from the book, where few paras that match with the Bharat Rakshak article are there.

Here are screenshots of a few paragraphs from both and the article which show that the book uses content lifted from the Bharat Rakshak article. The content presented here has been taken from Sushant Singh’s book Operation Pawan which is available on the Juggernaut application.

First plagiarised content

Here is the excerpt from Sushant Singh’s book published by Juggernaut.

The same paragraph about can be seen in the Bharat Rakshak article written by military aviation historian Jagan Pillarisetti.

As appeared on Bharat Rakshak article

Second plagiarised content

Following is the book excerpt from the book Operation Pawan published by Juggernaut.

The exact same paragraph can be found in the article published in Bharat Rakshak 9 years ago.

As appeared on Bharat Rakshak article

Third plagiarised content

Following is another paragraph from Sushant Singh’s book Operation Pawan.

From e-book version of the book

Again, the same paragraph that has been included in the book Operation Pawan, a part of Operation Overseas has been lifted from the 9-year-old article written in Bharat Rakshak.

As appeared on Bharat Rakshak article

These revelations came to light when the writer of the original content Jagan Pillarisetti commented on in a Facebook group that the book by Sushant Singh uses content from his article. He had posted the following comment in a private Facebook group, showing the portion that was plagiarised from his book.

Plagiarism is considered a serious offence while publishing any content. Sushant Singh seems to have willy-nilly taken someone else’s content which was published 9 years ago and passed it off as his own content. In the book Mission overseas, he has obviously claimed that the plagiarised content was written by him without any sort of reference to the original content written by military aviation historian Jagan Pillarisetti in his articles published on Bharat Rakshak.

It remains to be seen whether Juggernaut pulls the books down and takes punitive action against Sushant Singh.

All you need to know about Congress’ Chhattisgarh CM elect: Bhupesh Baghel, who was once jailed in sex CD case

The results of five assembly states were announced on Tuesday, witnessing a come-back of Congress Party, and BJP losing its hold in Hindi heartland. In Chhattisgarh, the party decimated the incumbent government by a thumping majority of 68 seats against BJP’s 15.

After a long spell of speculations, the Congress has finally announced its Chief Minister for the state of Chhattisgarh. On Sunday, it was announced that Bhupesh Baghel would be the Chief Minister of the state.

Bhupesh Baghel is a prominent face of OBC politics in Chhatisgarh. He contested from Patan constituency and won against Motilal Sahu of BJP by a margin of around 27 thousand votes.

He served in Public Grievance Deptarment in Digvijay Singh’s cabinet of undivided Madhya Pradesh and later was promoted to the Ministry of Transport in 1999.

After, the division of Madhya Pradesh, Baghel became a legislator in Chhattisgarh Assembly. He served as Minister of Revenue, Public Health Engineering in Chhattisgarh’s first CM Ajit Jogi’s cabinet. He also tried his luck in Lok Sabha elections of 2004 and 2009 but failed to win in any of them. He served as deputy opposition leader from 2003 to 2008, when Congress was ousted in 2003 assembly elections. In 2008, Baghel also lost his Patan assembly elections.

He won his assembly seat back in 2013 and also restructured the Congress party after the 2013 Naxal attack on the Congress convoy during a rally in Sukhma. It had left 27 dead, including many Chhattisgarh Congress veteran leaders.

He along with the leader of opposition TS Singhdeo helped Congress party fight the Ajit Jogi menace, who was expelled from the party for Antagarh Assembly by-election audio tape row.

He was elevated to state-unit president in 2014. He hit the national headlines when his name was mentioned in the CBI charge sheet for his alleged involvement in circulating a fake sex-tape of BJP minister Rajesh Munat.

In April this year, Chhattisgarh police arrested journalist Vinod Verma, a close confidant of Baghel, claiming that sex CDs of a minister was found in his possession and also lodged an FIR against Bhupesh Baghel under IT Act. Baghel was sent to 14-day Judicial custody where he had threatened to start an in-jail satyagraha claiming his innocence. Baghel had refused to apply for bail and remained in custody until congress party prompted him to apply.

Bhupesh Baghel was running against his colleague TS Singdeo in CM race after elections. Congress had decided to go without CM face in elections. While CM candidate was named for MP and Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh has been decided only today.

Pakistan uses Congress leader and ‘liberal’s’ arguments to undermine PM Modi yet again

Ashok Swain, a professor based in Sweden, who is revered in liberal circles due to his opposition to Hindutva has expressed his delight at his tweets being featured on anews channel in Pakistan.


Swain’s tweet from December 11 where he had insinuated that the NDA government could trigger a conflict with Pakistan to reap electoral benefits was featured in the show.


In another tweet that was featured, Swain claimed that the Kargil war was a ‘set up’ by the Vajpayee government.


Swain’s tweets were used by the Pakistani news anchors to paint India in poor light and argue that the Indian government would try to create a ‘drama’ to benefit itself electorally.

The panel also argued that anti-Pakistan rhetoric was a tool used by Prime Minister Modi to reap votes. The general argument made by the panellists and the anchors on the basis of Swain’s tweets was that Pakistan wants peace while it is the Indian government which doesn’t want it.

One panellist also asserted that Pakistan should be prepared for it and that the international community should recognize the attitude of the Indian government.

Not just Ashok Swain, senior Congress leader and close aide of Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Mani Shankar Aiyar also spoke to Pakistan against the Modi government as well.


Aiyar, who is known to make controversial statements, spoke about the ‘Rafale scam’ and how it has dented Prime Minister Modi’s clean image in India. He also claimed there was rampant corruption within the NDA government.

Earlier, Aiyar had praised Pakistan’s approach to the relationship between the two countries and said that he was upset with India. He had also hailed Muhammad Ali Jinnah for his role in the freedom movement and referred to him as Quaid-e-Azam. In his 2015 interview to a Pakistani news channel, Aiyar had said that Prime Minister Modi needs to be removed from power to initiate a dialogue between the two countries.

Indian “liberals” and politicians toeing Pakistan’s line to belittle Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not new and certainly seems like the norm. Congress had marketed their “Modi hatao” Facebook post in Pakistan. Later, they had ended the advertisement and lied about it profusely. 

Congress rhetoric at home and Pakistan’s rhetoric at the UNGA also had eerie similarities and Pakistan trolls had tried to shield and promote Rahul Gandhi fervently on Twitter. One can also recall how Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu had gone to Pakistan for Imran Khan’s swearing-in ceremony and hugged the Pakistan army chief undermining the thousands of soldiers who are butchered by Pakistan. He had then asserted that he rather visit Pakistan than South India. In fact, global terrorist Hafiz Saeed had also endorsed Congress’ “vision” of Kashmir.

#GoBackSonia trends on Twitter ahead of Sonia Gandhi’s Tamil Nadu visit to inaugurate Karunanidhi’s statue

As Former Congress President Sonia Gandhi is set to arrive in Chennai today to inaugurate the statue of the founder of the DMK and four-time CM of Tamil Nadu, Late M Karunanidhi at party headquarters, several Netizens are tweeting with the hashtag #GoBackSonia expressing displeasure over her visit.


Sonia along with other politicians was invited for the inauguration. Sonia confirmed her participation and said that it was an honour to attend the function as Karunanidhi strove all his life for social justice, democracy and betterment or the poor and the downtrodden. However, people seem to feel otherwise.


Some people urged people to choose their leaders keeping history in mind.


Some people reminded others about how the DMK government was the first state government to be dismissed on the charges of corruption.


While people are tweeting to express their outrage, the mainstream media remain tight-lipped over the issue. Earlier when PM Modi had visited Tamil Nadu to attend the Defence Expo-2018, DMK had led the protests held by the opposition parties against PM Modi’s visit.

Some on Twitter termed the protests as ‘planned’. They even questioned why the media, that reported the #GoBackModi Twitter trend was today tight-lipped about the #GoBackSonia trend.


DMK President MK Stalin has sent invitations several national level leaders for the grand ceremony in which the statue will be unveiled.

Internal audit of AgustaWestland reveals that Christian Michel made dubious payments worth Rs 276 crore

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The CBI has got a boost in its investigation into the alleged corruption in the AgustaWestland helicopter scam after it has been able to acquire an important piece of evidence against middleman Christian Michel, reported Times of India.

According to the reports, the CBI has got a significant document pertaining to Italian investigations which had initially pointed out irregularities in the helicopter deal. An internal audit report carried out by the AgustaWestland of Christian Michel’s firms Global Trade and Commerce Ltd London and Global Services FZE, Dubai has indicated that payments worth 34 million euros (approx Rs 276 crore) made by them were “dubious”.

The report of the AgustaWestland vice-president (auditor), Giorgio Casana, was shared to the CBI by the Italian authorities in his response to a letter with hundreds of fax dispatches between the representatives of Michel and AgustaWestland, where had they discussed the VVIP helicopter tender, payments and meeting details among other things.

The Times of India has reported that CBI sources have said that Casana had travelled to Dubai to audit GTCL and GSF and noticed significant irregularities in using 34 million euros of the total of 42.27 million euros paid by AgustaWestland to Michel.

Reportedly, Christian Michel and his office manager David Syms were then confronted by Casana for these “dubious” payments, but both gave “false explanations” regarding the transaction of such a large amount. However, Michel has claimed that he took money from AgustaWestland as a fee for “consulting”, but the investigators claim that they were bribes and that he did not provide any consulting business to the company.

The audit report obtained by CBI officials is reported to play an important role in the next charge sheet, which will be comprehensive and mentions the alleged “dubious” transactions.

Christian Michel, who is in the custody of CBI, has already admitted to receiving payments from the AgustaWestland. The ToI has reported that Michel has admitted that he had paid $11,000 per month to the “family” for a few months, referring to the former IAF chief Air Marshal (retired) SP Tyagi and his cousins.

Christian Michel is also reported to have met former IAF and defence ministry officials regularly. CBI has also accessed the fax between AgustaWestland and the intermediaries that reveal that Tyagi was lobbying for AgustaWestland even after his retirement.

The wanted fugitive and middleman in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal, Christian Michel, was brought to India late on Tuesday night following his extradition by the UAE.

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.

Here is what connects attack on Akshaya Patra, French NGO against Rafale and demonization of Amarnath Yatra

In an earlier report, we have elaborated on the anti-Brahmin bigotry of Sylvia Karpagam, an activist associated with the Right to Food Campaign, a civil society initiative that has demanded that Akshaya Patra’s mid-day meals contract is terminated by the Karnataka government.

In this report, we shall delve into the background of the Right to Food Campaign (RFC) itself which has sent letters to the Chief Minister’s office and other departments of the state government with the above-stated demand.

The Foundation Statement of the RFC states, “The right to food campaign is an informal network of organisations and individuals committed to the realisation of the right to food in India.” The steering group of the RFC comprises of People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) and Jan Swasthya Abhiyaan (JSA) among others.

Source; Collective Statement of RFC

Human Rights Law Network (HRLN)

As we have reported earlier, the HRLN is part of a campaign to abolish sedition laws in India. Organizations associated the CDRO such as PUCL, PUDR, APDR, CPDR, APCLC are part of the same campaign. The HRLN is a division of the Socio-Legal Information Centre (SLiC). The SLIC receives crores of rupees in donations from Bread for the World and Miseroer, two Christian organizations which also provided funds to Equations, the organization that published the report demonizing the Amarnath Yatra. Miseroer was also connected to the French NGO that filed a complaint in France against the inter-governmental Rafale deal between India and France.

The organization has also received funds from the European Union and George Soros’ Open Society Institute. The French NGO that filed a complained against the Rafale deal in Franch, other than Miseroer, was also connected to George Soros. The HRLN has been providing free legal aid to Rohingya detainees across the country. The network has filed PILs related to the implementation of the RTE Act. The HRLN is also connected to COHR, Manipur, an organization that harbours separatist inclinations through its Manipur unit.

People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)

As for the PUCL, we have reported extensively on their links to the arrested ‘Urban Naxals’. One of those raided in connection with the violence at Bhima Koregaon, Sudha Bharadwaj, is the General Secretary of the Chhattisgarh unit of PUCL. Another among those raided, Father Stan Swamy is also associated with the PUCL. Gautam Navlakha, who had links with an ISI funded Kashmiri separatist, was associated with People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) for a long time as an activist, a fraternal organization of the PUCL.

Convicted for sedition and helping Naxalites to set up a network to fight the state of India, Binayak Sen was a Vice President of the PUCL even after his conviction by Raipur Sessions Court. The West Bengal unit of PUCL also published a book exonerating Sen of all his crimes and branded him a “victim of state atrocity”. Shoma Sen, one of those arrested in June, is an executive member of CPDR, another fraternal organization of the PUCL. Anand Teltumbde, another of those raided by Pune Police, is the General Secretary of CPDR. The CDRO also has links with the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP) through its constituent organizations. The CRPP was branded a Maoist front organization by the UPA government in 2011.

The Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) that published the report demonizing the Amarnath Yatra in collaboration with Equations, an organization that receives funding from Christian Organizations is also affiliated to the CDRO.

Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA)

Another organization that is part of the steering committee of RCF is the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA). As per its ‘About Us‘ section, the JSA was formed in 2001 with the coming together of 18 national networks. Organizations such as the Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI), Christian Medical Association of India (CMAI) and National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) are part of its National Coordination Committee.

The Spider’s Web

Bread for the World and Misereor, two Christian organizations, donated huge sums of money to Equations, the organization that published the report demonizing the Amarnath Yatra. Equations collaborated with JKCCS, an organization that is affiliated to the CDRO, an umbrella organization whose constituent members have intimate links to ‘Urban Naxals’. The two Christian organizations also donated huge sums of money to HRLN, an organization that is part of the steering committee of the RFC along with the PUCL.

This is the second instance of collaboration that has come to our notice between an organization that receives funds from the above mentioned Christian organizations and organizations that have intimate links to ‘Urban Naxals’ and separatists.

Besides these two instances, Sherpa, the French NGO that filed a complaint against the Rafale Deal there is partners with Misereor among other organizations such as George Soros’ Open Society.

Conclusion

The demand to terminate Akshaya Patra’s contract has been made by the Right to Food Campaign which represents a very specific section of ‘Civil Society’. This section receives funding from Christian organizations abroad, from George Soros’ Open Society Institute which has a very controversial record and has intimate links to ‘Urban Naxals’ and separatists.

An organization in the steering group of RFC receives huge funds from the same organizations that donated huge sums of money to another organization that published a report demonizing the Amarnath Yatra. Under such circumstances. the attack on Akshaya Patra appears to be part of the nefarious agenda of these ‘civil society’ organizations.

Massive preparations underway ahead of Prayagraj Kumbh Mela 2019, delegates from 72 countries arrive

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Massive preparations for the Prayagraj Kumbh Mela 2019 are underway as the date for the world’s largest spiritual congregation is moving closer. Dignitaries from 72 countries have arrived at Prayagraj to witness the preparations for the “intangible cultural heritage of humanity” as recognised by the UNESCO.


The Kumbh Mela which takes place every twelve years at the ‘Sangam’, a confluence of the three holy rivers of Ganga, Yamuna and the Saraswati (now extinct) at Prayagraj is going to witness the never seen before celebrations. The city of Prayagraj is undergoing massive makeover ahead of the Mela. Under the “Paint my City Campaign” street art is being used to increase the aesthetic value of various sites at Prayagraj.


To facilitate the travel of the pilgrims visiting the Kumbh Mela, the Indian Railways has laid down various projects. 800 special trains are proposed to run during the Kumbh Mela from various stations of Allahabad district for the pilgrims coming to the Kumbh Mela.


Amusement parks and various fun rides will also be set up to make the Mela experience memorable for the little ones.


The Mela celebration which spreads over a period of about 55 days will have guests from all over the world. Around 5000 NRI are expected to visit the Prayagraj Kumbh this time.


The ancient city of Prayagraj, which was earlier called Allahabad, was renamed by the Yogi government in October this year on the request on the seers from different Akharas.

Zee News issues defamation notice of Rs 1000 crore to Congress leader Navjot Singh Singh

Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL) has decided to issue a Rs 1000 crore defamation notice to controversial Congress leader and Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu for his defamatory and false allegations against the media organisation said Zee News.

According to the reports, Zee News has sent a notice to Sidhu days after he had threatened and accused the media of telecasting a fake video of his speech, where pro-Pakistan slogans were allegedly raised during the rally. In its Rs 1000 crore defamation notice, the media has asked Sidhu to apologise within 24 hours of receiving it.

Zee News editor-in-chief Sudhir Chaudhary in a Twitter post said, “@ZeeNews issues ₹1000 crore defamation notice to Navjot Sidhu for his defamatory and false allegations against Zee Media. If he doesn’t apologise, we shall use all legal recourses to take this case to its logical conclusion.”

The notice has asked Sidhu to tender an unconditional public apology and not to repeat such defamatory statements against the Zee News. The notice has also asked Sidhu to refrain from issuing further threats or hatred against the media organisation. Sidhu had allegedly threatened the Zee News when he had said “nani yaad dila denge” after Zee News had shown a video ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans were raised at an election rally addressed by senior party leader Navjot Singh Sidhu.

However, party leaders remained defiant and instead accused Zee News of playing a ‘fake video’. Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala as a proof of their claim had posted a 45-second clip of the video to falsely accuse Zee News of posting fake news.

Sudhir Chaudhary had outrightly denied the allegation of the video is fake and said they can present at least seven feeds to prove that pro-Pakistan slogans were indeed raised during the election rally. Sudhir Chaudhary had accused the Congress party of attempting to muzzle the voice of the media in the country for not toeing the line of the party.

We at OpIndia had done a fact-check on the issue and had found that someone indeed had shouted ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ during the Sidhu’s speech at an election rally in Khairthal, Alwar in Rajasthan on December 1. The Congress leaders had edited out this part while posting a video proof that no such slogans were raised.

Recently, Navjot Singh Sidhu had been put into a tough spot by his own party members after Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had also revealed that Pakistan Army General Qamar Javed Bajwa had revealed the Kartarpur corridor news to Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu even before Imran Khan was sworn in as their Prime Minister, indicating a bigger conspiracy hatched by the Pakistan Army.

Navjot Singh Sidhu had caused a severe controversy after he posed with dreaded Khalistani terrorist Gopal Singh Chawla during his controversial visit to Pakistan to inaugurate the Kartarpur corridor.

Pulwama: Supporters of terrorists clash with security forces after encounter, 8 killed in retaliatory action

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Following a cordon-and-search operation in Sirnoo village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, launched by the security forces following an intelligence input, three terrorists have been reportedly killed in an encounter which broke out this morning.

An army jawan was also martyred during the encounter.

as per reports, an Indian jawan-turned-terrorist, Zahoor Ahmad Thokar was also among the terrorists who have been neutralised. The other two slain terrorists are identified as Adnan Wani and Tahir Hizbi.

Hizbul Mujahideen had claimed in July this year that Zahoor Ahmad Thokar of 173 Territorial Army, who went missing along with his service rifle, had joined the terrorist organisation.

The encounter broke out as the militants opened fire at the army jawans while they were carrying out the search operations following a tip-off about the presence of terrorists in the area. The security forces retaliated leading to an encounter, the official confirmed.

During and after the incident, a large number of civilians reportedly gathered to protest against the encounters and soon it turned violent. Reports state that the gathered civilians resorted to stone pelting to disrupt the operations and the forces had to retaliate by tear-gas shelling and eventually firing. As per the latest reports,  eight civilians have been killed and over 50 have been injured in the retaliatory action by security forces.

Local villagers often serve as human shields for the hiding terrorists and attack security forces with stones to create a distraction during anti-terrorist operations. Incidents of heavy stone pelting and attack on security forces are often seen in the valley.

Former DGP of Jammu and Kashmir, Sesh Paul Vaid expressed his anguish over civilian deaths and stated that civilians in the area are instigated by terrorists and their ‘masters across the border’ to reach the encounter site to disrupt operations.


Following the civilian deaths, the Pulwama area has turned tensed and internet services have been suspended in the area. Train service between The Banihal town and Kashmir valley has also been suspended.

Former RJD leader Raj Ballabh Yadav and five others convicted of raping a minor

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Patna’s special court has convicted former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA from Nawada Raj Ballabh Yadav and five other perpetrators for raping a 15-year old minor girl in 2016. Yadav has been convicted under various sections of Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act. The quantum of sentence will be decided on 21 December.

The MLA was suspended from RJD, post-allegations and was lodged in jail for past two years.

The case dates back to February of 2016. A 15-year old girl, a resident of Bihar Sharif was reportedly abducted by her a woman, Sulekha Devi to a location 15 KM from district headquarters. According to reports, the woman and Yadav consumed alcohol and forced the minor girl to watch pornographic videos. Yadav then allegedly directed the girl to imitate the lewd acts. When the girl resisted, she was raped and confined the entire night.

After the ordeal, the girl reached and registered a complaint at Nalanda district police station. As the case was against an MLA of incumbent RJD-JDU government, the victim appeared before a magistrate and narrated the incident. She identified MLA from photos shown to her.

The five others convicted also include Sulekha Devi and bodyguards who are charged under Immoral Traffic (Prevention Act), in addition to IPC and POCSO. There were 22 witnesses from the prosecution or victim’s side and 15 from MLA or defenders side.

After the case gained momentum and MLA was lodged in jail, RJD expelled the legislator to save it from embarrassment. In October, RJD’s leader of opposition Tejashwi Yadav was caught in a controversy after he was featured with Raj Ballabh Yadav in posters during his Samvidhan Bachao Yatra. Tejashwi had said that he was not aware of the posters and the allegations on MLA were not proven.