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NGT slaps fine of 50 crore on AAP government for inaction against illegal steel pickling units

OpIndia Staff
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NGT slaps fine of 50 crore on AAP government for inaction against illegal steel pickling units

Acting on a plea lodged by an NGO named All India Lokhadikhar Sangathan, National Green tribunal rapped AAP government for inaction against polluting steel pickling units in the residential area of Delhi, according to reports. NGT has also imposed a fine of Rs 50 crore for non-compliance of its order.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Goel also directed the government to immediately shut the industries that fall under the prohibited list of Industrial activity as per the Delhi Master Plan (DMP), 2021.

“We impose Rs 50 crore on the government for its inaction and failure resulting in creating lawlessness, damaging the environment and public health. It will be open to the government to recover the amount from the erring industries, and/or from the erring officers,” said the bench. They also gave 4 months to the government to file a report.

“Permitting polluting industries in violation of law cannot be tolerated and has to be dealt with strongly. We have noticed repeated failure in handling of the issue, and continuous violation of orders of this tribunal,” the bench also said.

The plea lodged by NGO was regarding NGT’s previous order to Delhi Pollution Control Committee to completely shut down the prohibited industries. The NGO contended that under the pretext of decision making, time is being taken by the Delhi government and the environment is made to suffer continuously.

The plea was directed at pickling plants of Wazirpur, which were discharging effluent in open drains, which further damaged the Yamuna river.

Pickling is a metal surface treatment used to remove impurities, such as stains, inorganic contaminants, rust or scale from metals and alloys.

#MeToo: Amidst allegations of sexual exploitation, MJ Akbar resigns from his post of Minister of State in External Ministry

OpIndia Staff
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#MeToo: Amidst allegations of sexual exploitation, MJ Akbar resigns from his post of Minister of State in External Ministry

Amidst the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him, the junior minister and former journalist MJ Akbar today tendered his resignation.


MJ Akbar resignation letter. Courtesy: ANI

In his resignation letter Akbar states that since he has sought to seek justice in the court of law in his personal capacity, he deems it appropriate to step down as a junior minister.

In what appears to be a pattern, Akbar is alleged to have interviewed female journalists in hotel rooms, asking them to sit on the bed and making them feel extremely uncomfortable. Multiple women have come out and narrated their stories where Akbar had allegedly made them feel extremely uncomfortable with their behaviour and even sexually assaulting them.

BJP President Amit Shah had said that the charges against Akbar would be examined. Upon his return from Nigeria earlier this week, there were speculations that Akbar had resigned, which were later refuted by him.

Akbar has filed a defamation case against Priya Ramani, one of the journalists who had accused him of sexual harassment and dismissed the allegations as ‘false and fabricated’ and ‘malicious’.

Indian Army is fully prepared to thwart Pakistan’s misadventures, says Lt Gen Ranbir Singh

OpIndia Staff
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Indian Army is fully prepared to thwart Pakistan’s misadventures, says Lt Gen Ranbir Singh

Rubbishing Pakistan’s threat of conducting 10 surgical strikes on India, GOC Northern Command Lt Gen Ranbir Singh on Wednesday reassured the nation that Indian Army is fully prepared to take up any challenging task posed by the enemy. He also stated that statements emerging from different quarters of Pakistan are of no consequence and should not be dwelled upon.


Earlier this month, Major General Asif Ghafoor, spokesperson of the Pakistan military’s Inter-Services Public Relations, while on his visit to London, threatened India with “10 surgical strikes’ in response to one such attack by India. He was quoted saying to Radio Pakistan, “If India dares to launch a surgical strike inside Pakistan, it will face 10 surgical strikes in response.”

Addressing the press, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh also claimed that the measures undertaken by the Armed Forces to impede infiltration attempts along the border have proven very effective and successful. According to him, there has been no mitigation in terror training activities in the camps across the border and they are vigilant of the terrorists’ attempts to infiltrate in India.


Pakistan had been vehemently denying the occurrence of surgical strikes on its soil by Indian armed forces in 2016, in which approximately 40 Terrorists were killed when Indian Army personnel ambushed 4 terror launchpads and subsequently destroyed them. Indian Armed forces have already put out videos corroborating their claim of conducting a successful Surgical Strike deep inside Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Amidst this, such knee-jerk reaction exhibited by a senior Pakistani officer only serves to authenticate that the Indian Army indeed carried out the surgical strikes.

The enemy within: After the Brahmos case, Indian Army soldier held for spying for Pakistan’s ISI

Jinit Jain
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The enemy within: After the Brahmos case, Indian Army soldier held for spying for Pakistan’s ISI

According to the reports, an Indian Army soldier of Meerut Cantonment has been caught and several others detained by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad on the charges of espionage activities carried out on the directions of the infamous ISI. The arrested jawan was stationed in the Army’s Signal Regiment in Meerut Cantonment.

The arrested soldier was a resident of Uttarakhand, India. He has been serving in the Indian Army since last 10 years. Army Intelligence Unit already had an inkling of his involvement in espionage activities and hence he was kept under surveillance from last 3 months. According to them, he was in constant touch with his Pakistani counterparts since last 10 months. He has shared ultra-secret and sensitive information with ISI handlers on Whatsapp group as per the sources.

In last one month, there has been a spurt in the arrest of ISI agents in India, especially those who worked in India’s Defense sector. A youth named Nishant Agrawal was arrested from Nagpur’s Brahmos Unit on October 8, 2018, for allegedly selling defence secrets about India’s missile systems to his Pakistani ISI handlers. Nishant had been working in Nagpur’s Brahmos Aerospace Pvt. Ltd’s missile research centre in Nagpur for the last 4 years. He was wheedled into sharing the critical information about the missile systems with Pakistani counterparts by offering him a bait of $30,000 IT job in Canada. The investigation also revealed that Nishant was contacted using Facebook accounts of ‘Neha’, ‘Sejal’ and ‘Pooja’ to trap him. Uttar Pradesh ATS has refused to comment on the links between the latest arrest with the Brahmos Unit spy case, whose investigation is underway.

In September this year, Uttar Pradesh ATS team had arrested a BSF Jawan, Achutanand Misra, a resident of Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa district, for sharing vital information about India’s defence preparedness with ISI lackeys. He was “honey-trapped” by a woman claiming to be a journalist into sharing information about unit operational details, police academy and training centre. A few months back, a person named Ramesh who worked as a cook in an Indian diplomat’s house was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir military Intelligence Unit and the Uttar Pradesh police from Pithoragarh for bugging the house and passing off the information to the ISI. Last year, in March 2017, Aftab Ali was arrested for running an espionage racket in Uttar Pradesh.

The recent arrests of the Pakistani spies have led to a conclusion that Pakistan’s ISI is aggressively trying to make inroads in India’s defence sector, with the moles being either ensnared with the use of “honey-trap” or lured by a prospect of making big money. The arrests also signify Indian Security Agencies’ agility and coordination in busting espionage rackets and nabbing the traitors but they will do well to deploy preventive measures that dissuade vulnerable Indians from joining the enemy ranks.

Telangana: BJP proposes to regulate liquor sale in the state in their manifesto

OpIndia Staff
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Telangana: BJP proposes to regulate liquor sale in the state in their manifesto

In their manifesto released for the upcoming Telangana state assembly elections which will be held on 7th December, the BJP promised to regulate liquor sale in the state. Claiming that the unrestricted availability and consumption was leading to several social as well as law and order problems in the state, the BJP proposed that the sale of liquor will be restricted to only five days a week.

“Alcohol addiction is wrecking many households in Telangana. It is also the main cause for marital discord, robberies, sexual assaults, suicides, and brawls. We will totally regulate the sale of liquor in the state if we come to power. BJP will not consider liquor sales as a major source of revenue for the government,” said the Chairman of BJP’s manifesto committee, NVS S Prabhakar. He mentioned that this decision had been taken after discussions at the highest level.

The consumption of liquor has been leading to several atrocities against women in Telangana, along with suicides and several other law and order issues. The sale of liquor would be restricted to 5 days a week, with fixed timings to be maintained by liquor stores. “After 6pm, no wine shop or bar will be open. There will be a total ban on liquor during weekends,” he added.

The manifesto also promises cancellation of surcharge fares by state-run Road Transport Corporation (RTC) buses during festival seasons and free transportation to those taking up ‘Deeksha’ (religious code of behaviour) for visiting temples, including Sabarimala. Furthermore, a total waiver of taxes on petrol and diesel is promised which may lower the price of fuel by Rs. 20

The BJP also plans to constitute a task force to protect lands belonging to religious places like temples, waqf and churches in the state. Prabhakar added that no other party had been sensitive to this particular issue so far but “we will protect lands of religious institutions from encroachment,’’ he said.

Several more proposals by the BJP manifesto include free online and offline coaching for youth who appear for competitive exams and the provision of safe drinking water for Rs. 6 per month per household. “The provision of such minimum facilities should not be viewed like a profit-loss proposition. They should be seen as a source of income,” Prabhakar asserted.

Earlier in September, Telangana chief minister KC Rao dissolved the state assembly, thereby advancing the state elections by almost six months. The BJP had five seats in the now-dissolved 119-member assembly.

Sabarimala turns into a war zone as communist government lathicharges and pelts stones at protesting devotees

OpIndia Staff
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Sabarimala turns into a war zone as communist government lathicharges and pelts stones at protesting devotees

The area around the Sabarimala temple in Kerala turned into a war zone after Lord Ayyappa devotees blocking entry of women into the temples clashed with police forces. After the controversial judgement of the Supreme Court allowing women of all ages to enter the temple, protests have erupted in the state against the order. The devotees of trying to protect an age-old tradition which bars women aged between 10 and 50 years from entering the temple.

The temple doors are scheduled to be opened at 5 PM today, and thousands of devotees have formed a protective ring around the temple to prevent any women from entering it. The protesters were checking vehicles going towards the temple and removed women present in the vehicles.

The state government has deployed around 1,000 policemen and two battalions of women combat forces to maintain law and order. Police have removed pandals and road blockages erected by protesters. “We will ensure their security for travel and deal protests with a firm hand. We have completed police arrangements on Sabarimala route. If anyone tries to block and conduct searches on vehicles carrying Ayyappa devotees, they will be arrested and prosecuted,” DGP Loknath Behera said. Police also lathicharged protesters when they were trying to block women from going towards Pamba.

It is being reported that in a shameful incident, the police has also pelted stones at the devotees who are protesting.


There were also incidents where a swarm of devotees also attacked the car of Republic TV’s South India bureau chief Pooja Prasanna. The crew of CNN News was allegedly also attacked and the car where Radhika Ramaswamy was travelling was vandalised. The News Minute journalist Saritha S Balan was attacked near Sabarimala.

The protesters didn’t make any difference between women visitors to the temple and other women and blocked all women from going near Sabarimala.

In a crackdown on protesters, police have arrested several people leading the protest. This includes activist Rahul Easwar and family members of Tantris associated with the temple. Easwar is the grandson of the former high priest of the Sabarimala Shrine.

While the left ruled Kerala government has resolved to implement the apex court order and decided not to file a review petition as demanded by devotees, the Congress party decided to join the devotees and they held a peaceful protest against the entry of women in the temple.


After the verdict which was viewed as unfair by many, many are now saying that the communist government of Kerala which by ideology has little regard for religious beliefs and faith are using strong-arm tactics to silence devotees who are trying to protect their tradition.

Tripura CM unveils status of Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore, the statesman, the visionary and the architect of Tripura

Shashank Bharadwaj
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Tripura CM unveils status of Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore, the statesman, the visionary and the architect of Tripura

The great nation of Bharata has produced many heroes who are revered to this day for their valour. Maharaja (Bubagra) Colonel Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Debbarman, a statesman par excellence, is one such National hero who has unfortunately been forgotten by our post-independence state and its intellectuals.

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb today unveiled a massive statue of Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya at Dharmanagar under North Tripura district.

The Chief Minister said, “The previous regime never bothered for own state’s culture nor they were bothered about their own country’s tradition. Rather they were busy with foreign figures whereas, 37 lakh citizens of our beloved state are forever indebted to Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya, the Architect of Modern Tripura”.

One is thus reminded of the day the Lenin statue fell in Tripura, ushering a new era where our national heroes would be revered over ideological imports like Lenin. Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore is the ‘father of modern architecture of the state of Tripura‘. He is considered to be one of the greatest kings in India’s history who is credited to have built the current state of Tripura by developing institutions and infrastructure and paved the way for its national integration.

Born in 1908 to Birendra Kishore Manikya, Maharaja of Manikya Dynasty of Tripura, Bir Bikram Kishore took the reigns of the state in 1923. The new king, soon after assuming the power necessitated the development by ushering a new era of reforms in the princely state of Tripura. Bir Bikram first started with building the capital of his kingdom, the city of Agartala. He consolidated the state land holdings by bringing land reforms and reserved large tracks of land for his tribal populace, known as Tripuri, which is presently recognised as TTAADC (Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous District councils) Areas. Addition to this, the first airport of Tripura was built in 1942 by Bir Bikram at Agartala, which has been renamed by the BJP government at the centre to honour the great king.

Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore was also renowned to be a great educationist. He built numerous schools, college and started Tripura’s first University. This led to the spread of education across the state and acted as the foundation for the Tripura’s high rate of literacy in the coming years. Bir Bikram Manikya played a huge role during the Bengal famine of the 1940s. He came to the rescue of people of Bengal by providing food grains when they were ravaged by severe famine. Along with his son Maharaja Kirit Bikram Kishore, Bir Bikram also provided much-needed help to the Hindu Bengali refugees who fled their homes as they faced persecution by the Muslims of East Bengal during the partition of India.

Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya died at a very young age of 39 in 1947 just before India’s independence. He was the last reigning monarch of the Kingdom of the Tripura. After his death, his son Kirat Bikram Kishore took the reigns and merged it with independent India in 1949. The untimely death of Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore limited the development of the state of Tripura.

The Manikyas dynasty of Tripura not only had great rulers but also preserved and promoted Hindu culture and traditions, especially the Bengali language and the culture. The Kingdom of Tripura and the family of Bharat Ratna Rabindranath Tagore had a very close relationship.

The Kings of Tripura is said to have given huge contributions to Rabindranath Tagore and also helped Tagore to build ‘Viswa Bharati’ in Bengal to revive Hindu culture and literature. Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore also provided annual grants to the university throughout his rule from 1923-1947. The Kings of Tripura are also said to have helped to launch a hospital, a library and ‘Sangeet Bhawan’ at Viswa Bharati.

The greatest gift of Tripura Kings to India’s culture is their pledge to revive Manipuri dance form, by contributing to its introduction in Viswa Bharati’s cultural curricula. The contributions from the Tripura Kings helped Rabindranath Tagore and his authorities at Viswa Bharati to depute experts like renowned artist Dhirendra Krishna Debbarman and Manipuri dance expert Buddhimanta Singh to revive Manipuri art form.

The royal family of Tripura has done an exceptional work over years to promote our national cultural heritage and also united many diverse linguistic and ethnic groups to create a modern state of Tripura and successfully merge it with the idea of India. The Government of Tripura’s recent decision to mark respect by raising a statue of Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya, one of India’s greatest kings is truly remarkable as the contribution of the Kingdom of Tripura in the process of cultural preservation and nation build is irreplaceable.

#MeToo: Journalist accuses senior editor at Catch News of inappropriate behaviour

OpIndia Staff
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#MeToo: Journalist accuses senior editor at Catch News of inappropriate behaviour

Even as people debate and argue whether certain behaviour, especially which involves unwanted sexual advances towards women, falls under the workplace sexual harassment ambit, one more journalist has come forward with her #MeToo story where she has accused a senior editor at Catch News of making unwanted advances towards her.


Journalist Shamita Harsh took to Twitter to describe her story. She claims that during her time at Catch News, which was her first job, between June 2016 to April 2017, she was routinely harassed by a senior editor. Without naming him, she says that he would pass comments on her looks and make her feel uncomfortable. She describes that on more than one occasion she was offered drinks at workplace, which she declined since she was not comfortable.

She then says that on 16 January 2017, when the Catch News office shifted from Qutub Institutional Area to Greater Noida, and a lot of people had put in their papers, including her. However, she claims that this senior editor pulled some strings and stopped her transfer to Greater Noida, thereby allowing her to work from Qutub Institutional Area office. As a thank you, she says, he asked for a hug. She claims that she got this preferential treatment even though many of her colleagues who had actually requested for a transfer, were not attended to immediately.

Catch News is digital platform part of Rajasthan Patrika Group. In the course of the last few days, two women came forward and accused The Wire’s co-founder and founding editor Siddharth Bhatia as well as journalist Vinod Dua of sexual harassment. The #MeToo movement on social media has taken the country by a storm with many big industry names like Alok Nath, Rajat Kapoor, Varun Grover and comedians like Tanmay Bhat and Gursimran Khamba, co-founders of All India Bakchod being accused of sexual misconduct. Journalists like Prashant Jha and film director Vikas Bahl and many, many more have been named as perpetrators of harassment.

Ahmedabad court summons AAP MP Sanjay Singh over ₹5000 crore defamation suit by Reliance

OpIndia Staff
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Ahmedabad court summons AAP MP Sanjay Singh over ₹5000 crore defamation suit by Reliance

An Ahmedabad city court has issued a summon to AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh over a defamation suit filed by Reliance infrastructure and other Reliance group companies led by Anil Ambani. The Ahmedabad City Civil and Sessions Court has asked the MP to provide a written submission before the court on 20th October in relation to the ₹ 5,000 crores civil defamation suit.


The Reliance Group of companies had filed the suit in February this year, over comments made by Singh in a press conference. While addressing the press on February 13, Sanjay Singh had raised suspicions about the deal to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets from France. He has said that the Rafale deal is ‘the deal of scams’, alleging that Modi government is paying an “astronomical price” for the jets.

The Rajya Sabha MP also had alleged that a contract worth ₹22,000 crore was awarded to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence to manufacture parts of the fighter plane, despite the company lacking any experience in the field. He had said, “this all proves beyond doubt that this deal is the deal of scams and this is going to be the last nail in the coffin of the government”.

In recent months, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and other Congress party leaders have been making similar accusations. And Reliance group has sent “cease and desist” notices to several politicians asking them to stop making such statements. Reliance and Dassault Aviation both have clarified that the value Reliance deal with Dassault is much less and there was no government pressure to select Reliance as one of the offset partners.

This is not the only defamation case the AAP leader is facing. Last month, a Delhi court had framed charges against Sanjay Singh following suits filed by Ankit Bhardwaj, a leader of BJP’s youth wing Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM).

In May last year, an AAP volunteer named Ankit Bhardwaj had attacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra when he was sitting in a protest, but many AAP members including Sanjay Singh had claimed that the attacker was BJYM leader Ankit Bhardwaj, which had prompted Bhardwaj to file the suit seeking a compensation of ₹1.

Coimbatore: Govt college suspends student indefinitely for observing Bhagat Singh birth anniversary

OpIndia Staff
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Coimbatore: Govt college suspends student indefinitely for observing Bhagat Singh birth anniversary

A student of the Government art college in Coimbatore was suspended indefinitely for organising a program to mark the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh in the college campus on September 28.

The suspension order, dated October 1, stated that S Malathi, a first-year MA (History) student, was denied permission by the principal to conduct the meeting. “The meeting was conducted by the student in a manner that could cause disturbance to the peaceful nature of the campus and was not in line with discipline expected by the college,” read the order.

Malathi, in her defence, said that she had asked the principal for permission. Chitra Mohan, the principal of the college, denied permission and instead told her to seek permission from her Head of the Department (History) and conduct a department-level function. Since the head of the department was on leave, Malathi approached the tutor in her department, who also denied permission. Nevertheless, she went ahead and conducted the meeting as planned originally.

Malathi furthered that her suspension was was against democracy on the college campus. “It was not a huge celebration. Only a few had gathered and we spoke about Bhagat Singh’s achievements and his exemplary work during the freedom struggle. We dispersed in 45 minutes,” she said, wondering whether celebrating Bhagat Singh’s birthday could be considered a crime.

She alleged that the college authorities are now trying to politicise the issue and are clamping down on students who dare to speak up against the management. “The authorities are miffed that we spoke about the lack of facilities in the college. We don’t have proper toilets and the ones that we have are not maintained at all. It is true that they didn’t give us permission but we did not do anything wrong,” she said.

The principal, however refuting the claim said that the college was not against commemorating the birth anniversary of the freedom fighter, but what forced the college authorities to take such an action was that the students organised a meeting without prior permission.

Malathi has been suspended pending an enquiry by a four-member committee led by the Head of the History department on October 22. A copy of the suspension order was sent to the history department, disciplinary committee, the Race Course police station and to Malathi’s parents.

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