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Mumbai: DNA data lab helps arrest Rehan Qureshi, who confessed to 20 cases of rape against minors

OpIndia Staff
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Mumbai: DNA data lab helps arrest Rehan Qureshi, who confessed to 20 cases of rape against minors

Rehan Qureshi, aged 34, has finally confessed his involvement in sexual offences and raping 20 minor girls in Mumbai since 2010. The police have cracked an 8-year-old case of the accused having brutally raped and murdered two minor girls in Navi Mumbai.

Evidence against him was found after a DNA profiling test was conducted with regard to two juvenile girls in Kurla Nehru Nagar, by the Navi Mumbai Crime Branch.

The police revealed that they had been suspicious about his involvement in several other cases of sexual offences that are still unsolved. According to them, the accused had been luring and abducting minor girls as an imposter, pretending to be the girls’ parents or relatives, taking them to isolated areas and then sexually abusing them.

Deputy Commissioner of Navi Mumbai Crime Branch informed the media that Rehan Qureshi was a salesman and had been a resident of Kurla since 2010, wherein he brutally raped and murdered three girls. After he confessed his crimes, samples of the victims had been sent to Forensic Sciences Laboratory in Kalina for testing, depicting positive matches, on Monday.

Around 18 cases against him have been found, between 2010 and 2018. According to police reports, the rapist frequently fled to Saudi Arabia into hiding after committing these crimes, with short visits to Mumbai to perform these terrifying acts.

The officials further informed that Qureshi had been executing all of these crimes single-handedly. According to them, the DNA tests have finally given them a major breakthrough in solving the case, arresting him and ultimately providing justice to the victims’ family.

India improves 5 points to emerge as 58th most competitive economy, largest improvement among G20 nations

OpIndia Staff
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India improves 5 points to emerge as 58th most competitive economy, largest improvement among G20 nations

The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) latest global competitiveness report signals a positive upswing for India. India has ranked as the 58th most competitive economy globally with a marked jump of 5 places in just a year since 2017. This jump is the best among all the G20 nations.

The report states:

India ranks 58th (62.0) and has demonstrated sizeable improvements over the past year. Compared with the 2017 backcast edition, India is up five places, the largest gain among G20 economies. India is a remarkable example of a country that has been able to accelerate on the pathway to innovation (where it now ranks 31st, with a score of 53.8), due, particularly, to the quality of its research institutions. In spite of a high degree of entrepreneurship (61.1, 23rd), business dynamism is hampered by administrative hurdles. While Indian companies can access the 3rd largest market in the world (which translates into a perfect mark of 100.0 on the Market size pillar), the country would benefit from increased trade openness (136th) to drive productivity growth.

India has also ranked 8th in “quality of research institutions.” The Geneva-based WEF highly evaluates the country noting “a remarkable example of a country that has been able to accelerate on the pathway to innovation, due, particularly, to the quality of its research institutions.”

The survey indicated that the ease of doing business in India has also improved. As per the Asian Nikkie Review, the cost of starting a business has come down and the time taken to start a business has shortened over the year. The report expects further improvements in India’s health sector which ranks 108th and skills sector which stands at 96th.

As far as innovation was concerned, the report states, “the top performers in the upper- and lower-middle-income brackets, such as China and India, are catching up with or even outperforming the average among high-income economies. China, for example, is already more advanced when it comes to investing in research and development sub-pillar than the average high-income economy, while India is not far behind and let down only by its less-efficient bureaucracy for business creation and insolvency. The catch-up process is reflected in the emergence of Chinese and Indian companies in technology-intensive sectors”.

Ranked 31st, the report states that India ‘punches significantly above its weight’ in terms of innovation capability and is an ‘outlier in the region’. The second best nation in terms of innovation capability in the region is Pakistan, following far behind at 75th. It also remarks that India remains the region’s main driving force.

The report has observed that if India can maintain its competitiveness performance it will promote higher and sustained levels of income in the future. China ranks 28th overall (score of 72.6), leading the BRICS economies ahead of the Russian Federation (65.6, 43rd), India (62.0, 58th), South Africa (60.8, 67th), and Brazil (59.5, 72nd).

Mahagauri: The eight manifestation of Maa Durga removes all obstacles of devotees

OpIndia Staff
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Mahagauri: The eight manifestation of Maa Durga removes all obstacles of devotees

Maa Mahagauri is extremely fair, beautiful and is usually depicted with four hands holding the Trishool, lotus and drum in each hand while fourth one in Abhayamudra (blessing posture). She wears white clothes and rides a bull.

Maa Mahagauri fulfils desires of her devotees

Legend goes that after Maa Kaalratri destroyed demons in her ferocious avatar, Maa Parvati was ‘teased’ for her complexion. She then prayed to Brahma to get back her fair complexion. Brahma asked her to bathe in Mansarovar river in Himalaya, upon which she regained her complexion. Upon losing Her dark complexion She is known as Mahagauri.

Ashtami is one of the most auspicious days of the nine nights and many people invite young girls to their homes and offer them halwa-puri and chana.

Each day of the Navratri is devoted to one of the nine avatars of Maa Durga. The nine different forms are Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayini, Kaalratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidhatri.

Kerala: Security beefed up as Sabarimala opens gates for women today

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: Security beefed up as Sabarimala opens gates for women today

The security in Kerala has been beefed up as Sabarimala opens its doors for women for the first time after the recent Supreme Court verdict which allowed entry into the temple to women of all age group. Following the verdict, thousands of devotees, including women devotees, took to streets to protest against the same.

The sanctum sanctorum of Lord Ayyappa shrine will be opened today at 5 pm today for the next five days for monthly rituals in the Malayalam month of Thulam. Today, as the temple gates open for the first time for women in the menstruating age, Kerala gears up for a tense day as thousands of protesters, including women from nearby villages have come to Nilackal to protest against the same. Many of these protesters have even threatened to commit suicide than allowing young women to enter.

Heavy security has been deployed near Nilackal, the basecamp of Sabarimala temple and Kerala CM has assured women devotees of security. Till now, Kerala Police has arrested 16 protestors, ten of whom were in connection with an attack on a woman yesterday. Six more people were reportedly arrested for not cooperating with the police.

As per reports, many women protesters checked vehicles to stop women from menstruating age to reach the shrine. CM Pinarayi Vijayan has even warned of stern action against those who prevent devotees from going to Sabarimala. As of now the state authorities have deployed 500 policemen including 100 women police personnel at the base camp at Nilackal.

Days after clashes with junior Doctors in Patna, Kanhaiya and his supporters beat up Durga Puja committee members in Begusarai

OpIndia Staff
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Days after clashes with junior Doctors in Patna, Kanhaiya and his supporters beat up Durga Puja committee members in Begusarai

Barely two days after clashing with junior doctors in AIIMS Patna that led to protests and FIR, JNU’s leftist leader Kanhaiya Kumar is in the news again. According to reports, last night Kanhaiya and his supporters were involved in a violent clash with the organisers of a Durga Puja committee in Begusarai, Bihar.

According to reports, on Tuesday, Kanhaiya was returning to his native village Bihat after a public meeting in Mansurchak. While passing through Bhagwan Bazar in Begusarai, Kanhaiya reportedly stopped to meet the owner of a private coaching institute in the area. The vehicles of his entire convoy were parked on the road and thus created a traffic jam in the area.

The organisers of a nearby Durga Puja pandal reportedly came and asked Kanhaiya’s supporters to move their vehicles from the road. Kanhaiya’s supporters reportedly refused and a clash ensued between them and the puja organisers which soon turned violent.

Reports state that Kanhaiya’s supporters brought out sticks and lathis from their vehicles and started hitting the Puja organisers. Two organisers had got head injuries and several others have reportedly been injured. Many locals too came to join the clash and seeing the Puja organisers injured, they reportedly attacked the vehicles in the convoy and drove Kanhaiya and his supporters away.

Later, both groups have reportedly lodged FIRs against each other. Kanhaiya has reportedly told the media that it is a deliberate attempt to tarnish his ‘image’. SHO Deepak Kumar of the Bhagwan Bazar station has stated that one of the injured, Shanu Kumar, has lodged FIR against Kanhaiya under sections 147, 149, 307, 504 and 295.

On Sunday night, in AIIMS, Patna, Kanhaiya’s supporters had reportedly created a ruckus after a group of junior doctors objected to too many people entering a patient’s room. The junior doctors had protested against the misbehaviour of Kanhaiya and his supporters towards the hospital staff and had threatened to go on strike. The strike was called off after the hospital administration lodged an FIR against Kanhaiya and his supporters.

It is notable here that Kanhaiya has been declared the CPI(M) candidate for the Begusarai Lok Sabha seat. His candidature was finalised after an agreement with RJD as a part of the Mahagathbandhan.

‘Be sure about allegations so it doesn’t dilute movement’: Nandita Das on father being named in #MeToo

Shashank Bharadwaj
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‘Be sure about allegations so it doesn’t dilute movement’: Nandita Das on father being named in #MeToo

Nandita Das, filmmaker and the daughter of painter Jatin Das has come up with a Facebook post pertaining to the allegations of sexual harassment made against her father. Noted Conservationist Nisha Bora had accused Jatin Das of grabbing her and forcefully kissing her during a dinner in 2004.

When the allegations surfaced, many questioned the silence of Nandita Das, who had earlier issued a statement to take a firm stand against sexual harassment and not to work with those people who are accused of sexual misconduct against women. Finally, Nandita Das has issued a statement on her father being accused of sexual harassment.

Nandita Das post on her father's alleged sexual misconduct.
Nandita Das post on her father’s alleged sexual misconduct.

Nandita Das, in her Facebook post, has said that she supports the #MeToo movement and that her father has denied all the allegations of sexual misconduct against him. She said that one should be sure about these allegations to make sure that the ‘movement’ is not diluted. Nandita Das, in her statement, stays clear from criticizing her father for his sexual conduct but instead stands by him terming it as ‘allegations just to dilute the movement’.

Social Media users reacted to her post and called out the hypocrisy of the left-leaning filmmaker Nandita Das. Some people questioned the hypocrisy of this self-proclaimed feminist for supporting her father rather than shaming him in public like she has done for many other people named.


Others questioned the inconsistency of Nandita Das in dealing with this critical issue as she has now stood with her father rather than supporting the victim.


We had earlier reported about regarding the similar incident involving Mallika Dua, a stand-up comedian who not only stood by her father, journalist Vinod Dua but also abused the people who demanded answers from her father regarding the accusations of his sexual misconduct.

The ‘MeToo Movement’ has gripped the country with startling revelations coming from across the spectrum involving stand up comedy, journalism, cinema, politics. People like Alok Nath, Rajat Kapoor, Varun Grover and comedians like Tanmay Bhat and Gursimran Khamba, co-founders of All India Bakchod are all being accused of sexual misconduct. The notable filmmaker like Vikas Bahl, Sajid Khan and Journalists like Vinod Dua and Sidharth Bhatia of The Wire, Prashant Jha of the Hindustan Times have all been accused of sexual harassment in the past by few women.

#MeToo: Nandita Das’ father and Padma Bhushan awardee Jatin Das accused of sexual misconduct

OpIndia Staff
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#MeToo: Nandita Das’ father and Padma Bhushan awardee Jatin Das accused of sexual misconduct

In light of the #MeToo movement which has taken India by a storm, allegations have been levelled against Nandita Das’ father and Padma Bhushan awardee Jatin Das. Conservationist Nisha Bora, who met Das through her family during a dinner back in 2004, has accused Das of grabbing her and forcefully kissing her.


Narrating the incident, Bora recalls that she met Das at a function hosted by her in-laws back in 2004 in Delhi. She was in awe of the artist as well as his daughter, actor Nandita Das and hence when Jatin Das invited her the next day to help him with organising his work material, she readily agreed. She says she went to his house the next day where they worked and spoke at length about his work. He even gave her an autographed copy of a book on his Pankha project he was working on.

The next day he invited her to his studio. While it was still daylight, Bora says he poured himself a drink and offered her one, which she declined. She then accuses Das of grabbing her against her wish. “I wriggled out of his embrace, flustered. Then he did it again. This time, he managed a clumsy kiss on my lips,” she writes in her Facebook post. She says she pushed him away and moved away, but he was persistent. She says she immediately left and never spoke about the incident until now.

She said reading the stories of women who have come out and named their harasser, her repressed memories came back. She said she felt guilty and ashamed all these years and was concerned for everyone else but herself. “I worked myself into a hole believing that talking about it would make trouble… I felt that somehow I landed myself into this spot and that it was my problem to deal with. I felt guilty and ashamed,” said Bora. She says she internalised and normalised it, but now she has spoken up.

However, Das has denied the allegations and reportedly said that these days a “game” is going on to level allegations against people for the “fun” of it. Labelling the allegations as “vulgar”, he said, “I am shocked. All kinds of things are happening these days… Some people do things and some people make allegations. I don’t know her, I have never met her, and even if I did met somebody somewhere one doesn’t behave like this… It is vulgar. There is a game going on, some people are real have done some things while some people are making allegations for the fun of it.”

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.

Fugitive industrialist Vinay Mittal extradited from Indonesia for bank frauds worth over Rs 40 crore

Jinit Jain
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Fugitive industrialist Vinay Mittal extradited from Indonesia for bank frauds worth over Rs 40 crore

According to the reports, economic defaulter Vinay Mittal, known for multiple bank frauds to the tune of Rs 40 crore has been extradited to India from Indonesia’s Bali on the request of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Interpol had already raised a Red Corner notice against Mittal on CBI’s insistence.


Working on the requests made by the Corporation Bank and the Punjab National Bank which are reeling under Rs 13000 crore bank fraud allegedly committed by the duo Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, the agency had registered cases against Mittal in 2014 and 2016 respectively. Seven charge sheets were filed in the courts of Delhi and Ghaziabad against Vinay Mittal after which he supposedly absconded from the country. After a tenacious search, he was tracked down in Bali, Indonesia where he was arrested by the Indonesian authorities in January 2017, based on the Red Corner Notice. Indonesian President recently cleared his extradition to India, following which he was brought back to India.

Vinay Mittal had been charged for financial irregularities and bank frauds in these seven cases by the CBI. As per a list of fugitives prepared by the External Affairs Ministry, Vinay Mittal was one of 28 fugitives to be living outside the country. The CBI is pursuing cases against the remaining 22 of them while the ED is pursuing cases against 13 offenders. Eight persons figure in both lists.

Vinay’s extradition can be ascribed to India’s agile diplomacy and its dogged perseverance in seeking the extradition of fugitives living abroad. India has, so far, signed extradition treaties with 48 countries including the USA, UAE, France, Germany, the U.K, and Hong Kong. In addition to this, extradition arrangements have been signed with Croatia, Italy, and Sweden as well. Earlier today, CBI was successful in bringing back another economic offender, Mohammad Yahya from Bahrain. He is alleged to have cheated a couple of banks of Rs 46 lakhs in 2003.

Arun Jaitley: Is the ‘Clown Prince’ out-clowning himself

OpIndia Staff
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Arun Jaitley: Is the ‘Clown Prince’ out-clowning himself

Continuing his series of Facebook posts as counter attack Rahul Gandhi’s non-stop allegations, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has posted another article on Facebook. In the post titled “Is the ‘Clown Prince’ out-clowning himself”, the finance minister responds to some of the bizarre claims made by the Congress president in his election rallies in Madhya Pradesh.

He starts the post with an advice that many senior criminal advocates give to junior ones, “if you are strong on facts, bang the facts. If you are strong on law, bang the law. If you are weak on both, then bang the desk”, setting the tone of the post. After that, he proceeds on to respond to specific allegations by Rahul Gandhi.

Jaitley first takes the allegation of Rahul Gandhi that Anil Ambani’s Reliance has got a huge advantage in the Rafale, the quantum which ranges from ₹38,000 crore to ₹1,30,000 crore and that the job of manufacturing Rafale has been given to Reliance instead of HAL. Responding to this, Jaitley reminds that the Rafale aircraft its weapons are not being made in India at all, they will be completely built in France. He says that as per offset policy formulated by UPA government, Dassault will have to make purchases from India for 50% of contract value. Over 120 Indian companies will get offset business from Dassault and Reliance is just one among them, and Reliance will get only around 3% of the business, which is less than ₹1000 crore.

Second, the finance minister clarifies that bad loans declared as NPA by banks do not mean loan waiver, as what Rahul Gandhi thinks. He also says that the bad loans were given during UPA rule and not a single rupee of the loan to corporate has been waived.

Taking on Rahul Gandhi’s relentless allegation that all mobile phones sold in India come from China, Arun Jaitley says that while there were only 2 mobile phone manufacturing units in India, today that number has crossed 120. The minister also replies Rahul’s allegations about GST, saying that all states including Congress-ruled states have approved the GST rules.

And last, Arun Jaitley answers the latest allegation by Rahul Gandhi. On 15th October, the Congress president had claimed that Nirav Modi went to Parliament to meet Jaitley before fleeing the country and informed Jaitley about his intended escape from the country. He had also said that Arun Jaitley himself had admitted to this meeting. To this claim, finance minister says that he does not recollect ever having even seen Nirav Modi in his life. He writes, “the question of his meeting me in Parliament does not arise. If he came to Parliament, as Rahul Gandhi claims, then reception records would show that. Where have I admitted all this Mr Gandhi?”

The full post can be read here.

‘He would always greet me with a kiss when I went to meet him,’ journalist accuses former UPA minister of sexual misconduct

OpIndia Staff
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‘He would always greet me with a kiss when I went to meet him,’ journalist accuses former UPA minister of sexual misconduct

In a shocking account of yet another #MeToo revelation, journalist Sonal Kellogg has come up with her story about how she was abused by a minister in the UPA 1 government. Narrating her story in DailyO, she says that when she was working for The Asian Age in Delhi, one cabinet minister in the UPA government always used to greet her with a kiss. He was the minister of the ministry the journalist was covering at that time.

She says that the minister was a media favourite, and many senior women journalists were close to him. She also saw him greeting women with a hug, so she thought hugs and kisses were the norms in Delhi, as she came from a smaller town. Sonal says that the minister studied at St Stephen’s College and did his masters from a top university in England, and he was a big advocate of women’s rights and empowerment. She met him frequently for work, and every time he would greet her a kiss. He would hold her face and try to kiss her on the mouth, she says.

Sonal says she managed to turn her face slightly, but didn’t do anything about or nor did she report about the same to anyone. She also has been the victim of long-term child sexual abuse, and she is not able to speak up against authority, Sonal says.

Perhaps bolstered by the fact that the journalist did not seem to protest about his behaviour, the minister stepped up his act one day. In early 2014, when Sonal was sitting in the bungalow of the minister, the minister suddenly stretched his hand and pressed one of her breasts. This time she gathered her courage and asked him to not touch her. When asked why she told him that she does not like to be touched.

After the incident, Sonal never met the person, and she also moved to Ahmedabad from Delhi. The journalist has not named the minister who molested her, so it is now a matter of speculation.

Sonal Kellogg runs the website Sabfree (Speak up and Be Free), which supports child victims sexual abuse.

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