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Speaking against US trade war, China seeks deeper trade ties with India

OpIndia Staff
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Speaking against US trade war, China seeks deeper trade ties with India

In a major development on Wednesday, Chinese embassy emphasized the need to deepen the ties with India, to counter ‘trade protectionism’ adopted by the US against China.

In July, US had imposed tariffs on $34 billion imports of China, followed by $200 billion in September. The step was taken by the US, in order to curb the ‘huge trade deficit’ by China. China had retailed with an equal proportion of tariffs, from its side.

‘Practicing unilateral trade protectionism in the name of national security and fair trade will not only affect China’s economic development but also undermine the external environment of India’ counsellor Ji Rong was quoted in media reports.

Counselor Ji Rong also said the US should not interfere in internal matters of developing countries like as China and India under the pretext of human rights and religious matters.

China also categorically defended itself on charges levied on them, about the aggressive militarisation of the South China Sea and about enforcing debts on smaller countries, and termed them as ‘distortion of facts.’

Ji Rong also mentioned Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping’s vow against trade protectionism while publishing the Qingdao Declaration and at the 10th BRICS summit this year.

This comes in the wake of possible sanctions against India, by the US for signing S-400 deal with Russia. CAATSA or Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, is a federal law in the US which let’s government impose sanctions against any country trading or engaging with Iran, North Korea or Russia.

The US has in past has warned  India about oil trades with Iran. Trump upon the question on India’s recent deals with Russia said that ‘India will soon find out.’

President Trump had also labelled India as ‘tariff king’, describing allegations against India of imposing high tariffs on US goods recently.

India has so far not responded either to China’s statement or replied to allegations from the USA.

Rajdeep Sardesai lies yet again, this time about the SC’s decision on Rafale deal

Jinit Jain
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Rajdeep Sardesai lies yet again, this time about the SC’s decision on Rafale deal

For some, the adage “with great power comes great responsibilities” doesn’t hold any significance. For them, it is perfectly fine to perfunctorily keep peddling their figment of imagination as long as it is appearing to buttress their agenda. In one such case, senior journalist and consulting editor at India Today, Rajdeep Sardesai, was caught once again sharing lies to obfuscate the truth and confuse his readers and followers into believing something which never happened.

A petition to seek the details of decision-making processes involved in signing the Rafale deal was filed by Advocate M.L Sharma, Advocate Vineet Dhanda, and Robert Vadra’s brother in law, Tehseen Poonawalla. The petitioners wanted a probe into the deal and disclosure of costs involved and wanted cancellation of the deal alleging that it was the result of corruption.

The Supreme Court heard the matter and refused to issue a notice to the centre. But, contrary to the SC’s decision, Rajdeep Sardesai put out a misleading tweet stating that the SC has issued a ‘notice’ to centre to explain processes involved in procuring the Rafale aircraft.

Acting on the petition, the SC heard the matter but refused to issue a notice to the central government. However, the apex court showed the willingness to be apprised by the government about the steps followed in taking the decision of procuring Rafale fighter jets.

The Supreme Court had clearly denied issuing a notice to the centre in the aforementioned matter but despite this Rajdeep Sardesai has neither apologized for jumping the gun and misguiding his followers nor has he deleted the tweet which might continue to mislead other gullible Twitter users.


In the past too, Rajdeep and his wife, Sagarika Ghose, have been caught for shamelessly peddling lies on their social media pages and accused of playing the victim when their lies are debunked by aware social media denizens. Rajdeep Sardesai quoted a fake news peddled by a Pro-AAP blog about Kasganj communal riots and accused that ANI had shared fake news but neither of them has issued an apology and deleted the post till date when their lies were busted by Editor of ANI, Smrita Prakash.

In 2017, Rajdeep Sardesai accused the BHU VC of joining PM Modi in his political roadshow but subsequently admitted to his fault of “mistaken identity” and apologized for the same. Sagarika Ghose was slammed by a Republic TV journalist for spreading lies about her. Much recently, in March 2018, She indulged in maligning Hinduism based on a lie about sperm filled balloons thrown at college girls. Two years back, in 2016, the Art of Living accused Sagarika Ghose of peddling lies and asked her to apologize to Sri Sri.

35 lakhs in cash and ‘incriminating documents’ seized in I-T raids at AAP minister’s premises

OpIndia Staff
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35 lakhs in cash and ‘incriminating documents’ seized in I-T raids at AAP minister’s premises

The Income Tax Department (ITD) on Wednesday had conducted raids on multiple premises associated with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot in connection with an alleged tax evasion case.

A number of Rs 35 lakh in cash was seized and ‘incriminating documents’ of multiple accommodation entries and benami assets were reportedly recovered as IT officials conducted searches in at least 16 locations in Delhi and Gurgaon.

An accommodation entry refers to documents that reflect fake loans transacted by bogus means or shell firms in order to evade taxes.

The search teams, an official said, raided locations in Delhi’s upscale residential areas like Vasant Kunj and Defence Colony, offices and residences in Paschim Vihar, Najafgarh, Laxmi Nagar and Palam Vihar area in Gurgaon.

The search operations, that were on till late evening yesterday, were being conducted as part of a tax evasion probe against two firms, Brisk Infrastructure and Developers Pvt Ltd, which is involved in real estate business and Corporate International Financial Services Limited, a non-banking financial company, that are operated and owned by the family members of Gahlot, the official said.

Media reports have quoted an I-T department official as saying that the two firms were being probed for tax evasion after reports of multiple undisclosed transactions and alleged under-reporting of profits.

Delhi’s Chief Minister and the AAP supremo, Arvind Kejriwal, condemned the raid with his party calling it a ‘political vendetta’. Arvind Kejriwal lashed out at the Prime Minister asking him to seek an apology to people for what he called ‘constantly troubling’ his government.

Kailash Gahlot is the minister for transport, law and revenue in Arvind Kejriwal cabinet. He represents Najafgarh Assembly constituency in the Delhi Legislative Assembly. Before this Kailash Gahlot had managed to be in the news in August 2018 when the apex organisation of IAS officers in the country had ‘condemned’ the alleged ‘misbehaviour’ of Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot with Transport Secretary Varsha Joshi and had called it ‘unacceptable’.

Gehlot had allegedly misbehaved with Joshi during a meeting, which was held to review the replies of the Transport department to questions to be asked in the Monsoon Session of the Assembly, in August 2018.

Reports claim IT raids being conducted at The Quint founder Raghav Bahl’s residence and Quint office

OpIndia Staff
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Reports claim IT raids being conducted at The Quint founder Raghav Bahl’s residence and Quint office

Reports have emerged that Income Tax raids are being conducted at the residential premises of Raghav Bahl, the owner and founder of the website The Quint.


Raghav Bahl founded The Quint, was earlier the founder and managing director of Network 18. In 2014, he stepped down and sold the company to Reliance for a whopping Rs. 4000 crores, according to LiveMint. It was considered one of the biggest media takeovers in terms of the sheer value of the deal. It is reported that Raghav Bahl walked out of Network 18 after the takeover with a whopping Rs. 700 crores.

In July 2014 Bahl announced that he would be launching a digital media venture and 8 months later, Bahl launched Quintillion Media with TheQuint.com.

Bahl has since then invested in several digital portals. For example, Raghav Bahl’s Quintillion invested Rs 4 crores in a left-leaning portal “YouthKiAwaaz”. It was also reported the Raghav Bahl invested in TheNewsMinute.com, thought the quantum of investment was not disclosed.

As per a report on the Statesman, “As per the income tax report, two media firms – INX Media and Network 18 — had in 2008 allegedly bribed Karti for getting FIPB approvals. At that time, INX Media was co-owned by Peter Mukherjee, and Network 18 that runs TV channels like CNN-IBN and news portals was controlled by Raghav Bahl, who now runs the Quint website”.

The CBI had filed an FIR in the INX scam case in May 2017 alleging that Karti had received a bribe of Rs 3.5 crores from the Peter and Indrani Mukherjee owned INX Media Pvt Ltd. INX Media was later named as 9X.

It is being reported that the IT raids were carried out allegedly for evading tax on undisclosed income. The Quint office, too, has been raided by IT officials.

It is also being reported that the searches are being conducted at the premises of a few other people as part of the ITD action to probe tax evasion by a set of business professionals.

Raghav Bahl has issued a statement to the Editor’s Guild of India. He has asserted that while he was in Mumbai, dozens of IT sleuths raided his premises and The Quint’s office premises. He has said that he will co-operate but has urged the sleuths not to pick up or see any documents or emails which might contain sensitive journalistic material.


This is a developing story and will be updated as and when we receive more information.

Tanushree Dutta files FIR against Nana Patekar and 3 others in Mumbai

OpIndia Staff
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Tanushree Dutta files FIR against Nana Patekar and 3 others in Mumbai

Actress Tanushree Dutta has filed an FIR against veteran actor Nana Patekar and three other persons namely, choreographer Ganesh Acharya, producer Samee Siddiqui and director Rakesh Sarang under sections 354 and 509. The FIR was filed at Mumbai’s Oshiwara police station last night.


According to reports, the actress and former Miss India visited the police station late on Wednesday night. She had given a written complaint some days prior. In her two page written complaint, Tanushree has reportedly asked for a complaint to be filed against the accused and for sexual harassment and molestation. She had also complained against the workers of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, who had allegedly attacked her car while she was leaving the studios from the sets of ‘Horn OK please’ in 2008.

Tanushree has reportedly accused Patekar of indecently and unnecessarily touching her during the shooting of a song sequence. She has also alleged that the choreographer Ganesh Acharya had deliberately included new dance steps to involve Patekar who was not there initially.

The police have stated that an inquiry will be launched to verify the sequence of events mentioned in Dutta’s complaint.

Tanushree Dutta had also levelled harassment allegation against film-maker Vivek Agnihotri. Agnihotri had denied the allegations. Both Nana Patekar and Vivek Agnihotri have sent defamation notices against Tanushree Dutta.

Brahmacharini: The second incarnation of Maa Durga worshipped on second day of Navratri

OpIndia Staff
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Brahmacharini: The second incarnation of Maa Durga worshipped on second day of Navratri

During the nine-day long festival of Navratri (literally nine nights), we worship nine different incarnations of Goddess Durga. After Maa Shailaputri, Maa Brahmacharini is worshipped on the second day of Navratri and is the unmarried form of Maa Parvati, born to Daksha Prajapati. “Brahma” means reality, knowledge and “charini” means someone (female) who is on the pursuit of it. Hence, Brahmacharini is the one who is pursuing the sacred religious knowledge.

Brahmacharini, the unmarried, disciple form of Maa Parvati

She is depicted in white clothes, which symbolises that when we are on the journey of gaining knowledge or are going into tapasya, or hard penance, we must go with a clean mind and self. If there is any malice in our minds, we will not succeed. She appears to be walking barefoot holding the kamandal (water pot) in one hand and a japa maala in other. She signifies love, loyalty, knowledge and wisdom. During her tapasya, she survives on fruits and roots and bilva leaves, which are offered to Lord Shiva.

As per the legend, as the daughter of the mountains, She soon realises her divine love towards Lord Shiva. Narad Rishi advises her to follow the path of tapasya, which she does for 5,000 years. Lord Brahma, on seeing her devotion, blesses her that she will be Lord Shiva’s consort. She is worshipped on the 2nd day of Navratri.

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.

Dassault clarifies again, it freely chose Reliance, there was no pressure or mandatory requirement

OpIndia Staff
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Dassault clarifies again, it freely chose Reliance, there was no pressure or mandatory requirement

Controversy erupted last night after French publication Mediapart reported to have obtained an internal document pertaining to Dassault Aviation which purportedly claims that the offset deal with Reliance was mandatory for the company to get the contract to supply the 36 Rafale fighter planes to India. In this regard, the French Aviation company issued a clarification reiterating their stand that as per the agreement, Dassault Aviation had committed to offsets worth 50% of the total value of the purchase in India.

For this, the company, Dassault Aviation got into a joint venture with India’s Anil Ambani led Reliance Defence, Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited (DRAL) on 27th February 2017. Dassault clarifies that other partnerships have also been signed with other companies like BTSL, DEFSYS, Kinetic, Mahindra, Maini, SAMTEL and negotiations are on for other companies. The DRAL manufacturing plant in Nagpur, the foundation of which was laid in October 2017, will manufacture parts for Falcon 2000 business jets and, in a second step, parts for Rafale aircraft and the first Falcon 2000 parts are to be delivered by end of 2018.

Rafale deal is a government to government deal between India and France, and this deal has an offset clause as per India’s offset policy. According to this policy, the foreign vendor has offset 50% of the deal value in India. The offset may in the form of investment in India, purchase from India, and technology transfer. The Mediapart report mentions that while inaugurating the Dassault Reliance Aerospace facility in Nagpur, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Dassault Aviation Loik Segalen is reported to have said that ‘It was imperative and mandatory for Dassault Aviation to accept this counterpart (offset partnership), in order to seal the deal to sell Rafale jet to India’. Mediapart seems to have either deliberately or inadvertently misinterpreted the comment.

OpIndia has already reported that Dassault has entered into offset partnerships with several companies from both private and public sector India, including BEL, DRDO, HAL, BTCL, Samtel, Reliance Defence, L&T, Mahindra Group etc. The French company has signed MoUs with 72 companies for various offset agreements and talking with more. All this because of Dassault’s commitment to offsets worth 50% of the total purchase value in India.

Other than Dassault, engine maker Safran, radar and aviation electronics supplier Thales, and missile provider MBDA also will have to fulfil offset obligations and they are also in the process of entering into such partnerships.

Hence it is clear that the Dassault official meant offsets partnerships as a whole, which was essential for the company to get the deal of 36 fighter jets and not just Reliance.

French journalist Julien Bouissou clarified that what the Dassault Aviation officer said was more for the French trade unions, explaining why Dassault is opening a manufacturing plant in Nagpur and not in France.


He said that as per French labour laws, the top management of the company needs to inform the Central Works Council (trade unions) about strategic and important decisions.


He added that in this case, it was important to convey the decision of shifting the plant to Nagpur, India out of France, leading to no job creation for French workers.

Earlier, this same publication had claimed that former France President Hollande had said that India had selected Reliance for the deal, but this claim was denied by both the governments and the company. Later when Hollande asked to comment on it, he had said that only Dassault can comment.

The Mediapart seem to be extensively using arguments made by the opposition in India in its report. The report quotes Arun Shourie, Prashant Bhushan, Yashwant Sinha, persons who are among the biggest critics of the government at present. The report claims that Modi government cancelled the deal to buy 126 jets, ignoring the fact that the deal was stalled for over two years due to disagreement over HAL between Dassault and the Indian government.

The report by Mediapart also repeats the lie spread by Congress that Reliance Defence was formed twelve days before PM Modi’s France visit. Fact is Pipavav Shipyard was established in 1997 which was acquired by Reliance in 2015 and was renamed as Reliance Defence and Engineering in 2016. The report also claims Anil Ambani is unknown in the defence industry. Fact is Reliance Defence is a known name in the industry and they have just won a deal worth ₹ 15,000 crore billion to maintain the warships of the seventh fleet of US Navy, among many other deals. 7th fleet is the largest fleet of the US Navy and its fleet size and firepower is actually more than entire Indian navy.

The report by the French journal actually reads more like a Rahul Gandhi speech than an investigative report, going by how many times they mention Anil Ambani’s name, not forgetting to inform that he is ‘close friend’ of Narendra Modi.

Fresh controversy erupts after French media claims deal with Reliance was mandatory for Dassault

Raju Das
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Fresh controversy erupts after French media claims deal with Reliance was mandatory for Dassault

French publication Mediapart is reported to have found an internal document pertaining to Dassault Aviation, which purportedly claims that the offset deal with Reliance was mandatory for the company to get the contract to supply the 36 Rafale fighter planes to India. According to the report, while inaugurating the Dassault Reliance Aerospace facility in Nagpur, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Dassault Aviation Loik Segalen is reported to have said that ‘It was imperative and mandatory for Dassault Aviation to accept this counterpart (offset partnership), in order to seal the deal to sell Rafale jet to India’.

While Congress and some journalists have latched onto this report and have started claiming that this is a ‘proof’ of Indian government favouring Anil Ambani’s Reliance, there are others who believe that Mediapart has either deliberately or inadvertently misinterpreted comment made by the Dassault official. Rafale deal is a government to government deal between India and France, and this deal has an offset clause as per India’s offset policy. According to this policy, the foreign vendor has offset 50% of the deal value in India. The offset may in the form of investment in India, purchase from India, and technology transfer. It has already been reported that Dassault has entered into offset partnerships with several companies from both private and public sector India, which includes BEL, DRDO, HAL, BTCL, Samtel, Reliance Defence, L&T, Mahindra Group etc. The French company has signed MoUs with 72 companies for various offset agreements and talking with more..

Other than Dassault, engine maker Safran, radar and aviation electronics supplier Thales, and missile provider MBDA also will have to fulfil offset obligations and they are also in the process of entering into such partnerships.

Therefore, it is very much possible that the Dassault official was talking about offset partnerships as a whole and not specifically about the Reliance deal. Because offset partnerships are indeed mandatory as per Indian rules. It is worth mentioning that DRDO is largest offset partner in the Rafale deal, and Reliance’s total share in it will be minor, which at present stands at less than 3%, which is the investment Dassault has made in the Nagpur plant. Also important to note that currently this plant is manufacturing parts for a civilian jet Falcon, not the Rafale jet.

French sources have confirmed that the Dassault deputy CEO was talking about around 100 offset partnerships that the company has entered into as mandatory requirement for the deal.


The officer was addressing union representatives of the company, and it was necessary to explain to them why the production of some parts of the Falcon business jet was being moved out of France. As it is the first time Dassault Aviation is moving a production facility outside France, getting the union to agree on this was necessary.

The original tender issued by UPA government to buy an MMRCA was for 126 jets, and Dassault had won that bid during UPA term itself. But the deal didn’t go through as Dassault refused to take responsibility for 108 jets that was to be made by HAL in India. Now, the company won a bid to 108 jets but let it go because they didn’t want to work with a company Indian government had selected, can the same company be forced to work with another company for a smaller deal for just 36 jets?

Both Indian and French governments and Dassault aviation have repeatedly asserted that the company is free to choose its offset partners and governments have no role in it.

Earlier, this same publication had claimed that former France President Hollande had said that India had selected Reliance for the deal, but this claim was denied by both the governments and the company. Later when Hollande asked to comment on it, he had said that only Dassault can comment.

The Mediapart seem to be extensively using arguments made by the opposition in India in its report. The report quotes Arun Shourie, Prashant Bhushan, Yashwant Sinha, persons who are among the biggest critics of the government at present. The report claims that Modi government cancelled the deal to buy 126 jets, ignoring the fact that the deal was stalled for over two years due to disagreement over HAL between Dassault and the Indian government.

The report by Mediapart also repeats the lie spread by Congress that Reliance Defence was formed twelve days before PM Modi’s France visit. Fact is Pipavav Shipyard was established in 1997 which was acquired by Reliance in 2015, and was renamed as Reliance Defence and Engineering in 2016. The report also claims Anil Ambani is unknown in the defence industry. Fact is Reliance Defence is a known name in the industry and they have just won a deal worth ₹ 15,000 crore billion to maintain the warships of the seventh fleet of US Navy, among many other deals. 7th fleet is the largest fleet of the US Navy and its fleet size and firepower is actually more than entire Indian navy.

The report by the French journal actually reads more like a Rahul Gandhi speech than an investigative report, going by how many times they mention Anil Ambani’s name, not forgetting to inform that he is ‘close friend’ of Narendra Modi.

OpIndia has reached out to Dassault for a comment about this report by Mediapart, and we are awaiting the same to know the truth of the matter.

Update: Dassault Aviation has issued a detailed clarification denying the claims of the French portal MediaPart.

Shekhar Gupta slammed by IPS association for perpetuating caste hierarchy in services

OpIndia Staff
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Shekhar Gupta slammed by IPS association for perpetuating caste hierarchy in services

Yesterday, the government of India had revamped the security administration of the country by constituting a Strategic Policy Group (SPG). This group is headed by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and the SPG will assist the National Security Council of India and will undertake a long-term strategic defence review, the notification constituting the group said.

The member of the group includes the cabinet secretary, chiefs all three armed forces, RBI governor, secretaries of several departments including Home, Foreign, Finance and Defence etc.


This move was welcomed by most people, but journalist Shekhar Gupta couldn’t resist himself from bringing a casteist and classist angle to this news also. He commented that now IAS and IFS officers and chiefs of armed forces will have to report to an IPS officer. He also said that with this history has been made and rules are being rewritten.


By this tweet, Shekhar Gupta implies that the IPS officers belong to an inferior class compared to IAS and IFS officers, and if IAS, IFS officers have to report to an IPS officer, that means rules are being broken. Gupta always shows his casteist mentality and this was one such incident.

After his tweet, many people had countered to him saying that Ajit Doval is heading the group not as an IPS officer, but as National Security Advisor (NSA) of the country, which is a minister of state (MoS) level position. Shekhar Gupta forgets that present position of a person matters, not past position. If his logic is taken, in Delhi top IAS officers are reporting to an IRS officer. But that does not matter, just like senior bureaucrat report to a chief minister or any minister because of the current position and not past position, same holds true for the NSA.


This attempt by Shekhar Gupta to seed difference among various services caught the attention of IPS association and they have condemned the veteran journalist with very strong words. In a tweet posted responding to Gupta’s tweet, they inform that Ajit Doval is retired IPS officer and he has become NSA due to his proven track record. They say that no rules are broken by NSA heading the group, and slammed Gupta for perpetuating caste hierarchies in the services, saying he has a mischievous mindset.


Shekhar Gupta is yet to respond to this strong rebuttal by IPS association.

#MeToo: Comic Aditi Mittal accused by another female comic of ‘forcefully kissing her’, issues apology

OpIndia Staff
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#MeToo: Comic Aditi Mittal accused by another female comic of ‘forcefully kissing her’, issues apology

In the current wave of #MeToo where brave people are outing their sexual predators, accusing men in position of power of abusing it to sexually exploit them, the latest one to be called out is standup comic Aditi Mittal. In a tweet posted by another female standup comic Kaneez Surka, Surka accuses Mittal of forcefully kissing her on her mouth and putting her tongue in her mouth.


Surka narrates an incident from two years back at a comedy show she was hosting in Andheri Base in presence of audience of 100 and many other comedians where Aditi Mittal walked up on stage and allegedly forcefully kissed her on the mouth. She says she even put her tongue in her mouth without her consent. She says she later confronted her a year ago on the incident and while Mittal apologised at first, she soon turned hostile towards her, leaving Surka confused and hurt.

Surka says that seeing Mittal all over social media championing the cause of #MeToo and other feminist movements, it triggered her immensely. She said that she reached out to Mittal and gave her an opportunity to own up and issue a public apology without having Surka to reveal her identity. However, Mittal denied the incident of having kissed Surka. Surka accused Mittal of gaslighting, where a person manipulates other person into doubting their own sanity and version, and asking her to cross-check. She says that she has proof and is hurt that while most are coming forward asking everyone to believe the victim, Mittal would burden with this task.

Surka says that this action of hers is not a public vengeance, but she just wants a closure for violating her consent.

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.

At the time of this report, Aditi has not reacted to the allegations. We shall update the story as and when she does the same.

Update: Aditi Mittal has issued a statement whereby she has clarified that it was a ‘peck on the lips’ without the tongue involved and it was a joke as a part of the act.


She said that her intentions were not sexual in nature and she realises her act may have violated Surka’s personal space. She unconditionally apologised for the same.

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