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ED registers money laundering case against Karnataka Congress leader D K Shivakumar, may even be arrested

OpIndia Staff
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ED registers money laundering case against Karnataka Congress leader D K Shivakumar, may even be arrested

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a case of money laundering against Karnataka Congress leader D K Shivakumar.


The case is in relation to the income tax raids which were carried out at his premises last year and a huge sum of cash was allegedly recovered. According to reports, Shivakumar may even be arrested in the black money case. Earlier, the CBI had also conducted raids on the premises of Shivakumar and his close associates.

As per reports, the ED has booked Shivakumar, Sachin Narayan, Anjaneya Haumanthaiah, and N Rajendra under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Department says that Narayan is a business partner of Shivakumar and S K Sharma who run a rental transport company, Haumanthaiah is an employee of the Karnataka Bhavan in Delhi who was allegedly responsible for storing and handling unaccounted cash of Shivakumar in Delhi whereas Rajendra is a caretaker at Karnataka Bhavan and allegedly works for Sharma and looks after immovable properties of Shivakumar and Sharma.

Earlier, DK Shivakumar has also been accused of being involved in illegal mining and land scams earlier, and his inclusion in the ministry had raised eyebrows back in 2014.

EAM punctures holes in Sidhu’s excuse on why he hugged Pakistan Army Chief

OpIndia Staff
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EAM punctures holes in Sidhu’s excuse on why he hugged Pakistan Army Chief

Days after Pakistan openly denied Congress leader and Punjab Congress MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu’s claims that Pakistan had agreed to open the Kartarpur corridor, the Ministry of External Affairs has clarified that Pakistan government has so far neither agreed to include Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara for Indian pilgrims under bilateral protocol nor has it initiated any official correspondence for establishing the corridor.

The Ministry was responding to the letter by Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal seeking clarification of Sidhu’s claims where the latter had accused Sidhu of playing with the sentiments of the Sikhs. Badal questioned Congress President Rahul Gandhi whether any action will be taken against a minister belonging to his party had gone to the enemy nation and betrayed Indians and played with the sentiments of the Sikhs.


She asked whether this was done by Rahul Gandhi’s permission. She even referred to Sidhu as a new ‘puppet’ in the hands of Pakistan and accused of dancing on Pakistan’s tunes.


Sidhu, in his defence, has said that the EAM has started working on the draft to be sent to Pakistan for Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara corridor.


Earlier, Sidhu had claimed that Pakistan is ready to open the corridor of Kartarpur Sahib Corridor on the 550 birth anniversary of Guru Nanak which falls on 23rd November.

Sohrabuddin’s brother hints at conspiracy: Amit Shah’s name added by CBI in 2010, had not named him

OpIndia Staff
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Sohrabuddin’s brother hints at conspiracy: Amit Shah’s name added by CBI in 2010, had not named him

Nayamuddin Shaikh, brother of Sohrabuddin Shaikh revealed to a special CBI court on Monday that the CBI had on its own added the names of Gujarat police officer Abhay Chudasama and BJP president Amit Shah to his statement recorded in 2010 relating to the Sohrabuddin encounter.

Nayamuddin appeared as the first prosecution witness after the court had issued numerous summons and also a non-bailable warrant against him. In his deposition to the court, he said that the CBI was the reason for spoiling the case.

Nayamuddin has also revealed to the court that he had given a handwritten affidavit before the special court in Ahmedabad clarifying that he had never said any things that are wrongly attributed to him in his 2010 statement. This high profile case is related to the encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, his wife Kausar Bi, and aide Tulsi Prajapati. The CBI had earlier given clean chit to Chudasma and Shah in the encounter case.

He clarified that he is not facing any threat whatsoever from the BJP. “I have never heard Azam Khan’s name. An investigating officer of the CBI, Dagar sahab, came to my village in an autorickshaw to inquire about this case. I have not said before him that Azam (Sohrabuddin’s associate and co-accused in Hamid Lala murder case) met me and said that Abhay Chudasama offered Rs 50 lakh to withdraw a petition filed in Supreme Court to inquire into the death of my brother,” Nayamuddin told the court.

Appearing at the special CBI court on Monday, Nayamuddin said that he had last seen his brother and sister-in-law when he dropped them off to a bus stand at Indore when they were travelling to Hyderabad. He went on to say that he got to know about the encounter days after his brother went missing. He then denied charges that Gujarat Police officer Abhay Chudasma had threatened him for naming Amit Shah in his petition.

The CBI in its charge sheet recorded Nayamuddin’s statements, which reads, “When I told him (Chudasama) that we will not withdraw the petition at any cost, he threatened me with dire consequences and said that I would also face the same fate as Sohrabuddin. You do not know Amitbhai is very angry. I will speak to Amitbhai and he can get it done in Madhya Pradesh only. It is Amitbhai’s government there and you will be killed for making him a party in the petition,” Nayamuddin’s statement cited in the CBI’s charge sheet stated.

Nayamuddin, however, has said that this part of his statements was added by the CBI officer DS Dagar in 2010. He claims that he had asked the CBI officer the reason for including these fake statements attributed to his name and he said that the officer replied that he did not want innocent people to be punished.

Fumble tumble: The curious case of Rahul Gandhi, unceremoniously, drawing a blank

Nirwa Mehta
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Fumble tumble: The curious case of Rahul Gandhi, unceremoniously, drawing a blank

With 2019 general elections less than a year away, the grand old party is all set to prop their party president, Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate. Even as the allies are not particularly happy, one is given to believe that the Congress party, as has been the norm, won’t be able to look beyond the dynastic protege as their leader.

Rahul Gandhi is not a very astute politician. He fumbles often and loses the plot while speaking to an audience almost always. While the Congress has tried its best to convince people, time and again, that Rahul has come of age and has grown into his family thrust role of an astute politician, his natural charm betrays the campaign.

As an example of Rahul’s beautiful mind betraying Congress’ campaign, one looks at a video from yesterday, when at his rally in Madhya Pradesh, the first after his Mansarovar Yatra, the Congress president was caught unawares by an audience member who asked him to share his Yatra experience.


Like a true Delhi boy, Rahul Gandhi perhaps mixed up Kailash Mansarovar with Greater Kailash, the posh South Delhi neighbourhood and took time to realise the question was about the pilgrimage.

After the lady master of ceremony asks him the question about his pilgrimage experience, Rahul Gandhi, with a vacant, confused look on his face nods his head and says “haan” (yes). After that, for a few seconds, Rahul drew a complete blank. Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia, standing on either side of Rahul Gandhi keep staring at him. There comes a point where one thinks that perhaps it is the video that has frozen until the angle changes and one sees Rahul Gandhi, keeping mum, from a side angle.

Finally, Rahul manages to mumble the word “Kailash” and then keeps mum for a few more seconds. He then mumbles “Kailash… jo Parvat hai… jo Mansarovar hai….”.

One is forced to wonder what causes this bizarre behaviour from someone who aspires to lead a country like India. The first thought, considering the controversy surrounding his Mansarovar Yatra, is wondering whether the questions surrounding his pilgrimage had any merit to them. After all, how can one draw a blank when asked about a journey he supposedly took just a few days ago.

The other possibility is that perhaps Rahul’s interactions are not as impromptu as Congress would have us believe. One wonders if it possible that Rahul is given a script to follow and these long, vacant, confused pauses surface when the interaction, briefly, steers off plan.

The ‘out of syllabus’ theory gathers steam since this is not the first time that Rahul Gandhi has faltered when a surprise question is thrown at him. Recently, during his UK visit, when he was asked to explain his political ideology, Rahul Gandhi drew a similar, creepy, eerie blank. One is reminded of Tom from the popular Tom and Jerry show. Tom usually looks as confused when he hurts his head while chasing Jerry.


One theory that has often been floated is that during an interaction, Rahul somehow has someone feeding him the answers, and these surprise questions take time to process. In the meantime, Rahul ends up looking rather silly.

None of these theories can be proven. But when the Reluctant Prince of Indian politics draws a blank every time an out-of-syllabus question is asked, one wonders how credible, then, are his accusations if he can’t even substantiate them?

For example, during his UK visit, Rahul Gandhi had mentioned how PM Modi had ‘failed’ in handling the 2017 Doklam crisis. However, when an audience member asked him about how he would have handled the crisis, Rahul Gandhi said how he does not have the details on the Doklam issue and hence he could not answer how he would have handled the same.

Any political observer must ask if it is possible that Rahul Gandhi is so far from reality that he has no clue what his speech writer is writing? That if someone asks him a question which strays from the written script, Rahul Gandhi fumbles. Or if answers are not provided to him on a mobile phone, he does not know what to say.

This little-red-riding-hood syndrome where he is lost in the woods looking for grandma’s house is not an endearing quality in a politician who is being thrust upon a billion people as their leader. After all, who can forget his eerie smile when Congress lost 2014 general elections or even when he went to visit an ailing Karunanidhi. Either way, perhaps once the MRI machines get connected, maybe Congress President’s brain scan can be carried out to give us a glimpse into which part of his brain lights up when he fumbles and tumbles and blows his audience away.

Candidates forced to remove Mangalsutra for competitive exam in Telangana

OpIndia Staff
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Candidates forced to remove Mangalsutra for competitive exam in Telangana

Candidates appearing for a competitive exam for the recruitment of Village Revenue Officers (VROs) by the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) were forced to remove their Mangalsutra before entering an exam centre at Little Flower School at Narsapur.

As per reports, the women repeatedly asserted that the direction went against their religious sentiments but the officials refused to heed their requests. Husbands of those affected could be seen protesting outside the school with the Mangalsutra of their wives in their hands. The Police then entered the scene to resolve the issue.

The Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) condemned the attitude of the officials, terming it insensitive and anti-Hindu. ABVP-Telangana secretary L. Ayyappa claimed that the TSPSC Chairman was to be blamed for the incident and demanded that action should be taken against the officials for hurting religious sentiments of the candidates.

TSPSC Chairman Ghanta Chakrapani clarified that no instructions were issued to ask candidates to remove their Mangalsutra before entering the hall although women were told to not wear expensive jewellery. “Maybe the authorities at the centre didn’t understand the instructions. But none of the 290-odd married women allotted to the centre was sent back. Some people tried to make it a big issue out of it,” he is reported to have said.

The Hindustan Times quoted a senior official speaking on the condition of anonymity that the rule banning gold ornaments does not apply to Mangalsutra. “Even during the preparatory meetings with the examination officials, we told them specifically not to insist on removal of mangalsutras. Perhaps, the examination superintendent at the Narsapur centre did not understand it properly,” the official reportedly said.

Later it was reported that the examination has been blacklisted by TSPSC over the issue. TSPSC has also asked the District Collector to conduct an enquiry and send a detailed report. Meanwhile, a petition has been filed with the State Human Rights Commission against TSPSC for alleged mistreatment of women.

UN report says India’s infant mortality rates lowest in five years, four-fold decline in gender gap in girl child survival

OpIndia Staff
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UN report says India’s infant mortality rates lowest in five years, four-fold decline in gender gap in girl child survival

The number of infant deaths reported in India for the year 2017 is the lowest in five years. According to reports, the United Nations Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNIGME)has stated in its report that 8,02,000 infants died in India in the year 2017, the lowest in five years.

The UNIGME report states that in 2016, 8,60,000 infants had died in India. Yasmeen Ali Haque, the UNICEF representative in India has stated, ” India continues to show an impressive decline in child mortality deaths, with its share of global under-five deaths for the first time equalling its share of childbirths.”

Yasmeen Ali Haque also reportedly stated that the efforts for improving institutional delivery along with a countrywide scale-up of newborn care units joined with robust immunisation drives have been instrumental in achieving the feat. According to reports, India’s infant mortality rate was 44 per 1000 live childbirths. In 2017, the gender-specific mortality rate has come down to 39 per 1000 live male childbirths and 40 per 1000 live female childbirths. Haque added that the four-fold decline in the gender gap in the survival of girl children is even more heartening.

In 2012, a UN report had stated that the gender gap in child mortality in India is far worse than the global average in developing countries and as girls have biological advantages over boys for better adaptability and resistance to diseases, the child mortality rate of 56 boys for every 100 girls dying suggests a disturbing socio-cultural trend of neglect and lack of care for the girl child.

The recent UNIGME report states that globally a total of 6.3 million children had died in 2017, 1 in every 5 seconds. Most of these deaths were due to preventable causes. A majority of these deaths, 5.4 million is among children below 5-years of age. Laurence Chandy, the director of data, research and policy in UNICEF has stated that simple measures like access to clean water, sanitation, electricity and vaccines can drastically reduce the numbers. Chandy added that over half of the 5.4 deaths among children below five had occurred in sub-Saharan Africa and a further 30% In South Asia.

The UNIGME report states that most children under 5 die due to preventable causes like complications during birth, pneumonia, diarrhoea, neonatal sepsis and malaria. The report also stated that for children everywhere, the riskiest period is the first month after birth. 2.5 million of the 5.4 million deaths under were of infants in their first month. Even within countries, rural areas show a 50% higher rate in neonatal deaths than urban areas.

In India, the recent increase in awareness over sanitation and the government’s drive to ensure toilets in every household is widely considered a strong factor in bringing down death rates among the population. A recent WHO report had stated that over 3 lakh deaths due to sanitation-related diseases were prevented in India due to the government’s push for Swachh Bharat Mission. In Uttar Pradesh, an aggressive immunisation and awareness programme called Dasatk has been able to significantly bring down deaths due to Japanese Encephalitis. UNICEF India had praised UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s government recently for successfully immunising every child in the state against Japanese Encephalitis.

RSS and BJP start campaign for NRC in the Bangladesh bordering districts of West Bengal

OpIndia Staff
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RSS and BJP start campaign for NRC in the Bangladesh bordering districts of West Bengal

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has kickstarted a campaign for the implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in West Bengal similar to that of Assam to identify and deport illegal Bangladeshi immigrants residing in the state. According to a report in the Economic Times, the RSS and its various frontal organisations have started a statewide awareness campaign in border area districts in the state.

The RSS and its frontal organisations have started the pro-NRC campaign centring their focus on the districts close to the Bangladesh border. The campaign includes door-to-door campaignings to make people aware of the influx of Bangladeshi illegal immigrants and the risk they pose for the state’s demography and economy.

RSS West Bengal Jishnu Basu has stated that the organisation will take all the measures to convince the people of the necessity of NRC in the state. He has added that there is no other way than the NRC to save the state from the influx of Bangladeshi Muslims. The campaign will start from the nine districts that share a border with Bangladesh and eventually spread to all the districts in the state. The RSS has also formed a committee of lawyers who are working of filing petitions in the Kolkata High Court and if needed the Supreme Court attempting to bring legal intervention to implement NRC in the state.

The RSS has also reportedly created training programmes for villagers to educate them about arranging the necessary documents needed to clear the NRC process provided they are originally Indian citizens. Basu has also claimed that the RSS has all the legal documents and evidence necessary to back their claim of demography change in West Bengal. He has added that the reports of the last five or six census data show that the population growth in the border districts has shown a steep rise much higher than the scientific rate of population growth. The rate of population growth in these districts has been in double digits which is alarming.

Basu also reportedly pointed out that while several political parties including the TMC are opposed to the citizenship(amendment) bill 2016, that seeks to provide Indian citizenship to minority religion refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afganistan, where most of the refugees are Hindus, they are vehemently opposed to the implementation of NRC. We will not allow a single Hindu family to become a refugee again.

Kailash Vijayvargiya, BJP’s national general secretary, has also stated that the BJP is also organising small groups of workers to go to people in Mandal level and create awareness about the NRC. He added further that there are over two crores illegal Bangladeshis in West Bengal alone and it is a matter of national security. BJP’s state general secretary Sayantan Basu had stated recently that the party will engage 20,000 people across the 37 organisational districts for the awareness programme.

It is notable here that West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had been vehemently against the implementation of NRC in Assam. She had even threatened that if the central and state BJP governments are implementing NRC with political motives and there will be civil war and bloodbath in the country of the NRC is implemented. Two TMC leaders from Assam had quit the party after Banerjee’s statements over the issue.

It is notable here that Indian law enforcement agencies and even the Home Ministry have been expressing concerns about the porous border with Bangladesh several Indian states. Many terrorists with links to dreaded terror organisations have been known to have infiltrated into India through the Bangladesh border in West Bengal. Recently the arrested chief of terror outfit JMB, Mohammad Jahidul Islam alias Bomber Miyan, who was arrested for being the mastermind of the Mahabodhi temple explosives case, had revealed that he had infiltrated into India through the West Bengal border and had been actively engaged in recruiting new jihadis and planning attacks in Bengal and Assam.

In presence of NDTV’s Ravish Kumar, Akhilesh Yadav wishes to have murdered a journalist

OpIndia Staff
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In presence of NDTV’s Ravish Kumar, Akhilesh Yadav wishes to have murdered a journalist

Participating in the NDTV Yuva conclave organised by controversial English News Channel NDTV, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav regretted not killing a journalist who had criticized him. Narrating the incident, he said that once an article published in a newspaper had compared him with Aurangzeb. On investigating, Yadav found that there were ‘powerful people’ behind it. Without naming these ‘powerful people’, Yadav hinted that when PM Modi wanted to find black money with Samajwadi Party leadership, they could not find any. Instead, they found Amar Singh. He added if the front page of a large newspaper like Times of India has published this, there must be very large forces behind it, but he refused to divulge if he thinks some industrial houses were behind it.

Referring to the mail purportedly written by Samajwadi Party’s political advisor Steve Jarding where he had advised orchestrating the family feud, which was claimed to be fake, Akhilesh Yadav said that just yesterday he told the person responsible for the mail that it is his mistake that he didn’t file FIR against him and send him to jail. This was applauded by the audience, although moderator Ravish Kumar tried to question this threat of filing FIR.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yH52j5a6aA?start=2249]

After that Yadav went on, saying “I had invited a senior journalist from Delhi to Lucknow. I told him for this much money you compared me with Aurangzeb? I am ready to give you twice the amount, had you told me that you need money. I left him also”. Then he said, “this is the mistake I made, I should have drawn a sword like Aurangzeb and I should have killed that person at that moment’”

Surprisingly, this comment received an even louder applause from the audience. Ravish Kumar did try to protest this open threat to kill someone, but Akhilesh Yadav justified by saying that he was angry that he was called Aurangzeb.

Ironically, Ravish Kumar had started the show by showering praises on Akhilesh Yadav’s tolerance. He introduced Akhilesh Yadav as someone who handles criticism well and as someone who had never sent his party workers to intimidate a journalist like Ravish Kumar.

Following his arrogant remark on wanting to kill people as Aurangzeb did, various questions were asked by press freedom champions like Nidhi Razdan and Sunetra Chowdhury. However, none of the journalists present has raised a question on Akhilesh Yadav’s dictatorial comment.

Earlier in 2016 also, Akhilesh Yadav had claimed that Amar Singh had planted a story in a newspaper where he was called Aurangzeb and Mulayam Singh was called Shahjahan.

It can be noted that in July last year, former SM leader Amar Singh had compared Akhilesh Yadav with Aurangzeb. Referring to tussle for power that was going between Akhilesh and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, Amar Singh had said,  “Akhilesh Yadav is Aurangzeb, power has gone into his head and Mulayam Singh Yadav is like Shahjahan”. Recalling how Aurangzeb had put his father Shahjahan in jail to gain the throne.

And last week, UP CM Yogi Adityanath had also compared the former UP CM with the infamous Mughal emperor. Adityanath was also referring to the spat between Akhilesh and his father and uncle. Addressing an event he had said, “someone who could not take his father and uncle along claims he will take you along. A character in history jailed his father. This is why no Muslim names his son Aurangzeb. Now the same is happening in SP and history is repeating itself”.

Mumbai Police called out for patronising Hindus while maintaining silence on Mosques using loudspeakers

OpIndia Staff
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Mumbai Police called out for patronising Hindus while maintaining silence on Mosques using loudspeakers

Mumbai Police on Ganesh Chaturthi took to Twitter to voice its concerns about noise pollution and said, “Every time you increase the volume, someone’s prayer for a peaceful celebration is let down ”


Mumbai police, that is today asking Hindus to keep the noise level down during Ganesh Chaturthi, had earlier avoided taking any action against unauthorised loudspeakers in mosques fearing law and order problems, despite an order from the Bombay High Court.

This move, that was viewed by many as a biased stand by the Mumbai police, took to Twitter to react to Mumbai police’s tweet. Many responded to the Mumbai police by saying that their stand was perhaps hypocritical since they have in the past not imposed the same standards on other communities despite a court order.


Mumbai Police’s Twitter handle has run into trouble with Netizens earlier too. Recently, Mumbai Police tweeted to Bollywood actor Uday Chopra that consumption, possession and transportation of marijuana are prohibited in India and could lead to harsh punishment if convicted for the same when the latter advocated for the legalisation of the drug.


Soon, Mumbai Police was called out by Netizens for attempting to police through social media. Many also pointed out that Uday Chopra was merely expressing his views and that the police should ensure law and order in the city first.


While Mumbai Police has to be commended for maintaining law and order during massive festival processions running brilliant social media campaigns, raising awareness and winning hearts by the quick response and making the best use of the platform, they sometimes do lose the plot.

FIR registered for saying TMC MP’s movie is copied, claims West Bengal journalist

OpIndia Staff
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FIR registered for saying TMC MP’s movie is copied, claims West Bengal journalist

The Kolkata police have filed an FIR against journalist Indranil Roy, who works for Bengali daily Sangbad Pratidin for tweeting about a movie starred by Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament Deepak Adhikari. The journalist had earlier tweeted that the Bengali movie starred by Deepak Adhikari had been copied from Pakistani movie.

According to the Journalist FB’s post, the police have questioned him on Friday and have further booked him under sections 43 and 66 of the Information Technology Act and Section 505 of the Indian Penal Code. Section 43 refers to getting access, making changes or contaminating documents on a person’s computer or computer network without permission, while the section 66 of the IT Act relates to “sending offensive messages through a communication service”.

 

The incident took place when Indranil Roy had tweeted on September 13 regarding the Deepak Adhikari starrer Hoichoi Unlimited and went on to say that the concerned movie was a remake of the Pakistani movie Jawani Phir Nahi Ani. Indranil Roy had thought that the Bengali filmmakers had bought the rights from the Pakistani team to remake it in Bengali. Roy also tweeted that there was no wrong in making a remake film.


 

Indranil Roy in his Facebook post has written a detailed sequence of events and said that he had tweeted the above details regarding the movie only after following the available information from the Wikipedia. Roy went on to blame the trolls and alleged fans of the superstar of creating fake ids to associate him with the alleged editing of the Pakistani movie’s Wikipedia page.


 

Indranil Roy reacted to the FIR and said that he did not expect an FIR to be filed against him. “When the film releases on October 12, it will be crystal clear if the film has been copied. I understand the fans’ rage. I was surprised since Dev [Deepak Adhikari] is West Bengal’s biggest star”, he further added.

 

 

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