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Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi bans bars and pubs from playing recorded music

OpIndia Staff
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Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi bans bars and pubs from playing recorded music

The Delhi Government has reportedly banned recorded music in restro-bars in the city after residents complained of “nuisance” from these establishments due to the music. The circular issued by the Delhi Excise Department, however, allows the restro-pubs to play live music.

The government has cited the 2010 excise rules while issuing the diktat. The circular says, “In exercise of powers conferred under rule 53 (4) of Delhi Excise Rules, 2010, the undersigned hereby directs all the licensees of the department holding L-17 license to do business in strict compliance of provisions of the Delhi Excise Act, 2009 and Excise Rules, 2010. It is reiterated that the L-17 licensee is permitted only to have live singing/playing of instruments by professionals within his licenced premises. Violation of these rules shall lead to strict action as per law.”

“We received several complaints from residents who were unhappy about the loud music often played in these restaurants. So, rather than targeting any individual area, we have requested all restaurant owners to follow the guidelines,” a senior official from the Department of Excise said.

“L-17 (restaurants which serve food and alcohol) are only permitted for live singing and playing of instruments by professionals in their premises,” Delhi Excise Commissioner Amjad Tak told PTI. According to Delhi Excise Rules, 2010, L-17 licensee is allowed only for live singing/playing of instruments by professionals.

Restaurateurs are, however, not pleased with the decision. Pub owner Umang Tiwari has questioned the logic behind the circular. He told The Indian Express, “This will be another blow. We are already reeling under the impact of note ban, GST, sealing drive. Our business is already down and this will aggravate the situation… I fail to understand the purpose behind this circular. What is the point of allowing live music by professionals and not recorded music? Plus, most pubs are in commercial areas.”

Priyank Sukhija, owner of Flying Saucer and Boombox Cafe, said, “Technically, mixers and CD players are also instruments and a DJ is also a professional. A few years ago, this circular had surfaced. Even then, we used this logic after meeting with the excise department. If there is any problem, we will approach the court for this. It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard since being in this industry.”

Saurabh Oberoi, general secretary of the Hauz Khas market association, stated, “Having some kind of music adds to the ambience of a place, but not everyone can afford having live bands play for them every night. With band performances, we can’t really guarantee the kind of music we are offering to the audience either.”

However, residence and welfare associations aren’t too pleased with the decision either as live music doesn’t necessarily translate to less noise. Chetan Sharma, secretary general of NCR RWAs, told DNA India, “Our issue is to curtail the time music is played — 10 PM should be the cut-off time. It is a misconception that live or instrumental music will bring us peace. Another concern is who will monitor the execution of the rule,.

Modi govt expects recovery of bad loans worth more than Rs 1 lakh crore via its new bankruptcy code

OpIndia Staff
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Modi govt expects recovery of bad loans worth more than Rs 1 lakh crore via its new bankruptcy code

Following the success of stressed Bhushan Steel’s takeover by TATA steel which saw the banks recovering a whopping Rs 36,400 crore, the Modi government has expressed confidence in bringing back more than Rs 1 lakh crore via its Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), Indian Express has reported.

This will be achieved in the form of banks writing back the aforementioned amount, following the successful resolution of the 11 Non-Performing Assets (NPA) cases under the IBC introduced in 2016.

Under TATA’s takeover of a controlling 72.65% stake in Bhushan steel, it was noted that not only was this the first case resolved under the IBC, it also meant that more than 90% of the principal loan amount was recovered which would go towards the banks’ recovery.

The now 11 NPA cases which were referred to by the RBI contain a total of 25% of India’s bad loans are being heard by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). All these 11 cases comprise of the companies which owe the banks more than Rs 5000 crore.

As per a PTI report, these cases are expected to bring in more than Rs 1 lakh crore to reduce the bad loans given by our public sector banks, taking the potential recovery total to more than Rs 1,36,400 lakh crore.

These 11 cases belong to Bhushan Power & Steel, Essar Steel, Jaypee Infratech, Lanco Infratech, Monnet Ispat & Energy, Jyoti Structures, Electrosteel Steels, Amtek Auto, Era Infra Engineering, Alok Industries and ABG Shipyard, who owe the banks about Rs 1.75 lakh crore.

As reported by us, under the IBC, a case must be resolved within 270 days, for which the quasi-judicial body of NCLT was set up. After the resolution of the first list of 12 cases, the RBI has prepared a second such list which contains 28 accounts up for resolution.

Hence going forward, the NCLT is expected to address about 65% of our bad loans between 2018-19 and the present 11 benches of the body may be expanded for a speedier resolution.

In 4 years, Modi Sarkar has approved 240% more urban houses than 10 years of UPA

Sanghamitra
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In 4 years, Modi Sarkar has approved 240% more urban houses than 10 years of UPA

The BJP led union government has approved 240% more houses in urban areas as compared to those sanctioned under the 10 year of UPA government led by Congress. According to reports, the Modi government has approved about 45.86 lakh houses under its rule since May 2014.

Data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban affairs has reportedly claimed that the UPA government had approved about 13.45 lakh houses under two schemes namely the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and Rajiv Awas Yojna (RAY). Reports claim that senior officials have stated that after the BJP led NDA came to power in 2014, 45.86 lakh houses for the poor in urban areas have been approved under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (urban). The aim is to reportedly construct 1.2 crore houses for the poor living in urban areas by 2022.

As per the reports, while the approximate amount of central assistance approved under the UPA was 20,303 crores, under the 4 years of NDA rule the total amount for assistance had been Rs 70,716 crores so far for the sanctioned houses.

As claimed by reports, while 8.04 lakh houses were completed under UPA rule, the 4 years of BJP rule has seen 7.25 houses in the urban areas, including those that were left under the JNNURM and RAY. While the 10 year UPA rule had reportedly released Rs 17,989 crores, the 4 year NDA rule has already released Rs 25,264 crores so far.

According to reports, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri has stated that the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna has been a roaring success and the target of providing houses to all urban poor will be achieved before 2022. He was responding to the claims made by Congress leader KC Venugopal that the PMAY has been a failure as banks are not giving loans to the poor. Congress has been repeatedly attacking the flagship schemes of the NDA government.

In a blow to AAP, two of its leaders join the SAD ahead of Punjab by-poll

OpIndia Staff
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In a blow to AAP, two of its leaders join the SAD ahead of Punjab by-poll

In a possible blow to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab, two of its leaders have joined the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) ahead of the Shahkot by-poll, Times of India has reported. The by-poll is scheduled to take place on 28 May.

The two leaders namely HS Walia and Col C D Kamboj (retd) were inducted in the SAD on Sunday via different functions. HS Walia who is considered a senior party leader, joined the SAD in presence of party President Sukhbir Badal, in Jalandhar. Col Kamboj, on the other hand, joined via a public function in Nakodar.

In the 2017 assembly election in the state, Walia was an AAP candidate from Jalandhar Cantonment constituency and now claims that he joined the SAD for its pro-people policies and inclusiveness, reports Indian Express.

He claims he joined the AAP owing to the party’s supposed idealism but soon realised that it had become “thoroughly corrupt”. He also proceeded to attack Kejriwal by alleging that AAP is run from Delhi by a dictatorial leader.

Col Kamboj, on the other hand, has had quite a few political associations in his time as a politician. He began his career with the BSP and became the party’s state President. He later switched over to the Congress and then in 2015 joined the AAP. Back then he had claimed that AAP was the only hope for people in Punjab.

Besides this, a New Indian Express report has claimed that the party might be in serious trouble in the state. As per the report, senior AAP leaders like state chief Bhagwant Mann are yet to campaign for the Shahkot by-polls. The leader of opposition Sukhpal Khaira too campaigned just once for the party in the state. Incidentally, Mann had tendered his resignation as the state chief back in March but hasn’t been either discharging his duties or taking back his resignation.

The report also claims that a total of 70 AAP supporting families have switched to the SAD in Shahkot and various MLAs are miffed at Kejriwal for apologising to Bikram Majitha over his drug-related allegations during the state polls.

Ram Madhav renews BJP’s commitment to punish people responsible for the 1984 Sikh genocide

Anubhav
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Ram Madhav renews BJP’s commitment to punish people responsible for the 1984 Sikh genocide

Ram Madhav commented on the NDA’s efforts to bring the perpetrators of the Sikh-genocide of 1984 to justice during his visit to the Vaishaki celebrations organized by Sikhs of America Foundation.

On Sunday morning, BJP leader Ram Madhav visited the Gurunanak Foundation of American Gurudwara where he assured the Sikh community that NDA has taken steps and ‘will do its best’ to render justice to each and every family that has suffered in the said genocide.

Madhav mentioned the active fact-finding efforts by the Justice Dhingra Commission to look into 186 serious cases of crime against the Sikh community in 1984. In an unprecedented pogrom where Sikhs were massacred throughout India. The official number states that 2,800 Sikhs were killed across India including 2,100 in Delhi. Independent sources put that number at 8,000 Sikhs killed throughout 40 cities with at least 3,000 Sikhs killed in Delhi alone.  In aftermath of the chaos the Government reported that more than 20,000 people have fled the city, The people’s union for civil liberties reported that at least 1,000 people were displaced.

Rajiv Gandhi, who was the then Prime minister, when asked about the bloodbath, responded by stating – “When a big tree falls, the earth shakes”.  Any action against the offenders, are yet to be taken by the Indian government.

Madhav while addressing the gathered Sikh community stated about FIR’s being lodged and several arrest warrants being issued against the people who lead this massacre of Sikhs in 1984.

“In fact, arrest warrants have been issued against the leaders who were in the forefront of this whole crime against the community,”

Madhav also reiterated NDA’s commitment to bring the offenders to justice by stating –

“I stand before you to assure the community that we will do our best to render justice to each and every family that has suffered during those unfortunate years,”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also sent a special message for this occasion where he praised the Sikh community for preserving the traditional values even when they are away from home.

“We are proud of the achievements of the Sikh Community in North America, which has contributed significantly to the growth and prosperity in its adopted home. It is commendable that the community has also preserved its traditions and ethos, and is a living bridge with India,”

Madhav also reflected on the pivotal role played by the Sikh community in preserving Indo-US relations and claimed India and United States are natural allies.

“People of Indian origin who live in this country are an important pivot of this relationship. We value your contribution to strengthen this relationship,

‘Kannada Pride’ Congress swallows the bitterness based on ‘UP ka ladka’ Rahul Gandhi’s whims

K Bhattacharjee
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‘Kannada Pride’ Congress swallows the bitterness based on ‘UP ka ladka’ Rahul Gandhi’s whims

Congress leader DK Shivakumar has admitted that he is not sure whether the newly elected Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka will complete its full term.


He asserted that the alliance between the two parties was the decision of Rahul Gandhi and said he ‘swallowed all the bitterness’ as it was his duty.


That ‘Kannada Swabhimani’ Shivakumar gave in to the demands of Rahul Gandhi, who had earlier campaigned as ‘UP ke ladke’, an outsider according to former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s logic, did not escape anyone’s notice. Siddaramaiah had regularly attacked Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath during the campaign by dubbing them ‘outsiders’ in Karnataka.

The Congress and the JD(S) have a complicated history and during the election campaign, both sides had made rather unsavoury remarks against each other. Clashes had also erupted between the workers of the two parties in February over an invitation dispute and the police had to intervene to bring the situation under control. However, power has its own allure and despite calling the JD(S) BJP’s B-team, the Congress has offered the Chief Ministerial position to the party to keep BJP out of power.

There have also been reports of a Lingayat revolt within the Congress party. And there have been many reports that the BJP was in talks with as many as 15 MLAs from the alliance. But after much drama, B.S. Yeddyurappa resigned as the Chief Minister of Karnataka after admitting he didn’t have the numbers. However, with the Trust Vote still a few days away, it appears certain that the alliance will be uncomfortable for both parties involved and there’s every possibility that things could go the Bihar way for the Congress party.

Hours after pleading with the BSF to stop firing, Pakistan resumes unprovoked firing at the border

OpIndia Staff
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Hours after pleading with the BSF to stop firing, Pakistan resumes unprovoked firing at the border

Hours after pleading with the BSF to stop firing, Pakistan has resumed its unprovoked firing and shelling along the International Border (IB) in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday night. “Three border outposts are under fire from the Pakistani Rangers and the personnel deployed there are also retaliating to silence the Pakistani guns,” a senior BSF official told PTI. “However, there was no immediate report of any casualty in the shelling,” he said.

BSF had released a 19-second thermal-imagery footage of a Pakistani picket being destroyed across the border. “(Pakistan) Rangers called up the Jammu BSF formation today and beseeched to stop firing,” a BSF spokesman had reportedly said. “The befitting reply by the BSF units to the unprovoked shelling and firing across the IB by the Pakistani forces has forced them to plead for a ceasefire,” a senior official stated. The official further asserted, “For the last three days, the precision fire of BSF troopers on Pakistani firing locations inflicted heavy losses and yesterday this firing found their mark with one of the rangers in chicken neck area.” BSF Inspector General Ram Awtar stated, “There is a pattern to firing from Pakistan’s side. We have seen it for the past two years that Pakistani Rangers target the Indian side before and after the harvest season.”

Over 700 such incidents have been reported this year, leaving 38 people, including 18 security personnel, dead and numerous others injured. Earlier this year, the BSF had refused to exchange sweets with their Pakistani counterparts over ceasefire violations at the border. The decision was taken in light of the casualties India had suffered as a consequence of the ceasefire violations. The Ministry of External Affairs had also summoned Pakistan’s Deputy Commissioner Syed Hamid Shah over the repeated ceasefire violations.

Despite the repeated unprovoked violence by Pakistan, close aide of Rahul Gandhi, Mani Shankar Aiyer had praised Pakistan’s approach towards the Indo-Pak relationship and blamed India for not engaging in dialogue with Pakistan. More recently, Mani Shankar Aiyer praised Pakistan for its ‘tolerance’ and hailed Muhammad Ali Jinnah for his role in the freedom movement.

BJP’s evolution: from 1996’s Ramayana to 2018’s Mahabharata

Amit Kelkar
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BJP’s evolution: from 1996’s Ramayana to 2018’s Mahabharata

They were both incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the preserver. Both Lord Rama and Lord Krishna were born on earth to fight evil and end injustice. Their paths could not have been more different. Yet, both are revered today all across the country, in different forms and cultures.

Rama chose to abide by the moral laws of propriety. While he was an incarnation of a God, he suffered all the earthly pains. At each stage, he chose to follow Dharma, and in the end, had to face suffering. This behaviour earned him the tag of “Maryada Purushottam”.

Krishna, on the other hand, chose a different path to fight evil. Krishna advocated that when battling an unethical evil force, there is no point in playing by the rules yourself. Hence Krishna is known for his “chhal-kapat” which he used regularly to beat his opponents.

In 1996, BJP had Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Post the Lok Sabha elections, BJP had managed to get the most seats but fell short of having the majority. The President chose BJP as the single largest party and gave them time to prove their majority. In the end, the effort failed and Vajpayee resigned as the Prime Minister, after giving an emotional and stirring speech. In the speech, he reiterated that he had not indulged in any horse trading. Although allegations were flying around, he even referred to statements of opponents, which clarified that he was not the type of person who would wheel around with bags full of money.

In 2018, BJP had BS Yeddyurappa. He was in a similar position as Vajpayee. He chose to try each and every trick in the book to lure Congress and JD(S) MLAs to his fold. This is not an isolated incident. BJP has cobbled up questionable alliances in many other states. They have combined with parties who are not ideologically aligned to them.

The difference is clear. The idea of this post is not to claim either Vajpayee, or Yeddyurappa or Amit Shah are the next incarnations of Vishnu. The idea is to show the clear and undeniable evolution of BJP, from the “maryada purushottam” era, to the “do whatever it takes to win” era we see now.

This change in attitude will and probably has come as a shock to the BJP faithful who have been following the party from the time of Vajpayee. The machinations may also disgust some new “idealistic” supporters of BJP, especially the younger crowd. At the same time, many who have been licking their wounds inflicted by Congress’s own skulduggery would be enjoying how the tables have turned.

What is the right view here?

There is no singular right view. Hindu scriptures have covered both the views and both the protagonists are hailed as Gods. In effect, both methods have been justified and both strategies have been normalised.

The choice is left to us.

In the author’s humble opinion, the choice is determined by what the end-goal is: Do you want to be known and revered as the “ideal man” and yet be a loser? Or do you want to end on the winning side irrespective of the costs involved?

Secondly, as a person, as a group, as a civilisation, is it not your duty to learn from the past? Do humans not have the right and responsibility to grow and mature from their past experiences? As has been said: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is Insanity.

The BJP’s current choice of actions may flow from both the above:

A. They want to win.

B. They have seen what happens when only one side plays fair, hence they are playing by the rules which have been set by their opponents.

This obviously has caught the opponents off-guard. Their own tactics are now being used on them. All the chicanery which they had mastered and implemented over many years is being reversed on them. Yes, it will hurt them. It will hurt their allies in the media as well. And it is about time that it did hurt them as well.

India to utilize Artificial intelligence in Defence, says report

OpIndia Staff
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India to utilize Artificial intelligence in Defence, says report

A report in Times of India states that India will infuse AI in its army in the foreseeable future. While other countries like China and the U.S have already focused on harnessing the power of Artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (MI) to develop Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS), India, not wanting to fall behind in the race to develop AI-powered surveillance and defence systems for future wars, has decided to prioritize AI in defence.

The defence establishment is now trying to harness the country’s technical and academic expertise in this arena. Stressing on the need to prioritize AI in defence during the DefExpo in Chennai last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “New and emerging technologies like AI and Robotics will perhaps be the most important determinants of defensive and offensive capabilities for any defence force in the future. India, with its leadership in information technology domain, would strive to use this technology tilt to its advantage.”

As per reports, the government has already put together a multi-stakeholder task force to formulate a comprehensive strategy and framework for ‘employment of AI for national security and defence needs’ in the coming years. Union defence production Secretary, Ajay Kumar told Times of India, “The world is moving towards AI-driven warfare. India is also taking necessary steps to prepare our armed forces because AI has the potential to have a transformative impact on national security. The government has set up the AI taskforce to prepare the roadmap for it.”

DRDO’s Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR) is also trying to develop various kinds of intelligent robots for a range of purposes. The task force is comprised of 17 members and is headed by TATA sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran. It also consists of IIT and IISc professors along with two to three-star generals and representatives from institutions such as ISRO, DRDO, Atomic energy commission. The task force is working on a roadmap with multiple objectives in mind.

Interestingly, this comes soon after the Indian Government committing Rs 150 billion for indigenization of ammunition, for the Indian Army.

Old Maoist bastions and Tribal areas turn towards BJP in West Bengal Panchayat polls

Sanghamitra
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Old Maoist bastions and Tribal areas turn towards BJP in West Bengal Panchayat polls

In the recently concluded panchayat elections in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress remained victorious by a tremendous margin. But what is noticeable is the emergence of the BJP as the second largest party. While the TMC has scored a resounding 85% of the overall seats, the BJP has made significant inroads in certain areas.

According to reports, the BJP has not only managed to thwart the TMC wave in the tribal regions, it has registered success in former Maoist bastions of the state like Purulia and Jhargram. Not only in these two districts, BJP has surged in other areas like Bankura, Dakshin Dinajpur, Uttar Dinajpur, Birbhum, Paschim Medinipur, Malda, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri districts. A report in The New Indian Express quoted West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh saying that this is the beginning of the downfall of the TMC. He also added that Mamata Banerjee rode to success with the support of the tribal population but the tribals have now vexed with the TMC and increasingly supporting the BJP. He further added that the BJP is promoting young leaders from these reasons.


Mamata Banerjee, however, refuses to acknowledge it. She blames that the BJP cadres have ‘entered’ from the neighbouring states and are unleashing terror on the masses with the help of the Maoists. But as claimed by the same report, TMC secretary Partha Chatterjee stated that the TMC will have to look into the reasons of its bad performance in the tribal areas.

In Jhargram district, all former Maoist strongholds have been won by BJP. Gram Panchayats like Lalgarh, Belpahari, Jamboni, Gopiballavpur, Nayagram and Sankrail are won by BJP. In Purulia district, all the Gram panchayats in Balrampur area and have been won by BJP. The same has been reportedly repeated former Maoist strongholds in Bankura district too.

According to a report in Livemint, Biswanath Chakraborty, psephologist and a professor of Political science in the Rabindra Bharti University has stated that BJP’s emergence in the tribal-dominated regions has a reason. He added that the tribals do not take betrayal kindly and over the years the areas have seen rampant corruption and the regions do not reflect the development story the TMC propagates. The same report also claims that the BJP district President Sukhamay Satpati in Jhargram has stated that the tribals have been unhappy with the state machinery rehabilitating former Maoists in the same areas. He added that the locals who suffered the atrocities of the Maoists are feeling they have been dumped as they see the very same Maoists being allowed to settle into new lives.

After BJP, the next largest number of seats have reportedly been won by independent candidates. The report quoted Prasenjit Bose, social activist and economist as saying that at least 1946 seats have been won by independent candidates and a lot of these candidates are dissenters from within the TMC. Bhangar, the area that has seen the anti-power grid agitation over the recent months also saw independent candidates winning despite threats and violence by TMC goons.

The BJP has reportedly won 644 of the 1944 gram panchayat seats in Purulia and 329 0f the 806 seats in Jhargram district. In total the BJP has taken its tally in gram panchayat seats from earlier 548 to 5759 and Panchayat Samiti seats from 33 to 764. The BJP has also won 23 Zilla Parishad seats this time.

The Panchayat polls were marred by widespread reports of violence, murder and even capturing of ballot boxes.

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