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These strange reasons, and not pollution, seem to be why SC banned sale of crackers

Sambit Nayak
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These strange reasons, and not pollution, seem to be why SC banned sale of crackers

On Oct 9th, the honourable Supreme Court of India banned the sale of firecrackers ahead of Diwali in Delhi/NCR area. The ban is to remain in force till 1st November.

This has caused a massive uproar among the Hindu community which sees it as a judicial overreach into its traditions and customs. While some do agree that crackers do have adverse effect on ambient air quality, majority think that shunning of firecrackers should come as a self restraint towards a greater social cause, rather than an institutional ban.

Environmentalist seem to have concluded and blamed Diwali to be the single largest reason for the pollution and ambient air quality in Delhi/NCR area during Nov/Dec and therefore justify the ban, however a quick look at the judgement [PDF] proves otherwise.

On a petition filed by Shree Arjun Gopal, other parties and argued by counsel Gopal Shankarnarayanan, the Supreme Court on 11th November, 2016 had passed an interim order to cancel licenses of all traders selling firecrackers in Delhi/NCR area till further orders. SC also ordered the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to conduct a scientific study and prepare a report on the harmful effects of the materials, which are currently being used in the manufacture of fireworks.

In the meantime, the manufacturers of fire crackers as well as licence holders also filed applications for modification of the said interim order seeking some relief.

The court noted that:

From the material before us, it cannot be said with any great degree of certainty that the extremely poor quality of air in Delhi in November and December 2016 was the result only of bursting fireworks around Diwali. Certainly, there were other causes as well, but even so the contribution of the bursting of fireworks cannot be glossed over. Unfortunately, neither is it possible to give an accurate or relative assessment of the contribution of the other identified factors nor the contribution of bursting fireworks to the poor air quality in Delhi and in the NCR. Consequently, a complete ban on the sale of fireworks would be an extreme step that might not be fully warranted by the facts available to us.

Hence as a graded and balanced approach, in its order passed on 9th September, 2017, the court took into consideration the interest of those who had already been granted a valid permanent licence to posses and sell fireworks in Delhi and the NCR. Plus unlike what the so called liberal environmentalists are concluding, the court itself had observed that there was no certainly that the poor air quality in the capital region was only due to the use of fireworks.

However, in its latest order dated 9th October, 2017, SC imposed a temporary ban with immediate effect till 1st November. Even though the order has been passed, it is to be noted that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is yet to submit its study and scientific data on harmful effects of the materials used in fireworks.

But a couple of things that prompted the court to pass its latest interim orders are:

  • Before Diwali there are attempts on the part of the Government (Ministry of Environment, Government of India as well as Delhi Government), Media, NGOs and various other groups to create awareness in the general public about the ill-effects of bursting of these crackers. Campaigns are held in the schools wherein children are discouraged to have fireworks. Thus, there is virtually a consensus in the society that crackers should not be burnt during Diwali.
  • Order suspending the licences “just during Diwali” should be given one chance to test itself in order to find out as to whether there would be positive effect of this suspension, particularly during Diwali period.

How the court reached this conclusion that there is already a consensus in the society that crackers should not be burnt during Diwali is still not very clear. However, judgements should not be passed in absence of scientific data to “test” things. They should be passed when events are established “beyond reasonable doubt”.

There are livelihoods at stake due such a massive ban. You can’t experiment with the livelihood of people by making them nothing short of guinea pigs.

So before signing off, Can I put something as a corollary:

Whenever there is a “particular party” in power, there is an increase in corruption. Even though there may not be conclusive evidence against the party, the idea to put all leaders from that party in jail. This should be given a chance to test itself in order to find out as to whether it has a positive effect on state of corruption in our country?

Finally I only hope that we base our judgements on scientific evidences and not on “mahaul”. Hope you all have a great Diwali, with or without firecrackers.

Miscreants break a goddess’ idol in Saharanpur where such incidents have happened before

OpIndia Staff
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Miscreants break a goddess’ idol in Saharanpur where such incidents have happened before

The Rampur Maniharan village has been a witness to tense scenes after some miscreants broke an idol of a goddess. As a result of that, irate locals demanded action against the perpetrators.

The incident took place on Sunday night in a 47 year old religious shrine where the goddess is worshipped. There are a total of 7 idols in this shrine and the miscreants vandalised the idol of the senior goddess.

The villagers discovered the act on Monday morning when they came to offer puja at the shrine. After the news of the incident spread, a large number of villagers accompanied by Hindu groups and BJP workers started protesting. All these people took out a protest march against this incident and reached the police station to demand action. Later the Sanatan Dharma Sabha filed a complaint against unknown persons.

As per other reports, the police soon started to set up a new idol in the shrine. The police also assured the villagers that the culprits won’t be spared. Later the MLA of the region quelled the anger of the people.

While reporting this incident, a disturbing claim was also made by one report that such incidents have been regularly happening in the region.

This claim holds true to a certain extent as it has been reported how an idol situated inside a Sree Tripur Maa Bala Sundari Devi temple in Deoband, Saharanpur was desecrated. This incident happened in September of this year.

Also in May it was reported that caste based tensions had spread in the area after the miscreants had desecrated an idol in Badhgaon village.

Apart from Saharanpur other regions too have seen similar instances. The Kanjarhodi village in Babri, UP had also seen a desecration of Maa Durga’s idol from a local temple.

We have in the past also reported a similar instance of idol desecration. In July, unidentified elements had vandalised an old Shiva idol in Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. When one of the culprits (who was possibly mentally unsound) was arrested, he claimed that if people did not protest against Aamir Khan’s (on-screen) deeds in the movie PK, why should his acts be opposed.

Journalist Tavleen Singh gets a lesson on fact checking by a Twitter user

OpIndia Staff
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Journalist Tavleen Singh gets a lesson on fact checking by a Twitter user

Senior journalist Tavleen Singh on Wednesday wondered why would Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attack Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi when Gorakhpur “looks much, much worse”.


As expected, it started a debate and as expected again, those who disagree with her were immediately referred to as ‘trolls’.


Meanwhile, Twitter user @Nesenag schooled Tavleen by giving point to point comparison between Gorakhpur and Amethi.

He started with the literacy rate between two constituencies, as literacy rate can be a very basic parameter of development.


Amethi has been a Congress bastion since decades now, with Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi collectively represented it in Lok Sabha for over 25 years.


Poverty is yet another barometer for development. This is also fascinating since former Prime Minister and Rahul Gandhi’s grandmother’s 1971 election slogan was ‘Garibi Hatao’ (eradicate poverty). Seems like Amethi still has a lot of catching up to do.


While the data available is not updated, this, too, clearly shows which MP has been trying to keep the promise.


At a time when we are trying to work hard towards making India open defecation free, Amethi again could do with some more attention from their MP.

As per 2015-16 survey, the data shows a much better picture for Gorakhpur over Amethi in terms of availabilities of basic amenities and standard of living.


Now, if only journalists hadn’t outsourced fact checking to readers…

Expelled CPI-M leader summoned by West Bengal CBI after woman files rape complaint

OpIndia Staff
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Expelled CPI-M leader summoned by West Bengal CBI after woman files rape complaint

Expelled CPI-M Rajya Sabha member Ritabrata Banerjee was served a notice following a complaint by a woman that he established physical relationship with her by promising marriage. In a series of tweets, the woman had reached out to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Swati Maliwal, Delhi Commission for Women Chairperson and various so-called journalists like Swati Chaturvedi, Rana Ayyub and Sagarika Ghose amongst others accusing Ritabrata of rape and sexual exploitation by promising marriage.

She had earlier also posted pictures of male genitals allegedly of Banerjee, which she has now deleted.

As per reports, the West Bengal Police on Wednesday referred to their Delhi counterpart a case registered against expelled CPM leader Ritabrata Banerjee on a woman’s complaint that he had established physical relationship with her by promising marriage. Earlier in the day, the West Bengal police served a notice on Banerjee following the woman’s complaint. The notice asked Ritabrata Banerjee to turn up before CID officers on Friday.

Reports say the complainant has undergone medical test on Wednesday, following which the summons were issued to Banerjee.

Earlier, Banerjee had filed a complaint against the woman for blackmailing him and alleging she is asking him to pay her. “Please take necessary action and rescue me from her evil clutches,” Banerjee is reported to have said in the complaint.

While the police has decided to summon both the complainants and cross examine them, the woman has now threatened to commit suicide.

In September, Banerjee was suspended from CPI-M following the allegations that his lifestyle was too lavish for a Communist party worker. Other than the Apple watch, Mont Blanc pen, FabIndia kurtas and being a frequent flier, he was also accused of having various romantic liasions within the party circle. His bank statement with showed ‘disparity between income and expenditure’ had also come under scanner of the party.

Possibly disappointed with Prashant Kishor, Congress now looks to hire foreign poll experts

Sharanya Shetty
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Possibly disappointed with Prashant Kishor, Congress now looks to hire foreign poll experts

Once hailed as the political strategist par excellence, everyone was convinced that Prashant Kishor had the Midas touch. After all he was one of the main men behind Modi’s 2012 Gujarat election campaign and the much publicized 2014 general elections.

Later in 2015 there were reports that Kishor was going to switch sides to the JD(U) amid claims that differences had started to crop-up between him and the senior BJP leaders. Even after this switch, his golden run continued with a surprise victory in Bihar elections for the JD(U) Mahagathbandhan. Apart from being Nitish Kumar’s Chief Strategist he also subsequently helped him select cabinet ministers for his government.

By now Kishor was a brand on his own who could do no wrong. Apart from the media coverage, he also made efforts to build his own image and persona which is very evident from a simple google search of his name.

The Congress, desperate to win the upcoming UP and Punjab elections, led to them turning to Kishor. While he was given a free hand to run the UP election campaign, in Punjab Amarinder kept him at a distance. The debacle of the Congress – SP coalition in UP was for everyone to see. Congress was reduced to single digits after winning only 7 out of 105 seats contested.

This miffed party-workers to no end as they claimed to have blindly followed all of Kishor’s instructions. Later what added insult to injury was that, post election results Kishor was untraceable. His no show made him face the ire of these workers who put up Prashant Kishor missing posters and also promised a reward of Rs 5 lakh for whoever found him.

Now according to this report, things might not be going too well for Kishor. Even though state elections in 8 states are coming up, Prashant “the hen that laid the golden egg” Kishor isn’t buzzing in the news.

In July there were reports that he had been hired by Jaganmohan Reddy for the next Andhra Pradesh election campaign but days later Indian Political Action Committee led by Prashant Kishor had clarified their current situation:


Till date the twitter account hasn’t confirmed news of them taking up any other work.

What furthers the rumours that Kishor may not be the number one guy for the Congress is that the party is now in talks with big data firm Cambridge Analytica which has in the past been involved in high profile campaigns like Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign and the Brexit. As per the reports, the company has created a data-driven strategy to target voters on social media by analysing online user behaviour and different citizen databases.

It also has suggested that the Congress should build the momentum for 2019 lok sabha polls via assembly elections in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. It is unclear where Prashant Kishor stands in the whole scenario and only time will tell what the future holds for him. On the social media campaign front at least, it appears a new “star” has caught the eye of the media, inspite of many goof ups.

The full story behind India’s “fall” in Press Freedom rankings

OpIndia Staff
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The full story behind India’s “fall” in Press Freedom rankings

Press Freedom Rankings are an annual rankings of countries published by an organisation named Reporters Without Borders. This ranking is that organisation’s own assessment of the degree of freedom that journalists, news organisations, and netizens have in that particular country.

The findings are carried out with the help of a questionnaire and complimentary indicators. India for some reason hasn’t performed too well in the index, but in recent days it seems to have started to attract the attention of left-liberals.

The rankings of this year were out back in March and time and again get raked up by leftists to insinuate that rankings have worsened under the Modi government:


Even a filmmaker decided to take potshots:


The Modi hating cop later copied Mitali Saran’s tweet to further spread the propaganda:


Journalists also didn’t stop from tweeting the news:


So what is the real story. 136 is certainly not a good rank to have, but has the situation deteriorated under the Modi government?

Predictably what they didn’t tell you the whole story. Soon after the tweets by leftists, a twitter user put out India’s press freedom graph over the years:


As seen from Deepak’s graph, the situation had gradually worsened ever since UPA came to power. This is another look at the YOY ratings:

So as clearly seen, India’s ranking during UPA’s 1st year in-charge was 105 but it steadily came down to 140 within a decade. As can be seen from the chart, the situation has marginally improved ever since Modi took charge.

So clearly the UPA periods saw a systematic erosion of press-freedom in the country but they almost predictably don’t find a mention during the current scheme of things.

Despite goof ups galore, media outlets are claiming Congress is winning social media space

Nirwa Mehta
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Despite goof ups galore, media outlets are claiming Congress is winning social media space

In last one week, there have been at least SEVEN (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) mainstream publications all praise for Congress’s social media “resurgence”, claiming that Congress has now got its act together on social media.

This despite the fact the Congress social media team is facing some brutal times on social media recently. Yesterday, Congress social media team got trolled for bringing back Indira Gandhi from the dead for inaugurating a bridge in West Bengal in 1992, 8 years after she she was assassinated.

Later, they deleted the original tweet and posted another one with correct information that the foundation was laid by Indira Gandhi in 1972, but it took twenty long years to complete and inaugurate the bridge.


This is not the first goof up. In last few weeks, Congress’ Twitter handle has seen series of slip-ups which made them butt of all jokes on Twitter. Their #KnowYourLegacy question backfired, and they got trolled for the #KnowYourLegacy quiz which came back to haunt them about the horrors from the time of Congress misrule. They had also goofed up in dates while paying tributes on death anniversary. They had written the date of death (27th September, 1833) before date of birth (22nd May, 1772) which appears as if he was born on 27th September, 1833 and passed away on 22nd May, 1772 which is just not possible.

Three of the above mentioned posts have carried an interview or a feature on Divya Spandana, crediting her with singlehandedly reviving Congress’ social media presence. News18 had written accolades calling her a vintage politician as she sat slowly sipping her espresso. The flattery was not even subtle. Less journalism, more PR plug:

“Well, Rahulji recently asked in Gujarat ‘what has happened to vikas’. And people responded by saying it’s gone crazy”, she replies, slowly sipping her espresso, referring to the popular memes the Congress has used on Twitter and Facebook in the poll-bound state to target the BJP.

That’s a vintage politician’s response! Especially, the subtle attribution of success to the leadership. Not overt. Not in your face. A mere passing under-statement of sorts to put across the point.

In May this year, Divya, the Kannada actress turned politician, also known by her screen name Ramya, was handpicked by Rahul Gandhi to handle Congress’ social and digital media. The article further states that the BJP is facing the heat since Spandana took over. Speaking on #KnowYourLegacy campaign, which has backfired more than once, the author says it has received tremendous response.

They also took tremendous pride in how the questions for the quiz are taken.

“We frame questions in our Twitter poll with a specific intent. For instance, the other day we asked who called Gandhiji as Mahatma. And we put RSS as an option,” said a member of Congress social media team.


Except the question backfired as RSS, which was a thoughtfully put option, won over the real answer, Rabindranath Tagore.

In another such interview to the DNA, Divya talks on how people are now willing to listen to Rahul Gandhi who is taken as a serious leader. I would like to take this opportunity to remind Divya about the lies (1, 2, 3) in last just one month other than the fact that he bats for dynasty in democracy like India and how under this “women empowerment” facade is a sexist Rahul Gandhi who judges women who don’t wear shorts.

This brings us back to the original point. Despite all these gaffes and social media and PR disasters, why exactly have 6 different publications almost simultaneously realized that Congress is the king of social media? Usually such accolades are reserved for post-election commentaries egs when BJP’s IT cell was lauded for the 2014 results. Here a student is being given the A grade a month before the exams (Gujarat elections)!

Seems like their six monthly review might be up soon.

AAP leader slammed on Twitter for playing low-level politics over attack on Australia’s team bus

OpIndia Staff
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AAP leader slammed on Twitter for playing low-level politics over attack on Australia’s team bus

On Tuesday night it was reported that the coach of the Australian cricket team was attacked with a stone in Guwahati, while the team was returning after playing a T20 match against India. In that game Australia had defeated India by 8 wickets.

Thankfully no players were hurt in the incident and later an Aussie team member even posted about the incident on Twitter:


This led many people to apologise to him, as having being brought up on the culture of Atithi Devo Bhava no Indian would want guests in their country to have such an experience:


Even the minister in Assam government, Himanta Biswa Sarma gave an apology and assured that he would punish the guilty:


Clearly this incident either was perpetrated by a criminal or an ultra Indian team supporter and in any case it was reported that local authorities were investigating the matter.

But today an AAP leader named Preeti Sharma Menon who is a National Executive member of the party, decided to play petty politics over it:


As insinuated by many, this 69% decent Indians argument was in the context of the BJP getting about 31% of the vote share in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. This has been used by many leftists to peddle that “69% Indians are against Modi”, and now is being used to claim that BJP supporters aren’t decent people.

So the AAP leader with her tweet not only tried to slander all those who voted for the BJP but also showed scant regard for the incident. This didn’t go down too well with twitter users who expressed their anger:

Firecracker ban: how the pseudo liberal cabal showed their hypocrisy

OpIndia Staff
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Firecracker ban: how the pseudo liberal cabal showed their hypocrisy

The Supreme Court on Monday banned sale of firecrackers on Diwali in Delhi-NCR till 1st November.


While the ban on bursting firecrackers has not been made explicitly in the verdict, it seems like those who have already purchased the firecrackers could burst them.


When the so-called liberals came out in full force to support the firecracker ban, twitterati dug out their hypocrisy.


Tharoor was immediately called out on virtue signalling.


There were others too.


Journalist Pallavi Ghosh also claimed that the Hindu holy book Geeta also says how firecrackers don’t make kids happy.


Not sure about pollution, but the hypocrisy meter is definitely shooting through the roof.

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