OpIndia’s exclusive ground report from Balrampur in Uttar Pradesh has exposed how land belonging to the state and its institutions were encroached and grabbed by the Islamist footmen of Samajwadi Party (SP). The police on 1st April filed an FIR against former SP MLA Arif Anwar Hashmi and others pertaining to land grabbing under the previous SP government led by Akhilesh Yadav. The said land and building belongs to a police station in Balrampur where an illegal mazar was constructed.
Barracks for police constables were meant to be built inside this structure where a mazar exists now. Hashmi’s brother named Maroof has also been arrested in the case. OpIndia has learnt that more than two dozen cases have already been filed against the accused former SP MLA Arif Anwar and his colleagues.
Akhilesh’s MLA intimidated police under SP rule
The case is related to the Sadullahnagar police station in Balrampur district. A complaint was filed on 1st April by accountant Sunil Kumar. He claimed that in 2013, the then-Samajwadi Party MLA Arif Anwar Hashmi conspired to fraudulently take over the land registered in the name of the police station.
Hashmi used his influence to harass and threaten the police station and other administrative authorities. A mazar was constructed on the police station premises. It was named ‘Mazar Sharif Shaheed-e-Millat Abdul Quddus Shah Rahmatullah Alaih’.
Islamic tomb built in place of soldiers’ barracks
A committee was constituted hastily to build the mazar and Maroof was named as its head. Hashmi then had the government land for the police station registered in the name of Mazar Sharif Baba Shaheed-e-Millat. According to the complainant, police barracks were to be built here to strengthen law and order. This was done to reportedly instill fear in the minds of the people and rip apart the social fabric in Balrampur.
They planned to confiscate the lands of the deprived as well
The complainant has identified former SP MLA Arif Anwar Hashmi as a declared land mafia. It is reportedly alleged that the police station land was grabbed to construct the tomb by Hashmi in order to hold authority over the poor andgrab their land.
The complainant further alleged that cases were already filed against Arif and other members of his family. The accused is expected to face severe consequences, according to the lawsuit. OpIndia has a copy of the FIR.
The police have filed an FIR against former SP MLA Arif Anwar Hashmi, his brother Maroof Anwar, some other unknown people from Arif’s family, and unidentified members of the tomb committee.
All accused have been charged under sections 420, 468, 120-B, 186, and 434 of the IPC, as well as section 3/4 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act of 1984. On 2nd March, the police conducted a raid, arrested Maroof and imprisoned him. The search for the second accused identified in the FIR is underway.
Many tactics were adopted to disguise lies as truth
According to the evidence gathered by OpIndia, the accused made every attempt to keep the entire situation embroiled in legal proceedings. Mutawwali Maroof from the mazar filed complaints against the police in both, the District Court and the High Court. He did the best to prove the police and district administration incorrect. Finally, on 18th December 2023, the High Court directed SDM Utraula to decide the case within three months.
SDM Utraula gave his order on the 19th of March. Following an examination of the papers, all of the mazar committee’s claims were deemed untrue. Finally, an FIR was filed against the accused, who fraudulently seized the police station land in the mazar’s name. The main accused in the case, former SP MLA Arif Anwar Hashmi, is one of Akhilesh Yadav’s close associates.
‘Urs’ (a form of Islamic gathering) was being organized inside the police station where the tomb was built 10 years ago. Maulvis would frequent the place from all over. Crowds of pilgrims gathered here. People were also promised that their sorrows and pains would be alleviated by exorcism. An attempt was also made to broaden the extent of the tomb by making it concrete. However, now an official police complaint has been filed.
JK Rowling, the Harry Potter author who is often in headlines for her strong opinion on gender identity issues has literally broken the new ‘hate crime’ law of Scotland on the very first day. The controversial law which came to effect on the 1st of April, introduced a new crime of “stirring up hatred” relating to protected characteristics including self-identified transgenders.
Despite the world-famous author ‘breaking’ the controversial law and challenging the authorities to arrest her, the Scottish Police have said that they will not take any action against the author.
Notably, right after the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act came into force in Scotland, JK Rowling took to her X account and dropped an 11-post long thread wherein she described several ‘trans’ individuals, public figures and convicted criminals who although biologically male but claim to be women, as “men”.
As per the controversial new law, and as per the current popular norm of trans identity politics in the West, calling a biological male as a biological male is a ‘hate crime’, just because the said biological male dresses up as a woman.
“Scotland’s Hate Crime Act comes into effect today. Women gain no additional protections, of course, but well-known trans activist Beth Douglas, darling of prominent Scottish politicians, falls within a protected category. Phew!,” Rowling’s first post in the thread reads.
Scotland's Hate Crime Act comes into effect today. Women gain no additional protections, of course, but well-known trans activist Beth Douglas, darling of prominent Scottish politicians, falls within a protected category. Phew! 1/11 pic.twitter.com/gCKGwdjr5m
Rowling further mentioned a Scottish biological male Amy George who ‘identifies’ as a woman. Rowling said that this Scottish “woman” and butcher abducted an 11-year-old girl while dressed as a female, took the girl to his home and sexually abused her for over 27 hours.
She also shared the case of double rapist Isla Bryson. The repeat sex offender who had raped 2 women and was about to be sentenced, had reportedly claimed to be a ‘woman’. According to existing laws in Scotland, the crime would be recorded as a woman’s crime against another woman, not a biological male raping women.
X post by JK Rowling
Other than sex offenders, Rowling’s list included public figures and ‘role models’ like Guilia Valentino. “But most women aren’t axe-toters or sex offenders, so let’s talk role models! Guilia Valentino (in red) wanted to play on the women’s team ‘because of sisterhood, validation and political visibility’. Naturally, she was given some boring cis girl’s place. Yay for inclusion!” she wrote.
In the UK and USA, biological males have been threatening competitive women’s sports, by claiming to be females and conveniently competing against women.
But most women aren’t axe-toters or sex offenders, so let’s talk role models! Guilia Valentino (in red) wanted to play on the women's team 'because of sisterhood, validation and political visibility'. Naturally, she was given some boring cis girl’s place. Yay for inclusion! 6/11 pic.twitter.com/zl5i41RqBG
Interestingly, Rowling’s thread also featured India Willoughby a ‘trans’ TV presenter. She asserted that Willoughby gets airtime despite instances of him calling “a black broadcaster a ‘nasty bitch’ who ‘wouldn’t be anywhere without woke’, dub lesbians men, insult the looks of a female Olympic swimmer, ‘joke’ about kidnapping feminists.”
As OpIndia reported last month, JK Rowling had called Willoughby, a “male narcissist”. Following this, Willoughby accused Rowling of ‘misgendering’ and ‘hate crime’
Rolwing also posted about Mridul Wadhwa, the current head of a Scottish rape crisis centre. Wadhwa, a biological male, reportedly had no gender recognition certificate. The job he currently occupies was advertised for ‘women only’. Wadhwa just claimed he is a woman and got the job, she shared.
JK Rowling challenges Scotland Police to arrest her
In another X post on 1st of April, JK Rowling, a vocal defender of women’s only spaces severely criticised the new hate crime law passed by the Scottish government. The renowned author asserted that “the new legislation is wide open to abuse by activists who wish to silence those of us speaking out about the dangers of eliminating women’s and girls’ single-sex spaces, the nonsense made of crime data if violent and sexual assaults committed by men are recorded as female crimes, the grotesque unfairness of allowing males to compete in female sports, the injustice of women’s jobs, honours and opportunities being taken by trans-identified men, and the reality and immutability of biological sex.”
Furthermore, Rowling emphasised that Scottish women have been pressured by their government and police officers to reject and deny the visibly obvious biological facts. In addition, the Scottish women, Rowling added, have been made to ’embrace’ a neo-religious concept of gender that is “unprovable and untestable”.
She pointed out that the re-definition of ‘woman’ to include every man who claims to be a woman has already had major ramifications for women’s and girls’ rights and safety in Scotland including female prisoners and rape survivors.
Mincing no words, Rowling stated that unless people are allowed to call a man a man, it would be impossible to accurately describe the reality of violence including sexual violence and address the ongoing assault of women’s safety and rights.
???April Fools! ???
Only kidding. Obviously, the people mentioned in the above tweets aren't women at all, but men, every last one of them.
In passing the Scottish Hate Crime Act, Scottish lawmakers seem to have placed higher value on the feelings of men performing their…
Concluding her thread aimed at testing the new Scottish hate crime law, Rowling wrote, “I’m currently out of the country, but if what I’ve written here qualifies as an offence under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment.”
“JK Rowling’s comments not criminal”: Scotland Police says no action will be taken against her under hate crime law
As JK Rowling challenged the Scottish authorities, many ‘trans activists’ also pushed for Rowling’s arrest. However, the Scottish Police soon made it clear that the Harry Potter author would not be arrested even though they had received multiple complaints regarding her X posts in question. “The comments are not assessed to be criminal and no further action will be taken,” a Scotland Police spokesperson said.
In reaction to the Scottish Police’s decision, Rowling said, “I hope every woman in Scotland who wishes to speak up for the reality and importance of biological sex will be reassured by this announcement, and I trust that all women – irrespective of profile or financial means – will be treated equally under the law.”
I hope every woman in Scotland who wishes to speak up for the reality and importance of biological sex will be reassured by this announcement, and I trust that all women – irrespective of profile or financial means – will be treated equally under the law.https://t.co/CsgehF2a5d
Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak soon came out in support of JK Rowling and said that his party will always protect free speech. PM Sunak asserted that people cannot be criminalised for stating simple biological facts.
“People should not be criminalized for stating simple facts on biology,” he said. “We believe in free speech in this country, and Conservatives will always protect it,” PM Sunak said.
Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act
On the 1st of April 2024, the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act came into effect to “provide greater protection for victims and communities.” This law criminalises behaviour intended to “stir up hatred” against select age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and variations of sex characteristics.”
“It introduces new offences for threatening or abusive behaviour which is intended to stir up hatred based on prejudice towards characteristics including age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity, and variations in sex characteristics. These extra provisions will add to the long-standing stirring up racial hatred offences, which have been in place UK-wide since 1986,” a statement issued by the government of Scotland reads.
Rowling taking trolls to the cleaners
While JK Rowling has received immense support for her taking a firm stand for women, she has also received hate and backlash from ‘trans activists’ and ‘wokes’ on social media. However, Rowling often strikes back at trolls with her characteristic witty responses.
In one such comment, an X user sarcastically ‘sympathised’ with JK Rowling calling her a “deeply traumatized” woman and hoping that she heals soon. Responding to this, Rowling said, “Thank you for your kindness. My doctors are hopeful I can indeed heal my deep trauma. After trying many different therapies in vain, I’ve found that taking the piss out of people who come at me with faux concern is the most beneficial. That, and crystals.”
Thank you for your kindness ❤️? My doctors are hopeful I can indeed heal my deep trauma. After trying many different therapies in vain, I've found that taking the piss out of people who come at me with faux concern is the most beneficial. That, and crystals. pic.twitter.com/At39vcHODC
JK Rowling’s advocacy for women’s-only spaces, their safety and rights
In March 2024, JK Rowling had complained about trans persons being allowed in women’s changing/locker rooms. “When men – all men, however they identify – are banned from women’s spaces, those who disregard the ban can be challenged, inside the space and out.”
Rowling emphasised in one of her X posts that allowing males into female-only spaces merely because they claim to be women makes the law banning men in women’s spaces ineffective since the “obstacle” that increased women’s safety has been removed.
Notably, JK Rowling has always been unabashed in her criticism of gender identity politics, which is quickly becoming the popular and dominant political narrative in the Western world. In certain nations, biological male sex offenders are sent to women’s prisons based solely on self-identification, which requires a man to simply ‘claim’ to be a woman and he then gets ‘identified’ as a woman. Such male sex offenders who ‘identify’ or simply lie that they are women are then sent to women’s prisons. In many cases, these male offenders have been accused of sexually abusing women prisoners.
Back in 2022, Rowling drew the ire of ‘gender-identity’ fanatics for wishing “merry terfmas”. Notably, TERF is an acronym that stands for a “trans-exclusionary radical feminist”, a term she has been labeled with by Trans activists online.
In 2021, Rowling received online hatred and abuse for questioning Scotland Police’s stand that they would be recording rapes committed by offenders with male genitalia as being “committed by a woman” if the rapist just says he is a woman.
In July 2021, JK Rowling received death threats from LGBTQ activists for flagging the dangers women face in public toilets by men identifying themselves as women. Rowling shared a screenshot of a tweet posted by one of the nasty internet trolls, who apparently wished her “a very nice pipebomb in the mailbox”.
In 2020, Rowling published an X post with the hashtag “StandWithMaya” expressing solidarity with researcher Maya Forstater. The British woman had stated online that there are only two biological sexes, for which she was fired by the U.K. poverty think tank that employed her for questioning government plans to allow people to self-identify as another gender.
Rowling on why she speaks on gender issues
Rowling while listing out her reasons for speaking on gender issues, wrote in 2020 that she runs a charitable trust which “supports projects for female prisoners and for survivors of domestic and sexual abuse.” She added that being an ex-teacher and founder of children’s charity, she is concerned about the effect the trans rights movement is having on education and safeguarding. Moreover, being a “much-banned author” she is interested in defending freedom of speech. In addition, sex transitioning and de-transitioning among young women is a matter of concern for her.
It is notable here that Rowling, who is among the richest women and most successful authors of our generation, was a victim of domestic abuse herself. She faced abuse from her first husband and had to come back to the UK from Portugal. She lived in extreme poverty raising her eldest daughter while she wrote Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone, the book that eventually made her world famous.
On Thursday, April 4, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a public meeting in Jamui, Bihar, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. In his speech, PM Modi fiercely criticised the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). PM Modi highlighted that under Congress rule, India was considered a weak and poor country. He mentioned that small countries, that are starved of flour today, used to send terrorists to attack India. He said that it is the BJP and the NDA, under whose leadership, a developed India and prosperous India is being built.
बिहार के जमुई में उमड़ा ये जनसैलाब इस बात का साफ संकेत है कि लोकसभा चुनाव में भाजपा-एनडीए को जनता-जनार्दन का अपार आशीर्वाद मिलने जा रहा है। https://t.co/iFzdy1bbpA
PM Modi said, “Congress and RJD tarnished the name of the country in the world during their government. BJP and NDA have only one goal, to build a developed India, to build a prosperous Bihar. You remember 10 years ago, what was the opinion of India in the world? During the rule of Congress, India was considered a weak and poor country. Small countries, that are starved of flour today, used to send terrorists to attack us. The then Congress government used to take complaints to other countries. But Modi said that this will not work. Today’s India shows the direction to the world, now the world is watching us. How has India’s credibility and status become so big in just 10 years? Today, India has become the fifth largest economy in the world.”
#WATCH | Bihar: During his public rally in Jamui, PM Modi, says "…Congress and RJD have tarnished the name of the country in the world during their government. BJP and NDA have only one goal, to build a developed India, to build a prosperous Bihar. You remember 10 years ago,… pic.twitter.com/c37bU2lGdh
PM Modi further said, “BJP is serving humans as well as livestock. We have decided to protect livestock. The central government has launched a program to vaccinate about 2 crore animals in Bihar for free, to protect them from several diseases.”
#WATCH | Bihar: During his public rally in Jamui, PM Modi, says "BJP is serving humans as well as livestock. We have decided to protect livestock. The central government has launched a program to vaccinate about 2 crore animals in Bihar for free, to protect them from several… pic.twitter.com/Fl7qhDXji0
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “This is the first such election for us when my dear friend and a dear friend of Bihar’s Dalits and deprived, Padma Bhushan awardee Ram Vilas Paswan is not among us. I am satisfied that his idea is being taken forward by my younger brother Chirag Paswan with utmost seriousness. The land of Bihar has been showing direction to the entire country…but unfortunately, after independence, justice was not done to 5-6 generations of people in Bihar.”
#WATCH | Bihar: During his public rally in Jamui, PM Modi, says "…I am satisfied that my younger brother Chirag Paswan is taking forward the ideas of Ram Vilas Paswan with full seriousness…The land of Bihar has been showing direction to the entire country…but unfortunately,… pic.twitter.com/UCBRyJR5KC
PM Modi added, “The call for BJP and NDA is echoing all over the country. Jamui is a victim of RJD’s jungle raj. Those who had strayed into the stream of Naxalism have been brought back into the mainstream. Even development schemes were not allowed to reach this area. Those who grab the land of the youth of Bihar for jobs can never do good for Bihar.”
In relief to Lok Sabha MP Navneet Rana, the Supreme Court on Thursday allowed her plea and set aside Bombay High Court order that had cancelled her caste certificate that she used to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in a reserved category seat.
A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol allowed Navneet Rana’s plea challenging the Bombay High Court verdict cancelling her caste certificate.
Upholding the Navneet Rana caste certificate, the top court observed that the scrutiny committee duly considered the documents before it and passed its decision.
“In light of the discussion, the instant appeals stand allowed and the HC order is set aside,” the top court said.
The Bombay High Court had cancelled the caste certificate issued to Navneet Kaur Rana, the Member of Parliament from Maharashtra’s Amaravati, stating that it was obtained fraudulently using fabricated documents. Rana was fined Rs 2 lakh by the top court.
Reacting to the same, Navneet Rana said, “Those who raised questions about my birth got an answer today. I thank the Supreme Court. The truth always wins. This is a victory for those who walk on the path shown by Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.”
Earlier, Navneet Rana filed her nomination papers for the Amravati Lok Sabha seat and expressed optimism that people of the constituency.
“I have been working for the people of my region for many years. This is a big day for me and my constituency. This is the first time that voters in Amravati are getting a chance to vote for the nation-building, development and benefit of the nation,” she said.
#WATCH | After Supreme Court upholds her caste certificate, BJP MP Navneet Rana says "Those who raised questions on my birth got an answer today. I thank the Supreme Court. The truth always wins. This is a victory of those who walk on the path shown by Baba Saheb Ambedkar and… pic.twitter.com/cLmcXIbg49
“The people of my constituency are happier than me. They are happy that for the first time, the lotus symbol will appear on the ballot box. The people will directly support and vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” she further said.
Elected as an independent MP from Amravati in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Navneet Rana was inducted into the BJP in the presence of BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule in Nagpur last week.
Speaking about her first Lok Sabha win from Amravati, Rana said, “In 2019, when I contested the elections as an independent, the people of Amaravati supported me despite the huge political wave and at a time when I did not do any work in my constituency, I think they had the confidence that their voice would be heard at the Parliament.”
With 48 Lok Sabha seats, Maharashtra sends the second-highest number of legislators to the Lower House after Uttar Pradesh. Elections in the 48 parliamentary constituencies of Maharashtra will be held in five phases–April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, and May 20.In the 2019 elections, the BJP won 23 out of the 25 seats it contested, while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 of the 23 seats it fought for.
In 2014, the BJP won 23 seats and Shiv Sena 18. The undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won 4 seats, while the Congress had to settle for just 2 seats.
This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
Thousands of athletes at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris will have to make do without air conditioning as the organisers have decided not to install ACs at the athletes’ village as part of their initiative to combat global warming. Rather than having air conditioning, a geothermal cooling system will be used to maintain the temperature of the apartments, where 10,500 Olympians and 4,400 Paralympians will stay.
“We designed these buildings so that they would be comfortable places to live in in the summer, in 2024 and later on, and we don’t need air conditioning in these buildings because we oriented the facades so that they wouldn’t get too much sun during the summer, and the facades, the insulation is really efficient,” said Yann Krysinski, who is directing the service of infrastructure for the Games.
“We also are providing naturally cool water that we’re getting from underground to cool the air of these apartments. So you will not need air conditioning in the summer here,” Yann added.
The event is scheduled to take place between July 26 and August 11, a time when extreme temperatures are predicted in the city. Heat waves over the summer of last year claimed the lives of almost 5,000 people in France, according to a February announcement by health officials. According to a new study, the capital may experience more heatwaves lasting weeks during the 2024 Olympics, potentially breaking all previous records for temperature. The current records sit at 108 degrees Fahrenheit or 42.23 degrees Celcius.
Despite this, the organisers of 2024 Summer Olympics are confident that by installing specialised technology to use natural sources to keep everyone cool even during a potential heat wave, they will be able to deliver the most sustainable Olympics to date and reduce the carbon footprint of the Paris Games by half.
Netizens/scientists question the rationale behind the decision
The country’s decision to not install air conditioners for athletes as part of their ‘go green’ initiative, that too at this part of the year when the temperature in France soars to almost 42 degrees Celcius, has not only left the participants but several scientists and social media users baffled.
A scientist by the name of Mark Nelson took to X to question the French government’s choice to deny the athletes access to even a basic comfort like air conditioning in an effort to “combat climate change,” particularly in light of the country’s nearly carbon-free electricity.
He pointed out how France has excess electricity and its system is almost entirely carbon neutral. In fact, the country has so much extra electricity that in the summer, it even shuts down its nuclear reactors. “Yet it appears they’re intentionally underpowering cooling for athletes to make a fake environmental statement,” Mark Nelson lamented.
PARIS TO DENY AIR CONDITIONING TO OLYMPIC ATHLETES IN AUGUST TO "COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE"
France's electricity is almost completely decarbonized and there's so much extra in the summer they have to turn off nuclear reactors!
Craig Kelly, a former member of the Australian Parliament also called the decision an ‘insane delusion’ given that most of France‘s electricity comes from nuclear power, he said.
“NET ZERO MADNESS AT PARIS OLYMPICS : No air conditioning at Olympic Village In their insane delusion to make Paris the “greenest” Games ever, powered on “100% renewable energy” the Olympic Village has been built without air conditioning. Given that most of France‘s electricity comes from nuclear power – it’s not just madness, but virtue signalling madness. Imagine being an athlete and after training for years, trying to set yourself for a personal best performance- and being unable to sleep before your event in a small hot-box room without air-conditioning in the middle summer. So now countries including Australia are buying portable air conditioners to place in the athletes rooms,” he stated.
NET ZERO MADNESS AT PARIS OLYMPICS : No air conditioning at Olympic Village
In their insane delusion to make Paris the "greenest" Games ever, powered on "100% renewable energy" the Olympic Village has been built without air conditioning.
One other social media user questioned whether every politician in France will also follow suit.
How much you want to bet every politician in France has air conditioning? 2024 Paris Summer Olympics Cancel Air Conditioning Due to Climate Concerns https://t.co/Z2TD7Rq45H
‘We’re not going for a picnic’: Teams hit back at Paris Olympics organisers for its no air conditioning green policy
Several teams that will be participating in to 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris do not seem to be happy with the decision to not install ACs for athletes in the sweltering summers, which they feel would ultimately affect their performances. Many teams have said that they will be utilising portable air conditioners in their rooms due to concerns over the performance of their athletes.
During the games in Paris, Greece’s Olympic delegation will be equipped with portable air conditioners. Earlier this year, Spyros Capralos, the president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, told the Greek newspaper Kathimerini that the organisation would “spare no expense” for its athletes and that they intended to either purchase air conditioners or find a sponsor to meet their air conditioning demands.
The Australian Olympic team stated in November of last year that it was prepared to spend more than $100,000 AUS (€60,000) on air conditioning and fans to keep their athletes comfortable.
Matt Carroll, the CEO of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), stated to the media that they “appreciate the concept of not having air conditioning due to the carbon footprint. But this is a high-performance game. We are not going for a picnic.”
He stated that the AOC has hired a heat specialist who knows how the human body functions best at different temperatures.
“As we’ve explained to the Paris Organising Committee, athletes have got to sleep during the day, because their events are at night,” Carrol added.
“Daytime will be when it’s hottest. That’s been informing our decision to put temporary air conditioners in the athletes’ rooms and also fans.”
For “performance-related” reasons, the Irish Olympic Federation is also apparently intending to cover the cost of air conditioning for its athletes’ lodging at the 2024 games.
According to the organisers, delegations will not receive A/C units. The addition of portable air conditioners to rooms, however, is possible “through a list of rental equipment offered by Paris 2024.”
All of their cooling techniques, however, they claim, give them “confidence that the athletes and their staff will be comfortable in the village without needing A/C.”
On 4th April, X (formerly Twitter) announced that the Community Notes program is now available for users in India. It is a feature on X that allows users to participate in the fact-checking process of the posts shared on the platform. The rollout for Indian users holds significance as there is a lot of misinformation related to India on social media. Furthermore, it is essential to note that the polling for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections is close, allowing users to debunk propaganda posts on social media.
X’s affiliate handle, Community Notes, said in a post, “Welcome new contributors in India. Our first contributors are joining today, and we’ll be expanding over time. As always, we’ll monitor quality to ensure that notes are found helpful by people from different points of view. Community Notes now has contributors in 69 countries worldwide, and we’re adding more regularly.”
Welcome new contributors in ??India ?
Our first contributors are joining today, and we’ll be expanding over time. As always, we’ll monitor quality to ensure that notes are found helpful by people from different points of view.
As the post suggests, only a handful of people will be invited to participate in the program in India. Quoting the post, ? owner Elon Musk said, “Community Notes are now active in India!”
The users from India have been raising their voices over exclusion from the feature. Several X users who applied for the feature have been waiting for almost a year for the feature to be available for them. Less than a month ago, OpIndia reported how a popular X user, ‘theskindoctor13,’ asked Elon Musk why it was unavailable for Indians. The post was stamped with a misleading ‘Community Note’ that Indians could enrol for, but it did not clarify that Indians could neither post nor vote for Community Notes. The note read, “This is false. Anyone using X can sign up to contribute to community notes, including Indians!”
However, after the backlash, the Note was changed. The new Note read, “While community notes are available for some Indian users, major telcos are not considered Twitter trusted carriers, making it impossible for most Indian users to sign up for community notes.” Still, it did not clarify that those who had enrolled successfully could not post or vote for the notes.
The feature was rolled out in December 2022 to enable users to fact-check posts on social media. Users from several countries can post and vote on the notes, but all users can and will see them. With time, X added several improvements to the feature. If a note appears on one post, it will appear on all posts with the same media or text, making it easier to spot the misinformation on the platform. Earlier, the feature was known as Birdwatch but was later renamed to Community Notes.
How to sign up
First of all, login to your X account and click on https://twitter.com/i/flow/join-birdwatch. A pop-up like the image below will open. Click on ‘Join Community Notes’.
Source: X
In Step 1 of 3, X will check if your account meets the program requirements that include No X Rule violation since 1st January 2023, the account must be at least six months old, the account should be linked to a verified phone number which should be a trusted phone carrier and not associated with other Community Notes account. If all requirements are met, click on ‘Next’.
Source: X
In the Step 2 of 3, agree to the Community Notes guidelines and click ‘Next’.
Source: X
In the next step, read Community Notes data sharing, X Rules, Terms and Privacy Policy details. Once you are done, click on ‘Agree and Finish’.
Source: X
After completing these processes, you will be added to the list, but you won’t be enrolled into the program immediately. X will send a message to the user after the account has been activated for Community Notes. Meanwhile, you can pick languages by clicking ‘Pick languages that you speak’.
Source: X
Choose one or more languages and click ‘Done’.
Source: X
As per X, it has more applicants than available slots for community notes, therefore it randomly admits accounts to the program, to reduce the likelihood that contributors would be predominantly from one ideology, background, or interest space.
It further states, “applicants from countries with larger user bases may experience longer waiting times between signup and admission, as random admissions are drawn from country-specific waitlists.” As India is a large country with large user base, it means that Indians who apply for community notes will have to wait longer.
Community Notes and Indian Elections
There are two ways to look at the rollout of Community Notes just weeks before the first phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. If we look at it positively, it will help to debunk the fake news and misinformation regarding the elections. Especially in the case of EVMs, the feature can help debunk the misinformation about them being unreliable.
On the other hand, it is only available for a handful of Indians. Such a feature in the hands of propagandists and people or groups with vested interests can become a disaster. Notably, all contributions to Community Notes are anonymized, which means there is no way to know who posted a certain community note.
A video of senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala making a sexist statement about BJP MP from Mathura and actress Hema Malini went viral. BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, Bollywood star Kangana Ranaut has now criticised Randeep Surjewala for his sexist comments.
“Why do we elect MLA/MP? So that they can raise our voices, and get our views accepted. They are not Hema Malini who is made MP to lick her,” Surjewala was heard saying, the video of which is going viral on social media.
Reacting to this, Kangana Ranaut posted from her X handle, “There was talk of opening a shop of love but Congress has opened a shop of hatred. Congress leaders, who have degrading views towards women, are deteriorating their character day by day in frustration and despair of inevitable defeat.” She also embedded the sexist video of Randeep Surjewala in her tweet.
बात मोहब्बत की दुकान खोलने की हुई थी लेकिन कांग्रेस नफरत की दुकान खोल बैठी है।
महिलाओं के प्रति गिरी हुई सोच रखने वाले कांग्रेस के नेता अवश्यंभावी हार की हताशा और कुंठा में अपने चरित्र का दिन- ब-दिन पतन कर रहे हैं। pic.twitter.com/uu7HICrn1v
— Kangana Ranaut (Modi Ka Parivar) (@KanganaTeam) April 3, 2024
On Wednesday (4th April), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slammed the Congress party for making vile and sexist remarks against its Mathura MP Hema Malini. The BJP criticised the main opposition party for its misogynistic attitude.
BJP’s IT department head Amit Malviya shared a video of Congress leader Randeep Surjewala in which the latter could be heard saying that BJP MP Hema Malini had been chosen as an MP only because of her beauty. He also indicated that the other leaders in the Lok Sabha liked staring at her.
BJP’s Amit Malviya shared the video and slammed Surjewala saying, “Who thinks of women as something to lick? That is the most disgusting description someone can come up with. Just the other day, Surjewala’s colleague was asking the ‘rate’ of another BJP woman leader, and now this… This is Rahul Gandhi’s Congress. It is misogynistic and abhors women.”
Congress MP Randeep Surjewala makes a vile sexist comment, that is demeaning and derogatory, not just for Hema Malini, who is an accomplished individual, but women in general. He asks, “MLA/MP क्यों बनाते हैं? ताकि वो हमारी आवाज़ उठा सकें, हमारी बात मनवायें, इसीलिए बनाते होंगे।… pic.twitter.com/JO0UIXSOt1
— Amit Malviya (मोदी का परिवार) (@amitmalviya) April 3, 2024
Hema Malini is a BJP Lok Sabha member from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh and is again contesting the 2024 general elections from there. It is important to note that, earlier, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate had made vile and sexist remarks against BJP candidate from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, actress-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut, indicating that the latter was a ‘slut’. Now, Randeep Surjewala has made a sexist remark against Hema Malini.
On 3rd April (Wednesday), the dead bodies of at least 30 monkeys were found in a water tank next to Vijaya Vihar, which is located in Nandikonda municipality’s Ward No. 1 in Telangana. The monkeys apparently attempted to drink water because the tank lid was open and drowned because they couldn’t come out. The water tank is an old building with a partially exposed tin roof. People living in the area notified the authorities after experiencing unpleasant stench from the tank.
The ward’s residents reportedly have been drinking the same polluted water supply for the previous few days. On Wednesday, April 3, locals discovered that the water tank’s lid had been taken off. They then peeked inside, after which they witnessed the dead animals floating in the water. Afterwards, they filed a complaint with the municipal administration.
According to officials, the monkeys died inside the water tank after struggling to escape through the open lid. About 200 households in Hill Colony were receiving drinking water from the tank, which had metal sheets placed on top by municipal workers. The authorities mentioned that monkeys may have attempted to enter the water tank through the metal sheets in order to escape the intense heat, but they ended up drowning.
In a blatant display of gross negligence, the municipal water supply workers failed to clean the water tank, which requires sanitising at least once every two weeks. As a result, individuals were drinking contaminated water. Now, the bodies have been taken out by municipal employees and the tank has been cleaned.
The locals were concerned about the effect on their health because of the tainted water. They suspected that the monkeys died there around ten days earlier, and the people have been consuming the same water since then. They demanded that municipal officials be held accountable for their incompetence.
Nageshwar Rao, the superintendent engineer for the Nagarjuna Sagar Project, said that the water supply from the tank was cut off for three days and investigators discovered the carcasses while investigating. The tank, he added, only supplied fifty families with potable water. Meanwhile, households that previously obtained their water from the tank will now get it from other sources.
Nalgonda district collector Hari Chandana released an official statement which read, “There are two drinking water tanks with a capacity of 2,000 litres each and one with a capacity of 1,000 litres in Nandikonda Hill Colony. Additionally, there is another tank into which the monkeys fell and died. However, there has been no drinking water supply from this tank for the last three days. After investigating the cause, it was discovered that the monkeys had fallen into the tank and died. Municipal authorities promptly removed the deceased monkeys and cleaned the tank.”
She further said, “It has been clarified that only 50 households received drinking water from this tank, and there was no supply from it for the past three days. The water tanks supplying drinking water to the main households in Hill Colony are not related to the incident. Residents need not worry. The tank where the monkeys fell and died has been cleaned, and drinking water will be released after the tank is fully chlorinated. Until then, water would be supplied to households receiving water from this tank through an alternative route.”
In a shocking revelation, it has been reported that Kolkata Police had closed two cases against Future Gaming and Hotel Services, owned by scam-tainted Santiago Martin, around the same time when the company donated to Trinamool Congress (TMC) via electoral bonds.
An investigative report by ThePrint states that Kolkata Police closed two cases against Future Gaming, which runs the popular ‘Dear Lottery’ game in West Bengal and Sikkim, after the company made substantial donations to TMC. The police were probing cheating and criminal conspiracy cases against the firm at that time.
As per electoral bond data released by SBI, Future Gaming donated ₹1 crore to TMC in October 2020, after that it gave ₹30 crore in July 2021, ₹46 crore in October 2021, and ₹60 crore in January 2022. As per the report, the two cases were closed in December 2021 and January 2022, after the donations.
The company continued to contribute to TMC through electoral bonds till January 2024, before the scheme was stopped by the Supreme Court, and has given a total of ₹542 crore, the highest amount donated by the company to any party.
The FIRs against Future Gaming date back to 2019 and serve as the basis for the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) money laundering case against the company, which was registered on May 28, 2021.
Citing an ED official, the report says that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had been investigating Future Gaming for possible money laundering since 2010, but there was little progress after 2014. The ED’s probe against Future Gaming began only after the Kolkata Police filed FIRs against it in 2019. However, the probe fell into uncertainty after the state police submitted closure reports.
As per the report, Kolkata police closed the cases even though ED had told the court that it had found evidence to substantiate the allegations.
Notably, in April 2022, the ED attached Rs 409.92 crore of the company’s movable assets. In a press statement, the agency stated that it had launched a money laundering investigation “against M/S Future Gaming and its Sub Distributors and Area Distributors for West Bengal on the basis of FIRs registered by Kolkata Police under various sections of the IPC and under sections 7(3) and 9 of the Lotteries Regulation Act, 1998”.
While TMC has denied any knowledge of this saying that donations were made anonymously, the BJP has accused the party of blocking the investigation by central probe agencies in cases against Future Gaming to cover up corruption.
It is pertinent to note that Future Gaming and Hotel Services made the largest political donation of ₹1,368 crore through electoral bonds in the past 5 years. The data was made public by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in March this year. At the same time, it was revealed that the West Bengal-based Trinamool Congress (TMC) party had encashed bonds totalling ₹1,609 crore. Notably, Future Gaming is the sole distributor of ‘Dear Lottery’, a paper lottery organised by the states of Sikkim and Nagaland.
Two FIRs registered by Kolkata Police against Future Gaming
ThePrint reported that the first FIR against Future Gaming and Hotel Services was registered at the Bhowanipore Police Station in June 2019.
This complaint was lodged by a Kalighat resident who claimed to be a regular buyer of ‘Dear Lottery’. The complainant alleged that there was “large-scale financial fraud and misappropriation of government funds in sabotage of the lottery system running into crores”.
This FIR booked Future Gaming under IPC sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 34 (criminal act is done by several persons in furtherance of the common intention), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 417 and 419 (cheating), 418 (cheating with knowledge of wrongful loss),419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonesty) and provisions of the Lotteries (Regulation) Act, 1998.
In the second FIR, filed at Kolkata’s Beliaghata Police Station in August 2019 the complainant stated that the “accused have been organising the lottery according to their whims in the guise of promoting and selling lotteries owned by organising states”.
Notably, OpIndia had earlier reported how TMC leaders have benefitted from lotteries in West Bengal. In November 2022, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) informed that Trinamool Congress (TMC) Minister Anubrata Mondal and his daughter Sukanya had won the lottery 5 times in three years. Anubrata Mondal was arrested by the central agency in November 2022 while his daughter Sukanya was arrested in April 2023.
Other than TMC, “lottery king” Santiago Martin has close ties with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Kerala, and Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) in Tamil Nadu.
Santiago Martin and his ‘lottery scam’
Santiago Martin is accused of causing a loss of ₹910,29,87,566 (~ ₹910.29 crores) to the Sikkim government through the fraudulent sale of lottery tickets in the State of Kerala between April 1, 2009 and August 31, 2010.
“Martin and his associate companies and entities made unlawful gains with a corresponding loss to the government of Sikkim to the extent of ₹ 910 crore on account of inflating the prize-winning tickets claim for the period from 01.04.2009 to 31.08.2010,” the ED said in a statement in May 2023.
At that time, the central agency seized his movable properties (mutual funds and fixed deposits) worth ₹157.7 crores and documents of immovable properties to the tune of ₹299.16 crores.
In December 2021, the Enforcement Directorate attached ₹19.59 crore worth of his properties under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Two years earlier in 2019, raids were conducted by the IT Department on 70 premises of ‘Lottery Martin’ across the country.
A former daily-wage labourer in Yangon in Myanmar, Santiago Martin went on to establish a ₹7000 crore ‘lottery’ business. He has been under the radar of investigative agencies since 2011 for financial fraud and money laundering.
In her latest dramatic message to the Delhi voters, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal’s wife has shared a video where a fake image of Arvind Kejriwal ‘behind bars’ has been added along with the portraits of Bhagat Singh and Ambedkar in what appears to be the CM’s home office.
#WATCH | Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's wife, Sunita Kejriwal issues a video statement on behalf of him for the MLAs of Delhi. She says, "Arvind Kejriwal has sent a message to all MLAs. "Just because I am in jail, the people of Delhi should not suffer in any way. Every MLA should… pic.twitter.com/htOouPYJhX
In the latest message, Sunita Kejriwal is heard saying that even though her husband and current Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is in jail, he has not forgotten the people of Delhi and has sent a message to all AAP MLAs. The CM’s message to the AAP MLAs is, “Every MLA should visit their area every day and discuss people’s problems and sort them out.”
Arvind Kejriwal’s so-called message to his party MLAs is, “do your basic job”. But somehow, Sunita Kejriwal presented it as not the basic job that MLAs are anyways expected to do, but a grand benevolence from Kejriwal showing his MLAs need reminding that they should be in touch with their voters.
The sudden appearance of the ‘jailed’ Kejriwal portrait has netizens surprised. Some asked if AAP is now officially putting Kejriwal at the same level as Bhagat Singh and Ambedkar. The badly edited photo shows Kejriwal in a blue shirt, with photoshop ‘bars’ added before his face.
Though the Delhi CM is actually in jail, the ‘behind the bars’ photo is an obvious photoshop because camerapersons aren’t allowed inside Tihar to take special portrait pictures of politicians in their jail cells.
Kejriwal ka darza ab Bhagat Singh aur Ambedkar ke barabar ho gaya hai. Ye shayad unse bhi ooncha kyuki photo dono ke beech me lagaya gaya hai. Samast samaaj ko badhaai.
Sunita Kejriwal’s earlier ‘messages’ have also been weird
In her first video message to Delhi voters on behalf of her husband, Sunita Kejriwal had claimed that only Kejriwal’s body is in jail, but his spirit is roaming freely among voters. She even claimed that if the people of Delhi closed their eyes and try to ‘feel’ him, they can feel him around them in close proximity.
That claim triggered a meme fest on social media with people saying it sounded like a horror movie.
In her next video, Sunita Kejriwal claimed that the people of Delhi are keeping Vrat for her husband and asked the people of Delhi to send their blessings for Arvind Kejriwal through a WhatsApp number.
