The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday conducted raids at more than 30 places, including the premises linked to former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik, as part of its investigation into alleged corruption in the awarding of a contract for a hydel project in the Union territory.
The case relates to alleged corruption in awarding contract for the civil work for the Kiru Hydro Electric Power Project (HEP) worth Rs 2,200 crore in Kisthtwar in 2019.
“I have been ill for the last three to four days and am admitted to the hospital. Despite this, my house is being raided by the dictator through government agencies. My driver and my assistant are also being raided and harassed unnecessarily,” Malik said in post on social media platform X.
“I am a farmer’s son, I will not be afraid of these raids. I am with the farmers,” he said further.
Malik served as the governor of Jammu and Kashmir between August 23, 2018 and October 30, 2019.
On January 29, this year the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has conducted searches at around 8 locations in Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir in the on-going investigations of a case related to alleged irregularities in the award of tender for civil works of the Kiru Hydroelectric Project being executed by Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Limited, the agency said.
The searches led to recovery of digital devices, computers, property documents, and “incriminating” documents, in addition to cash of over Rs 21 lakhs (approximately), it said.
The CBI statement added that it was alleged that in the award of civil works relating to the Kiru Hydroelectric Project, guidelines regarding e-tendering were not followed.
In December last year, the CBI conducted searches at six locations in Delhi, Noida, Chandigarh and Shimla.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
Ahead of the assembly elections and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh, the two main parties in the state have found a novel and ‘interesting’ tool for campaigning. The Telugu Desam Party and YSR Congress Party have allegedly both started distributing condom packets with their respective party name and symbols on them, as per reports.
A video has gone viral on social media showing packets of condoms, marked with party names of YSRCP and TDP in English and Telugu, being distributed to people.
One video shared in an India Today report shows a person giving a TDP condom packet to a person and saying that the intention behind the condom pack campaign is that if people use them and produce a lesser number of children, the government won’t have t spend a lot of money on welfare and subsidies.
On social media, people are sharing videos of TDP condoms and YSRCP condoms.
Interestingly, both parties are even shaming each other for distributing condoms.
YSRCP shared a video of the TDP condom, tagging TDP, Chandrababu Naidu, his son Nara Lokesh and Janasena leader Pawan Kalyan, asking how low they are going to stoop for politics. They even asked if the TDP would start distributing Viagra tablets with the TDP name and symbols next.
తమ పార్టీ ప్రచారం కోసం చివరికి ప్రజలకు కండోమ్లు కూడా పంపిణీ చేస్తోంది @JaiTDP. ఇదెక్కడి ప్రచార పిచ్చి? నెక్ట్స్ వయాగ్రాలు కూడా పంచుతారేమో? కనీసం అక్కడితోనైనా ఆగుతారా? లేకపోతే మున్ముందు ఇంకా దిగజారుతారా @ncbn@naralokesh@PawanKalyan? #EndofTDPhttps://t.co/hnflIp8F8I
Though party rivalries and poster wars are common election dramas in India, the condom war seems like the latest addition to the fanfare and theatrics.
The CEO and co-founder of the controversial ed-tech startup Byju’s, Byju Raveendran, is likely to get a lookout circular (LOC), as asked by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) to the Bureau of Immigration (BOI), reported The Economic Times. The central agency asked BOI earlier this month to issue a new LOC in an effort to prevent him from leaving the nation.
According to persons with knowledge about the development, the ED’s Bengaluru unit, which is looking into possible violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), recently concluded that Raveendran needed an LOC to prohibit him from leaving the nation.
The last three years have primarily been spent by Raveendran travelling back and forth between Delhi and Dubai. Those with insight into the situation asserted that he visited Bengaluru earlier this week. Raveendran was in Delhi last week for a work trip, based on the aforementioned sources who informed the news agency. Speaking to The Economic Times, Raveendran claimed he is in Dubai at the moment. He had earlier in the week departed for the emirate and stated that he “will be travelling to Singapore tomorrow”.
One of the individuals mentioned previously alleged that the decision to apply to the BOI for the LOC was made with the “interest of investors” in mind. Once the LOC is issued, even if Raveendran is abroad, he will not be permitted to leave the nation after he comes back, per a top government official. The person noted, “The LOC, once opened, will ensure that the interest of investors is safeguarded and the case is taken to its logical conclusion without any difficulty.”
Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, the parent company of Byju and Raveendran, was served with show-cause notices by the agency in November of last year about suspected FEMA violations totalling Rs 9,362.35 crore. In a statement at the time, the ED stated that inquiries had been conducted in response to many allegations about Byju’s foreign investment and its business practices.
The ED had highlighted, “The company was also stated to have made significant foreign remittances outside India and investments abroad which were allegedly in contravention of provisions of FEMA, 1999, and caused loss of revenue to the government of India.”
Over the course of April 27 and 28, of last year, the agency searched Byju’s facilities as well as Raveendran’s house. Documents relating to both domestic and foreign investments made by the company were seized.
The investigation team had pointed out that the company’s failure to recognise export revenue from sales outside of India and its tardy filing of documentation opposing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) that it had received were the reasons for the purported infraction. It also mentioned the company’s failure to submit documentation for remittances routed outside of India.
CEO Byju Raveendran oversees Byju’s, which was formerly one of India’s most valuable start-ups due to a spike in demand for its online learning services during the Covid epidemic. However, in the past year, Byju’s worth has dropped by an estimated 90% from its peak of nearly $20 billion.
The Delhi High Court on Thursday reserved its order on Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra plea to restrain Enforcement Directorate from allegedly leaking any ‘Confidential, Unverified Information’ to the Media related to the ongoing FEMA Probe against her.
The bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad after hearing the all sides, reserved the order and fixed the matter for February 23, 2024 for pronouncement.
Justice Subramonium Prasad at the beginning of the hearing inquired from the counsel for Mahua Moitra as to what is so prejudicial in the press reports.
Senior lawyer Rebecca John appeared for Mahua Moitra stated “I was summoned on 14th and even before I could start, news starts to pour in that ED has summoned me. The material that is being published…a room was booked worth Rs 7 lakhs…look at the atmosphere that’s being created against me. Do I not have rights? My application is limited…it’s not about the agency’s right to investigate…it’s about the information being disseminated.”
Advocate Siddhant Kumar, appeared for ANI, contended before the High Court that the reporting is concerning a public figure regarding acts committed as a public official. It is the right of the press to report on the conduct of public officials such as Mahua Moitra who is also seeking to contest the next General Election.
During the hearing, ED told the court it has not leaked any information to the media. The ED counsel said the agency was not aware as to how the information about Mahua Moitra being summoned came to the press.
Mahua Moitra had moved Delhi High Court and sought direction to restrain ED and 19 media houses from leaking, broadcasting and disseminating any “confidential or unverified information’ in relation to the ED investigation against her regarding proceedings under FEMA.
The plea alleged that ED has willfully and maliciously leaked the details of the FEMA Summons, as well as the response submitted by the Petitioner to the February 14 Summons and sensitive details of allegations being investigated against the Petitioner.
The plea alleged that it appears that ED intends to subject the Petitioner to a media-trial by leaking sensitive particulars, including salacious allegations, allegedly stemming from their ongoing investigation and thereby, not only prejudice the investigation into the matter, but also tarnish the Petitioner’s reputation in the public eye.
Instead of undertaking a fair, transparent and ethical investigation into the alleged violations of the FEMA by the Petitioner, it appears that ED is pursuing efforts to vilify the Petitioner in the public eye by deliberately and consistently drip-feeding members of the media with every single detail of the investigation being conducted by ED against the Petitioner, plea read.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
Reaffirming Russia’s reservations about openly promoting LGBTQ ideologies in the country, Russian President Vladimir Putin unequivocally stated that while Russia is not adverse to homosexuals, they should stay away from children. On Tuesday, February 20, while addressing visitors to the ‘Strong Ideas for a New Time’ forum, a yearly event organized by Russia’s state-backed Agency of Strategic Initiatives, Putin said that Russia is tolerant of people with non-traditional sexual orientations, so long as they don’t target children or flaunt their preferences.
The President said, “Adults can live and let live, but children are off-limits.”
“We are quite tolerant towards people with non-traditional sexual orientations. We just don’t flaunt it, and we don’t believe it’s right to flaunt it. Let everyone live – the adults – as they want. Nobody limits them in anything,” Putin stated as he added, “As for children, I have already said many times: ‘Don’t touch the children.’ That’s it. This is the first one. And the second one is, we are, first and foremost, a state that is guided by traditional values.”
Russia has progressively strengthened its laws in the last few years to stop the spread of what it refers to as “LGBT ideology.” The campaign started in 2013 when Russia outlawed the dissemination of said propaganda among minors.
Putin cracks down on LGBTQ propaganda
Multiple anti-LGBTQ laws have been enacted or strengthened by the Kremlin in recent years as part of a conservative movement.
In 2023, Russia’s Supreme Court declared the ‘international LGBTQ movement’ an extremist group and also outlawed all activity connected to it within the nation which has led to fear of arrest and prosecution among gay and transgender activists there.
The development came three years after the country changed the constitution to assert that marriage is a union only between a man and a woman. Same-sex unions are not recognised in Russia.
In 2022, Russian legislators agreed to toughen the country’s 2013 law against ‘gay propaganda’, prohibiting all Russians from furthering or praising homosexual relationships or publicly implying that they are ‘normal’.
Moscow’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, unanimously approved amendments to strengthen the law against ‘propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations’, making such propaganda illegal among Russians of all ages. The first version of the law passed in 2013, prohibited propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships among minors. However, the amendment aims at expanding the law to include those aged 18 and above.
Putin signed a package of amendments that included harsher sanctions for those who advocated gender transition and/or “non-traditional sexual relations and/or preferences.”
Likewise, in 2021, a Russian Court fined social media giant Twitter (now X) for failing to delete illegal content highlighted by the telecom regulator which included child pornography, drug abuse information, calls for minors to commit suicide, and such.
This was, however, the second instance when Twitter had been penalized by the Russian government. It was penalized once before in April too.
Other big tech companies like Google and China’s TikTok also faced the Russian government’s ire for similar offences as Twitter.
The Gujarat government has demolished 108 Mazars in the state, the Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi informed the Assembly on Wednesday (22nd February). Sanghvi added that the Bhupendra Patel-led government will continue the anti-encroachment drive against any encroachment that crops up as “part of a conspiracy”.
The Minister was speaking during the discussion on the budgetary demands of the Home and Transport departments.
During the address, Sanghavi referred to an earlier speech of BJP MLA Amit Shah, who had spoken about the relocation of idols from a Jain temple at Jamalpur in Ahmedabad when Congress was in power in the state.
“Today, the point mentioned by Amitbhai…he said that a derasar was removed in Jamalpur. Now, Dada’s (Bhupendra Patel) bulldozer is moving around in every nook and corner of the state so that no temple or devasthan can be removed while hatching a conspiracy. Nobody knows where will it (bulldozer) go,” Sanghavi said.
The minister questioned the sudden cropping up of the mazars in Uparkot. “In Uparkot, it was not known where (and when) all mazars were built. How can it be built suddenly?” Sanghavi said.
He added that in all, 108 mazars have been demolished and the state’s properties have been opened. “The encroachment around Somnath has been removed. This bulldozer of Dada can enter a 20-ft wide street and an 80-m wide road,” he said adding that the bulldozer is ready to demolish any encroachment which is part of a conspiracy.
Inaugurated by the Gujarat CM in September 2023, the government has restored the historic Uparkot fort for Rs 74 crore. Moreover, the CM said that the anti-encroachment drive that started from Dwarka has reached Porbandar, Ahmedabad, Surat, Pavagadh, Gir Somnath and Jamnagar.
The Kannada and Culture Department, which had previously prohibited private schools from singing the state anthem during assemblies, stated in a new government decree on Wednesday (21st February) that all schools must do so. This is after the opposition party raised the issue in the state assembly criticizing the state.
Kannada and Culture Minister, Shivaraj Tangadagi described the error as a “printing mistake”.
In a bizarre incident reported on Wednesday (21st February), the government of Karnataka issued an order on 16th February sparking controversy. The order exempted the state’s private schools from singing the state anthem while the rule still applied to all the public schools.
The matter escalated further as the order clearly stated that only the government schools would be mandatorily required to follow the rule of singing the state anthem- ‘Jaya Bharatha Jananiya Thanujathe’, written by Kuvempu during the school assemblies.
Image source- Republic TV
However, Kannada and Culture Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi called the mix-up a printing mistake and said that the order would be rectified to direct all the schools including the private ones to sing the state anthem mandatorily during the school assemblies.
This probably happened after Leader of Opposition R Ashoka raised the issue in the State Assembly and questioned the government for issuing such an order. “What was the intention behind this? Do these private schools not come under the purview of the education department? What kind of madness is this? Why are officials issuing such orders…? I explained it to Minister Tangadagi, who said it would be rectified. Why doesn’t he have any hold on the officials,” he was quoted as questioning.
Meanwhile, BJP state president BY Vijayendra opined that the state was trying to insult the poet by issuing such an order. “The state government should apologize,” he demanded.
However, Tangadagi said that it was a small error and that the old order would be rectified. Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao also happened to back the Kannada and Culture Minister saying that in the original note, it was mentioned “all schools”, but while preparing the government order, it had changed, leading to confusion. “It is a printing mistake. We have rectified it,” he added.
Law Minister HK Patil further stated that there was a lapse and that those who prepared the order copy would face consequences. The most recent GO published by the department included all schools, including government, private, aided, and unaided.
West Bengal’s Governor CV Ananda Bose opened a ‘Peace Home‘ at the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata on Monday (19th February) to temporarily refuge the aggrieved women of Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district. The governor’s move has received praise across political parties in the state. Two TMC MPs have come to laude this action amid delayed FIRs in this case.
The top leadership of TMC, however, is involved in politics over the alleged ‘Khalistani’ slur against IPS officer Jagmeet Singh affiliated to the West Bengal police, ignoring the real victims of the Sandeshkhali incident. Notably, no such effort from the state machinery run by the TMC government in West Bengal was seen.
Bharatiya Janata Party shared a video on 22nd February explaining the whole ordeal of the women in Sandeshkhali. BJP wrote in the X post, “A truth that’ll shock us. A truth that’ll pain us. A truth that’ll shake our conscience. The Truth of Sandeshkhali that Mamata Banerjee is trying to hide.”
On Monday, the Governor visited Sandeshkhali to meet the victims of the mass rapes of Hindu women by TMC leader Sheikh Shahajahan and his accomplices. According to a statement by the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Governor CV Ananda Bose, Sandip Rajput, it was after this visit that the Governor decided to open the ‘Peace Home’.
He said, “The governor recently visited Sandeshkhali. He had issued a helpline number, so we received several calls. A peace home has been opened in Raj Bhavan in Kolkata to accommodate the victims of Sandeshkhali. The food and water will be made available for free. Many people have expressed their desire to come and Raj Bhawan is ready to accommodate them. We have provided the transportation services. We are fully prepared.”
In a press release from the Raj Bhavan on Monday, Governor CV Ananda Bose said, “I appeal to the law-abiding citizenry, civil society leaders, opinion makers and all political parties to unite in a ‘peace visit’ to Sandeshkhali, to go around the streets there that have been witnessing distrust, scepticism and lawlessness and stand by the law-abiding citizens, and more specifically, the aggrieved women there and tell them the entire country is with them.”
He added, “To my aggrieved sisters of Sandeshkhali, I give my assurance that we are all with you. You need not be afraid. Your rightful place in society shall be secured and you shall be meaningfully empowered to guide your families and society.”
While the Bharatiya Janata Party being the prime opposition party in the state had been raising the issue for a fortnight, fewer voices supporting the victims were heard from the ruling party Trinamool Congress. The prime accused in this case is a TMC leader. Even the West Bengal police did not register any FIR until the NCW chairperson visited Sandeshkhali. However, two TMC MPs expressed their support to West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose’s decision to open the doors of Raj Bhavan for the victim women.
#WATCH | West Bengal: NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma says, "The women of Sandeshkhali have been harassed… They are scared and the situation here is bad. Women are crying in front of me. I don't think anything will happen here without the President's rule…Today I have copies of… pic.twitter.com/UkkUiKzGWD
Contai MP Sisir Adhikari and his younger son, Tamluk MP Dibyendu, have commended the governor for acknowledging the plight of the distressed women in Sandeshkhali, located in the North 24 Parganas district. Sisir Adhikari said, “It’s great thinking. The governor must be praised for this. It reminds me how I had organised accommodation for several people from Nandigram during the agitation days to protect them from the goons of the CPI(M).”
Dibyendu Adhikari said, “It’s an unimaginable step you have taken to provide shelter to tortured women from Sandeshkhali on Raj Bhavan premises. I shall be obliged if you please allow me to stand by your side for any support to the victimised women.”
Notably, Sisir Adhikari is the father of West Bengal’s leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari. Suvendu Adhikari also visited Sandeshkhali on Tuesday along with other BJP leaders and party workers. He was stopped from visiting the interiors of the disturbed area by the West Bengal police. During this altercation, IPS officer Jagmeet Singh deployed on the spot alleged that the BJP leader called him a ‘Khalistani’ because the Sikh officer was wearing a turban. A video of the incident also went viral. However, it could not be ascertained as to who exactly made these remarks against the officer.
West Bengal police declared from their X handle that they will investigate this case. BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari challenged the allegations and asked the West Bengal police to prove their allegation within a day. TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee attacked BJP before the veracity of the incident was confirmed. She tweeted, “Today, the BJP’s divisive politics has shamelessly overstepped constitutional boundaries. As per BJP, every person wearing a TURBAN is a KHALISTANI. I VEHEMENTLY CONDEMN this audacious attempt to undermine the reputation of our SIKH BROTHERS & SISTERS, revered for their SACRIFICES and UNWAVERING DETERMINATION of our nation. We stand firm in protecting Bengal’s social harmony and will take stern lawful measures to prevent any attempts to disrupt it.”
Today, the BJP's divisive politics has shamelessly overstepped constitutional boundaries. As per @BJP4India every person wearing a TURBAN is a KHALISTANI.
I VEHEMENTLY CONDEMN this audacious attempt to undermine the reputation of our SIKH BROTHERS & SISTERS, revered for their… pic.twitter.com/toYs8LhiuU
However, she did not reflect on West Bengal police’s initial inaction in this case where they refused to file any FIR and denied any rape atrocities in Sandeshkhali. Since the Sandeshkhali issue surfaced, the West Bengal police have repeatedly kept replies to their X posts restricted or invisible. This is because the state police machinery has faced heavy criticism from X users all over the country for their inaction against the main accused Sheikh Shahajahan. It was also stated in the Governor’s report that the state police are hand-in-glove with the accused.
However, the West Bengal police have been prompt in arresting journalists reporting this case on the ground. Shantu Pan of Republic Bangla was arrested by the West Bengal police. An FIR against Suman De of the ABP Ananda was also filed in this series of police harassment of journalists reporting Sandeshkhali. BJP state present Dr Sukanta Majumdar posted from his X handle, “Atrocities against Bengal media is on full swing, after Shantu Pan of Republic Bangla, now an FIR is launched against Suman De of ABP Ananda TV. It seems the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government is exercising an undeclared emergency in West Bengal at the moment.”
Not only this, the arrested journalist of Republic Bangla TV Santu Pan was moved from Sandeskhali police station to an undisclosed location on 21st February late in the night. The men escorting him had covered faces and their uniforms had no insignia.
In a midnight operation, Republic Bangla journalist Santu Pan is moved from Sandeskhali police station to an undisclosed location. The men escorting him have covered faces and their uniforms have no insignia. If anything happens to Pan, Mamata Banerjee alone would be responsible. pic.twitter.com/AVuHftLQV8
Meanwhile, a 3-member team of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes reached Sandeshkhali on Wednesday to probe the sexual exploitation of the tribal women in the Sandeshkhali incident that took place in the North24 Pargana district of West Bengal.
The background of the controversy
On 8th February this year, hundreds of women in Sandeshkhali took to the streets to protest against land grabbing, non-payment of wages and sexual violence committed by Trinamool Congress goon Sheikh Shahjahan and his two aides Shiba Prasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar.
The women attacked Shahjahan’s illicitly obtained properties and set fire to a poultry farm owned by Shiba Prasad Hazra. They also surrounded the Sandeshkali police station and demanded the immediate arrest of the trio. The agitation in the village lasted for 3 days.
On Friday (17th February), the police arrested TMC leader Shibu Prasad Hazra over land grabbing and sexual exploitation of women in Sandeshkhali. The primary accused Sheikh Shahjahan, is still on the run from the law enforcement authorities.
On Tuesday (20th February), Ruby Franke, a YouTuber who ran a parenting-related channel ‘8 Passengers’ was sentenced to up to 60 years in prison in a child abuse case. The vlogger was accused of keeping two of her children in a ‘concentration camp-like setting’. The children were 9 and 11 years old.
Ruby Franke received four consecutive sentences of one to fifteen years for four counts of child abuse. Meanwhile, her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt received the same sentence for her role in the child abuse.
During the sentencing on Tuesday, Eric Clarke, the Washington County attorney said that the vlogger denied her children adequate food, water, entertainment and beds, and isolated them from others. Moreover, she also forced her children to do physical tasks in extreme heat, without shoes, socks or water. The attorney stated that they were beaten and constantly shackled by their hands and feet while made to stand on hot concrete in the summer heat for hours if not days. The children’s injuries were severe enough that they were required to be hospitalised.
“Had the older of the children not had the courage to run away and ask a neighbour to call the police, heaven only knows how much longer he could have survived in that situation,” Attorney Clarke said.
Meanwhile, the YouTuber-turned tormentor of her children Ruby Franke said, “I am humbled and willing to serve a prison sentence for as long as I need. I am committed to unlearning my toxic behaviour. For the past four years, I’ve chosen to follow counsel and guidance that has led me into a dark delusion.”
Franke and her husband, Kevin Franke, built a sizable online following after starting their YouTube channel ‘8 Passengers’ in 2015, where they documented the experiences of raising six children.
Franke later collaborated with Hildebrandt’s counselling company, ConneXions Classroom, to provide parenting seminars, start another YouTube channel, and produce content on their Instagram account, “Moms of Truth”.
“Dark was light, right was wrong”
During the hearing Ruby Franke apologised for the crime she committed as she said, “I … believed dark was light and right was wrong,” she said, “I would do anything in this world for you. I took from you all that was soft, and safe and good.”
“To my babies, my six little chicks. You are part of me. I was the mama duck who was consistently waddling you to safety. I can see now that over the past four years, I was in a deep undercurrent that led us to danger,” Franke said while apologising to her children.
She also admitted to having a “distorted version of reality” and said that it went unchecked since she would isolate herself from anyone who “challenged” her.
In December 2023, Franke and Hildebrandt pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree aggravated child abuse, after initially facing six counts of felony child abuse. Franke had already volunteered to testify against Hildebrandt in exchange for the county attorney’s neutrality in future proceedings before the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole.
Both of them were arrested in August 2023 after police discovered one of Franke’s children starving, with open wounds and restrained with duct tape around his wrist and ankles. Franke’s 12-year-old son had fled Hildebrandt’s home and reached a neighbour’s home. One of Franke’s daughters was also found malnourished in Hildebrandt’s home.
Convict Ruby Franke, who has over 2.5 million followers, then admitted to forcing her child to work outside all day in the blazing hot sun while depriving him of water and food as punishment. To keep him from fleeing, she chained his arms and legs. She also admitted to assaulting her 9-year-old daughter using similar cruel methods.
The 12-year-old child informed investigators that his mother would bound him with ropes. When the handcuffs cut him, he stated that she would heal the wounds with cayenne pepper.
Franke also ‘disciplined’ one of her boys by removing him from his bedroom and forcing him to sleep on a living room beanbag for several months. The mother allegedly cancelled Christmas one year and threatened to decapitate her daughter’s stuffed animals as a form of control.
After the partner’s guilty plea, Franke’s attorney attempted to shift the blame to Hildebrandt, claiming that the therapist “systematically isolated” the mother from her family and pushed her towards abuse. However, Franke decided to apologise to her children.
Following the arrest, Franke’s husband Kevin filed for divorce, expressing hope that both his wife and Hildebrandt would receive the maximum punishment. He claimed to have been unaware of his wife’s torture treatment of her children as he stayed away from home for a year before her arrest.
Although Frakne told the court that she would not argue for a shorter sentence, she and Hildebrandt have 30 days to appeal their sentences.
In a mega boost for the Indian Navy, the Cabinet Committee on Security has cleared the acquisition of over 200 BrahMos extended-range supersonic cruise missiles for deployment on its warships.
The deal worth around Rs 19,000 crore was cleared in a meeting held on Wednesday evening, top government sources told ANI.
The contract is set to be signed in the first week of March between the BrahMos Aerospace and Ministry of Defence.
The BrahMos is the main weapon for anti-ship and attack operations for the Indian navy warships which have been regularly firing the weapon system.
The BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture of India and Russia and produces supersonic cruise missiles that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or land platforms.
The BrahMos missile has been indigenised in a big way by the BrahMos corporation and more parts are being indigenised.
The BrahMos missile is also set to be exported soon to the Philippines which is its first global customer.
Many countries in the Southeast Asian region have started showing serious interest in the missile system for deployment in multiple ways.
Brahmos Aerospace, headed by Atul Rane, is also working towards achieving the USD 5 billion export target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BrahMos Chairman had stated that after the first export deal with the Philippines at 375 million dollars, his team was targeting USD 5 billion by 2025.
The Indo-Russian joint venture company had conducted test firings of the missile with a high level of indigenous content, and the missile is being equipped with an indigenous seeker.
The BrahMos missile system sale to the partner countries is also set to open many more windows for other successful weapon systems like the Akash, ATAGS howitzers and other equipment from the Indian industry.
This Indian defence industry is also working on improving its hardware quality to match global competition and achieve success in export markets.
Indian systems are also being showcased in foreign countries and some of the public sector units have also opened up offices in prospective markets for sales and support.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
