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‘Unclear whether money is black or white’: Newslaundry comes in support of Congress MP Dhiraj Sahu after cash haul of over Rs 351 crores

Anurag
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‘Unclear whether money is black or white’: Newslaundry comes in support of Congress MP Dhiraj Sahu after cash haul of over Rs 351 crores

On 13th December, Newslaundry came out in support of Congress’s Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, Dhiraj Prasad Sahu, who is at the centre of a multi-hundred crore IT raid. In a video of “Tippani”, the propaganda portal tried to whitewash the crime of storing unaccounted cash and projected that the allegations against Sahu were not yet proven. Newslaundry insinuated that the money recovered could be “legal” and asserted that media houses targeted Sahu without knowing the reality of the money recovered.

In an almost 26-minute video, under their section ‘Tippani’ (comment in English), Newslaundry’s Atul Chaurasia ranted against the central government and mainstream media for targeting Sahu. The video was mainly about Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and expelled MP Mahua Moitra.

‘It is unclear if the money was black’

Chaurasia said that till now, only the money has been recovered. The investigation into the cash recovered is yet to begin. “No one knows if the money was ‘right’ or ‘wrong’.” He claimed that though it is unclear if the money was black or white, the mainstream media and BJP supporters have started targetting Sahu. He questioned how only recovery of money can be claimed as a guarantee of a crime. He also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for using emojis in his post on X on the matter.

He then equated the matter with the video of BJP leader Narendra Singh Tomar’s son Devendra Singh Tomar, where it was claimed that he was talking about receiving large amounts of funds. The said video surfaced days after Assembly elections in five states. Following the video went viral on social media, Devendra immediately filed a police complaint saying that it was a fake video.

Devendra’s complaint said, “A viral video has surfaced where it is falsely claimed that I have conducted transactions worth crores. This doctored video is part of a conspiracy to malign me and create a negative impression. Fake video clips are being circulated on various social media platforms maliciously to damage my public image and reputation.” Notably, Narendra Tomar contested the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections from the Dimni constituency and defeated Congress’s Ravindra Singh Tomay by 48,000 votes. Following the elections, the matter related to Devendra’s alleged video went into a cold bag, and the opposition forgot about it.

Interestingly, Sahu or his associates have yet to release any statement. Congress has distanced itself from the controversy and demanded an explanation from Sahu about the recovered cash. While Congress does not want to associate itself with the recovered cash, for some reason, left-liberal media and “intellectuals” like Raghuram Rajan are defending Sahu. In a recent comment, Rajan claimed the opposition parties have to use cash as electoral bonds provide an uneven playing field to the political parties and favour the ruling party. He further claimed that money could be for election purposes and insinuated that the ruling party carried out raids using agencies to recover such money.

Newslaundry defender Mahua Moitra

In the video, Newslaundry also defended Mahua Moitra in the cash-for-query case. Chaurasia claimed Moitra was dismissed from Lok Sabha without any chance to explain herself. He completely forgot that the Ethics Committee called her to present her point of view, which she stormed out when questions were asked. Furthermore, Moitra admitted to leaking her Lok Sabha credentials so that questions could be posted on her behalf.

Interestingly, Newslaundry claimed that Mahua Moitra was expelled because she raised questions against Gautam Adani. However, Chaurasia forgot to point out that most of Moitra’s questions against Adani directly or indirectly favour Darshan Hiranandani, who admitted to paying her kickbacks for the same! Chaurasia claimed that the statement given by Hiranandani was only on a “piece of white paper”. He conveniently ignored the fact that it was an affidavit submitted by Hiranandani to the Indian Embassy in Dubai. The affidavit contained the seal of India’s vice consulate general in Dubai, Urmil Asiwal. She reportedly said that the documents were signed in her presence, and the person, who in this case was Hiranandani, was identified by his passport. The passport number was mentioned in the affidavit. The document was signed on 20th October. Details of the affidavit can be seen here.

Chaurasia equated the expulsion of Moitra to the suspension of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha. He claimed both were shown way out of the Lok Sabha because they questioned Gautam Adani. However, Gandhi was removed from Lok Sabha over a defamation case. He, however, has returned to Lok Sabha, thanks to the Supreme Court of India, which stayed his disqualification in August this year. On the other hand, Moitra was expelled from Lok Sabha for unethical behaviour.

Notably, the credentials she shared are not only for posting questions. But using her credentials, whoever accessed the account had access to documents not in public view, such as bills to be tabled and reports meant for MPs only. Moitra indulged in a serious breach of the country’s security by sharing the credentials.

Who is Dhiraj Prasad Sahu?

Dhiraj Prasad Sahu is a Rajya Sabha MP for Congress from Jharkhand. His family has been associated with the Congress party since independence. He became RS MP in by-polls in 2009 for the first time. In 2010, he was elected as RS MP for the second time; in 2018, he was re-elected for RS by Congress for the third time. He actively participates in parliamentary proceedings. Sahu was part of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. In recent raids at Odisha-based Boudh Distillery Pvt Ltd, where Dhiraj Prasad Sahu is a partner, the Income Tax Department recovered over 300 cr of unaccounted cash. Congress Party has distanced itself from the controversy, while BJP leaders, including PM Modi, have targeted Congress.

Hairs plucked, shoes hurled, and punches delivered: How 11 MPs in Lok Sabha caught and thrashed an intruder in parliament

OpIndia Staff
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Hairs plucked, shoes hurled, and punches delivered: How 11 MPs in Lok Sabha caught and thrashed an intruder in parliament

On December 13th, in a major security breach in the Parliament, two men jumped into the Lok Sabha well from the visitors’ gallery while the proceedings were ongoing. A video from the Lok Sabha shows the members of Parliament assaulting one of the two perpetrators who burst into the chamber during proceedings and tossed canisters emitting yellow smoke. The MPs can be seen plucking the hairs of the intruder, hurling shoes at him, and landing punches at him before encircling him.

As seen in the visuals from the Lok Sabha now going viral on social media, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs RK Singh Patel Manoj Kotak, Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Bahujan Samaj Party MP Malook Nagar and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) MP Hanuman Beniwal caught hold of the intruders identified as Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan and were then joined by other MPs including and ShivSena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant, in beating up the intruders. Around six to seven MPs can be seen holding the intruders.

Speaking about the sequence of events, BSP MP Malook Nagar said, “Our procedure of Zero Hour was going when a loud sound came from the back… I thought somebody fell from the visitor’s gallery, or maybe somebody pushed…meanwhile, another person jumped…then it was clear that something wrong is about to happen. He [intruder] moved towards the seats of MPs in the well and was jumping…then from one side Hanuman Beniwal and from the other I rushed and the moment the intruder took out his shoes we caught him tightly and other MPs came and thrashed him.”

In conversation with TimesNow MP Malook Nagar said, “When one of them (intruders) started pulling out a shoe, mujhe laga ab ye weapon ki bajay joote chalayega (I thought he would hit us with shoes)…”

Meanwhile, Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla told the media that one of the intruders was heading towards the speaker after jumping into the well. “…He had something in his hand which was emitting yellow-coloured smoke. I snatched it away and continued throwing it outside…This is a major security breach,” Aujla said.

Other than Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan, two others have been apprehended over involvement in the security breach. The duo detained outside the parliament have been identified as a 42-year-old woman named Neelam and a 25-year-old man named Amol Shinde. PTI reported that Neelam was also actively participating in the Farmers’ Protests earlier.

Meanwhile, the netizens are praising MPs who bravely confronted and thrashed the intruders. Many lauded the display of unity by the MPs coming from different political parties and ideologies when attacked that too in the temple of democracy. Notably, the security breach transpired on the 22nd anniversary of the Parliament attacks, which killed six Delhi Police officers, two Parliament security staff, in addition to a gardener.

Congress paints a cluelessly standing Rahul Gandhi as indulging in a brave act while other MPs tried to catch intruders

Amit Kelkar
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Congress paints a cluelessly standing Rahul Gandhi as indulging in a brave act while other MPs tried to catch intruders

Earlier today, the parliament was in the throes of chaos after an intruder jumped from the visitor’s gallery and ran into a chamber while the other remained in the gallery.

The two raised slogans and deployed colour canisters, causing yellow-coloured smoke to envelope the chamber, causing commotion among the lawmakers attending the session.

However, on a day that marks the 22nd anniversary of the cowardly attack on Parliament and the day Khalistani terrorist Gurupatwant Singh Pannu threatened to “shake the very foundation of Parliament”, the Congress party somehow found a way to glorify their leader, Rahul Gandhi, and in the process stooped down to newer lows in their perennial act of servitude to the Gandhi family.

Supriya Shrinate, a staunch Gandhi loyalist and a chairperson of Social media and Digital platforms for Congress, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to fawn over Rahul Gandhi for merely standing over and helplessly watching over the proceedings as intruders barged in and desecrated the temple of democracy.

A picture of the attack has been doing the rounds on the internet when the intruders deployed the colour canisters, and several MPs rushed to either dodge the attack or get hold of the interlopers.

In this picture, the Gandhi scion is seen standing at a place, presumably near his parliament seat, and with his face towards the visitor’s gallery from where one of the intruders jumped and entered the chamber.

Shrinate shared the viral picture with Rahul Gandhi in the spotlight, highlighting how the senior Congress leader is brave, not just in his words but in his actions, too.

Shrinate shared the viral picture with Rahul Gandhi in the spotlight, highlighting how the senior Congress leader is brave, not just in his words but in his actions, too.

Many of them even succeeded in catching the intruder, who was then thrashed by the lawmakers for jeopardising their security and disrupting the parliamentary proceedings.

For Shrinate, standing in one’s place and cluelessly trying to process what just transpired even when other MPs scrambled to thwart an attack on the same day as that of the 2001 parliament attack was an admirable act of courage and bravery. Catching hold of him and thrashing him was not as indicative of one’s bravery as standing at one’s place and staring at the visitor’s gallery if one is given to believe Shrinate’s interpretation of the incident.

And it is not entirely surprising that Congress hailed inaction as a manifestation of bravery, given that it did not bother to teach Pakistan a lesson after the gruesome Mumbai 26/11 attacks that took place under the Congress-led UPA II reign, when Manmohan Singh was India’s prime minister.

Perhaps that, too, was an act of bravery since it is incredibly valorous to continue putting up with terror attacks instead of giving in to the urge to sanction Surgical Strikes and raise the cost of asymmetrical warfare for an incorrigible neighbour.

But none of this matters to the Congress party and its minions because a Prime Minister ordering attacks on terror bases operating in an enemy country is a ‘run-of-the-mill’ decision as opposed to Rahul Gandi, who was exuding “bravery and courage” by simply standing straight and gazing over the visitor gallery from where intruders jumped in the parliament chamber, trying to process what just happened even as other lawmakers got hold of the intruder and thrashed him.

For the Congress party and its minions, who like to name-call journalists who ask them uncomfortable questions as Godi media and ridicule rational folks as ‘Bhakts’, indulging in sycophancy and showing absolute loyalty to the Gandhi family, even at the cost of the party’s political future, is second nature. It is for this reason that they have no qualms in hailing a clueless Rahul Gandhi as indulging in a brave act, even though it goes against the grain of common sense and rationality.

Parliament security breach: Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla orders high-level probe, announces comprehensive review of security

ANI
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Parliament security breach: Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla orders high-level probe, announces comprehensive review of security

After the security of Parliament was breached, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla ordered a “high-level inquiry” into the incident in which two people jumped into the house chamber from the visitor’s gallery with coloured smoke canisters.

LS Speaker lauded the Lok Sabha members, security personnel, chamber staff, and marshals for rising to the occasion and capturing the perpetrators.

“The incident that happened today is a topic of concern for all of us and is serious as well…A high-level investigation is being done and accordingly, action will be taken. A comprehensive review will be done regarding the security in the House.

He said in 2001 too central paramilitary forces and other security had made collective efforts and prevented a terror attack on Parliament.

“This has also been sought by members of Parliament. What improvements can be made in the security measure will be assessed after discussing it matter with members,” Birla said.

“The security will be further strengthened in consultations with the members, I will be discussing the matter with leaders of all political parties,” the Speaker said.

The Speaker adjourned the House till 11:00 am tomorrow.

On the 22nd anniversary of the Parliament terror attack, there was a major security breach when two intruders entered the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitor gallery during Zero Hour.

In a security breach in Lok Sabha, two men jumped into the House from the visitor’s gallery and had canisters in their hand, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said.

They released yellow gas from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by MPs.

Visuals showed an unidentified man jumping from the visitor’s gallery of Lok Sabha after which there was a slight commotion. The House was adjourned till 2 pm.

The incident happened when members were raising matters of urgent public importance and BJP MP Khagen Murmu was raising his issue.

Simultaneously, two individuals, including a woman, sprayed colored gas and shouted slogans outside the Parliament premises.

Earlier in the day, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said that two men jumped into the House from the visitor’s gallery and had canisters in their hands.

(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

Parliament attack accused Manoranjan was involved in farming, was a student leader, says family

OpIndia Staff
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Parliament attack accused Manoranjan was involved in farming, was a student leader, says family

A group of four individuals today breached the Parliament security even as the country was marking the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack.

Two men jumped from the visitor’s gallery into the Lok Sabha hall. One of the two men began to jumped over the benches towards the well. He was removed his footwear during this time and started looking around him trying to escape as members of Parliament surrounded him.

The two accused have been identified as Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan from Mysore. Both accused have been arrested.

In a conversation with the media, Manoranjan’s father Devraj said he studied Engineering in BIT and used to travel to Mumbai and Delhi regularly.

As per reports, Manoranjan’s father has condemned his actions and said that he was unaware that his son was in Delhi.

“If he has done something wrong, he is not my son. But let me tell you, he is good…I was unaware he is in Delhi. He was a student leader in his college days, but I do know about his affiliations. I condemn this act,” Devaraj said.

The Vijayanagar police in Mysore has collected information about Manoranjan from his father. Manoranjan had reportedly introduced Sagar Sharma as his friend to the Kodagu MP Pratap Simha’s office and reportedly acquired the visitor’s pass on the pretext of visiting the new Parliament.

As per sources, Manoranjan would visit Simha’s office quite often. Reports quoting sources close to the MP stated that three people including a woman had gotten visitor’s passes but the woman was denied entry as she had arrived with a child whose name was not included.

The woman had reportedly no connection with the two accused.

Meanwhile, the second accused, Sagar Sharma, who was accompanying Manoranjan, is reportedly still an engineering student.

Meanwhile, two of the protesters have been detained from outside the Parliament for releasing similar smoke cannisters as was done by the accused inside the House.

The demonstrators have been identified as Neelam (42), daughter of Kaur Singh from Hisar, Haryana. She was staying in Shree Balaji Girls PG near Red Square area in Hisar.

OpIndia spoke with the PG staff on call who informed that Neelam was living there for 2-3 months now and that officials have collected required information about her.

The last accused, who was accompanying Neelam outside the Parliament, has been identified as 25-year-old Amol Shinde from Latur, Maharashtra.

The duo was heard chanting slogans including, “Tanashahi nahin chalega,” “Manipur ko insaaf do, “Samvidhaan bachao”, “Mahilayon par atyachar nahin chalega,” “Bharat Mata Ki Jai,” “Tanashahi band karo,” “Jai Bheem Jai Bharat,” “Vande Mataram”.

In another video, a journalist can be seen questioning Neelam while she is being taken by the police. In response, the woman accused can be heard saying, “Our Indian government and the atrocities being committed against us…when we talk about our rights…we are lathicharged and jailed and totured. So we did not have any other way.”

When asked which organisation they belong to, she said, “We are not from any organisation, we are common people. we are students, because we are employed, our parents work so hard, labourers, farmers, small businessmen but no one is heard. They try to supress our voice but this tyranny will not be tolerated. End the tanashahi (tyranny). Bharat Mata Ki Jai.”

Neelam’s younger brother spoke to the media saying that the family was not aware that she had gone to Delhi.

Her brother also revealed that Neelam was part of the farmers’ protest and had spoken on the issue of unemployment several times.

“She has raised the matter of unemployment several times…she had participated in the farmers’ protest…you know that unemployment is an issue. Her first protest was in the farmers’ protest,” the brother said.

The brother said that Neelam had left Hisar some 5-6 months ago for education.

Speaking on the point of unemployment raised by Neelam, her brother narrated an incident wherein during an interview a person with less marks was cleared but because her full name is Neelam Devi, they told her to get an affidavit.

“We don’t know whether what she did was right or wrong,” her brother said.

According to the family, Neelam is qualified with BA, MA, B’Ed, M.Ed, CTET, M.Phil and NET.

Parliament security breach: Arrested woman Neelam had also participated in farmers’ protests, family says they had no idea about her plans

OpIndia Staff
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Parliament security breach: Arrested woman Neelam had also participated in farmers’ protests, family says they had no idea about her plans

On 13th December, two men breached the wall of the viewer’s gallery in the Lok Sabha and entered the aisle area where MPs sit to open a smoke canister. In the meanwhile, a woman and a man were apprehended on the premises of the parliament for doing the same activity, releasing yellow and pink colored smoke from canisters. As the security personnel led the woman and the man away, the woman was seen shouting slogans like ‘Jai Bheem’, ‘Kaala Kanoon wapas lo’, ‘Manipur ko insaf do, ‘Bharat mata ki jai’ etc.

As per reports, the woman is named Neelam Kaur. Her younger brother told ANI the family had no idea when she went to Delhi. They were under the impression that she went to Hisar for studies.

The younger brother told ANI that Neelam has multiple degrees and she had earlier visited te family 2 days back. Neelam has reportedly done BA, MA, B.Ed, M.Ed, and M.Phil and she has qualified CTET and NET. The brother added that Neelam had also participated in the farmers’ protest.

Neelam’s mother also repeated the statement. She added that Neelam has been worried about being unemployed and had stated earlier that it is better to die than to be jobless. As per reports, Neelam Kaur was preparing for the civil services in Hisar. She hails from Haryana’s Jind.

As of now, it is unclear if Neelam was associated with any political group or has any criminal links.

Of the two men who had entered the Lok Sabha, one had also raised similar slogans ‘Tanashahi nahi chalegi’ and ‘Kala kanoon. wapas lo’.

While at present it is not known who is behind this attack, it is notable that Khalistani separatist and Sikhs for Justice leader  Gurpatwant Singh Pannun had recently threatened to attack the Indian parliament on or before 13th December.

Gujarat: AAP MLA Bhupat Bhayani resigns, says ‘AAP not a proper platform to work for country’; speculations of two more MLAs leaving the party

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat: AAP MLA Bhupat Bhayani resigns, says ‘AAP not a proper platform to work for country’; speculations of two more MLAs leaving the party

In Gujarat, the Aam Aadmi Party suffered a major setback before the Lok Sabha elections. AAP MLA Bhupat Bhayani resigned from the party and the post of MLA on Wednesday (13th December). He has said that he is leaving the Aam Aadmi Party due to nationalist ideology. The speaker of the Gujarat state assembly has accepted Bhayani’s resignation.

Bhupat Bhayani said that only due to nationalist ideology, he decided to leave the Aam Aadmi Party and has taken this decision after discussing it with the people of his constituency. It has been only one year since the assembly elections. The MLA’s exit has also dealt a major blow to AAP’s preparations for the Lok Sabha elections.

On Wednesday at 10:45 AM, Bhayani handed in his resignation to the Assembly Speaker, Shankar Chaudhary. The Speaker announced that Bhayani personally delivered his resignation today, and it was duly accepted.

The Aam Aadmi Party is preparing to contest elections in Gujarat under the I.N.D.I. alliance. Bhupat Bhayani said that he was earlier in the BJP and was associated with the ideology of nationalism. He said that he was going to leave the Aam Aadmi Party and join the BJP only because of the ideology of nationalism.

Bhayani said, “I cannot be against PM Modi and I belong to nationalist ideology. That is why I have decided to leave the Aam Aadmi Party. Aam Aadmi Party is not the appropriate platform to work in the interest of the country.” Although he did not clarify when he would join the BJP, he accepted that he would join the party for sure. He said that if the party wants, he will contest the election once again.

Bhupat Bhayani, a BJP member for 14 years, joined the Congress and won the 2017 elections. Then he made a surprising shift to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) just before the 2022 elections. Winning a seat as an MLA from Visavadar on the AAP ticket, he faced talks of resignation within a week of his victory. Initially, he deferred the decision, stating that he would consult with the people in his constituency before concluding. However, a year later, he decided to step down from his legislative position.

This resignation has once again disrupted the functioning of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly. Throughout the past few decades, the assembly has not consistently retained its full complement of 182 legislators, with disruptions occurring due to various factors such as the passing of a legislator or changes in political affiliations.

AAP state president Isudan Gadhvi has said in his first reaction that the BJP is running a dictatorship, and forcing MLAs to resign. He said that the BJP is afraid of Aam Aadmi Party.

More AAP MLAs to resign in Gujarat?

Currently, only four AAP legislators remain in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly, and they may also encounter challenges in the run-up to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. It is speculated that 2 more MLAs from the Aam Aadmi Party may also resign. According to a report by Divya Bhaskar, after the resignation of Bhupat Bhayani, now Botad MLA Umesh Makwana and Gariadhar MLA Sudhir Vaghani can also resign. The report said that MLA Makwana will make an official announcement soon.

According to a report by Zee 24 Kalak, Sudhir Vaghani is also unhappy with the party and can leave the party at any time. But in a conversation with TV9, Sudhir Vaghani denied these claims and said that he was not resigning. There was no statement from Umesh Makwana in this regard.

Similar claims are being made in many other reports and it is being said that two more AAP MLAs may resign. It is also being speculated that all the MLAs of the Aam Aadmi Party will leave the party before the Lok Sabha elections. There is also talk of the resignation of a Congress MLA.

The Aam Aadmi Party won only five seats in the Gujarat Assembly elections while losing deposits in 128 seats. The five seats are Botad, Gariadhar, Visavadar, Jamjodhpur and Dediapada. The MLA of Visavadar has already resigned. It is said that the MLAs of Gariadhar and Botad may also resign. Meanwhile, Chaitar Vasava, the MLA from Dediapada, has been absconding for several weeks in connection with assaulting forest department workers.

Uttar Pradesh: Blasphemy case filed against a Muslim student of AMU-run school for allegedly insulting Prophet Muhammad

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Blasphemy case filed against a Muslim student of AMU-run school for allegedly insulting Prophet Muhammad

An 18-year-old Muslim student in class 12 from Bijnor was assaulted by other Muslim residents of a hostel on the campus of Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh after he was accused of uttering offensive remarks about the Prophet Muhammad as well as sharing the same on social media. The incident transpired on 12th December in Aligarh’s Civil Lines Police Station area.

A First Information Report was registered against him and cops have initiated a probe into the matter. Furthermore, he was suspended from the Senior Secondary School for Boys which is run by the university. According to the complainant who is of Kasgand and is a pupil in the varsity, the boy has a history of passing similar statements against Islam and is anti-Muslim. The complainant told OpIndia in an interview that the accused student has a habit of making comments against the Prophet.

The complaint stated that the former along with some of his acquaintances was present in the Allama Iqbal Hostel of AMU when the offender arrived there and began speaking disparaging and inappropriate things about Islam and its prophet. It is reported that he began using derogatory words after the complainant stopped him and announced, “Do whatever you can, I will continue to say all this.” The complainant claimed that the remarks had offended his religious sentiments.

Strict action has been demanded against the culprit after a case has been launched under sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) based on the complaint. OpIndia has a copy of the FIR.

The complainant and his colleagues beat up the accused in the name of blasphemy, per several media accounts. However, the former countered that these charges were unfounded while talking to OpIndia. He alleged to have all of the hostel’s CCTV footage as evidence. He responded with a “No” when inquired whether there was any proof of insult to Prophet Muhammed by the student. 

Notably, AMU Deputy Proctor S Ali Nawaz Zaidi revealed that the pupil was attacked by the claimant and his aides. “The student was suspended with immediate effect and an inquiry has been ordered into his objectionable posts. Till the completion of the probe, he will remain suspended. Hostel inmates thrashed the student after locking him in a room last evening and forced him to delete the post. The student ran out of the hostel and was saved by security personnel,” he mentioned.

‘Don’t make us reactivate earlier order of attaching Delhi ad budget’: SC warns Kejriwal govt of tough action for not releasing funds for RRTS project

OpIndia Staff
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‘Don’t make us reactivate earlier order of attaching Delhi ad budget’: SC warns Kejriwal govt of tough action for not releasing funds for RRTS project

On 13th December (Wednesday), the Supreme Court issued a stern warning to Delhi’s Arvind Kejriwal government over the delay in providing funds for the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS). The court observed that the Delhi government should refrain from compelling the court to pass ‘tough orders’. The bench noted that if the Delhi government doesn’t pay its share of dues for the project, it will be forced to reactivate the earlier order and attach the AAP government’s advertisement budget.  

Notably, in November this year, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia directed that if the Delhi government fails to allocate funds for the Rapid Rail project, the amount will be redirected from the Arvind Kejriwal government’s advertisement budget for the current year.

During the previous hearing, the Supreme Court had observed that the problem was that the Delhi government could make a budgetary provision of Rs 580 crore for advertisements but it could not make a budgetary provision of Rs 400 crore as part of its share for the vital infrastructure project.

Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul had said, “If such national projects are affected, and if money is being spent on advertising, we would be inclined to ask the money to be directed to the infrastructure”.

Pertinently, the Supreme Court was apprised today that the Delhi government has still not paid its share for the RRTS project during the ongoing hearing on pleas concerning air pollution in Delhi. 

Responding to the charges, the Delhi government’s counsel Senior Advocate S Muralidhar defended the delay in funding. Muralidhar argued that the Delhi government will release these funds when the government of India officially approves the project. He claimed that the NCRTC website says the Centre has not done it, adding that Delhi-Alwar and Delhi-Panipat Corridor projects are yet to be approved by the Centre. The advocate claimed that Delhi govt has made budgetary provisions for the projects, and the funds will be released after the projects are approved.

In reply, the bench warned, “These are new excuses (smiles). We are not afraid to pass tough orders. If you do not pay why will even other States pay.” The court also noted that other states have released their share of the funds, and therefore the Delhi govt also should do the same.

The opposing counsel pointed out that these projects are sanctioned through international plans and delays escalate the cost. 

The bench stated, “Mr Muralidhar you will make me reactivate my earlier order (of attaching Delhi ad budget).” 

The Supreme Court then gave 7 days to the Delhi government to release the funds for the project. The court strictly directed the state govt to abide by the schedule concerning the allocation of funds for this project.

Meanwhile, earlier on Monday (11th December), the Supreme Court had slammed the Delhi government over its ‘lackadaisical approach’ towards providing funds to the Delhi High Court and district judiciary for infrastructure development.

The bench was headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and included Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. The bench said, “What is happening? What is your government doing? You don’t want to give any funds to the Delhi High Court? We need approval by Thursday. It is a model High Court and look at the condition. Judges are undergoing training and there are no courtrooms.” 

Omidyar decides to shut shop in India after ‘achieving the goal of catalysing impact’: But here’s why its story might not be over

Paurush Gupta
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Omidyar decides to shut shop in India after ‘achieving the goal of catalysing impact’: But here’s why its story might not be over

Omidyar Network India will exit the Indian market by the end of the year 2024 and will not make any new investments in the country, News website Yourstory first reported on 12th December (Tuesday). Omidyar Network is reportedly a self-styled “philanthropic investment firm” comprising a foundation and an impact investment firm.

It was established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, a French-born Iranian-American and his wife Pam. In 2019, Omidyar Network India was carved out of its parent entity, the US-based Omidyar Network. 

The Omidyar Network India, however, will keep following up on deals it had committed earlier, as per sources familiar with the development. 

Omidyar Group has been active in India since 2010 and has made investments of over $500 million. Out of this nearly $150 million was directed to non-profit investments. It has invested in several startups in India like ZestMoney, DealShare, VerSe (Dailyhunt), Vedantu, 1mg, Bounce, Bijak, Doubtnut, Entri, HealthKart, Indifi, M2P, Pratilipi, and in several media organisations, particularly the leftist portals like Newslaundry. 

Confirming the development in an internal blog post which was reviewed by YourStory, the firm stated, “After several months of deliberation, it has been decided that Omidyar Network India will stop making new investments and will completely transition out of the market by the end of 2024. Over the next two months, the board and leadership team will assess how best to manage the organisation’s portfolio while recognising the long and trusted partnerships that the Omidyar Network India team has built.” 

In their statement, Omidyar Network India asserted that it has achieved its primary objective of “catalysing impact” and will not make any new investment. 

The statement read, “Over the last decade, Omidyar Network India has played a critical role in building the impact investment sector, especially focussed on the Next Half Billion. We are proud of our work in this space, which is now attracting larger pools of capital from local venture capital or impact investors and domestic philanthropists than ever before. Having achieved our primary objective of catalysing impact, Omidyar Network India will not be making any further investments in India.” 

Conspicuously, Omidyar Network is known for funding many publications, particularly the leftist portals across India including Scroll(dot)in and Newslaundry.

Omidyar Funded several leftist news portals

Leftist portals like Newslaundry which are under agencies’ scanner for alleged tax evasions and FCRA violations had been receiving funding from Omidyar Network. 

In September 2021, the Income Tax department carried out a “survey operation” at the office of the website Newslaundry as part of an investigation into the finances and funding of the organisation.

Back then, an IT official had said, “NewsClick and Newslaundry received Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) at a very high premium while their net worth was very low. There are also gaps in the financials of both the companies, which suggest tax evasion but we are verifying the same.”

Newslaundry received funding from the Odimyar Network in 2016, “to expand its reportage and content production teams, leverage its existing content by increasing its exposure to a larger audience, and experiment with new formats of content creation”.

Newslaundry’s Editor-in-Chief Madhu Trehan in an email response to The Print confirmed that Omidyar Network has been funding Newslaundry. The email read, “If you look at our website, you can see how much stake Omidyar Network owns in Newslaundry. It is up on our website. The amount raised and equity percentage is on what was then the FIPB website, and that is public information.” 

According to the Newslaundry website, the majority of the company’s equity is held by its three co-founders, Abhinandan Sekhri, Roopak Kapoor, and Prashant Sareen, and by an impact fund Omidyar Network.  

In 2016, the Omidyar Network issued a public statement on its website at the time of investing in Newslaundry. It read, “Our purpose in funding Newslaundry is to invest in a media organisation that is exploring innovative approaches to drive transparency and higher standards throughout the media landscape in India. We also hope that the learnings from Newslaundry’s journey to develop a new business model for independent news production will act as a blueprint for other organisations to follow, develop, and spread.”

Meanwhile, Newsclick founder Prabir Purkayastha has been addressing several events organised by organisations that receive funds from abroad, including from the Omidyar Network. 

As per an India Today report, in its initial years in India, Omidyar Network backed around 25 organisations that deal with news and government transparency. These organisations include News Trust, a news-discovery site run by the nonprofit journalism center, the Poynter Institute; the Sunlight Foundation, dedicated to government transparency; and Transparency & Accountability Initiative, an organisation based in London.

In July 2020, Omidyar Network India funded Rs. 10.75 crore for 67 projects under the rapid response funding initiative for COVID-19 across the country. The initiative was launched on 24th March 2020 and it funded organisations like change.org, Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation, and crowdfunding platform Milaap. Another major beneficiary of Omidyar Network is ADR (Association for Democratic Reforms), which also has the Ford Foundation as one of its donors. 

In January 2019, Regional language news aggregator Dailyhunt raised Rs 24.61 crore in funding from Omidyar Network and Sequoia Capital among others. Additionally, Verse Innovation, the parent company of Dailyhunt and short video platform Josh, also counts Omidyar Network as its investor.

Apart from that, in 2019, it came to light that the Omidyar Group was one of the donors to Forbidden Stories (FS), a dubious organisation launched with the underlying aim of effectuating regime changes and installing pliant governments in countries across the world that align with the left-liberal ideology and reinforce the primacy of the Left’s narrative.

FS was launched by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Freedom Voices Network. RSF is the same organisation that came up with a dishonest ‘Press Freedom Index‘ to malign India internationally and portray it as a country where journalists are targeted and persecuted for pursuing truth.

The Omidyar Group donated to FS through a front organisation Luminate, whose Strategic Plan for 2018-2022 mentioned “Illiberal democracies’ are emerging,” “Civic space is shrinking, and civil society is under attack,” “Rising populism is creating ruptures in historical party politics,” “Insular, nationalist perspectives are resonating with more people,” and “Communities are becoming more polarized among other things.

While the strategic plan and its animosity towards nationalism made its ideological orientations abundantly clear, it is important to note that the Omidyar Group funded a host of media organisations worldwide, mostly leftist globalist portals such as Scroll.in. 

Scroll Media Inc., the operator of the news portal Scroll.in, secured funding from the Omidyar Network in 2014. However, the exact amount of the funding was not disclosed. During that period, Samir Patil, the CEO of Scroll, mentioned, “We cannot disclose the deal size.”

Omidyar and George Soros-linked organisations working in tandem

Additionally, in 2008, the Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF) had joined hands with Omidyar Network, the Indian School of Business (ISB), and Google.org to launch their 17 million SONG fund to boost investment. 

Furthermore, Soros’ Foundation and Omidyar Network have also funded $1.3 million to Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), with a long track record of attempts to thrust a biased fact-checking regime on India’s IFCN network.

In September 2023, a coalition of 22 groups, including prominent left-wing organisations pledged more than $500 million to fund local media publications in the next five years, according to an announcement.

The new coalition named “Press Forward” includes many groups that have left-wing bias based on their funding and initiatives. One of the groups in this alliance is Democracy Fund, an organisation run by left-wing billionaire Pierre Omidyar.

According to tax documents obtained by an independent journalist Lee Fang, Democracy Fund reportedly provided a $130,000 grant to the Center for Internet Security to fund a “portal” that was used to flag and censor social media content containing “misinformation” during the 2020 election.

Omidyar’s beneficiary Forbidden Story and its tentacles

It is pertinent to note that apart from Omidyar, other donors to Forbidden Story include George Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF), whose attitude towards the Indian Government is well documented, and Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, which is cloaked in a shroud of secrecy. 

FS also proudly displayed the endorsement by Mediapart’s Head of Investigations Fabrice Afri on its website until recently. Mediapart is the same leftist French organisation that has been peddling propaganda over the Rafale deal. FS has now removed the page “The support us” altogether from its website.

Incidentally, in July 2021, the leftist news portal Wire published what it called an ‘explosive story‘ involving allegations of spying with spyware Pegasus. The Wire and its partners were fed the information by two very dubious organisations. One was Amnesty International and the other was Forbidden Stories.

The questionable antecedents of the Omidyar Network

In May 2022, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) named the promoters of NGO Omidyar Network and several others including government officials in an FCRA bribery scandal case. The development came after the CBI had filed an FIR regarding a national FCRA funding scam. According to reports, the promoters of NGO Omidyar Network have been under the scanner for allegedly bribing officials to receive FCRA licenses. Additionally, at least 6 to 8 more networks were also under the CBI scanner.

Before that, in September 2021, the Ministry of Home Affairs had put the Omidyar Network under the FCRA watchlist.

In a nutshell, Omidyar Group invested in organisations and efforts that were aimed to dislodge governments and regimes it thought did not align with the “liberal worldview” by bankrolling news organisations, entities, movies, etc that they thought would aid them in building an alternative narrative and challenging the legitimacy of the incumbent governments they did not like. It had been a “catalysing impact” through various organisations that have been cloaked as non-profit, ideologically independent entities but in reality, have been trying to achieve their vested agenda of pliant governments in the host country.

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