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‘Nehru’s photos will be removed’: CT Ravi responds to Priyank Kharge’s statement of removing Sarvarkar’s photos from Karnataka assembly

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‘Nehru’s photos will be removed’: CT Ravi responds to Priyank Kharge’s statement of removing Sarvarkar’s photos from Karnataka assembly

Reacting to Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge’s comment suggesting the removal of the portrait of India’s freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar from the state Assembly building, BJP leader CT Ravi on Thursday warned of the removal of the portrait of “dynast” Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, when it comes to power in the state.

“If Veer Savarkar’s photo is removed from the Assembly or Council, we will protest strongly. And mark my words, we will ensure that Nehru’s photos will be removed when we return to power,” Ravi posted on X.

He said that while Nehru was getting “VIP treatment” in jails, the “great Nationalist” Veer Savarkar was subjected to untold torture by the British.

“I invite you to visit the Cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar Islands where the great Nationalist Veer Savarkar was subjected to untold torture by the British. All expenses will be borne by me. You can see the kind of pain and suffering Veer Savarkar went through while your Nehru was getting VIP treatment in jails from the same British,” The former BJP National general secretary posted on X.

He also challenged Priyank Kharge to a public debate with him on the subject of “who was a true Freedom Fighter, your Nehru or Veer Savarkar”.

“I challenge you to a public debate from the Cellular Jail itself about who was a true Freedom Fighter, your Nehru or Veer Savarkar. Veer Savarkar was not a Dynast like Nehru or you whose photo can be taken down by a bunch of Dynasty Worshippers,” He added in the post.

Priyank Kharge on Thursday told reporters that he was of the opinion that the photo of Savarkar should not be in the Karnataka Assembly as his “ideology incites hatred”.

“I am of the strong opinion that Savarkar’s photo should not be there in the Assembly or the Counsel. If BJP has a problem with it, it is their problem. It is my opinion that anybody whose ideology incites hatred, creates division should not be there, Savarkar’s portrait should not be there,” Priyank Kharge said. 

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

SC Bar Association president writes to DY Chandrachud expressing shock over Dushyant Dave’s open letter to the CJI, asks to ignore such ‘pressure tactics’

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SC Bar Association president writes to DY Chandrachud expressing shock over Dushyant Dave’s open letter to the CJI, asks to ignore such ‘pressure tactics’

Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Adish C Aggarwala on Thursday wrote to Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud expressing “shock” at the practice of a senior lawyer to write letters to the CJI. In the letter, senior advocate Aggarwala requested Justice Chandrachud to ignore “such malicious, motivated and dubious attempts”, saying that these are nothing but “self-serving attacks on the independence of the judiciary”.

Aggarwala’s letter came a day after senior advocate Dushyant Dave wrote an open letter to CJI D Y Chandrachud expressing anguish over “certain happenings” in the listing of cases and their reallocation to other benches in the Supreme Court. Dave had sought immediate corrective measures in these matters. Responding to this letter, the SCBA president wrote, “To my utter shock, I have received a public letter which is stated to be ‘an open letter’ to your lordship by a senior member of the Bar.”

Adish C Aggarwala also cited past incidents when Dushyant Dave had written letters to the Supreme Court judges including the CJI. He mentioned how Dave had written to CJI Ranjan Gogoi in 2019 alleging irregular listing of two Adani Group cases before a vacation bench. Then in September 2020, Dushyant Dave wrote to Chief Justice SA Bobde alleging that he was not allowed to speak at the farewell of Justice Arun Mishra.

“If the Chief Justice of India succumbs to such pressure tactics, it would sound a death knell to the independence of this great institution at the hands of certain vested interests,” Aggarwala said in the letter. He wrote that a growing tendency has emerged to write such letters to sitting CJIs to “exert undue pressure” on the administration of justice. He added that such letters are written with respect to a few selected cases and at the behest of some influential litigants.

SCBA president Adish C Aggarwala further said that “undignified behavior” with judges by some counsel a few days before their retirement has become a common phenomenon and is aimed at attracting publicity and creating an element of uneasiness among the judges.

“Owing to this misbehaviour by some senior counsel, the Bar suffers disgrace and the harmony between the Bar and the Bench gets disturbed. The ill behaving lawyers still stand to benefit because they attract clients who want to put pressure on the courts to decide cases in a certain manner,” he wrote.

Aggarwala stressed that the administration cannot waste its precious time entertaining every letter making wild and imaginary accusations. He said that the assignment of cases to benches is not open to question, and the CJI is not required to justify such decisions nor need to respond to such allegations of improper bench allocation.

“The writing of such letters is therefore malicious, and calculated to embarrass the Administration”, he said, stressing the need to put an end to such ‘open letters’ to the top judiciary by senior lawyers.  “The time has come where one should put an end to the practice of writing of such letters,” Aggarwala wrote.

“This will subserve the interest of the Bar and will strengthen the Administration of Justice. It is essential to curb every attempt to scandalize the court mechanisms with insinuations and falsehood, aimed at mischievously shaking the confidence of the public in our courts,” he further added.

“It is essential to curb every attempt to scandalise the court mechanisms with insinuations and falsehood, aimed at mischievously shaking the confidence of the public in our courts,” Aggarwala said.

He said the Bar has full faith and reposes full confidence in the neutrality and unprecedented administrative skill of the CJI and other judges of the Supreme Court. “After your lordship took over as Chief Justice of India, all administrative issues have been streamlined right from mentioning of matters, listing of cases and other issues concerning the registry,” he said.

“While heading one of the three organs of the State, the Chief Justice of India is bound to encounter some detractors who could be canvassing for disgruntled litigants who couldn’t secure the relief they desired,” the letter said.

It is notable that in his letter to the CJI, Dushyant Dave, a former SCBA president, had said he was deeply anguished at certain happenings about the listing and ‘sudden transfer’ of cases by the apex court registry.

He had added that some cases were sensitive in nature involving “human rights, freedom of speech, democracy, and functioning of statutory and constitutional institutions”. Dave had expressed regret that he had to write the open letter as efforts by some lawyers to meet the CJI personally did not yield any result.

Calls from Dubai-Pakistani numbers, demand for money and then murder: Shocking revelations on the conspiracy to murder Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi

OpIndia Staff
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Calls from Dubai-Pakistani numbers, demand for money and then murder: Shocking revelations on the conspiracy to murder Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi

The script for the assassination of Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi who was the national president of the Shri Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena was written six years prior following the death of infamous Rajasthani mobster Anandpal Singh in a police confrontation, reported Aaj Tak. Lawrence Bishnoi and Anandpal Singh had a long-standing animosity while the latter and Sukhdev Singh were friends during that time. However, many similar occurrences transpired in the meantime which led to the enmity grow stronger and then what Sukhdev Singh had been dreading for a long time eventually materialized.

Sidhu Moose Wala died on 29th May 2022 and Raju Thehat on 3rd December of the same year. Duran Mandeep Singh Toofan and Manmohan Singh Mohana were killed on 25th February of this year whereas Tillu Tajpuria died a little over two months later on 2nd May. Sukhdool Singh alias Sukha Duneke lost his life on 5th September, Deepak Mann on 1st October and Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi on 5th December.

New trends from Sidhu Moose Wala to Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi

Those days are long gone when the murderer would hide their identity after the crime was committed. Now, the accused first kills and then boosts about the same and takes responsibility for his heinous deeds. This horrible trend started with Sidhu Moose Wala and continued with the death of Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi.

Gangster Rohit Godara’s post

The post read, “Ram Ram to all brothers. We are Rohit Godara Kapurisar and Goldie Brar. We take full responsibility for the murder that occurred today. It was committed by us. We want to tell you brothers that he was collaborating with our enemies and helping them. He was working to strengthen them. As for our adversaries, they better keep their biers ready on the doorsteps of their houses, as we will meet them soon.”

One killer and multiple killings

The individual accountable for each of these killings is the same, even though the names, addresses and cities of the deceased listed above with dates are different. However, he never owns up to his wrongdoings or accepts accountability and instead, his henchmen always take the fall for him. That person has been imprisoned for the past nine years and is India’s biggest Lawrence Bishnoi.

Dispute between Bishnoi and Gogamedi

While other people were charged with the shooting of Shri Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena national president Sukhdev Singh in his Jaipur home that fateful afternoon, Rohit Godara, a goon of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang was the one who gave the order to pull the trigger. Rohit Godara who has a reward of one lakh rupees managed to flee the country on a fake passport in 2022.

Gogamedi’s name made headlines after Anandpal’s demise

The plot to eliminate Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi began around six years ago. It started with the killing of Rajasthan’s notorious gangster Anandpal Singh in an encounter. He was a Rajput and Gogamedi was a prominent leader of the same caste. After the former’s death on 24th June 2017, he sat on a protest with his corpse for the next 15 days. It was a major matter at the time. The incident had brought Sukhdev Singh into the limelight for the first time outside the state.

Gogamedi became target of Bishnoi

Sukhdev Singh always advocated for Anandpal while he had a massive conflict with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Now, whether intentionally or not, he had also turned into the gang’s target. However, the risk was not as significant back then. Sukhdev Singh was a member of the Rajput outfit Rashtriya Karni Sena at the time. However, a disagreement arose within the organisation. He was already well-known due to the protests that followed Anandpal’s killing. He then created the Shri Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena in 2017 after sensing the occasion and atmosphere and became its supremo.

Raju Thehat was murdered in his home

In addition to Rajput politics, Sukhdev Singh also worked in property dealing and gained a lot of nemesis because of this. Meanwhile, he became closer to a gangster named Raju Thehat after Anandpal’s demise. Raju Thehat, co-incidentally was on the target list of Lawrence Bishnoi gang. On 3rd December he was also shot dead in his residence just like Sukhdev Singh and Rohit Godara took responsibility for this murder as well.

Rohit Godara was angry with Sukhdev Singh

Sukhdev Singh’s own politics and property business were running smoothly amidst all the rivalries. Howvere, the land business placed him squarely in the Lawrence Bishnoi gang’s crosshairs. Rohit Godara believed that Sukhdev Singh only helped the Rajputs and did not do justice to the Jat community. Sukhdev Singh had backed the former group in a few of these land disputes which made Rohit Gadara furious with the Rajput leader. He initially threatened the former about a year and a half ago by making calls from numbers in Pakistan and Dubai. However, Sukhdev Singh dismissed it at the time.

Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for multiple murders

Meanwhile, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for several homicides and Sukhdev Singh was regularly threatened. Afterwards, Sukhdev Singh requested security for himself in March of this year after first alerting the Rajasthan Police to this threat. This demand was brought up in a letter from Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi to the state police.

Police could not provide security

Seven months went by between March and December and the authorities were unable to determine whether Sukhdev Singh needed security or not. Sukhdev Singh became irate with the Rajasthan Police and in the interim hired three security guards for his protection. He now left the house and attended gatherings under their watch unaware that a conspiracy was being hatched somewhere far away to end their lives.

Rohit Godara hatched a conspiracy to kill Sukhdev Singh

Sukhdev Singh was on Rohit Godara’s hit list for the last one and a half years and he was constantly looking for opportunities to kill him. He needed someone that Sukhdev Singh knew in order to reach him so that he could send his shooter to assassinate the man. He found the chance in the form of Naveen Shekhawat who belonged to the Rajputana region in Jaipur. He had a clothing store and was well acquainted with Sukhdev Singh. Rohit Godara was aware of the same. The marriage of Naveen Shekhawat’s cousin was fixed for the next month coincidentally. Rohit Godara knew that Naveen Shekhawat would visit Sukhdev Singh’s home to give him the wedding card. He kept this in mind and started to plan the murder.

Friendship with Naveen Shekhawat was part of the plan

Rohit Godara has two special shooters named Rohit Rathore and Nitin Fauji. Rohit hails from Nagaur in Rajasthan while Nitin is from Mahendragarh in Haryana but his in-laws are in Alwar. Nitin Fauji was employed in the Indian Army five years ago and he prefixes his name with ‘fauji’ for this reason. These two were chosen to shoot Sukhdev Singh. Nitin Fauji arrived on leave from his duty in the Army to do the job after which they both met Naveen Shekhawat and gradually won over his confidence.

Nitin Fauji worked for the Indian Army five years ago. He prefixes his name with “army” for this reason. These two were chosen to shoot Sukhdev Singh. Nitin Fauji then arrived from his duty on leave after which they both met Naveen Shekhawat and gradually won over his trust. On 5th December, it was decided that all three of them would go to deliver the invitation card. Nitin Fauji even hired a Scorpio for three days for Rs 5,000 per day. They consumed alcohol in the vehicle which then came to a stop close to Sukhdev Singh’s Jaipur residence.

Their conversation lasted ten minutes

Notably, two out of three guards of Sukhdev Singh were on leave on 5th December. Only the remaining one named Ajit was with him. Naveen Shekhawat first talked to Ajit after they reached Sukhdev Singh’s place. He informed him about giving the invitation card to Sukhdev Singh after which Naveen, Rohit and Nitin were allowed to enter the house. Sukhdev Singh was sitting on the sofa in the drawing room. Naveen Shekhawat presented the card to him and a casual conversation started between them which lasted around ten minutes.

Opened fire at Sukhdev Singh

Sukhdev Singh had CCTV cameras installed both inside and outside his home for security purposes. The entire scene of the meeting was recorded in the same camera. All of a sudden, Sukhdev Singh’s mobile phone rang after approximately 10 minutes. He picked up the phone and started talking. Naveen Shekhawat was sitting beside him while the two shooters were seated up front. Both shooters had their opportunity just as Sukhdev Singh’s attention was grabbed by his mobile. They immediately stood up and simultaneously started shooting at him. Ajit was also present there and was shot by them. However, the most shocking part was that they also fired upon Naveen Shekhawat.

A defenceless police force in front of Lawrence Bishnoi

Lawrence Bishnoi is incarcerated but for the past one and a half years, his accomplices have been executing their targets in his name. As a result, everyone who has been threatened by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang is terrified. There is a long list of such people. The law enforcement agencies and the police under the then Congress-ruled state always appeared powerless against the Lawrence Bishnoi gang despite their open threats. The morale of his gang is continuously spiking because of this reason. The fact that Lawrence Bishnoi is engaging in all of this criminal activity while confined in jail is the greatest insult to law and order.

Investigation under the supervision of Additional Director General of Police

The Haryana Police announced that Nitin Fauji was under arrest within a day of the murder of Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi. However, Rohit Rathore, the second shooter is still evading capture. The Rajasthan Police is currently looking into whether Naveen Shekhawat knew about the plot to murder Sukhdev Sikh and did he participate in the shootings or was he only a pawn in the game.

There is intense resentment among Karni Sena members in several parts of Rajasthan following the death of Sukhdev Singh. The police are under pressure to apprehend the murderers as soon as possible. Furthermore, Rajasthan Police Additional Director General (ADG) of Police Dinesh MN who was on leave has been called back. He is now supervising the completion of the inquiry into the murder case.

‘Proud to play a crucial role in India’s impressive strides in renewable energy’: Gautam Adani on building the world’s largest green energy park in Rann of Kutch

OpIndia Staff
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‘Proud to play a crucial role in India’s impressive strides in renewable energy’: Gautam Adani on building the world’s largest green energy park in Rann of Kutch

As Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) recently secured USD 1.36 billion financing for the Khavda Renewable Energy Project, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani expressed his pride in playing a “crucial role” in India’s strides in the energy sector. Named after the local village, Khavda Renewable Energy Park is set to be the world’s largest renewable energy project.

Taking to X on Wednesday (December 7) Adani shared a picture of the under-construction renewable energy park as he underscored the salient features of his ambitious project. He boasted the green energy park in Kutchh district as his company’s commitment to the Solar Alliance and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.

“Proud to play a crucial role in India’s impressive strides in renewable energy as we build the world’s largest green energy park. This monumental project, covering 726 sq km in the challenging Rann desert, is visible even from space. We will generate 30GW to power over 20 million homes. Also, just 150 km away, in our karmabhoomi Mundra, we are creating one of the globe’s most extensive and integrated renewable energy manufacturing ecosystems for solar and wind. This marks a significant milestone in India’s journey towards sustainable energy, underlining our commitment to the Solar Alliance and the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative,” Adani posted.

When completed three years from now, what is likely to be the world’s largest renewable energy project will rise from the stark expanse of the tremendous salt desert that separates India and Pakistan. According to AGEL, this solar and wind energy project would be so gigantic that it would be visible from space.

In the images of the under-construction project shared by Gautam Adani, workers can be seen installing solar panels in the vast desert. One image shows the ongoing construction of a massive tower of a wind turbine. Thousands of workers are working on the site to install pillars and frameworks to install solar panels, constructing wind turbines, laying wires and building sub-stations, while others are engaged in transporting various materials to the site.

All these activities are going in the middle of Rann of Kutch, an unforgiving salt desert and marshland far away from human habitation, close to one of the most tense international borders in the world. KSRK Verma, Khavda project head for Adani Green Energy Limited, said that it is one of the most difficult projects he’s undertaken, due to the nature of the area. “It’s not at all an easy site to work at, there is no habitation, the land is marshy, there are a lot of high winds, rains and this is a high earthquake prone area,” said Vneet Jaain, managing director of Adani Green.

The project will be roughly the size of Singapore, spanning 726 square kilometres (280 square miles) following the completion of its construction. It should be noted that the Indian government estimated the cost of the project will amount to at least $2.26 billion. On December 5, AGEL announced follow-on funding of USD 1.36 billion to further boost its Construction Financing Framework to USD 3 Billion backed by a consortium of 8 renowned international banks.

Solar panels installed at an under-construction site of Adani Green Energy Limited’s Renewable Energy Park (Image via AP)

“The green loan facility has been extended by a consortium of lenders which include– BNP Paribas, Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A., DBS Bank Ltd, Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A., MUFG Bank, Ltd., Societe Generale, Standard Chartered Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation,” a press release issued by Adani Renewables reads.

The funding for Adani Group’s green energy project comes at a time when the transition to renewable energy was highlighted as a key issue at the ongoing Conference of Parties (COP28) climate summit.

An Associated Press report says that to get the project up and running, an estimated 4000 labourers and 500 engineers have been working around the clock, living in makeshift camps for most of the year. Following its completion, which might take up to three years, the project will provide 30 gigawatts of renewable energy, sufficient to power 1.80 crore Indian households.

The Adani Group is producing the solar and wind energy components for the project around 200 kilometres (124 miles) away in the industrial city of Mundra, located along Gujarat’s coastline. It’s one of the select sites in the country where most solar energy components are produced. Certain factories here function comparable to laboratories, necessitating the use of protective gear, masks, and head coverings to keep out dust particles that could harm solar cells.

The wind energy factory in Mundra aims to produce 300 turbines a year, with each blade stretching nearly 79 meters and weighing 22 metric tons. Each wind turbine generator is capable of producing 5.2 megawatts of clean energy.

“Country is more important than power”: Devendra Fadnavis writes to Ajit Pawar objecting to the inclusion of Nawab Malik in ‘Mahayuti’ alliance

OpIndia Staff
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“Country is more important than power”: Devendra Fadnavis writes to Ajit Pawar objecting to the inclusion of Nawab Malik in ‘Mahayuti’ alliance

BJP leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) leader Nawab Malik can’t be accepted in the grand alliance. He wrote a letter to Ajit Pawar on Thursday expressing reservations about the inclusion of Nawab Malik in the Mahayuti alliance due to criminal charges pending against the NCP leader.

This comes after Malik attended the winter session of the Maharashtra assembly in Nagpur on Wednesday. Despite the objections from Fadnavis and the BJP, Malik confirmed his allegiance to Ajit Pawar’s faction of NCP by sitting on the treasury benches in the assembly.

In his letter, Fadnavis wrote that as an MLA, Malik has right to attend the house, and it is the prerogative of the Ajit Pawar’s party to choose its members. But he added that the constituents of the alliance should ensure that it does not hinder the grand alliance.

Stressing that he does not have personal enmity or grudge against with Malik, Devendra Fadnavis said that he is accused in serious charges and he is out on bail only on medical grounds. “Given the kind of allegations levelled against him, we are of the view that it would not be appropriate to include him in the Grand Alliance,” the BJP leader wrote.

“Power comes and goes. But the country is more important than power,” Fadnavis said in the letter. He said that if the charges against Nawab Malik are not proved, he would be welcomed in the alliance. “But we are of the clear opinion that it will not be right to make him a part of the Grand Alliance when there are such allegations,” he added.

Devendra Fadnavis mentioned that Malik was retained the post of minister even after he was arrested in charges of links with anti-national elements. We will not be able to agree with the views of the then Chief Minister and the Mahavikas Aghadi government, Fadnavis wrote, adding, “I hope you take note of our feelings.”

Malik was granted bail on medical grounds in August this year, who was arrested by ED in February last year in a money laundering case with links to terrorist Dawood Ibrahim. The ED has submitted a 5,000 page charge-sheet against him documenting his connection with the Dawood Ibrahim money laundering case.

In February last year, the National Investigation Agency had revealed that fugitive terrorist Dawood Ibrahim was planning to launch terror attacks on India using explosives and lethal weapons. He had formed a special unit with the aim of inciting violence in different parts of the country.

The probe agency has also said that he has been transferring funds through Hawala channels to provide financial help to all those involved in a planned attack. He is involved in promoting anti-national activities and is also trying to create a rift between different religious groups, the agency added.

Nawab Malik’s name reportedly appeared in the process of investigation after the intelligence inputs directed the agency to look into the hawala transaction while probing a money laundering case against Ibrahim, Iqbal Mirchi, Chhota Shakeel, Parkar and Javed Chikna. The agency traced several hawala transactions linked to money illegally obtained through extortion, drug trafficking, sale of real estate in Nagpada and Bhendi Bazaar area of Mumbai, and other unlawful activities.

“People of Palestine have high expectations from Pakistan”: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh urges ‘brave’ Pakistan to help Gaza against Israel

OpIndia Staff
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“People of Palestine have high expectations from Pakistan”: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh urges ‘brave’ Pakistan to help Gaza against Israel

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has said that Pakistan is a brave nation and that it should help the people of Gaza by intervening in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. He made these remarks on Wednesday (6th December) while speaking in the national dialogue on ‘The Sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque and Responsibility of the Muslim Ummah’ held in Islamabad, Pakistan.

In this program organised by Majlis Ittehad-e-Umma Pakistan, Ismail Haniyeh urged Pakistan to intervene in Gaza. Ismail Haniyeh said that Pakistan is a great military power and if it stands up to Israel then things will change. “If faced with resistance from Pakistan, Israel can stop brutality in Gaza”, he said.

Ismail Haniyeh said, “The people of Palestine have high expectations from Pakistan. People hope that Pakistan’s strength can stop this conflict. Hamas is currently countering Israel’s most advanced weapons but is still fighting with determination. Jews cannot see Muslims anywhere. Jews are the biggest enemies of Muslims worldwide. Israel also considers Muslims its enemy.”

He added, “Israel continues to violate international law. Israel’s actions like arresting Palestinians and desecrating religious sites were a violation of international norms. I am also disappointed at the increase in the occupation of Palestinian territories and the non-implementation of the Oslo Accords. The establishment of diplomatic relations between Islamic countries and Israel causes serious damage to the Palestinian issue.”

He further defended the October 7 attack carried out by Hamas, characterising it as an act of self-defence and emphasising that it thwarted Israel’s alleged plan for occupation. Ismail Haniyeh is on the hit list of Israel.

7th October Terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israel

On 7th October, Hamas terrorists launched an all-out attack on Israel from the sea, land, and air. At least 5,000 rockets were launched into Israel from Gaza and tunnels were used to breach the Israeli territory and butcher Israeli civilians, particularly in the border villages of Israel. A music festival hosting more than 200 people was turned into a slaughter ground with many women raped, mutilated and abducted to Gaza. Israel started an all-out war against Hamas since this attack.

Madhya Pradesh: Congress MLA Phool Singh Baraiya fulfils his promise of blackening his face if BJP wins 50 seats in the state

OpIndia Staff
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Madhya Pradesh: Congress MLA Phool Singh Baraiya fulfils his promise of blackening his face if BJP wins 50 seats in the state

Congress leader Phool Singh Baraiya is in the headlines after the Madhya Pradesh assembly election results because he had promised to blacken his face if the Bharatiya Janata Party managed to secure 50 seats in the state. He had also provided the time and location for this and promised to do it in front of Bhopal Raj Bhavan at 2 pm on 7th December.

As per the promise, the Bhander MLA showed up outside Raj Bhavan accompanied by party leaders and workers as well as former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh who put a black mark on the former’s face. Baraiya then requested the senior Congress leader to apply it more but Singh declined to do so. Other party members were also seen smiling along with both the leaders.

In a bizarre explanation, Phool Singh Baraiya claimed that his action was for the protection of democracy and the constitution. He asserted that he had fulfilled his promise. He alleged, “Digvijaya Singh refused but I had to keep my word. Congress and I will keep fighting for democracy.”

Digvijaya Singh complimented him on keeping his pledge. “I congratulate Phool Singh Baraiya for sticking to his words. I stopped him because what he stated turned out to be true. Despite having a lead, the BJP received fewer than 50 seats in the postal vote. Hence, he doesn’t need to blacken his face. The face of BJP should be blackened since they are the ones who brought democracy to an end.”

He added, “I am applying this black mark so that Baraiya does not attract anyone’s evil eye. We are people of our word and therefore, I am honouring him with a tilak (forehead mark). In actuality, EVM is going to be blackened because Congress won on the ballot paper while lost in the EVM.”

Speaking about the BJP’s overwhelming win in the election, the MLA charged that the party was purchasing votes. He claimed that to buy popular support, the party had delivered envelopes stuffed with notes. “They have conspired to win the elections. I had to travel a lot for campaigning. I met people belonging to different castes and constituencies, but nowhere I had felt the public’s inclination towards the saffron party.”

Yogesh Dandautiya, the leader of the Kisan Congress had earlier in Gwalior blackened his face in support of Phool Singh Baraiya. Congressman Rajendra Singh alleged that the latter should not blacken his face. According to him, the BJP wants to blacken the face of Dalits. The party has pledged to provide each individual with Rs 15 lakh. It promised to increase farmers’ incomes by twofold. The MLA doesn’t need to blacken his face because the BJP has not lived up to its commitments.

Phool Singh Baraiya won the election in the Bhander seat with 29 thousand 438 votes and defeated BJP candidate Ghanshyam Pironiya. However, the BJP secured a two-thirds majority in the state by winning 163 seats, while the Congress was reduced to just 66 seats.

BJP issues three-line whip to MPs to be present in Lok Sabha on Friday, says very important legislative business will be taken up

ANI
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BJP issues three-line whip to MPs to be present in Lok Sabha on Friday, says very important legislative business will be taken up

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday issued a three-line whip to all its MPs of Lok Sabha to be present in the House on Friday to discuss legislative business.

“BJP issues a line whip to all its MPs of Lok Sabha to be present in the house on December 8, 2023 as some very important legislative business will be taken up for discussion and to support the government’s stand,” BJP official release stated.

Earlier today, citing the huge losses faced by the airlines due to the impact of Coronavirus on the aviation sector, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in Lok Sabha said that even in that scenario airlines have operated on a sustainable model.

Replying to the question raised by IUML MP ET Mohammed Basheer, on the issue of air fare hikes and whether the government has any control over it, Jyotiraditya Scindia said, “Civil aviation is a seasonal sector. You have a high season and you have a low season. From October till mid Jan it’s a high season after that it’s a low season until May, June after when again holiday season starts.”

“This is not limited to India alone this is a global phenomenon, we have monitored fairs, and we have a tariff monitoring unit that looks at 60 routes randomly,” he added.

He further said that airlines have made losses of about Rs 55,000 crores to Rs 1,32,000 crores on an annual basis recently.

He further informed the Lower House that there is a decline in fares across most routes for months of January to October in the year 2022 and the same trend was witnessed from January to October 2023.

On the question raised by the Revolutionary Socialist Party NK Premachandran on who is the authority for regulatory mechanism, Scindia said, “Civil aviation is a Deregulated sector. It was deregulated in the year 1993. We do have a Tariff Monitoring Unit that monitors 60 routes on a random basis, When we find there is excessive pricing we convey that to airlines,” he said.

The winter session of the Parliament began on December 4 and will culminate on December 22. 

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

Canada: Masked men spray “unknown irritating substance” inside movie theatres screening Hindi movies in the Greater Toronto Area

OpIndia Staff
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Canada: Masked men spray “unknown irritating substance” inside movie theatres screening Hindi movies in the Greater Toronto Area

An unknown substance was reportedly sprayed by multiple masked men in theatres in Canada’s Greater Toronto where Hindi movies were being played earlier this week.

According to reports, several moviegoers in three different regions of Greater Toronto were evacuated and some were treated for exposure to the substance. No major injuries were reported.

According to the York Regional Police, one such incident occurred around 9:20 p.m. on Tuesday at a cinema complex in the area of Highway 7 and Highway 400 in the Vaughan area. “Several movie-goers started coughing after two men in masks sprayed an ‘unknown, aerosol-based, irritating substance into the air’ in a theatre,” the police stated.

They added that around 200 moviegoers were present inside the theatre and an Indian Hindi movie was playing at the time. The moviegoers started coughing after two men in masks and hoods sprayed an “unknown, aerosol-based, irritating substance into the air”.

Those exposed to the substance were treated and the rest were evacuated. The masked suspects managed to flee before the police arrived.

While the name of Hindi movie being screened at the theatre was not disclosed, Ranbeer Kapoor can be seen on the screen in the videos when the theatre was being evacuated, indicating it is his latest movie Animal.

As per the police, one of the suspects was reportedly a black man with a light skin tone and the second was brown with a light skin tone. The Peel police also said that officers were called to a theatre in Brampton on 5th December upon receiving reports of some substance sprayed on the premises. The incident in Brampton was reported to the police at around 7:40 p.m.

Preliminary information suggests the suspects purchased a ticket for the movie and were in the theatre for a very short period of time. The building was evacuated and no serious injuries were reported. No arrests have been made yet. The York police said they are liaising with the Peel and Toronto police about similar incidents that happened recently.

“Coincidentally, they took place all within less than three hours on the same evening,” a York police officer said on 6th December. The police said they are looking into the possibility that these incidents are linked. Meanwhile, the Peel police said, “It is unknown at this time if any other incidents are connected but our investigators are aware of those incidents that took place in York Region and Toronto.”

Moreover, the Toronto police also got a similar call on the night of 5th December about someone hurling a “stink bomb” in a theatre at Scarborough Town Centre. The theatre was evacuated and no injuries were reported.

When asked if the incident is being treated as a hate-crime, the police said that there is no such obvious-indication that it is a hate-motivated crime but the hate crime prevention united has been notified as a precaution and they will be involved in the probe.

The Cineplex has said in a statement that it was working “closely with local authorities” over the incident. “Our primary focus and commitment is the safety and well-being of our guests and our team,” spokesperson of Cineplex, Michelle Saba said.

YouTuber Pragya Mishra accuses the BJP of tampering EVMs, here is how fake and baseless claims are being repeated after Congress lost polls in 3 states

Anurag
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YouTuber Pragya Mishra accuses the BJP of tampering EVMs, here is how fake and baseless claims are being repeated after Congress lost polls in 3 states

Congress’s defeat in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan shocked Congress supporters and pro-Congress media personalities. There was a wave of chest beating and Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) blaming as the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the results. One such pro-Congress and anti-BJP rant came from YouTuber Pragya Mishra, who poses as a journalist. Mishra runs a YouTube channel with the name ‘Pragya Ke Panne’ where she enjoys 2.5 million followers. On 6th December, Mishra published a video with the title ‘Reality of EVM Machines – Analysis by Pragya Mishra’.

In her video, she addressed concerns about the credibility of EVM machines following the Congress party’s loss in the three states. She claimed there were discrepancies between Congress’ success in paper ballot voting and defeat in EVM voting. She added that Congress consistently dominated the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in paper ballots and raised questions about the integrity of the EVMs.

It is known that elections in all five states took place on EVM machines. Then, which ballot papers was Mishra talking about? She was referring to the postal votes provided to special sections of the voters. According to ECI, special voters, service voters, voters on election duty, and electors subjected to preventive detention can use postal ballots. There are rules for registering for postal ballots, and specific documents must be attached to the postal votes to mark them as valid.

Mishra claimed that as postal votes were in favour of Congress, all voting should have been done on ballot papers as it would have given a transparent result. However, Mishra forgot two important aspects here. First, the postal ballots are limited to very few individuals. In most cases, they do not even cross the 2,000 mark in total.

Furthermore, those who have lived through the time of ballot papers know how rampant booth capturing used to be. In July 2023, there were reports of booth capturing in West Bengal during Panchayat Polls conducted using paper ballots. Even these days, when ballot paper voting happens, the reports of booth capturing surface. Someone should ask Mishra how she can even think that paper ballots are a better option.

‘If Pegasus can enter phones, how difficult will it be to hack EVMs.’

Those who are not technically sound may fall for this trap. This argument has surfaced so many times that machines can be hacked, so EVMs, being machines, can be hacked. Mishra pointed out that Congress raised voices over the tempering of EVMs. Then how did Congress win Telangana? According to her, the BJP let other parties win a few states to show EVMs “do not discriminate”.

Questions were raised over EVM’s authenticity several times. ECI even announced a hackathon and challenged geniuses like Mishra to come or send someone to hack EVMs. Not a single person came forward.

For those who are unaware, for software like Pegasus to hack a phone, the phone needs to be connected to the internet. EVM machines are not connected to any network. They do not have any chip that can enable such a connection. Today’s phones have multiple connectivity facilities, including cellular, wi-fi, Bluetooth, GPS, infrared and even ultrasound, and therefore phones can be hacked. EVMs, on the other hand, do not have a single connectivity option.

There is not even a port where a wire can be plugged in to read the results. When EVM votes are counted, a button is pressed to display the votes on the EVM control unit, the votes are recorded manually and are totalled. Although there is a proposal to add a read-only port to count the votes faster by connecting them to a computer, it has not been implemented yet.

EVMs cannot be hacked, period.

The EVMs have always been a topic of discussion around elections. There have been frequent concerns raised about the possibility of hacking. However, experts have maintained that EVMs are secure and impossible to hack.

During manufacturing, the machines are programmed with One-Time Programmable (OTP) chips. These chips cannot be reprogrammed and are tamper-proof, ensuring the voting data’s integrity.

Furthermore, these machines operate on application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). These circuits are different from general computers that we use in our daily lives. ASICs are not susceptible to external manipulations as they lack features like RAM and operate on pre-programmed code. Thus, the possibility of hacking them is non-existent.

While some people have demonstrated hacking EVM, they require physical access the the machine for a significant amount of time, when critical components can be changed. However, this is only an academic exercise, and impossible to do in a real-world scenario due to the safety measures employed by the election commission. To manipulate an EVM, one must know which candidate will be assigned to which button on the ballot unit. But, buttons are assigned to candidates just days before the polls. Moreover, in many constituencies, multiple ballot units are used when the number of candidates exceeds 16, the number of buttons on the machine.

Before polls start, mock polls are conducted in each booth in the presence of agents of the candidates, and EVMs are used only after they don’t show any discrepancies. Now, if an EVM has been already hacked by changing hardware, it will show up in the mock poll, and such a machine will not be used for the actual poll.

Another fact that EVM-detractors always ignore, or are unaware of, is that once ballot papers are pasted on EVM ballot units, which means the allocation of buttons to candidates, the EVMs enter a high-security zone. Not just security agencies, agents of the parties and candidates keep a close eye on the machine from that point in time. EVMs are sealed in the presence of the agents after the conclusion of the voting, they follow the vehicles carrying the EVMs to the strong room, and the agents keep a continuous vigil on the strong room till the counting. Therefore, unless all the candidates in a constituency along with officials and security personnel are part of the constituency, the votes in EVMs can’t be altered after the voting.

The implementation of the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) has significantly strengthened the security of the electoral process. These machines serve as a transparent verification mechanism that enables voters to verify their choices physically. As VVPATs cannot be reprogrammed, they are not vulnerable to hacking during the data upload process.

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