INDI Alliance formed intending to oust the BJP government from power in the 2024 general elections has not yet fully evolved into an alliance. The alliance members like Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have time and again attacked each other even while claiming to be together in the fight against the NDA. This was seen in a recent drama that unfolded after the Enforcement Directorate summoned Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal for questioning in connection with the liquor scam case.
On Tuesday (1st November), Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi claimed that every party in the INDI bloc would be targeted by central agencies with ‘cooked-up’ cases. “Every important force within the #INDIAAlliance would be subjected to cooked-up cases by central agencies. However, we are here to stay and emerge victorious. Yaad Rakho…Samar Shesh Hai…” Singhvi posted on X on October 31st, adding the hashtag #ArvindKejriwal.
Every important force within the #INDIAAlliance would be subjected to cooked-up cases by central agencies. However, we are here to stay and emerge victorious.
The Congress leader’s comments came a day after Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to question him over the Delhi excise policy case. ED asked the AAP chief to appear on 2nd November, prompting AAP and other opposition parties to repeat the allegations of misuse of central agencies against opposition politicians.
However, today the Delhi CM decided to skip the appearance before the ED and instead attended an election rally in Madhya Pradesh. He termed the summons ‘illegal’, and asked the ED to withdraw them.
After Arvind Kejriwal refused to appear before the ED for questioning, I.N.D.I. Alliance partner Congress party attacked him. Congress National Secretary Abhishek Dutt took a dig at Arvind Kejriwal for not appearing before the ED and he advised the AAP supremo to have the courage to face the BJP. He said that senior Congress leaders like Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had appeared for questioning by agencies when they were summoned, and Kejriwal also should do the same.
“If the ED has summoned you, and you know you are right, then join the investigation. Rahul and Sonia Gandhi have done it in the past. Have the courage to fight BJP,” the Congress National Secretary said.
VIDEO | "If the ED has summoned you, and you know you are right, then join the investigation. Rahul and Sonia Gandhi have done it in the past. Have the courage to fight BJP," says Congress national secretary Abhishek Dutt on reports of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal not appearing… pic.twitter.com/kSLYmuAQbE
Earlier, Arvind Kejriwal had responded to the summons by ED by saying that he would not be appearing for the questioning as he had other events scheduled. He had claimed that he is a star campaigner with state elections coming up and therefore, he has other commitments which would not allow him to attend the summons.
Arvind Kejriwal also added that the summons was “motivated and issued for extraneous considerations”.
As reported earlier, ED conducted raids at Delhi Minister Raaj Kumar Anand’s home on Thursday morning, just before the agency planned to question Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The probe agency is also raiding nine locations connected to Anand for a money laundering investigation.
Meanwhile, Arvind Kejriwal has responded to the summons by ED claiming in a letter that he is a star campaigner with state elections coming up and therefore, he has other commitments which would not allow him to attend the summons.
Delhi Liquor Scam
The liquor policy for 2021-22 was put into effect by the Delhi administration on 17th November 2021, however, it was cancelled at the end of September 2022 due to accusations of corruption. The investigating authorities assert that under the new plan of action, for financial reasons. According to the agencies, the new regulation led to monopolisation and gave economic advantages to people who weren’t eligible for liquor licenses.
On the other hand, Manish Sisodia and the Delhi administration have denied any wrongdoing and claimed that the new policy would have increased the state’s excise revenue.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday (2nd November) summoned two sons of Rajasthan Congress Chief Govind Singh Dotasara, Abhilash, and Avinash for their alleged involvement in the paper leak case. This comes a week after the ED conducted raids on the homes of Rajasthan PCC Chief Govind Singh Dotasara and another MLA Omprakash Hudla in connection with an exam paper leak case. The previous raids were conducted on 26 October.
Dotasara, the Congress party’s candidate for Sikar’s Lacchmangarh seat, is contesting against BJP candidate Subhash Maharia. The leader is the incumbent MLA for this constituency. Meanwhile, Rajasthan minister and Congress leader Pratap Khachariyawas commented on the issue and said that the entire Congress party stands with Dotasara.
#WATCH | Rajasthan minister and Congress leader Pratap Khachariyawas says, "Congress party stands with Govind Singh Dotasara." pic.twitter.com/2Tv9zKVkJE
After the raids that happened on 26th October, Dotasara claimed that ED officials did not question him or take his statement. He went on to say that they didn’t even take Re 1 or find any illegal documents. All they took were his and his sons’ phones, as well as the emails on a pen drive.
He claimed that the ED came to his house to search it in connection with the paper leak case, but “the search warrant was in the name of my son Avinash Dotasra, who is an Accounts Officer.” Apart from Dotasra’s homes in Jaipur and Sikar, as well as his political office, he claims the ED also searched the apartments of his two sons, who live on the same property.
The Congress chief added that people keep connecting him and his family to Kalam Academy, a coaching institute searched by the ED earlier in connection with the paper leaks case, but he, his sons, and any of his family members and relatives have no connection with the institute. He also stated that the ED was unable to locate any documentation or evidence for the same.
In August, the ED raided Kalam Academy’s Sikar branch. The Dotasra family’s hometown is Sikar, and his Assembly constituency of Laxmangarh is also in Sikar district.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had also previously arrested former RPSC member Babulal Katara and another person identified as Anil Kumar Meena for their involvement with this case. As part of its ongoing investigation, the ED conducted initial raids in various locations throughout Rajasthan in June.
Notably, the Enforcement Directorate has been actively investigating money laundering aspects related to the leak of Grade II teacher competitive examination question papers in December of the previous year. A total of 55 people were apprehended in connection with the paper leak case, including 37 candidates. According to the ED’s investigations, at least 180 candidates received the leaked question papers in exchange for amounts ranging from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 10 lakh each.
In addition to Babulal Katara and Anil Kumar Meena, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) imprisoned another individual named Bhupendra Saran, who was involved in the paper leak racket. Saran was charged with money laundering as part of the investigation.
ED official arrested for demanding bribe
In another shocking case emerging from the state of Rajasthan, the Rajasthan anti-corruption unit (ACB) arrested an ED official identified as Naval Kishore Meena for demanding a bribe of Rs 15 lakh, along with his associate Babulal Meena.
Naval Kishore Meena and Babulal Meena are accused of accepting a bribe in a Manipur chit fund case. According to an official statement issued by the Rajasthan ACB, the ED officers accepted the bribe in exchange for dismissing the case, not arresting the suspects, and seizing the property.
The initial demand was for a bribe of Rs 17 lakh, according to the statement. The arrest came after the Rajasthan ACB raided several locations in Rajasthan in connection with the investigation.
Naval Kishore Meena was apprehended by the Rajasthan ACB after being caught in a case of income disparity against a known source of earnings.
The national nodal agency for handling computer security instances, the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), has begun looking into the Apple threat notification issue brought up by opposition members of parliaments and some other persons. Furthermore, Electronics and Information Technology Secretary S Krishnan informed on 2nd November that a notice had been sent to the American technology giant in this regard.
At least seven opposition leaders claimed that Apple had warned them via email about “state-sponsored” attackers who might be attempting to remotely breach the iPhones linked to their identities. Following this, Union Electronics and Information Technology Minster said that Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the govt will probe the matter. The minister confirmed, “CERT-In, the national nodal agency for responding to computer security incidents, has started its probe. They (Apple) will cooperate in the inquiry.”
Ashwini Vaishnaw declared that the government is going to “get to the bottom” of the threat alerts given by the company to various leaders over iPhones and asked its assistance for the same. He posted a series of tweets in which he expressed concern on behalf of the government and wrote, “The notification received by them as per media reports mentions about ‘state-sponsored attacks’ on their devices.”
We are concerned by the statements we have seen in media from some MPs as well as others about a notification received by them from Apple. The notification received by them as per media reports mentions about ‘state-sponsored attacks’ on their devices. However much of (1/5)
The minister asserted that the details offered by Apple “seems vague and non-specific in nature.” He pointed out, “Apple states these notifications may be based on information which is ‘incomplete or imperfect’.” He noted that it further added that “some Apple threat notifications may be false alarms or some attacks are not detected.”
information by Apple on this issue seems vague and non-specific in nature. Apple states these notifications maybe based on information which is ‘incomplete or imperfect’. It also states that some Apple threat notifications maybe false alarms or some attacks are not detected.(2/5)
The former IAS officer highlighted that Apple alleged that their IDs are safely encrypted which makes it very difficult to access or recognise them without the user’s express consent. “This encryption safeguards the user’s Apple ID and ensures that it remains private and protected.”
Apple has also claimed that Apple IDs are securely encrypted on devices, making it extremely difficult to access or identify them without the user's explicit permission. This encryption safeguards the user's Apple ID and ensures that it remains private and protected.(3/5)
The IT Minister assured that the Indian government is committed to safeguarding the security and privacy of its citizens and it intends to look into these alerts thoroughly.
The Government of Bharat takes its role of protecting the privacy and security of all citizens very seriously and will investigate to get to the bottom of these notifications. (4/5)
Ashwini Vaishnaw proclaimed that the government requested that Apple participate in the investigation by providing genuine and accurate details on the purported state-sponsored assaults, given the available information and the general conjecture.
In light of such information and widespread speculation, we have also asked Apple to join the investigation with real, accurate information on the alleged state sponsored attacks. (5/5)
The entire issue began after several opposition leaders claimed that they received an alert from Apple warning them of ‘state-sponsored attackers trying to remotely compromise’ their iPhones and alleged hacking by the government.
The ‘threat alerts’ have sparked a political firestorm and the Congress sought that the Lok Sabha’s Standing Committee on Information and Technology look into the scandal. Karthi Chidambaram, a Congress leader and the son of former home minister P Chidambaram, announced that he had written to the panel’s chairperson, Prataprao Jadhav and requested summons to Apple on its alerts to politicians cautioning them against “state-sponsored attack.”
On the other hand, Bharatiya Janata Party Godda MP Nishikant Dubey argued that the panel was operating in compliance with Lok Sabha rules and regulations rather than under the direction of Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi or Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor.
Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab Raghav Chadha, Shashi Tharoor, Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Pawan Khera, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader and Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra Priyanka Chaturvedi and Trinamool Congress Krishnanagar MP Mahua Moitra were among the nearly two dozen opposition politicians who accused that they had gotten an alert on their Apple iPhones warning them against “state-sponsored attackers trying to remotely compromise” their devices.
While the opposition tried to claim that the Modi government was behind the alleged “state-sponsored” cyber attacks, soon it was revealed that Apple users in at least 150 countries received the same message. Apple further said that the message was ‘unreliable’, adding that they can be false alarms, and some threats may not be detected.
Apple released a statement regarding the situation in which it declared that it does not link the threat notifications to any particular state-sponsored attacker. It read, “Apple does not attribute the threat notifications to any specific state-sponsored attacker. State-sponsored attackers are very well-funded and sophisticated, and their attacks evolve over time. Detecting such attacks relies on threat intelligence signals that are often imperfect and incomplete.”
It further added, “It’s possible that some Apple threat notifications may be false alarms, or that some attacks are not detected. We are unable to provide information about what causes us to issue threat notifications, as that may help state-sponsored attackers adapt their behaviour to evade detection in the future.”
The alerts from Apple have surfaced a year after a committee of experts appointed by the Supreme Court found that 29 phones it examined contained Pegasus spyware.
Following the deadly 7th October terror attacks by Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in its response have eliminated several Hamas terrorists, struck terrorist targets and infrastructure, and hit approximately 300 targets including anti-tank missiles posts, rocket launch posts, and terrorist compounds inside underground tunnels.
Over the last day, during ground operations:
?Numerous Hamas terrorists have been eliminated.
?The IAF struck terrorist targets and infrastructure.
?IDF combat forces struck approximately 300 targets, including:
Israel’s all-out war on the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas is a resolute retaliation to the 7th October attacks. More than 1,400 people, mostly Israelis, lost their lives and at least 220 were taken hostage by Hamas in Gaza after the brutal terrorist attack. The terrorist group had also launched 5,000 rockets on Israel and its terror attempts continue to this day.
Hamas continues to hoard resources to feed itself and its offensive on Israel while left-liberals and Islamists further the terrorist group’s narrative across the world by misusing images and videos of civilian casualties in Gaza to demonise Israel. Amidst all this, innocent civilians, who have historically been used as human shields by Hamas, are paying the price of Hamas’ terrors with their lives.
On 24th October, Hamas released two of the 220 Israeli hostages. The two women were identified as Nurit Cooper, 79, and Yochaved Lifshitz, 85. While narrating her ordeal, Lifshitz said that she was beaten, laid on a motorcycle, and carried through the fields towards Gaza. “They brought me to the tunnels; we walked kilometres underground. They beat me in the ribs, even with sticks,” she said.
The surprising part of the revelation was when she mentioned that the terrorists seemed prepared for the situation (hostage situation) as they had everything in the tunnels that men and women needed including shampoo. And yet, the two hostages were provided with only meal a day which barely included a cucumber and some cheese. Lifshitz said that she was also provided with medicines.
It is shocking, to say the least, that a Palestinian terrorist group – existing with the sole aim of eradicating Jews from the face of the earth – is living and operating in abundance when the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank barely have toilet water to survive. Demanding the release of its hostages, when Israel shut water, electricity and fuel supply to Gaza, the global Islamist ecosystem used the suffering of civilians to demonise Israel instead of holding Hamas accountable.
The “Gaza Metro”
The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Under the rubble on Gaza’s surface exists a web of terrorist tunnels safeguarding Hamas. Referred to as the “Gaza Metro” by the Israeli Defense Forces, the terror tunnels form the biggest part of Hamas’ infrastructure.
“Imagine we are looking at the Gaza Strip and really think of the Gaza Strip as one layer for the civilians and another layer for Hamas. We are trying to get to that second layer that Hamas has built,” the IDF spokesperson said.
Listen in as an IDF Spokesperson @jconricus provides a situational update on all fronts, as the war against Hamas continues. https://t.co/jSkwACh3iN
These tunnels are used by Hamas to launch rockets in Israel and ensure the safe movement of terrorists across the city. This terror infrastructure right under the civilian infrastructure prompted the Israeli forces to ask civilians to evacuate areas where it was scheduled to conduct strikes.
A compilation of videos published by IDF on YouTube shows how the terrorists use the tunnels to smuggle, transport, and store ammunition. According to the IDF, some of these tunnels span under the border of Israel.
In fact, Hamas has openly admitted that the tunnels built inside Gaza are for the protection of its terrorists and not for civilians. This proud admission by the terrorist group was in response to a question that why Hamas wasn’t building bomb shelters within Gaza to save the residents from Israeli bombings.
Hamas terrorist Mousa Abu Marzouk said that it was the responsibility of the UN and Israel to protect civilians living in Gaza. “We have built the tunnels because we have no other way of protecting ourselves from being targeted and killed. These tunnels are meant to protect us from aeroplanes. We are fighting from inside the tunnels,” the terrorist said.
Amid the ground operations, Israel is now targeting the roughly 300-mile (500 km) tunnel network under Gaza believed to run deeper than 200 feet.
Hamas headquarter under Gaza’s largest hospital
The Israeli forces are specifically targeting areas where a cluster of Hamas infrastructure is centred. Under Gaza’s largest hospital Al Shifa, lies the headquarter of Hamas. A video released by the IDF shows a compound that Hamas has built under the Al Shifa hospital which includes storage facilities for weapons, command and control facilities, offices and places for terrorists to hide in.
“This puts the people that are being treated in the hospital at risk. It should be condemned, it should be stopped,” Conricus said. The hospital’s neonatal unit sustained damages following the initial strikes by Israel targeting “Jihadi” infrastructure which surrounds the very hospital.
The Shifa Hospital is not only the largest hospital in Gaza but it also acts as the main headquarters for Hamas’ terrorist activity.
Terrorism does not belong in a hospital and the IDF will operate to uncover any terrorist infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/Ybpln5xQb2
Yahya Sinwar, the Palestinian leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has taken refuge under the Al-Shifa Hospital and is using the patients at the hospital as a shield to protect himself. The Hamas terrorist had once mercilessly killed a person with a sink while he was in prison on the suspicion of collaborating with Israel.
The Washington Post in 2014 reported that Al Shifa Hopital had become the “de facto headquarters for Hamas leaders who can be seen in the hallways and offices”.
In 2014, when Israel and Palestine agreed to a ceasefire proposal brokered by Egypt, a protester from a mosque opposite to the Al Shifa hospital blared on a loudspeaker calling the then-Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his administration “traitors” and “collaborators”.
Crowds had gathered at the hospital in July 2014 throwing shoes and eggs at the health minister who was turned away before he reached the hospital. The Al Shifa hospital is just one among the several civilian structures that have regularly been used by Hamas to launch attacks at Israel.
According to a report by Tablet dated 2014, one of Hamas’ main command bunkers was located beneath Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The bunker was equipped with sophisticated communications equipment and housed a part of the Hamas leadership.
The report claimed that in 2006, PBS aired a documentary showing how gunmen roamed the halls of the Al Shifa Hospital, intimidated the staff, and denied them access to protected locations within the building where the camera crew was prohibited from filming.
Hamas uses civilians and civilian infrastructure as cover for its rocket launch sites
Mosques and UN facilities in close proximity to civilian infrastructure are also being used by Hamas to launch attacks. “Hamas terrorists operate inside and under civilian buildings, precisely because they know the IDF distinguishes between terrorists and civilians,” RAdm. Daniel Hagari of the IDF said on 29th October.
Beneath the hospitals, schools, mosques, and homes in Gaza lies a horrific underworld of Hamas terrorism. In order to dismantle Hamas, we must dismantle their underground tunnels. pic.twitter.com/pHBUPUqzQR
A bunch of images shared by the Israel Defense Forces on X, formerly Twitter, on 22nd October, showed that a Hamas rocket launch site is located right opposite the UN building in Gaza, another such terror launchpad is located exactly opposite a mosque.
Image shared by IDF on X showing a Hamas rocket launch site opposite the UN building
Image shared by IDF on X shows Hamas rocket launch site near a mosque
A third image shows a Hamas rocket launchpad dangerously close to neighbouring schools in the area.
Image shared by IDF on X shows a Hamas rocket launch site right in a civilian neighbourhood next to schools
It is with the help of such launchpads that Hamas is still being able to launch rockets at Israel, 24 days after the deadly 7th October terrorist attacks.
In a video shared by the Israel War Room on X, a Hamas terrorist can be seen dressed in civilian clothes and launching a rocket at Israel. “He disguises himself as a civilian, while engaged in military activity, so that later they can claim that Israel is harming civilians,” a tweet by Israel War Room reads.
The military wing of Hamas publishes documentation of large mortars being fired at Israel.
Pay attention to an interesting detail: the operative of the military wing of Hamas is dressed in civilian clothes. He disguises himself as a civilian, while engaged in military activity,… pic.twitter.com/5qRMePlhls
In a video recently shared by Hamas, terrorists can be seen dressed in civilian clothes emerging out of a terror tunnel armed with rockets to attack an Israeli tank.
Two Hamas terrorists seen in a video shared by Hamas showing how they use terror tunnels to launch rockets at Israel and Israeli forces who are currently conducting ground invasions across Gaza (Source: @JoeTruzman/X)
Another video published by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a terrorist group committed to the eradication of Israel and Jews, shows terrorists in civilian clothes launching rockets and chanting “Allah Hu Akbar”. “Just because mainstream media reports civilian deaths in Gaza doesn’t mean they are all really civilians,” the Israel War Room tweeted on X.
In this video published today by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), rocket-launching terrorists are dressed in civilian clothing. Just because mainstream media reports civilian deaths in Gaza doesn't mean they're all really civilians. pic.twitter.com/wSjFBKsv1W
Coinciding with this, there was the recent incident wherein during a live broadcast on CNN, a supposed corpse of a civilian in Gaza was seen moving its head. The viral video on X was shared by Israel War Room with the caption, “Pallywood is racist and based on absolutely NO facts or truth, except for the occasional dead body moving its head while a Palestinian woman wails and screams for the camera.”
“Pallywood is racist and based on absolutely NO facts or truth,” except for the occasional dead body moving its head while a Palestinian woman wails and screams for the camera. https://t.co/HMIcU6N0nXpic.twitter.com/xdaEzrbWoM
Hamas is equipped with fuel reserves but deprives Gaza civilians of the same
Global media is rife with news reports of fuel and electricity shortages in hospitals in Gaza. However, according to IDF, Hamas has stored 500,000 litres of fuel that they refuse to provide to the people of Gaza. In a testimony, a Hamas terrorist captured by Israeli forces can be heard saying that the Hamas fill tanks full of fuel for themselves.
The IDF has also alleged that Hamas is also stealing fuel including 50,000 litres from a private vendor in northern Gaza and 24,000 litres of fuel from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
When you hear that people in Gaza don't have fuel, it's because Hamas took all of it. pic.twitter.com/i2MOjesZxw
A call between an IDF officer and a senior Gazan Energy official has revealed that Hamas has at least a million litres of fuel, and gas stations are full of fuel. “Underground, I am sure they have at least half a million litres. As you know, they need oxygen in the tunnels, and they need phones, and they need showers and lighting there,” the Gazan Energy official said.
Hamas’ terrorist headquarters under the Shifa hospital is draining the necessities—fuel, oxygen, water and electricity—from the Gazans and staff and using them for terrorism. pic.twitter.com/LKCu0WILvd
In a tweet on 24th October, the UNRWA said that if it does not get fuel urgently, it will be forced to halt operations in the Gaza Strip. In response to the same, the IDF shared an image of huge fuel reserves with Hamas and captioned it, “These fuel tanks are inside Gaza. They contain more than 500,000 litres of fuel. Ask Hamas if you can have some.”
Image shared bby Israel Defense Forces on X showing large fuel reserves controlled by Hamas
The IDF has released another recording of a conversation between a Hamas terrorist and a Gazan citizen exposing how Hamas takes fuel from hospitals in the region. In the conversation, a Gazan citizen can be heard pleading for fuel in the course of the talk which reveals how Hamas has been stealing fuel from hospitals.
A report by NBC claims that the terrorist group is maintaining a stockpile of more than 200,000 gallons of fuel for the rockets it fires into Israel and generators that provide clean air and electricity to its terror tunnels. Safe to say that Hamas is denying the ample amount of fuel it has in store to the Gaza civilians in order to be able to sponsor its terrorist ativities against Israel.
Hamas, Hezbollah, and an attempt to create more geographical fronts against Israel
In the 7th October attacks, Hamas was equipped with a barrage of rockets, paragliding equipment, machine guns, convoys, RPGs, and anti-tank missiles to name a few. According to the Alma Research and Education Centre, one of Israel’s weak points exploited by Hamas was the reluctance to deploy ground manoeuvring forces. What the world witnessed in the 7th October attacks was Hamas launching an attack on Israel from all fronts and “precise armament for the manoeuvring move into the invaded territory”.
“Such assistance can be in the form of a preliminary fire for the maneuver or through the activation of fire at the same time as the maneuver. Such activation requires a high level of coordination in the intelligence-attack combination due to the high dynamism of the maneuvering move. It seems that Hamas, in the current attack operation, has implemented this new concept,” the report says.
Notably, many of Hamas’ operations are inspired by Hezbollah, a Lebanese terrorist group also infamous for its anti-Israel activities.
Hamas’s main headquarter in Lebanon, “Aref Centre” (Source: Alma Research and Education Centre)
Both Hamas and Hezbollah established dedicated forces (the Radwan force in Hezbollah and the Nukhba force in Hamas) to launch rockets into Israeli territory on a large scale. Like within Gaza, terror tunnels were dug on the border with Lebanon and on the border with the Gaza Strip, which, as established before, are used for infiltration of terrorists into Israeli territory.
Founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982, the Hezbollah have historically backed Hamas in its war against Israel. Shortly after the 7th October attacks by Hamas, Israel’s northern front came under firing and attack from Hezbollah although the situation was relatively contained. The IDF has said that Hezbollah is continuing its attack across the northern border.
“They have fired rockets, they have tried to infiltrate, they have fired dozens of anti-tank missiles at our civilians and at our military positions. They have fired rockets at our positions in Mount Dov and at our communities,” IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said. In retaliation, Israel has targeted Hezbollah infrastructure including weapons, posts and sites in Lebanon.
Moreover, a research report from 2021 exposed the scope of Hamas’ military activities in Lebanon with the objective to create an additional front against Israel. As per Alma Research and Education Centre, the terrorist group has a “Construction Bureau” based in Lebanon and Turkey, which shapes Hamas’s forces in all areas that it operates in including Gaza, West Bank, and Lebanon.
This Bureau of Hamas comprises “specialised departments, each responsible for different sets of activities, such as weapons manufacturing, military intelligence, combat training, communications, funding, planning, logistics, security, and foreign relations”. Moreover, Hamas’ two operational units in Lebanon – El Shimali and Khaled Ali develop and produce their own weapons including rockets, offensive drones, and small unmanned underwater vehicles. They also set up operational cells while preparing attack plans against Israel.
Toophan missile supplied by Iran being used by Hezbollah-guided missile teams to attack Israel’s northern border (Source: Alma Research and Education Centre)
Between May and August 2021, there were five incidents of Grad rockets from Lebanon against Israel, reports suspect that Hamas was behind the attacks. According to a report by Alma Research and Education Centre, Iran’s terror capital is in Lebanon, where Hezbollah is armed with over 200,000 warheads including 70,000 rockets, 145,000 mortars, and precision-guided missiles, and thousands of terrorists trained to invade into Israel and execute a similar attack like Hamas’ attack on 7th October.
The scale of the terrorist attacks earlier this month and the specialised arms, logistics, and communication operations to back such attacks prove that unabated terrorism can legitimise its existence which is direct threat to Israel.
On Wednesday (1st November) IndiaToday journalist Rajdeep Sardesai attempted to draw parallels between Israel’s retaliatory action in Gaza with Hamas’s terrorist attack in Israel on the 7th of October. Boaz Bismuth, an Israeli MP blasted Sardesai for drawing parallels between a terrorist attack and a country’s military action against terrorism.
During his program on IndiaToday discussing Israel’s bombing of the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza on Wednesday Rajdeep asked, “There seems to be a dehumanisation taking place on both sides..”
To this, the Israeli MP raised strong objection saying that he would not allow anyone to make parallels between Hamas’s terror attacks and Israeli war against terrorism. “A..If I (Israel) didn’t care about their lives, I wouldn’t send my planes and soldiers. B. I tell civilians to get out of the buildings (controlled by terrorists). C… terrorists are going under the hospitals because they know that I won’t attack a hospital. You interviewed the person who spoke about the hostages…she said also in Israel they have got thousands of people in their jails. Yes, we have terrorists, what do they have…six months babies,” the Israeli lawmaker said.
After a failed attempt at guilt-tripping the Israeli representative, Rajdeep Sardesai asked him if the Hamas terrorists release the hostages, will there be a ceasefire from the Israeli side. In response to this, Boaz Bismuth made it clear that it is Israel’s duty to protect its people and thus the country is entitled to end terrorism.
When asked if the same morality applies to the Palestinian children and if they too have the same rights as Israeli children, Bismuth reminded Sardesai that, unlike Hamas terrorists, Israeli forces are not entering Palestine and killing children. “Did you see my soldiers going and slaughtering Palestinian children…what are you talking about?”
Sardesai was somehow trying to establish that in the war between Hamas and Israel, the Palestinian people are suffering. However, he conveniently forgot that it was the same Palestinian people who elected Hamas to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) in the 2006 elections giving them 74 out of 132 seats despite knowing that it was a terrorist group in the barb of a ‘political party’. The Israeli lawmaker reminded Sardesai of the same and said, “In 2006 when they had elections, knowing that Hamas is a terrorist group, knowing that Hamas wants to eliminate Israel as a nation, knowing that Hamas wants to renew this Islamic Jihad…70 per cent of Gaza people voted for them. And although they did that Israel is not attacking civilians. Israel has nothing against civilians but has everything against terrorism.”
Responding to Sardesai’s claims that over 5000 people have died in Palestine since the country declared war on Hamas, Boaz Bismuth called out the hypocrisy of how the world sees it when the West, the “civilised world” attacks terrorism and Israel does the same. He went on to explain how Israel’s war on Hamas is also a war of India, the US and any country that cares for the Palestinian people as he said: “If you really care for Palestinian people, you should eliminate a terrorist group like Hamas because who is behind what is happening in Gaza right now. Its Hamas! If they hadn’t come inside our villages, our houses and then we would never have responded like that..”
Despite the Israeli lawmaker emphasising the necessity to uproot Hamas completely, Rajdeep Sardesai seemed keen on pushing for a ceasefire. In response, Bismuth reiterated that as not only an MP but also as a citizen he would not want his government to declare a ceasefire until Hamas is eliminated. He also reminded Sardesai that the Palestinian Authority (PA) has not yet condemned Hamas’s terrorist attacks that left 1400 Israelis including children and the elderly dead, and women raped. Highlighting the difference between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists, Boaz Bismuth said that when Hamas kills Israeli children, they celebrate, on the other hand, if somehow Palestinian children suffer due to Israeli action by mistake, the Israeli soldiers cry for those children.
Sardesai wrapped the Gaza debate as the Israeli lawmaker and former journalist pointed out that Jews after getting their promised land focused on their welfare, technology medicines and other aspects while Hamas focused on terrorism.
Interestingly, liberals, Islamists and Palestine sympathisers in general across the world have been pushing this narrative that Hamas is an armed ‘resistance’ group and that it is the innocent Palestinian civilians who are suffering atrocities while Hamas and Israel clash. However, several surveys conducted over the last few years, suggest that the Palestinian people overwhelmingly support the Islamist terrorist group Hamas. As per a survey released in 2021, Palestinian support for Hamas surged dramatically following the Gaza war in May of that year. As reported earlier, the scientific poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) found that around three-quarters of Palestinians viewed Hamas terrorists as victors in a battle against Israel.
Similarly, in the 2019 PCPSR survey, it was found that if Palestinian presidential elections were to be held between President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, 41 per cent of Palestinians would vote for Haniyeh. 48 per cent of Palestinians expressed support for a two-state solution. In the 2018 PCPSR survey, 49 per cent of Palestinians said they would vote for Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh for President. A Washington Institute survey this year showed that 57 per cent of Gazans had a positive opinion of Hamas with similar percentages of Palestinians in the West Bank (52%) and East Jerusalem (64%).
It is worth noting that while Palestine sympathisers like Rajdeep Sardesai and Hamas supporting Islamists globally are demanding a ‘ceasefire’, a top Hamas terrorist Ghazi Hamad not only justified the brutal terror attack in Israel on October 7 killing thousands of civilians including children and the elderly and raping women parading them naked but also announced to repeat it until Israel is annihilated completely.
The Ambassador of the United States to India, Eric Garcetti has said that the pollution in Delhi brings back memories of growing up in Los Angeles’ as the air was very polluted there in the past.
He said that similar to when the children were given a warning to not go outside to play in LA due to poor quality, his daughter was also given the same warning while going to school today in Delhi.
“On a day like this in Delhi, it brings back memories of growing up in Los Angeles where the air was the most polluted air anywhere in America. Where like today, we were given warnings by our teachers that you cannot go outside to play, just as my daughter was given by her teacher today as I dropped her off to school,” Garcetti said.
Garcetti’s remarks come as the national capital grapples with air pollution as the winters are approaching.
The air quality in the national capital continued to remain in the ‘very poor’ category for the fifth consecutive day in a row, according to the latest data on Thursday.
As per the SAFAR-India, the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was 343 (very poor) on Thursday morning.
#WATCH | Light haze engulfs Delhi, air quality in 'very poor' category
The AQI in the national capital was recorded at 322 on Monday (30th October) and 327 on Tuesday (31st October), as per the data provided by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)-India.
In the NCR, the overall air quality in Noida was also recorded in the very poor category today, with an AQI of 397. Meanwhile, morning walkers of the national capital said that breathing is not as easy as it used to be in the summer months.
Air Quality Index (AQI) is a tool for effective communication of air quality status to people in terms, which are easy to understand. It transforms complex air quality data of various pollutants into a single number (index value), nomenclature, and colour.
The AQI from 0 to 100 is considered good, while from 100 to 200 it is moderate, from 200 to 300 it is poor, and from 300 to 400 it is said to be very poor and from 400 to 500 or above it is considered as severe.
Last week, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that a 15-point winter action plan is being implemented one by one to curb pollution.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
On Thursday, November 2, thousands of students belonging to the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi gathered outside the University to stage a protest against an incident of molestation that happened on campus grounds late on Wednesday (November 1) night.
According to reports, the incident came to the fore after the victim alleged that she was molested on campus by three unidentified men, who forcibly kissed her, took off her clothes and then recorded a video of her. She also alleged that the miscreants had brutally beaten up her friend before sexually molesting her. They snatched her mobile phone and threatened to kill her if she spoke about her ordeal with anyone or approached the police. The alleged incident took place late Wednesday (November 1) night.
Concerned about the safety of IIT BHU students, as many as 2000 students have been sitting on a dharna outside the Rajputana Hostel seeking speedy action against the perpetrators. They are also demanding that the administration take concrete steps to ensure the safety of the female students within the campus.
BHU कैम्पस में छात्रा के साथ छेड़छाड़ के आरोपों के बीच IIT BHU के छात्र धरने पर बैठे, सुरक्षा व्यवस्था पर उठाये सवाल. pic.twitter.com/9oNfWBfrkr
In her complaint to the police, the student said, “I am a resident of a hostel at IIT-BHU. On November 2 around 1.30 am, I left my hostel for a walk. I met a male friend at the Gandhi Smriti hostel intersection. We were walking together and when we were 300-400 metres from Karman Baba temple, a motorcycle approached us from behind with three men.”
“They parked their motorcycle and separated my friend and me. They shut my mouth tightly and took me to a corner, kissed me forcibly; took off all my clothes and recorded photos and videos. When I shouted for help, they threatened to kill me. They let me go after 10-15 minutes. When I ran towards my hostel, I heard the sound of the motorcycle. I got scared and went inside the professor’s house. I stayed there for 20 minutes. After that, the professor escorted me to the main gate of his house. From there, Rahul Rathore of the Parliament Security Committee dropped me to the IIT BHU patrolling guard booth,” the victim wrote in her complaint.
The Lanka police, meanwhile, lodged a complaint against three unknown miscreants, who are said to be outsiders under, sections 354-B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act. the police are making all possible efforts to identify and nab the accused.
A senior police officer said, “Multiple teams are working on the case and we will arrest the accused soon.”
After this incident, many police officers including SO of Lanka police station are stationed at the protest site. Bhelupur ACP Praveen Singh said that talks are being held with students on this matter. Police will take further action based on their complaint.
IIT-BHU students criticise management, raise concerns over the lapse of security in the campus
Meanwhile, the students who have been sitting on a dharna have raised grave concerns about the safety of the campus, wondering how such an incident could occur 50 meters away from the Proctorial Board booth, where security personnel are stationed. Recalling a similar incident that took place inside the campus in 2017, the students alleged that the incident was far more heinous than the previous one. They criticised the administration’s apathy in handling such cases, saying that the CCTV cameras in the entire campus are spoilt for the longest time but the varsity has not even bothered to get that fixed.
Deepak Kumar Thakur, one of the students who has been sitting on the dharna, stated, “This incident is much more serious than what occurred in 2017. Whatever information we have received indicates that the student was physically assaulted, and exposed to extremely obscene behaviour. A video of the incident was recorded as well. The entire campus has been placed under a complete shutdown due to the widespread outrage among students over this incident. No work of any kind is being done in any labs, and no classes are being held in any department.
Meanwhile, OpIndia spoke to the Lanka police about the alleged incident, An officer, who did not wish to be named, confirmed that an FIR had been lodged by the victim and the police are investigating the matter. He stated that prima facie it appears that the accused were outsiders. The students are staging a peaceful protest and demanding to speak to the VC of the university, They want the security on the campus to be enhanced. They are raising concerns about how some random outsiders could enter the campus.
Media reports suggest that in the FIR, the student has also revealed the identity of the accused. However, when OpIndia confirmed this with the concerned officer, he categorically said that the FIR had been filed against three unknown miscreants.
It may be recalled that a similar chaos happened in 2017, when hundreds of BHU students, mostly girls, had protested demanding assurance from the administration about their safety inside the university premises and action against alleged molesters and the security guard who refused to help a student, who was molested.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched an attack on Congress in the CPI (Communist Party of India) rally at Patna’s Miller High School on 2 November. According to him I.N.D.I. Alliance was formed in the opposition meeting held in Patna, however, the opposition bloc is not doing any work these days. The Congress party is preoccupied with the upcoming assembly polls that are scheduled to be held in five states and is not paying attention to it.
He charged that while they (other opposition parties) were making efforts to take Congress forward, the party was not worried about the same at the moment. He voiced, “We have been speaking to them, pushing them forward in I.N.D.I. Alliance. But, of late, there has not been much progress on that front. The Congress seems to be more interested in the five assembly polls,” in the rally titled ‘Remove BJP, Save India.’ “We are engaged to unite the country, he added.”
#WATCH | In Patna, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar says, "…We spoke with all the parties, urged them to unite and protect the country from those who are trying to alter its history. For this, meetings were held in Patna and elsewhere. INDIA Alliance was formed but nothing much is… pic.twitter.com/Kwe84TpQbK
The Bihar CM said, “We agreed to assign Congress the leading role. But it appears they will call the next meeting only after they are through with the state elections.” As the Janta Dal (United) leader raised questions about the Congress party, he portrayed himself as someone who took everyone along. He said, “We unite everyone. We take everyone together. We are socialists. Our relationship with CPI is also old. Communists and Socialists have to move forward as one.”
Nitish Kumar added, “The ties between us go way back since the time when we participated in the MLA election in 1987 and received support from all the members of CPI and CPM (Communist Party of India-Marxist) in our area. I will continue to respect you. The primary goal is to bring everyone together and adhere to a particular policy. It is more important for the future.”
Nitish Kumar also criticised the Modi government at the centre and opined that those in power have nothing to do with the country. He accused the Bharatiya Janta Party of wanting to change the history of India and alleged that they had no contribution to the freedom struggle. “They want to destroy everything. We discussed this with all the parties and came to the decision to unite to save the country, which they want to alter.”
Most of the major opposition parties had gathered in Patna in June. Congress, Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena, Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) along with the left parties had gathered to discuss their strategy for the upcoming elections.
It is notable here that apart from the name of an alliance and a logo, the I.N.D.I. Alliance has neither released a seat-sharing formula, nor has announced any common strategy for the 2024 general elections. It is yet to agree on a PM candidate’s name too.
A 30-year-old young filmmaker identified as Piyush Pal lost his life on Tuesday (31st October) after having met with an accident in east Delhi on 28th October. Pal was lying on Delhi Street bleeding nearly for 30 minutes but no one came to his help. The bystanders, unfortunately, chose to photograph and videotape him instead of helping him as he lay on the ground fighting for his life. Pal was taken to the hospital around half an hour later but he could not be saved even after the treatment.
According to CCTV footage from a nearby petrol station, the victim collided with another bike and fell to the ground. He had suffered severe facial and head injuries. The incident happened at 9:45 pm on Saturday (28th October), on the Outer Ring Road, in the lane leading from the IIT crossing to Nehru Place in Delhi. Pal had lost a lot of blood, according to one of the few who stopped to help him, and people who were there said he had been lying there for at least 30 minutes on the road.
Later, one Pankaj Jain saw Piyush Pal struggling for his life and rushed him to a nearby clinic. He was then referred to PSRI Multispeciality Hospital on Press Enclave Marg which is 4 km away from the clinic. The victim finally received medical attention at 11 p.m. His health by then had already experienced suffering as a result of the treatment delay.
According to a report by the Times of India, someone also called the Police Control Room by 10:11 p.m. that day. The Police reached the spot but saw the victim shifted to the hospital by then. The police also said that no eye-witnesses were spotted at the location of the accident and that the other person identified as Bunty, 26, with whom Pal’s vehicle collided had also been shifted to the AIIMS trauma centre.
Chandan Choudhury, DCP, South commented on the matter and said that the victim had collided with Bunty’s vehicle which led to the accident. However, Pal’s friend refused to accept this version. Pal worked as a freelance photographer in Gurugram while Bunty also belongs to Gurugram.
“Case has been registered based on Bunty’s statement and CCTV footage obtained from the spot. Sections of rash driving have been added against Bunty. On Tuesday we received the news of Pal’s unfortunate death,” DCP stated.
Pal’s friend Swarnendu Bose meanwhile revealed that Pal’s laptop, camera and phone were also taken away after the accident. “The worst part is that for a long time, no one stepped forward to take him to the hospital or help him. The people who finally took him to the hospital told us that bystanders were recording videos and taking selfies but no one was helping him,” said Bose.
“His mobile phone and laptop and GoPro camera were taken away. His parents were trying to reach him on his phone but the person who took it kept cutting the calls and later switched off the phone. Had someone taken those calls and told the family, things could have been different,” he added.
Pal, according to Bose, had purchased a new Hero X Pulse bike and was likely returning from a fitness centre in R K Puram when the accident occurred.
Dr. Sumit Goyal, the head of neuro intervention and senior consultant of neurosurgery at PSRI Hospital, confirmed the death of the victim and said, “The patient was brought to the hospital around 11 p.m. He was in a very critical condition with severe head and facial injuries. He was immediately put on ventilator support and medicines were started to stabilise his falling blood pressure. However, with such severe injuries, despite all efforts, he passed away.”
The dead body of the victim was handed over to his family after the autopsy. Pal’s family operates a shop at Chittaranjan Park in Delhi. The cremation procedure of the victim concluded on Wednesday (November 1st) evening.
On Thursday, November 2, as TMC MP Mahua Moitra appears before the Parliament Ethics Committee for questioning in the ‘cash for query scam’ where she has been accused of misusing her Parliamentary privilege for monetary benefits, her ‘jilted-ex’ and SC lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai has told the media that he is not afraid of anybody and cannot be bullied into hiding the truth. He asserted that he would come out with the truth at an appropriate time.
The SC lawyer went on to say, without taking names, that the citizens of the country are extremely intelligent and can recognize when someone is being dishonest. The citizens of this country can identify when someone is trying to change the narrative by attempting to play the victim, Jai Anant Dehadrai asserted.
#WATCH | 'Cash for query' charge against TMC MP Mahua Moitra | On Mahua Moitra, Advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai says, "I can't comment about anybody else. It is a free country, anybody can say what they like. There are consequences to things that people say and at the appropriate… pic.twitter.com/iCOV5QLKWy
Speaking to the media, Mahua Moitra’s ‘jilted-ex’ said, “I can’t comment about anybody else. It is a free country; anybody can say what they like. There are consequences to things that people say and at the appropriate time, I will certainly come out and explain what has happened. I will come out with the truth. I am not afraid of anybody; I don’t get bullied by anybody. If somebody is trying to alter the narrative by trying to play the victim, the whole country is watching. I think the public is very intelligent, they know what is happening” Advocate Jai Dehadrai said.
#WATCH | 'Cash for query' charge against TMC MP Mahua Moitra | Advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai says, "This is an extremely serious matter. The matter is before the Ethics Committee. It will not be appropriate for me to say anything about it, so I would not like to say anything about… pic.twitter.com/2aHPnM7it0
“The matter is very serious as it is before the honourable Ethics Committee. It would be very inappropriate for me to say anything about a sub-judice matter before the Court. I can say nothing about it. This matter is extremely serious and I think the appropriate authority which is meant to deal with this issue is working. They will determine the basis of whatever material is produced before them. So I have no comment to make. I think decorum demands that the process is conducted properly, ” he added.
It may be recalled that yesterday (Wednesday, November 1), advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai, the ex-boyfriend of TMC MP Mahua Moitra who levelled serious allegations of bribery, and parliamentary misconduct against her, posted a cryptic message on X, saying that ‘the person’ has committed a crime far worse.
Without mentioning Mahua Moitra, or anyone else, Dehadrai wrote, “The person accused of corruption and compromising national security is guilty of something far worse – and no – I’m not talking about the theft of my dog.”
The person accused of corruption and compromising national security is guilty of something far worse – and no – I’m not talking about the theft of my dog. pic.twitter.com/7q9vsLViR0
Earlier, on 21st October, it came to light that Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai had voiced concerns about his safety in a letter to Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora. In his letter, he expressed his apprehensions over his safety following the allegations he levelled against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra appeared before the Parliament Ethics Committee. In a video shared by ANI, the politician is seen walking into the Parliament donning a red saree and sunglasses. She carries a laptop bag, an expensive designer handbag and a tiffin bag in her hand as she enters the Parliament, where the questioning is underway.
#WATCH | TMC MP Mahua Moitra arrives at the Parliament in Delhi.
She is appearing before the Parliament Ethics Committee in connection with the 'cash for query' charge against her. pic.twitter.com/Hl4ZqG3eEl
It may be recalled that Moitra, who is a Lok Sabha MP from West Bengal’s Krishnanagar, was originally summoned on 31st October. But she had sought to delay it by saying that she was in her constituency. On Saturday (28th October), the deputy secretary of the Lok Sabha directed TMC MP Mahua Moitra to appear before the Ethics Committee on 2nd November in connection with the investigation of the allegations of ‘cash-for-question- against her. The Lok Sabha secretariat wrote to her stating that her request for an extension of the date has been accepted.
Notably, Mahua Moitra is being questioned based on reports received by the Ethics Committee from three Union Ministries namely Home, Information Technology and External Affairs ministries, along with other documents and evidence.
The panel had sought information from the three ministries after a meeting held on October 26.
The committee had inquired about several things, including whether her login IP addresses and her locations matched.
It may be recalled that the IT ministry had stated that it had sent a report to the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee confirming that the TMC leader’s parliamentary ID was accessed 49 times from Dubai.
It is notable here that businessman Darshan Hiranandani, who has admitted to getting access to Mahua Moitra’s Lok Sabha login ID and password, lives in Dubai.
