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After AAP’s Punjab & Congress’ Himachal Pradesh, now Karnataka hikes electricity prices by Rs 2.89 per unit after promising free electricity: Details

OpIndia Staff
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After AAP’s Punjab & Congress’ Himachal Pradesh, now Karnataka hikes electricity prices by Rs 2.89 per unit after promising free electricity: Details

Karnataka’s energy costs and power tariffs increased by Rs 2.89 per unit in June despite Siddaramaiah’s state government’s free electricity pledge. Now the citizens will have to pay an additional Rs 2.89 per unit if their power usage exceeds the 200 units slab while paying the power bill.

According to the reports, the fuel and power purchase cost adjustment (FPPCA), which includes back payments from April, represents this additional expense. Due to billing complications and a lack of time, the FPPCA for this January could not be implemented in March. From June, the same FPPCA of Rs 1.49 per unit would continue to be charged. In addition, there is a 70 Paisa + 70 Paisa increase from April to June, which results in a total price increase of Rs 2.89 per unit if more than 200 units are used. 

The Karnataka government released comprehensive instructions on Monday for the execution of the Gruha Jyothi scheme, which guarantees free electricity to all families with monthly electricity usage below 200 units. Additionally, the sharp increase in monthly power bills that Karnataka’s Electricity Supply Companies (Escoms) sent on Monday confused thousands of residents.

The ‘fixed costs’ in the electricity bills produced by Escoms for June experienced a significant hike, ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 75 depending on the usage load. According to a Senior Bescom official, the invoices were created by the price decision issued by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) notwithstanding widespread criticism of the Escoms.

A tariff increase of 70 paise was mandated by the KERC on May 13 with retroactive effect beginning on April 1, 2023. Similarly, the KERC updated the tariff a few days ago by including changes for gasoline and electricity purchase costs. “As KERC ordered us to collect the pending dues for April too along with that of May, the bill issued in June appears to be inflated. They will become normal from next month onwards,” a senior engineer with Bescom was quoted as saying. 

Reportedly, Karnataka CM Siddharamaiah also commented on the issue and said that the decision was solely taken by the Karnataka electricity regulatory commission (KERC) and that the state government did not interfere. “We did not decide to hike the electricity tariff. There is Karnataka electricity regulatory authority, which has decided. It had been decided in the past. We have only implemented it,” he explained.

Following the June 2 cabinet meeting, CM Siddaramaiah said that no home using less than 200 units per month will be required to pay power bills. However, the administration unveiled qualifying requirements on Monday. Energy minister KJ George said that the scheme will require Rs 13,000 crore annually and 96 per cent of households with electricity connections will be covered under the scheme.

The government would figure up a household’s typical annual use and provide them a 10 per cent usage cushion. “If this falls within 200 units, the household is eligible for free electricity. If a household crosses its annual average consumption and the 10 per cent buffer, they will have to pay for the extra units,” the minister said.

Himachal Pradesh also raised power tariff by 86 paise and further by 22 paise per unit

The Congress party had promised this much-touted schemes of granting 200 units of free electricity to all the houses in its 2023 election manifesto. However, it was reported that in Himachal Pradesh, the Congress-led state government hiked 86 paise per unit in power tariff for the financial year 2023-24 after promising free units of electricity.

In February this year, the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited (HPSEBL) proposed a hike of 86 paisa per unit in power tariff for the financial year 2023-24. Electricity up to 125 units per month is free for domestic consumers in the state. The Congress government had promised to increase the free power up to 300 units but ended up putting an extra financial burden in the form of subsidy on HPSEBL.

Also, in April this year the Himachal Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (HPERC) increased the electricity tariffs for all consumers by 22 paise per unit for the financial year 2023-24.

Punjab faces massive debt burden after govt rolled out 300 units of free power to the residents.

A similar situation could be seen in the state of Punjab ruled by AAP. On May 15, just two days after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) registered a thumping victory in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-poll, the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab Government increased the power tariff for all categories. After three years, the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) announced an increase of 8.64 percent in the electricity rates. PSERC increased fixed charges as well. The average cost per unit is now Rs 7.04 compared to Rs 6.48 per unit earlier. Notably, compared to neighbor states, including Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, the consumers of Punjab pay anywhere between Re 1.01 to Rs 0.39 more per unit.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had said in a statement that the revised tariff would not put pressure on the consumers and the government would bear the cost for domestic and agriculture consumers. However, it was reported that the increase in tariff was introduced to meet the annual revenue requirement of the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. Several factors have increased the production cost, including higher prices for coal imports, increased rate of short-term power purchase from power exchange and normal inflation.

CM Mann in April last year had promised 300 units of free electricity to every household in the State. The same was provided to the citizens in July 2022. To note, the state is reeling under a massive debt burden. Three econimists in February this year had written to the CM highlighting that the state situation had worsened ever since the government had rolled out 300 units of free power to the residents.

39 years of Operation Blue Star: Bhindranwale posters, pro-Khalistan slogans raised at Golden Temple in Amritsar

OpIndia Staff
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39 years of Operation Blue Star: Bhindranwale posters, pro-Khalistan slogans raised at Golden Temple in Amritsar

On the 39th anniversary of Operation Bluestar, several pro-Khalistani elements gathered at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Tuesday, June 6, and raised pro-Khalistan slogans on the premises. The pro-Khalistani elements also brandished Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale posters and swords during the event.

Operation Bluestar was a military operation carried out to flush out the Khalistani terrorists from the Golden Temple in the year 1984. Reportedly, earlier, several racial Sikh outfits including the Dal Khalsa, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), Akali Dal (United), and others had held a ‘remembrance march’ and had carried placards and banners in the city of Amritsar.

A sizable crowd gathered near the Golden Temple, raising pro-Khalistan cries and waving Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale posters and swords. On the grounds of the Sikh temple, ardas was also conducted. Simranjit Singh Mann, a leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) and a member of parliament, address the masses. Meanwhile, Jathedar Akal Takht Giani Harpreet Singh asked all Sikh organisations to get together and conduct an awareness campaign on Sikhism throughout the state’s villages.

Police said that security was increased in Amritsar to prevent any untoward incidents. Arpit Shukla, Special Director General of Police (law and order), had inspected the security measures in Amritsar earlier on Sunday. The local police and paramilitary forces have intensified patrols, and there are strict security measures in place, according to Shukla. 68 checkpoints have been put up for 24-hour monitoring, and patrolling teams have been placed in the city’s major locations.

Shukla, while speaking to reporters in Amritsar, advised against falling for bogus messages on social media and warned stern action against anyone spreading misinformation. “Four companies of CAPF (central armed police forces) have been deployed in the district, in addition to 3,000 Punjab police personnel. Not only in Amritsar, security has been beefed up all over Punjab. Eleven companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed in the state, in addition to police force mobilisation”, Shukla was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, DCP (Law and order) Parminder Singh Bhandal also confirmed the security arrangements and added that the security forces had sounded a high alert in Amritsar earlier this week as multiple Sikh organisations had announced various programs citing the occasion of Operation Blue Star’s 39th anniversary.

The largest internal security mission the Indian Army has ever gone on was Operation Blue Star in 1984. The Operation was Indira Gandhi’s response to the law-and-order problems that were occurring in Punjab at the time as a result of the spread of the Khalistan movement. Under Operation Blue Star, which was conducted in Amritsar between June 1 and June 8, 1984, Indira Gandhi, the country’s prime minister at the time, gave the order for Indian soldiers to drive out Sikh militants who were stockpiling weapons in Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple).

Supporters of Khalistan had taken refuge at Amritsar’s Golden Temple’s Akal Takht complex in the 1980s. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who seized control of the Akal Takht complex in Amritsar’s Golden Temple, was the target of the Blue Star operation.

According to the official data, 492 civilians and at least 83 Army jawans died during the whole operation. The fire at this time included a shot at a copy of the sacred Sikh text that was put in the Golden Temple.

Banned terror outfit Khalistan Tiger Force on the radar, NIA raids 10 locations in Punjab and Haryana: About the case

ANI
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Banned terror outfit Khalistan Tiger Force on the radar, NIA raids 10 locations in Punjab and Haryana: About the case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday conducted searches at 10 locations in Punjab and Haryana in a case linked to banned terrorist organization Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). 

The raids were being conducted at nine locations in Punjab and one in Haryana in connection with a criminal conspiracy hatched to raise funds for the banned terrorist outfit and also smuggle arms, ammunition and explosives for it from across the border. The NIA had registered a suo moto case on August 20 last year under various sections of Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. 

In the same case, the NIA arrested two ‘wanted’ close associates of Canada-based ‘listed terrorist’ Arsh Dhalla on May 19 this year soon after they arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) from Manila, Philippines, where they had been living. 

The duo, identified as Amritpal Singh alias Ammy and Amritk Singh, both hailing from Punjab, were nabbed in an early morning operation by the NIA, whose team was waiting at the Airport for their flight to land. 

The NIA earlier informed that the two accused had non-bailable arrest warrants issued against them by the NIA Delhi Court in a case related to the unlawful and violent activities of banned organisations in India. The accused have several criminal cases registered against them in Punjab. 

The NIA investigations have revealed that the accused had been working for individual designated terrorist Arshdeep Singh Dhalla to promote violent criminal activities of the KTF in India. 

In association with another notorious wanted accused Manpreet Singh alias Peeta, the NIA has said, the two accused had been involved in smuggling weapons from Pakistan and recruitment of youth to carry out acts of violence and terror in the country at the behest of the KTF. 

“They were also part of an extortion racket for raising funds for the banned outfit. The accused used to identify extortion targets, including businessmen, and then threaten them into parting with huge amounts. In case the identified targets refused, their homes and other premises would be fired at by the accused’s India-based associates,” the NIA said. 

The arrests were part of NIA’s continuous crackdown on individual terrorists and terrorist outfits engaged in a criminal conspiracy to smuggle terrorist hardware, such as arms, ammunition and explosives, and raise funds for carrying out terrorist acts on the Indian soil.

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

NCPCR to approach Delhi LG over hindrances created in rescue ops from Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station targeting child labour

ANI
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NCPCR to approach Delhi LG over hindrances created in rescue ops from Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station targeting child labour

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) Chairperson Priyank Kanoongo is planning to approach Vinai Kumar Saxena, Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi regarding the obstacles faced during their rescue operations at Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station targeting child labour. 

Further going on about the matter, Kanoongo said that the NCPCR has been conducting rescue operations in 100 locations as World Day Against Child Labour is nearing. “World Day Against Child Labour is celebrated on June 12, over which rescue operations are conducted in almost 100 areas. We have informed all the DMs beforehand. However, the rescue operation was interrupted near the Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station by the SDM. Similar incidents took place last year as well. We will file a complaint over the issue to Delhi LG,” Kanoongo said. 

Notably, World Day Against Child Labour was adopted on June 12 in 2002 by the United Nations body, International Labour Organisation. The International Labour Organization supports and provides basic education, medical and other services to children. 

On this occasion, many events, and campaigns are also organized showing concern for the children who become victims of child labour across the world. The ‘Universal Social Protection to End Child Labour’ is the theme dedicated to World Day Against Child Labour this year.

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

Mumbai: Birthday boy Sabir murdered by ‘friends’ Shahrukh, Nishar and 2 minors in Salman Khan’s ‘Antim’ movie style, accused arrested. Details

OpIndia Staff
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Mumbai: Birthday boy Sabir murdered by ‘friends’ Shahrukh, Nishar and 2 minors in Salman Khan’s ‘Antim’ movie style, accused arrested. Details

On June 3, a dreadful case of murder of a 20-year-old birthday boy was reported from Govandi area of Shivaji Nagar, Mumbai. The boy identified as Sabir Ansari was murdered by his four friends including two minors on his birthday. The accused identified as Shahrukh, Nishar, Salamat and one another recreated a scene from Salman Khan starrer Bollywood movie named ‘Antim: The final truth’ and killed the deceased with the same knife he had used to cut the cake.

The Mumbai Police have registered a case under section 109 (punishment for abetment), 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 34 (common intent) of the Indian Penal Code. Also, the police have arrested all four accused, two of which have been sent to a juvenile home given their minor ages. However, the other two identified as Shahrukh and Nishar have been sent to jail.

The saga is said to have begun a couple of days earlier than the deceased’s birthday. A report by the Indian Express claims that the deceased was 18 and had gone to a Dhaba for a regular outing with his friends (the accused). The accused there asked Sabir to pay the entire food bill costing Rs 10,000. Sabir happened to refuse saying that he was saving for his birthday party. However, he paid the entire food bill after the accused promised to return the money.

Sabir after a couple of days approached the accused for money as he wanted to hire a DJ and a cake for his birthday. But the accused didn’t pay the amount. Sabir and his friends, the accused fought over this issue then. Sabir also returned home and told his father that his friends had threatened him.

Later on the day of his birthday party, the accused collected some money and threw him a party near the Ambedkar garden area of Shivaji Nagar, Govandi around 8 pm. At around 11:30 pm, the accused held the deceased by his jacket and confronted him over alleged abuses he had hurled earlier. They punched him and also assaulted him. One of them then grabbed the knife from the cake and stabbed the deceased several times.

As per the police, the accused could be heard saying ‘Isko Antim picture ka shot dikha (show him that scene from Antim movie)’. The deceased was taken to the Shatabdi Municipal Hospital where he was declared dead by the doctors.

Meanwhile, a slightly different version of the murder case has come to the fore. Report by News9live claims that the deceased had organized a birthday party where his friends hired a DJ and asked Sabir to pay for it. He refused as he had already spent Rs 10,000 and was out of money. His infuriated friends got into a fight with him and later one of his friends Salamat borrowed a knife from Shahrukh and stabbed Sabir in his chest.

As per the police, one of the passersby identified Sabir and saw him in a pool of blood. He immediately informed his father who later took him to the hospital where the doctors declared him already dead. One of the accused had also fled from the spot to Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and that a team from the Crime Branch (unit-6) had been sent out to arrest them.

The Police on June 6, confirmed that all the accused named in the murder case have been arrested and sent to jail. The two minor accused have been sent to the Juvenile facility. The case has been registered under IPC sections 302, 323, 109 and 34. Further investigations are underway.

After wrestlers claim no FIR taken back, reports emerge of minor withdrawing statement against WFI chief, Delhi police questions Brij Bhushan’s staff

OpIndia Staff
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After wrestlers claim no FIR taken back, reports emerge of minor withdrawing statement against WFI chief, Delhi police questions Brij Bhushan’s staff

On June 4, the minor wrestler who accused former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual assault has reportedly withdrawn her allegations. As per The Indian Express report, the minor athlete was among the seven wrestlers who levelled allegations against Singh. She had recorded two statements, one before the police and another before the magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Unnamed sources informed The Indian Express that she has recorded a fresh statement withdrawing the allegations. Earlier, several reports noted Sakshi Malik clarified no FIR was taken back while talking to ANI.

The statement recorded under Section 164 is deemed as evidence before the court. As she has withdrawn the statement and recorded a new one, it will be up to the court if the charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act can be pursued or not. The court will decide which statement of hers will be given precedence during the trial.

Reports suggest that in the FIR registered with the Delhi police, the father of the minor said the athlete was “completely disturbed and cannot be at peace anymore …sexual harassment by the accused (Singh) continues to haunt her”. It was claimed in the complaint that Singh held her tightly while pretending to get a picture clicked. The complaint further read that Singh “squeezed her towards himself, pressed hard on her shoulder and then deliberately…brushed his hands against her breasts”.

The first statement in front of the magistrate was registered on May 10 in a case pertaining to an FIR registered against Singh under Section 10 of the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and IPC Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking) and 34 (common intention). If proven guilty, an accused faces up to seven years of jail time under Section 10 of the POCSO Act.

Wrestlers Protest

Several wrestlers led by Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat are protesting against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh alleging he sexually harassed hundreds of female wrestlers. The wrestlers’ protest first started in January 2023 but was halted after a committee was formed to investigate the matter. The protests restarted in April 2023. An FIR was registered by Delhi Police and the investigation is underway. Recently, Home Minister Amit Shah met the protesting wrestlers and asked them to let the law take its course.

The protests have turned political as Khap Panchayats, opposition leaders and farmer unions along with left-liberals have extended support to the protesters. They used the platform to target PM Modi-led BJP  government at the centre.

Delhi Police questioned staff at Brij Bhushan Singh’s houses

As per Dainik Bhaskar’s report, Delhi Police teams questioned staff at Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s houses in Delhi and Gonda. The police visited his house on Monday night and questioned 15 of his staff members for around 1.5 hours at Lucknow and 12 at Gonda. As per reports, the driver, guards, gardener and servants were questioned by the police. The police has already questioned Singh two times for 5-6 hours so he was not questioned again during a visit to Lucknow and Gonda houses.

The Wire gets attacked by their Muslim readers even though they tried to whitewash Love Jihad by monkey-balancing with Bhagwa Love Trap

Anurag
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The Wire gets attacked by their Muslim readers even though they tried to whitewash Love Jihad by monkey-balancing with Bhagwa Love Trap

Recently (on June 1), the website TheWire published a video denouncing the so-called ‘Bhagwa Love Trap’, a fictitious propaganda that is being run by Islamists to target Hindu men. In the video that they uploaded on their YouTube channel, they called the Bhagwa Love Trap a fictitious campaign, which it is, but being a Leftist propaganda rag which often acts as the backbone of Islamists, they used the fictitious campaign to whitewash ‘Love Jihad’, which has real victims, real stories, real FIRs, real conviction and real-life criminal implications.

However, even though TheWire tried to monkey-balance by denouncing Bhagwa Love Trap only to whitewash Islamist crimes against Hindu women (Love Jihad), their Muslim readership, which demands total submission to the Islamist agenda, got miffed with the ally-portal and starting trending the hashtag #BoycottTheWire on Twitter.

Islamists claim that Hindu men are trapping Muslim women. There have been several cases where a group of Islamists chased Hindu men travelling with their Muslim female friends and assaulted them. While targeting Hindus, Islamists also leaked information about Muslim women online who were seen with Hindu men. Several groups are active on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Telegram and WhatsApp running propaganda against Hindus.

It is pertinent to note that the only cases of so-called Bhagwa Love Trap that have come to the fore involve Muslim women merely being ‘seen’ with Hindu men. There is not even one case where the Islamists have been able to show that Hindu men were brainwashing Muslim women, trying to convert them to Hinduism, misrepresented their identity to trap the Muslim women or committed any religiously motivated crime against the Muslim women.

The Wire shenanigans

In the 7 minutes and 49 seconds video, The Wire’s Zeeshan Kaskar talked about women not being free in Indian society. The video started with a discussion on the so-called Bhagwa Love Trap cases. Kaskar said under the said phenomenon, Muslim men harass Muslim women seen with non-Muslim men. He pointed out five such cases came to the fore in May itself.

The Wire claimed that The Quint covered several cases of Bhagwa Love Trap where Muslim men would harass Muslim women roaming with non-Muslim men. They claimed the cases were “unlinked” and had nothing to do with each other. Interestingly, while Islamists are running propaganda to target Hindu men on multiple social media platforms, The Wire whitewashed the incidents claiming there was no link whatsoever.

Kaskar further said the only thing common among them was the modus operandi under which a group of Muslim men spot Muslim women roaming with non-Muslim men and target them. The funny thing was, within seconds Kaskar was seen explaining how they were actually “linked” to social media campaign against the so-called Bhagwa Love Trap.

It is also interesting that TheWire chose to highlight only 5 cases, thereby also whitewashing just how rampant this conspiracy theory is. OpIndia itself has documented several cases in a two part series where more than 20 cases of Hindu men being harassed by Muslim mobs have come to the fore.

‘The social fabric of India is in bad shape’ – Kaskar drew a parallel with Love Jihad

The Wire claimed that such cases are damaging the social fabric of India which is ‘already in bad shape’. It would be a stretch, however, to expect TheWire to call out the conspiracy theory of Bhagwa Love Trap, specifically made to target Hindu men and whitewash real religiously motivated crimes of Love Jihad.

After 4 minutes into the video, Kaskar said just like Bhagwa Love Trap a fabricated campaign called “Love Jihad” is being served to Hindus. The Wire named Hindu Janjagruti Samiti as the mastermind behind Love Jihad. He added that HJS is linked to Sanatan Sanstha, a Goa-based private organisation. He claimed Sanatan Sanstha is involved in terrorist activities including the murder of controversial journalist Gauri Lankesh.

Following the claims, The Wire got into full propaganda mode to target Hindus. They showed clips of news channels where it was claimed people linked to Hindu organisations attempted bomb blasts furthering the already debunked theory of ‘Saffron terror’.

Kaskar further claimed that cases like Bhagwa Love Trap gives more power to the right-wingers. “Maybe they [right wingers] are eyeing for such cases. That’s why organisations like Hindu Janjagriti Samiti keep provoking their followers. Everyone knows which political party gets benefitted from communalism,” Kaskar said.

Essentially, while denouncing Bhagwa Love Trap created by Islamists and Maulanas like Sajjad Nomani, TheWire could not resist blaming the Hindus for the theory being peddled by Muslims not only to target Hindu men but also to whitewash their own crimes against Hindu women.

The boycott call against The Wire

The Wire team might have expected brownie points from both Hindus and Muslims but their video backfired and now they are facing boycott calls from their loyal followers. Several Muslims who were subscribers of The Wire are unsubscribing from their channel. They are running hashtags like “BoycottTheWire” on social media. One of the main reasons behind the boycott calls is that The Wire used a photograph of prominent Islamic cleric Sajjad Nomani who has been at the forefront of the bogus campaign of Bhagwa Love Trap.

OpIndia has extensively covered the rants of Maulana Sajjad Nomani who has spread dangerous misinformation and Islamic humbug to claim that Muslim women are being preyed upon by Hindu men.

Twitter user Syed Nadeem questioned The Wire and Kaskar for using Nomani’s photograph in the thumbnail and demanded an explanation. Interestingly, Kaskar told him to ask Nomani not to spread hate and got more hate in return.

At one point, Kaskar told Nadeem “Bhad mein jao” (go to hell). Maybe The Wire team is frustrated that their well-orchestrated plan failed.

Twitter user Chaand said The Wire was paid to use Nomani’s photograph in the thumbnail and called Kaskar ‘Chomu Garbage’.

Twitter user Abu Hanzalah urged everyone to stand with the “scholars” of Islam and shut the mouth of “bigots” like The Wire who damage and attack Islam.

Another Twitter user Aadil MAndoori also claimed The Wire was paid for using Nomani’s photograph.

Twitter user Samad accused The Wire of user Nomani’s photograph and called out the “hypocrisy” of the portal.

Abu Sayed Dilwas Siddiqui unsubscribed The Wire’s YouTube channel and urged others to do the same.

The Boycott campaign against The Wire by their Muslim readers and what it says about total submission to their agenda

As mentioned above, TheWire has on several occasions whitewashed the crimes of Muslims against non-Muslims and therefore, one should be rather surprised that their Muslim readership is today miffed enough with them to boycott them. If one recalls, it was The Wire that had tried to paint Tahir Hussain as an innocent victim, when in his disclosure statement he clearly mentions that he was one of the key conspirators of the Delhi anti-Hindu riots because he wanted to ‘teach Kafirs a lesson’. The Wire has on several occasions given covering fire to Islamists, whitewashed their crimes, covered up for their terrorism, tried to implicate Hindus for crimes committed by Islamists, hailed Islamists like Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam etc.

With such dedicated allegiance to the Islamist agenda, one has to wonder why the Muslims found the need to boycott The Wire, even though, the video for which they are now facing a boycott actually monkey balanced, gave the Muslims a ‘get out of jail free card’, blamed Hindus for their sins and whitewashed Islamist crimes against non-Muslim women.

Essentially, Islamists and Leftists alike demand total and utter submission to their agenda. For a portal to be an ally of the Islamists, they will have to basically morph themselves into the mouthpieces of ISIS for their Islamist readership to be happy. It has been proven on several such occasions that any deviation from the most radical discussions in the Muslim circle earns the ire of not just Islamists but also the average moderate Muslims. The Wire was an ally until they whitewashed the Delhi anti-Hindu riots and painted the worst elements in Muslim society as angels. However, the moment they even remotely denounced an Islamist conspiracy, even their monkey balancing blaming Hindus and whitewashing their crime was not enough. What their Muslim readership expected of TheWire was to accept that Bhagwa Love Trap is real, and then use it to claim that Hindus were terrorists and that Love Jihad was not real. Any deviation from that specific agenda invited their ire.

Love Jihad is real and The Wire cannot deny it

No matter how much The Wire and others try to whitewash Love Jihad (grooming jihad), it is real and there have been hundreds of cases to prove it. Over 150 cases from 2022 were compiled by OpIndia at the beginning of 2023 and it was just the tip of the iceberg. Almost every day several such cases are being reported where Muslim men pose and Hindu to lure Hindu women. They trap them and then force the Hindu women to convert. A notable percentage of such cases end up in the assault and murder of Hindu women after they refuse to convert or object to following Islamic practices. OpIndia’s detailed coverage of such cases can be seen here.

NDRF Jawan Venktesan NK, who was onboard Coromandel Express was among the first to alert his team: What he said about the horrific accident

ANI
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NDRF Jawan Venktesan NK, who was onboard Coromandel Express was among the first to alert his team: What he said about the horrific accident

NDRF Jawan Venktesan NK, who was onboard the Coromandel Express which derailed in Odisha, was among the first to alert his force about that tragic accident. 
While talking to ANI, Venktesan NK said, “I alerted my team about the accident. I informed the Odisha NDRF team. Within one hour an NDRF team was on the spot. The nearby civilians helped us a lot in providing food, water and first aid.” “The accident happened around 6:50 pm. There was a loud noise inside the train. Everybody was scared and people started praying to god. I asked people not to lose their cool and made them understand that something might have happened. The train slowed down after that. I asked them to settle down. I was in the AC coach. After the train stopped, I got down to see and realised that an accident had happened,” Venktesan NK further said. 

Upon his return from Odisha after the horrific railway accident, which killed over 270 people and left over 1000 injured, Railway Board Chairman, AK Lahoti on Monday evening briefed top officials in the Prime Minister’s Office on the update on ground, including the ongoing investigation. 

“Chairperson of the Railway Board will be meeting top officials in the Prime Minister’s office, including the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister about the details from the ground,” reliable sources had earlier told ANI. 

While the enquiry ordered by the railway ministry is currently underway, the government has also sent a request to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take up the matter. 

“There is a need to have a deep investigation by a professional agency to rule out any deliberate interference,” top government sources told ANI. 

Within hours of the rail accident, the chairman railway board was on the ground with the Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw and has returned only today. So he is likely to brief the details to the PMO that has been keeping a constant watch on the developments on the ground. 

The triple train accident in Balasore happened on Friday evening. At least 275 people were killed, while more than 1,000 were injured in the accident that took place near the Bahanaga Bazar area on June 2. 

The Odisha government on Monday informed that 151 bodies from the triple train accident that took place in Odisha’s Balasore district have been identified till today morning. 

On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took stock of the Balasore accident site from ground zero and also visited the injured being treated at the hospital. 
Before leaving Delhi for the accident site, PM Modi had also chaired a high-level review meeting on the same.

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

BBC accepts it evaded taxes in India, agrees to pay Rs 40 crore to authorities, however, is yet to provide this in writing: Details

OpIndia Staff
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BBC accepts it evaded taxes in India, agrees to pay Rs 40 crore to authorities, however, is yet to provide this in writing: Details

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has reportedly admitted that they evaded taxes in India and are now committing to pay Rs 40 crores in tax arrears. According to a report in Times of India, BBC is yet to file revised returns or provide their commitment to the Tax Authorities in writing. The report said that tax sources have said that BBC has only made a statement of intent so far and no payment has been received by the IT department.

According to a report by India.com, the BBC has agreed to cough up Rs 40 crores to make up for their tax evasion over a period of almost 6 years – from 2016 to 2022.

In February 2023, the BBC offices were surveyed by tax authorities for 3 days. After the survey, the Finance Ministry had issued a statement explaining the depth of tax fraud committed by the BBC.

Without naming BBC, the statement said that a survey action under section 133A of the Income tax Act, 1961(the Act) was carried out at the business premises of group entities of a prominent international Media Company at Delhi and Mumbai.

The statement noted that BBC is engaged in the business of development of content in English, Hindi and various other Indian languages; advertisement sales and market support services, etc in India.

The statement said that the income/profits shown by various group entities under BBC India do not match their scale of operations in India, as the quantity of content in India is substantial. In the raid by the Income tax department, which has been described as a survey, several pieces of evidence were found that show that tax has not been paid on certain remittances which have not been disclosed as income in India by the foreign entities of the group.

The ministry further informed that the survey revealed that BBC India had made remittances to its foreign offices for utilising the services of seconded employees, or temporary employees sent from overseas. While such remittances are subjected to withholding tax, BBC avoided it.

Further, the I-T department also found discrepancies and inconsistencies with regard to Transfer Pricing documentation. Such discrepancies relate to the level of relevant Function, Asset and Risk (FAR) analysis, incorrect use of comparables which are applicable to determine the correct Arms Length Price (ALP) and inadequate revenue apportionment, among others, the statement said.

The ministry has said that the survey operation has resulted in the unearthing of crucial evidence by way of statements of employees, digital evidence and documents which will be further examined in due course. “It is pertinent to state that statements of only those employees were recorded whose role was crucial including those connected to, primarily, finance, content development and other production-related functions,” the ministry said.

Interestingly, while the ‘Liberal’ ecosystem in India had tried to defend the BBC and blame the Modi government for conducting the survey at the BBC premises, the broadcasting company has a notable past of tax evasion and fraud. For example, Thousands of public employees, including those at the BBC, were not paying their taxes at the source, according to a 2012 report from the public accounts committee in the United Kingdom (UK). The full report on BBC’s history of tax evasion can be read here.

As Mukhtar Ansari is sentenced to life in prison in Congress leader’s murder, here is what he had said about Hamid Ansanri

OpIndia Staff
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As Mukhtar Ansari is sentenced to life in prison in Congress leader’s murder, here is what he had said about Hamid Ansanri

Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari was convicted by a special MP-MLA court in Varanasi on Monday in the 1991 Awadhesh Rai murder case. He has been awarded life imprisonment in the case of murder of Congress leader Awadhesh Rai, brother of MLA Ajay Rai, on 3 August 1991.

Every time Mukhtar Ansari appears in the news, people mention that he is a relative of former vice president Hamid Ansari. It is often said Hamid Ansari is Mukhtar Ansari’s uncle, while some say they are cousins. While that is not true, it is also not completely untrue.

In fact, Mukhtar Ansari himself has claimed that he is related to Hamid Ansari. In February 2021, while opposing the UP government’s plea to shift him to the state from Punjab, he had said that he comes from an illustrious family with several well-known persons and freedom fighters. In this, he had also named Hamid Ansari.

Mukhtar Ansari said in an affidavit filed at the Supreme Court that he was a “part of a family that has made immense contribution to the Indian freedom movement and has given India many leaders in the form of Shri Muhammad Hamid Ansari who was the vice president of India, Shri Shaukatullah Ansari who served as the governor of Odisha, Justice Asif Ansari who was the judge of the Allahabad high court, and his own father Subhanullah Ansari who was a freedom fighter and social worker.”

It has been widely reported in media that Mukhtar Ansari comes from a distinguished family. His paternal grandfather Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari was the president of the Congress party. While his maternal grandfather Mohammad Usman was a Brigadier in the Indian Army. His father Subhanullah Ansari was also a politician and had a clean image. Mukhtar’s brother Sibgatullah Ansari is a member of Samajwadi Party and two-time MLA from 2007 to 2012.

Similarly, his family is indeed related to the family of Hamid Ansari, but they are not first cousins or direct uncle-nephew, as often alleged. According to available reports, they are distant relatives. Talking to newschecker, Shuaib Ansari, son of the elder brother of Mukhtar Ansari, has clarified that Hamid Ansari is a distant relative and not an immediate relative of Mukhtar Ansari.

Another member of the family said that Hamid Ansari and Mukhtar Ansari’s father Subhanullah Ansari were second cousins. Therefore, Hamid Ansari is not Mukhtar Ansari’s real uncle, but they belong to the same extended family. Hamid Ansari and Subhanullah Ansari are grandnephews of the freedom fighter Dr Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari.

Other well-known names from the clan include Jamia Millia founder and former Congress president Dr Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, former MP and former governor Dr Shaukat-Ullah Shah Ansari, former Kerala Chief Justice M Ahmad Ansari, Justice Asif Ansari of Allahabad High Court, among others.

Due to the distant nature of the relationship between Hamid Ansari and Mukhtar Ansari, locals consider them not relatives. In an OpIndia ground report, one villager from Mau village had said that they merely belong to the same village, and have no blood relation.

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