On Monday, the Central Government imposed a ban on 14 mobile messenger apps in India following a lead that the terrorists in Pakistan have been using these mobile messenger apps as a communication platform to transmit information to Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the reports, the apps that have been blocked by the government are Crypviser, Enigma, Safeswiss, Wickrme, Mediafire, Briar, BChat, Nandbox, Conion, IMO, Element, Second line, Zangi and Threema.
Central Government blocks 14 mobile messenger apps. It is reported that terrorists used these mobile messenger apps to spread the message and receive messages from Pakistan.
It emerged that terrorists were using these applications to contact their on-the-ground (OGW) sympathisers and terrorists. This is not a recent occurrence for the government to take action against mobile applications that threaten national security.
Numerous Chinese apps were previously prohibited by the Indian government, which asserted that the apps were “prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the state, and public order.”
Over the past few years, approximately 250 Chinese apps have been blocked by the Indian government. More than 200 Chinese applications have been blocked since June 2020, including well-known ones like TikTok, Shareit, WeChat, Helo, Likee, UC News, Bigo Live, UC Browser, Xender, Camscanner, and famous mobile games like PUBG Mobile and Garena Free Fire.
Also, in 2022 the Government issued an order to ban another 54 mobile apps linked to China under the emergency provision envisaged in Section 69(A) of the IT Act.
The apps banned included AliSuppliers and Alibaba Workbench, CamCard — Business Card Reader, Chinese Social, WeDate, TrulyChinese, Isoland 2: Ashes of Time Lite, Viva Video Editor, Beauty Camera: Sweet Selfie HD, Beauty Camera – Selfie Camera, Tencent Xriver, Onmyoji Chess, Onmyoji Arena, AppLock, Dual Space Lite, Equalizer & Bass Booster, and CamCard for SalesForce Ent.
As reported earlier, the majority of these apps were either cloned versions or had similar functionality, privacy issues and security threats similar to the previously blocked around 250 apps in 2020.
The Prime Minister of the country gets the highest level of security and is an SPG protectee. Any security breach against the Prime Minister is a grave concern that is often addressed by the local police and the highest echelons of the security establishment. In the past 6 months, there have been at least 6 security scares as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conducting road shows, delivering speeches etc.
On Sunday (April 30), a mobile phone was hurled at PM Modi during a roadshow in poll-bound Mysuru city of Karnataka. In a video that has now come to light, the cell phone could be seen missing the Prime Minister by only a few inches.
According to the police, the accused was identified as a BJP worker, who supposedly chucked the phone at PM Modi out of ‘excitement’ and had no ill will. The said incident had the potential to injure the Indian Prime Minister.
The security breach was seen near Mysuru's KR Circle during PM Narendra Modi's roadshow.
On April 24 this year, a ‘foreign object’ was hurled at PM Modi during his roadshow in Kochi city of Kerala. During the event, people gathered on both sides of the road to catch his glimpse.
While everyone greeted him with flowers, a man threw his mobile phone at PM Modi. In a video that went viral on social media, a Special Protection Group (SPG) commando was seen quickly responding to the situation and intercepting the device before it could reach the Prime Minister.
Reportedly, the mobile phone had ‘slipped’ out of the hands of the accused while showering flower petals at PM Modi. The phone was later returned to the accused.
A few days prior to his Kerala roadshow, a handwritten letter vowing to harm the Indian Prime Minister in a suicide attack was sent to the BJP’s State Committee office in Thiruvananthapuram.
At the same time, the purported security details of PM Modi’s Kochi trip were leaked on social media. It included granular details of the Prime Minister’s itinerary and names of individual officers responsible for his protection.
An internal investigation was launched by the Kerala Special Branch police to probe the mishandling of the security scheme of PM Modi.
Screengrab of the news report
On March 25 this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi experienced another security scare during a political rally in Davanagere city of Karnataka.
In a video that went viral on social media, a man was seen running towards the convoy of the Prime Minister. Fortunately, he was overpowered by the police and SPG officials, who were part of the security arrangement of PM Modi.
The accused was later taken into custody. While speaking about the matter, Davanagere Superintendent of Police CB Ryshyanth informed, “There was a huge crowd to witness PM Modi’s rally, and people were waiting at the places identified by the police behind the barricades.”
“But all of a sudden, a youth crossed the wooden barricade and he started to run towards the PM’s convoy, but we caught him immediately. The youth was about 20 meters away from the PM’s convoy and we are investigating this case”, he emphasised.
On January 12, 2023, a young boy breached the security cover of Prime Minister Narendra Modi while trying to garland him during a roadshow in the Hubballi city of Karnataka.
During the incident, the youth escaped from the enclosure on the side of the road and rushed towards the convoy of PM Modi. He had a garland of flowers in his hand.
The police and traffic personnel successfully pulled the boy away and took him away. Nonetheless, PM Modi was graceful to retain the garland and keep it in his car.
Interestingly, the Hubbali-Dharwad police claimed that there was no ‘breach’ in the Prime Minister’s security cover. “A person tried to give a garland to PM Modi at his roadshow. We are gathering more information about the person,” DCP Gopal Byakod told ANI.
On November 24 last year, three photographers violated the ‘No Drone Fly Zone’ during PM Modi’s visit to Bavla town in the Ahmedabad district of Gujarat.
As per reports, the accused were identified as Rakesh Kalubhai Bharvad, Nikul Rameshbhai Parmar, and Rajeshkumar Mangilal Prajapati. In their defence, the trio claimed they did not know that flying drones over the rally of PM Modi was prohibited.
The Additional District Magistrate had notified, a day earlier, that flying drones in the radius of 2 km from the Prime Minister’s rally was not allowed. The drone was taken down and probed by the Bomb detection and Disposal squad (BDDS).
The officials did not find any explosives or unauthorised objects on the drone, except for a camera. The accused men had no criminal records and were not associated with any political party. Nonetheless, they were arrested and booked under Indian Penal Code Section 188.
And these incidents happen to be the security scares that occurred in the past 6 months. Earlier in July 2022, Congress workers breached PM Modi’s security cover by releasing black balloons near his chopper in Andhra Pradesh.
In January last year, the Punjab government endangered the life of the Prime Minister by letting political protestors block his convoy for over 20 minutes at a flyover about 30 km away from Hussainiwala.
Calling this a major lapse in the security of the PM, the Union Home Ministry stated that the PM’s travel plan was communicated well in advance to the state government. The statement also mentioned that the Punjab government also neglected to deploy additional security to secure any movement on the road.
On April 29 (local time), an embarrassing situation occurred for the Khalistani elements in London as no one turned up for the protest they had called for outside the Indian High Commission office. The protest was called against the report submitted by Colin Bloom, an independent faith engagement adviser, where he used the word “Sikh extremism”.
The report was published on April 26. Bloom was appointed by former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to provide recommendations to the Secretary of State for Communities on how the government should engage with the faith groups in England.
Khalistanis called for a protest outside the HCI office on April 29. Source: Twitter
As per the India Today report, despite the call for protests on April 29 on various social media platforms, none turned up. Speaking to the media house, UK police said they were aware of the protests and stationed police personnel outside the HCI office. There was constant patrolling, and police vehicles were on standby. However, protesters did not turn up.
Speaking to India Today, the Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr Jitendra Singh, said, “Khalistanis are lost people who have no idea of the teachings of Guru Nanak. Most of the Sikh communities here (in the UK) do not support them. We are a peace-loving community, and we love India.”
In a video report published by London correspondent Loveena Tandon for India Today, police vans could be seen outside the HCI office, but the place where protesters usually stand was empty.
Protests outside HCI office after Amritpal Singh’s arrest
Notably, there were protests outside the HCI office after Punjab Police and central agencies launched a crackdown on pro-Khalistan separatist preacher Amritpal Singh. During the protests, Khalistani elements tried to pull down Indian National Flag. India registered a strong protest against the incident and in the aftermath security from British Embassy in India was removed. The British government swung into action and initiated a probe into the matter.
On April 30, several fake news peddlers, alleged journalists and media houses claimed five people were arrested by the police in Sikar, Rajasthan, for raping a half-cremated dead body of a woman.
Twitter user Mohammad Sher Ali, who claims to tweet exposing fake news in his bio, wrote, “An incident that can embarrass humanity has come to light from Sikar, Rajasthan, where five monsters took out a dead body from a burning pyre and raped it. Surprisingly, one of these five accused is a government teacher.”
Tweet by Mohammad Sher Ali. Source: Twitter
Another Twitter user Mohammed Hussain who tweet about “injustice, politics, inhumanity, social issues and mob-lynching” quoted Lallanpost media and wrote, “An incident that can embarrass humanity has come to light from Sikar, Rajasthan, where five monsters took out a dead body from a burning pyre and raped it. Police said the woman died in an accident on Monday. Her dead body was handed over to the family after postmortem. The family members cremated the body and returned home. In the evening Shankar Lal, Babu Lal, Raju Kumar, Deepak and Hari Singh took out the burning body and raped it. Shankar Lal is a school teacher in the village”
Tweet by Mohammad Hussain. Source: Twitter
Fake news peddler Ali Sohrab wrote, “What happened was in Rajasthan five Hindus raped a woman after dragging her hal-dead body from the cremation ground. As the rapists are from the Hindu community, therefore, to suppress the news, the Hindu media linked certain graves of Hyderabad and Algeria with Pakistan and rape.
Fake news published by Ali Sohrab. Source: Twitter
Muslim journalist Meer Faisal also posted the same fake news.
Meer Faisal is incidentally a Muslim journalist who is a columnist at The Wire and believes that all non-Muslims are the same – that is Kafir. He is also the same journalist who had spread fake news about the Ram Navami violence by Islamists against Hindus and claimed that it was the Hindus who had initiated the violence. OpIndia had debunked 15 lies that he had spread after the Ram Navami violence.
Sikar police refuted the claims made by several other media personalities including Ashok Swain. By the time this report was published, his tweet was still there despite the rebuttal by the police. He wrote, “While Indian media spreading fake news about the locked grave in Pakistan to keep rapists away, in Sikar, India, five Hindus have been caught for raping the dead body of a woman by taking it out of a burning pyre.”
?उक्त घटना मिथ्या एव भ्रामक है शव को चिता दाह संस्कार के 3 दिन बाद बाहर से आए व्यक्ति अपने परिचित से मिलने इलाके में आए जिस से ग्रामीणों ने संदिग्ध समझकर मारपीट की गई जिसपर थाना अजीतगढ़ द्वारा मौके पर पहुंच विधिक कार्यवाही की गई दुष्कर्म जैसी घटना नही होना पाई गई ।
Those who deleted the tweets include Meer Faisal, Sadaf Afreen, Md Asif Khan, Lallanpost and others. Twitter user Anshul Saxena published screenshots of the now-deleted tweets.
Netizens demanded action against the fake news peddlers. Twitter user Sunil Khatik wrote, “How hateful! Will Sikar Police take action against those who spread fake news about rape of a dead body? Many people have deleted the tweets.”
कितनी नफरत भरी है ! क्या राजस्थान सीकर में जलती चिता से शव निकाल कर दुष्कर्म करने की #FakeNewz फैलाने वालो के विरुद्ध @SikarPolice कार्रवाई करेगी? कई लोगो ने ट्वीट डिलीट कर दिये है ! pic.twitter.com/C6JtMMYRVy
During our investigation, we found that most of the tweets were based on an Asianet News report (Archive) from April 19 where the media house claimed the incident took place in the Ajitgarh Police Station area. The report mentioned that the woman died in a road accident on April 15. The dead body was handed over to the family on April 16. The family cremated the body on the same day and returned home.
In the evening, someone informed the family that the dead body of the woman has been removed from the burning pyre and some people were raping it. The report further claimed that the family rushed to the cremation ground and beat up whoever they found there. Five people were handed over to the police and they found some material associated with occult practices.
Asianet News was the source of the fake news. Source: Twitter
However, Sikar police categorically refuted the claims of raping the dead body. On May 1, tagging Asianet News Sikar Police wrote, “The said incident is false and misleading. Three days after the cremation of the dead body, the villagers thrashed an outsider on suspicion. The man came to meet his acquaintance. Legal action has been taken by the police at Ajitgarh Police Station. No incident like rape could be found.” Asianet has not deleted or modified the report or tweets.
@AsianetNewsHN ?उक्त घटना मिथ्या एव भ्रामक है शव को दाह संस्कार के 3 दिन बाद बाहर से आए व्यक्ति अपने परिचित से मिलने इलाके में आए जिस से ग्रामीणों ने संदिग्ध समझकर मारपीट की गई जिसपर थाना अजीतगढ़ द्वारा मौके पर पहुंच विधिक कार्यवाही की गई दुष्कर्म जैसी घटना नही होना पाई गई । pic.twitter.com/sRjxsMH38j
It is pertinent to note that several individuals who spread thise lie highlighted the ‘Hindu’ names of the alleged perpetrators in an attempt to weaponise this fake news against Hindus.
Following the security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s roadshow in the poll-bound Karnataka’s Mysuru, police said that they have located the person who threw the phone on the vehicle and stated that the person had “no ill intentions” behind it.
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), law and Order, Alok Kumar said that the phone belonged to a Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) worker and PM Modi was under the protection of the Special Protection Group (SPG). “The person who threw the phone on the vehicle of PM had no ill intention and was thrown in excitement.
The Prime Minister was under the protection of SPG. The phone belongs to a BJP worker. We have traced the person, the phone was handed over to the person by the SPG,” said Alok Kumar.
Meanwhile, the person who threw the phone during PM Narendra Modi’s roadshow in Mysuru’s KR Circle has been called to record a statement tomorrow morning, added the ADGP law and order.
In a security breach incident, a mobile phone was thrown at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vehicle during his roadshow in Mysuru on Sunday.
As per the visuals, the phone can be seen being thrown towards the Prime Minister’s vehicle. However, the Prime Minister narrowly escaped any mishap.
Meanwhile, a large number of people and BJP supporters had gathered on both sides of the road to greet the Prime Minister during the roadshow.
PM Modi was on a specially designed vehicle and reciprocated the greetings by waving to people. People also showered flowers and waved BJP flags along the route as an expression of support.
The Prime Minister has hit the ground to campaign for the BJP in the last leg of the campaigning, in which he is conducting a number of poll rallies and roadshows.
The Assembly elections will be held in Karnataka on May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13.
(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, 27th April 2023, the family of BJP youth leader Praveen Nettaru, who was killed in an attack by PFI terrorists in July last year, entered a house constructed by the BJP at Nettar in Bellare village. Key leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and important office bearers of RSS attended the housewarming program as the family of the deceased BJP worker Praveen Nettaru was given a new home of their own, fulfilling the dream of Nettaru. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s state unit has majorly helped them get this house built. A total of around Rs 70 lakh was spent by the party to build the house.
BJP president JP Nadda also visited the home today. A statue of Praveen Nettaru was also established by the BJP Karnataka.
Praveen Nettaru, the BJP youth leader who was killed on the night of July 26, 2022, had dreamt of building a house. As promised by the BJP high command at the time of Praveen’s murder. his family has been given a house. Efforts for this were taken under the leadership of BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel. The foundation stone for the house was laid on November 2, 2022. The house has been constructed on an area of 2,700 square feet on the map given by Praveen Nettaru’s family members.
On November 2, MP and state BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel laid the foundation stone for the house. The old house was demolished at the same place, the land was levelled and a well-equipped house was constructed. Sri Mohandas Swamiji of Manila Sridhama unveiled the nameplate of the house and gave his blessings.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai also visited the house on the day foundation was laid and donated Rs 25 lakh. Rs 25 lakh was given by the BJP and Rs 15 lakh by the BJP Yuva Morcha. Praveen’s family has also been given financial support by the party. Besides, his wife was also given a job.
The new house of Praveen Nettaru’s family
The house cost around Rs 70 lakh and the entire expenses have been borne by the party and the house has been named as Praveen Nilayam. Griha Pravesh was held with Ganapati Homa and Satyanarayana Puja, while a statue of Praveen Nettaru built near Praveen Samadhi was also unveiled. The BJP has come forward to send a message that it stands by the family of the slain worker.
A heavy police force was deployed around Praveen Nettaru’s house in view of this housewarming ceremony. BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel and RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat were present at the event. At this time, Nalin Kumar Kateel also unveiled the statue of Praveen Nettaru. The construction of a house at Bellare in Sullia taluk of Dakshina Kannada district was carried out under the guidance of the BJP state president.
Speaking after inaugurating the statue, BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel said, “Praveen Nettaru had several dreams of his own, but he was killed by miscreants. When a worker was sacrificed, the entire party stood by him. The dream of building a house, one of his dreams, had stopped midway. We all sat together and discussed to make that dream come true. The party has done the work of instilling the full financial strength required by his family.”
He further said, “Also, Praveen used to raise his family along with the party work he did. After Praveen’s murder, we decided to answer his killers. when the reason behind the murder came to light it was decided that the PFI should be cracked down and the case was then handed over to the NIA. Also, the PFI has been banned and around 400 PFI activists have been arrested by the NIA for their involvement in different cases. Through this, we have tried to give tribute to Praveen’s soul.”
Statue of Praveen Nettaru
He added, “Praveen Nettaru’s dream was not just to build a house, it was his dream to build a nation. He sacrificed his life for the dream of nation-building. Attempts are being made by terrorists to get hold of the country. Muslim appeasement began from the time the Congress came to power in the country. The Congress is doing the same today. The Congress government will not come to power in the state.”
Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat said Praveen wanted to make the BJP win everywhere. He said, “Praveen’s murder took place amidst Muslim appeasement. For this, a patriot was murdered. If it is left like this, it will continue. Patriotic people should take a pledge on this occasion of elections. Praveen also had a similar thought to extend his support to the BJP.”
He added, “For Hinduism, home is a sacred centre of Sanskara, culture and value of life. Efforts are being made to suppress Hindutva. Their aim is to crush India by crushing Hindutva. Hindus should face it and put an end to it.”
Sri Rajasekharananda Swamiji of Vajradehi Mutt said, “If we keep quiet about the attacks on Hindu society, more and more Hindus will be killed. Hindu society has to be strong enough to defeat them.”
BJP national president JP Nadda visited the house on Sunday, 30th April 2023. At that time, he said, “Today I got the opportunity to visit the residence of BJP Yuva Morcha leader Praveen Nettaru who was killed by people belonging to SDPI and PFI. Our government has banned SDPI and PFI and has registered cases against the killers of Praveen. The BJP govt has done everything possible for his family. I came here to pay my tribute to Praveen and meet his family members.”
#WATCH | Today I got the opportunity to visit the residence of BJP Yuva Morcha leader Praveen Nettaru who was killed by people belonging to SDPI and PFI. Our government has banned SDPI and PFI and has registered cases against the killers of Praveen. The BJP govt has done… pic.twitter.com/0dAIiezgV4
Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha’s district head Praveen Nettaru was killed by Islamists on 26th July 2023. The incident was followed by a huge reaction from BJP workers and the program to celebrate 1 year of the Basavaraj Bommai government had to be cancelled. PFI links also emerged during the investigations of this case. While talking to the media after his death, Praveen Nettaru’s mother mentioned that Praveen dreamt of building a new house for his family. She said, “I’m not feeling well. His father is also a heart patient. He was our only son& planned to build a home for us. Now, who’ll build it?… Culprits should be punished, whoever did this must be hanged.”
Karnataka: "I'm not feeling well. His father is also a heart patient. He was our only son& planned to build a home for us. Now, who'll build it?… Culprits should be punished, whoever did this must be hanged," said mother of deceased BJP Yuva Morcha worker Praveen Nettaru (27.7) pic.twitter.com/4DBO3JGoVx
The BJP promised to give a house to the family of the deceased and accordingly, the party kept its promise as the family of the deceased party worker was given a newly built home, the housewarming program of which was attended by eminent leaders from BJP and RSS. After Praveen Nettaru’s mother’s reaction went viral, BJP leader Kapil Mishra tweeted, “We will build a home for you Amma. Praveen has gone but you will never be alone This is the least that we can do as Hindu brothers and sisters of Praveen Nettaru. We as Hindus are indebted to Praveen and his family.”
We will build a home for you Amma ?
Praveen has gone but you will never be alone
This is the least that we can do as Hindu brothers and sisters of #PraveenNettaru
As the party fulfilled Praveen Nettaru’s dream, Kapil Mishra tweeted, “Very very emotional moment The family of Praveen Nettaru ji has a new home now Thanks to everyone who supported the cause.”
Very very emotional moment
The family of Praveen Nettaru ji has a new home now
Kapil Mishra is also running a separate fundraiser to help Praveen Nettaru’s family. this fundraiser is on the website Crowdkash. The fundraiser campaign has the goal of collecting Rs 25 lakh, and so far over 9 lakh has been contribute by donors. Earlier, Kapil Mishra had run a similar fundraiser for Kanhaiya Lal’s family. A fund of Rs 1 Crore was raised in a day and then transferred to deceased Kanhaiya Lal’s family by BJP leader Kapil Mishra.
In the latest instance of love jihad, a Muslim man by the name of Jamal Khan lured a Hindu woman in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, by concealing his identity. He later converted her to Islam and married her. He then invoked the outlawed triple talaq after a few days, forcing her to leave the home. The victim also revealed that he had introduced himself as Sonu.
She further informed that the perpetrator started physically assaulting her after their marriage when she found out that he was already married to someone else. In response to her complaint, the Majhola police have filed an FIR and initiated an inquiry into the matter.
The woman resides in the Khushalpur locality of Majhola. She asserted that the accused had become friends with her four years earlier by posing as a Hindu. She fell into his trap when he began calling and pretended to be in love. Subsequently, he proposed marriage to her, and she accepted.
However, just before the marriage, he revealed that he is actually a Muslim, and then he started pressing her to embrace Islam. According to her, she converted to Islam from Hinduism under his pressure, after which they got married.
But soon after the marriage, he started to demand dowry from her and started to torture her. She added that she gave birth to a daughter after which he demanded a car and five lakh rupees from her. Meanwhile, she learned that Jamal Khan has already been married for 18 years and has two children.
When she protested the shocking discovery, resulting in a fight between them and he physically abused her. On April 24, 2023, he argued with her while intoxicated and eventually tossed her out of their home after pronouncing triple talaq. Afterwards, she lodged a complaint with the Majhola police station.
As per the in-charge of Majhola police station, an FIR has been filed against Jamal Khan for dowry harassment, rape, assault, and triple talaq under the Prohibition of Religion Act following the woman’s complaint. Further action will be taken on the basis of evidence.
The star Indian men’s doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made history on Sunday by clinching the Badminton Asia Championships gold medal.
They defeated Ong Yew Sin-Teo Eo Yi, the Malaysian duo by 16-21, 21-17, 21-19. The India duo lost the first game. But they made a comeback worth remembering in the next two games to clinch the title. It is India’s second medal at the tournament after 1965 and their first in the men’s doubles category.
“IT’S A GOLD The wait of 58 years finally comes to an end as our very own Sat-Chi clinch the historic medal. 2nd for after 1965, 1st in MD category: @badmintonphoto @himantabiswa| @sanjay091968| @lakhaniarun1 #BAC2023 #IndiaontheRise #Badminton,” tweeted the Badminton Association of India (BAI) Media.
IT’S A GOLD ?
The wait of 58 years finally comes to an end as our very own Sat-Chi clinch the historic ? medal. 2️⃣nd for ?? after 1965, 1️⃣st in MD category ??
They faced Tokyo Olympics champions Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin from Chinese Taipei in the semifinal match. The Indians won a competitive first game by 21-18. But they won the match after their opponents retired midway through the match due to an injury to Wang Chi-lin. The Indians took the match after a walkover.
(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 Sunday, 30th April 2023, PM Narendra Modi responded to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s personal attacks on him. PM Modi said that a snake is the charm around Lord Shiva’s neck and that since the nation’s citizens are like Lord Shiva, he accepts being a snake who stays with them. Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had called PM Modi a “poisonous snake” in an election rally at Kalaburagi on Thursday.
In a rally in Kolar, Narendra Modi said, “They compared me to a poisonous snake and appealed to the people to vote for them. But, a snake adorns Lord Shankar’s neck. For me, the people of the country are a form of the deity. Therefore, for this God manifested as the people, I will happily be a snake and be with them. I know, this is a land of saints and culture. People of this land will give a befitting reply to the abuse by Congress through their votes and crush their ill ambitions.”
VIDEO | "Snake is the charm of Lord Shiva's neck. For me, people of the country are like Lord Shiva," says PM Modi slamming Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's 'snake' remarks. #KarnatakaAssemblyElections2023pic.twitter.com/Fr6mZ1AdFR
PM Narendra Modi further said, “Congress is an ‘outdated engine’. Development was halted due to them. Congress has a bundle of fake guarantees. They don’t fulfill any promise made to the public. ‘Unfulfilled guarantees’ are their record. They betrayed the public, but BJP fulfilled all the guarantees by doing several development works.”
On 27th April 2023, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, “PM Modi is like a ‘poisonous snake’, you might think it’s poison or not. If you lick it, you’re dead.” Mallikarjun Kharge also enacted licking during his speech while making this statement.
This is not the first time that the Congress president took a jibe at PM Modi during an election rally. During the run-up to the Gujarat assembly election of 2022, he compared PM Modi with the demon king Raavan. On 29th November 2022, Mallikarjun Kharge remarked at a public event in Narendra Modi’s home state Gujarat that Modi has 100 heads since he is present in every election.
The Karnataka state Assembly election polling would be held on 10th May 2023. The results of the election will be declared on 13th May 2023. The 224-member assembly of the Karnataka state will complete its fifteenth term on 24th May 2023. At present, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has a total of 119 seats, while the Congress has a total of 75 and its ally JD(S) has a total of 28 seats.
India and Russia will explore the potential of accepting RuPay and Mir cards in each other’s countries to facilitate payments in the midst of Western sanctions on Moscow. During the high-level Internal Governmental Commission meeting on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological, and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC), both countries talked about and decided to investigate the possibility of accepting these cards.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov co-chaired the meeting. They decided to check out the feasibility of a collaboration between the National Payment Corporation of India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and the Bank of Russia’s Faster Payments System (FPS). With the mutual adoption of RuPay (India) and Mir cards (Russia), Indian and Russian people would be able to make hassle-free payments in their respective nations in Indian rupees and Russian rubles.
Both leaders concurred to consider using the Bank of Russia’s Services Bureau of Financial Messaging System for payments between countries. Currently, the SWIFT network is used for payments between India and Russia, which is the network for international financial networks. However, with sanctions in place, exploring an alternative method of cross-border payment has become necessary.
The meeting also discussed the recent launch of the cross-border connectivity between India’s UPI and Singapore’s PayNow.
It should be noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently started an international connection between UPI and PayNow. People in both nations may now conduct faster and more cost-effective digital transactions thanks to India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Singapore’s PayNow.
The PayNow-UPI linkage is the world’s first real-time payment systems linkage, which uses a scalable cloud-based infrastructure that can accommodate future increases in the volume of remittance traffic.
Since its inception in 2016, the UPI has emerged as the most popular and favoured payment channel, pioneering person-to-person and person-to-merchant transactions, accounting for 75% of all digital payments.
From 0.45 crore in January 2017 to 804 crore in January 2023, the volume of UPI transactions has surged massively. During the same time period, the value of UPI transactions increased from Rs 1,700 crore to Rs 12.98 lakh crore.
