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Rahul Gandhi once again attacks a journalist for asking a question regarding his appeal in the defamation case

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi once again attacks a journalist for asking a question regarding his appeal in the defamation case

Days after rebuking a senior Congress beat journalist for asking a question, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was once again back at it as he attacked a journalist for asking a question about his defamation case. When questioned about BJP’s allegation that Rahul Gandhi is trying to pressurise judiciary in his defamation case, the Congress leader attacked the journalist instead of answering the question.

“Why do you always say what the BJP says?” asked Rahul Gandhi to the journalist, implying that the journalist is parroting BJP’s line even though it was a legitimate question about allegations of pressurising judiciary.

Commenting on the issue, BJP leader Shehzad Poonawala said, “Once again this arrogant dynast Rahul Gandhi shoots the messenger. After Hawa Nikal Di jibe, now Rahul again attacks media for asking a legitimate question”. He further added, “Does this man have any idea how journalists do ask questions raised from one side to the other! That’s how media works. But this man is an entitled brat and his family has a history of censoring Media! First pressure judiciary now media Who do you think you are? This is a democracy, not your Raj Gharana”

Earlier, in March, Rahul Gandhi had attacked journalist Ravi Sisodia of CNN-News18 and called him a BJP stooge when he questioned him about his conviction in the ‘Modi surname’ case, adding that BJP has alleged that the remark was nothing short of an insult to the OBC and the socially oppressed classes of the country.

Rahul Gandhi asked the veteran journalist to wear a BJP symbol on his chest if he wanted to ask questions like that. He also said that the journalist should stop pretending to be a pressman if he was going to ask such questions.

“Aap itne directly BJP ke liye kyun kaam kar rahe ho, thoda discretion se karo yaar. Thoda ghoom ghaam kar poocho. (How is it that you are so openly working from BJP, do it with some discretion. Don’t pose such direct questions, be diplomatic), he said.

“Kyun hawa nikal gayi?” he further mocked the journalist.

Andhra Pradesh: Lord Ganesha’s ancient idol vandalized by miscreants in search of hidden treasure, BJP expresses anger, slams state

OpIndia Staff
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Andhra Pradesh: Lord Ganesha’s ancient idol vandalized by miscreants in search of hidden treasure, BJP expresses anger, slams state

In a horrific incident, the idol of Lord Ganesha was vandalized by unidentified miscreants in one of Andhra Pradesh’s ancient Ganapati temples in Firangipuram, Guntur. The miscreants broke the stomach part of the idol and fled from the spot.

According to the One India report, the incident is said to have happened on the night of April 3. The miscreants entered the temple and vandalized the idol in search of some hidden treasure. The miscreants fled from the spot and left the broken idol at the temple after failing to locate the alleged treasure.

The information was made public by BJP State Secretary Vishnuvardhan Reddy who slammed the state government over similar repeated incidents. He shared the video of the vandalized idol of Lord Ganesh and expressed anger. He also said that no action has been taken by the state government over similar repeated attacks on the Hindu temples and idols.

Further, he demanded CM Jagan and DGP Rajendranath Reddy take strict action against those who vandalized the idol of Ganesha. Many Hindu temples in the state have faced vandalism and theft in recent months.

Last year in Andhra Pradesh, a Nandi idol in a prominent Shiva temple in Kanaparthi Village of the Prakasam district was vandalised. The incident occurred on the intervening night of October 16, Sunday, and October 17, 2022.

Also, in the year 2020, a 400-year-old murti of Sri Rama at Ramathirtha, Vizianagaram District was found vandalized and the head of the murti was found lying in the temple tank.

UK decides to clamp down on Pakistani ‘Grooming gangs’, PM Rishi Sunak creates Special Task Force to prevent sexual exploitation of girls

OpIndia Staff
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UK decides to clamp down on Pakistani ‘Grooming gangs’, PM Rishi Sunak creates Special Task Force to prevent sexual exploitation of girls

On April 3 (local time), the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a new Grooming Gangs Taskforce to assist police forces in investigating the serious problem of Muslim grooming gangs in the country. As per the official statement from his office, the task force will have specialist officers to assist in the investigation to ensure the criminals behind grooming gangs will be brought to justice.

The task force will be led by the police and supported by the National Crime Agency. The officers included in the task force will have extensive experience in undertaking investigations against such gangs. The aim of the task force is to root out the grooming gangs and put the perpetrators behind bars.

The statement added that the data analysts would be brought into the task force to use the data and intelligence to identify the types of criminals who commit such offences. The data analysis will also assist police in catching offenders who might otherwise escape the justice system. One of the major issues that the UK has faced in the past is the so-called cultural sensitivities that led to throwing such cases under the rug. The new system will include police-recorded ethnicity data to ensure the suspects cannot evade justice just because of their ethnicity.

In a statement, PM Sunak said, “The safety of women and girls is paramount. For too long, political correctness has stopped us from weeding out vile criminals who prey on children and young women. We will stop at nothing to stamp out these dangerous gangs.”

He also pledged to ensure the grooming gang members and the ring leaders get the toughest possible sentences for their crimes. Furthermore, the Sunak govt will introduce legislation to bring the grooming gang leader a statutory aggravating factor during sentencing that would reflect the Government’s commitment towards ensuring the toughest sentences for the crimes.

In a statement, Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, Dominic Raab, said, “Grooming gangs are a scourge on our society, and I want to send a clear message to anyone who exploits vulnerable children that they will face the full weight of the law. This builds on the extensive action this Government has already taken to introduce tougher sentencing, and the reforms introduced last week in the Victims and Prisoners Bill to keep the most dangerous offenders behind bars, while making sure victims get the support they need at all times.”

The announcement came a day after Home Secretary Suella Braverman lashed out at the previous governments for ignoring the grooming gang menace in the country. She said, “Child sexual abuse is one of the most horrific crimes facing our society, it devastates victims, families and whole communities. The protection of children is a collective effort. Every adult must be supported to call out child sexual abuse without fear.”

She added, “And the despicable abusers must be brought to justice. They should not be able to hide. And they must face the full force of the law for their crimes. That’s why I’m introducing a mandatory reporting duty and launching a call for evidence. We must address the failures identified by the Inquiry and take on board the views of the thousands of victims and survivors who contributed to its findings.”

“I would encourage everyone to engage with the process once it starts – it is important to have a national conversation about this to shine a light on this terrible – but too often hidden – crime,” she said.

Mandatory reporting, as suggested by the Home Secretary, was one of the key recommendations given after an independent inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse cases. Professor Alexis Jay OBE, Chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, and Author of Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham said, “The Prime Minister’s statement today places a renewed focus on tackling the sexual abuse and exploitation of children by organised networks. I welcome these announcements, some of which reflect the recommendations of the Inquiry’s own Report on child sexual exploitation in 2022. The commitment to Mandatory Reporting is very encouraging, and I look forward to working with the Government to ensure that the full package of the Inquiry’s recommendations in its Final Report is taken forward to better protect children from sexual abuse in the future.”

PM Sunak’s statement on Grooming Gangs after assuming the chair

In October 2022, soon after becoming the UK’s Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak said in a statement that people in the UK were scared of calling out grooming gangs because of political correctness.

During an interview, PM Sunak outlined how he would tackle the problem of grooming gangs in the UK. Notably, several reports of vulnerable minor girls being sexually exploited have continued to surface in towns like Rotherham, Telford and Oldham in the last few years. Investigations revealed that police and councils did not act appropriately in time and failed to protect the children from the grooming gangs.
PM Sunak called it a ‘horrific crime’ and vowed to tackle the problem as a priority if he was made Prime Minister.

The problem of Muslim grooming gangs in the UK

In recent years, there have been several reports of vulnerable young girls, especially minors, being exploited by grooming gangs across the country. In October last year, it was reported that Omar, Khalid, Jameel and 21 others were charged with raping a minor girl for four years in Bradford. These grooming gangs typically consist of Pakistani Muslim men, the reason why the mainstream media and even the authorities try to keep them hushed up. An independent inquiry in the matter revealed due to political unease, these cases were ignored by the authorities.

Besides the child sex abuse, the case also pertains to Grooming Jihad, a global issue that has become particularly stark in the UK, where Islamists prey on young girls and women, exploit their vulnerability and use rape as an instrument to inflict punishment.

In 2020, the police charged 32 men for over 150 sexual offences against eight underage teenage girls in West Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

The crimes were committed between 1999 and 2012 against the victims, who were aged between 13-16 years in the Kirklees, Bradford and Wakefield areas. Reportedly, several such victims were subjected to heinous crimes even after they turned adults.

Nearly 19,000 children were sexually abused in England in 2018-2019

According to the official figures, it is estimated that nearly 19,000 minors in England were sexually groomed in England in the last year, reported Dailymail. The local authorities in England identified around 18,700 suspected victims in 2018-19, up from 3,300 five years ago. The latest figures showed a sharp increase in the number of child grooming victims over the last five years.

The highest rates of child grooming victims in Britain were reported in areas including Birmingham, Lancashire and Bradford. One of the most horrific cases was of Charlene Downes who disappeared from Lancashire. She was feared to be groomed by Muslim gangs and murdered. Her body was allegedly minced into pieces and served as kebabs to customers at a takeaway restaurant in the area.

French minister Marlene Schiappa comes under fire for appearing on the cover page of Playboy

OpIndia Staff
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French minister Marlene Schiappa comes under fire for appearing on the cover page of Playboy

Marlene Schiappa, a French minister, has sparked outrage after appearing on the cover of the adult magazine Playboy. Schiappa, who is the minister for the social economy and French associations, posed for Playboy to accompany her 12-page interview on women’s and gay rights as well as abortion. The minister’s photo was featured in Playboy’s French edition for the month of April.

Her decision to appear on the front page of the adult magazine has drawn the ire of both her political opponents as well as her colleagues. According to reports, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne told Schiappa that her decision “was not at all appropriate, especially in the current period.”

Green MP Sandrine Rousseau also opined, “People who are going to have to work for two years more, who are demonstrating, who are losing days of salary, who aren’t managing to eat because of inflation. Women’s bodies should be able to be exposed anywhere, I don’t have a problem with that, but there’s a social context.” 

Meanwhile, the French minister defended her decision by tweeting on April 1, “Defending the right of women to do what they want with their bodies, everywhere and all the time. In France, women are free. Whether it annoys the retrogrades and hypocrites or not.”

Not a ‘soft porn magazine’

After the backlash, the adult magazine also came out in defence of the minister by saying that they are not a ‘soft porn magazine’.

The magazine’s editor Jean-Christophe Florentin told AFP that Schiappa was the most “Playboy compatible” government minister “because she is attached to the rights of women and she has understood that it’s not a magazine for old machos but could be an instrument for the feminist cause.”

“Playboy is not a soft porn magazine but a 300-page quarterly ‘mook’ (a mix of a book and a magazine) that is intellectual and on-trend,” Florentin added, while admitting there were “still a few undressed women but they’re not the majority of the pages.”

This, however, isn’t the first time that Schiappa has landed into trouble. Earlier in 2010, she published a book with sex advice for overweight people, which some criticised for promoting damaging stereotypes. In 2017, she was accused of staging a visit to a so-called “women’s no-go zone” in Paris.

Russia: 14-year-old girl hires other teenagers to kill mother after she was banned from meeting her boyfriend: Report

OpIndia Staff
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Russia: 14-year-old girl hires other teenagers to kill mother after she was banned from meeting her boyfriend: Report

A 14-year-old schoolgirl was detained by Russian police on April 1 for reportedly hiring hitmen to assassinate her mother since the latter had banned her from seeing her boyfriend. Outside Moscow, Russia, the mother’s body was discovered in a garbage pile after being battered and strangled to death

Along with a guy, 15, who has been residing at her family’s flat and is assumed to be her boyfriend, the 14-year-old girl is suspected of ordering the contract killing of her single mother. The two allegedly paid two other adolescents about 300,000 Roubles to murder the mother of the girl, according to Russian authorities.

Single mother Anastasia Milosskaya was brutally murdered by two hitmen suspected to have been hired by her 14-year-old daughter(image source: Sun)

As a result of the boy’s negative influence on her daughter, Anastasia allegedly sought to make him stay away from her daughter. While returning home, estate agent Anastasia was viciously murdered.

Her body was discovered in the rubbish two days later in the city of Balashikha, which is located in Moscow, along with a mattress wrapped in plastic. The body was discovered the following morning in the trash and authorities were informed by a neighbourhood janitor.

All the accused are teens aged between 14 and 17 and are in police custody (Image source: Sun)

Her entire face was red and swollen, and an eyewitness said that she had been battered and strangled. The 14-15 year adolescent suspects are all changed with murder or conspiracy to commit murder. While investigations are ongoing, they will spend a month in a juvenile facility.

The boy and the girl are charged with letting the “accomplices” into the apartment and being present when the victim was killed. According to the Investigative Committee, the girl and her male companion intended to subsist off of her mother’s savings worth over 2.5 million Roubles.

“She spoke about hating her mother many times, even though her mother was a lovely person and loved her,” the daughter’s friend remarked. The girl’s grandmother said that the girl came under the influence of the boy who was from a ‘difficult family’.

Several sources claimed that the victim had a tender relationship with her daughter and consistently worked to make her life better. The accused adolescents can get a maximum term of 10 years, to be served initially in a juvenile correctional facility.

“Invented names will not alter reality”: India rejects China’s attempt to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh

ANI
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“Invented names will not alter reality”: India rejects China’s attempt to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh

India has outrightly rejected China’s attempt to rename places of Arunachal Pradesh, Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Tuesday. He asserted that Arunachal Pradesh will always be an integral part of India. 

The statement of Arindam Bagchi comes after China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs came up with the names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh, which it referred to as “Zangnan, the southern part of Tibet.” In response to media queries regarding China renaming some places in Arunachal Pradesh, Arindam Bagchi in a statement said, “We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright.” 

He further said, “Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Attempts to assign invented names will not alter this reality.” 

China released names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh in Chinese characters, Tibetan and pinyin according to the rules on geographical names issued by the State Council, China’s cabinet, Global Times reported. 

The ministry announced the names of 11 places on Sunday and also gave precise coordinates, including two residential areas, five mountain peaks, two rivers and two other areas. China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs also listed the category of places’ names and their subordinate administrative districts, as per the news report. 

According to a Global Times report, this is the third batch of geographical names announced by the ministry in Arunachal Pradesh. As per the news report, the first batch of the standardized names of six places was issued in 2017, and the second batch of 15 places was released in 2021. 

Earlier, in December last year, the Indian government said that it has seen reports of China attempting to rename some places in Arunachal Pradesh “in its own language” and asserted that the border state has been and will always be an integral part of India.” 

In response to a media query on reports that China has renamed some places in Arunachal Pradesh in its own language, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said China had also sought to assign such names in April 2017. 

“We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has attempted such a renaming of places in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. China had also sought to assign such names in April 2017,” Bagchi said. 

“Arunachal Pradesh has always been, and will always be an integral part of India. Assigning invented names to places in Arunachal Pradesh does not alter this fact,” he added. 

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

Kerala train attack: Investigation leads UP ATS to Shahrook Saifi from Bulandshahr, questioned and let go

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala train attack: Investigation leads UP ATS to Shahrook Saifi from Bulandshahr, questioned and let go

Hours after a man allegedly set a co-passenger on fire inside a moving train in Kerala, the Police began the investigation in the case and confirmed the identity of the accused as Shahrook Saifi, a resident of Noida.

Saifi, the reports had claimed, had boarded boarded on the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express train in Kozhikode at around 9.45 pm on Sunday, April 2, to pour an ignitable liquid on a fellow passenger and set him on fire, causing at least eight people to sustain burn injuries, the police said.

According to the tweets shared by journalist Sachin Gupta and Assistant Editor IANS Atul Krishan, the probe led the police to a carpenter named Shahrook Saifi in UP’s Bulandshahr. A report by Dainik Bhasker confirmed that the man was taken into custody by the Uttar Pradesh ATS team from the Kasba Siyana region of the city.

The Police searched the suspicious bag extensively to discover a phone which revealed that the age of the accused was around 25 and that he worked as a carpenter in Syana. The Kerala Police then contacted the Ghaziabad ATS team who plotted a plan to arrest the man. The team, dressed in disguise called him on the pretext of giving some furniture repairs job. Saifi was then taken into custody by the ATS team at around 7:15 pm on Monday evening.

Probe leads UP ATS to Bulandshahr

However, he was released by the police following his questioning. According to a police official, An officer, “The recovered phone led investigators to his address and teams were sent there. The man was taken for questioning on Monday night but it appears to have been a false lead. He was released the following morning.”

Indian Express spoke to the man’s family who claimed that he had never travelled beyond Delhi. Soon after releasing him, the police conducted searches in Noida and Ghaziabad, but have not found any concrete lead so far.

Reportedly, the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) four membered team on Monday visited the spot and inquired about the incident. The team suspects terror links to the incident. However, it has not officially taken over the investigation.

After the incident, the police found dead bodies of three persons, including a one-year-old child and a woman on the tracks near the Elathur railway station in Kozhikode. The Police also recovered a suspicious bag probably belonging to the accused. While NIA suspects terror angle in the case, the state police has revealed that the incident does not seem to be an act of terror.

Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said so on Monday that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) would be established to look into the train fire that claimed three lives, including a baby, the previous evening in the state’s Kozhikode district. The CM further said that the state government would take firm action to safeguard the safety of train passengers, and the Ministry of Railways will be asked to do all within its power to ensure safety of the passengers. 

Also, Kerala Ports Minister Ahammed Devarkovil stated that an investigation is ongoing to learn more about any potential terrorist or Maoist connections to the case.“I spoke to the police , they are searching CCTV visuals. I am going there and will have a clear idea soon. Police suspects that a person believed to be around 25 years in age is suspected to have done this. Only after enquiry we can say if there is any terrorist or Maoist angle. It won’t be correct to say something like this openly before inquiry,” he said.

K Sudhakaran, the leader of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and a member of parliament from Kannur, has written to Ashwini Vaishnaw, the union minister for railways, requesting his intervention in the matter and asking for compensation for those who were set ablaze on the train, including those who died in the incident.

‘Tu jaanta hai main kaun hu?’ How appeal against the conviction of Rahul Gandhi, the part-time politician and full-time Aristocrat, reaks of elitism

Nupur J Sharma
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‘Tu jaanta hai main kaun hu?’ How appeal against the conviction of Rahul Gandhi, the part-time politician and full-time Aristocrat, reaks of elitism

On Monday, a spectacle was created by the Congress party as Rahul Gandhi flew from Delhi to Surat to file the appeal against his conviction. He arrived at the court with a bus full of Congress leaders in tow, including sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, CM Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel, Sukhvinder Sukhu and several other Rajya Sabha MPs. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi flew in a scheduled commercial flight to reach Surat from Delhi – the same duo that we saw flying charter since they were kids – as if to force the world to believe in their frugality, to believe that they are connected with the ground realities of India, that they are just one of us.

The additional sessions court judge granted bail to Rahul Gandhi till his appeal against his conviction was disposed of. Additional sessions judge Robin Mogera set the date of hearing for 13th April and exempted the Prince from personal appearance – that is having to walk among mere mortals again.

The submissions made by Rahul Gandhi was interestingly, diametrically opposite to the impression that Rahul Gandhi wanted to give by flying commercial. It reaked of elitism and the all pervasive sentiment – ‘Tu jaanta hai main kaun hu?’.

According to Bar & Bench, in his submission, one of Rahul Gandhi’s most prominent arguments spoke about how the judge should have given due credit to his stature. In his submission, Rahul Gandhi says:

“It is therefore expected that the Trial Judge would also be aware of the consequences of awarding a sentence of two years, namely mandatory disqualification. Such disqualification entails the rejection of the mandate of the electorate at one hand and huge burden on the exchequer on the other. It is therefore expected that the Judge would make a mention of a consequence of this nature in the sentencing order.”

Rahul Gandhi in this argument implies that the Judge ‘should have known’ that awarding the punishment that the sessions judge thought fit a convict would have consequences on the life of the convict, and therefore, altered his judgement accordingly.

Essentially, Rahul Gandhi says that the judge, awarding a sentence to him that he deemed fit, went against democracy since it would lead to Rahul Gandhi being disqualified from Lok Sabha and that the judge should have “known” about this consequence. When a judge hands down a conviction and a subsequent sentence to a criminal who has been convicted, he is not particularly obligated to keep in mind how it would affect his career. The argument put forth by Rahul Gandhi is the same as saying that an industrialist should not be sentenced appropriately because his business would suffer. If Rahul Gandhi’s argument is extended, perhaps he should then answer if he thought Lalu Yadav’s conviction in the fodder scam was incorrect because the judge “should have known” that it would affect his political career adversely.

Whether the conviction of Rahul Gandhi itself has legal merit or not is a matter for the court to decide, however, while Rahul Gandhi attempts to project his frugality and ground connect, it is evident from this argument that he expects the judiciary to treat him differently because that is the reality he is accustomed to.

Reading this argument, one is reminded of a statement made by Congress MP Pramod Tiwari while mounting a defenec for Rahul Gandhi and his family. Tiwari said that the law should be different for the Gandhi family in terms of sentencing in a case. He recalled how the Congress leader’s grandmother and father, then Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi ‘sacrificed their lives for the nation’ and suggested that Rahul Gandhi and his family’s background should be taken into account while sentencing.

“Rahul Gandhi’s family should be treated differently by the law. His grandmother and father have sacrificed their lives for the nation. The law must give minimum punishment. BJP is scared that their theft may be caught”, he had said.

It is clear that Rahul Gandhi and his family believes that they are above the law and the judiciary should bend to cater to their needs. It is precisely this self image that leads to leaders like Pramod Tiwari making outlandish statements, putting the Gandhi family on a pedestal, because that is preisely what is expected of them – a prerequisite to survive in the party.

The appeal does not really stop there. It says, “A summary inquiry was held on the question of appropriate sentence. The issue of grant of probation, which is mandatory in a case like the present one, does not even find a passing reference in the order of sentence and the Ld Trial Court proceeded to award the maximum punishment without giving any adequate opportunity to the parties to assist the Court in this regard.”

Further, immediately on pronouncing Gandhi guilty, without giving him an “opportunity of composing himself”, assessing the situation and consulting the lawyer, the court asked him to make his submissions on the question of sentence.

“The sentencing order does not even show that the Ld Trial Judge took into consideration the fact that the accused was being awarded the maximum permissible sentence of imprisonment.”

Rahul Gandhi seems extremely angry that the court did not wait for HHS Rahul Gandhi to ‘compose himself’ after pronouncing the judgement and asking him to follow the due process of the law immediately, making submissions on the question of sentencing. According to Rahul Gandhi, it is clear that the court should have been cognizant of HHS Rahul Gandhi’s stature and given him time to think (yes, it does take A LOT of time for him to think) before he was compelled to follow the law like mere mortals.

Rahul Gandhi is a part-time politician and a full-time Aristocrat. It is almost as if it is the national priority to ensure that the mind-numbing incompetence of the naked Kind is never exposed and that, no matter what he does, he is never to face consequences for it. From kicking and screaming about democracy being in danger because of PM Narendra Modi, he has graduated to saying democracy is in danger because the judiciary decided to follow the process of the law. Now, whether the verdict itself holds to judicial scrutiny, is something we will know as time passes, however, these two arguments made in the appeal by Rahul Gandhi prove that the Aristocrat and his family will always float several notches above the brown ghulams and even the judiciary is supposed to be cognizant of that fact.

Flour being sold in ‘black market’ as Pakistan’s Punjab govt stops subsidy during Ramzan amid severe economic crisis

ANI
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Flour being sold in ‘black market’ as Pakistan’s Punjab govt stops subsidy during Ramzan amid severe economic crisis

As the flour mills were found selling the commodity in black, Pakistan’s Punjab government has stopped giving subsidies on 10-kilogram flour, The News International reported. 

The Punjab government has issued a notification to stop supplying subsidised flour in the province. Over 95 per cent of people are rushing to purchase cheap flour but all went in vain as the shopkeepers with the full backing of the sitting government and flour mills were selling the commodity in ‘black’. And only 2-3 per cent of people registered with the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) are getting ‘atta’ free of cost from sale points. 

After stopping the selling of subsidised flour, the Punjab government increased the rate of those subsidized bags of a 10-kilogram from Rs 648 to Rs 1150. 

The District Food Department (DFD) Official Spokesman Muhammad Ali told ‘The News International’ that the Punjab government has stopped supplying ‘Green Bag’ atta for three days. The government has ended all kinds of subsidy on ‘Atta’, he claimed. The flour mill owners were purchasing wheat privately, therefore, selling ‘Atta’ according to their wish, he said. We are providing ‘Atta’ bags free of cost to people who were registered in BISP, he said. 

As the 10-kilogram green bag ‘atta’ has vanished from open market shops, the shopkeepers have started selling the commodity at skyrocketing prices in ‘black’ at Rs 1600 to Rs 1650. 

Meanwhile, the shopkeepers are selling the subsidised bags of flour in black, and hundreds of people, stand in long queues to collect the commodity and some of them are also losing their lives. 

Reportedly, a flour stampede in Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a week back, along with other reports of similar disarray and stampedes leading to death at government-led flour distribution points, when reports surfaced of at least nine women and three children dying in a stampede in Karachi’s industrial hub – SITE area on Friday (March 31), according to The News International. 

Pakistan’s economy has been hit by multiple external triggers. Not only is it suffering the dents created by the Ukraine war, but it is also finding it difficult to make up for the economic losses caused by the 2022 floods. This has now created a humanitarian crisis in an agrarian economy where people cannot afford food items. 

And moreover, the country’s rising inflation has had negative effects on the purchasing power of the professional class also, as reported The News International.

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

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