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BSNL and Numaligarh Refinery to launch India’s first 5G Captive Non-Public Network in refinery sector, signs MoU to accelerate adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies

OpIndia Staff
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BSNL and Numaligarh Refinery to launch India’s first 5G Captive Non-Public Network in refinery sector, signs MoU to accelerate adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies

In a major step toward accelerating India’s digital transformation and industrial modernization, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during the “Industry 4.0 Workshop for CPSEs” organized under the aegis of the Ministry of Finance in Guwahati.

The workshop witnessed participation from several senior dignitaries, including the Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), CMD NRL, Director (Enterprise Business) BSNL, MD NRL, MD AMTRON, and other senior officials from the Ministry of Finance and various CPSEs. Discussions focused on empowering Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) to embrace transformative Industry 4.0 technologies—including 5G CNPN, Digital Twins, 3D Printing with AI, Virtual Formulation, AR/VR/MR, IoT, and Big Data Analytics—with a view to fostering innovation, efficiency, and Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Under this MoU, BSNL and NRL will collaborate to deploy India’s first 5G CNPN (Captive Non-Public Network) within the refinery sector, ushering in a new era of secure, ultra-reliable, and real-time industrial connectivity. This initiative is a pioneering step in leveraging indigenous 5G infrastructure for mission-critical operations.

The Secretary, DPE praised the initiative as a shining example of the Government’s “Whole of Government” (WoG)approach, underlining its potential to modernize India’s industrial base, promote advanced skilling, and generate employment opportunities—particularly in the North Eastern Region.

CMD NRL stated that the integration of 5G CNPN will not only enhance operational efficiency and cybersecurity but also enable transformative technologies such as AR/VR-based training, Digital Twins, and real-time IoT applications. He called it a game-changing moment for India’s refinery sector.

CMD, BSNL, Shri A. Robert J. Ravi, remarked, “This partnership exemplifies BSNL’s commitment to empowering India’s strategic sectors with next-generation digital infrastructure. The deployment of a dedicated 5G CNPN at NRL will mark a technological leap forward—not only in connectivity but in redefining how core industries can operate in the future. As a trusted public telecom provider, BSNL is proud to pioneer this journey toward a self-reliant, digitally intelligent Bharat.”

Director (Enterprise Business), BSNL added that this collaboration represents a historic milestone in the adoption of 5G and Industry 4.0 within India’s industrial ecosystem. He reaffirmed BSNL’s commitment to supporting Digital India by offering secure, robust, and future-ready communication infrastructure for CPSEs and enterprises.

This partnership between BSNL and NRL is expected to set the stage for replicable models across other industrial sectors, reinforcing the Government of India’s vision for a digitally empowered and self-reliant Bharat.

Delhi Crime Branch solves a year-old murder case, woman and her boyfriend arrested for killing her husband and dumping body in Haryana’s Sonipat

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi Crime Branch solves a year-old murder case, woman and her boyfriend arrested for killing her husband and dumping body in Haryana’s Sonipat

The Delhi Crime Branch has solved a year-old blind murder case with the arrest of a woman and her boyfriend for killing her husband and disposing of his body in Haryana’s Sonipat. The accused have been identified as Soniya (34), a resident of Delhi’s Alipur, and her partner Rohit, a resident of Jaji village in Sonipat.

According to Crime Branch officials, the case dates back to July 2024, when the decomposed body of an unidentified man was found in a drain near Agwanpur village under Gannaur police station in Sonipat. A case of murder was registered at that time, but it remained unsolved as the deceased could not be identified.

The breakthrough came when the phone number of one Pritam Prakash, missing for an year, became active again recently. Prakash was a proclaimed offender and a history-sheeter from Alipur. He had more than 10 cases registered against him, including those under the Arms Act, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, as well as the IPC.

His wife Soniya had lodged a complaint on July 20, 2024, stating that her husband had gone missing on the intervening night of July 5-6. On July 5, 2024, Pritam came to pick up Soniya from her sister’s house in Sonipat’s Gannaur, but left without her after an argument.

Officials said that during the investigation, the last active location of Printam’s phone was traced to Jaji village in Sonipat. Surveillance led the team to Rohit, who was found using the deceased’s phone.

Initially, he tried to divert the investigation by saying that he had purchased the phone from someone unknown. However, under sustained interrogation, he confessed to his illicit relationship with Soniya and revealed the enire murder plot.

Rohit told the police that Soniya had given a “supari” (contract) to kill her husband and had handed over the phone after the murder. He admitted that the murder was carried out in July 2024, and the body was dumped in a drain. Soniya was subsequently taken into custody. Although she initially tried to mislead the police, she eventually broke down when confronted with evidence. She confessed that she paid money her sister’s brother-in-law, Vijay, to kill Pritam.

She told the police that her husband was abusive and addicted to drugs. She had also asked Rohit to kill her husband, but Rohit demanded Rs 6 lakh by saying that he alone couldn’t commit it, and he had to hire someone else. She didn’t have so much money. In between, a different case was registered against Rohit, and he went underground.

Soniya said that following a heated argument on July 2, 2024, she went to her sister’s house in Gannaur in Rohit’s taxi. On July 5, when Pritam arrived to take her back home, she asked him to stay there for the night. She then convinced Vijay to murder him for ₹1 lakh. When Pritam was sleeping on the teraec, he was killed by Vijay while others were asleep. His body was wrapped in cloth and dumped in a drain near Agwanpur village.

The next day, Soniya returned to Delhi and filed a false missing complaint for her husband. She later sold Pritam’s three-wheeler for Rs 4.5 lakh, cleared her debts, gave Rohit Rs 2.8 lakh and paid Rs 50,000 to Vijay. A few months later, she gave Pritam’s phone to Rohit to destroy it. However, Rohit kept and used the phone, eventually leading to their arrest.

The phone number was on surveilance, and when it became active around a year later, police traceed it to Rohit in Sonipat.

Vijay, the third accused, was arrested in a separate theft case in June 2025 and is lodged in a jail in Haryana. Officials said that DNA samples taken during the autopsy of the unidentified body in July 2024 had been preserved, and further forensic verification was ongoing.

INDI Alliance leaders expose their hatred for Biharis in the name of opposing law allowing people to vote at their ordinary place of residence

Aditi
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INDI Alliance leaders expose their hatred for Biharis in the name of opposing law allowing people to vote at their ordinary place of residence

The IND Alliance parties, baselessly spreading fear regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, alleging that thousands of legitimate Bihar voters would be disenfranchised by this, could not hide their disdain for the laborious people of Bihar for long.

Recently, several Tamil politicians, including DMK general secretary Duraimurugan, VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan, NTK chief coordinator Seeman, and Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi (TVK), founder T Velmurugan, expressed their contempt for the natives of Bihar living in Tamil Nadu by opposing their inclusion as voters in Tamil Nadu.

Their absurd concerns arose from the results of the SIR in Bihar, which showed that around 36 lakh voters were missing from the state, some of whom might have migrated. The SIR results about the missing Bihar voters made the Tamil Nadu politicians believe that they might have migrated to Tamil Nadu.

The INDI alliance politicians opposed the possible inclusion of workers from Bihar on the voter list in Tamil Nadu. “This is a problem in Tamil Nadu, as they came to work here as guest workers. But giving them voter IDs in Tamil Nadu will result in political change in the future,” said DMK general secretary Duraimurugan.

Alarmed by the possibility of an SIR, which is a routine electoral roll revision exercise, being conducted in Tamil Nadu, VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan urged Chief Minister MK Stalin to convene an all-party meeting to address the issue. Thirumavalavan claimed that if an SIR is conducted, the EC would add lakhs of workers from other states to the state voter list, like how Dalits and minorities were allegedly removed from the voter list in Bihar. “The ECI is carrying out Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, where Dalits and minorities are eliminated from the voters’ list,” Thirumavalavan alleged. He added that this would change the “political scenario” of the state.

Voicing similar fears, NTK chief coordinator Seeman termed the inclusion of “people from North” in Tamil Nadu’s voter list as an injustice to Tamil people and claimed that it was the BJP’s conspiracy to capture power in the state. “Trying to convert people from the North into voters of Tamil Nadu is a great injustice to Tamil people. All democratic forces should come forward to fight against the BJP for this tyranny, and for trying to undermine the democratic system by using the ECI as a puppet to capture power in states where it cannot govern,” Seeman said.

Expressing a similar sentiment, TVK founder T Velmurugan said, “It is shocking that 6.5 lakh guest workers from Bihar were already added to the Tamil Nadu voters list. Lakhs of guest workers are already working in Tamil Nadu, and this is a challenge to the culture and tradition of the soil”. He further insinuated that North Indians vote based on religion by saying that people in Tamil Nadu do not vote based on religion and that it was the BJP’s plan to include North Indians as voters in the state to influence the election result.

Congress leader P Chidambaram calls changes in eletoral roll as illegal

Joining the chorus, Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram wrote a long post on X, masking his anti-Bihari sentiment as concern for Bihari migrant workers. Linking the exclusion of ineligible voters from Bihar’s electoral roll and the alleged addition of voters in Tamil Nadu’s voter list, Chidambaram termed this electoral updation as “alarming and patently illegal”.

Chidambaram claimed that like people return their native places for festivals like Chhath puja, they should also go to vote in their native place. He said, “A person to be enrolled as a voter must have a fixed and permanent legal home. The migrant worker has such a home in Bihar (or another state). How can he/she be enrolled as a voter in Tamil Nadu? If the migrant worker’s family has a permanent home in Bihar and lives in Bihar, how can the migrant worker be considered as “permanently migrated” to Tamil Nadu? The ECI is abusing its powers and trying to change the electoral character and patterns of States”.

Election Commission has already fact-checked the Congress leader, clarifying that a person need not be permanent resident of a place to be able to vote there. As per Article 19(1)(e), All Citizens shall have the right to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India. Moreover, As per Section 19(b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, every person who is ordinary resident in a constituency shall be entitled to be registered in the electoral roll of that constituency, the ECI added.

The RP Act also gives the meaning of “Ordinary Resident”. The poll panel said, “Therefore, a person originally belonging to Tamil Nadu, but is ordinarily residing in Delhi, is entitled to be registered as an Elector in Delhi. Similarly, a person originally belonging to Bihar, but s ordinarily residing in Chennai, is entitled to be registered as an Elector in Chennai.”

The Election Commission said that there is no need for political leaders to spread false information with respect to the SIR exercise being conducted by ECI at national level.

It is difficult to believe that Chidambaram, who is a senior advocate, would not be aware of the fact that the Indian Constitution and the Representation of People Act, allows any citizen to enroll in the voter list of a constituency, where he ordinarily resides, irrespective of his native place.

India is a union of states and not a confederation of some constituent parts. Indian citizens have a single citizenship and the Constitution provides them the right to reside and work in any part of the country. In view of the clear legal provisions, the hateful remarks of Chidambaram and other INDI alliance politicians are nothing more than pathetic attempts to incite regional sentiments ahead of the state assembly elections in Tamil Nadu next year.

INDI Alliance politicians’ everlasting hatred for the ‘Hindi-speaking people’

This is not the first time that the hard-working people of Bihar, who migrate to other states for work and contribute to the state’s economy, have been subjected to such scorn from the INDI Alliance politicians. In December 2023, DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran made extremely derogatory remarks against Hindi-speaking people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, saying that these people going to Tamil Nadu end up doing construction work or cleaning roads and toilets.

In March 2022, TMC leader Manoranjan Byapari maliciously referred to theBihari people living in West Bengal as “Beemari” (disease) and asked them to “get lost”. He famously remarked, “Ek Bihari, 100 Beemarii (One Bihari is equal to 100 diseases). The TMC leader was not an excepional case of hatred for Biharis; his anti-Bihari sentiment was shared by his party supremo and the West Bengal CM, Mamata Banerjee, who blamed ‘outsiders’ for incidents of violence and unrest in the state. TMC leaders have long been evading accountability for the miserable law and order situation in the state by conveniently blaming the ‘outsiders’. This helps them appease their fixed voter base.

How Thackeray’s party’s mouthpiece demeaned the Bihari people

The vitriol faced by the people of Bihar at the hands of local parties like the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Shiv Sena (before the split) is no secret. Shiv Sena, which was led by Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray before being split into Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, openly opposed the migrant workers of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in Maharashtra. Udhhav Thackeray, whose party, Shiv Sena (UBT), is now an INDI alliance partner, once demanded a permit system to check the influx of Bihari migrant workers in Mumbai.

In 2017, Thackeray’s party’s mouthpiece Saamana, asked the then Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to retract his statement wherein he acknowledged the contribution of North Indians to Mumbai. The mouthpiece claimed that Fadnavis’s statement was an insult to Maharashtra and that Marathi people have the first right over Mumbai. In 2013, after the Delhi gangrape case, Thackeray’s cousin and MNS chief Raj Thackeray blamed Bihari migrants for the heinous crime.

Amid all the vitriol targeted at the Bihari people by the INDI alliance politicians, who treat their states like their fiefdoms, the glaring irony is marked by the silence of Bihar’s regional party, RJD, which is a member of the INDI alliance. The RJD, which makes tall promises of the upliftment of the people of Bihar, did not utter a word in condemnation of all the malicious remarks made by its alliance partners against the people of Bihar. This is a blatant betrayal of leaders like Tejashwi Yadav, whose political ambitions have overshadowed the dignity of the people of Bihar.

Bihar: SIR exercise in Muslim-dominated Kishanganj exposes 1.45 lakh ‘missing voters’, region infamous for illegal immigration and multiple Aadhar cards

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar: SIR exercise in Muslim-dominated Kishanganj exposes 1.45 lakh ‘missing voters’, region infamous for illegal immigration and multiple Aadhar cards

Election Commission has published a fresh draft of Bihar’s electoral roll list after conducting a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. According to the updated list, around 65 lakh names have been struck off the rolls in the state. The struck-off names primarily consist of deceased persons or those who could not be located at their registered addresses.

But what’s surprising is the large-scale deletion of names in some districts, particularly in Muslim-dominated Kishanganj. Here, a record 1.45 lakh names have been removed from the list.

This amounts to an astonishing 11.8% of the district’s total voter base. It can easily tip an election in which even a 4–5% margin can make a difference.

11% voters go missing from Kishanganj roll

Kishanganj, which shares a border with West Bengal and is inhabited by almost 70% Muslims, has been in the spotlight for a long time over demographic changes and illegal immigration.

When the SIR process was initiated on 24th June, the district’s registered voter enrollment stood at 12,31,910. 

However, the valid forms received during the revision numbered only 10,86,242, leaving 1,45,668 voters off the rolls. That’s more than 11% of voters vanishing from the rolls in one stroke.

Spike in applications for domicile certificates raises suspicions

Even before the SIR process formally commenced, Kishanganj witnessed a huge spike in domicile certificate applications. Such a sudden spike raised alarms about the possibility of manipulation of voter rolls.

Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary recently raised the issue. He indicated that between the months of January to May in the year 2025, the district had an average of 26,000 to 28,000 applications each month.

However, within the first six days of July, more than 1.28 lakh applications for domicile certificates were submitted. That’s a number several times above average.

Choudhary highlighted that although papers such as PAN, Aadhaar, and passports need to be extensively verified, domicile certificates are relatively easy to obtain.

He had previously raised national security concerns regarding the matter.

126 Aadhaar cards for every 100 persons

The issue does not end with domicile certificates. Aadhaar saturation statistics have also raised severe doubts. In areas like Kishanganj, the issuance of Aadhaar cards has exceeded the actual population.

As per government reports, Kishanganj has a population of 20,26,541, but 21,31,172 Aadhaar cards were issued, so that is 126 Aadhaar cards for every 100 people. That’s over 1 lakh Aadhaar cards extra.

Experts and officials consider that this can indicate either Aadhaar duplication on a large scale or that illegal migrants have obtained Aadhaar cards with fake documents.

Illegal infiltration from Bangladesh

The problem takes on a more critical consideration given the location of Kishanganj. It shares a porous border with West Bengal and is situated near Bangladesh. The area has a history of illegal infiltration.

There have been reports that Kishanganj was a Hindu-majority region at the time of Independence, but has undergone major demographic shifts in the decades since, primarily due to uncontrolled infiltration.

Four Bangladeshis were recently caught in various locations in Kishanganj. Reports indicate that they had infiltrated illegally and were working as domestics in local households, hoping to settle here for good. It’s also said that many such infiltrators adopt new names and procure false documents such as ration cards, Aadhaar, and voter IDs to merge with the locals.

They even stated that individuals belonging to Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar were discovered living in Kishanganj at the time of the SIR process. Most of them allegedly succeeded in obtaining Indian identification papers despite being foreigners.

Bihar SIR: No complaint received from any political party including Congress and RJD on the draft voter list

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar SIR: No complaint received from any political party including Congress and RJD on the draft voter list

On 3rd August, the Election Commission of India (ECI) revealed that it has received 941 claims and objections related to Bihar’s draft electoral roll. However, not a single complaint out of the 941 has been filed by any political party including the Indian National Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). The bulletin issued on Sunday by the ECI showed that all objections so far have come from individual electors alone.

The three-day report covered the period from 1st August to 3rd August (3 PM). It revealed that apart from Congress and RJD, parties including BJP, JD(U) and others have not registered any formal claims or objections regarding the integrity of the draft rolls. The Congress has deployed 17,549 Booth Level Agents (BLAs) while RJD has 47,506 BLAs. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has the maximum, 53,338 BLAs in the field. However, the number of complaints filed remains zero.

What is the SIR electoral roll?

The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls is part of a unique drive initiated by the ECI to ensure a clean and accurate voter list ahead of Bihar Assembly elections due in October-November this year. Under this process, the ECI has opted for a complete ground-up enumeration, house-to-house verification by officials without referencing the previous electoral rolls.

This form of revision is adopted when the Commission suspects significant errors in existing data or after major administrative events such as constituency delimitation. The objective of the drive is to ensure that no eligible citizen is left out while no ineligible person is included in the Electoral Roll.

The first phase, which started on 1st July, involved physical enumeration. The deadline for new voter registration through Form 6 was 25th July, and the draft list was published on 1st August. The window for filing claims and objections will remain open till 30th August, after which the final electoral roll will be released on 30th September.

Final list only after scrutiny and investigation

Despite political pushback, particularly from the I.N.D.I. Alliance, the Supreme Court has greenlit the process. Notably, the I.N.D.I. Alliance has dubbed the exercise a “vote ban” targeting its support base.

Interestingly, the ECI found several foreign nationals from Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar in possession of Indian documents like Aadhaar, ration cards, and domicile certificates during the enumeration. These individuals had reportedly entered their names into previous voter lists. The Commission has now pledged a detailed investigation from 1st to 30th August to weed out any illegals from the final roll.

Conclusion

With over 1 lakh Booth Level Officers (BLOs), 4 lakh volunteers, and 1.5 lakh booth agents deployed across Bihar, the SIR revision has become the largest electoral roll exercise in recent years. The political heat around the SIR may continue, but so far, only citizens, not any political party, have chosen to file objections.

Rising inflation, falling GDP and weakening dollar: Donald Trump’s 25% tariff on India will harm US economy more, says SBI research

OpIndia Staff
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Rising inflation, falling GDP and weakening dollar: Donald Trump’s 25% tariff on India will harm US economy more, says SBI research

The 25% tariff on Indian goods announced by US President Donald Trump might end up doing more damage to the American economy than to India’s, as per a research report [pdf] published by the State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday, 1st August. 

These tariffs are expected to take effect from 7th August. Trump has also announced penalty for the purchase of Russian crude oil and military equipment, but this has not been specified in any official communication so far.

SBI Research has called the move a “bad business decision” and warns that the economic consequences could be severe for the United States. The report highlights that the new tariff policy may lead to a drop in the US GDP, rising inflation, and a weaker dollar. 

Graph via SBI Research

Inflation in the US is already on the rise and, according to the report, could remain above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2% until at least 2026.

One of the most striking observations is the financial burden that these tariffs will place on American households. Families in the US could see their spending rise by a median of about $2,400 over the short term. Low-income families are projected to be affected by this for about $1,300, whereas more affluent families might have to pay an extra $5,000.

Even if wealthier families are more likely to absorb these expenses, the overall economic burden is likely to be shared across income levels.

India has already diversified its export base: SBI report

Despite the US being India’s largest export destination accounting for nearly 20% of India’s total exports, India may not be as badly affected as some expect. 

Most of the Asian countries face higher tariff rates compared to India at present. For instance, China currently faces a post-negotiation tariff of 42%, one of the highest in the region, despite accounting for 13.4% of US imports. Bangladesh, another key trading partner, faces a 35% tariff, even though it only contributes 0.3% to US imports.

SBI report says that India has already diversified its export base. The top 10 countries combined make up only 53% of India’s total exports, giving Indian businesses some room to shift focus.

According to the SBI report, India’s GDP may take a minor hit of about 25 to 30 basis points (bps) in FY26 due to the tariffs. 

Key sectors in trouble

The sectors that could feel the most heat are electronics, pharmaceuticals, and gems and jewellery. These industries make up nearly half of India’s exports to the US. 

Earlier, many of these products had very low or even zero tariffs. Now, with the 25% duty, the competitive edge of Indian goods could be reduced significantly.

Pharmaceuticals, in particular, could see major disruptions. India presently provides almost 47% of generic medicines utilized in the US. If the US plans to relocate its manufacturing or active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) production elsewhere, it would take between 3 and 5 years to establish new supply chains.

Meanwhile, the US may experience shortages of the most critical drugs, triggering price increases, particularly for the most important drugs such as antibiotics, cancer medications, and medications for chronic diseases.

This change could also hit Indian pharma companies hard. The US market contributes about 40% of India’s pharmaceutical exports. If 25% tariff continues, it may hit earnings of pharma companies by 2-8% in FY26, as many big pharma companies’ revenue from US stood in the range of 40-50%.

Trade surplus and strategic buffer

India’s trade surplus with the US has increased manifold over time, from $11 billion in FY13 to an estimated $43 billion in FY25. India’s trade surplus with the US alone reached $12.7 billion in the first quarter of FY25, driven by a 22.3% increase in exports as against a modest 11.7% expansion in imports.

This increase in exports, presumably carried out in anticipation of the fresh tariffs, provides Indian firms with a temporary cushion. Exporters may take recourse to this buffer to weather the initial shock and look for new markets or tweak price strategies.  

American consumers to suffer most

While the impact on India may be manageable, US consumers are expected to bear the brunt. A research by The Budget Lab at Yale University says that the average effective tariff rate for US consumers will rise to 18.3%, the highest since 1934. 

American households could see clothing prices jump by 38% and footwear prices by 40% in the short term. In the long term, these prices might remain elevated, and the costs of footwear and apparel might be 19% and 17% higher, respectively.

This may mostly affect middle- and low-income Americans who depend on cheap imports for regular necessities.

Berkshire Hathaway’s warning

Even large US companies are starting to feel the pain. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway just had a 5.1% decline in second-quarter revenue from its consumer goods operations. The firm attributed the decline in revenue to reduced volumes, delayed shipments, and the effects of tariffs.

Berkshire holds such iconic brands as Fruit of the Loom and Jazwares, and stated that Trump’s trade policies have damaged business. Buffett, a strong free-trade advocate, previously cautioned that tariffs should not be used as a “weapon,” with balanced trade being in everyone’s best interest.

Despite these challenges, not all parts of Berkshire’s business were affected. For instance, shoe brand Brooks saw an 18.4% rise in revenue, showing that some niches may still manage to grow despite the broader headwinds.

Conclusion

In the end, Trump’s tariff decision may end up being a case of self-harm for the US economy. While India will face some immediate challenges, its diversified exports and strong global pharma role provide a buffer. On the other hand, the US is looking at higher prices, potential drug shortages, and a squeeze on consumer wallets, all of which could make these tariffs costlier than they seem on paper.

Harvard University maintained formal partnerships with Chinese Communist Party controlled entities for over a decade, finds US congressional investigation

OpIndia Staff
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Harvard University maintained formal partnerships with Chinese Communist Party controlled entities for over a decade, finds US congressional investigation

Harvard University is facing a growing scandal aftre a congressional investigation revealed that the Ivy League institution maintained formal partnerships with Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-controlled entities for over a decade. The probe says that the universoty directly assisted in the training of future CCP leadership.

According to a letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, Reps. John Moolenaar (R-MI), Tim Walberg (R-MI), and Elise Stefanik (R-NY) accused Harvard of actively collaborating with organisations under the control of the CCP’s Central Organisation Department. This powerful department is responsible for indoctrinating officials with “Xi Jinping Thought” and selecting leaders for key positions within China’s authoritarian regime.

Of particular concern is the Harvard Kennedy School’s partnership with the Chinese Executive Leadership Academy Pudong, a training school controlled by the CCP. Whistleblower testimony indicates that cadres from CCP and government institutions were sent to Harvard as part of their official training.

“Harvard’s formal partnership with a CCP-controlled school to train their future leaders raises serious concerns about the CCP’s influence in American institutions,” said Rep. Moolenaar. “We are committed to uncovering the full extent of these relationships to ensure transparency and protect national interests.”

Representatives Tim Walberg and Elise Stefanik co-signed a letter accusing Harvard of working directly with groups formed by CCP ideology, particularly “Xi Jinping Thought”.

The revelations come at a time when Harvard is already under scrutiny. The university is reportedly considering a $500 million payout to settle disputes over campus anti-Semitism complaints and controversial DEI policies.

In April, The Free Beacon exposed Harvard’s past training of members from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a CCP paramilitary group sanctioned by the U.S. for its role in the genocide of Uyghur Muslims. Now, Congress has given Harvard until August 7 to turn over all records tied to its dealings with CCP-linked bodies, including financial or material exchanges.

pIndia staff)

Pakistan Cricket Board pulls out of World Championship of Legends, claims political bias and unfair conduct

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan Cricket Board pulls out of World Championship of Legends, claims political bias and unfair conduct

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has officially announced that it will no longer participate in any future editions of the World Championship of Legends (WCL), raising concerns about the tournament’s fairness, integrity, and political neutrality. “The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announces that it is issuing a blanket ban from future participation in the World Championship of Legends (WCL),” said a statement issued by the board.

One of the most contentious issues raised by the board was the decision to award points to a team that had voluntarily forfeited a match, a move the PCB claimed as “highly questionable” and against the spirit of fair competition.

The decision was taken during a Board of Governors meeting chaired by PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi. A statement issued by PCB said that they “reviewed with considerable disappointment WCL’s appalling conduct of awarding points to a willfully forfeiting team, and the content of the press releases of the WCL announcing the cancellation of the scheduled India vs Pakistan legends matches, which were tainted with hypocrisy and bias”.

The board further criticised the press release by WCL organisers after the India-Pakistan match was called off. It said that the “contents of the said press releases highlight a duality where the narrative of “peace through sport” is selectively applied and sporting events are held hostage to political expediency and narrow commercial interests.”

The PCB said that it has always advocated for the separation of sports and politics. The PCB statement said, “Our unwavering belief is that cricket, like other international sports, should solely serve as a platform for goodwill, healthy competition, and mutual respect. For a tournament involving legendary players to be dictated by sentiments that undermine this fundamental principle is not only regrettable but also deeply concerning for the future of independent sporting events.”

It stated that the fact that WCL apologised for “hurting the sentiments” shows that the cancellation of the match was not based on cricketing merit, but rather on succumbing to a specific nationalistic narrative. The PCB declared, “The PCB can no longer condone participation in an event where the fundamental principles of fair play and unbiased administration are compromised by external pressures.”

6 sites searched, no skeletons of any woman yet: Suspected attempt to defame the temple town of Dharmasthala in Karnataka is slowly falling apart

OpIndia Staff
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6 sites searched, no skeletons of any woman yet: Suspected attempt to defame the temple town of Dharmasthala in Karnataka is slowly falling apart

In the ongoing investigation into the sensational Dharmasthala mass burial case, no human remains of any females allegedly buried at the sites pointed out by the sanitation worker, who claimed to have conducted mass burials, have been exhumed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT).

The SIT started the process of digging at the sites pointed out by the sanitation worker on 29th July. Five sites, out of the total 13 sites identified by the sanitation worker, were dug up by the SIT by 30th July, but no human remains were discovered. On the morning of 31st July, SIT exhumed some human remains at the sixth site, which is located in the forest area near the Netravathi river. An SIT official reportedly said that the prima facie examination of the remains by a forensic doctor indicated that they belonged to a human male.

However, a conclusive statement about the human remains could only be made after a proper forensic examination. The police reportedly found around 15 bones at the site, some of which were broken, but no skull was found. As of August 3rd, the police had carried out digging at 10 sites.

In addition to that, the SIT discovered a debit card belonging to a woman and a PAN card belonging to a man. When the investigation team tracked down the owner of the PAN Card, they reached his family. The PAN Card reportedly belonged to a man named Suresh, from Nelamangala taluk in Bengaluru Rural district. His father told the team that Suresh was an alcoholic and died of jaundice in March 2025. The investigation team suspects that he might have lost his PAN Card during his visit to Dharmasthala before his death. The SIT has asked for the details of the woman who owned the debit card from the bank.

Since no significant discoveries have been made during the excavations at the sites pointed out by the sanitation worker, this raises suspicions over the claims of the sanitation worker regarding the mass burials of dead bodies, most of which were allegedly women and girls. The investigation so far does not point at any foul play as alleged by the sanitation worker.

An “eyeswitness” appears before the SIT

An individual named Jayanth T appeared before the SIT in Belthangady on Saturday (2nd August), claiming that he could provide testimony about the alleged mass burials. He reportedly told the media that he had first-hand knowledge of multiple “unlawful burials” as he personally observed these burials at multiple locations.

Judge hearing the mass burial case recuses himself

Meanwhile, Judge Vijaya Kumar Rai B of the 10th Additional City and Civil Sessions Court in Bengaluru has recused himself from the hearing of the Dharmasthala mass burial case. The judge placed an application before the Principal City Civil Sessions Judge requesting that the case be moved to another court.

This comes after some journalists and activists raised concerns about the judge having studied in educational institutions run by the Dharmasthala temple trust. He is also said to have worked as a junior lawyer in a firm which represented Rajya Sabha MP Veerendra Heggade, whose brother D Harshendra Kumar had filed a plea seeking the removal of over 8,000 digital links, including news reports, social media posts, and videos. In his plea, Kumar stated that the media reports and social media posts contained defamatory content against him, his family, the Dharmasthala temple, and related institutions.

On the plea of D Harshendra Kumar, Judge Vijaya Kumar Rai B had passed an ex parte injunction prohibiting media coverage and commentary on the ongoing investigation into the allegations of the mass burials.

The mysterious sanitation worker and the chilling allegations

The case came to light a couple of months ago, when the mysterious sanitation worker came out of thin air and alleged that he was forced to bury hundreds of dead bodies at different locations in the temple town of Dharmasthala between 1998 and 2014. The sanitation worker, who was employed by the Lord Manjunatha shrine in Dharmasthala, filed a complaint with the police on June 3, 2025. An SIT was formed by the state government on 19th July to investigate his allegations.

The SIT took him to the bathing ghat in Dharmasthala, where he pointed out 13 alleged burial sites. In his complaint, he claimed that many of the dead bodies he buried were of women and minor girls who were sexually assaulted. His complaint was followed by the complaint of a 60-year-old woman named Sujatha, whose daughter had gone missing while on a trip to the pilgrimage town of Dharmasthala.

NCP (Sharad Pawar) leader Jitendra Awhad goes on a diatribe against Sanatan Dharma, says it ruined India and adds it is not even a religion

OpIndia Staff
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NCP (Sharad Pawar) leader Jitendra Awhad goes on a diatribe against Sanatan Dharma, says it ruined India and adds it is not even a religion

NCP-SCP leader and four times MLA, Jitendra Awhad sparked another controversy on Saturday, 2nd August, when he attacked Sanatan Dharma, calling it a harmful and regressive ideology that has “ruined India.”

Speaking to the media, Awhad said, “Sanatan Dharma has ruined India. There never was a religion called Sanatan Dharma. We are followers of Hindu Dharma.” According to him, Sanatan Dharma has historically been used to deny rights to great Indian icons and social reformers.

Jitendra Awhad went on to say that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was not allowed to have a coronation ceremony because of Sanatan Dharma, and that Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj was defamed by his followers because of it. “They threw filth and cow dung at Savitribai Phule. They even tried to kill Jyotirao Phule. This very Sanatan Dharma also tried to kill Shahu Maharaj,” Awhad claimed.

Awhad further added, “Sanatan Dharma didn’t even let Babasaheb Ambedkar drink water or study. It was Babasaheb who finally stood up against it, burned the Manusmriti, and rejected these oppressive traditions. The person who created Manusmriti came from this same Sanatan tradition. We shouldn’t be afraid to say it openly, Sanatan Dharma and its Sanatani ideology are perverted.”

Not his first controversial statement on Sanatan Dharma

This isn’t the first time Awhad has made such provocative statements. In January 2024, he stirred another controversy by claiming that Lord Ram was not only a non-vegetarian but also a figure belonging to the Bahujan community. 

Attending an event at Shirdi, Jitendra Awhad said, “Ram belongs to us Bahujans. He used to hunt and eat. When you attempt to convert all to vegetarian, recall we are Ram’s followers and we eat mutton. That is Ram’s ideal. He was not a vegetarian.”

He also wondered if one who had been in the forest for 14 years could be a vegetarian. “Where would a person in the forest eat vegetarian food?” he asked the crowd, “Tell me if I’m wrong.”

In the same address, Awhad addressed India’s freedom struggle. He stated that Mahatma Gandhi was attacked a number of times prior to being assassinated in 1948 due to his caste. “Gandhiji was a tradesman and an OBC. They could not digest the fact that the head of such a huge movement was an OBC. That is why he was targeted so many times”, Awhad had said.

He even claimed that casteism was the real reason behind Gandhi’s killing and accused the RSS of not being able to accept Gandhi’s leadership because of his caste.

Similar comments from Jitendra Awhad in 2023

Awhad’s incendiary remarks are not confined to Lord Ram or Sanatan Dharma alone. In April 2023, he spoke against the motive of Hindu festivals Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti. Delivering a speech at an NCP rally, he stated, “A riot happened in Aurangabad. I mean Ram Navami. and what is that other festival? Hanuman Jayanti. Are these festivals made just for riots?”

He also asserted that the situation in cities during these festivals was never tense before, and even went to the extent of suggesting that there was some conspiracy behind such violence. “I don’t normally talk like this in the presence of Saheb (Sharad Pawar), but I strongly feel that the next year is going to be a year of communal riots”, Jitendra Awhad had said.

It must be noted that in March 2023, several cases of violence were reported during Ram Navami processions across the nation, ranging from stone-pelting in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. 

Walking in Udhayanidhi Stalin’s footsteps

Awhad’s constant criticisms of Sanatan Dharma are reminiscent of what DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin had to say in September 2023.

At the “Eradicate Sanatan Conference” in Chennai, Udhayanidhi Stalin likened Sanatan Dharma to maladies such as dengue, malaria, and corona. “Mosquitoes, dengue, flu, malaria, corona those have to be eradicated and not opposed. Same for Sanatan Dharma,” he added.

The remarks of Udhayanidhi Stalin were made at a function where multiple DMK leaders and left-wing activists, including Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Minister PK Sekarbabu, were present.

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