Home Blog Page 2571

DGCA issues show cause notice to Go First airlines after their flight took off leaving 55 passengers stranded in Bengaluru

ANI
-
0
DGCA issues show cause notice to Go First airlines after their flight took off leaving 55 passengers stranded in Bengaluru

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday issued a show cause notice to the Chief Operation Officer of Go First airlines as to why enforcement action should not be taken against them for dereliction of their regulatory obligations.

On Monday, Delhi-bound Go First flight G8-116 took off from Bengaluru leaving behind 55 passengers at Bangalore airport. The matter has now come to the notice of DGCA. The airline has been given two weeks’ time to submit its reply to DGCA and based on that further action will be taken.

In a statement, the aviation regulatory body mentioned that the incident report was sought by DGCA from Go First on Monday. “After perusal of the reply submitted by Go First through email dated Tuesday, prima facie it emerges that Go First failed to comply with the provision specified at para 9 and 13 of CAR Section 3, Series C, Part II issued by DGCA resulted in violation of Para (1A) of Rule 134 read with Schedule XI of the Aircraft Rules, 1937 and Go First has failed to comply with the provision specified in para 5.2 of ATC 02 of 2019,” the statement said.

“As per the above-referred regulations, the concerned airline is responsible to ensure adequate arrangement for ground handling, preparation of load and trim sheet, flight dispatch and passenger/cargo handling and also ensure that all the ground handling staff engaged in passenger handling undergo periodic soft skill training for sensitization, courtesy, behaviour and procedures for assisting the passengers,” it added.

Many air passengers took to Twitter to register their complaints against Go First on Monday after Flight G8-116 took off for Delhi from Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport around 6.30 am, while about 55 passengers were kept waiting in one of the buses as the flight took off.

The passengers were taken in four buses to the aircraft. The passengers who left the Bangalore airport were reportedly accommodated on another flight that left four hours later, around 10 am.

Meanwhile, Go First said it initiated an inquiry into the incident. Further, the airline said it has decided to offer all affected passengers one free ticket for travel on any domestic route in the next 12 months.

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to the passengers due to an inadvertent oversight in the reconciliation of flight G8 116, from Bengaluru to Delhi. Passengers were accommodated on alternate airlines to Delhi and onward to other destinations. We deeply appreciate and value your patience for bearing with us,” said Go First statement.

“In line with our philosophy of customer centricity, the airline has decided to offer all affected passengers one free ticket for travel on any domestic sector in the next 12 months. The airline has initiated an inquiry into the incident and the matter is being investigated. All concerned staff off the roaster till the inquiry is going on,” added the airline. 

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

West Bengal: Snake found in mid-day meal served at Birbhum school, several students fall sick

OpIndia Staff
-
0
West Bengal: Snake found in mid-day meal served at Birbhum school, several students fall sick

On Monday (January 9), a primary school in Mayureswar block in the Birbhum district of West Bengal served snake-infested dal in a mid-day meal, rendering 20 out of the total 53 students sick.

While some children were admitted to the Rampurhat Medical College and Hospital, others were rushed to the Saithiyan block hospital. The incident took place at the Mandalpur Prathamik Vidyalaya.

The snake was discovered in the vessel containing lentils. By the time the school staffer took notice of the reptile, several students had already consumed the food. Others were immediately stopped from eating their mid-day meal.

“We had to rush the children to Rampurhat Medical College and Hospital as they started vomiting,” a kitchen staffer told India Today. Reportedly, all the hospitalised children have now been discharged, barring one who is said to be out of danger.

Once the news of the incident spread, villagers gheraoed the school Headmaster, identified as Nimai Chandra Dey, and vandalised his two-wheeler. On receiving information about the matter, the police rushed to the spot and rescued him from the angry mob.

The parents of the affected children have squarely blamed the cook and the teacher, responsible for supervising the mid-day meal preparation. Block Development Officer (BDO) Dipanjan Jana informed that the district inspector of primary schools will visit the Mandalpur Prathamik Vidyalaya on Tuesday (January 10).

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Primary Education Board Praloy Naik visited the hospitals and took cognisance of the matter. He remarked, “There has been carelessness. Those responsible for cooking and serving food to children should be more alert.”

Parents of Muslim students protest over ‘Jhatka’ chicken served in mid-day meal

Earlier this month, family members of Muslim students of a school in the east Medinipur district of West Bengal staged a protest against an alleged attempt to ‘desecrate’ their faith by feeding ‘Jhatka’ chicken to Muslim students.

The reported incident took place in Mahisadal Raj High School in east Medinipur. The parents of Muslim students demanded the resignation of the school principal for serving non-halal meat to Muslim students.

Karnataka: Residential house converted to mosque, land handed over to Waqf; BJP leaders and Hindu activists raise objections

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Karnataka: Residential house converted to mosque, land handed over to Waqf; BJP leaders and Hindu activists raise objections

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and Hindu activists in Karnataka have objected to the conversion of a residential house in Sarathinaga into a mosque titled ‘Fathima Masjid’. The land on which the house was constructed in the Belagavi Rural Assembly constituency has been handed over to the Waqf Board.

A meeting between the Hindu activists and locals was held over the matter. In his complaint to the authorities, Patil demanded that the district administration and corporation should vacate the mosque. He stated that a residential house was converted into a mosque illegally.

Locals have alleged that the district authorities turned a blind eye to the conversion. They further stated that the authorities were aware of the illegalities but did not take any action under pressure from the Congress MLA Lakshmi Hebbalkar. They filed complaints multiple times over the year, but no action was taken.

Pramod Muthalik, the founder of Sri Ram Sena, said that if the mosque was built per the law, no one would have any objection. He said, “[I have] no objection to building a mosque according to law. But, I can’t agree with converting a residential house into a mosque”. He gave one week’s deadline to the authorities to take action against the mosque.

The locals told IANS that the original property owner gifted it to Maulana Abdul Kalam Educational and Charitable Society. However, it was later converted into a mosque. The corporation issued a notice regarding the license violation and carrying out religious activities at a residential house. On the other hand, the Muslim leaders of the area have maintained that the property belongs to the Waqf Board.

Once a Waqf always a Waqf

Since the ownership of the property is transferred to Allah from the Waqf, and property can not be taken back from Allah, once a property becomes Waqf, it will always stay Waqf. It has been seen in several cases over the years. Details of such cases can be seen here and detailed reports on Waqf Board can be seen here.

Swedish court revokes deportation of Syrian criminal who trafficked and assaulted a woman, saying he may get killed in Syria

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Swedish court revokes deportation of Syrian criminal who trafficked and assaulted a woman, saying he may get killed in Syria

A district court in Sweden has revoked the deportation sentence of a Syrian refugee Majd Shhada, who has been convicted multiple times for offences such as rape, assault, theft and drug abuse. While revoking his deportation, the Court of Appeal for Lower Norrland contended that the accused might be at risk of military service in his home country, Syria.

Another factor given by the court to defend the ruling was Majd Shhada’s ‘possibility of becoming a parent soon.’ Notably, the woman who was trafficked from Syria by the accused and assaulted multiple times is pregnant and expecting a child with Majd Shhada.

On January 9, popular Twitter user Ashwini Shrivastava shared a thread of Tweets where he gave out information about the aforementioned case. “Sweden: A Syrian refugee Majd Shhada with 8 convictions, who savagely beaten, raped & impregnated a young woman, to avoid deportation Court ruled him, He will not be deported because his homeland is ‘too dangerous’ & he risks military service,” his tweet read.

In a subsequent tweet, Ashwini Srivastava stated that the accused Majd Shhada arrived in Sweden as a refugee from Syria in 2018. He is accused of raping and assaulting a woman he trafficked from Syria to Sweden and has been living in the same house with her since. In addition, he has been convicted in Sweden of multiple thefts, threats, and petty drug offences.

According to the Swedish News portal Samnytt, Majd Shhada’s neighbours routinely informed the police about conflicts and noises coming from the accused’s home. Majd, who routinely abused his partner, has previously been arrested for assaulting the woman. The woman had been to the hospital multiple times and her injuries had been documented. However, because the wife used to come to his defence, the accused was often saved from prison.

Image source: Samnytt

This time too, when the cops arrived at his flat, they were confronted by a badly bruised woman, a smashed apartment, and a violent and screaming Majd, like they have done so many times before. The woman was taken to the hospital by ambulance, while the man was detained and brought to the police station.

Image source: Samnytt

Narrating the terror she has been through for over a year, the woman told the police that Majd Shhada use to beat her up so violently that she feared for her life on multiple occasions. Among other things, he once also tried to strangulate her with a shoelace.

On November 14, 2022, the Ångermanland district court sentenced Majd Shhada for gross violation of women’s rights, a crime the court believes has been going on since 2021. He was sentenced to nine months in jail and asked to pay compensation of SEK 120,000 to the victim.

He is sentenced simultaneously for another theft, property damage, and violent resistance in connection with a previous police intervention in which he spat and kicked the intervening policemen.

The court also ordered that Shhada should be deported to his home country of Syria and will face a five-year repatriation ban.

The accused and the prosecutor both appealed against the Ångermanland district court decision in the Court of Appeal for Lower Norrland. The prosecutor sought harsher punishment for the accused. He appealed that Majd’s repatriation ban is extended to ten years.

The Court of Appeal for Lower Norrland increased Majd’s nine-month detention to one year and four months but overturned the Ångermanland district court’s deportation decision.

The court ruled that because Majd Shhada, who arrived in Sweden as a 17-year-old, would shortly “become a parent,” and risks military service in his home country, he cannot be repatriated. “He will be conscripted into war or killed if he is deported there”, ruled the court adding that therefore the Syrian violent criminal is allowed to remain in Sweden.

As BJP reaches out to Pasmanda Muslims, All India Pasmanda Muslim Manhaz asks Muslims to be ‘cautious’, focus on raising their dangerous ‘demands’

OpIndia Staff
-
0
As BJP reaches out to Pasmanda Muslims, All India Pasmanda Muslim Manhaz asks Muslims to be ‘cautious’, focus on raising their dangerous ‘demands’

In July 2022, at a BJP National Executive Meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked his party to focus on an outreach program for Pasmanda Muslims. The meeting at the time was held in Hyderabad. While addressing the meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about focusing on the upliftment of Pasmanda Muslims. In October 2022, in a first-of-a-kind endeavour, a meeting between BJP leaders and key members of the Pasmanda Muslim community was held in Lucknow, about 4 months after PM Modi’s clarion call to woo them. Since July 2022, several meetings with Pasmanda Muslims were held by BJP in various states – like this one in Delhi.

In August 2022, BJP OBC Morcha, at the Pasmanda Muslim Sneh Milan Evam Samman Samaroh, demanded a 50% reservation for the Pasmanda Muslim community in Muslim institutions like Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Millia Islamia etc. 

According to reports, with the all crucial Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states approaching assembly elections, BJP had in 2022 chalked out a strategy to build a new support base comprising Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs), Pasmanda (backward) Muslims, and non-Jatav Dalits in these states in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Now, however, the All India Pasmanda Muslim Manhaz has now issued a statement asking Pasmanda Muslims and Muslims of other castes to be careful of BJP and its ‘new found love’ for them. According to reports, All-India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz (AIPMM) has warned more than 50 sub-castes of Muslims to beware of political parties, including BJP, for their ‘sudden love’. They have demanded that Dalit Muslims and Christians be included in the scheduled caste (SC) category and reservation for SC category be increased. It is pertinent to note that the founder President of the AIPMM is Ali Anwar, former Rajya Sabha member from JD-U.

According to a Hindustan Times report, Ali Anwar has said, “Instead of misleading Pasmanda Muslims, the Narendra Modi government should take necessary action to include Dalit Muslims and Christians in SC category and increase reservations for SCs in jobs and education.” In July 2022 too, Anwar had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking for SC status for Pasmanda Muslims. “Even if the BJP is extending a friendly hand towards Pasmandas for their votes, could you at least take these few steps immediately: There are about a dozen castes within the Pasmanda Muslims such as Halalkhor (scavenger, Bhangi), Muslim washer man, cobbler, Bhatiyara, Gadhedi etc for whom the Sachar Committee and the Ranganath Mishra Commission have recommended SC status. Has your government, in response to a query from the Supreme Court last year, replied it will not accept this recommendation? Will you end this religion-based discrimination by increasing the quota for scheduled castes?” he had written in the letter.

Interestingly, in December 2022, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind had moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Union government to grant the Scheduled Caste status to Dalit converts to Islam. The intervention application filed says that it is important for Dalit converts to Islam to be considered Scheduled Caste so they can get equal opportunities in government jobs, educational institutions and the employment sector. 

The petition stated that somehow, the non-inclusion of these converts stops them from freely propagating their faith. According to reports, the plea says that the denial of the Scheduled Caste status to Muslim converts deprives them of political, educational, and other benefits given to non-Muslim and non-Christian Scheduled Castes persons and it is a calculated historical wrong to restrain the free profession, practice, and propagation of religion. It was submitted that the truth of the caste system cannot be denied and the effect of society is inevitable on all the religious communities it inhabits.

‘In the present issue, a person belonging to a Scheduled Caste is provided benefits if he is a Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist. However, if the same person is a Muslim, he will not be provided with those benefits. This distinction is totally arbitrary and is sans any reasonable classification,’ the petition stated.

With the BJP reaching out to Pasmanda Muslims and Muslim organisations, including AIPMM and Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind raising demands to grant SC status to converted Muslims, the implications of this dangerous demand becomes far more apparent.

When the Jamiat had filed its intervention application in Supreme Court, OpIndia had raised alarm over the demand coupled with BJP’s outreach to Pasmanda Muslims. With BJP and its leaders making arguments saying that the ancestors of Pasmanda Muslims were Hindus who converted to Islam, and Pasmanda Muslims forming 70-80% of the Muslims, the BJP furthering this trope becomes particularly dangerous. They are essentially insinuating then, that most Muslims today converted to Islam because of the discrimination they faced when they were Hindus and that they are still in bad economic and social conditions because of their identity when they were Hindus.

This argument furthers the liberal argument that the root cause of problems even within Islam and Christianity stems from Hinduism, which is patently incorrect. If they convert from Hinduism owing to their social status to more egalitarian options, they cannot possibly continue to blame their Hindu past for their current plight.

Further, it is also important to note that the SC status and subsequent reservation to 80% Muslims of India (Pasmanda Muslims) would only encourage conversion from Hinduism to Islam and also Christianity since it would act as an incentive used to coerce gullible Hindus. With political parties including BJP battling for Pasmanda Muslim votes in states like UP and Bihar, the demand of Jamiat and AIPMM poses a real and present danger to the Hindu community and BJP would do well to be cautious of the potential problems stemming from their outreach.

England’s Harry Brook wins ICC’s player of the month award for December after an incredible tour of Pakistan

ANI
-
0
England’s Harry Brook wins ICC’s player of the month award for December after an incredible tour of Pakistan

England’s up-and-coming star Harry Brook made an instant impact in Test cricket and has been rewarded with the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award for December 2022.

Shorlisted alongside Babar Azam and Travis Head, Harry Brook beat off stiff competition to grab the award after an incredible tour of Pakistan in December. The 23-year-old played a key role in England’s 3-0 whitewash against Pakistan, finishing the series as the highest run-getter with 468 runs in three matches. 

Brook proved to be a perfect fit for the ‘BazBall’ approach and slotted in seamlessly in the middle-order in the absence of Jonny Bairstow, with his runs coming at an incredible strike rate of 93.41.

Playing in just his second Test, the youngster returned scores of 153 and 87 in the first match of the series in Rawalpindi. His century in the first innings came off just 116 balls as he picked apart the Pakistan bowling line-up to set the tone for the rest of the series.

He went on to score a hundred each in the remaining two Tests as England dominated on their return to play Test cricket on Pakistan soil after 17 years.

Brook was named the Player of the Series for his incredible exploits with the bat and he now caps off the year with yet another feather in his cap as the ICC Player of the Month for December 2022.

Brook was also given the ‘Man of the Series’ award for his superb show in the seven-match T20I series against the Asian giants that took place in September-October as a part of the tour. 

In seven innings, he scored 238 runs at an average of 79.33, with one half-century and the best score of 81*.

Notably back in December, Brook was bought by the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season in 2023 for Rs 13.25 crores.

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

Bengaluru: Under construction pillar for Metro Rail collapses on a family of 4, mother-son killed, 2 others injured

ANI
-
0
Bengaluru: Under construction pillar for Metro Rail collapses on a family of 4, mother-son killed, 2 others injured

 A woman and her toddler son were killed after an under-construction metro pillar collapsed near Nagavara on the outer ring road in Bengaluru on Tuesday morning, police said.

While the woman and her two-and-a-half-old son succumbed to their injuries in hospital, her husband and daughter have been hospitalised with injuries. The four of them were travelling on a bike when the incident took place.

Bheemashankar S Guled, DCP East Bengaluru said, “This morning around 10:45 am, when the couple along with their twin children were travelling towards Hebbal when the metro pillar collapsed on the bike. The mother, Tejaswini and son Vihaan were seriously injured and shifted to Altis Hospital where both of them succumbed to their injuries. “

Forensic experts are at the incident site and are investigating the DCP said. More details awaited.

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

Tata Group set to takeover iPhone plant from Wistron, will manufacture the first homegrown iPhone

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Tata Group set to takeover iPhone plant from Wistron, will manufacture the first homegrown iPhone

Tata Group will soon take over a major plant owned by Taiwan’s Wistron Corp to give India its first homegrown iPhone maker. The company was reportedly in talks with Wistron for months, and the deal is expected to close by the end of March 2023.

The Economic Times quoted two unnamed persons familiar with the ongoing talks saying that Tata and Wistron have been discussing various possible tie-ups. As the plans are still out of public sight, the names of the persons were not revealed in the report. Tata is expected to oversee the manufacturing operations with support from the Taiwanese company. Earlier, in December, it was reported that Tata had initiated talks with Wistron.

As of now, Wistron and Foxconn Technology Group are the leaders in iPhone assembly. If the deal between Tata and Wistron goes through as expected, it will pose a major challenge to China’s dominance in the global electronics market. Notably, because of China and US tensions and Covid-related hurdles, China is already facing challenges in maintaining its stature in the market.

ET added that Tata is aiming to complete the process by March 31 so that Tata’s electronics arm can formally take over Wistron’s position in Government’s program that gives incentives to set up such plants in India. The next cycle of the incentives by GoI is set to start from April 1 for the 2023-24 Financial Year.

The iPhone manufacturing operations of Wistron in India would cost around $600 million, provided the company fulfills the set requirements to receive the incentives from the Government in the current financial year.

Reportedly, in 2020, Wistron agreed to sell its iPhone production business in China to a competitor. iPhone manufacturing is a thin-margin business, and the company wanted to diversify its business to other segments, including servers. While Wistron is all set to exit the iPhone manufacturing in India as well, other Taiwanese companies in this sector, including Foxconn and Pegatron Group, are expanding their manufacturing businesses.

Tata’s deal with Wistron is important because Apple is moving ahead to reduce its dependency on China for iPhone production, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic that has severely affected the supply chains. Furthermore, the restrictions imposed in China during Covid have created havoc for many companies that have manufacturing plants in the country, including Apple.

The manufacturing plant Tata has its eyes on is located 50 KMs east of Bengaluru. It is a 2.2 million-square-foot factory with 10,000 workers and a couple of thousand engineers providing services. Notably, even after the deal, Wistron would continue providing iPhone services in India.

In recent times, Tata has taken several steps to increase business with Apple. It owns a factory in Hosur located close to Bengaluru, where iPhone components are manufactured. Tata has also initiated the hiring process to increase the number of employees in that factory. Hosur plant also has additional land where Tata might plan to expand the existing iPhone manufacturing lines. In the first quarter of 2023, 100 Apple Stores will be opened in association with Tata, and the first store is set to open in Mumbai. Notably, while iPhone sells online in India, the Brick and Mortar stores have not yet opened in the country.

Assam: Massive eviction drive in Lakhimpur to free 450 hectares of forest land, Congress MLA Sherman Ali detained for protesting

ANI
-
0
Assam: Massive eviction drive in Lakhimpur to free 450 hectares of forest land, Congress MLA Sherman Ali detained for protesting

After the administration in Assam’s Lakhimpur on Tuesday began a massive eviction drive to clear vast swathes of forest land, Lakhimpur SP BM Rajkhowa said that around 450 hectares of land would be freed from the encroachers.

The Superintendent of Police of Lakhimpur district BM Rajkhowa said that the eviction drive is underway and going on peacefully. “We will free around 450 hectares of land from the encroachers. Originally there were around 500 families, but after issuing notices from the administration nearly 300 families have left the area. And many families have left the area this morning also. We have deployed security personnel, but there is no report of any untoward situation,” Lakhimpu SP BM Rajkhowa told ANI.

Heavy security has been deployed in the area and the district administration is seen to be using excavators and tractors for the operation.

Meanwhile, many families who encroached on the forest lands have destroyed their houses and left the area.
Earlier on December 26, the district administration of Barpeta district of Assam carried out a massive eviction drive against encroachers.

The eviction drive was carried out in the presence of heavy security at the Baghbar Satra Kanara area where some people have encroached on nearly 400 bighas of government land. Police had also detained suspended Congress MLA Sherman Ali who staged a protest against the eviction.

Sunbar Chutia, Circle Officer, Barpeta said, “The district administration has evicted around 45 families who illegally encroached on the land of Satra Kanara.”

“Earlier, we had issued notice three times to them (evicted families) and a public notice. The entire eviction drive was conducted peacefully. These lands will be government’s land and the government will use these lands as per requirement,” Sunbar Chutia said.

The Assam government had previously carried out a massive eviction drive at Batadraba in the Nagaon district.

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

West Bengal: Mamata Banerjee Govt files FIR against 10 journalists and state BJP chief for ‘misreporting’ Vande Bharat stone pelting

OpIndia Staff
-
0
West Bengal: Mamata Banerjee Govt files FIR against 10 journalists and state BJP chief for ‘misreporting’ Vande Bharat stone pelting

The Trinamool Congress Government in West Bengal, working under the leadership of CM and party chief Mamata Banerjee, has initiated yet another witch-hunt against media voices. Kolkata Police registered an FIR against state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar and 10 journalists from the city on Monday, January 9, for allegedly ‘misreporting’ the stone pelting incidents on the Vande Bharat Express.

As many as 10 reporters from various media organizations and BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar were summoned to Beliaghata Police Station. The BJP leader and scribes were booked by the Kolkata police, at the behest of the Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, under specific sections of the Information Technology Act for giving the state a ‘bad name’.

BJP hits back

Following the summons, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar retorted by saying that he is not afraid of TMC’s dirty tricks and is ready to face a legal battle.

“The FIR against journalists & me just for reporting Vande Bharat stone pelting in Bengal shows the condition of democracy under @MamataOfficial rule. I’m not afraid of TMC’s dirty tricks & ready to face a legal battle but cases against journalists should be scrapped asap,” tweeted the BJP leader.

BJP leader Amit Malviya also took to Twitter to criticise the Mamata Banerjee establishment for harassing the media and attempting to stifle press freedom. “This is nothing but harassment of journalists working for Delhi based media organisations, based in Bengal, for reporting on Vande Bharat stone pelting incident, which has apparently tarnished Mamata Banerjee’s “image”. FIR filed against them… This is worst kind of censorship,” Malviya tweeted.

Notably, the arbitrary action against the journalists and the BJP chief was taken by the state machinery after Mamata Banerjee recently threatened media outlets with legal action for spreading ‘fake news’ that the incidents of stone pelting on Vande Bharat Express trains took place in West Bengal.

Mamata Banerjee threatens ‘fake news spreaders’ with legal action

Notably, both Majumdar and ten others took to social media to report that the newly inaugurated Howrah-New Jalpaiguri semi-high-speed train was vandalised by some miscreants in West Bengal. However, Mamata Banerjee claimed that it was in Bihar where stones were pelted and not in Bengal. 

Mamata Banerjee further said that the people of Bihar are angry as they did not get a Vande Bharat Express.

“Vande Bharat was pelted with stones in Bihar and not in West Bengal. We will take legal action against those media outlets that telecast fake news that the incident took place in West Bengal and brought a bad name to our state,” Banerjee told reporters before leaving Sagar Island.

“People of Bihar may be angry as they too want Vande Bharat Express. Just because BJP isn’t in power there, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t allow there,” she said.

The West Bengal CM also said that there is nothing special about Vande Bharat Express, it is just an old train refurbished with a new engine.

Two back-to-back stone pelting incidents on Vande Bharat Express 

The Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express was stoned for two days in a row. The Eastern Railways later reported that after reviewing CCTV footage, it was discovered that the stone-throwing incident on the train occurred in Malda district on January 2 and in Bihar’s Kishanganj district the next day.

Soon after the video surfaced, West Bengal’s chief minister stated that legal action would be taken against media outlets that disseminated “fake news” that the incident occurred in West Bengal, hurting the state’s reputation. The incidents triggered a slugfest between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the train on December 30.

1...2,5702,5712,572...7,631Page 2,571 of 7,631