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We showed red card to all hurdles of development, from ‘Look East’ and ‘Act East’ now policy is ‘Act Fast and First for Northeast’: PM Modi in Shillong

OpIndia Staff
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We showed red card to all hurdles of development, from ‘Look East’ and ‘Act East’ now policy is ‘Act Fast and First for Northeast’: PM Modi in Shillong

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a meeting of the North Eastern Council (NEC) in Shillong on Sunday. The meeting was held to mark the golden jubilee celebration of the North Eastern Council, which was formally inaugurated in 1972.

Apart from the prime minister, home minister Amit Shah, union minister G Kishan Reddy (culture, tourism and development of north-eastern region), and chief ministers of the north-eastern states were present at the event.

Hailing the contribution of NEC in the development of the North East region, Prime Minister Modi said that this golden jubilee celebration of the NEC coincides with the ongoing Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. Underscoring that he often refers to the 8 states of the region as Asht Lakshmi, he said the government should work on 8 foundation pillars for its development, which are Peace, Power, Tourism, 5G connectivity, Culture, Natural farming, Sports, and Potential.

Prime Minister Modi said that the Northeast is our gateway to South-East Asia and can become a centre for the development of the entire region. And, to realise this potential of the region, work is going on various projects like the Indian-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway and the Agartala-Akhaura rail project.

The PM said that for his government, northeast and border areas are not the last corner of the country but the gateways of defence and prosperity. He added that this also ensures national security and trade with other nations also takes place from these places.

The Prime Minister announced a new scheme in this regard for the region, the Vibrant Border Village Scheme. Under this scheme, villages in the border areas will be developed with better facilities.

Referring to how earlier Congress government had said that not developing border areas was a ‘strategy’ saying that developed infrastructure in the border will help the enemy, PM Modi said that due this thinking, border areas of the northeast remained undeveloped and connectivity in the border areas was not developed. But today, the government is building new roads, new tunnels, new bridges, new railway lines, new airstrips at a rapid speed. He said that the border villages which were deserted earlier, now govt is working towards making them vibrant.

The Prime Minister highlighted that the government has gone beyond the conversion of the ‘Look East’ policy to ‘Act East’, and now its policy is ‘Act Fast for Northeast’ and ‘Act First for Northeast.’ Highlighting the success of peace initiatives in the region, he said that many peace agreements with insurgent groups in the region have been signed, inter-state boundary agreements have been done and there has been a marked reduction in instances of extremism. We are stressing on building corridors of development in Northeast, not border of conflicts, he said.

Talking about the importance given to the region by the government, PM Modi said, “When we changed the priorities of the Central government, its positive impact is visible across the country. This year, the Centre is spending Rs 7 Lakh crore just for infrastructure. 8 years back, this was less than even Rs 2 Lakh crore. 7 decades after independence, we reached only up to Rs 2 Lakh crore”.

“In football, when someone plays foul and against the spirit of sportsmanship, they are given a red card. In the same way, in the northeast in last 8 years, we have shown red card to all hurdles like underdevelopment, corruption, political favouritism, and unrest,” PM Modi said using football language.

Discussing India’s commitment towards net zero, Prime Minister said the Northeast can become a powerhouse of hydropower. This will make the states of the region power surplus, help in the expansion of industries and generate a large number of jobs, he said.

Discussing the tourism potential of the region, PM Modi said that both culture and nature of the region are attracting tourists from across the world. He added that tourism circuits are being identified and developed in the region. He also discussed sending students from 100 universities to the Northeast, which will help bring people from different regions closer. These students can then ​​become ambassadors of the region.

Talking about boosting connectivity in the region, Prime Minister Modi said that iconic bridge projects which were pending for several decades have now been completed. In the last 8 years, the number of airports in the region have jumped from 9 to 16, and the number of flights has increased from about 900 before 2014 to around 1900. Many Northeastern states have come to the Railway map for the first time and efforts are being done to expand the waterways also. The length of national highways has increased by 50% since 2014 in the region.

PM Modi said that with the launch of the PM-DevINE (Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region) scheme, the infrastructure projects in the Northeast have gained more momentum. He added that the government is also working on improving digital connectivity in the Northeast by increasing the optical fibre network.

Taking a jibe at earlier governments, he said for a long time, the parties that were in power had thought of Divide for Northeast, and his government came with the intention of DevINE.

Talking about the development of Aatmanirbhar 5G infrastructure, he said that 5G will help further the development of the startup ecosystem, and service sector among others in the region. He said that the government is committed to making the Northeast not only a centre of economic growth, but also of cultural growth.

Speaking about the agricultural potential of the region, Prime Minister underlined the scope of natural farming, in which the Northeast can play a leading role. He said that through Krishi UDAN, farmers of the region are able to send their products across the country and different parts of the world as well. He urged the Northeastern states to participate in the ongoing National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm. He also spoke about how drones can help farmers overcome geographical challenges and help their produce reach the market.

Discussing the contribution of the region to the field of sports, he said that the government is working towards providing support to sportspersons of the region through the development of India’s first sports university in Northeast. Also, more than 200 Khelo India Centres have been approved in the 8 states in the region, and many athletes of the region are getting benefits under the TOPS scheme.

Prime Minister also discussed India’s G20 Presidency and said that its meetings would witness people from all over the world coming to the Northeast. This will be an apt opportunity to showcase the nature, culture and potential of the region, he said.

PM Modi is also launching a large number of development projects in Meghalaya and Tripura.

Tesla or 50k dollars: The ‘hero’ American Left is defending had offered a ransom bargain to stop stalking, harassing, and doxing Musk

OpIndia Staff
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Tesla or 50k dollars: The ‘hero’ American Left is defending had offered a ransom bargain to stop stalking, harassing, and doxing Musk

On Wednesday (December 14), Elon Musk suspended the Twitter account ‘ElonJet’, run by a 20-year-old college student named Jack Sweeney.

Jack had been infamous for using publicly available data to track and post about the real-time location of the billionaire’s private jet. He alleged that the objective was to ‘raise awareness about carbon footprints,’ a claim endorsed by the American left ecosystem.

The matter reached its zenith when the 2-year-old son of Musk named ‘X’ was stalked and hounded by a ‘crazy stalker’ assuming it in Musk based on this ‘publicly available information’. A furious Elon Musk vowed to take action against the college student.

“Legal action is being taken against Sweeney & organizations who supported harm to my family,” he announced. The new Twitter owner has also permanently suspended the Twitter handle ‘Elon Jet’.

In a tweet, Elon Musk said, “Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation. This includes posting links to sites with real-time location info.”

Meanwhile, a 10-month-old interview of Jack Sweeney with leftist news outlet CNN has gone viral on social media. In the video clip, the ‘climate crusader’ had made hefty demands to stop doxxing the billionaire.

“What is your current demand, relative to Musk? What will it make for you to go away and stop this?” he was asked. Jack Sweeney had revealed, “At least a Tesla or $50000.”

Prior to divulging his ‘extortion plans’, the college student had denied trying to coerce the billionaire into giving him money. In a longer version of the interview (posted on February 12, 2022), he was seen claiming to be a fan of Elon Musk.

“Fair to say though that never was the goal to track him and get him to pay you money?” the CNN news anchor asked. “Yeah, I mean I was a fan. Never wanna like try to get money out of him,” Jack Sweeney said before backtracking on his claims in the same interview.

As per a report by Protocol, Elon Musk had earlier expressed security concern over tracking of his live location by the Twitter handle ‘ElonJet’, run by Jack Sweeney.

“Can you take this down? It is a security risk…I don’t love the idea of being shot by a nutcase,” Musk confided in him in a Twitter DM last year. The billionaire had even offered a generous sum of $5000 and asked the ‘climate crusader’ to stop doxxing him.

“Any chance to up that to $50k? It would be great support in college and would possibly allow me to get a car maybe even a Model 3,” Jack Sweeney had demanded.

Screengrab of the news report by Business Insider

Later, in an interview with Business Insider, the college student claimed, “I’ve done a lot of work on this and $5,000 is not enough.” While the left-liberal ecosystem had hailed Jack Sweeney for his ‘work’, it has now become clear that the climate crusader was ready to bail out for a Tesla.

Sachin Pilot vs Ashok Gehlot heats up again as Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ moves forward in Rajasthan

OpIndia Staff
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Sachin Pilot vs Ashok Gehlot heats up again as Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ moves forward in Rajasthan

Completing its 100 days, Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra reached Dausa in Rajasthan on Sunday. The infighting of the two factions in Rajasthan Congress, one that of CM Ashok Gehlot supporters and the other of Sachin Pilot supporters have often been in news.

On Sunday, both Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot joined Rahul Gandhi as the foot march began, however, suddenly, some people carrying party flags started raising slogans such as “Sachin Pilot Zindabad (Long live Sachin Pilot), Hamara CM kaisa ho Sachin Pilot jaisa ho  (How should be our chief minister? Like Sachin Pilot.) The video of the same was tweeted by ANI.

Dausa holds special significance as it happens to be the bastion of Sachin Pilot and an erstwhile Parliamentary constituency. Pilot’s father and Congress veteran Rajesh Pilot was elected as MP from Dausa five times.

It is pertinent to mention that the Congress party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra has been in controversies since its start in September. Be it Rahul Gandhi’s meeting with Hinduphobic pastor George Ponnaiah who insulted Hindu deities and Bharat Mata, or claims of pro-Pakistan slogans being raised in a Congress rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone. 

Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot have time and again targeted each other.  Recently, CM Gehlot stirred the hornet’s nest in an interview with NDTV’s Sreenivasan Jain calling Pilot “Gaddar” (traitor). 

When asked if the Congress High Command desired to make Pilot CM, Gehlot responded, “How are they going to make him? A man with less than ten MLAs. Who revolted, and was labeled a traitor. He betrayed the party and is thus a traitor. How are people supposed to accept him?”. Gehlot had said, “A Gaddar cannot be Chief Minister.” 

After the comments of Ashok Gehlot created a storm, Sachin Pilot responded to it by calling the allegations baseless. “Ashok Gehlot called me ‘Nikamma” (incompetent), ‘traitor’ and made lots of allegations. These allegations are completely unnecessary. “

The conflict reemerged during the voting for the Congress party’s president on September 23, when it was revealed that Ashok Gehlot would be running for the position. Even if elected as party president, Gehlot had stated that he would like to remain chief minister of Rajasthan. Rahul Gandhi, however, asserted that a person elected as a party president cannot also serve as CM. Gehlot, a well-known Gandhi family loyalist, had a good possibility of being chosen as the party’s president, which, should that happen, would necessitate his resignation from the position of the chief minister, thus paving the way for Sachin Pilot to take over as Rajasthan CM.

The MLAs who supported Gehlot became irritated as soon as rumours about Sachin’s name surfaced. On September 25, a Congress Legislature Party meeting was scheduled, the second in a week. However, at the last minute, around 90+ MLAs threatened the leadership with resignation if Pilot’s name was confirmed. They wanted Gehlot to remain the state’s chief minister.

After visiting Sonia Gandhi on September 29, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot admitted moral responsibility for the state’s political crisis and withdrew his nomination from the Congress presidential election.

The divide between the Gehlot and Pilot factions stirred a storm first in July 2020 when rebel Congress politician Sachin Pilot was ousted by the Congress party from his position as deputy chief minister and state Congress chief. The Congress party accused Pilot of plotting to topple the government with the BJP.

A month-long gripping drama ensued, during which Ashok Gehlot revealed that the two had not spoken in the previous 1.5 years. The conflict intensified when the chief minister of Rajasthan attacked the rebel leader, referring to him as “Nikamma and Nakaara (useless).” The spectacle finally came to a close with Sachin Pilot returning to his familiar ground and yielding to Ashok Gehlot.

Bihar hooch tragedy: People burnt the bodies of the deceased without postmortem, claims reports

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar hooch tragedy: People burnt the bodies of the deceased without postmortem, claims reports

Days after dozens of people died due to the consumption of spurious alcohol in Bihar, it has come to light that the family members of the deceased conducted the final rites without a postmortem.

As per a report by ABP News, the Head of the Mehrauli Gram Panchayat Ajit Singh informed that the cremation of three deceased men was done by flouting standard medical procedures.

He added that it was an open secret that bootleg alcohol was being sold in the village. Singh pointed out that no action was taken despite multiple complaints to the district administration.

Ajit Singh further alleged that a vendor by the name of Shailendra Rai had hoarded large quantities of bootleg alcohol for a wedding ceremony in his neighbourhood.

He added that Rai died by consuming the bootleg alcohol and the mass distribution of the spurious alcohol was thus averted. “It would have led to a disaster,” Singh told ABP News.

Similarly, the husband of the Head of the Gangauli Gram Panchayat, Paramatma Manjhi, informed that the kin of those, who died by consuming spurious alcohol, also conducted their last rites out of fear of police action.

He added that the Bihar government’s refusal to compensate the families of the deceased also motivated them to cremate the dead bodies in a hurry.

8 more people die in Bihar due to the consumption of spurious liquor

On Saturday (December 17), officials shared the news that 8 more people have died in Bihar due to the consumption of spurious alcohol.

As per reports, 6 people died in the Bhagwanpur division of the Siwan district. While 5 people died on Friday (December 16), one of the victims died a day earlier on Thursday (December 15).

Reportedly, two other men died in the Teghra division of the Begusarai district of Bihar on Friday (December 16). According to Deputy SP Chandramohan Prasad, the victims died due to the consumption of ‘some poisonous chemical.’

Bihar Hooch tragedy: Death toll from toxic liquor reaches 70

The death toll in Bihar’s Chhapra hooch tragedy has soared to 70, with 11 more people succumbing after consuming spurious liquor in the Saran district. 

Masrakh Station House Officer (SHO) Ritesh Mishra and Constable Vikesh Tiwari were suspended immediately after the Tuesday night tragedy on the recommendation of Marhaura Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Yogendra Kumar.

Most of the deaths occurred over Wednesday and Thursday, creating an uproar both at the state and national level as the sale and consumption of alcohol has been banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar government since April 2016. 

‘Going to watch Pathaan twice’, says Hrithik Roshan’s girlfriend Saba Azad sharing a tweet by a person insulting Veer Savarkar

OpIndia Staff
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‘Going to watch Pathaan twice’, says Hrithik Roshan’s girlfriend Saba Azad sharing a tweet by a person insulting Veer Savarkar

‘Besharam Rang’ a song from Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s upcoming film Pathaan has been in controversy with common people, politicians, and Bollywood artists opposing or supporting it. The latest person to back the song and the film is actor Hrithik Roshan’s girlfriend Saba Azad. Azad is niece of communist leader Safdar Hashmi who was killed by Congress leader in 1989.

Saba Azad in a story she posted on Instagram, shared a still from the ‘Besharam’ song along with a tweet by a Twitter troll whose profile picture and username insult freedom fighter Veer Savarkar.

The tweet read “A country is triggered by the colour of a bikini. Poverty, unemployment, pollution, economy, etc. can wait.”

Saba Azad sharing this tweet wrote, “Tell me a better joke! There is none! Going to watch Pathaan in the cinemas…twice…for good measure!!”

Notably,  a section of people on social media has already called for the boycott of the Shah Rukh Khan, John Abraham, and Deepika Padukone starrer film. 

Besides, the Ulama Board of Madhya Pradesh has also demanded a ban on the release of Pathaan in Madhya Pradesh alleging that the film hurts the sentiments of the Muslim community. 

Speaking to ANI on Thursday, the president of the MP Ulema Board, Syed Anas Ali, said, “The sentiments of the Muslim community have been hurt by this film. We will not allow this film to be released, not just in Madhya Pradesh but across the country.” “The Pathans are one of the most respectable Muslim communities. Not just the Pathans but the entire Muslim community is being defamed in this film. The name of the film is Pathan and women are seen performing obscene dances in it. Pathans are being portrayed wrongly in the film,” he added. 

“The makers should remove the name, Pathan. Shahrukh Khan should change the name of his character. After that, do whatever you want. But we will not allow this film to be released in India. We will fight a legal battle and also file an FIR,” Ali said, adding that they have also decided to write to the censor board in the matter. 

Jharkhand: Tribal woman killed, chopped into dozen pieces, body parts scattered at various places, husband Dildar Ansari detained

OpIndia Staff
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Jharkhand: Tribal woman killed, chopped into dozen pieces, body parts scattered at various places, husband Dildar Ansari detained

On Saturday (December 17), the police detained a man named Dildar Ansari in connection to the brutal murder of his wife in Sahibganj district of Jharkhand.

As per reports, the victim was identified as a 22-year-old tribal woman named Rubika Pahadan. The matter came to light when a body part of the victim was found behind the Anganwadi center in Borio Santhali area of Sahibganj.

On informing the police, they rushed to the spot and began a probe into the case. The cops recovered another body part from a locked house, located adjacent to the site.

They informed that the victim was murdered inside the house, following which her corpse was dismembered and disposed off in multiple locations.

While speaking to ANI, Sahibganj SP stated, “2 parts of the body of a 22-yr-old woman belonging to primitive tribal community found in Sahibganj. Some parts of body still missing & search for them is underway. Her husband Dildar Ansari has been detained by Police, the deceased was his second wife.”

As per a report by Bhaskar, the body of the victim was chopped into 50 pieces and stored inside a sack in the house. The accused then disposed of some of the pieces in nearby localities.

When the locals caught dogs feasting on the body parts, they immediately alerted the police. A large contingent of police has been deployed to maintain the law and order situation in the area.

Family members of Dildar Ansari involved in the crime

According to a report by Jagran, the cops have also detained and interrogated Dildar’s father Mustakim Ansari, mother Maryam Khatoon, first wife Gulera, sister Shareja Khatoon, brothers Amir Ansari and Mahtab Ansari

The victim Rubika Pahadan was murdered in the house of Dildar Ansari’s maternal uncle, Moinul Ansari. After killing Rubika, her body was chopped using an iron cutting machine.

So far, the police have recovered the fingers, shoulders, lower back, lung, stomach, forelimb and hip of the victim. Recently, the brutal murder of Shraddha Walkar by Aftab Amin Poonawalla had sent shockwaves across the country. Earlier in the day, similar such case was reported from Rajasthan where a nephew had murdered his aunt and cut off her body into 10 pieces and scattered the body parts at various locations.

‘UN is Satanic, women are ropes of evil, corruption and voluntarism for suicide attacks’: Ex-Afghan VP exposes new Talib school curriculum

OpIndia Staff
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‘UN is Satanic, women are ropes of evil, corruption and voluntarism for suicide attacks’: Ex-Afghan VP exposes new Talib school curriculum

On December 17 (local time), former Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Amrullah Saleh exposed the new school curriculum issued by the Taliban-led government in the country. In a series of tweets, Saleh said that the new curriculum had introduced 62 recent changes, including calling the United Nations’ satanic’ and anti-woman regulations.

He said, “The Talibani curriculum for Afghan schools will have 62 additions, i.e. anti-UN subjects calling it satanic, anti-non Muslim humans calling for their annihilation, the institutionalization of bigotry and calling women ropes of evil, corruption and voluntarism for suicide attacks as Islamic deterrence.”

Calling the curriculum ‘evil,’ he wished the boys’ schools also close down until the Pakistan-influenced clerical fascism gets defeated in the country. He said, “The new curriculum is so evil that one wishes to see the boys’ schools closed too until this clerical fascism nurtured and created by Pakistan is defeated and deleted. The Afghan schools will open in March, and the burning question is, will the US $40M+/week pay for such teachings and new books.”

He slammed the media for portraying the Talibs as ‘reformed and changed’. He added that there was propaganda running to paint a good picture of the Talibs so that the administration of Afghanistan could be “outsourced” to Pakistan and its “fascist clerical proxy”.

Saleh said, “Prior to the signing of the shameful Doha deal and for a long while after that, the whole sponsored media portrayed the Talibs as reformed and changed and singled out corruption as the central cause for prevailing of this terrorist group, the propaganda for normalization of the Talibs was to hide the geopolitical scheme of outsourcing of Afghanistan to Rawalpindi and its cancerous clerical fascist proxy. How long will this romantic view of the new Talibs hold? Afghanistan is a country of surprises, and change is, most of the time, an eruption, not a process. Inshallah.”

Nida Mohammad Nadeem – The education minister who is against girl education

Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan after the US and other western armed forces left the country, the new regimes have been fixated on “changing” the curriculum of schools in the country. The education minister under the Taliban-led government, Nida Mohammad Nadeem, took responsibility for the same. Interestingly, the hard-line cleric strongly objected to girls’ education in the country.

As per reports, Nadeem, a former governor and military commander, vowed to “exterminate” the modern education system introduced by the US-led administration in the country since it took over in 2001. Furthermore, Nadeem has called girls’ education un-Islamic and against the values of Afghanistan.

The girls have been banned from attending school. They also announced the segregation of women in the colleges, introduced a new dress code and prohibited women from applying for a number of university courses.

To introduce the “hardcore Islamic” values into the school system, the education ministry has planned to open a vast network of Madarsas and religious seminaries across Afghanistan. Since Nadeem took over, the officials and teachers in the universities were replaced with Taliban extremists. Interestingly, they were allegedly not qualified for the job. On September 4, he called it disrespectful to ask for these extremists to give exams to prove their qualifications. For him, the qualification was allegedly how many bombs they detonated.

When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, they imposed a blanket ban on girls’ education. It appears the same system will slowly creep into the country led by Islamists.

Notably, on March 23, 2022, girls in Afghanistan were barred from entering schools. They had backtracked from the decision to allow girls to go to schools and faced worldwide condemnation. Later, visuals surfaced in May where Talibs were seen dancing in classrooms after shutting down a girls’ school. Furthermore, in August, it was reported that a founder of a girls’ school in Afghanistan had to burn the records to ensure the records did not fall into the hands of the Talib extremists.

Rajasthan horror: Nephew kills his aunt, chops her body into 10 pieces and disposes of body parts at various places

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan horror: Nephew kills his aunt, chops her body into 10 pieces and disposes of body parts at various places

A 33-year-old man in Rajasthan’s Jaipur has been accused of killing his aunt and chopping her body in 10 pieces with a marble cutter. This comes close after the horrifying murder of Mumbai girl Shraddha Walker by her live-in partner Aftab Amin Poonawalla.  

The police on Saturday said that the accused who has been identified as Anuj Sharma alias Achintya Govinda Das reached the police station and filed a missing complaint about his 65-year-old aunt Saroj Sharma. 

Subsequently, police began the investigation, during the probe, the police found Anuj’s behavior suspicious and his statements contradictory. 

When questioned, accused Anuj confessed to his crime, telling police that he had a heated argument with his aunt during which he hit her on the head with a hammer, killing her. He then dragged her body to the bathroom, where he dismembered her dead body into ten pieces using a marble cutter machine. After this, he disposed of the body parts in the forest.

According to the police, the incident took place in Lalpuria apartment Sector-2 in the Vidyadharnagar area of Jaipur on December 11 and the accused was arrested on December 13.

Saroj Sharma was the wife of accused Anuj’s father’s elder brother and had been living with them since her husband’s death in 1995, they claimed. They also stated that Anuj Sharma’s mother died last year. Anuj Sharma’s father had left for Indore on December 11, leaving the accused and victim alone in the house. Reportedly, Anuj had joined the ‘Hare Krishna’ movement but was inactive for one year, after his mother passed away.

As per a report by IndiaToday, Pooja, the deceased victim’s daughter saw Anuj cleaning the bloodstains in the kitchen following which she filed a police complaint against him.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Paris Deshmukh said that the crime took place in the kitchen when the accused and his aunt were having a heated argument. Anuj who completed his B.tech wanted to go to Delhi but her aunt objected, after this, he hit her with a hammer on her head. After killing her Anuj chopped her body into 10 pieces using a marble cutter. He stuffed her body parts in a suitcase and dumped it at different places near the Delhi highway. 

He further informed that most of the body parts have been recovered, while the search is on to recover the remaining body parts.

The police has also confiscated the weapon and other things used in the crime.

The ‘Messiah’: What makes Lionel Messi G.O.A.T

ANI
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The ‘Messiah’: What makes Lionel Messi G.O.A.T

Even considering the galaxy of legends that came before him and made football the beautiful game that it is, Lionel Messi has evoked comparisons with the best in the way that he is admired by his friends and foes in the game. 

His silken feet, magical ball skills, mesmeric dribbles and darting runs into rival boxes have seen him attract a host of prefixes against his name. From being nicknamed ‘La Pulga’ (The Flea) back home in Argentina for his diminutive stature, ‘Messiah’ to simply, the G.O.A.T, Messi has drawn every praise and compliment that there is in the footballing metaverse over the course of a golden career. With a record 35 titles with Barcelona, a club he represented for the longest time in his career, including 4 Champions League, 10 La Liga and 7 Copa Del Rey titles, his achievements in the game are not human. 

Yet, for all his glorious accomplishments, breaking new grounds in the game and rewriting footballing records like few have, there is one frontier that has remained unconquered. 

The agonising quest to win a major title for his national team has seen him endure many heartbreaking moments. 
Images of him slumping to his knees, holding his head in his hands or throwing a blank, rueful stare at the heavens after failing to take Argentina over the line in successive Copa America finals in 2015 and 2016, only served to reinforce the fact that he is, after all, mortal. 

While the weight of woe from the failed conquests that he had been carrying on his shoulders was eased somewhat after last year’s run to the championship at the Copa America, beating arch rivals Brazil in their own backyard, Messi’s failure to win the World Cup for Argentina in four attempts has stopped him short of matching the success of his idol — ‘El Diego’ — for club and country. 

However, in what, in his own words, will be his last dance at the game’s biggest and most coveted showpiece event, the boy, who rose from the streets of Rosario to become a veritable footballing demigod, has a chance to shake off the bogey that has stuck with him for the better part of his career. 

It’s just one match now that separates Messi from that elusive maiden World Cup title for his homeland. That being said, the final is far from a foregone conclusion, as it will pit La Albiceleste against holders France. 

While captain Messi and his muchachos will eye payback after the bruising 3-4 defeat to France in the 2018 edition, the defending champions, riding on the brilliance of ace marksmen Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud, and complimented by a vaunted midfield and a strong backline, are on the cusp of being the first team in 60 years to win successive World Cup titles. 

Carrying the expectations of a nation desperate for a world title, Messi has single-handedly lifted Argentina to the final after a sobering defeat to Saudi Arabia in their campaign opener. 

All that remains to be seen now is whether the footballing gods will smile on one of their favourite sons come Sunday’s finale.

Should Argentina win, it would be a fitting and, in many ways, a fairytale end to a truly spectacular footballing career. 

If the final ends in defeat for the two-time world champions, the world would have witnessed Messi walking away with a tearful final wave at his adoring faithfuls at the Lusail stadium in Doha, passing on the mantle to the next lot of superstars. 

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

Mysterious killings of Afghan security personnel of previous regime continue despite Taliban announcing truce, report says

ANI
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Mysterious killings of Afghan security personnel of previous regime continue despite Taliban announcing truce, report says

The mysterious killing of former Afghan national security forces continues despite the general amnesty announced with the reemergence of the Taliban to power in August 2021, The Khaama Press News Agency reported citing independent sources. 

Under the announcement made by the Taliban after the takeover of Kabul, all Afghan military personnel who served for different security entities of the previous regime were barred from being detained, tortured, or imprisoned, the Afghan news agency said.

However, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has reported that the summary killings and enforced disappearances have taken place despite the Taliban’s announced amnesty for former government civilian and military officials and reassurances from the Taliban leadership that they would hold their forces accountable for violations of the amnesty order. 

In the weeks before the Taliban overran Kabul, revenge killings, including targeting government officials, were already increasing in major cities and along key highways. 

The Taliban, through their intelligence operations and access to employment records that the former government left behind, have identified new targets for arrest and execution. 

Earlier in November, the HRW report documented the summary execution or enforced disappearance of 47 former members of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF)–military personnel, police, intelligence service members, and paramilitary militia–who had surrendered to or were apprehended by Taliban forces between August 15 and October 31, 2021. 

The report focused on Ghazni, Helmand, Kandahar, and Kunduz provinces, but the cases reflect a broader pattern of abuses reported in Khost, Paktiya, Paktika, and other provinces. 

This report was based on a total of 67 interviews, including 40 in-person interviews conducted in Ghazni, Helmand, Kunduz, and Kandahar provinces. 

Human Rights Watch’s research indicates that Taliban forces have killed or forcibly disappeared more than 100 former security force members in just these four provinces in the three months since their takeover of Kabul, the Afghan capital, on August 15. They have also targeted family members of former security force members.

(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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