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Meta says ‘evidence’ provided by The Wire is manufactured, spoof video used to ‘prove’ their theory

OpIndia Staff
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Meta says ‘evidence’ provided by The Wire is manufactured, spoof video used to ‘prove’ their theory

On October 16, Meta replied to the ‘explanation’ video published by The Wire in its latest report accusing Facebook’s parent company of working on instructions of BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya to ‘silence some critics’. In a tweet thread, Guy Rosen, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Meta, said, “The latest video from The Wire does not show an internal Instagram system. Our investigation has identified a spoof created on October 13 using our enterprise Meta Workplace product.”

Meta further said that the spoof was set up using a free trial Workspace account and used the Instagram brand as its profile picture. After identifying the account, they locked it, and further investigation is underway. He said, “The spoof was set up as a free trial Workplace account under the name “Instagram” and using the IG brand as its profile pic. We’ve locked the account for violating policies and are continuing to investigate.”

Meta also updated the statement about The Wire’s “expose” with the new findings. In its statement, Meta said, “This is an ongoing investigation, and we will update as it unfolds. At this time, we can confirm that the video shared by the Wire that purports to show an internal Instagram system (and which the Wire claims are evidence that their false allegations are true) in fact depicts an externally-created Meta Workplace account that was deliberately set up with Instagram’s name and brand insignia in order to deceive people. We have located the Workplace account in question, and found that it was created on October 13 — after the Wire’s news reports were initially published.”

It further added, “The account was set up externally as a free trial account on Meta’s enterprise Workplace product under the name “Instagram” and using the Instagram brand as its profile picture. It is not an internal account. Based on the timing of this account’s creation on October 13, it appears to have been set up specifically in order to manufacture evidence to support the Wire’s inaccurate reporting. We have locked the account because it’s in violation of our policies and is being used to perpetuate fraud and mislead journalists.”

The Wire claims its source sent a real-time video of the Workspace account

In its latest report, The Wire claimed to have accessed a screen recording from its source at Meta, where the source claimed to have logged into the Instagram workspace account that Meta previously claimed does not exist.

The Wire claimed, “As is clear in the video, the URL that Meta has officially claimed “is not in use” is very much in use. New reports had been added on the day of the video’s recording. The video also showed the source navigating through the secure ‘instagram.workplace.com’ workspace and opening the notes section.”

“The Wire asked the source to run a timer while they were screen-recording to show that it was happening in real-time. Our team also ascertained that the video hadn’t been tampered with, using the video’s metadata (they have been removed from the file we have made public). Additionally, the cursor maintained consistency throughout the video’s duration, with no abrupt breaks,” it added.

Experts debunk The Wire’s claims

One of the important aspects of the report was that The Wire claimed there were no ‘abrupt breaks’ in the cursor movement. It is one of the most crucial claims, as the cursor movement can give away if the video is modified without getting into metadata and other information. However, their claim was debunked by experts on Twitter.

Law and Policy expert Pranesh Prakash pointed out that The Wire’s claims were inconsistent with the video they posted. In a Twitter thread, he said that at one point in the video, the cursor did move abruptly. Pranesh posted the video and said, “Curiouser and curiouser: The cursor in the video released by The Wire abruptly jumps at 0:35, just at the moment when the person is logging into http://instagram.workplace.com.” The anomaly in the video was earlier reported @binhonglee.

He also added a video uploaded by The Wire and trimmed a 5-second video out of it to show the ‘abrupt break’ of the cursor in the video. He said, “The Wire states: “Additionally, the cursor maintained consistency throughout the video’s duration, with no abrupt breaks.” I’ve clipped the moment the cursor disappears and reappears elsewhere, during the login sequence. I think this qualifies as an “abrupt break,” don’t you?”

Meta vs The Wire saga

The Wire, on October 10, claimed Meta gave special previliges to Bharatiya Janata Party’s IT Cell Chief under XCheck program that he uses to get posts removed from Instagram, no questions asked. Meta, as well as netizens, refuted the claims. The Wire then came out with explanation after explanation, but all of them were called out repeatedly.

Madhya Pradesh: Akram poses as Amar to entrap Hindu woman, absconds after raping the victim in a hotel, pressurising her to convert to Islam

OpIndia Staff
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Madhya Pradesh: Akram poses as Amar to entrap Hindu woman, absconds after raping the victim in a hotel, pressurising her to convert to Islam

On Sunday (October 16), another case of Love Jihad (Grooming Jihad) came to light after the Madhya Pradesh police registered a case against a man named Mohammad Akram for impersonating as a Hindu, luring a woman and then raping her in a hotel.

As per reports, the incident occurred in Bhopal city of Madhya Pradesh. The accused claimed to be Amar Kushwaha in a bid to develop a friendship with the victim. After talking to her for a month over call, Akram took her to a hotel and raped her.

He then coerced her into converting to Islam and also threatened to kill her. It has come to light that the Hindu woman is a mother of two children and used to reside in the Ashok Garden locality of Bhopal.

The accused was booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religious Act 2020 on the basis of the complaint of the Hindu girl.

While speaking about the development to ANI, Sudhir Arjariya informed, “The complainant girl told that she has been talking to a young man on call for a month, who introduced himself as Amar Kushwaha, who took her to the hotel today and raped her.”

He further added, “Later he revealed himself as Mohammad Akram. And also pressurized her to change religion for marriage.”Arjariya is the station in charge of the Madhya Pradesh Nagar police.

After the matter became public, the Hindu outfit ‘Sanskriti Bachao Manch’ reached the police station and demanded strict punishment for the accused to stop the rising cases of grooming jihad. The cops have now launched a manhunt to nab Akram, who has been on the run from law enforcement authorities.

Firdos Khan arrested for forcibly converting woman to Islam in MP

Earlier in July this year, a 21-year-old woman was physically assaulted by one Firdos Khan and forced to convert to Islam. According to the reports, the incident occurred in the Moghat area of Titgaon in the Khandwa district.

On refusing the proposal of conversion to Islam, the girl was abducted by Firdos who took her to Khandwa Railway station and forced her to accompany him to Jabalpur. On July 1, the duo first reached Khandwa, then Burhanpur and then Jabalpur.

The accused also forcefully developed physical relations with the girl during the travel. Firdos was eventually nabbed by the cops.

Muslim Twitter users abuse a Muslim woman in the USA for hosting ‘Gustakh-e-Rasool supporter’ Rana Ayyub

OpIndia Staff
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Muslim Twitter users abuse a Muslim woman in the USA for hosting ‘Gustakh-e-Rasool supporter’ Rana Ayyub

On 16th October 2022, Muslim Twitter users abused another Muslim woman from US, named Shirin Khan, for hosting Rana Ayyub. According to these Islamist Twitter users, Rana Ayyub is a ‘Gustakh-e-Rasool supporter’ and according to them, it was wrong of Shirin Khan to host such a ‘Gustakh-e-Rasool supporter’ like Rana Ayyub. It is notable that Rana Ayyub is called a Gustakh-e-Rasool supporter because she had tweeted wishing for well being of author Salman Rushdie. However, she later deleted that tweet after coming under attack from Internet Jihadis.

Rana Ayyub is currently on a visit to the USA, where she has met several anti-Hindu persons and organisations, like former Tennis star Martina Navratilova, and people associated with anti-Hindu propaganda in the west. During this visit, she also visited Shirin Khan, who is presumably from India. Shirin Khan posted a picture with Rana Ayyub calling her a guest, and it opened the floodgates of tweets by these Muslim Twitter users who started abusing Shirin Khan for hosting Rana Ayyub. Shirin Khan wrote in her tweet, “My beautiful guest Rana Ayyub”, and added the red heart emoji.

A Twitter user Bint Nuh posted, “Disgusting. No one on the face of the earth is as ugly as this Islamophobe who supports a gustakh. No Muslim would want to see this filthy cockroach of Uncle Sam. please keep your fondness for white human excreta to yourself & refrain from putting such creepy content in public.”

Another Muslim Twitter user named (Abdullah) Shirk Destroyer tweeted, “Dekh Rahe Ho Firoz Gustakh e Rasool ke supporters se dosti badhayi jaa rahi hai Kya muh dikhayenge ye Log allah ke Rasoolallh ko Ek sahaba the ki rasolallah k wazu ke paani ke liye daudte the Un ke liye sanp ka zaher bardasht krte the Koi galti se hath bhi badhaye to” which means “See Firoz, she is being friends with a ‘gustakh-e-rasool’. Will they be able to show their face to Rasoolallah (Peace be upon him). There were people like Sahaba who used to run for getting water for Rasoolallah’s wuzu. They would even endure a snake’s venom for Rasoolallah (Peace be upon him). Even if someone heads towards him with ill intentions, they would scream.”

Another Muslim Twitter user Maverik posted, “Good Good, next time take selfies with nupur sharma and navin jindal. Jab apko Liberal gustaakho se problem nahi hai to RW waalo se special nafrat krna illogical hai.” (When you don’t have any problem with liberal gustakh, then it is illogical to hate right-wingers.)

Saad wrote in his reply to Shirin Khan’s tweet, “What a proud moment for this women selfies with gustakh e Rasool supporter.”

Another Twitter handle named Ummati asked Shirin Khan, “Did you ask her why she supported the most famous gustakh-e-Rasool of our times???”

A Twitter handle named @Abstawakkul wrote, “A muhajibah posing proudly for a selfie with the supporter of the enemy of Allah and Rasool Allah(saws) aka Salman Rushdie. Some of the core reasons for the decline of a nation is when Ignorance and hypocrisy will widespread in the community. Don’t know what to say; is it ignorance or hypocrisy?”

An-Nahda posted, “This is the problem with Muslims today they don’t make friends or enemies on the basis of Islam. I don’t understand how some muslims can happily pose for pics with someone who supports a vile person like Rushdie.”

Another Muslim Twitter user Ababeel posted, “Run-of-the-mill Islamophobic hijabi, convincing Muslims to compromise with the honor of RasoolAllah (Peace be upon him), aligning with LIBERALS for worldly gain, subtly planting liberalism in Muslim minds.”

Not only this, the conversations below these tweets were shading more light on Shariat and the provisions of punishments as per Shariat for supporting a gustakh.

Shaheen Allama asked a Twitter user ‘united4u’ “Don’t you know she is taking selfies with a supporter of gustakh?” The Twitter user ‘united4u’ replied, “Allah is there for justice. He knows what is in one’s mind.” Shaheen Allama replied, “You know how justice is done according to Shariat with those who are gustakh. You are talking about the things within one’s mind. Does anyone know what goes on in a thief’s mind? But he is punished for the theft. Likewise, Allah may know what is inside one’s mind but the person will be judged on his or her actions.” After this, ‘united4u’ replied, “You are right brother but I don’t want to get caught on the judgment day by saying something now. Because we don’t know the whole thing.”

Financial fraud-accused Washington Post columnist Rana Ayyub deleted her August 12 tweet praying for Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie’s recovery after he was stabbed in New York. After the attack on Rushdie, Rana Ayyub tweeted how she was praying for his recovery. However, after the Muslim community on Twitter condemned her, she has since deleted her tweet. Many Islamists took to Twitter to school Ayyub that while they respect her, they cannot follow or support someone who wishes well upon someone who had ‘blasphemed’ about Prophet Muhammad. 

Indian Railway launches its first aluminium freight rake, plans to deploy over one lakh such made-in-India wagons

OpIndia Staff
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Indian Railway launches its first aluminium freight rake, plans to deploy over one lakh such made-in-India wagons

On 16th October 2022, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw inaugurated India’s first aluminium freight rake at Bhubaneswar railway station. The First Aluminum Freight Rake – 61 BOBRNALHSM1, was flagged off by the minister and the rake’s destination is Bilaspur. The rake is a dedicated effort for the Make in India program as it has been fully designed and developed indigenously in collaboration with RDSO, HINDALCO, and Besco Wagon.

Aluminium rakes are a major improvement over steel rakes as they have several advantages, they are lighter and therefore consume less fuel, they can carry more material due to reduced weight, and they last longer and need less maintenance.

The official statement of Hindalco stated that the aluminium rakes have been developed with the aim to modernize freight transportation and enable large carbon savings for Indian Railways. It further mentions that these rakes are 180 tonnes lighter than existing steel rakes, can carry 5-10% more payload, and consume less energy with relatively negligible wear and tear to rolling stock and rails.

The wagons are fully lockbolted construction with no welding on the superstructure, and its payload to tare ratio is 2.85, higher than steel wagons. According to the ministry, the reduced tare will reduce carbon footprint as lower consumption of fuel in empty direction and more transport of freight in the loaded condition. A single rake can save over 14,500 tonnes of CO2 over its lifetime. Moreover, as aluminium does not degrade like steel, the resale value of rakes is 80%. Moreover, due to the higher corrosion and abrasion resistance of the metal, the maintenance cost of the rakes will be lower. However, the cost will be 35% higher as aluminium is costlier than steel and the entire superstructure is all aluminium.

The ministry further said that the iron industry consumes a lot of Nickel and Cadmium which comes from import. Therefore, the use of Aluminum wagons will result in less import of these materials. At the same time, this is good for the local aluminium industry.

“These wagons save 14,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions, have more carrying capacity, consume less energy and are corrosion-resistant. They are 100% recyclable and even after 30 years, they will be as good as new. These aluminium wagons will enable us to achieve our climate goals,” Minister Vaishnaw said. For every 100 kg weight reduction of the wagon, the lifetime CO2 saving is 8-10 tonnes. This translates to a saving of more than 14,500 tonnes of CO2 for a single rake.

A 61-wagon rake was launched by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at the Bhubaneswar station. These wagons will transport coal to the Lapanga, Odisha-based Aditya Smelter of Hindalco. The wagons are specially designed to carry coal with a bottom discharge facility.

The Railways is planning to add over one lakh aluminium wagons to its freight trains in the coming years, and therefore it will lead to a substantial reduction in CO2 emissions. If 15-20% of freight trains are replaced with aluminium rakes, the annual CO2 reduction would be around 25 lakh tonnes.

The aluminium rakes are manufactured by BESCO based on an RDSO-approved design, and they are made from high-strength aluminium alloy plates and extrusions. The alloy is made in India at Hindalco’s rolling facility in Hirakud in Odisha, and the extrusions are made at the company’s Renukoot plant in UP.

Apart from freight trains, Indian Railways is also introducing aluminium passenger coaches in near future. The Railways have already announced plans to make new Vande Bharat train sets with aluminium bodies. Hindalco is reportedly planning to participate in the manufacturing of aluminium coaches for high-speed passenger trains.

Hindu organisations halt illegal conversion in Varanasi, pastor Chotelal Jaiswal used to lure people with money to convert to Christianity

OpIndia Staff
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Hindu organisations halt illegal conversion in Varanasi, pastor Chotelal Jaiswal used to lure people with money to convert to Christianity

In a church in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, a new case of religious conversion has been reported. A pastor is accused of enticing non-Christians to become Christians by offering them money. Members of the “Hindu Jagran Manch” said that they raided the church and ended the program. They complained to the police and asked that the offenders be brought to justice.

The incident happened on Sunday (October 16, 2022) in the Phulpur police station area of ​​Varanasi. Hindu organisations have handed over the pastor to authorities. Following an investigation, the police have promised to take action. 

An individual by the name of Chhotelal Jaiswal reportedly ran a church in the Babatpur locality. The name of the church is Sarva India Ministry. Hindu organisations complained to the Varanasi police that the accused church pastor offered Hindus Rs 50,000 per head in exchange for conversion. Additionally, it is said that Chhotelal paid Rs 2,000 in advance for this.

Gaurav Singh and Vaibhav Singh are the names of people who were offered advance money for conversion. OpIndia has a copy of the complaint. According to the complaint, as part of the conversion program, everyone was also asked to attend church on Sunday. OpIndia also has a video of this occurrence, in which Hindu organisation members enter the midst of the session and demand that Chhotelal halt the indoctrination. In the same video, several women are seen arguing with Hindu groups.

Members of a Hindu group are shown in a video displaying religious books used in the programme. On the place, there is also a register with numerous names and other information written in it. There are empty chairs in the church, and some individuals are shouting among themselves. IG Range Varanasi instructed the Varanasi Rural Police to take action in this case. Varanasi Police has responded to the order by IG and launched an investigation into the matter.

Following the incident, several Bharatiya Janata Party leaders reached the police station and demanded action against the accused pastor Chotelal.

Raj Thackeray requests Devendra Fadnavis to not contest Andheri East bypoll against Uddhav Sena candidate, the Dy CM says he can’t decide it alone

OpIndia Staff
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Raj Thackeray requests Devendra Fadnavis to not contest Andheri East bypoll against Uddhav Sena candidate, the Dy CM says he can’t decide it alone

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray wrote a letter to Devendra Fadnavis on 16th October 2022 suggesting BJP back out from the Andheri east by-poll. The Andheri east assembly seat is vacant as Shiv Sena’s elected representative from that constituency Ramesh Latke passed away. Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) has fielded Latke’s wife Rujuta Latke from the seat in the upcoming by-election. Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Murji Patel from this seat. Raj Thackeray requested Fadnavis that as the late MLA’s wife is contesting from the seat, the ruling alliance should not contest the bypolls.

In his letter, Raj Thackeray said, “I am writing this letter with a special request. After the sudden death of MLA, Ramesh Latke, for the Andher- East, the by-poll election has been announced. His widow, Rujuta Latke has filed in for candidature for the same. Shri. Ramesh was an efficient worker who began his journey up from being a ‘shakha-pramukh’ I have witnessed his journey and growth in the political arena. After his death, to see his wife become an MLA in his constituency; will be a solace to his departed soul.”

He further wrote in the letter, “I sincerely request you to not enter this by-poll election and put a candidate against Rujuta Latke. Whenever, there has been a situation, wherein a sitting MLA has passed away and a family member has filed for their candidature, our party has refrained from fighting the by-poll. This is our way of paying our reverence to the departed soul. I appeal to you with these sentiments in mind. Sentiments such as these are a part of our Maharashtra culture. I hope you will consider my appeal.”

However, Devendra Fadnavis has rejected the appeal, saying he alone does not the authority to decide on the candidate of the party for the polls. When asked about his reaction to Raj Thackeray’s letter, Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “I cannot take decisions alone in the BJP. If I want to take a decision on Raj Thackeray’s letter, I will have to discuss it with party colleagues and senior leaders. Balasaheb’s Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) is also with us. So I have to discuss this with Eknath Shinde also.”

Devendra Fadnavis added, “Raj Thackeray has written this letter in good spirit. We will definitely consider his letter. Even in the past, be it the by-election at the time of RR Patil’s demise or the recent legislative council elections, whenever we were requested like this, we have taken a decision. However, I will have to discuss in the party when we have already fielded a candidate in this election. Only then can the right decision be taken.”

Prasad Lad is the spokesperson of the state unit of the BJP. He said, “We respect Raj Thackeray. This could be Raj Thackeray’s personal opinion or his party’s opinion. The party leadership Devendra Fadnavis and Ashish Shelar will take a decision on this. In what spirit did he write the letter? We don’t know about it. There was no discussion on this issue. Nevertheless, it will be decided by the party leadership and the party leaders.”

Arunachal Pradesh: Families of two youths missing for 56 days approach the government for help, suspect PLA might have detained them

OpIndia Staff
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Arunachal Pradesh: Families of two youths missing for 56 days approach the government for help, suspect PLA might have detained them

The Arunachal Pradesh Police has said search operations are on to locate the two persons who reportedly went missing from Chaglagam area along the India-China border in August. The two youths from the Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh, Bateilum Tikro and Bayingso Manyu, are missing for the last 56 days since August 24. On August 19 the duo went in search of local medicinal herbs on a mountain along the Indo-China border, and reportedly they were last spotted by someone on the 24th.

The families of the missing boys expressed their apprehension that the two might have inadvertently crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Family members of both missing men lodged a police complaint on October 9 alleging that the two left for the Chaglagam area on August 19 in search of medicinal plants and were last seen on August 24.

Now the family members of the missing youths have approached the government in searching for the missing duo, ANI reported.

Bateilum Tikro’s younger brother Dishanso Chikro told the media that he had informed Hayuliang MLA Dasunglu Pul about the missing youths. It said that the Chinese military might have detained the two youths. “We suspect that they could have inadvertently crossed the LAC and have been detained by the PLA. We are extremely worried,” Chikro said.

Rike Kamsi, SP Anjaw district, told ANI that the two missing youths named Bateilum Tikro (33) and Bayinso Many (31) hailing had left for Chaglagam on August 19, and have not returned since then. “We have alerted the Indian Army and SIB and the search and rescue operation is on,” SP Kamsi informed.

“After completing formalities involving witnesses, family members, and villagers living near the border, we will submit a report to the state government,” SP Kamsi added.

The SP further informed that the family members were searching for the missing youths for over a month. “From their village, it would take about 6 to 8 days on foot to reach the Indo-China border. The missing duo may have taken shelter somewhere within Indian territory near the border.”

He also stated that assistance from the PLA has been sought in locating the duo.

In July, one laborer died and 18 others went missing near the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh’s Kurung Kumey district.
Previously, in January, the Chinese PLA reportedly captured Miram Tarom, a 17-year-old youth from Zido in Arunachal Pradesh, across the Line of Actual Control (LAC). He was later returned to India after the Indian Army communicated that the Chinese Army return the youth.

Delhi: Bajrang Dal worker Nitesh dies after he was beaten by Ufiza, Adnan, and Abbas 3 days ago, police deny communal angle

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi: Bajrang Dal worker Nitesh dies after he was beaten by Ufiza, Adnan, and Abbas 3 days ago, police deny communal angle

A 25-year-old Hindu youth and Bajrang Dal member named Nitesh, a resident of the Shadipur area in Delhi, died on Saturday night after he was assaulted on 12th October 2022. Youths from the Muslim community have been accused of killing the young man. No arrest has been made so far. The family of the deceased alleged that there was a fight over abuse. Nitesh and his friend Alok were then beaten up by the assailants who have been identified as Ufiza, Adnan, and Abbas.

The incident took place in the Ranjit Nagar locality of the Patel Nagar area in Delhi. Nitesh was passing by with his two accomplices Alok and Monty. They were confronted by three other boys, and it led to a fight between the two groups. Nitesh was badly attacked and he was admitted to the hospital with serious injuries. But he died during treatment on 15th October 2022. Nitesh’s friend Alok is still admitted to the hospital.

After the news of the death of Nitesh spread, locals and Bajrang Dal members came out in protest and demanded strict action against the accused. The Rapid Action Force has been deployed in view of the matter.

The family members of the deceased staged a protest by placing the body at the red light near Patel Nagar metro station and refused to cremate Nitesh. The family has demanded that the accused be arrested soon. After the police convinced them, the family removed the body from the middle of the road and agreed to perform the last rites.

DCP (Delhi Central) Shweta Chauhan said, “On October 12, Nitesh, Alok, and Monty stopped a man on a bike in the Shadipur area and started beating him up. After some time, the three were beaten up by people from the other faction. Nitesh had sustained serious injuries and died last night (October 15). A case of murder has been registered and the three accused have been identified. They belong to another community. Efforts are on to nab them. There is no communal angle in the case. The fight was not for any communal reason.”

The police officials also said, “Footage of the incident shows that the fight was started by Nitesh and Alok. However, they were later overpowered by the other side and assaulted. There was no communal issue in the fight. It is a coincidence that both parties belong to different communities. Request not to paint it in a communal shade.”

The accused identified by the police on the basis of CCTV are Ufiza, Adnan, and Abbas. It is also being told that the deceased Nitesh and injured Alok have a prior connection with the disputes. Both have already been booked in a criminal case. The family of Nitesh has demanded the death penalty for the accused.

There has been an increase in the number of Hindu youths murdered by Muslims in the national capital. A youth named Manish was stabbed to death by three other youths Aalam, Bilal, and Faizan on Saturday 1st October 2022. The incident took place in the Sunder Nagari area of northeast Delhi and was recorded on a nearby CCTV camera.

The Wire now claims its secure encrypted email account was hacked by hacking of a MacBook, netizens continue to disbelieve

OpIndia Staff
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The Wire now claims its secure encrypted email account was hacked by hacking of a MacBook, netizens continue to disbelieve

After the communist propaganda portal The Wire claimed that its ‘tech expert’ Devesh Kumar’s email account was purportedly compromised, its founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan rushed to Twitter again to claim that now their ProtonMail account had been hacked.

In a tweet, Siddharth Varadarajan wrote, “Alert A protonmail address The Wire uses has been hacked via the hacking of a MacBook. Do not respond to mail from [email protected]”

Siddharth claimed that The Wire’s mail account was hacked by hacking a MacBook. It is notable that MacBook is an Apple product known for its privacy and security features. On the other hand, ProtonMail is an end-to-end encrypted email service and it claims to be the world’s largest secure email provider. Therefore, it raises questions that how a secure email account was hacked through a secure device.

Following these tweets by The Wire editor, several social media users pointed out that all this was a lie.

Social media user Surya Kanegaonkar wrote, “Soon you’ll say your own Twitter account was hacked and Andy has been tweeting instead of you.”

Popular Twitter user Rishi Bagree wrote, “Cutting the Wire might help !!”

Several people said that the ‘hacking’ story has been scripted by The Wire to get itself out of the mess it had got into, as now they can say they have lost all the data to hacking and therefore they can’t prove the Meta story. Similarly, the ‘hacking’ of Devesh Kumar’s email and Twitter accounts means that he does not have to respond to people asking for clarifications on the story. It is notable that a large number people who are experts in the field, and many of who are actually not supporters of BJP, are not buying the Wire story and have been asking questions to them and exposing loopholes in their claims.

Journalist Chandra R. Srikanth wrote, “Huh, I guess the end game here is we got hacked and lost access to everything.”

Another journalist noted that with the ‘hacking’, The Wire will not have access to anything now.

Another user wrote, “Hmm let me guess you are gonna lose data, fake emails etc etc come up with better lies, your entire meta story seems rotten, i was expecting this excuse before 2 days”

Earlier in the day, Siddharth Varadarajan took to Twitter and shared that the email account of the ‘tech expert’ of the leftist propaganda website was hacked. In another tweet, Siddharth shared that the Twitter account of its ‘tech expert’ was also hacked. Famous Twitter user Keh Ke Pehno took a jib at Siddharth and wrote, “just to be on the safer side, I would advise you, @thewire_in and all your staff to deactivate all your accounts from the internet for some time. By some time I mean 10-15 years.”

It is notable that on October 15, the Meta vs Wire saga took another twist after The Wire published a “rebuttal” to Meta’s assertation that the alleged expose by the leftist portal was based on fabricated evidence. In its rebuttal, The Wire made several claims to justify its expose. However, most of their claims raised even more questions over the authenticity of the evidence presented by them.

The Wire has claimed that the NDA-led Central government of India has been provided by Meta (Facebook and Instagram’s parent company) with extensive power to remove any content from the platform(s). To prove their point, The Wire provided “evidence” of a post removed within minutes of getting published as it was flagged by Bharatiya Janata Party IT Cell Chief Amit Malviya.

Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra continues legal battle against Mamata Banerjee govt, attends 72 court hearings in 10 years for a joke

OpIndia Staff
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Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra continues legal battle against Mamata Banerjee govt, attends 72 court hearings in 10 years for a joke

Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra continues to fight his lonely battle against the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal. He was booked and arrested in 2012 for forwarding an Internet joke lampooning chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The police applied sections 500, 509, and 114 against him added with section 66A of the Information Technology Act.

The IPC sections were earlier removed by the police, but now when the Supreme Court has scrapped the section 66A of the IT act applied against the professor, the West Bengal police have reapplied the IPC sections against Ambikesh Mahapatra causing unabated trouble of legal procedure to the professor.

The state administration accused Ambikesh Mahapatra under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act as well as Sections 500, 509, and 114 of the Indian Penal Code after he was detained in April 2012 for posting a joke mocking chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The three IPC sections were withdrawn and only Section 66A of the IT Act was included in the police’s charge sheet when it was presented in July 2012.

Ambikesh Mahapatra, a lecturer at Jadavpur University, has been charged with violating Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, but two allegations that were withdrawn by police when they presented a charge sheet in court have reappeared. Because of the ongoing criminal case against him, the professor has had to appear in court 72 times over the last 10 years even though the alleged original offence did not hold up. He also has to renew his passport annually.

The complainant in Mahapatra’s case filed an appeal in 2015 to reinstate Sections 500 and 509 of the IPC since the Supreme Court ordered that all charges brought under Section 66A of the IT Act be dismissed. This development took place on Wednesday 12th October 2022 when the Supreme Court ruled that Provision 66A of the Information Technology Act of 2000, which was repealed in 2015, could not be used against any individual and invalidated any charges that had already been filed under the section. Defamation is a crime covered by Section 500 of the IPC, whereas insulting a woman’s modesty by words or actions is a crime covered by Section 509. If the accusations are found to be true, the maximum penalty is three years in jail.

According to a report by The Telegraph, Ambikesh Mahapatra said, “It was surprising how the court took cognizance of the prayer (to revive these charges) even after the police had dropped these sections. The decision if I should be tried under Sections 500 and 509 of the IPC is still pending in the court even after I have been discharged from Section 66A of the IT Act.”

Ambikesh Mahapatra teaches chemistry at Jadavpur University. He has two children. He said, “I am still making rounds of the courts, challenging orders, defending myself against the administration. Initially, I got a lot of support from my friends, my colleagues, and my housing cooperative. Many of the lawyers who fought for me, offered their service free of cost, backing me for the stand I took. But gradually, after a decade, now I am fighting a lone battle.”

This case against Ambikesh Mahapatra was filed based on a complaint by Amit Sardar. Trinamul Congress leader advocate Baiswanar Chatterjee is representing Amit Sardar in the court. Mahapatra has appeared in court for six hearings so far this year; the following hearing is scheduled for November 30, 2022. Mahapatra had been at the court on multiple times while on leave from his job only to be informed that the court would not be hearing the case that day.

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