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After Russia described Wikipedia as “weapon of informational war”, activist group is accused of doxing pro-Ukraine editors and harassing them

Russia has been accused of intimidating Wikipedia Editors with arrest for allegedly spreading disinformation about the Ukraine war, reported Rest of World. The report by Masha Borak claimed that several Wikipedia editors were doxxed and their personal information was posted online by a group named Mrakoborec for publishing content labelled by Russian authorities as pro-Ukraine propaganda.

While alleging that Mrakoborec has been associated with the Russian government, the Rest of World stated that Kremlin passed a law in March 2022 to criminalise the publishing of information that it deem to be fake.

Screengrab of the article by Masha Borak in Rest of World

Wikipedia, which is owned by the Wikimedia Foundation, came under the ambit of the new law and was fined $88000 by a Russian court. The free encyclopedia which has known to have a pro-left bias was temporarily banned by the Russian government in 2015, but the decision was quickly revoked.

Wikipedia has about 1800 Russian-speaking editors, and while the editors claim that they have maintained a neutral stance on the ongoing situation in Ukraine, the Russian govt disagrees and alleges that most of them are spreading pro-Ukraine propaganda. Roskomnadzor, the communications agency of Kremlin, had threatened to block Wikipedia in March this year, after which several users in Russia downloaded offline copies of Wikipedia.

Roskomnadzor had directed the Wikimedia Foundation to remove contentious articles about the Ukraine war and accused it of disseminating child pornography. Russia has labelled Wikipedia as a “weapon of informational war,” and in July, Roskomnadzor ordered Russian search engines to start marking Wikipedia as being in violation of Russian laws on their search result pages.

Wikipedia officials seem to agree that there is an absence of pro-Russia viewpoints on the platform with respect to the war.. Anton Protsiuk, the programs coordinator at Wikimedia Ukraine, said that the Russian authorities have been fairly unsuccessful in promoting their point of view on Wikipedia. This is a shocking admission from Wikipedia, as the platform claims to accommodate all viewpoints.

Impact of Mrakoborec

So far, Wikipedia has been able to follow US laws in Russia due to the absence of an official representative office in Moscow, just like social media platforms were able to evade Indian laws in India by not having local offices. Once the organisation sets up a local office, it will be bound to abide by Russian laws and official requests to take down content.

While most countries demand that such platforms should follow their local laws and have offices in respective countries, the Wikipedia authorities are not willing to open an office in Russia. “The Russian government would like to have all the information so it can punish Wikipedia editors and maybe even the readers,” said Victoria Doronina, a member of the board of trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation remarked, justifying not following Russian law on having a local office.

Reportedly, Mrakoborec has been flagging social media content, which is critical of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, given that Wikipedia is managed by a network of editors most of whom are left-liberals and anti-Russia, such tactics have been less effective on the platform.

With doxing being the alleged new weapon in their arsenal of information warfare, the group had reportedly collected personal information of over 1000 editors of Wikipedia. “You cannot predict who is going to attack. It’s not a bear, it’s a pack of bears,” Victoria Doronina said.

According to Rest of World, the intimidation tactics seemed to have worked. Increasingly, fewer Russian-speaking volunteers are contributing to the Wikipedia edits. Wikimedia Foundation is now worried that it can affect its coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war.

As such, the responsibility to edit articles on the ongoing situation in Ukraine now rests with either pro-war Russian-speaking volunteers or those living far away from Russia and its ally Belarus.

Victims allege Russian government’s hand in doxing

In March 2022, a Belarus-based Wikipedia editor named Mark Bernstein was arrested and held up at the Okrestina detention centre in Minsk city. Just 3 months later, he was sentenced to 3 years of restricted freedom on charges of conspiring to disrupt social order.

Similarly, a Russia-based editor named Mikhail was doxxed on Telegram in March this year. His name and social media accounts were revealed online and Mrakoborec called for ‘Retribution.’ As a result, he started receiving threats on a regular basis.

Mikhail told Rest of World, “I began to act more cautiously. I closed off the social networks from outsiders and became even more careful to monitor (Wikipedia) edits that could be linked to my name and brought up as (legal) violations.”

“I am quite sad to see how the idea of the free flow of information, which has always been at the core of Wikipedia, is being suppressed in my home country with all its might, giving way to government censorship,” he added.

Another Wikipedia editor from Russia, Sergey Leschina, was forced to leave his home country and settle down in Lithuania. “I think almost everybody who edits from Russia or Belarus does it with different accounts,” he pointed out.

Noida: Teacher arrested after she slaps a security guard over ‘delay’ in opening the gate of housing society 

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On Saturday (September 10), a 38-year-old woman was arrested after she assaulted the security guard of her housing society over a delay in opening the gate. The incident took place at Cleo County in Noida Sector-121 in Uttar Pradesh.

As per reports, the accused was identified as Sutapa Das. A teacher by profession, she got angry when the security guard of the high-rise society allegedly took time in opening the gate.

A visibly irked Sutapa verbally abused the victim, before slapping and assaulting him in full public glare. The incident was caught on CCTV, the footage of which has now gone viral on social media.

In the video, the accused could be seen approaching the victim (identified as Sachin Kumar) in a fit of rage and then slapping him multiple times. During the incident, his co-workers remained mute spectators and did not intervene.

A case was lodged against Sutapa Das by Phase 3 Noida police under Code of Criminal Procedure Section 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offences), following a complaint by Sachin Kumar.

While speaking about the case, Inspector (Media Cell/ Noida police) Pankaj Kumar stated, “The guard delayed the opening of the gate. Due to which the woman became furious. After which, she came out of the car and started abusive language and then slapped him a couple of times.” He added that the accused was arrested by the police.

UP Police arrest lawyer for abusing and assaulting a security guard

Last month, the Uttar Pradesh police took cognisance of a viral video in which a lady was seen abusing and hitting security personnel at a housing complex. The woman, identified as Bhaavya Roy, was arrested after a complaint was filed against her.

The police registered a case against Roy under sections 323, 504 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code. The woman was caught on camera physically assaulting and verbally abusing a security guard in what appeared to be a glaring example of class discrimination.

Talking about the incident, the guard who was assaulted said the woman started to abuse him by pulling the window down, and when he requested her not to abuse him as he has already opened the gate, she got offended, got out of the car, and started abusing him more. The guard also claimed that the woman had behaved like this earlier also.

Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati passes away at the age of 99 at Shridham Joteshwar Ashram in Narsinghpur in Madhya Pradesh

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Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati, Dwarka Sharda Peeth Shankaracharya, died at the age of 99 at around 3.30 p.m. on Sunday. The Hindu religious leader died at Shridham Joteshwar Ashram District in Madhya Pradesh’s Narsinghpur.

Adi Guru Bhagwan Shankaracharya established four religious monasteries throughout the country 1300 years ago to gather Hindus and religious followers and to promote religious upliftment. Jagatguru Swami Swaroopananda Saraswati, who controlled both the Dwarka Math and the Jyotir Math, was the Shankaracharya of one of these four Maths. Jagatguru Shankaracharya’s 95th birthday was celebrated in Vrindavan in 2018, his birth year being 1924.

Swami Swaroopanad Saraswati was born in the Madhya Pradesh village of Dighori in the Seoni district. He was reported to be a direct disciple of Jytri Math’s Shankaracharya Barahmanada Saraswati. From 1941 through 1953, he devoted his life to ‘math’.

Having left home at the age of nine, he embarked on a religious journey to learn and elevate Hinduism. Swaroopanand Saraswati, who was born into a Brahmin household, learned Vedas and texts from Swami Karpatri Maharaj after arriving in Kashi, Uttar Pradesh.

During the freedom struggle, Swaroopanand Saraswati was recognized as a revolutionary sadhu for his participation in the movement. Swaroopanand Saraswati also contributed to the legal battle for the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

On Jammu and Kashmir and Article 370, Swami Swaroopanand stated on June 30, 2014, that Article 370 should be eliminated from Jammu and Kashmir. He stated that repealing the Article will benefit the inhabitants of the valley and that a demographic balance is required to avoid repeated turmoil in J&K.

Tamil Nadu Waqf Board claims ownership of a Hindu-majority village, registrar asks villagers to obtain NOC from the board to sell their own land

A shocking case of the Waqf Board encroaching on a property has come to light in Tamil Nadu, where an entire village with a Hindu majority population has been declared as waqf property. Thiruchenthurai village near Trichy, Tamil Nadu has been designated as a waqf property by the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board. Thiruchenthurai is a village situated on the south bank of the Cauvery river in Tamil Nadu.

The issue was uncovered when a person named Rajagopal attempted to sell his 1 acre 2 cents of land to one Rajarajeshwari. When Rajagopal, a resident of the nearby village Mullikarupur village arrived at the Registrar’s office to get the sale of his land registered, he was surprised to learn that the land did not belong to him and instead belonged to the Waqf Board.

“The Waqf Board owns the land on which you have come to register the deed. This contract cannot be registered, according to the Waqf Board’s directive,” Murali, the registrar, stated. “You should obtain a no-obligation certificate from the Waqf Board in Chennai,” he further added. “Why do I need to obtain a no-obligation certificate from the Waqf Board to sell my land which I purchased in 1992?” Rajagopal inquired in astonishment.

Showing a 250-page letter from Tamil Nadu Waqf Board to Rajagopal, the registrar said that any sale of land in Tiruchenthurai village requires a no-objection certificate from the Waqf Board in Chennai. “The Waqf Board has informed the Deeds Department by letter and documentation that the entire village is theirs. It has also been stated that individuals who come to register a deed for land in the village should obtain a certificate of no objection from them,” he elaborated.

When Rajagopal narrated the incident to the villagers, the entire villagers were shocked to learn that their land is not theirs. They wondered how Waqf Board can claim ownership of the entire village when the villagers have all the necessary land documents for their respective lands, both residential and agricultural.

When this subject was brought to the District Collector’s attention by the villagers, he stated that the matter will be investigated and action will be taken after that.

Trichy district BJP leader Allur Prakash said, “Tiruchendurai village, near Trichy, is an agricultural area dominated by Hindus. What is the Waqf Board’s connection with Thiruchenthurai Village?”

“There is Manendiyavalli Sametha Chandrasekhara Swamy temple in the village. According to many documents and evidence, this temple is 1,500 years old. The temple holds 369 acres of property in and around Tiruchenthurai village. Is this temple property also owned by the Waqf Board? What is the basis for this? How can the Waqf Board proclaim without any fundamental evidence when the revenue records belong to individuals?” he continued.

Bharat Jodo Yatra: Rahul Gandhi to abandon his luxury container for the night and sleep in a school after left-wing students protest against ‘container camp’

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On September 11, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will spend the night at a school in Thiruvananthapuram instead of the containers meant for leaders during his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ along with the staff and other leaders. Initially, permission was taken by the local administration to establish the camp for the containers at Agriculture college in Thiruvananthapuram but the student wing of CPM started a sit-in protest against the camp.

As per news agency ANI, Congress is trying to keep the controversies away from the Yatra thus they decided to stay at the school instead of the container camp.

The ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ was started by Rahul Gandhi along with other leaders of the party, Congress workers and several ‘activists’ on September 7. It started from Kanyakumari and is expected to end after 150 days in Kashmir. The Yatra will cover 3,500 KM across 12 states.

Though the party is said to be trying to stay away from controversies during ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ , it has made headlines for all the wrong reasons since the beginning. The luxurious containers where the leaders spend their night, the inclusion of so-called activists like Yogendra Yadav and the inclusion of anti-Hindu voices like George Ponnaiah have raised several eyebrows.

The posters of the Yatra also have Robert Vadra’s face which points toward his imminent entry into politics.  In a short span where the Yatra has not even completed a week, the party is definitely not keen on attracting any more controversies.

Pakistan: Hindu temple opens its gates to help the flood-affected people in Balochistan

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The ongoing floods in Pakistan have left millions stranded or displaced, and over 1300 dead in its wake. While these floods have exposed the worst of humanity in some cases, it has also brought out the good and positive side of humanity in some other cases. In one such case, a Hindu temple in a little village in Balochistan has shown a ray of light in the darkness by offering food and shelter to roughly 200 to 300 flood-hit individuals, predominantly Muslims.

The Baba Madhodas Mandir in Jalal Khan hamlet in the Kachhi district, perched on high ground, has stayed relatively safe from the floodwaters and now serves as a refuge for flood-affected people during their darkest hours.

Due to inundation in the Nari, Bolan, and Lehri rivers, the settlement was cut off from the rest of the province, leaving the population to fend for themselves.

The local Hindu community welcomed flood victims and their livestock into the Baba Madhodas Mandir, as per a report by the Dawn newspaper.

According to locals, Baba Madhodas was a pre-partition Hindu saint who was revered by both Muslims and Hindus in the region.

The temple, which is frequented by Hindu devotees from all across Balochistan, is made of concrete and extends over a wide region. Since it is located on higher terrain, it was fairly secure from flooding.

At least 200-300 people, predominantly Muslims, and their cattle were provided refuge on the premises and cared for by Hindu families.

The area was first cut off from the rest of the district. The displaced claimed initially they were supplied relief material via helicopter sorties, but once inside the temple, they were fed by the Hindu population.

“In addition to residents, Hindus have sheltered goats and sheep, as well as the other animals,” said Israr Mugheri, a Jalal Khan doctor who has set up a medical camp inside the temple. “Local Hindus made announcements over the loudspeaker, urging Muslims to run to the temple for refuge,” he added.

All who sought refuge there expressed gratitude to the local Hindu community for coming to their rescue and offering food and shelter during this trying time.

UNFPA raises concerns over healthcare facilities in flood-affected Pakistan

The United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) expressed concern about providing healthcare to almost 6,50,000 pregnant women in flood-ravaged Pakistan.

On Friday, the UN Secretary-General landed in Pakistan on a two-day visit to express solidarity with the Pakistani people.

Hunger and illness are on the rise following record floods and heavy monsoons which have directly affected 33 million people.

The United Nations made an appeal for USD 160 million in aid for Pakistan last week. Separately, the United States has announced an extra USD 20 million in flood relief financial assistance.

Delhi govt has stopped supplying sanitary napkins to 30,000 girls under Udaan scheme for last 2.5 years: Report

Amidst claims of ‘good governance’ by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, it has come to light that the Delhi government’s scheme (named ‘Udaan’) of distributing sanitary pads to 30000 out-of-school girls at ₹1 each has been non-operational for the past 2.5 years.

As per an exclusive report by The Hindu, the Delhi government has been unable to fix a new vendor since March 2020 to continue the supply of sanitary pads. The scheme was launched in April 2019 under which an estimated 30000 economically backward girls were to be given a pack of 6 sanitary pads for ₹6.

Initially, the Kejriwal government joined hands with a private company to facilitate the large-scale supply of pads. However, the contract expired in March 2020 and the scheme has been non-operational since then.

Only 60% of the original target was achieved during the pilot run

Former beneficiaries of the scheme have lamented the government’s apathy towards them. The father of a 15-year-old differently-abled girl child, Yogesh Kumar, informed that his family had not received sanitary pads for a long time.

“I spend around 40% of my salary on her medicines and other expenses. Any assistance from the government is very helpful,” she told The Hindu. This is despite the fact that funds for the scheme were originally provided to the Delhi government by the Centre under the Menstrual Hygiene Scheme (MHS).

The objective was to cover 50000 adolescent girls per month and create awareness about hygienic and safe menstrual health practices. However, the Delhi government could reach only 30000 to 35000 girls on average each month during its pilot run from April 2019 to March 2020.

Low-quality pads and restructuring of the Udaan scheme

Even then, several ASHA workers, who were in charge of the distribution, complained about the low quality of the pads. “Some used to complain about the quality of the pads, but families who could not afford to buy sanitary pads still found them useful and used to ask for them,” remarked an ASHA worker named Lakhvinder Kaur.

Having failed at keeping the Udaan scheme operational for the past 30 months (2.5 years), the Arvind Kejriwal government has now decided to re-launch the scheme in a new avatar.

An official told The Hindu that the scheme is now being structured by the Delhi government. Under the new scheme, a total of 10 sanitary pads will be provided every month to 50,000 out-of-school girls and 20,000 female students of government-run schools.

“Also, the government is planning to give free sanitary pads every month to 6,000 ASHA workers and 11,000 anganwadi workers as part of the scheme,” he said.

Delhi govt had stopped supplying sanitary pads to school girls too

This is not the only scheme of sanitary pad supply that the Delhi govt has discontinued. Earlier, the AAP govt had stopped providing pads to high school girls under the scheme named Kishori Yojana. As a result, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Delhi High Court in May this year seeking directions to resume the scheme. The PIL had said that the Education Department of the Delhi govt had stopped supplying sanitary napkins since January 2021. In July, the High Court directed the Delhi govt to resume supplies under the scheme in July this year.

Maharashtra: Clash between rival Shiv Sena factions in Mumbai, 5 members of Uddhav Thackeray faction arrested

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A clash broke out between the two rival Shiv Sena factions in Mumbai today over a social media post. Party workers from CM Eknath Shinde faction and former CM Uddhav Thackeray faction were involved in the fight. Mumbai police arrested 5 workers from the Uddhav Thackeray faction and booked 30 others for rioting.

Sunil Shinde, a Shiv Sena leader from the Uddhav Thackeray faction alleged that MLA Sada Sarvankar fired in the air while the scuffle took place outside a police station. The police have booked the MLA as well now along with his son.

MLA Sada Sarvankar, his son Samadhan Sarvankar and six others are booked by the police under sections of the rioting & arms act. The police sources confirmed that the MLA fired outside the police station. However, Sada Sarvankar told while talking to the media that it was just a family dispute.

A reception counter was set up by both the Shinde faction and the Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena in the Dadar area of Mumbai for Ganesh Visarjan. Workers from both groups mocked and fought with each other in these reception rooms. They raised slogans against each other. The argument, which took place on the night of the Ganpati Visarjan procession, turned into a scuffle after a social media post. Shinde group’s member Santosh Telwane had targeted the Shiv Sena by posting a video on Facebook.

In his post, Santosh Telwane wrote, “We will raise our voice and slam the Penguin Sena. Better if they know their place.” Santosh Telwane of the Shinde group was allegedly beaten up by Shiv Sena goons of the Uddhav Thackeray faction on Saturday night. The police also had to resort to mild lathi-charge to disperse the mob at that time.

Santosh Telvane, 49, told the police the incident took place when a mob led by Uddhav faction member Mahesh Sawant attacked him and his supporters. Telvane said in his complaint that Mahesh Sawant and his men threw stones and attacked them with bamboo sticks. He also said that the mob robbed his gold chain worth Rs 2.60 lakh. 

The dispute over the power struggle in the state is still pending in the Supreme Court. Both factions claim that they are the real Shiv Sena and should get the party symbol.

Haryana: Khap Mahapanchayat held in Hisar over the murder of Sonali Phogat, demands CBI probe

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On September 11, a Khap Mahapanchayat was held in Hisar where they demanded a CBI inquiry into the death of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sonali Phogat. The Khap representatives have given an ultimatum till September 23 to order the probe by a central agency. They added in case the CBI probe is not ordered, another Khap Mahapanchayat will be held on September 24 and they will decide on a strict course of action.

A team of 15 people including 5 members of Phogat’s family was formed at the Khap Mahapanchayat. Yashodhara, daughter of Sonali Phogat, was also present at the Mahapanchayat. She requested the representatives to support her family’s demand for a CBI probe into the matter to which the representatives agreed.

Notably, on September 9, the Goa Police said in a statement that the senior officials were reviewing the matter and a charge sheet will be filed soon on the objective grounds.

It is further notable that the family members of the BJP leader had sought a CBI probe into the death case several times. Vikar Singh, Sonali Phogat’s nephew, while speaking to news agency ANI said that a plea will be soon filed by the family in Goa High Court to seek a CBI probe. They have already written to Chief Justice of India UU Lalit for the same.

The family is reportedly not satisfied with the probe by Goa Police. They met the Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar and urged him to intervene to bring CBI into the investigation. CM Khattar assured them of the same.

On September 9, a team of Goa Police visited Sant Nagar Resident of the deceased BJP leader located in the Hisar district of Haryana. The team seized three diaries and inspected the bedroom, wardrobe and password-protected locker that belonged to Phogat. The locker was also sealed by the Police.

Death of Sonali Phogat

BJP leader Sonali Phogat was rushed to the hospital after she complained of uneasiness on August 22 where she was declared dead on August 23. Earlier, it was believed she died of a heart attack. However, the post-mortem report revealed she sustained blunt force injury. A murder case was registered based on the report. Earlier, Goa Police also found that she was forcibly drugged by two of her associated who were arrested and named as accused in the alleged murder case.

Jharkhand: Muslim youths brandishing weapons threaten girls to befriend them or else face the consequences: Report

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Some Muslim youths from the community are threatening Hindu girls and pushing them to befriend them at Project Plus 2 High School in Ormanjhi in the Ranchi district. As per a report by Jagran, the Muslim youth who entered the school brandishing weapons, threatened class IX students to become friends or they would pick them up.

When the school’s professors and several other students protested, they were also threatened with grave consequences. According to the female students, such threats have been made to tribal and other Hindu girls for the past week. The terrified girls told their parents about it, following which, on Saturday, a meeting was organized on the school grounds to discuss the situation. 

The Ormanjhi police station has been informed about the entire situation. The act has sparked outrage among the residents of the neighborhood. Angry locals have filed a formal complaint at Ormanjhi police station against all of the accused, Firdous Ansari, Suhail Ansari, Muzammil Ansari, Taufik Ansari, and Jameel Ansari, all of whom live in Mayapur Chandra.

The accused’s families were also present at the village meeting

A large number of villagers attended the meeting, as did public figures from the region, social workers, school teachers, and members of the management committee. Complete information concerning the incident was obtained from the school’s students present at the meeting.

Prior to the meeting, some public representatives visited the home of a student, questioned her, and confirmed the truth. Some of the accused’s parents had also arrived at the meeting. The villagers demanded that the accused youngsters should also be called to the meeting. The cops from the Ormanjhi police station also arrived after getting the information. 

The locals have requested that the police file an FIR against the offenders. Rajiv Kumar Singh, the in-charge of the police station, stated that legal action will be taken after a case is filed against all.

The matter escalated on the occasion of Teacher’s Day

The issue escalated on September 5, Teacher’s Day, when the accused overturned the generator installed in the school. Then, in front of the school teachers and students, they waved weapons and assaulted some of them.

The students of the school told the gathering that some Mayapur youngsters summon the youths of Kute, Kokdora, Chakla, and Chandwe, and then they hang out in and around the school. They consume drugs and make crude remarks about schoolgirls. Their audacity has grown to the point where they enter the school by climbing the wall, and molest the female students. Protesting students and instructors were also threatened. The school administration committee has access to this information as well. Some of them are students at the same school who have been temporarily expelled.