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Moral policing in Kerala: At one place boys and girls thrashed for sitting together on a single bench, at another, bench cut to stop anyone from sitting side by side

OpIndia Staff
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Moral policing in Kerala: At one place boys and girls thrashed for sitting together on a single bench, at another, bench cut to stop anyone from sitting side by side

Several incidents of moral policing have been reported over the week in Kerala. A group of students reportedly underwent moral policing on Friday, July 22, at a bus stop in the Palakkad district. The students, who were a mix of boys and girls attending the Karimba Government Higher Secondary School, were attacked by a group of about 10 to 12 people for sitting close to one another.

The Kalladikode Police Station has received a formal complaint from the students. One person has been detained as a consequence of this. He has been identified as Siddique, a native of Karimba.

The incident happened while the students waited for their homebound bus. The group questioned why boys and girls were sitting together. After the students responded that they had every right to, the mob started attacking the women first and hurling insults at them as they were attacked. Boys who promptly intervened were also thrashed.

The incident comes only days after a similar incident at the College of Engineering in Thiruvananthapuram. In order to supposedly stop boys and girls from sitting together, hoodlums vandalised a steel seat in the bus stop shed and cut the bench into three different chairs.

CET waiting shed
Damaged benches at Thiruvananthpuram bus stop. (Source: ONMANORAMA)

In response, the enraged students shared a picture of students, both male and female, sitting on each other’s laps. The kids said that they had been exposed to sexual comments and stares from residents for sitting together for numerous years.

Students sit in laps of each other. (Source: ONMANORAMA)

Referring to the recent moral policing incident in the district, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in the Palakkad district of Kerala said on Monday that the public must be made aware that every child is an individual with the right to mental and physical growth. M V Mohanan, chairman of CWC Palakkad, also stated that the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) will assist the students with any legal help needed to pursue the issue further.

According to police reports, the suspects have been detained, and they are looking into the possible participation of another individual, said Mohanan. He assured that the CWC will continue to follow up with the police on the matter.

Mumbai-based NGO files complaint against actor Ranveer Singh for ‘hurting women’s sentiments’ after pictures of his nude photoshoot goes viral

OpIndia Staff
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Mumbai-based NGO files complaint against actor Ranveer Singh for ‘hurting women’s sentiments’ after pictures of his nude photoshoot goes viral

Ever since actor Ranveer Singh dropped his clothes to pose nude for a photoshoot for PAPER magazine, he has been receiving mixed reactions for his bold decision. While Bollywood has applauded the actor for his ‘brave and unapologetic’ decision to go nude, a complaint has been filed against him with Mumbai police for hurting women’s sentiments.

According to reports, the complaint was filed by a Mumbai-based NGO Shyam Mangaram foundation under section 67A of the IT Act along with sections 292, 293, 354 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code for hurting sentiments and insulting the modesty of women. 

“Last week we saw many nude photographs were clicked in such a manner that any male or female will feel ashamed about it”, the complaint says. “These kinds of acts should be opposed strongly, if it is not being opposed then second and third rank actors will also follow the same path for getting cheap publicity which will result in the worst condition,” a part of the complaint read.

It concluded by saying, “As this act of the accused person created shame in the eyes of the women at large and publishing and transmitting sexually explicit material.”

The images from Ranveer’s photo shoot for Paper Magazine were posted online on July 21, Thursday. Just like everything else from Bollywood, the photoshoot was ‘inspired’ by the west. Burt Reynolds’ similar nude picture shoot for Cosmopolitan magazine served as an inspiration for the photo shoot of Ranveer Singh. Soon after, social media users swarmed the comment sections of the images posted by the publication and others on Instagram. The actor posed wearing no clothes in most of the pictures from this latest photoshoot.

On Friday, Ranveer Singh shared the pictures from the Paper Magazine photoshoot on his Instagram handle. As soon as he posted the pictures, Priyanka Chopra, Masaba Gupta, Anurag Kashyap, and many others reacted to it and hailed Ranveer’s bold move.

“The best cover shot this country has seen. Brave and unapologetic,” wrote designer Masaba Gupta. Director Anurag Kashyap wrote, “What is this hotness (fire emojis). Matlab Kya?? Khamkhah ka Pressure”, while designer Manish Malhotra and director Zoya Akhtar dropped fire emojis. Dia Mirza dropped a Lion emoji while Youtube star Lilly Singh wrote, “Major WIN”.

“Adonis,” read actress Huma Qureshi’s comment. VJ Bani also commented, “Siri play ‘Naked as we Come’ by Iron and Wine. Great pictures, ahead of your time friend”.

Other celebrities like Zoya Akhtar, Maheep Kapoor, Aahana Kumra, Manish Malhotra, and Richa Chadha also dropped fire emojis in the comments section of the post.

While many celebs supported the actor, TMC MP and Bengali actress Mimi Chakraborty reacted strongly, questioning if women would have been appreciated if they shared similar pictures.

Meanwhile, the actor told the magazine how he has been naked in some of his performances where the audience can see his soul. “It’s so easy for me to be physically naked, but in some of my performances, I’ve been damn f******g naked. You can see my f******g soul. How naked is that? That’s being actually naked. I can be naked in front of a thousand people, I don’t give a s**t. It’s just that they get uncomfortable.”

TikTok promotes engineering and maths in China, while making youth in other countries addicted to twerking and porn

Anurag
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TikTok promotes engineering and maths in China, while making youth in other countries addicted to twerking and porn

TikTok, a short-form video hosting service owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is one of the most popular apps across the world. It allows the users to publish short videos on their platform. A lot of content creators have become ‘social media stars’ through this app. However, there is a dark side of this app that, instead of being talked about extensively, gets ignored most of the time.

Fox News journalist and anchor Tucker Carlson recently talked about the content that is being promoted by the app’s algorithm in homeland China and compared it to the content in western countries. Carlson explained how the content differs at an extensive level and shows completely different genres to the users based on the location. It is a well-known fact that TikTok is quite famous for videos that do not make any sense most of the time.

Moreover, there is a lot of content that promotes problematic content, such as twerking, gender-altering therapies, and even teaching children how to hide their “gender identity” from their parents. A report in Daily Mail in December 2021 alleged that TikTok was promoting gender change surgery as something “cool” among the children, and by the time that report was published, such videos were being watched over 26 billion times.

The report talked about a deal signed between TikTok and Stonewall, the controversial lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights charity, to promote such content. Several TikTokers raised funds to change their gender and made it look like something cool that others should try too, and these videos were heavily promoted.

There is a Twitter user who goes by the name of LibsOfTikTok. She regularly shares videos from TikTok of alleged teachers and adults sharing their views about being trans or non-binary or telling the world about their weird pronouns such as “fish”. The flood of such content on TikTok, an immensely popular social media platform among the youth, is a serious problem that needs to be addressed at the earliest.

In January this year, a report in Answers in Genesis talked about how TikTok was enciting youth to identify as transgender.

TikTok in China is different

TikTok runs by the name of Douyin in China. It is owned by the same Chinese company ByteDance. Compared to the content that the users in the West see on TikTok, what it promotes in China is completely on the other side of the spectrum. It is noteworthy that there is a policy in Place in China where government-regulated content can be shown on any platform, and any other content cannot get any desired promotions by the platform.

Keeping that in mind, the majority of the content that Douyin promotes in China is related to technology, architecture, music and similar interests that increase the creativity in the users and help improve their skill set. As no such policy is in place in other countries, TikTok promotes content that can go viral quickly and generates revenue for the company. Also, there are some theories that are often discussed on Reddit that China is intentionally using inappropriate content generated in the West to “corrupt the minds” of the young generation.

‘TikTok is making you dumb’

During a podcast, comedian Andrew Schulz discussed the TikTok algorithm. He talked about how the algorithm promotes useless content in the West but shows extremely useful content in China. He said China does not want applications created by other countries to influence their future generation. Schulz raised the point that the app rewards people in China for creating useful content, for example on architecture, science, or maths. However, in other countries, it promotes content like stupid dances etc.

In a podcast, Crowder and Crew discussed how TikTok was making people dumb. They mentioned different studies that proved that TikTok could manipulate user behaviour and has the potential to take over the user content on any device by bypassing the privacy policies and terms set by Google and Apple.

How does the app influence users?

The basic idea behind TikTok is to promote content that can go viral in an instant and push content creators to create similar content. When TikTok was not banned in India, it was common to see content creators creating similar content if one video of the idea went viral. Generally, it is not possible to go viral by uploading a copied idea. However, it was different on TikTok. Those who uploaded copied ideas of a viral video got their video reaching millions of users quickly.

The more such videos went viral, the more content creators saw it as an easy opportunity to gain traction on the platform. Once users started creating similar content, TikTok started promoting content that they wanted to propagate in a particular area. For example, if they wanted the children of the US to get gender-altering surgery on a mass scale, they would promote content that would promote it as a cool, modern, easy and rewarding step to take. Shockingly, it is happening in the US, and no sane parent has been able to control the menace.

In fact, TikTok influencers have become so important in the US now that at the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, US President Joe Biden invited TikTok influencers to the White House and sought their support to push the US agenda online.

From selling a useless product, to changing voting patterns, a platform like TikTok is capable of doing a lot of damage unless the governments come up with a strict policy to counter TikTok’s algorithm.

Rishi Sunak promises to ban all 30 China’s Confucius Institutes in Britain, terms Beijing as the “largest threat” to the UK

OpIndia Staff
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Rishi Sunak promises to ban all 30 China’s Confucius Institutes in Britain, terms Beijing as the “largest threat” to the UK

Rishi Sunak, one of the front-runners in the race to become Britain’s new prime minister, on Monday promised to impose new curbs to deal with an increasingly assertive China. Sunak said if he is elected to the high office, he would ban all 30 Confucious Institutes that are operational in the United Kingdom.

In a string of tweets, Sunak elaborated how he plans to deal with China should he is elected as the Britain’s Prime Minister. He called China and the Chinese Communist Party the “largest threat to Britain and the world’s security and prosperity this century” and listed down measures he plans to take on being elected to the high office.

Sounding alarm over the growing influence of China’s Confucius Institutes that serve to strengthen Beijing’s soft power, Sunak said he would close down all 30 institutes in the United Kingdom—the highest number in the world. 

“Almost all UK government spending on Mandarin language teaching at school is channelled through university-based Confucius Institutes, thereby promoting Chinese soft power,” he tweeted. 

He also promised to forge a new international alliance of free nations to deal with the threat posed by China’s cyber warfare and share best practices in technology security.

Pledging to expand MI5’s reach to provide greater support to British businesses and universities to counter Chinese industrial espionage, Sunak said he will work across government and with security services to build a toolkit to help companies protect their intellectual property.

He also vowed to protect key British assets, which included examination of the need to prevent Chinese acquisitions of crucial companies such as strategically sensitive tech organisations. 

The pledges to tackle the Chinese threat come in the wake of an intense battle over the post of Britain’s Prime Minister. Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are working hard to win over the support of conservative lawmakers to become the next leader to occupy 10 Downing Street.

How Confucius Institutes have served to further nefarious designs of CCP

It is important to note that the Confucius Institutes (CIs) had come under scrutiny of western governments for allegedly infiltrating several institutions to further Chinese propaganda. There are allegations of spying against people associated with Confucius Institutes. 

Several CIs have been shut down in the US and Europe over such concerns. Last year, the US-based Tufts University in the United States decided to shut down the contentious Confucius Institute from its campus.

In September last year, the State Department had written to the governing boards of US universities cautioning them about the threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party. US State Secretary Mike Pompeo had said that he was hopeful that dozens of Chinese-government funded Confucius Institute cultural centres on US campuses would be shut down by year-end. The institutes are accused of working to recruit “spies and collaborators”.

The Confucius Institutes now exist in 30 British universities and 150 schools. While they claim to promote Chinese culture and language, the Mail reported that they curb free speech and peddle CCP propaganda. The Confucius International Education Group bought the Riddlesworth Hall Preparatory School, a school where Princess Diana studied, in 2015.

Partha Chatterjee greeted with ‘chor chor’ chants outside AIIMS, doctor says he will be discharged today: Some latest developments in WB SSC scam case

OpIndia Staff
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Partha Chatterjee greeted with ‘chor chor’ chants outside AIIMS, doctor says he will be discharged today: Some latest developments in WB SSC scam case

The West Bengal SSC recruitment scam case, in which former minister Partha Chatterjee and his close aide Arpita Mukherjee have been implicated, is witnessing a number of interesting developments.

Partha Chatterjee ‘greeted’ with ‘chor chor’ chants outside AIIMS Bhubneshwar

According to the latest media reports, Partha Chatterjee was ‘greeted’ with ‘chor chor’ chants outside AIIMS Bhubneshwar earlier today. Videos have emerged wherein the crowd gathered outside the hospital can be heard shouting ‘chor chor’ slogans as Partha Chatterjee is being wheeled into AIIMS Bhubneshwar. He had reached the hospital through Air-Ambulance early on Monday, July 25. He was shifted from state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata to AIIMS Bhubaneswar, based on an order passed by the Calcutta High Court.

Meanwhile, Dr Ashutosh Biswas, Director of AIIMS Bhubaneswar has given a health update on Partha Chatterjee. He was quoted by ANI as saying, “He (Partha Chatterjee) was having problems because of his chronic illness. We investigated and the report has been submitted to the High Court, there was not much chest pain. He is in stable condition and will be discharged today.”

It may be recalled that a single bench of Justice Bibek Chaudhuri of Calcutta High Court heard the ED petition on 24th July 2022 and ordered that the accused be moved to AIIMS Bhubaneswar by air ambulance. The ED had moved the plea after a local court yesterday had ordered Partha Chatterjee to be admitted to a hospital.

Interestingly, after he was remanded to ED custody for two days in the SSC teacher recruitment scam, he complained of chest pain, and the court allowed him to shift to the SSKM hospital instead of ED custody.

Five properties purchased in Arpita’s name were bought by the TMC minister

In a separate development, during the ED raid, sale deeds of at least half a dozen properties in Arpita Mukherjee’s name were discovered at her home in Kolkata, West Bengal (ED). Out of these, Partha Chatterjee had invested in at least five properties, as per reports. The sale deeds included entertainment enterprises, flats in posh localities and high-rise towers, etc.

Earlier OpIndia reported how the flat from where the massive amount of cash had been recovered by the ED was also owned by Partha Chatterjee. He had ‘gifted’ it to the actor Arpita Mukherjee.

In fact, it had also emerged that the TMC minister owns a luxurious flat in the Naktala neighbourhood of South Kolkata, which is reportedly used to keep his dogs. As per reports, the TMC Minister does not stay there and uses the air-conditioned flat as an exclusive space for his four-legged friends. The veteran politician has 3 pet dogs, which are housed on the 2nd floor of the ‘Siddhi Enclave.’ The air-conditioner is reportedly run 24 hours to keep the dogs cool. Moreover, Partha Chatterjee has also hired 2 caretakers, including a woman, to look after his pets. The flat earlier had four dogs, but one died some time ago, and now there are three dogs.

ED uses RBI’s assistance to transport money and other valuables seized from Arpita Mukherjee

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had reportedly called upon the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regional office in Kolkata to assist it to move the huge sum of cash and valuables seized from Arpita Mukherjee’s home to the agency’s office at the CGO complex at Salt Lake in Kolkata.

Officials from the ED stated that the truck was carrying 20 steel trunks that were meant to carry the valuables seized from Mukherjee’s home. Later, the 15 trunks that were filled with cash and valuables and five empty trunks were transferred to the ED office at the CGO complex in Salt Lake, Kolkata.

As per reports, the central agency had recovered Rs 21.20 cr cash in denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000, gold ornaments estimated to be around Rs 90 lakh, foreign currency amounting to around Rs 60 lakh, 20 high-end Apple iPhones, sale deeds of 8 other flats, papers of multiple costly vehicles from the house of Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of Partha Chatterjee.

ED arrests Partha Chatterjee and his aide Arpita Mukherjee in connection with the money laundering aspect of the SSC scam

On July 23, officials of the Enforcement Directorate arrested Partha Chatterjee and later produced him before the Bankshall court. He was sent to judicial custody for a period of 2 days by the court. Arpita Mukherjee also has been arrested after the recovery of just a stash of cash from her flat.

The arrest came a day after the Enforcement Directorate began search operations at various premises linked to the recruitment scam in the West Bengal School Service Commission (WB-SSC) and West Bengal Primary Education Board. Prior to the arrest, Partha Chatterjee was questioned for around 26 hours in connection with the SSC scam case. The Enforcement Directorate also raided 13 locations linked to the TMC Minister.

I would go to any extent for my country; ready to compete with Laal Singh Chadha with my next: Producer of ‘The Kashmir Files’ in an exclusive interview with OpIndia

अनुपम कुमार सिंह
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I would go to any extent for my country; ready to compete with Laal Singh Chadha with my next: Producer of ‘The Kashmir Files’ in an exclusive interview with OpIndia

‘The Kashmir Files’ has been the biggest Hindi blockbuster of the year. Not just box office success, the film got critical acclaim as well as it kept destroying records in cinemas. While The Kashmir Files became a raging topic of discussion across every Indian household, the man who produced the film stayed away from the limelight. Abhishek Agarwal, who believed in the concept of the film and put his money behind the project, pretty much stayed out of the media focus even as the film kept touching record highs.

With two more highly ambitious projects in “Karthikeya 2” and “Tiger Nageswara Rao” coming up from Abhishek Agarwal, OpIndia spoke to him about his upcoming projects, as well as ‘The Kashmir Files’ and its phenomenal success. Below is the transcript from the interview.

Question – How has your life as a film producer changed after the massive success of ‘The Kashmir Files’? Can you please share your experience?

Answer – More than as a producer, it gives me immense satisfaction as an individual. Every night I go to bed with happiness that I have done something for the country and society by showing the truth and pain of our brothers in Kashmir. My family is now the whole of India. I would be supporting anything which is good for the nation. I would be going to any extent for my country, my religion, and my culture.

Q – You are producing ‘The Delhi Files’ along with Vivek Agnihotri. What is the film about and how is it different from ‘The Kashmir Files’?

A – ‘The Delhi Files’ is too early to discuss.

Q – What was your equation with Vivek Agnihotri and Pallavi Joshi throughout the making of ‘The Kashmir Files’ and now? What do you like about them?

A – I approached Vivek Ji and he trusted me immensely to travel together on this life-changing journey. The journey was tough but there was always the constant support of Vivek Ji and Pallavi Ji. The honesty of both to tell the heart-wrenching tale of Kashmir is admirable and inspiring. Both of them are National Award winners and it was a pleasure knowing them and working with them. They are now my family.

Q – Let’s move to your upcoming movie ‘Karthikeya 2’. What prompted you to produce this movie? What excited you about this film to put your money into this?

A – ‘Karthikeya’ was a successful film and when Chandoo, the director, came up with the script for ‘Karthikeya 2’, I wanted to be on board because of the nature of the film and it became one of my dream projects. The movie deals with Lord Sri Krishna and his greatness. There are thrilling elements in the movie which would be liked by one and all. I will be taking ‘Karthikeya 2’ to the Hindi audience and I am confident that they would like it because of the interesting subject.

Q – The theme of the movie ‘Karthikeya 2’ is based on the secrets of Dwarka and Sri Krishna. Do you think numerous movies could have been made about our culture and heritage? Our real history was ignored by Bollywood. Who do you find responsible for this?

A – Karthikeya 2 is one of my dream projects. And we have produced it on a large scale. Our country and Sanatana Dharma are home to rich culture, heritage, history, and stories. ‘Karthikeya 2’ deals with the mystery of Lord Sri Krishna and the city of Dwarka, which now lies submerged in the Arabian Ocean. To tell any story from our culture there needs to be a lot of research and needs to be told without altering facts and beliefs. This is tricky and hence it is an un-treaded path. Bollywood has refrained from telling such stories and with the scenario slowly changing, we might get to see stories based on our culture and heritage.

Q – Recently, the lead actor of ‘Karthikeya 2’ Nikhil Siddhartha said that some Bollywood movies of recent times veered toward demeaning our culture. Do you agree with him? People are angry with Bollywood for its anti-Hindu propaganda. What are your views on this?

A – There have been instances where a few Bollywood films have demeaned our culture and have hurt the sentiments of the public. It is high time that makers should realize that people are now well aware and they have to be sensitive towards our culture and beliefs. Everything sells is no longer a valid attitude.

Q – You are producing a very big movie named ‘Tiger Nageswara Rao’ with Ravi Teja, who is fondly known as ‘Mass Maharaja’ among his fans. Do you think he has the potential to join the PAN-India league constituting the likes of Prabhas and Yash?

A – Ravi Teja is an actor and star whom everyone loves in Telugu. The hard work and efforts he has put to be the Mass Maharaja are appreciable. While there is no comparison between stars, ‘Tiger Nageswara Rao’ will surely take Ravi Teja closer to everyone across the nation.

Q – Are you sure that the Hindi audience will like TNR? What would you like to say to the Hindi audience about this movie?

A – ‘Tiger Nageswara Rao’ is a biographical film based on one of the most notorious thieves of Stuartpuram in the 1970s. The story surely has a global appeal and the way our director Vamsee readied the script has given us the confidence to make the movie in multiple languages. The scale of the film and the emotions involved will surely work in the Hindi market as well.

Q – Recent movies of Ravi Teja were not as successful at the box office and he is going through a dull phase in his career. What makes you believe in him and TNR?

A – Ravi Teja is a seasoned star and has nothing to prove. TNR is a subject that is entirely new for Ravi Teja as well and he is putting in his best to play the titular role. I’m sure that Ravi Teja will be back at his best with his next projects and Tiger Nageswara Rao

Q – You met PM Mod after the success of ‘The Kashmir Files’. What was the experience of meeting him? What do you like about PM Modi?

A – That was a lifetime moment for me. PM Modi Ji appreciating the film is one of my greatest achievements. PM Modi Ji has been striving for the betterment of our nation for many years. The devotion and sincerity he puts into his job are inspiring. Thanks to his efforts, India has taken a center stage on the global map.

Q – Your next movie ‘Karthikeya 2’ is clashing with Aamir Khan’s ‘Lal Singh Chaddha’ & Akshay Kumar’s ‘Raksha Bandhan’. Both are very big movies. What is your take on that? Do you think people’s anger with Bollywood would help your movie?

A – Since it is a festive weekend, multiple movies are bound to clash at the box office. The audiences would embrace good cinema and good content. All the films have different genres, so there is no competition as such. I would like to extend my best wishes to all the films which are releasing.

Gujarat: 24-year-old Ashfaq lures a minor girl into relationship, abandons her after making her pregnant, read details

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat: 24-year-old Ashfaq lures a minor girl into relationship, abandons her after making her pregnant, read details

24-year-old Vadodara man Ashfaq Saiyed reportedly lured a Hindu minor girl into a so-called romantic relationship, made her pregnant and then abandoned her. On promise of marriage, he maintained a physical relationship with the minor girl and even got her pregnant when she was just 14 years old. After that, he had allegedly abandoned her. Vadodara Police has registered a complaint in this regard and nabbed him.

The girl, who lives in Vadodara’s Sayajiganj area, in her complaint has said that her father does not work and her mother had abandoned her long back. Hence she has been staying with her sister. There, she got in touch with Ashfaq and forced her to sell alcohol. Gujarat has alcohol prohibition in place and selling and consumption of the same is prohibited. As per reports, Ashfaq also used to regularly beat her up.

Ashfaq would time and again get into physical relationship with the girl after promising marriage to her and got her pregnant at 14. She eventually gave birth to a child in Sayajiganj hospital but the child died in just one day. In December last year she met a woman activist in a bus who brought her to an organisation for women in Gandhinagar and since then she had been living there.

Later, her mother came and took her to Rajkot. Ashfaq also got to know the girl has been taken away to Rajkot and he went to her again. He again promised her marriage and brought her back to Vadodara in January 2022. However, he again got abusive and started beating her up and refused to marry her.

Eventually, the girl’s father has registered a complaint in Sayajiganj Police station against Ashfaq and police has registered a case under relevant sections of the IPC and POCSO. He has since been nabbed and brought to the police station. Turns out, there are already cases registered against Ashfaq in Ahmedabad as well as Vadodara Police stations.

Media does a hit job on ‘The Kashmir Files’ movie, claims it did not receive National awards in 2022. Here is the truth

OpIndia Staff
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Media does a hit job on ‘The Kashmir Files’ movie, claims it did not receive National awards in 2022. Here is the truth

Several media houses have claimed that ‘The Kashmir Files’ did not receive any National Award this year, despite being a super-hit at the box office.

On its Facebook page, ABP News claimed that the movie failed to bag any accolades at the 68th National Awards. It must be mentioned that on Friday (July 22), the Government of India’s Directorate of Film Festivals awarded movies released in 2020.

The awards were decided by a 10-member jury, led by director Vipul Shah. Given that only films made in 2020 were honoured, it was obvious that ‘The Kashmir Files’ released this year did not feature in any of the categories.

ABP News falsely claimed that the National Awards were being handed out for movies that were produced this year, thereby suggesting that ‘The Kashmir Files’ failed to gain any recognition.

A similar gaffe was made by Aaj Tak’s sister channel ‘News Tak’. Director Vivek Agnihotri was dismayed at the brazen misinformation peddled by both the mainstream media outlets.

While taking to Twitter, he accused them of sabotaging his movie ‘The Kashmir Files.’ Agnihotri remarked, “A lot of reputed media houses are running a vicious ‘Hit Job’ against #TheKashmirFiles. And no one is fact-checking them.”

“If they do this to ‘terrorist friendly’ Bollywood films, ecosystem would instantly call it Islamophobia. I leave it here for your conscience to decide,” he further emphasised.

Interestingly, Vivek Agnihotri himself congratulated Ajay Devgan and Suriya for bagging the best actor award for the movies ‘Tanhaji’ and ‘Soorarai Pottru’ respectively.

“It’s a great day for South cinema and all the regional ones. Hindi cinema needs to work harder,” he had tweeted. Earlier, the Quint had tried to label ‘The Kashmir Files’ as Islamophobic and cancel the speaking tour of its director.

Olympic medalist Lovlina Borgohain alleges harassment of her coach, says her training has been disrupted at Commonwealth Games

OpIndia Staff
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Olympic medalist Lovlina Borgohain alleges harassment of her coach, says her training has been disrupted at Commonwealth Games

Olympic medalist Indian woman boxer Lovlina Borgohain has alleged that she has been facing harassment and her coaches are being harassed resulting in disruptions in her training. Lovlina shared her ordeal through a tweet made at 04:21 PM on Monday. The boxer is currently in Birmingham to play in the Commonwealth Games 2022.

In the tweet, Lovlina said that she and her training coaches who helped her get the medal in the Olympics are being harassed mentally and attempts are made to disrupt her training. She alleged that her coach Sandhya Gurungji, who is a Dronacharya awardee, is attached to her training camp after several requests and that too very late.

She alleged that such disturbances disrupt her training and mentally harass her. She further stated in the post that her coach is being denied entry into the commonwealth village and her training has been halted just 8 days before the international level competition. She said that her second coach has been forcibly sent to India.

Lovlina sought help from people so that these disruptions and harassment do not result in ruining her game that is to be held a week ahead. She stated that she hopes to win a medal for the country if she is saved from dirty politics. Lovlina has not mentioned any names of individuals who may be responsible for the disruption in her training.

Lovlina Borgohain, an Indian woman boxer from Assam’s Golaghat district, achieved a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics after losing in the quarterfinals against Turkey’s top seed Busenaz Surmeneli in the women’s 69kg category.

The orthodox boxer, who became the only second Indian woman to win an Olympic bronze medal, is hoping to break the series of semi-final exits and add to her medal collection in Birmingham.

Congress throws temper tantrum, writes to RS chairman over seat allotted to LoP Kharge during President Murmu’s oath ceremony

OpIndia Staff
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Congress throws temper tantrum, writes to RS chairman over seat allotted to LoP Kharge during President Murmu’s oath ceremony

Opposition leaders, including the Congress party, have written to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu regarding the sitting position assigned to Mallikarjun Kharge during the swearing-in ceremony of newly elected President Draupadi Murmu.

The letter states that Mallikarjun Kharge was made to sit in a seat “not commensurate with the position he holds”, at the swearing-in ceremony of President Droupadi Murmu today.

The letter signed by many Congress MPs reads, “Today, at the swearing-in ceremony of the Hon’ble President, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha was made to sit in a seat not commensurate with the position he holds.”

“We are writing to express our shock and protest at this deliberate disrespect shown to a very senior leader violating the warrant of precedence and not in accordance with protocol courtesies due to him,” it further adds. The letter has been signed by several opposition MPs, including Jairam Ramesh, Mukul Wasnik, and Pramod Tiwari.

Notably, Mallikarjun Kharge was made to sit in the first row during the swearing-in ceremony of President Droupadi Murmu at the central hall of Parliament. Also, what is pertinent to note is that Kharge was made to sit at the same seat where former Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley was made to sit during the swearing-in ceremony of Pranab Mukherjee back in.

Mallikarjun Kharge (Left), Arun Jaitley (Right)

The seat assigned to LOP Kharge is the seat that has long been assigned to the Leaders of Opposition of the house. The video below that shows the seating position of the Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley on the same occasion back in 2012 substantiates the assertion.

Draupadi Murmu was sworn in today as the 15th President of the Republic of India. Murmu was sworn to the highest constitutional post at the Central Hall of Parliament in New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Council of Ministers, governors of individual states, chief ministers, chiefs of diplomatic missions, Members of Parliament, and senior civil and military officials from the government also attended the event.

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