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‘No communal slurs used, claims made are exaggerated’: Gurugram Police after Abdur Rehman and Md Azam allege robbery of madrassa donation money

OpIndia Staff
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‘No communal slurs used, claims made are exaggerated’: Gurugram Police after Abdur Rehman and Md Azam allege robbery of madrassa donation money

On Monday, the Gurugram Police revealed that the claims of robbery and assault made by Abdur Rehman and his friend Mohammad Azam against two unidentified persons were exaggerated and that there were no religiously hateful slurs used against them.

According to the reports, Abdur Rehman and Mohammad Azam, who are residents of Bihar, had filed a complaint at the Sector 40 police station, alleging that two unidentified men had robbed their mobile phones, assaulted them, and had used religion-based abuses against them. They also claimed that the two men had talked about feeding them to pigs and had forcefully fed one of them some white powder.

Rehman and Azam in the complaint further added that the incident had taken place near Ramada Hotel in sector 45 while they were on their way back to home in Chakkarpur after collecting some donations for a madrassa. They were stopped by two unidentified men who allegedly snatched their mobile phones and motorcycle and abused them over their religion, the complaint read.

The Gurugram Police began the investigation in the case and identified the two accused as Rahul and Praveen Saini. The police arrested them based on the complaint filed by Rehman and Azam. While the Police investigations were underway, it was found that the claims made by Rehman and Azam against Rahul and Praveen Saini are false. Rahul and Praveen Saini said that they never robbed anything from Rehman and Azam as claimed in the Police complaint and that the allegations made against them were not true.

In their investigation, the Gurugram police found that Rahul and Praveen had no involvement in the alleged robbery. The mobile phone and motorcycle that were stolen were hidden at Rehman and Azam’s friend’s place. According to the reports, the police found the motorcycle parked near the site of the incident and recovered mobile phones from Rauf, who is friends with Rehman and Azam.

While the Police are still probing the case, the Assistant Commissioner of Police Aman Yadav stated that, as per the initial investigations, the phones were not snatched and that the ‘victims’ had exaggerated the incident. He added that probably the allegation of religious slur might also be false.

According to the reports, Rehman and Azam had alleged that they were stopped by a man who was in a car. He asked them as to what were they (Rehman and Azam) doing in the area. He then called his friend and they allegedly began thrashing Rehman and Azam. Based on the victim’s complaint, an FIR has been lodged against Rahul and Praveen Saini under sections 323 (causing hurt), 379 B (robbery), 295 A (malicious intention of outraging religious feelings), 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. The investigation is still in progress.

Ravish Kumar gets triggered over a meme that mocked him for exit polls showing BJP winning UP: Here is what he said

OpIndia Staff
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Ravish Kumar gets triggered over a meme that mocked him for exit polls showing BJP winning UP: Here is what he said

Propagandist and alleged journalist Ravish Kumar has got triggered over a meme that has mocked him for the NDTV exit polls showing a victory with a clear majority to BJP in the recently concluded assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh. On 7th March 2022, NDTV has presented the results of its exit polls for the assembly elections recently held in five states.

Ravish Kumar of NDTV has often peddled an anti-BJP agenda from the various shows on the NDTV channel. In fact, his hate for BJP is such that it has translated to spreading propaganda against Hindus at large. Therefore, when the exit poll results of the recent assembly elections were released, NDTV predicting BJP’s win was a schadenfreude moment for most BJP supporters and those who do not subscribe to the blatant lies and propaganda peddled by NDTV and Ravish Kumar. As a result, several memes mocking them appeared on social media.

One such meme by a satire page named ‘Sarcasm Politics’ had portrayed Ravish Kumar and the caption in the meme read, “with great pain and grief I hereby convey you that BJP set to win Uttar Pradesh says early exit polls.”

Ravish Kumar is shown in this meme, signing papers with both the hands like a character named Virus in the film ‘3Idiots’.

It is notable that NDTV had published in its exit polls that BJP will win around 242 seats in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections to form a government in the state with a clear majority. As Ravish’s propaganda against BJP is well known, the meme went viral in no time. Ravish Kumar took to Facebook to rant about how is he is being targeted by “BJP supporters and IT cell”.

In his post, he said, “IT cell thinks of me even before it thinks about Modi. They start to imagine my reactions to the results. I am not impressed by the election results and neither am I very interested in election coverage anymore. The exit poll has said that BJP is winning in UP on 10th March, so from now only they are making memes on me.”

Ravish Kumar’s victim playing at harmless memes going viral was ironic, to say the least. Ravish Kumar has been spreading blatant lies to target not just BJP and PM Modi but also Hindus at large. For example, it was only recently that Ravish Kumar spread abdominal lies about the paddy procurement by the central government. After PIB wrote a letter to NDTV, Ravish Kumar had to retract and apologise for his lies. In fact, Ravish Kumar’s hatred for BJP is such, that he had. even hailed foreign interference in India’s domestic affairs and had an extended meltdown after India administered COVID vaccines at a break-neck speed.

Given that Ravish Kumar’s hatred for BJP and by extension, Hindus and India itself are well known, it is no surprise that Indians would mock him when his nefarious agenda fails.

The results of the assembly elections will be declared on 10th March 2022. In most of the exit polls, BJP is seen to be winning in Uttar Pradesh.

Bombay HC dismisses PIL filed by Intezar Hussain seeking stay on the release of ‘The Kashmir Files’, film to be released as per schedule

OpIndia Staff
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Bombay HC dismisses PIL filed by Intezar Hussain seeking stay on the release of ‘The Kashmir Files’, film to be released as per schedule

The public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking a stay on the release of the film ‘The Kashmir Files’ has been dismissed by the Bombay High Court on Tuesday, March 8. The film will be now released as per schedule. Earlier, the Bombay HC had given the nod to hear the PIL filed by one Intezar Hussain Sayed, seeking a stay on the release of the film ‘The Kashmir Files‘.

The plea was denied by a bench consisting of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice MS Karnik who asked the petitioner to seek redress from the central government. “Why should we lift the limitation and entertain this petition?”, Chief Justice Datta said, questioning the petitioner whether he had submitted an RTI request to find out if the CBFC had granted a certificate.

“RTI takes at least one month,” the petitioner said. To this, the Court went on to remark that it couldn’t ask for a disclaimer to be extended and dismissed the petition filed to put stay on the release of the film.

The detailed order for the dismissal of the plea would be released later.

The film is based on the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus in 1990 and it is directed by National Film Awards winning director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri. This film is scheduled to release on 11th March 2022.

The PIL filed against Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri’s upcoming movie The Kashmir Files by a resident from UP named Intezar Hussain Sayed sought to stall the release of the film. The PIL was mentioned for urgent listing before Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Vinay Joshi, who agreed to hear it on Tuesday at 4 PM. After the trailer of the movie was released, the petitioner had alleged that the trailer hurts the religious feelings of the Muslim community. However, Vivek Agnihotri had denied the allegations and said that his movie only shows the truth.

The petitioner also pleaded to immediately take down the trailer of this film till the hearing is done.

OpIndia spoke with Vivek Agnihotri regarding Intezar Hussain Sayed’s initial allegation that the film offended religious feelings. Agnihotri, in an interview with OpIndia, said he was determined to portray the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus on-screen through The Kashmir Files., “I can prove in any court or any platform of their choice that every frame, every word in my film is truth. Nothing but the truth.” On the news of a PIL being filed against the film, he had said, “They can create as many hurdles as they want but I can’t be silenced.”

The trailer for Vivek Agnihotri’s upcoming multi-starrer film ‘The Kashmir Files’ had gone viral, garnering 9.5 million views on Youtube in only ten days. While the film will be released in theatres on March 11, 2022, you can watch Vivek Agnihotri’s interview with OpIndia CEO Rahul Roushan here.

RBI announces 123PAY: A UPI-based payment system for feature phone users

Anurag
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RBI announces 123PAY: A UPI-based payment system for feature phone users

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has gained immense popularity in the last five years in India. Especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, it served as a go-to payment option for smartphone owners. According to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI transactions have consistently increased every month.

According to recent data, there are 304 banks living on the UPI system, and collectively 4,527.29 million transactions took place in February 2022. In total, Rs 8.26 lakh crore worth of transactions were done via UPI last month. Still, a large portion of India’s population could not use UPI as one needed a smartphone for the same. To fill the gap, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a new payment system, 123PAY, that can be used by feature phone owners.

According to RBI, 123PAY would help India to attain its goal of a cashless economy. Shaktikanta Das, Governor, RBI, launched the payment system at a special RBI event. He said the new platform would help UPI facilitate the section of the society that was so far excluded from the digital payments landscape. It will help in the financial inclusion of that section of the society in the digital payments ecosystem.

NPCI has a goal of a billion UPI transactions per day in the coming months. The new system will alone help 40 crore feature phone owners to connect to the UPI system. The governor also launched a helpline for digital payments named “DigiSaathi” along with 123PAY.

How 123PAY works

Earlier, feature phone owners were able to make digital payments but only via USSD by dialling *99# and following the numeric interface presented by the banking system. Notably, the system often caused problems and was limited to few mobile operators. The new 123PAY system will fill this gap with the help of four technologies, as explained during the launch. The four technologies are Interactive voice response or IVR, apps in feature phones, missed call-based payments, and proximity sound-based payments.

The IVR System

In the IVR system, the users have to dial the number 08045163666 from the phone that is connected to their bank account. OpIndia tried a hands-on IVR system to see how it works. When you dial the number, it gives you an option to choose the language. Once the language is selected, it will give you the option to connect the bank account to the 123PAY system. IDFC Bank is the partner bank in 123PAY.

Screenshot of messages received while interacting with 123PAY UPI system.

IVR will ask you to say the name of the bank in which you have the bank account linked to your mobile number. It will confirm the bank name and then proceed to check the account number. Once it has located the account number, it will tell the last two digits of the bank account and the name of the account holder. It will ask you if you want to connect it to the UPI system.

Once you have selected the option, it will ask you to create a UPI PIN. Once it is done, the system will send you the newly generated UPI ID. In our case, the PIN already existed, so it asked us to select what we wanted to do next. The options available include fund transfer, check balance, deregister bank account, deregister UPI, change UPI PIN, make EMI payments, make utility payments and more.

Missed call system

There are two options in this system, and it will be used majorly by the merchants. In this case, you need to give a missed call to the number provided by the merchant, and you will receive a call back to make the payment. There is also an option of sound-based payments where the system will recognize the sound from a device at the merchant and initiate contactless payment from the user’s phone.

Initially, 123PAY is available in Hindi and English, but later, local languages will be added to the system. RBI has also launched dedicated 24×7 helpline numbers 14421 and 18008913333.

‘Kuffar will never be happy’: Islamists slam Taliban for not being Islamic enough, condemn them for wishing on Women’s Day

OpIndia Staff
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‘Kuffar will never be happy’: Islamists slam Taliban for not being Islamic enough, condemn them for wishing on Women’s Day

The greeting extended by the Taliban to women on International women’s day has infuriated Islamists on Twitter. Many have taken to the social networking site to call out the hardline Islamist regime “for not being Islamic enough” after it issued a statement on Women’s Day, claiming it is committed to addressing the plight of Afghan women.

Earlier in the day, the Taliban government in Afghanistan, which is known for institutionalising large-scale gender-based discrimination and violence against women, wished all the Afghan women on International Women’s Day.

Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Tweeted on International Women’s Day (IWD), which is celebrated globally on March 8 every year. “May the #8thMarch #InternationalWomensDay be auspicious for all women,” Tweeted MoFA spokesperson, IEA.

No sooner did the MoFA spokesperson share the statement issued by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, enraged Islamists started slamming the Taliban government. A Twitter user going by the handle @HF32567789 reminded the Talibanis that they would never be able to make the ‘kuffars happy’ so they should not worry much about it. The Twitter user chastised the Islamist group for publishing the “extremely disappointing statement,” and urged them to “treat women as Islam demands and do not celebrate or refer to such western traditions and days!”

Twitter user Umar Rumi called the Taliban’s stance to extend greetings to Afghan women on International Women’s Day “absolutely cringe”.

Calling the event a ‘communist feminist celebration’, Twitter user wrote, “Please be more careful and aware before jumping on any apparently neutral “International day” and study its origins, history, background and meaning. This was (and is) a communist feminist celebration, getting the Emirate involved is absolutely cringe.”

Another Twitter user, @MishkatMasabih, compared Afghanistan’s present Taliban regime to the old ‘taghut government.’

Twitter user @MF20030 rebuked the Taliban government for “celebrating this shit”.

One Noor Ahmed urged the Taliban government to delete the post immediately.

On March 8, on the occasion of International women’s day, the Taliban wished that this day “be auspicious for all women”. In a statement issued, the hardline Islamist group wrote, “Protracted war in Afghanistan has been extremely detrimental for women. IEA (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) is committed to addressing the plight of Afghan women and providing facilities for an honourable and beneficial life in the light of the noble religion of Islam and our accepted traditions”.

Given the Taliban’s long history of gynophobic misogyny, the statement is quite ironic. In the seven months since the Taliban took control, Afghan women’s long-held worries have become a terrible daily reality. The Taliban, in its 7 months of ruling, has closed most girls’ secondary schools, created barriers to women and girls pursuing higher education, banned co-education terming it as the ‘root of all evils in society’, banned music and the employment of female employees in the local radio stations, banned women from most paid employment, abolished the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, restricted women’s movement, including preventing them from leaving the country alone, dismantled Afghanistan’s system that provided protection from gender-based violence, and created barriers to women and girls accessing health care.

Kerala youth who escaped from war-torn Ukraine falls in love with Romanian girl while waiting to be evacuated, proposes marriage

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala youth who escaped from war-torn Ukraine falls in love with Romanian girl while waiting to be evacuated, proposes marriage

While most of the stranded people placed in shelter camps in countries bordering Ukraine were concerned with reaching safer locations, a Kerala youth, who fled war-hit Ukraine, fell in love with a Romanian girl while waiting in Romania before he was evacuated.

In addition to this, he even proposed to the Romanian girl for marriage. He had been living nearby the Romanian girl for three days before he was evacuated from there.

According to a report by Hindustan News Hub, Vignesh, who hails from Trivandrum of Kerala was pursuing his medical course at Ivanofriansk National Medical University in Ukraine. Despite the Indian embassy in Ukraine having issued multiple advisories suggesting the Indians leave Ukraine before things worsen, Vignesh had opted to be in the hostel until the war started. But, when the Russian forces made their advances into Ukraine, Vignesh realised it was time to depart.

He left his hostel and began the treacherous journey to the Romanian border. After crossing the Romanian border from Halemu, he took a train to Bucharest. He then stayed in a nearby village called Vizuresti, where the Indian embassy had arranged for a temporary stay of the people who were to be evacuated. Local families and an NGO had extended help in this regard.

Here, during his stay of three days before getting evacuated, Vignesh met with a Romanian girl Simona. When everyone else was anxious about going home safely, Vignesh fell head over heels in love with this Romanian girl and even proposed to her for marriage. However, it is still not unknown what was the girl’s reaction to Vignesh’s proposal.

In no time, this story started doing the rounds on social media as prominent journalists, including Vikas Bhadauria, took to their Twitter accounts to share the tale.

“War united them & fell in love, Kerala boy Vignesh studying in Ukraine fell in love with Romanian girl Simona, He stayed three days in a shelter home near the girl’s house, He is going to India after the marriage proposal, Simona has asked for some time to think,” Bhadauria tweeted.

As the Russia-Ukraine war is proceeding ahead, ridiculous things about this crisis are also appearing with every passing day. Recently, a few feminist women in Paris have gone topless to protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Now this youth from Kerala has proposed to a Romanian girl for marriage whom he had fallen in love with during his stay of just three days while waiting to be evacuated from Romania.

Leading OTT platform wanted The Kashmir Files to not use the term ‘Islamic Terrorism’ or insert ‘Hindu terrorism’ in dialogues, Vivek Agnihotri reveals

OpIndia Staff
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Leading OTT platform wanted The Kashmir Files to not use the term ‘Islamic Terrorism’ or insert ‘Hindu terrorism’ in dialogues, Vivek Agnihotri reveals

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri’s multi-starrer ‘The Kashmir Files’ which aims at capturing the authentic stories of The Kashmiri Hindu Genocide in a cinematic way, is all set to hit the screens on March 11, 2022. The movie trailer has caught the nerve among the audiences on the internet whereas the special screenings of the film in Jammu and Delhi witnessed standing ovation from the audience with an outpouring of emotion.

In a detailed interview with OpIndia CEO Rahul Roushan, The Kashmir Files director Vivek Agnihotri talked in length about the process of making the film, the challenges his team faced and how he made sure that the film gets a theatrical release. Agnihotri also described how leading OTT (Over-the-top) platforms work inside a restricted framework of certain ideologies and how it affected ‘The Kashmir Files’ when a platform approached him to release the film on OTT instead.

At around 27 minutes into above video while talking about how fixed narratives are peddled while making films in the industry, Vivek Agnihotri narrated an incident from 2020 when the Head of a leading OTT platform in the country approached him to release ‘The Kashmir Files’ on his platform. The rise of Covid-19 cases meant the complete closure of public spaces like cinema halls. This made even big banner production houses ditch the theatrical release and instead feature their films on platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ Hotstar, Sony Liv, Zee 5, etc.

Vivek Agnihotri said, “What I am saying here can be verified. The head of one-of-the most talked about OTT companies was keen on buying the film at a very vulgar price. If I were a typical commercial-minded filmmaker, I would have signed the deal there itself.”

However, Vivek was taken aback when the executive asked him in open on whether any specific adjective was used for terrorism which is talked about in the film. According to Vivek, the executive asserted, “We have a global policy that we do not use the term ‘Islamic terrorism’ in any of our films. I hope you are not using that.”

“How is this even possible? When the calls of Ralive, Tsalive, Galive (Convert to Islam, leave the valley or die) were given, it was nothing but Islamic terrorism. The calls of converting to Islam, Raj Karega Allah (only Allah will rule) were openly given.” Vivek replied staunchly. He further added, “This was not the case of targeting political opponents telling people to leave the valley because they don’t agree with their ideology. This was also not a case of cultural targeting alone where say the celebration of festivals like Diwali was opposed.”

“The incitement against Hindus was clear and so was a message to them – either convert or flee and those who did not budge were killed. The calls threatening Hindus to leave the valley while leaving their women were also given. Alongside Hindus, Sikhs were also killed in the genocide only because of their religion and not because of their economic stature as suggested by journalists like Barkha (Dutt),” said the filmmaker while describing the genocide of Hindus that unfolded in the Kashmir valley in the 1990s.

“It is like making a film on The Holocaust without mentioning Nazi Germany and Hitler. So who killed the Jews,” Vivek Agnihotri asked. To this proposition, the OTT company head replied, “It is also true that Muslims were also killed. So then, you will have to use the term ‘Hindu Terrorism’ as well.” Agnihotri said that he told the OTT executive that the Muslims who were killed during genocide were not killed by Hindu terrorists but by Islamic terrorists for calling out the genocide and standing by the Hindus.

‘This is how a control is created with a one-sided narrative,” he added and said that they eventually left the office of the OTT platform. Though Vivek Agnihotri didn’t directly name the OTT platform, he hinted that its head directly admitting about the platform not doing well in Indian markets. Incidentally, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings had recently confessed in public about the slow growth of the video streaming company in the Indian market.

The ideological isolation of the film is not restricted to limiting its release but has also resulted in film critics like Anupama Chopra seemingly sabotaging the film before its release. NDTV was caught tweaking the SEO settings by calling The Kashmir Files a ‘propaganda film’ months before its release. The film has also landed into legal troubles with certain people wanting to stall its release.

When asked by a fan about why The Kashmir Files was not featured on the popular The Kapil Sharma Show aired on Sony TV, Agnihotri said his team was not invited because the film did not have a ‘big commercial star.’

Going beyond the economic and ideological isolation or be it the legal battles in front of the film’s release, Vivek Agnihotri reiterated that he has made The Kashmir Files because he has faith in his audience. “I respect the intelligence of the audience. Even The Tashkent Files and Buddha in a Traffic Jam were made out of respecting the audience’s intelligence. I sensed that only the people would get the film,”

The Kashmir Files is set for its theatrical release on March 11, 2022. The film stars Darshan Kumar, Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Pallavi Joshi, Chinmay Mandlekar and Bhasha Sumbli in lead roles.

‘Pure fiction and work of a rogue individual’: Actress Sonakshi Sinha dismisses reports of non-bailable warrant against her

OpIndia Staff
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‘Pure fiction and work of a rogue individual’: Actress Sonakshi Sinha dismisses reports of non-bailable warrant against her

Two days after it was reported that a non-bailable warrant had been issued against Sonakshi Sinha in connection to a fraud case, the Bollywood actress has dismissed the media reports as ‘rumours.’

In an Instagram story posted on Tuesday (March 8), Sinha wrote, “There have been rumours of a non-bailable warrant issued against me floating in the media, without any verification from any authorities since a few days now. This is pure fiction and the work of a rogue individual trying to harass me.”

She further added, “I request all media houses, journalists and news reporters not to carry this fake news as it is playing into this individual’s agenda to gain publicity using my name.”

The Bollywood actress claimed that the unnamed man has been trying to gain publicity at her expense and extort money from her by tarnishing her image. She has requested the media to not fall prey to the accused’s nefarious plans.

While rejecting ‘rumours’ about any warrant against her, she said, “This matter is subjudice before the Muradabad court and has been stayed by the Allahabad High Court. My legal team will be taking all the necessary action against him for contempt of court. This will be my only comment on this matter until the Muradabad Court has passed its verdict…”

She has asked the media to respect her privacy and reiterated that there are no warrants against her.

Media reports about non-bailable warrant against Sonakshi Sinha

Reportedly, Sonakshi was signed for the ‘India Fashion and Beauty Awards’ event for which she charged a whopping amount of Rs. 37 lakh. As per media reports, event organiser Pramod Sharma asked the ‘Dabangg’ actress for his money after she failed to attend the event.

The award show was organised by Sharma at Delhi’s Siri Fort Auditorium on September 30, 2019. For the event, Sonakshi was approached through Abhishek Sinha, operator of Talent FullOn Company and Exeed Entertainment. In the deal, ₹28,17,000 was paid to Sonakshi Sinha in four instalments in June whereas Rs. 5 lakh was paid to the company as commission.

After a written agreement, the actress had shot promotional videos for the event but did not turn up for it finally. Sharma alleged that Sonakshi’s manager refused to refund him the money. He even tried to reach the actress multiple times but did not get a reply from her side.

SC to hear PIL seeking VVPAT verification at the beginning of counting, rejects urgent hearing request by Chandrababu Naidu

OpIndia Staff
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SC to hear PIL seeking VVPAT verification at the beginning of counting, rejects urgent hearing request by Chandrababu Naidu

The Supreme Court on Tuesday has agreed to hear a PIL by an RTI activist seeking that VVPAT slips be verified before counting the votes of assembly elections which is scheduled on March 10, 2022. The PIL filed by The RTI Activist Rakesh Kumar has been listed before the court as a matter of urgent listing and will be heard before the court tomorrow on March 9.

Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora mentioned the PIL before the Chief Justice of India for urgent listing for tomorrow as the counting of votes in five states which underwent assembly elections is due on March 10, just a day ahead. Chief Justice N V Ramana questioned the timing of the PIL and stated that it has put pressure on the court to issue a direction within very little time. He asked, “If you come at the last minute, how can we help? The counting is the day after tomorrow. Even if we hear this tomorrow, can we issue such a direction?”

To this, Adv. Arora replied that there is no point in verifying the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips before the counting as at that time election agents would not be present. However, she asked whether the Election Commission can be asked to be present tomorrow for a hearing. Following this CJI Ramana agreed, “Let the Election Commission of India be here tomorrow, let us see what can be done”, CJI said.

Rakesh Kumar in his application has sought that the number of polling booths where mandatory VVPAT verification is done should be increased from 5 per constituency to 25 or in proportion to the size of the constituency. In his petition, he contended that during the last round of counting of votes, counting the VVPAT paper slips of the 5 randomly selected polling stations is not properly done after the candidates and/or their agents become aware of the outcome of the elections.

The VVPAT is a process of providing automated feedback to voters using a ballotless electronic voting machine (EVM). In 2019, when the then Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu submitted a writ petition in the apex court over the suspicion in the accuracy of the EVMs, The SC had directed the Election Commission to increase the physical VVPAT verification from 1 to 5 booths per constituency.

SC rejects urgent hearing petition of Chandrababu Naidu

As per the latest reports, the SC has declined to urgently hear a petition filed by former Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu seeking a change in the procedure of VVPAT verification ahead of the March 10 counting.

The EVM hacking bogey

As soon as the possible outcomes of the elections are out, opposition parties in India start levelling allegations about the accuracy of EVMs. Minutes before the Delhi assembly elections of 2020, Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh accused that the EVMs can be tampered with to get desired results out of elections. In 2021, when the first phase of Assembly elections in Bengal was about to start, the TMC raised the EVM issue claiming that the votes are being automatically transferred to the BJP.

It is amply clear by now that the ‘Tempering of EVM’ toolkit continues to repeat itself every time an opposition party looms over the fate of losing elections. When a similar petition was raised before the SC demanding 100% VVPAT verification in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the court dismissed it saying, “We won’t entertain such a plea over and over again. Can’t come in the way of people electing their representatives. Let country elect its government.”

It is notable here that even after repeated allegations and an open challenge thrown by the Election Commission of India to prove how the EVMs can be hacked, not a single opposition party has ever been able to provide a shred of actual evidence to support their claims.

IT Dept raids premises linked to Aaditya Thackeray’s close aide Shiv Sena leader Rahul Kanal

OpIndia Staff
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IT Dept raids premises linked to Aaditya Thackeray’s close aide Shiv Sena leader Rahul Kanal

On March 8, the Income Tax department has initiated fresh raids at premises linked to Rahul Kanal, a Shiv Sena leader and others at Bandra and Kandivali in Mumbai. Kanal is a close aide of Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray as well as actor Salman Khan and has often participated in events linked to Khan and his organization, Being Human.

He has been seen multiple times with Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray on several events, such as Christmas celebrations last year.

The IT department has initiated the searches in connection to the alleged tax evasion case of Yashwant Jadhav, chairman, standing committee, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Kanal is a member of the education committee of BMC, a core member of Yuva Sena, and a trustee at Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust, Shirdi. IT department has also conducted raids at the premises of Bajrang Kharmate, deputy regional transport officer (RTO) and Sadanand Kadam, a cable businessman.

IT department had raided premises linked to Jadhav on February 25, where they found benami properties worth 130 crores. The department said a few BMC contractors were raided as well, and undisclosed income worth Rs 200 crores were unearthed. They also found evidence of alleged nexus between Jadhav and other contractors.

Kharmate, who was also raided on Tuesday, made it to news earlier when he was called by Enforcement Directorate to record a statement as Sachin Waze, dismissed Police Officer, had named him in a statement in a money laundering case linked to ex-home minister Anil Deshmukh. Waze had claimed to have overheard about the exchange of Rs 40 crores, half of which went to Singh via Kharmate and the rest were sent to Deshmukh. However, no evidence was found by the investigating agency for the alleged transfer of money to Singh or Deshmukh.

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