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Ukraine air space closed amid air attack from Russia: Air India flight sent to evacuate students turned back towards Delhi

OpIndia Staff
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Ukraine air space closed amid air attack from Russia: Air India flight sent to evacuate students turned back towards Delhi

News Agency ANI has reported that Air India flight AI1947 is returning to Delhi due to NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) at Ukrainian capital Kyiv. At around 7:30 AM IST Ukraine issued a NOTAM restricting all civilian flights to the region with a view to close its airspace. The decision was taken after Russian President Putin declared a ‘military operation’ on Ukraine on TV, in the wee hours of the morning.

Soon after the NOTAM was declared, it is learnt that at least 5 explosions have taken place at Kyiv’s main Boryspil Airport, as reported by CNN. The airport is 18 miles East of the main city of Kyiv.

Last night a special Air India flight AI1946 carrying 242 Indian passengers including students from Ukraine landed in New Delhi as tensions continued to escalate between Russia and Ukraine.

As of now, The Ukrainian airspace has been evacuated completely as can be seen above. At around 5:30 AM Russian Local time, explosions were seen in Ukraine after Putin declared war on the country on TV.

Twitter arbitrarily suspends popular Right Wing accounts over alleged ‘violations’

OpIndia Staff
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Twitter arbitrarily suspends popular Right Wing accounts over alleged ‘violations’

On Thursday, the micro-blogging site Twitter arbitrarily suspended popular right-wing nationalist Twitter accounts over alleged ‘violations’ of Twitter policies.

Befitting Facts, a popular fact-checking Twitter account was suspended by Twitter after claiming that the account user violated Twitter rules by using multiple accounts.

Speaking to OpIndia, Twitter user Befitting Facts clarified that Twitter Inc is asking for details of multiple accounts, however, he has only one account.

Similarly, Twitter has suspended another popular account, ‘The Skin Doctor’ over alleged violations of rules on Twitter.

Another account, ‘The Angry Lord’, has also faced a similar fate of suspension on Twitter.

Angry Lord’s Twitter account suspended

Popular news and current affair handle – ‘Megh Bulletin’ has also been suspended from Twitter over certain violations.

The micro-blogging site has not specified the list of violations these popular right-wing nationalist accounts may have committed to face suspension.

Of late, Twitter has been accused of deliberately acting against nationalist and right-wing accounts on the pretext of violating trivial rules while allowing the left-wing and Islamist accounts to get away despite committing grave offences of doxxing and issuing abusive threats.

Twitter removes BJP cartoon after Islamists and left-liberals outrage

Recently, Twitter had removed a cartoon posted by Gujarat BJP hailing the judiciary for awarding the death sentence to 38 convicts in the 2008 Ahmedabad bomb blast case.

The cartoon posted by the official Twitter handle of Gujarat BJP, @BJP4Gujarat, showed a group of Muslims in skullcaps being hanged together. The cartoon accurately depicted the verdict by the special court in Ahmedabad, as all the 49 convicts in the case are Muslims.

BJP4Gujarat tweet

However, the usual suspects, including the left-liberals and Islamists, had slammed BJP for this tweet, calling it a call for genocide. While it only represented a court verdict where all convicts are Muslims, they deliberately misrepresented it by claiming that BJP is calling for killing Muslims. As a result, the tweet was reported widely by Islamists and left liberals, and subsequently, Twitter deleted the post.

Ex-head of Amnesty India Aakar Patel calls for targeted harassment of EAM S Jaishankar’s family members, Pakistani propagandist joins in

OpIndia Staff
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Ex-head of Amnesty India Aakar Patel calls for targeted harassment of EAM S Jaishankar’s family members, Pakistani propagandist joins in

Aakar Patel, the former Head of Amnesty India, issued threats to the family of India’s Foreign Minister Dr S Jaishankar by inciting the anti-Indian elements in the United States to act against his brother for not being critical of the Modi government.

Taking to Twitter, Aakar Patel, a notorious anti-Indian propagandist, claimed that the BJP is ‘enabled’ by the fact that Dr S Jaishankar’s family is immune to what he does to Indians.

Unleashing online mobs against Dr Jaishankar’s family, Aakar Patel targeted Jaishankar’s brother saying that he is a professor ‘preaching’ liberalism in California and there was no pressure on him to oppose what his family is “doing to Muslims in India”.

The far-left anti-India propagandist said that this must change. He added that Jaishankar’s brother has agency, and he must be forced to exercise it.

Essentially, Aakar Patel called for his followers and fellow anti-India propagandists to join hands to force Sanjay Subramanyam to speak against his brother Dr Jaishankar and the Indian government for the alleged atrocities that he thinks are being committed against Muslims. Aakar Patel directly issued a threat saying that one must force the family of Jaishankar to speak against the government.

Within hours after calling for action against Jaishankar’s family, an alleged Congress supporter tagged Peter Friedrich, a known Pakistan sympathiser, to take cognizance of Aakar Patel’s request. Friedrick, who has a history of interfering in India’s domestic affairs and anti-India propaganda, asked who is Dr Jaishankar’s brother.

To which, another Indian resident identified as Bhupinder Singh revealed his identity, saying that Jaishankar’s brother is Sanjay Subramanyam, a historian who teaches at UCLA, California.

The dangerous interference in India’s domestic affairs, especially by those individuals close to the Pakistani establishment, evoked a strong response in India. Social media users quickly recognised the emanating threats against Foreign Minister Dr S Jaishankar and his family and called the Home Ministry for strict action against Aakar Patel and others for issuing threats against a sitting cabinet minister.

Another user said that revealing a person’s identity amounts to doxing and called for action against Friedrich and Patel.

This is not the first time that Aakar Patel has been spewing venom against the ruling BJP and Prime Minister Modi.

Aakar Patel has a habit of peddling lies against India; pursuing hate campaign against PM Modi and the BJP

Ever since PM Modi came to power in 2014, Patel, who harbours deep-seated and intense hatred from PM Modi and the BJP, has been levelling insinuations and unfounded allegations against them to gin up discontent against the Modi government among the people. His efforts have intensified since PM Modi’s unprecedented victory in the 2019 General elections.

Most recently, Patel had to bear the brunt of running his hate campaign against the Modi government when his Twitter account was suspended for instigating Muslims and Dalits to take up arms against the centre, similar to the protests that have convulsed the United States of late.

In 2020, he was arrested and later let out on bail for posting offensive content against the Ghanchi community in Gujarat. Later in 2021, Aakar Patel had gone an unprovoked and contemptuous rant against the Supreme Court of India, comparing the judges of the apex court with ‘eunuchs’, suggesting that they were not ‘manly’ enough to stand up for the Judiciary.

Putin tells Ukrainian soldiers to lay down arms and go home, warns NATO and USA not to interfere

OpIndia Staff
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Putin tells Ukrainian soldiers to lay down arms and go home, warns NATO and USA not to interfere

On February 24, during his address declaring military action against Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the Ukrainian soldiers to lay down arms. He said those who followed his demand would be allowed to leave the battle zone and return to their families.

Putin said the goal of the military action would be to “defend people who for eight years are suffering persecution and genocide by the Kyiv regime. For this, we will aim for demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine.” Notably, he said Russia does not have any plans to “occupy Ukrainian territory”.

Putin further warned the West not to interfere in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He said if someone interferes, Russia would respond immediately, and the consequences would be like “you have never before experienced in your history.”

Ukrainian President addressed Russians, says invasion would lead to lose of thousands of lives

Earlier, Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the people of Russia. He said he tried calling the Russian President, but his call went unanswered. “Today, I initiated a phone call with the President of the Russian federation. The result was silence. Though the silence should be in Donbas.”

He said he was addressing not as the President but as a citizen of Ukraine. “More than 2,000 km of the common border is dividing us. Along this border, your troops are stationed, almost 200,000 soldiers, thousands of military vehicles. Your leaders approved them to make a step forward to the territory of another country. And this step can be the beginning of a big war on the European continent.”

He said Ukraine would defend itself if the troops tried to take away the country. “If they try to take our country away from us, our freedom, our lives, the lives of our children, we will defend ourselves. Not attack, but defend ourselves. And when you are attacking us, you will see our faces, not our backs, but our faces.” He added people would lose not only money, reputation, and freedom but also loved ones and themselves. He further urged the people of Russia to convince their President, not to initiate an invasion.

Explosions seen in Ukraine minutes after Putin declares war live on tv, read details

OpIndia Staff
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Explosions seen in Ukraine minutes after Putin declares war live on tv, read details

On February 24 (local time) Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced military action on Ukraine in a public address in Moscow. The announcement was broadcasted at around 5:30 AM Russian time. Notably, United Nations Security Council was holding a meeting in New York at the same time and the members had pleaded Putin not to initiate the attack.

While warning the West not to meddle with Russia, Putin said, “To anyone who would consider interfering from the outside: if you do, you will face consequences greater than any you have faced in history. All relevant decisions have been taken. I hope you hear me.”

As per BNO News, large explosions could be heard in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

This is a developing story.

Maharashtra: NCP leader Nawab Malik remanded to ED custody till March 3 in PMLA case

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra: NCP leader Nawab Malik remanded to ED custody till March 3 in PMLA case

Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik has been remanded to the enforcement directorate custody till 3rd March 2022 after he was arrested earlier in the day. Nawab Malik has been arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as his connections with terrorist Dawood Ibrahim had been exposed.

Nawab Malik was summoned by the ED in this case. He was interrogated for hours after being taken to the ED office early in the morning. The 62-year old minister in the Maharashtra government was then produced in front of a court. He was remanded to the enforcement directorate till 3rd March 2022 for further investigations. First he was taken for a medical examination from the ED office, then he was handed over to ED’s custody.

In the last week, ED had conducted raids in South Mumbai in connection with a money laundering case against underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his aides. Close to nine places in Mumbai and one in Thane were raided by the ED including the residences of Dawood Ibrahim’s late sister Haseena Parkar and brother Iqbal Kaskar. The agency also took into custody Iqbal Kaskar who is imprisoned in Thane in an extortion case and presented him before the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court.

Nawab Malik’s name appeared in the process of investigation after the intelligence inputs directed the agency to look into the hawala transaction while probing a money laundering case against Ibrahim, Iqbal Mirchi, Chhota Shakeel, Parkar, and Javed Chikna. The agency traced several hawala transactions linked to money illegally obtained through extortion, drug trafficking, sale of real estate in Nagpada and Bhendi Bazaar area of Mumbai, and other unlawful activities.

According to a report by the Indian Express, one of the charges ED is investigating against Nawab Malik is a property deal that Malik had entered into. There are allegations that the property was allegedly bought by Malik from an aide of Dawood Ibrahim at a price lower than its prevailing market rate. Devendra Fadnavis had alleged in the same regard on 9th November 2021. Fadnavis had accused Malik of having links with the underworld.

Fadnavis had claimed that Malik had bought the property for cheap from two men associated with the Mumbai underworld. Fadnavis said that one of them, Sardar Shahwali Khan, was sentenced by TADA court to life imprisonment in 2007 in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case, while the other, Mohammed Salim Ishaq Patel alias Salim Patel, is a frontman of Dawood Ibrahim’s late sister Hassena Parkar and was arrested along with her in 2007 in a land grabbing case.

Shahawali Khan, from whom Fadnavis claimed Malik had bought the land, is serving a life term in the Mumbai blasts case. He was said to have been part of the team given firearm training by alleged mastermind Tiger Memon and to have done a recce of the Bombay Stock Exchange and the BMC to decide where the bombs should be placed. He was sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment in June 2007 and is presently in jail. The property deal referred to by Fadnavis took place in September 2005.

The other person in the deal, Salim Patel, Fadnavis said, was the bodyguard and driver of Haseena Parkar, holding power of attorney on all land deals.

Court orders The Wire to take down 14 articles against Bharat Biotech and Covaxin, not to publish any more defamatory reports

OpIndia Staff
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Court orders The Wire to take down 14 articles against Bharat Biotech and Covaxin, not to publish any more defamatory reports

A court in Telangana has ordered leftist propaganda portal The Wire to take down as many as 14 articles it had published against Indian pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech and the Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin developed by it. The order was passed after Bharat Biotech had filed an Rs100 crore defamation suit against The Wire and 12 persons associated with it.

According to a report by legal portal Bar & Bench, the court has also ordered The Wire, its editor Siddharth Vardarajan and the others named in the suit from publishing any defamatory articles relating to Bharat Biotech.

The company argued in the court that The Wire had published articles that contained false allegations against Bharat Biotech and COVAXIN. The company’s counsel Senior Advocate Vivek Reddy said that the portal published the reports with malicious intent to undermine the reputation of Bharat Biotech.

Reddy said in the court that Bharat Biotech had previously developed vaccines for Tuberculosis, Zika Rotavirus, Chikungunya and Typhoid and received national and global recognition and has now collaborated with leading Government of India institutions to develop the Covid-19 vaccine. The company said that The Wire published a series of articles making fake allegations on authorisation and approvals of Covaxin without checking the facts.

Other than The Wire, the other defendants named in the case are Siddharth Varadarajan, Sidharth Bhatia, MK Bhanu, Neeta Sanghi, Vasudevan Mukunth, Shobhan Saxena, Florencia Costa, Prem Anand Murugan, Banjot Kaur, Priyanka Pulla, Seraj Ali, and Jammi Nagaraj Rao.

Responding to the arguments, the court noted that even after the government had approved the vaccine, The Wire continued to publish reports against it. The court said that only the Covaxin has been approved for the age group 15 to 18, but the portal still published reports which can lead to vaccine hesitancy.

Therefore, the court ordered The Wire to remove the articles from their website within 48 hours, and also restrained them from publishing any defamatory articles targeting Bharat Biotech and Covaxin.

Responding to the report, Siddharth Varadarajan alleged that a local Andhra Pradesh court has ordered to take down the 14 articles without serving any notice on the portal. Calling the propaganda articles ‘deeply reported’, he claimed that no change was given to them to refute the ‘false claims’ made by Bharat Biotech.

Ever since Indian pharmaceutical majors like Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India successfully developed and manufactured vaccines against Covid-19, left liberals have launched a sustained attack on them. They have been advocating for supposedly ‘superior’ vaccines made by American pharma giant Pfizer, and have been spreading vaccine-hesitancy by publishing fake reports on made in India vaccines.

Last month, Bharat Biotech had fact-checked several media houses, including The Wire, for spreading lies against Covaxin. The company had refuted a Wire report published in December which had claimed that currently there is no data available on the immune response generated by Covaxin. Bharat Biotech had stated that the data on the immune response generated by Covaxin has been published in several reputed international peer-reviewed journals through 2020 and 2021.

Two years of Delhi riots: Businesses in the building of key conspirator Tahir Hussain running smoothly while Hindus in the area selling their houses

रवि अग्रहरि
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Two years of Delhi riots: Businesses in the building of key conspirator Tahir Hussain running smoothly while Hindus in the area selling their houses

As the Delhi riots of 2020 mark their second anniversary, it becomes necessary to take an account of what is the current ground situation of the riot-hit areas as compared to what it was before the riots took place. Chaandbaag and Karaval Nagar area of northeast Delhi was severely hit by the anti-CAA, anti-Hindu Delhi riots in which Hindu properties in this area were marked, targeted, and vandalized causing them losses worth crores.

A building of the former corporator of AAP Tahir Hussain was the centre of the conspiracy. The riots were planned here. This building was also a safe hiding place for many rioters and weapons like petrol bombs. This building is reopened now. On the other hand, the locals claim that many Hindus living in the lane in front of Tahir Hussain’s building have left the place forever, selling their properties to Muslims who have managed to pay high to procure them.

Why the Hindus are leaving the lane in front of Hussain’s building?

Situations in Chaandbaag after two years of the Delhi riots.

The OpIndia team reached Tahir Hussain’s building near the Chaandbaag bridge and saw a group of people standing there outside the building. These people were working in the same building that houses various small businesses. When we tried to get a look at the activities happening inside, the people closed the door gates. Tahir Hussain is currently in jail and he is trying to get out on a bail. The court has reserved its order on his plea regarding the same. His brother Shah Alam has already come out of jail. Not only this, in September 2021, he was acquitted by the court in a case related to the Delhi riots. It is said that he has taken charge of all the businesses of Tahir Hussain now.

The marriage hall and parking near Tahir Hussain’s building. This space has now been revamped.

There is a small parking space near Tahir Hussain’s house. This space is now remodified and is made suitable for small marriage functions and parties. People there said that whatever losses had occurred then is history now and no one can change it. The people also informed that as of now there is no communal tension in that area. But, even today, the people fear to pass from the Muslim-dominated areas, especially in the night hours. These people also informed that so many Hindus living in the Hindu-majority lanes have left the place after the Delhi riots.

Hindus selling their houses

Tahir Hussain’s house is situated right in front of lane number six. This lane is popularly known as the Moonganagar lane. This lane houses a Shiva temple and major Hindu houses. The Aroda furniture shop was located exactly on the corner of this lane. Rioters had looted it and set it on fire. Rioters came from the masjid-lane situated behind the Mustafabad area and pelted stones on the temple.

A local resident informed that many Hindus in this locality have sold their houses and left the place. They also informed about the particular houses sold by the Hindus. All these houses are bought by the Muslims and they have managed to pay higher amounts for these properties.

Hindus selling their house is a phenomenon not limited only to lane number six. This has already started in lanes number seven, eight, and nine. The lanes which were having a major Hindu population before the Delhi riots are now witnessing the entry of the Muslims there. Giri Automobile Workshop and a few other shops in this area are also sold to Muslims.

Houses in the major Hindu lanes. These houses are now sold to Muslims.

Conversations with people in this area revealed that Hindu-Muslim relations in the area are no more as harmonious as they used to be before the Delhi riots. It is notable that the charge-sheet filed in the Ankit Sharma murder case has revealed that Tahir Hussain had not only planned and conspired and instigated people for the Delhi riots but he also attacked the Hindus of the Chaandbaag area by pelting stones and acid from the terrace.

Karnataka hijab row: HC Chief Justice reiterates the ban on religious dresses in colleges where uniform is prescribed, the order applies only to students

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka hijab row: HC Chief Justice reiterates the ban on religious dresses in colleges where uniform is prescribed, the order applies only to students

The chief justice of the Karnataka High Court, Rituraj Awasthi, said on Wednesday that the interim order passed by the court on 10th February 2022, that prohibits students from wearing religious dresses in the classrooms, will apply to both degree colleges as well as pre-university colleges where a uniform code is prescribed. The court further clarified that the order is applied only to the students and does not apply to the teachers.

A three-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court is hearing the hijab case, where some Muslim girls have filed petitions against the state govt order banning religious attire including hijab and burqa in classrooms. Chief Justice Rituraj Awasthi is heading the bench while Justice Krishan S Dixit and Justice JM Khazi are the other two judges on the bench. The bench clarified this at the end of the hearing on Wednesday.

This order was clarified by the bench in response to the applications moved by the students of a private college in Udupi named Bhandarkar College of Arts and Science. The students were seeking clarification on the extent of the interim order passed by the court. Advocate Mohammed Tahir submitted that the colleges which do not have a prescribed uniform, are also citing the interim order of the court and are stopping Muslim students who wear hijab. He also mentioned that these colleges had earlier allowed headscarves.

Chief Justice Rituraj Awasthi said, “Our order is clear, it only applies to institutions with a uniform. If the uniform is prescribed it has to be followed, whether it is degree college or PU College. We are making it very clear, wherever, whether it is degree college, government college or under-graduate, where uniform is prescribed, it has to be followed, so long as the matter is pending before the Court.”

Tahir further submitted that the colleges are asking even the teachers to remove the hijab. To this, Chief Justice Awasthi responded, “The order confines to students only.” The bench further cleared it saying “We make it clear that this order is confined to such of the institutions wherein the College Development Committees have prescribed the student dress code or uniform.”

It is notable that schools and colleges in Karnataka have been in unrest since the last December over the Muslim girl students wearing hijab despite a prescribed dress code. The Karnataka hijab row has then spread in various parts of the nation and has shown its political reflections even in the ongoing assembly elections of five states.

US Citizen and Kannada actor Chetan Kumar arrested for questioning the credibility of Karnataka HC Judge Krishna Dixit to hear the hijab row

OpIndia Staff
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US Citizen and Kannada actor Chetan Kumar arrested for questioning the credibility of Karnataka HC Judge Krishna Dixit to hear the hijab row

Self-claimed activist and actor Chetan Kumar (also known as ‘Chetan Ahimsa’) has been arrested after questioning the credibility of Justice Krishna Dixit of Karnataka High Court who is heading the bench hearing the Karnataka Hijab row. This came after the USA based actor questioned Justice Krishna Dixit over his statements in a previous rape case.

Chetan Kumar on February 16 had tweeted quoting his earlier tweet saying, “This is a tweet I wrote nearly two years ago regarding a Karnataka High Court decision Justice Krishna Dixit made such disturbing comments in a rape case. Now, this same judge (Justice Dixit) is determining whether hijabs are acceptable or not in govt schools. Does he have the clarity required?” 

Here, Chetan was seen pointing out that Justice Krishna Dixit had granted pre-arrest bail to a rape accused who was also charged with cheating and criminal intimidation while also making objectionable comments against rape victims. In June 2020, Justice Dixit had made controversial remarks against rape victims when he said, ” (It is) ‘unbecoming of an Indian woman’ to sleep after she has been ‘ravished’ and ‘after the perpetration of the act’. 

Questioning Justice Krishna Dixit’s ‘clarity’ to solve the Hijab Issue after pointing out his previous judgements from the case in 2020, Chetan Kumar has attracted certain sections of the IPC because of his tweet. The DC of Police of Central Division said, “Kannada film actor and activist Chetan Ahimsa has been arrested by Bengaluru City Police. An on-its own FIR was registered on Tuesday and under 505(2) and 504 of the IPC,” Based on Chetan’s tweet, an FIR was registered in Sheshadripuram Police Station, Bengaluru. Section 505(2) of the IPC deals with action against statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes whereas section 504 of the IPC provides for punishment to intentional provocation and insults to any person to disrupt public peace. 

Earlier Demand against the cancelling Residence Permit of Chetan Kumar

In June 2021, the Kannada actor was booked for making hate speech against Brahmins. A complaint was filed against the actor by Bengaluru police on the charges of hurting the Hindu sentiments and creating differences among religions and castes. Hindu activist Girish Bharadwaj wrote to FRRO (Foreigners’ regional registration office) Bengaluru to demand the cancellation of Chetan’s residence permit in India.

Chetan Kumar, who has acted in a few Kannada movies, is a citizen of the USA and is residing in Bengaluru on a temporary resident permit. The actor is infamous for putting out his frustrations on social media while often engaging in Hinduphobic, derogatory and disparaging remarks against concerned citizens.

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