Home Blog Page 3494

Assam court directs police to file an FIR against CM Himanta Biswa Sarma over Congress MP’s complaint

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Assam court directs police to file an FIR against CM Himanta Biswa Sarma over Congress MP’s complaint

A local court here has ordered the Assam police to file a case against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on the basis of a complaint by Congress MP Abdul Khaleque. Khaleque had claimed that the CM made inflammatory remarks about an eviction drive conducted by the administration in Darrang district in Assam in September that had turned violent.

According to his lawyer, Shamim Ahmed Barbhuyan, the Congress MP moved the court after the Dispur police station failed to file an FIR against the Assam CM.

Following this, on Saturday, the court of Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate Biswadeep Baruah ordered the Dispur police station to file a case based on Khaleque’s allegation.

In the order, which was made available on Monday, the court said, “The O.C. Dispur P.S. is directed to register a case on the allegations mentioned in the complaint and investigate the matter fairly and to submit the Final Form at the earliest.”

In his complaint, the Congress MP had accused the chief minister of making anti-Muslim communal statements while justifying the eviction drive at Gorukhuti in September. The complaint sought the registration of an FIR against Sarma at the Dispur Police Station for offences under Sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and 153A (promoting enmity between different groups and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

“Betraying his oath on the Constitution, the Hon’ble Chief Minister Dr Sarma has maliciously given a communal colour to what was supposed to be an executive exercise,” the complaint said.

The “rampant human rights violations” at Gorukhuti were preceded by multiple utterances of Sarma, who targeted the particular community, Khaleque alleged.

“The hate created by the Hon’ble Chief Minister’s constant denigration of the Muslim community manifested itself in the egregious acts of a civilian,” he added.

Notably, the Congress MP had accused Sarma of hate-mongering and provoking people to commit “acts of rioting” against the state’s Muslim community. Referring to a part of the Chief Minister’s speech in Morigaon district on December 10, on the occasion of Swahid Divas (Martyrs’ Day), the Congress MP alleged that Sarma, in his speech, had stated that the eviction exercise at Gorukhuti in Darang district was an act of revenge for the incidents of 1983 – when some youths there were killed during the Assam Agitation.

Himanta Biswa Sarma slams Left, Congress and liberal Media accusing them of creating obstacles in protecting the identity of Assam

It may be noted that the Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in a fiery speech given at the death anniversary of Khargeshwar Talukdar, the first martyr of the Assam Movement, slammed the liberal media for not covering the atrocities committed against the Assamese in the past. 

Assam Chief Minister also raised questions if Assamese people feel safe in the state, ‘like the situation we were in 1979, even in 2021 we are not in any better position’. He said that all those people who had weakened the Assamese Movement in 1979, were involved in repeating the same things all over again and weakening the position of the state by assuming a different shape. Sarma then blamed the ‘leftists’ for crippling the Assam Movement in the past and stated that the same forces were involved even today in destabilizing the Assamese culture.

Assam CM then further stated that the ‘leftists’ and Congress party fueled the rise of the political party AIUDF in the state in order to politically weaken the Assamese. Sarma also mentioned the killing of young men of Assam in Gorukhuti and how the liberal media covered up the atrocities committed there ‘..There was a 4000 years old temple in Gorukhuti, and the priest of that temple was brutally killed and the wife of the priest was forcefully converted…’

The CM accused the media of distorting the recent events in Garukhuti, where an eviction drive had faced violent protests.

Assam CM issued the statement after the eviction drive in Assam turned violent

On September 23 an eviction drive conducted by the administration in Darrang district in Assam had turned violent after illegal encroachers of the land attacked security forces. While 9 policemen were injured in the attack by the mob of illegal encroachers, 2 attackers were killed in retaliatory police firing.

The incident took place at the Dholpur in the Garukhuti area near the Sipajhar town in Darrang district in Assam, where the Himanta Biswa Sarma government is conducting an eviction drive of illegal settlers on land belonging to the government or other organisations like temples. When the eviction party reached the place inhabited by Bengali speaking Muslims on Thursday, thousands of people clashed with the police, attacking them with stones, machetes, pointed bamboo sticks etc.

Prostitution, blackmail and debauchery: How an activist unearthed the role of Periyarist-DMK nexus in a sex scandal

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Prostitution, blackmail and debauchery: How an activist unearthed the role of Periyarist-DMK nexus in a sex scandal

A sex scandal, involving prominent followers of Dravidanist icon Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy Naickar and ideologues with close ties with the DMK-led-Tamil Nadu government, has rocked Tamil cyberspace. This is despite the best efforts of the Tamil mainstream media to brush the issue under the carpet.

The matter came to light after a staunch Marxist-Periyarist named France Thamizhachi gave a series of interviews to various Youtube channels, revealing graphic details about the sex racket being run with the help of DMK allies and Periyar supporters.

As per a report published in The Commune on Tuesday (March 8), France Thamizhachi revealed that a woman by the name of Lulu Deva Jamla has been encouraging ‘unsatisfied’ married women to indulge in illicit sexual relationships with other men.

According to France Thamizhachi, Lulu brainwashes other women into believing that they can get an orgasm if they have sexual relationships with men provided by her. The Commune reported that Lulu encourages women to share intimate details about their sex lives and fantasies, and post nudes in the form of challenges.

She also broadcasts live sex sessions in the Facebook group. The accused woman, who allegedly hails from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, is believed to be residing in Australia. Lulu has detailed her sexual escapades with different men in her published books.

France Thamizhachi has accused the Australia-based woman of blackmailing both male and female participants in the group. “We only hear of men luring women and sexually harassing them. But Lulu is a type of woman who has threatened men with their nude pictures. What men do to women, she has done the same to men,” she informed.

“Some women members who are referred by Lulu and co to other men, establish a relationship to such levels where both the man and the woman show themselves bathing over a video call. These videos and pictures are recorded which are used to blackmail,” reported The Commune.

In 2017, Lulu started a Facebook group, which had 180 members. Thereafter, she began operating other Facebook/Whatsapp groups including ‘Women Stress Buster’, ‘Kaadhal Panchayathu 1’, ‘Kaadhal Panchayathu 2’, ‘Unarvugal’, ‘Uravugal’ and ‘Uravu Sikkal’.

Periyarists involved in ‘sex scandal’ unearthed by France Thamizhachi

Thamizhachi informed that besides Lulu, her husband Moses is also part of the group ‘Kaadhal Panchayathu’. It must be mentioned that Moses was earlier associated with Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK).

The activist said that the debauchery was happening in the name of ‘Periyar’ and ‘feminism’. Labelling the ‘sex scandal’ as nothing short of prostitution, Thamizhachi pointed out how women in the Facebook/Whatsapp groups of Lulu charged money for sleeping with other men.

According to Thamizhachi, Madhurai DMK functionary Anbumathi, ex-Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam (DVK) member Siva Sadayan and ‘Periyar’ Saravanan of Tamizhaga Vaazhvurimai Katchi (TVK) are admins of some of the Whatsapp groups. Interestingly, all the three men call themselves ‘staunch followers of Periyar’.

Thamizhachi recalled how ‘Periyar’ Saravanan had lamented about Tamil women not indulging in ‘group sex’. After viewing a ‘Chinese group sex’ picture shared by Lulu, he had allegedly said, “Why aren’t Tamil women not able to indulge in such positions? Tamil women should maintain their body accordingly.”

He also used to solicit pictures of women’s naval and breasts. When Thamizhachi got close to ‘Periyar’ Saravanan to gather more evidence, he also tried to engage her in sexual talks. She said that the Periyarist is protected by powerful people, who are close to the ruling DMK party.

Powerful people with DMK links backed key accused ‘Periyar’ Saravanan

It includes the Chairperson of ‘Social Justice Monitoring Committee’ Suba Veerapandian, who is known for making hate speeches against the Hindu Brahmin community. He has been appointed by Chief Minister Stalin as a member of the Advisory Committee for Tamil Nadu Text Book and Educational Services Corporation (TNTBESC).

Thamizhachi has alleged that Suba Veerapandian is directly or indirectly involved in ‘clearing’ evidence against ‘Periyar’ Saravanan. Other players involved in protecting ‘Periyar’ Saravanan include Kolathur Mani, Sundaravalli, Panimalar Panneerselvam and ‘Evidence’ Kathir.’

Kolathur Mani is associated with the same Dravidian outfit as “Periyar’ Saravanan i.e. Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam. Thamizhachi has accused him of looking the other way when confronted with evidence against his party member. He instead issued a statement against her and also tried to intimidate her into silence using legal means.

One Dalit human rights activist by the name of ‘Evidence’ Kathir has allegedly made sexual advances towards a woman in the Lulu group. Interestingly, the Periyarist is also married and has a kid. France Thamizhachi has accused him of being a womaniser and having multiple affairs with women.

Screengrab of the tweet by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin

He was congratulated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on January 19 this year for winning the 2022 Raoul Wallenberg Prize.

Sundaravalli and Panimalar Panneerselvam, who work for DMK mouthpiece Kalignar Seithigal, are also allegedly supporting the work of Lulu. The Commune reported that Sundaravalli has tried to justify sexual relationships with multiple men as ‘normal’. She even claimed that France Thamizhachi will ‘shut up’ after yelling for a few days.

“Today, many under the guise of social activists are considering themselves to be a progressive revolutionary and indulge in exploiting women with their newfound fame”, remarked Thamizhachi. She has filed a criminal case against 11 people including ‘Periyar’ Saravanan, Lulu and the head of WSB in Australia. One criminal defamation case was exclusively lodged against ‘Periyar’ Saravanan.

Uttar Pradesh: SP leader Yogesh Verma keeps a watch on EVM strong room with binoculars, leaves netizens amused

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Uttar Pradesh: SP leader Yogesh Verma keeps a watch on EVM strong room with binoculars, leaves netizens amused

Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election results on March 10, the Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal candidate from Hastinapur assembly constituency in Meerut, Yogesh Verma, has decided to camp outside the EVM counting site at the Agriculture University with binoculars. He is keeping a watch on the strong room and adjoining areas where EVMs have been kept after polling.

This is perhaps after the SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav has ordered to keep an eye on EVM strong room and other movements around it to prevent any kind of ‘mishandling’. “We will work in three shifts of 8 hours. We don’t believe in exit polls, Akhilesh Yadav will become CM. We’ll form govt with a majority,” Verma said to the news agency ANI.

According to the reports, the district administration has made the site at the Agriculture University the counting centre for Sardhana, Siwalkhas and Hastinapur constituencies. On Sunday, Verma reached the university in an open jeep, parked his vehicle around 400 metres away and began inspecting the strongroom through binoculars. Verma said that he is able to keep a watch on things within the range of 3 kms.

He further stated he would continue to keep watch until March 10 and that the SP was not in the position to take risk in the elections. Verma added that the district administration had given permission to one person of each candidate to stay close to the strong room, where they could keep a watch at the main entrance. “The leaders will be reported immediately”, he was quoted.

Yogesh Verma also said that the exit polls were not trustworthy. He cited the example of West Bengal state assembly elections and said that exit polls had said that BJP would come to power but Mamata Banerjee formed the govt with full majority. “Exit polls are wrong. It has been a history that the Hastinapur MLA and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh have been of the same party”, he affirmed.

Netizens mock Yogesh Verma for eyeballing EVM strong room

Netizens meanwhile made fun of the orders by SP Chief and their mistrust of the EVMs. One of the users said that ‘exit polls might be wrong. How can SP get these many votes? It seems that SP has hacked the EVM’.

Another user slammed the party for not having faith in the system. “Those who do not have faith in the country’s army, do not trust the country’s judiciary, do not trust the Election Commission !! Will the public believe such people!??”, the tweet read.

Yet another user mocked Yogesh Verma and the SP for executing the ‘drama’. “Keep an eye on them for 25 hours to know whether they are doing gimmicks or are worried. Later Akhilesh will have to tell”, the tweet read.

The Assembly Elections in Uttar Pradesh for 403 seats took place in seven phases from February 10 to March 7. The major political parties in the fray are BJP, SP, BSP, Congress and AAP. According to the reports, the exit polls predict that BJP will win the Uttar Pradesh elections with comfortable majority. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

‘Russians to be blamed for killings, but responsibility to be shared by West’: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blames western countries for breaking their promises

OpIndia Staff
-
0
‘Russians to be blamed for killings, but responsibility to be shared by West’: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blames western countries for breaking their promises

On Tuesday 8th March 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has denounced western powers for breaking their promises to Ukraine. Zelenskyy also blamed the western countries for the missile and bomb attacks on Ukraine by Russia.

Ukrainian news agency The Kyiv Independent has tweeted, “Zelensky: “While Russians are to blame for the killings, responsibility is shared by those who for 13 days in their Western offices haven’t been able to approve an obviously necessary decision, who didn’t save our cities from these bombs and missiles – although they can.”

The news agency has quoted Zelenskyy in a next tweet saying, “Zelensky: International Committee of the Red Cross is forbidding us to use their emblem on the humanitarian mission vehicles. It’s very revealing. Some influential people would rather ‘cross out’ Ukraine.”

The agency has further said, “Zelensky: If the world stands aside, he will lose itself forever. Because there are some unconditional values. First of all, the right to life. This is what we are fighting for here, in Ukraine. This is what the world needs to protect.”

Zelenskyy, every day, is videos highlighting his country’s heroism. In his latest video message, he was reportedly seen in his government office praising Ukrainians fighting Russian troops.

Russia-Ukraine conflict

On February 24, Russia had announced military action against Ukraine. Since then, several western companies have halted their operations in Russia. In addition, SWIFT, the system that helps banks worldwide to smoothly run financial transactions, had excluded Russia from the system. US and other countries imposed several sanctions on Russia over the military action.

India to resume commercial passenger flight operations from March 27

OpIndia Staff
-
0
India to resume commercial passenger flight operations from March 27

Relaxing the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions on international travel, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has announced to finally resume the international passenger flight operations from March 27, 2022. This came after the ban on scheduled international flight operations remained in practice for almost two years starting from March 23, 2020, to restrict the nascent rise of Covid-19 cases in the country.

The DGCA took the decision to liberate international travel between India and foreign countries considering the global vaccination coverage. In the wake of rising Covid-19 cases in the country, international flight operations to and from India were suspended in March 2020. Earlier, the DGCA had taken a step to revoke the ban on international travel from December 15, 2021, but owing to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, the ban was further extended ahead.

The DGCI in its statement today, said, “After having recognized the increased vaccination coverage across the globe and in consultation with the stakeholders, the Government of India has decided to resume scheduled commercial international passenger services to/from India from 27.03.2022, i.e. start of Summer Schedule 2022,”

The DGCI clarified that the suspension of scheduled commercial international passenger services to/from India, thus, stands extended till 2359 hrs IST on 26.03.2022 and air bubble arrangements shall accordingly be extended to this extent only. However, the statement asserted, “The international operations shall be subject to strict adherence to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare guidelines for international travel dated 10.02.2022 and as amended from time to time.”

Central Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia gave the news on Twitter saying, “After deliberation with stakeholders and keeping in view the decline in the Covid-19 caseload, we have decided to resume international travel from Mar 27 onwards. Air Bubble arrangements will also stand revoked thereafter. With this step, I’m confident the sector will reach new heights!”

During the ban, however, special international flights continued to operate under the Central Government’s Vande Bharat Mission from May 2020 itself after the bilateral air-bubble agreements were signed with 32 countries including the US, the UK, the UAE, Kenya, Bhutan and France. The decision will boost international interaction with respect to trade, education and travel and will also accelerate the economic activity post-Coronavirus.

The Kashmir Files screening in Delhi: What Lieutenant General KJS Dhillon (Retd.) said about the movie and his time in Kashmir during the genocide and repeal of Article 370

OpIndia Staff
-
0
The Kashmir Files screening in Delhi: What Lieutenant General KJS Dhillon (Retd.) said about the movie and his time in Kashmir during the genocide and repeal of Article 370

On March 6, a pre-release screening of The Kashmir Files was held in Delhi. Eminent people from many segments of society, as well as Kashmiri Hindus, were invited to the screening.

Lieutenant General KJS Dhillon (Retd.) was also present at the screening of The Kashmir Files and expressed his thoughts thereafter. He recently shared a video of him expressing his thoughts after seeing the movie. In a Twitter post, he shared a video writing, “The Kashmir Files” I was part of the history on 19 Jan 1990 … and on 05 Aug 2019 …??? Jai Hind VC: @vivekagnihotri @AdityaRajKaul”

In essence, General Dhillon revealed in the video that during the terrible episodes that led to the migration of Kashmiri Hindus in 1990, he was stationed there as a Captain in the Indian Army and assisted numerous Hindus. Similarly, he was posted in Jammu & Kashmir in August 2019 when Article 370 was repealed. Lt. Gen. Dhillon received a huge round of applause after he spoke.

The comment by General Dhillon came after the character portrayed by Anupam Kher in the movie showed a Kashmiri Hindu man had written over 6,000 letters to the government to repeal Article 370 while the genocide and exodus of Kashmiri Hindus was underway in the valley. The moving performance has received a rousing reception during the screening of the movie.

The film takes viewers back to 1989, when due to rising Islamic Jihad, conflict erupted in Kashmir, forcing the great majority of Hindus to flee the valley. According to estimates, roughly 100,000 of the valley’s total 140,000 Kashmiri Pandit inhabitants migrated between February and March 1990. More of them fled in the years that followed until just about 3,000 families remained in the valley by 2011.

Articles 370 and 35(A), which granted the state of Jammu and Kashmir special status, were repealed on August 5, 2019. Apart from repealing Article 370, the Modi government bifurcated the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two new Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir (with Legislature) and Ladakh (without Legislature). In addition, with the repeal of Article 370, Article 35A was rendered invalid.

The Kashmir Files, directed by Vivek Agnihotri, is centered on the lives of Kashmiri Hindus and is based on true events. The film is based on video interviews with first-generation Kashmiri Pandit victims of the Kashmir Genocide. It was originally slated to be released in theatres on January 26, 2022, but was pushed back because of the increasing number of Covid-19 instances. It is now scheduled to release on March 11.

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

OpIndia Staff
-
0
‘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
-
0
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
-
0
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
-
0
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.

1...3,4933,4943,495...7,675Page 3,494 of 7,675