On February 1, during budget 2022-23 speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government would set up a task force to promote AVGC (animation, visual effects, gaming, and comics) section.
FM said, “Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) sector offers immense potential to employ youth. An AVGC promotion task force with all stakeholders will be set up to recommend ways to realise this and build domestic capacity for serving our markets and the global demand.”
Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) sector offers immense potential to employ youth. An AVGC promotion task force with all stakeholders will be set up to recommend ways to realise this and build domestic capacity for serving our markets and the global demand: FM pic.twitter.com/5DVXm18ooL
Considering the growing demand in the AVGC sector, the government of India as well as state governments took several steps in the past as well. In 2019, FM Sitharaman had opened FDI in the sector. Recently. Karnataka government had launched the AVGC Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. Karnataka was the first state to announce the AVGC policy in India in 2012.
India on Monday reiterated its call for immediate de-escalation of tensions between Russia and Ukraine, taking into account the legitimate security interests of all countries. India’s Ambassador to United Nations, T S Tirumurti focused on quiet and constructive diplomacy and said that ‘any steps that increase tension may best be avoided by all sides in the larger interest of securing international peace and security’.
“India has been following the developments between Russia and Ukraine closely and has also considered the ongoing diplomatic talks with the US. India’s interest is in finding a solution to the problem and maintaining security and peace within the region”, Tirumurti said while addressing the UN.
This is after India along with Kenya and Gabon abstained from a procedural vote in the UN Security Council on whether or not discussions were required on the threat of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But US ensured that the meet was conducted as it was able to get nine votes in all from France, the UK, Brazil, Albania, Ghana, Norway, Mexico, UAE and Ireland.
At UNSC meet on Ukraine, Russia @RussiaUN thanks countries who voted against/abstained on holding of the meeting (procedural vote). China (against), India, Gabon & Kenya (abstained) on holding of the meeting. https://t.co/sbWA0ppG2Hpic.twitter.com/fBnYnP4Lq4
During the meeting, Amb T S Tirumurti also highlighted that more than 20,000 Indian students and nationals live and study in different parts of Ukraine, including in its border areas. While the Indian mission in Kyiv has started to collect data on the number of Indians in Ukraine, the well-being of Indian nationals is of priority to us, he added.
The call for de-escalation of tensions along the Ukraine border came three days after India advocated a “peaceful resolution” of the situation through “sustained diplomatic efforts” for “long-term peace and stability” in the region and beyond.
It is important to note that the United States has been pressuring India to speak up to call out Moscow’s alleged aggression since the first week of January as three Indo-Russia conversations have taken place in the same month. Earlier, MEA official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had cleared that Indian Embassy in Kyiv is monitoring the local developments. “We call for a peaceful resolution of the situation through sustained diplomatic efforts for long term peace and stability in the region and beyond”, he had said.
What’s the Russia-Ukraine crisis?
It’s been one and a half months since the possibility of war between Russia and Ukraine is looming large. While Russia has amassed lakhs of its military with missiles and weapons at the Ukraine borders, the United States has stepped up in support of Ukraine.
Amid the diplomatic talks between the US, Russia and Ukraine, Russia has demanded in writing from the West to cease expansion of NATO. It has demanded that Ukraine should never be allowed to join NATO. As the US and the West have ruled this out, the two sides are negotiating in Paris, in the presence of interlocutors from France, Germany, the US and Russia.
Does Russia bid to resolve the issue?
Russia and Ukraine have a history that dates back to when Kyiv first became the capital of the ancient state of Russia. According to the reports, the two countries were united under the rule of Tsar in Russia and later became the core of the Soviet Union. It is during the revolution led by Vladimir Lenin that the Ukranians happened to create a state of their own and declared independence in January 1918.
Vladimir Lenin had then said that ‘losing Ukraine would be losing Russia’s head’. Putin, in his more than two-decade of Russian rule, has made several attempts to restore Russia’s influence in the countries that were part of the Soviet Union, that includes Ukraine. He also had called break up of the Soviet Union ‘the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the last century’.
While there are negotiations going on between the two countries, French President Emmanuel Macron, US President Joe Biden has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a bid to resolve the crisis. According to Putin, NATO, if allows Ukraine as a member, may use it as a launchpad for missiles targeted at Russia. Russia reportedly views NATO’s eastward expansion to 14 new countries, including some that were part of the Soviet Union as a potential threat.
In 2014, NATO unanimously decided to suspend all practical co-operation with the Russian Federation, in response to the Ukraine crisis, but the NATO-Russia Council still remains intact.
Dhandhuka Taluka in Ahmedabad district is little over 100 kms from Ahmedabad city. You take an exit from Sarkhej, most known for the mosque and tomb Sarkhej Roza, pass through industrial area of Changodar and other parts to reach Dhandhuka. It takes little over two hours to reach there from the city. Once out of the industrial area, one can see the beautiful countryside with golden farms on both the sides of the highway.
Except, the destination to this picturesque route was home of 27-year-old Kishan Boliya, also called Kishan Bharwad, where his parents are mourning his untimely death. He was shot dead by radicalised men inspired by maulanas (Islamic religious leaders) who instigated them to carry out the jihadi activity of killing a man who had ‘blasphemed’.
Kishan had shared a video which showed an image of Prophet Muhammad. Muslims firmly believe that visual depiction of Muhammad are forbidden. Islamists believe that such a visual depiction is blasphemy and an ‘insult’ to Muhammad, and beheading of the one who blasphemed is appropriate punishment.
Unfortunately, many are still unaware about such terrifying laws of blasphemy in Islam.
Kishan Bharwad’s house in the village in Dhandhuka
Right off the main road near Chachana bus stop is where Kishan’s family home is. There was heavy media presence in the house where political leaders were expected to arrive through the day. There are cows and buffaloes tied outside the house.
“Kishan loved cows. His Instagram profile was also Kishan Shepherd. Cows, dogs, he was an animal lover. He would spend hours with them. If he saw anyone in pain, he would go out of his way to help them,” his father said with his hands folded, fighting back tears.
Kishan would help his father in farming and also ran a small photocopy shop near the court in Dhandhuka.
Kishan’s photocopy shop
Kishan was a simple boy with simple life.
Earlier in January, he shared a video on his social media profile. His father and other relatives repeatedly tell me he had only shared and not created that post. The video showed Jesus as ‘Son of God’, Prophet Muhammad (with a visual depiction of what he would look like) as ‘Prophet of God’ and Shree Krishna as ‘The God’. “All religions are equal and all humans are equal. My son only said that Shree Krishna is bigger God and within 30 minutes of his posting the video he started getting threats,” he said. The villagers were not aware that visual depiction of Prophet Muhammad was the bigger bone of contention in all possibilities.
Kishan started getting threats, including death threats almost immediately.
“A mob of 500-1000 Muslim people reached police station and demanded action against Kishan. They filed police complaint and Kishan and I went to the police station. The mob then beat up Kishan. Some policemen also joined in in beating him up. They demanded Kishan apologises. So he apologised. We gave written apology as well as video apology,” his father said.
Except, three days later, he got a call from police station again. The mob was back and not satisfied with the various forms of apology over ‘blasphemy’. So they wanted him jailed and another FIR was filed. “They (Police) said they will have to arrest him so I said okay. Next day we got him a bail and then I asked him to stay away from the village for a few days till things calm down,” his father said. Kishan then stayed at his uncle’s place for a few days.
Just day after he was put in jail, his wife had to undergo a caesarian section and gave birth to a baby girl.
Kishan never got to see his daughter’s face.
“He was going from my brother’s house to other home, hoping to see the child. His cousin was driving the bike and he sat pillion. He came back at 4 PM and at 5:30 PM they killed him,” his father said.
“It was a conspiracy to make the murder appear like a localised crime and not a jihadi activity that it was. They carried out rallies and reached out to police and filed complaints to show their anger. But in reality it was a part of bigger conspiracy. Involvement of so many maulanas from across India shows that only,” said one of his relatives.
“I am willing to bet that if you carry out raids at these dargahs, masjids and madarsas, you will find AK47 in most of these. These are breeding ground for jihadi training and activities. Even the piston and bike used in the murder were found near the dargah,” the relative said.
Sar Mubarak Bukhari Dada Dargah where the gun and bike were abandoned
A source while speaking to OpIndia said that there is rampant increase in dargahs and masjid in the area, where a lot of radicalisation activities take place. Most of these have come up in past 35-40 years since the Tablighi Jamaat started preaching in the area, he said.
Masjids, Dargahs
In about 2 km radius of Dhandhuka Mamlatdar office, there are over half a dozen masjids, dargahs and even kabristans. A local resident said that a few years back Islamists had broken down part of Mamlatdar office because it covered about 3 feet into the Kabristan area.
“This is the Kashmir modus operandi to drive away Hindus away silently. We will not let Gujarat turn into Kashmir. There is no reason to not believe this is a nationwide conspiracy. Following the action taken by Saudi Arabia government even Indian government should crackdown on Tablighi Jamaat in India,” said Ranchhod Bharwad of Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad while speaking to OpIndia. He said that the police should investigate the organisations the maulanas accused in Kishan Bharwad murder case and take action against these organisations as well.
Shambhunath Tundiya, former MP and MLA and currently President of state unit of BJP SC Morcha, speaking to OpIndia said that it is important that everyone is made aware of Indian Constitution and Indian Penal Code. “The killers were inspired from Sharia, but in India it is the constitution that is above all. Along with religious books, these two should also be taught to children so that everyone knows their duties along with their rights,” he said emphasising that only way out would be education.
“They ruined not only Kishan’s family but their own families. One of the accused is so poor his father borrows bidis to smoke. He didn’t even think of his own family. You know he works as a car cleaner?” said a source close to the family.
‘Navrang Service Station’ where one of the accused worked
“They have no remorse. Instead, let me tell you, they have collected money to build mazaar in their names. If they get death sentence or for whenever they die, these two will be celebrated for having done jihad for the faith,” said a source. A mazaar is a shrine/tomb of saints or notable religious leaders.
It should be noted that in Pakistan, Mumtaz Qadri, who assassinated politician Salman Taseer who was against the blasphemy laws, has a shrine in his name. Qadri had gunned down Taseer in 2011 and now his followers believe he has earned a place for himself next to Prophet Muhammad. But even before that, before the partition of India, Mahashay Rajpal, publisher of Rangeela Rasool, was assassinated for publishing a satirical take on Prophet Muhammad. Unsurprisingly, his assassin, Ilm Ud Deen is also celebrated and his shrine/mazar in Lahore is revered by his followers.
Following Kishan Bharwad’s assassination, a number of Islamists posted their support for the murderers on social media.
Social media posts hailing the murderers
In one post, one ‘bigde nawab’ gave 100 salute to the murderers and hailed them as lions. In other post, one ‘Mr Nawab’ showed how proud he was of the two and warned others of thinking a hundred times before ‘opening mouth’.
I asked Kishan’s father if anyone from the Muslim community has expressed regret to him or reached out to him and join him in mourning on death of his son. He said no. No one from the Muslim community has shown solidarity with him.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nation’s Health Agency on Tuesday distorted the political map of India by separating the Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir from the country. In its official global display of COVID-19 related data on the website, the WHO marks Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir with different colours and shows Pakistan’s total COVID count when browsed on Kashmir region.
The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti shared the disputed image and said that the global health watchdog has separated Ladakh and J&K from India by colouring them in different colours. “When clicked over Jammu and Kashmir, COVID data for Pakistan is shown”, it tweeted demanding an apology from WHO and appropriate action by the Ministry of Home Affairs, India.
#WHO_Distorts_IndiaMap On its website, global health watchdog separated Ladakh & J&K from India by colouring them in different colours…When clicked over J&K, #Covid data for #Pakistan is shown!@WHO must apologise & correct the map! We urge @HMOIndia to take appropriate action. pic.twitter.com/lmGelLpcGT
The WHO’s official website reveals the global situation of COVID-19 disease by showing the data of the actual number of affected patients in the last 24 hours. In its online map, the global health observatory has marked Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as ‘not applicable’ data states and displays the total number of COVID patients of Pakistan when browsed.
The map further draws a thin line within Jammu and Kashmir to portray the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as a legitimate part of Pakistan and Ladakh to China. “14,17,991 confirmed cases and 29,248 deaths in Pakistan”, it reads when examined curiously through the Kashmir region. However, no data is displayed as the cursor passes on to the Ladakh region. The map has also notably shown the northern part of Arunachal Pradesh as China.
‘Kargil from Surprise to Victory’, book by 18th Chief of the Army Staff Ved Prakash Malik notes that at present, 55 % of the region that escalated into three wars between India and Pakistan is controlled by India, that includes Jammu, the Kashmir Valley, most of Ladakh, the Siachen Glacier and 70% of its population. Meanwhile, Pakistan controls approximately 35% of the land area that includes Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan; and China controls the remaining 15% of the land area that includes the Aksai Chin region.
This is not the first time when the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh region has been cut off from the map of India. Earlier in the year 2021, the BBC, the public broadcaster of the UK had separated the region from India while reporting on the Delta variant of COVID-19.
In the video, Ros Atkins, Presenter & creator for BBC News UK, talked about how the Delta variant of COVID-19 code-named B.1.617.2 was discovered in India in October 2020 and how the UK allegedly fail to consider travellers from India a threat to the spread of the new variant. The map that was depicted at the 24th second of the video did not have Jammu & Kashmir and the Ladakh region included. However, the changes to the video were made after a severe uproar and the map was replaced by the Indian national flag.
Also, in June 2021, the Twitter website had displayed a distorted map of India, showing Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as separate countries. A map on Twitter’s careers page showed the Kashmir region, including the Himalayan enclave of Ladakh, outside India. The map was revoked all the same after several police complaints were lodged against Twitter’s country head.
Twitter removes distorted map of India from its website, after backlash
According to the World Health Organisation data, India has reported 41,302,440 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 4,95,050 deaths as of 31 January 2021. Globally, a total of 9,901,135,033 vaccine doses have been administered.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2022-23 on Tuesday. She announced several direct tax reforms in her budget speech.
The theme for the direct tax proposal in the Union Budget 2022-23 was the simplification of the tax administration, ease of compliance and relief to disabled and senior citizens. The key aspects of the direct tax proposals impacting individual taxpayers are discussed below.
Direct Tax Proposals:
In a significant reform to tax compliance, Finance Minister Sitharaman announced that a new provision would be introduced to provide an opportunity to taxpayers to file the updated returns, on payment of additional tax, within two years of the end of the relevant assessment year.
Finance Minister Sitharaman also proposed to cut the Alternate Minimum Tax for cooperative societies to 15% to provide them with a level playing field with companies. In addition, this proposal will decrease the surcharge on cooperative societies to 7% for those whose income is between Rs 1 crore and Rs 10 crore.
FM Sitharaman did not announce any change in income tax slabs for 2022-23. There are no changes in slabs or rates and no changes in deductions except NPS. Further, Long Time Capital Gains surcharge is capped at 15% for unlisted assets.
In her budget speech, the Finance Minister also announced to allow payment annuity and lump-sum amount to dependents of differently-abled, during the lifetime of parent or guardian reaching 60 years.
In a first, the Union government also announced a tax on income derived from digital assets. Finance Minister Sitharaman proposed that the government tax income from digital asset transfers at 30%.
The Finance Minister also said that no deduction is allowed while computing income except the cost of acquisition.
TDS of 1% on the payment made for the transfer of a virtual digital asset, above a monetary threshold, announced Finance Minister. The gifts of digital assets will be taxed in the hands of the recipient, Nirmala Sitharaman said.
The Finance Minister said that the corporate surcharge would be reduced from 12% to 7%.
Earlier, she also announced that the government would introduce Digital Rupee using blockchain and other technologies, which is to be issued by RBI starting 2022-23.
In her speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Union Budget sought to lay the foundation and give a blueprint of the economy over ‘Amrit Kal’ of the next 25 years – from India at 75 to India at 100.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that India would have its own digitalcurrency – Digital Rupee.
In her budget speech, Finance Minister Sitharaman announced that a digital rupee will be issued using blockchain and other technologies and will be issued by the Reserve Bank of India starting 2022-23. This will give a significant boost to the economy, said FM Sitharaman.
Digital rupee to be issued using blockchain and other technologies; to be issued by RBI starting 2022-23. This will give a big boost to the economy: FM Nirmala Sitharaman#Budget2022pic.twitter.com/tUdj2DoZCR
In her fourth budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the country is expected to grow at 9.27 per cent in the coming year. The Finance Minister said that the Union Budget 2022-23 focuses on four pillars of development — inclusive development, productivity enhancement, energy transition and climate action, giving a blueprint of the economy from India at 75 to India at 100.
A Delhi Court has sought an action taken report from the Delhi Police in a plea filed against Sudarshan TV news channel and its Editor-in-Chief Suresh Chavhanke for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of people of the Muslim community through his programme named ‘Bindass Bol’ aired in May 2021.
The matter has been rescheduled for a hearing on April 2 before Metropolitan Magistrate Gopal Krishnan of Rohini Courts.
The court said in its order: Let ATR be called from the 10/SHO as to whether any cognizable offence is made out as per the complaint of the complainant and if yes, whether any action has been taken on it or not for NDOH.”
The complaint, filed by Zafir Hussain through Advocate Shakeel Abbas, refers to a news broadcast on Sudarshan TV on May 15, 2021, with the following headlines: आओ इजराइल का साथ दें, कल की लड़ाई का साथी है इजराइल’ (Come support Israel, Israel is the partner of tomorrow’s fight).
The complaint claimed that after witnessing the telecast, his religious sentiments were hurt and that Suresh Chavhanke, through his news channel, intended to create hatred against the community by using insulting and defamatory words against Islam.
Furthermore, the complainant has maintained that, while the transmission in question cannot be approved in any way, such reports or videos clearly demonstrate the accused persons’ professional malfeasance. It is claimed that the accused person’s actions are a “clear blot on the face of freedom of speech and expression by the accused persons.”
It may be recalled that on May 19, 2021, an FIR was registered in Mumbai against Sudarshan News based on the complaint by radical Muslim organization Raza Academy. The FIR was filed pertaining to the aforementioned programme. In the complaint, Raza Academy said that Sudarshan News aired a video that contained visuals showing a missile attack on the dome of the Holy Prophet’s Shrine. The organization also led a social media campaign demanding the arrest of Chavhanke. The FIR was registered under Sections 153(A), 295(A), 505(2) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
Last week, another city Court had asked police to submit an action taken report on a plea filed against Sudarshan News editor-in-chief Suresh Chavhanke for allegedly giving hate speech and promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, at an event organized by Hindu Yuva Vahini in December last year.
Maulana Qamar Gani Usmani was arrested by the Gujarat ATS on January 30 in connection to the brutal murder of a Hindu man named Kishan Bharwad in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad. Usmani has been accused of aiding and abetting Shabbir, the person who had killed Bharwad over alleged ‘blasphemy’.
Several videos have surfaced on social media where Usmani is seen instigating Muslims for violence and even murder if someone insults Prophet Muhammad.
More videos of the Islamic hardliner Maulana Usmani have surfaced where he is seen openly instigating the Muslim community for violence and armed offensive over alleged ‘oppression’.
Usmani says CDS Bipin Rawat’s death was Allah’s answer to govt’s plans against Muslims
In a video available on Facebook, uploaded on January 3 this year, Usmani is seen addressing a gathering of followers. He is seen saying, “Our main enemy is the RSS. RSS is so powerful that at first glance it would seem it is foolish to face them. But we (Muslims) have the blessings and courage given by Allah. If we have faith in Allah, we can face even 10 such powers like RSS. They put me in jail for 19 days. They can jail one Qamar Usmani and one Salman Azhari. Because the world will see our love for our religion. The media should record this statement. If one faithful Muslim gives a call for Jihad, all your missiles and all your Armies will be powerless to face the force of Islam.”
He further says, “It was our mistake that we kept silent when ISIS, with its terrorist actions, made the world believe that jihad is a bad thing. We should have corrected them. We should have told everyone that Jihad is not terrorism but standing upright and doing justice. The day when a real martyr of Islam stands up to inspire Muslims, no forces, no commander can keep Muslims oppressed any longer. They (the Indian government) had appointed one commander for all the three armed forces (CDS Bipin Rawat). See what Allah did to him. All your efforts will fail before the will of Allah”.
Usmani further says that Muslims should not just sit and keep praying, they should act and fight.
Video 2: Usmani says Muslims should prepare to become either Ghazi or Shaheed, Islam doesn’t need people who are concerned over their personal safety
In another video, Usmani is asking Muslim political leaders and lawmakers to make Islam their priority. He says that all the power and positions are useless if the political leaders do not use that for Islam. He adds that political power should only be used to serve Allah and his cause.
He further says that there are some Muslims who fear police arrests and lathi charges. He adds that the cause of Islam does not need followers who are so calculative about their own safety, but it needs fanatics who forget about themselves for the cause.
Usmani says that during the Delhi protests, he had told Muslims that they should forget about personal safety. “We need people who come to the ground with the mentality of sacrifice. Wapas aye to Ghazi, naa aye toh Shaheed (if we return, we are Ghazi and if we fail to return we are martyrs (of Islam).”
Ghazi is an Islamic word that means a warrior who kills for Islam.
He further instigates his Muslim followers to be prepared to sacrifice themselves for the Islamic cause. In this video, Usmani effectively admits that he had instigated the violence during the anti-CAA protests and Delhi riots.
Maulana Usmani wanted to avenge ‘insults to prophet’, was greeted with ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ slogans
While the central government and most state governments take calls to violence seriously, for some reason, open calls given to behead people over alleged instances of ‘blasphemy’, frequently done by one particular community, are often ignored by the authorities. The open calls to kill anyone who mocks or criticises Muhammad, or even shares a social media cartoon, have resulted in the Bengaluru riots, and several murders over the years.
Maulana Usmani was seen not just instigating Muslims to take law in their hands and indulge in violence, he had been endorsing the ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ slogans. In a video from August 2021 that was shared on Twitter by journalist Swati Goel Sharma, the Delhi police personnel were seen desperately trying to stop Maulana Usmani from holding anti-blasphemy protests. “We will go anyhow (to protest) since we have made a call to the public,” he was seen announcing.
In February 2021, Usmani had justified the murder of Kamlesh Tiwari. He had said, “There is a conspiracy to ruin the lives of Muslims. There is an attempt to make India just like Spain. To achieve it, they are testing how much Muslims in India love their Prophet. “
Usmani and the murder of Kishan Bharwad
Kishan Bharwad had in the past shared a social media post that was seen as an insult to Prophet Muhammad by some Islamists.
Usmani was earlier arrested for instigating violence over the fake news of mosque vandalism in Tripura. The murderer Shabbir has reportedly told the police that Usmani had told him that it was his right to kill someone whom he sees as anti-Islamic. Usmani is associated with Tahreek Farogh-e-Islami or TFI. Reports say that ATS suspects Usmani’s organisation is associated with Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Labbaik.
In the murder case of Kishan Bharwad, the Gujarat ATS has so far arrested the killers named Shabbir and Imtiyaz, a Maulvi from Ahmedabad named Ayyub, Maulana Uslamni from TFI, and another few suspects for helping the killers.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman presented the Union Budget 2022 on February 1. This year’s budget was Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s fourth successive budget.
In her speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Union Budget sought to lay the foundation and give a blueprint of the economy over ‘Amrit Kal’ of the next 25 years – from India at 75 to India at 100.
The Union Budget 2022-23 emphasises the MSME sector, a critical sector that makes up for about 45% of the country’s total manufacturing output, 40 per cent of exports, almost 30 per cent of the national GDP.
The Finance Minister has announced that the Emergency Credit Line has been extended till March 2023 for the MSME sector. The guarantee cover has been extended by another Rs. 50,000 crores taking the total cover under the scheme to Rs. 5,00,000 crores. Finance Minister Sitharaman said that the union government intends to focus on the hospitality sector.
Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) will be extended up to March 2023, the guaranteed cover will be expanded by Rs 50,000 crores to total cover of Rs 5 lakh crores: FM Nirmala Sitharaman #Budget2022pic.twitter.com/zmEpuV5DpN
In her speech, the Finance Minister said that the government has decided to roll out Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance (RAMP), an initiative to revitalise the MSME sector that has been heavily impacted by the COVID -19 pandemic.
The MSME sector also got a boost for skilling and enhancing entrepreneurship, said Finance Minister, adding that the government intends to focus more on formalisation.
The Finance Minister announced that MSME’s Udyam, e-Shram, NCS and Aseem portals would be interlinked, and their scope widened.
The Modi government tabled Economic Survey 2021-22 in the Parliament earlier on Monday. It is projected that the economy is expected to grow at 8.0-8.5 per cent in 2022-23.
On January 30, a few videos on Pirana, Ahemdabad, went viral on social media platforms in which a person named Nasir Sheikh alleged the Muslims were forced to leave Pirana by RSS and VHP activists. India TV Journalist Nirnay Kapoor debunked the claims and said there was no mass migration of Muslims from Pirana. In a series of tweets and published a video of Nasir in which he admitted to spreading fake news.
1/3 अहमदाबाद के पिराना से मुस्लिमो के पलायन का विडिओ रिकॉर्ड करने वाले नासिर ने आज एक दूसरा विडिओ जारी करके बताया की उसने विडिओ में जिन लोगों को हिजरत करते हुए दिखाया दरअसल वो लोग कलेक्टर ऑफिस आवेदन पत्र देने जा रहे थे..एक ट्रस्ट के विवाद को उसने कौमी रंग दे दिया ये है आज का बयान pic.twitter.com/5AAwm5uOLy
In his tweet, Kapoor said, “Nasir, who had published videos of Muslims leaving Pirana, has uploaded another video. The Muslims who were shown as leaving the village were, in reality, marching towards the Collector’s office to submit a memorandum. It was an attempt to give communal colour to a dispute between the trusts.”
3/3 पिराना के इमाम शाह बावा ट्रस्ट की जमीन पर दरगाह और निष्कलंकी नारायण मंदिर के बीच 13 साल पुरानी फेंसिंग की जगह दिवार बनाने को लेकर विवाद चल रहा था, कलेक्टर के आदेश के बाद हिन्दू ट्रस्टियों ने दिवार बनाना शुरू किया तो मुस्लिम ट्रस्टी ट्रस्टियों ने लोकल लोगों का मार्च निकला था
Kapoor, who himself went to Pirana for ground reporting, said, “There is no dispute between Hindus and Muslims in Pirana. The dispute is related to the trustees of Imam Shah Trust.” He added there was a fence between Nishaklanki Narayan Mandir and Dargah on Imam Shah Baba Trust. There was a dispute between the two trusts to build a wall in place of the fence. After the Collector’s orders, the Hindu trustees started constructing the wall. Muslim trustees marched in protest of the construction.
Nasir alleged he was misinformed
In the new video uploaded by Kapoor, Nasir, a resident of Batwa, Ahmedabad, said, “When I visited Pirana Dargah, I saw people walking on the road in large numbers. Someone told me they were leaving the place, but the reality was different. They are not leaving Pirana but marching towards Collector’s office to submit a memorandum.”
He further added the matter between the Temple trust and Dargah trust was in court. Some people tried to give it a communal colour, but Hindus and Muslims of Pirana live peacefully. He said, “My videos went viral as well. I want to say when I came to know about the reality, I went to the Police Station and submitted my apology.
Nasir had alleged Muslims were leaving Pirana
Three videos of Nasir had gone viral on January 30. In the first video, he introduced himself and alleged Muslims were leaving Pirana. He said, “300-400 goons of RSS have entered in the village. The Muslims are being forced to leave the village. I request Muslims to send help as soon as possible. I urge media to reach Pirana at the earliest.”
In the second video, he said, “You can see Pirana is a Muslim village. RSS goons have forced Muslims to leave the village with the help of the Police. Everyone including elders, children and women are leaving the village.”
In the third video, he showed a large crowd marching on the road and raising slogans.
Though Nasir alleged he was not aware of the case, in another video, he was seen standing at the temple’s gate.
Nasir was not the only one who alleged Muslims were leaving the village. Another video of one Naqeeb Sayed had gone viral on social media platforms in which he had alleged the same. He said, “A wall is being constructed on the Dargah in Pirana. It is a conspiracy to turn dargah into the temple. When we approached Police, they said they could not do anything as Collector had ordered to construct the wall. This is why all the Imams of Pirana have left their homes with families. We all have left our homes. I am requesting everyone to help us. We will not take the law into our hands. You can see behind me the whole community is on the road.”
What exactly happened in Pirana
The tension in Pirana, a village located 20 KM from Ahmedabad, erupted after the construction of a wall was commenced between Dargah and Temple. The Muslims living in the village have been opposing the construction of a concrete wall at the place of 13-year-old fencing.
The protest, whose videos went viral, was carried out by the Saiyed Muslim residents of the village. They had alleged the wall would cut off access to the dargah from the mosque and graveyard on the premises.
The wall’s construction had started after a resolution was passed by the Trust’s committee on January 25 by majority approval of eight out of eleven members. They had decided to construct the wall to replace the fencing as a part of the renovation work.
KB Patel, SDM Daskroi, told Indian Express, “There is a simple work of replacing the wired fence with a wall that is happening, with district collector’s permission…Three of the trustees had opposed the construction of the wall, but the work had majority permission of trustees, and from a safety point of view, the permission of Collector was also taken to proceed with the resolution passed.”
It is noteworthy the Police were deployed as in 2003 law and order issue had happened in the village. A senior officer of Aslali Police Station was quoted by IE saying, “There have been intermittent protests in the village for the past three-four months with Saiyeds opposing the renovation work on the dargah premises, but nothing untoward has happened… The protesters said they would go to the Collector’s office to give a representation, but there were some elements creating a nuisance by making videos and giving live updates.” The Police detailed 133 protesters, including 64 women, but no FIR was registered in the matter.
Sirajhussein Saiyed, one of the trustees who opposed the wall’s construction, had alleged the construction would change the nature of the shrine. He said, “With the wall, an attempt is being made to change the nature of the shrine. The premise includes a graveyard, a mosque, a dargah and a samadhi (tomb). Now, the wall is being erected around the dargah, which they (the eight trustees) want to stake claim over, and cut off our (Saiyed Muslims) access to the dargah from the masjid and graveyard.”
However, Harshad Patel, another trustee who supported the construction, called the allegations baseless. He said, “The work is being undertaken with the approval of majority trustees and with permission from the Collector. It is being done in accordance with the law and ensuring the security of people. All accusations by (three) other trustees are baseless.”
