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Karnataka: 49-year-old Sharif Siddique arrested for sexually abusing a Christian woman for 4 years after getting her addicted to drugs

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka: 49-year-old Sharif Siddique arrested for sexually abusing a Christian woman for 4 years after getting her addicted to drugs

A Muslim man in Mangaluru was recently arrested by the police for sexually assaulting a 27-year-old Christian woman for many years after her mother had sought the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) help citing police inaction. According to the reports, Mohammed Sharif Siddique, 49, a resident of Chokkabettu, had been sexually assaulting the woman for four years after getting her addicted to drugs.

The victim’s mother had written a letter to the VHP seeking their intervention and stated that the police and her community leaders were not helping her. “Siddique used to take my daughter from her home. He along with his friends kept her with them for days. I have complained to the police as well as our religious leaders but no action has been taken yet. As per my information, Siddique has already married thrice and he has ruined my daughter’s life as well,” the letter by mother read who sought help from Vishwa Hindu Parishad to protect her and her daughter from Siddique.

After the letter went viral and VHP raised the matter, the Surathkal police registered a case under Sections 354 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and arrested Siddique. City police commissioner N Shashi Kumar said that he has been sent to 14 days of judicial custody. According to police, the accused is already married three, and already two drug peddling cases are registered against him.

A police officer said that Siddique was giving the victim sedatives so that he can easily control and sexually assault her. He had also allegedly taken her to his place and kept her confined for days. The victim’s mother had earlier complained to the Mangaluru south and Urwa police, but after failed to act on it, the woman sought VHP’s help, the police officer added.

The victim woman is currently being treated at a counselling centre, and after her treat,cement, her statement will be taken and the probe will move ahead.

Netizens rename Chinese places with hilarious Indian alternatives after China renames 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh

OpIndia Staff
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Netizens rename Chinese places with hilarious Indian alternatives after China renames 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh

What happens when the Wolf-warrior diplomats are met with internet smartcats on an inventive renaming spree? In a notorious development earlier, China with a move to instigate India had renamed 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh. What followed was a strong rebuttal from the MEA stating that assigning new ‘standardised’ names would not alter the fact that Arunachal Pradesh belongs to India.

But when this news broke out to Indian twitter, Indians did what they do the best – giving it back equal force! It all started when a Twitter user named Harpreet (@CestMoiz) tagged a tweet informing China’s move while assigning Indian equivalents to cities in China – currently under Communist occupation. Instantly, Beijing became ‘Bhujang Nagar’, Tibetian capital Lahsa became ‘Laxmangarh’ and Guangzhou opened up as ‘Ghanta Ghar’!

Suddenly, a host of Twitterati joined with an inventive flair to rename Chinese places of interest. By this time, the country’s biggest city, Shanghai had become ‘Shambhunagar’ and the region of Xinjiang was identified as ‘Shivganga nagar’! A thread of comeback gems followed after the host decided to compile some hilarious replies.

It was in the ‘Tank Chowk’ or Tianenmen square where the biggest battle for democracy rose. But it was a Twitter user with an equally chucklesome username @FraudryTrashcan, who gave it back to the Chinese like no one did –

Not just places, even Chinese premier Xi Jinping was also not spared from this renaming spree, who got the new name Shree Jatashankar. As expected, Wuhan got several virus and bat related names, like Chamdagar Nagar (bat city), Covidpur, Keetanu Pradesh (microbe province), Virus-pur etc.

This meme template is not new to Indian social media, for it is deeply inspired by UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s real-life zeal to reclaim urban identities by assigning original names to Indian cities. The laughter riot spread its wings soon with high engagements being received on the original tweets. From Defence experts to established authors, all had their share of laugh at the absurdity of China’s globalist domination dreams. Not so sure about the virus that emerged or the Chinese cuisine that is savoured, Humour, definitely has an Indian variant. But for now, be it at the border or on the Internet, Indians seem to have an upper hand at the ‘The Art of War’.

After ‘Sulli Deals’, another app ‘Bulli Bai’ appears on GitHub targeting Muslim women, created by self-proclaimed Khalistani supporters: Details

Siddhi Somani
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After ‘Sulli Deals’, another app ‘Bulli Bai’ appears on GitHub targeting Muslim women, created by self-proclaimed Khalistani supporters: Details

Months after the controversial Sulli Deals app, that had offered pics of Muslim women as ‘deals’, another such app has appeared on open-source code repository Github. In the recent incident, photos of hundreds of Muslim women were misused and uploaded by an unidentified group on an app using GitHub by the name of ‘Bulli Bai’ on January 1. While the culprits behind the Sulli Deals were never caught and their identity never revealed, the people behind the Bulli Bai app are self-proclaimed supporters of the Khalistani movement, and demand the release of arrested Khalistani terrorists.

The app was hosted at the URL bullibai.github.io, however the same has been taken down now after people started to point out the app on social media and some targets approached the authorities. One Twitter account associated with the app also has been suspended.

The matter came to light after Ismant Ara, one of the female journalists at ‘The Wire’ became a ‘Bulli Bai’ target who happened to inform about her bad start to the New Year 2022. “It is very sad that as a Muslim woman you have to start your new year with this sense of fear and disgust. Of course it goes without saying that I am not the only one being targeted in this new version of #sullideals”, she tweeted.

However, unlike the Sulli deals controversy, the Delhi Police has taken cognizance of the matter and directed concerned officials to take appropriate actions.

Ismat Araa also filed a complaint against the app with the Cyber Cell of Delhi Police, demanding “immediate registration of FIR and consequent action against people behind the auctioning of Muslim women on social media.” In her complaint, she said that the term ‘Bulli Bai’ itself is disrespectful, and the content of the GitHub webpage of the app is clearly aimed at insulting Muslim women, because the term ‘Bulli’ is exclusively used for Muslim women. She wrote that the entire website seems to have been designed with the intent of embarrassing and insulting Muslim women.

Ismat Araa added that she was deeply disturbed by a tweet headlined with “Your bulli bai for the day is @IsmatAraa”, which was accompanied by a doctored photograph. She requested the police to file an FIR under sections 153A, 153B, 354A, 506, 509 of the IPC and sections 66 and 67 of the IT Act.

What is Bulli Bai app

‘Bulli Bai’ is an application that is hosted on GitHub API and operates similar to the ‘Sulli Deals’ app. The app blatantly offers Muslim women as a ‘deal’ for people on social media. While the Twitter handle of the Bulli Bai has been suspended, its bio had read ‘Bulli Bai is a community-driven open-source app by Khalsa Sikh Force (KSF).’ It is pertinent to note that the Bulli Bai Twitter account had a hashtag that read #FreeJaggiNow in its Twitter name, and its banner image also had the same hashtag.

Further revealed by the Twitter location status, it seems that the account is being operated from the USA and is recently created in the month of December 2021 with intentions to pressure the Indian government to release Jagtar Singh Johal, better known as ‘Jaggi’.

OpIndia managed to scroll through the posts by the Twitter account of Bulli Bai, and it can be said that the account regularly posted images of women lifted from Twitter, under the heading ‘Your Bulli Bai for the day is’. They also tagged the Twitter handle of the women it targeted, using the format ‘Your ਬੁੱਲੀ ਬਾਈ of the day is @<Twitterhandle>’. Here, they wrote the words Bulli Bai in Gurmukhī.

One Tweet by Bulli Bai

The Bulli Bai account also retweeted similar tweets posted by other accounts. One such account is named Khalsa Warrior, which is still active on Twitter and had made several images of Women using the Bulli Bai app. After the complaints were filed against the app and the Twitter account, the @bullibai_ Twitter account has been suspended.

The hashtag #FreeJaggiNow history

Jagtar Singh Johal alias Jaggi is a multiple murder accused and was detained in India in November 2017. The hashtag #FreeJaggiNow has been used by several social media handles who paint him as a good man illegally detained by the Punjab Police. We have found that the hashtag was not only promoted on Twitter but other platforms as well. Interestingly, the hashtags #FreeJaggiNow and #FreeJaggi have been making rounds for months without raising any red flags.

The hashtag #FreeJaggiNow was last seen making rounds over social media during the Farmers Protest. As farmers protests made noise in media, the propaganda to use the protests to raise voices for the murder accused Jaggi started to play in the field.

Who is Jagtar Singh Johal or ‘Jaggi’

Jaggi is a British resident from Glasgow, Scotland. In 2017, while he was visiting India to attend a wedding, the Punjab Police arrested him as a suspect in several cases. As per the police reports, he is a staunch Khalistani supporter. He is facing several murder and attempts to murder cases. According to National Investigation Agency’s charge sheets, he has been named in the murder cases of Hindu Takht leader Amit Sharma, RSS leader Brig. (Retd.) Jagdish Kumar Gagneja, RSS leader Ravinder Gosain, Shiv Sena leader Durga Dass Gupta, Pastor Sultan Masih, and Dera Sacha Sauda followers Satpal Sharma and his son Ramesh Sharma.

Jaggi was also accused of paying Rs.27 lakh to the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh Mintoo (deceased) in France in 2013 to assassinate RSS leader Ravinder Gosain. His name also appeared in the attempt to murder Shiv Sena activist Amit Arora and the firing at RSS Shakha in Kidwai Nagar in Ludhiana in 2016.

As Akhilesh Yadav claims SP govt would have built Ram Temple in a year, here is how he suspended Home Secretary for convening a meeting on temple in 2013

OpIndia Staff
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As Akhilesh Yadav claims SP govt would have built Ram Temple in a year, here is how he suspended Home Secretary for convening a meeting on temple in 2013

In a recent statement, Akhilesh Yadav, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party President said that had it been his government, the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya would have been built within a year. The statement was in stark contrast to the earlier stand taken by the then SP government led by him.

The Supreme Court in November 2019 passed a verdict in the longstanding Ayodhya Ram-Janmabhoomi case, giving the judgment in favour of Hindus to build the temple of Lord Ram. Later in February 2020, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra was set up as a trust for the construction of the Mandir by the Government of India on the directions of the Supreme Court.

As the construction of the temple started under the supervision of the Yogi Adityanath led government, the Samajwadi Party chief stated that the BJP was only interested in taking votes in the name of the Ram temple rather than constructing it.

Akhilesh Yadav-led UP govt had suspended Home Secretary in 2013 for convening a meeting on Ram Temple

However, Akhilesh Yadav’s latest proclamations of building a Ram Temple in a year’s time, probably aimed at wooing Hindus ahead of UP assembly elections, run counter to actions undertaken by him back in 2013 when Samajwadi Party was in power in Uttar Pradesh. During that time, he had suspended the then Home Secretary for convening a meeting to discuss aspects for the reconstruction of the Ram Mandir. Senior IAS officer Sarvesh Chandra Mishra was firstly transferred and then suspended for issuing a letter to convene a meeting to discuss the “reconstruction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya on the lines of Somnath Temple.”

“Secretary (home) Mishra mentioned a wrong and extremely misleading subject on a disputed issue in the letter regarding a meeting to be chaired by the principal secretary (home) on 14 October, and signed it,” the official statement said. Mishra, a 1997 batch IAS Officer was the Secretary (Home) of the Uttar Pradesh government. Also, he had to face departmental inquiry for the same.

The SP government called it an “error” and promised action against the guilty. Principal secretary (home) R.M. Srivastava had to apologise for the “error” and take responsibility for the folly of “junior level” officials.

The main motive behind this meeting was to ban a Vishwa Hindu Parishad yatra demanding expedition of the process to facilitate reconstruction of Ram Mandir by the Parliament. The 84 Koshi Yatra by VHP was banned in August the very same year i.e., 2013 under Azam Khan’s pressure. The administration even sought the intervention of paramilitary forces to give effect to the ban.

Samajwadi Party ideologue Mulayam Singh ordered firing on Karsevaks, defended it later

Mulayam Singh Yadav, his father, had authorised opening fire on Kar Sevaks in the Ayodhya Massacre in 1990 when he was in power. In 2017, he stood by the decision he took on October 30, 1990, to ask the forces to fire upon the karsevaks marching towards Ayodhya. If this wasn’t enough, adding insult to the injury, Mulayam Singh Yadav quipped, “If more people were required to be killed for the sake of the country’s unity and integrity, the security forces would have done it.” He earned the sobriquet ‘Mullah Mulayam’ by the Muslim community for issuing orders to fire at karsevaks.

Villagers around Ayodhya slam Indian Express for fake report on land deals, accuse their journalists of using abusive language

राहुल पाण्डेय
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Villagers around Ayodhya slam Indian Express for fake report on land deals, accuse their journalists of using abusive language

The Indian Express had published a news report on 24 December 2021 with the title: “Ayodhya: Kin of officials bought land from the trust under probe for illegal transfer of Dalit land”. This report by Shyamlal Yadav and Sandeep Singh claimed that some officers, politicians and their relatives have purchased land in Ayodhya close to less than five kilometres from the Ram Mandir site after the Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya case, thereby hinting a conflict of interest. However, locals are debunking the so-called Ayodhya land deal controversy. It may be noted that an OpIndia ground report shows that the concerned plots not within 5 km of Ram Mandir site, but are located in villages much farther than that.

To besiege the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya into controversies, the Indian Express has concocted stories about land deals in the nearby villages. OpIndia has reported the details of the news report with fact checks and explained how the local people are astounded by such news reports by the Indian Express. They believe that all this exercise of concocted news reports is done with the sole purpose of defaming the sacred city Ayodhya. According to the local people, the alleged reporters roaming in Ayodhya to report about the land deals are more of some abusers than journalists.

On 27th and 28th December of 2021, OpIndia reporters visited the places which were reported in the Indian Express with dubious intentions. A brief talk with local people has revealed that the whole reporting by the Indian Express is false and deceptive.

The Indian Express report pubilshed on 24 December

‘They defamed the holy city by baseless controversy’

Birauli is situated almost twelve kilometres from the Ram Mandir site. Allegedly, a relative of SDM Ayush Chaudhari is said to have bought some land here. In the local farms, our team could meet Sanjay Kumar Varma who hails from the family of local land dealers. He said, “Our area is unfamed due to the baseless controversies created by such news reports. We are a blameless community, and our lands are having a clear title. Despite all this, we are being made controversial. The land deal was done in perfect accordance with all the necessary laws and regulations. We received the whole amount that we were supposed to. Nobody forced us in any way. But the blot of this defamation is such that anybody will hesitate to buy a piece of land here.”

OpIndia reporter Rahul Pandey in conversation with Sanjay Kumar Varma

‘It is all flooded here during rainy season’

We also met Sandeep Varma in Birauli who said, “I had gone through the Indian Express news. It is nothing more than a rumour. I too possess some land here. I was never pressurised by any leader or bureaucrat. After this news report, none of the land buyers visited the area. Our properties are seen with prejudice. Ram Mandir is more than ten kilometres away from here, while the report claims that we are located just next to the site. In rainy seasons, it is all flooded in here. No new project or hotel etc is seen around. Despite that, the area is being defamed for reasons unknown.”

OpIndia reporter Rahul Pandey in conversation with Sandeep Varma

‘Conspiracy to impede the development’

Itora Chauraha (Hanumat Nagar) is situated on the way to Ayodhya city. Here we met Ravi Tiwari who said, “I live in this locality. Hardly had the area started to develop than some of the opponents have started to kick up a row. Ram Mandir is not less than twelve kilometres away, and yet the rumour is being mongered that it is within five kilometres. This is a rural area. Everyone here would want to find a better buyer for his possessions. Reported rumours will intercept the development of this area. Behind such reports, there lies a conspiracy to impede the development of this area.”

OpIndia reporter Rahul Pandey talking to Ravi Tiwari

Journalists? Or abusing goons?

Land deals in Barhata Manjha area were accused to be the most controversial ones in the Indian Express report. Most of the local land here is related to Maharshi Ramayana Vidyapeeth Trust that is MRVT. It is purported that relatives of Commissioner M. P. Agrawal, DIG Deepak Agrawal, Mayor and BJP MLA have purchased some land here. OpIndia visited the very spot where the claimed land purchase had taken place. A local lady said, “About four to five days ago, a few journalists had visited here whom we were seeing for the very first time. They were heard having a talk with each other in which they were abusing the district magistrate. There was a shorty journalist among them, who was saying that we are here to f*ck the DM’s aunt.”

Locals complaining about the abusive talks by the reporters

Not all the land of MRVT is controversial

OpIndia talked to Indraraj Nishad who lives in Khalik Purwa of Barhata Manjha. He told, “I too had bought land from MRVT. Not all the places in MRVT are controversial. Not all the officers are wrong. If at all anyone has committed something wrong, he will be probed. This fake news has defamed our area everywhere. Now nobody is coming here to buy the land. I was about to sell one small plot of mine, but this news has ensured that no buyer is interested anymore. That is why we insist that media run true news reports.”

OpIndia reporter Rahul Pandey with Indraraj Nishad in Barhat Manjhi

Plan to defame the BJP government

Baburam Gupta of Vasudev Ghat near Ram Mandir is into land deal business. While talking to OpIndia, he said, “I have read the complete news report. This is a sheer lie. The lands at a distance of fifteen to twenty kilometres are reported to be within five kilometres. On the pretext of bureaucrats, it is a plan to defame the BJP government. All these misconceptions are spread by the opposition.”

Baburam Gupta of Vasudev Ghat in Ayodhya said that the reports were false.

Saints of Ayodhya getting angry over this

In a telephonic conversation with OpIndia, Sant Raju Das of Hanumangadhi told that this is nothing but a conspiracy aimed to ensure that no outsider invests his money in Ayodhya. He further said, “Conspirers are none other than the ones who had once claimed Bhagwan Ram to be just a myth. Today, disputes are being raised over the purchase of some land. But have the buyers earned their money by killing someone or doing some criminal act? This is a conspiracy by perverted minded and left-wingers aimed to defame the holy city.

Mahant Ajay Das with other sadhus

Mahant of the Nayak Mandir in Pramod Van of Ayodhya said, “Maybe some people made mistakes. But the way this matter is portrayed is not fair at all.” In a conversation with OpIndia, Mahant Ajay Das of Raghunandan Kunj Mandir in Ayodhya has said, “This is nothing but an illusion spread by the media. Relatives of the officers have purchased the land due to their religious sentiments about the holy city. They were needlessly defamed. But eventually, everything will be crystal clear.”

Pakistani man claims QR code on 7UP bottle bears Prophet Muhammad’s name, asks Pepsi to remove it or face dire consequences

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistani man claims QR code on 7UP bottle bears Prophet Muhammad’s name, asks Pepsi to remove it or face dire consequences

A Twitter user going by the handle @ImranNoshad has posted a video on his Twitter account on December 31 about a Pakistani man threatening American carbonated behemoth Pepsi for printing a QR code with the name of Prophet Muhammad on its 7UP bottles.

In the 1.17-minute long video a man, who identifies himself as Mulla, is heard threatening a Pepsi company’s truck driver with dire consequences if the QR Code on a 7 UP bottle is not removed by the company. On enquiring, Mulla, insisted that the QR code is actually the name of Prophet Muhammad and if the company does not remove the logo he will burn the truck.

The social media user tried to convince him that it is the Quick Response code (QR code), a machine-readable optical label that contains information about the item to which it is attached, but the man seemed to be not convinced. The man was heard saying: “Yeh 7 UP ke bottle par dekhe…aap sidha kar ke dekhe..is par Muhammad ka Naam hain” (See the 7UP bottle, keep it straight and see..you can see the name of Prophet Muhammad).

The social media user recording the entire incident explained to Mulla that the logo he is talking about is actually the QR code, but Mulla maintained the QR code is the name of Prophet.

He then went on to tell the truck driver that he should ask the company authorities to remove the logo or else they will be courting a massive war…we will fight and burn the vehicle.

On enquiring, the driver who stood calmly beside the protestor informed that the truck belonged to PepsiCo. He informed me that he is the driver and the salesman of the company.

Mulla reiterated that he has asked him to appeal to the company to either remove the logo or else be ready to bear the consequences. “Do Teen din baad mein truck jala sakta hoon”, (I can burn the truck after two to three days) warned Mulla, adding: “Mein Allah ke liye kuch bhi kar sakta hoon, jaan bhi de sakta hoon” (I can do anything for Allah, give away my life too).

In his subsequent Tweet, Imran Noshad Khan (@ImranNoshad) wrote: “but later I realized that is a mob and the guy was very aggressive, they can do anything. With difficulty, I seated the driver and made him leave safely.”

He added in another Tweet “When the truck driver left and I was also about to leave, he screamed and said to me that I belong to Jamat-ud-Dawa, and I have also fought in Kashmir, my reach is to upper level.”

Jamaat-ud-Dawah is a banned terrorist organisation founded by Lashkar-e-Taiba chief and Mumbai blast mastermind Hafiz Saeed. The LeT, led by JuD chief Saeed, is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans. Saeed, an UN-designated terrorist whom the US has placed a USD 10 million bounty on, was arrested on July 17 last year in the terror financing cases. The 70-year-old JuD chief is lodged at Lahore’s high-security Kot Lakhpat jail.

Pakistan has suffered widespread communal violence and riots over perceived blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad. An unfavourable reference to Prophet Muhammad, or what is referred to as ‘Blasphemy,’ is frequently used by Islamists as a rallying cry to release their primal impulse of committing heinous acts of violence and communal rioting against ‘non-believers.’ There have been myriad reports of violence and barbarity committed against non-Muslims in the name of blasphemy and desecration of Prophet Muhammad.

After WazirX, offices of several cryptocurrency service providers raided by DGGI for GST evasion

OpIndia Staff
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After WazirX, offices of several cryptocurrency service providers raided by DGGI for GST evasion

The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) has conducted searches at the offices of major cryptocurrency providers in the country, reported ANI. The development comes a day after the GST Mumbai East Commissionerate recovered ₹49.20 crore cash of evaded Good and Service Tax (GST) from renowned cryptocurrency provider WazirX.

While speaking to ANI, sources informed, “Around half dozen offices of Cryptocurrency Service providers have been searched and massive Goods and Service Tax (GST) evasion has been detected by DGGI. The DGGI is investigating Coinswitch Kuber by M/s Bitcipher Labs LLP, CoinDCX by M/s Neblio Technologies PVT. LTD., BuyUCoin by M/S I Block Technologies Pvt. LTD. and Unocoin by M/s Unocoin Technologies Pvt. LTD.”

Furthermore, they emphasised, “They are providing facilitation intermediary services for buying and selling of crypto coins. These services attract GST rate of duty of 18% which all of them have been evading.” ANI reported that although the cryptocurrency providers were charging a commission for bitcoin exchange, they were not paying GST.

Reportedly, the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) investigated the transactions and confronted the service providers with evidence of tax evasion. ANI reported that the Mumbai CGST and DGGI had detected GST evasion to the tune of ₹70 crores.

GST recovered from WazirX, tax evasion detected

On Friday (December 31), Mumbai GST Commissionerate detected tax evasion to the tune of ₹40.5 crores by WazirX. The DGGI recovered ₹49.20 in cash as penalty, and interest for the evaded tax.

Moreover, cryptocurrency managed by WazirX i.e WRX is owned by a Seychelles-based firm named M/s Binance Investment Co. Ltd. During the probe, it came to light that WazirX charged both buyers and sellers for each transaction, including trading, deposit, and withdrawal fees. WazirX used to charge 0.2% commission on rupee transactions but 0.1% commission on WRX transactions.

It was found that the cryptocurrency service provider paid GST only on commission earned through rupees and not through WRX. “The case is a part of the special anti-tax evasion drive, which relies on intensive data mining and data analytics, initiated by the CGST Mumbai Zone,” it said in a press release. GST Mumbai Commissionerate will now probe tax evasion in emerging economic hubs such as online gaming and e-commerce.

Congress left with only two options ‘repeat or delete’: All we know about the protest going on against Rajasthan govt over REET seats

Jhankar Mohta
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Congress left with only two options ‘repeat or delete’: All we know about the protest going on against Rajasthan govt over REET seats

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot took to the microblogging site on December 30 to announce the conducting of the Rajasthan Eligibility Examination of Teachers (REET) in May next year to recruit about 20,000 teachers in the state. This has triggered a protest from youths in the state, demanding that 50,000 teachers should be recruited, not 20,000.

“In the year 2022, it has been decided to conduct the REET exam on May 14-15, so that the state will be able to get about 20,000 new teachers. Provision will also be made for special teachers in this recruitment. This will provide new employment opportunities to the youth,” Congress leader and the Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot had posted on Twitter.

He also directed state officers to prepare an action plan to solve the problems of para-teachers, madarsa para-teachers and panchayat assistants keeping in mind the decisions of the Supreme Court. The decision for the next year examination was taken in a meeting following which Gehlot took to Twitter to announce the same.

Following the announcement, a social media campaign with #REET_50000_नहीं_तो_वोट_नही started trending on Twitter on December 30 and December 31 as many users used the hashtag to protest against the Ashok Gehlot government for being insensitive towards the ongoing demand of the REET candidates in the state to increase the seats from 31,000 to 50,000.

In 2021, the Rajasthan Eligibility Entrance for Teachers (REET) had gotten embroiled in a major controversy. Protests have been carried out by hundreds of candidates levelling allegations ranging from widespread cheating, paper leakage and irregularities in Rajasthan during the holding of the REET examinations to the total number of seats. The latest issue for which the candidates have been agitation at the Shaheed Smarak in Jaipur for the last two months is to increase the number of seats in the REET exam from 31 thousand to 50 thousand.

REET-2021 was held in September to fill around 31,000 teaching positions in which more than 15 lakh candidates had participated. The candidates have been demanding from the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan to increase 31 thousand posts to 50 thousand for the longest time but their demands have gone unheard.

Candidates protest against the Rajasthan govt over demands of increasing the REET post

On December 30, several para-teachers (hired on contract), who had been staging a dharna at Shaheed Smarak in Jaipur demanding regularisation, attempted to march to Delhi to push their demands. The state police used force to stop the protestors from moving forward.

Rolling on the road dharna

A senior police officer privy to the issue said that the agitators wanted to go to the national capital rolling on the road, but were deterred from doing so. “The agitators said they will move to Delhi from Shaheed smarak by rolling. We did not allow this,” the officer said.

According to the officer, the protestors were pushed back toward the dharna site, and more force was deployed in the vicinity to ensure peace and order.

Fast unto death protest against the Congress government in Rajasthan

Candidates also sat on a fast unto death on December 23 to convince the Rajasthan government to pay heed to their demands.

Mukesh Chaudhary, a candidate sitting on fast unto death, said that a large number of posts are vacant in the education department, but even after this, the government is not paying any attention to it. It has been 8 days since the fast unto death protest was initiated, but our demands have gone unheard. We will give our lives at the dharna site itself but will not end the agitation, said Chaudhary.

The health of the candidates sitting on the protest has been deteriorating as a result of the severe winter. During talks held with the state government, we were assured that the REET posts would be increased but no action has been taken yet. The protest will go on until the demand is met, added Mukesh Chaudhary.

According to reports, on the third day of the fast unto death protest, Rajasthan Berozgar Ekirit Mahasangh’s Upen Yadav was admitted to the ICU of Sawai Man Singh (SMS) hospital with a low sugar level. He has been demanding a CBI investigation into the REET examination paper leakage incident and fulfilment of 20 other demands.

Semi-naked dharna

Simultaneously, the candidates have begun a semi-naked protest in which they are sitting in the open in the freezing cold with their bear bodies to press the Rajasthan Congress government to fulfil their demands of increasing the number of available REET seats from 31000 to 50000.

On December 30, one of the protesters told Since Independence that “76 days have passed since we have been protesting at the Shaheed Samarak, but, till now, no MLA or government minister has taken care of us. Our demonstration will continue until the number of REET positions is increased, else, we will stage a dharna here and the protest banners will become our shrouds.”

The candidates protesting at the Shaheed Samarak slammed the Congress government in the state for turning a blind eye towards their demands. A protestor named Mahendra told the media present there: “We are the youth of Rajasthan. The Congress government here has only two options now- repeat or delete”.

“Why should we allow Rahul Gandhi to run for Prime Minister? He goes to all BJP-ruled states to make big promises, but in the state where his own party is at the helm of affairs, he remains nonchalant. Rajasthan’s youth are being ignored by the Chief Minister of his party. The young of Rajasthan were disregarded even when Rahul Gandhi came here for an anti-inflation protest. We are giving the Congress govt only two options. This Congress administration should decide whether it wants to be ‘repeated’ (re-elected) in the state or be ‘deleted’ (removed) for power after the next five years,” the protester said .

The REET seat controversy rocks Congress govt in Rajasthan

The controversy began after the Rajasthan government announced the hiring of 31 thousand third-grade teachers in the education department two years ago. However, the recruitment process is still yet to begin. In such a situation, the unemployed have pushed for an increase in the number of positions available. Unemployed people are calling for the hiring of 50,000 third-grade teachers. They claim that the number of open positions has risen in the last two years. In this case, the government should boost the number of available positions to 50,000. However, the unemployed continued to protest as the administration failed to meet their demands.

On December 24, 2019, the Rajasthan government issued a notification for the recruitment of 31 thousand people and announced that the REET would be held on August 2, 2020. Corona prevented the examination from taking place, and the date was postponed six times. REET was conducted by the government on September 26th of this year, and the results were also revealed. As a result, 11,04,216 individuals qualified as teachers. Level one eligibility was granted to 3,30,604 candidates, while level two eligibility was granted to 7,73,612 candidates. Following the outcome, there was a surge in demand for the post to be increased.

Instances of REET paper leak

Several instances of REET paper being leaked to applicants hours before the exam, and students being spotted wearing slippers with Bluetooth sets have purportedly surfaced, prompting questions being raised over the way the exam was conducted. As many as 20 government officials and employees have so far been suspended for allegedly being involved in the leaking of paper. The BJP has sought the resignation of state Education Minister Govind Singh Dotasra, stating that if he does not resign on his own, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot should fire him.

REET cheating issue in Rajasthan

Satish Poonia, State BJP Chief, Rajasthan, was quoted as saying that the BJP demands CBI inquiry in the REET cheating matter. According to reports, for nearly 12 hours, the state’s internet was unavailable. To get to their allocated centres, several students candidates had to travel for hours. However, the inconsistencies and claims of cheating have sparked considerable dissatisfaction and calls to hold the teacher recruitment exam again.

ATM service charges increase from Rs 20 to Rs 21 starting today: All you need to know

OpIndia Staff
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ATM service charges increase from Rs 20 to Rs 21 starting today: All you need to know

The service charges per transaction for Automated Teller Machines (ATM) across banks have increased to Rs 21 from Rs 20 starting Saturday after the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) issued an order stating that customers will have to pay Rs 1 more beyond the permissible free transactions for cash as well non-cash purposes.

The RBI, in its order dated June 10, 2021, had said that from January 1, 2022, banks are allowed to levy Rs 21, Re 1 more than the previous charge of Rs 20, with applicable taxes, if any, shall be additionally payable.

“Customers are eligible for five free transactions (inclusive of financial and non-financial transactions) every month from their own bank ATMs. They are also eligible for free transactions (inclusive of financial and non-financial transactions) from other bank ATMs viz. three transactions in metro centres and five transactions in non-metro centres. Beyond the free transactions, the ceiling/cap on customer charges is Rs 20 per transaction, as prescribed vide circular DPSS.CO.PD.No.316/02.10.002/2014-2015 dated August 14, 2014. To compensate the banks for the higher interchange fee and given the general escalation in costs, they are allowed to increase the customer charges to Rs 21 per transaction. This increase shall be effective from January 1, 2022. Applicable taxes, if any, shall be additionally payable,” stated the notification.

All banks provide their customers with five free transactions, including financial and non-financial transactions, provided they are done from their own bank ATMs.

Besides, customers also get free transactions from ATMs of other banks depending on their place of residence. For instance, people living in metro centres get three free transactions from other bank ATMs while those residing in non-metro centres get 5 free transactions.

In a nutshell, customers who transact at other banks’ ATMs after exhausting their free ATM transactions will have to pay Rs 21 and additional GST charges for using the services.

ATM service charges revised after over 7 years

The change in service fee from Rs 20 to Rs 21 has come after over 7 years. The last revision in service charges on ATM transactions was made in August 2014 while a change in interchange fee structure for ATM transactions was made over 9 years ago, in August 2012.

Last year, the RBI issued a circular, notifying about the changes made in the ATM service charges starting January 1, 2022. The central bank had cited the increasing cost of ATM deployment and expenses towards ATM maintenance incurred by banks or white-label ATM operators to justify the hike.

As per Ashwani Rana, the founder of Voice of Banking, who spoke to ANI, said the hike is very nominal as compared to ATM charges the banks have to bear. “The increase of service charges per ATM transaction will be charged from the customers beyond a number of transactions permitted by the respective banks. This increase is only Rs 1 plus Goods and Services Tax (GST), which is very nominal to customers against the maintenance charges paid by banks as earlier they were charging Rs 20,” Rana said.

The CEO of RapiPay Fintech, Nipun Jain, clarified that customers withdrawing cash using Micro ATMs and Aadhaar Enabled Payment System(AEPS) won’t be affected by RBI’s latest guideline to increase ATM service charges.

“We believe this will boost the already growing demand for cash withdrawal through AEPS and Micro ATMs at our direct business outlets and help us in achieving our goal of growing financial inclusion in deeper geographies and far-flung areas like North East, Kashmir, Ladakh, and Uttrakhand. We have sold over one lakh Micro ATMs since we began operations last year. Our average ticket size of withdrawal has climbed from Rs 3500 to Rs 3800, with a CAGR growth of 25 per cent in Micro ATMs in the last one year,” Jain said.

Delhi Police sub-inspector, who had made Sonia Gandhi cry after Batla house encounter, dies in road accident

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi Police sub-inspector, who had made Sonia Gandhi cry after Batla house encounter, dies in road accident

A 52-year-old Delhi Police sub-inspector Sanjeev Lochan, who was part of the Special Cell team that killed two terrorists of Indian Mujahideen at Batla House in September 2008 in Delhi, died in a road accident on Thursday.

Notably, the Congress party had claimed that the party president Sonia Gandhi had cried bitterly after seeing the images of the slain terrorists.

Delhi police said that the officer was crossing the road at Dwarka’s Baba Haridas Nagar on the afternoon of December 28 in Southwest Delhi when three men on a bike ran over him. The incident took place in front of Baba Haridas Nagar police station where Lochan was posted.

Lochan with severe head injuries was rushed to Venkateshwar Hospital in critical condition. On Thursday morning (December 30), he succumbed to injuries. Lochan is survived by his wife and two children who live in Janakpuri.

The accused were not wearing helmets and were arrested from the spot. But they were released on bail since the offences they were booked for, namely rash driving, causing death by negligence, and sections of the Motor Vehicles Act are bailable.

Lochan was a meritorious officer with medals and out of promotions

Lochan had joined the police force in 1988 as a constable. Considered a meritorious officer, he received several medals and two out-of-turn promotions.

He had received the President’s Gallantry award in 2007 for gunning down two Bangladeshi terrorists in Delhi. He was also awarded two ‘Asadharan Karya Puraskar’ by the city police chief.

His elder brother Arun Kumar Sharma, who is a retired CISF officer, said that Lochan was set to be promoted as inspector. But his sad demies left the family and police shocked.

Batla House encounter

During the Batla House encounter on September 19, 2008, Delhi Police had neutralised terrorists namely Atif Amin and Mohammad Sajid. Terrorists were hiding in a locality in Delhi’s Jamia Nagar, after killing about 30 people in Delhi serial blasts. Lochan was part of the 20 members Special Cell Team of Delhi Police headed by Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma.

Mohammad Saif was arrested and Shahzad and Junaid managed to escape who were arrested later on.

Although brave Delhi Police cop Mohan Chand Sharma was martyred, several politicians began peddling conspiracy theories to suggest that the encounter was a false-flag operation.

Sonia Gandhi cried

Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid, in one of his rallies during the 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections had claimed that party president Sonia Gandhi cried bitterly after seeing the images of the slain terrorists.

Khurshid had said, “When we showed Sonia Gandhi the images of the ‘incident’, she started crying bitterly and with folded hands, she said please do not show me these pictures. Immediately go and speak to the Wazir-e-Azam (Dr. Manmohan Singh) and discuss the matter. I talked to the PM and it was decided that the matter will be further investigated.”

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