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When Karan Thapar tried to undermine India’s win in 1971: Here is what Sam Manekshaw said in the interview

OpIndia Staff
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When Karan Thapar tried to undermine India’s win in 1971: Here is what Sam Manekshaw said in the interview

On the fiftieth anniversary of the Bangladeshi Liberation War, a snippet from an old interview of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw with Karan Thapar has gone viral on the internet in which the journalist is heard undermining India’s heroic triumph in the 1971 India-Pakistan war that liberated Bangladesh from Pakistan.

The snippet which was earlier shared by Twitter user @tequieremos on December 16, 2020, is once again doing the rounds, as the nation is commemorating 50 years of India’s victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war and the formation of Bangladesh.

At around 15 minutes into the interview on BBC’s Face-to-Face in the year 1999, Karan Tapar asked Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw whether India won because the Pakistan army proved to be incompetent in the 1971 war? Instead of crediting the Indian army for standing up to Pakistan’s army valiantly, the veteran writer suggests that India succeeded because Pakistan was weak and inept.

“To what extent did you win because the Pakistani military leadership proved to be incompetent, for instance, I gathered they had no fallback strategy,” asked Karan Thapar.

Vehemently objecting to the journalist’s inferences, the former CAOS is heard saying: “No it’s not true. The Pakistani army in East Pakistan fought very gallantly but they had no chance. They were a thousand miles from their base. I had eight or nine months to make my preparations. I had got a superiority of almost fifteen to one. They just had no chance.”

It may be recalled how last year another clip from 2002 had gone viral in which Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, one of India’s greatest war heroes, had narrated how the Pakistani Prisoner of Wars of the 1971 India-Pakistan war had hailed the professionalism of the Indian Army following Indian victory in the war that liberated Bangladesh from Pakistan.

The Retired General said that a Pakistani staffer revealed how the Indian general had saved his family. The Pakistani staffer at the Governor’s residence said that five of his sons were PoWs of the 1971 war, who were treated with a lot of respect despite being Pakistani soldiers.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of 93,000 Pakistani military and government personnel surrendering to the Indian Army, putting an end to the Bangladesh Liberation War, which began on December 3, 1971. This was the largest army surrender ever.

On the occasion of the 50th Vijay Diwas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday participated in the homage and reception ceremony of ‘Swarnim Vijay Mashaals’ at the National War Memorial in Delhi. He was accompanied by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The Prime Minister also laid a wreath at the war memorial.

Meanwhile, the Indian President- Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday left for a three-day state visit to neighbouring Bangladesh to attend the 50th Victory Day celebrations as the guest of honour. Besides paying tribute at the National Martyrs Memorial in Savar and meeting Muktijoddhas of the 1971 war, the Indian President will also be inaugurating and reviewing the newly constructed section of the Ramna Kali temple in Dhaka which was demolished by the Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. At that time, the barbaric Pakistani Army had slaughtered hundreds of Hindus inside the temple before eventually razing it down. 

Wuhan lab-leak the likely origin of Covid, virus most likey engineered: Biologist tells UK parliament

OpIndia Staff
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Wuhan lab-leak the likely origin of Covid, virus most likey engineered: Biologist tells UK parliament

A Canadian molecular biologist Dr Alina Chan has told the UK Parliament that it is reasonable to believe that Covid-19 was genetically engineered in China.

Dr Alina Chan claimed that a leak from a laboratory in the Wuhan region of China was more likely the origin of this global pandemic.

The statement has come at a time when the new Covid variant ‘Omicron’ is beginning to be a cause of fresh concern around the world and the WHO’s attempts to appease China has been facing criticism.

Chan who is a specialist in gene therapy and cell engineering told this to the Science and Technology Select Committee of the House of Commons which is probing into the source of the origin of the virus and its impact on human life.

She has also co-authored a book with, Lord Matt Ridley ‘Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19,’ that has deeply investigated the source of the killer virus.

Recording her statement before the Parliament panel’s evidence session she said that the pandemic was caused by the unique feature of the coronavirus called furin cleavage site which has been linked to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Chan is a researcher at Harvard and MIT. She said that the bulk of circumstantial evidence points towards an accidental research-related emergence of SARS2 in Wuhan. A natural origin has been investigated more thoroughly than a lab origin, yet no dispositive evidence has been found.

Chan said that the Chinese Communist Party had covered up the initial outbreak in Wuhan two years ago and China also attempted to sabotage the inquiry set up by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to trace the origin of the pandemic.

It is notable here that the WHO ‘fact-finding’ team that went to Wuhan included US scientist Peter Daszak, whose own organisation Eco Health Alliance was funding the gain of function research of zoonotic viruses in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The same scientist has been vocally dismissing ‘lab origin’ theories of the coronavirus pandemic and had also been using his influence to shut down lab origin allegations as baseless.

Virus was probably modified in the lab before leak

Asked whether the virus was modified in the lab before the leak, Chan said that she heard from many top virologists that a genetically engineered origin of this virus was reasonable.

“And this includes virologists who themselves have made modifications to the first SARS virus,” she said.

She said that this virus has a very “unique feature, called the furin cleavage site that makes it the pandemic pathogen it is. So, without this feature, there’s no way this would be causing this pandemic.”

She referred to the proposal of US-based EcoHealth Alliance and the Wuhan Institute of Virology that got leaked in September. The proposal talks about the plan to put human-specific furin cleavage sites into SARS-like viruses in the lab.

“So, you find these scientists who said in early 2018 ‘I am going to put horns on horses’ and at the end of 2019 a unicorn turns up in Wuhan city,” she said.

Chan said that scientists who were part of this secret project should explain that their work did not result in the creation of SARS-COV2 that caused the pandemic and an investigation of documents made available by EcoHealth Alliance could hold the key.

No single infected animal found as the progenitor of this pandemic

WHO and China tried hard to convince the world that the virus might have passed from bats to humans through another animal. Such studies chiefly aimed to dismiss the laboratory leak theory and let people believe that the virus had a natural origin.

Lord Matt Ridley who also joined the evidence session supported Chan’s assertion that it was a lab leak and not the act of bats.

“We have to face the fact that after two months we knew the origins of SARS through markets, and after a couple of months, we knew the origin of MERS through camels. In this case, after two years we still haven’t found a single infected animal that could be the progenitor of this pandemic; that’s extremely surprising,” he said.

Ridley said that systematic attempts were made to stop any discussion on the topic. But the facts will have to be dug out to prevent the next pandemic.

“We also need to know to deter bad actors who are watching this episode and thinking that unleashing a pandemic is something they could get away with,” he said.

When will the truth come out

As the select committee is set to submit the report by the next year, Chan said that the truth of the origin of the deadly virus will eventually come out.

Right now, it’s not safe for people who know about the origin of the pandemic to come forward,” she said. 

“But we live in an era where there is so much information being stored that it will eventually come out”, she added.  

SC collegium refuses to elevate Bombay HC judge as permanent judge for her insensitive ‘skin-to-skin contact’ verdict, to revert as district judge

OpIndia Staff
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SC collegium refuses to elevate Bombay HC judge as permanent judge for her insensitive ‘skin-to-skin contact’ verdict, to revert as district judge

The Supreme Court collegium has once again refused to elevate the Bombay HC judge Justice Pushpa V Ganediwala who had drawn flak for her controversial “skin-to-skin” order on sexual assault at the beginning of the year, as a permanent judge or provide her with an extension as an additional judge. Justice Pushpa Ganediwala is currently a Judge in the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court.

Despite the fact that Justice Pushpa V Ganediwala’s tenure is set to expire in February 2022, the SC Collegium has rejected her elevation as a High Court judge for the second time in a row. As she has not been elevated and her term as High Court judge has not been extended, Justice Pushpa V Ganediwala will revert back as a District Judge after her term as an ad hoc High Court judge ends in February.

Prior to this, the Collegium headed by then CJI S A Bobde was compelled to withdraw its January 20, 2020 recommendation to the Union government to appoint her as a permanent judge of Bombay HC, after the controversy over her back-to-back insensitive judgements in the POCSO case came to light the same month.

The Collegium had then recommended extending her ad hoc judgeship only for a year considering the insensitivity she had displayed towards children facing sexual abuse.

The Supreme Court Collegium approved the appointment of 3 Additional Judges of the Bombay High Court as Permanent Judges, Madhav Jayajirao Jamdar, Amit Bhalchandra Borkar and Shrikant Dattatray Kulkarni.

Bombay HC judge not made permanent over her insensitive ‘skin to skin contact’ verdict

It may be recalled that on January 24, the Bombay High Court bench of Justice Pushpa V Ganediwala had, in a shocking verdict, ruled that groping without skin-to-skin contact is not sexual assault. She had observed that the act involving a minor would not amount to sexual assault if the accused did not remove the top of the minor or slide his hands under her garment.

“The act of pressing the breast of a child aged 12 years, in the absence of any specific detail as to whether the top was removed or whether he inserted his hand inside her top and pressed her breast, would not fall under the definition of ‘sexual assault’,” Justice Ganediwala had observed.

The case pertained to a matter from 2016 where the appellant in the case was accused of taking the minor victim, aged around 12 years, to his house under the pretext of giving her guava and then proceeded to press her breast and attempted to remove her salwar. Her mother, fortunately, reached the spot right then and rescued her daughter.

The victim confirmed the series of events. In light of the facts on hand, the Bombay High Court had held that “the appellant is acquitted under Section 8 of the POCSO Act and convicted under minor offence u/s 354 of IPC and sentenced him to undergo R.I. for one year and to pay fine of Rs.500/-, in default of fine to suffer R.I. for one month. The sentence for the offence punishable under Section 342 of the Indian Penal Code i.e. six months and fine of Rs.500/-, in default to suffer R.I. for one month, is maintained.”

Later, in another case, Justice Ganediwala had controversially ruled that “the acts of ‘holding the hands of the prosecutrix’ (female victim), or opened zip of the pant’…does not fit in the definition of sexual assault,'” and overturned a man’s conviction under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses). A five-year-old girl was the assault victim in this case.

Dehradun: Rahul Gandhi claims that the USA defeated Afghanistan after 20 years, repeats his pet lies

OpIndia Staff
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Dehradun: Rahul Gandhi claims that the USA defeated Afghanistan after 20 years, repeats his pet lies

Rahul Gandhi has a close relationship with gaffes, as he goofs up in almost every speech he makes. Today when he addressed the ‘Vijay Samman Rally’ organised by the Congress party in Dehradun in Uttarakhand, it was no exception. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi claimed that the USA defeated Afghanistan after 20 years, which is factually inaccurate.

He made the claim while talking about the Indian armed forces. Rahul Gandhi said that Indian forces had defeated Pakistan in just 13 days in the 1971 war, while most wars last for months and years. As an example, he said that the American forces defeated Afghanistan in 20 years.

There are multiple inaccuracies in Rahul Gandhi’s statement. First, the USA was not at war with Afghanistan to defeat it. Actually, the USA was the ally of the Afghan government and was helping the elected government to fight radical forces like Taliban and Islamic State. The second and most obvious inaccuracy is, the USA didn’t defeat Afghanistan after 20 years. In fact, the Taliban captured power in Afghanistan defeating the combined power of the USA and Afghan govt forces.

In August this year, the American forces hastily left Afghanistan following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, leaving a large number of military equipment behind.

Rahul Gandhi made other questionable comments on war and defence too. He said that when India defeated Pakistan in the 1971 war, it was not the victory of the Army or Navy or the Air Force. ‘That is not correct, every person, every caste, every religion defeated Pakistan together’, he claimed.

Rahul Gandhi repeated his pet claims in his speech, by saying that the government is working only for 2-3 rich people. He claimed that the govt has exempted the 2-3 industrialists from paying taxes, but refuses to pay compensation to farmers who died during the protests. The govt is doing it for 2 industrialists, he claimed.

Rahul Gandhi further claimed that demonetisation and GST are two weapons of the select industrialists that are being implemented by the central govt.

The Congress leader said that India was able to defeat Pakistan in 13 days because India’s economy was strong, and there was better coordination between the armed forces and the govt, but the situation is not same. ‘No matter how many photos of Rafale fighters are shown, fighter aircraft don’t win wars’, Rahul Gandhi added, returning to his other favourite topic, the Rafale jets.

Rahul Gandhi addressed the ‘Vijay Samman Rally’ organised by the Congress party in Dehradun during his first visit to the state ahead of the assembly elections. The rally was organised almost two after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had addressed a rally in Dehradun, where he had also inaugurated and laid foundation stones for various development projects in the state on December 4.

While Rahul Gandhi keeps attacking Ambani-Adani, Congress govt in Rajasthan gives 1,600 hectares of land to Adani Group

OpIndia Staff
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While Rahul Gandhi keeps attacking Ambani-Adani, Congress govt in Rajasthan gives 1,600 hectares of land to Adani Group

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been the frontrunner of the group of people who keeps targetting business tycoons Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani in almost every speech. Even during the recent rallies that Rahul Gandhi led in Rajasthan, he attacked Adani-Ambani in his speeches. Contrary to what their leader says, the Congress-led Rajasthan government has allotted 1,600 hectares of land to Adani Group on lease to build a solar park.

‘The country is being run by crony capitalists’

Rahul Gandhi has stated multiple times during his speeches that the country is being run by two-three corporate houses. Recently, while addressing the gathering during a rally organized by Congress in Jaipur, Gandhi had said, “Airports, coal mines, supermarkets, wherever you see, only two people are visible. Adani Ji and Ambani Ji.” Now, as the Rajasthan government has given land to Adani Group for the solar plant, Rahul Gandhi’s speeches against him are making rounds on social media platforms.

People are calling out Congress for its hypocrisy. Twitter user Ankur Singh wrote, “Rahul Gandhi did rally in Rajasthan attacking Modi Govt, saying it gives land to Adani. On Wednesday, the Congress govt in Rajasthan allotted 1600 hectares of land to Adani. Why Ashok Gehlot?

Another Twitter user Rishi Bagree said, “Dear Haters, Your Favourite Congress government in Rajasthan just gave Adani 1600 hectares of land at a very subsidized rate to build a 1500 MW solar park.”

Twitter user Arunaksh Bhandari said, “Congress government in Rajasthan has given 1600 hectares of land to Adani group to set up five solar projects in State. Rahul baba own people are supporting Adani. Why Congress leaders don’t listen to him?”

Adani Renewable Energy Park

On December 15, the Gehlot cabinet held a meeting and took the decision to give 1,600-hectare land to Adani Group to set up a 1,500 MW solar park. Adani Group and the Government of Rajasthan have formed a joint venture company for the solar park. In the cabinet meeting, district-wide land was divided for the upcoming Adani Renewable Energy Park.

In the meeting, it was agreed upon to provide 1324.14 hectares in Bhimsar, Madhopur, Sadrasar villages, 276.86 hectares in Batayadu and Nedan villages for the solar park. At the same time, Adani Group will get 64.38 hectares of government land on lease in the Keralian village of Jaisalmer for a 30 MW wind-solar hybrid power project.

It is noteworthy that recently, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met Gautam Adani at the State Secretariat’ Nabana’ in Kolkata. The two discussed investment options in West Bengal. Adani also confirmed that he would attend the Bengal Global Business Summit scheduled for April next year. Interestingly, TMC has also been accusing the Modi government of favouring the Adani Group.

Army chief General Naravane takes over as chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee till the selection of a new Chief of Defence Staff

OpIndia Staff
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Army chief General Naravane takes over as chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee till the selection of a new Chief of Defence Staff

Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane has taken over the charge as the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (CSC) as a stop-gap arrangement. Naravane, who is the senior-most among the three service chiefs, will continue to head CSC till the post of the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) is filled.

CSC includes IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal Air Marshal Balabhadra Radha Krishna and Navy Chief Admiral Radhakrishnan Hari Kumar who had taken over their respective positions on September 30 and November 30.

After the demise of General Bipin Rawat, the Indian government for the time being has adopted the old system of CSC. Under this system, the senior-most among the three service chiefs is appointed as chairman of the CSC to ensure coordination among the three forces. After the creation of the post of Chief of the Defence Staff, the post of CSC was abolished, but now it has been revived on a temporary basis.

The post of the CDS fell vacant following the demise of General Bipin Rawat in a chopper crash on December 8, who was appointed as the first CDS of India. In December 2019, the post of CDS was created as the head of defence forces of the country.

The CDS also heads the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) as its secretary. Under the new arrangement, the Air Marshal who is also the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, will report to General Naravane. Air Marshal will act as Deputy Chief of Defence Staff.

Additional secretary Lt General Anil Puri looks after the work of the secretary of DMA. In December 2019, DMA was constituted as the fifth department of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to frame policies on security-related matters. The other four departments are the Department of Defence, the Department of Defence Production, the Department of Defence Research and Development, the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare.

Hunt for the new CDS going on

The sudden demise of extraordinary military leader General Rawat created a void and an extraordinary situation. General Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 12 other military personnel lost their life after their military chopper crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu.

On the evening of December 8, the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met to discuss the situation. However, so far there is no official word about the new CDS, certain names are being discussed in the security establishments who are among the front runner.

General Naravane is considered the frontrunner for the post who took charge as the 27th Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) on December 31, 2019. He was the 40th Vice Chief of Army Staff, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Command and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Army Training Command. Naravane is set to retire in April 2022.

Former IAF chief RKS Bhadauria had served as the Chief of the Air Staff from September 30, 2019 till 30 September 2021. Having served the IAF for 42 years, he has the experience of flying 27 types of fighter aircraft and transport aircraft for over 4,270 hours.

The current Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari is also among the contenders of this post who had joined IAF on December 29, 1982 as a fighter pilot. Prior to this, he served as the 45th Vice Chief of the Air Staff and as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Air Command. He has over 3800 hours of flying experience and also served as the Assistant Chief of Air Staff Operations (Air Defence) at Air Headquarters and as the Deputy Commandant at the Air Force Academy, Dindigul.

Admiral Radhakrishnan Hari Kumar is the 25th Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) of the Indian Navy. Prior to this, he served as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command. he joined the Indian Navy on January 1, 1983. He has also served as the Vice Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Personnel, the Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet, and as the Chief of the Staff of the Western Naval Command.

Indrani Mukerjea claims daughter Sheena Bora is alive, asks CBI to look for her in Kashmir

OpIndia Staff
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Indrani Mukerjea claims daughter Sheena Bora is alive, asks CBI to look for her in Kashmir

Indrani Mukerjea, who was imprisoned in Mumbai’s Byculla jail in 2015 for murdering her own daughter Sheena Bora 2012, has made a shocking disclosure, claiming that her daughter is still alive and resides in Jammu and Kashmir. In a letter written to the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Mukerjea has asked the agency to look for Sheena Bora in Kashmir.

In the letter to Subodh Jaiswal, Mukerjea reportedly wrote that she recently came across a woman in prison who claimed to have met Sheena Bora in Kashmir. Thus, she urged CBI to search for her daughter in Jammu and Kashmir.

Asked about Indrani Mukerjea’s sensational claims, her lawyer Sana Khan said: “She wrote to the CBI, we have no details of what she wrote.”

Besides, Mukerjea has also filed an application before the special CBI court, which is expected to come up for hearing soon.

Sheena Bora murder case

Sheena Bora murder case has been one of the most shocking murder mysteries of recent times, especially because of the fact that Indrani and her millionaire husband managed to cover up the crime for 3 years.

On 24 April 2012, Sheena took a leave of absence from Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd through an e-mail. Indrani is the former CEO of INX Media. Soon after her ‘leave of absence’, she ‘resigned’ via email. She was in a relationship with Rahul Mukerjea, son of Indrani Mukerjea’s husband, Peter Mukerjea. Indrani, who was her mother in reality but had told everyone she was Sheena’s sister, did not approve of the relationship. Peter is the former CEO of STAR India.

Sheena was never seen by anyone after 24th April. She was believed to have been killed the same night itself. Indrani had reportedly teamed up with her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna killed her. Prior to her murder, Indrani had reportedly carried out a recce of the location site where the body would be dumped. After killing Sheena, Indrani had brought the body to their home in Worli where it was stuffed inside a suitcase. The next day, Sheena’s body was taken out, propped up as a passenger and was taken to Raigad near Mumbai.

There, the body was again stuffed into a bag which was then set on fire.

On May 23, 2012, villagers of Pen Tehsil, Raigad had complained of foul odour and found a body. There was no identification mark and no one linked it to Sheena Bora. The DNA samples were collected and were kept. The case remained a mystery.

Three years later, when Indrani’s driver, Shyamvar Rai, was arrested in an illegal arms case, the details of Sheena Bora murder case emerged. Rai has since then turned approver.

Indrani Mukerjea turns approver in INX Media scam

On the other hand, Indrani Mukerjea has also been at the centre of the CBI’s case against former Union Minister P Chidambaram in the INX Media corruption case. In July 2019, Indrani Mukerjea had submitted a plea to turn approver in the INX Media Case, which was approved by courts.

Indrani, who is currently locked up in Mumbai’s Byculla Jail is accused of the murder of her daughter Sheena Bora. Indrani is the co-founder of INX Media with her then-husband Peter Mukerjea, which allegedly received foreign investment clearances in return for bribes paid to the Chidambaram in 2008. The probing agency even claims that both Indrani and Peter reportedly paid bribes to Chidambaram, ensuring that there is no delay in their application.

CNN producer fantasised about sexual acts with fiancee’s teenage daughter, solicited her sexually explicit photos: Details

OpIndia Staff
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CNN producer fantasised about sexual acts with fiancee’s teenage daughter, solicited her sexually explicit photos: Details

Days after CNN producer John Griffin was arrested on allegations of raping minor girls, another controversy has rocked the US-based media house. Project Veritas, a US journalism venture, has published graphic texts and videos in which a CNN producer fantasises about molesting his own fiancee’s daughter. The CNN producer apparently also sought to solicit sexually explicit photographs from his fiancee’s teenage daughter, according to the undercover video and text message.

The text messages and videos were reportedly obtained by one Janine Banani, a case manager for human trafficking victims, as well as those of domestic violence and sexual assault. Banani was involved in a relationship with the accused CNN producer for over a decade.

Banani said that it was a hard decision to make but she decided to help the teenager as she too was a victim of sexual assault when she was 13-years-old. She added that initially she thought of handing over the information to the concerned authorities but went to Project Veritas as she was worried that the authorities might fail to take appropriate action against the CNN producer.

She reportedly told the US journalism venture that she “felt disgusted” and felt the need to come forward because “these people with power seem to get away with it.”

“I feel disgusted. I feel dirty and I reply (to the texts) you know, it’s, it’s your girl’s kid like your girlfriend’s kid. Usually, every time we text, it’s always about him wanting to see me and a stepdaughter together,” she confessed, adding that the accused CNN producer exchanged chats where he envisioned indulging in sexual acts with his fiancee’s teenage daughter.

Janine Banani provided a voice recording to Project Veritas in which the CNN producer, who has not been named, is heard saying: “…after I’m done having my mouth on her, I’m going to walk up and put my crotch very close to her face,” he said referring to the minor, “…slowly unzip my zipper and just guide her head a little closer and I’m just going to have her kiss the head and I’m going to put her hand on it so she can feel what the hard flesh feels like.”

Banani added: “He sent me a text saying, ‘I love that she is getting hot. I want to taste how wet she makes you,’ and he’s talking about who his second daughter, who’s 14 years old, even about my daughter.”

Banani further alleged that the CNN producer offered her money in exchange for nude pictures of her and her daughter.

“I do not want this girl to be a victim. I’m not a journalist. I’m not a detective to people with power seem to get away with. I just want this kid to be safe,” added Janine Banani while speaking to Project Veritas.

Project Veritas stated that they informed the police and subsequently reached out to the children’s mother to assure their safety. After that, the publication contacted CNN to tell them of the charges and request a reaction, but they did not receive one.

CNN producer arrested on allegations of raping minor girls

The revelation comes merely a week after CNN producer John Griffin, of Stamford, Connecticut was arrested by the FBI. He is accused of using Google Hangouts and messaging app Kik to communicate with people purporting to be parents of underage girls. He allegedly used the platforms to persuade parents of underage girls to allow him to groom their minor daughters to be sexually submissive.

As per the indictment, Griffin has admitted to having groomed and sexually trained girls as young as 7 year old.

If convicted, Griffin faces 10 years of imprisonment on each federal count.

Mint apologises for a ‘manel’ amid backlash after women speakers who were invited declined the invite

OpIndia Staff
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Mint apologises for a ‘manel’ amid backlash after women speakers who were invited declined the invite

Mint Editor-in-chief Sruthijit today took to Twitter to apologise for not having enough women panelists and speakers for the annual banking conclave organised by the publication.

In a tweet, he apologised for not working hard enough to bring in gender diversity amongst the panelists. He said that the publication had sent out an invite to several women speakers during the course of curation but they had declined. “We should have dug in our heels and worked harder to find other available women speakers,” the statement read.

He stated that Mint recognises how not having women on a panel would have caused hurt and apologised. He also clarified that the partners and sponsors at such events had no role in curation of speakers.

Often, panels which have only men as speakers are referred to as ‘manels’.

The apology came after many people took to Twitter to raise objection to not having a single woman speaker in the panelists on Banking conclave despite many women being in top managerial positions in leading banks across India.

Women also expressed disappointment at how despite having the union finance ministry being headed by a woman, Mint could not find a single woman as a speaker at the conclave.

On second day, however, Mint did seem to have women speakers on the panel.

Union Cabinet clears proposal to raise the minimum age of women for marriage from 18 years to 21 years

OpIndia Staff
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Union Cabinet clears proposal to raise the minimum age of women for marriage from 18 years to 21 years

On December 15, the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to raise the legal age of marriage of women from 18 years to 21 years. During the Independence Day address in August 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the same and said the Government was planning to amend the law for the same. He again pointed out the same in an address to the people of the nation in October 2020 and said the government would soon take a decision over it. Once the law is amended, the legal marriageable age for both men and women would become the same, i.e. 21 years.

According to reports, the Government would soon introduce amendments to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, personal laws such as the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and the Special Marriage Act.

Interestingly, the Muslim Personal Law will also be reportedly amended to raise the minimum age of marriage for women, which is currently 15 years. For all other personal laws in India along with the special marriage act, the minimum age of the bride is 18 years while the same for the groom is 21 years. After the amendments, the minimum age of marriage for women will be 21 years under all personal laws.

Niti Aayog recommended amendments in December 2020

A special task force was constituted by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development which was headed by Jaya Jaitly. It also included Niti Aayog’s VK Paul and secretaries of Education Ministry, WCD  Health Ministry, and of Legislative Department to examine “matters pertaining to the age of motherhood, imperatives of lowering MMR (Maternal Mortality Rate), improvement of nutritional levels and related issues”. The proposal was based on recommendations given by the task force in December 2020.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had mentioned the task force during her Budger Speech for 2020-21. She had said, “Women’s age of marriage was increased from 15 years to 18 years in 1978, by amending the erstwhile Sharda Act of 1929. As India progresses further, opportunities open up for women to pursue higher education and careers. There are imperatives of lowering MMR as well as improvement of nutrition levels. The entire issue about the age of a girl entering motherhood needs to be seen in this light.”

The Indian Express quoted Jaitly saying, “I want to make clear that our reasoning behind the recommendation was never one of population control. Recent data released by NFHS 5 (National Family Health Survey) have already shown that the Total Fertility Rate is decreasing and the population is under control. The idea behind it (the recommendation) is the empowerment of women.”

Recently, NFHS 5 released data that suggested that India has attained a Total Fertility Rate of 2.0 for the first time that was below the replacement level of TFR at 2.1. The data suggested that it was highly unlikely that a population explosion would happen in the coming years. The data also revealed that the percentage of child marriages had marginally come down from 23 per cent in 2019-21 compared to 27 per cent in 2015-16.

Jaitly added the recommendation from the task came after “extensive consultations with experts, and more importantly with young adults, especially young women as the decision affects them directly”. She said, “We have had feedback from 16 universities and engaged over 15 NGOs to reach out to young people, particularly in rural and marginalised communities, such as in particular districts in Rajasthan where child marriage is quite prevalent. Feedback was taken across religions, and from urban and rural areas, equally.”

She added that the feedback task force received from young adults that the age of marriage should be 22-23 years. “There have been objections from certain quarters, but we felt it was more important to be guided by the target group,” she said.

The task force further recommended that public awareness campaigns should be planned to encourage social acceptance of the decision. It also recommended the awareness campaign should reach out to schools and universities, transportation departments for better access to girls to promote the decision.

It also recommended formalised school curriculum on sex education for schools along with training of women in polytechnic institutes, skills and business training and livelihood enhancement so that the increase in marriageable age gets easier to implement.

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