On Friday (December 10), a 50-year-old woman named Noorjehan was arrested by the Mangaluru city police on charges of abetment of suicide and forced conversion to Islam.
As per reports, a family of four was found dead at their residence in the Morgan’s gate area in Mangaluru on Wednesday (December 8). The deceased persons were identified as 30-year-old Nagesh, 26-year-old Vijaylaxmi, 8-year-old Sapna and 4-year-old Samarth. Reportedly, Nagesh had suffocated his wife to death and poisoned the two children before taking his own life.
Prior to hanging himself, he had sent a voice message to Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Chandrashekhar wherein he accused Noorjehan of abetment of suicide. It must be mentioned that Vijaylaxmi worked as a maid at the house of Noorjehan. Nagesh had claimed that the Muslim woman tried to convert his wife to Islam.
On Saturday (December 11), Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar said, “Vijayalaxmi had told Noorjahan about her husband’s torture and the latter had been persuading her to divorce Nagesh. Noorjehan had assured Vijayalaxmi of finding a suitable groom for her. Nagesh came to know about Vijayalaxmi planning to convert to Islam along with children and the couple often fought over it.”
He further added, “In October, Vijayalaxmi left the house and started living with Noorjehan, while Nagesh filed a missing complaint. He went to Noorjehan’s house and fought with her and Vijayalaxmi. They were reunited six days later.” Nagesh was a driver by occupation. He and his family hailed from Bilgi taluk in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka.
Noorjehan, who worked as a matchmaker, was reportedly arrested on Friday based on circumstantial evidence. She had allegedly promised Vijaylaxmi that she would find a new partner for her if she leaves her husband. She was booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 306 (abetment of suicide). Noorjehan was then produced before a court and sent to judicial custody.
The five central Asian countries Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, have been invited by India as the chief guest for Republic Day celebrations, 2022. This is for the first time representatives of all five Central Asian countries would be present as guests. The last time they attended an event together was in 2018 during ASEAN Summit.
According to a report in WION, multiple sources have confirmed that around three weeks ago, formal communication took place between India and the five central Asian countries. India shares cultural, civilisational and historical linkage to these countries, and their presence at the Republic Day celebrations would strengthen the relationship between the two sides.
Since PM Modi took charge in 2014, India had invited then-US President Barack Obama in 2015, then-French President Francois Hollande in 2016, UAE’s Md Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2017, all 10 ASEAN countries in 2018, Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa in 2019 and Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil in 2020 for Republic Day. In 2021, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was expected to attend Republic Day celebrations, but he couldn’t due to Covid.
India is also hosting the Central Asian, India Foreign Minister’s meet on December 18 and 19, the third of its kind. The first meeting was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in January 2019, where former External Affairs Minister Late Sushma Swaraj represented India. The second meeting was held virtually amidst Covid restrictions.
India has been providing financial support to Central Asian countries
In the past, India has also announced a line of credit worth US $1 billion for support in the development of projects in several fields, including energy, healthcare, IT, connectivity, agriculture and education for these countries. India has pitched for Chabahar port in Iran for an easier route for connectivity which was supported by these countries.
Combating terrorism has been on the table during discussions
In November, NSAs from India, Russia, Iran and Central Asia called for the creation of an inclusive government in Kabul. Notably, during the visit of MEA to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, Afghanistan was one of the main topics of discussion. During the 2020 meeting of Foreign Ministers of India-Central Asia, terrorism in all its forms was strongly condemned. The countries decided to work together to combat terrorism by destroying terrorist safe-havens, networks, infrastructure and funding channels.
At the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan last month, NSAs from India, Russia, Iran and Central Asia had called for the creation of an inclusive government in Kabul and resolved to fight terror and radical forces. The situation in Afghanistan and cross-border threats from there besides the looming humanitarian crisis was on the agenda.
A case has come to light in district Gaya, Bihar, where a Muslim teacher identified as Sadaf Jahan allegedly threw Shrimad Bhagwad Gita in the dustbin and abused Hindu Gods and Goddesses. A video of the child who was carrying the Gita in his bag is going viral on social media platforms. The incident took place in Kendriya Vidyalaya-1, located on Bageshwari road of Gaya city.
The victim student is the son of a priest of ISKCON temple in Gaya and studies at KV-1. In the viral video, the child said that the name of the teacher was Sadaf Jahan and the principal-in-charge of the school was one Amina Khatoon. Reportedly, the teacher also threatened to skin him if he told anyone about the incident.
In the video, the child said, “When I went to the school, Sadaf madam came after lunchtime. She teaches us Hindi but teaches us Urdu as well. She checked our bags, including mine. I carry Bhagwad Gita and Mala daily to school. During checking, she (Sadaf) took Gita and Mala out of my bag and threw them in the dustbin. She then abused Hindu deities. She has Ganesha’s image on her slippers as well.”
Media reports suggest that the regional office took cognizance of the complaint filed by the student of Class-4. According to the principal-in-charge, Amina Khatoon, “The accused teacher teaches part-time. Senior officers are probing the matter. Whatever truth comes out, action will be taken as per rules.” The video was made by a local political outfit.
A video of Prabhu Ji, manager of ISKCON temple, Gaya, is also making rounds on social media platforms. In the video, he said, “A Muslim teacher of Kendriya Vidyalaya in Gaya checked the bag of a Hindu child. She threw the Bhagwad Gita out of the bag in the dustbin. Then she insulted Hindu gods and goddesses in Urdu. Later, she threatened the child she would skin him if he told anyone about it.”
Complaint filed by father of the victim.
He further added, “Friends, they crossed the limit. We cannot tolerate this any longer. Please make this video viral so that every parent should teach their children not to tolerate insults to religion. He who does not learn from history, history teaches him. We will protest against the incident.”
OpIndia reached out to Pujari Rahul Singh, father of the victim student in the matter. He said, “Earlier, my son was teased in the school. I made a verbal complaint about it. The incident took place on December 9. I tried filing a complaint at the local Delaha Police station, but they refused to take my complaint. The next day, I met the Superintendent of Police, Gaya. He asked me if I had so much problem, why I did not shift my child to another school. He further questioned why my child took Gita and Mala to school. SP took my application and said they would investigate after 4-5 days and inform me what happened.”
He further added, “Earlier, such incidents were not common in school. However, since the vice-principal of the school, Amina Khatoon, has been made the principal-in-charge, the number of Muslim teachers on temporary posts has increased substantially. Teacher Sadaf, who misbehaved with my child, is also being protected by the principal-in-charge. When I did not see getting justice from the Police, I filed a complaint to the higher officials in the education department. An inquiry is being conducted based on my complaint.
In his complaint to the Police, Singh said, “I have taught Sanatan Dharma rituals to my child from childhood. He always keeps chanting God’s name. But now, my child is being forced to read Kalma in school. When he refuses, he gets beaten up with a duster and made to stand on the bench. The child is not going to the school out of fear.”
OpIndia talked to Shyam Vithal, Sewak, at Vishupad temple. He demanded justice for the family of the victim in the case. He said till now, no case has been registered against the accused teacher. The local Hindu organizations are furious because of the inaction of the administration. If strict action is not taken in the case, large scale protests will happen.
OpIndia reached out to the Superintendent of Police, but he was unreachable. We also contacted the Delaha Police station in charge, who said, “The allegations that we are not taking any action are untrue. We are following the rules. It is an internal matter of the school, and the education department is involved in the case. Senior officials of the education department are probing the case. Whoever is found guilty in their investigation, we would get instructions accordingly. We will take action based on the instructions. I myself is in touch with Kendriya Vidyalaya for updates and investigation report in the matter.”
Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri, who has recently come up with his new movie “The Kashmir Files” recently delivered a lecture at the Harvard Club of Boston, where he weighed in on the philosophical concepts that evolved from Kashmir and how those concepts were undermined by intellectual terrorists pretending to be championing the cause of human rights and humanity.
“There are two types of soldiers—those who wield weapons and are stationed on borders, protecting the sovereignty of the country against the external threats, which in the modern context are terrorists, irrespective of where they come from,” Agnihotri expounded.
He, however, added that one does not need to be a soldier to protect his/her country. “With your voice, with your talent, with your skill….you can be creative warriors and pay back to this great motherland. The biggest threat to this world, however, is from intellectual terrorists.”
Vivek Agnihotri also explained how over the years Hindus have been victims of villainised in the West. “Back in the 1980s when I studied here, I always felt there was something lacking. We were not Boston Brahmins. We were not Harvard Pundits. India was often mistaken for Italy…Indians were considered as poor, they were regarded as belonging to a country of snake charmers,” he said. But he also added that his Hindu identity was a big advantage to him as it led to his batchmates placing implicit trust in him.
“It was because of my Hindu identity, my batchmates thought I was trustworthy. There was a unanimous understanding that Hindus are people who can be trusted. They thought we are liberal people, they thought we are inclusive people,” Mr Agnihotri said.
But he was anguished to find that over the years, that positive image of being Hindu has steadily been eroded. “It pains me to tell you now that I come here after decades, I find all my nephews, nieces, all other people at various campuses, Oxford, Cambridge and others being embarrassed of being Hindus. Children born to Hindu parents here are embarrassed that they are Hindus,” he said.
Vivek then went on to explain why he decided to make ‘The Kashmir Files’ movie and how his aim is to show the world that the concept of humanity is the gift of the Hindu civilisation.
“Where did the concept of humanity come from? Which was the civilisation that gave the concept of humanity to the world? It was India’s Hindu civilisation,” Vivek exclaimed.
The force of oneness
Agnihotri, who also authored a book called ‘Urban Naxals’ to expose intellectuals that are involved in promoting anti-India activities, said India also endowed the world with the concept of oneness. He then goes on to assert how Lord Shiva is the embodiment of this oneness.
“I am sure you know Lord Shiva. Shiva’s dance has been recognised by all Nobel prize-winning physicists. Shiva is also known for his cosmic dance Tandav. All Kashmiris know Shiva’s cosmic dance means the oneness of the world. The smallest particle has the same energy as the whole cosmos, and therefore we are one,” Vivek elaborates.
He proceeds, “ Shiva is the only icon in the world who has a third eye. No one else has it. There are two types of people—left-brained and right-brained. When the left and the right brain converge, one’s third eye opens and this is nothing but the eye of humanity. This entire concept of oneness, of equality comes from the land where I come from—from the land of Kashmir.”
According to Vivek, India’s philosophy can be summed up in one sentence and that is: Moving from ignorance to knowledge.
Millions of ways to reach the truth
Extolling India’s culture and diversity, Vivek said the truth is one but there are thousands, perhaps millions of ways to reach it. Every individual, he added, is entitled to pursue truth in the way he deems appropriate. This is what, he contended, is the Indian culture and philosophy that instead of “tolerating” diverse ideologies considers them as “cosmic acceptance”.
This Indian philosophy had its roots in Kashmir, Vivek insisted. “Lord Shiva, Saraswati, Adi Shankaracharya and other great men and women fleshed out this spirituality….let me tell you something that even Indians don’t know—all these concepts of humanity evolved in Kashmir. That’s why Kashmir is so important for peace, for unity and global brotherhood.”
“There is no diversity in Kashmir. Champions of human rights are guilty of this destruction”: Vivek Agnihotri
Vivek also highlighted how Kashmir has been destroyed by people who sermonise Indians on peace and harmony but are responsible for fuelling wars and conflicts in other places. He also lambasted the champions of human rights, freedom and liberty, stating that they are responsible for the current predicament of Kashmir.
“What is after all being liberal? What is after all being secular? What is after all being progressive? What is humanity?… I want you to close your eyes and ask yourself these questions. People have destroyed the diversity of the state, forced Kashmiri Pandits out, assaulted the beauty, music is proscribed. But the champions of humanity, human rights, peace don’t speak a word against them. That’s why we decided to make this movie and show the truth to the world.”
On Saturday (December 11), the Uttar Pradesh police took to social media to inform that they have fined a youth to the tune of ₹14000 for lipsyncing to a Bollywood song and for driving recklessly without a helmet at the same time in Kanpur.
In a video posted by the official handle of the UP Police, a man named Khalid Ahmed was seen swaying to the song, ‘Ek Ladki chahiye’ from the movie, ‘Kyu ki main jhooth nahin bolta‘. The song was originally sung by vocal artists Sonu Nigam and Japsinder Narula. Ahmed was driving his Royal Enfield bike in a haphazard manner, with little regard to his safety or that of others.
The UP Police stated, “Bullet raja ka baj gaya baja…Hi fi lugai ka toh pata nahin par bhai sahab ko bhadi bhadkam challan zarur mil gaya hai.” The loose translation goes as, “Bullet raja got busted.. We are not sure about his upscale wife but have sent a hefty challan for his act.” Ahmed’s dramatic bike action to get likes and social media following proved costly as he was penalised to the tune of ₹14,000 by the city traffic police.
Driven by social media likes, throwing caution to the winds while driving can lead to the end of your ‘story’ forever!
Khalid Ahmed, who is a resident of Maswanpur area in Kalyanpur in Kanpur, later regretted his action in the video posted by the UP Police. He said, “I am the TikToker who has been fined (by the cops) to the tune of ₹14000 and not ₹9000 (as reported in the media). I have already paid the due amount. I did not know about the rules. Yes, it proved to be costly.” The Uttar Pradesh police concluded the video with the one-liner, “When you are behind the wheels, never make reels.”
The Times of India had reported that Khalid Ahmed was charged under the relevant sections of the Motor Vehicle Act, besides Section 121 of UP Motor Vehicle Rules and Sections 194D and 9 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules. While speaking about the matter, traffic police Inspector Vinod Yadav said that Khalid Ahmed was fined earlier in April this year. And that the fine had escalated to such a high amount after being pending over several months.
Videos of burqa clad women offering namaz in a public park in Matariya Talav in Bharuch have gone viral on social media. In one video, a few women can be seen offering namaz in the park.
Children can be see playing in the park while some women can be seen doing exercise in the background. Another video of the same park has gone viral where an elderly man can be seen reciting the azaan, call to Islamic prayer, while standing atop a slide where children would play in the park.
Earlier, videos had gone viral where a bunch of Muslim men and women were offering namaz in Vastrapur lake park of Ahmedabad.
Speaking about the offering of namaz in the park at Matariya Talav, a local resident said that since past one week some Muslim women have started offering namaz in the park. “They have started putting women and elderly men as front of this soft street power show of strength. Women would offer namaz and an elderly man would come and do the azaan. If anyone takes any steps against them, they would again play victim card. But this is provocation,” he said.
On the matter of elderly man offering namaz on a slide where children play, he said, “The entire neighbourhood does not have Muslim residents. Who is that old man calling to offer prayer when people who follow the faith don’t even live there? This is nothing but provocation.”
As per the source, this offering of namaz in Matariya Talav park started about last week.
On the intervening night of December 11 and December 12, the hackers got hold of the Twitter account of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a brief period. A tweet promoting cryptocurrency was shared during that period. The account was swiftly restored, and the tweet was deleted.
Content of the tweet posted from PM’s account
Before the access to the PM’s account was restored, a tweet was shared with a URL from the account that read, “India has officially adopted bitcoin as legal tender. The government has officially bought 500 BTC and is distributing them to all residents of the country.” OpIndia has masked the URL mentioned in the tweet.
Now-deleted tweet from PM Modi’s account. Source: Twitter
According to sources, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) is on the job and is trying to identify the source of the hacking incident. Latest technology is being used for the same.
Informing about the incident, Prime Minister’s Office said in a tweet, “The Twitter handle of PM @narendramodi was very briefly compromised. The matter was escalated to Twitter, and the account has been immediately secured. In the brief period that the account was compromised, any tweet shared must be ignored.”
Tweet from PMO. Source: Twitter.
PM Modi’s personal account was compromised last year
In September 2020, the Twitter account of Prime Minister Modi that was linked to his personal website was hacked. A series of tweets promoting cryptocurrency was published during the brief period. The hacker had appealed to the public to donate generously to the PM National Relief Fund for Covid-19 and claimed that the Indian government is accepting donations via ETH. In a statement, Twitter had confirmed that the account was compromised and is currently ‘actively investigating’ the case.
Multiple high profile accounts were compromised in July 2020
Prior to that, several high profile accounts were hacked on Twitter, including those of Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Barack Obama, Jeff Bezos and several others. On August 30, risk intelligent platform Cyble reported that the same hacker group John Wick hacked PayTM Mall’s servers, and the company suffered a massive data breach. However, in the current series of tweets, ‘John Wick’ has claimed they did not hack PayTM Mall.
In a statement, Twitter claimed that it was a coordinated social engineering attack by people who managed to gain access to employees who had access to internal systems and tools. Social engineering is manipulating individuals using deceptive means into divulging confidential or personal information which may be used for fraudulent purposes.
Kashi Vishwanath Temple complex will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 13. The temple complex known as the dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been renovated to reclaim and restore the ancient spirit of dharmic India. The invitation letter of the inauguration ceremony has mentioned PM Modi for his support in re-establishing the Kashi Vishwanath Temple complex and retaining the true spirit of Kashi.
Most importantly, the invitation letter mentions that the temple was destroyed by the Mughals. It said that during the middle ages, the Kashi Vishwanath had suffered significant damages in the hands of the Mughals. It is well-known fact that Mughal ruler Aurangzeb had destroyed the original Kashi Vishwanath temple, and had built the Gyanvapi mosque in its place. In fact, a portion of the temple was retained as a part of the mosque, which is still visible today.
The invitation letter mentions the 200 years of struggles in the past to return Kashi Vishwanath to its ancient glory. It noted the modification of the temple under Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the 19th century when he had installed the golden peak on the temple and remembered how Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar had reconstructed the temple complex in the year 1777-78 AD.
Source : Prabhat Khabar
The letter stated how Prime Minister Narendra Modi who represented the Varanasi constituency in the parliament has achieved the restoration of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, which is considered as the abode of Lord Shiva where Mahadev is still believed to be seated.
National General Secretary of All India Sant Samiti Swami Jitendranand Saraswati has been invited for the occasion along with 500 saints and more than 2500 guests are expected to be present during the historic event.
Notably, Varanasi, city of Shiva, will witness a large scale celebration with decoration of lights and lamps spread across the city and nearby villages. Devotees of Lord Shiva are immersed in making preparations for the grand event of Shiv Deepotsav which will last for three days from December 13.
CNN producer John Griffin, of Stamford, Connecticut has been accused of luring a woman and her nine-year-old daughter to his home in Vermont and ‘training’ her to be sexually submissive. He had allegedly told the minor that a woman is a woman irrespective of age. He has been charged on three counts of using a facility of interstate commerce to sexually abuse minor girls.
As per reports, he was arrested on Friday by the FBI. He is accused of using Google Hangouts and messaging app Kik to communicate with people purporting to be parents of the 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.
According to the indictment by a jury in Vermont, Griffin tried to attempt and incite two other children over the internet to engage in sexual activity. In June 2020, he told a mother of 9 and 13 year old girls that she needed to have her daughters ‘trained properly’ and allegedly also sent her 3,000 dollars for plane ticket so that she could travel with her daughters to Boston from Nevada. He then picked them up from airport and drove them away to his Vermont home.
According to prosecutors, the girl was forced to engage in sexual activities.
Griffin is also accused of coordinating a ‘virtual training session’ with a woman where he instructed her and her 14-year-old daughter to remove clothes in the video chat. The incident allegedly took place in April 2020. 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.
The ICMR-RMRC (Indian Council of Medical Research – Regional Medical Research Centre) centre in Lahowal Dibrugarh, Assam has developed a kit that can detect the Omicron variant of Covid-19 virus, the latest variant of the Chinese virus that has emerged as most infectious so far. The newly developed kit can detect the new variant within just two hours.
A team of ICMR-RMRC scientists led by Senior Scientist Dr Biswajit Borkakoty developed the kit after the genomic sequence of the omicron variant was released on 25th November. Announcing the development, Dr Borkakoty said ICMR-RMRC Dibrugarh designed the kit in-house, which is a real-time RT-PCR assay that can detect the new Omicron variant within 2 hours. the team developed the kit in just 10 days.
It is a very important development because at present it takes a minimum of 36 hours to detect the variant using the targeted sequencing, and 4-5 days are needed for the whole genome sequencing to detect the variant.
Dr Borkakoty said that the newly developed kit is a hydrolysis probe-based real-time RT-PCR assay, and they have validated it using synthetic Omicron gene fragment, and also using SARS-CoV-2, and it has been found 100% accurate so far. He also said that although the Omicron variant is SARS-CoV-2 virus only, it has some differences in its spike protein, and the test checks for those spike proteins.
A news of hope amid fears. Assam is the first state in the country, that invents Omicron detection KIT. First ever KIT of this kind in India created by senior scientists from ICMR Lahowal. KIT that will soon hit the market with 100 per cent accurate results from Omicron in 2 hrs. pic.twitter.com/HzI7WZiDTB
— Nandan Pratim Sharma Bordoloi ?? (@NANDANPRATIM) December 11, 2021
“The kit is tested against specific synthetic gene fragments of Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 within two different highly specific unique regions of the spike protein and also reference wild type control synthetic gene fragments,” he said. The kit can differentiate between Omicron and other variants of Covid-19, and it has been sent to NIV Pune for external validation.
West Bengal based biotech company GCC Biotech is synthesising the kit on the basis of the ICMR-RMRC Dibrugarh’s design, and it will be a completely made-in-India development. The company will synthesise the kits in bulk in PPP mode, and they have the capacity to synthesise it in 2 to 3 days, informed Dr Biswajit Borkakoty. He also informed that the licensing process for the technology is in process.
WHO has classified the Omicron variant as a ‘variant of concern’ after it was first detected in South Africa last month, because it has an unusually large number of mutations, several of which are novel. The variant also has significant number of mutations spike proteins, and as several vaccines target the spike proteins, the variant has the potential to evade them.
