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Minor son of Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA commits suicide, shoots himself in his house, leaves a suicide note

OpIndia Staff
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Minor son of Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA commits suicide, shoots himself in his house, leaves a suicide note

Vaibhav Yadav, the teenaged son of Congress MLA from Bargi assembly constituency Sanjay Yadav, reportedly committed suicide on Thursday afternoon at his residence in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh in the afternoon of November 11.

Vaibhav, aged 17, reportedly killed himself with a licensed revolver from his father. The incident took place around 1.30 PM when Harinath, a servant at the house heard a gunshot. They informed the police that he had shot himself inside the room. He was rushed to Bhandari hospital with a gunshot injury to his skull. Doctors declared him dead on arrival.

“He was rushed to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. We recovered a suicide note and a pistol from the spot,” said Jabalpur SP Siddharth Bahuguna. The police have registered a case under section 174 of the CrPC and started an investigation.

In the two pages suicide note written in English, he said that he was solely responsible for this step and no one should be held accountable. He said that he was lucky to have good parents and friends. He also texted messages to his five friends stating that he was going to die. “My friend has gone to heaven and I am going to meet him,” he wrote in the suicide note.

The deceased boy was a student of class 12 at Satya Prakash Madan Mahal School where he was pursuing a course in Psychology. He was the youngest among the two children of Sanjay Yadav and his wife Seema Yadav.

Police said that except for the servant, no one was present at the house. Seema Yadav had left for Bhopal whereas the MLA was attending a party meeting at Maharajpur regarding the proposed visit of former chief minister Kamalnath on November 15. His elder brother Samarthan was the petrol pump.

Sanjay Yadav was elected as the MLA foe the first time in 2018 when he defeated BJP’s Pratibha Singh.

Fiddlehead founder Melinda Byerley goes from calling Indians ‘parasites’ to ‘underprivileged’ in apology that came late: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Fiddlehead founder Melinda Byerley goes from calling Indians ‘parasites’ to ‘underprivileged’ in apology that came late: Details

Founder of Fiddlehead, Melinda Byerley has issued an “apology” after going on a Twitter rant against Indian immigrants in the US a few days ago. 

The Silicon Valley entrepreneur in her Twitter post on Friday ‘thanked’ the netizens for the honest feedback. She further apologized for her statements and for ‘taking too long to understand.’

Issuing a supposed apology, Byerley said that she has learnt from the episode and will hold herself to higher standards in the future ‘while remaining passionate and engaged in advocating for those with less privilege than many of us.’

Her definition of ‘less privilege’ remains unclear. Byerley also confessed that she was ‘quick with her words’ and that does not reflect her viewpoint on the larger issues of immigration. 

Netizens say ‘not enough’

Byerley’s unclear apology has not gone down well with the netizens. A Twitter user Venkatesh said, “That was no ‘in the course of a heated discussion’. It was deliberately meant to hurt. Period.”

“An apology is for public consumption, it will never remove the deep hatred and racist attitude of some,” pointed out another user. 

One Yash said, “You called Indian immigrants parasites, told them to go back to their country because their political views didn’t align with yours, pit Indian immigrants against other poc, and blamed them for the issues in USA. Your racism and xenophobia isn’t a “mistake”.

“And what are your values ? The ones that you posted?” questioned a user by the name Dev. 

“You don’t want a lawsuits slapped on you. You are not sorry. A grown ass woman knows better,” remarked another. 

Byerley’s rant

In a long Twitter thread posted on November 09, Byerley asked the Indian-Americans in the silicon valley to ‘take money and leave the US.’ 

Melinda Byerley’s Twitter thread

She further asked the ‘parasites’ to ‘go back to their apartheid/ caste systems’ and asked other states and countries to not let ‘these parasites gain a foothold.’ 

Byerley faced a severe backlash on social media for her absolute racist and dehumanizing rant. 

T20 World Cup: Pakistanis abuse bowler Hasan Ali for being a Shia Muslim, blame him for match loss against Australia

OpIndia Staff
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T20 World Cup: Pakistanis abuse bowler Hasan Ali for being a Shia Muslim, blame him for match loss against Australia

On Thursday (October 11) night, Pakistani fast bowler Hasan Ali was brutally trolled and abused with the choicest of expletives by Pakistani cricket fans after the team lost out to Australia in the semi-final match of T20 World Cup 2021.

Ali had conceded 44 runs in 4 overs, with the Australian side hitting him for 4 fours and 1 six. Despite an economy rate of 11 per over, he failed to get any wickets. His troubles were exacerbated after he dropped the catch of Matthew Wade, who proved to be a gamechanger for Australia. The Pakistani pacer was also reprimanded by skipper Babar Azam.

Pakistani cricket fans vilify Hasan Ali, share vile, abusive posts against his family

“The turning point of the match was the dropped catch of Matthew Wade. A new batter coming in then and it would have been a different scenario and maybe a different result. As a player, you should always be on your toes and take any opportunity that arises,” Babar Azam had remarked. And what followed next was a flurry of personal comments, charges of match-fixing, derogatory comments about Hasan Ali’s mother and wife from Pakistani cricket fans.

While responding to his recent Instagram post, one user (@sibghat_._ukkah) wrote, “Sisterf*ck*r, you neither know how to bowl or bat.” Another user named Kabeer inquired whether the fast bowler would swing on his d*ck before delivering the ball.

Screengrab of the abusive comments directed at Hasan Ali

Another Instagram user accused Ali of being a pimp while others labelled him as the ‘son of a prostitute.’ One user (@aemmarmaaenu) wrote, “Sisterf*ck*r, Shahnawaz Dahani can bowl better than you. You have only sc*ewed your own a** in the whole tournament.”

Screengrab o9f the comments directed at Hasan Ali

Other Pakistani fans continued to abuse the mother and sister of Hasan Ali. One user (@raees_chase) even suggested him to leave the Pakistani cricket team.

Screengrab of the comments directed at Hasan Ali

One Instagram user (@seeker_io0) also accused the Pakistani pacer of match-fixing. “Traitor, how much money did you take from Australia (to lose the match?).”

Screengrab of the comments directed at Hasan Ali

Pakistanis accuse pacer of fixing match to please his Indian wife

Given that the wife of Hasan Ali is an Indian by the name of Samya Arzoo, one Twitter user (@mohammadfayaz) alleged that the Pakistani pacer threw the match to please his wife. “He should also give his mother and sister to India for a night. Motherf*ck*r, lost the match intentionally.”

Screengrab of the abusive tweet

Sunni Muslims of Pakistan wonder if Ali is a Shia, blame match loss on alleged Shia identity

Given that Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country, Islamists do not leave any chance to abuse the Shia community for any misfortune that befalls the country. Following Pakistan’s humiliating loss to Australia, conspiracy theories about Hasan Ali being a Shia (and hence losing the match deliberately) began floating on social media.


Tweets targeting Hasan Ali for being a Shia
Pakistanis were abusing Hasan Ali’s alleged Shia identity earlier too

One user wrote, “Hasan Ali is a Shia (at least that’s what the name suggests). One Shia sunk the boat of Pakistan.” One Twitter user lamented, “Hasan Ali is Shia? And Pakistan wanted success? Come on akh.” Although Pakistan looked like a formidable side in the group stage matches of the T20 World Cup 2021 tournament, Australia managed to win the semi-final encounter by 5 wickets and proceed to the final.

Has Haryana govt ‘banned’ procurement of paddy in 12 districts because it is ‘conspiring’ against farmers? How Congress misled

Nupur J Sharma
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Has Haryana govt ‘banned’ procurement of paddy in 12 districts because it is ‘conspiring’ against farmers? How Congress misled

The President of Haryana Pradesh Congress made certain allegations against the BJP led Haryana government. Kumari Selja accused the ML Khattar government of conspiring against the farmers of the state and ‘banning’ the procurement of paddy from the farmers in 12 districts. She alleged that this was a conspiracy by the Haryana government so that eventually, it could implement the farm laws and stop government procurement altogether, so the farmers would have to sell their paddy to private players at throwaway prices.

Kumari Selja said that the government should stop its anti-farmer conspiracies and start procuring paddy at Minimum Support Price (MSP) from the farmers, insinuating that no procurement of paddy had happened, that the government had maliciously “banned” all procurement in 12 districts and that the farmers were not getting MSP.

According to Times of India, she made a blanket statement that the government had stopped procurement of paddy in the state.

However, as has been the norm, the statement of Kumari Selja is not accurate.

According to government sources, in the food secretaries meeting held on 17th August an estimate of procurement of 40.00 LMT rice (59.70 LMT paddy) had been fixed during Kharif Marketing Season 2021-22 in the Haryana region.

YearProduction (Fig. in LMT)
(In terms of Rice)		Procurement (Fig. in LMT)
(In terms of Rice)		Procurement (Fig. in LMT)
(In terms of Paddy)		Total MSP value (Fig. in Cr.)
KMS 2015-1641.4528.6142.706191.5
KMS 2016-1744.5335.8353.528075.48
KMS 2017-1845.2339.9259.589473.22
KMS 2018-1945.1639.4158.8310412.91
KMS 2019-2048.2443.07
64.2911795.38
KMS 2020-2144.2537.8956.5510676.64
KMS 2021-2244.9135.5753.0810405.56

The above table indicates the amount of paddy procurement by the government against the production of paddy in Haryana over the last few years. It also indicates the MSP paid to farmers in the state of Haryana.

As can be seen, in the current year, a quantity of about 53.08 LMT paddy (35.57 LMT rice) out of total arrival of 53.57 LMT paddy has been procured in Haryana up to 10th November 2021 against the estimate of procurement of 59.70 LMT paddy (40.00 LMT rice), as clarified by the government.

While Kumar Selja is alleging that the Haryana government has “banned” paddy procurement, the government has already procured 89% of the estimated paddy procurement for the year 2021-2022 (53.08 LMT paddy out of 59.70 LMT paddy) at the MSP of Rs. 10405.56 crores.

As per the Advance Estimates for KMS 2021-22 released by the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, GOI, in the case of Haryana, the area under cultivation for paddy crop is 13.10 Lakh Hectare and the corresponding production of Kharif paddy in terms of rice has been estimated as 44.91 LMT (67.02 LMT paddy).

As per data of Dept. of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Govt. of Haryana, a total of 15.11 Lakh Hectare area is under cultivation of paddy during KMS 2021-22 and estimated production of rice would be about 51.35 LMT (76.64 LMT paddy). 

It is to be noted that the difference in the estimate is not arbitrary. Procurement estimates are fixed based on the production data (advance estimate) published by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, GOI. Since there is a difference between production estimates of State Govt. of Haryana and Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, GOI, State Govt. is required to reconcile the production data with Agriculture Ministry. 

The central government and the state government of Haryana have worked together in the recent past to ensure that the estimates are reconciled so the procurement process is not hampered.

On the 3rd of November 2021, the paddy procurement process was reviewed by the State and the Central government. During the review process, it was found that in several procurement centres, not much paddy was incoming and therefore, it was far more open to manipulation and malpractice.

In light of this, the central government had sent the following communication to all Deputy Commissioners (DC) and District Food & Supply Controllers (DFSC) of paddy procuring districts:

  1. The DCs were requested to adequately estimate the amount of paddy that was left in the field and with the farmers to then accurate estimate how much paddy would be coming into their respective procurement centres.
  2. They were also instructed to judge which procurement centres would need to be operated from the 8th of November up to the 15th of November when the procurement would take place for the KMS.

After the assessment was done, it was the DCs and the DFSCs who had decided to close 47 out of 199 procurement centres in 12 revenue districts.

It can therefore be seen that the 47 procurement centres in 12 districts were closed not because the state government had a grudge against the farmers but because after almost 90% of the procurement was done out of the estimated paddy procurement, the 47 centres were not getting enough paddy coming into the centre for procurement.

If the government was indeed hatching a “conspiracy” against the farmers and had “banned” paddy procurement in the state of Haryana, the government would not have procured paddy worth Rs 10405.56 crores (MSP) and almost 90% of the estimated paddy procurement already.

Similar allegations had surfaced in Telangana: Politics above facts

On the 10th of November, the Agriculture Minister of Telangana made certain allegations against the central government. Targeting Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, Niranjan Reddy asked if the central government was going to procure paddy, insinuating that there was no plan of the govt to do so. 

On November 11, the Government of India refuted the claims of S Niranjan Reddy, Agriculture Minister, Telangana. It said that the paddy procurement under the Central pool had increased nearly three times in the past three years. As per the stats provided by the government, in the 2017-18 season, the Centre procured 36 LMT of paddy that was increased to 52 LMT in 2018-19, 75 LMT in 2019-20 and 95 LMT in 2020-21.

The Centre said that during the Rabi crop of KMS in 2020-21, 62.80 LMT rice was procured by the State. 24.75 LMT rice was deposited by the government in the form of parboiled rice, while the rest was deposited as raw. The state government had requested to increase the parboiled rice target to 50.75 LMT from 24-75 LMT as surplus stock under Centra Pool.

However, the central govt already has 3-years worth of stock of parboiled rice with FCI. Still, the central government approved additional procurement of 20 LMT of parboiled rice to FCI for KMS 2020-21 and the rest as surplus in raw.

The government further added that the State of Telangana has set a procurement target of 40 LMT for KMS 2021-22, which is 26.78% more than the previous Kharif season of 2019-20. The State has further asked the Centre to enhance the target during KMS 2021-22, which is under consideration as there were discrepancies in the estimated production by State Govt. and Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, GOI.

The Congress party has been misleading farmers about the Farm Laws introduced by the Central Government and fanning the “farmers protest” that has repeatedly ended in violence. These statements by Kumari Selja seem to be a continuation of the propaganda by the Congress party where facts are disregarded to sow seeds of discontent where she not only lied about the farm laws (since it does not ban procurement at MSP) but also misled about the developments in Haryana.

Part-time politician missing again: How Rajasthan CM went to meet Congress top guns but Rahul Gandhi’s location was unknown

OpIndia Staff
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Part-time politician missing again: How Rajasthan CM went to meet Congress top guns but Rahul Gandhi’s location was unknown

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s recent whereabouts continue to be shrouded in mystery. As per reports, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday had a lengthy meeting with Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, along with AICC general secretary in charge of Rajasthan Ajay Maken and AICC general secretary KC Venugopal on the impending cabinet reshuffle in the state.

Interestingly, the meeting was held at Rahul Gandhi’s Tughlaq Lane residence. However, Rahul Gandhi was said to be absent from the meeting. As per an Indian Express report, Gandhi is ‘believed to be out of the country.’

The party has remained mum on his whereabouts, neither confirming nor denying his foreign escapade. A senior Congress leader simply said that Gandhi’s residence was a ‘convenient location’ for the meeting. 

‘The AICC headquarters or the party’s 15, GRG war room is not an ideal place for such a meeting’, the leader added further. 

‘Priyanka Gandhi- the troubleshooter’

An India Today report called Priyanka Gandhi Vadra the troubleshooter for the Congress party. According to Dutta, the recent feud in the Rajasthan Congress between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and party leader Sachin Pilot has been linked to Rahul Gandhi. 

Once again, as Rahul decided to allegedly skip the meeting, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra stepped in as a mediator to save the face. 

Rajasthan to witness a major reshuffle

The state of Rajasthan is due for a major reshuffle which is to be decided by the Congress high command. 

After meeting with Priyanka, Gehlot met Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi and the two other leaders on Thursday to discuss the political situation and cabinet reshuffle. 

Rahul Gandhi Tweeted on Chennai rains

The last Tweet from Rahul Gandhi’s official handle was made on Thursday about the Chennai rains. 

Gandhi in his last Tweet said, “The incessant rains in Chennai have become a cause for worry. Requesting our brothers & sisters in the state to follow all safety measures. And an appeal to Congress workers- please help in relief & rescue work. Take care, #Chennai.”

Gandhi, who usually puts out 4-5 Tweets a day, has not posted anything on his Twitter timeline since the past 20 hours. Some media reports had stated that Rahul had left for London just before Diwali.

Maharashtra: ED raids 8 locations in Waqf Board land scam case, Nawab Malik claims he is running a cleanup campaign

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra: ED raids 8 locations in Waqf Board land scam case, Nawab Malik claims he is running a cleanup campaign

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at seven locations in Pune and one place at Aurangabad in Maharashtra in connection with the alleged Waqf Board land scam case. The Waqf Board comes under the department of Minority Development headed by minister Nawab Malik.

However, the minister quickly jumped to claim that raids were not carried on the offices of Waqf Board but on one endowment trust Tabut Inam Endowment Trust with regard to certain transactions. “I think this is an attempt to browbeat and defame me by spreading rumours. I will not say anything directly on this issue. I am not the chairperson of the Waqf Board but this is under my department. This matter is related to endowment trust now registered with the Waqf Board. The land of the endowment trust was acquired and some people with the help of bogus documents withdrew about Rs 9 crore from the government,” News 18 quoted Malik saying.

But from the minister’s statement, it was clear that the scam had taken place when the said endowment trust was part of the Waqf Board. He claimed that in this matter he had taken action including FIR against five persons.

Malik further clarified that his ministry has been trying to ‘clean up’ Waqf Board related issues and the ED should come and probe over 30,000 trusts that are associated with the Board. He even called the media reports a ‘campaign by the BJP and RSS’. As per a report in Free Press Journal, Malik claimed that very soon the Waqf Board will launch a portal to provide all papers and records. He even added that in the past year, 7 FIRs have been lodged against various trusts and they are being probed.

It is notable that Malik has relentlessly been carrying personal attacks on Mumbai zone Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal Director, Sameer Wankhede, his family members other NCB officials and former Maharashtra BJP CM Devendra Fadnavis right after Wankhede arrested Aryan Khan, son of cine star Shah Rukh Khan in a drug case in October.

Rs 7.76 crore amount of land acquisition pocketed by private persons

In August this year, Pune police registered a case of cheating against individuals Chand Mulani and Imtiyaz Shaikh for misappropriating Rs 7.76 crore sanctioned by the Maharashtra government for the acquisition of the Trust land. They were accused of pretending to be office-bearers of Tabut Inam Endowment Trust and had even produced forged documents of the Waqf Board identifying their credentials.

Both accused who are natives of Yerwada submitted forged documents including a NOC of the Waqf Board and got a demand draft of Rs 7,76,98,250. The demand draft was deposited in the account of Imtiaz Sheikh.

The Trust owned eight acres of prime Waqf land in Maan near Hinjewadi which was acquired by the Maharashtra government for the fourth phase of the Rajiv Gandhi Technology Park. The government was earmarked around Rs 9.64 crore to the trust against the acquisition. When the Trust did not get the money it complained to Waqf Board and the scam was exposed.

Woman accuses cricketers, senior Congress leader of rape, police says no FIR filed and no evidence found yet

OpIndia Staff
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Woman accuses cricketers, senior Congress leader of rape, police says no FIR filed and no evidence found yet

The wife of underworld gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s aide Riyaz Bhati has reportedly filed an application with the Mumbai police accusing her husband of rape and running a high-profile sex racket. In the requisition, besides naming her husband, the other people she has accused of rape are Indian cricketers, a senior Congress leader and one other individual.

Rehnuma Bhati alleged that her husband, Riyaz Bhati, a suspected gangster, pushed her to have sexual relations with his business associates and other “high-profile” individuals.

“I have been trying to get the police to register an FIR, but they aren’t complying. My application was submitted in September, it is already November now,” she told The Print, adding: “I have followed up with various levels of police authorities multiple times. I was told to give some money, but why should I spread corruption? I am right in my place. They are the ones who are criminals.”

Asked for his comment on the matter, Deputy Commissioner of Police for the jurisdiction, Manjunath Singhe, acknowledged that an application has been submitted, but said he “does not have any more details at the moment”.  

Social media user, Sameet Thakkar has taken to Twitter to share a copy of the complaint filed by Riyaz Bhati’s wife in Santacruz, Mumbai Police Station on September 24, 2021.

According to the screenshots posted by Sameet Thakkar, the complaint was filed for offences committed under IPC sections 406, 420, 354, 354(A), 354(B), 509, 370, 376, 376(D), 377, 356, 386, 506(II)232, r/w 120(B), sections 66(A), 66(E) of the Information and Technology Act 2000, sections 8 and 6 of the POCSO Act 2012, Sections 4, 5, and 6 of the Indecent Representation of the Women’s Act and sections 5B and 5C for the Immoral Traffic (Protection) Act 1956.

In the complaint, the victim alleged that her husband threatened her widow mother and compelled her to marry underworld gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s alleged aide Riyaz Bhati when she was 15-years-old. She further added that immediately after the marriage, Riyaz Bhati forcefully established a sexual relationship with her.

She further accused Riyaz Bhati of torturing and also physically assaulting her on various occasions.

She further added that Riyaz Bhati started forcing her to honeytrap his business associates. He forced her to engage in sexual activities with his business partners and beat her up and tortured her whenever she tried to resent, she alleged.

Rehnuma Bhati further revealed in her complaint that in the year 2011-12, her husband introduced her to one individual in Trident hotel, where the latter raped her one entire night. When she came back home and sought answers from her husband for the inhumane treatment he placed a knife on her and her elder son’s neck and threatened to kill them if she did not submit to his demands.

In her complaint, Rehnuma Bhati also accused two Indian cricketers and a senior Congress leader of raping her. She wrote that she was forced to sleep with one cricketer in a continental hotel, and with another cricketer in a hotel named Trident. According to the complaint, the cricketer and his two friends committed all kinds of unnatural sexual activities with her including oral sex and anal sex, and all of them were drunk.

The woman further alleged that when she refused to sleep with the Congress leader, she was beaten by the leader and his friends. She was also forced to dance nude without clothes in front of him and his friends, after which she was raped by them. She added that the Congress leader kept photos and videos of this first encounter in 2012-13, and used the same to continue to exploit her.

Riyaz Bhati’s wife alleged that her husband has forced her to sleep with 15 to 20 people, which includes his business partners, friends and high-profile individuals. Allegedly, Bhati got several contracts by forcing her to sleep with other people. She also alleged that she was even sent to Dubai to sleep with rich sheikhs, and she was treated very badly there. She said that her husband is continuously forcing her to continue the prostitution work for money and other benefits. Bhati’s wife alleged that he had raped her sister also.

Rehnuma Riyaz Bhati has informed that due to this torture, she had started living separately in 2016, but later he kidnapped her and again forced her into prostitution from 2019. He had threatened that he will kill her or their two sons if she does not sleep with others as per his instructions.

ANI has reported now that though no FIR has been filed, Mumbai Police has said that they are investigating the case, however, they have found no evidence so far.

Update: an earlier copy of this report mentioned the names of a senior Congress leader and some cricketers as having been accused of rape. The same names were widely reported by other mainstream media outlets such as Hindustan, ABP News, Deccan Herald, Lokmat, Amar Ujala, Dainik Bhaskar, ThePrint, and others. Within a day or two, all of these named media companies have either deleted their news reports or removed the name of the senior Congress leader from their published reports. Our attempts to get an official reaction from Mumbai police has not been successful either, as they don’t want to say anything or record, though it is confirmed that such a complaint was indeed filed. In such a scenario, where the police are unwilling to officially confirm the names of the accused while the primary media sources have either deleted their news reports or retracted the names, this copy is also being updated to retract the names. We will keep the readers updated.

Guwahati Airport refutes media report that operator Adani Group has banned traditional clothes, sindur, bindis for female employees

OpIndia Staff
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Guwahati Airport refutes media report that operator Adani Group has banned traditional clothes, sindur, bindis for female employees

The Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport, which is operated by the Adani group, has refuted a report by a major Assamese media house that it has banned traditional clothes for its female employees. The official Twitter handle of the Guwahati International Airport posted a message on Twitter refuting the allegations.

The statement issued by the airport said, “A private TV channel has alleged that the female staff of ‘Pranaam’ service at Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, have been told to avoid traditional clothing and ornaments. This is totally baseless and untrue. Airport staff have been given no such instructions. We greatly admire and revere the culture and traditions of Assam and the Northeast.”

The Airport added in the tweet that the allegation levelled by a private TV channel against the female team members of Pranaam is baseless and untrue.

The Airport management was referring to a report published by Assamese news channel Pratitin Times, which is run by left-wing media house Sadin – Pratidin Group. The group runs the largest circulated Assamese daily Asomiya Pratidin. In its report, Pratidin Times had claimed that Adani group has issued the contract to a company named Pranam, and this company has issued a dress code where female employees have been banned from wearing traditional clothes. It had claimed that even Sindur and bindis will not be allowed for female employees.

Fake news by Pratidin Times

“According to the new rule, the female employees can’t wear Mekhala Chador (the traditional dress of Assam), can’t wear bangles, mangalsutras and can’t even wear sindoor while on duty at LGBI Airport,” the report had claimed. It went on to claim that even married women will not be allowed to wear bindis. The report stated that this is a sheer insult to the Assamese culture and tradition.

However, this has turned out to be fake news as the airport administration has refuted the report and clarified that no such dress code has been issued by Pranam, an Adani group company that runs guest services at airports operated by the Adani group.

Pratitin group is known for being extremely critical of Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, and this report can be assumed to part of propaganda against the Adani Group that the opposition parties in Assam are running ever since the company took over the operations of the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport.

The CM had criticised the media group owner Jayanta Baruah several times on social media.

NCPCR tells SC that many NGOs including Harsh Mander’s ‘Centre for Equity Studies’ have been receiving funds from suspicious sources

OpIndia Staff
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NCPCR tells SC that many NGOs including Harsh Mander’s ‘Centre for Equity Studies’ have been receiving funds from suspicious sources

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has said that many children shelter homes in the country are running illegally and receiving funds from certain suspicious foreign organisations. NCPCR said this in its reply affidavit filed on November 6, in a case on several petitions challenging to the provisions of the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA),

In its reply affidavit filed in the court, the NCPCR highlighted the names of certain NGOs, including Harsh Mander’s Centre for Equity Studies (CES), where funds had allegedly been diverted or were received from suspicious sources. 

The NCPCR filed the reply affidavit in one case among a batch of petitions challenging the validity of section 7 of the FCRA Act, which prohibits the transfer of foreign funds. A Supreme Court bench consisting of Justices Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and Ravi Kumar had reserved this batch of petitions for orders on November 9, 2021.

The reply by the apex child body states that the affidavit is being filed to document NCPCR’s efforts to prevent NGOs from misusing foreign funds. It goes on to say that there are NGOs that do not have FCRA registration but are sponsored by NGOs that do have FCRA registration to receive foreign donations.

It may be recalled that on February 20 2021, the Economic Offence Wing of Delhi Police had registered a case under multiple sections against Harsh Mander’s Centre for Equity Studies (CES) and its officials after an inspection by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) revealed financial irregularities in shelter homes established by the NGO. A case of child sexual abuse was also alleged in one of the shelter homes.

In the reply, NCPCR said it discovered that Harsh Mander’s Centre for Equity Studies, which has FCRA registration and is eligible to receive foreign funding, provided funds to another NGO, Rainbow Foundation India, which does not have FCRA registration but operates CCIs in various cities across the country.

NCPCR raids several children shelter homes and find financial irregularities

During the inspection of the aforementioned CCIs in Delhi, NCPCR allegedly discovered non-compliance with mandatory requirements of the Juvenile Justice Act, as well as numerous offences under the POCSO Act.

Likewise, the NCPCR affidavit cited another example where inspection of 5 children homes in Assam and Manipur run by Markaz-ul-Maarif revealed that these homes have also been receiving funds from certain foreign agencies in addition to receiving government grants. The probe had also revealed how the children were kept in these homes without being produced before the Child Welfare Committees and with no registration as mandated under the Juvenile Justice Act 2015. 

Further, the reply affidavit mentioned a home called Markaz Darul Yatama Home, Dhurbi that has been receiving funds from a Turkey-based organisation called IHH. The Turkish law officers interrogated IHH and found out that it is linked with international organisations. The reply states that an FIR has been registered by Assam Police against Markaz Darul Yatama for Boys and Hojai.

In fact, last year, the apex child rights body had expressed apprehensions of possible financial irregularities in over 600 child care institutions, run by NGOs and housing 28,000 children as it informed that these shelter homes received up to Rs 6 lakh per child in foreign funds in 2018-19, far more than the estimated average expenditure.

Owing to such a large extent of financial irregularities, the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has backed the Centre’s concerns about non-government organisations (NGOs) misusing foreign donations, prompting Parliament to modify the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA).

These changes are now being challenged in a series of petitions before the Supreme Court, which were reserved on Tuesday.

Justifying the Centre’s decision to amend the FCRA Act to regulate foreign contribution to NGOs, SG Tushar Mehta, appearing for the centre, told in the Supreme Court that “there are intelligence inputs that most of the time, money is received by NGOs like Harsh Mander’s Centre for Equity Studies (CES) for development works but is used to train Naxalites”.

The Centre also noted that foreign contributions had doubled during the years 2010-19 and several recipients of foreign funding had not utilized the funds for the purposes specified for receiving donations.

While reserving the matter for pronouncing judgment, the Supreme Court, in turn, said that the NGOs should not be allowed to receive foreign funds if the donor did not declare the purpose for which the money is to be spent and said the Centre has diluted the intent of FCRA by not insisting on such a provision. It allowed the Central govt and petitioners to submit notes of their submissions within this week.

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