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Ahead of Diwali, UK’s Royal Mint launches first ever gold bar featuring Goddess Lakshmi

OpIndia Staff
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Ahead of Diwali, UK’s Royal Mint launches first ever gold bar featuring Goddess Lakshmi

On the occasion of Dhanteras, the Hindu community worldwide purchases gold bars, ornaments and coins. Gold is often associated with wealth and prosperity. Ahead of Diwali, the Royal Mint in the United Kingdom has prepared a gold bullion bar with the picture of Goddess Lakshmi engraved on it, reported The Times of India.

Designed by Emma Noble, it is the first-ever gold bar by the Royal Mint that bears the image of a Hindu deity. For the project, Noble collaborated with Shree Swaminarayan Temple in Cardiff in England and it helped to maintain cultural accuracy. The gold bullion bar contains 20g of 999.9 fine gold and cost about ₹1,00,000 (£1,080). Goddess Laxmi is shown standing on a lotus while the packaging contains the sacred ‘Om’ symbol.

It will be sold on the official website of Royal Mint at 9 am local time (1:30 pm IST) on Tuesday in the United Kingdom. It will be blessed by the Shree Swaminarayan Temple during Lakshmi Puja on November 4 this year. The event will be attended by the officials of the Royal Mint. Times of India reported that Royal Mint UK had launched a henna-inspired package of 1g and 5g regular gold bars in 2020.

While speaking about the matter, Andrew Dickey remarked, “With gold being a traditional and auspicious gift during the Diwali festival, we wanted to develop a product that incorporates both beauty and tradition, but with a modern twist.” Dickey is the Divisional Director for precious metals for the company.

The Royal Mint is government-owned mint that produces coins for the United Kingdom. It operates under legal name of The Royal Mint Limited and is wholly owned by Her Majesty’s Treasury. It has exclusive contract to supply all of nation’s coinage.

PM directs clearance of all pending grievances and assurances by October 31, govt set to clear old files

OpIndia Staff
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PM directs clearance of all pending grievances and assurances by October 31, govt set to clear old files

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has issued a directive to dispose of all pending public grievances and complaints by October 31. The Indian Government will also clear all pending assurances given to Parliament, MPs, state governments and conclude all inter-ministerial consultations.

As part of the exercise, all the unwanted, old files along with obsolete material will be disposed. As per instructions from Cabinet Secretariat, all ministries, departments and subordinate offices from September 13 had started preparing the material and identifying the scope of the work. 

Conveying the orders of the Prime Minister, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba in his letter to all the ministries said, “…The existing processes may be reviewed with a view to reducing compliance burden and unnecessary paperwork done away with, wherever feasible.”

“It may be recalled that during his Independence Day address this year, the Prime Minister has emphasized the need to review existing rules and procedures on a continuing basis,” the letter read further. 

Additionally, the Cabinet Secretary has directed the ministries to review record retention rules before disposing of pending matters to ensure no records are prematurely destroyed or retained beyond a necessary time frame.

No pending assurances

As per parliamentary procedures, ministers while responding to questions in the House or during discussions on Bills, Resolutions or Motions give undertakings or promises to consider a matter, take action or furnish information later. This is known as assurance. 

Each assurance given by the ministers then becomes a separate file to be dealt with by the ministry. It is the right of Parliament to seek an explanation on assurances given to it. The exercise is expected to ensure that no assurance remains pending.

Exercise to commence on Gandhi Jayanti

Reportedly, the reviewing process is set to last till September 29 after which the disposal drive will be initiated. The exercise that commences on October 02 on Gandhi Jayanti is said to be part of the nationwide cleanliness campaign started by the NDA government.

Apart from the clearance exercise, the government this year also reduced the maximum time for the redressal of a complaint from 60 days to 45 days after observing that 87 per cent of the complaints get resolved within 45 days.

Hyderabad hate crime: Hindu boy beaten up by a mob for travelling with a Muslim girl

OpIndia Staff
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Hyderabad hate crime: Hindu boy beaten up by a mob for travelling with a Muslim girl

Telangana seems to be in the grips of vigilantism by unruly Muslim mobs who seemed to be policing the streets to prevent Muslim girls from travelling with Hindu boys. Another such incident has been reported from the state’s capital, Hyderabad, where a Hindu boy was allegedly thrashed by a group of people for riding with a Muslim girl on his two-wheeler.

The boy and the girl were stopped by a Muslim man and later few others also joined him to allegedly beat the boy, DCP West Zone was quoted as saying by the Times Now. The incident is apparently three days old but it came to the fore after a video of it went viral on social media websites.

As per the police, the accused has been arrested and a case has been registered against him under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. They further added that interrogation of the accused is underway to identify others who were involved in the incident.

Similar incidents were reported in Telangana

The hate crime against the Hindu boy came hot on the heels of several such incidents reported in Telangana where Muslim men stopped Muslim women who were riding with Hindu men. They were not only ridiculed in public but the Hindu men were also brutally beaten up.

In one case, a Hindu Dalit man was allegedly kidnapped by a group of Muslim men for riding with a Muslim woman and beaten up. He was released later when local RSS leaders intervened. It was only after his brother and local leaders supported him that he was able to file a case against the Muslim men who had kidnapped him.

Muslim mob in Bengaluru assaults Hindu man for riding with a Muslim woman

Recently, a similar incident of a Hindu boy being thrashed by a Muslim mob was also reported from the southern metropolis of Bengaluru after an undated video of the incident started making the rounds on the internet. In the video, a Muslim mob stopped a Hindu man who was riding a bike with a Muslim woman. The men in the mob were then seen threatening the Hindu man and asking him to not ride with a Mulsim woman again. The Muslim woman was forced to give out her family’s phone number and ridiculed for riding with a Hindu man.

Responding to the video being shared on Social Media, Karanataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai informed that two accused persons have been arrested in the case. He said that Bengaluru City Police acted swiftly in the case of assault on a bike rider travelling along with a woman of a different faith. He tweeted that a case has been registered and legal action has been initiated against the accused.

Prime Minister Modi to set-up digital archive to honour Central Vista construction workers

OpIndia Staff
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Prime Minister Modi to set-up digital archive to honour Central Vista construction workers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the setting-up of a digital archive for all construction workers engaged at the Central Vista construction site as a tribute to their efforts.

A tweet posted by the Prime Minister’s Office said, “PM @narendramodi stated that after the new Parliament is ready, a digital archive for all construction workers engaged at the site must be set-up, which should reflect their personal details including their name, place they belong to and picture as a tribute to their efforts.”

PM Narendra Modi also declared that certificates would be issued to all the workers involved at the construction site to honour them for their role and participation in the historic endeavor.

Last night, Prime Minister Modi also made a surprise visit to the Central Vista construction site only hours after arriving from the USA. There he inspected the ongoing work of the new Parliament building. The images of the PM spending time inspecting the construction site also went viral on social media.

Bihar: Communist leader Kanhaiya Kumar takes away air conditioner from CPI office amidst speculations of joining Congress

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar: Communist leader Kanhaiya Kumar takes away air conditioner from CPI office amidst speculations of joining Congress

Amid speculations that former JNU ‘student leader’ Kanhaiya Kumar will be joining the Congress party on October 2, Ramnaresh Pandey, the former member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly and CPI state secretary has confirmed that Kanhaiya Kumar has got the air conditioner uninstalled from his chamber in the state office, indicating that he has dissociated himself from the CPI.

Speaking to Live Hindustan, Ramnaresh Pandey said that Kanhaiya Kumar, who was fielded by the Communist Party of India (CPI) to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Begusarai in Bihar, had got an air conditioner (AC) installed in his room in the state office for himself and his people. 

According to sources, he has now requested permission to get the AC uninstalled. Kanhaiya Kumar is said to have told the party chief that he had taken a room elsewhere and would install the air conditioner there. Subsequently, he went away with the AC.

Kanhaiya Kumar expected to join Congress on October 2 along with independent MLA Jignesh Mevani

For the last few days, media reports are doing the rounds suggesting that the Congress is all set to induct former JNU ‘student leader’ Kanhaiya Kumar and independent MLA Jignesh Mevani into the party ahead of assembly elections in Gujarat. As per reports, the original plan was to induct the two leaders into the Congress party on September 28 but was deferred to October 2, which is the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

As per sources, Kumar is expected to bring a few other left leaders along with him, underscoring the longstanding contention that Congress and the left are two sides of the same coin.

It is worth noting that Kanhaiya Kumar is one of the accused in the JNU sedition case where anti-national slogans were raised during an event in Jawaharlal Nehru University. In February 2016, the students of JNU had organized an event to mark the anniversary of terrorist Afzal Guru who had attacked the Indian Parliament. Many slogans challenging the Indian State’s sovereignty and calling for its balkanization were raised. At the event, slogans such as ‘Bharat Tere Tukde Honge’ and Afzal hum sharminda hain, tere katil jinda hain’ were reportedly raised.

15 CCTV cameras installed in front of Mahant Narendra Giri’s room were switched off on the day of his death: Report

OpIndia Staff
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15 CCTV cameras installed in front of Mahant Narendra Giri’s room were switched off on the day of his death: Report

The investigation into the suspected suicide of the deceased Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad president Mahant Narendra Giri has revealed that many CCTV cameras installed in the Baghambari Mutt were surprisingly switched off on the day the Mahant died, hinting at foul play.

According to reports, the entire Mutt is under CCTV surveillance. As many as 43 cameras are installed there with 15 installed in front of Mahant Narendra Giri’s room on the first floor itself.

All 15 CCTV cameras placed in front of the room of deceased Mahant Narendra Giri had stopped functioning on the day of his death

However, the police were taken aback when they discovered that all 15 cameras on the first floor of the Mutt, where the Mahant’s room was located, had been turned off on September 20, the day the president of the Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad was found dead in his room, reports Hindi daily Aaj Tak.

The report suggests that as a result of this, the police are having problems determining how and when the Mahant reached his room on the first floor on the day of the incident. Moreover, the police are also not being able to ascertain whether someone was already in the room when the incident took place or if somebody entered after the Mahant went into his room to rest.

These are some of the unresolved questions that must be answered in order to reach a rational conclusion in the seer’s death case. However, according to the investigation, there is no recording of the incident in the cameras placed from the entrance of the Mutt right up to Mahant Narendra Giri’s room.

Some members of the Mutt, have, however, told the police that the cameras were switched off because there was a power failure in the Mutt on September 20. Others said that a DVR machine attached to the cameras had got damaged a few days back, because of which the cameras stopped working. The police are, however, finding it difficult to believe these theories and investigating the matter.

CBI seeks custody of 3 accused in Narendra Giri’s death case

Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed an application before a Prayagraj Court on Sunday seeking 10-day custodial remand of three suspects, Anand Giri, Aadya Tiwari and Sandeep Tiwari in the death case, based on some electronic gadgets recovered. The CBI’s special crime unit told the court that the electronic gadgets contain incriminating information leading to the death of the seer.

Mahant Narendra Giri changed his will twice

In another development in the case, reports have emerged suggesting that Mahant Narendra Giri had changed his will twice since he got it made in the year 2010. Mahant Narendra Giri’s lawyer had on Friday revealed that the seer had his will made in 2010. He then changed it twice in 2011 and June 2020 respectively. In his last changed will, he had finally named Balbeer Giri as his successor and the mahant of Baghambari Math after his death.

“I became his lawyer in 2011 and at that time, he had already got a will (dated January 7, 2010) prepared wherein he had named Balbeer Giri as his successor. However, he asked me to change the will (dated August 29, 2011) and name Anand Giri as his successor,” said the seer’s lawyer Rishi Shankar Dwivedi,

Dwivedi added: “He changed his will again in 2020 replacing Anand Giri with Balbeer Giri again, saying he would look after the Math and the temple in a better manner.”

Signatures on alleged suicide note mismatch with Mahant Narendra Giri’s original ones

Ever since the news of Mahant’s sudden death came to the fore on September 20, many media houses reported that the Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad president committed suicide. The suicide note allegedly written and signed by him was being bandied around as proof to dispel the suspicions of suspected criminal wrongdoing in the matter.

However, on September 22, OpIndia reported how the seven pages of suicide note signed by Mahant Narendra Giri bore seven different signatures, raising suspicions over its authenticity.

Furthermore, Sadguru Riteshwar Maharaj of Vrindavan Ananddham in his conversation with Pradeep Bhandari said Mahant Giri could never even think of committing suicide. 

The police’s discovery concerning CCTV cameras today, as well as Jan Ki Baat’s signature mismatch, are believed to mark a turning point in the inquiry, with the police apparently investigating a murder angle in a case that has so far been depicted in the media as a suicide.

BKU Bhanu chief equates Rakesh Tikait’s Bharat Bandh to Talibani tactics, urges govt to crush groups involved in ‘terror activities’

OpIndia Staff
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BKU Bhanu chief equates Rakesh Tikait’s Bharat Bandh to Talibani tactics, urges govt to crush groups involved in ‘terror activities’

BKU Bhanu president Bhanu Pratap Singh on Monday slammed ‘farmer leader’ Rakesh Tikait’s decision to call for a Bharat Bandh and equated it to Talibani activities. Singh said Bharat Bandh does not benefit anyone and instead affects the economy and farmers, adding that by continuing such activities, Rakesh Tikait and his supporters are following in the footsteps of the Taliban.

Singh has come down hard against the farmer organisations who have extended their support to Tikait’s call for Bharat Bandh, asserting that it would not yield any desired result and would cause more damage to the farmers.

He also urged the office bearers and functionaries of the Bharatiya Kisan Union to not heed Rakesh Tikait’s call for Bharat Bandh and asked the government to crush the organisations involved in “terror activities”.

This is not the first time that the BKU Bhanu chief has trained his guns against Rakesh Tikait and the farmers’ protests. In January this year, he withdrew his support from the protest and took a hostile position against continuing the demonstrations aimed at forcing the government to rescind the newly passed Farm Laws.

The decision was taken in the aftermath of violence unleashed during the tractor rally organised on Republic Day. The tractor rally held by ‘farmers’ on Republic Day had turned violent after scores of protesters broke barricades and ran riot through the national capital, injuring police in the wake. Hundreds of protesters had laid siege to the Red Fort and desecrated the monument by unfurled a religious flag.

Later in March, Singh said the farmers’ unions protesting at the Singhu border, Ghazipur border, Tikri border were acting at the behest of the Congress party.

Congress-backed farmers’ unions call for Bharat Bandh

On Monday (September 27), Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) called for a 10-hour long ‘Bharat bandh’ (nationwide shutdown)in a bid to pressurise the Indian government to withdraw the newly enacted farm laws. The apparent ‘shutdown’ began at 6 am in the morning and will remain in force until 4 pm.

The farmer protestors began their demonstrations in September last year but failed to make any impact in the past 300 days. They had blocked highways, created inconvenience for daily commuters, and engaged in violence and vandalism. In a bid to draw the attention of the Union government, they have decided to enforce a nationwide shutdown. “All the central and state government offices, markets, shops, factories, schools, colleges and other educational institutions will not be allowed to function,” SKM had threatened. 

Ravi Shankar Prasad calls out Dainik Bhaskar for publishing ‘false and misleading’ claims about his late mother’s pension: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Ravi Shankar Prasad calls out Dainik Bhaskar for publishing ‘false and misleading’ claims about his late mother’s pension: Details

Former Minister of Law and Justice of India Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday called out Hindi news daily Dainik Bhaskar for publishing a report that claimed that his family is receiving benefits in the name of his mother even after her death.

Prasad said the report is baseless and devoid of truth, adding that her mother’s pension account was closed soon after she died in December 2020.

Responding to the story which was posted by Dainik Bhaskar’s official Twitter account, Prasad tweeted, “Dainik Bhaskar has tweeted that my mother’s pension has continued even after her death, which is completely baseless and factually incorrect. My mother died on December 25, 2020, and her pension account was terminated on December 31, 2020. It is impossible to receive a pension in a terminated account.”

The former cabinet minister also said he is deeply pained by the misleading and false news published about his late mother, adding that Dainik Bhaskar did not seek information from him or his family members before publishing a slanderous article against his mother.

‘I am deeply anguished by the false and misleading news published about my late mother. The concerned newspaper did not seek any information from me or my family before running the news,” Prasad said in another tweet.

Besides Ravi Shankar Prasad, Nitin Naveen rubbished the claims made by Dainik Bhaskar, stating that he had sent a mail and asked the concerned authorities to close his mother’s pension amount on May 13, 2021.

Dainik Bhaskar publishes article claiming Bihar secretariat is paying pensions to dead people

Earlier today, Dainik Bhaskar published a report citing large-scale discrepancies witnessed in the disbursement of pensions to former MLAs. Referring to an RTI response, Dainik Bhaskar claimed that, Vimala Devi, mother of former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, was issued a pension of Rs 30 thousand 750 every month while Meera Sinha, mother of Road Construction Minister Nitin Naveen, Government of Bihar, was given Rs 62 thousand as pension amount in the financial year 2021-22. Vimala Devi had died on 25 December 2020 and Meera Sinha breathed her last on 30 March 2021.

Report in Dainik Bhaskar

After the clarification by the former Union Minister, Bhaskar updated its report, adding the reactions by RS Prasad and Nitin Naveen, but the news daily still maintains that RTI replies reveal pensions have been issued in the name of Prasad’s mother and Naveen’s mother in the 2021-22 financial year.

Report by Bhaskar

Bhaskar has claimed that they had initiated an investigation into the beneficiaries of the pension scheme and found names of people on the list who have died years ago. Among the pensioners of the Begusarai district, Bhaskar got the name of Saraswati Devi, wife of former Teghra MLA Rameshwar Singh.

Saraswati Devi had died on January 25, 2018, but an investigation conducted by Bhaskar claimed that Bihar Secretariat is still depositing pension amounts in her account. The Bhaskar report added that the descendants of Saraswati Devi have no idea that pension is being issued in their mother’s name. The family lives in poverty in a straw dwelling in their village. The report cites several other instances where former MLAs and their spouses have expired but the government is still issuing pensions in their names. The report hints at corruption at different levels of the Bihar government.

TMC workers attack BJP’s national VP Dilip Ghosh before Bhowanipore by-poll, video emerges: Here’s how it happened

OpIndia Staff
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TMC workers attack BJP’s national VP Dilip Ghosh before Bhowanipore by-poll, video emerges: Here’s how it happened

Trinamool Congress supporters in West Bengal clashed with BJP workers during a recent rally and attacked Dilip Ghosh, National Vice President of the Bharatiya Janata Party. According to reports, Dilip Ghosh was physically assaulted by TMC supporters during the attack while another BJP worker was seriously wounded.

The incident reportedly took place near Jagubabur Bazar, Bhowanipore during a campaign rally led by Dilip Ghosh. A group of TMC supporters in an auto followed Dilip Ghosh at the rally and soon engaged in a confrontation while distributing TMC leaflets, chanting anti Dilip Ghosh and anti BJP slogans.

When Dilip Ghosh entered a Covid Vaccination Centre to avoid the possible clash, the TMC supporters followed and dragged him out of the vaccination centre and physically assaulted him. Later, ‘Joy Bangla’ slogans were heard from the TMC supporters and ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans given by the BJP workers as Ghosh found his way out of the attack.

After that, when Ghosh moved ahead with the rally towards the Harish Mukherjee road, TMC supporters allegedly grabbed hold of a BJP man and injured him, severely spilling blood. The man was later hospitalized.

The incident also happens just before the Bhowanipore by-poll and the Election Commission of India sought report from the West Bengal government over the Bhowanipore incident.

Dilip Ghosh posted a tweet after the incident today and expressed concerns about the safety of public representatives in West Bengal and claimed that the incident was a planned attack organized by the TMC workers.

He said, “How safe is the life of the common man in this state when public representative are being attacked in Bhabanipur, the home turf of Madam Chief Minister ?” He added, “The planned attack at Jagubabur Bazaar, Bhawanipore today was a plot to kill me by TMC goons and thugs. This highlights the heinous, horrific nature of the ruling party. Can healthy elections be conducted after this incident ??”

Political violence has been cause for extreme concern in the state with BJP workers being murdered and raped following TMC’s victory in the assembly elections. Multiple cases have been registered by the CBI over the matter and several arrests have been made as well. Despite that, the spate of violence has not stopped.

England: Former footballer used Church and Sunday School to sexually assault children, jailed for 24 years

OpIndia Staff
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England: Former footballer used Church and Sunday School to sexually assault children, jailed for 24 years

In Manchester, England, a footballer named Jonathan Diba-Musangu (23) who played for Rochdale AFC as a goalkeeper has been jailed for 24 years for raping and sexually abusing six children. As per Greater Manchester Police (GMP), Diba-Musangu met most of his victims through a Church in Rochdale where he taught Sunday school and music classes.

He has been jailed at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court for 12 offences including raping a child aged seven in the year 2012. He was convicted for inciting a child to engage in sexual activity on two counts and indulging in sexual activities with another child on three occasions. 

Two other charges are related to sisters, one aged 11 at the time of the offence and the other a few years younger. Diba-Musangu had allegedly grabbed the elder sister by the hips and had made sexual requests to the younger one. 

To another 12-year-old minor, the footballer asked for a leg massage, before forcing himself upon her. Reportedly, he took pictures of the girls and threatened them by putting them out in public if they complained about him.  

Inspector Julie Maxwell of GMP said, “Diba-Musangu abused his position of power within the church and may well have had a successful footballing career ahead of him before the work of detectives have led to where he is now – behind bars.”

Ironically, the culprit also worked in focus groups for young adults alongside pursuing a career in football.

“It’s taken immense bravery for these victims to come forward and cooperate with us as we pieced together his gruesome acts,” added the inspector.

The footballer was arrested in 2018 while he was playing for Mossley FC.

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