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While Sugar factories elsewhere were closing down during Covid-19, all factories were kept running in Uttar Pradesh: CM Yogi Adityanath

OpIndia Staff
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While Sugar factories elsewhere were closing down during Covid-19, all factories were kept running in Uttar Pradesh: CM Yogi Adityanath

During the Covid-19 pandemic when the sugar industry of Brazil came to a grinding halt, more than half of the sugar factories in Maharashtra and some in Karnataka were closed down, the Uttar Pradesh government had ensured that all 119 sugar factories continue procurement and production.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said this while addressing farmers of Uttar Pradesh at the ‘farmers meet’ held in Lucknow on Sunday.   

“During Covid, the world economy was facing slow down. Brazil is the biggest producer of sugar. Its sugar industry came to a grinding halt. Half of the sugar factories of Maharashtra were closed down and some in Karnataka. But the sugarcane development of Uttar Pradesh with the help of technology continued running all 119 sugar factories in Uttar Pradesh,” Yogi Adityanath said.      

He added that his government ensured that till the time the last farmer of the state sold his standing sugarcane crop, no sugar factory would terminate its operation.

The Chief Minister said that in 2017 when he took oath as chief minister he found sugarcane farmers disappointed.

“Farmers believed that even the remaining sugar mills would be shut down. During BSP rule 21 sugar mills were shut down and 11 were closed during the rule of Samajwadi Party. Sugar factories worth Rs 250 Crore to Rs 300 Crore were sold out at throwaway prices, anything between Rs 25 crore,” he said.

Yogi Adityanath said that his government started reviving the sugar industry in Uttar Pradesh. Closed factories were reopened, technology upgraded, a new set-up was made, and factory owners were positively persuaded to reopen their closed factories. Even some of the sold-out factories were taken back by his government.

He said that the outstanding dues of farmers related to sugarcane procurement were cleared. Sugarcane production was on the decline. But farmers were assured that the sugar industry is on the path of revival. And at the same time in April 2017, the Yogi Adityanath government had brought procurement policy and other pro-farmer policies to boost the farming sector. He added that his government has decided to increase the procurement price of sugarcane.

“The period between 2004 and 2014 was a dark age for the country and Uttar Pradesh. The development of Uttar Pradesh had come to a grinding halt. There was lawlessness and riot all around. Nobody was safe. Farmers across the country were committing suicide,” Yogi Adityanath said.

He said that the dark phase was over when Narendra Modi became Prime Minister of India, who launched a number of schemes for the welfare of farmers, the poor and people of other sections of the society.

Yogi Adityanath quipped at ongoing politically sponsored farmers’ protest and said that farmers are not going to be trapped by them.

‘I am the tiger, not court’: Tripura CM Biplab Deb advises officers not to fear contempt of court cases while implementing govt orders

OpIndia Staff
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‘I am the tiger, not court’: Tripura CM Biplab Deb advises officers not to fear contempt of court cases while implementing govt orders

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb made another controversial statement when he slammed the officials for citing rules and court orders. Speaking at the 26th biennial conference of Tripura Civil Service Officers Association (TCSOA) organized at Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan on Saturday in Agartala, the CM said that he does not like that some officers talk about contempt of court while implementing government decisions.

He asked the officials not to tell him that court orders will create problems in the system. He asked, “what kind of problem will this create in the system?” He said that people say that they can’t take risks because that may be contempt of court order. I want to know who has been sent to jail on contempt of court charges. I am here, before you go, I will go to the court first, Biplab Kumar Deb said. He said that it is not easy to jail someone in contempt of court cases, because that needs police, and the police are under the control of the government, not courts, he said.

“The court will direct police, police will say we are looking for him but not getting. So, don’t be afraid of court etc,” the CM told the officials. “I am a tiger, not a court. We make laws and the court just implements them,” he then said.

The CM said, ‘Chief Secretary is saying that it cannot happen…I said Cabinet will take the decision and it will happen..how long we keep them waiting.. they get retired and this is an injustice to them..and they say Contempt of Court..as if Contempt looks like a tiger.. I am the tiger who is leading this government.. one who runs the government got the ultimate power..and this means it is the public with the ultimate power, public decides the government, the government is not decided by the court, the Court is for the people, not the other way around’.

The CM further said that government officers must listen to elected representatives and execute the projects and schemes without fearing rules, laws and court. He added that the elected government is the supreme.

The comments of Biplab Deb came in the wake of the issue of regularisation of SSA contractual teachers, which has led to a contempt of court case filed against the state govt.

It may be noted that while a High Court of Tripura verdict given earlier this year had ordered regularize the services of around 4000 SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) contractual teachers, it was found that regularization of all education teachers under SSA would lead to violation of NCTE guidelines that might raise legal complications in the near future as among all the teachers considered for regularization, just 45 of them passed TET.

Also, 4,442 of the SSA teachers obtained the D.El.Ed degree after getting their contractual jobs but did not pass the TET exam. Apart from that, 195 teachers were without D.El.Ed or B.Ed degrees, and shockingly only 45 of them passed the secondary. This caused the Tripura government to consider the situation at hand and take important measures such that the regularization directed by the High Court does not violate the Right to Education Act.

According to reports, the Tripura government ultimately decided to comply with the verdict of the Tripura High Court after a recently held cabinet meeting. But unfortunately, a Contempt of court case was already filed against the Tripura government for the delay in implementing the verdict.

Instagram influencer’s dance on ‘second-hand jawani’ in a temple goes viral, Mahant asks not to defame temples like this

OpIndia Staff
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Instagram influencer’s dance on ‘second-hand jawani’ in a temple goes viral, Mahant asks not to defame temples like this

A video of an Instagram influencer dancing at the gate of a temple has gone viral on social media, which attracted criticism from Hindu groups. The incident took place at the Janrai Toriya temple complex in the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh.

The influencer, named Aarti Sahu, was seen dancing ‘provocatively’ to the tune of ‘Second hand jawani’ song at the entrance of the Janrai Toriya temple. Dressed in a red Kurti, the Instagrammer did not bother to take off her shoes while dancing at the temple gate. She then posted the video on her Instagram profile (@itsaartisahu), which has over 23 lakh followers. After the video went viral, Bajrang Dal and Hindu rights organisations took notice of the matter. They accused the influencer of hurting religious sentiments for fame and money.

(Video Courtesy: Youtube/ Opindia)

While dubbing the dance video as ‘obscene’, Bajrang Dal member Saurabh Khare remarked, “Such girls are destroying our culture. Those who mock our culture in this manner has no right to be in our society. We will keep opposing people like Aarti.” The Bajrang Dal has demanded that the police register a First Information Report (FIR) in the case. A complaint was also filed with the DSP (Chhatrapur) Shashank Jain.

The police assured that appropriate action will be taken, following the investigation into the matter. In her defense, Aarti said that she was clothed in full dress and there was nothing vulgar in her dance. However, the Head priest (Mahant) of the temple, Bhagwandas, has demanded strong action against her. “Do not desecrate our temples, monasteries and ashrams by doing such acts,” he stated.

Mahant Bhagwandas was initially unaware of the viral dance video as he was at a different temple at the time of the incident. On learning about it, he stated that strong action must be taken against individuals who indulge in such activities.

Instagram influencer apologises for hurting religious/political sentiments

Live Hindustan reported that the girl had apologised for her actions while speaking to a news channel. She had also promised to not shoot such videos at a religious site. She also posted a video on Instagram seeking forgiveness, saying that she didn’t intend to hurt the sentiments of anyone.

In the Instagram story published on Saturday (September 25), Aarti Sahu said, “Hello everyone. I always get your support for the videos that I create. The intention of my videos is not to hurt anyone’s sentiments or cause damage. Please forgive me if any of my videos had hurt anyone’s religious or political sentiments.”

‘I made furthering the cause of Ummah my duty,’ says Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui as UP ATS makes 3 more arrests in conversion racket case

OpIndia Staff
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‘I made furthering the cause of Ummah my duty,’ says Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui as UP ATS makes 3 more arrests in conversion racket case

The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested three more individuals in the Maulana Umar Gautam conversion racket case. The three arrested have been identified as Mohammed Idris Qureshi, Mohammed Salim and Kunal Ashok Chaudhry alias Atif.

Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui, who had been arrested earlier in the matter, mentioned the names of the three accused during questioning. Siddiqui also said, “I made furthering the cause of the Ummah my duty and whenever we converted someone (to Islam), we informed our associated abroad who paid them a lot of money to remain within the Islamic fold and convert others. I benefitted a lot financially from it.”

Source: UP ATS

According to the UP ATS, Idris Qureshi and Mohammed Salim have been aiding Siddiqui’s conversion activities for the past 17 years. The accused has apparently confessed that he used to work under the direction of Siddiqui. Atif, a doctor, has been working with Siddiqui for the past two years. Atif converted to Islam while he was pursuing his medical education in Russia but had not managed to clear the MCI examination in India.

Even so, he was illegally operating a clinic in the country. Idris Qureshi used to run a Madarsa operated by Siddiqui’s Trust and collect funds for it. The Madarsa was run as a conversion center. Qureshi has built a house worth Rs. 60 lakhs in Muzaffarnagar and a bike worth Rs. 2.5 lakh has been recovered, the source of funds for which are not known.

Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui was arrested by the UP ATS on the 21st of September in the conversion racket case. Since then, an audio clip has gone viral that purportedly shows the Maulana admitting that upper caste girls from the Brahmin and Kshatriya community were targeted for conversion to Islam.

Earlier, it was reported that the cleric was receiving funding from Pakistan for running his illegal conversion racket. Apart from that, Pakistan had also been providing technical assistance to Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui.

Earlier, the police had revealed that the 64-year-old Islamic scholar runs Jamia Imam Waliullah trust that funds several madrassas for which he received huge foreign funding. Uttar Pradesh ADG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar informed, “Investigation shows Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui’s trust received Rs 3 crores in foreign funding including Rs 1.5 from Bahrain.”

Radical preacher Zakir Naik looking for a bride for his son, wants her to be good at propagating Islam amongst Muslims and non-Muslims

OpIndia Staff
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Radical preacher Zakir Naik looking for a bride for his son, wants her to be good at propagating Islam amongst Muslims and non-Muslims

On Friday (September 24), fugitive and radical Islamic preacher Zakir Naik took to Facebook to hunt for a ‘virtuous’ daughter-in-law’ who can propagate Islam to non-Muslims.

In his matrimonial post on Facebook, Naik wrote, “I am looking for a wife for my son Fariq, a virtuous Muslim Girl of good character, such that my son and his wife can be a source of guidance and strength for each other. If you are the father or relative of a girl you think is eligible, and who agrees to look into this, I would humbly request you to respond to this post with the required information.” The hate preacher listed out the qualities that he has been actively seeking in the future wife for his son.

One of the necessary qualities that such a girl must possess is the art of proselytism (Da’wah). He outlined, “Passionate about Da’wah and spreading the teachings of Islam…Willing to fully support and encourage her husband in Da’wah activities.”

Zakir Naik has been infamous for misleading non-Muslims and converting them during his live Q and A sessions. As such, he has looking for similar qualities in his daughter-in-law.

Screengrab of the Facebook post by Zakir Naik

One of the ‘preferable qualities’ that Zakir Naik wants in his son’s wife is Da’eeyah i.e. propagation of Islam among non-Muslims and Muslims. It, therefore, comes as no surprise as to why his son Fariq Naik has proselytism listed in his marriage biodata. Under the sub-heading of Islamic activities, Fariq’s achievement has been outlined as, “Assists his father in his Da’wah activities.” Interestingly, he is also the recipient of the first prize in the ‘International Da’wah Training programme’, which was conducted by Zakir Naik himself.

Screengrab of the Facebook post

Interestingly, Zakir Naik’s wife Farhat is also involved as ‘Da’eeyah’. In fact, his two daughters are also actively involved in converting non-Muslims to Islam and propagating the religion among them.

Zakir Naik link emerges in UP mass conversion racket

The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in Uttar Pradesh had unearthed a mass conversion scandal after the arrest of one Umar Gautam and his aide. Reportedly, the duo ran an organisation named Islamic Dawah Centre(IDC), along with their other associates, to mass convert people into Islam through inducements such as marriage, job and money and mental pressure. They were accused of targeting differently-abled children to convert and using them as human bombs.

Moreover, the investigation had also revealed the illegal foreign funding received by Gautam and his accomplices. As per an India Today report, Islamic Dawah Centre- Umar Gautam’s organization was in touch with infamous Islamist preacher Zakir Naik’s aide. The investigation led by the ATS is also trying to establish the funding links to ascertain the motive of the Islamic Dawah Centre run by Umar Gautam and his accomplice.

Five ministers from Amarinder Singh govt dropped by new Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi, seven new faces inducted in the cabinet

OpIndia Staff
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Five ministers from Amarinder Singh govt dropped by new Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi, seven new faces inducted in the cabinet

After Charanjit Singh Channi was made the Chief Minister of Punjab on September 20, he formed his cabinet today. On September 26, 15 Cabinet Ministers took oath as new ministers in Punjab. Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had taken oath as new Chief Minister on September 20 following the resignation of former CM Captain Amarinder Singh. The oath-taking ceremony of the new Cabinet Ministers took place at Raj Bhavan, Chandigarh, in the presence of governor Banwarilal Purohit.

Rounds of discussions took place after Channi’s oath-taking ceremony to finalise the names of the new ministers. The newly elected CM of Punjab visited Delhi several times to meet the party high command to discuss the names of the ministers after his swearing-in ceremony.

The fifteen ministers who took oath on Sunday are Brahm Mohindra, Manpreet Singh Badal, Tripti Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Rana Gurjit Singh, Aruna Chaudary, Razia Sultana, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Vijay Inder Singla, Randeep Singh Nabha, Raj Kumar Verka, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Pargat Singh, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Gukrirat Singh Kotli.

There are seven new faces in the cabinet, while eight ministers from Amarinder Singh’s cabinet retained the positions of ministers. Six ministers out of new faces have never held a position of a minister, while Rana Gurjit Singh had been a minister before. Congress leader in charge of Punjab affairs Harish Rawat said, “Those who could not be made ministers today will be accommodated in government setup and organisation. This exercise has been done to bring in young faces and strike a social and regional balance.”

The former ministers who were dropped from the new cabinet are Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, Sunder Shyam Arora, Rana Gurmeet Sodhi, Balbir Singh Sidhu and Gurpreet Kangar. Two of those ministers who got dropped from Amarinder Singh’s cabinet questioned the decision. In a joint press conference, Balbir Singh Sidhu and Gurpreet Singh Kangar raised objections to the decision and asked what was their fault that their names were dropped. Tiwari, replying to the controversy, said it was the Chief Minister’s decision to include and exclude names from the list of ministers. However, he did praise former health minister Balbir Singh for his “exemplary work during worst days of Covid”.

It is believed that the new cabinet has been formed while keeping the upcoming assembly elections in mind. Though Channi, the first Dalit CM of Punjab, will run the government for the next few months, reports suggest that the elections would be fought under the leadership of Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. Interestingly, in the new cabinet, Congress has played well with the caste calculations by including representatives from minorities, OBC, Jat Sikhs and Valmiki communities.

The controversy around Rana Gurjit Singh

Just before the ceremony, six MLAs had raised objections on including Rana Gurjit Singh as a cabinet minister. Notably, he was dropped from the cabinet in 2018 when his name emerged in a mining scandal. The six leaders in the letter written to Sidhu demanded the position should not go to Rana but to a Dalit leader with a clean image. However, their objections did not make any difference.

China releases two Canadians after Canada released Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou: All you need to know about the ‘prisoner swap’

Anurag
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China releases two Canadians after Canada released Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou: All you need to know about the ‘prisoner swap’

On September 25, China welcomed Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, who spent over 1,000 days in detention in Canada. She was living in her multi-million home in Vancouver under house arrest for the last three years. Notably, on the same day, two Canadians detained by China for over 1,000 days reached Canada, making it apparent that it was a ‘prisoner swap’.

Meng is the daughter of Ren Zhengfei, founder of Huawei Technologies. She was released from detention after reaching an agreement with the prosecutors in the US on Friday that ended a bank fraud case she was charged with. Chinese officials had signalled that the case had to be dropped to end the diplomatic deadlock between the US and China.

Meng was quoted by Chinese Mouthpiece Global Times saying, “I’m finally back home. The waiting in a foreign country was full of suffering. I was speechless the moment my feet touched Chinese soil.” While Chinese state media welcomed Meng, there were no words uttered about Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, the two Canadians who were detained by China just a few days after the detention of Meng in Canada.

What happened on September 24?

On September 24, the Department of Justice said it had reached a deferred prosecution agreement with Meng. DOJ, thus, would not move ahead with prosecution charges against Meng till December 2022. If she manages to comply with the conditions laid down by the court, the case against her will be dropped.

Later that day, the Canadian prosecutors informed the court in Vancouver, and the efforts of her extradition to the US had been withdrawn, which led to her release from the detention.

Huawei would continue to defend itself in the US

In a statement, Huawei said that the company had looked forward to seeing Meng coming back home safely and rejoin the family. Notably, the company said that it would continue to defend its position in front of the US against the charges laid down by the US administration against the tech company.

Reaction on Meng’s release from political circuit

Meng release did not go down well with all the sections in the US senate. Some Republican senators have condemned her release and urged the White House to make a statement in front of the US Congress over the issue. Marco Rubio was quoted by Reuters saying, “The release of Ms. Meng raises serious questions about President Biden’s ability and willingness to confront the threat posed by Huawei and the Chinese Communist Party.”

Senator Jim Risch said in a statement, “It [the deal was a victory for one of the world’s most brutal and cruel regimes,” and would embolden the Communist Party “to use other foreign citizens as bargaining chips because it now knows hostage-taking is a successful way to get what it wants.”

On the other hand, Chinese commentators welcomed the decision. Wu Xinbo, dean of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University, appreciated the decision and claimed it would help in clearing the mess left behind former President Trump. He said, “By agreeing to let Meng return to China, the Biden administration is signalling that it hopes to clear the mess left behind by the former Trump administration.”

Canada’s reaction on return of detained Canadians

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed the two Canadians, Kovrig and Spavor after they landed in Calgary. In a Twitter post, he said, “Welcome home, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. You’ve shown incredible strength, resilience, and perseverance. Know that Canadians across the country will continue to be here for you, just as they have been.”

Who is Meng Wanzhou?

46-year-old Meng Wanzhou is the elder daughter of Ren Zhengfei, founder of Huawei, the telecom equipment manufacturer. She is often called Cathy or Sabrina Meng. Zhengfei had served in the Chinese Army for nine years until 1983. He is also a member of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. Huawei has been accused of using the equipment sold for stealing information and espionage. The company has, however, denied the accusations.

The accusations against Meng were raised because of the relationship between a company named Skycom and Huawei. Reportedly, Skycom runs a business in Iran, and it was a “hidden” subsidiary of Huawei to sell equipment to Iran. As the US has imposed sanctions on Iran, Huawei was accused of going against the regulations.

Meng reportedly had served on Skycom’s board of directors. In 2013, she denied all the allegations made against her during a presentation in New York in front of the bankers. The US prosecutors alleged that she made misrepresentations and claimed that her company had sold all the shares in Skycom, and Meng had quitted her position from the board. The US authorities said, “That statement was highly misleading because Huawei sold its shares in Skycom to a company also controlled by Huawei.”

Meng’s arrest in Vancouver

When Meng was arrested, she was on a business trip passing via Vancouver International Airport on her way to a trip to Mexico City, Costa Rica, Argentina and France. According to the US authorities, she had been avoiding travelling via the US since April 2017 after she was made aware of the criminal investigation against her. In August 2018, a judge in the Eastern District of New York issued a warrant against her that led to her arrest. Her family owns properties in Vancouver. She was denied bail multiple times as the prosecution claimed she was a flight risk.

Reacting to her arrest, Huawei said, “The company denies that it or its subsidiary or affiliate have committed any of the asserted violations of U.S. law set forth in each of the indictments, is not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms Meng, and believes the U.S. courts will ultimately reach the same conclusion.”

A few days after her arrest, China detained two Canadians, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, over the suspicion of spuing. While the experts accused China of detaining Canadian citizens as a political bargaining chip under ‘hostage diplomacy’, China denied the accusations and kept saying that they were detained for the alleged involvement in spying. Later, Spavor was charged with espionage and sentenced to 11 years in prison. Canada condemned the sentence and claimed the trial did not meet the required standards laid down by international law.

It is noteworthy that her release is not going to end the loggerhead between the US and China immediately as Huawei is still a blacklisted company, among several others.

Amit Shah chairs review on Maoist terrorism in 10 states, Mamata Banerjee and 3 other CMs skip the high-level meeting

OpIndia Staff
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Amit Shah chairs review on Maoist terrorism in 10 states, Mamata Banerjee and 3 other CMs skip the high-level meeting

Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a review meeting on ‘Left-Wing Terrorism’ at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi today, where the Maoist terrorism situation in ten states of the country was discussed. The home ministry had invited the chief ministers of all the ten states for the meeting, however, only five CMs attended the meeting. The other five states were represented by cabinet ministers or senior officials from the respective states.

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao attended the meeting chaired by Amit Shah. On the other hand, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Chhatisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan sent representatives instead of attending the meeting themselves. Interestingly, all four CMs who skipped the meeting are from non-NDA parties.

According to reports, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee decided to skip the high-level meeting on tackling the menace of Maoism in the state because she is campaigning for her by-election from Bhabanipore on September 30.

Chief Secretary of the State HK Dwivedi attended the meeting instead of the Chief Minister. During the meeting, Dwivedi highlighted the role played by the State government in bringing Maoists to the mainstream through employment opportunities. He has claimed that the Maoist problem has subsided in districts such as Purulia, Bankura, Paschim Medinipur, Birbhum due to the efforts of the government.

Chhattisgarh was represented by chief secretary Amitabh Jain and Director General of Police (DGP) DM Awasthi, while Andhra Pradesh was represented by the state home minister.

The objective of the meeting was to review the security situation and take measures to counter the growing threat of Maoists. In the meeting, the Union Home Minister reviewed the security situation and ongoing operations against Maoists in Naxal-hit areas in the ten states. He also took stock of the requirements of the states, the strength of forces deployed to tackle the Naxal terrorists.

Home minister Amit Shah said there has been a lot of success due to the joint efforts of the Centre and the states in cracking down on Left Wing Extremism. He said that while the incidents of Left Wing Extremism have come down by 23 per cent, the number of deaths has come down by 21 per cent. He said that we all know that unless we get rid of the problem of Left Wing Extremism completely, the full development of the country and the states affected by it is not possible. Without eliminating it, neither we will be able to spread democracy to the bottom nor will we be able to develop the underdeveloped areas, he added.

Amit Shah also reviewed development projects that have been undertaken by the State government in the Maoist zones, to help locals lead a life of normalcy. He conducted detailed discussions on road construction, building of schools and bridges in those areas.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the Maoist problem has been reduced to only three districts in his state, and the meeting discussed what is required to be done to reduce it further.

Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Giriraj Singh, Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda, Minister of Communications, IT and Railways, Ashwini Vaishnav, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Gen VK Singh, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai also attended the meeting. Senior officials from the home ministry and intelligence agencies were also present. According to the Home Ministry data, although Maoist violence has reduced considerably in the country, the menace is still prevalent in about 45 districts. However, a total of 90 districts in the country are considered Maoist-affected and are covered under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme of the ministry.

While Naxal activities were reported from 61 countries in 2019, this number came down to 45 districts in 2020. Between 2015 and 2020, a total of 900 Maoists were neutralised, and 4200 of them had surrendered. Besides, 1000 civilians and 380 security personnel were martyred during the counter-terrorism operations. The union govt is likely to intensify operations against the Maoist terrorists, as several ambushes were done on security forces by the Naxals in the last few years.

In the deadliest terror attack of 2021, a group of 400 Naxals ambushed a massive operation that included the STF, DRG and District Force of the Chhattisgarh Police, the CRPF and its elite COBRA unit on April 3. The teams were deployed in the forests of Chhattisgarh for a search and destroy anti-Maoist operation along the border of the Bijapur-Sukma district.

CJI NV Ramana quotes the Communist Manifesto to ask women to demand 50% reservations in Judiciary

OpIndia Staff
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CJI NV Ramana quotes the Communist Manifesto to ask women to demand 50% reservations in Judiciary

Chief Justice of India, NV Ramana, encouraged women to demand 50% reservations for them in the Judiciary. He said that it is their right to demand women reservations. CJI Ramana also observed that women have nothing to lose.

The CJI cited a famous quote from the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The quote says, “Workers of the world, unite!”

The CJI remarked that there are only 11% female judges in the High Court. The number is in the 30s in the lower judiciary and in the Supreme Court, only 4 out of 33 judges are women.

“This needs urgent correction. People will cite difficulties that women have to face to be fully represented. That is not correct. I agree there is the client’s preference, uncomfortable environment, and lack of infrastructure are the major issues unfriendly to women in the legal profession. Among the 60,000 Courts, 22% do not even have toilets due to which even lady officers suffer,” CJI NV Ramana said.

The CJI also said that physical hearings are likely to resume after Dussehra, which were stopped in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. He also expressed hope for more women to join the judiciary so that the 50% representation is achieved soon.

Gujarat: Surat Municipal Corporation cancels permission for construction given to Raihan Heights in violation of Disturbed Areas Act

Nirwa Mehta
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Gujarat: Surat Municipal Corporation cancels permission for construction given to Raihan Heights in violation of Disturbed Areas Act

Surat Municipal Corporation in a letter date 21st September 2021 cancelled the permission for construction given to Raihan Heights building in Adajan area after matters came to light that the provisions of Disturbed Areas Act were violated.

SMC letter

In a letter dated, the Corporation stated that the permission for carrying out construction of building for flat no. 82 in TP Scheme 11 (Adajan) now stands adjourned. The letter stated that the above area comes under the Disturbed Areas Act and the transfer of property was cancelled by the Deputy Collector, City Prant, Surat following which the permission to carry out construction activity on the said property stands cancelled. Hence, until further orders, no construction activity can be carried out on the land.

If any construction activity is carried out in violation of the order will be liable to further legal action, the notice says.

Disturbed Areas Act circumvented by bringing in ‘temporary’ Hindu partner

OpIndia had earlier reported that the Disturbed Areas Act was circumvented in Surat’s Adajan area and permission to construct building was obtained through deceitful means. Evergreen Corporation, Muslim owned enterprise, obtained next to construct a building next to a temple by ‘temporarily’ bringing up a Hindu partner in what appears to be a bid to hoodwink the law. Once the permission was obtained, the Hindu partner was removed by them.

It must be noted that Adajan in Surat falls under the Gujarat Disturbed Areas Act where transfer of immovable property can take place only after the Collector signs off an application made by the buyer and seller of the property. The seller, in the application, must mention that the seller is selling the property by their own free will. This is to preserve the religious and community value and identity of the areas which are susceptible to demographic change.

Essentially, the Collector is the peacekeeper of the district and it is his/her responsibility that the communal harmony is maintained. To make sure things don’t escalate and communal riots do not break out, the Collector has the responsibility of keeping peace.

Through this Act, the government is trying to keep a check on the polarisation of communities in sensitive parts of the state.

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