Prayagraj Development Authority demolished 3 tombs and 14 graves overnight on Friday from the Chandrashekhar Azad Park in the city. The authority was acting on the Allahabad High Court’s order to remove encroachments from the park.
Local journalist from Prayagraj said that several illegal constructions around a big Mazhar have been demolished. The journalist claimed that the Mazhar itself has not been demolished.
On Tuesday, the Allahabad High Court had issued an order to the Uttar Pradesh government to demolish illegal constructions built after 1975 in Prayagraj’s Chandrashekhar Azad Park within three days. Accordingly, the Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) and the district administration proceeded with the order and demolished all illegal constructions in the park.
Three small shrines raised next to an old tomb, illegal structures constructed in front of the Gyan Vriksha temple and a mosque have been dismantled in the process. According to reports, after the demolition, the administration and the PDA installed trees of three feet height on the ground where those demolished structures previously stood. More than a dozen bulldozers were deployed to demolish the encroachments as the authority had to comply with the court order within 12 pm today.
A bench consisting of Acting Chief Justice MN Bhandari and Justice Piyush Agarwal of the Allahabad High Court had issued the direction to remove the Azad Park encroachments. The High Court had issued the order while hearing a PIL filed to remove the encroachments in the park.
The PIL had said that the existence of this park is under threat as some members of the Muslim community have illegally constructed artificial graves and they are trying to convert a structure into a mosque. In this way, they want to convert the park into a graveyard and mosque, the petition had stated.
According to sources, other unlawfully built structures in the premises of Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Hindustani Academy, Ganganath Jhan Sanskrit Sansthan and other institutes located in Azad Park campus were also erased.
The demolition drive began on Thursday afternoon and lasted till Friday morning.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala appeared at the India Today Conclave 2021 and explained his reasons for feeling so positive about the future of India. During the interaction at the event, Rahul Kanwal of India Today Network asked him what he told Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he met him recently.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala responded saying people do not discuss their conversations with wives on Suhaag Raat (wedding night).
The comment was obviously made in jest, with the intention to convey the message that what was spoken between him and the Prime Minister was a private matter and he would not reveal what was said. However, the Congress party has decided to make inappropriate comments regarding the matter.
They are asking what is the relationship between Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and PM Modi, with obvious innuendos.
Rahul Kanwal to Rakesh Jhunjhunwala:- ‘आपकी प्रधानमंत्री से क्या बात हुई’?
Jhunjhunwala to Rahul Kanwal:- ‘सुहागरात में पत्नी से क्या बात होती है बताता है कोई?
The Congress party and its sympathizers had also peddled misinformation and targeted the ace investor when photographs of his meeting with Prime Minister Modi emerged. In one of the photographs that emerged, Jhunjhunwala was spotted sitting on a chair while the Prime Minister was standing.
They conveniently ignored the fact that Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is suffering from health concerns and he has to use a wheelchair for his movement.
Attorney General KK Venugopal has refused to give consent to initiate a contempt proceeding against Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, despite agreeing that he had made scurrilous allegations against Supreme Court and its judges. The consent of the attorney general or the solicitor general is required before the Supreme Court can hear a criminal contempt petition filed by a private individual.
In a letter on Thursday to the Delhi-based advocate Vineet Jindal, the complainant, in this case, KK Venugopal wrote that he carefully went through the email sent to him on 27th August 2021, seeking permission to initiate a proceeding of criminal content against Azad.
KK Venugopal opined that it was “true that scurrilous allegations have been made against the judges of the Supreme Court”. Venugopal added that it appeared that the statements of Azad were made with the “intent to be provocative”.
Despite agreeing that the statements were scurrilous and provocative in nature, the Attorney General declined to grant consent to initiate proceedings for criminal contempt against the Bhim Army chief.
Delhi-based advocate Vineet Jindal had in the month of August written to the Attorney General drawing his attention towards how Chandrashekhar Azad ‘Rawan,’ President of Bheem Army and Leader of Azad Samaj Party had disgraced the dignity of the Indian Judiciary. He had said that Azad had passed derogatory and scandalous statements about the Supreme Court of India and its judges during an interview which was aired on a news channel on August 27, 2021, and also widely circulated on the internet.
Azad, according to Jindal, had scandalised the process of selecting judges based on the Collegium. The Delhi-based lawyer had a complaint to the Attorney General that the Azad had alleged that the selection process as totally biased and that it takes place in the interest of sitting judges and their family members. He added that with his remarks, Azad had scandalised the judgments passed by the Supreme Court judges and accused them of being corrupt.
“I am therefore seeking your kind consent under section 15 (1) (b) of the contempt of courts Act 1971, read with rule 3 of the rules to regulate the proceedings for the contempt of the Supreme court 1975 to initiate criminal contempt against Chandrashekhar Azad “Ravan”, the letter read.
Attorney General KK Venugopal sanctions criminal contempt proceedings against DO Politics co-founder Ajeet Bharti
In stark contrast to the above decision, Attorney General KK Venugopal had last month granted sanction to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against YouTuber Ajeet Bharti. The situation was almost identical, as Ajeet Bharti was also accused of criticising the Supreme Court and its judges in one of his videos on the social media platform. Much like the aforementioned complaint against Chandrashekhar Azad, it was alleged that Ajeet Bharti had used “scurrilous” “vituperative” and “highly derogatory” words against Supreme Court and its judges.
“I find that the contents of the video which has been watched by about 1.7 lakh viewers are vituperative, gross and highly derogatory to the Supreme Court of India and the judiciary as a whole being clearly intended to denigrate the courts,” Venugopal said.
A lawyer identified as Kritika Singh had sought to initiate contempt proceedings against Bharti, who runs the DO Politics YouTube channel, on July 1.
Attorney General declines permission for contempt proceedings againstSwara Bhaskar
Attorney General KK Venugopal had in August 2020 declined permission to an advocate to file a contempt plea against actress-cum-activist Swara Bhasker for comments on the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi.
The petition was filed by advocate Anuj Saxena, Prakash Sharma & Mahek Maheshwari on behalf of one Usha Shetty. Reportedly, the petitioners argued that Swara Bhaskar tried to scandalise the court through her comments made during a conference titled, ‘artists against communalism’ that has was held in Mumbai in February 2020.
The petitioners had argued that the actress resorted to a ‘cheap stunt of publicity’ in a bid to make the people revolt against the apex court. The petition reiterated that the objective of her comments was to stir a feeling of ‘no-confidence’ among the masses against the Supreme Court and its judges.
As the Congress party continues its efforts to extract maximum political mileage out of the unfortunate Lakhimpur Kheri violence, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has started doing stunts of sweeping floors. After sweeping the floor of Sitapur Guest House in UP three days ago, today she was seen sweeping the ground at a Dalit locality in Lucknow, surrounded by cameras.
Today the Congress leader had paid a surprise visit to Luvkush Nagar, a Dalit locality in Indira Nagar in Lucknow, keeping an eye on the upcoming assembly elections in the states. There, she visited the Balmiki Mandir in the locality, and picked up a broom and started sweeping the ground in the area to express solidarity with the locals.
Priyanka Gandhi was accompanied by another woman in cleaning the ground, and her supporters were chanting ‘Priyanka Gandhi Zindabad’ while she was sweeping for the cameras. She was surrounded by Congress workers taking photos and videos of the act, with at least 8 people recording the same on mobile phones and cameras. While some people were taking selfies keeping Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the background, others were taking photos and videos of her stunt on their mobile phones.
“This is a sign of self-respect and simplicity. Crores of women clean their houses with a broom every day,” she said after sweeping the ground.
Uttar Pradesh Congress posted the video saying that sweeping is a work of self-respect, and they tagged the official Twitter handle of UP CM Yogi Adityanath advising him to change his thoughts.
Evidently, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra performed this act responding to UP CM Yogi Adityanath who had taken a dig at her for sweeping the floor of a guest house in Sitapur where she was kept in custody. When reporters had asked him about images of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra sweeping the floor of the guest house viral, the CM had quipped that the voters feel that she is good at it. “Janta unko ishi layak banana chahti hai (people want to make her capable of doing such tasks),” Yogi Adityanath told CNN18 during an interview.
Congress party had objected to this comment by the UP CM, and UP Congress Spokesperson Anshu Awasthi said that he is “hell scared of the ‘Durga Avatar’ of Priyanka-ji”.
On October 5, she was stopped from going to Lakhimpur Kheri by Uttar Pradesh police, and was detained and lodged at Sitapur Guest House. There, she was seen sweeping the floor of the guest house in a video that had gone viral.
Lalu Prasad Yadav’s prodigal son Tej Pratap has long been upset with the RJD. On Friday, Tej Pratap announced that the women of Bihar will never forgive RJD.
In a tweet. Tej Pratap emphasized that ‘mother’ is the most important person in his life and without ‘mother’, there will be darkness everywhere.
ऐ अँधेरे देख ले मुँह तेरा काला हो गया माँ ने आँखें खोल दीं घर में उजाला हो गया… मेरा नाम रहता ना रहता मां और दीदी का नाम रहना चाहिए था… इस गलती के लिए बिहार की महिलाएं कभी माफ नहीं करेगीं,दशहरा में हम मां की ही अराधना करतें हैं ना जी…?? pic.twitter.com/SpfImByK4C
Sharing RJD’s list of ‘Star campaigners’ submitted to the Election Commission of India for the upcoming by-polls in the state, Tej Pratap lamented at the names of his mother Rabri Devi and sister Misa Bharti being dropped from the list.
RJD had released a list of 20 star campaigners ahead of bypolls in Kushwswar Asthan and Tarapur seats.
“Mera naam rehta na rehta, maa aur didi ka naam rehna chahiye tha”, (it does not matter if they dropped my name, but mother and sister’s names should have been there”. Further, he added, since Maa is worshipped on Dusshera, it is deplorable that RJD has ignored the mother (his mother, Rabri Devi).
Tej Pratap added that for this grave omission, the women of Bihar will never forgive RJD.
Tej Pratap had ‘expelled himself’
Recently, RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari had announced that Tej Pratap Yadav had ‘expelled himself’ from the party and had started his own political outfit. He had also informed that Tej Pratap Yadav also does not have permission to use the party election symbol lantern.
Tiwari’s statement had come amid reports that the Yadav brothers are not getting along and RJD is now under the de facto control of Tejashwi Yadav.
Tej Pratap Yadav has recently launched his own political outfit Chhatra Janshakti Parishad, which is parallel to RJD’s students’ wing, Chhatra RJD. Last month, he launched Chhatra Janshakti Parishad and declared himself the President. He had however claimed it would be part of RJD only.
Bihar will see by-polls for 2 assembly seats in the coming weeks. The alliance partners Congress and RJD had been in a disagreement over seat-sharing and are fielding candidates against each other. Congress leader Ashok Ram’s son Atirekh Kumar is fighting by-polls from Kusheshwar Asthan seat. The other seat is Tarapur and the RJD also has announced a candidate there.
On Friday (October 8) afternoon, a suicide bomber targeted a Shia mosque where 300 Muslims were offering their Friday prayers (Jumma Namaz). The incident took place in Afghanistan’s 6th largest city of Kunduz.
In a video posted by Afghan journalist Natiq Malikzada, dead bodies were seen lying on the floor, splattered in blood and debris.
VIDEO: A very powerful suicide attack took place inside a mosque in Kunduz province of Afghanistan during friday pray.
TOLO News reported that about 100 people were injured and killed in the dastardly attack. No terror outfit has claimed any responsibility for the attack so far. Since the Taliban took over the country in August, terror attacks by ISIS and its affiliated groups have increased in the country. Although adherents of same fundamental Islamic ideology, the Taliban and ISIS see each other as enemies.
Initial reports indicate that over 100 people were killed and injured in today’s blast inside a mosque in Kunduz, UNAMA tweeted.#TOLOnews
Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid tweeted, “Today in the afternoon, in the Khanabad Bandar area in the capital city of Kunduz, a blast targeted a mosque belonging to our Shia citizens and martyred and wounded a number of our compatriots.”
#جنایت: ظهر امروز در منطقه خان اباد بندر مربوطات مرکز ولایت قندز در یک مسجد هموطنان اهل تشیع یک انفجار رخ داد، که از اثر آن تعداد هموطنان ما شهید و زخمی شدند. مجاهدین قطعه خاص به محل حادثه رسیدند و بر رسی ها را اغاز کردند.
— Zabihullah (..ذبـــــیح الله م ) (@Zabehulah_M33) October 8, 2021
While speaking about the matter, Taliban leader Ahmadullah Wasiq said, “A number of people have been killed and wounded. Security forces have arrived at the scene and have started an investigation into the incident.” One Talib anonymously told Reuters that at least 28 people were killed and an additional dozen people were wounded. It is estimated that about 300 worshippers were at the Kunduz mosque at the time of the blast.
Bomb blast at Kabul mosque where condolence prayers for Taliban spokesperson’s deceased mother were being held
A powerful bomb blast in a mosque in Kabul in Afghanistan killed several people on Sunday (October 3). The blast took place at the historic Eidgah mosque in the city. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid informed that the blast had left a number of civilian casualties. Although the official number of casualties were not released, social media posts suggested that at least 5 people had died while many more were injured in the blast.
Incidentally, the blast targeted the memorial prayers of the mother of Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid. Mujahid’s mother had passed away on September 27. On October 2, he had informed that the Fateha of his mother would be offered at the mosque on Sunday from 2 pm to 5 pm. This made it clear that the bomb blast took place specifically to target the condolence prayer at the mosque.
On Friday (October 8), a Mumbai court rejected the bail petition of Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha. Khan was arrested after a Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) team raided a rave party onboard a cruise ship off the coast of Mumbai.
As per reports, Khan was brought to the Arthur Road jail on Friday and the hearing of his bail application began at around 12:30 pm at the Esplanade Magistrate Court. In his defence, Khan’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde told the Court that it has the power to set his client free. “These are local boys. Kindly grant bail,” he had requested. However, the Court turned down his request.
#UPDATE | Mumbai’s Esplanade court rejects bail plea of Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, in the case related to the seizure of drugs following a raid at a party on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast
The lawyer for Arbaaz Merchant has said that he will file a fresh bail application before the Session Court tomorrow. No such confirmation has been made by the counsel for Aryan Khan, Satish Maneshinde. The Mumbai court had on Friday sent Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan to judicial custody for 14 days. Aryan Khan was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on October 2, in connection with the luxury cruise drug bust case.
On Wednesday (October 6), a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against a research scholar named Suraj Gogoi and ‘The Hindu‘ Editor Suresh Nambath for an objectionable article against the Assamese community. The FIR was lodged against the duo after a complaint was filed by the Pravajan Virodhi Manch (PVM) at the Latasil police station in Guwahati.
PVM, which is headed by lawyer Upamanyu Hazarika, has accused that Suraj Gogoi of promoting disharmony, hatred, feelings of enmity, and ill-will towards the Assamese community. In an article dated September 29 and published in The Hindu newspaper, Gogoi had called for the annihilation of Assamese language and culture over the conflict that broke out in the Darrang district. A research scholar in Sociology at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Gogoi had chosen ‘The scorching rays of Assamese nationalism’ as the headline for his article.
In his contentious piece, he alleged, “The reactions to the Darrang brutality expressed by journalists, politicians, and the foot soldiers of Assamese nationalism reveal how hatred has crystallised into the caste Assamese social structure, and how benumbed they are. Their narcissism will not stop even when political sadism is in such naked display…And like a psychotic, there is no reality but of what they see in and about themselves.”
Screengrab of the contentious article in The Hindu newspaper
Besides implicating that the entire Assamese community is to be held guilty for the death of Moynul Haque in Gorukhuti, Gogoi had also called for the extermination of the Assamese language and culture. “This is a possible way to come out of the psychosis and narcissism that plagues Assamese nationalists. As for Assamese political sadism, the only exit of it is to annihilate language and culture in its current form and interest,” he emphasised in his concluding paragraph.
The Hindu modifies article without explanation or apology
After the FIR was lodged against Suraj Gogoi and the Editor of The Hindu, Suresh Nambath, the newspaper shrewdly modified the article without citing any clarification or apology. “The only exit is to annihilate the language and culture of political sadism in its current form and interest,” read the newly modified concluding statement. Gogoi had tweaked his genocidal statement to suggest that the language and culture of political sadism must be annihilated and not the Assamese language and culture.
Screengrab of the updated article in The Hindu newspaper
Complaint filed by Pravajan Virodhi Manch
In his complaint, Pravajan Virodhi Manch (PVM) chief Upamanyu Hazarika remarked, “In this article, there are many instances of offensive speech being made against Assam and the larger Assamese community…In this article, accused no. 1 (Suraj Gogoi) has deliberately promoted disharmony, feelings of enmity, hatred end ill-will towards the Assamese community amongst the other groups and communities of the country. He has visibly represented by his words that Assamese people do not bear true faith end allegiance to the Constitution of indie, as by law established.”
A copy of the official complaint was posted on Twitter by journalist Kangkan Acharyya.
All four pages of the complaint filed in Latasil Police Station by celebrated lawyer Upamanyu Hazarika against Suraj Gogoi, Angshuman Choudhury and Suresh Nambath for allegedly publishing an incendiary article and thereby risking the safety and security of Assamese people. pic.twitter.com/P5Z1W2StLv
He further added, “The accused no.1 here says that the unfortunate killing of the protesters at Gorukhuti is an example of political sadism. Most importantly, due to the Gorukhuti incident, accused no. 1 calls of the annihilation of the Assamese language and culture. These are serious insults to the entire Assamese community.” (PVM) chief Upamanyu Hazarika demanded that Suraj Gogoi and ‘The Hindu‘ Editor Suresh Nambath are booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 34, 153, 153A,153B, and 505.
Violence in Darrang district in Assam, encroachers resist eviction drive
On September 23, an eviction drive conducted by the administration in Darrang district in Assam had turned violent after encroachers of the land attacked security forces. While 9 policemen were injured in the attack by the mob of illegal encroachers, 2 attackers were killed in retaliatory police firing.
The incident took place at the Dholpur in the Garukhuti area near the Sipajhar town in Darrang district in Assam, where the Himanta Biswa Sarma government is conducting an eviction drive of illegal settlers on land belonging to the government or other organisations like temples. When the eviction party reached the place inhabited by Bengali-speaking Muslims on Thursday, hundreds of people clashed with the police, attacking them with stones, machetes, pointed bamboo sticks, etc.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has released a statement announcing a nationwide protest on October 9 to protest against the targeted killing of seven Kashmiri Hindus by the Jihadists in the last 5 days. On October 8, the VHP in a statement stated, “that the best way to end Islamic terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir is to safely rehabilitate the exiled Kashmiri Hindus and provide them free mobility in the valley”.
The statement by VHP said that the grave of the Islamic Jihadi Terrorism will be dug by India only.
प्रेस वक्तव्य: भारत के हाथों से ही खुदेगी इस्लामिक जिहादी आतंकवाद की कब्र: @MParandeVHP हिंदुओं की नृशंस हत्याओं के विरुद्ध 9 को #बजरंगदल का देश व्यापी प्रदर्शन pic.twitter.com/1Ao11E6rnh
The Central General Secretary of VHP Milind Parande condemned the brutal killing of 7 civilians in the valley. Parande expressed deep concern about the targeted killings of Hindus in the valley and urged the Central government to take coercive steps to tackle the Islamic Jihadists spreading their tentacles in Kashmir.
He wrote that the government should teach a lasting lesson to the terror state of Pakistan. The statement added that the government should encourage the rehabilitation of the indigenous Hindu migrants back to the valley. This he said would be the best way to curb terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the statement, Hindu organisations such as the Bajrang Dal and the VHP would stage protests across the country on October 9 in which they will burn effigies representing Pakistan’s terror regime.
Islamic terrorists and their apologists in India were warned by Milind Parande that their ill-fated attempt to break India’s unity and integrity will fail miserably. He stated that Hindu organisations will respond appropriately to such ill-fated attempts.
Slamming the Islamist apologists, the General Secretary of VHP remarked that when Hindus or Sikhs are mercilessly butchered, these apologists of Islamic terrorism say nothing. Milind Parande warned the apologists that these Islamic terrorist snakes who they have been feeding would someday come back to bite them. He remarked that to prevent the terror state of Pakistan from exploiting terrorism as a political tool, the international community will have to intervene soon.
In conclusion, the VHP statement added, that it stands in solidarity with the families of those who have been systematically targeted in Jammu and Kashmir. “Every VHP worker and entire Hindu society stands with the families of the victims. Their sacrifices will not be wasted. Indians will now etch the grave of Islamic terrorism in the country”.
In an extremely brutal attack, two teachers, a Hindu and a Sikh, were killed by Islamic terrorists in Kashmir. The teachers had asked students to attend the 15th August function in schools. As per reports, the teachers present were segregated on basis of their religions and presumably Muslim teachers were allowed to go. The Hindu and Sikh teacher were dragged outside and shot at point-blank range. The terrorists then fled.
This attack came in less than 48 hours after the killing of Makhan Lal Bindroo, the Kashmiri Pandit who stood his ground and refused to leave Kashmir even during the heights of Islamic terror in 1990s.
The brutal killing of Makhan Lal Bindroo took to seven the number of civilians killed by militants in Kashmir Valley in five days.
On 8 October, Friday, the Secretary, Department of Investment and Asset Management, (DIPAM), the Government of India, announced that TATA Sons have been chosen as winning bidders for Air India.
Speaking at a press conference, DIPAM secretary Tuhin Kanta announced that Talace Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Pvt Ltd, has been chosen as the winning bidder for Air India.
Image via Bloomberg
As informed by the DIPAM, the EV quote by Talace was Rs 18,000 crores, which includes debt of Rs 15,300 crores and a cash component of 2700 crores.
Ratan Tata welcomes Air India home
Ratan Tata, the former chairman of the Tata Group has shared a tweet saying ‘Welcome back, Air India’.
Sharing an emotional note, Ratan Tata wrote, “Tata Sons winning the bid for Air India is great news. While it will take considerable effort to rebuid Air India, it will provide a very strong market oppurtunity for the Tata Group’s presence in the aviation industry.
On an emotional note, Air India, under the leadership of JRD Tata, at one time, had gained the reputation of being one of the most prestigious airlines of the world. Tatas will have the oppurtunity of regaining the image and reputation it enjoyed in earlier years. Mr JRD Tata would have been overjoyed if he was in our midst today.”
Espressing gratitude to the government of India, Ratan Tata added, “We also need to recognise and thank the government for its recent policy of opening select industries to the private sector.”
“Welcome back, Air India,” he concluded.
Details of the winning bid
The winning bid does not include Air India’s non-core assets such as land and building, which are collectively valued at Rs 14,718 crores. DIPAM has announced that a letter of intent will be issued and a share purchase agreement will be signed soon.
The non-core assets are to be transferred to the Govt of India’s AIAHL.
Tata Sons emerged as the winning bidders ahead of a consortium led by one Ajay Singh.
Air India comes home to TATA
It is notable here that Air India was initially established and owned by Tata. During Nehru’s regime in 1953, the government of India had nationalised Tata Air Lines and had operated it as domestic carrier Indian Airlines and international carrier Air India. Tata Air Lines was launched by JRD Tata, the visionary industrialist in 1932.
JRD Tata was opposed to the idea of the government nationalising the airline. JRD Tata had even stated famously that Nehru has ‘stabbed him in the back’.
