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Finance Ministry summons Infosys CEO over persistent glitches in the Income Tax portal even after 2.5 months

OpIndia Staff
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Finance Ministry summons Infosys CEO over persistent glitches in the Income Tax portal even after 2.5 months

Finance Ministry has summoned Infosys Managing Director and Chief Executive – Salil Parekh over troubles with the new income tax e-filing portal. The website went live earlier this year but has been marred by glitches since its launch.

Salil Parekh has been called to appear before the Ministry of Finance on August 23, Monday, to explain to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman “as to why even after 2.5 months since the launch of new e-filing portal, glitches in the portal have not been resolved,” Income Tax Department said in a tweet on Sunday.

In its tweet, the Income Tax department said, “In fact, since August 21, 2021, the portal itself is not available”.

The new income tax e-filing portal was launched on June 7 to ease the tax filing process and expedite the refund issue. The government of India had given Infosys the contract to develop the website in January 2019. However, ever since its launch, the taxpayers have faced numerous problems accessing and using the portal.

On June 22, Finance Ministry reportedly had summoned Infosys officials to a meeting to discuss the glitches in the new income tax portal and seek suggestions from other shareholders to fix them. In the meeting, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) representatives pointed out the issues taxpayers and tax professionals face on the portal.

Earlier this week, FM Sitharaman had said that glitches are expected to be resolved in two-three weeks.

“The glitches on the new Income are expected to be fixed entirely in the next two-three weeks. I have been reminding Infosys constantly, and Nandan Nilekani is giving me assurances that they will sort it out,” she said.

During the monsoon session, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary had informed the Parliament in a written reply that from January 2019 till June 2021, Infosys has been paid Rs.164.5 crore to develop the portal.

As certain as sunset: ‘Feminists’ once again malign Raksha Bandhan as Hindus celebrate sibling love

Dibakar Dutta
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As certain as sunset: ‘Feminists’ once again malign Raksha Bandhan as Hindus celebrate sibling love

On Sunday (August 22), the Hindu community in India and across the globe celebrated the festival of ‘Raksha Bandhan’. Sisters tied rakhi around the wrist of their brothers while the latter showered them with gifts. Raksha Bandhan is a tradition that celebrates the bond between a brother and a sister, wherein sisters of all ages bestow brothers with the responsibility of their care.

But as evident from the past few years, targeted campaigns are initiated to defame Hindu festivals in the name of animal rights, pollution and of course patriarchy. The festival of ‘Raksha Bandhan’, meant to celebrate the love between siblings, has been the subject of controversy after left-liberals and pseudo feminists began to portray it as a ‘gesture that upholds patriarchy’. As such, by not celebrating the festival and speaking platitudes against it, they claim to ‘smash patriarchy’ each year.

At the forefront of the misleading campaign in the name of ‘gender equality’ was an organisation named Sahas. For over a week, it uploaded videos sharing testimonials of young girls and women who were oblivious to the existence of ‘patriarchy’ in Raksha Bandhan festival. On Sunday, it shared a video wherein a woman was seen holding placards that read, ‘women don’t need patriarchy’, ‘We women need men to treat us equally’, ‘stop making sisters who do not have a brother feel isolated.’

Another ‘feminist’ claimed, “When will we stop gatekeeping patriarchy in the name of culture? Rakshabandhan is just another ocassion rooted to Hinduism that once again assigns men to protect their sister to men like themselves. Isn’t this time to dismantle this patriarchal moral fabric embedded in our society?”

Screengrab of the tweet

One Shreya Parikh tweeted yesterday, “Tomorrow is Rakshabandhan, a festival that has always been associated with patriarchy since my childhood. My parents explained that sisters tie a thread on brother’s wrist asking for a lifetime of protection.”

Screengrab of the tweet

Another ‘feminist’ alleged, “Today sisters are feverishly celebrating tying a thread tk their brothers with the hope of being provided security (raksha), same brothers who abuse their sisters and women in general and get patted on their back for doing their manly duties.”

Screengrab of the tweet

One Suman Sidhu claimed that ‘Raksha Bandhan’ espouses the idea of patriarchy. She claimed that it reinforces the idea that women need a man for protection. “Clearly, it’s a sh*tty festival,” she lamented. Furthermore, the ‘feminist’ ranted, “Don’t fool yourself you all. It is a sh*tty festival. Plus, nobody is opposing the idea of siblings get together. It’s amazing, we should do this but don’t fool yourself. At least accept the fact that you are celebrating a day which says women need boys to protect them. “

Screengrab of the tweet

One Shehryar Khanum, who mistook first cousin marriages as a Hindu practice, claimed, “Happy Rakhi to all brothers except the ones who endorse patriarchy and also have women tie them Rakhi and later ask them out uncomfortably.”

Screengrab of the tweet

Despite all the anti-Hindu propaganda, unapologetic Hindus celebrated the festival with both zeal and vigour.

Widows of Afghan soldiers under US backed Govt had to give sexual favours to get husbands’ pension benefits

OpIndia Staff
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Widows of Afghan soldiers under US backed Govt had to give sexual favours to get husbands’ pension benefits

Widows of Afghan soldiers had to offer sexual favours in order to secure the pensions reserved for their deceased husbands, journalist Michael Tracey has reported. He cited comments made by a government official in 2017. The official is question is Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John F. Sopko.

The government official was quoted as saying four years earlier, “One US officer watched TV shows like COPS and NCIS to learn what he should teach Afghan police recruits.” He continued, “We heard horrible stories about the widows. Of Afghan soldiers. Who have to give sexual favors in order to get the pension benefits.”

John Sopko stated further, “Would any American put up with that? So we’re trying to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people. We first got to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan security forces.”

Sopko’s report that year documented extensive corruption among the ruling US-backed regime. “High-level corruption, such as that exhibited by some ANDSF leaders, is likely to promote lower-level corruption, as a culture of impunity starts at the top and then normalizes corrupt behavior within the entire system,” the report had said.

It stated, “Reports of corruption have been widespread and varied, including, but not limited to, participation in the drug trade, extortion, pay- for-position schemes, bribery, land grabbing, and selling U.S. and NATO-supplied equipment, sometimes even to insurgents.”

The SIGAR in his latest report has mentioned the lessons that the US ought to learn from the 20 years of Afghanistan Reconstruction effort. They include, “They are very expensive. For example, all war-related costs for US efforts in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan over the last two decades are estimated to be $6.4 trillion.”

The latest report released earlier this month also notes, “Widespread recognition that they go poorly has not prevented U.S. officials from pursuing them.”

Taliban has sex with dead bodies, reveals Afghan woman who came over to India

OpIndia Staff
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Taliban has sex with dead bodies, reveals Afghan woman who came over to India

A woman who has come over to India from Afghanistan has revealed that Taliban has sex with dead bodies. The woman, called Muskan by News18, worked in the police force in Afghanistan and has come to India due to fear of the Taliban and lives in New Delhi.

The practice of having sex with corpses is called necrophilia. She revealed that Taliban either picked up women or shot them. Muskan revealed that a woman was picked up by the Taliban only yesterday. According to her, they want women from every family.

Her life was threatened by the Jihadist group as a consequence of which she had to leave her job and flee the country. “When we were there, we received numerous warnings. If you go to work, you are under threat, your family is under threat. After one warning, they would stop giving any warning.”

She continued, “They rape dead bodies too. They don’t care whether the person is dead or alive… Can you imagine this?” Muskan said that if any woman worked for the government, they would suffer a terrible fate.

Another woman who came over to India in 2018 said that her father was shot dead by the Taliban because he worked for the police. Her uncle was also shot because he worked as a doctor for the Afghan Army.

Earlier, it was reported that the co-founder of the lone all-girls boarding school in Afghanistan has set fire to all documents of her students seeking to protect them and their families amidst the renewed fears of persecution of women in the country following the takeover by the Taliban.

Shabana Basij-Rasikh, the principal of the School of Leadership Afghanistan (SOLA), said her aim was not to erase them but to protect students and their families from the Taliban.

J&K govt allots 25 kanal land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board to build Yatri Niwas for pilgrims

OpIndia Staff
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J&K govt allots 25 kanal land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board to build Yatri Niwas for pilgrims

The government of Jammu and Kashmir has leased twenty-five kanal land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) for the building of the board’s office and Yatri Nivas in the Pantha Chowk district of this capital city for an annual rent of Rs 250.

The revenue department issued an order on Friday, August 20, sanctioning the Shrine Board’s lease of 25 Kanal land for a period of 40 years from the date of taking possession.

Copy of order issued by the government of Jammu and Kashmir (courtesy: @kaushkrahul on Twitter)

“Sanction is hereby accorded to the grant of land measuring 25 kanal situated at village Panthachowk, district Srinagar, in favour of the SASB for construction of office and Yatri Niwas on lease basis for a period of 40 years from the date of taking over the possession,” the order issued by the Principal Secretary to the government, Shaleen Kabra read. 

The order also read that SASB will pay a nominal ground rent of Rs 10/- per kanal per annum without charge of any premium subject to the condition that the land shall be used only for the purpose for which it is granted.

“The allotment/ lease shall be governed under the Jammu & Kashmir Land Grants Act 1960 and the rules made there under,” it added.

The order further stated that the lease document will be signed by Srinagar’s Deputy Commissioner on behalf of the government.

It is pertinent to note here that the revenue department’s order comes just two weeks after Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha lay the foundation for the office-cum ‘Yatri Nivas’ here on August 6. During the ceremony, the LG announced that a similar facility to accommodate as many as 3200 yatris will also be built in the Chanderkote village in the Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir. The new facility, coming up at Pantha Chowk in Srinagar, is expected to be built in the next 18 months.

2008 Amarnath agitation in Jammu and Kashmir

It may be recollected how massive demonstrations had erupted across Kashmir in 2008 after the allotment of approximately 100 acres of forest land near the Amarnath cave site in the Sonamarg area of Ganderbal district. Several people were killed in Kashmir, while a counter-agitation in Jammu began against the cancellation of land allotment to SASB. 

The decision to transfer the land sparked a rift in the PDP-Congress partnership, resulting in Ghulam Nabi Azad’s resignation as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Only when Governor N N Vohra overturned the land transfer order did the nearly five-month protest in Kashmir come to a conclusion.

‘Kabul Skydiving Club’: On sale t-shirts mock Afghans falling from the sky off US aircraft

OpIndia Staff
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‘Kabul Skydiving Club’: On sale t-shirts mock Afghans falling from the sky off US aircraft

On August 22, images of T-shirts mocking Afghan nationals who fell from a US Air Force jet’s wing while trying to flee from Afghanistan went viral on social media platform Twitter. The T-shirt has a photo of US military aircraft and two people falling. The caption on the T-shirt reads, “Kabul Skydiving Club Est. 2021.”

Initially, the T-shirts were available on 2-3 websites like Etsy, Tee4Sport and TshirtAtLowPrice. Etsy and Tee4Sport removed it from listing after complaints. However, when we searched for more platforms selling the tees, at least seven websites were found selling them for a price of $22.99 per piece.

Source: Tshirtatlowprice
Source: CPremiumTee

The t-shirts are available in multiple colours. Black, grey, green and white are some of the colours that we saw the t-shirt is available in.

Source: DMKingTee
Source: Photoxtee

The t-shirts are available in different sizes as well.

Source: Spreadtshirt
Source: Squirreltee
Source: Wavetshirt

Netizens demand the ‘Kabul Skydiving Club’ t-shirts be removed

People on social media are demanding that the t-shirts be removed from the platforms and they are demanding that action be taken against the sellers.

Afghani football player was one of the dead

On August 20, it was reported that one of the victims who fell from the plane in the tragic accident was an Afghan football player. Ariana News reported that the General Directorate of Physical Education and Sports of Afghanistan revealed that a national team footballer by the name of Zaki Anwari fell to his death while trying to escape the Taliban regime. He was clinging onto the wheels of the USAF Boeing C-17 on Monday (August 16) but soon fell to the ground after the flight took off from the Hamid Karzai International Aiport in Kabul.

Thousands of passengers stranded in Jammu as Punjab farmers block railway routes demanding unpaid dues from state govt

OpIndia Staff
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Thousands of passengers stranded in Jammu as Punjab farmers block railway routes demanding unpaid dues from state govt

On August 20, farmers in Punjab initiated an indefinite agitation in Jalandhar and blocked train movement on Ludhiana-Jammu and Ludhiana-Amritsar routes. Notably, the current agitation is not due to the three Agriculture laws that were enacted in September last year, but it is due to the dues of over 200 crore that has not been paid by the Congress-led Punjab government. The agitating farmers have demanded to increase sugarcane prices from Rs.310/quintal to Rs.358/quintal and clear pending dues. The agitation is backed by 32 farmer unions.

News agency PTI quoted Northern Railways officials saying, “A total of 40 trains were cancelled since Friday.” He further added that some trains were rerouted to different routes on Friday. However, due to heavy rainfall in Delhi, twenty trains bound for Jammu were further cancelled, which would be scheduled later. “Some trains scheduled later in the day are likely to leave the Jammu station for their destinations.” On Saturday, Northern Railway tweeted that over 100 trains were affected due to agitation.

Thousands of passengers stranded in Jammu

Thousands of passengers from Uttar Pradesh and other states were stranded in Jammu. Reports suggest that initially, they were unable to get any information from the railway authorities that led to a spike in demand for other modes of transport. Seeing the desperation of the tourists and pilgrims, the local tour and bus operators reportedly increased the fair price by several folds.

‘It’s worse than Taliban’

Several local news channels interviewed the stranded passengers and showed their ordeal. On passenger who almost broke down into tears on camera said that the situation was worse than Taliban at the station. “In Afghanistan, at least attempts are being made to evacuate the Indians, but here were are stranded with no information, money, food or shelter,” the passenger from Uttar Pradesh said who was visiting Mata Vaishno Devi temple with family. He added that whenever farmers protest against the government, it is the public that faces the problems.

Several passengers complained that the local tour operators had doubled the fair charges. Another passenger blamed the government for the chaos and said that there were no representatives of the government at the station to tell them if they were planning anything to ensure a safe journey for the stranded passengers back to their home states.

‘We will miss the festival’

Some passengers were seen worried about missing Rakshabandhan. “We are stranded here. Our children are alone. I do not know if we will be able to make it before the festival,” said a passenger from UP. Notably, there was confusion on the reason for the agitation and blockade among the local media and passengers. They kept repeating that it is because of the ongoing agitation against the laws, but in reality, it is because of the unpaid dues from the Punjab government.

‘We are out of funds’

Several passengers claimed that they were travelling on a strict budget and such problems have put them in a problematic situation as they are out of funds. “They are asking for thousands of rupees to take us to Delhi. Then we have to arrange for transport to Balia. We do not have that much money,” said a passenger from UP.

‘Public will stop supporting the farmers’

In an interview with JK Media, a passenger said that if farmers keep causing trouble for the general public, they will stop supporting them. “It will cause a problem for farmers. The public will start to believe what they are doing is wrong. If you cause trouble for the general public, how will they support you?” he asked.

Co-founder of all-girls Afghan school burns her students’ records to protect young girls amidst fear of persecution

OpIndia Staff
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Co-founder of all-girls Afghan school burns her students’ records to protect young girls amidst fear of persecution

The co-founder of the lone all-girls boarding school in Afghanistan has set fire to all documents of her students seeking to protect them and their families amidst the renewed fears of persecution of women in the country following the takeover by the Taliban.

Sharing a series of tweets and a video of burning down the records, Shabana Basij-Rasikh, the principal of the School of Leadership Afghanistan (SOLA), said her aim was not to erase them but to protect students and their families from the Taliban.

“Nearly 20 years later, as the founder of the only all-girls boarding school in Afghanistan, I’m burning my students’ records not to erase them, but to protect them and their families,” she tweeted.

In her tweet, Rasikh said that while the world focused on those Afghans who were managing to get out, she was working to ensure the education of girls who have no way out of the war-torn country.

“My students, colleagues and I are safe with enormous gratitude to our ever vibrant global village. The time to appropriately express my gratitude will come. But right now, there are many who aren’t or increasingly don’t feel safe. I’m broken & devastated for them,” Shabana Basij-Rasikh said in her tweets.

She further said that she was only putting out this statement and showing the videos to reassure families of theirs and their children’s safety. “As I focus on the safety and well-being of my students, I don’t plan on making any further comments,” she said.

She also posted a link seeking donations for her school, SOLA (School of Leadership Afghanistan).

Ever since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, there has been a surge in violence against women, particularly young girls, as the Jihadist outfit intends to use them as their sex slaves.

Door-to-door hunt for girls as young as 12, Taliban looking for sex slaves

Earlier, there were reports that the Taliban gangs are targeting children as young as 12 during their hunt for sex slaves since they took over Afghanistan. Women and girls are among the most at-risk Afghanis under the new Islamist regime after the Jihadist organisation launched a door-to-door search for sex slaves.

From demanding lists of women and girls in different regions to forcing marriages on young girls, reports of the Taliban’s atrocities are making headlines. The unmarried and widowed women and girls between the ages of 12 to 45 are termed as “qhanimat” or spoils of the war by the Taliban. They are reportedly being divided among the members of the group.

According to Shukria Barakzai, Afghan politician and journalist, the stories of the Taliban’s atrocities against women and girls are horrifying. She wrote in The Daily Mail, “The gouging of a woman’s eyes in front of her terrified family; girls as young as 12 wrenched from the arms of their weeping mothers to become sex slaves for Taliban ‘warriors’; men punished or even killed for ‘offences’ as simple as listening to the ‘wrong’ music, or for daring to be ‘educated’,”

She further said that in some villages, Taliban members conducted door-to-door searches looking for young girls to forcibly marrying them and pushing them into a life of sex slaves. She added, “So determined are they that no virgin will escape their clutches that they check drawers, wardrobes and even suitcases in homes where desperate mothers deny they have young daughters to ensure they are telling the truth.”

It was reported that an Afghan woman was set on fire by Talibanis for “bad cooking”, and many others are being forced into sex slavery.

Osama bin Laden believed Joe Biden would be an ‘incompetent’ president and lead US into crisis, barred Al Qaeda from assassinating him

OpIndia Staff
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Osama bin Laden believed Joe Biden would be an ‘incompetent’ president and lead US into crisis, barred Al Qaeda from assassinating him

Slain Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden had backed Joe Biden for the post of the US President in 2010, saying that he would “lead the US into a crisis”, a seized letter has revealed.

According to reports, a 48-page letter written by Osama bin Laden, which was recovered along with a series of documents from the 9/11 mastermind, has reportedly shown that Osama bin Laden had banned Al-Qaeda from assassinating Joe Biden as he believed that he would turn out to be an “incompetent President”.

Osama bin Laden had written the letter to an aide identified as ‘Brother Shaykh Mahmud’ or Atiyah Abd al-Rahman.

In the letter dated May 2010, Osama bin Laden had told his followers that he has no plans to assassinate Joe Biden because he deemed him “totally unprepared” to lead the United States. The letter was found in a trove of documents at the Pakistan compound where US special forces killed him in 2011. 

“Biden is totally unprepared for that post, which will lead the US into a crisis,” Osama bin Laden categorically stated in his letter.

The letter was uncovered in Osama bin Laden’s Pakistan hide-out after US forces killed him in a raid on May 2, 2011/ Image Source: Supplied.

Instead, bin Laden urged his followers to keep an eye on the then-President Obama. He told his aides there was a high priority to target the aircraft of Barack Obama, then US President, and CIA director at the time David Petraeus.

“They are not to target visits by US Vice President Biden. The groups will remain on the lookout for Obama or Petraeus,” bin Laden wrote.

“The reason for concentrating on them is that Obama is the head of the infidelity, and killing him automatically will make Biden take over the presidency for the remainder of the term, as it is the norm over there,” the letter read.

In the letter, Osama bin Laden had also discussed the need to direct resources away from terror attacks in other Muslim countries and instead focus on direct attacks against the US.

On page 36, he had revealed his desire to form two hit squads – one in Pakistan and another in Afghanistan – who would plot attacks against then-US President Barack Obama and former-CIA director David Petraeus, should they visit either country.

“As for Petraeus, he is the man of the house in this last year of the war, and killing him would alter the war’s path,” the letter said.

The documents, penned between 2006 and 2011, are now publicly available through West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center.

The document was first made public in 2012. However, the letter has attained new significance amidst the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan that has led to the onslaught of the Taliban. US President Joe Biden is facing mounting criticism worldwide for abandoning Afghans to their fate by the sudden withdrawal of the US forces.

On July 8, President Biden said it was ‘highly unlikely’ the Taliban would take control of Afghanistan and denied there would be chaos in Kabul. However, a month later, the Taliban has overrun most of the provinces in the war-torn country and has now taken complete control of Kabul – the seat of power in Afghanistan.

J&K govt activates online grievance redressal portal for Kashmiri migrants to address property-related issues

OpIndia Staff
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J&K govt activates online grievance redressal portal for Kashmiri migrants to address property-related issues

The Jammu and Kashmir government has activated an online grievance redressal portal for the Kashmiri migrants, where they can lodge their grievances related to their properties in Kashmir, if any. The service can be availed through the J & K government’s official website ‘Relief and Rehabilitation (M)’ (www.jkmigrantrelief.nic.in).

The link to the form is provided under the tab – Important links on the home page.

The link to the property-related grievance form for migrant Kashmiris on the J&K Govt website

The form for the grievance redressal portal reads: “J&K Migrant Immovable Property (Preservation, Protection and Restrain on distress sale) Act,1997, provides for safe custody of the immovable properties of migrants with concerned District Magistrates of J&K. However, not withstanding in case any migrant wishes to bring any issue or concern related to his/her immovable property to the notice of the Government, he/she may fill details in the below provided form. The information so provided shall be shared by the Department of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehablitation and Reconstruction with the department of Revenue for necessary action for resolution of the grievance in a fixed time frame.”

The form has different sections, where the applicant is required to fill in his/her personal details, after submission of which, the applicant-migrant will be contacted on mobile/email by the concerned District Magistrate.

The form

It is pertinent to note here that on Friday, August 20, the Jammu and Kashmir government had issued an order for the preservation and protection of immovable assets of displaced Kashmiri Pandits. The relief/revenue department had been asked to prepare an online portal where migrants can file applications for correction of records or demarcation and removal of encroachments, trespassing and alienation by way of fraud or distress.

Principal Secretary (Revenue Department) Shaleen Kabra said in an order that the applications filed on the portal would be disposed of in a fixed time frame under the Public Services Guarantee Act, 2011 by revenue authorities under intimation to the applicant.

“The competent authority (district magistrates) shall undertake survey or field verification of migrant properties and update all registers within a period of 15 days and submit compliance reports to the divisional commissioner, Kashmir,” the order read.

Last year, the central government had integrated Jammu and Kashmir grievance system with the central grievance portal to ensure prompt action. With this, Jammu and Kashmir had become the first union territory in the country to have its district-level grievance offices integrated with the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) portal.

In addition to this, the government had on August 11, 2021, also informed that people returning to Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 can approach DMs to remove encroachment on their properties. In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, the Minister of State Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, had said: “Under the J&K Migrant Immovable Property Act, 1997, DMs of concerned districts are the legal custodians of the immovable properties of migrants, who take suo motto action on eviction proceedings in cases of encroachment.”

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