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TMC MLA Humayun Kabir issued show-cause notice after threatening another TMC leader Rabiul Alam Chowdhury: Read full details

OpIndia Staff
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TMC MLA Humayun Kabir issued show-cause notice after threatening another TMC leader Rabiul Alam Chowdhury: Read full details

On Thursday (July 29), Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Humayun Kabir sparked a controversy after he threatened fellow party legislator Rabiul Alam Chowdhury with physical harm. He had issued the threats during a party meeting at Shaktipur in the Rezinagar Vidhan Sabha constituency of West Bengal.

While addressing the party workers, Kabir warned, “Akhankar jini nirbachito vidhyak, amar songe panga nite ela, tomar hadgor sob ek jaigai kore debo (If the elected representative of the area tries to pick up a fight with me, then, I will break his bones).” He further instructed Chowdhury to treat the TMC workers with respect, else he would permanently stop his entry to Shaktipur.

Responding to the threats, Chowdhury said that he did not want to encourage the confrontation further by commenting on the matter. However, he added, “A dog might bite a man but he wouldn’t bite the dog (referring to Humayun Kabir). I only work according to the instructions given to me by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.” ABP Ananda reported that the feud between the two dates back to 2012 when Chowdhury defeated Kabir in by-elections. Again in 2016, Kabir lost out to Chowdhury as an independent candidate during elections.

(Video Courtesy: Youtube/ ABP Ananda)

Humayun Kabir issued show-cause notice by TMC disciplinary committee

Even after Humayun Kabir was made the TMC candidate of the Bharatpur Vidhan Sabha constituency, his conflict with the Rezinagar MLA Rabiul Alam Chowdhury did not stop. Abu Tahir, TMC President (Murshidabad district), said, “The comments made by Humayun were not appropriate. If he had issues, he should have discussed within the party and not in public.” However, the strongest response to Kabir’s threats came from the high echelons of the party.

While speaking about the matter, TMC General Secretary Partha Chatterjee informed that a show-cause notice has been issued to the Bharatpur MLA. He has been asked to explain why disciplinary action should not be initiated against him. “The behaviour and language he used about other MLAs in the party are not justifiable. He personally targetted Rezinagar MLA Rabiul Alam Chowdhury… The party does not approve of this,” he emphasised.

Rahul Gandhi quotes Munshi Premchand to cryptically target PM Modi, Netizens remind him of his own arrogance

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi quotes Munshi Premchand to cryptically target PM Modi, Netizens remind him of his own arrogance

Rahul Gandhi made an appearance on Twitter on an early Saturday morning to post a cryptic message. Taking to Twitter, Rahul Gandhi posted a thought penned by one of India’s prolific writers Munshi Premchand.

The tweet posted in Hindi read, “Man’s greatest enemy is his arrogance”.

Though it looked like a simple tweet, without any political overtones to it, it was apparent that Rahul Gandhi was directing this tweet to Prime Minister Modi, since Rahul Gandhi seldom writes anything that is not directed at the Prime Minister.

This tweet is one of the several tweets Rahul Gandhi has posted in the last few weeks targeting the Modi government over several issues. Rather than directly attacking the ruling dispensation, this time, Rahul Gandhi chose to depict as an ‘intellectual’ and posted Munshi Premchand’s lines.

However, sadly, Rahul Gandhi’s ‘intellectual” tweets did not go down well with Netizens as they started to crack hilarious jokes on Rahul Gandhi attempting to sound like a well-read individual.

Soon, Netizens came up with hilarious memes to call out Rahul Gandhi. As a response to Rahul Gandhi’s “Guroor” reference, one user tweeted saying, “And, Himesh Reshammiya’s greatest hit is “Tera Tera Tera Suroor”.”

Twitter user Ravi Bhadoria altered Rahul Gandhi’s tweet a bit to take a dig at him, saying, “The greatest enemy of a man is his low IQ”.

Then there were others who attempted to become Munshi Premchand themselves by adding their own poetic lines to the couplet.

Some others had serious things to say. As Rahul Gandhi indirectly launched a political tirade against Prime Minister Modi through his tweet, accusing him of being arrogant, one social media user posted an image of senior Congress leader V Narayanasamy holding Rahul Gandhi’s footwear during his trip to Puducherry.

The social media user reminded Rahul Gandhi what arrogance or “Guroor” really meant.

Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit too had a few things to say to Rahul Gandhi. The filmmaker said that this thought, of arrogance being a man’s downfall, is exactly what the country has been trying to explain to Rahul Gandhi for the longest time. He said that it is because of this arrogance that the Congress party has Presidents only from the Gandhi family and nobody else is allowed to shine. He further said that it is because of this arrogance that the Congress party is in the doldrums and wished that he had borrowed Munshi Premchand books from Jawaharlal Nehru and truly read them.

Krishna Bihari reminded him that this was the kind of “Guroor” or arrogance was displayed by his great grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru, resulting in the partition of India.

It is indeed telling that Rahul Gandhi fails to see the arrogance of his own party. In fact, he seems to not be able to see the arrogance that he displays himself, hoping the country would take him seriously as a leader even though he seems to participate in national politics as a hobby rather than his full-time job. From his trips to Bangkok to lying blatantly to fool the nation, Rahul Gandhi sure seems to live in a little bubble of his own that is far divorced from reality.

Licenses of ‘Khan Chacha’ restaurant cancelled, was run by ‘Delhi ke Nirmata’ Navneet Kalra, accused of black-marketing oxygen: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Licenses of ‘Khan Chacha’ restaurant cancelled, was run by ‘Delhi ke Nirmata’ Navneet Kalra, accused of black-marketing oxygen: Details

On Friday (July 30), the Delhi High Court was informed that the Delhi police had cancelled the registration certificate of two of the restaurants owned by tainted businessman Navneet Kalra. He used to run two eateries in the Khan Market area, namely, Khan Chacha and Town Hall, and a restaurant-cum-bar in south Delhi’s Lodhi Colony area.

As per reports, Kalra had filed a petition before the Delhi High Court challenging the show-cause notice and order suspending the registration certificates of his restaurants, for his involvement in black marketing of oxygen concentrators. The police contended that the decision to cancel the registration certificate was taken by the licensing wing after giving an opportunity to Kalra to present his case.

On May 11, the Joint Commissioner of Police (licensing) issued a order-cum-show-cause-notice to explain why the eateries were used to store oxygen concentrators. In his defense, Kalra had claimed that the restaurants were his source of livelihood and that they were lying vacant. He alleged to have used the vacant space for storing oxygen concentrators in ‘good faith’ and ‘society’s service.’ The cops, however, found his explanation ‘unsatisfactory’ and accordingly cancelled his license on July 23.

In his petition, Kalra alleged, “The order of suspension is also bad as recovery of oxygen concentrators made from the restaurant premises is no ground nor is it given as a ground for suspension of licence. The order of suspension adversely affects the business, reputation, and livelihood of all employees working in the restaurant.” He further claimed that the cancelling of registration certificates was in contradiction to the provisions laid down by Delhi Eating Houses Registration Regulations. He said that the authorities cannot exercise the power of suspension at the stage of show-cause notice issuance.

Navneet Kalra and Oxygen black marketing case

Earlier on May 7, the Delhi Police had recovered 524 oxygen concentrators from Navneet Kalra from three of his restaurants and the office of Matrix Cellular. Following the raids at his eateries, Kalra switched off his mobile phone and fled the city. It is important to note that Navneet Kalra was felicitated by the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government in 2020. He was among the 48 personalities honoured as ‘Delhi ke Nirmata’ by the AAP government after returning to power.

He was eventually arrested on May 16 by the Delhi Police for black marketing and hoarding of oxygen concentrators. He was produced before a local court on May 20 and sent to judicial custody for two weeks. The Delhi police had also arrested four men, Gaurav Khanna, Satish Sethi, Vikrant, and Hitesh for hoarding and black-marketing the equipment. Khanna is the CEO of Matrix Cellular Services Ltd which is one of the companies involved in importing the equipment.

According to the Enforcement Directorate, Matrix MD Gagan Duggal worked alongside Navneet Kalra in importing oxygen concentrators and then selling them at high prices. The concentrators were bought from China and were imported to India via Hong Kong. ED informed that the duo had imported more than 7000 such oxygen concentrators in the past one month. While the import price of the life-saving equipment was around ₹15000, they sold them for ₹69,999 per piece.

Citing sources, Hindustan Times reported that the forensic examination of the oxygen concentrators has revealed that they are of substandard quality. Despite being aware of this, Navneet Kalra and his aide Gagan Duggal sold the oxygen concentrators to needy people at exorbitant prices by falsely claiming that they are made of German technology. An anonymous ED officer informed, “The duo took advantage of a raging pandemic and made huge profit by cheating the public.”

Afghanistan announces ‘National Resistance Movement’ to take on Taliban, says will not bow to Taliban or its proxies

OpIndia Staff
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Afghanistan announces ‘National Resistance Movement’ to take on Taliban, says will not bow to Taliban or its proxies

As the Taliban continues its advance in Afghanistan with the active support from Pakistan, Afghanistan national government led by President Ashraf Ghani has announced an Afghan security force led “National Resistance Movement” (NRM) to fight against the Taliban.

Taking to Twitter, Afghanistan Vice President Amrullah Saleh said that the Afghanistan government has decided to incorporate every village and community under the National Resistance Movement (NRM) to strengthen the country’s fight against the Taliban.

In a tweet, Saleh said, “Every Afgh village & community that have stoop up against Talib terror offensive hv bn & will be incorporated under the National Resistance Movement (NRM) to be led by the ANDSF. It is already happening. Prz @ashrafghani at JCMB. Afg won’t bow to Talib proxy or its backer”.

Afghan Vice President Saleh also asserted that Afghanistan would not bow to Taliban proxy or its backer, in an indirect reference to Pakistan Army, which has long supported the terror outfit.

Saleh said that President Ghani took the decision to form NRM at the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board Meeting (JCBM) in the Afghan Presidential Palace.

In an earlier tweet, Saleh had slammed Pakistan for its duplicity on Afghanistan, saying that the Pakistan government wants a billion dollars from the west to solve the problem of terrorism in Afghanistan.

Afghan Vice President had also blasted Pakistan for “exporting” Taliban terrorists after the US troops began to pull out from the war-torn country and had warned Pakistan that it would pay a heavy price if it continues to wage a proxy war against Afghanistan.

Slamming Pakistan for its open support for the Taliban, Afghan Vice President Saleh had said that he is willing to offer evidence to prove Pakistan’s support to the Taliban. In a Facebook post, Saleh had said that the Taliban is divided into three sections, one of which is guided by Pakistan’s special anti-terrorist cells.

He had further accused Pakistan of openly supporting the Taliban. Saleh had shared a video clip by Pakistani lawmaker Mohsin Dawar where he was calling out his own country’s support to the Taliban.

Border clash escalates as Mizoram govt files case against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma: Read what the FIR says

OpIndia Staff
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Border clash escalates as Mizoram govt files case against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma: Read what the FIR says

A few days after the gunfight between Assam and Mizoram police forces that left six Assam cops dead, the situation has escalated further on Friday after Mizoram police filed an FIR against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and six other top police officials from the state on charges of attempt to murder and assault.

According to the reports, the Mizoram government has filed a case against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and six other officers under Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) on July 26 at the Vairengte Police Station in Kolasib district of Mizoram, an area that borders Cachar district of Assam.

The FIR was registered on charges of allegedly entering Mizoram’s Vairengte district and violating Covid-19 protocols under the Mizoram Containment and Prevention of Covid-19 Act 2020 along with the Indian Penal Code.

The Assam Chief Minister and the officials have also been booked for an attempt to murder, concealing design to commit the offence, grievous hurt, assault and using criminal force against public servants.

Besides Sarma, the Mizoram police have also named Assam Inspector General Anurag Aggarwal, Deputy Inspector General Devojyoti Mukherjee, Cachar Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli, Cachar Superintendent of Police (former) Vaibhav Chandrakant Nimbalkar, Forest Officer Sunnydeo Choudhury, the officer in charge of Dholai police station Sahab Uddin, and 200 unidentified Assam Police personnel.

The Assam police officers have been summoned for questioning at Vairengte Police Station on August 1.

The notices to Assam Police came a day after a similar notice was issued to Mizoram officials and another to the Rajya Sabha MP from Mizoram, K Vanlalvena, in New Delhi in connection with the Monday clash between the two-state police forces.

What the FIR against Himanta Biswa Sarma and others says

In the complaint, Mizoram police have accused a team of “200 fully armed” Assam Police personnel led by the IGP of intimidating Mizoram’s team of 20 officers and attempting to “forcefully occupy” their police camp calling it an encroachment of reserve forest.

“The Mizoram Police were outnumbered and their actions to defend their camp were in vain. Upon learning of this incident, SP Kolasib and party immediately rushed to the area and tried their level best to have an amicable dialogue with Assam Police, but they were not ready to listen to sane argument and instead forcefully informed SP Kolasib that the area falls within Assam territory and they intended to construct a camp as per the instruction of Chief Minister, Assam himself,” the FIR claims.

It further states that the Assam Police team had arrived with tents and other material in 20 vehicles with the aim of constructing a camp by forcibly occupying the Mizoram BOP.

Clashes at Mizoram-Assam border:

On Monday (July 26) evening, a violent clash took place between the locals of Lailapur village (Cachar district) in Assam and Vairengte village (Kolasib district) in Mizoram. The conflict at the inter-state border erupted amidst an ongoing dispute over alleged illegal encroachment in each other’s land.

The conflict culminated in stone pelting, vandalism, arson, and gunfire. During the clash, around six Assam police personnel lost their lives while about 65 people, including civilians, were injured. Around 40 of those injured were admitted to the Silchar Medical College and Hospital for further medical treatment.

The long-standing territorial dispute between the two states began when Mizoram used to be a district of Assam. In the colonial era, Mizoram was known as Lushai Hills and was demarcated from the Cachar plains in accordance with an 1875 notification. Subsequently, another notification was released by the British government in 1933 that drew a boundary between the Lushai Hills and Manipur.

Mizoram wants the boundary demarcation to be followed as per the 1875 notification. In their defence, they claim that the Mizo society was not consulted prior to the 1933 notification. However, the Assam government follows the 1993 demarcation, which has become a bone of contention between the two states.

Organisation of Big Tech companies that operate anti-terror database labels BJP as non-violent extremist fringe group

OpIndia Staff
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Organisation of Big Tech companies that operate anti-terror database labels BJP as non-violent extremist fringe group

Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, an association of major IT companies aimed to prevent terrorists and violent extremists from exploiting digital platforms, has labelled BJP as a fringe group. The organisation formed by Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and YouTube listed the world’s largest political party Bharatiya Janata Party under the Right-Wing fringe groups that indulge in non-violent extremism.

On page 62 of the 177-page report titled Broadening the GIFCT Hash-Sharing Database Taxonomy: An Assessment and Recommended Next Steps, BJP has been listed with two other right-wing non-fringe groups, Australia First party and National Socialist Movement. The report also lists two left-wing parties, three religious groups, two separatist groups and two separatist groups as Level 1 Fringe Groups under the Non-Violent Extremism category.

From the GIFCT report

The classification has been done on the basis of Dynamic Matrix of Extremisms and Terrorism (DMET), which GIFCT describes as a continuum approach towards identifying different degrees of extremisms.  It says that the DMET considers the whole ecosystem of content and actors that can contribute to a continuum of extremism.

Interestingly, while Antifa has been listed as a left-wing violent extremism group, Jihad Watch, a blog that chronicles Islamist Jihadi attacks across the world, has been listed as a right-wing violent extremism group. The GIFCT report lists non-extremist groups as level 0, non-violent extremist groups in Level 1, Violent Extremist groups in Level 2, and Terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda, ISIS, KKK etc under Level 3.

It describes the Level 1 Fringe Groups, under which BJP is listed, as “non-violent ideologies that are on the periphery of social movements or larger organizations, with more extreme views than those of the majority.” It says that such groups can be identified on the basis of various cues, like cognitive cues of perceiving/glorify the in-group as superior, indoctrinate dogmatic values, prejudice, and discrimination.

The DMET classification says the Level 1 groups Discredit or denigrate the ‘out-group’, seek isolation from the general public, express external blame for negative events, censor deviant views. It adds that the group dynamics of fringe actors are marked by internal intolerance and censorship of deviant views, as well as readiness to pursue and promote norms of purity, supremacy, domination, or revenge.

GIFCT was founded in 2017 by Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and YouTube with the goal to prevent terrorist and violent extremists from exploiting digital formats. The group shares data among Big Tech companies, enabling them to flag and remove content that they think promotes terrorism. Airbnb, Amazon, Discord, Dropbox, Instagram, JustPaste.It, LinkedIn, Mailchimp, Mega, Pinterest, Tumblr, WhatsApp and WordPress have joined the group to join the hash-sharing database taxonomy prepared by GIFCT.

The hash-sharing database enables its members to identify images and videos that violate the terms of services of their platforms and those associated with UN-designated terror organisations. When such an image or video is uploaded on the platform of a member, they produce a hash, a digital signature for the content, and upload the same to the hash-sharing database. The hashes used in the GIFCT hash-sharing database are “perceptual hashes” – which means visually similar content creates hashes that are mathematically close to each other.

The 256-bit hash values are produced using an open-source algorithm which is developed and released by Facebook.

While the GIFCT database was originally confined to terrorist groups, it has been now expanded to include ‘white supremacists’ and ‘far-right militias’. Although the initiative of the group is noble, there have been concerns of censorship and violation of free speech rights after it expanded the database to include far-right groups.

The full report of the GIFCT can be accessed here [PDF].

Remember ‘Friendship Ended with Mudasir’ meme? It’s now going to become NFT: Here is the full story

OpIndia Staff
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Remember ‘Friendship Ended with Mudasir’ meme? It’s now going to become NFT: Here is the full story

Six years ago, in 2015, a Pakistani government worker named Asif Faza Rana shared an image on his Facebook account, announcing that he is no longer friends with a man named Mudasir. The aftermath was unprecedented. It triggered a massive meme fest on social media platforms, with netizens across the globe using the line “Friendship ended with…” to describe a range of situations.

In a post on Facebook, Rana shared crossed images of his erstwhile friend Mudasir to declare the breakup and introduced a new friend, Salman. Since then, the meme spun a raft of iterations, from showcasing internal fights between Avengers characters to Indo-Pak hostilities, to American politics highlighting the transfer of power from Republicans to Democrats.

‘Friendship ended with…’ meme about internecine conflict among Avengers characters (Image Courtesy: Twitter)

It has also been widely used during Trump’s election in 2015-16 and after he lost the elections in 2020-21. The meme instantly resonated with people around the globe and they started using it to depict a change in relationships.

‘Friendship ended with…’ meme after the election of Donald Trump to the White House(Image Courtesy: Twitter)

Meme to be auctioned as NFT

Now, six years later, Rana is putting up the image for sale as NFT on the eve of the friendship day, i.e July 30. Alter, a Lahore and London-based startup is all set to auction Pakistan’s first non-fungible token (NFT).

“We are about to mint and auction a 1/1 NFT of the meme ‘Friendship Ended with Mudasir’ for World Friendship Day (30th July),” Alter said in a statement, referring to a famous Pakistani meme that went viral on the internet in 2015.

The meme is being auctioned on the world’s largest platform for NFT listings—Foundation. The minimum bride price is 1 Ethereum token or $2,320.

As far as NFTs are concerned, they are digital codes associated with blockchain technology. They are stored on a decentralised public ledger that certifies any digital file to be unique. They are digital identifiers that can’t be copied.

In recent times, with the world facing the scourge of piracy and copying, the NFTs have become an increasingly popular tool. For instance, NFTs have spawned an entire art industry worth more than $1b by finding a solution to one of the most chronic problems faced by artists faced: copying.

The story behind ‘Friendship Ended’ meme

Pakistani journalist Naila Inayat recently penned an article in ThePrint, explaining the story behind the meme that has remained viral for over six years—how it all started between three friends before it turned ugly and ultimately famous.

It all began with Rana announcing the breakup of friendship by sharing a picture with cross photos of Mudasir. The message was loud and clear: “I declare that I left my past best friend Mudasir Ismail Ahmad.” Rana claimed the reason behind this dramatic declaration was the “selfish” and “proudy” behaviour of Mudasir. On the other hand, Mudasir maintained that he was “not proudy” and was even ready to forgive Asif for his online screed.

Things only deteriorated from here, before they finally became better. This time, Mudasir went on the offensive, registering his protest with Asif’s brother about the Facebook post. Mudasir’s grouse was that how Asif only crossed his chest and not his face, in the viral post.

Now that shots were fired by Mudasir, the ball was in Asif’s court. In yet another Facebook post, Asif called Mudasir ‘cheap’ for fussing about a non-issue because he believed his only aim was “Peace, Love and Friendship”.

However, something in Asif snapped, and he decided it was time for a detente and reestablishment of friendship. With his meme travelling all around the globe, Asif decided to end the hostilities, so Mudasir and Salman became Asif’s best friends forever. And since then everything is hunky-dory between the three friends.

Friendship restored between Rana and Mudasir(Image Courtesy: ThePrint/Naila Inayat)

Reflecting on the meme, Asif says he did not expect the picture to become such a rage. He added that he was upset with Mudasir and had wanted to convey how he felt to him. Thrilled about the NFT auction, Asif says it could not have been possible without his two friends—Mudasir and Salman.

News reports based on police sources cannot be deemed defamatory: Bombay HC on defamation suit filed by Shilpa Shetty, refuses interim order

OpIndia Staff
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News reports based on police sources cannot be deemed defamatory: Bombay HC on defamation suit filed by Shilpa Shetty, refuses interim order

Hearing the Rs 25 crore defamation suit filed by actor Shilpa Shetty in connection with husband Raj Kundra’s arrest in the pornography case, the Bombay High Court on Friday said that news reports based on police sources cannot be deemed defamatory. The actor had approached the High Court seeking to restrain media houses from publishing ‘defamatory content’ against her. However, the court refused to grant an interim injunction against various news portals and publications accused by actor Shilpa Shetty of indulging in defamatory reporting of her reactions to the arrest of her husband.

The court further told the plaintiff’s lawyer that what the actor was expecting will have serious consequences on the freedom of the press. “Now do you expect the court to sit back and check every source that media houses cite for every single story?” the court asked Shilpa’s lawyer.

The court further said, “You give me individual examples of defendants saying malicious things, I will look into it. But, news reports based on police sources cannot be called malicious and defamatory. What you are expecting me to do will have very serious consequences on freedom of the press.”

“The line between freedom of the press & the right to privacy will have to be balanced. It is possible that freedom of speech may have to be narrowly tailored. But it is not possible to ignore the constitutional pinning of privacy nor to say that if a person is a public figure, that person is deemed to have sacrificed his right to privacy,” Justice Gautam Patel said.

The court also noted that reporting of something that crime branch or police sources said is not defamatory in nature and thus expressed its scepticism on whether a blanket restraint can be ordered. However, the court observed that though Shilpa Shetty is a mother of two and a public figure, it does not mean she has sacrificed her privacy.

“If somebody says anything about Shilpa Shetty, it becomes a big thing, why? what’s so great about it. This is not a law that we have come to a conjecture that it’s defamatory,” said the court.

Earlier yesterday, actor Shilpa Shetty had approached High Court asking for restrictions against defamatory content on social media and websites following her husband Raj Kundra’s arrest in a pornography case. The actor said in her plea that her public image has taken a hit after the controversy and demanded an unconditional apology from certain media houses. The actor also asked for the removal of stories and videos with defamatory content and asked for compensation of Rs 25 crore.

In her application, Shilpa Shetty said the reports published and broadcasted by media houses without verifying details have heavily damaged her character and reputation in front of her fans, family, endorsement companies, and followers. Shilpa had also mentioned that she is being painted as a criminal and a woman who has abandoned her husband due to the ongoing criminal investigation ongoing against Raj Kundra in a porn case. Apart from several media houses, Facebook, Instagram, Google etc social media companies were also named in the petition. She had alleged that the media houses named in her petition were alleging that she was helping her husband, and thus it was defamatory against her.

Following his arrest on charges of producing pornographic films, actress Shilpa Shetty came out in defence of her husband, reported Mid-Day. While quoting a police official, it stated, “Shilpa Shetty said that the movies available on Hotshot are not pornography but erotica. She also said that nowadays, similar content is available on the various OTT platforms, and in fact, some are more obscene than what is available on Hotshot”. According to Mid-Day, she had denied her involvement in the production of the contentious videos.

Arrest of Raj Kundra in pornography case

On July 19, actor Shilpa Shetty’s husband, Raj Kundra, was arrested by Mumbai Police for his alleged role in creating and publishing pornographic films on mobile application HotShot.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale said, “Businessman Raj Kundra has been arrested by the Crime Branch in a case relating to the creation of pornographic films and publishing them through some apps. We have arrested Raj Kundra in this case on July 19, 2021, as he appears to be the key conspirator of this. We have sufficient evidence regarding this. The investigation is in progress.”

Tamil Nadu: Muslims object to Hindus sacrificing pigs on their festival, says it creates unhygienic environment and pollutes the area

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil Nadu: Muslims object to Hindus sacrificing pigs on their festival, says it creates unhygienic environment and pollutes the area

In an incident that could stoke a massive controversy, the Muslims in the Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu forcefully stopped Hindus from sacrificing pigs as part of their worship, reports Hindu Post.

According to the reports, Muslim residents of the Aranthangi town in Pudukkottai district, Tamil Nadu, have taken offence to Hindus slaughtering pigs as part of their rituals. They have also registered a complaint against the district administration to stop Hindus from carrying out such rituals.

Reportedly, the Kattu Nayakkar community sacrifices pigs as a part of worshipping Madurai Veeran swami, which is their Kula Deva. They usually sacrifice the pigs near the Municipal office and Anganwadi in Aranthangi.

However, the local Muslims in the area have raised objections against the Hindu rituals saying slaughtering the animals in public creates an unhygienic environment in the area and disturbs their peace of mind. Chief of the Muhideen Andavar Jamat has filed a complaint with the local authorities asking to ban the slaughter.

As Muslims in the area are opposed to Hindu sacrifices, a tense situation was created in the area. Following this, the local police and the Revenue Divisional Officer arranged a peace meeting to resolve the issue. However, the notice sent by the RDO regarding the peace meeting has gone viral on social media, creating a massive outrage.

Social media users have pointed out that Muslims slaughter lakhs of animals during their festivals on the streets, creating a lot of inconvenience to the public, however, they oppose the same if Hindus performs such religious rituals. In fact, Bakrid was celebrated just a week ago, when lakhs of animals were sacrificed by the Muslims.

Watch: American Antifa journalist of Indian origin knocked out with a punch by a person of colour

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: American Antifa journalist of Indian origin knocked out with a punch by a person of colour

Vishal P. Singh, a video journalist of Indian origin, was knocked out with a punch to his face during a protest at West Hollywood in California, USA. A video of the incident was shared by journalist Andy Ngo. According to Ngo, Singh is a “militant Antifa activist”.

From the video, it is not clear who initiated the fight or why the fight ensued. In a comment in response to Ngo’s tweets, Vishal Singh shared a longer video of the incident but there is still ambiguity about the actual cause of the fight.

Allegations appear to be flying from both sides and Vishal Singh was later kicked by an individual as well. According to his bio on Twitter, Singh is a non-binary advocacy journalist. He claims to be a documentary filmmaker and his videos appear on Washington Post, Slate, Newsweek and The Intercept. Singh uses the pronouns They/He.

Singh has spoken on the matter saying, “I know my attackers will celebrate this, but I believe it’s important to document my injuries. I also think it’s important to say I succeeded in defending the bystander they were attacking. I will never turn my back on a community member in danger.”

According to claims on social media, the attacker is a man called Mike Ancheta. Singh has allegedly suffered a concussion. Antifa is an umbrella term for people who subscribe to far-left Communist ideology and is short for anti-fascist. Rioters associated with the ideology have been involved in multiple violent protests in recent times in the USA.

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