In a major development, Elon Musk’s SpaceX is planning to join hands with local manufacturers in India to produce satellite communications equipment, as per a report in Economic Times. The gears that SpaceX is aiming to manufacture in the country include antenna systems and user terminal devices.
The decision has come at a time when Elon Musk’s $74 billion rocket company has begun taking pre-orders of its ambitious high-speed internet program ‘Starlink’ in India. Starlink is Elon Musk’s futuristic satellite internet service which is expected to be launched in India by 2022.
Speaking about the development during SpaceX’s first official interaction with Department of Telecommunications (DoT) secretary Anshu Prakash on Monday, Matt Botwin, the company’s director (market access with the Starlink program) said: “SpaceX is excited to find ways to work together with the Indian industry for manufacturing products for its Starlink devices.”
“SpaceX always looks for opportunities to maximise the efficiency of its (global) supply chain, and is now looking forward to working with its partners in India to recognise those opportunities”, Botwin added.
The DoT had called for a meeting with global satellite companies, which included, officials from OneWeb, Viasat, Hughes, Airtel NSE 0.31 %, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea, Department of Space, and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, to discuss comprehensive ways to locally manufacture satellite communications gear and also to talk over how to go about creating an enabling regulatory regime for global low earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation operators to establish in-country gateways in India.
Speaking about SpaceX’s long association with India, Matt Botwin added that the company has been working with the Indian industrial sector for a long time, buying steel and steel-tubing for many of its rockets. The company is now looking forward to producing hardware and satellite components and components of (satellite broadband) networks in India, Botwin said.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX began pre-booking for its high-speed internet program ‘Starlink’ in India
On March 5, 2021, Elon Musk’s SpaceX began the pre-booking service of its high-speed internet program ‘Starlink’, in India. The official website of Starlink read: “The pre-booking service is available to Indian users at a refundable fee of $99 (₹7,265). Starlink is available to a limited number of users per coverage area at this time. Orders will be fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis.”
Elon Musk’s SpaceX, of which Starlink is a venture, has already sent 1000 such satellites to the Earth’s orbit. In the future, the company plans to expand the number to a network of 12,000 satellites. Unlike traditional satellites, Starlink’s satellites are 60 times closer to the Earth, thereby facilitating high-speed internet.
Elon Musk gets Tesla to India
Besides getting its ambitious high-speed internet program to India, Elon Musk, the co-founder and CEO of Tesla Inc. had also set up its Indian subsidiary in Bengaluru, Karnataka, ahead of setting up an R&D unit and a manufacturing plant for its electric vehicles in India, in January this year.
The unit was registered as Tesla Motors and Energy Private Ltd and was incorporated on January 8. Vaibhav Taneja, Venkatrangam Sreeram, and David Jon Feinstein had been named as directors.
In December 2020, while responding to a Twitter user, Tesla chief Elon Musk had said that even if Tesla India may not happen in January 2021, it was still definitely happening in 2021. Earlier in October 2020, too, Musk had confirmed that his company’s plan to launch operations in India from the next year. While responding to a tweet about when Tesla plans to enter the Indian market, Elon responded, “Next year for sure.”
The Madras High Court on Tuesday dismissed a writ petition filed by Tamil actor C Joseph Vijay, popularly known as actor Vijay, seeking exemption from payment of entry tax on his Rolls Royce Ghost Motor car he imported from England. The court imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the actor, asking him to be a ‘real hero’ and pay the due taxes.
Justice SM Subramanian, who heard the plea, came down hard against the Kollywood actor, asking him to not only pay the entry tax as demanded by the government within a period of two weeks but also imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh fine on the actor and directed him to pay the amount to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Covid-19 relief fund.
In a scathing observation, the Madras HC noted that the petitioner imported a prestigious and exorbitantly costly car from England but unfortunately has not paid the Entry Tax as per the rules.
The HC also noted that Vijay, a successful actor, had not bothered to mention his occupation in his affidavit.
“The petitioner, who is a reputed cine actor, is expected to pay the tax promptly and punctually,” the court observed in its order.
Slamming the actor for not fulfilling his duties of paying tax on time, the court said: “In the State of Tamil Nadu, cinema Heroes rosed as rulers of the state and therefore, the people are under the impression that they are the real heroes. Thus, they are not expected to behave like ‘reel heroes’. Tax evasion is to be construed as an anti-national habit, attitude and mindset and unconstitutional.”
The court also observed that the actors, who portray themselves as anti-corruption crusaders in movies to bring social justice in the society, are evading tax and acting in a privileged manner, which is not in accordance with the provisions of the law.
In his order, Justice Subramanian said the non-payment of Entry Tax by actor Vijay is an unconscionable act and that he has not respected his fans who paid money to watch his movies. “The reputed persons of this great Nation should realize that the money that reaches them is from the poor man’s blood and from their hard-earned money and not from the sky,” the order said.
The court further added that the observations were made with the hope that the petitioner and other similarly placed citizens of this great nation would promptly pay their taxes in consonance with law and make the nation proud, achieve the constitutional goal of social justice and put an end to inequities plaguing the society.
Actor Vijay had in 2012 moved the Madras HC seeking exemption for the Entry Tax imposed on his imported Rolls Royce car. The actor had submitted that he has already paid applicable import duty for the Rolls Royce to the Customs Department. However, the Assistant Commissioner (CT), Assessment Circle had told him that he had to pay an entry tax too.
Last month actor Shabana Azmi had taken to Twitter to inform that she fell prey to an online liquor delivery scam. According to reports, the Maharashtra state police have now cracked the case and identified the imposter who duped the actor. According to the Times of India, an official familiar with the case said the fraudster could be tracked only after the 26 domain experts including IIT graduates hired by the Maharashtra cyber cell, working at the behest of the Uddhav Thackeray government, helped crack the case.
Sanjay Shintre, Superintendent of Maharashtra Cyber Police said, “Accused in the Shabana Azmi online fraud case has been identified. We are tracking his movements and further investigations are on.”
The cyber cell said that the group of domain experts were hired in the month of June after a series of cyberattacks on the state infrastructure from outside the country. Interestingly, in June itself, Shabana Azmi had informed that she became a victim of an online payment scam.
On June 24, the veteran actor Tweeted that she had ordered alcohol online from Living Liquidz, a Mumbai based alcohol delivery platform. However, despite paying the amount upfront, the ordered item was not delivered. “BEWARE I have been cheated by them. #Living Liquidz I paid upfront and when the ordered item didn’t turn up they stopped picking up my calls!”, the actor wrote sharing the details of her monetary transaction with the alcohol delivery portal.
In her subsequent Tweet, the actor clarified that she was actually duped by fraudsters and she didn’t make the payment to the platform.
Azmi had provided details of the phone number and PayTM account where she had sent money. A cursory search for that number in the Truecaller app showed that the number is listed as ‘Liquor Fraud”.
As it is, it seems the phone number has already been flagged by several people for fraud and has been added in Truecaller as ‘liquor fraud’. Had Shabana Azmi just checked the phone number before paying for liquor delivery, she would have been saved from fraud and probably the Maharashtra government would not have to seek the help of 26 experts to find actor Shabana Azmi’s stolen liquor bottles.
Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has announced hefty cash rewards for athletes who would win medals in the sporting events.
As per the spokesperson for the Uttar Pradesh government, sportspersons from the state winning gold medals in the forthcoming Olympics will be rewarded Rs 6 crores while silver and bronze medalists will get Rs 4 crores and Rs 2 crores respectively. In addition to this, all the participants from Uttar Pradesh, regardless of their performance in the Olympics, will be given Rs 10 lakhs each.
For those participating in team events, the government has announced a reward of Rs 3 crores each for gold medal winners and Rs 2 crores and Rs 1 crore each, respectively, for silver and bronze medal winners.
“The state government is making all necessary arrangements for better training of players under the Khoob Khelo, Khoob Badho Mission. It is leaving no stone unturned for their proper training and encouragement. Special coaches have been appointed for their training. Besides improving the condition of hostels, the government is constructing new stadiums in the state,” the UP government spokesperson was quoted as saying by the Times of India.
The spokesperson also spoke about the work done for athletes in the last four years under the leadership of Yogi Adityanath. He said 44 hostels were set up for 890 players of various sports in 19 districts. The amount for sports kit was also increased from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,500, he added.
Among the sportspersons who participated in the Olympic Games from Uttar Pradesh are Priyanka Goswami, Annu Rani, Seema Punia, Shivpal Singh, Saurabh Chaudhary, Meraj Ahmed Khan, Satish Kumar, Arvind Singh, Vandana Kataria and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay.
On Monday (July 12), the Penelakut tribe informed that it has discovered 160 unmarked graves in the Southern Gulf Islands in the British Columbia province of Canada.
This is a fresh addition in the recent series of discoveries of unmarked graves and mass burial sites near former residential missionary schools.
As per reports, the island was once home to a missionary school named Kuper Island Residential School. The school remained operational between 1890 and the 1970s. The Penelakut tribe notified the other indigenous First Nation communities through an online newsletter. “We are inviting you to join us in our work to raise awareness of the Kuper Island Industrial School, and Confirmation of the 160+ undocumented and unmarked graves in our grounds and foreshore,” it said.
Penelakut tribe Chief Joan Brown added, “It is impossible to get over acts of genocide and human rights violations. Healing is an ongoing process, and sometimes it goes well, and sometimes we lose more people because the burden is too great. We are at another point in time where we must face trauma because of these acts of genocide. Each time we do, it is possible to heal a little more. Courage is not the absence of fear, courage is acting in spite of fear.”
Memo by Penelakut tribe, image via Vancouver Sun
The Penelakut tribe did not provide additional information about how the graves were discovered or whether any ground-penetrating radar technology was employed. Besides, no information was given about the possibility of children’s remains in the graves. Joan Brown invited community members to attend the March for the children in Chemainus on August 2 to remember the indigenous children who were forced into the Kuper Island Residential school programme. A majority of the deaths were caused due to neglect, tuberculosis, fires, injures from assault and rapes.
Reportedly, the school was often referred to as Canada’s Alcatraz due to the remote location of the school and the difficulty in escaping from it. It was run by Catholic Church, with funding from the federal government of Canada. It was only in 1969 that the government took over the administration of the school before shutting it down permanently in 1975. Records reveal that two sisters died while trying to escape from the school in 1959. Information is also available about a student, who committed suicide in 1966. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has records of 202 deaths of residential school students, including the Kuper Island Residential school.
Discovery of unmarked graves of the indigenous children in Canada
Earlier, 215 graves in Kamloops was found on May 27, 2021, and 751 graves in Saskatchewan were found just a week ago, on June 24. On June 30, another mass grave was reported near a former residential school in Canada. The Lower Kootenay Band, a member band of the Ktunaxa Nation, said that remains of 182 people were found in mass graves close to former St. Eugene’s Mission School in Cranbrook. The graves were spotted with the help of ground-penetrating radar.
According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), a large number of indigenous children that attended residential schools never made it back to their home communities. Some children ran away while others died at the schools. These students are now called the “Missing Children”. The Missing Children Project documents and deaths and burial sites of such children who died while attending the residential schools. So far, the project has identified over 4,100 children who died while attending a residential school.
In a report published in 2015 after a six-year investigation into the now-defunct system, it was termed as “cultural genocide”. The report documented horrific details of abuse, rape, malnutrition and other atrocities suffered by the students who attended the school. As many as 150,000 were known to have attended the school system between the 1840s and 1990s. The recently discovered remains of 215 are believed to be new burial sites and not included in the list of over 4,100 students who died at the schools.
The recent discoveries have sparked outrage and pain among the indigenous populations in Canada. There have also been retaliatory actions where several churches have faced arson attacks.
PM Narendra Modi on July 13 (Tuesday), while virtually addressing the CM’s of eight north-eastern states, expressed his concerns over the huge influx of tourists at hill stations, like Shimla, Manali and other areas, with most not following Covid-19 appropriate behaviour.
Reiterating his government’s message that the Covid-19 pandemic is not over yet, PM Narendra Modi said that crowding of people at hill stations and markets without wearing masks is “worrisome.” Modi warned the tourists, flouting Covid protocols, that the third wave of the pandemic would hit the country only when we invite it.
While interacting with Chief Ministers of the northeastern states on the Covid-19 situation, Modi said: “It is true that tourism, business and business have been greatly affected due to coronavirus, but today I will say very emphatically that it is not okay to have huge crowds in hill stations, markets that too without wearing masks.”
ये सही है कि कोरोना की वजह से टूरिज्म, व्यापार-कारोबार बहुत प्रभावित हुआ है।
लेकिन आज मैं बहुत जोर देकर कहूंगा कि हिल स्टेशंस में, मार्केट्स में बिना मास्क पहने, भारी भीड़ उमड़ना ठीक नहीं है: PM @narendramodi
“The number of Covid-19 cases is rising. We need to take strict action to curb the situation at the micro-level”, PM Modi added.
Last week, amid the influx of tourists at various hill stations in the country, especially in Himachal Pradesh, the central government had issued a warning on Twitter. In a tweet, it said, “#Manali can wait, But Virus won’t. Ensure that you maintain 2 gaj doori in order to keep yourself & others around you safe. Be responsible, stay protected!”
— #IndiaFightsCorona (@COVIDNewsByMIB) July 5, 2021
Addressing a daily briefing on India’s Covid-19 situation, the Union Health Ministry official also said last week: “People travelling to hill stations are not following Covid-appropriate behaviour. We can nullify the ease in restrictions again if protocols not complied with.”
The government had raised concerns after pictures of tourist’s thronging the hill stations had gone viral on social media platforms. “Images of people thronging hill stations frightening”, the central government had remarked, adding that the people are resorting to “revenge travelling” after travel restrictions have been lifted.
Images from Manali, shared by News Agency ANI
Last week, ANI also shared pictures and videos of heavily crowded streets in hill stations including Manali, Simla, Kufri, Mussoorie etc.
#WATCH | Tourists throng Manali town in Kullu district as Himachal Pradesh government eases COVID restrictions pic.twitter.com/snIiwfcIo5
Tourists have started visiting the state in good numbers. If everything goes fine, in coming weeks, govt will give more relaxation for revival of tourism & economy: Kapil Meena, Additional Secretary, Tourism & Civil Aviation (08.07) pic.twitter.com/QFnXpSB4nv
Uttarakhand | Tourists throng in Mussoorie as #COVID19 restrictions eased & heatwave hits north India
“Weather is very good here. I came here with my joint family. We are vaccinated and taking COVID19 precautions,” says Navdeep Kaur, a tourist from Amritsar pic.twitter.com/9rFRkaRtFW
Lakhs of tourists were seen huddled on the streets, that too without following any social distancing norm. Many were seen roaming around without their masks, leaving Netizens annoyed over people failing to adhere to Covid-19 appropriate behaviour. Many castigated these tourists saying that irresponsible people like these will be behind kindling the third wave of the pandemic in the country.
As per latest figure, there are currently 4,25,471 active cases in India. Over 3.09 crore people have tested positive in India till now of which over 3 crore people have recovered. Over 4 lakh people have lost their lives to the Chinese virus in India.
South Africa is in a state of chaos and unrest ever since the arrest of former President Jacob Zuma on July 7. As riots, arson, violence and lootings escalate in the country, the Indian community living there faces dangers to their homes and businesses. In a desperate attempt to protect their businesses from looting, Indians have now stepped up their fight against the arsonists and looters.
Zuma, once known for his fight against apartheid, was imprisoned in the Estcourt Correctional Center for 15 months for disobeying court’s orders. Reportedly, he failed to testify before the judicial commission that was investigating accusations of corruption against him between 2009-2018. Several South Africans poured onto the streets to protest against the incarceration of Zuma and soon, those protests turned violent. Images and videos of rampant arson, shooting and loot emerged as the violence spilt over to the streets of Gauteng, and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) provinces.
Interestingly, two-thirds of the 1.4 million strong Indian-origin population of South Africa lives and works in the KwaZulu-Natal province in Durban. With unbridled violence taking over the streets of the province, several images showed how Indians were taking up arms to defend themselves and their property.
As the violence continued unabated, South Africans took to Twitter to express their ire at the Indian community. There were several tweets that indicated that the corruption accused Gupta Brothers were being used as an excuse to target the Indian community.
Sample this. A South African man inciting violence and asking his brothers to remember how “Jacob Zuma told the country to Indian Monopoly Capital”. The picture that accompanied this tweet was of the Gupta Brothers.
— SOUTH AFRICA 4 SOUTH AFRICANS (@Amika94855371) July 11, 2021
Indians have often been targeted in African countries and reasons have been concocted out of thin air to justify the violence. One recalls how Idi Amin, on On August 7, 1972, had expelled Indians from Uganda. Several theories of WHY this happened has been floated over the years. Some say he had a dream, others, that he wanted to extract a pound of flesh from the British for not giving him arms to invade Tanzania. The more plausible theory is, however, that Idi Amin was a racist and that he wanted a convenient scapegoat to distract people from the debauchery that he had inflicted on his people.
It is entirely possible that on this occasion, Indians have just been caught in the violence, or, that they are being targeted after South Africans are using Gupta Brothers, terribly corrupt and entrenched, as a scapegoat. Either way, it becomes important to understand who the Gupta Brothers are and why they are today being used as the convenient excuse to reportedly target Indians in South Africa.
Who are the Gupta Brothers
The Gupta brothers – Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh Gupta as well as Atul’s nephews Varun and US-based Ashish and Amol – are a family that hails from Uttar Pradesh, Saharanpur. They migrated to South Africa in 1993. Atul founded Sahara Computers, the family’s first business in South Africa. Now, with a net worth of over $10 billion, the Gupta brothers own Coal mines, computers, newspapers, and a media outlet.
Interestingly, there are several allegations that have surfaced over the years about the Gupta brothers and Jacob Zuma being hands in gloves in the corruption that was rampant during his Presidency, so much so, that South Africans coined the term “Zuptas” for them. Over the years, there have also been several protests where South Africans said that they do not accepted the Gupta brothers as their “President”.
Bongi Ngema-Zuma, one of President Zuma’s wives, his daughter, Duduzile Zuma, and his son, Duduzane Zuma all worked in Gupta companies. The son, for example, was involved in several of the companies.
Zuma’s son is reported to be a director in many companies of Gupta brothers, and thus Zuma was accused of granting undue favours to Gupta brothers, piling personal fortunes for himself and his family. For example, there was one instance where Bank of Baroda, through its South African operations, gave a loan to Jacob Zuma’s fourth wife to buy a house. The loan was paid by companies owned by the Gupta brothers.
Helping Zuma’s wife pay a housing loan is lesser of the charges levelled against the Gupta brothers. There have been reports that Guptas were so influential and powerful in South Africa owing to their proximity to the Zuma family, that they even used to offer posts in the central government to politicians (fixing cabinet berths a la Radia tape controversy back in India) apart from winning government contracts for themselves.
Currently, there is also a red corner notice that has been issued against the Gupta brothers – Rajesh and Atul, as well as their wives, owing to their involvement in the corruption by Zuma.
Gupta brothers and their alleged links to Congress – An OpIndia investigation
While investigating the links between Zuma and the Gupta brothers, South African investigative portals AmaBhungane and DailyMaverick had stumbled upon his business relations with another controversial businessman called Piyoosh Goyal and in turn, Goyal’s business relations with Congress leader Kapil Sibal. Daily Maverick and AmaBhungane claim that the family of Kapil Sibal – the Congress leader, his wife Promila Sibal, and his son Akhil Sibal, who is also a lawyer – and families of Piyoosh Goyal and Gupta brothers took a chartered flight from Delhi to Mumbai to watch the final of the 2011 Cricket World Cup between India and Sri Lanka, a charge which was summarily denied by Kapil Sibal and his son.
Kapil Sibal (next to superstar Rajinikanth) watching India vs Sri Lanka final match in the 2011 Cricket World Cup (Getty Images)
Our independent investigation also showed that Kapil Sibal had acquired a defunct company from Piyoosh Goyal and an expensive piece of land for a nominal rate and the business dealings between the two were a little opaque. Following our investigation, Kapil Sibal’s refusal to answer our question and his subsequent u-turn from what he had told the South African journalists, Sibal had also threatened to sue OpIndia.
In 2018, after the OpIndia investigation, the Income Tax department had launched an investigation into the land deals of Kapil Sibal.
More links to politicians in India and the abuse of power in South Africa
On 30 April 2013, an Airbus A330-200 chartered aircraft run by Jet Airways carrying 217 guests from India was cleared to land at the South African Air Force base at Waterkloof for the wedding ceremony of Vega Gupta to Aakash Jahajgarhia. This event caused an uproar that led to the African National Congress (ANC) and other political parties as well as the South African National Defence Union denouncing this use of the air force base.
The ANC issued a statement calling for “those responsible for giving the family permission to come into the country without going through the normal channels be ‘brought to book’.
Interestingly, the person responsible for the fiasco in South Africa, the man who cleared the landing was later demoted, but, he had asserted that the landing was approved because of ‘sensitive official visits’. There was significant controversy over who were the politicians aboard this flight. It was later reported that Azam Khan, Mata Prasad Pandey and Shivpal Singh Yadav may have been onboard and had attended the South African wedding of the Gupta family.
In the aftermath of the event, India’s High Commissioner Virendra Gupta (not related to the Gupta family) said publicly that the Indian High Commission was given permission to land the plane at Waterkloof Air Force Base. He explained that the Commission communicated through its defence adviser with the chief of defence for foreign relations in the SA National Defence Force (SANDF).
In India too, a Gupta brothers wedding in Auli, Uttarakhand in 2019 had raised alarm bells about how the fugitives managed to hold a wedding in India and also because of serious ecological concerns.
Gupta brothers and the investigation in India
In 2018, documents seized by the Income Tax department during raids at Gupta brothers properties in Dehradun and Saharanpur revealed that Rs. 100 crores which were spent on a Shiva temple in Saharanpur was used as a front to launder money by way of ‘donations’. The properties that were raided were in the middle of the South African scandal that involved Jacob Zuma. The suspicion was that they were bringing money into India.
“The Shiva project was a means to bring money back to India. Otherwise, there was no need to spend over Rs 100 crore for a temple of this size. The documents revealed an online transaction of Rs 22.67 crore made to the Gupta temple trust in 2015 by the Guptas’ employee Sanjay Grover, who worked in Dubai before his death. Grover also has an account in a private bank in Dehradun and that is also under scanner”, IT sleuths had said to Times of India.
The Times of India report said, “Investigations further revealed that Grover died in 2016, following which an I-T team quizzed his wife, Renu Grover, who lives in West Patel Nagar, Delhi, on Wednesday. The I-T official said, “In her statement, she clarified that her husband worked with the Guptas in Dubai and drew a salary of 26,000 Dirham (about Rs 4.59 lakh) per month and was not in a condition to give loan or donate Rs 22.67 crore”.
In 2018, IT sleuths had said that the process of attaching 30 properties had already been started by the government and that they are trying to identify 60 more properties that were mentioned in the documents seized by the IT department.
The conspiracy of silence around the Gupta brothers and their shenanigans is such that back in 2017, HSBC was accused of complicity in letting the businessmen transfer money out of SA. In fact, the peer had demanded an investigation into HSBC for criminal complicity in helping the Gupta brothers launder money.
Gupta brothers wanted to get Prime Minister Modi arrested in South Africa
Ahead of the 2018 BRICS summit, there were attempts by Islamist organisations and the Gupta brothers to have Prime Minister Modi arrested while he was on his Africa tour and ultimately, landed in Johannesburg to attend the summit.
The South African Kashmiri Action Group and the Muslim Lawyers’ Association had demanded the investigation, arrest and prosecution of PM Modi over his governance of Jammu and Kashmir. The motivated calls for arrest were based on the misplaced UN report on Kashmir that India had summarily and vehemently rejected. The Ministry of External Affairs had issued a statement saying “It is a selective compilation of largely unverified information. It is overtly prejudiced and seeks to build a false narrative.”
Interestingly, that the bid to derail the summit by legal applications of having Narendra Modi arrested was fuelled by the controversial businessmen of the Gupta family.
South African media outlet DailyMaverick had reported :
Building closer relations with India is probably somewhere on Ramaphosa’s to-do list, but at least he and Modi have in common a dislike for the Zuma-friendly Gupta family. During his 2016 state visit to South Africa, Modi snubbed a dinner at which he had heard some of the Gupta brothers would be present, and now some conspiracy theorists in the Indian High Commission in Pretoria reckon Gupta-friendly officials might be fuelling efforts to embarrass Modi, as payback.
While it is evident that the Gupta brothers are deeply entrenched in corrupt practices back in India and South Africa, for the South Africans to use the fugitives, who are now reportedly hiding in the UAE, to mount violent attacks against the Indian community only points towards the deep seated racism in South Africa against the community, also evidenced by the abuses being mounted online.
Troubling news has been coming from South Africa where violence has erupted following the arrest of former President Jacob Zuma on July 7. While looters and rioters are rampaging through the country, some of Indian origin and others who are White have come together to defend their properties through retaliation.
Consequently, Indians are facing racist abuse on social media platforms and the platforms are being used to further incite violence against Indians living in South Africa.
Source: Twitter
Source: Twitter
Source: Twitter
Indians are being accused of racism in order to justify racist attacks against them.
Source: Twitter
Indians who are defending themselves against rioters in the USA are being accused of inciting a civil war.
Source: Twitter
Some are even justifying raping Indian women because Indians are ‘evil’.
Source: Twitter
Threats of rape and massacre are also being issued.
Source: Twitter
Violence is being incited against the White population in South Africa as well.
Source: Twitter
Indians are being blamed pretty much for everything under the Sun, while some say that ‘giving the country away’ to Indians is worse than ‘living under Whites’ because Blacks do ‘better’ under Whites. One may recall, while Africans suffered slavery during colonial rule by Whites, Indians have never committed such atrocity against Africans.
Source: Twitter
Source: Twitter
Reportedly, the South African government has decided to deploy the military at some places to curb the violence. Shopping centres, pharmacies have been looted and the supply chain and Coronavirus vaccination drives were disrupted. In all, 6 people have been killed so far and a total of 489 suspects have been arrested.
In a statement, incumbent South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said, “What we are witnessing now are opportunistic acts of criminality, with groups of people instigating chaos merely as a cover for looting and theft. We will not hesitate to arrest and prosecute those who perpetrate these actions and will ensure that they face the full might of our law.”
Yesterday the streaming platform ALTBalaji, a subsidiary of Balaji Telefilms Ltd founded by the Indian television producer Ekta Kapoor, took to social media to announce the second season of its superhit 2009 Hindi daily soap Pavitra Rishta. The show ‘Pavitra Rishta 2.0’ will feature Shaheer Sheikh in the role of protagonist Manav Deshmukh, originally essayed by late actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
As soon as ALTBalaji announced the second season of Pavitra Rishta, featuring actors Ankita Lokhande and Shaheer Sheikh, fans of actor Sushant Singh Rajput started opposing it. #BoycottPavitraRishta2 started trending on social media. At the time of writing this report, #BoycottPavitraRishta2 was trending on the social media platform with 13.2k Tweets.
#BoycottPavitraRishta2 trends
It appears that all the Sushant Singh Rajput loyalists have taken it upon themselves to boycott the new season of the 2009 Hindi TV serial in which the lead role of Manav, a garage owner, was originally played by the late actor. The SSR fans are visibly miffed with the makers of the serial who have cast actor Shaheer Sheikh for the role of Manav in Pavitra Rishta’s season 2.
No one can replace this gem No one has the guts to replace his character or him He is with us He is alive in our hearts We will keep fighting for his honor
Besides trending the hashtag BoycottPavitraRishta2, the SSR fans also trended ‘Our Manav Only Sushant’ hashtag on social media.
Manav is not a name. It is a emotion of millions…That emotion which directly connects to Sushant.. So we can’t accept this Manav 2… Let’s Boycott.. OUR MANAV ONLY SUSHANT#BoycottPavitraRishta2
— Afrin Neha? SSRF/SSRian? (@imNehaa_) July 12, 2021
I am going to tell my family members and others not to watch Pavitra Rishta 2
— ??? ANGRY BOT MUTED PPL WITH EGO ?? ?? (@United4_SSR) July 12, 2021
Many netizens trolled Ankita Lokhande, also the former girlfriend of the late actor, for agreeing to be part of the show. Calling her fake, a Twitter user slammed the actor for taking up the role. “If this lady really loved our SSR then she would never take part in this serial again. Such a fake lady. Thank god SSR was break-up with her”, he wrote.
It is notable here that Ankita Lokhande and Sushant Singh Rajput were the lead pair in the Pavitra Rishta serial and had soon started dating.
If this lady really loved our SSR then she would never take part in this serial again . Such a fake lady??. Thank god SSR was break-up with her.#BoycottPavitraRishta2
Sushant Singh Rajput had left Pavitra Rishta midway to focus on his Bollywood career
While the Netizens continue to rage over the reviving of the Hindi daily soap Pavitra Rishta that was aired on Zee television channel from 2009 to 2014 going on to become one of the most popular shows back in its time, the fact is that Sushant had left the show in 2011 to pursue his career in Bollywood. He made his debut in the Hindi film industry in 2013 with Abhishek Kapoor’s Kai Po Che. Soon after Sushant’s exit from Pavitra Rishta, actor Hiten Tejwani was roped in to fill in Sushant’s shoes as Manav in the show.
On June 14 last year, the 34-year-old actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead under mysterious circumstances at his apartment in Bandra in Mumbai. He had acted in a total of 12 films, with critically acclaimed performances in Kai Po Che, Kedarnath, and MS Dhoni: The Untold Story. Sushant Singh Rajput’s death opened a can of worms and the tragedy gave rise to bizarre events that nobody could have foreseen at all. Following the actor’s untimely demise, his family alleged foul play. A CBI inquiry has been initiated to investigate his death.
Meanwhile, actor-turned-producer Bhairavi Raichura’s 24 Frames Production will make the digital series Pavitra Rishta 2 which will be exclusively available on ZEE5 for 55 days following which, it will also be available on ALTBalaji. The series will be directed by Nandita Mehra and written by Nikita Dhond, Gautam Hegde and Ritu Bhatia.
Ankita Lokhande, the leading lady of Pavitra Rishta and now Pavitra Rishta 2, is one of the most successful actresses in TV. Actor Shaheer Sheikh also enjoys immense popularity for his role as Arjun in Mahabharat that was aired in Star Plus. Sheikh is currently one of the most successful actors in Hindi TV channels.
The Pune-based Serum Institute of India is soon going to start the production of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V. The announcement was made on Tuesday by Kirill Dmitriev, CEO, Russian Direct Investment Fund, who said Sputnik V will be manufactured by SII starting September this year.
Serum Institute of India (SII) will commence production of Sputnik V in September. Some other manufactures are also ready to produce this vaccine in India: Kirill Dmitriev, CEO, Russian Direct Investment Fund pic.twitter.com/XDkh1C0Uwg
Russian Direct Investment Fund, which is promoting the vaccine globally, said the plan was to manufacture over 300 million doses of the vaccine per year in India, making it one of the leading production hubs for Sputnik V.
“The parties intend to produce over 300 million doses of the vaccine in India per year with the first batch expected in September 2021,” the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said in a statement.
The RDIF further added that SII, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, has already received cell and vector samples from Russia’s Gamaleya Centre. It also said that with the import approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), the cultivation process has begun.
Sputnik V has so far been registered in 67 countries across the world, covering about 3.5 billion people, the RDIF said.
As of now, Sputnik V is marketed by Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd in India. Earlier yesterday, the Gamaleya institute said that during a study conducted by it, vaccination with Sputnik V has produced protective neutralising titers against new variants, including Alpha (B.1.1.7) – first identified in the UK – Beta (B.1.351) – first identified in South Africa – Gamma (P.1) – first identified in Brazil – and Delta (B.1.617.2 and B.1.617.3), first identified in India.
The Indian drug regulator has granted permission for restricted emergency use of Sputnik V.
Earlier, Serum Institute of India, world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, had partnered with AstraZeneca for supply of vaccine doses. In India, the vaccine is being administered under the name ‘COVISHIELD’.
