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Uttar Pradesh: Arif posed as Aditya to befriend victim, raped, assaulted and pressurized to convert into Islam

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Arif posed as Aditya to befriend victim, raped, assaulted and pressurized to convert into Islam

The Uttar Pradesh police have arrested one Arif Hashmi for assaulting a woman physically by blackmailing her and forcing her to convert to Islam. A case has been filed against Hashmi who as per his Facebook profile is an SP leader and has posted several images with Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav on his timeline.

As per a Navbharat Times report, the victim was widowed in 2005 after which she was taking care of her husband’s hotel business. The daughter of an ex-IAS officer and daughter-in-law of Agra’s ex-mayor, the victim was befriended by Arif at a party in Lucknow. Arif introduced himself as Aditya Arya and claimed to be the owner of Wood World India Company located in Lucknow’s Aishbagh. Post this, the two started meeting frequently and tied a knot in 2010.

The woman has also accused Arif of blackmailing her on the basis of some photographs.

When the victim got to know of Arif’s real name and took objection, he started pressurizing her to convert to Islam. On refusal, Hashmi physically assaulted the victim.

As per the victim’s complaint, Hashmi had threatened her at gunpoint for money when she was staying in Chanakya Hotel’s (Shamshabad Road) room number 118 on April 21. Hashmi reportedly not only physically abused the victim but also raped her. 

A case has been registered against Hashmi under relevant IPC sections for assault, attempt to murder, rape, unnatural sex, robbery, cheating and unlawful religious conversion.

Qasim Qureshi become Vicky Yadav to lure a minor Hindu girl

As per reports, yet another minor Hindu girl became the victim of Grooming Jihad in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. We reported yesterday how a man identified as Qasim Qureshi has been accused of luring a 16-year-old girl by identifying himself as Vicky Yadav. The minor victim was sexually exploited by Qasim and has been found to be pregnant.

Hindi Daily Dainik Bhaskar reported that Qasim Qureshi’s sister Shabnam Qureshi had introduced herself as Sonam to the teenager’s family and had befriended the victim. The brother-sister duo later took the victim with them on June 15. Thereafter she was converted and married to Qasim Qureshi. The accused also made a false Aadhar card in the name of the victim to portray her as an adult.

SP City Rohan Pramod said that on the basis of the complaint, a case has been registered under the POCSO Act and the UP Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act. Family members of the accused youth Qasim Qureshi, namely his father Raisuddin, sister Sonam Qureshi, Mother Rukhsar and brothers Shakeel and Kamil have been taken into custody for criminal conspiracy and the search is on for the accused youth.

Fact-Check: Viral ‘news clip’ claiming Aamir Khan & Barkha Dutt seeing each other is not related to actor’s latest divorce

OpIndia Staff
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Fact-Check: Viral ‘news clip’ claiming Aamir Khan & Barkha Dutt seeing each other is not related to actor’s latest divorce

A ‘news clip’ has recently gone viral on social media which claims that film actor Aamir Khan may have been romantically involved with journalist Barkha Dutt.

Viral message on Barkha Dutt and Aamir Khan

The message claims that this is not a joke. “Aamir Khan and Barkha Dutt kept meeting each other for years and now news about his divorce with Kiran Rao are out. One wonders why Aamir only finds Hindu women for love drama? Now don’t say that Barkha is not Hindu,” the message read.

The message was accompanied by a video where in the host talks about how Aamir Khan is in news again after his alleged relationship with a journalist Jessica Hines. The host informs that Khan and former NDTV journalist Barkha Dutt are now getting too close.

The host said that their ‘love story’ started when Barkha and Aamir Khan went to Kargil together for a shoot. “These days, for work, Aamir has to often go to Barkha’s city, Delhi where the two are often spotted in parties often. Aamir Khan’s love life will no longer remain a secret, after all Barkha Dutt is a journalist,” she said.

Aamir Khan and Barkha Dutt? Here are the facts

OpIndia looked up the details mentioned in above video. Barkha Dutt and Aamir Khan indeed travelled to Kargil for an episode of Jai Jawan for NDTV. However, the same was back in 2003 for celebrating Independence Day with the jawans. As per film gossip websites and blinds published back then, a journalist, whom many believed to be Barkha Dutt, would often visit him on the sets of Lagaan in Gujarat. Some claim that this closeness was the reason behind his divorce with his first wife Reena Dutta and not his then alleged affair with Kiran Rao, whom he eventually married to divorce 15 years later.

Another report from July 2004 states that when some mediaperson had asked Dutt about her alleged affair with Khan, she got angry and had asked for the scribe’s credentials.

Film Lagaan was released in 2001. He announced his divorce from his first wife Reena Dutta on in December 2002. Khan met Kiran Rao on the sets of Lagaan where she was an assistant director. In 2004, journalist Jessica Hines had claimed that Aamir Khan was the father of her son Jaan, born on September 13, 2004, which Khan denied. In December 2005, Khan married Kiran Rao. Earlier this month, Khan announced separation from Rao amid rumours of him dating his Dangal costar Fatima Sana Sheikh.

To conclude, yes, there were rumours of Aamir Khan dating Barkha Dutt earlier in 2002-2004 but neither appears to have confirmed or denied the same. Hence, while the video is real, it is old and not relevant to Aamir Khan’s latest divorce.

Punjab Army man lynching case: Khalistani links of accused and supporters emerge

OpIndia Staff
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Punjab Army man lynching case: Khalistani links of accused and supporters emerge

In the recent case of lynching of an Army personnel identified as Deepak Singh in Gurdaspur, Punjab, it has been found that the main accused and the supporters have deep links with the Khalistan movement. A Twitter user AkkaPrasanna published a tweet thread in which he added a screenshot of a 2018 report of Sikh Siyasat that mentioned the release of the accused Daljit Singh alias Bobby from Police custody.

Daljit Singh alias Bobby is one of the main accused in the Army man lynching case and has been absconding. A concerted effort has already been started by pro-Khalistani voices, to claim that Bobby is innocent and the lynched Army man had committed ‘blasphemy’.

The information of the release was provided by Sikh Youth Federation Bhindranwale (SYFB) leader Ranjit Singh.

Left: Screenshot of report on Daljit Singh’s release in 2017. Source: SikhSiyasat — Right: Recent photograph of Daljit Singh. Source: Deep Sidhu’s Facebook Profile

Notably, Ranjit Singh Damdami Taksal, who heads SYFB, had published a book titled “Shaheed-e-Khalistan”, glorifying the life of Khalistan terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. It also contained biographies of other terrorists associated with the Khalistani secessionist movement, along with details of some historical events related to it. The same book was promoted and distributed by actor-turned-activist Khalistan sympathizer Deep Sidhu during farmers protest at the Delhi border. He was seen with Ranjit Singh in a photograph holding the book during the distribution drive.

Left: Deep Sidhu (Left holding the book) promoting book on Bhindranwale and other militants written by Ranjit Singh (Right holding the book). Source: Hindu Post. Right: Cover of Shaheed-e-Khalistan, a book written by Ranjit Singh promoting Bhindranwale and other militants involved in Khalistani movement.

Earlier, OpIndia had mentioned Kathavachak Barjinder Singh Parwana, also a member of Damdami Taksal. He had published a video supporting the killing of Deepak Singh alleging ‘beadbi’ (disrespect) of Guru Granth Sahib. When we accessed his social media profiles on different social media platforms, we found that he has been promoting Bhindranwale openly. So much so, he has a massive tattoo of Bhindranwale’s portrait on his arm that can be seen during live videos that he had published on his social media accounts.

Bhindranwale’s tattoo on Barjinder Singh Parwana clearly visible in a recent live video. Source: Barjinder Singh Parwana’s Facebook profile.

A brief history of Damdami Taksal

Damdami Taksal was founded in the 18th century by Guru Gobind Singh Ji to teach the scriptures and teachings of Guru Granth Sahib. The first head of Taksal was Baba Deep Singh Ji, one of the associates of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. The word ‘Damdami’ came from the Damdama Sahib Gurudwara, where the tenth Guru of the Sikh faith, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, dictated Granth Sahib in its present form. The word ‘Taksal’ means mint that suggests unalloyed Sikhs are produced at the institute.

Notably, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was a student of Damdami Taksal. He attended the institution’s branch located at the village of Chowk Mehta off the Jalandhar-Amritsar Highway. He studied the scriptures since the age of 11. At the age of 30 in 1977, Bhindranwale took charge of Damdami Taksal, and he stayed its leader till his death in 1984. It is believed that it was only after Bhindranwale taking charge of the Taksal that it became a synonym of fundamentalism and violence.

Doctors of Ahmedabad’s SVP Hospital give a tribute to the nation on National Doctor’s Day, win over the internet

OpIndia Staff
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Doctors of Ahmedabad’s SVP Hospital give a tribute to the nation on National Doctor’s Day, win over the internet

The coronavirus pandemic has unleashed its wrath upon the frontline warriors and doctors who have been risking their lives since the onset of the pandemic. At a time when morals lay low, the junior doctors of Ahmedabad’s SVP Hospital decided to give a tribute to the nation on National Doctor’s Day. 

The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Medical Sciences and Research on July 02 released a video of a dance performance by the junior doctors of the hospital. A medley of popular songs, the dance was performed in the lobby of the hospital, a move appreciated by the other staff and the kin of the patients.  

Dance performance by junior doctors of SVP Hospital, Ahmedabad

The video of the dance performance by the medics has gone viral on social media.

Dedicated Covid-19 hospital

With the sudden surge of cases in the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Ahmedabad’s SVP Hospital was converted to a Covid-19 facility in April this year. 

Earlier 500 beds were dedicated for corona patients while the remaining were reserved for patients suffering from other illnesses. However, Gujarat’s deputy chief minister Nitin Patel taking cognizance of the growing cases of Covid-19 had announced converting the entire facility for new coronavirus patients. 

Super-specialty hospital

The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Medical and Research was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 with an emphasis on improving primary health care centres in the country.

A super-speciality facility equipped with modern amenities and air ambulance, the hospital was built at a cost of Rs 750 crore by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.

“This 1500-bed hospital will take Ahmedabad’s health services to a whole new level. This is the first government hospital with a helipad for the air ambulance,” informed  PM Modi during the inauguration. 

The 18-storied state-of-the-art super-specialty hospital continues to provide services at an affordable price to patients and is linked with Ayushman Bharat.

Maharashtra govt splurged ₹155 crores on publicity and ads during COVID pandemic, reveals RTI

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra govt splurged ₹155 crores on publicity and ads during COVID pandemic, reveals RTI

The Shiv Sena-led-Maharashtra government has spent a whopping ₹155 crores on publicity between December 11, 2019, to March 12, 2021, revealed an RTI (Right to Information ) response to activist Anil Galgali.

As per reports, the Maharastra government had been spending ₹9.6 crores each month on publicity campaigns. About ₹5.99 crores have been spent by the Maha Viks Agahadi on social media during the 16-month period. The government had splurged ₹20.31 crores in 2019 and ₹104.55 crores in 2020. Other publicity campaigns included on Women’s Day (₹5.96 crores), National Health Mission (₹19.92 crores), Special publicity campaign (₹22.65), and Padam Department (₹9.99 crores).

Until March 12, 2021, 12 Departments of the Maharashtra government had spent around ₹29.79 crores. The public Health Department, Jal Jeevan Mission, State Health Education had spent ₹3.15 crore, ₹1.88 crores, and ₹15.94 crores respectively. Jal Jeevan Mission had spent an additional ₹45 lacs for publicity on social media. Similarly, the Women and Child Development department had splurged ₹2.45 crore for publicity, out of which ₹20 lacs was spent on social media.

RTI activist demands more information from Uddhav Thackeray

Reportedly, the Maharashtra government had spent ₹48 out of ₹50 lacs on social media for the Minorities Department. Besides, additional expenditure on publicity campaigns included social media (₹1.15 cores), Maharashtra Urban Development Mission (₹1.15 crores), Disaster Management Department (₹9.42 crores), Shivbhojan (₹20.65 lacs). The information was only revealed when activist Anil Galgali filed an RTI with the Directorate General of Information and Public Relations.

Anil Galgali contended that the expenditure on publicity could be higher than what had been presented by the Directorate General of Information and Public Relations. He pointed out that the expenditure made in the name of social media was questionable. Besides, the expenditure has shown for ‘creatives’ has raised several doubts in the mind of the RTI activist. Galgali has now urged the Uddhav Thackeray government to disclose the information of expenditure incurred for publicity campaigns at Departmental levels.

BJP questions wastage of public money, demands probe

While speaking about the matter, BJP leader and former CM Devendra Fadnavis inquired, “We are receiving information that the state government of Maharashtra is spending Rs 246 crores on publicity. We demand proper investigations in the matter. In our tenure, we spent only Rs 26 crores on publicity. Here the government has already spent Rs 246 crores on publicity. What work have they done to spend so much on publicity?”

US media outlets like Washington Post, NYT, Wall Street Journal etc have been receiving millions of dollars from China: Report

OpIndia Staff
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US media outlets like Washington Post, NYT, Wall Street Journal etc have been receiving millions of dollars from China: Report

In an attempt to dominate the global narrative, China’s propaganda outlet China Daily has reportedly paid millions of dollars in funding to prominent US newspapers and magazines in the last six months. What is seen as an attempt to buy media influence, the disclosures were made by an independent analyst report citing documents filed with the US Justice Department. 

Controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, the state-run English-language newspaper China Daily paid several hundred thousand dollars to prominent American publications like Time Magazine, Foreign Policy Magazine, Financial Times, Washington Post and more, revealed the report.

Amounts paid to US dailies and magazines

As per reports, Time Magazine received $700,000, $371,577 was paid to the Financial Times, $291,000 to Foreign Policy Magazine, $272,000 to Los Angeles Times and over $1 million to other such prominent media publications. 

To add to it, as per the Justice Department, China Daily has also been paying these publications for advertising. This includes paying The New York Times $50,000, Foreign Policy $240,000, The Des Moines Register $34,600 and CQ-Roll Call $76,000.

It spent a total of $11,002,628 on advertising in US newspapers, and another $265,822 on advertising with Twitter despite the microblogging site being banned in China itself. 

Some more publications that reflected as China Daily’s clients include The Los Angeles Times, The Seattle Times, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, The Chicago Tribune, The Houston Chronicle and The Boston Globe. 

The revelations were made after the China Daily submitted its first detailed breakdown of payments to American news outlets in its recent June 01 filings. The Justice Department had allegedly for years required China Daily to disclose its activities semi-annually under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The outlet disclosed the expenditures incurred for the period between November 2016 and April 2020.

The Daily Caller in a report last month also revealed that the China Daily paid more than $4.6 million to The Washington Post and nearly $6 million to The Wall Street Journal since November 2016. Both these publications reportedly carried paid supplements that China Daily produces called “China Watch.”

While the design of the inserts was made to look like real news, they often contained pro-Beijing spin on contemporary news events.

The Hindu publishes full-page advertorial

On July 1, the Hindu published a full-page advertorial paid for and planted by China on the occasion of the centenary anniversary of the Communist Party of China. The paid content appeared on the third page of the paper.

Interestingly, the paid content by China that the Hindu has published appears just like any other routine report for an untrained eye. However, upon closer examination, it becomes clear that the full-page feature was content paid for by China.

In less than two days, two editorials were published by the Hindu exalting Communist Party of China and its supreme leader Xi Jinping.

These payments to influential media houses are revealed amidst the global pandemic where China has been trying to deflect blame for mismanagement of the Covid cases in its initial days by delaying investigation and responses, eventually leading to a global pandemic.

Gujarat govt officer threatens to curse state with drought if he is not given Rs 16 lakh salary and gratuity, calls self Kalki avatar

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat govt officer threatens to curse state with drought if he is not given Rs 16 lakh salary and gratuity, calls self Kalki avatar

Gujarat government officer Rameshchandra Fefar is back in news, this time for threatening government to curse the state with drought if he is not given Rs 16 lakh salary and gratuity. He identifies himself as the tenth avatar of Lord Vishnu, the Kalki avatar.

As per a News18 Gujarati report, Fefar has been not going to office and has been demanding salary. This time he has demanded that he must be given the salary and gratuity or he will bring drought to the state. He is a former employee of water department. Rajkot resident Fefar was earlier granted premature retirement from government service because of his absence from office due to his claims.

In 2018, Fefar had claimed he could not go to office because he was conducting a “penance” to “change the global conscience”. Back then he was served a show-cause notice, to which he replied, “Even if you don’t believe, I am indeed the tenth incarnation of Lord Vishnu and I will prove it in coming days. I realized that I am Kalki Avatar when I was in my office in March 2010. Since then, I am having divine powers.” Fefar had attended office only for 16 days in 8 months back in 2018.

As per reports, on July 1, 2021, Fefar wrote to Secretary, Water Resources Department, claiming that the ‘demons sitting in the government’ are harassing him by withholding his salary and gratuity. Because of the ‘harassment’ he will now bring drought in Gujarat as he is the ‘tenth avatar of Lord Vishnu’. Fefar has also reportedly claimed that past two years India has received good rainfall because of his divine presence.

Uttar Pradesh: Mahila Congress chief misbehaved with by party leaders during Priyanka Vadra’s virtual address, party says they didn’t recognise her

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Mahila Congress chief misbehaved with by party leaders during Priyanka Vadra’s virtual address, party says they didn’t recognise her

Preeti Tiwari, the president of Uttar Pradesh Mahila Congress (Western), has alleged that senior officials of the party misbehaved with her at a party event in Mathura. Tiwari stormed out of a training session that was being addressed by Priyanka Vadra, after she was physically stopped by party officials from entering the venue. She had gone to attend a two-day training program organised the party at Vrindavan in Mathura ahead of the assembly elections. Today was the first day of the session.

‘Priyanka Gandhi is addressing the meeting, and they don’t have respect for women’, Preeti Tiwari was heard sayig while coming out of the venue. She told the journalists that when she tried to enter the meeting venue, the state Congress functionaries misbehaved with her and stopped her. Preeti Tiwari said that the party leaders held her by her shoulder, and pushed her away, preventing her from entering the venue. State vice president Yogesh Dixit, state secretary Yogesh Talan, and others stopped her by holding her shoulders.

She said that it does not matter that she is an office-bearer of the party, even an ordinary woman should not be dealt with like this. She said that she was late to the venue and a live video address of Priyanka Vadra was going on. Therefore, they could have asked her to wait, but should not have physically handled her to prevent her from entering the hall. She informed that it was Yogesh Dixit who had touched her shoulder.

Reacting to the incident, the Congress party tried to brush it aside by saying that it was a case of mistaken identity. Pradeep Mathur, former legislative party leader of Congress, said that someone didn’t recognise Preeti Tiwari and stopped her at the gate. He said that when other Congress workers saw this, they intervened and allowed her to enter the venue. He

Mathur added that the incident happened because only delegates were invited to the event, and claimed that the matter was resolved.

However, the excuse of mistaken identity does not explain why a woman was physically mishandled by senior leaders of the party. Also, it is interesting that the party is claiming that the vice president of the state Congress does not recognise the chief of its Women’s wing in Uttar Pradesh, which goes to poll next year.

Ghaziabad fake hate crime case: UP Police file chargesheet, 11 booked for assaulting elderly man

OpIndia Staff
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Ghaziabad fake hate crime case: UP Police file chargesheet, 11 booked for assaulting elderly man

The Uttar Pradesh Police has filed a chargesheet in the Loni assault case, India Today has reported. 11 people have been chargesheeted in the matter. The chargsheet does not include Samajwadi Party leader Umaid Phelwan against whom a separate chargesheet will be filed. He has been booked under the National Security Act.

According to the report, the accused have been booked under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (insult to cause breach of peace), 506 (intimidation), 295(A) (deliberate act to intend outrage religious feelings), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code. The accused include Parvez Gujjar and Kallu Gujjar.

It is the same case where motivated propagandists had claimed that the victim was thrashed after forcing him to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’. It later turned out to be fake news spread on the basis of manipulated media.

In reality, Parvez Gujjar rued that his wife was 6 months pregnant and after he took the amulet from the Muslim occultist, his unborn baby died. He added that since he had taken the occultist’s tabeez, things went awry. This enraged him, therefore he thrashed Abdul Samad Saifi.

UP Police booked Twitter and others over fake news

On June 15, an FIR was registered by Ghaziabad Police against seven people, including Alt News cofounder Mohammed Zubair, Rana Ayyub and others. Twitter Inc and Twitter Communications India were also listed as accused in the case for their inaction to remove the misleading content from their platform.

Notably, Twitter has recently lost its intermediary status in India for not complying with the new Information Technology Rules, which came into force on May 26. The FIR was registered for circulating a muted video allegedly to spread hate among communities.

On June 17, it was reported that Local Samajwadi Party leader, Umed Pahalwan Idris, who appeared in a Facebook Live video alongside Ghaziabad assault victim Abdul Samad, was booked by Ghaziabad police. Police have accused Idrisi of giving the incident of personal animosity a “communal colour”.

Rajasthan: 12-year-old minor girl gang-raped by Aazad, Waseem and Razzak, two arrested by police

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan: 12-year-old minor girl gang-raped by Aazad, Waseem and Razzak, two arrested by police

A 12-year-old girl has been brutally gang-raped by three youths on June 29 at a village in the Ramgarh area of Alwar, Rajasthan.

According to the reports, the minor girl had gone to feed fodder to cattle on June 29 at around 9 PM. The accused, identified as Aazad, Waseem and Razzak, grabbed the minor girl and dragged her away from her home. The police said that the minor girl was gang-raped by the three youths and threatened her with dire consequences if she revealed the incident to anybody.

The minor girl, who was in a state of shock, did not share the incident with her parents. However, the parents of the girl noticed her being dull and enquired about her wellbeing. Finally, on Friday, the girl narrated the incident and informed her mother that three persons gang-raped her.

Later, the girl, along with her family, visited the police station and lodged an FIR in this connection, the officer added. The girl said to the police that her father is usually away from home since he works as a driver and that her mother is a daily wager.

A case has been lodged against the accused under appropriate sections of the POCSO Act and the IPC.

Om Prakash Meena, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Alwar (South), said that the girl’s medical examination had been completed. The police have recorded the statement of the victim. The police have arrested two of three accused, while the third accused is absconding following the incident. The police have launched a massive hunt to nab the accused persons.

Meanwhile, the accused’s family are pressurising the victim’s family asking them to withdraw the case and take some money instead.

“They are also threatening the family. We have now lodged the case and have assured the rape survivor and her family that the accused would be arrested soon. Raids were conducted at the residential premises of the accused, who are now on the run,” the police officer added.

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