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New Zealander Youtuber Karl Rock alleges that he has been blacklisted by Indian govt: Who he is and the possible reason

OpIndia Staff
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New Zealander Youtuber Karl Rock alleges that he has been blacklisted by Indian govt: Who he is and the possible reason

On Friday (July 9), New Zealand vlogger Karl Rock took to Youtube to allege that he has been blacklisted by the Indian government. He is a traveller who had shifted to India about 2 years ago to explore the country.

In his 9-minute long monologue, he accused the Modi government of separating him from his family in India. Karl Rock is married to an Indian woman named Manisha. “I left India in October 2020 to live in Dubai and in Pakistan. When I went to the New Delhi International Airport, they cancelled my visa. They did not tell me why they were cancelling my visa. So, when I went to Dubai to re-issue my visa to go back home, I was called in the Indian High Commission and told in person that I have been blacklisted.”

The propagandist masquerading as a vlogger claimed to have written multiple letters and emails to the Ministry of Home Affairs but to no avail. He also alleged that the Indian High Commission in his native Wellington also did not ‘bother’ to help. Karl Rock claimed that the government’s decision to blacklist him coincided with his wife contracting the deadly Coronavirus during the 2nd wave. He said that he was caught in a helpless state, with no option to return back to India. In his long rant, he also claimed that he could stay anywhere in the world but had voluntarily chosen to stay in India.

Video Courtesy: Youtube/

Karl Rock claimed that he was rendered anxious, depressed and unhappy by the government’s decision and his inability to reunite with his wife. “Imagine being up against the government of India. It was a lot of pressure on my shoulders? But, the one thing I learnt being in a Haryanvi family in India is that you never give up. We will stand up to the Indian government,” he warned. Crying innocence, he claimed that he has no idea why the government banned his entry into the country. He claimed that he was not given the ‘Right to Reply’ before being blacklisted and therefore, would file a petition in the Delhi High Court seeking the revocation of the ban.

Online petition to remove Karl Rock from the visa blacklist

On Friday, content creators Abhi and Niyu shared an online petition, which has been created by Karl Rock. In his petition, he said, “We request my name be removed from the blacklist so I can return home.” At the time of writing this report, the petition had over 30,000 digital signatures.

Vlogger has been involved in anti-India propaganda

The New Zealand vlogger had been involved in both subtle and brazen anti-India propaganda from the start. On December 19, 2019, he posted a ground report video wherein he participated in the anti-CAA protests against the Indian government. Despite being well-aware that foreign nationals cannot take part in political movements, he went ahead violating his visa rules.

On realising this later, he made the Youtube video private.

The anti-CAA protest video has been made private

However, there are ‘reaction videos’ available on YouTube which show that Karl was participating in the protest with his wife, who was clearly against the CAA.

Foreigners who are here in India under tourist Visas are not allowed to protest against laws passed by the Indian Parliament. Violating the law can attract provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946 and and Foreigners (Amendment) Act, 2004. Also, it can attract provisions of Section 121 of the IPC that deals with waging war against the Government of India or abetting the same.

Karl Rock and his wife have also been slammed by netizens for being pretentious. In a Reddit thread, one user wrote, “She (Manisha) visits the Kartarpur site through the newly opened corridor and comes backs, Karl asks she noticed any difference between India & Pakistan. The question is funny because she probably spent just a few hours there that too at a holy/tourist place virtually cut off from real pak. Anyways, she rambles about paki etiquettes and how clean Pakistan is compared to India and declares whoever thinks otherwise and comments anything other than nice words about the video/her views ‘crazy’.”

(Video Courtesy: Youtube/Karl Rock)

“See guys how ridiculous and funny she is, herself said she never visited Pakistan. The first 2 min or so are on the Indian side and really don’t see any litter there. It doesn’t matter how clean or dirty either country actually is but the problem here is she is passing judgment based on very limited exposure there. Just tell me, lady, how you know the rest of the pak is as well kept and maintained as this holy site? I love how easily she compares two countries without knowing the reality of one side and at the same time declares whoever dares state facts ‘crazy’,” the commenter said.

“I don’t think she was addressing people who post abuse and filthy language because it’s so common on the Internet and I don’t see any particular reason why she cares to emphasize that in this particular video. It’s how propaganda works. How many people watching this video would actually realize the sublime subversion in this video?” he concluded.

In February 2020, a Bangladeshi student was asked to leave India as well after she shared anti-CAA posters.

Already struggling with Covid-19, now Kerala on high alert after several cases of Zika Virus confirmed in the state

OpIndia Staff
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Already struggling with Covid-19, now Kerala on high alert after several cases of Zika Virus confirmed in the state

Kerala, which has been struggling to manage the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, is now facing another major health crisis in the form of the Zika virus.

According to the reports, the first case of the Zika virus was reported from Kerala on Thursday. However, on Friday, Kerala reported 13 more cases of mosquito-borne Zika virus in Thiruvananthapuram, causing a worry to authorities in the state.

The Kerala government said they had sent 19 samples to the institute, out of which 13 were found to be positive for Zika.

The authorities have collected all the samples from Thiruvananthapuram that tested positive for the Zika virus and has been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune. The samples of a 24-year-old pregnant woman who sought treatment late last month with symptoms like fever, headache, and red marks on the skin, have also been sent to NIV in Pune.

Meanwhile, authorities have issued a statewide alert after several cases of the Zika virus was confirmed in Kerala.

The Southern state is already struggling with Covid-19, as the state is now reporting the highest number of new cases per day. The state is reporting 10,000 to 15,000 cases daily for the last 2-3 weeks, and now has 1.1 lakh active cases, just 4000 less than Maharashtra. Both these states now contribute almost half of the new cases in the country.

What is Zika Virus?

Zika virus is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that was first identified in Uganda in 1947 in monkeys. In 1952, the Zika Virus Disease (ZVD) was identified in humans in Western Africa.

ZVD is caused by a virus transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes (AM), mainly Aedes aegypti, the same mosquito that transmits dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.

In addition, the Zika virus is also transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy, through sexual contact, transfusion of blood and blood products, and organ transplantation.

The symptoms of ZVD include fever, rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise or headache. However, most people with Zika virus infection do not develop any symptoms.

One of the lethal aspects of Zika virus infection is that it can cause infants to be born with microcephaly (smaller than normal head size) and other congenital malformations, known as congenital Zika syndrome.

RSS, Mohan Bhagwat and recent comment about shared DNA of Hindus and Muslims: The Gandhian flaw of an org whose contribution is unparalleled

Priyank
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RSS, Mohan Bhagwat and recent comment about shared DNA of Hindus and Muslims: The Gandhian flaw of an org whose contribution is unparalleled

Mohan Bhagwat’s comments regarding the common DNA of Hindus and Muslims (and suggestions that the common heritage is enough for differences to melt away) are not the first time such comments have been made by the RSS chief. The virtual rolling of the eyes and even mocking that followed the latest statements are more of a testament to how much the average Hindu has awoken to the true plight of Hindus in India. The RSS risks losing credibility as the ground underneath has shifted considerably, and further tectonic shifts are on the horizon.

No sane Hindu can question the RSS’ contributions including its often quiet groundwork to help the needy, stem the tide of conversions in tribal areas, and fill in for a lack of state capacity in critical areas such as education and health. The RSS’ pan-India impact is second to none. The organization has also worked tirelessly towards the cause of Hindu unity and has complimented the BJP’s electoral and political achievements. 

Having said that, the consistent references to the shared ancestry of Muslims and Hindus point to a Gandhian flaw in thinking. The history of man makes it clear that merely sharing DNA doesn’t mean sharing a common vision for a nation. Innumerable wars have been fought by people who share the same language, religion, and ethnicity. India’s history and even present-day circumstances make it clear that sharing the same DNA does not result in a common people.

The existence and state policy of Pakistan is a clear example, even though we share the same DNA as our neighbour. The RSS is painfully aware of this fact, yet continues to bend backwards to ideological opponents, without expecting anything in return. The latter is where Mohan Bhagwat missed an opportunity. He continues to err in only calling out the supposed ‘extremism’ among Hindutva groups which only serves in giving ammunition to the likes of Owaisi (on a side note, it is a dark comedy that Owaisi talks about secularism with a straight face while leading a party for India’s Muslims). Owaisi pounced on Mohan Bhagwat’s statement to place all extremism and communal issues in the country on the doorstep of the RSS, BJP and the Sangh.

Mohan Bhagwat is well within his rights to condemn supposed incidents of mob lynching by ‘Hindutva’ groups but if we all are indeed the same people, what about asking something of the other side? What about asking our Muslim brethren to:

  1. Blot out the usage of the word ‘kafir’ which is hate speech against Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and other dharmics
  2. Acknowledge the true history of temple destruction and subsequent raising of Islamic monuments for the simple purpose of subjugating Hindus
  3. Shun bigoted Mughals such as Aurangzeb and ask for the Muslim community to lend voice to renaming locations and relocating tombs to build museums that Document the atrocities committed by such rulers
  4. Join hands in getting a national ban on cow slaughter. No Muslim is required to eat beef, and extending support to such a cause will gain innumerable goodwill with Hindus
  5. Agitate for a Uniform Civil Code so that we all are seen as equal under the law
  6. Put a stop to daily outwardly and inconveniencing habits such as road namaz and loudspeaker azan, neither of which are within the Koran
  7. Cease conversions for the sake of marriage and instead, register such interfaith marriages under the Special Marriages Act or the Hindu Marriage Act

The above are just a small sample. While the RSS is a much-respected institution and speaks with significant authority, it risks alienating the common Hindu who has awakened to the lie of ‘secularism’ where demands are only made of the majority while treating the fundamentalists within the Muslim community with kid gloves. It is only a matter of time before such Hindu voices take form into more organized demands and end up sidelining the Sangh.

New Book on The Block: IIM-A alumnus Ami Ganatra and her journey to becoming an author with ‘Mahābhārata Unravelled’

OpIndia Staff
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New Book on The Block: IIM-A alumnus Ami Ganatra and her journey to becoming an author with ‘Mahābhārata Unravelled’

The genre popularly known as mythological fiction in India is adorned with magical stories on the various characters of Ramayana, Mahābhārata written by the likes of Amish Tripathi, Saiswaroopa Iyer, Ashwin Sanghi and Kavita Kane amongst others. 

They have all brought to life the mystical stories of Lord Ram, Sita, Arjun, Shri Krishna, Karan, Draupadi and many more for their readers. Often allowing them to get lost in the transcendental world of stories from our itihās. With each reader deciphering the characters, narration and description to suit their fancy. 

Amidst this Ami Ganatra, a new author on the block has come up with her much-awaited soon-to-be-released book ‘Mahābhārata Unravelled.’

About Mahābhārata Unravelled:

With very few amendments made to the characters and stories from the epics of Ramayana and Mahābhārata, books in the mythological fiction genre still carry a bit of fiction to engage the audience better. While the setting, the narration, the dialogue tend to the fantasies of the readers, they are often left with curiosity to know more. To seek the truth.

This is where Ami Ganatra’s Mahābhārata Unravelled comes in where she represents the itihās- which means ‘it thus happened’ stories from the epic. With no additional mysticism, Ami narrates the happenings ‘as it is’, as shared by her during an online interview. 

Epics that we heard as bedtime stories, started to feel so passionate about and characters which we began to consider as our own, however, as readers we still have a million questions unanswered.

And to answer questions such as: “What is Dharma? Did Drona actually refuse to take on Karna as his disciple? What were Draupadi’s responsibilities as the queen of Indraprastha? Did she ever mock Duryodhana? Were the women in the time of the Mahābhārata meek and submissive? What were the names of the war formations during the time? What role did the sons of the Pandavas play? Does the south of India feature at all in the Mahābhārata? Days post-war is Hastinapur,” Ami Ganatra has penned down incidents as is to quench our thirst to know our itihās better. 

Ami Ganatra debunks myths, quashes popular notions and offers insights into such aspects not commonly known or erroneously known, based solely on facts as narrated in Vyasa’s Mahabharata from generally accepted authentic sources.

Mahābhārata Unravelled is a collection of incidents from the epic translated from the original text with no fancy fiction. 

What nudged Ami Ganatra into writing this book?

Ami’s journey to becoming an author was quite an unplanned one, as revealed by the author herself. Her injury got her to practice yoga, her curiosity to understand yoga better got her to read scriptures, her desire to understand the scriptures better got her to learning Sanskrit and that’s how her journey began.

Ami by 2019 was not just well-read and well-versed with the epics but had discovered her penchant for writing that nudged her to author a book. 

She said that when she read various books on Maharabharata, and she found many inconsitencies in them. She says there are many books that claim to tell the story of Mahabharata from the point of view of various characters, like Karna, Draupadi etc, and they end up giving contrasting narrations. To know the truth, she started reading the original Mahabharata in the original Sanskrit published by the Gita Press. After reading that, she found that the different books are just the imagination of authors, but as they are very well written, people think they are from the original Mahabharata. Therefore, she has come up with this book with original stories, with no alternation made to them.

About Ami Ganatra

Ami Ganatra is an alumna of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) and Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI), Mumbai. She has over fourteen years of experience in business strategy and consulting, living across four continents and working across a multitude of sectors. 

In her personal life, she is a devout yoga practitioner and a certified yoga instructor. She is also a student of Sanskrit and Indian knowledge systems. Driven by a deep desire to encourage people to delve into the original shastras, Ami runs weekend reading sessions wherein the participants read and discuss texts on itihās and ādhyātma. 

An avid traveller, she loves to explore places and cultures and chronicles her travel experiences and musings related to Indic wisdom on ‘dharmorakshtirakshitah’ her personal blog. 

So as Ami suggests, “pick this book up, sit back and unveil the lesser-known facts and truths about the great epic.”

UP CM Yogi Adityanath suspends all cops of Lakhimpur police station after woman worker of Samajwadi party was harassed at nomination venue

OpIndia Staff
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UP CM Yogi Adityanath suspends all cops of Lakhimpur police station after woman worker of Samajwadi party was harassed at nomination venue

A day after a woman leader of the Samajwadi Party was sexually harassed during the filing of nominations for local polls, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered the suspension of all policemen from Lakhimpur police station. 

According to the reports, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to suspend the entire police team working in the Lakhimpur police station after two men allegedly tried to disrobe a Samajwadi Party leader on Thursday. The suspended policemen include Circle Officer (CO) and Station House Officer.

On Thursday, two men had attacked the woman leader who had come with a block panchayat candidate to file their nominations. The lady, who was a proposer to a candidate, was disrobed and manhandled by a few men present at the nomination centre. It was reported that the prime accused was a supporter of an independent candidate. 

The video of the incident has gone viral on social media, inviting anger against the culprits. In the video, a Samajwadi Party (SP) woman worker was seen being attacked, molested, and her sari snatched by two men as nominations were filed for local polls in Uttar Pradesh. The two men had allegedly attacked the women to ensure their candidate won unopposed.

As per the latest reports, the police have arrested one of the accused named Yash Varma, and have booked several other persons. SP leader Ritu Singh had accused local BJP leaders of abuse and harassment of her supporter Anita who was there to support her nomination.

It is notable here that Ritu Singh is contesting elections for the post of block chairperson from the Pasgawan block in Lakhimpur Kheri. She is contesting against BJP candidate Shikha Singh who is reportedly close to BJP leader Rekha Verma.

At the venue of filing nominations, there were reportedly clashes between the candidates and supporters of BJP and SP. SP candidate Ritu Singh’s supporter was misbehaved and harassed by some local BJP supporters, as per reports.

Taking a strong note of the incident, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister not only ordered strict action against the accused but also suspended the policemen for not providing enough security to the women. During the meeting, the Chief Minister said no attempts to disturb the peace would be tolerated.  

The CM has directed senior police officials to deploy additional forces to maintain peace. Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh police officials have said that they are investigating the incident and the guilty will not be spared.

EU undermines democracy as it threatens Hungary for banning promotion of homosexuality, sex reassignment among children

K Bhattacharjee
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EU undermines democracy as it threatens Hungary for banning promotion of homosexuality, sex reassignment among children

The European Union has threatened Hungary with consequences for passing a law that bans promotion of homosexuality among children. Earlier, it had threatened Poland after some local authorities had declared ‘LGBT free zones’ in the country.

The European Union has passed a resolution against the laws and demanded that EU countries do everything in their power to stop it. The non-binding resolution also called for an infringement procedure that is taken against countries that violate the bloc’s laws. A senior official also called the law a ‘disgrace’.

“This legislation uses the protection of children as an excuse to discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The resolution also calls for legal action against Hungary and reduced budgetary allocation to the country.

Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, remains resolute that he will not permit the EU to meddle with the country’s domestic law. “The European Parliament and the European Commission want that we let LGBTQ activists and organisations into the kindergartens and schools. Hungary does not want that,” he said on Facebook.

Orban stated, “Here Brussels bureaucrats have no business at all, no matter what they do we will not let LGBTQ activists among our children.” Hungary is not the only country that has earned the wrath of the bloc. Poland, too, is under the radar.

Senior EU officials were reported to have said that the bloc is considering legal action after ‘LGBT free zones’ had reportedly come up in Poland. A Polish Government official, however, insisted, “There are no laws in Poland that would discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation.”

EU undermines democracy

Quite clearly, the European Union is threatening to impose its will on Hungary in opposition to a law that was passed by the democratically elected parliament of Hungary. For all the professed support for democracy, it appears certain that the ruling class in the West have little respect for the will of the masses.

The EU does not appear to believe that people have the right to govern themselves under laws agreed upon through a democratic political process. The Orban Government has the overwhelming support of the Hungarian electorate, as evidenced by the two-thirds majority it won in the elections of 2018.

And yet, when the Orban Government passes a law that the EU does not approve of, it is the Orban Government that is labeled as ‘fascist’ and ‘bigoted’ among other things. It reflects a remarkable disrespect for the Hungarian people and the institution of democracy itself.

The EU has made it clear that when they speak of ‘safeguarding’ Democracy, what they really mean in protecting and furthering the cause of liberalism. And should the electorate of democratic countries not want to pursue liberalism, then it should be imposed on them by force if necessary.

Is the LGBT law passed in Hungary really bigoted?

The new law in Hungary bans promotion of homosexuality and sex-reassignment procedures among those under 18 years of age. The law in no manner bans homosexuality itself or criminalises homosexuality.

The law follows previous amendments to the Constitution that stated that the basis of the family is “marriage and the parent-child relationship” and that “the mother is a woman and the father is a man.”

These are, of course, normal sensible laws that does not jeopardize the personal rights of anyone. The current law in question only says children should not be exposed to homosexuality and sex-reassignment procedures is school sex education programmes, films and advertisements.

The law was passed keeping in mind the recent developments in the West for certain. In western countries, there is great concern among people that more and more children are identifying themselves as the opposite gender due to peer pressure and trans activism lobby groups are making it impossible for teachers and mental health experts from sounding off the alarm.

Russia has similar laws as well that bans promotion of homosexuality and sex-reassignment procedures among children. Vladimir Putin maintains that Russian society has no problem with homosexuality but children should be left alone until they come of age when they can make decisions for themselves regarding who they want to be.

The LGBT debate is vociferous in India as well

In India as well, LGBT groups are attempting to legalise same sex marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act and relevant laws in the country. It is despite the fact that marriage in India is traditionally understood to be a union between a man and a woman and by extension, between two families.

Other groups are also pushing gender identity politics among children with some groups training children to further mainstream the ideology. Efforts are also underway to normalise ‘Drag Queen Story Hour’ for children.

Numerous countries in Europe are now taking preventive measures against such toxic ideologies. Hungary is one among them. It is well past time that India also takes measures to safeguard against such efforts.

52% respondents believe that Yogi Adityanath will become UP CM again in 2022: Survey

OpIndia Staff
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52% respondents believe that Yogi Adityanath will become UP CM again in 2022: Survey

In a recent survey conducted by IANS-CVoter, 52% of people said that Yogi Adityanath will become the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh again in 2022.

As per the survey, about 37% of respondents believed that the incumbent Chief Minister will not return to power in the 2022 State Legislative Assembly polls. The sample size of the survey was 1200 and based on the response of adults across all segments. Uttar Pradesh is expected to go to the polls in February next year while the current govt’s term will expire on March 14, 2022. A total of 403 seats are up for grabs. The BJP had secured 312 seats in the 2017 polls with a voter percentage of 39.67%.

Recently, BJP swept the Zila Parishad elections in Uttar Pradesh with 66 out of 75 seats. While speaking to news agency ANI, he remarked, “BJP candiates won 67 out of 75 district panchayat chairperson seats. I thank BJP workers. BJP will win 2022 elections with a huge margin. We’ll win more than 300 seats.” CM Yogi Adityanath announced that BJP will continue its winning streak, despite any alliances created to topple him from the throne. He added that earlier such alliances were tried and tested in both 2017 and 2019 and that they failed.

Yogi Adityanath slams conspiracy theory bogey

Yogi Adityanath also slammed Samajwadi leader Akhilesh Yadav for alleging that the BJP won Zila Parishad seats by misusing administrative power. “Two things are very clear: When we win Lok Sabha elections, they blame the EVM. When elections were conducted using ballot papers this time, they began blaming the administration…If we win, they blame the administration and EVMS. If they win, it somehow implies hard work by SP workers. Our victory is also the hard work of our party workers,” remarked the Uttar Pradesh CM.

PM Modi reviews oxygen supply across the nation, takes stock of 1,500 PSA oxygen plants being set up to support over 4 lakh beds

OpIndia Staff
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PM Modi reviews oxygen supply across the nation, takes stock of 1,500 PSA oxygen plants being set up to support over 4 lakh beds

On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting to review the availability of medical oxygen and discussed the measures to augment oxygen supply across the country.

According to the reports, PM Narendra Modi held a high-level meeting with Principal Secretary to PM, Cabinet Secretary, Secretary Health, Secretary Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) on Friday to take pre-emptive steps another wave of Covid-19 pandemic in the country.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was informed that more than 1,500 PSA Oxygen plants are being set up across the country through the PM CARES fund to mitigate the shortage of oxygen supply reported by many hospitals across several states. The officials informed PM Modi that once all PSA Oxygen plants would be functional, then they would support more than 4 lakh oxygenated beds.

The Prime Minister has also directed the officials to ensure that the hospital staff gets adequate training on the operation and maintenance of oxygen plants. PM Modi has direct officials to have trained personnel at the district level.

“PM also said that we should deploy advanced technology like IoT to track performance and functioning of these oxygen plants at a local and national level. Officials apprised the PM about a pilot being done using IoT for monitoring the performance of the oxygen plants,” the PMO statement read.

Further, the Prime Minister directed officials to work closely with the state governments to make sure that these plants come up soon and are ready to be deployed if at all third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic hits the country. Further, Prime Minister instructed officials to PM deploy advanced technology like the Internet of Things (IoT) to monitor the performance and functioning of these oxygen plants at a local and national level.

Centre steps in to ensure critical medical Oxygen supply in the country

After the country faced a shortage of oxygen supply during the second wave of coronavirus, the Modi government is taking several measures to ensure uninterrupted production and supply of Oxygen. The Centre and state government are reportedly working in coordination over Oxygen availability in hospitals.

During the second wave of the pandemic in the country, several states struggled to provide a continuous supply of oxygen to critical Covid-19 patients resulting in several deaths. Following the tragedy, the centre took up the initiative to supply the Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) to states, ensuring its critical supplies.

The Indian Railways was at the forefront of timely delivery of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) to different parts of the country. The Modi government launched “Oxygen Express” trains that travelled across the country and delivered more than 35000 MT of LMO delivery in the service to the nation.

Oxygen relief by Oxygen Expresses has supplied LMO to 15 states, namely Punjab, Kerala, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Assam.

‘They were forcing her to eat beef, convert to Islam’: MP man says 6 years after marriage, in-laws have killed his daughter

OpIndia Staff
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‘They were forcing her to eat beef, convert to Islam’: MP man says 6 years after marriage, in-laws have killed his daughter

Another case of alleged Grooming Jihad has come to the light in Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh where a girl’s father has alleged that his daughter has been murdered by her husband and in-laws.

As per reports, the girl’s father, who is the complainant in the case, has stated that his daughter had become a victim of ‘love jihad’ in 2015 when Talib had approached her pretending to be a Hindu named ‘Tabbu’. He had married her and later they had two children too. However, later, the man started harassing her, forcing her to convert to Islam. The father had filed a complaint against the accused with the Civil Line Police Station.

As per reports, the victim’s father has complained that on July 1, he had received a call from his daughter where she told that she is being abused and tortured by her in-laws and there is a threat to her life. When the father went to the girl’s marital home, he reportedly found that all rooms were locked up and the family had gone away. The father further added that neighbours in the place informed him that his daughter is no more and she has been killed.

As per the father’s complaint, the girl had married Talib alias ‘Tabbu’ in 2015 and now has 2 children too. She had informed her family that she has been forced to convert to Islam, eat beef and read Urdu.

Victim’s father alleges police apathy

The complainant has alleged that he has been coming to the Civil Lines police station in Chhatarpur for the last two days but the officials were not cooperative. He even named a police official named Rajesh Banjari for ignoring his complaints.

The father had finally met SP and presented a written complaint regarding the matter. The police have confirmed that they have taken up the complaint and are searching for the girl. SP Lokendra Singh has informed ETV Bharat that they have received the complaint of the father and have initiated a probe into the alleged death.

However, the police did not confirm whether the girl is alive or not. The police inform that the probe is initiated and legal action will be taken accordingly as facts emerge.

Hindu girl burnt alive by Arif in UP

On July 6 (Tuesday), a 26-year-old Hindu woman was found dumped on the Kanpur-Jhansi highway near Orai district in Uttar Pradesh, after being set on fire. The victim, who lay unattended on the highway for two and a half hours, accused her husband, Arif of the criminal act, in her statement to the police. She confirmed that Arif, with whom she had a court marriage against the wishes of her family members around three months ago, had burnt her alive and dumped her on the highway thinking she was dead.

Uma was groaning in pain, in front of Radhe Dhaba, located on Kanpur-Jhansi highway on the outskirts of Ajnara village in Orai Tehsil in Jalaun district in Uttar Pradesh, when the eatery’s owner, Bhanu Rajput, noticed her. Rajput immediately dialled Uttar Pradesh police on its emergency service number ‘112’ and sought help. The police team, that reached the spot immediately, rushed Uma, who had sustained almost 30 per cent burn injuries, to the district hospital.

Later, CO City Santosh Kumar and City Kotwal Vinod Kumar Pandey reached the district hospital to record Uma’s statement. The Police officers said that the woman is in critical condition and she could not be questioned in detail. However, in her magisterial statement, Uma clearly accused her husband of setting her on fire. OpIndia got in touch with the victim’s father, Munnilal Rajak, a resident of Sesa village located in Moth Tehsil of Jhansi district in Uttar Pradesh who wept inconsolably while narrating his daughter’s ordeal.


From social media manipulation by algorithm to interference in elections, read remarks made by SC while refusing to stay summons to Facebook

OpIndia Staff
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From social media manipulation by algorithm to interference in elections, read remarks made by SC while refusing to stay summons to Facebook

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to quash the summons issued by the Delhi Assembly’s Committee on Peace and Harmony to the social media giant Facebook in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots. Although the court said that the committee does not have the power to order prosecution, it said that the committee has the authority to summon Facebook officials and question them.

The petitioners, Facebook and Facebook India MD Ajit Mohan, had approached the court against two summons issued to the latter on September 10 and 18, 2020, seeking his presence in the context of complaints that the platform had failed to remove hate speech material. 

A bench of Justices SK Kaul, Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy made several remarks on the power of social media and observed that “Facebook’s role is not so ‘innocuous’ and is more ‘active’ while dealing with the third party information.”

“Facebook cannot take a “simplistic approach” that it is merely a platform posting third party content with no role in generating, controlling or modulating information,” said the bench. “Facebook is a platform where such political differences are reflected. They cannot wash their hands off the issue as this is their very business,” it added.

As per a Live Law report, elaborating on their decision, the bench informed that the national capital cannot afford the repetition of such an event and thus, the role of Facebook in this context must be looked into. Justifying the Assembly’s concerns, the court noted that just because it is a local legislative and governance body, one cannot conclude that their concerns were misconceived or illegitimate.

Cannot deny use of algorithms

The bench, referring to the use of algorithms by the social media companies to decide what content a user gets to see stated, “It is too late in the day for companies like Facebook to deny that they use algorithms (which are sequences of instructions) with some human intervention to personalise content and news to target users. The algorithms select the content based on several factors including social connections, location, and past online activity of the user”.

To this, the court referred to several cases like Facebook’s role in the Myanmar genocide, Sri Lankan violence and other countries where the social media platform is facing the axe. 

“Voting processes stand threatened by social media manipulation”

Observing the pivotal role played by the social media platforms in influencing the voting and election process, the bench remarked, “Election and voting processes, the very foundation of a democratic government, stand threatened by social media manipulation. This has given rise to significant debates about the increasing concentration of power in platforms like Facebook, more so as they are said to employ business models that are privacy-intrusive and attention soliciting.”

“India’s unity in diversity cannot be disrupted”

The bench also took a jibe at the social media platforms wanting to wash their hands off their responsibility despite India being one of the biggest markets for them. “The sheer population of our country makes it an important destination for Facebook. We are possibly more diverse than the whole of Europe in local culture, food, clothing, language, religion, traditions and yet have a history of what has now commonly been called ‘unity in diversity’. This cannot be disrupted at any cost or under any professed freedom by a giant like Facebook claiming ignorance or lack of any pivotal role,” observed the court. 

The bench also stressed on the importance to draw a line between tackling hate-speech and fake news on the one hand and suppressing legitimate speech. 

The conclusion

While refusing to quash the plea, the bench also observed that the Assembly constituted to enquire into the circumstances leading to the Delhi riots cannot encroach into the domain of “law and order.”

The Assembly wanted to make Facebook a party and accused in the Delhi Riots case which has been declined by the bench. The Court made it clear that the Committee cannot have a misconception that it is some kind of a prosecuting agency. “If the Committee is raising any question which is falling with the prohibited domain of “law and order”, the representative of Facebook can refuse to answer it,” the Court concluded.

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