Barely a week after an FIR was lodged against him over his controversial comments over Coronavirus and asking his party workers to set the country on fire over farmer protests, Congress senior leader Kamal Nath has stirred fresh controversy on Friday as he termed India “badnam, not maha” (infamous, not great).
Kamal Nath’s made the controversial remark while addressing the media during a religious visit to Maihar town of Satna district in Madhya Pradesh. He was speaking about Covid handling in India when he said: “Mera Bharat mahan nahi hai, badnam hai (My country is not great but infamous). The whole world is looking at the worst condition of Covid-19 in India. Indians, who are working in the US are facing discrimination. A person told me that the people in New York are afraid of sitting in taxis driven by Indians.”
Nath, the Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, also attacked the BJP government led by Shivraj Sigh Chouhan for allegedly covering up Covid-19 deaths in the state.
Reacting to Kamal Nath’s remarks, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said: “Madhya Pradesh’s Congress chief is calling India badnam. Is Congress shameless? After taking birth on this land, you are calling India badnam. Does this not amount to being a traitor, or is this the ideology of Congress?”
Furthering that Kamal Nath has lost his mental balance after losing his government, the Madhya Pradesh CM asked Congress President Sonia Gandhi to clarify whether the party is in conjunction with Kamal Nath. He said that Sonia Gandhi should either accept that she agrees with Kamal Nath or sack the MP Congress chief.
Prior to this, the Congress senior leader had made a similar disparaging comment absolving China for giving coronavirus to the world and implicating India for the raging pandemic. In a video that surfaced, Kamal Nath was heard saying: “Today, the world calls it Indian corona”.
Interestingly, Kamal Nath’s remarks jibe exactly with the instructions laid down in the toolkit that was exposed on May 18. The Congress toolkit that was exposed on social media opened a Pandora’s Box as it brought to fore the party’s malicious attempts to tarnish the image of India, central government, and PM Modi. Congress, however, later claimed the toolkit is fake and threatened legal action.
On Tuesday (May 25), a court in Turkey reduced the life sentence of a Muslim man to 18 years for the gruesome murder of his 37-year-old wife named Tuba Erkol, reportedDuvar English.
The accused has been identified as one Bejir Erol. He was found guilty of killing his wife on August 8, 2019, in Konya in Anatolia province in Turkey. During the crime, Erol mercilessly stabbed his wife 46 times, leading to her death. Despite this, the Konya 4th Heavy Penal Court ruled that his aggravated life sentence be reduced to 18 years on account of ‘unjust provocation’ by his wife and the accused’s ‘good behaviour.’
It must be mentioned that his wife Tubal Erkol had filed a complaint against him for constant violence. Bejir, however, violated the restraining order and murdered Tuba in front of the children, just four days later. The prosecutors had demanded an aggravated life sentence for the Muslim man on account of committing murder with ‘monstrous feelings.’ They had also urged the Court to not make him eligible for sentence reduction.
The judges had initially sentenced the accused to an aggravated life sentence. However, on May 25, the Court reduced his sentence to 18 years and 4 months for ‘unjustified provocation’ and ‘good behaviour’ during the trial process. It must be mentioned that Article 29 of the Turkish Criminal Code says that the sentence of a convict can be reduced if the crime was committed in a ‘state of anger or severe distress caused by the unjust act.’
While the notion of ‘unjust provocation’ is arbitrary and left to the discretion of the judges, convicted criminals reportedly make several excuses to seek a reduced sentence and influence the decision of the Judiciary. Similarly, the sentence awarded to a convict can also be reduced in Turkey on account of his/her ‘good behaviour’. Like ‘unjust provocation’, the interpretation of good behaviour is also left at the judges’ discretion. Employing both these arbitrary rules, the Court reduced Bejir Erol’s aggravated life sentence.
The Modi government has invited applications from persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Jains and Buddhists belonging to Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan and residing in 13 districts in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Punjab to grant them Indian citizenship.
According to the reports, the Union Home Ministry issued a notification asking people belonging to six persecuted communities to apply for a certificate of naturalisation under the Citizenship Act 1955 and the citizenship rules framed under the law in 2009.
India invites Citizenship Application from minority Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Christians and Buddhists belonging to Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan and residing in 13 districts in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Punjab to apply for Indian citizenship. pic.twitter.com/6yfWdvPHKD
“In exercise of powers conferred under Section 16 of the Citizenship Act, 1955 (57 of 1955), the central government hereby directs that powers exercisable by it for registration as a citizen of India under Section 5, or for grant of certificate of naturalisation under section 6 of the Citizenship Act 1955 in respect of any person belonging to the minority community in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan namely, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, residing in the districts mentioned and the states mentioned below….,” the home ministry notification said.
Even though the centre passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2019 to grant citizenship to these persecuted non-Muslim minorities belonging to three neighbouring countries, the centre is yet to frame the rules. The fresh order is in no way connected to the Citizenship Amendment Act enacted in 2019.
Citizenship to be granted under naturalisation laws
It is important to mention that only those people who are currently living in the districts of Morbi, Rajkot, Patan and Vadodara of Gujarat, Durg and Balodabazar in Chhattisgarh, Jalore, Udaipur, Pali, Barmer and Sirohi in Rajasthan, Faridabad in Haryana and Jalandhar in Punjab, are eligible to apply for Indian citizenship.
The notification said that the application for registration as a citizen of India through naturalisation under the said rules (Citizenship Rules, 2009) would be made by the applicant online. Under naturalisation rules, a person can acquire citizenship by naturalisation if he/she is ordinarily resident of India for 12 years and fulfils all qualifications in the third schedule of the Citizenship Act.
Issuing the notification, the Home Ministry said the verification of the application is done simultaneously by the collector or secretary (Home) of Haryana and Punjab at both the district level and the state level, which will be made accessible simultaneously to the Centre on an online portal.
“The collector or the secretary, as the case may be, makes such inquiry as he considers necessary for ascertaining the suitability of the applicant and for that purpose forwards the application online to such agencies for verification and comments as may be required for completing such an inquiry and the instructions issued by the Centre from time-to-time in this regard shall be strictly complied with by state or union territory and district concerned,” the notification said.
According to the notification, the collector or the secretary will grant him the citizenship of India by registration or naturalisation and issue a certificate of registration or naturalisation if he/she is satisfied with the suitability of the applicant. These records will be maintained both online and in the physical register, according to the rules.
“This order shall come into force on the date of its publication in the official gazette and shall remain valid until further orders,” the notification said.
For the last several days, Islamist propaganda organisation PETA has been targeting Indian dairy giant Amul, asking them to switch to plant-based products from milk. Responding to their appeal, today GCMMF managing director R S Sodhi asked who will provide employment to 10 crore people who depend on the cooperative dairy sector, if the company stops using milk. It may be noted that the Amul brand is owned by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.
On May 26, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India had said that Amul can start making ‘plant-milk’ to produce its products. The NGO had claimed that Indian farmers will greatly benefit from vegan foods.
Indian farmers stand to greatly benefit from vegan (which simply means made from plants) foods: https://t.co/5S6hGIsaEG Instead of fighting inevitable vegan national/global trend, @Amul_Coop can start making plant-milk itself like so many dairy & former dairy companies now do.
Today, it was reported that the PETA has written a letter to Amul MD R S Sodhi, asking them to switched to ‘vegan milk’. “We would again like to encourage Amul to benefit from the booming vegan food and milk market, instead of wasting resources trying to fight the demand for plant-based products that is only growing. Other companies are responding to market changes, and Amul can too,” the organisation said. They claimed that ‘the dairy cooperative society should benefit from the booming vegan food and milk market’.
Responding to such media reports on the letter by PETA to Amul, R S Sodhi questioned if the NGO will give livelihood to 100 million dairy farmers, 70% of whom are landless. “Who will pay for children school fee, how many can afford expensive lab manufactured factory food made out of chemicals, and synthetic vitamins”, he asked.
Will they give livelihood to 100 million dairy farmers (70% landless) , who will pay for children school fee .. how many can afford expensive lab manufactured factory food made out of chemicals … And synthetic vitamins .. https://t.co/FaJmnCAxdO
He also said that “Peta wants Amul to snatch livelihood of 100 mill poor farmers and handover it’s all resources built in 75 years with farmers money to market genetically modified Soya of rich MNC at exorbitant prices, which average lower middle class can’t afford”.
Peta wants Amul to snatch livelihood of 100 mill poor farmers and handover it's all resources built in 75 years with farmers money to market genetically modified Soya of rich MNC at exhorbitant prices ,which average lower middle class can't afford https://t.co/FaJmnCAxdO
It may be noted that earlier this week, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) had dismissed a plea filed by PETA and two other organisations against Amul for saying that plant-based products can’t be called ‘milk’. Amul is running a ‘Myths vs Facts’ advertisement, where the company had said that “plant-based beverages are impersonating and masquerading as dairy products”.
ASCI had found that Amul’s ad was correct, as according to Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) rules, plant-based milk is not covered under the definition of ‘milk’. As per FSSAI guidelines, milk is considered as a vegetarian product. Plant-based beverages also have proteins and beneficial minerals, however, most plant-based milks have lower protein content than milk, ASCI had observed.
The ‘Myths vs Facts’ ad by Amul
PETA, Beauty Without Cruelty (BWC) and Sharan India had also complained against Amul’s contention that milk is a complete food, claiming that it is not a complete food, is harmful to health and is less nutritious than plant-based food. But ASCI had ruled that milk can be called complete food as it contains all essential nutritive ingredients required for sustenance.
GCMMF had said that the ad was issued in public interest as several articles and videos were published against milk and defaming Amul recently. Those content had misleading claims such as “dairy industry inflicts cruelty on animals”, “milk causes cancer and various other ailments”, “plant based beverages are healthier than milk”, “plant based beverages can be legally termed as milk” etc.
Referring to the plant-based beverage makers naming their products as ‘milk’, R S Sodhi had said such companies are encashing the equity of milk to sell their non-milk products. He had said that these products are nothing but genetically modified lab foods made out of chemicals and synthetic materials by big companies and MNCs. “Indian dairy industry is a model of co-existence of humans and animals for centuries. But foreign-funded NGOs are running campaigns to tarnish the Indian dairy industry which unlike western world is not a factory farm industry. Cattle are part of a dairy farmer’s family, nobody tortures them”, he had said.
FSSAI proposes to ban use of ‘milk’ for plant based products
While PETA wants Amul to use ‘vegan milk’, the draft regulation of FSSAI for dairy products published last year says that non-dairy products like soya and almond ‘milk’ and non-dairy cheese and ice-cream won’t be allowed to use the word ‘milk’.
The National Cooperative Dairy Federation of India (NCDFI) has also filed a plea with Delhi High Court requesting to prevent the manufacturers of beverages or products derived from soya, almonds etc from using the term ‘milk’ and milk products such as paneer, curd, yogurt etc.
A doctor couple was killed in broad daylight on the roads of Bharatpur in Rajasthan today, and the incident was caught on CCTV camera. Dr Sudeep Gupta and his wife Dr Seema Gupta were shot dead from point-blank range in their car by two unknown assailants.
In the video of the incident, it can be seen that the two assailants stopped their motorcycle in front of Dr Gupta’s car and approached him who was in the driver’s seat. Assuming that they want to talk to him, he rolls down the window. But one of the men, with face covered with a pink cloth, looks inside the car, perhaps to confirm the identity of their targets, and shoots the doctor at his head with a pistol. Immediately after that, he shots multiple times at Dr Seema Gupta. Both of them had collapsed after getting shot, the video shows.
The duo then returns to their bike and flee from the spot. The shooter also points the gun towards the people nearby to warn them against trying to catch them. The victims were immediately rushed to a hospital, but they could not be saved as they had sustained serious injuries due to getting shot from such close range.
The incident took place at Circular during the day on 28th May. The CCTV footage is labelled as Neem Darwaja, which means the incident took place at Neem Darwaja on Circular road.
Although the identity of the killers and the motive of the murder is not known yet, it is notable that Dr Seema Gupta had murdered a woman and her son suspecting that the woman had illicit relations with her husband. It was also reported that Sudip Gupta was also involved in the murder where the two victims were burnt to death in a house owned by the doctor in 2019.
The woman, 25-years-old Deepa Gurjar, was a receptionist at Dr Sudip Gupta’s clinic, but when Dr Seema Gupta had suspected that Deepa was having an affair with her husband, she had fired him from the job. But after that, Sudip Gupta had helped her to open a beauty parlour and a spa. He and had also let her and her son stay in his villa without his wife’s knowledge, as Deepa was divorced and no place to stay. The house was in his wife’s name.
When Deepa sent out invitations from inauguration for her new business, she had mentioned Sudip Gupta’s name on it, enraging Dr Seema Gupta. She had confessed that she became so angry that along with her mother-in-law had gone to the house where Deepa was living to confront them. After a brief scuffle, she had poured a highly inflammable liquid on Deepa and her six-year-old son Surya, and set them on fire.
Although initially Seema Gupta and her mother-in-law were arrested for the murder, later the police had suspected that Sudip Gupta was also involved in the murder.
It is not known whether today’s murder of Dr Sudip Gupta and his wife Dr Seema Gupta is related to the murder of Deepa and her son.
Ministry sources have informed that Twitter is the only significant social media platform that is yet to abide by the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. Other platforms have abided by the regulations.
Sources within the Ministry informed, “Most of the major social media intermediaries have shared the details of their Chief Compliance Officer, Nodal Contact Person and Grievance Officer with Ministry of Electronics and IT, as required by the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.”
The significant intermediaries include Koo, Sharechat, Telegram, LinkedIn, Google, Facebook, WhatsApp and others. Sources said, “After a firm response from the Government yesterday, Twitter sent a communication late last night, sharing details of a lawyer working in a law firm in India as their Nodal Contact Person and Grievance Officer.”
“The Rules require that these designated officers of the significant social media companies must be the employees of the company and resident in India. Twitter has not yet sent the details of the Chief Compliance Officer to the Ministry,” they said.
The dispute between Twitter and the Indian Government has escalated since the social media platform expressed its refusal to abide by the laws of the country. “Twitter needs to stop beating around the bush and comply with Indian law. Lawmaking and policy formulations are the sole prerogatives of the sovereign and Twitter is just a social media platform. It will have no locus in dictating what India’s legal policy framework should be,” the Government had said in a statement.
While other platforms have abided by the rules, it appears that Twitter is yet to follow suit.
An Indian rapper earned a lot of notoriety over the past couple of days. He goes by the stage name of MC Kode. A video of his went viral on social media platforms that showed him uttering filthy abuses and indulging in blatant Hinduphobia.
In the video, MC Kode said that he will copulate with cows because Hindus worship Gau Mata. He did not stop there and proceeded to add that he will masturbate over the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita as well. Expectedly, the words attracted massive outrage but truth be told, his vicious tirade was only a drop in the ocean of obscenity that appears to surround the Indian rap scene.
We decided to explore the Indian Rap Battle scene on YouTube and discovered that the platform provides the opportunity for such ‘artists’ to abuse each other’s mothers and sisters. In one such battle that apparently occurred at BITS Pilani four years ago, MC Kode tells his opponent Piku Ross that he had oral sex with the latter’s mother.
Piku Ross then replies that he will have sex with Kode’s sister without a condom. There was no rhythm or sense as to why the young boys were subjecting the female members of their families to such obscenity but it was supposed to be music. As vulgar as it was, it was not the worst of it. In another such ‘rap battle’, he says he will rape his opponent’s ‘b*tch’ mother.
“I will come inside your home when you mom is alone and I am going to rape that b***ch”
– Aditya Tiwari aka MC Kode, a product of ‘secular’ education and Urduwood-inspired moral values
— Gems of Bollywood (@GemsOfBollywood) May 28, 2021
MC Kode, since the video went viral, issued an apology regarding the whole matter. He has posted stories on his Instagram account which has since then been wiped clean off the rest of the posts. In his initial stories, he offered an apology.
Kode’s apology
MC Kode said that he has submitted a request to delete all of his songs from streaming and YouTube. He also informed that nine brands had cancelled their endorsements of him and 3 of his gigs were cancelled. He also said that he has been left with no source of income.
Kode’s apology
Since then, however, he has been making an attempt to whitewash his disgusting performances. He shared one story on his account where one of his supporters said Kode’s only mistake was being “real”.
A post MC Kode shared
In another story, he takes a jibe at ‘fake ass rappers’ who are using his name for “clout”.
Kode shared the post in his story on Insta
RedBull has also taken down a webpage on him from their website where it was said that Kode served as a mentor in one of their programs.
The webpage that has since then been deleted
A webpage on Desihiphop had this to say about MC Kode: “F*ck MC Kode too. This dude is nasty. Basically doesnt give a shit about what he does with his body he need more water. Been listening to his songs got me pissed off tho. MC Kode is cool sometimes when he come and hang in bombay but that delhi air got him f*cked up. Kinda sad, kinda honest. No lie. Delhi life tough. Ever had to apologize to the air you breathe? Thats MC Kode. Dissing DHH for no reason cuz his ass fired now. Damn. Also dad suicide. (PS Control your bitch he been stealing sponsors too but its cool keep it) (sic)”.
He also appears to have a track record of being abusive. There are videos of him on YouTube which appears to have been recorded videos of his ‘live’ sessions on Instagram where he can be seen abusing people in vile sexually abusive language.
Despite the outrage, no action appears to have been taken against him. It remains to be seen whether any action is taken against him.
Kanpur police on Thursday filed an FIR against three people for selling Chicken biryani from the platform of an ancient Shiva temple. The matter came to light after mayor Pramila Pandey, who has been on a mission to free the old, ancient, dilapidated temples in the city that are squatted, captured or illegally occupied by other communities, discovered that an old Shiva temple beside Babu Sweet Shop in the Muslim-dominated area of Chamanganj was captured by the locals, who were operating a Chicken Biryani shop from the platform of the temple.
After visiting the area, Pandey expressed her anguish over the use of the platform of a Hindu temple for the sale of meat dishes. She said that such actions have hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus. According to the reports, when she asked the locals to open the temple, they declined to cooperate and refused to give the keys to the temple. This forced mayor Pandey to call Assistant Commissioner of Police Nishant Sharma, who was directed to free the temple from encroachment and remove the Biryani shop.
A case was filed against the culprits, namely, Mohammed Shiraz, Mohammad Noor Alam and Mohammad Farid under the sections pertaining to inciting religious sentiments and damaging the holy site and an investigation has started in the case.
The FIR was filed on the complaint registered by one Saurabh Tiwari and his friend Darshan Purwa. They have alleged that many ancient temples in the area have been illegally captured and encroached upon. As per them, the owner of the Biryani shop had demolished the ancient temple building, debris of which is still lying at the spot. The same is true of other old temples in the area, they insisted. The duo has demanded a high-level inquiry in the case to reclaim the lost temples.
Reports claimed one of the other temples in the area was used as a dump yard by the local minority community, who had stuffed their trash and locked up the temple. An article published in Amar Ujala said the mayor discovered several temples that had been demolished and only their debris remained. The locals were found occupying the temples and using the land for private purposes.
Realising that a large number of worn-out temples had been occupied in the city, the Mayor issued a directive to the administration to discover and free them from illegal occupiers. Besides, she also asked the administration to get the temples cleaned, rebuilt and renovated to restore their old legacy. Soon, a survey of the ancient temples in the area will be conducted so that their status can be known.
Pramila Pandey is known as ‘Revolver Aunty’ after her picture of holding a gun had gone viral on the internet. Pramila Pandey is also famous among the local residents because of her fearless image and no-nonsense attitude. Before being elected as the Mayor of Kanpur, Pandey had served as the District President of Mahila Morcha and twice as a councillor.
Twitter Inc has listed its new subscription service “Twitter Blue” as an in-app purchase on the app store.
Earlier, there were reports that the microblogging platform was working on a new service that would include exclusive features for users. Twitter Blue has been listed as an in-app purchase priced at Rs.269 in India on Apple’s App Store.
In its latest update, Twitter is set to introduce new features including the anticipated ‘Undo Tweet’ option and colour themes. Besides, Twitter has also brought its Clubhouse-style Spaces to the Web for a broader audience.
Twitter Blue as in-app purchase
It is listed as an in-app purchase for £2.49 in the UK and $2.99 in the US. However, the service is not yet been launched. Twitter is yet to make an official announcement about the same.
Twitter to launch ‘tiered-subscription” model
Twitter has been working on this paid subscription service – Twitter Blue for a long time. Earlier this month, App researcher Jane Manchun Wong had shared details about the service as discovered.
Wong had revealed that the subscription service will include features such as “Undo tweets” and bookmark collections.
However, Twitter is yet to confirm the details about “Undo tweets” feature.
Further, Wong had said that social media major is working on a tiered subscription pricing model. Accordingly, one tier would have more paid features than the other, which will mean a premium, noise-free news reading experience for higher-priced tiers.
Last year, the micro-blogging site had confirmed that it was exploring the idea of creating a paid subscription service that includes a range of new features that users may be willing for at its Analyst Day event earlier this year.
Actor turned politician Rudranil Ghosh was allegedly attacked on Friday at Bhabanipur (Ward 71) in South Kolkata. According to local newspapers, the celebrity BJP candidate from the Bhabanipur constituency was slapped while distributing relief materials to those affected by the ongoing pandemic in the constituency.
Following the assault, Ghosh lodged a complaint with the Kalighat police station, alleging TMC goons to be behind the attack. Trinamool Congress party has, however, refuted the allegation calling it completely baseless.
Rudranil Ghosh alleges TMC leader slapped him and also assaulted his men, TMC rubbishes the claim
Speaking of the alleged attack, Ghosh said: “I was distributing relief materials with some of my party workers in Bhabanipur constituency. After reaching out to about 300 families, Bablu Singh, the Trinamool leader of Ward 71, along with his goons launched an attack on me. I was slapped. My men were also assaulted. Attempts were also made to stop the relief vehicle”.
Refuting the allegations, TMC said in its statement: “He is an actor. After losing the seat, he has now taken refuge in acting! Why should anyone just slap him!”. Meanwhile, TMC leader Bablu also said: “I just asked him, whether he has permission from the state administration to carry out the relief work. This irked him, leading to a minor argument. That’s all”.
Mamata Banerjee to contest by-election from Bhabanipur to retain her post
For the uninitiated, Bhabanipur is West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s erstwhile seat, which she had left to take on BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari in the State Assembly elections. Recently it was announced that Mamata Banerjee will be contesting by-polls from the Bhabanipur assembly constituency.
The decision was necessitated after the CM lost Nandigram to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari in the State Assembly elections.
As she has become the CM without being a member of the legislative assembly, she needs to contest by-polls and become a member of the state legislative assembly within six months, in order to keep her position intact.
Shobhandeb Chattopadhyay, Trinamool MLA who won from Bhabanipur, resigned from the Bengal assembly on May 21 to make way for his party boss to contest from the seat.
