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Asked BARC to pay if they wanted to avoid torture: Sachin Vaze, money laundering and the Rs 30 lakh bribe in TRP case

OpIndia Staff
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Asked BARC to pay if they wanted to avoid torture: Sachin Vaze, money laundering and the Rs 30 lakh bribe in TRP case

Two days after Sachin Vaze was sent to judicial custody, it has now surfaced that the tainted cop had extorted Rs 30 lakh from TRP-measuring authority BARC, reported The Times of India. It is pertinent to note that there was while the FIR in the TRP manipulation case had mentioned India Today, the Mumbai police headed by Parambir Singh at the time had publicly named Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami in the case during a press conference without any apparent evidence.

While probing the money laundering charges against Sachin Vaze in the fake TRP scam case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) found that the suspended cop extorted Rs 30 lakhs from the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) through a Mumbai Crime Branch inspector. The bribe was paid by BARC executives to “protect themselves from harassment at the hands of the Mumbai police”.

Citing sources, TOI reported that BARC officials had admitted to the ED about making such a payment. The nodal TRP measuring body transferred the bribe to the bank account of a dummy company while maintaining that the amount was spent on construction work in its record books. After the bribe was credited to a dummy account, it was then transferred to four additional shell companies. The extortion money was then credited to the account of a Hawala operator.

Modus operandi of the Hawala scam by Sachin Vaze

The amount was returned to accused BARC officials in cash by the Hawala operator and handed over to the Mumbai Crime Branch inspector, who worked for Sachin Vaze. The Enforcement Directorate is yet to interrogate Sachin Vaze and Mumbai Crime Branch Inspector. Citing a source, TOI reported “Vaze used to tell BARC executives to wait outside his office for hours, even late in the evening, and then telling them to come the next day. Vaze also created an impression that he beats up suspects during questioning and asked BARC to pay a Rs 30 lakh bribe if they want to avoid torture.”

ED attaches ₹32 crores worth of properties of Box Cinema, Maha Movies and Fakt Marathi

Reportedly, the Enforcement Directorate will soon file the first chargesheet in the TRP money laundering case. The central agency will enclose evidence, unearthing the money trail and the bribe details. ED has clarified that the Television Rating Points is measured on the basis of the total time that a user watches a channel. During the probe, the Enforcement Directorate found that Box Cinema and Maha Movies generated 25% of their TRP fraudulently with the help of 5 households, where Hansa Group had installed its barometers.

Similarly, Fakt Marathi increased their TRP in a similar manner by 12%. The central agency has now attached properties worth ₹32 crore belonging to the three companies.

TRP scam and targeting of Republic TV

The Mumbai Police had targeted Republic TV over the TRP scam with very little evidence. It became clear that it was part of the Mumbai Police’s agenda against Arnab Goswami for his staunch criticism of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra over the channel’s coverage of the Sushant Singh Rajput death case investigation and the Palghar mob lynching of Sadhus.

On Saturday, Republic TV had announced that all chapter proceedings against the media house initiated by the Mumbai Police have bow been terminated. Chapter proceedings are preventive in nature and taken when the police suspect that an individual or entity is likely to incite trouble and create a nuisance.

Sachin Vaze sent to judicial custody

In a big development in the Antilia bomb scare case on Saturday (April 9), the accused cop Sachin Vaze was sent to judicial custody for 14 days by a special NIA court on Friday after the anti-terror agency didn’t press for his further custody. He will be housed in Taloja jail until April 23, reported Republic TV.

Vaze, arrested on March 13, was produced before the special court after the end of his NIA remand. Besides the Antilia bomb scare case, Vaze is also being probed in the Mansukh Hiren’s death case by the NIA.vMeanwhile, in another major development, the CBI has also been allowed to access the diaries of Sachin Vaze and suspended constable Vinayak Shinde that were recovered by the NIA earlier. With this, the CBI will also start delving deeper into the involvement of the accused cop’s alleged role in the death of businessman Mansukh Hiren.

Bihar police officer mob-lynched in West Bengal where he was chasing criminals, Firoze Alam, Abuzar Alam and Sahinur Khan arrested

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar police officer mob-lynched in West Bengal where he was chasing criminals, Firoze Alam, Abuzar Alam and Sahinur Khan arrested

A 50-year-old police officer from Bihar was lynched by a mob during a raid in West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district in the wee hours of Saturday. Three accused— Firoze Alam, Abuzar Alam and Sahinur Khan— have been arrested in connection with the death of the Bihar cop.

Ashwini Kumar, station in charge of the Kishanganj police station, was known for his no-nonsense attitude and strict crackdown against the liquor crackdown. Kumar was leading a raid in connection with a bike theft case in a neighbouring area under Panjipoda police station of West Bengal.

However, while conducting the raids, Kumar was surrounded by a mob and allegedly thrashed.

Subsequently, Kumar was rescued by a team of police personnel from the Panjipura outpost and rushed to the Islampur Sadar Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. Later, the West Bengal police apprehended the accused in connection with the case.

Uttar Dinajpur in West Bengal shares border with Kishanganj in Bihar. Often, the miscreants after committing crimes fled across the border to elude the police. In this case, Kumar had crossed the border to carry out a raid in West Bengal and bring the culprits to book.

However, he was attacked by a mob and beaten to death. The body of the police officer was taken to the Kishanganj police station during the day, following a post-mortem in Islampur.

But, Kumar’s family refused to accept his body after he was granted a gun salute at the police lines, alleging a conspiracy. They raised questions over the role of other police personnel in the team when Kumar was being thrashed by the mob. The family also questioned why was the West Bengal Police was not kept in the loop about the raid.

The imbroglio over the body went for an hour, following which Kishnaganj District Magistrate Aditya Prakash, Inspector General of Purnea Range Suresh Kumar Chowdhury along with other top officials held a meeting with Kumar’s family and assured them of commissioning an SIT probe into the matter. After that The body was taken to Kumar’s native place in Janki Nagar in Purnea.

According to the sources, West Bengal DGP P Nirajanayan spoke to Bihar DGP SK Singhal and assured him full cooperation on the matter. The Bihar Police later released a statement stating that it is looking into providing a job to Kumar’s kin. Officials claimed Kumar had joined the Bihar Police in 1994 and was transferred to Kishanganj a year ago.

US efforts to promote human rights in China enjoy major bipartisan support among Americans, Pew Research finds

OpIndia Staff
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US efforts to promote human rights in China enjoy major bipartisan support among Americans, Pew Research finds

A significant population of the United States, irrespective of their political inclinations, believe that the USA should hold China accountable for its human rights violations even if it leads to deteriorating economic relations between the two countries, a Pew Research Center survey conducted in February found.

Americans, Republicans and Democrats alike, share the view that the United States should promote human rights in China. Out of every 10 people surveyed, 7 feel that human rights should gain primacy over strengthening the country’s economic relations with China.

Only 26 per cent of the respondents felt that the US should focus on improving its trade ties with China, even if Beijing continues to commit human rights violations.

The findings were released at a time when the current US President Joe President is firming up a strategy to deal with the human rights violations carried out by the Communist regime in China. In his first call with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, Biden expressed “fundamental concerns” about China’s insidious crackdown in Hong Kong and the brutal repression of its Uyghur population in the restive province of Xinjiang.

Unlike on other issues, where bipartisan support is hard to muster, there is hardly any variance in the opinions of Republicans and Democrats when it comes to human rights violations by China. About 72 per cent of Republicans and independents favouring the Republican Party want the US government to focus on human rights when dealing with China. It is, perhaps, one of the few issues when thoughts of Democrats and Republicans have converged. Around 75 per cent of each group thinks the US should promote human rights.

Besides, 84 per cent of the respondents think China’s human rights policies are a problem for the United States, including 50 per cent of them who think it is a “very serious” problem. Those terming the issue a “very serious” problem is up by 7 percentage point since last March and has risen among both Republicans and Democrats.

The survey claims that Republicans and Democrats are equally likely to characterise China’s gross human rights violations as a very serious concern for the United States.

Around 76 per cent of Americans surveyed by the Pew Research Center believe tensions between mainland China and Hong Kong are a problem for the US, and 31 per cent think it is a “very serious” problem. 38 per cent of conservative Republicans are particularly apt to term the issue a “very serious” problem as compared to moderate and liberal Republicans, conservative and moderate Democrats, and liberal Democrats (29% of whom say the same, respectively).

When respondents were asked an open-ended question about the first things that come to their mind when they think of China, one in five said human rights, including 3 per cent who specifically mentioned the Xinjiang region and the atrocities carried out on its Uyghur population. Here too, Democrats and Republicans were equally likely to mention human rights in their responses.

Partisan differences become pronounced when asked about overall importance of promoting human rights as US foreign policy priority

But, there is little political concurrence about the importance of promoting and defending human rights in countries other than China. A third of Americans believe the US should foreground human rights as a top US foreign policy aim, and the issue ranked 15th in a list of 20 issues tested—markedly lower than the 48 per cent who think restricting China’s power and influence should be a top foreign policy goal.

Partisan divergence becomes starker when enquired about the overall importance of promoting human rights as a broad policy priority as compared to China in particular. Democrats and those leaning towards Democrats are likely to list promoting and defending human rights in other countries as a top US foreign policy priority (42 per cent) as compared to Republicans and Republican-leaning independents(23 per cent).

Twitter removes Prashant Bhushan’s tweet claiming masks are ineffective against COVID-19, says it violates Twitter Rules

OpIndia Staff
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Twitter removes Prashant Bhushan’s tweet claiming masks are ineffective against COVID-19, says it violates Twitter Rules

Twitter has removed a tweet by left wing activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan, where he had claimed that masks are not effective in preventing the spread of Novel Coronavirus. On 10th April, Bhushan had posted a tweet with a link to a hypothesis published on Sciencedirect on the use of facemasks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the tweet, Bhushan had said, “The data suggest that facemasks are ineffective to block transmission of viral and infectious disease such as COVID-19. Wearing facemasks has been demonstrated to have substantial adverse physiological and psychological effects”. He had added this text from the quoted report, asking his followers on Twitter to “read this detailed study on Masks”.

Screenshot of now removed tweet by Prashant Bhushan

Soon after he had posted this anti-mask tweet, he was widely criticised on Social media by users of all ideological leanings, including left-wing personalities. Many people had reported the tweet as spreading misinformation. As a result, Twitter removed the Tweet later in the day, saying that it violates Twitter Rules.

Twitter message showing removal of Prashant Bhushan’s tweet

Now when one goes to the link of the tweet, the tweet does not appear, but a message appears, saying “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules.”

It may be noted that the study by Baruch Vainshelboim was published on Sciencedirect in January this year, and the same report was published in November last year on the website of National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, which is funded by the US government. The study is based a large number of previously published scientific studies. The ncbi website is under the .gov domain, which means that it is a US govt website.

Massive win for Arnab Goswami as Mumbai Police terminates all chapter proceedings against Republic media network: Read details

OpIndia Staff
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Massive win for Arnab Goswami as Mumbai Police terminates all chapter proceedings against Republic media network: Read details

Republic TV has announced that all chapter proceedings against the media house initiated by the Mumbai Police have bow been terminated. Chapter proceedings are preventive in nature and taken when the police suspects that an individual or entity is likely to incite trouble and create nuisance.

Republic TV announced on social media, “Republic media network is happy to share that all chapter proceedings against the republic media network’s editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami that were initiated by the Mumbai Police now stand completely and entirely terminated. The termination of the chapter proceedings today is just more proof of what was always the truth. Today’s legal development defeats with firm finality the forces that were behind the massive conspiracy against India’s most loved news brand.”

Mumbai Police terminates chapter proceedings against Republic TV
Republic TV statement

“Not only do all the chapter proceedings initiated against Arnab Goswami now stand closed, but also with it today comes to a close the relentless campaign of calumny that was initiated to target one nationalistic news network that speaks truth to power. This latest legal development comes amidst a series of victories for the unstoppable truth and Republic media network. Recently, the enforcement directorate’s provisional attachment order proved that all the bogus claims and concocted allegations against republic were false, malicious and fictitious,” the statement added.

Republic stated further, “The real culprits, the conspirators and the nexus that tried to implicate republic media network and its members stand wholly and entirely defeated today. The win today has vindicated Arnab Goswami’s legacy of speaking the unimpeachable truth, putting the people first and always, putting nation first.”

To their supporters, the media network said, “Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. Your support has been overwhelming and we have together fearlessly fought for the triumph of the truth. As the mountain of lies comes crashing & the vicious campaign crumbles to dust, it is clear the truth takes instructions from no one.”

The Mumbai Police had targeted Republic TV over the TRP scam with very little evidence. It became clear that it was part of the Mumbai Police’s agenda against Arnab Goswami for his staunch criticism of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra over the channel’s coverage of the Sushant Singh Rajput death case investigation and the Palghar mob lynching of Sadhus.

Here are 5 major incidents of violence that took place during the fourth phase of polls in West Bengal

OpIndia Staff
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Here are 5 major incidents of violence that took place during the fourth phase of polls in West Bengal

On Saturday, the 4th phase of the West Bengal Vidhan Sabha polls were marred with unprecedented violence. As the voting commenced in Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Hooghly, Howrah, and South 24 Parganas, reports about incidents of political clash began to emerge.

BJP worker’s body found hanging in Uluberia

On Saturday morning, the body of a BJP worker named Nanda Nashkar was found hanging at his residence in Sham Shandar Chowk in Uluberia Purba district. He was an active party worker and had visited the part office yesterday night. The BJP has informed that the deceased was earlier attacked and given death threats by TMC goons. The party has blamed the TMC for his unnatural death.

Video Credits: Youtube/News18 Bangla)

TMC goons gun down 18-year-old BJP supporter

An 18-year-old BJP supporter named Ananda Burman was gunned down by Trinamool Congress workers when he went to cast his vote at the polling station in Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar. While speaking about the matter, his cousin brother informed ABP News that the polling booth was ambushed by a large mob of TMC workers. According to him, they had guns and bombs at their disposal.

They began open firing at the booth in a bid to intimidate the voters. One of the bullets struck the 18-year-old Ananda Burman, who was a first-time voter. He died on the spot. On being taken to the hospital, he was declared dead on arrival. BJP Mondol President informed that the accused are yet to be identified. The police have conducted its preliminary investigation. At the same time, the Election Commission has been notified about the incident.

(Video Credits: Youtube/ABP Ananda)

BJP leader Locket Chatterjee attacked, her car vandalised

On Saturday morning, an unruly mob attacked the vehicle of BJP leader Locket Chatterjee at polling booth No.66 in Hooghly district of West Bengal. In a video shared by media agency ANI, the mob was seen attacking the black sedan car of Chatterjee. With no regards to social distancing protocols, the goons ambushed her car while the security personnel tried to stop the incoming mob. They had also vandalised cars belonging to various media houses.

While speaking to the Election Commission over phone, Locket Chatterjee said, “They have broken my car… I am at booth No 66. They grabbed my jacket and attacked my car… I’ve also been hurt by pieces of glass. Then they media persons to get out of their cars and beat them. A lot of our workers are still there… Please send CRPF there immediately… some media persons are also still stuck.”

Mob attacks CISF in Sitalkuchi after Mamata Banerjee urged ‘gherao’

A mob attacked the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) soldiers during the fourth phase of elections in West Bengal after TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee asked her followers to gherao the central forces. Four TMC workers were killed after the CISF fired on the violent mob. As per reports, the incident took place at the Jorpatki area of the Mathabhanga block in the Sitalkuchi Legislative Assembly of Cooch Behar district.

Cooch Behar SP defended the CISF action against the lumpen elements, saying that the action was an act of ‘self-defense’. He said that a mob of 300-350 men had attacked the CISF team and tried to snatch their arms that forced the team to open fire on the miscreants. The deceased have been identified as Monirujjaman (28), Hamidul Miyan (30), Nur Alma Miyan (21) and Samiul Haque (20).

As per multiple reports, four people died after central forces open-fired in a polling booth in self-defence, while at another place one person died after miscreants opened fire. Sitalkuchi was on the boil since early morning. According to reports, bombs were hurled outside the booth. Some groups had also opened fire while the police managed to recover bombs from the area, India Today reported.

Child snatched away from mother amidst poll violence

On Saturday (April 10), a woman lost her toddler after a frenzied mob ambushed the polling booth in Jorpatki area in Sitalkuchi Vidhan Sabha constituency of West Bengal, reported TV9 Bangla. The incident took place during the 4th phase of State legislative elections in the State. TMC, however, calls it drama.

As per reports, the woman had entered the polling booth to cast her vote. Soon, a violent mob ambushed the polling booth leading to bombing, and gunfire. The police officials were highly outnumbered by the incoming mob. “When I was about to press the button, a fight broke out. There was bloodshed everywhere. I could not come out of the polling booth with my child,” the victim said. She recounted how miscreants had pulled her by the hair and snatched her child away.

“Where will I find my child now?” she asked. The woman, in tears, informed, “I don’t want any government. Here, several Muslim women had come with Dao (machete) to slice people. They threatened to kill my child if I don’t hand it over to them.” Besides the woman’s child, one of her relatives is also missing. She has appealed to the authorities to return her child and her relative.

Congress leader Chidambaram forgets Direct Action Day riots, blames BJP for communalising Bengal after allying with Islamist Siddiqui

K Bhattacharjee
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Congress leader Chidambaram forgets Direct Action Day riots, blames BJP for communalising Bengal after allying with Islamist Siddiqui

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has blamed the BJP for ‘communalising’ West Bengal in a series of tweets on Saturday. Chidambaram claimed that the ‘polarization’ of the state is the ‘gravest tragedy’ that has befallen the state of West Bengal.

The senior Congress leader appears to have forgotten the partition massacres and the Great Calcutta Killings. Bengal suffered a partition in 1947 that was accompanied by mass slaughter of Hindus, rapes and terrible violence. After all this time, for Chidambaram to claim that polarization of the electorate in West Bengal is the greatest tragedy that the state has suffered is an insult towards the Bengali Hindu community.

Chidambaram blames BJP for 'communalising' West Bengal
Chidambaram blames BJP for ‘communalizing’ West Bengal

P Chidambaram said, “I cannot believe that the land of Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Raja Ram Mohun Roy, Ishwar Chander Vidyasagar, Rabindranath Tagore, Subhas Chandra Bose Satyajit Ray and Dr B C Roy can fall prey to the virus of communalism”. “Anyone who claims the legacy of these great leaders — as I proudly do — should shun and fight communalism,” he added.

The Congress leader’s comments, perhaps, were inspired by political strategist Prashant Kishore’s statements on the politics of Muslim appeasement during the explosive Clubhouse discussion.

“Major problem that we have to accept is that there have been efforts for the last 20 years to appease the minorities. Take the example of Bengal. The simple strategy here has been that whoever has the Muslims vote, will form the government. Be it the Left, Congress or Didi’s government, the strategy has been to garner Muslim votes. For the first time, Hindus have realised that there is a party for them. It is not as if there is something wrong with the society altogether,” Prashant Kishore had said.

He concluded, “This is the aspect that the BJP is exploiting. And this comes from the blatant use of minority politics by some of these parties. You and I cannot deny this reality.”

Chidambaram, nonetheless, appears more inclined than ever to deny the truth that is staring at him on his face. The truth is that Bengal has suffered partition along religious lines and all the horror that came along with it.

After partition, a cycle of minority appeasement politics ensued that has continued to this day. The brand of politics that Mamata Banerjee practices, with restrictions on Durga Puja and silence on the riots that Hindus have suffered in recent times, is only the most obvious face of it.

For a Congress leader to then blame the BJP for ‘communalising’ West Bengal and shaming Bengali Hindus for being concerned about their identity is the perfect demonstration of precisely why Congress is nowhere near in contention in the state and its political fortunes across the country continues to suffer.

Intriguingly, the Congress party is in alliance with the Indian Secular Front (ISF), which is ironically led by rabid Islamist Abbas Siddiqui. Abbas Siddiqui is the same peerzada who had prayed to Allah during the advent of the Coronavirus pandemic in India last year to send such a virus that it killed 50 crore Indians.

“If we do not come to power next time, they (Hindus) will rape our women in front of our eyes. Do you understand? You cannot do anything if you do not have power in your hands,” Siddiqui had said on another occasion.

Such is the person that the Congress party has allied itself with. And then, it blames the BJP for polarization in West Bengal. It is quite amusing, indeed.

Mumbai: Lab technician arrested for issuing fake negative COVID-19 test reports to dozens of people

OpIndia Staff
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Mumbai: Lab technician arrested for issuing fake negative COVID-19 test reports to dozens of people

Mumbai Police has arrested laboratory technician for issuing fake negative COVID-19 reports to several people. According to reports, a lab technician named Umar was arrested after it was found that he had issued at least 37 fake negative COVID-19 test reports. This has come at a time when Maharashtra has seen a huge surge of Coronavirus cases for last several weeks.

The matter came to light after a woman approached police saying her COVID-19 test report is not correct. 31-year-old Charu Chauhan had lodged a complaint with the police saying that there are some errors in the test report issued to her by Umar. Following this, police probed the matter and found that the woman was given a forged test report.

According to the police, the lab technician used PDF files of existing COVID-19 negative test reports to prepare the fake reports. The investigation also found that Umar had issued such fake reports to at least 37 people. After this, the lab technician was arrested for forgery and also for violating the pandemic rules.

Contrary to other cases where people themselves obtain fake COVID-19 negative reports for travelling, in this case the lab technician was cheating the people who had come to his lab for testing. According to police sources, he used to collect test samples of suspected Covid-19 patients by going to their homes. For symptomatic cases, he used to send the samples to the lab, but for asymptomatic cases, he used to collect Rs 1,000 but never sent the samples to the lab. “He pocketed the money after each such asymptomatic case in the past month. We have found 37 false reports,” the police officer said.

The officer added that the role of the lab in this scam will also be investigated, and appropriate action will be taken.

Watch: Arnab Goswami’s special message for Barkha Dutt after Sachin Vaze lands in Taloja Jail

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: Arnab Goswami’s special message for Barkha Dutt after Sachin Vaze lands in Taloja Jail

Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami shared a special message for Barkha Dutt on Friday while holding a primetime debate on the NIA court verdict that sent the former Mumbai Police officer Sachin Vaze to 14 days of judicial custody at the Taloja Jail.

Without naming Barkha, Goswami slammed the journalist for celebrating his arrest last year when a team of Mumbai Police officers barged into his house, assaulted, dragged and arrested him. The operation to arrest Mr Goswami was led by suspended police officer Sachin Vaze.

In his prime time that was broadcasted on Friday evening, Arnab Goswami lambasted the Lutyens journalists and media organisations, who he claimed “conspired” for his arrest. At 46:19 in the debate, Arnab indirectly refers to Barkha Dutt and calls her out for celebrating his unlawful arrest and glorifying the acts of corrupt officers like Sachin Vaze, who is now lodged in Taloja Jail.

“The night I was arrested and my family was surrounded with loaded AK-47s, a journalist, quote and unquote, I won’t say a journalist, Hafiz Saeed’s favourite in India, allegedly said that she feels like eating ice cream that night to celebrate. They won’t eat ice creams now. They will eat dust now,” Mr Goswami said while tacitly making a reference to Ms Dutt.

“My targets are many, the media was not misused, it conspired against me. I have much evidence on my hand and I will reveal it in time,” Mr Goswami further added.

Barkha’s tweet of closing the day on which Arnab was arrested with ice cream

It is worth noting that Barkha Dutt had posted a tweet on November 4 evening, stating that it was that kind of the day she would like to close with ice cream. Earlier in the morning, Arnab Goswami was arrested by a contingent of 40 armed Mumbai Police personnel, who had barged into his house and took him into custody.

“This is that day which must close with ice cream,” Ms Dutt had tweeted.

It is also noteworthy to mention that Barkha Dutt’s fan following includes none other than dreaded terrorist and Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed. In an interview with a Pakistan news channel in 2016, Saeed had praised Ms Dutt by saying, “India main Barkha Dutt jaisey log bhee maujood hain bohot acchey baat karneywaley bhee maujood hain (In India good journalists like Barkha Dutt are also present and there are many who make sense).”

Mumbai Police arrests Arnab Goswami in an already closed case

As a part of its witch-hunt against Republic TV, Mumbai Police launched ‘Operation Arnab‘ in the wee hours of 4 November 2020 to arrest its Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami. The Mumbai Police reached Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami’s residence and physically manhandled him as they tried to detain him in a 2018 abetment to suicide case that was already closed.

A team of Mumbai Police arrested Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami after they physically assaulted and dragged him by grabbing his hair. In a shocking act, a large contingent of Mumbai Police was seen present at Goswami’s residence on the day of his arrest. Several videos later emerged on social media websites where police officials were seen manhandling the Republic TV chief.

He was taken to a quarantine centre in Alibaug, from where he was hurriedly shifted to the Taloja Jail days later. The operation was led by former Mumbai Police officer Sachin Vaze, who is now an accused in the Antilia bomb scare case and in the Mansukh Hiren murder.

Arhtiyas call off strike after Punjab govt modifies software allowing them to get paid for foodgrain procurement from farmers

OpIndia Staff
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Arhtiyas call off strike after Punjab govt modifies software allowing them to get paid for foodgrain procurement from farmers

Hours after the Arhtiyas (commission agents) in Punjab had launched a strike and blocked the purchase of food grains from farmers at mandis, the strike was called off after CM Amarinder Singh held a meeting with them. The Arhtiyas withdrew the strike after the CM assured them that they will remain an integral part of the food grain procurement system. The strike was started by the arhtiyas and labour unions protesting against the state government’s decision to implement the direct payment system to farmers, bypassing the Arhtiyas.

CM Captain Amarinder Singh announced that the state government has decided to release Rs 131 crore the Arhtiyas, which is due from FCI as the central agency has held up the payment because arhtiyas have not submitted required details. He said that “arhtiyas play an important role in purchase of agricultural produce by cleaning, weighing, bagging & loading/unloading”, and hence they will remain a part of the system in the state.

The CM announced that the government is starting 9th round of procurement for the current procurement session of wheat. “We will continue to ensure seamless and hassle-free procurement for our farmers,” Singh said on Twitter. Accordingly, wheat procurement by state procurement agencies started in the afternoon today, avoiding a major crisis.

In the meeting with the union of the Arhtiyas through video conferencing, Amarinder Singh said that despite the centre’s directives to exclude them from MSP payments, “the arhtiyas shall always be associated with procurement”. He further said, “till I am there, you will be part of the system, and your role will always remain,”adding that he would ensure that the arhtiya commission and other charges permitted under the APMC Act would continue in the state.

As per reports, the State Food Department has amended the procurement software so that the arhtiyas will continue to be involved in the process of release of payments to the farmers, but in a modified manner. However, at present it is not clrear from where this payment will be made, as FCI will make the complete payment to the bank accounts of the farmers. It is not known whether the payment will be made by the state govt or they will make the payment from the amounts paid to the farmers.

For the time being, the CM ordered to release Rs 131 core to arhtiyas from the state govt without waiting for the release of the amount by FCI. This due amount is from the existing system where payments are made to arhtiyas, who in turn pay the farmers.

He also assured the arhtiyas that his government would take up with the Centre the issue of 30% deduction in labour payments made by the FCI. Reiterating that his govt wanted to continue with the current system, Amarinder Singh also said, “We fought hard with the Centre, but they were adamant, and even went to the extent of threatening not to procure from Punjab if we do not implement the DBT.”

The CM thanked the Arhitya Federation for withdrawing the strike after getting the assurances for him, and appealed to them to immediately start procurement process while following the COVID-19 protocols.

Praising the arhtiyas, he said that arhtiyas are not middlemen but service providers, adding that the private sector could function along with the existing system and there was no need to change it. He said that the system of arhtiyas prevailed even when he was a kid, and it was inexplicable why the Centre wanted to ‘ruin’ it.

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