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West Bengal: Jan Ki Baat team attacked for reporting on alleged irregularities in Mamata Banerjee’s Swasthya Sathi scheme

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: Jan Ki Baat team attacked for reporting on alleged irregularities in Mamata Banerjee’s Swasthya Sathi scheme

In a shocking incident, a team of journalists of public opinion portal ‘Jan Ki Baat’ was brutally attacked by the goons allegedly associated with the ruling Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal.

On Saturday, a group of supporters of Mamata Banerjee-led TMC attacked the journalists of ‘Jan Ki Baat’ for reporting on alleged irregularities in the ‘Swasthya Sathi’ scheme of the West Bengal government. It is being alleged that the attacks happened in the presence of West Bengal police officials. It was recently alleged that a private hospital in Kolkata denied admission to a patient under the Swasthya Sathi scheme because he did not have a valid card.

Speaking to OpIndia, Jan Ki Baat CEO and psephologist Pradeep Bhandari said that reporters and data analysts of ‘Jan Ki Baat’ – Aman Verma, Avik Bhattacharya and Kritarth were brutally attacked in Durgapur for exposing lapses in ‘Swasthya Sathi’ scheme, a pet project of the Mamata Banerjee-led government.

‘Jan Ki Baat’ is an independent global on-ground public opinion technology company. 

According to Bhandari, a 58-year-old beneficiary of the scheme had died of cardiac arrest after allegedly being denied emergency medical treatment at The Mission Hospital. The Vice-chairman of the hospital is allegedly a close relative of a local TMC leader.

Police did nothing, stones were hurled at our team, says Pradeep Bhandari

As ‘Jan Ki Baat’ journalists reported the distraught family’s version of the incident, they were physically assaulted, said Pradeep Bhandari. He also alleged that he was shocked to learn that the entire attack occurred in front of the police who chose to do nothing.

“Even when stones were hurled at them by hospital staff, the police did nothing to protect them. The family of the deceased stood supported my team through and through. ‘Right to Report’ is under threat, the lives of passionate young journalists are at risk and this is intolerance in its true form,” the ‘Jan Ki Baat’ CEO added.

Pradeep Bhandari, who is currently touring West Bengal ahead of the state elections, said that it was shocking and horrifying that young journalists are attacked for showing the truth and exposing the lapses in a state government scheme.

“The conspiracy of silence by those who give lectures on intolerance should be seen by people of India. Bengal needs deployment of Central forces for safety and security of all,” he said.

Jharkhand: Congress’ ‘Jan Akrosh Rally’ for farmer protest goes wild as ‘Laila o Laila’ performance enthrals ‘protesting audience’

OpIndia Staff
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Jharkhand: Congress’ ‘Jan Akrosh Rally’ for farmer protest goes wild as ‘Laila o Laila’ performance enthrals ‘protesting audience’

The Congress party has upped its ante to strengthen the anti-farm law agitation after the movement lost momentum and failed to make any impact. ABP News Editor Pankaj Jha reported that the grand old party organised a ‘Jan Akrosh Rally’ in Saraikela in Jharkhand on Thursday (February 18) to demonstrate their opposition to the historic farm laws. In a video uploaded by Jha, a female dancer is seen enthralling the ‘protesting audience’ with an item number on ‘Laila o Laila’.

The Congress party’s attempt to gather a large crowd of ‘protestors’ seems to have worked as scores of people gawked over the performance of the female dancer. According to Pankaj Jha, the rally and the dance programme was organised by Congress MLA from Pakaur constituency Alamgir Alam. “See the pain and concern of Alamgir Alam, who has been elected on a Congress party ticket,” the ABP Editor tweeted.

Netizens mock Congress rally after video gets traction on social media

Since then, the video has gone viral on social media. Netizens and several BJP leaders including IT Cell Head Amit Malviya shared the video and took potshots at the Congress. “Congress wants Laila, Farmer agitators want Mia Khalifa,” wrote one Twitter user. His comment was directed at the Congress and anti-farm law protestors who received support from pornstar Mia Khalifa.

“Other parties play patriotic songs during Farmer Solidarity rallies but only the Congress rally has a dance number on ‘Laila o Laila’ song”, wrote the sarcastic guy.

Former Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore tweeted, “They (Congress) can stoop to any level to get people to their rallies.”

Other social media users were left wondering whether it was a ‘Jan Akrosh rally’ or the ‘audition for the next Congress President.

It must be mentioned that the Delhi State Congress unit passed a unanimous resolution last month to make senior Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi as the party President.

The Gandhi scion quit after 2019 general elections debacle. Upon his resignation as party president, his mother Sonia Gandhi was made interim President. Prior to Rahul Gandhi, she had served as party president for two decades.

Jammu: Over 1,400 workers resign from Congress party’s NSUI, allege massive corruption, favouritism in elections

OpIndia Staff
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Jammu: Over 1,400 workers resign from Congress party’s NSUI, allege massive corruption, favouritism in elections

In a major setback to the Congress party, nearly 1,400 workers of party’s student wing, National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), have resigned in Jammu, citing massive corruption in the election process of the party.

According to the reports, many office-bearers, including general secretary and vice president, district media coordinator and several others, have resigned from the Congress party’s students’ wing in Jammu. The NSUI workers have alleged that the party has cheated them in the name of democracy and membership.

The NSUI members alleged that the party had asked them to pay Rs 100 each for the internal polls. However, no election was conducted. The workers accused the party of subverting internal democracy within the party by not carrying out the election but selecting the favoured candidates.

The NSUI leaders had apprised the party leadership about the corruption in the students’ union and had also written a letter to Congress party interim chief Sonia Gandhi. In the letter, the NSUI leaders said that they were cheated in the name of membership. They accused NSUI office-bearers of collecting fees for elections. However, they did not elect any of them for the past 2.5 years. 

The resignation of the NSUI workers comes just a few days after a similar allegation of election fraud was put out by Karnataka Youth Congress members in the recently concluded ‘elections’.

US President Joe Biden says African-Americans and Hispanics have not been vaccinated because ‘they don’t know how to get online’

OpIndia Staff
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US President Joe Biden says African-Americans and Hispanics have not been vaccinated because ‘they don’t know how to get online’

During his first Town Hall as the President of the United States, Joe Biden courted controversy for claiming that Latinos and people of the African-American community do not know how to get ‘online’. The town hall took place on Wednesday (February 17) night in the Milwaukee city of Wisconsin.

At around 15 minutes into the video, a local doctor had asked Biden as to why only 3% African-Americans and 5% Latinos have been administered the Coronavirus vaccine so far, despite being one of the worst affected communities. The US President started on a good note and said that the two communities have been wary of the vaccination programme as they were used as ‘experimental guinea pigs’ in the past. He claimed to have sent a million vaccine doses to the ‘toughest neighbourhoods’ with no access to cars. Biden added that community health centres and mobile units would be sent to ensure that more Latinos and African Americans get inoculated.

Video Courtesy: Youutbe/ News Junkie’s Archives

However, Biden soon ended up insinuating that the two communities may have also been left behind in vaccination drive as they do not know how to use the internet. “Not everybody in the community–in the Hispanic and the African American community, particularly in rural areas that are distant and/or inner-city districts–know how to use–know-how to get online to determine how to get in line for that COVID vaccination at the Walgreens or at the particular store,” he alleged.

The Democratic Party President has been called out on social media for falsely inferring that African-Americans and Latinos did not know how to ‘get online’.

People even slammed Biden for the sweeping generalisation of the African-American community.

As per a recent report by Nielsen, Latinos are 57% more likely to use their smartphones and social media to gather information about the Coronavirus than other groups. Given that the community is largely employed in the service sector, smartphones remain the ‘connectivity tool of choice’.

Joe Biden issues clarification after backlash on his ‘racist’ remarks

However, later, he issued a clarification saying that he was referring to the older members of the two communities who aren’t tech-savvy. “It’s all about trying to more rationalize in detail so ordinary people, like me, can understand. I mean that sincerely. I mean, you know, my grandchildren can use that online–you know, make me look like I’m in, you know, the seventh century,” Biden said.

The Democratic party President has earned the nickname of ‘sleepy joe’ for speaking gibberish and losing track of his own speeches on several occasions. As of Saturday, the United States has reported 92,97,326 active cases of Coronavirus and 5,09,875 fatalities to date. The country has witnessed a whopping 2.8 crore cases since the onset of the pandemic and has vaccinated 5.9 crore people.

Uttar Pradesh: Liquor mafia Moti Singh, who killed a UP Police constable earlier this month, killed in an encounter

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Liquor mafia Moti Singh, who killed a UP Police constable earlier this month, killed in an encounter

On February 21, history-sheeter and liquor mafia Moti Singh, the main accused in the Kasganj case, was neutralized by UP Police in an encounter. The encounter took place at Karthala Road in the Sidhpura Police Station area, Kasganj. Moti was the main accused for killing a constable of Sidhpura police station on February 9. An inspector was severely injured during the incident who is still lodged in hospital for treatment.

Moti was absconding since the day of the incident. The police team had raided several locations across different districts to find him. A reward of one lakh rupees was also declared on him. As per the Police, Moti started shooting at the Police after which the Police retaliated and shot him. He was rushed to the hospital, where he was declared brought dead. Police recovered the missing pistol of the injured inspector and one illegal country pistol with live ammunition.

Earlier another accused in the Kasganj case was killed in an encounter with the Police. The Police surrounded Elkar, brother of main accused Moti, and his associates at the banks of River Kavi. In the encounter, Elkar was severely injured. He was taken to the hospital, where he later died. Several others were arrested in the case.

The Kasganj Case

According to the reports, a UP Police constable and Sub Inspector had gone to raid a liquor factory in the Nagla Dheemar village in Kasganj district. However, they were captured by the liquor mafia and brutally assaulted. The culprits reportedly left SI Ashok Kumar Pal on the road but took constable Devendra Singh with them. Seeing the SI Pal lying on the road bleeding, local villagers informed the Police.

In an order dated February 9, CM Yogi directed action to be taken against those responsible. The Police was also directed to invoke the National Security Act against the culprits. Several teams of Police and SOG were formed, including the teams of STF. CM Yogi and DGP were monitoring the incident.

So far, Moti’s cousin brother and mother were arrested by the Police. His mother was trying to leave the district when she was arrested. A spear that was used to attack Constable Devendra Singh was recovered from his mother. Two other accused were also arrested and sent to jail.

Occultist and e-rickshaw driver Aas Mohammad killed by sword-wielding assailants in Ghaziabad, police suspect hand of second wife

OpIndia Staff
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Occultist and e-rickshaw driver Aas Mohammad killed by sword-wielding assailants in Ghaziabad, police suspect hand of second wife

50-year-old Ghaziabad resident Aas Mohammad, a Sufi occultist and e-rickshaw driver, was killed by sword-wielding assailants on Friday as he was waiting for passengers at the e-rickshaw stand. As per reports, two men came on bike and killed him with a sword. The two men first slit his throat with the sword and then kept stabbing him. They even warned the passersby to not intervene otherwise they would kill them as well.

After killing Mohammad, they escaped on the bike while swinging swords in the air. Police has registered complaint against unknown assailants.

Aas Mohammad lived in Naya Noorganj colony with his wife and six sons and one daughter. Of these, four sons and the daughter are married. Other than being a Sufi occultist, Mohammad was also a fruit trader and e-rickshaw driver. He had left his house with the e-rickshaw on Friday. His son Jan Mohammad informed that at around 10 AM, two men wearing black clothes had come to their house on bike. When Jan Mohammad said that he had left the house with the e-rickshaw, they asked him to call him back. As Aas Mohammad’s phone was unreachable, the men started to leave.

Within minutes, Aas Mohammad returned and the two men asked him to wait. Before Aas Mohammad could say anything, the two men allegedly pulled him by his hair and dragged him towards Eidgah Pulia and stabbed him with sword.

When the men were allegedly stabbing Aas Mohammad with a sword, they warned the villagers not to intervene. After the incident, villagers gheraoed the police station and demanded swift action. Police promised that the assailants will be caught soon.

Reports say that around two and a half years back Aas Mohammad had left his home. His family members had registered a missing person’s complaint. However, he had returned after 15 days. Other than driving an e-rickshaw, he used to also indulge in ‘healing’ where he promised childless parents children.

Initial police investigation has revealed that Aas Mohammad had two wives. While he stayed with his first wife and children from her, he would at times go and stay with his second wife. Police believes that the reason behind his murder could either be his occult practice or be related to his second wife.

Watch: United Airlines Boeing 777 engine catches fire midair, dramatic visuals go viral

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: United Airlines Boeing 777 engine catches fire midair, dramatic visuals go viral

A United Airlines Boeing jet suffered an engine failure just minutes after taking off from Denver Airport. The Boeing 777 jet scattered huge debris over residential areas near Denver after one of its engines caught fire after take-off.

According to the reports, the United Airlines flight, with 231 passengers and 10 crew onboard, returned safely and landed at Denver airport. No injuries were reported, said the local police.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that Flight 328, a United Airlines plane bound for Honolulu, suffered a failure in its right-hand engine. Soon after the take-off, the passengers on board described a “large explosion” shortly after take-off.

According to the witness on the ground, they heard a loud explosion around 13:09 local time and saw smoke coming out of the right engine of the aircraft. They said that the parts of the engine fell to the ground. The large parts of the engine fell off in the front yard of a house in Broomfield, a Denver suburb, along with several scattered large metal pieces. 

Video taken by one of the passengers of the flight has gone viral on social media.

Several bystanders have filmed the video and later posted online that showed the engine on fire. The videos showed smoke trailing from the engine.

The debris of the engine fell in residential area in Broomfield city, Colorado.

The police is working to locate the debris that has fallen.

Following the incident, United Airlines issued a statement saying, “Flight 328 from Denver to Honolulu experienced an engine failure shortly after departure, returned safely to Denver and was met by emergency crews as a precaution”.

The aircraft is 26 years old, according to Cirium fleets data. It is outfitted with Pratt & Whitney PW4000 turbofan engines. 

‘Hinduist’ and Navbharat Times: How a Google translate algorithm is inventing a new word that can aid Hinduphobia

OpIndia Staff
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‘Hinduist’ and Navbharat Times: How a Google translate algorithm is inventing a new word that can aid Hinduphobia

A screenshot is doing the rounds which purportedly shows a Navbharat Times report claim that ‘Hinduist’ organisations have objected to the PFI hate parade in Malappuram, Kerala. In the said rally, men in RSS uniforms were paraded in chains to mark the ‘centenary celebrations’ of the Moplah Massacre.

Navbharat Times published a ‘fact check’ on the matter, much like India Today, to say that the men in RSS uniforms were not actually RSS members. The ‘fact check’ goes to the extent of claiming that the uniform does not actually represent RSS members but symbolic of ‘fascism’. It further says that the objective of the demonstration was to oppose religious discrimination.

The NBT ‘fact k’

Much like the India Today ‘fact check’, the objective of the NBT ‘fact check’ was clearly to whitewash the toxic bigotry of the PFI. But the ‘fact check’ has gained traction on social media for other reasons as well. Prominent social media users have pointed out that the ‘fact check’ makes use of a problematic word ‘Hinduist’ to describe those opposing the hate parade.

It was alleged that Navbharat Times invented the word ‘Hinduist’ that closely resembles words such as ‘Islamist’ and ‘Jihadist’ in order to paint the Hindu community and Hindutva oriented organisations in negative light.

The word ‘Islamist’ is used to describe fundamentalist sections of Islamic society that nurture and encourage deeply harmful opinions. The word ‘Hinduist’ could easily then be understood by people as those sections of Hindu society that advocate values that run contrary to the ethos of a pluralistic society.

The truth, however, is not as it seems.

As it turns out, the actual NBT report was written in Hindi. In Hindi, the report uses the word ‘Hinduvadi’. When one uses Google Translate, the word ‘Hinduvadi’ is translated into ‘Hinduist’.

The original report in Hindi

Thus, it appears that a Google algorithm translates ‘-vadi’ as ‘-ist’ in the absence of any clear direct English translation. We performed a check on Google Translate to evaluate our hypothesis and we made some interesting discoveries.

For instance, ‘Bharatiyavadi’ is translated to ‘Indianist’.

Google translation of ‘Bharatiyavadi’

‘Yadavvadi’ is translated as ‘Yadavist’.

Google translation of ‘Yadavvadi’

‘Hindivadi’ is translated as ‘Hindiist’.

Google translation of ‘Hindivadi’

However, ‘Gandhivadi’ is translated as ‘Gandhian’. Thus, it appears almost certain that Google translates any word without a direct English translation containing ‘-vadi’ to ‘-ist’.

Google translation of ‘Gandhivadi’

Thus, while NBT is guilty of publishing a deplorable ‘fact check’ to whitewash the PFI hate parade, it is not responsible for inventing the word ‘Hinduist’. Nevertheless, while it is the work of a Google algorithm, the concerns raised by people on social media, that the word could be used to further spread Hinduphobia, remains legitimate.

Petroleum company files complaint against comedian Shyam Rangeela for his video mocking fuel price hike

OpIndia Staff
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Petroleum company files complaint against comedian Shyam Rangeela for his video mocking fuel price hike

Ever since reports have emerged that a police complaint has been filed against comedian Shyam Rangeela for his latest video, in which he is seen mimicking PM Narendra Modi and speaking about how the petrol prices hike have never been this high in the state, many people have expressed their vexation, accusing the government of stifling voices of dissent.

However, contrary to the belief, the complaint against the popular comedian Shyam Rangeela has not been filed by the government or even by a member of BJP. The complaint was filed by the owner of the petrol pump located on Hanumangarh Road in Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan, where the former had shot the video.

Suresh Agarwal, the owner of the petrol pump, had approached the Sadar police with a complaint against the comedian accusing him of cheating. He alleged that Shyam Rangeela lied to him about his profession while seeking permission for shooting his video.

Agarwal said in his complaint that Shyam Rangeela had introduced himself as a journalist and said that he wanted to take pictures of the petrol pump to which Agarwal had agreed. On February 17 at around 5:30-6:00 pm in the evening, a few people came to the petrol pump. Since those were the rush hours at the petrol pump, the employees at the station did not pay much attention, said Agarwal, furthering that Shyam Rangeela and his team then shot the video without informing the staff.

According to a report by Hindi daily Jagran, Suresh Agarwal approached the police with the complaint after he was pressurised by the private petroleum company on whose dealership Agarwal was running his petrol station. If reports are to be believed, the private oil company had threatened the owner of cancelling his dealership if he did not lodge a complaint against the comedian.

Following the complaint, the comedian posted another video on Twitter where he explains the entire fiasco and narrates the before and after conversations he had with the petrol pump owner.

Meanwhile, speaking on the complaint filed against him, Shyam Rangeela expressed shock as he questioned what in the video irked the petroleum company so much that they threatened the petrol pump owner to take action against him.

He wrote that if they are still not convinced with his explanations and wanted to take action against him, he is ready to face the consequences.

Central forces arrive in West Bengal ahead of upcoming Vidhan Sabha polls: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Central forces arrive in West Bengal ahead of upcoming Vidhan Sabha polls: Details

On Saturday, around 12 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) reached West Bengal in light of the upcoming State Legislative elections.

As per reports, 2 companies of CAPF arrived in Durgapur while 4 companies reached Chitpore in Kolkata today. Besides, another 5 companies of CAPF arrived in Dankuni in Howrah while 1 company came to Burdwan. They will then be deployed to their assigned areas. Reportedly, senior officials of the West Bengal police and CRPF were present at the railway station on the arrival of the central forces.

Earlier, the Election Commission had informed that a total of 125 companies of central forces will be deployed in the State by February 25. The CAPF deployment will include 30 companies of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), 60 companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 5 companies of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), 25 companies of the Border Security Force (BSF) and 5 companies of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

(Video Credits: Youtube/News 18 Bangla)

The early deployment of the Central Forces, even before the declaration of the polling dates, maybe an indication by the Election Commission that they are not happy with the law and order situation in the State. An official informed, “The idea to deploy central forces now is to ensure that there is no problem when campaigning for the elections starts. This deployment is also to build the confidence of the voters. Stress will be on area domination by the forces, especially in the sensitive zones.”

BJP urges EC to prevent State govt from using contractual staff from poll duty

The BJP had urged the poll body to deploy central forces in the state ahead of the assembly elections, due to large scale political violence in the state. In a letter to the West Bengal Chief Election Officer, Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta and BJP leader Shishir Bajoria had said, “It has come to our notice that contractual staff have been registered at district level, as Group D staff, to perform the function of polling officers in the forthcoming assembly elections. This step is highly irregular, as these are not regular government employees and hence are not answerable to anyone. In the event of any complaint against them, there will be no scope of any recourse.”

They further added, “If there is a shortage of polling officers, the Election Commission may requisition polling officers from neighbouring states to ensure free and fair polls. There will be no point served if the central forces are made to make route marches in national and state highways and are kept away from sensitive areas.”

Election Commission takes steps to ensure fair elections in West Bengal

Opposition parties in West Bengal have raised concerns about the ‘neutrality’ of the State police, often accused of working as ‘party cadres’ of the ruling Trinamool Congress. The state government has however assured the Election Commission of upholding the law and order situation in West Bengal. Reportedly, the nodal election body will monitor the polls by deploying a special police observer, as it did in 2019 General Elections. At the same time, the number of polling stations will also be increased in light of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora had earlier said that the election body has zero-tolerance for money power, muscle power and misuse of the government machinery. As observed during the last year’s Bihar polls, police personnel will not be deployed in the area where they serve or are registered as voters. Experts are of the view that the Election Commission wants to disrupt the underlying connections between the police and the local leaders of the incumbent political dispensation.

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