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How luck favoured ‘yorker specialist’ Natarajan and he became a game-changer for the Indian cricket team in Australia

Dibakar Dutta
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How luck favoured ‘yorker specialist’ Natarajan and he became a game-changer for the Indian cricket team in Australia

When the Indian cricket team began its tour of Australia in November last year, it would have never imagined that the team would eventually be marred with injuries. As India went into the fourth and final Test match against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Friday, the team was devoid of star players.

With experienced bowlers such as Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and RS Ashwin still recovering from injuries, India desperately needed the 29-year-old yorker specialist T Natarajan to come to the team’s rescue. The match at Gabba kicked off on a positive start, with Indian side picking the wickets of David Warner and Marcus Harris early in the game.

However, the game soon turned its course with a dropped catch off Marnus Labuschagne’s bat by skipper Rahane. Labuschange and Matthew Wade began pulling off a formidable partnership and was looking to turn the match in Australia’s favour. But T Natarajan had other plans in mind. He beautifully set them, prompting them to play a pull shot, resulting in the quick dismissal of two set batsmen. And with that, the Indian team got back the momentum to keep their hopes alive for the second day.

However, as interesting as it might sound, T Natarajan did not initially find a place in the Indian squad ahead of India’s Tour of Australia. The All-India Senior Selection Committee had instead decided to send the left-arm pacer to travel with the Indian contingent as a ‘net bowler’ alongside Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kartik Tyagi, and Ishan Porel.

How Natarajan made his debut in the ODIs?

Ahead of the first One-Day International (ODI) match in November last year, T Natarajan was added to India’s ODI squad as a backup for Navdeep Saini, who had been suffering from back spasms. Although Saini went on to play the first two matches, he was replaced by Natarajan in the final game.

Screengrab of the article in Espncricinfo

While Natarajan remained expensive, on his debut in white-ball cricket, with an economy of 7.0, he was able to get the first breakthrough by taking the crucial wicket of Marnus Labuschagne. The initial blow to the Australian side, proved fatal as India ripped through the middle order and secured a 13 run victory in the game. Interestingly, this happens to be the only match the Indian side managed to clinch against Australia in the ODI series.

‘Luck’ favours Natarajan and he exhibits his bowling prowess in T20Is

While the Indian cricket team started the tour of Australia on a wrong foot, fortunes turned for the players in the International T20 series against their arch rivals. The team went on to clinch the series 2-0, thereby boosting the morale and laying the foundation ahead of the Border Gavaskar Trophy.

A ‘fortunate’ T Natarajan was picked by the BCCI as a replacement for injured Varun Chakravarthy. A report in The Hindu noted, “Left-arm pacer T. Natarajan, picked as a back-up bowler for the Australia-bound contingent, has replaced mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy in the T20I squad. Varun, who is nursing a shoulder injury, has been ruled out for at least a month.”

In the first T20 International against Australia, the India side managed to put up 161 runs on the scoreboard with a loss of 7 wickets. T Natarajan proved his mettle in the 10th over by taking the crucial wicket of Glenn Maxwell, known for playing the big shots. With one aggressive batsman down, the left-arm pacer took the wicket of T Arcy Short, who looked set with his individual contribution of 34 runs. In the 18th over, Natarajan also helped get rid of Mitchelle Starc who has the ability to hit over the boundaries in the death overs. While conceding 30 runs in 4 overs, he along with Chahal steered the team to its first victory in the series.

Screengrab of the bowling performance of the Indian team in 1st T20I via Cricbuzz

The Australian side bounced back with a bang in the 2nd T20 International. With a spectacular performance of Matthew Wade and Steven Smith, the team put up a score of 194 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. While pacer Deepak Chahar and Chahal were thrashed for 48 and 51 runs respectively, the biggest contribution of T Natarajan was keeping a tight check on the economy.

With a strategic bowling plan, Natarajan just conceded 20 runs at an economy rate of 5, the lowest among all the bowlers. At the same time, he claimed the two crucial wickets of D Arcy Short and Maxwell once again and stopped them from putting up even a bigger total on the scoreboard. The Indian fans had lost hopes and had conceded a defeat in their minds. However, with the power-hitting of Hardik Pandya and the initial momentum provided by Shikhar Dhawan’s innings, India was able to chase down the target and secure victory with 6 wickets remaining.

Screengrab of the bowling performance of the Indian team in 2nd T20I via Cricbuzz

In the final T20I played at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground, the Australian enmassed a total of 186 runs. With a strong performance from Matthew Wade and Maxwell, Australia completely dominated the Indian bowling attack. The Indian side went on to lose the match, falling short of just 12 runs. Natarajan, took the wicket of Maxwell yet again in the 19th over, thereby restricting the arch-rivals to 186 runs. While the left-arm pacer wasn’t able to replicate his performance like the earlier matches, his performance overshadowed that of the two other pacers in the team.

3rd T20

The ‘Test’ of a lifetime

Such has been the enigma of the left-arm pacer from Tamil Nadu. Natarajan not only remained consistent with his line and length but fulfilled the void in the pace department, created due to the absence of a quality left-arm pacer. With his deadly yorkers, Natarajan will one day take on the role, which the likes of Mitchelle Starc and Johnson took for the Australian side.

And it was indeed a spectacular sight when he was handed the Indian team cap. He thus became the 300th Indian cricketer to ever play a Test match. “The stuff dreams are made of. A perfect treble for Natarajan as he is presented with Team India’s Test cap No. 300. It can’t get any better! Natu is now an all-format player,” BCCI tweeted.

And his entry to the Test cricket arena makes him the only Indian player till date to debut in all three formats of the game on a single tour. And as luck would have it, Natarajan was added in the team as a replacement for an injured But this incredible journey has been far from smooth. His father worked as a daily wage labourer and his mother continues to sell chicken on the roadside. Natarajan consistently performed for the Tamil Nadu domestic team and ultimately found a place in the IPL in 2017.

Screengrab of the article in Cricaddictor

With that, he was able to educate his siblings, buy a house for his family and start a cricket academy for youngsters in Chinnappampatti village in Salem district. Natarajan’s example goes on to show how skill and perseverance can turn dreams into reality, even for those with the humblest of economic background. While Indian fans await his splendid performance in the second innings of the Brisbane Test, for T Natarajan, the game has just begun.

On Day 1 of the COVID-19 vaccination drive, 1.65 lakh beneficiaries vaccinated across 3,351 sites in India

OpIndia Staff
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On Day 1 of the COVID-19 vaccination drive, 1.65 lakh beneficiaries vaccinated across 3,351 sites in India

PM Narendra Modi launched the world’s biggest inoculation drive in the country today at 10:30 am via video conferencing. The COVID-19 vaccination drive has been planned in a phased manner, identifying priority groups. The first phase of India’s coronavirus vaccination drive started at 11 am across several cities in India and ended at 5:30 pm.

In the first phase of the vaccination drive, around 3 crore frontline workers including doctors, healthcare workers, Safai Karamcharis etc will be given the vaccine. After that, people above 50 years of age, and people below 50 with co-morbidities, estimated around 27 crore, will be selected for vaccination. Therefore, around 30 crore people will be vaccinated in this round.

According to the Health Ministry, by the end of day-1 of the coronavirus inoculation drive, 1,91,181 beneficiaries were vaccinated at 3,352 sites in the country. In a press briefing, Additional Health Secretary M Agnani added that 16,755 personnel were involved in the drive.

The additional Health Secretary informed that both types of vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, were supplied for vaccination. While the Covishield vaccine developed by Serum Institute of India Ltd was supplied to all states and UTs, Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech International Ltd, was given 12 states.

The Ministry furthered that adequate quantities of vaccine and logistics were ensured at all COVID-19 vaccination session sites across the country.

Since today was the 1st day of the vaccination drive, minor hiccups with the Co-Win app, which not only does the inventory management but also the beneficiary management, were highlighted during the campaign which the government resolved simultaneously. Amongst the problems incurred were delay in uploading of the beneficiary list at some sites which was countered by optimising speed and system performance. Secondly, few healthcare workers, though not scheduled for today’s session, were vaccinated today. To ensure that this does not happen in the future, the Health Ministry advised states to upload details of such health workers in Co-Win database.

The Health Ministry summarised the press briefing by informing that, all in all, the day-1 of the vaccination drive was successfully conducted all over the country with no cases of post-vaccination hospitalization reported from any states/UTs.

The state-wise number of people vaccinated today is given below.

Sl No.State/UTBeneficiaries vaccinated
1Andaman And Nicobar225
2Andhra Pradesh18412
3Arunachal Pradesh829
4Assam3528
5Bihar18169
6Chandigarh265
7Chhattisgarh5592
8Dadra and Nagar Haveli80
9Daman and Diu43
10Delhi4319
11Goa426
12Gujarat10787
13Haryana5589
14Himachal Pradesh1517
15Jammu and Kashmir2044
16Jharkhand3096
17Karnataka13594
18Kerala8062
19Ladakh79
20Lakshadweep21
21Madhya Pradesh9219
22Maharashtra18328
23Manipur585
24Meghalaya509
25Mizoram314
26Nagaland561
27Odisha13746
28Puducherry274
29Punjab1319
30Rajasthan9,279
31Sikkim120
32Tamil Nadu2945
33Telangana3,653
34Tripura355
35Uttar Pradesh21291
36Uttarakhand2,276
37West Bengal9730
38Defence Personnel (HCWs)2,182
All India191181
State-wide number of people vaccinated

Billed as the world’s largest vaccination program, covering the entire length and breadth of the country, the drive aims to first inoculate millions of its healthcare and frontline workers and reach an estimated 3 crore people by the end of its first phase. The drive will be held daily from 9 am to 5 pm, except on the days earmarked for routine immunisation programmes.

Manish Kumar, a sanitation worker, became the first person to receive the Coronavirus vaccine at the AIIMS Delhi under India’s coronavirus vaccination drive that was launched today. Kumar received the vaccination in presence of Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.

Nidhi Razdan, fake Harvard professorship and her blog explaining the fiasco, which raises more questions than answers: Details

K Bhattacharjee
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Nidhi Razdan, fake Harvard professorship and her blog explaining the fiasco, which raises more questions than answers: Details

A day after claiming she was scammed, Nidhi Razdan has now penned a blog detailing how she fell victim to a phishing attack. Ever since her revelation, there have been suspicions regarding her version of events but her blog, although it addresses them, only serves to raise further questions. And in the end, only ends up adding further fuel to the fire.

Nidhi Razdan says that she was invited in November 2019 to speak at a Harvard Kennedy School event that was scheduled for early 2020. And an ‘apparent organizer’ of the event contacted her separately to inform her of a vacancy in a teaching position.

Nidhi Razdan has now penned a blog detailing how she fell victim to a phishing attack.
Nidhi Razdan has now penned a blog detailing how she fell victim to a phishing attack.

One wonders here what precisely is an ‘apparent organizer’. Someone is either an organizer or they are not. It is not clear what precisely happened here. No names are taken and neither are any identities revealed. Neither here nor in the entire blog.

She says, “A few weeks later I was “interviewed” online for 90 minutes. It all seemed legitimate, the questions were thorough and professional. I did a basic google search and found a journalism degree programme being offered by the Harvard Extension School.”

“Contrary to what many are tweeting, Harvard has a school called the Extension School offering a Journalism Degree Programme. The actual programme is called the Master of Liberal Arts, Journalism degree. The Extension School lists 500 faculty of whom 17 are categorised as journalism faculty. A number of these people are working journalists. I believed I fit this profile,” added Nidhi Razdan.

In January 2020, she received an email from an “alleged Harvard Human Resources person” offering her the job. She says, “The offer letter and the agreement appeared to be on a genuine letterhead with the University insignia, and contained the “signatures” of all senior Harvard University officials who actually do hold those positions even today. The emails from this individual were all marked to what appeared to be an official group university ID.”

Nidhi Razdan has now penned a blog detailing how she fell victim to a phishing attack.
Nidhi Razdan has now penned a blog detailing how she fell victim to a phishing attack.

Intriguingly, there was communication between them and her employers at NDTV as well. And curiously enough, not even NDTV believed there was anything amiss. Nidhi Razdan announced her decision in June after a great deal of communication between both parties when she was convinced of the authenticity of the claim.

The Visa Conundrum

Then comes the bit that people on social media have been grappling with for hours now. The Visa question. Nidhi Razdan says, “I had been told a work visa had been issued in the US for me which would be sent to me only when travel was required. I would have also needed a visa from Delhi but it never reached that stage since no travel was on the cards immediately.”

This, again, does not make sense. How was the Visa issued without an interview? She does not say that she ever appeared for one. Moreover, the Visa is issued by the local consulate and how could it be issued without her passport? She has travelled a lot and must be aware of the details. How, then, could she have bought into the claim that her Visa had been arranged for in the United States? Did she send them her passport? Did they have access to her passport?

Ultimately, frustrated with the whole affair, she contacted the office of the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in January 2021. Prior to that, she had written to the HR department but did not hear back. Let us pause for a minute here. The whole affair begins in November 2019 and she did not make any attempt to contact the authorities at Harvard until December 2020. This is some absurd level of gullibility that we see here.

Nidhi Razdan says that it was only earlier this week that she learnt that it was all a scam when she was told that there there was “no record of my appointment and that the people claiming to be their HR staff do not exist!”

She states finally, “I have filed a police complaint and handed over all the documents and communication. This was a gross criminal act. I am very shaken by this and keep kicking myself for being such an idiot. With the benefit of hindsight, could I have done more due diligence? Absolutely, yes. But these scams succeed because they look so real. What these scamsters put together was good enough for me to throw away a 21-year career in TV.”

The Nidhi Razdan fiasco: Questions that still persist

Nidhi Razdan may believe that she has quietened the rising suspicions regarding the story but all she has done is further the highlight the inconsistencies of her version of events. Firstly, who was the “apparent organizer” who informed her of a vacancy? Who was she interviewed by for 90 minutes? If it was a video interview, which it seems to be, then she should certainly be able to recognize the individuals.

Furthermore, she says that money was not involved in the whole situation. Thus arises the question, why would anyone go to such an extent to target someone if they were not interested in money? “My lawyer read all the emails and realised that this was a massive phishing exercise, in all likelihood aimed at stealing my money and taking my personal data to misuse it,” she says.

But Nidhi Razdan does not elaborate on how they could have gained access to her personal data. If it was indeed aimed at stealing her money, then they would have required access to very personal details. And yet, we can safely assume that if it was really money they were after, then they would have gotten it by now. But she doesn’t appear to have lost any money here.

Therefore, it again begs the question, who did it and why? And if it was to gain access to her personal details, it again begs the question, to what end?

The most intriguing revelation here is the fact that it was not just Nidhi Razdan who was fooled by the alleged phishing attack. Her employers at NDTV were fooled as well. Therefore, they should be embarrassed of themselves as well. Also, it is intriguing to note that despite her ordeal, Nidhi Razdan has not taken any names and has provided any details regarding the people who she claimed conned her. Why is that?

Also, we have not yet seen evidence to suggest that this was a phishing attack. All that we have is a claim by her lawyer, whose foremost priority would naturally be to protect his or her client. Thus, while the blog does answer some questions, it only raises many more.

‘Temple attacks in Andhra have enraged Hindu community, state govt not taking any action,’ Pejavara Mutt’s seer writes to Amit Shah

OpIndia Staff
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‘Temple attacks in Andhra have enraged Hindu community, state govt not taking any action,’ Pejavara Mutt’s seer writes to Amit Shah

Amidst the continued attacks on Hindu temples in Andhra Pradesh, renowned seer Shri Vishvaprasanna Teertha Swamiji, the holy seer of Pejavara Mutt, Udupi, has written a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah seeking his attention over the issue. The seer has sought the home minister’s intervention in the attacks on temples in Andhra Pradesh, especially the shocking desecration of 400-year-old Lord Ram idol in the Ramatheerthan of Vizianagaram district.

In his letter, the Hindu seer has expressed his disappointment over the recent attacks on Hindu temples in Andhra Pradesh and pointed out that more than 120 temples have been attacked in the state over the last one and half years.

He said that the recent desecration of Hindu temples have enraged the entire Hindu community and added that the malicious acts of temple desecration appear to be a premeditated plan.

“The recent desecration of Lord Ram at the ancient Sita Lakshmana Kondandarama temple on the Bodikonda hillock in Ramatheerthan of Vizianagaram district, Andhra Pradesh, has enraged the entire Hindu community. As you are aware, miscreants broke open the historic temple and desecrated the 400-year-old Ram idol in the sanctum sanctorum, The severed portion of the idol was later retrieved from the nearby temple pond,” he wrote in his letter to Home Minister.

Shri Pejavara Swamiji also added that the horrific incident took place about 20 days ago but the Andhra Pradesh government has done precious little to apprehend the miscreants. The state government’s indifference in dealing with the issue is quite different, the seer added in his letter.

Pejavara Mutt is one of the Ashta Mathas of Udupi, which was built by Sri Adhokshaja Tirtha, who was a direct disciple of Sri Madhvacharya, the founder of the Dvaita school of Hindu philosophy. Pejavara Mutt is one of the most influential mutts in the country.

Temple attacks are not a stray incident, affects whole Hindu community: Pejavara Shri writes letter to Home Minister

Asserting that the attack on the Ramatheertham temple is not a stray incident, the spiritual leader highlighted how Andhra Pradesh has been witnessing a series of spiteful incidents of temple vandalism for the past one and half years.

Citing a few incidents of temple vandalism in Andhra Pradesh, the seer wrote, “The gutting of temple chariots in Bitragunta (Nellore) in February, Antarvedi (East Godavari) in September, and desecration of several Hindu idols at Pithrapuram in January are some of the prominent malicious acts reported last year. In the past one and half years, as many as 120 attacks have taken place on temples. These attacks appear to be the premeditated plan”.

He continued, “Miscreants as it appears, are resorting to evil acts because of inaction by the state government. No serious action was taken to trace and arrest the people behind the barbaric incidents of temple vandalism. the state administration has been unresponsive to the call and appeal of the Hindu community to protect the temple.”

Urging the center to act on the attacks, the Hindu seer that this is a sensitive issue affecting the whole Hindu community. “Since the state government is not taking any decisive action to prevent attacks on temples and bring the culprits to the book, I urge you to intervene in the issue, especially attack against the Ramatheertham temple, and take stern action those indulging in these vicious acts,” said Sri Vishvaprasanna Teertha Swamiji, the holy seer of Pejavara Mutt, Udupi.

Seer Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamy had decided to take yatras over continued attacks on temples in the state

Earlier, renowned Hindu spiritual leader Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamy has said that he would undertake a yatra from January 17 to temples that were vandalized in the recent past. Seer Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamy has decided to start a yatra to seek protection for Hindu religious places.

The seer had expressed his disappointment over the continued attacks on temples and mentioned that over 50 temples have faced attacks in recent months. He also said that in a temple in Singarayakonda, the Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy idol was damaged and asked authorities to ensure that there will be no such attacks in the coming days.

He also demanded strict action against miscreants who vandalised the temples and sought a committee of intelligence department officials to conduct a transparent inquiry. The seer said he will not remain silent when there is a threat to the very existence of temples. 

A series of temple attacks in Andhra Pradesh

Attacks on Hindus and its temples in the state of Andhra Pradesh are continuously increasing. In a short span, several temples have been reportedly vandalized by the miscreants. From destroying idols to burning century-old chariots, a lot has happened in Andhra Pradesh.

On December 30, in another case of temple vandalization in Andhra Pradesh, the miscreants had targeted the famous Ramatheertham in Vizianagaram district and desecrated a 400-year-old idol of Bhagwan Ram. The priest had found that the idol of Bhagwan Ram was desecrated by unknown assailants when he reached the ancient Sita Lakshmana Kodandarama temple on the Bodikonda hillock in Ramatheertham. The idol was ‘beheaded’ and broken to pieces, the pieces were thrown into a nearby pond.

Just a few days after Ramatheertham incident, the idol of Goddess Sita was found vandalised near Pandit Nehru bus stop in the Sitaram Temple in Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday. The incident came to light days after idols of Lord Subrahmanya and Shri Ram were similarly found damaged in the state.

On January 1, a Lord Subrahmanya murti in Lord Vigneshwara temple was found desecrated in the Rajahmundry district. The priest of the Vigneshwara temple found the murti of Lord Subrahmanya desecrated with two severed limbs of the murti lying on the ground. 

Not just it, there have been several attacks on temples in Andhra Pradesh over the last few years. Last year alone, more than five temples have been vandalized and burnt down by miscreants. The YSRCP government has been facing severe criticism for failing to prevent attacks on Hindu temples.

‘Minions won’t let outsiders enter’, chef-filmmaker Vikas Khanna backs Kangana Ranaut on nepotism in Bollywood, alleges being told ‘pay or we’ll destroy’

OpIndia Staff
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‘Minions won’t let outsiders enter’, chef-filmmaker Vikas Khanna backs Kangana Ranaut on nepotism in Bollywood, alleges being told ‘pay or we’ll destroy’

Michelin Star chef and recently turned filmmaker, Vikas Khanna, recently joined the list of celebrities who have strongly shown their remonstrance towards the alleged culture of nepotism and favouritism in Bollywood, the topic around which a heated debate was rekindled following the tragic death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Backing actress Kangana Ranaut, the celebrity chef stated that he recently fell prey to the cultural phenomena of nepotism and cronyism in Bollywood. 

It may be recalled that Kangana Ranaut was one of the first actors who had spoken against the allegedly prevalent nepotism and mafia culture in Bollywood, after the untimely demise of actor Sushant Singh Rajput last year. Following Kangana’s assertions, the debate over the purported issue had caught considerable momentum. While many spoke against The Queen actor and called her out for bad-mouthing the industry, a handful had rallied her cause and the latest entrant is chef Vikas Khanna. 

In a strongly worded Tweet, Vikas Khanna wrote that hearing about nepotism from Kangana, used to ‘break’ his heart. However, today he had experienced it first hand. “Minions won’t let outsiders enter even if they put their heart & soul in craft. It’s painful to hear “Pay or we’ll destroy you”, Tweeted Khanna.

Prior to the above Tweet, Vikas Khanna had taken to Twitter Thursday to lament that people condemned favouritism and nepotism, but did not give an opportunity to the self-made. He added that people admired the ‘gatekeepers’ but were ‘unkind’ to the new.

Sharing the poster of his directorial debut with Neena Gupta starrer The Last Color, Khanna claimed that the “‘New’ can’t flourish without encouragement & love. When ‘new’ rises, it makes way for “more new”, for all of us.

The Michelin Star chef was particularly miffed by the treatment meted out at him by the so-called film fraternity biggies. He alleged that many had asked him for money and when he didn’t oblige, they gave his movie a 2-star rating to ‘destroy’ him. Sharing some positive reviews from critics, he urged everyone to watch the movie on Amazon Prime. 

For the uninitiated, the Indian chef made his directorial debut with Neena Gupta-starrer The Last Color, which had released in January 2019. The movie, which is a screen adaption of Chef Vikas Khanna’s novel also by the same name, has been felicitated at numerous international film festivals. The movie also made it to the Oscar 2020 and was a part of the Oscars shortlist. In light of the same, Vikas Khanna was looking forward to the reviews that film critics had to offer. However, the new filmmaker is not particularly happy with what the industry had to offer to his debut project. 

“Absolutely rubbish”, “Propaganda driven” and “Hinduphobic”: Netizens call for a boycott of Tandav web-series on Amazon Prime

Jinit Jain
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“Absolutely rubbish”, “Propaganda driven” and “Hinduphobic”: Netizens call for a boycott of Tandav web-series on Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime recently dropped Saif Ali Khan starrer political drama series Tandav on its platform. It has hardly been a day since the Ali Abbas Zafar’s show premiered on the OTT but it has already found itself in a pickle over its controversial content.

The web series has received has a torrent of disparaging reviews, with many painting the show as “Anti-Hindu series”. Netizens have pointed out several instances where the web series has hurt the sentiments of Hindus by mocking their Gods and Goddesses or by attempting to deliberately sow seeds of divisions among various sects of the Hindu society.

As a section of Twitter user started raging over the controversial content in Tandav, #BanTandavNow and #BoycottTandav started trending on the microblogging website. Social media users were particularly miffed with a scene where Hindu Gods were shown in a poor light.

Netizens criticise Tandav for its Hinduphobic content

In the first episode of the political drama, one of the protagonists played by Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub was seen apparently playing the character of Lord Shiva and holding Trishul in his hand at a college theatre festival. The host facetiously talked about the character’s social media following, and how he should post a tweet or upload pictures to increase his followers. This is followed by the infamous ‘Azaadi’ slogans by the audience.

Another short clip from the web series that is doing the rounds on the internet is when the character of Dino Morea berates the character played by actor Sandhya Mridul for dating a man from a lower caste. In the video, Mridul, who is married to Dino Morea, asks her husband to sign their divorce papers so that she could tie knots with the character played by actor Anup Soni. Soni is portrayed as a man belonging to a lower caste while Mridul and Morea are both apparently from the higher caste.

When Sandhya Mridul asks her husband to sign the divorce papers, a jilted Dino says, “When a lower caste man dates a woman belonging to a higher caste, he is exacting revenge for centuries of oppression through just that one woman.”

Besides, there are several other instances in the web series when the character played by Anup Soni is humiliated by others, ostensibly belonging to higher castes, with churlish casteist slurs.

In another instance, the web series insinuates that is easy for police to kill Muslims and casts aspersions on the integrity of the law enforcement officials by alluding that many Muslim youths are branded as terrorists to justify their killings.

In the scene, when actor Ayyub inquires a man held in jail about two missing individuals, he responds, “Those two guys are murdered. One of them was Saleem and the other one was Anwar. It is all too easy to kill people like us…one day, these people would link me to a terror organisation and assassinate me.”

Social Media users call for a Boycott of Tandav and down-rate the web series on IMDB

However, the insult meted out to Hindu Gods, the subtle branding of Indian police as anti-Muslim and the racist slurs used against lower castes, did not sit well with the netizens and they took to Twitter and other social media platforms to lambast the web series and demand a ban on it. Many of them even tagged Union Minister Prakash Javadekar and requested him to get the Hinduphobic web series off the Amazon Prime platform.

The hatred propagated by Tandav web series against Hindus, including Dalits, was also acknowledged by BJP leader Kapil Mishra, who took to Twitter to urge his followers to write an email to Union Minister Prakash Javadekar and inform him about the objectionable content hosted on Amazon Prime.

Some Twitter users also called for legal action to be taken against the web series for hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Goel warned that complaint will be filed against the actors and makers of the web series if it hurts the sentiments of people.

Subsequently, Tandav web series also faced the ire of the netizens on IMDB (Internet Movie Database) where enraged downrated the web-series and posted scathing reviews of the show. Aggrieved by the Hinduphobic content of Tandav, social media users gave a minimum rating to the web-series on IMDB and urged others to follow the suit.

The overall IMDb score of the Tandav web series is 3.9, with just 6,674 users having registered their ratings. A large section of those who have reviewed the show has provided it with the minimum allowed rating of 1 star, out of the available 10, and panned the movie as “Utter garbage”, “Propaganda driven”, “Anti Hindu series” and “Shoddy attempt at JNU image cleansing exercise”.

OTT platforms airing Anti-Hindu content

It appears that there is a competition of sorts among the over-the-top(OTT) media service providers in India to broadcast hateful content about Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Last year, a controversy was kicked up after Netflix’s new Telugu film “Krishna and his Leela” showed a male character named Krishna having sexual encounters with many women, one of them with a girl named Radha.

Amazon Prime, Zee5 and others have also been accused of providing a platform for Hinduphobic content. Anushka Sharma produced web series Pataal Lok, which was released on Amazon Prime last year, had faced flak for its content that offended Hindus and Hinduism.

Following the premiere of the series, several Hindu organisations, along with Sikhs and BJP leaders, had alleged that the series had attempted to tarnish their image. Anushka Sharma was subjected to fierce criticism for bankrolling a series that had hurt the feelings of Hindus and was served a notice from the court seeking her reply.

Another OTT platform, Zee5, was under the fire of Hindu organisations and senior BJP leaders over the blatant Hinduphobia pushed by the platform through its new Tamil web series ‘Godman’. Several Hindu groups, including prominent voices BJP MP Subramanian Swamy, social media users had raised their voices against the anti-Hindu web series. The blowback from the Hindu organisations and Hindus on social media was so severe that Zee5 had to suspend the release of the controversial web series.

What the Nidhi-Harvard story reveals about our world: Get off your high horse, you are not that special, anyway

Abhishek Banerjee
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What the Nidhi-Harvard story reveals about our world: Get off your high horse, you are not that special, anyway

So a prominent liberal journalist, Nidhi Razdan, thought she had received an offer from Harvard University to become an Associate Professor of journalism. She announced this publicly, her colleagues and friends wished her well. Among those who were ideologically opposed to her, some people made snarky comments. I bet a great many people across the spectrum were quite simply jealous.

And now, as it turns out, there was no job, no offer, nothing. She fell for an internet scam, or at least she says so. This time, people on the other side had a great time on social media, mocking her with all manner of jokes, memes and taunts. A number of her ex-colleagues and friends showed sympathy. Again, I bet most people across the spectrum were simply thrilled. Some openly, others secretly.

It is easier to laugh at one person than confront what the story has revealed about us all. She was not the only one who fell for this. Almost everyone else believed her too. What does it say about us? So, let us ask some real questions.

How did we come to believe in ‘magic’?

Suppose I were to tell you that I have won three gold medals in men’s racing events at the 2019 Olympic games in Kolkata. Would you believe me? Of course not. You would look at my general fitness, my age, etc and conclude that such a thing is impossible. You would also look at the fact that there is nobody else to confirm this. Let alone the fact there were never any Olympic games in Kolkata and certainly not in 2019.

How did we believe the Nidhi-Harvard story then? How could we possibly believe that someone with no PhD, no peer reviewed publications and no research record could be appointed directly to Harvard faculty, that too with tenure? Some people did point this out. Others noticed that Harvard does not even have a journalism department, much like there were never Olympic games in Kolkata. We know how the internet (and human jealousy) works. These doubts should have gone viral in no time, but they didn’t. People should have torn apart her claims with glee, but they did not. It was as if somewhere, deep in our hearts, we believed such a thing was genuinely possible.

It is as if Nidhi’s liberal privilege got us all to believe in ‘magic.’

Sidney Harris cartoon

This famous Sidney Harris cartoon is a great way to identify superstition. Start with someone who has no PhD and no research record. Then, a miracle occurs. In step three, the person is directly appointed as tenured faculty at Harvard.

A miracle is not an explanation for anything. You have to be more explicit in step two!

But we all forgot step two. In other words, liberal privilege got the better of our common sense. We know that liberals get so much for no reason that we believe anything is possible. And her liberal friends and colleagues, who all congratulated her, knew that too. Deep within our hearts, whether left or right, we all know who runs the world. We all know liberals have the privilege. We all know that the usual rules of hard work, achievement and disappointment don’t apply to them. The keyword here is “all.”

Unconsciously, we all ended up participating in a massive social experiment. And the conclusion is clear. We all chose not to see what was in front of our eyes. We believed her baffling claim instead. Could a spectacularly unqualified person be appointed as faculty in a non-existent department at the world’s most famous university? Sure, why not! Certainly wouldn’t be less plausible than all the other awards and honors that are showered on liberals every day.

This is what our life experiences have done to us. Liberal privilege is so obvious in our daily experiences that we have all internalized and accepted it.

What does this say about journalism as an academic discipline?

Sometime ago, Opindia had done a detailed expose, pointing out the shoddy research by the BBC in their report on fake news in India. The response from the liberal ecosystem, including Nidhi herself, was cutting.

Tweet by Nidhi Razdan

In other words, respect the hierarchy. The BBC has a bigger reputation than Opindia. How dare Opindia talk back to the BBC?

In itself, that is not a terrible thumb rule. Some institutions are indeed more credible than others. It is a deserved reward for having built up a reputation through decades, even centuries of hard work and achievement. But two important caveats apply. First of all, if your only defence against critics is throwing your ‘reputation’ in their faces, that’s never a good sign.

Second, for reputations and their hierarchies to make any sense, you must establish that the field in question is a real academic discipline. With barriers to entry. And rigorous standards for advancement at every step.

The current episode has proved that we don’t really believe that such barriers and/or standards apply to journalism. Undergraduate, PhD student, postdoc, tenure track professor, tenured professor, full professor, research record or no research record, they’re all the same. We have been pretending like these qualifications matter in journalism. But in our hearts, all of us (including liberal ecosystem) knows that it doesn’t matter.

There is no entry barrier and no standards for advancement. The only thing that matters is privilege. In other words, BBC and NYT and CNN are sitting atop a feudal system, not a meritocracy.

Moral: Be humble

If you know anything about social media, you know that liberals love to sneer. Liberals think that only they have an education. Apparently, when put to test, they can’t tell the difference between Harvard University and the so called Whatsapp University. So get off your high horse. Try to treat every human being with respect. You are not special anyway.

Kerala state board Class 9 textbook distorts history, claims Abu al-Qasim Al-Zahwari was the ‘Father of Surgery’ instead of Sushrutha

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala state board Class 9 textbook distorts history, claims Abu al-Qasim Al-Zahwari was the ‘Father of Surgery’ instead of Sushrutha

A shocking act of state board textbooks teaching false history to students has come to light in the state of Kerala. The class 9 social science textbook of the Kerala state board has not only falsified facts about Indian contribution to the field of health sciences but also has attempted to secularise the history by crediting someone else for the achievements accomplished by Hindu sages, reports Organiser.

According to the class 9 textbook of the Kerala state board, the Abu al-Qasim Al-Zahwari is the ‘father of surgery’. Al-Zahwari was an Arab physician and chemist believed to have lived some time in the 10th century CE. Some historians claim that Al-Zahwari illustrated certain surgical tools and performed minor surgeries during his time.

The controversial content finds a place on page 34 of the textbook, under the title “Great people and their contributions”.

Class 9 textbook of Kerala state board claiming Al-Zahwari as the father of Surgery/ Image Source: The Commune Mag

However, it is a widely known fact that it is Indian physician Sushrutha, who lived much earlier than Al-Zahwari during the 8th century BCE, who is considered to be the ‘father of surgery’.

Sushrutha, who lived in the kingdom of Kashi, is known to have performed surgeries and detailed several surgical techniques in his text, the ‘Sushruta-Samhita‘.  He is also considered as ‘Father of Indian Medicine‘ and ‘Father of Plastic Surgery‘ for inventing and developing several surgical procedures.

The Sushrutha Samhita, in its extant form, has 184 chapters containing descriptions of 1,120 illnesses, 700 medicinal plants, 64 preparations from mineral sources, and 57 preparations based on animal sources. The majestic text discusses several surgical techniques including making incisions, probing, extraction of foreign bodies, alkali and thermal cauterization, tooth extraction, excisions, and trocars for draining the abscess, draining hydrocele and ascitic fluid, removal of the prostate gland, urethral stricture dilatation, vesicolithotomy, hernia surgery, caesarian section, etc.

The treatise also enumerates six types of dislocations, twelve varieties of fractures, and classification of the bones and their reaction to the injuries, and gives a classification of eye diseases including cataract surgery. In addition to this, it also speaks about the management of hemorrhoids, fistulae, laparotomy and management of intestinal obstruction, perforated intestines and accidental perforation of the abdomen with protrusion of omentum and the principles of fracture management, viz., traction, manipulation, apposition, and stabilization including some measures of rehabilitation and fitting of prosthetic.

The deliberate falsification of established facts by crediting one’s achievement to mythical individuals in an attempt to secularise education by the Kerala government has generated a massive controversy in Kerala.

Many in the state are questioning the state board for blatantly ignoring the fact that Sushrutha is widely regarded as the ‘father of surgery’. Reportedly, it is being alleged that the Kerala government are knowingly using such distorted textbooks to teach to students and added that such acts can be a serious threat to the India’s civilizational fabric, as students who learn these errors without verifying actual facts.

Need to change the syllabus in current textbooks: Parliamentary Standing Committee

Incidentally, the controversy has broken out just days after the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education met on Wednesday to discuss the revision of current National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) history textbooks in schools.

During the debate over the need for change in the syllabus, former NCERT director JS Rajput and representatives of the Bhartiya Shikshan Mandal (BSM) told the committee that current history textbooks in schools are not doing justice to the subcontinent’s contribution in cultural, artistic advances and a lot of other topics.

The panel had met to mainly discuss the need to remove references to un-historical facts and distortions about our national heroes, to ensure proportionate references to all periods of Indian history, and to highlight the role of great women in Indian history.

NCERT says it has no information on source of claim made in textbook

A few days back, a person named Shivank Verma had filed an RTI application seeking evidence for the claim made in the NCERT textbook ‘Themes of Indian History (Part II)’ for class XII which mentioned that grants were issued by the Mughal emperors for the repair of temples destroyed in war during the reigns of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb.

The NCERT had, however, said that it has no evidence to prove that Mughal emperors had rebuilt temples destroyed in wars, even when it claims the same in its history textbook. As per a report in The Hindu, the meeting also discussed how the ‘Mughal-era’ is overemphasized in current books, often whitewashing their crimes, while ignoring most Hindu rulers and their contributions to the subcontinent’s heritage.

They’re paying someone in Taloja to torture him till he names Arnab, he’s on death bed: Ex-BARC CEO family speak up, file affidavit

OpIndia Staff
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They’re paying someone in Taloja to torture him till he names Arnab, he’s on death bed: Ex-BARC CEO family speak up, file affidavit

Mumbai Police and its city crime branch made the 15th arrest in the fake TRP scandal that had broken out earlier this year. Days after they arrested BARC COO Romil Ramgarhia, they arrested Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC)’s former CEO Partho Dasgupta on the 25th of December 2020.

According to the police, Dasgupta has been arrested from Pune Rural which is under the jurisdiction of Raigad police station. While he was lodged in Taloja jail, the Mumbai Police held another press conference where they alleged that Partho Dasgupta had taken money from Arnab Goswami to rig TRP in the favour of Republic TV. The police had claimed that they found a watch, some silver jewellery and claimed that Arnab Goswami had given him roughly Rs 30 lacs.

Today, the daughter of the former BARC CEO took to Twitter to appeal to the Prime Minister to save her father’s life, who is lodged in Taloja jail. Pratyusha Dasgupta, the daughter of former BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta, has appealed to Prime Minister Modi to save her father’s life. She said that Mr. Dasgupta was admitted to the hospital on the 15th of January in an unconscious state. He is currently in judicial custody over the TRP scam. She said that she got a call at 3:00 AM and immediately, they rushed to JJ Hospital.

Pratyusha and her mother found Mr. Dasgupta lying in the emergency room with not even a bed-sheet covering him. There, he was incoherent and unable to express himself properly. His blood sugar levels had shot to alarming levels, 516 to be precise, she said. She adds that Mr. Dasgupta suffers “from a number of serious ailments for many years, including diabetes, hypertension, and ankylosing spondylitis, an auto immune disorder.”

She concludes her message to Prime Minister Modi saying, “My plea to you, sir, is to please save my father’s life by allowing proper medical treatment in a reputed hospital at our expense. Without intervention at the highest levels, I am now fearful for his life.”

OpIndia reached out to the family of Mr Partho Dasgupta to understand what really happened and the extent of the alleged physical and mental torture suffered by Mr Patho Dasgupta.

Alarmingly, OpIndia was told by the family that Mr Dasgupta was in a critical condition since the afternoon of 15th January 2021 and was taken to JJ Hospital. However, the Taloja Jail officials did not give any information about him to the Navi Mumbai Police and hence, the family was not contacted about his condition for almost 15 hours. Afternoon, when Mr Dasgupta was taken to JJ Hospital, a bail hearing was underway at the sessions court where his daughter and wife both were present.

Speaking to OpIndia, Pratyusha questioned why the authorities did not inform the family for so long while Dasgupta was unconscious in the hospital. She suspects that the authorities hid information about his critical health at the time because his health condition would be valid ground for bail and the police did not want the information to be revealed during the hearing itself.

Breaking down, Pratyusha narrated the abysmal condition in which her father was found. She said that when they finally reached the hospital in the wee hours of the morning on 16th, her father had no blanket over him and was semi-conscious. Further, he did not even have a pillow only making worse his spondylitis issue.

She said that while in the hospital, the staff asked them why they did not reach the hospital earlier, since he was admitted in critical condition, with his sugar level over 500, in the afternoon on 15th itself. On being asked, the authorities said that they could not get in touch with the family since they did not have their contact numbers.

According to Pratyusha, this explanation does not add up. She revealed that for the past 1 week, she had been repeatedly emailing the Taloja jail authorities to allow a video call with Partho Dasgupta, something allowed for accused in judicial custody lodged in Taloja. However, she received no response from the prison despite repeated attempts. In these emails, she had mentioned her number clearly.

Here are the emails that were sent by Pratyusha to Taloja jail.

Email by the daughter of Partho Dasgupta to Taloja Jail
Email by the daughter of Partho Dasgupta to Taloja Jail
Email by the daughter of Partho Dasgupta to Taloja Jail
Email by the daughter of Partho Dasgupta to Taloja Jail
Email by the daughter of Partho Dasgupta to Taloja Jail
Email by the daughter of Partho Dasgupta to Taloja Jail

As can be seen, three emails were sent by the family of Mr Partho Dasgupta to the Taloja jail authorities – on the 8th of January, 11th of January and 15th of January. The family was begging, given his health ailments, to speak to him as they are legally permitted to do. However, the jail authorities did not respond.

It is also pertinent to note that in these emails, the phone number of his daughter was explicitly mentioned and thus, it is suspicious for the jail authorities to claim that they did not know how to contact the family.

‘He said police paid someone inside Taloja Jail to torture Partho till he names Arnab Goswami’: Samrajni Dasgupta, wife of Partho Dasgupta

While speaking to OpIndia, the daughter broke down and we then spoke to Mrs Samrajni Dasgupta, the wife of Partho Dasgupta. She said that her daughter was at the hospital till the afternoon of 16th January 2021 while she had gone to the lawyer. The family has alleged that they were only allowed to meet Partho for a while after which, he was hurriedly wheeled into the ICU. After that, the family has no information about the condition of Dasgupta. The authorities have allegedly told the family that since Dasgupta is an inmate, his condition and information about his whereabouts cannot be divulged to the family.

Breaking down while talking, Samrajni said that Partho Dasgupta was being used as a pawn and being framed in a case of political vendetta or ‘whatever this is’. “I feel helpless, I don’t know anyone, he is on his death bed”, she said while sobbing.

Making stunning allegations, she said that when she did meet Dasgupta in the hospital, he told her that he was being tortured in jail physically and mentally. Further, she said that in his parched voice, Partho said that the Mumbai Police was paying someone inside Taloja Jail to torture him mentally and physically to implicate Arnab Goswami and Republic TV.

“This will not be over till you name Arnab Goswami”, Samrajni claimed Partho said about the individual being paid to torture him.

On being asked whether this person was an inmate or a jail official, Samrajni said, “Partho was in a terrible condition and he could only tell me this much”.

While they were being “thrown out” from his room, Samrajni says that Partho cried out, “Don’t leave me.. if they take me back to Taloja Jail, they will kill me. They will say everything is ok with me and take me back and kill me”.

Commenting on the allegations made by the Mumbai Police about Partho Dashupta fixing TRP for Republic TV after accepting a bribe of Rs 30 lacs, she said that her husband earned Rs 4 crores a year. “Does it even make sense to you that he would sell himself for Rs 30 lacs after earning Rs 4 crores a year?”, she said sobbing.

“He is on his death bed, they will kill him! Please help me save him,” she said.

Family of ex-BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta file petition in Bombay High Court

Samrajni Dasgupta has now filed a petition in the Bombay High Court detailing the mental and physical torture being suffered by Partho and his critical health condition.

In the affidavit, she says that when she reached the hospital, there was “blood all over the stretcher” in which Partho was made to lie down and he was breathless with ice-cold feet. She said that even the doctors ignored her request to give him urgent medical attention. She further says in the affidavit that it was only after a hue and cry was created was Partho taken to the ICU at 6:30 AM on 16th, while he was at the hospital since the afternoon of 15th January. She claims that she has still not been informed about his prognosis or health status thereafter.

Saying that his life is in real and imminent danger, she urges the courts for immediate medical attention to Partho Dasgupta, her husband. She says that since since the doctors at PD Hinduja Hospital are aware of his ailments, if he is not shifted to the hospital, she “fears he may lose his life”. She ends the prayer by saying that his present medical condition is due to the continuous physical and mental abuse he has been subjected to in Taloja jail.

Fake TRP scam

In October, Mumbai Police had made some sensational claims against some TV channels saying that they were manipulating TRP ratings. In a press conference, Mumbai Police commissioner had said that three TV channels, including Republic TV, were involved in manipulating viewership data of BARC by paying those households where Bar-o-meters, the devices that track TV viewership, are installed. 

The police had specifically mentioned that Hansa Research had filed a complaint with the police. Hansa Group is an organisation that regulated the devices to record TRP for BARC. Interestingly, in this FIR that was filed by Hansa Research, Republic TV was not mentioned even once. The channel that was mentioned several times was India Today. 

During the investigation, several evidence and witnesses came forward that alleged Mumbai Police have been intimidating them to speak against Republic TV, including Hansa officials. Hansa has also complained that they are being harassed by the Mumbai Police to give statements against Republic TV.

Anti-farm law protesters attack vaccination center in Haryana, chase doctors away: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Anti-farm law protesters attack vaccination center in Haryana, chase doctors away: Details

Anti-farm law protesters attempted to disrupt the Covid-19 vaccination drive in Kaithal, Haryana. They attempted to chase away the doctors and the vaccination center was damaged. The Police had to intervene in order to resolve the matter.

Chaotic scenes were observed in Kaithal, Haryana where the vaccination center was in disarray and papers were strewn all over the place. The doctors were forced to escape the place. The protesters claimed that the vaccines should be given to the politicians first and only then, should it be given to ordinary citizens, thereby, suggesting that the vaccines are not safe without any evidence.

It is pertinent to mention that lawlessness has been observed in significant sections of the farmer protests. Apart from vandalizing Jio towers across Punjab, an India Today Editor said that a lot of them were also sexually harassing female reporters and pinching their buttocks.

The protesting farmers have also threatened the Republic Day parade and there are genuine concerns regarding the annual event to be conducted at the national capital. Newly minted farmer leader Yogendra Yadav has played a prominent role in creating such anarchy and others such as Rakesh Tikait have also played their part.

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