Home Blog Page 4665

BHU to induct degree course on Hindu Studies with Ancient scriptures, Vedas, Puranas and more: Exclusive details

रवि अग्रहरि
-
0
BHU to induct degree course on Hindu Studies with Ancient scriptures, Vedas, Puranas and more: Exclusive details

A new course on Hinduism and culture under the banner of Hindu Studies is going to start at Bharat Adhyayan Kendra of BHU. Banaras Hindu University has once again risen to the occasion of nation-building and will soon be instituting a structured degree course on Hindu traditions.

Besides being a centre of modern education, the historic Banaras Hindu University will now provide its students with a formalised education on Vedas, Puranas, Brahmins and Shraman traditions along with epics such as Ramayana, Mahabharata, in courses based on the characteristics and traditions of Hinduism.

A postgraduate degree course is designed by the Bharat Adhyayan Kendra under the chairmanship of Vijay Bahadur Singh. Several prominent religious and spiritual leaders have contributed towards developing the course which was unanimously approved at the recent Board of Studies meeting chaired by the Faculty of Arts.

Scholars from across the country, including from universities such as BHU, JNU, IIT-Kanpur decided to come together for the first time to teach Hindu studies at the BHU. It has been finalised that the new two-year MA course in Hindu Studies will begin from the first session of the year 2021-2022.

Course to encompass various facets of Hinduism and Hindu scriptures

This is, perhaps, for the first time in the country that the various fields of Hindu scriptures such as military science, philosophy, epistemology have been given an academic format. The syllabus includes the tradition of Hinduism, which mainly consists of the principles, interpretations, debates and methods of determining the meaning of scriptures, Western knowledge epistemology, Ramayana, Mahabharata, architecture, folklore, Folk-drama, linguistics and ancient military science.

The key individuals who played a crucial role in bringing to bear the decision of formalising a degree course on Hindu scriptures at the Board of Studies meeting headed by the Faculty of Arts chairman Vijay Bahadur Singh included JNU Professor Ramnath Jha, Prof. of IIT-Kanpur Nachiketa Tiwari, Prof. Kamlesh Dutt Tripathi, Prof. Brajkishore Swai (Odisha), Prof. BHU Sanskrit Vidya Dharm Vigyan Faculty Vindhyeshwari Prasad Mishra, and folk singer Prof. Malini Awasthi.

Furthermore, Prof. Pradyuman Shah, Prof. Vimalendra Kumar, Prof. Sachchidanand Mishra, Director of Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts, Varanasi, Prof. Vijay Shankar Shukla, Prof. Rakesh Upadhyay, Prof. Keshav Mishra, Dr. Arpita Chatterjee, Prof. Sada Shiv Kumar Dwivedi, along with several other prominent Hindu scholars were amongst those who were involved in long deliberations and gave their recommendations on the course.

OpIndia talks to Professor Rakesh Upadhyay to understand the motive behind having a course on Hindu scriptures at BHU

OpIndia had a detailed conversation with Professor Rakesh Upadhyay to understand the vision of the University behind inducting the course, its necessity and objectives of studying the Hindu scriptures. Professor Upadhyay said that India has centres for Buddhist studies, Jain studies, Islamic studies but it lacks any credible centre for studies on Hindu religious texts. In such a scenario, Hindu scriptures are arbitrarily interpreted by people least qualified to do the job. He said when historians with no knowledge of Sanskrit language interpret Hindu religion, scriptures and Sanatan tradition, it is all too easy to guess what their explanation would yield.

Professor Rakesh Upadhyay said, “These are mostly left-wing ideologues whose sole purpose is to malign Hinduism and Sanatan Tradition and push their narrative and not to provide an explanation or have a realistic discussion about it.”

Referring to Left historians, Professor Upadhyay said that the leftists have been holding forth on Hindu religion while having no knowledge about their original texts. Those who have read Rig Veda from the scriptures won’t find a single instance of cow slaughter mentioned in it, but those whose express purpose is to discredit Hinduism, they would resort to distortion and propaganda to pervert the glorious tradition of this nation.

He also added that the purpose of having an academic course is not to have a dispute with anyone but to foreground Sanatana and Hinduism in the coming days, from ancient scriptures to yoga, knowledge, military and scriptural traditions while imbibing its unique characteristics.

Professor Upadhyay asserted that research and writing on Hindu traditions and scriptures have to be augmented so that the uniqueness of the religion is not lost on the future generations and they are not made to wallow in the self-pity by the leftist propaganda. There is something special in our Sanatan Tradition that despite the ravages of time, it is still intact, he said.

Citing the Buddhist and Jain traditions, Professor Upadhya emphasised that no matter what religion, belief or ideology, the origin of all of them remains the same. He said keeping all this in mind, the study of Brahman to Shraman traditions is also a major part of this course.

How did the other traditions originate from Sanatan on this ancient land? How far they travelled? How was their origin? What has been the source of their epistemology? are some of the questions that will be attempted to be answered through this course, not only from the classical perspective but from the practical and experimental point of view as well.

Professor Rakesh Upadhyay further added that the course has been designed in such a way that with its popularity, net-JRF and research will get a boost and the coming generations would get to know and understand the scriptures in their true spirit and not in their distorted versions. An overwhelming number of scholars believe that the induction of a formalised course on Hindu scriptures would serve to remove the erroneous beliefs spread by the propagandists and enlighten people on the true teachings of the Hinduism and its traditions.

Watch: Sanitation worker Manish Kumar becomes the first person to receive Coronavirus vaccine at AIIMS Delhi

Jinit Jain
-
0
Watch: Sanitation worker Manish Kumar becomes the first person to receive Coronavirus vaccine at AIIMS Delhi

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.

Amongst the others who got inoculated, were AIIMS, Delhi Director and AIIMS Director and Vice Chancellor of SOA University.

PM Modi on Saturday launched India’s COVID-19 vaccination drive — the world’s biggest immunisation exercise yet —with three crore healthcare and frontline workers first in line to be vaccinated against the deadly contagion. Two shots manufactured in India, one developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca with the help of Serum Institute of India, and the other by Bharat Biotech, are being injected.

On the first day of the vaccination drive, around 100 beneficiaries will be given the first jabs of the two indigenously made coronavirus vaccines at 3,006 session sites across the country.

In a televised address before the vaccine rollout, PM Modi said that there are several nations whose entire population is less than 3 crores, but India will be vaccinating as many people in just the first phase, as he saluted scientists for developing the vaccines in such a short span of time. He also said both vaccines being made in India was yet another example of how the country was moving forward on the path of self-reliance.

He emphasised the importance of taking both doses of the vaccine. “I would like to remind you again that it is very important to have two doses of corona vaccine. Between the first and second doses, a gap of about one month will be kept. Only 2 weeks after the second dose, your body will develop the necessary strength against the virus,” Modi said.

The Prime Minister said the vaccines approved by the government were much cheaper than alternatives being used in the west, referring to the shots developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. He said those vaccines would cost around Rs 5,000 to vaccinate a person and their distribution would be difficult since they were required to be store at around -70 degree Celsius.

Mumbai Police accused of tearing Lord Shri Ram’s posters in Malwani and arresting 3 VHP workers for filming the act: What we know

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Mumbai Police accused of tearing Lord Shri Ram’s posters in Malwani and arresting 3 VHP workers for filming the act: What we know

At least three VHP leaders were allegedly arrested by the Mumbai Police in Malwani on Friday. It is alleged that they were arrested for putting up posters of Ram Mandir Nidhi Sankalan Abhiyan, a mass contact and contribution campaign for the construction of a Bhavya & Divya mandir at the birthplace of Bhagwan Shri Ramlalla in Ayodhya and then, filming while Mumbai police allegedly tore posters of Lord Shri Ram.

A VHP leader who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that the incident took place late evening on Friday when some VHP workers were returning home after campaigning for a donation drive for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The VHP workers allegedly saw police officials removing the Ram Mandir Nidhi Sankalan posters and tearing them apart. Some VHP workers started recording the incident on their mobile phones. Realising that their act is being recorded on the mobile phone, one of the police officers accosted the VHP workers and purportedly started beating them.

When questioned why the posters were being removed, the police officers reportedly said the posters were controversial in nature and hurt the sentiments of the locals. He also added that he had orders from above to get the Ram Mandir Nidhi Sankalan posters removed. It is pertinent to note that Malwani is a Muslim-dominated region in Mumbai.

The 3 VHP workers were detained on the charges of obstructing and preventing the police from doing their duty. Following their arrest, RSS, VHP, and BJP leaders sat on a sit-in vigil in the police station in opposition to their detention. The leaders demanded that the three VHP workers be immediately released.

BJP, VHP and RSS workers organise a sit-in vigil in police station against the arrest of 3 VHP workers

Subsequently, at around 4 AM, the ACP came and released the three VHP workers and promised to drop all charges against them. He assured appropriate action will be taken against the police officer who allegedly tore apart the Ram Mandir Nidhi Sankalan poster. The ACP also promised action in drug and addiction case in which a Dalit Rights body had written a letter to NCPCR seeking action in the case.

BJP Mumbai President Mangal Prabhat Lodha took cognisance of the incident and posted a tweet sounding an alarm about the worsening situation in Malwani. He stated that putting up posters of Lord Shri Ram has become a crime in this region and informed on Twitter that he would soon meet the Police Commissioner to have a discussion about the incident.

It is noteworthy to mention that VHP, RSS and BJP workers have alleged that while there have been numerous complaints made by the residents of the region against the illegal loudspeaker on the mosques in the neighbourhood but no action has been taken in this regard. However, when posters of Lord Shri Ram were put up at the places, seeking donation for the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the police officials displayed unusual alacrity in removing them.

Dalit Rights body writes to NCPCR seeking intervention in alleged drug and porn addiction case in Malwani

Dalit Positive Movement, a Dalit and OBC Rights initiative, had written a letter to National Commission for Protection of Children Rights (NCPCR) seeking immediate intervention in the alleged forced drug and porn addiction of Dalit children by goons in the restive region of Mumbai’s Malwani.

The Dalit Rights body had alleged that local goons under the aegis of local Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh are pushing the Dalit children into the abyss of drug and pornography addiction. It had also stated in its complaint that names of BJP leaders Gopal Shetty and Ashish Shelar are being misused by the goons to suppress resistance from Dalit families in the region.

Muslim goons in Malwani encroaching upon lands and houses of Hindus, including Dalits

Besides the scourge of drug and pornography addiction, the Hindu minority is in Mumbai’s Malwani, a Muslim majority region, also live under a constant threat and intimidation by the Muslim hooligans, who illegally encroach their homes and force them into fleeing the region. From once having more than 100 Hindu families, the locality now houses a mere 8-10 Hindu families and even they are planning to leave the area for the fear of persecution from the Muslim thugs.

HDFC Bank removes video hailing Pastor Praveen as ‘Neighbourhood Hero’ after his arrest for making hate speech against Hindus: Details

OpIndia Staff
-
0
HDFC Bank removes video hailing Pastor Praveen as ‘Neighbourhood Hero’ after his arrest for making hate speech against Hindus: Details

Praveen Chakravarthy, the notorious Christian pastor who had made abusive remarks against Hindu deities by threatening to kick and deface idols of Hindu Gods and creating ‘Christ Villages’, has been removed from the HDFC Bank’s ‘Neighbourhood Heroes’ campaign after he was arrested for creating enmity between different religious groups and offences in places of worship. 

Andhra Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested the pastor for his 2013 video. “We arrested him on Tuesday night itself at Kakinada. We brought him here (Guntur) and on the next day we produced him in the Court,” said R Vijaya Paul, CID Coastal superintendent of police (SP), adding the video is seven years and from 2013.

“The thing is that if somebody makes a complaint then we are there to verify it. This is not a suo motu case. Somebody has made a complaint, we verified it. We got him (Chakravarthy) and asked him, he said it is his own voice,” said the senior police officer.

The SP said the video is inflammatory in nature and police officials are verifying his bank transactions, including checking if any more such video were made.

According to the reports, HDFC Bank had earlier declared controversial pastor Praveen Chakravarthy as the ‘Neighbourhood Hero’. In August 2020, HDFC Bank had posted a video on its YouTube channel in which it hailed Pastor Praveen as a ‘Neighbourhood Hero’.

According to HDFC Bank, ‘Our Neighbourhood Heroes’ is an initiative that thanks and celebrates heroes from across the country, who have gone above and beyond to help those in need during these difficult times.

However, following the complaint against Pastor Chakravarthy by the legal rights NGO – Legal Rights Protection Forum (LRPF), the HDFC Bank has taken a swift action to remove the video it had posted hailing the controversial pastor has a ‘hero’.

Deleted video posted by HDFC Bank hailing Pastor Praveen Chakravarthy

According to a report by the Commune Mag, in the video put out by HDFC Bank on August 28, 2020, it had introduced Pastor Praveen as, “A moment of courage is all it takes, to make the normal, heroic and that is exactly what you’ve done!”. The video also said that when underprivileged residents were struggling with ‘Volunteering Service & Time’ and needed help, Pastor Praveen stepped up.

“By providing Volunteering Services & Time to around more than 500 Underprivileged Residents you have truly helped and made a difference”, the video said and claimed that the bank prides itself in calling Pastor Praveen as the ‘Neighbourhood Hero’ of Kakinada.

Interestingly, this is not the first time that HDFC Bank has erred in choosing its ‘Neighbourhood Hero’. Just a few weeks back, it was revealed that HDFC Bank had designated Ashok Singh Garcha as their “Neighbourhood hero” for providing food to underprivileged residents in Ludhiana.

Garcha, later turned out to be a meme on the internet, after he claimed to be the president of Abrahamic and Indo-Abrahamic Association (AIAA), that he preaches “JEWISH/CHRISTIAN/MUSLIM and SIKH UNITY”. 

Christian pastor arrested for hate speech against Hindus

A legal rights NGO called the Legal Rights Protection Forum (LRPF), has filed a complaint with the Union Home Secretary and the FCRA Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs against the Andhra Pradesh based NGO ‘Sylom Blind Center’ and its President Praveen Chakravarthy for indulging in forced conversions to Christianity.

The complainant has demanded that the organization’s FCRA license be cancelled, bank accounts are frozen and an investigation be carried out regarding its other activities.

Following the complaint, Pastor Praveen Chakravarthy was arrested by the Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID) on Wednesday for promoting enmity between different religious groups and committing offences in places of worship. He has been charged under various 153 A, 153 B (1) (c), 505 (2), 295 A, 124 A, and 115 of the Indian Penal Code and has multiple FIRs registered against him.

The blatant anti-Hindu activities were first brought to light in 2019 by the NGO Legal Rights Protection Forum (LRPF). LRPF had lodged a complaint with the Union Home Ministry in December 2019 against ‘Sylom Blind Center’ and its President Praveen Chakravarthy for indulging in rampant rabid proselytization.

In a video tweeted by LRPF, Pastor Praveen Chakravarthy was seen saying with impunity in Telugu that he hit the ‘stone God’ and trees [sacred trees like Neem, Peepal, etc that are worshipped by village people] with his leg. The video was first made available on a YouTube channel called ‘Bangalore go-sipps’. This video was published on December 11, 2019.

Further, in the video, he can be seen describing how he converts a village to Christianity. He says that first a pastor would come and stay in the village to teach the Bible. He says that the village becomes a “Christ village” after everyone has accepted Christ as their saviour and adds that ‘stone gods’ and ‘trees’ are kicked as a finality.

“So there are many cases which (sic) I have kicked the God’s heads and I was so happy”, he said in that video.

Sylom Blind Center was established in 1989, and its stated goal is to help the orphans, widows, aged, neglected ones in the society by providing them education, shelter, medicine, clothing, care and concern. However, the organisation headed by pastor Praveen Chakraborty has been involved in religious conversion activities.

According to a report by the Organiser, The pastor and his ‘Sylom Pastors League’ group claim to have Baptized 15,000 Indians in the year 2012, 37,000 persons in 2013, 292,000 persons in 2014, 6,00,003 persons in 2015, and so on.

Praveen Chakravarthy conducts his conversion activities through Sylom Pastors League, which is headed by him. LifePoint Church’s Missions Ministry, a US-based Christian missionary organisation, list the Sylom Pastors League as their partner in India. They mention that Praveen is very active in church planting, disciple-making, and he had helped thousands of people in receiving fresh drinking water and also receiving Christ as their Lord and Savior.

As India rolls out the Coronavirus vaccine drive, health workers break out in cheer: Watch video

OpIndia Staff
-
0
As India rolls out the Coronavirus vaccine drive, health workers break out in cheer: Watch video

Moving in the direction of bringing an end to the Covid-19 pandemic, the vaccine programme to control the infection was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today via video conferencing. On the first day of the world’s largest Covid-19 vaccination drive, over 3 crore healthcare and frontline workers will be inoculated.

The vaccines have already reached the designated vaccination centres across the country. The vaccine was welcomed by the medical staff in the hospitals as they cheered with joy. Health workers at Cooper Hospital, Mumbai clapped and cheered as the batch of the vaccine reached the hospital.

A total 3,006 vaccination centres have been set up across the country in various districts of all the States and Union Territories. About 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each vaccination site. The timing of the vaccination will be from 9 am to 5 pm barring the days on which routine immunisation programmes are scheduled.

Vaccination of pre-registered beneficiaries

According to Mint, every pre-registered beneficiary will be required to visit the vaccination centre at the designated time and date. The beneficiaries will be required to produce government identification while entering the vaccination centre after which they will be registered and sent to the vaccination room for inoculation. The process will be managed by the central government digitally through its own app called CoWIN. The app will be used to link every vaccine dose to its recipient.

The Central government had purchased 11 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVISHIELD vaccine produced by the Serum Institute and 5.5 million doses of COVAXIN produced by Bharat Biotech.

India starts Coronavirus vaccine drive: Here is a list of those who would first get the much-awaited vaccine

Dibakar Dutta
-
0
India starts Coronavirus vaccine drive: Here is a list of those who would first get the much-awaited vaccine

As India rolls out its Coronavirus vaccine drive today with the inauguration address of PM Modi, the country will eagerly watch the first group of healthcare workers, who will receive the vaccine. The Union government had earlier decided that healthcare workers will be prioritised over politicians for the vaccination programme. The following is a list of people, who will undergo vaccination today, as per Hindustan Times.

Vaccination drive in Gujarat

The State governments have zeroed in on individuals who would be the first to receive the first dose Coronavirus vaccine. As per reports, a total of over 16000 healthcare workers would be inoculated during the massive drive. On Saturday, 46-year-old Dr J V Modi and 58-year-old Dr Niyati Lakhani will be among the first to be vaccinated in the State of Gujarat. Dr JV Modi is the medical superintendent of Ahmedabad civil hospital while Lakhani is the superintendent of Gandhinagar civil hospital.

Roll-out of the vaccination programme in Rajasthan

Similarly, Sudhir Bhandari, the principal of Sawai Man Singh Medical College will be the first individual to be vaccinated with Covishield vaccine in the State of Rajasthan. “I have no inhibition in taking the vaccine as it is scientific and like any other flu shot. I am very comfortable,” he opined.

Inoculation drive in Chhattisgarh, Delhi

Reportedly, sanitation worker Tulsa Tandi (53) will be the first to be administered the vaccine in Chhattisgarh. In the National Capital of Delhi, three people, including a nurse, sanitation worker and a doctor will receive the Coronavirus vaccine shots at LNJP hospital, in the presence of CM Arvind Kejriwal.

First Parliamentarian to get Coronavirus vaccine in Noida

Dr Mahesh Sharma, former Minister of State for Environment and sitting Parliamentarian will become the first MP to be administered the vaccine at Kailash Hospital in Noida. He will receive inoculated around 11 am on Saturday morning.

Padma Shree awardee among doctors vaccinated in Assam

In Assam, State Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma informed that 12 doctors would be administered the first dosage for Coronavirus vaccine. The list includes ex-VC of Srimanta Sankardeva University of Health Sciences, Dr Umesh Chandra Sarma, Padma Shri award winner Dr Ilias Ali, Sahitya Akademi awardee Dr Dhrubajyoti Borah, GMC principal Dr Achyut Baishya and GMCH superintendent Dr Abhijeet Sharma.

Sanitation workers vaccinated in Goa

At the same time, sanitation workers, who work in Coronavirus wards at Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) will be among those who will be given the vaccine shot today. Highlighting that the beneficiaries might decline to take the vaccine, a hospital official conceded, “Someone can refuse to take the vaccine, so we don’t know who will be actually the first person to get the vaccine.”

Coronavirus vaccine programme in Pune

While speaking about the development, Pune Mayor Murlidhar Mohol emphasised, “The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will start the vaccine drive in the city at Kamla Nehru hospital at around 10 am. The first beneficiary will be administered the dose only after the Prime Minister officially launches the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive.”

In Pune, the drive will be carried out at 8 centres, namely, Ruby Hall Clinic, Kamla Nehru hospital, Rajiv Gandhi hospital, Jayabai Nanasaheb Surat maternity home, Sassoon General Hospital, Noble Hospital, Deenanath Mangeshkar hospital and Bharati hospital. Reportedly, a total of 100 workers will be vaccinated at each centre. It must be mentioned that the beneficiaries can refuse to get vaccinated.

As per data, PMC has received 48000 doses for 220000 people and is likely to receive more in the coming days. About 55000 healthcare workers, including 115000 serving in the public sector, have registered for the vaccination on the CoWIN app.

Who has been kept out of the Coronavirus vaccine drive?

Yesterday, the Centre came up with new safety regulations saying Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin vaccine would not be administered to people below 18 years of age. According to the reports, a letter from the office of additional secretary at the union health ministry carrying a comparative factsheet for the two approved vaccines under emergency authorisation rules revealed that the government has “not recommended” their authorisation to people below 18 years of age.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry on Thursday said that interchangeability of COVID-19 vaccines will not be permitted and the second dose of the vaccine inoculated should be the same vaccine injected as the first dose.

After a global outcry, WhatsApp issues clarification, delays enforcement of updated privacy policy: Read full details

OpIndia Staff
-
0
After a global outcry, WhatsApp issues clarification, delays enforcement of updated privacy policy: Read full details

After facing flak from its users regarding an update in its privacy policy, popular messaging app WhatsApp has announced that it will be delaying its privacy update plan that had a February 8 deadline. Announcing its decision on January 15, the Facebook owned messaging app, said that it will be providing more time to its users to ‘understand the policy update’. “There’s been a lot of misinformation causing concern and we want to help everyone understand our principles and the facts”, it said.

In its blogpost, WhatsApp clarified that under the updated policy there will be no changes in its privacy policy concerning personal conversations, location, contacts etc. It said that messages sent on WhatsApp would still have end-to-end encryption and that neither WhatsApp nor Facebook would be able to see private messages, location or contacts of users.

Screenshot from whatsapp.com

The policy update that was announced by WhatsApp earlier this month was interpreted by its users as a major shift in its privacy and data-sharing policy. In a notification that popped on opening the app, the changes made in the privacy policy were indicated.

WhatsApp had said that as part of its new privacy policy it would share user data with other Facebook companies. This led its users to believe that WhatsApp would now be able to peek into personal messages of its users and it would share the personal data of users with Facebook. Facebook-owned Whatsapp had given February 8th as the date after which the app would stop working on devices and accounts would be suspended if the new policy was not accepted. As a result, many people started moving to other apps like Signal and Telegram looking for a substitute.

Interestingly, Facebook and Twitter combined has lost over $52 billion after they had banned Trump from their platforms. Following the privacy update, Signal had seen a massive spike in downloads. Both these results could have eventually led WhatsApp to delay its privacy update policy.

WhatsApp, after widespread outrage and exodus of users to Signal, was compelled to issue a clarification that the new policy supposedly did not violate user privacy and it was not going to share any personal data of users with Facebook. “We’re moving back the date on which people will be asked to review and accept the terms. No one will have their account suspended or deleted on February 8. We’re also going to do a lot more to clear up the misinformation around how privacy and security work on WhatsApp. We’ll then go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15”, WhatsApp clarified.

Assuring its users about protecting their privacy, WhatsApp said that it helped bring end-to-end encryption across the world and that it was committed to defending security technology now and in the future.

Detailed overview of privacy policy changes made by Whatsapp

Whatsapp had updated its website with a detailed overview of what the changes in the policy of the app meant for the users earlier.

“Our Services have optional features which, if used by you, require us to collect additional information to provide such features. You will be notified of such a collection, as appropriate. If you choose not to provide the information needed to use a feature, you will be unable to use the feature. For example, you cannot share your location with your contacts if you do not permit us to collect your location data from your device. Permissions can be managed through your Settings menu on both Android and iOS devices,” Whatsapp wrote.

The Facebook-owned messaging service also expanded on how much of the data is collected automatically by the app. “We collect information about your activity on our Services, like service-related, diagnostic, and performance information. This includes information about your activity (including how you use our Services, your Services settings, how you interact with others using our Services (including when you interact with a business), and the time, frequency, and duration of your activities and interactions), log files, and diagnostic, crash, website, and performance logs and reports,” WhatsApp said.

“This also includes information about when you registered to use our Services; the features you use like our messaging, calling, Status, groups (including group name, group picture, group description), payments or business features; profile photo, “about” information; whether you are online when you last used our Services (your “last seen”); and when you last updated your “about” information,” WhatsApp added.

Whatsapp is the largest messaging service in the world with over 2 billion monthly active users. However, an insidious in-app notification, forcing users to accept the new privacy policy has set off alarm bells ringing for the privacy-conscious users, who are now making a beeline to dump the app and shifting to more secure and reliable alternatives. Messaging apps Signal and Telegram are the two frontrunners that have caught the fancy of these set of disenchanted Whatsapp users who are looking to migrate to other platforms amidst the growing privacy concerns.

Ravish Kumar apologises for spreading fake news about paddy procurement by govt after letter to NDTV by PIB: Here is what he said

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Ravish Kumar apologises for spreading fake news about paddy procurement by govt after letter to NDTV by PIB: Here is what he said

After getting caught for peddling fake news about paddy procurement by the government, controversial NDTV news anchor Ravish Kumar has now apologized for spreading fake news. The controversial NDTV news anchor Ravish Kumar took to Facebook to post an apology after he admitted to making a ‘mistake’ of putting false information without verifying facts.

In his Facebook post, Ravish Kumar said that he had made a mistake in the last episode of his prime time show where he was “highlighting the distortion of data by the government”, however, the information that was put out was not complete.

“The information is incomplete and therefore it is not correct. In this event, a mistake was also committed by me in the episode of 14 January. The analysis of a tweet put out by the Railway Minister turned out to be a mistake,” said Ravish Kumar in his Facebook post.

Facebook Post by Ravish Kumar where he apologises for spreading fake news
Facebook Post by Ravish Kumar where he apologises for spreading fake news

Hilariously, while apologising for spreading fake news, Ravish Kumar says that “Godi Media”, which is essentially media that does not follow his editorial line of spreading misinformation and propaganda, should not “excited by such a mistake”. Further, he tells other journalists to challenge him on his facts. It is worthy to point out that the entire post is actually about him apologising for spreading fake news.

In his Facebook post, he further asks “Godi Media’ to “Think about the kind of misunderstanding being spread”. Further he says, “Notice has been issued on this. I’d reply but the surprising thing is I catches many mistakes and lies in my program is no answer”.

While apologising, Ravish Kumar continued to blame the government and also, claiming that he catches many such lies in his program and the government has never answered for those, and hence, he is the bigger person for responding to the notice sent to him.

It is pertinent to point out here that Ravish Kumar has a history of spreading misinformation and fake news and has in no way “caught many lies”. Of the many examples, just one would be sufficient to provide a window into his journalism. During the Delhi anti-Hindu riots, Ravish Kumar had conveniently changed the identity of Mohammad Shahrukh, who was seen threatening cops with a gun pointed towards their head, to ‘Anurag Mishra’ simple to peddle his own agenda and shield the perpetrators. That does not really seem like someone who “catches so many mistakes” with others.

How Ravish Kumar spread fake news, for which he is apologising now

On January 14, NDTV India anchor Ravish Kumar had claimed that the Modi government had given false data regarding the farm product procurement. In his show ‘Prime Time With Ravish Kumar’, the controversial Congress-era ‘journalist’ had referred to an infographic posted by minister Piyush Goyal to deliberately mislead the public by saying that the data given by the government in the graphic is wrong.

Earlier, Food and Public Distribution minister Piyush Goyal had informed that till January 10, the centre had procured 534 Lakh Metric Tonnes of paddy, compared to 423 LMT in the same period last year. Therefore, the paddy procurement has gone up by 26% till now this year.

However, Ravish Kumar, as usual resorting to his false propaganda, had alleged that as per data available on the website of Food and Public Distribution ministry, the total paddy procurement in 2019-20 was 519 LMT, not 423 LMT, therefore the increase in the procurement is not 26% as claimed by the government. He said that either someone has made a mistake in the govt of India, or wrong numbers are being used to spread falsehood.

Ravish Kumar crops image to peddle misinformation

In fact, it was Ravish Kumar had deliberately lied to the public by cropping the image of the tweet of Piyush Goyal to put out misleading claims. The minister had clearly said that the data is for procurement up to 10 January. However, in an attempt to blame the government, Ravish Kumar used the incomplete procurement data of the income from 2019-20 to put out misinformation about public procurement.

After Ravish Kumar tried to mislead the public by putting out false data, the union government had taken a strong objection and had categorically stated that the procurement has gone up by 26% in the said period.

The government sends a letter to NDTV ‘Ethics Committee’, calls Ravish Kumar lies ‘shocking’

The ministry termed the program a ‘shocking display of poor journalism and sheer disregard of actual facts’ and had issued notice to NDTV on the 15th of January 2021, as reported exclusively by OpIndia yesterday.

The union government has taken a strong objection to the fake news peddled by Ravish Kumar, and has confirmed that the paddy procurement upto 10 January 2020 was 423 LMT. And therefore, it is correct that the procurement has gone up by 26% in the said period. The ministry termed the program a ‘shocking display of poor journalism and sheer disregard of actual facts’.

The letter sent to the NDTV Ethics committee by the Press Information Bureau’s Additional Director General has said that Ravish Kumar has done an unfair comparison of full year procurement of 2019-20 with ongoing procurement for 2020-21. It also states that Piyush Goyal’s tweet was cropped in the TV program, giving the impression that it was a malafide act.

The letter notes that at a sensitive time when farmers are protesting near Delhi, Ravish Kumar has misrepresented important facts, which misleads the farmers and incites negative sentiments in the society. The letter also said that Ravish Kumar has done an unfair comparison of full-year procurement of 2019-20 with ongoing procurement for 2020-21. It is this letter that Ravish Kumar is saying that he will respond to in the due course of time.

From ‘no trust on BJP’s vaccine’ to ‘impotency’ to ‘they can cause death’, Samajwadi Party’s petty politics over COVID-19 vaccine just does not end

Jhankar Mohta
-
0
From ‘no trust on BJP’s vaccine’ to ‘impotency’ to ‘they can cause death’, Samajwadi Party’s petty politics over COVID-19 vaccine just does not end

Even before day one of the massive COVID-19 immunisation drive, Samajwadi Party continues to play its dirty politics over the vaccine. Just as his master Akhilesh Yadav, SP leader IP Singh today took to Twitter to politicise the COVID vaccine.

Taking to the microblogging site, Samajwadi Party spokesperson IP Singh on Friday said that vaccinations can kill the poor people of the country. He opined that in order to avoid any calamity, BJP workers and supporters should first get vaccinated. However, he deleted his tweet minutes later.

IP Singh’s now deleted Tweet

IP Singh fearmongers on bird flu

A week ago, the SP spokesperson had stoked another controversy with his disparaging remark on bird flu cases in various states. He had said that bird flu cases are coming up because PM Modi fed the birds, referring to PM’s pictures with peacock and other birds. Insinuating that Narendra Modi was a ‘bad omen’, SP leader IP Singh said that the birds got Avian Influenza because he fed them ‘Dana’.

Samajwadi Party and its petty politics over COVID-19 vaccine

Samajwadi Party leaders have been continuously trying to create an atmosphere of panic by spreading fake news to discredit indigenously developed Coronavirus vaccine. Be it the party chief or his leaders, no one is even ready to leave an opportunity to play petty politics as India unites in the fight against Coronavirus. 

Prior to IP Singh, Samajwadi Party leader and Mirzapur MLC Ashutosh Sinha on January 2 (Saturday) made the ludicrous claim that people fear that COVID-19 vaccine can make them ‘impotent’. Sinha had also backed his party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav who had dragged politics in the much-needed vaccination drive in the country saying that he will not get himself vaccinated as of now as it is ‘BJP’s vaccine’.

However, later, Akhilesh Yadav took a u-turn and claimed, “Vaccination against coronavirus is a sensitive process. As such, the BJP must refrain from making it a show-off event and conduct the programme only after necessary arrangements for the same are done. This will affect the lives of people. So, we cannot risk their lives by making improvements to the vaccine later. The government must also declare a fixed date for the immunisation of poor people.”

NDTV’s Ravish Kumar spreads fake news on paddy procurement by govt: Read full details of letter written by govt of India

OpIndia Staff
-
0
NDTV’s Ravish Kumar spreads fake news on paddy procurement by govt: Read full details of letter written by govt of India

Even as some farmer groups and opposition parties like Congress continue to oppose the three farm laws based on lies, NDTV India was caught peddling yet another fake news on the issue. On 14th January, in the program titled Prime Time With Ravish Kumar, NDTV India anchor Ravish Kumar accused the govt of India of giving false data regarding the farm product procurement by government of India.

But the govt of India has strongly reacted to the program, saying that Ravish Kumar used wrong data to accuse the govt of lying.

In the program, referring to an infographic posted by minister Piyush Goyal, Ravish Kumar said that the data given in the graphic is wrong. Food and Public Distribution minister Piyush Goyal had informed on January 11 that till January 10, govt of India had procured 534 Lakh Metric Tonnes of paddy, compared to 423 LMT in the same period last year. Therefore, the paddy procurement has gone up by 26% till now this year.

Ravish Kumar disputed the data, saying that as per data available on the website of Food and Public Distribution ministry, the total paddy procurement in 2019-20 was 519 LMT, not 423 LMT, therefore the increase in the procurement is not 26% as claimed by the govt. He said that either someone has made a mistake in the govt of India, or wrong numbers are being used to spread falsehood.

But the fact is, it is Ravish Kumar who has either made a mistake or deliberately lying. And to do so, he had cropped the image of the tweet of Piyush Goyal. The minister had clearly said that the data is for procurement upto 10th January. But to label the govt as liar, Ravish Kumar used the procurement data for whole 2019-20 with the date for 1 April 2020 to 10 January 2020.

It need not be said that one can’t compare data for one whole year with the data for 9 months and 10 days in another year. One has to take data for the same period in different years to arrive at any meaningful comparison.

Therefore, although it is correct that total paddy procurement for 2019-20 was 519 LMT, that figure can’t be compared to the procurement of this year as the year is end and the procurement is still going on. Therefore, the data till 10th January this year was compared with the data till the same date last year, which was 423 LMT.

Hence, it is Ravish Kumar who is lying to mislead the people that the govt is lying.

The union government has taken a strong objection to the fake news peddled by Ravish Kumar, and has confirmed that the paddy procurement upto 10 January 2020 was 423 LMT. And therefore, it is correct that the procurement has gone up by 26% in the said period. The ministry termed the program a ‘shocking display of poor journalism and sheer disregard of actual facts’.

The letter sent to the NDTV Ethics committee by the Press Information Bureau’s Additional Director General has said that Ravish Kumar has done an unfair comparison of full year procurement of 2019-20 with ongoing procurement for 2020-21. It also states that Piyush Goyal’s tweet was cropped in the TV program, giving the impression that it was a malafide act.

The letter notes that at a sensitive time when farmers are protesting near Delhi, Ravish Kumar has misrepresented important facts, which misleads the farmers and incites negative sentiments in the society.

1...4,6644,6654,666...7,651Page 4,665 of 7,651