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Elon Musk confirms Tesla is coming to India in 2021

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Elon Musk confirms Tesla is coming to India in 2021

Tesla Inc. co-founder and CEO Elon Musk has confirmed the company’s entry in India in 2021. The confirmation came after a Twitter user inquired about Tesla’s possible entry in India in January 2021. Musk responded in affirmative that Tesla would start its operations in India in 2021, however, he added that January 2021 timelines were not possible.

Earlier in October 2020, too, Musk had confirmed that his company’s plan to launch operations in India from the next year. While responding to a tweet about when Tesla plans to enter the Indian market, Elon responded, “Next year for sure.”

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari reaffirms Tesla’s entry in India in 2021

In addition to Elon Musk, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has also confirmed that the American electric vehicle company would be entering the Indian market in 2021 in a conversation during Indian Express Idea Exchange programme. Gadkari said that Tesla is set to start its operations in India next year, adding that the company would also look at setting up a manufacturing unit based on demand.

“American auto major Tesla will have its distribution facility (sale centres) for its cars in India from next year and considering the demand it would look into setting up of manufacturing here. India has the potential to become the largest EV (electric vehicle) producer in the world in the next five years,” Gadkari said while speaking to media.

Highlighting India’s power surplus and the push by the Indian government for e-mobility solutions, Gadkari said, “The Centre intends to have an electric vehicle sales penetration of 30 per cent for private cars, 70 per cent for commercial cars, 40 per cent for buses, and 80 per cent for two and three-wheelers by 2030 by providing various incentives, which are likely to drive the growth of EV market in India.”

According to the reports quoted by the Indian Express, the first Tesla model to hit the Indian roads would be the more affordable Tesla Model 3, booking for which could be started in the next few weeks. However, a report published in the Economic Times said that the sales of the company will start only in the second half of the year. The completely built units will be imported initially and priced Rs 55 lakhs onwards. It is also expected that Tesla will handle the sales directly just like it does in other countries.

COVID situation worsens in Kerala, continues to be in the red zone with the highest positivity rate in India

OpIndia Staff
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COVID situation worsens in Kerala, continues to be in the red zone with the highest positivity rate in India

While the country is witnessing improvement in the number of Covid-19 cases across the states, the situation in Kerala seems to be particularly concerning. Kerala has the highest number of Covid-19 cases with 64,026 active cases as of now. The state also recorded the highest number of Covid-19 cases with 3047 new cases on Monday.

Kerala and Goa are the only states in the red zone

The Covid-19 positivity rate has reportedly reached 10% in the last 14 days between December 13 to December 26. This rate was 9.9 per cent between November 30 and December 13. A state is considered to be in red zone if the Covid-19 positivity rate is over 5 per cent in a 14-day period. The all India positivity rate has declined from 3 per cent between November 30 and December 13 to 2.2 per cent December 13 and December 26. The states of Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan have come out of red zones by reducing their positivity rates below 5 per cent.

Between November 8 and November 21, there were nine states in the red zone. Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Kerala. Now, all the states except Goa and Kerala have shown major improvement by coming out of the red zone. Goa’s positivity remains at 6%, though it has come down to that from 6.4 per cent. Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh have their positivity rates below 1 per cent.

Kerala is the only state with R-value over 1

Kerala is the only state with R-value above 1. R-value stands for reproduction number. It denotes the average number of people that get infected by an infected individual. Its shows how quickly the virus is spreading. If the R-value is above 1, it means the virus is spreading quickly and if it is below 1, it shows that the virus is spreading slowly. It moved up there from 0.95 last week. Kerala’s R-value has reportedly been increasing since last three weeks.

COVID-19 virus had undergone mutations in Kerala: State Health Minister

The state health minister KK Shailaja had earlier said that the coronavirus had undergone mutations in the state. She said that studies conducted on the virus in the virus have shown a change in the strain, however, whether the mutation is associated with the UK’s new strain or not is yet to be ascertained.

Man, who had no intention of burning himself, dies of 70% burn injuries after Kerala cops try to ‘save him’, sons blame cops: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Man, who had no intention of burning himself, dies of 70% burn injuries after Kerala cops try to ‘save him’, sons blame cops: Details

“I only wanted them to back off”, Ranjan, the Kerala man who succumbed to burns after he was accidentally set on fire on December 22 said from the hospital bed, hours before dying. It is being reported that he was trying to thwart an attempt by Kerala police to evict his family from their house. 47-year-old Rajan, who was admitted in a critical condition to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, passed away on December 27 (Sunday) night. His wife, Ambili (40) too succumbed to her injuries the next day.

While the woman, Ambili, 40, suffered 60 per cent burns during the incident, her husband Rajan, 47, suffered 75 per cent burns and his kidneys and other internal organs were damaged due to burns. They were admitted to the Burn ICU of the MCH on December 22.

In what transpired, on December 22 officials of the Neyyattinkara police station and a judicial commission appointed by a Neyyattinkara court had gone to Rajan’s house at Nellimoodu, asking the family to vacate the house immediately, to implement a court order. The move to evict his family came on the basis of a complaint by one of Ranjan’s neighbour in June, according to reports in Malayalam media. The couple had threatened to end life by suicide in a bid to prevent authorities from demolishing a shed near their house at Pongil near Venpakal in Neyyattinkara.

In a video which was widely shared on social media, Rajan could be seen pouring petrol over him and his wife, asking officials not to come closer to him. The couple caught fire when a police official, reportedly Assistant Sub-Inspector Anil Kumar, came close to the couple and attempted to knock the lighter out of his hand.

After the death of the Kerala couple, their two sons took to social media and alleged police forced their parents to commit suicide. They held Assistant Sub-Inspector Anil Kumar responsible for the death of their parents. “The police were in a haste to evict them as they knew that there would be a stay order and pointed out that it came soon after the incident. The counsel whom my father assigned first for the case betrayed him. The police and the plaintiff knew that there would be a stay on the (Munsiff) court order and hence the police came to evict us. It was Anil Kumar who is responsible for this,” Rajan’s son, Ranjith, alleged.

The children confirmed that 20 minutes after the incident happened, the court issued a stay on the eviction. Talking to media, Rajan’s two children could be seen desperately wailing for help, to bury their father in the disputed land, as per his last wish.

The police, however, refuted the allegation. “It is our duty to provide security and protect the commission. We never provoked anyone. Rajan and his wife had planned this. Their elder son shot the entire incident on his mobile phone. In the video itself it is evident that the police did nothing to harm them,” said Neyyattinkara CI T Sreekumaran Nair.

Meet the Halal ‘ask the sexpert’ YouTube Channel from Pakistan that answers questions from bestiality to everything else

OpIndia Staff
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Meet the Halal ‘ask the sexpert’ YouTube Channel from Pakistan that answers questions from bestiality to everything else

YouTube is one of the most addictive social media platforms and some would argue, even more addictive than Twitter or Facebook. There are videos available on almost every matter under the Sun, from Horror podcasts to football fan channels that discuss the state of affairs in the footballing world. Recently, we became aware of another YouTube channel that provided a very different sort of content. The channel is called ‘Human Issues’. The channel is run by a Pakistani.

Source: YouTube

‘Human Issues’ could only be described as a Halal ‘ask the sexpert’ channel where the host answers queries on whether particular sex acts are as per Islamic guidelines or not. The videos are a bit comical, to put it mildly, and especially so because the host, on the face of it, is extremely serious about the answers she provides. It’s hard to know who she is or if the whole thing is supposed to be a joke as the host is completely covered from head to toe and her facial expressions are not visible.

In one of her answers that has gone viral on social media, the host discusses why women make ‘Ah-ah’ noises during sexual intercourse. She says that Science, after a lot of efforts, has discovered that “when investigation is underway on a woman, she feel such ecstasy that she expresses her feelings by saying ‘aah aah’.”

‘Human Issues’ has uploaded a lot of such videos, typically short, less than 2 minutes, where she provides bizarre answers to queries. The title of her videos are extremely bizarre as well and we are still not sure whether it is a serious channel or the whole thing is supposed to be a joke. Each video regularly gets over 100,000 views on the platform.

The titles of some of her videos include ‘Sardi May Milap’, ‘Backside se lene wali’, ‘Five BENEFITS Saaking woman ballon’, ‘Which women take it in the mouth’ among others. The comments are turned off for these videos are turned off, therefore, it is hard to know what people think of her opinions.

Image Credit: @dhiroalta/Twitter

In one of the videos, she discusses the telltale signs that a woman fellates a man. She says, “There are no such distinctive signs. It is only discovered when a man demands it and the woman immediately fulfills it. Pakistani women perform this act less, only ‘gande log’ (perverts) do it who have no connection to Islam and Muslims who do it do so because they have strayed from Deen. Nobody should do these things and nobody should demand that others do such things.” She also says that it can lead to cancer.

Image Credit: dhiroalta/Twitter

In another video, the host says that a woman has apparently told her that in a video, the woman saw a character who was making her pet dog lick her ‘bottom destination’ to get ‘Lazzat’ (pleasure) and wanted to know whether it was permissible for her to do the same. The visibly irritated host says, “Fortunately, you only asked about licking, you will not believe the kind of things that people do with animals.”

“Only a few days ago, a case came to light where a Musalman boy did not leave even the pet cat. Anyway, the question you have asked is extremely wrong. There is no permission for this in Islam,” she added. The channel has lots and lots of such videos.

The translation of its bio provided by Google Translate says, “For a happy married life (in the light of Qur’an and Sunnah), to solve the hidden problems of men and women and especially sexual problems, one must subscribe to our unique channel and click on the bell button to listen to new videos as soon as possible.” It also has a Facebook page that does not seem to be too popular.

‘Nobody has the right to ask Rahul questions and ‘irritate’ Congress’: Congress fangirl who was exposed for earning Rs 500 for promotional tweet goes on a rant

OpIndia Staff
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‘Nobody has the right to ask Rahul questions and ‘irritate’ Congress’: Congress fangirl who was exposed for earning Rs 500 for promotional tweet goes on a rant

Though the Congress party is facing a paucity of credible leaders in its rank, it surely commands the loyalty of a bevvy of sycophant hangers-on, who are ready to foolishly defend the party and fend off criticism directed at it and the Gandhi family.

Recently, when questions were raised about senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Italy, one of the most ardent Congress supporters, Andria D’Souza aka ‘Ria Revealed’, who was exposed for earning Rs 500 for tweeting promotional tweets, went on a fervent rant to assert that Congress and Rahul Gandhi are beyond reproach and nobody has the right to ask questions of them.

“Shame on those who are questioning Rahul Gandhi. He has gone to take care of his grandmother…Nobody has the right to ask questions of Rahul Gandhi…. nobody has the right to irritate Congress,” a visibly rattled Andrea snarled.

Andria’s cathartic meltdown took place after a panellist on the Times Now debate raised question on Rahul Gandhi for leaving the party in the lurch and flying to Italy. Peeved by aspersions on Gandhi’s commitment to the party, the Congress supporter launched into a diatribe, attacking his detractors including the debate anchor Padmaja Joshi for raising questions of the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi.

After the ‘Kamasutra 3D’ actress was done ranting and raving, Ms Joshi calmly asked her if Rahul Gandhi held no organisational post in the party, then in which capacity did he join the seat-sharing meeting in Tamil Nadu and became a part of Congress’ overtures in West Bengal, the Congress supporter irritatingly replied that the detractors have their ears pricked up as soon as they hear the word “Gandhi”.

However, Ms Joshi retorted too, saying, “To be fair, your ears also prick up when you hear the word ‘Gandhi’.

Viral video of Ria Revealed embarrassing herself on Times Now debate

This is not the first time that Andria D’Souza has embarrassed herself on a news channel. In the past too, she has had a mental breakdown while appearing on news debates. Earlier, Andria made a fool of herself when she spectacularly faltered in answering basic questions on NPR on a Times Now debate while defending Rahul Gandhi’s deranged rants on CAA, NPR and NCR.

She claimed NPR was first conducted in 2003, to which the Times Now anchor, Rahul Shivshankar pointed out that it was first conducted in 2010. She couldn’t explain how NPR would disturb minorities and was flabbergasted when asked who came up with Aadhaar.

Her denseness left the fellow panellists as well as the anchor in splits. They were all left to ponder as to who out of the two- Ria D’Souza or Rahul Gandhi is the smarter in the flock of birdbrains.

The incident was so embarrassing for Andria that she was left googling to figure out basic questions about the chronology of Aadhaar and NPR.

Andria D’Souza aka ‘Ria Revealed’ exposed for sharing promotional tweets for Rs 500 per tweet

Congress supporter Andria D’Souza rose to relative prominence from obscurity after BJP leader Tajinder Singh Bagga exposed her of posting promotional tweets for a paltry sum of Rs 500 per tweet.

Bagga shared a screenshot that showed a conversation between two people where a deal was carried out that ‘@riarevealed’ will post a paid tweet for Flipkart for Rs 500. When Andria tweeted the Flipkart Big Billion Sale tweet as mentioned in the conversation, Bagga shared the conversation and added how it is actually his birthday and not Flipkart foundation date as she mentioned in her tweet.

She later deleted the tweet and pinned the blame on her manager.

‘Only I know the pain of announcing this decision’: Rajnikanth not to launch a political party ahead of state elections

OpIndia Staff
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‘Only I know the pain of announcing this decision’: Rajnikanth not to launch a political party ahead of state elections

In a major development, actor Rajinikanth has decided to step away from politics ahead of the upcoming State Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.

As per reports, the actor was scheduled to announce his new political party on December 31. But, Rajinikanth has now informed that he would not join politics owing to his health conditions. He said that his recent admission to the hospital, crew members of the movie Annaatthe being diagnosed with Coronavirus infection was a ‘message from God’.

“Only I know the pain of announcing this decision,” Rajinikanth said. He added that he will continue to serve people outside the realms of electoral politics. “If I campaign only through the media and social media after I start the party, I will not be able to create the political upheaval and win big in the (upcoming Tamil Nadu) elections. No one with political experience will deny this reality,” the actor tweeted.

Earlier on December 3, Tamil superstar Rajinikanth took to social media to announce that he will launch his own political party. In 2017, Rajinikanth had announced that he would join politics and contest Assembly elections, whenever held. Tamil Nadu goes to polls in 2021.

Rajinikanth admitted to hospital

On Friday, actor Rajinikanth was admitted to Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad, Telangana after fluctuations in his blood pressure levels. He had earlier isolated himself after several people on the set of his upcoming film ‘Annaathe’ had tested positive for the Wuhan Coronavirus.

A statement released by the hospital administration said, “Mr Rajinikanth has been admitted in the hospital today in the morning. He was shooting for a movie in Hyderabad since the last 10 days. A couple of people on the sets tested positive for Covid-19. Mr Rajinikanth was tested on 22 December for Covid-19 and he was negative. Since then he isolated himself and was monitored closely.”

Mamata Banerjee promotes one of the three IPS officers responsible for BJP Chief’s security when he was attacked, disregards MHA order

OpIndia Staff
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Mamata Banerjee promotes one of the three IPS officers responsible for BJP Chief’s security when he was attacked, disregards MHA order

Notwithstanding central government’s directive of putting 3 IPS officers on Central deputation following the mob attack on the motorcade of the BJP’s national president JP Nadda earlier this month, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool government, which has been at odds with the Centre, arbitrarily promoted one of them and transferred another on Monday. 

Instead of releasing the 3 IPS officers on Central deputation, Mamata Banerjee arbitrarily promotes one and transfers another

According to reports, Rajeev Mishra, the 1996 batch IPS officer who was IG South Bengal but has now been promoted as ADG South Bengal. Rajeev Mishra along with Bholanath Pandey and Praveen Kumar Tripathi were in-charge of JP Nadda’s security when his convoy came under attack on December 10 while he was en route to Diamond Harbour for a workers meeting.

Bholanath Pandey who was the Diamond Harbour SP has now been transferred as the SP, Home Guard. The position of the third IPS officer, Praveen Kumar Tripathi, DIG (Presidency Range), who was also in-charge of Nadda’s security, however, remained the same.

Total of 33 officers were either transferred or promoted by the state government on Monday and IPS officers Rajeev Mishra and Bholanath Pandey were amongst them. The Mamata government has called this a routine procedure.

For the unversed, Rajeev Mishra is the same IPS officer who had shot to fame after videos surfaced of him touching Mamata Banerjee’s feet in 2019. He was in uniform. The clip had gone viral receiving flak from various quarters. Slamming the Mamata Banerjee govt, BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya tweeted the video with a comment in Hindi: “What kind of democracy is this?”

MHA summons three IPS officers of Bengal following the attack on JP Nadda’s convoy 

The MHA on December 12 (Saturday) summoned three IPS officers of Bengal, who were responsible for providing security to BJP national head J P Nadda, to serve in central deputation following the attack on his convoy on Thursday which left several BJP leaders including Kailash Vijayvargiya injured in the process. The IPS officers sought were Rajeev Mishra (Additional Director General, South Bengal), Praveen Tripathi (Deputy Inspector General, Presidency Range) and Bholanath Pandey (SP, Diamond Harbour).

Mamata Banerjee refuses to release the officers

However, the West Bengal state government had blatantly refused to give a No Objection Certificate (NOC) and release them. This had led to a massive tug of war between MHA and Mamata Banerjee. Hitting out at the Modi government, Mamata had said that her government would not bend before “expansionist” and “undemocratic” forces.

The MHA in its second directive on December 16 had transferred Mishra to ITBP, Pandey to Bureau of Police Research and Tripathi to SSB DIG. Mamata had slammed the move and the intent to use powers “covered under emergency laws”.

Mumbai police drop charges against woman who held ‘Free Kashmir’ placard, after Maha govt defends her actions

OpIndia Staff
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Mumbai police drop charges against woman who held ‘Free Kashmir’ placard, after Maha govt defends her actions

The Mumbai police on Tuesday dropped charges against ‘protestor’ Mehak Mirza Prabhu who was spotted with a ‘Free Kashmir’ poster at the anti-CAA protests in Mumbai in solidarity with anti-CAA protestors of Delhi.

In the ‘C Summary’ report filed by the Mumbai police in the case registered against Mahek Mirza Prabhu, the police have reportedly said that they found “no malicious motive” in the complaint.

It should be noted that police files a ‘C Summary’ report when the case is neither true nor false or when the criminal case was filed due to mistake of facts or the offence complained about is of a civil nature.

“Free Kashmir” poster at the anti-CAA protest

For the unversed, Mehak Mirza Prabhu, who identifies herself as a ‘storyteller’, had appeared at the anti-CAA protest held at the Gateway of India in January this year with a “free Kashmir” poster.

The presence of “free Kashmir” poster at the protest led many to suspect that it is not merely a students’ protest against the JNU violence, but there were anti-national forces involved. As it had turned out, the DGISPR of Pakistan, Asif Ghafoor, had cited a report about the placard to declare that it was the ‘beginning of the end’ for India. In his tweet, he also claimed that Kashmir is Pakistan.

In response to the outrage and the negative messages that were put out against Prabhu for pushing anti-India agenda, Mumbai police had on January 7 filed an FIR against her under Section 153 (B) of the Indian Penal Code for “imputation, assertions prejudicial to the national interest”.  

Maha Aghadi Govt in Maharashtra rush to defend the woman who held ‘free Kashmir’ placard during anti-CAA protest

Interestingly, soon after the FIR was registered, the Maha Aghadi government in Maharashtra had rushed to defend the woman. While Maharashtra Home Minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh had said that prima facie holding “Free Kashmir” poster did not look like the accused had any “anti-national intentions” and had said that he would review the FIR against the accused, Shiv Sena’s firebrand Sanjay Raut has stated that ‘free Kashmir’ posters did not mean actually ‘free Kashmir’ and they wanted only freedom from restrictions of internet services, mobile services and other issues.

Maharashtra government’s new tourism and environment minister Aaditya Thackeray had dismissed the ‘Free Kashmir’ placard at the protests and said that we need to “look at the larger picture”.

Moreover, the Shiv Sena, in its mouthpiece Saamana had also backed the accused despite the secessionist placard. “Mumbaikar Marathi girl lamented the plight of people of Kashmir in a peaceful manner. However, the Opposition is terming it as an act of treason. There can be no worse example by the Opposition parties,” wrote Shiv Sena. 

After pushing her anti-India agenda, woman issues apology

Following the outrage, Mehak Mirza Prabhu, had issued an apology saying that the “Placard meant freedom to express themselves, freedom from the internet lockdown which many people have been complaining about. I was voicing my solidarity for the basic constitutional right”.

Contractual workers tear Mamata Banerjee’s banners in Kolkata, block road, TMC leaders escorted out by police: Read why

OpIndia Staff
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Contractual workers tear Mamata Banerjee’s banners in Kolkata, block road, TMC leaders escorted out by police: Read why

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) party, which has been vocal about the ongoing anti-farm law agitation against the Union government, had drawn the ire of contractual workers associated with Self Employed Labor Organisations. The contractual labourers have been demanding that they be made permanent employees of the government and get a fixed salary instead of commission, that has dried up during the pandemic.

On Monday, during a meeting with the State government, angry workers tore down TMC banners and destroyed flex boards, featuring Mamata Banerjee, at the Netaji Indoor Stadium. In a video shared by ABP News, the contractual labourers could be seen taking out their anger against the current political dispensation. The incident took place in the presence of State Urban Minister Firhad Hakim, Power Minister Sobhan Deb Chattopadhyay and Labour Minister Moly Ghatak.

(Video Courtesy: ABP News)

As per reports, the contractual workers were hoping that the government would give them assurance about their long-standing salary demand or mention about the salary structure. However, when none of the TMC Minister spoke about it, the angry protestors ripped apart banners and flex boards.

“You have to give our monthly wage of ₹13,500,” said one protestor. Another worker asked, “We are supposed to get our salary today.” Why did it not happen?” When the police successfully escorted the TMC Ministers out of the stadium, the workers then blocked the Shahid Khudiram Bose Road.

Workers demand fixed minimum wage from the West Bengal government

According to the contractual labourers, the Self Employed Labor Organisation was formed to raise money every month in various social security schemes from 6500 unorganised workers in West Bengal during the Left regime. They said that they would receive commissions for withdrawing money for the unorganised workers. However, due to the pandemic, the withdrawal process had come to a halt since March-April of this year, thereby wiping out their commission. As such, they demanded a fixed minimum wage structure from the government, the assurance of which was not received during the meeting.

When contacted, Ghatak told PTI that the state government had received a deputation from the contractual labourers, which included the demand to make them permanent workers.

“We had nothing to announce today. We know that these labourers are not getting their commission for the last six months. We are looking into their demands but such protest was totally uncalled for,” Ghatak said.

In his defence, Firhad Hakim claimed, “Demands can’t be fulfilled like this. If we inform CM about it she will definitely do something.” However, power Minister Sovondeb Chattopadhyay conceded, “They have a legitimate demand and I hope the matter will be settled amicably.” While Hakim said that demands cannot be met this way, the contractual labourers said that they had agreed to attend this meeting only after an assurance was given that their demands would be met.

Mamata Banerjee writes to govt to disburse money under PM-Kisan scheme to her

In her letter issued on December 21, Mamata Banerjee had alleged that the West Bengal government still awaits the disbursement of funds to the state government for the onward transfer of the payments to the farmers of the state. Interestingly, the West Bengal CM has also enclosed a copy of a letter dated 9 September 2020 to allege that her government had not received the funds from the central government even after demanding for the same earlier in September.

Centre rejects Banerjee’s demand for routing the funds allocated under the scheme through the state government

In September 2020, Mamata Banerjee had written a letter to the Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, asking him to disburse the amount meant for farmers under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme to the West Bengal government. The Centre had then rejected Mamata Banerjee’s demand of routing the money to the state government, categorically stating that the scheme is based on direct benefit transfer to farmers’ account and “routing money through the state government would be against the spirit of the scheme”.

West Bengal remains the only state which has not implemented this scheme that provides an annual support amount of Rs 6,000 to farmers in three equal instalments.

As Sonu Sood’s book ‘I am no messiah’ gets negative ratings, Amazon restricts review submission

OpIndia Staff
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As Sonu Sood’s book ‘I am no messiah’ gets negative ratings, Amazon restricts review submission

E-commerce giant Amazon on Monday restricted review submission for Bollywood entertainer Sonu Sood’s memoir “I am no messiah”.

Sonu Sood’s book’s restricted review

As per the blurb of Sonu Sood’s book, instead of expressing his generosity through remote control, he got off the ‘ivory towers’ and came face to face with the trauma of India’s migrant labourers. He also ‘understood’ how “a food packet was a woefully inadequate substitute for a ride back home.”

During the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, as per the book’s blurb, Sonu Sood spurred into action for the value of ‘seva’ to serve the mankind. However, Sonu Sood’s heroics don’t seem to have gone down well with readers.

Readers not too happy with ‘I am no messiah’

Out of the 21-odd reviews on Amazon, about 75% reviewers gave it 1 star rating. One reviewer said that it would be better to use the money to feed a poor than buy this book. Another reviewer found the memoir outrageously cringeworthy. “Even secret lives of Bollywood wives was perhaps less idiotic than this. His charity started (if at all) probably May and within a few months a book is getting released. Hopefully Coming Filmfare He gets Most Selfless “Star” of the Year Award along with dada saheb phalke and nobel peace prize nomination. As a generation we need to introspect deeply,” he said while giving it 1 star rating.

Sonu Sood’s book’s reviews

Some reviews were quite brutal.

However, soon after Sonu Sood’s memoirs started getting negative reviews, Amazon has suspended reviews for the book.

Sonu sood and Chinese coronavirus pandemic

During the lockdown that was imposed to curb Chinese coronavirus pandemic, many migrant workers who live and work in other states were stuck as buses, trains and flights came to a halt. Later, the government arranged for Shramik Express to facilitate the migrant workers to go to their home states. Many individuals, like Sonu Sood, also came forward to help migrants reach home.

Earlier in May, Sonu Sood was accused of being a BJP stooge for arranging transport for migrant workers from Maharashtra to other parts of India who were stuck in Maharashtra due to coronavirus lockdown. The attack on social media from ‘liberals’ and Islamists came after he met Maharashtra governor. Soon, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut attacked him and questioned how he managed transportation for migrant workers amid lockdown.

However, a day later he met Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his son and minister Aaditya Thackeray. The Maharashtra government run by Shiv Sena-NCP and Congress alliance had received flak over mismanagement over handling coronavirus pandemic in the state, especially the treatment of migrants.

Sonu Sood and the ‘help’ that never was

In September this year, Sonu Sood ‘promised help’ to 350 boatsmen in Varanasi. He made the promise while responding to viral images. Some videos were shared on social media where claims were made that the boatsmen in Varanasi are facing financial crunch and that as many as 350 families are forced to sleep hungry. However, the truth was far from what is propagated.

Speaking to OpIndia, members of Nishad community clarified how they have never had to beg for food and the media reports of 350 families being hungry are all rumours. Local councillor Narsingh Das was engaged in distributing ration even when OpIndia contacted him.

While it is true that coronavirus pandemic has hit us hard, the above media reports of boatsmen and their families sleeping hungry were incorrect.

Sonu Sood and ‘UN award’ that never was

In September this year, various media portals reported that Sonu had been awarded the SDG Special Humanitarian Action Award by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Sonu Sood getting ‘UN’ award media coverage

There have been two recent incidents (West Bengal’s so-called UNWPA recognition for Mamata Banerjee and the case of ‘Drone Boy’) when awards that people claimed to have won were either proved to be fake, or the name of the organization was misleading.

When OpIndia tried to find any announcement about the said award on the UNDP website or SDG Action Campaign Awards website, there was no info about it. The social media accounts did not have any information on the award presented to Sonu Sood, either. SDG Action Awards were still accepting applications, and the last date was 9th October 2020. The previous winners’ list has winners from 2019 and none from 2020. At the time of this report, SDG Action Awards have only given the list of finalists, not winners.

So when Sood, in his memoirs, writes that he is not a messiah, he is being quite honest.

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