The Jammu and Kashmir police have encountered three local Islamic terrorists in the Tiken, Pulwama. According to the reports, the terrorists killed in the Pulwama encounter were part of the Al-Badr outfit, IGP Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said.
#UPDATE All three local terrorists of Al-Badre outfit killed in Tiken, Pulwama encounter: Vijay Kumar, IGP Kashmir
All three terrorists are local youths. The encounter began on early Wednesday morning after J&K police, CRPF and Rashtriya Rifles launched a joint search operation in the Tiken area after receiving inputs about the presence of terrorists.
As the forces closed in, the terrorists fired upon them. After the forces came under fire, they retaliated killing three terrorists. During the encounter, a civilian was hit by a bullet. He was rushed to the hospital immediately.
Talking about the encounter, IGP Vijay Kumar said, “one civilian was shot at his leg when terrorists opened fire. He is stable. Three terrorists have been killed. They were local terrorists and affiliated with Al-Badre. We are searching the area to ensure there is no old/unused grenade left,”
Al-Badr is an Islamic terrorist group, sponsored by Pakistan to inflict terror in Kashmir region. The group was formed by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence in the late 90s with the support of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.
A video has gone viral on social media where a Sardarji, Kuldip Singh Kaler, is listing out products Gujarat gives to the country and world, making the enterprising state very ‘atmanirbhar’. The video, released in May this year after PM Modi’s call for Atmanirbhar Bharat, is being shared on various social media platforms.
“From Jasuben’s pizza and tea of Tea Post, let me introduce you to Atmanirbhar Gujarat,” he says in crisp, clear Gujarati. Ahead of 2014 General Elections, the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had made Jasuben’s pizza a household name as he spoke about women entrepreneurs at a FICCI meet.
Kaler then proceeds to give a long list of everyday products either made by Gujaratis or made in Gujarat most of which you might have most likely heard.
“Where was world’s cheapest car manufactured? In Ahmedabad. Where was the world’s cheapest ventilator made? In Rajkot. So, now where should we buy things from? Cold drink from Sosyo, biscuit from Parle, sherbet from Rasna, spices from Ramdev, LED from Orpat, fans from Symphony, milk from AMUL, flour from local mill, soap from Nirma, ceramic from Morbi, Saree from Surat and machines from Rajkot. Clothes from Arvind and Vimal and medicines from Zydus and Cadila. Snacks from Jagdish and Balaji, dabeli (Gujarati snack) from Karnavati and burger from Jai Bhavani (local stores). Vessels from Odhav and jewellery from Bagasra (localities in Gujarat specialising in these products) and finally autorickshaws from Atul,” he says.
Sosyo, one of India’s oldest aerated drinks was a product of Swadeshi movement call by Mahatma Gandhi and originated in Surat. Similarly, cooperative dairy Amul brought about a milk revolution in Gujarat and India. Everyday brands like Ramdev spices, Arvind and Nirma also have their roots firmly in Gujarat.
Kaler then says that when the government announced economic package for boosting economy in middle of Chinese coronavirus pandemic, a Gujarati would never think that what can I get. “A Gujarati will always think what he could give back,” he says. One Gujarati brought together India that was divided into various princely states, he says referring to Sardar Patel, the Iron Man of India. “If these 6 crore Gujaratis make up their mind, India will get back on its feet within days,” he said.
Ahead of the eighth anniversary of the Nirbhaya case and on the occasion of Sonia Gandhi’s 74th birthday, it is important to revisit Congress party’s lackadaisical approach in implementing a harsh rape-related legal framework to deter growing incidents of rapes in the country.
In the aftermath of the gruesome Nirbhaya case that shook the nation’s conscience towards the safety and security of her women population, the Congress-led UPA-II government formed a three-member team headed by CJI Verma(retd) to examine and suggest changes to the legal framework that would help in clamping down the surging rape incidents. The report was submitted by the committee on January 23, 2013.
Congress representative visits Justice Verma’s residence late in midnight
In an interview with the Indian Express, Justice Verma revealed that a Congress member came to his house past midnight on January 5, insisting on personally handing over the party’s suggestions to the committee to him. The man was reportedly sent by Janardhan Dwivedi.
Justice Verma summarily refused to accept the letter and asked the Congress member to either leave the letter at the gate or deliver it the next day at the committee’s office at Vigyan Bhawan.
Naturally, the flippant behaviour of the representative of a national political party raised the hackles of the former Chief Justice. He brought the incident to the notice of a senior Congress leader and expressed his disapproval to him.
Following this incident, Sonia Gandhi called Justice Verma and personally apologised for the misbehaviour of her party’s representative.
Sushil Kumar Shinde did not bother to receive the committee report: Justice Verma
The former CJI had also revealed that the then Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, who had appointed the committee, didn’t for once interact with the committee. The Congress party was so unconcerned about the committee’s report that neither Sushil Kumar Shinde nor Union Home Secretary R K Singh was present to accept the report. Instead, the report was accepted by the Joint Secretary in the ministry.
The Omkarnath Matha at Tarakeshwar in West Bengal has been facing threats of massive land encroachment from the real estate mafia in the state. Recently, the head of the maṭha was threatened by builders for protesting against the land encroachment.
According to the reports, Tridondi Swami Keshav Ramanuj Jiyur Maharaj ji, the head of Omkarnath Matha has lodged a written complaint at Tarakeshwar police station after he received threats from a builder recently after he questioned the encroachment of temple’s land.
Recently, land adjacent to Matha’s premises was purchased by a local promoter. The land which is located near Joy Krishna Bazar, Tarakeshwar, did not have an approach road. The builder began to create a road through the Matha premises by filling the marshy land belonging to Matha with a JCB, resulting in an argument between two sides. As Swami Maharaji protested against encroachment, he was threatened and abused.
Premises of Omkarnath Mutt at Tarakeshwar is encroached and Head of Mutt threatened by rowdy promoters. The temerity behind such aggressive act stems out of administrative and political indifference and intolerance towards Hindu Temples.
— Shovan Shesadrinath Ramanujdas (@shesadrinath) December 5, 2020
Boundary wall of the matha has also been demolished in the past
In 2017, the boundary wall of the maṭha was also demolished during the construction of a multi-storied building. A court case in connection with the incident is currently in the court.
Reportedly, Swami Keshav Ramanuj Jiyur Maharaj ji, who is the head of the maṭha is also being mentally harassed by local goons. They have threatened him with dire consequences. He has also lodged a complaint at the local police station as he had no other option.
Following threats by the real estate mafia in the state, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) along with other Hindu organisations are trying to contact the maṭha authority to offer support.
On December 9, the Narcotics Control Bureau arrested Regel Mahakal, the drug peddler who had been absconding. He was accused of supplying drugs to actress Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik. Regel will be produced in court on Wednesday. Regel accused of supply drugs to Anuj Keshwani, who further distributed the drugs to others.
NCB has conducted a raid in Lokhandwala, Mumbai and seized cash and a huge cache of high-quality ‘Malana cream’, that is considered the purest form of hashish. The value of the seized drug is estimated at about Rs 2.5 crores. Earlier, NCB had arrested Anuj Keshwani in connection with the drug case. Keshwani, an alleged drug peddler, was arrested after another peddler Kaizan Ebrahim had disclosed his name. Apart from Rhea and Showik, Abdul Basit, Zaid Vilatra, Dipesh Sawant, and Samuel Miranda were also arrested by NCB.
As per the latest reports by ANI, Mahakal was taken first for a medical test. Later the Esplanade court has sent him to 2-day NCB custody.
Sushant Singh Rajput case
Actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his residence on June 14, 2020. His case took several twists and turns, after which NCB also filed a case after evidence of drug abuse was found by the investigation agencies. NCB arrested actress Rhea Chakraborty, former girlfriend of Rajput, and her brother Showik Chakraborty in the case. While Rhea was granted bail on October 7, Showik was only able to come out of the jail on bail on December 2. CBI and ED are also investigating the case in their own capacity.
On the occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day, the Congress party, which is often seen as the embodiment of corruption in the country, took to Twitter to preach the rest of country about the ill effects of corruption.
The Congress party that is accused of dozens of scams in the several decades of their reign on India, put out a message saying that corruption is immoral and a betrayal of the people’s trust. Calling corruption was a social evil, the Congress party also added that we all must stand together and fight against it.
Following Congress party’s moral lectures on social media on corruption, netizens reminded the Congress of their own track record.
Reacting to the tweet put out by the Congress party, another user named Mallikarjuna said that the German Nazi army should get Nobel Peace Prize in the same way that the Congress should get Noble Anti-Corruption Prize.
In mother of all ironies, today is also former Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s birthday, under whose leadership, the UPA government led by Congress from 2004 to 2014 presided over some of the biggest corruption scams in the history of independent India.
Various social media users took to Twitter to highlight the amusing irony of the day. BJP leader and former governor Tathagata Roy has also joined in.
Similarly, another user also pointed out the paradox of the International Anti-Corruption Day and Sonia Gandhi’s birthday being celebrated on the same day.
Rosy, another prominent social media user, also said how the world was already celebrating her birth day of Sonia Gandhi on the Anti-Corruption day.
It is pertinent to note that the Congress party during its rule in the last seventy years has allowed monumental scams that have resulted in the loss of several lakhs of crores to the public exchequer. The party, on its own as well as with its allies, has been accused of a host of scams including the Jeep scam, 2G scam, Bofors, AgustaWestland helicopter scam, Scorpene submarine scam, Maharashtra irrigation, Commonwealth Games scam, Adarsh Housing Society scam, Coal scams and many more.
Earlier on Tuesday, the interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi had decided to make ‘great sacrifices’ in order to demonstrate her self-proclaimed unparalleled devotion towards the farmers of the country. The interim party president has announced that she will not be celebrating her birthday on the 9th of December in light of the ongoing protests against the newly passed farm bills and the Coronavirus pandemic. The Congress president is currently holidaying in Goa.
The fight between Software Engineer Pradeep Poonia and WhiteHatJr is becoming murkier every day. In the ongoing case in High Court, the next date for the hearing was set for January 6, 2021. Meanwhile, Pradeep Poonia has alleged that WhiteHatJr and its founder Karan Bajaj are not leaving any stone unturned to silence his voice. As per the LinkedIn post of December 7, Poonia said that his Twitter @WhiteHatSnr account was suspended, and WhiteHatJr is allegedly behind the suspension.
WhiteHatSnr suspended from Twitter
In the post, he mentioned that so far, 17 YouTube videos, 2 YouTube channels, 2 Reddit accounts, 1st Twitter handle, 1 Quora account, and 3 LinkedIn articles have been removed. He further added that the company had forced him to remove 12 tweets and 4 videos using legal muscle.
High Court ordered Poonia to take down tweets
On November 23, the Delhi High Court had ordered Pradeep Poonia to take down specific tweets against WhiteHatJr. The court had specifically asked him if he wanted to say that ‘housewives are uneducated.’ In his Tweets, Poonia had reportedly alleged that the teachers on the WhiteHatJr platform are not educated and pointed in a ‘derogatory’ way that how ‘housewives’ can teach programming. The court had also restrained him from commenting on the educational or professional background of the teachers.
The court said, “You are saying that their teachers are housewives, are you saying they are uneducated persons? How can you be so derogatory towards them? Of course, this is defamation.” The court was also displeased by the fact that Poonia had posted personal numbers of the teachers on social media platforms. Justice Gupta said, “Who are you to put their numbers in the public domain? Who has given you this right?”
Delhi HC: Who is stopping you from a healthy discussion? They have a registered trademark. You are saying that their teachers are housewives, are you saying they are uneducated persons? How can you be so derogatory towards them? Ofcourse this is defamation. #WhiteHatJr
“Is this not malicious that you are stating their teachers are housewives? Even if they are housewives what is the problem if they’re doing part-time jobs?” Justice Gupta further questioned Poonia. The court had ordered Poonia to take down specific tweets dated 12.09.2020 regarding the number of teachers at WhiteHat Jr, 5.09.2020 alleging WhiteHat to be a pyramid scheme, and other specific tweets dated 11.10.2020, 3.09.2020, 22.09.2020, 20.10.2020, 23.10.2020 respectively, Live Law reported.
HC: Poonia is directed to Take Down a tweets dated 12.09.2020 regarding no. of teachers, 5.09.2020 reg pyramid scheme, other specific tweets on 11.10.2020, 3.09.2020, 22.09.2020, 20.10.2020, 23.10.2020.
The court also restrained him from hacking or unauthorized accessing of the internal communication platform SLACK. The court asked him not to post any internal communication between WhiteHatJr’s employees on social media platforms. He was directed to remove specific videos as well.
What was the case?
WhiteHatJr and its founder Karan Bajaj had filed a defamation suit of Rs.20 crore against YouTuber and alleged whistle-blower Pradeep Poonia. In a series of allegations, Poonia had accused WhiteHatJr of misleading its customers with fake stats and advertisements. Karan Bajaj, the founder of WhiteHatJr, alleged that in early September, Poonia started posting on various social media platforms against WhiteHatJr. He had called his claims sinister and defamatory in nature. Bajaj had alleged that WhiteHatJr filed takedown notices to social media platforms, and they were removed only to be reuploaded again and again by Poonia.
Two homosexual cousin sisters from Jhumri Telaiya in Kodarma district of Jharkhand, who were missing since past few days, have reportedly married each other. The family of the women had filed a complaint after they went missing. Last week on Thursday, their family members found out that they had been living in a rented house in the Chandwara area after ‘marrying’ each other. They families traced them and forcefully brought them back.
The families had brought the women to the police but the police turned them away, refusing to interfere as the women are adults.
According to reports, the women have been ‘together’ for the past five years. Last month, they ran away and got married in a temple on November 8. They wanted to move to another city to avoid any trouble. One of them is reported to be 24-years old and the other 20-year old. One of them is a graduate while the other one is 12th pass.
The women said that no matter what troubles came their way, they would always stay together. They are not ashamed of their relationship. The women said that they are well aware of the fact that homosexual relationships have been decriminalised. They said that they were inspired by the relationship of New York-based lesbian couple Anjali Chakraborty and Sophie Sandals.
Both the sisters had started living in without informing their families before they got married in a Shiv temple. This is said to be the first case of same-sex marriage in Kodarma district.
Court had decriminalised sexual relations between consenting adults of the same-sex
In 2018, a five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court had decriminalised homosexuality between consenting adults by removing a part of section 377 that had mentioned homosexuality as ‘unnatural’ and punishable under the law.
On December 8, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra’s videos appeared on social media platforms in which she was heard calling media persons “two-paisa worth”. A person at the party meeting was asked to leave by the MP. As per the reports, when he introduced himself as a reporter, Krishnanagar MP Moitra got furious and asked him to leave. The incident took place on Sunday in the Nadia district.
In the now-viral video, she was heard saying in Bengali, “Who has called ‘du poisar’ (two-paisa worth) press here? Do remove these elements from the venue. Some of our party members invite such people to closed-door meetings to see their faces on TV. This is not done.”
Kolkata Press Club expressed displeasure
Kolkata Press Club has issued a statement in which they said they are deeply concerned about the comments. They said, “In a democratic setup, the importance of journalism and the respect it commands is known to all. Journalists braving adverse situations as part of their professional struggle and social responsibility are respected globally.” Snehasis Sur, a veteran journalist and president of the Kolkata Press Club, criticized her statement and said, “We don’t need to hear from Moitra how this institution has contributed to journalism during the Independence struggle, the Bangladesh war or the Emergency.”
“I was not talking to the press,” explains Moitra
Indian Express has quoted her defending the remarks. She said that the reporter was called by someone who was unhappy with the recent changes in the organization. It was a closed-door meeting. When she was asked about the criticism by Kolkata Press Club, she said, “Press Club should instead give training, not everyone with a mobile phone can be called a ‘journalist’. It was a closed-door meeting and I do not allow my workers to carry phones.”
Moitra described the whole incident in her words. She said that Bapi Chatterjee, a TMC leader, was the party president in Gayeshpur last year, but he was replaced by Mintu Dey. However, political strategist Prashant Kishor later reinstated Chatterjee that angered Dey. Chatterjee was labelled as an outsider as he was from the Kalyan area located in the neighbourhood of Gayeshpur.
On Sunday, she went to the party meeting to resolve the internal issues. When she reached there, they were holding placards that read, “Outsider president manbo naa (We will not accept an outsider as president).” There were altercations between the supporters of Mintu and Bapi when she arrived at the venue.
On entering the auditorium, she noticed only Bapi’s men were present, so she went outside to call Mintu and his supporters. She noticed a huge gathering outside and saw some people recording the conversation with the party workers. She said this was the time she made the remarks, “Why do you call the two-paisa worth press to our closed-door meetings? Why are you all so interested to get your pictures published in papers?”
She further said, “What I said was between me and my party workers. I didn’t tell this to the journalists. I saw a man standing at a distance recording all this on his mobile.”
Mahua defends her statement with a meme
Though during the conversation with the news agency, she said the person she referred to as ‘two-paisa press’ was ‘not’ from the press, and she spoke to ‘real journalists’ after the meeting, her meme on Twitter seems to say that she meant whatever she said.
Tweet by Mahua Moitra defending her statement
Moitra had shared a tweet in which she wrote, “My meme-editing skills are improving!” with the image on which she had placed an old 2-paisa coin with the text “I apologize for the mean hurtful things I said.”
Moitra’s statement attracted in-party criticism
TMC’s panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee held a press conference at TMC headquarters and said what Moitra said is not the party’s opinion. Mamata Banerjee believes in the media and shares information with the press. We maintain a cordial relationship with the media even if you write against us.”
Moitra had tried to use her parliamentary privilege against Zee News
Mahua Moitra has been in the news often for rather controversial reasons. She had once shown “the middle finger” to a news editor on live TV. Her maiden speech in the Lok Sabha was in the news for being allegedly plagiarised. However, when Zee News Editor Sudhir Chaudhary said that it was plagiarised, Moitra had tried to browbeat Chaudhary by submitting a breach of privilege motion against Chaudhary claiming that he had falsely reported her maiden address in the lower house of the parliament. However, the Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla did not accept the breach of privilege motion submitted by the Trinamool MP then.
Moitra had then proceeded to file criminal defamation charges against Sudhir Chaudhary and Zee News. When Zee News and Sudhir Chaudhary did not relent, Moitra had started a number of public rants against the media house, calling them derogatory words like “thieves, paid news, budbak” etc. In response, Zee News had also filed a criminal defamation suit against her.
Communal tension prevailed in Bilsi town of Budaun, Uttar Pradesh, after a grave was dug next to a temple. As reported by Jagran, in a bid to spoil communal harmony, some people dug up a grave for one Sameer, son of Sakuri, next to a Hindu temple.
When people saw a grave was being dug next to a temple, they raised objections. The land was also a private property of some people there. Following this, people of both communities got into an argument.
Upon getting information regarding the incident, a team from administration as well as police officials reached on the spot. Tehsil team checked up the records and informed that the land is recorded as a temple. It was also private property of some people. Hence, the grave could not be dug up there.
The police controlled the situation and a JCB was called in to fill up the dug up grave.
As per the report, one Sameer passed away on Monday after a trolly filled with bricks fell on him. On Tuesday, his family members started digging up the grave right next to the temple to bury him. When they got to know about it, the temple’s chairman Anuj Varshney, Tehsildar Ashok Soni as well as SHO Dharmendra Kumar reached on spot with his team.
Sameer’s family was adamant to bury him next to the temple despite being informed that the land is registered as a temple and in name of few private individuals. They relented only after police showed strictness, as per the report.
