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BARC says exactly what India Today said when the truth was revealed: ‘But it was confidential’

K Bhattacharjee
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BARC says exactly what India Today said when the truth was revealed: ‘But it was confidential’

Republic TV revealed on Sunday that they were told by TV viewership rating agency BARC in an email that there has been no case, complaint or proof against Republic TV in the ongoing ‘Fake TRP’ scam as alleged by Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh. As expected, the report created a storm as it completely debunks any defence the Mumbai Police might have for the targeted harassment of Republic TV and Arnab Goswami. It may be noted that while the BARC’s associate Hansa Reseach had filed a case against its one ex-employee for manipulating TRP of India Today, Mumbai Police has been trying to implicate Republic TV in the case, shielding India Today.

BARC, however, has now come forward and issued a strong statement against Republic TV and condemned it for revealing what it calls confidential communication. It said, “BARC India is highly disappointed with the actions of the Republic Network by disclosing private and confidential communications and misrepresenting the same.”

“BARC India reiterates that it has not commented on the ongoing investigation and without prejudice to BARC India’s rights, it expresses its dismay at the actions of the Republic Network,” it added. The harsh tone adopted by the rating agency appears rather inconsistent with Republic TV’s supposed transgressions.

While BARC didn’t deny the content of the email they had sent to Republic which was aired by the channel, they objected to broadcast of the contents of the mail saying it was ‘private and confidential’. They also accused Republic of misrepresentation of facts, although they did not elaborate on that accusatoin.

Even if we assume for a moment that communication is indeed confidential, under such circumstances, the most obvious question that comes to mind is why should the information contained within the communication be confidential? With media trial underway across all channels and the reputation of Republic TV being dragged through the mud, it is imperative that authorities with the wherewithal to clear the air do come forward and do their job.

However, it appears that thus far BARC had been in possession of crucial evidence all this while that absolved Republic TV of all allegations and yet, it chose not do so and sat on it for reasons best known to itself. Instead of demonstrating moral fortitude, BARC decided to tolerate gross injustice and now it screams haughtily that Republic TV behaved indecently. The audacity of it is amusing indeed.

Let us consider the other situation from the other end now. Arnab Goswami was being harassed by the Mumbai Police for weeks now. If that weren’t enough, the Mumbai Police began targeting employees of the news network. Two of them even spent a couple of days in jail. Consulting editor Pradeep Bhandari was harangued as well even yesterday at a time when he was granted anticipatory bail.

Imagine yourself in his shoes for a moment. You have evidence at hand that proves that you and your employees, whose safety and well-being and health you are responsible for at the workplace, are being targeted maliciously. You are up against a government that has chosen to disregard every institutional norm and you have your back against the wall. What do you do at that point?

Do you sit on information that proves your innocence and sit by and watch as your employees are targeted? No decent man would opt for that choice. Amusingly enough, the ‘confidentiality’ argument used by BARC here was first used by India Today a few days ago. When OpIndia had revealed that India Today was imposed a fine of Rs. 5 lakh by BARC for TRP manipulation, the network had accused BARC of leaking confidential information, while not denying that they were found guilty and were punished. BARC appears to be learning a few tricks from people it would do well to stay away from.

Let us now come to the crux of the BARC argument on ‘confidentiality’. The fact of the matter is, journalism has always had a rather toxic relationship with confidentiality. One keeps betraying the trust of the other and is unfaithful by default but the other keeps returning to it over and over and over again.

Indeed, true journalism will not be possible if journalists respected confidentiality all the time. Some of the greatest stories in journalism and greatest accomplishments were achieved by betraying confidentiality. Julian Assange is arguably the most important journalist alive and Wikileaks is what it is precisely because it leaks classified documents obtained from anonymous sources.

Breaking confidentiality and publishing classified documents that expose government corruption is one of the core functions of journalism. It is precisely how journalists serve the greater public good. And this is recognised by every journalist worth their salt. But we are suddenly going to develop other standards merely because Republic TV is involved?

It is hugely hypocritical to make such an assertion. The status of the BARC communication ought to be of no concern to anybody and it is only its contents that we should concern ourselves with. And the contents of it themselves could not be clearer given that BARC has not contested its legitimacy. It is a witch-hunt that the Mumbai Police is carrying out against Republic and one day that is reminiscent of the dark days of the Emergency.

Jharkhand: Quarrel among youths takes a communal turn as 65-year old woman Sunarkalo Kunwar get lynched by a mob

OpIndia Staff
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Jharkhand: Quarrel among youths takes a communal turn as 65-year old woman Sunarkalo Kunwar get lynched by a mob

In Lakhana Village, Jharkhand, a 65-year-old woman Sunarkalo Kunwar was beaten to death with sticks over a clash that started with a quarrel among youths in the village. On 9th October, four boys from the village, Niranjan Kumar, Omprakash Kumar, Rishu Kumar, and Chunchun Kumar, were returning after defecating at around 7 PM. Golden Khan, Ejaz Khan, Ghaffar Khan, Mustafa Khan, Ansar Khan, Asghar Khan, Dilkhush Khan, Aashiq Khan, Sadru Khan, etc. were coming from the other side. They started pelting stones on them.

When Niranjan etc. opposed, the other group started abusing and assaulting them. Niranjan’s grandmother, 65-year-old Sunarkalo Kunwar, learned about the fight and reached the spot to intervene. But when reached there, she was attacked with sticks that resulted in severe injuries. She was rushed to Sadar Hospital for treatment, where she succumbed to her injuries.

Accused used to tease women

Niranjan Kumar said that when women and children of the village go for defecation in the evening and in the morning, the people from the particular community used to stand next to them. Women used to complain about their behavior, and there were several disputes over the issue.

Police investigation and arrests of the accused

As soon as the police were informed, they reached the spot and started an investigation in the matter. As the situation in the village turned hostile, police camped there to control law and order. SDPO Wahman Tutti said the matter in which an elderly woman died after being assaulted is under investigation.

On 13th October, four of the accused were arrested by Garwa Police based on the complaint filed by the grandson of the deceased, Niranjan Chandravanshi. The FIR was registered against five people. The Police raided several locations to find the accused. They arrested Golden Khan, son of Sajjad Khan, Mustafa Khan, son of Mantu Khan, Ashik Khan, son of Sameemul Haque, and Ghaffar Khan, son of Maqsood Khan. The Police emphasized that the incident took place between two families and there is no communal angle in it.

Caste over development is evident in the upcoming Bihar Assembly Elections

अजीत झा
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Caste over development is evident in the upcoming Bihar Assembly Elections

There are two assembly seats in Lakhisarai district that are Lakhisarai and Suryagarh. On 28th October, voting will occur for both the seats, and the contest will be directly between BJP-led NDA and the RJD-led coalition.

In these regions, voters are divided based on caste and it is clearly evident. It also shows that the caste of the leader is more important than development for the people of this region.

Candidates contesting in the region

For BJP, Vijay Kumar Sinha, Labor Resource Minister, will contest the election. He has won the seat for two consecutive terms. Congress has named Amresh Kumar for the seat. Kumar was a JDU leader who shifted to Congress some time back. JDU is fielding Ramanand Mandal, and RJD is fielding MLA Prahlad Yadav from Suryagarh.

75 to 80 percent of Yadav votes may go to Lantern (RJD)

Bilouri Panchayat of Lakhisarai Legislative Assemble seat is adjacent to the district headquarters. Bilouri, Ophhapur, Karauta, and Pachaita come under this panchayat. It is a Yadav-dominated panchayat with voters from Muslim, Kurmi and Mahadalit sections as well. According to the local people, the area has around 10,000 voters and around 50 percent come out to vote. This time, they are expecting to have a better turnout as people have returned home amid the Covid-19 lockdown.

The condition of the road connecting Lakhsarai and Bilouri is not good. There is a pond near the entrance of the village spread over six bighas. There is no encroachment on the land surrounding the pond, which is rare. The ghats on the pond are developed under a government scheme. There is a shed constructed on one side of the pond by local MLA Vijay Sharma using his MLA fund. It is the usual place of gathering for people to play cards in the afternoon. On one side of the pond, there is a temple and a government hospital. On the other side, there are two schools. The canal passed through the village. There is electricity in the village, and water has reached the village under ‘Har Ghar Nal Jal Yojana.’ However, people are talking about a change in power in the region.

Ram Charitra Yadav said, “We are dependent on farming and animal husbandry. Some men go to Punjab and Haryana to earn livelihood. There is no work of government in our village. You can see the condition of the road. Power cuts are normal in the region.”

Bihari Yadav said, “The hospital building is there but it is empty as there are no facilities.”

Kanchan Kumar said, “Nitish Kumar talks about uninterrupted power supply. My village does not get power even for 6 hours. We gave several applications to the Minister (Vijay Kumar Sinha) but no one pays heed to our voice. The Minister does not care as this is a backward village.”

JP Yadav said,”Some people have got Indira housing and Toilets. The work related to tap water is 50 percent done. Rest of the money allotted for the area was embezzled.” According to him, “Lalu Yadav is a ‘Maharathi’. The lantern gets vote. He is rotting in Jail because of Modiya (PM Narendra Modi). Lalu and Jagannath Mishra have similar cases against them. While Mishra was released, Yadav was punished. We are with Lalu Prasad. “

Brahmdev Yadav was also angry with the government. He said, “The rail is closed for eight months. Corona lockdown is intentional. Modi government thinks that the public is stupid. Every voter is going to vote for Tejashwi Yadav.”

Rajkumar Yadav, former RJD Block President, said, “The village head got the government work done in this area. MP-MLA has not done any work. All the votes in this region will go to the grand alliance. Most of the voters will opt for the alliance.

Harihar Yadav claimed, “75 to 80 percent Yadav votes are with Latern.”

‘Prahlad Yadav will win because he is Lalu’s man.’

Khairi village of Mahisona panchayat of Suryagarh is also Yadav dominated and adjacent to the district headquarters. According to the villagers, there are about 1500 voters. Around 1000 are from the Yadav community. They are clearly favoring the RJD candidate. Everyone has their own reason to support RJD.

Vikar Kumar said, “Leaders do not pay heed to the region. But Prahlad Yadav is Lalu’s man so he will win.” Ramji Yadav said, “We were heard under Lalu’s regime. If someone goes to the office for the some work, the officer would do the work. Under Nitish’s rule bureaucracy is more powerful. Now if someone goes to a leader’s office, he gets trapped.”

Ramji also dismissed claims of progress in the area and said, “There was a road before as well but it was not properly built. Lalu laid down the foundation of the road structure and Nitish Kumar just completed it. Today, the road is two-lane. In future is someone makes it a four-lane, it will be called development. Main structure was possible because of Lalu Yadav.”

Ramashray Yadav Said, “Toilets are beneficiary but bribery is an issue. To get housing under Indira scheme one has to pay Rs.30,000. Tap water work is still pending by 50 percent. Water supply started only four months ago. Everyone knows that people will vote for lantern here so they stopped the work.”

Manu Yadav, a tea shop owner, said, “There is a government school but there are no teachers. We have four children and all of them study in a private school. No one takes care of the government school.” He further added, “There is hospital next to the school but there are no doctors. People have to go to a private hospital. Government hospital is standing only as a building with zero facilities.”

Ban on sand mining and its effects on the region

People have resentment over the closure of sand excavation from the Kiul river. Ramji Yadav said, “It is the main problem. Sand site is closed. This government has created a mess for the region. Previous government was better.” Due to the ban on sand excavation, other businesses like trucks, tractors, pick-up vans, etc. got affected. Workers are not getting work in the region. Migration has increased in recent times. Pravesh Mahato of Tetarhat said, “A lot of work has been done but the ban on sand mining has affected people greatly.”

Several concerns affecting the mindset of the voters

There are several factors that are affecting the voters. The strengthening of the Mai (Muslim and Yadav) equation does not mean that everything will depend on it. The core RJD voters are not happy with the Congress getting the Lakhisarai seat. In 2005, Fulaina Singh, who defeated Vijay Kumar Sinha from this seat on the RJD ticket, favors NDA. The rebels of BJP and JDU are also in the field.

Similarly, Ravi Shankar Singh, alias Ashok Singh, contests the LJP ticket in Suryagarh that causes trouble for JDU. Ravishankar Singh, who changed party after not getting access, is known to be close to local MP and Nitish Kumar. It is also notable that Prahlad Yadav, who won the 1995 election as an independent, won the seat in 2000 and 2005 elections for RJD. He after that, he faced defeat twice. The last time he won the election was because of JDU support to RJD.

This is the reason when Nitish Kumar held a meeting in Suryagarh on 15th October, he called his relationship with the region and reminded the people of Jungle Raj. He said, “I have had association with Suryagarh and Lakhisarai since the time of formation Samata party. I believe in work. I have worked since 2005. Eliminated Jungle Raj. Bihar has progressed. For 15 years, husband and wife ruled the region but they did not work for the welfare of the people. Earlier, people did not leave their house in the evening but now they can roam freely.”

However, the future of these two seats is hidden in the opinion of Praveen Kumar Yadav of Bilouri, who completed his graduation last year. He said, “Everyone feels that this time there should be change. But this is not going to harm BJP. If BJP had fought separately without Nitish Kumar, it would have been more beneficial for them.”

After Chinese phones blocking weather data for Arunachal and Ladakh, now Twitter shows Leh as part of China

OpIndia Staff
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After Chinese phones blocking weather data for Arunachal and Ladakh, now Twitter shows Leh as part of China

A day after netizens revealed that default weather apps in Chinese mobile phones are deliberately omitting weather reports of Indian territories, which China claims as ‘disputed’, microblogging website Twitter has stirred a new controversy on Sunday.

During a live session on Twitter, national security analyst Nitin A Gokhale found that Twitter has labelled the Indian territory of Leh in Ladakh as part of People’s Republic of China (PRC). Gokhale, the founder of Strat News Global, had marked his location as ‘Hall of Fame Leh’. However, the microblogging platform displayed the area as a part of PRC. The screengrab of the video read, “Nitin A Gokhale was live. Jammu and Kashmir, People’s Republic of China.”

Twitter labels Leh as part of China

While slamming Twitter for its outrageous action, the national security analyst demanded immediate action from the Government of India against the microblogging platform. He wrote, “Tweeple please put Hall of Fame Leh as your location for live broadcast and see what’s happening.” Gokhale emphasised, “It shows the location as Jammu and Kashmir, Peoples Republic of China. I tested it again. Outrageous.” He urged netizens to flood Twitter with complaints so as to mount pressure on the micro-blogging platform to correct the error.

Later when he entered Leh’s Kushak Bakula Airport as his location, the result was same. This time also the location was determined by Twitter as China.

Technical glitch or deliberate oversight?

On the request of Nitin A Gokhale, another Twitter user (@rohitpandita000) went live with ‘Hall of fame Leh’ as the location. The objective was to ascertain whether it was a one-time technical glitch or a recurrent issue. To everyone’s surprise, the microblogging platform again marked Leh as part of the People’s Republic of China. The National Security analyst then tweeted, “There you are. Someone else also tried it. Same result.”

Chinese phone weather app controversy

In a shocking revelation, it was found that the default weather apps of Chinese phones in India do not show reports for cities that China considers as ‘disputed. When OpIndia tried to make search queries, it found that the default weather app on Xiaomi phones did not provide results for Itanagar. Not just Itanagar, Xiaomi default weather app also provided no results for other districts in the State such as Pasighat and Longding. However, the weather reports of both Itanagar and Pasighat can be accessed by downloading third-party weather apps from the play store. Therefore, it is not that the weather data for locations in Arunachal are not available, rather, the locations are deliberately blocked by the company in the default weather app pre-installed on the phones. Same behaviour was reported by netizens in other Chinese phones also.

Here is how former AAP member Mayank Gandhi is working to boost farmers’ income in rural India through water harvesting and conservation

OpIndia Staff
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Here is how former AAP member Mayank Gandhi is working to boost farmers’ income in rural India through water harvesting and conservation

A novel effort appears to be under way across rural India in an attempt to boost farmers’ income and the man leading it is a former member of the Aam Aadmi Party, Mayank Gandhi. Disillusioned by political realities, Mayank Gandhi realised there are other ways to work for the betterment of the country and its people. And thus, the Global Vikas Trust was established.

The plan was to devise a replicable method to augment farmers’ income. The target was set to Rs. 2 lakhs per acre when the same stood at Rs. 10,000 to 40,000 across the country at the time. Consequently, Parli Taluka in Beed district, Maharashtra was selected due to its extreme levels of poverty and pitifully low levels of irrigation that stood at 1.72% as against a national average of 40%.

For the first two years, 2016 and 2017, the focus was on supplying water through tankers and all around development in the areas of education, water management, healthcare, skill development, capacity building, social reforms, gram Swaraj etc. Global Vikas Trust said, “Water harvesting and conservation is the fountainhead for any agricultural endeavor. Once the fountainhead is established, all agricultural activity will flourish. This logically leads to maximizing income from land. Horticulture is the answer.”

Image Credit: GVT

It added, “In 2018, we created 222 crore liters of water storage – 70 kms of deepening and widening of river and its tributaries, 164 farm ponds, 62 check dams, 5 KT weirs etc. More importantly, the water table increased from around 500 feet to 50-70 feet. All of this was accomplished through ‘shramdaan’ — voluntary physical labor of thousands of villagers. It brought credibility and support of all the stakeholders and converted into a people’s movement.”

In 2019, the farmers were convinced to change their cropping patterns and plant more fruit trees. 11.87 lakh fruit trees were planted by farmers including mango, papaya, drumsticks, lemon, guava and custard apple as such products provide a good remunerative value. The objective was to “marry” traditional farming techniques with modern knowledge in order to produce “better-than-US” yields. Consequently, the best variety of fruit saplings, resilient, fruitful and best suited to the local agro-climatic condition was sought to be provided.

Image Credit: GVT

The other objectives were to “Plant in large clusters so that the market converges to our farmers rather than the other way around. and wholesalers converge to our farmers to purchase their produce” and “Facilitate forward linkages like innovative marketing, value added post-harvest processing, input procurement, supply chain etc.”

By now, the papaya and drumsticks that were planted have started giving harvests and consequently, farmers have started earning Rs. 3 to 4 lakh per acre, which happens to be 15 to 20 times of their earlier income. 20 lakh fruit trees have been planted in 2020 despite the lockdown and 4000 villages have been covered.

The target for 2021 has been set to provide forward linkages through direct marketing centres, procurement centers, sorting and packing units, godowns, cold storages, processing and drying units and “Plant around 25 lakh fruit trees in Marathwada, cover districts of Nanded, Jalna, Hingoli and Aurangabad to complete Marathwada, and thereafter focus more on increasing plantation in Madhya Pradesh with a target of planting another 5 lakh trees.”

Global Vikas Trust has also met with the Union Agricultural Minister, a few other Union Ministers and bureaucrats. The institution now seeks to scale up their project in order to boost farmers’ income.

Shashi Tharoor wears Mani Shankar Aiyar’s hat, denigrates India and praises Pakistan at Lahore Literature Festival, claims Modi govt targeting Muslims

OpIndia Staff
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Shashi Tharoor wears Mani Shankar Aiyar’s hat, denigrates India and praises Pakistan at Lahore Literature Festival, claims Modi govt targeting Muslims

Shashi Tharoor appeared on the Lahore Literature Festival through video conferencing and during a conversation with a Pakistan based journalist, denigrated India and praised Pakistan’s efforts in combatting the Coronavirus pandemic. The discussion revolved around the subject matter of how the Coronavirus changed the world.

The senior Congress leader said, “We look with envy across the border because you chaps seem to be having a rather pleasant time of it in terms of being able to return to normalcy. We are still facing many places where numbers are going up so there’s no sense yet of a peak having been reached and in some parts, including both the capital where I am now, and in my constituency of Thirvananthapuram in the extreme South, the numbers are worse than they have ever been.”

“The Indian government is not doing well and the people realize this. Rahul Gandhi mentioned as early as February that COVID-19 must be taken seriously otherwise India will face economic catastrophe so he should get credit for it,” Shashi Tharoor said further. Then he chastised the Indian government for organising the Howdy Modi event.

The Congress leader then mourned the fact that people are continuing to place their faith in the leadership of Narendra Modi and expressed a sense of bewilderment while saying so. Shashi Tharoor added, “Tablighi Jamaat super-spreader event was used to justify open bigotry and discrimination against the Muslims”.

The BJP condemned his comments and said, “It is so foolish and juvenile for someone who calls himself an intellectual to say what he said by painting Rahul Gandhi as modern-day Nostradamus.” It is not the first time that a senior leader of the Congress party has denigrated India and played politics at a Pakistani platform.

Before Shashi Tharoor, there was Mani Shankar Aiyar who in November 2015 sparked off a controversy when he told a Pakistani media channel that Modi had to be removed in order to restore relations between India and Pakistan. That was construed by many as soliciting help from Pakistan on defenestrating PM Modi.

Two youths working as dentist and computer applications specialist recruited youths to join Islamic State in Syria: NIA

OpIndia Staff
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Two youths working as dentist and computer applications specialist recruited youths to join Islamic State in Syria: NIA

In a sensational disclosure, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has said that a dentist and a computer applications specialist were the key people involved in sending a group of six to seven Muslim youths from Bengaluru to Syria to join the Islamic terror outfit – Islamic State back in 2013-14.

According to the reports, the NIA has booked 29-year-old Muhammad Tauqir Mahmood and 28-years-old Zuhaib Hameed alias Shakeel Manna under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). A case was also registered by the NIA against these two Muslim youth on September 29, who earlier lived in Bengaluru but later escaped to Saudi Arabia.

The two Muslim youths had reportedly built contacts with Islamic terror outfit ISIS through a schoolmate from Saudi Arabia. Tauqir and another NIA suspect, Shihab had studied in Saudi Arabia during their school years.

The duo recruited Muslims youths to join IS in Syria

The existence of terrorist recruiters was revealed after the arrest of Abdur Rahman, a 28-year-old ophthalmologist from Bengaluru, who had conspired with a Kashmiri couple – Jahanzaib Sami and Hina Bashir, arrested in Delhi in March for their links to Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) unit in India. The terrorist couple linked to the ISIS was accused of motivating Muslims to unite against CAA and carry out terror strikes inside the country. 

The investigations had revealed that Rahman had travelled to Syria back in 2013-14 with the assistance of Hameed and Mahmood. Two other Muslim youths who had joined IS – Faiz Masood, an MBA degree-holder, and Abdul Subha was killed during their stay in Syria.

On 7 October, NIA had also arrested a business analyst named Ahamed Abdul Cader from Chennai and a rice merchant identified as Irfan Nasir from Bengaluru for allegedly funding the Bengaluru-based ISIS module. Ahamed Abdul Cader, Irfan Nasir and their associates had arranged funds through donations and own sources for the visit of accused Abdur Rahman and other Muslim youth of Bengaluru to Syria to join ISIS.

Default weather apps in Chinese phones refuse to show weather info about Indian territories like Arunachal and Ladakh that China claims to be ‘disputed’

OpIndia Staff
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Default weather apps in Chinese phones refuse to show weather info about Indian territories like Arunachal and Ladakh that China claims to be ‘disputed’

In a shocking revelation, it was found that the default weather apps of Chinese phones in India do not show reports for cities that China considers as ‘disputed.’ The grave issue was first highlighted by Tech Youtuber Gaurav Chaudhary aka Technical Guruji.

On Saturday, Gaurav took to Twitter and stated that it was a matter of huge concern that the default weather app in Xiaomi phones do not show weather report of cities in Arunachal Pradesh. He has sought for the intervention of Home Ministry, Prime Minister’s Office and Amit Shah, Ministry of Information technology in the matter. Gaurav Chaudhary had also shared a screenshot where the query for weather report of Itanagar, capital of Arunachal Pradesh, threw no results.

When OpIndia tried to make similar search queries, it found that the default weather app on Xiaomi phones did not provide results for Itanagar. A comparison between search results for ‘Mumbai’ and ‘Itanagar’ can be seen below.

Screengrab of the Xiaomi weather app results

Not just Itanagar, Xiaomi default weather app also provided no results for other districts in the State such as Pasighat and Longding. The search results for the two can be seen below in the screenshot. It is pertinent to remember that Xiaomi is a Chinese multinational company with several manufacturing facilities in India. The founder, chairman and CEO of the company is Lei Jun, who also happens to be a Chinese billionarie.

Screengrab of the Xiaomi weather app results

However, the weather reports of both Itanagar and Pasighat can be accessed by downloading third-party weather apps from the play store. The screenshot shown below is taken from the Weather App by Accurate Weather Forecast and Weather radar Map. Therefore, it is not that the weather data for locations in Arunachal are not available, rather, the locations are deliberately blocked by the company in the default weather app pre-installed on the phones.

Screengrab of the weather reports of Itanagar and Pasighat

It is interesting to note that the default weather app in Xiaomi phones derive weather data from Accuweather. While Accuweather shows weather info for Arunachal in its app and website, the phone’s default app blocks that data.

Although the Xiaomi mobile handsets are now made in India, the absence of weather reports of Arunachal Pradesh, which China considers as disputed territory, on its default weather application raises serious questions about its integrity and the underlying connections of the private company and the CCP (Communist Party of China).

Problem not limited to only Xiaomi phones

Following the tweet of Gaurav Chaudhary, netizens pointed out how the problem was not just limited to Xiaomi phones. Twitter user, Srimant Mishra, highlighted that while his Vivo (another Chinese electronics company) phone showed results for Itanagar, it did not throw weather results for Leh and Kargil in Ladakh. He also shared screenshots wherein Vivo displayed Gilgit Baltistan and Mirpur, territories which are an integral part of India, as belonging to Pakistan. The app was however quick to label Taipei, the capital of independent Taiwan, as part of China.

Another Twitter user, Aditya Dogra, pointed out how the problem is recurrent across all Chinese mobile manufacturing companies. He stated that Realme phones also did not provide weather reports for Ladakh.

One Plus, a renowned Chinese brand, also did not provide weather results for Leh and kargil, which are considered as ‘disputed’ by China despite being integral territories of India.

Indian govt had earlier banned Chinese apps

The outrage on social media over the ‘deliberate’ omission of weather reports of Indian territories, owing to alleged Chinese objections, comes months after the Indian government banned several Chinese apps in the country. Earlier in June this year, the Government of India (GOI) had banned TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps from operating in India. A month later, it had blocked access to an additional 47 Chinese applications.  The banned apps operated as ‘clones’ of the earlier banned apps.

The Ministry of Information Technology, invoking its power under section 69A of Information Technology Act, ordered a block on the use of 59 apps saying that these apps are “engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order”.

In 2012 ‘out of town’ Salman Khan partied with Parambir Singh in Mumbai on day Bandra cops could not serve him Court summons for hit-and-run case

OpIndia Staff
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In 2012 ‘out of town’ Salman Khan partied with Parambir Singh in Mumbai on day Bandra cops could not serve him Court summons for hit-and-run case

In December 2012, Bollywood actor Salman Khan was served summons in the 2002 Bandra hit-and-run case because ‘out of town’ since November 30 that year. However, as it turns out he was very much in Mumbai and partying with none other than the then Mumbai Special IGP Parambir Singh. According to a Mid-Day report from December 2012, Bandra Police was unable to serve court summons to Salman Khan as local senior inspectors claimed he was out of town. However, when police claimed he was ‘out of town’, Khan was busy partying and shooting at Mehboob Studios in Mumbai.

Parambir Singh leaving party as reported by Mid-Day

As reported by Mid-Day in 2012, Salman Khan and Parambir Singh were both found attending a Christmas party hosted by Sunny Dewan and his wife Anu Dewan in Mumbai. This when the Bandra cops claimed Khan was not in town.

Mid-Day reported that as per a witness, the party went on till 7 AM the next day. “Special IGP Parambir Singh was seen leaving the Union Park venue around 3.15 am with wife Savita. He later sat in his Tata Indigo Manza, which had a beacon on it, and left. Singh was seen avoiding the photographers and requesting them to not click him,” Mid-Day quoted the eyewitness.

The party was also attended by Congress leader then Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s daughters Preeti and Praniti, who was also an MLA. As per the Mid-Day report, a police officer at Bandra Police station on condition of anonymity had expressed helplessness on taking action against the actor as high profile guests including the Home Minister’s daughters were present.

Salman Khan hit-and-run case

On September 28, 2002, Salman Khan run over a group of people sleeping on the pavement near a bakery in Mumbai. One person died and four were injured. On 24 July 2013, he was formally charged with culpable homicide in the case, to which he pleaded not guilty. On 6 May 2015, Khan was found guilty of all charges in the case. However, in December 2015, he was acquitted of all charges from this case due to lack of evidence. In 2016, Supreme Court admitted Maharashtra government plea challenging his acquittal.

Details emerge about the Paris beheading case, the Islamic terrorist may have been influenced by online campaign against the victim

OpIndia Staff
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Details emerge about the Paris beheading case, the Islamic terrorist may have been influenced by online campaign against the victim

On Friday, an Islamist terrorist beheaded a 47-year-old high school teacher named Samuel Paty in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine for showcasing cartoons of Prophet Mohammed to his students at College du Bois d’Aulne. Samuel Paty, a history teacher, showed the cartoons to his students on October 9 during a civics class on freedom of speech. Now, some details have emerged regarding the gruesome beheading case.

The gruesome attack was executed by a Muslim teenager of Russian origin, Abdoullakh Abouyezidovitch A. He stabbed the 47-year-old teacher in his throat, right outside the school, while shouting “Allahu Akbar”. He was later shot dead during an encounter with the police. French President Emanuel Macron has condemned the barbaric attack and had dubbed it as ‘Islamist terrorist attack.’

Online campaign and a ‘call for mobilisation’

The terrorist attack took place in the backdrop of an online campaign by the father of a female Muslim student, who was present in Samuel Paty’s class. He claimed on social media that his daughter was ‘disciplined’ for ‘expressing displeasure’ over the manner in which the lesson was taught. He had also demanded the removal of the said teacher. Although he initially did not name the victim, later revealed his name in a Facebook video.

In another Youtube video on October 12, published on Youtube, the man came on air along with his daughter. A man off-camera, now known to French security agencies, had claimed that President Emmanuel Macron was inciting hatred against Muslims and called for ‘mass mobilisation’ in case teacher Samuel Paty was not removed. It is now being speculated whether the 18-year-old terrorist was motivated by the online campaign to avenge the insults against the Prophet.

Terrorist asked students to identify the teacher, prior to beheading

Abdoullakh Abouyezidovitch A, born in Moscow, had come to France as a refugee and was out of the radar of the anti-terrorism police. He had earlier been to courts for minor offences. Reportedly, he wanted to ‘punish’ the teacher for his ‘blasphemous act’. The 18-year-old Islamic terrorist, who lived in the Normandy town of Évreux, had no connections with the school or the teacher. On Friday, he waited outside the school premises and asked pupils to point out Samuel Paty.

He then followed the victim, who was en route to his house on foot. Abdoullakh, then, attacked Paty, inflicted wounds to his head and then beheaded him. The young terrorist then uploaded the gory picture of the severed head on Twitter and wrote, “In the name of Allah the most gracious, the most merciful, … to (President Emmanuel) Macron, leader of the infidels, I have executed one of your hell-hounds who dared to belittle (Prophet) Mohammad.”

10 people detained over beheading case

As per reports, France police have initiated a probe into the beheading of the 47-year-old high school teacher. Since Friday, the police have arrested a total of 10 people in connection to the case. On Saturday, France 24 reported that 9 people were arrested on Friday including the parents of a child at the school where the teacher was working. While condemning the incident, Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said, “Our unity and our resolve are the only responses faced with the monstrosity of Islamist terrorism.”

Paris beheading a grim reminder of Charlie Hebdo massacre

The Friday’s attack comes amidst the ongoing trial against the terrorists responsible for the January 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo. In January 2015, Islamist terrorists had gunned down 12 people in and around the Charlie Hebdo offices for publishing caricatures of Prophet Muhammad.

Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper, had published cartoons that depicted Muhammad, which is strictly prohibited in Islam. Offended by Charlie Hebdo’s actions, two Islamic terrorists had attacked the office of Hebdo in 2015 and had killed 12 people. The terrorists had stated that the attack was an act of revenge for depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

Just last month, Charlie Hebdo had commemorated the beginning of the trial by publishing new cartoons of Muhammad. However, weeks later, four people were stabbed outside the former offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. The officers had said that the assault was another attempt to attack the newspaper’s journalists.

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