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After outrage, Mumbai police focuses on detailing allegations against India Today in remand notice, says no clean chit to any channel yet on TRP scam

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After outrage, Mumbai police focuses on detailing allegations against India Today in remand notice, says no clean chit to any channel yet on TRP scam

Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh yesterday convened a press conference to alert about a new racket involving false television rating points (TRP). He said that three channels, including Republic TV and two other Marathi channels- Fakt Marathi and Box Cinema were reportedly involved in distorting the apparatus used by BARC to rate television channels. But later it was revealed that in the FIR filed in the case, India Today was named as paying BARC homes to watch the channel, and Republic TV was not named. Today, murkier details of the racket have come forth with the release of the remand note by the Mumbai Police in the case.

In the remand notice dated October 9, 2020, the police have sought the remand of the 4 arrested in the TRP scam case till October 13.

The remand note, which mentions both India Today and Republic TV, revealed that one of the accused Vishal Bhandari was engaged in financial transactions to manipulate viewership of the news channels.

Curiously, India Today was not mentioned in the Mumbai Police’s press conference yesterday. Hours later, a controversy erupted after it was found that the FIR filed in the case had a reference to India Today but not Republic TV.

Four accused arrested in the TRP rigging scam

The remand note mentions the four accused in the case—Vishal Bhandari, Bompelli Mistry, Shirish Patanshetty and Narayan Sharma. Two of the accused were the ex-employees of the Hansa Research Group, an organisation that was tasked with monitoring the Bar-O-Meters to measure viewership while the other two are the owners of the Marathi channels accused of rigging the TRPs.

Bhandari, who worked as ‘Relationship Manager’ at the Hansa Research Group, has been accused of manipulating the bar-o-meters to favour certain channels. Hansa CEO had earlier today claimed that Hansa group and BARC conducted an investigation regarding the TRP scan and filed an FIR against an ex-employee.

To measure TRPs, BARC has installed 2000 bar-o-meters in Mumbai to monitor viewership which is strictly confidential. Hansa Research group was entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring these barometers. Bhandari had access to these bar-o-meters as he was an employee working with the Hansa Research Group.

In November 2019, a man named Vinay Tripathi contacted Bhandari and asked him to bribe residents of at least 5 panel households to watch India Today daily for 2 hours. According to the remand note, at least in 5 households where the bar-o-meters were installed, Bhandari asked the residents to watch India Today channel for at least 2 hours every day on the assurance of providing a certain amount of commission to them.

Ex-Hansa Research employee bribed households with Rs 200 per month for watching India Today daily for at least 2 hours

Bhandari reportedly got a commission of Rs 5000 and 5 families were paid every month Rs 200 for tuning in to India Today for 2 hours on a daily basis. The remand note says that this continued for six months from November 2019 to May 2020.

In his interrogation, Bhandari reportedly confessed of working for Bompelli Mistry. He claimed that Mistry gave him Rs 20,000 every month to bribe 8 to 10 households, where the bar-o-meters were installed for registering TRPs, to watch Box Cinema and Fakt Marathi. Bhandari added that Mistry asked him to give a commission of Rs 400 to Rs 500 to each family and keep the remaining amount for himself.

In addition to this, the remand notice also has a passing reference to Republic TV with no concrete transaction details as in the case with India Today. It stated that Bhandari was approached by a man named Rocky who asked him to get households with the bar-o-meters to watch Republic TV for a longer duration.

Mumbai Police says no clean chit to any channel yet after outrage sweeps over its bungled handling of TRP scam

After tying themselves into a knot over their bungled handling of the TRP scam, accusing Republic TV of rigging TRP scam while hiding that India Today was mentioned in the FIR, the Mumbai Police today took a defensive stance saying that all the channels are under the scanner and they have so far not given clean chit to any of the channels involved in driving their TRPs through unlawful means.

Speaking to India Today’s Rahul Kanwal, the Joint Commissioner of Mumbai Police, Milind Bharambe, said, “The FIR did mention India Today’s name for being one of the channels who paid money to households to fix the TRPs but as per the consequent investigation, the evidence collected pointed towards Republic TV, Fakt Marathi and Box Cinema. However, our investigation is completely open and we have not given clean chit to any other channels. As per evidence collected, we will take action accordingly.”

‘The fact that I am famous doesn’t matter to them. It is in their veins’, actor Nawzuddin Siddiqui speaks on caste bias in Uttar Pradesh

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‘The fact that I am famous doesn’t matter to them. It is in their veins’, actor Nawzuddin Siddiqui speaks on caste bias in Uttar Pradesh

Speaking on the recent Hathras incident, around which the Congress party tried to build a caste narrative to stoke caste-based riots in Uttar Pradesh, Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui said that caste bias is not only a reality but also a persisting problem in the villages in Uttar Pradesh. The actor, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, in an interview with NDTV said that so deep-rooted is this problem that despite his fame and popularity, he too has not been spared from discrimination in his village.

“The fact that I am famous doesn’t matter to them. It is deeply entrenched within them…it is in their veins. They consider it their pride. The Sheikh Siddiquis are the upper caste, and they will not have anything to do with those they consider beneath them. Even today it is there. It is very difficult,” said the Sacred Games actor.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui reveals how he still faces the bias in his village

He revealed that in his own family, his grandmother was from a lower caste and thus, even today they have not been accepted. “In my own family, my grandmother was from a lower caste. Even today, they have not accepted us because of my grandmother.”

Condemning the unfortunate Hathras incident, the actor said that “what is wrong is wrong”. 

“Our artiste community is also speaking out against what happened in Hathras. It is very important to speak out. It is a very unfortunate incident,” said Nawazuddin.

On Twitter, he said, people may say there is no caste discrimination. But if the same people travelled around, they would find a very different reality. He referred to his own village.

Congress and its friendly media gave Hathras incident a caste/communal colour

It is a fact that discrimination based on caste and religion, especially in the smaller towns of India, is a reality. This is possibly why the Congress party thought it to be a good idea to attach this angle to the Hathras incident and stoke massive caste-based riots in the village. 

Recently, in a sting operation, Rahul Gandhi’s close aide had revealed on camera Congress’ sinister plot to instigate caste-based riots in Hathras. Dalit Congress leader Shyoraj Jivan, who happens to be close to the Gandhi scion had in an on-camera admission said that the Congress had turned the Hathras incident into a caste-based crusade because they had plans to stoke full-fledged riots in the village and feed off the violence to reinstitute Congress party’s drowning political fate.

The Yogi Adityanath government had also in an affidavit submitted to the SC had asserted that the vested interests were trying to exploit the incident by giving it a caste/communal colour. The government said that a vicious campaign has been unleashed to defame the State govt and a certain section of print and electronic media, social media and political parties have been attempting to incite caste/communal riots.

The government had also filed an FIR alleging international conspiracy to trigger a caste-based flare-up in Uttar Pradesh over the Hathras incident.

Kerala: BJP Vice President AP Abdullakutty’s car hit by truck after attempt to manhandle him, 2 cases registered

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: BJP Vice President AP Abdullakutty’s car hit by truck after attempt to manhandle him, 2 cases registered

The national vice president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) AP Abdullakutty was attacked on his way to Kannur from Thiruvanathapuram last night. His car was reportedly hit on the rear by a truck in Randathani.

According to reports, Abdullakutty was manhandled by some unidentified men when he stopped to have some food at Malappuram, Kerala. The culprits hurled abuses at him. Abdullakutty alleged that his car was chased after he left the hotel and that a truck hit it twice. “My car was hit twice. Later the driver said he fell asleep. It is not true. We felt that some people were chasing us after we left the hotel in hurry”, told Abdullakutty. He did not sustain any injuries.

Malappuram SP Abdul Kareem told that two different cases have been registered and the truck driver has been called for questioning. “We have registered two cases. The truck driver was summoned for questioning. We will find out whether it was intentional or an accident”, he said.

Kerala BJP President K Surendran condemned the incident and called it an act of intolerance. He demanded the police to take strong measures in investigating the incident. A protest will be held by the state unit of the BJP to condemn the incident.

Abdullakutty was earlier a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and was elected to Parliament in 1999 and 2009. He was expelled from the party in 2009 after he praised the development model of then CM of Gujarat Narendra Modi. He later joined Congress but was expelled from the party after he openly praised Prime Minister Modi’s Swachchh Bharat Mission.

Arnab Goswami makes a sensational claim: Mumbai Police Commissioner met Sharad Pawar before hounding Republic TV

OpIndia Staff
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Arnab Goswami makes a sensational claim: Mumbai Police Commissioner met Sharad Pawar before hounding Republic TV

On Friday, the editor-in-chief of Republic TV, Arnab Goswami, raised questions over the credibility and political alliances of Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh. The sensation claims by Goswami comes a day after Singh falsely tried to implicate the independent news channel and its editor-in-chief in the contentious ‘TRP scam’.

During a live session on Republic network’s Hindi news channel Republic Bharat, Arnab Goswami revealed that the Mumbai police commissioner had met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar on Friday morning. He pointed out how Param Bir Singh was acting at the behest of his political masters in Maharashtra, who were out to get back at Goswami through all-means possible.

Arnab Goswami informed, “Parab Bir Singh is summoning journalists since morning. The Mumbai police have no other work. Their agenda is to eliminate me… You have met Sharad Pawar in the morning, didn’t you? I am asking one simple question – Did you or did you not meet Sharad Pawar this morning? The country wants to know.” He added, “Don’t you have any other work? When will you work for people? You have only one agenda (to eliminate me). What will you achieve by doing this? We know that you lied. But why?”

(Video Credits: Republic Tv)

Arnab Goswami slams India Today-Mumbai police nexus

At the very onset, Arnab Goswami slammed India Today by saying, “Ya bohot chota sa channel hai. Koi dekhta nahin hai (This is a very small channel. None watches it.)” He challenged journalist Rohit Sardana to do a programme against Republic TV in his show ‘Dangal.’ Arnab Goswami informed that the First Information Report (FIR) filed in the TRP scam has explicitly mentioned India Today over 6 times. However, the Mumbai police commissioner has instead chosen to give a clean chit to the news channel within 12 hours and falsely said that the allegations were against Republic TV. Goswami further slammed Param Bir Singh for deliberately hiding the FIR from public discourse.

While hitting out at the doublespeak of the Mumbai police commissioner, Goswami inquired, “How did you investigate so fast? Why are you not summoning Arun Purie and other owners of India Today group? You wanted to turn around the case and make it about me. How can you have two different rules for Republic TV and India Today?”

The ‘fake TRP scam’ exposed

The ‘fake TRP scam’ had taken a remarkable turn in less than 24 hours yesterday. Mumbai CP Param Bir Singh, in an explosive statement yesterday, accused Republic TV of ‘TRP manipulation’. In a no-holds-barred attack against Republic TV and Arnab Goswami, the Mumbai CP had claimed, that the channel had illegally paid some households to keep some channels on even if they were not at home to boost their TRP.

However, by the end of the day, it was revealed that in the original FIR, Republic TV did not find a mention anywhere. In fact, it was India Today that had been named in the original FIR. The Joint Commissioner had also admitted that it was indeed India Today that was named in the FIR.

Hathras case: Allahabad HC turns down plea of victim’s family alleging ‘illegal confinement’, UP govt enhances security of the family as per SC order

OpIndia Staff
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Hathras case: Allahabad HC turns down plea of victim’s family alleging ‘illegal confinement’, UP govt enhances security of the family as per SC order

On Thursday, the Allahabad High Court dismissed a petition of the family members of the victim in the Hathras case, after they moved the Court claiming ‘illegal confinement’ by the district administration. The highly-politicised case pertains to the murder and alleged murder of a 19-year-old girl on September 29 due to strangulation, allegedly by ‘upper-caste men’.

A habeas corpus writ petition was filed on behalf of the victim’s family members by the national general secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Valmiki Mahapanchayat, Surendra Kumar. The family alleged that even though the district administration allowed them to meet a few people, they were unable to move at ‘free will’ and subjected to ‘illegal confinement’. When the case brought up before the Division Bench of Justice Pritinkar Diwaker and Justice Prakash Padia, the Court rejected the petition without delving into merits of the case.

Allahabad HC tells family to approach the Supreme Court to redress grievance

While the Allahabad High Court directed the Uttar Pradesh government to file an affidavit and clarify its stand, the Court observed, “Undisputedly, the apex court is in seisin with the entire case and the matter is being taken as public interest litigation by it. “The +Court noted that it will not ‘be proper’ to ‘entertain’ the case since the district administration has provided security to the petitioners as directed by the Supreme Court and Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court in a suo motu petition on October 1. The Court, however, stated, “If the petitioners have any grievance, they are at liberty to file appropriate petition/application before the apex court.”

UP government heightens security protocol for victim’s family

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government has enhanced the security measures for the family members of the 19-year-old victim. Reportedly, a total of 60 security personnel and 8 CCTV cameras have been installed at their house to ensure their safety.

While speaking on the development, DIG Shalabh Mathur, deputed as a nodal officer to Hathras from Lucknow, stated that the security personnel were doing 12-hour shifts outside the house of the victim’s family and that a gazetted officer will be appointed to supervise them. He further assured that a control room will be established in case such a need arose. “With the help of CCTV cameras, the house of the victim will be monitored round-the-clock,” he emphasised.

SP (Hathras) Vineet Jaiswal said that a register is being maintained to keep a track of all visitors to the house of the victim’s family. He informed that every family member and witness have been provided with 2 security personnel, besides deployment of a fire department team, a quick response team and two local intelligence unit personnel. He stated that a metal detector has also been installed at the entrance of the main gate of the house of the victim’s family.

The UP govt enhanced the security of the family after the matter of security of the witnesses were raised by portioners in the petition filed in the case relating to the case. The apex court had asked the UP govt to file an affidavit informing about the steps taken in this regard.

The Hathras case

Congress and other political parties have been using the Hathras case to further their narrative and gain a stronghold in Uttar Pradesh on anti-upper caste sentiment.  Every political party in the opposition is trying to use the tragedy for their gain and the media is not far behind in using it for their own interests. Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath has ordered a CBI inquiry into the matter with numerous facets emerging to the story. The chronology of the events in the Hathras case can be explored here.

‘I am a true soldier of Sanatana Dharma,’ Arnab Goswami asks whether Republic TV is being targeted to cover up Sonia Sena’s conspiracy against ‘Sanatan Samaj’

OpIndia Staff
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‘I am a true soldier of Sanatana Dharma,’ Arnab Goswami asks whether Republic TV is being targeted to cover up Sonia Sena’s conspiracy against ‘Sanatan Samaj’

Arnab Goswami launched a passionate attack against the Shiv Sena, the Congress party and Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh on Thursday’s edition of ‘Puchhta Hai Bharat’ on Republic Bharat. He also appealed to citizens of the country to lend him their support in his battle against the political forces arrayed against him.

During the emotional appeal, Arnab Goswami said that he works hard, fights for nationalism and against injustice but now, he was in need of their support. “This year, we exposed Shaheen Bagh and Sharjeel Imam.. when the Sadhus were brutally murdered at Palghar, when the same police allowed the Sadhus to be killed, we questioned them and we will continue questioning them,” the Republic TV Editor-in-Chief said.

He continued, “We fought for Suishant Singh Rajput and we will fight for him. They lied on Hathras, and we exposed them completely. Therefore, come forward and say strongly with me, “Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil me hai, dekhna hai zor kitna baazuey kaatil me hai.” Arnab Goswami went so far as to say that he wished to know how high could vultures fly wearing wings of lies.

He also vowed to stand by the truth. Arnab Goswami also said that Republic TV was being targeted for its coverage of the investigation into the death of Sushant Singh Rajput and its coverage of Palghar lynchings, Hathras case and other such instances. He challenged his opponents, “Rok sako toh roklo (Stop us if you can).”

Arnab Goswami proudly declared, “Harna maine sikha nahi, rukhna mujhe aata nahi (Defeat I have not learnt and to stop I don’t know how).” At another point, he called out the Hinduphobia of those targeting him. He said, “Sonia Sena, agar aapko Sanatan Dharma se nafrat hai, toh main haan Sanatan Dharma ka sachcha sipahi hoon (If you hate Sanatan Dharma, I am a true soldier of Sanatan Dharma).”

He concluded his opening monologue with the question, “By targeting Republic TV, is the Sonia Sena trying to hide its conspiracy against Sanatan Samaj?” Arnab Goswami appears to have become quite conscious about the cultural aspect of the political divide, as we had elaborated in an earlier report. He appears to attribute the reasons for the sustained attacks against him not just on purely political factors but also cultural.

For those unaware, on Thursday, Mumbai police made some sensational claims against some TV channels saying that they were manipulating TRP ratings. In a press conference, Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh had accused three TV channels, including Republic TV, of being involved in manipulating viewership data of BARC by paying those households where Bar-o-meters, the devices that track TV viewership, are installed.

But later, it was revealed that the FIR filed in the TRP scam case mentioned India Today and not Republic TV. The situation has escalated into a ruckus since then with it becoming fairly obvious that Arnab Goswami and Republic TV are the subject of a vicious witch-hunt.

One Mohd Khalil files PIL in Delhi High Court seeking to prevent Republic TV from broadcasting news relating to any criminal investigation

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One Mohd Khalil files PIL in Delhi High Court seeking to prevent Republic TV from broadcasting news relating to any criminal investigation

As if the relentless attack by Maharashtra govt and Mumbai police on Arnab Goswami was not enough, now a PIL has been filed seeking to prevent his news channel Republic TV from reporting on any criminal investigation. A person named Mohd Khalil has filed a Public Interest Litigation before Delhi High Court seeking directions against Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami and his media company to prevent publication or broadcast of any information or news relating to any criminal investigation, reported by Bar and Bench. The PIL was listed for hearing before a Division Bench of Justices DN Patel and Prateek Jalan. The court asked the petitioner to prepare a draft of the rules that he has proposed to be implemented.

The PIL requests the court to give directions to the Central government to frame rules, regulations or guidelines to govern reporting or broadcasting of any news related to any criminal investigation by any media outlet. In his petition, Khalil has claimed that Arnab Goswami and his media company have been reporting distorted and misleading facts related to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput through their broadcasts and publications.

In the petition filed through Advocate Randhir Kumar Lal, it has been alleged that the prejudicial reporting of Republic TV has resulted in the infringement of the right to fair trail of actress Rhea Chakraborty who is the prime accused in the Sushant Singh Rajput case. It is further alleged that the channel has tried to increase its TRPs and viewership at the cost of Chakraborty’s right to fair trial. “The entire charade is nothing but an exercise to increase the TRPs and viewership at the cost of an accused’s right to fair trial”, the petition reads.

Alleging that the broadcast is capable of interfering with and obstructing the administration of justice, Khalil has prayed that contempt proceedings should be initiated against Goswami and his media company.

Since the broadcast is capable of interfering with and obstructing the administration of justice, the Petitioner has also prayed that contempt proceedings be initiated against Arnab Goswami and his media company.

The next hearing of the matter is scheduled for November 27. The Centre is being represented by Standing Counsel Ajay Digpaul.

Uttar Pradesh: Youth brutally assaulted over a land dispute, accused urinated on his face, cut-off his ‘Janeu’

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Youth brutally assaulted over a land dispute, accused urinated on his face, cut-off his ‘Janeu’

In a shocking incident, a youth was brutally assaulted by four people in Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria on Monday. The accused not only cut-off the sacred thread (Janeu) of theb youth but also forced him to drink urine. The four accused were arrested in Sakarpar area under Sadar Kotwali police station limit in neighbouring Deoria district, police said on Monday.

According to the reports, on Monday Deoria police arrested four men for beating a man, urination on him and also cutting-off his sacred thread over a land dispute in Sakarpar area in Deoria district.

The incident surfaced after the victim posted a video on Twitter narrating the entire incident. The victim identified as Anish Chand Dwivedi had also filed a complaint at the Sadar Kotwali.

In the video, Anish had said that some people of the Sakarpar area had surrounded him and beat him up after taking him at gun-point. The victim also said that one of the accused urinated in his mouth and cut-off his janeu (sacred thread).

“One Anish Chand Dwivedi of Pansrahi area under Sadar Kotwali police station limits having a land dispute with his neighbour Satish Yadav posted on the Twitter on Sunday night that he was going on a motorcycle when some people of Sakarpar area surrounded him and started beating him at gunpoint,” Deoria Superintendent of Police Shishya Pal said.

“In the police complaint lodged later, Dwivedi said the accused had beaten him up and one among them urinated on his body”, the SP added. He also said that the Janeu was broken by the assailants when they held the victim’s collar.

According to the police, the victim had a land dispute with his neighbour Satish Yadav. The police have now arrested all the four accused and a case is being registered under the relevant sections.

Rahul Gandhi exposes his ignorance by mocking PM Modi on the use of wind turbines to convert moisture into drinking water

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi exposes his ignorance by mocking PM Modi on the use of wind turbines to convert moisture into drinking water

Continuing his efforts to discredit PM Modi, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi today shared a snippet of the Prime Minister’s interaction with the CEO of a wind turbine company, claiming that PM does not understand science. Responding to the PM’s suggestion to conducting research on extracting water and oxygen from air using windmills used to generate power, the Congress scion tweeted, “the real danger to India isn’t that the PM doesn’t understand but that people around him lack the guts to tell him that”.

While Rahul Gandhi wanted to mock PM Modi by implying that his suggestions are not scientific, actually he ended up exposing himself, because one suggestion made by the PM is already proven, while the other one is being studied by researchers.

PM Modi on Tuesday had a discussion with the CEO of a turbine company Vestas, Henrik Anderson, where he spoke about a range of issues related to the wind energy and India’s efforts to harness renewable energy in order to build a cleaner future for the coming generations.

In the video clip shared by Rahul Gandhi, PM Modi can be seen talking about the increasingly diversified role of turbines in solving fundamental problems of drinking water and breathing oxygen.

PM Modi suggests turbines be used for converting wind moisture into drinking water

“In places where moisture is more, turbines could be used to such that moisture and provide clean, drinking water. This would be particularly useful in coastal regions of India which are usually plagued with the issue of not having drinking water. The use of turbines to suck moisture and provide drinking water can largely solve the problems of villages facing the acute shortage of drinking water,” PM Modi said.

Furthermore, PM Modi suggested that the possibility of oxygen being separated from the air through turbines. “Research is going on in this area and it will be challenging to achieve the feat but if done, the oxygen market can be captured. If achieved, we can achieve 3-in-1 energy with this method. We will be able to generate power, procure water and capture oxygen from it,” PM Modi said.

Then PM Modi goes on to ask Anderson if his scientists will be able to something in this direction. To this, Anderson responds that he is fascinated by PM Modi’s suggestions, passion and interest in the matter. He also asked PM Modi to visit Denmark to be an “idea generator” for researchers for India and Denmark.

“I am smiling at your passion and excitement about harnessing the wind energy. You should come to Denmark. You will be an idea generator for researchers in India and Denmark. I can’t express how pleased I am with your ideas,” Anderson said.

Technology breakthrough already achieved in converting wind moisture into drinking water

However, much like Rahul Gandhi’s disconnect with the Indian public, he is also disconnected with the Scientific developments that are happening across the globe. Science has already progressed to levels where turbines can be used to suck moisture from the air and convert it into potable water. This concept was tested in Abu Dhabi in 2018 wherein a wind turbine was used to condense water from the air and pump it into storage tanks for filtration and purification. Through this technological breakthrough, 1000 litres of clean water was produced in arid deserts of Abu Dhabi.

PM Modi’s other idea about capturing oxygen from wind, was more of an exploratory suggestion thrown at the Vestas CEO, asking him if his scientists can achieve such an innovation. However, the US govt owned National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), through its “Wind to Hydrogen Project” has already achieved the feat of chemically separating Hydrogen and Oxygen molecules of water (H2O) through a wind turbine.

Commercially Hydrogen is more important product, as it is a fuel, and Oxygen occurs as a byproduct in this process. The fact is that researches have been able to use wind-generated power to split water into Hydrogen and Oxygen molecules, and therefore, the suggestion made by PM Modi was not far from reality.

Ministry of Earth Sciences also confirmed that the suggestions made by the PM have a scientific basis. Perhaps as a response to the remark by Rahul Gandhi, the ministry tweeted from its official Twitter handle that the PM’s ideas on using the Wind Turbines in generating water from moisture in air for coastal areas and separating oxygen from air are technically feasible. They also informed that for larger societal benefit, this challenge will be taken up by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) and the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.

While the CEO of Vestas, Henrik Anderson, was visibly impressed with the innovative ideas and thoughts of PM Modi, the former Congress President Rahul Gandhi discarded the ideas stating that the PM Modi doesn’t understand what he is saying. With the research and technological advancement demonstrating that PM Modi’s suggestions were very much possible, and implementable, Gandhi’s snide remarks for PM Modi only serves to underscore his own ignorance.

Maharashtra: HAL employee arrested for sending information about Indian fighter planes to Pakistan’s ISI, sent to police custody

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra: HAL employee arrested for sending information about Indian fighter planes to Pakistan’s ISI, sent to police custody

On Friday, the Maharashtra police informed that the Nashik unit of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has nabbed an employee of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on charges of espionage.

The accused was found to be leaking sensitive military information about Indian fighter jets and their manufacturing process at HAL to Pakistan’s Intelligence Agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). He has also been accused of passing information about the HAL airbase and the restricted areas within the manufacturing unit at Ozar near Nashik.

While speaking on the development, a police official confirmed, “The Nashik unit of the state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) received reliable intelligence about the man, who was in constant touch with ISI.”

HAL employee sent to 10 days in police custody

During the interrogation, the accused HAL employee revealed that he was in touch with ISI handlers and passed classified information to them. He has been booked under Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act of 1923 and remanded to 10 days in judicial custody on Friday by a court.

The Nashik ATS has recovered 2 memory cards, 5 sim cards and 3 mobiles, and has sent them for forensic analysis. Reportedly, the operation was conducted by DIG Jayant Naiknavre, SP Ravindrasingh Pardeshi, DCP Vinaykumar Rathod and led by Additional Director General of Police Deven Bharti.

Journalist arrested by Delhi police for espionage

Earlier, Rajeev Sharma, a freelance journalist, was arrested by Delhi Police on September 14 for sharing crucial information about India’s border strategy and Army deployment to the Chinese intelligence agencies. The Delhi police informed that Sharma was also in touch with some Chinese intelligence officer and had received Rs 40 lakhs in the last 18 months as he was being given $1,000 for passing on each sensitive information. The police official revealed that Chinese intelligence had tasked the journalist for conducting espionage activities in lieu of large amounts of money and luxury holidays.

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