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Beirut in fumes again, fire breaks out at Beirut port a month after devastating explosion in the city

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Beirut in fumes again, fire breaks out at Beirut port a month after devastating explosion in the city

As the residents of Beirut were still recovering from the massive explosion that took place about a month ago, a cloud of stark black smoke was seen emerging from the fumes at the Beirut port today.

According to reports, the fire had broken out in the part of the port which is close to a major highway called the ‘free zone’. This is the area where companies store imported goods after clearing the customs. The interim general manager of the port, Bassem El-Kaissi informed that the fire apparently started in a warehouse of a private company that imported cooking oil. The fire then engulfed a stock of rubber tires. However, he said that the reason of the fire is not known yet.

Operations to extinguish the fire have already begun with the assistance of the Army helicopters. The fire has panicked the people across the city as it was not long ago that the Lebanon capital was rocked by a horrific explosion. The explosion had resulted in 163 deaths and loss of billions of dollars.

Various cabinet ministers including the Prime Minister had submitted resignation after the explosion. Huge protests had also broken out in the country further escalating the tension.

‘Terrorist groups clicking pictures of my house’, Judge who pronounced death sentence to Jaipur serial blast convicts fears threat to his life

OpIndia Staff
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‘Terrorist groups clicking pictures of my house’, Judge who pronounced death sentence to Jaipur serial blast convicts fears threat to his life

Retired Judge Ajay Kumar Sharma, who had given death sentence to the four terrorists convicted in the 2008 Jaipur serial blast case has written to DGP Bhupendra Singh saying that he fears his life is in danger. Quoting intelligence reports, the retired judge wrote that the terrorist groups to whom those 4 convicts belonged might be seeking to avenge their death. He urged the DGP to extend his security cover fearing threats to his family and him.

“Officials said that my security is being removed. I request you to continue the security cover given to me in the context,” he wrote.

In his letter, Sharma claimed that empty liquor bottles had been hurled at him and since many days, some motorcycle-borne suspects have been seen hovering around his house. “These terrorist groups are quite dangerous and can do anything. They have also been seen clicking pictures of my place,” said the retired Judge.

To make his point, Sharma quoted the case of Judge Neelkanth Ganjoo. Ganjoo was a high court judge in Kashmir who had, in the year 1984, pronounced the death sentence for JKLF founder and dreaded terrorist Maqbool Bhat in the murder of police inspector Amar Chand in 1966. The Judge was later killed by JKLF terrorists on October 2, 1989.

Sharma said these terrorists were related to the ISI and were working with sleeper cells of the organisation. Fearing that he would be penalised for bringing the terrorists to justice, Sharma wrote to the DGP that his only fault was that he had punished the terrorists with death sentences.

The 2008 Jaipur serial blast

On May 13, 2008, a series of nine synchronized bomb blasts had ripped through Rajasthan’s capital city, Jaipur leaving almost 71 people dead and over 250 injured. The ammonium nitrate-based bombs, which went off within a span of 20 minutes, were strapped to bicycles. They were packed with metal splinters or ball bearings to carry out heavy damage in the crowded areas.

Two days after the blasts, Islamic terror organisation Indian Mujahideen had claimed responsibility for the attacks. The trial in the case began in December 2008. In December 2019, Special Judge Ajay Kumar Sharma awarded the death penalty to Mohammed Saif (34), Mohammed Sarwar Azmi (36), Saifur Rehman (36) and Mohammed Salman (34), after convicting them under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and the Explosives Act, in eight cases registered by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the police.

‘We have been Congress supporters, but Amit Shah helped us’: Kangana’s mother Asha Ranaut speaks up after her daughter was hounded

OpIndia Staff
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‘We have been Congress supporters, but Amit Shah helped us’: Kangana’s mother Asha Ranaut speaks up after her daughter was hounded

Amidst the ongoing tussle between Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut and the ruling Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, the actor’s mother Asha Ranaut has expressed her gratitude to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Home Minister Amit Shah and PM Narendra Modi for providing protection to her daughter.

Speaking to media Asha Ranaut said that despite the fact that their family were staunch Congress supports for decades and had no connections with the Bhartiya Janata Party, it was Home Minister Amit Shah who provided protection to her daughter. She would remain forever grateful to the Home Minister, for providing her daughter with the security cover, said Asha Ranaut.

Despite being associated with the Congress party, we did not get any support from them: Asha Ranaut

“We have from the beginning been associated with the Congress party, our grandfather, started his career with the Congress. Despite this, we did not get any support from them. Instead, HM Amit Shah came forward to help my daughter. Anything could have happened with her in Mumbai if the government had not provided security cover to my daughter, the actor’s mother said, furthering that she was proud of her daughter’s fight for the truth. 

Kangana Ranaut thanked HM Amit Shah for providing her with Y+ security

Actress Kangana Ranaut had also taken to Twitter to thank Home Minister Amit Shah, for providing her with Y+ security cover after she spoke about the alleged drug use in Bollywood over the death of Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput.

The Y+ category central cover entails deployment of about 10 armed commandos with the protectee.

Kangana in loggerheads with the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government

Kangana has been in loggerheads with the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government ever since the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajut in June. Besides ad-hominem attacks and threats of violence against Ranaut, even the state apparatus has been pushed into taking punitive action against the actor for her remarks that were at odds with the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has demolished her property in Mumbai, within just 24 hours of sticking a ‘stop work’ notice, in violation of an HC order that has prohibited such actions till September 30. Not to be deterred, the ‘Manikarnika’ star went on record warning Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over the move, stating that soon, his tyranny will come to an end.

India Army strengthens its position along the Pangong Tso lake, occupies heights overlooking Chinese positions at finger 4

OpIndia Staff
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India Army strengthens its position along the Pangong Tso lake, occupies heights overlooking Chinese positions at finger 4

As the tension between India and China over dominance on territories along the LAC in Ladakh continues, India has now occupied new regions on the northern bank of the Pangong Tso lake. According to reports, India has occupied heights overlooking the finger 4 on the north bank of Pangong Tso.

This is part of the multiple ‘readjustments’ that Indian forces have carried out along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, strengthening Indian positions against the Chinese military. Indian Army now has tactical advantage on the both north and south banks of the lake.

With newly occupied heights on the north bank, Indian armed forced can overlook the Chinese positions on the ridges of the finger 4 area. China has been strengthening its position near the finger 4 over the last few weeks. Although China still maintains control over the main ridgeline of the finger 4, Indian army has taken positions over nearby heights, increasing pressure on Chinese side.

In the past few weeks, India had also occupied crucial heights on the south bank, consolidating its position. On the intervening night between the 29th and 30th of August, the Chinese PLA “carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo” but the Indian Armed Forces personnel thwarted their nefarious intentions by pre-empting their movements on the Southern Bank of the Pangong Tso lake and strengthened their positions to stop the unilateral Chinese expansionism. After that, Indian forces had moved to occupy heights along the LAC, taking a dominant position on the south bank.

There are eight ridgelines on the north bank of Pangong Tso, known as fingers. India claims that the LAC passes through finger 8, but China disagrees, and claims the area upto finger 4. India has a camp located to the west of finger 4.

With the escalation on both the banks of the lake over the last few weeks, Indian Army has consolidated its forces and defences. The Chinese troops have made multiple attempts to dislodge Indian troops from the mountain heights, which have been foiled by Indian forces. According to army sources, a status of “highest alert” have been maintained in the area, as the situation on the ground remains extremely fragile.

According to reports, China has deployed close to 50,000 personnel in the area, a number matched by the Indian side. While the current focus is at Pangong Tso, the situation remains tense at other conflict points along the LAC too.

The current deadlock between the two neighbouring countries continues despite several rounds talks between the two sides at various levels. China has been repeatedly trying to occupy Indian areas, resulting in conflicts.

Serum Institute halts trials of Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine in India after DCGI notice

OpIndia Staff
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Serum Institute halts trials of Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine in India after DCGI notice

A day after the Serum Institute of India (SII) was issued a notice by country’s pharma regulator Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), the pharma company said it was halting the Oxford coronavirus vaccine trials in the country.

According to the reports, Serum Institute of India has put on hold trials of AstraZeneca’s potential coronavirus vaccine in the country until the British drugmaker restarts the trails. The SII is manufacturing Oxford University’s ‘Covishield vaccine’ in collaboration with UK’s AstraZeneca.

Serum said on Thursday that it was following the DCGI’s directions and added that they would not be able to comment further on the issue.

“We are reviewing the situation and pausing India trials till AstraZeneca restarts the trials. We are following Drug Controller General of India’s (DGCI) instructions and will not be able to comment further on trials,” the Serum institute said.

DGCI issues notice to Serum Institute

Earlier, the DGCI had issued a notice to the Serum institute for not informing them about AstraZeneca halting their clinical trials in other countries and for not submitting casualty analysis of the “reported serious adverse events”.

The regulator asked SII to demonstrate why its clinical trial license should not be suspended until the safety of the vaccine is established. AstraZeneca had paused its clinical trials worldwide after a participant had developed an unexplained illness during the study.

“We are going by DCGI’s direction and so far we’re not told to pause the trials. If DCGI has any safety concerns, we will follow their instructions and abide by the standard protocols,” the Serum institute had said after receiving the notice on Wednesday.

In June, the Pune-based vaccine major had got DCGI nod to conduct Phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine. The vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University had raised hopes in the country as it was considered as a possible preventive measure against the Chinese pandemic.

Along with AstraZeneca’s vaccine, trials are also going on for ICMR-Bharat Biotech’s ‘Covaxine‘ and Zydus Cadila’s ‘ZyCoV-D‘ for the country’s first coronavirus vaccine. 

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad points out how judiciary’s independence was compromised by the ‘ecosystem’ decades earlier

OpIndia Staff
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Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad points out how judiciary’s independence was compromised by the ‘ecosystem’ decades earlier

In an article written by Union Minister for Law and Justice and Communications and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad published in the Indian Express, he launched a scathing attack on the recent trend of the opposition of launching vicious attacks on the judiciary in order to undermine its credibility and at the same time resorting to motivated litigation to hamper the issues that are not to their liking. Prasad also remembered the famous seer HH Kesavananda Bharati who recently passed away. His petition had led to the passing of the landmark judgment delivered by a Bench of 13 judges that introduced the doctrine of basic structure. The Doctrine of Basic structure implies that there are certain fundamental of basic features in the Constitution that cannot be altered, even by way of a constitutional amendment.

In his article, Prasad gave a glimpse of the tainted ‘legacy’ of the Congress party which is full of attempts of muzzling the judiciary. Here are the highlights of his piece:

  • After the landmark judgment establishing the Basic Structure Doctrine in the Kesavananda Bharati, Justice Sikri retired the next day but contrary to the convention his successor was not announced before his retirement. For the first time in the history of India after independence, the office of the Chief Justice of India was filled by superseding the deserving judges. The three judges (Justices J M Shelat, K S Hegde and A N Grover) on the Bench who had supported the Basic Structure Doctrine were superseded by the Congress government and Justice A N Ray who had opposed the doctrine was made the Chief Justice of India.
  • Soon after Justice Ray was appointed as the CJI, another Bench was constituted to ‘review’ the decision in the Kesavananda Bharati case. (However, the proceeding was abandoned. No record of that review proceeding is found as there were restrictions on the press reporting of the judgments.)
  • Prasad was a student activist in the movement against corruption and misrule which was led by Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan. After the Allahabad High Court verdict (delivered by Justice Jahgmohan Lal Sinha) which had set aside Indira Gandhi’s election to Lok Sabha, the Emergency was imposed resulting in the arrest of opposition leaders. An amendment was then passed to validate Indira Gandhi’s election retrospectively and was even upheld by the Supreme Court.
  • A large number of arrests were made during the Emergency including arrests of politicians and newspaper editors. Even the High Court judges who had upheld the freedom of the people who were detained, were not confirmed. In the infamous ADM Jabalpur case, wherein the majority of judges had held that individual liberty could be suspended during the Emergency, Justice H R Khanna emerged as the sole dissenting voice upholding individual liberty. However, this cost him the position of the CJI. The Congress government once again superseded Justice Khanna who was the senior-most judge and appointed Justice Beg as the CJI.
  • Prasad mentioned that some of the leaders in the top brass of the BJP including PM Modi, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, late Sushma Swaraj, late Arun Jaitley, current BJP President JP Nadda and himself had suffered while opposing the Emergency.
  • Attacking the Congress party, he said that the people who now run motivated campaigns expressing artificial concern for the independence of the judiciary have an ideological heritage of celebrating the superseding of judges and justifying the atrocities of the Emergency. On the other hand, the top leaders in the present government have a legacy of standing up for freedom of individuals, freedom of media and the independence of the judiciary.
  • Prasad also mentioned how a senior sitting judge of the Supreme Court (Justice P N Bhagwati) had written a congratulatory letter to Indira Gandhi on her coming to power in 1980.
  • The landmark judgment of the Supreme Court in the Shah Bano case which empowered the Muslim women was nullified by Rajiv Gandhi while PM Modi showed immense commitment by introducing the law against triple talaq after the Supreme Court judgment declaring the practice of triple talaq as unconstitutional.
  • He said that his party and the government is committed to the independence of the judiciary and are proud of the extraordinary legacy of the Supreme Court and the High Courts in pursuit of freedom, empowerment, equity and containment of corruption.
  • Pointing out the challenges to the independence of the judiciary in current times, Prasad explained how Public Interest Litigations (PILs) are filed and social media campaigns are launched to pressurise the judiciary into delivering the judgment of their liking. If the judgment is not as per their liking then a vicious campaign is launched against the judiciary which is an expression of the “my way or the highway” attitude in such people.
  • Comparing the Congress legacy with the rule of the current government, Prasad said that a number of adverse judgments have been delivered by the Supreme Court since the current government came to power including the judgment against the National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC), setting aside of President rule in Uttarakhand and ordering a floor test, another similar judgment ordering floor test in Karnataka and a similar intervention in the case of Arunachal Pradesh Assembly.
  • He also listed some of the petitions pending before the Supreme Court against the government’s decision of abrogating Article 370 and passing the Citizenship Amendment Act as well as the frequent directions by the court in the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. He said that certain people are disappointed as there are no allegations of corruption against the government these days which was the other way round under the UPA government.
  • He termed the unsuccessful attempts of the Congress Party to impeach the sitting CJI with the help of senior lawyers close Congress party and the subsequent petition after the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha refused to grant sanction of impeachment as the biggest blot o the independence of judiciary in recent times.
  • Prasad concluded by warning the opposition not to try to control the polity and governance through ‘collusive cases’ in the Supreme Court and other courts.

Read Sudarshan TV’s statement as Ministry of I and B allows the broadcast of channel’s programme on ‘UPSC jihad’

OpIndia Staff
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Read Sudarshan TV’s statement as Ministry of I and B allows the broadcast of channel’s programme on ‘UPSC jihad’

The Sudarshan News channel has finally received the nod of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to broadcast their programme named ‘Bindass Bol’ which is based on the so-called “UPSC Jihad” as claimed by the channel.

The Ministry has directed the channel to broadcast the program in adherence to the Programme Code. It was mentioned in the order of the Ministry that if the programme violated any law then the action may be taken against it.

The broadcast of the programme was earlier stayed by an order of the Delhi High Court. The order was passed on the petition of some students of Jamia Millia Islamia University in which it was alleged that the programme could incite hatred against Muslims. The Chief Editor of Sudarshan News, Suresh Chavhanke, had earlier denied that having received the stay order of the High Court. He had also said that the proceedings in the court were conducted ex parte.

Sudarshan TV’s statement

In a statement, the Sudarshan TV has stated that the ministry has refused to ban their special ‘Bindas Bol’ programme and has acknowledged that no programme can be banned before its broadcast. It added that the ministry, citing the cable Act, 1994, stated that the law prohibits stay on a programme before its broadcast.

It said that on the channel’s appeal against the stay order, the court had sought the MIB’s reply within 48 hours.

The channel cited the MIB order as a victory for freedom of speech and stated that certain radical elements fro Jamia Millia have a plan to infiltrate into the nation’s bureaucracy through the UPSC. It also added that the programme will reveal the names of the radical organisations involved, and the countries which are funding their plan. It said that they will also expose how Islamist organisations from all over India are helping the radical elements to achieve its goal.

Sudarshan TV to broadcast programme on Friday, 11 September

Sudarshan News chief Suresh Chavanke has stated that the channel will broadcast their programme on Friday, 11 September at 8 pm.

In the trailer released by the channel relating to the controversial programme, Chavhanke had announced that the programme would be exposing how radical elements have been trying to infiltrate the UPSC. He had termed it as ‘bureaucracy Jihad’.

Contempt of Court proceeding sought against India Today employee Rajdeep Sardesai. Read details

OpIndia Staff
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Contempt of Court proceeding sought against India Today employee Rajdeep Sardesai. Read details

A petition has filed in the Supreme Court seeking contempt proceedings against India Today employee Rajdeep Sardesai for his tweets on the suo-motu contempt case against Prashant Bhushan and judiciary.

According to the reports, the plea which sought contempt action against Rajdeep Sardesai for making comments against country’s judiciary stated that Rajdeep Sardesai’s tweets showed that these were “not only a cheap stunt of publicity among people but a deliberate attempt to spread hatred in form of Anti India campaign.”

The petitioner has also sought the consent of Attorney General KK Venugopal for initiating contempt proceedings against Rajdeep Sardesai.

Rajdeep Sardesai had criticised the Supreme Court after the apex court had convicted controversial far-left activist Prashant Bhushan for making disrespectful remarks against the Supreme Court.

While it is not yet clear which tweet of his has warranted petition on contempt of court proceedings, here are the few tweets Rajdeep Sardesai had made after Supreme Court had found Prashant Bhushan guilty in the contempt proceedings against him.

In another tweet, Rajdeep Sardesai had criticised the Supreme Court over its ruling on Prashant Bhushan case while claiming that the apex court had time to hear contempt case while habeas corpus petitions of those detained in Kashmir was pending for more than a year.

He had also said that the contempt of court case agains Bhushan was an embarrassment of its own making by the Supreme Court. In one more tweet he had asked the courts on how to do their job.

The Contempt case against Prashant Bhushan

On August 31, the Supreme Court let off convicted senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan, held guilty in contempt of court, with a nominal fine of Re 1. However, the court added that if Bhushan fails to pay a fine of Re 1, he will be sentenced to 3 months in jail and suspension of his lawyering for 3 months.

The case pertained to two tweets where Prashant Bhushan had cast aspersions against the Supreme Court and specifically, CJI Bobde.

The court had then granted additional time for Prashant Bhushan to consider providing an unconditional apology for his scurrilous remarks. However, in his vanity of portraying himself as Mahatma Gandhi, Bhushan refused to apologise, claiming to tender an apology would tantamount to “contempt of his conscience.”

Responding to the Supreme Court verdict asking Prashant Bhushan to pay a token fine of Re 1 for his tweets against the judiciary, the senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan issued a protracted statement, admitting to paying the fine but indicated that he would file a review petition against the order.

Sandalwood drug case: Serving and retired senior police officers were in touch with accused, says report

OpIndia Staff
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Sandalwood drug case: Serving and retired senior police officers were in touch with accused, says report

In a shocking disclosure, the Central Crime Branch (CCB), which is investigating the Sandalwood drug scandal, has said that some serving and retired police officers were trying to help the arrested suspects in the Sandalwood drugs scandal, reports Deccan Herald.

According to the report, CCB officials have stated that a retired IPS officer was in contact with Kannada actress Sanjjanaa Galrani until a day before her arrest on Tuesday. The officer said that a serving assistant commissioner had also been “updating” Viren Khanna on the progress of the investigation.

Sanjjanaa Galrani was arrested by the Central Crime Branch of Bengaluru police in connection with the Sandalwood drug case. Another accused Viren Khanna, an event organiser who hosted lavish parties attended by celebritiess, foreigners and film actors, has also been arrested in the drugs case. 

Ragini Dwivedi consulted few police officers before arrest, says Deccan Herald report

Ragini Dwivedi, another Kananda actress arrested in the case, was in touch with a few police officers before her arrest, the report has stated. The retired IPS officer was in touch with Ragini, Sanjjanaa and Khanna, the officer added. The serving officer had also allegedly helped the son of a prominent MLA in a criminal case. 

Meanwhile, the CCB has launched their search for a close aide of an opposition party MLA, who had close contacts with Sanjjanaa. The MLA’s aide has escaped after police began an investigation into his whereabouts. The CCB has now summoned his parents to question them about his involvement in the drug case. The MLA’s aide had reportedly attended parties in Sri Lanka under the guise of a business trip. 

Sandalwood drug case

Amidst the raging debate in the country over the issue of narcotic influence in the movie industry, a massive drug scandal was unearthed by the Bengaluru police last week.

In a major crackdown against drug peddlers in the state, the Bengaluru police last week arrested some top actresses in the Kannada film industry over alleged involvement in drug trafficking.

The Crime Branch officials in Bengaluru have arrested Kannada actresses Ragini Dwivedi and Sanjjanaa Galrani in connection with a Sandalwood drug case. Many more actresses, musicians, are under the police scanner for their alleged links to the massive drug racket.

So far, the police have booked more than12 people in connection with the Sandalwood drug mafia case. The police have already arrested actor Ragini Dwivedi, her friend Ravishankar, realtor Rahul Shetty, actress Sanjjanaa Galrani and an event manager, Viren Khanna. All the accused have been booked them under Sections 21, 21C, 27A, 27B, and 29B of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. 

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