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Congress leader Milind Deora criticises Maharashtra govt for indulging in petty politics, party supporters ask him to join BJP

OpIndia Staff
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Congress leader Milind Deora criticises Maharashtra govt for indulging in petty politics, party supporters ask him to join BJP

Senior Congress leader Milind Deora on Wednesday criticised the Maharashtra government over settling political scores at a time when the Maha Vikas Aghadi-led Maharashtra was facing a severe health crisis in the form of coronavirus pandemic.

Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, former Congress MP and senior leader Milind Deora criticised the Maharashtra government, where his party is a coalition partner, over its priorities to settle political scores against the likes of actress Kangana Ranaut at a time when Maharashtra has been hit with raising coronavirus cases.

Attacking the Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP-led Maharashtra government in Maharashtra, Deora said instead of focussing on governance we are busy settling political scores and urged all parties to come together and set the priorities right. He added that he was appalled as a Mumbaikar to see the state of affairs in the economic capital of India.

His comments came in the backdrop of Maharashtra government’s continued attacks on Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut, who has now indulged in an alleged vendetta against the actress for raising voice against the manner in which Maharashtra government, especially the Mumbai Police in handling the suicide case of Sushant Singh Rajput case.

Earlier in the day, he had posted a similar tweet asking the government in Maharashtra whether there was no better time to fight pointless cultural wars in the state.

Kangana Ranaut has been extremely vocal about Maharashtra government’s failure to credibly investigate the Sushant Singh Rajput’s case and has criticised Mumbai Police deliberate delay in investigating into the case. She has also exposed the Bollywood-drug mafia nexus. Following that, the actress was abused and threatened by Shiv Sena, the lead alliance partner of the coalition government in the state.

Taking an extreme step, the Shiv Sena-led Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday began demolition drive at the Bandra office of actor Kangana Ranaut. The BMC officials had demolished her office claiming that there were several alterations on the premises without the due permission from BMC. 

Perhaps, Deora was highlighting the fact that the Maharashtra government was busy settling political scores at a time when Maharashtra government should have worried about raising number of coronavirus cases in the state.

Maharashtra has been the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic in India. The state has reported 9,43,772 cases and 27,407 deaths. On Tuesday alone, the state recorded 20,131 new cases and 380 deaths.

Congress supporters attack Milind Deora

Congress leader Milind Deora’s advice to the party and the Maharashtra government did not go well with the party supporters, who did not waste their time to attack the former MP.

As Milind Deora urged all the parties to unite together to work for the betterment of the state, Congress workers attacked him accusing him of acting like a BJP member. Some even urged him to join BJP and stop criticising the Congress party.

Another Congress supporter accused Deora of not having any shame to stay in the party. He too asked Deora to join the BJP instead of sitting on fence jump to BJP.

Xinjiang connection, supporting police brutalities: Read why Hong Kong activists are calling for the boycott of Disney’s ‘Mulan’

OpIndia Staff
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Xinjiang connection, supporting police brutalities: Read why Hong Kong activists are calling for the boycott of Disney’s ‘Mulan’

Walt Disney’s latest live-action remake of the 1998 animation movie ‘Mulan’ has sparked off a fresh wave of criticism over its actor’s support of police repression in Hong Kong and for being shot partly in Xinjiang, the restive province of China where millions of Uighur Muslims are facing persecution and confinement in camps.

The movie is based on Chinese folklore ‘The ballad of Mulan’. Chinese actress Liu Yifei plays the lead in the movie.

Social media platforms are awash with the criticism of the movie after netizens observed Disney expressing its gratitude towards 8 Chinese entities in Xinjiang, a region that is home to China’s Uighur Muslim population but known for horrifying brutalities by the Chinese government against the minorities.

Protesters have called for boycott of the movie, arguing that the movie is filmed extensively in the region where millions of Uighur Muslims, forcibly lodged in detention camps, are facing unspeakable atrocities, meted out by the officials of the Chinese Communist Party. They allege that supporting the movie would be akin to partaking in the cultural genocide of the Uighur people by the Xinjiang authorities.

Activists have also criticised Disney for taking help from the very authorities who are responsible for the persecution of Uighurs in Xinjiang.

Hong Kong activists call for the ban over Mulan actor’s support of police brutality

The movie was already under attack by Hong Kong activists last year, with Hong Kong anti government protesters calling for a boycott of the movie after the main lead, mainland Chinese-born actress Liu Yifei, endorsed police action on social media, at a time when Hong Kong was convulsed with anti-government unrest.

Social media platforms is rife with Hong Kong activities calling for the boycott of the movie. Internet users in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Thailand are amongst those who have promulgated hashtags such as “#BoycottMulan” and “#BanMulan” on Twitter, in the wake of the movie’s launch on Disney’s streaming platform.

The calls for the boycott of the movie ‘Mulan’ gained momentum this week, with prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong asking people to boycott the movie. He also accused Disney of kowtowing to China’s communist government and slammed lead actress Liu Yifei for openly supporting police brutality in Hong Kong.

Another Hong Kong activist, Jeffrey Ngo, now living in the United States, has also called for the boycott of Disney’s Mulan.

US politicians slam Disney for supporting Chinese repression in Xinjiang

One of the entities mentioned in the ending credits of the Disney movie is the police bureau in Turpan, the region in Xinjiang known for its rugged landscape, is also a site with a large number of detention camps housing Uighur Muslims. Recently, the Trump administration had put the bureau and other authorities in Xinjiang in the blacklist, forbidding US companies to trade with them. The blacklisting was in connection with the state-sponsored repression and cultural erosion of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.

Disney has also received criticism from American lawmakers for crediting Xinjiang entities, responsible for brutalising the Uighurs. “While the CCP is committing crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, @Disney thanked four of the propaganda departments that are lying to the world about these crimes. It also thanked the Turpan Public Security Bureau, which is on the entity list for its role in these atrocities,” wrote Representative Mike Gallagher on Twitter.

American Senator from Arkansas, Tom Cotton, also took to Twitter to call out Disney’s support to the Chinese Communist Party, accused of operating concentration camps in Xinjiang. Tom Cotton also criticised Disney’s CEO for his remarks that speaking against China for crushing pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong would be a “big mistake”.

China an important market for Hollywood movie-makers

The movie was set to release in March this year but the onset of coronavirus pandemic pushed the release date several months later. A month ago, Walt Disney said that Mulan would skip theatre issue and go directly on its online streaming service Disney+.

The film is poised to premiere in Chinese theatres this Friday and Disney is circumspect with not rankling the Chinese government this time around. Last time, in 1996, Disney was shunted out of the Chinese film market after it enraged Chinese officials for its support to “Kundun”, Martin Scorsese’s 1997 film that was sympathetic to Tibetan spiritual ruler Dalai Lama.

As a consequence, Disney’s original “Mulan” animated film from 1998 was delayed for a year to make its way in the Chinese film market. It took much persuasion and financial commitments for Disney to once again make inroads into the Chinese movie market. Disney purchased the foreign distribution rights to two Chinese feature films, hired a Chinese performance troupe to participate in the European release of “Mulan” and proposed the idea of opening a theme park in the country after which Mulan was released in China in February 1999.

China’s booming market is the world’s second-largest box-office market and has increasingly become an important destination for productions houses to rake in the moolah. Last year, Disney’s Avengers Endgame minted $629.1 mn in China, an astounding 23 per cent of its worldwide total of $2.1 bn. The 2019 remake of Lion King had racked up $120 mn at the Chinese box-office market.

‘The demolition has given Kangana Ranaut unnecessary publicity’, Sharad Pawar says undue importance given to the actor’s statements

OpIndia Staff
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‘The demolition has given Kangana Ranaut unnecessary publicity’, Sharad Pawar says undue importance given to the actor’s statements

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, the architect of the coalition government in Maharashtra, has raised questions over BMC’s demolition drive at Kangana Ranaut’s office today. He said that BMC’s action was unnecessary, and it has given Ranaut the opportunity to speak against the government. He added that there are many other illegal constructions in Mumbai, and it is necessary to consider the events that led to the authorities’ decision. Pawar said that it is a known fact that Mumbai Police works for the safety of the people.

Shard Pawar also said that the BMC was giving too much importance to Kangana’s statements. “We are giving too much importance to the people making such statements. One must understand the impact of such statements on the people at large,” he said. Saying that such people should not get publicity, Pawar said that the demolition by BMC will give Kangana Ranaut “Unnecessary Publicity”. The NCP supremo made the comments while talking to reporters at YB Chavan Centre at Nariman Point in the city after a book launch ceremony.

The recent spat between Kangana Ranaut and Shiv Sena had reached to the point where BMC, under Sena’s rule, decided to demolish the office of Kangana Ranaut over illegal construction charges. They have claimed that Ranaut renovated the office without taking prior permission as required by the law. The demolition drive took place at the time when Ranaut was coming back to Mumbai. Kangana live-tweeted what was happening at her office. Many has opined that the demolition done by BMC was illegal as the Bombay High Court has put a stay on all demolition, eviciotn and repossession drives by authorities up to 30 September due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The demolition of the Pali Hill office of Ranaut gave her a chance to compare Mumbai with Pakistan occupied Kashmir once again. A coalition of Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress is running the government in Maharashtra. NCP coming in the open against Sena’s actions is not seen as a good sign for the coalition.

‘Aaj mera ghar toota, kal tera ghamand tootega’: Kangana Ranaut hits out on Uddhav Thackeray after BMC demolishes her office

OpIndia Staff
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‘Aaj mera ghar toota, kal tera ghamand tootega’: Kangana Ranaut hits out on Uddhav Thackeray after BMC demolishes her office

Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut today took to Twitter to lash out on Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray after Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) demolished her office earlier in the day.

She reached Mumbai a couple of minutes back from Himachal Pradesh. Prior to that, the BMC demolished her office claiming there was illegal construction. Addressing Shiv Sena head and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Kangana said her spirits are not dampened after BMC (where Shiv Sena is major party), broke down her house along with film mafia. “This is the wheel of time. Today my house is broken, tomorrow your arrogance will break,” she said.

She further thanked Thackeray and said that while she knew what Kashmiri Pandits had suffered (during the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus in late 80s and early 90s from the valley), but today she has experienced it. “I promise this country that I will make a movie not only on Ayodhya but also on Kashmir and awaken our countrymen. Uddhav Thackeray, this cruelty and terror… it is good it happened to me. Because this has significance,” she said.

She also shared videos of her office that was demolished by the BMC.

She said that nothing in her office was illegal and that the demolition was carried out even though the Bombay High Court had stayed all demolitions till 30th September.

Kangana vs Shiv Sena

The Kangana vs Shiv Sena standoff escalated after Shiv Sena leaders as well as NCP leaders threatened Kangana Ranaut for referring to Mumbai as Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir after Azadi slogans were spotted on graffiti. Later, Mumbai Commissioner of Police also ‘liked’ a tweet abusing her. Shiv Sena MP and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut even referred to her as ‘haramkhor ladki’. After the misogynist and sexist tirade against her, Raut claimed ‘haramkhor’ means ‘naughty’.

US President Donald Trump nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in UAE-Israel peace deal

OpIndia Staff
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US President Donald Trump nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in UAE-Israel peace deal

US President Donald Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, reportedly by a Norwegian parliamentarian for brokering the UAE-Israel peace deal. As per a report by Fox News, Christian Tybring-Gjedde, a member of the Norwegian Parliament and chairman to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, submitted the nomination.

Tybring-Gjedde reportedly praised Trump for his efforts to end conflicts between nations worldwide. He had also previously submitted a nomination for Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for his Singapore summit which hosted Kim Jong-un.

“For his merit, I think he has done more trying to create peace between nations than most other Peace Prize nominees, The Norwegian leader told to Fox News in an exclusive interview.

Tybring-Gjedde, a four-term parliamentarian has Witten in his nomination letter to the Nobel Peace Prize committee that Trump’s administration has played a key role in establishing contact and talks between nations indulged in conflict.

Clrifying that he is “not a big Trump supporter” anyway, Tybring-Gjedde further told Fox News that “The committee should look at the facts and judge him on the facts – not on the way he behaves sometimes.” The Norwegian leader further added that the people who have received the Peace Prize in recent years have done much less than Donald Trump.

“For example, Barack Obama did nothing”, Tybring-Gjedde added.

Assam: One Riki Ahmed arrested for repeatedly raping his minor niece after drugging her

OpIndia Staff
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Assam: One Riki Ahmed arrested for repeatedly raping his minor niece after drugging her

The Assam police have arrested a named Riki Ahmed alias Bicky of Kawri Patty area of Naliapool for allegedly raping a 15-year-old minor girl several times in Dibrugarh. The accused Riki Ahmed is the maternal uncle of the victim.

The man was arrested on the basis of an FIR filed by the family members of the girl, who have alleged that the accused had raped the girl more than 20 times. The issue was not known to the family members of the victim. The family came to know about the matter only yesterday and they filed a complaint against the accused with the police immediately after that.

According to reports, Riki Ahmed used to drug his niece before rapping her. He is reportedly associated with several organisations in Dibrugarh town.

According to Additional Superintendent of police, Padmanav Baruah, a case (no 1513/20) under sections 448/376 D(A)/ 506 of the IPC, Section 4 of Protection of Child from Sexual Offence Act has been registered against the offender at Dibrugarh police station. While the accused has denied the allegations levelled against him, the police officer claimed that the circumstantial evidence points towards his involvement.

“We will file the charge sheet within a week’s time and demand for a fast-track trial,” the Additional SP added.

Criminal incidents in Assam on the rise after coronavirus lockdown

Criminal incidents in Assam are steadily on the rise. Several parts of the state, including Dibrugarh, have reported a spurt in the rape crimes. In June 2020, an incident of gangrape took place in Dibrugarh, when four individuals intercepted a minor girl, who was on her way from Convoy road to her sister’s house at Chandmari ghat at Paltan Bazar. The minor was abducted by the four men and taken to a nearby tea garden and raped by them.

Separately, in June this year, the Dibrugarh police had reportedly arrested one Rahimuddin and two others, in connection to the brutal murder of a 20-year-old named Saurav Das. The incident took place n Lejai in the Dibrugarh district of upper Assam on Friday night and the body of the victim was disposed off in the Sesa river. The victim hailed from Dewanbari village that fell under the jurisdiction of Borbaruah police station.

As per reports, the deceased boy was allegedly dating a minor girl and on the night of his murder, he was called by the girl to meet at the spot where the girl’s father Rahimuddin and two of his accomplices were already waiting for him.

Saurav Das was then stabbed and his body was dumped into the river. His 2-wheeler was recovered from a spot, adjacent to the river. “It is a pre-planned murder. We demand a proper investigation into the incident. We will not remain silent till the culprits get strict punishment,” a local man was quoted as saying

Kangana Vs Maha govt: Bombay HC stays BMC’s demolition drive on actress’ property, asks to file reply on her petition

OpIndia Staff
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Kangana Vs Maha govt: Bombay HC stays BMC’s demolition drive on actress’ property, asks to file reply on her petition

The Bombay High Court has passed a restraint order against the demolition drive being carried out by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on actress Kangana Ranaut’s property and has asked the BMC to file a reply on her petition.

Parts of property already demolished

The BMC had, however, already demolished parts of the property on the ground that some illegal alterations were carried out at the property without permission. The demolition drive being carried out the BMC was in violation of the order of the Bombay High Court that directed the government, Municipal corporations and other authorities against carrying out any demolition, eviction and holding auctions of attached properties across the State of Maharashtra till September 30.

BMC’s action was in violation of Bombay HC’s order?

In an earlier order, the Bombay High Court had directed the Municipal Commissioners of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai as well Municipal Commissioners of all the Municipal Corporations in Maharashtra to consider issuing a general directive not to demolish, evict and/or hold auctions of attached properties for a specified period. The High Court passed the order for preventing individuals aggrieved by any of the above-mentioned acts of the Municipal Corporations from rushing to the court seeking restraint order.

The court also said that in case Municipal corporations in some extraordinary situations or for compelling reasons are required to take any such action, they must first get the necessary orders from the court. The restriction on carrying out any demolition, eviction or holding auction of attached properties was later extended by the High Court till September 30, 2020, by an order passed on August 31, 2020.

The BMC did not take prior permission from the court as required by the March 19 order. It is to be seen whether contempt charges will be slapped against the BMC for not complying with the order of the High Court.

Kangana Ranaut is facing the wrath of the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government for voicing her opinion against political leaders and the governance of Mumbai. Shiv Sena has been trying to project her criticism of the government as a criticism of the Maratha pride.

Islamist ‘journalist’ Rana Ayyub tests positive for coronavirus

OpIndia Staff
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Islamist ‘journalist’ Rana Ayyub tests positive for coronavirus

Islamist ‘Journalist’ Rana Ayyub has tested positive for coronavirus. On Wednesday she took to Twitter to inform that her oxygen levels dipped last night and eventually she tested positive for Chinese virus.

She claimed she is looking for a hospital bed in Navi Mumbai to get herself admitted.

In March 2020, when the pandemic that started in China had just started to engulf the world, Rana had wondered what is left for the virus to kill in a nation that is morally corrupt.

Ayyub has been caught spreading misinformation and fake news during the pandemic quite often. She shared a a video claiming a labourer on Shramik Special train died of starvation while it was due to other health condition. She was also found shielding the Tablighi Jamaat, the congregation of Muslims which acted as one of the initial hotspots for the spread of Chinese coronavirus. Further, along with leftist ‘historian’ William Dalrymple, she was caught spreading old image of curfew defaulters being punished as that of migrant labourers.

Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair gets interim protection for FIR against him for doxxing a girl child

OpIndia Staff
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Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair gets interim protection for FIR against him for doxxing a girl child

Delhi High Court has given interim protection to Alt News co-founder Zubair while hearing his plea to quash FIR filed against him under IPC Section 509B, IT Act section 67. The court has asked the Delhi government and DCP Cyber Cell to file a status report of the case within eight weeks. The court has also directed NCPCR to file a reply on the allegations against Zubair filed by the petitioner by making his data public.

According to the reports, POSCO act was not added to the Delhi FIR.

Two FIRs against Zubair for doxxing a minor girl

Priyank Kanoongo, the chairperson, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said in a tweet recently that according to the action taken report (ATR) received by the commission, an FIR has been registered against Mohammad Zubair for doxxing a minor girl while arguing with a twitter user. FIR is also named @de_real_mak and @syedsarwar, who posted derogatory tweets against the girl child in the pretext of supporting Zubair. Another FIR is filed against Zubair in Chhattisgarh under relevant sections of the IT Act and POCSO Act.

“Everything is over now”, Supreme Court dismisses fresh petitions seeking postponement of NEET examination

OpIndia Staff
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“Everything is over now”, Supreme Court dismisses fresh petitions seeking postponement of NEET examination

The Supreme Court today dismissed three petitions seeking to postpone the NEET examination for admission to undergraduate medical courses scheduled to be conducted on September 13. The petitions cited many grounds for postponement of the exams including the Bihar floods and the lesser restrictions on movement. A similar petition filed by six Ministers from various states was dismissed by the Court on September 4.

The three petitions sought for the postponement of the examination instead of cancellation in view of the coronavirus outbreak. A Bench comprising of Justices Ashok Bhushan, Subhash Reddy and Mr Shah took the decision. The court in its August 17 order, which was passed by a Bench headed by Justice Mishra, had allowed the Centre to conduct the examinations. The court had observed that the career of students could not be put on peril and a year could not be wasted.

Commenting on the maintainability of the petitions, the bench remarked that everything was over, the review petitions were also dismissed and the JEE has also been conducted, so how could then the current petition be considered. Senior Advocate Arvind P Datar who appeared for the petitioners gave the example of Bihar where there are only two centres for the examination and the train services have been stopped till September 30. “16 lakh students are writing the exams. This is the only medical exam. There are only two centres- Patna and Gaya. Trains are not running till 30th. We are only asking for 3 weeks of postponement”, Datar submitted.

Senior Advocate KTS Tulsi who supported Datar’s argument requested the court to pass an order similar to that passed by the Bombay High Court last week. The Bombay High Court had ordered the National Testing Agency to conduct a re-examination for the students who could not appear for the exam. Datar also made a similar request for students who will not be able to appear in the exam due to lockdown restrictions.

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