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Maharashtra and Delhi governments not interested in implementing migrant workers welfare enactments: Supreme Court

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Maharashtra and Delhi governments not interested in implementing migrant workers welfare enactments: Supreme Court

The Apex Court on Tuesday rebuked the governments of Maharashtra and Delhi for failing to file affidavits before the court showing compliance with the welfare enactments for migrant workers. A Bench comprising of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and M R Shah had passed an order on July 31 in a suo motu case on Covid-19 migrant worker crisis which required the states to submit an affidavit showing the implementation of Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act,1979, the Construction Workers Act, 1996 and the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008.

Without mincing words, the court said that the two states had the maximum number of migrant workers and yet they failed to comply with the court order which showed their lack of interest in the matter. “Although various States have filed their reply but the States of Maharashtra and NCT of Delhi have not filed their affidavits in compliance with our order dated 31.07.2020. The States of Maharashtra and Delhi are the States where maximum number of migrants have come and are working”, the court noted.

Expressing displeasure over the States’ non-compliance, the court said, “When the Court passed specific order directing States to file affidavits, the Court’s intention was to see the working of the aforesaid Acts. Non- filing of the affidavit clearly indicates that the States are not interested in implementing the aforesaid enactments”.

The Court took notice of the implementation of the welfare enactments after the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) filed an application before the court highlighting non-implementation of the enactments by various states. The enactments require the States to maintain a register of the migrant labourers to facilitate the distribution of the funds allocated for their welfare. The court has granted two-weeks time to the two States to file the affidavits.

Commerce ministry caps MEIS benefit to exporters during last 4 months of the scheme, govt says move aimed at protecting genuine exporters

OpIndia Staff
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Commerce ministry caps MEIS benefit to exporters during last 4 months of the scheme, govt says move aimed at protecting genuine exporters

After the Commerce ministry announced a cap on benefits given to exporters under the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS), the ministry has said that only 2% exporters who claim the benefit will be impacted by the change. According to an analysis done by the Department of Commerce, 98 percent of the exporters who claim MEIS will be unaffected by the changes.

The department added that the unaffected exporters who have already factored in MEIS in the pricing of their products do not face any change or uncertainty. This is because, neither coverage of products nor rates of MEIS will be changed for them. “Genuine exporters are protected and allowed to claim benefits for exports in the period and the possibility of fraud by taking new Importer Exporter Code (IEC) to circumvent the cap is avoided,” a statement issued by the department said. It also added that advance notice of four months of the end date of MEIS provides certainty for future pricing decisions.

On 1st September, the Department of Commerce under the ministry of Commerce and Industry had announced caping MEIS benefits to exporters to Rs 2 crores for the period 1st September t0 31st December. Amending the relevant sections of the Foreign Trade Policy, it was announced that total reward granted to an IEC holder under the MEIS scheme will not exceed Rs 2 crore on exports made during this period.

It also says that any IEX holder who has not made any export with Let Export Order (LEO) date during the period 1st September 2019 to 31st August 2020, or any new IEC obtained after 1st September 2020 will not be eligible to claim any benefits under MEIS for any export made after 1st September 2020. The ceiling of Rs 2 crore may be reduced further so that the total benefit given under the scheme does not exceed Rs 5,000 crore, the allocation determined the union govt.

Benefits under MEIS will not be available for exports made from 1st January 2021. Which means, the scheme will be withdrawn from the beginning of the calendar year 2021.

Under the MEIS, the govt provides rewards to exporters to offset infrastructural inefficiencies and associated costs. The rewards vary according to products and country, and it is calculated as percentage of realised free-on-board value, which may be 2%, 3% or 5%. Exporters receive Duty Credit Scrips for their scripts, which freely transferable, and they can be used for making various payment like basic customs duty, additional customs duty, central excise duty etc on import or domestic procurement of goods. The objective of the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) is to promote the manufacture and export of notified goods/ products.

Earlier this year, the Commerce Ministry had announced that the MEIS will not be available after 31st December 2020. The government is bringing a new export incentive scheme in its place, the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) scheme. The new scheme will reimburse the taxes and duties incurred by exporters such as local taxes, coal cess, mandi tax, electricity duties and fuel used for transportation, which are not getting exempted or refunded under any other existing scheme. The rebate would be claimed as a percentage of the Freight On Board (FOB) value of exports. The MEIS was also not compatible with WTO guidelines, while the RoDTEP complies with all WTO guidelines on export incentives.

After de-platforming Delhi Riots 2020 book, ‘liberals’ go after another Bloomsbury India author

OpIndia Staff
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After de-platforming Delhi Riots 2020 book, ‘liberals’ go after another Bloomsbury India author

Days after left-wing ‘activists and Islamists had bullied Bloomsbury India into withdrawing the publication of the book ‘Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story’, a similar attempt was made by a few Islamists and left-liberals on Wednesday after they targeted one of the authors associated with the publishing house for expressing his opinion on animal cruelty.

On Wednesday, a social media user named Saira Shah Halim, who claims to be a TEDx Speaker put out a tweet claiming that vegetarianism and non-violence are not interlinked. To substantiate her claims, Saira Halim cited Nazi leaders as an example, who according to her, were noted for their love for pets and animals.

Image Source: Saira Shah Halim

Halim claimed that Hitler, who was a vegetarian and hater of hunting, adored dogs. She went on to add that people should stop gloating over the supreme leader over their love for animals. “Nazis need to be called out,” said the social media user.

The tweet by Halim invoking vegetarianism, nazis and their love for animals was an indirect reference to the recently shared videos of Prime Minister Modi, where he was seen spending time with peacocks and feeding them at his residence.

Responding to Halim’s post, Author Alpesh Patel posed a witty reply, asking her to share the correct procedure for chopping a goat.

Goats are slaughtered as part of ‘sacrifice’ on Bakri Eid.

Following Alpesh Patel’s post, Saira Shah Halim tried to bully him by dragging Bloomsbury into the controversy instead of responding to him peacefully. Tagging Bloomsbury, Saira asked the publishing house whether Alphesh was an author with them.

Image Source: Sara Shah Halim

Soon, others descended on her timeline to further threaten the author Alpesh Patel for expressing his views. Another user attacked Alpesh Patel, called him a bigot and accused Bloomsbury of having employed author who is ‘bigots of the highest quality’.

Another Twitter user demanded Bloomsbury to put up the stand taken by them on the issue.

These left-liberals and Islamists, taking a cue from the recent episode of intense bullying by Islamists and left-liberals which led to de-platforming a book by Bloomsbury, perhaps thought that they could once again bully the publishing house to take action against Alpesh Patel for simply asking a question to the social media user.

Bloomsbury falls prey for Islamist, left bullying, withdraws book

A few weeks back, Bloomsbury had announced that it is withdrawing a book titled ‘Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story’ due to pressures from the Islamists and left-liberal lobby.

The book ‘Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story’ is authored by Monika Arora, Sonali Chitalkar and Prerna Malhotra. The book, which is a factual account based on investigation and interviews conducted by the authors, was to be released in September. However, pushed by left-liberals, Bloomsbury had withdrawn the book even as the authors were attending a virtual event to launch the book.

Days later, another publisher Garuda Prakashan jumped in to take the rights of the yet-to-be-released book and opened the booking platform. It is pertinent to note that the ‘Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story’’ book has been pre-ordered over 15,000 times till now.

China-Pakistan working secretly to expand biowarfare capabilities with anthrax-like pathogens: Australian journalist claims

OpIndia Staff
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China-Pakistan working secretly to expand biowarfare capabilities with anthrax-like pathogens: Australian journalist claims

With the world distracted by the coronavirus pandemic that emerged from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, China has stealthily unleashed its expansionist designs, aggressively asserting the numerous overlapping territorial claims it has with at least 14 of its neighbours.

In the last few months, China had sunk a Vietnamese fishing boat in the disputed South China Sea, persistently harassed a Malaysian offshore oil rig, threatened Taiwan with an attack, tightened its grips on Hong Kong by passing a controversial national security law and flexed muscles with India along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh.

Recently, the simmering tensions along the Line of Actual Control in India’s Ladakh aggravated when a platoon of 400-500 PLA troops was halted by the vigilant Indian Army from encroaching upon the Indian territory.

As China has exploited the coronavirus pandemic to pursue its aggressive expansionism, several reports that have emerged give credence to the speculations that Beijing might have waged deliberate biological warfare to throw the world into chaos. China’s surprisingly low numbers of coronavirus infection and its subjugation of the raging pandemic has only added to the rumours that the pandemic might be a part of China’s biological warfare.

Australian journalist claimed Pakistan-China had entered a covert deal to develop bio-warfare capabilities

These suspicions were given further prominence by Australian journalist Anthony Klan, who in July this year, published a report, claiming that China and Pakistan had entered into a “secret three-year deal” to augment potential bio-warfare capabilities, including running several research projects related to the deadly agent anthrax.

“In the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak on Chinese soil, China’s now infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology has signed the covert deal with Pakistan military’s Defense Science and Technology Organization (DESTO), to collaborate research in “emerging infectious diseases” and advance studies on the biological control of transmitted diseases,” the journalist alleged in his article about the alleged China-Pakistan nexus in carrying out secret research for contagious diseases.

“China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology had ‘lent all financial, material and scientific support for the project,” Klan quoted a source privy to the details of the covert deal.

Klan had claimed that China’s plan was to designate Pakistan a destination for hazardous bio chemical research while evading use of its own territory for such activities. Though one example was a proposal to test a Coronavirus vaccine, made by Chinese state-owned company Sinopharm, on Pakistani citizens, The China-Pakistan biological project had already undertaken experiments on the Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus (CCHFV), Klan claimed citing sources.

Klan’s report claimed that Pakistan had been provided with the reagents for Bacillus Thuringiensis by the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the covert China-Pakistan project has conducted “successful soil sampling tests” to isolate Bacillus Thuringiensis (BT), which has a ‘striking similarity’ to Bacillus Anthracis – or anthrax bacteria.

The Wuhan lab was also providing extensive training on manipulation of pathogens and bio-informatics to Pakistani scientists to help Pakistan develop its own virus collection database, the Klaxon report had said.

Wuhan Institute of Virology accused of spreading the coronavirus pandemic

The Wuhan Institute of Virology has been in the news because the coronavirus is believed to have been originated in Wuhan. As the pandemic had its origins in Wuhan, many claims have emerged that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was behind the creation of the coronavirus that is afflicting the entire world.

Earlier in April, the Fox News, in an exclusive report on the origins of the coronavirus, claimed that an intern working at Wuhan laboratory may have accidentally contracted the contagion and spread it to others. Later, US President Donald Trump echoed similar sentiments, saying he had a “high degree of confidence” that the coronavirus had its roots in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Also, the speculations over the involvement of Wuhan Institute of Virology in sparking off a global pandemic were raised further when Shi Zhengli, an expert on SARS-like coronaviruses claimed that the coronavirus bears stark resemblance with the frozen samples of bat virus that were sent to Wuhan Institute of Virology, collected from an abandoned bat cave in China’s Yunnan province in 2013.

TMC’s Derek O’Brien writes to Facebook, accuses it of links with BJP ahead of Bengal elections

OpIndia Staff
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TMC’s Derek O’Brien writes to Facebook, accuses it of links with BJP ahead of Bengal elections

Harping on the alleged BJP-Facebook links, All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) MP Derek O’Brien has written a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg requesting him to maintain the integrity of the platform in the upcoming elections in West Bengal. The Rajya Sabha MP accused Facebook of blocking pages and accounts in Bengal due to its alleged ‘links’ with the BJP.

Brien also questioned the role of Facebook in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, accusing the platform of having links with the BJP. He referred to the articles published in the BBC, the Wall Street Journal and others alleging Facebook’s bias towards the BJP and requested Zuckerberg of investigating the charges levelled against its senior management in India.

This comes after Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad wrote a letter to Facebook head Mark Zuckerberg yesterday pointing at the inherent bias of the social media platform against the political factions that apparently go against the Left. In the letter, Prasad had highlighted how the dominant bias and political leanings of the employees and officials of Facebook India reflected in its actions censoring freedom of speech and expression.

Last month a report of the Wall Street Journal had alleged that one of the top executives of the company, Ankhi Das, supported the BJP and PM Modi and therefore this was reason enough to question her neutrality. This was countered by some shocking revelations made by BJP IT Cell Head Amit Malviya about Congress leaders hiring lobbyists in the USA to spread propaganda.

Recently, BJP’s Amit Malviya had shared several screenshots alleging that many top officials of Facebook India have been promoting parties like Congress, AAP and TMC. After the allegations of Congress supporters on the social media against Ankhi Das, she had also filed a police complaint claiming a threat to life.

Fed up of being confused with China amid coronavirus outbreak, Taiwan redesigns its passport cover

OpIndia Staff
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Fed up of being confused with China amid coronavirus outbreak, Taiwan redesigns its passport cover

Taiwan has decided to issue new passports to ensure better differentiation from China across the International community. The new design will give more focus on the word “Taiwan”, as opposed to the current design that mentions its official name “Republic of China” more prominently.

The problem with the old design

The official name of Taiwan is “Republic of China”, while the official name of mainland China is “People’s Republic of China. This often creates confusion in foreign countries, and many times Taiwanese passport is confused with the Chinese passport. In the 1940s, the government that controlled China was defeated in the civil war and had fled to modern-day Taiwan. Taiwan uses the word “China” for a long time. Beijing also claims that Taiwan is its territory though the Communist Party has never ruled the nation.

Confusion during Covid-19 pandemic

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Taiwan’s controversy being recognized as a part of China has emerged again. The government of Taiwan has successfully controlled the epidemic on its own. However, as it is considered a part of China by several nations worldwide, they were included in the list of travel bans imposed against Chinese nationals by such countries. It gave the much-needed push to the demand for a name change.

The competition organized by Taiwan

The government held an online competition in search of a new passport cover. It drew hundreds of submissions. Though the competition terms clearly mentioned that the winner design might not make it to the final design of the passport, it attracted the attention of the young generation in Taiwan to explore and reimagine the national identity. Taiwan is attempting to get recognition as a distinctive country independent of China’s connection. Many submissions for the new passport design featured famous Taiwanese foods, including braised pork rice, bubble tea, and more.

The new design and why there were minimal changes

During a press conference, Taiwanese officials explained why they chose the new design and its significance. They said that the new design has the word “Taiwan” written in bigger font in the center. The officials claimed that it would help in causing less confusion. The phrase “Republic of China” is written in smaller letters circling the sun emblem of Taiwan. The officials said they wanted to improve Taiwan’s recognition with minimal changes. The color of the new passport design remains the same as the old one.

Criticism from the Taiwanese

The citizens of Taiwan have, however, ridiculed the new design. Some critics said that Taiwan chose the safest option in terms of design. They said that it does not achieve the purpose of amplifying Taiwanese identity. Catherine Chou, assistant professor of pre-modern European history at Grinnell College, said in a tweet that though the design is geopolitically clever, “I feel compelled to represent the diaspora who left Taiwan who left precisely to escape the Republic of China and have never lost sight of their ultimate goal: a Republic of #Taiwan.”

Taiwan has tweaked the design several times

The Taiwanese passport has seen changes in the design multiple times over the years. They added the word “Taiwan” to the cover in 2003. The Taiwanese started to put stickers with the words “Republic of Taiwan” on their travel documents that led to the denial of their entry into China, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

The government will start a bureaucratic process to notify all nations across the world and the International Air Transport Association about the passport change. They aim to issue the new passport in January 2021.

Amid rising popularity of online dating, Pakistan bans Tinder, Grindr and other dating apps for ‘immoral’ and ‘indecent’ content

OpIndia Staff
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Amid rising popularity of online dating, Pakistan bans Tinder, Grindr and other dating apps for ‘immoral’ and ‘indecent’ content

In a major decision, the Pakistan authorities on Tuesday blocked access to Tinder and several other dating apps in an effort to control “immoral” and “indecent” content.

According to the reports, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said it has banned users from accessing Tinder, Grindr, SayHi, Tagged and Skout after the social networking apps after it failed to “moderate… content in accordance” with laws of Pakistan. The PTA said the ban addressed the negative effects of immoral and indecent content

According to PTA, these apps could request to have their blocks lifted if they show they are “moderating the indecent/immoral content through meaningful engagement”.

The decision to ban dating apps comes just days after Pakistani regulators had threatened to shut down YouTube for similar reasons. Last week, the PTA asked YouTube to immediately block all videos they consider “objectionable” from being accessed in the country.

Right campaigners criticise Pakistan authorities

Meanwhile, the ban on apps has been criticised by rights campaigners who fear creeping censorship and control of Pakistan’s internet and printed media.

Shahzad Ahmad, director of digital rights group Bytes For All, slammed the PTA’s “moral policing”. Ahmad said if adults choose to be on app, it is not for the state to dictate whether someone uses an app or not. He described the ban as “a completely ridiculous move” that people would find ways to circumvent.

Pakistan threatens to boycott TikTok

In July, after banning video-sharing app Bigo Pakistan had threatened a ban on TikTok after receiving numerous complaints regarding ‘obscene and immoral’ content.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had issued a statement saying that they have received complaints against apps like TikTok and Bigo from various segments of the society. The complaints alleged that immoral, vulgar and obscene content had become “normal” on these social media apps.

PTA using its powers had said, “A final warning to TikTok to put in place a comprehensive mechanism to control obscenity, vulgarity and immorality through its social media application”.

G*ndu, boxing batau kya?’ shirtless father of alleged drug peddler kicks AajTak reporter, netizens fondly recall Rajdeep Sardesai

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G*ndu, boxing batau kya?’ shirtless father of alleged drug peddler kicks AajTak reporter, netizens fondly recall Rajdeep Sardesai

In a shocking incident, a reporter from Aaj Tak news channel was physically assaulted by the father of arrested drugs peddler Zaid Vilatra in connection with the Sushant Singh Rajput death case.

The Aaj Tak journalist was reporting from outside Zaid’s home, seeking the reaction of his parents on the arrest of their son in the high profile case of the alleged suicide of Sushant Singh Rajput. However, after initially shutting their door on the Aaj Tak reporter, Zaid’s half-naked father opened the door and aggressively pushed and shoved the journalist while hurling choicest of abuses at him.

“I am telling you one thing. Understand it. Get out of here. Get out of here you bas***ds,” Zaid’s father said menacingly while pushing the Aaj Tak reporter. “G*ndu, boxing batau kya,” he said.

Netizens remember “boxer” Rajdeep Sardesai over the assault incident

Soon after the video of the assault went viral on the Internet, netizens reminisced the ugly brawl that took place at the Madison Square in New York years ago when India Today journalist Rajdeep Sardesai had displayed his exemplary boxing skills to attack a Modi supporter. The incident took place in 2014 when Modi was supposed to address Indian diaspora at Madison Square in New York. Rajdeep Sardesai had exchanged blows with a Modi supporter after the former’s needling questions in relation to Gujarat riots 2002 and the United States’ denying Modi visa, earning him the monicker ‘boxer’.

One of the Twitter users suggested Aaj Tak send “boxer” Rajdeep Sardesai next time to fend off attacks from truculent respondents.

Another Twitter user asked “boxer” Rajdeep Sardesai to ask Maharashtra government to provide security for his colleagues.

One Twitter user highlighted the irony of “boxer” Rajdeep Sardesai lamenting over news channels carrying out a media trial of Sushant Singh Rajput death case while his own channel also partook in the same activity.

Many also pointed out the irony in the reporter’s behaviour, especially since their own colleague Rajdeep Sardesai often mouths off platitudes on social media and on India Today, AajTak’s sister channel.

Recently, after questioning ‘media trial’ over a ‘less known actor’ Sushant Singh Rajput, India Today’s Rajdeep Sardesai had flown to Mumbai to interview the deceased actor’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty whose role is currently being probed by investigative authorities.

Zaid Vilatra arrested in connection with Sushant Singh Rajput death case

The Narcotics Control Bureau on Tuesday night arrested another drug peddler, Zaid Vilatra, from Mumbai’s Andheri in connection with the Sushant Singh Rajput death case. Zaid was arrested by the NCB and his CDR analysis revealed that he was in contact with Basit Parihar and Suryadeep Malhotra. The two have links with Rhea Chakraborty’s brother, Showik Chakraborty. Besides, Showik also had chats with the two men regarding drugs consumption and procurement.

Mumbai Police Commissioner likes a tweet asking public shaming of Kangana Ranaut, the actress asks whether it is safe to be in Mumbai

OpIndia Staff
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Mumbai Police Commissioner likes a tweet asking public shaming of Kangana Ranaut, the actress asks whether it is safe to be in Mumbai

In a shocking act, the Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh was caught bullying and attempting to publicly shame Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut on Wednesday.

Taking to Twitter, the National Award-winning actress Kangana Ranaut, who is spearheading a movement seeking justice to the deceased actor Sushant Singh Rajput, shared screenshots exposing Commissioner of Mumbai Police Param Bir Singh, who liked a tweet which asked for publicly shaming her.

“Liking derogatory tweets about people who are fighting against the murderers of Sushant,” Kangana Ranaut wrote while accusing the Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh of bullying her and encouraging others to public teas her, instead of condemning it.

In another tweet, the Bollywood actress asked the Mumbai Police whether she was safe in Mumbai after such an incident. She wrote, “When @CPMumbaiPolice is openly intimidating me like this, encouraging bullying and crime against me, will I be safe in Mumbai? Who is responsible for my safety?”

Mumbai Police Chief likes a tweet which asks for public shaming of Kangana Ranaut

The shocking act of Mumbai Commissioner to bully and encourage public teasing against Kangana Ranaut comes a day after a series of derogatory graffiti had come up in Mumbai that targeted actress Kangana Ranaut, BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra, Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami and ZEE News editor-in-chief Sudhir Choudhary.

In an act of vandalism of public property in Mumbai, a person identified as “tylerstreetart” had painted “Azadi” slogan and other derogatory graffitis on the streets of Mumbai. He had created a graffiti of “Wall of Shame” where he had inscribed the names of nationalist icons of the country on those graffitis in an attempt to shame them.

Devang Dave, National Convener of BJYM, had shared two tweets in which he mentioned the “Azadi” and “Wall of Shame” graffiti that had emerged in the city.

A day later, another social media user “Neander’thala” had commented on the above post to say that it was not just enough to put the names of Kangana Ranaut on the “Wall of Shame” graffitis, but wanted the artists to draw faces of these nationalistic icons on that graffitis.

Instead of stopping acts of vandalism that promoting hatred and public teasing, the Mumbai Police Commissioner hit a new low by liking the tweet made by “Neander’thala” that had asked for intense public shaming of people like Kangana Ranaut.

Mumbai Police denies ‘liking’ the tweet

Perhaps the Mumbai Police chief, who has been receiving severe criticism over his inability to fairly investigate the Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case, attempted to take potshots at Kangana Ranaut for actively campaigning for a fair probe in the case.

After facing severe embarrassment over their insensitive act on social media, Mumbai Police responded on the matter to claim that Mumbai Police had never liked any such image. They said that the cyber police station has been asked to examine the screenshot.

Image Source: Mumbai Police

‘In France, we have freedom of expression’: President Emmanuel Macron refuses to condemn Charlie Hebdo cartoons of Prophet Mohammad

OpIndia Staff
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‘In France, we have freedom of expression’: President Emmanuel Macron refuses to condemn Charlie Hebdo cartoons of Prophet Mohammad

Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, has refused to condemn cartoons of Prophet Mohammad published by Charlie Hebdo. On Tuesday, while speaking during his visit to Lebanon, Macron said that it is essential that France’s citizens show respect for each other. They should avoid a “dialogue of hate.” However, he refused to criticize the decision of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to republish the cartoon on Prophet Mohammad.

According to a report published in BFM TV, he said, “In France, there is a freedom to blaspheme which is attached to freedom of conscience. I am there to protect all these freedoms. I do not have to qualify the choice of journalists. They can criticize a president, governors, blaspheme.”

“It’s never the place of a president of the Republic to pass judgment on the editorial choice of a journalist or newsroom, never. Because we have freedom of the press”, Macron added.

Tribute to the victims of attack on Charlie Hebdo office

Macron also paid tribute to the victims of the January 2015 attacks at the Charlie Hebdo office after they published cartoons of Prophet Mohammad for the first time. He said, “we will all have a thought for the women and men who were cowardly shot because they drew, wrote, corrected, were there to help, to deliver.”

The trial in the case begins this week. Charlie Hebdo republished the article yesterday that stirred the controversy to mark the beginning of the trial against the alleged attackers and accomplices. He further added, “Beyond the trial that will begin tomorrow, and I don’t have to express myself on this point as president, we will have a thought for all those who fell.”

The attack on Charlie Hebdo office

On 7th January 2015, two Islamist terrorists entered the offices of Charlie Hebdo forcefully in Paris. They gunned down 12 and injured 11 in the attack. They identified themselves as members of an Islamic terrorist group Al Qaeda and claimed that the attack was against the magazine’s cartoons on Prophet Mohammad. The assailants were later identified as two brothers named Said and Cherif Kouachi.

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