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Did CPR India delete video where Shekhar Gupta admitted that media chose to ignore positive effects of Modi govt’s welfare schemes

OpIndia Staff
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Did CPR India delete video where Shekhar Gupta admitted that media chose to ignore positive effects of Modi govt’s welfare schemes

Shekhar Gupta, the owner of the online news portal, The Print, and the Chief of Editor’s Guild, while speaking at a discussion on ‘How India Voted’ admitted that journalists chose to ignore the effects of Modi government’s welfare schemes before the elections. “I have to say this very honestly that we journalists at the commentariat chose not to see it. Even when we see it we compulsively try to deny it”, said Gupta. The original discussion was uploaded on the Centre for Policy Research’s (CPR India) YouTube page and was extensively viewed and reported in May 2019. However, now the full-length discussion seems to have been deleted from the YouTube page of CPR India.

If one goes to the CPR India YouTube page and checks the chronology of the videos, one sees only Part 2 of the video and not Part 1. It was in Part 1 that Shekhar Gupta, who has traditionally been seen as a journalist who has opposed Prime Minister Modi, had admitted that the media fraternity deliberately ignored the positive effects of the welfare schemes introduced by PM Modi.

Screengrab of the YouTube page of CPR India

CPR deletes video of Shekhar Gupta’s stunning revelation

On 31st May 2019, OpIndia had published an article where the details of Shekhar Gupta’s comments were covered threadbare. In the article headlined, “Shekhar Gupta admits that journalists chose to ignore the positive effects of Modi government’s welfare schemes”, OpIndia had also embedded the YouTube video that has now gone missing. When looks at the 2019 article, the embedded video shows that it is no longer available.

Screengrab of the OpIndia article that shows the video is embedded

There were tweets from 30th May 2019 that had shared the YouTube link on Twitter and when one clicks on the YouTube link, the video is shown as ‘unavailable’.

Though the video is unavailable now, OpIndia cannot confirm whether CPR India uploaded the video again and perhaps, has kept it either unlisted or in ‘private’ Modi. Currently, only the second video is available on the CPR India website.

The video still up on The Print channel

The video that has now been pulled down by CPR India is still available on the YouTube channel of The Print and can be viewed.

What Shekhar Gupta had said in the now-deleted video

In the now-deleted video, Shekhar Gupta had candidly admitted that the media looked away from the achievements of the Modi government. “I have to say this very honestly that we journalists at the commentariat chose not to see it. Even when we see it we compulsively try to deny it”, said Gupta.

Speaking on the embarrassing defeat of the Congress Party in the recent Lok Sabha elections, Gupta said that the party suffers from autoimmune disease. “In so many days of campaigning, I never heard Rahul Gandhi or anybody from Congress Party, say anything good about what their own government did under UPA II. This is the autoimmune disease of the Congress Party. They want to blame Modi, they want to blame the media”, said Gupta.

“The vote has been bullshitted for too long in the name of schemes. The voter in this country does not trust the Congress schemes. Forget it. Anything that happened in the past, very little got to her”, he added.

Gupta confessed that though he was looking for the evidence against the schemes of the Modi government he did not find any evidence. “We were hoping to see evidence for the contrary but we were not finding it. We were finding gas cylinders. We would even peek inside a house and find a gas cylinder”, said a disappointed Gupta.

He said that the government was using the JAM trinity, the Jan Dhan Account, Addhaar and Mudra loan, which the left-liberals hate, to successfully help people. He said, “initially I thought that Mudra loans were rubbish, that these were all fakes. But I have videos… 50 kms from Azamgarh, a Dalit saying that I got Rs 50,000 Mudra loans, made this chai shop, I repay Rs 1,300 every month. If I don’t repay on time, the bank manager sends somebody to me. And then I came back and checked the larger data, 4.81 crore people have got Mudra loans, and Rs 2.1 lakh crore has been disbursed.”

Then Shekhar Gupta says, “Now I have to say this very honestly, that we journalists and commentariats, chose not to see it. And even when we see it increasingly, we compulsively tried to deny it. ‘Oh they got the gas cylinders, but they can’t afford the next cylinder. The next one is full price.’ But that is a lie, the next one is not full price. The next one you pay full price, you get the subsidy amount back at your bank account.”

“The fact is that these people had never seen the delivery of anything. And even if they got any delivery they had not seen the delivery of anything without having to pay bribes for it including in most cases NAREGA wages. It’s a big change. It’s a big governance exercise. You may like it you may not like it but smart people are learning from it”, Gupta said talking about how the Modi government changed the governance in the country.

Gupta said that the Congress Party lacked the intellect to counter this governance of Modi because the Party did not like facts. “It is the Congress Party’s lack of intellect, lack of commitment and arrogance”, said Gupta criticising the Congress Party.

OpIndia has reached out to CPR India to understand why the video was deleted from their YouTube page. This article will be updated when CPR India responds to our email.

Ajmer minor rape: Accused Habibullah found positive for coronavirus, policemen, court officials, pregnant victim to be tested

OpIndia Staff
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Ajmer minor rape: Accused Habibullah found positive for coronavirus, policemen, court officials, pregnant victim to be tested

In Ajmer, Rajasthan, a case of gangrape had come to light. A 17-year-old minor girl had complained to police that she was kept in confinement by three men in the Dargah area and was being repeatedly raped by them.

The police had taken swift action and had arrested two of the accused named Habibullah and Mohammad Rafiq on Tuesday. A third accused named Mohammad Asgar was arrested on Wednesday.

According to the reports, one of the three accused in the Ajmer minor rape case – Mohammad Habibullah, was tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday. After the diagnosis, Habibullah was reportedly sent to a separate prisoner ward in the JLN Hospital.

Police officials have stated that all necessary precautions were taken while arresting and interrogating the accused. But if the medical staff advises, they will have to conduct tests for all the police officials who were involved in the case.

All three accused are reportedly residents of Bihar who have been living in Dargah area for a long time.

Policemen may have come in contact, to be quarantined

Reportedly, at least five policemen probing the case may have come in contact with the coronavirus positive accused.

Meanwhile, the cops have sent samples of the two others to tests and are still waiting to receive the report. The victim, other accused and all the persons who had come in contact with the accused may be subjected to coronavirus tests. The incident has created concern among the police personnel of the Dargah police station.

The policemen had even presented the accused before the court this week, leading to a scare that the court officials, including the judge, may also have come in contact with the coronavirus. The officials are contemplating on putting the court officials, including the judge under isolation.

Ajmer minor-rape case, victim found pregnant

According to reports, a minor girl from New Delhi had come to offer prayers in Ajmer dargah before the lockdown started in March. The minor girl had met the accused Mohammad Asgar Ali, an auto-rickshaw driver and a resident of Anderkot of dargah region at the railway station.

Reportedly, Asgar had lured the girl and took her to another house where two of his friends from Bihar, Mohammad Rafeeque and Habibullah, were staying. The men had allegedly held the girl hostage, threatened and raped her for two months, the police said.

On Wednesday, the rape survivor with the help of a social worker of dargah bazaar went to Dargah police station and lodged her complaint. The rape survivor stated that the trio raped her from March to mid of May. The minor girl stated that the accused held her captive and also used to physically assault her.

During the medical examination, the victim was found to be pregnant. Since she was a minor girl, police have arrested all three accused under POCSO.

With one of the accused of the gang-rape testing positive for the coronavirus, the minor victim, who is also pregnant, will also be tested for the coronavirus.

Rajasthan govt is showing its bankruptcy, inhumanity: Mayawati slams Congress for demanding money for student buses, exploiting migrant issue

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan govt is showing its bankruptcy, inhumanity: Mayawati slams Congress for demanding money for student buses, exploiting migrant issue

On Friday, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati took to Twitter to express her displeasure over the decision of the Congress Government in Rajasthan to charge migrant workers and demand additional compensation from the Uttar Pradesh Government for facilitating the transport of stranded students, amidst the Coronavirus lockdown.

Mayawati tweeted, “The demand made by the Congress-ruled Rajasthan Government for payment of ₹36.36 lacs for sending students in Kota to their home in Uttar Pradesh, shows their bankruptcy and inhumanity. Two neighbouring States must not indulge in such despicable politics.”

It is notable here that the Congress-led Rajasthan govt had sent a bill of Rs 36 lakh to the UP govt for some buses they had arranged last month. The Rajasthan govt is asking the UP govt to pay Rs 36,36,664/- for 70 buses that they had provided to transport students from Kota to UP last month.

Slamming the Rajasthan Congress, Mayawati alleged that the government earlier charged exorbitant fares from students for sending them home in buses and now playing politics over facilitating the journey of migrants to their hometown. “How far is this appropriate and humane?”, asked the BSP supremo.

Congress admits to charging migrants in Rajasthan

Coming as a major embarrassment for Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, who made tall claims of paying for the migrant workers, the Congress-led government in Rajasthan had earlier admitted to charging migrant labourers for the Jaipur-Patna Shramik Special train.

According to a Times Now report, the Ashok Gehlot government has admitted of accepting money from migrants workers for their travel back to their native place. While most state governments had paid for the travel of migrant workers from the state exchequer, Kerala, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra remained the only three states to have charged the migrant workers for their travel back to their native place.

Maharashtra: No ambulance, 26-year-old coronavirus patient walks to the hospital accompanied by social workers, video goes viral

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra: No ambulance, 26-year-old coronavirus patient walks to the hospital accompanied by social workers, video goes viral

In a shocking act of insensitivity by the Maharashtra civic authorities, a 26-year-old coronavirus positive patient from Dombivli was made to walk to a local civil hospital on Thursday after the municipal corporation refused to send an ambulance to pick up the patient even after repeated requests.

According to the reports, the patient walked all the way to Shastrinagar civic hospital in Dombivli on Thursday after the hospital staff had asked him to walk to the hospital, a distance of 3km away, as an ambulance was not available.

“After my COVID report on Wednesday showed I was infected, I was asked to wait at home till an ambulance is sent by the civic hospital staff. On Thursday morning, I called up the Shastrinagar hospital for an ambulance but they said there was no ambulance available. They asked me to walk to the hospital as arranging an ambulance would take time,” said the patient, who works as a ward boy at Wadia hospital in Parel.

Social workers accompany patient to the hospital

The 26-year-old, however, called up the local social worker Bala Mhatre, who along with five others accompanied him to hospital by creating a circle around him, to ensure any unknown person does not come near the patient and risk infection. A video of him travelling with social workers was posted on social media to draw the attention of Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation. The video has gone viral across social media platforms.

The patient said that a 52-year-old relative of his, who had tested positive, had died on May 16. He had attended the funeral and the test report of the deceased had only come after his death. “I decided to get tested,” said the 26-year-old patient.

The patient added that the neighbours got scared and insisted he leave the building after he tested positive.

Social worker Mhatre questioned the laxity of the civic authorities and said how can the civic hospital ask a coronavirus patient to walk to the hospital. According to Mhatre, the patient does not have any symptoms yet. “This is not the way to treat a patient?” said Mhatre.

Patient made to wait for three hours

Even after the patient was made to walk to the hospital, the authorities at Shastrinagar hospital made him wait for almost three hours and then taken to Tata Amantra quarantine centre on Kalyan-Bhiwandi road.

As per a report in Hindustan Times, Suhasini Badekar, chief medical officer of Shastrinagar civic hospital, said, “The patient should have waited at home till the ambulance arrived. Our staff did not ask him to walk to the hospital. Since COVID cases are on the rise, ambulances are not enough. Private ambulances often refuse to ply.”

The medical officer said that the hospital has two ambulances and they have hired a private one. A senior officer from the KDMC health department said, “If there is a delay in the arrival of an ambulance, a patient should wait. The civic staff will coordinate and send an ambulance as soon as it is available.”

Rising coronavirus cases in Maharashtra

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Maharashtra registered as many as 2,345 new coronavirus cases, taking the total coronavirus tally in the state to 41,642, health officials said. Mumbai alone has crossed the 25,000 mark with 1,382 new cases.

The state also reported 64 deaths due to the pandemic, 41 of them in the worst-hit city of Mumbai, taking the death toll in the state to 1,454. Mumbai alone now accounts for 882 coronavirus deaths.

Mumbai: Thousands gather at Bhiwandi over rumours of Salman Khan distributing free food and money ahead of Ramzan Eid

OpIndia Staff
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Mumbai: Thousands gather at Bhiwandi over rumours of Salman Khan distributing free food and money ahead of Ramzan Eid

In another case of large crowds gathering in Mumbai, thousands of people gathered on the streets in Bhiwandi, Mumbai, on Wednesday evening after rumours surfaced that Salman Khan was distributing free food and money.

According to the reports, the incident took place on Wednesday evening in Khandupada locality of Bhiwandi. The people had assembled at the spot after hearing rumours that Bollywood entertainer Salman Khan is going to arrive there and distribute money and food ahead of Ramzan.

The videos of the mob gathering have gone viral on social media, where it was seen that a big crowd, especially people belonging to minority communities were seen at the spot violating lockdown rules. The people were seen without masks and the crowd was not following social distancing norms.

According to a video shared by TV9 journalist Nikhil Choudhary, a woman can be heard on camera saying that they had gathered at the spot after hearing that Salman was going to come to distribute cash and food. The police then reached the spot and dispersed the crowd.

Police had to disperse the crowd. The source of the rumour is being investigated.

Similar gathering at Bandra Railway station earlier

This is not the first time such a huge crowd had assembled in the public over false rumours in the state of Maharashtra. Just a few days back, thousands of migrant workers had flocked outside Bandra railway station in Mumbai with their baggage to catch trains to return back to their native following rumours that they can board the special trains being run from Bandra station to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

The migrant workers had gathered outside the Bandra railway station in Mumbai after they fell for rumours that special trains will be running from the Bandra railway station to ferry them back home. The Mumbai had to resort to lathi-charge to disperse the crowd assembled at the Bandra terminus.

Earlier in April, huge crowds of migrant workers had burst onto the streets in Bandra and Mumbra in Mumbai demanding to go home amidst the nationwide lockdown imposed in the wake of the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic.

The spread of Covid-19 pandemic has added a unique dimension to the ‘Great Game’ between the two economic giants of Asia

anand0071
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The spread of Covid-19 pandemic has added a unique dimension to the ‘Great Game’ between the two economic giants of Asia

Behind all the hand-shakes and friendly gestures between Indian PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the underlying feelings of competition for regional dominance mixed with nationalism were not difficult to decipher when the two leaders met last in Oct 2019 during the visit of the Chinese President to India. Little would Xi Jinping knew then, that a strange catastrophe was going to affect lives of people living in ‘All Under Heaven’, spreading further to the entire world, shaking geopolitical dynamics like never before. Relations between India and China have always been complicated, but the spread of Covid-19 pandemic has added a unique dimension to this ‘Great Game’ between the two economic giants of Asia.

Even prior to spread of Covid-19 pandemic, offensive stance and open criticism of Donald Trump towards lack of transparency in economic policies of China, especially the trade deficit between the world’s largest economies, had seen an all time high. Spread of the pandemic gave birth to ‘Blame-Game’ between the two nations over birth of the virus wherein China pointed fingers at US Army while US questioned the Wuhan lab.

On the economic front, Donald Trump raised the issue of disparity between funding of WHO. According to reports, US contributed $893 million in 2018-2019, while China gave $86 million only. Facing criticism from the international community over the issue, China increased its funding by $30 million, in addition to the previous additional funding of $20 million in March this year.

EVOLVING GEOPOLITICAL DYNAMICS: COVID-19 PANDEMIC
▶ US-China trade war prior to the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.
▶ US cutbacks on funding WHO; China forced to pledge an additional $ 30 million for WHO.
▶ China supplying faulty Covid-19 test kits to India alongside faulty equipment to other countries; loss of face and reputation in business all over the world.
▶ India’s change in FDI policy to safeguard the economic interests of its companies.
▶ The blame game between the US and China over the origin of Covid-19 virus; call for WHO-led probe.
▶ Continued aggression of Chinese militia in the South China Sea; US forced to deploy its warship.
▶ Series of Indo-China border clashes.
▶ Chinese diplomats engaged in an all-time high ‘Wolf Warrior Diplomacy’ to safeguard the national image and economic interests in the longer run.
▶ CCP facing the heat domestically as well as globally; WHA conference and NCP Parliament session a testing ground for Xi’s credibility

Amongst this crisis, India took a lead from the rest of the major economies of the world and changed its policy related to FDI. The revised policy ruled that economic firms in any country that shares a border with India will have to approach the government for investing in India and not go via the automatic route. The step was taken to ensure no neighbouring country, especially China, takes undue advantage amid the COVID-19 pandemic. For obvious reasons, China was infuriated and has criticized India’s new policy.

Relations between India and China soured even more when India rejected the Chinese Covid-19 test kits, claiming them to be inaccurate. ICMR had to halt Covid-19 testing for two days and is now procuring the test kits from South Korea. Similar issues regarding the accuracy of Chinese test kits and poor quality of medical equipment from many other nations has caused the loss of face and reputation for Chinese companies. It has proved to be disastrous for Beijing as a large number of US and German companies are mulling over moving their production bases from China to India while Japan has announced an assistance package for companies shifting their production from China.

In a typical Chinese response, PLA suddenly revived the unresolved Indo-China border dispute by instigated Indian Army troops at Finger 5 area near Pangong Tso (lake) in Eastern Ladakh on 05 May. The second round of clashes between the two forces was reported near Naku La in Sikkim on 10 May leaving almost a dozen troops injured on both sides. Also, Indian Air Force scrambled its jets in response to PLA helicopters flying close to LAC. Chinese have also pitched in tents in Galwan Valley in Aksai Chin, accusing India of constructing defence facilities in the disputed area. Even indirectly, China is using its influence over countries like Nepal, by provoking them to object Indian road construction in Kalapani.

Not only against India, Beijing has been intensifying its military activities in South China Sea as well as in East China Sea, thereby drawing international criticism. In December 2019, Malaysia and Indonesia lodged a complaint against Chinese aggressive activities in the disputed region of the South China Sea and even deployed their naval assets in the region. Vietnam too protested at the UN when on April 2, China sank a Vietnamese fishing vessel in the region. China continued its domination by harassing a Philippine Navy ship. In the second half of April, it unanimously instituted two new municipal districts, carving up the governance of the Paracel and Spratly island groups. Even in the East China Sea, Chinese ships have intruded in waters near the Japanese-controlled islets seven times this year. Spurt in presence of ‘Chinese Maritime Militia’ in disputed regions forced US to move its guided-missile cruiser ‘Bunker Hill’, and amphibious assault ship ‘The America’ into Malaysian maritime territory claimed by China. Australia has also sent a frigate, ‘Parramatta’, into the area.

With the growing international criticism against Chinese ‘handling’ of Coronavirus’ threat along with associated economic setbacks, China has directed its diplomats to engage in an all-time high ‘Wolf Warrior Diplomacy’. The diplomats have been named “Wolf Warrior” after a Chinese patriotic film starring a muscle-bound Chinese commando killing American bad guys in Africa and Southeast Asia with his bare hands. Chinese diplomats are increasingly taking to Twitter and Facebook — platforms that are blocked in their own country. They have been engaging with the international community over social media with an offensive tone to safeguard national image and economic interests in the longer run.

Chinese Communist Party is facing an unprecedented challenge, both domestically as well as in global political domain. As the rate of unemployment climbed to almost 20.5% with up to 70 million unemployed people alongside 205 million people with uncertain employment (set to exacerbate due to COVID-19 pandemic), Beijing is feeling the heat in managing its recessing economy. Belt and Road Initiative, the landmark project of Xi Jinping’s political career, is under immense criticism due to its Non-Performing Assets worth up to USD 101.8 billion. As he faces annual political session of National People’s Congress (annual parliamentary session) on 22 May, he also needs to prepare his stance at the World Health Assembly conference scheduled the same day. He has already softened his stand by allowing a WHO-led probe into the cause of the spread of Coronavirus, to which he had opposed for long. This also signals his first defeat in the global political domain!

From a historical perspective, whenever cornered by foreign powers, Chinese have always preferred to show their teeth, and not a smiling face. Once again, when almost entire world is criticising them for poor handling of the pandemic alongwith supply of inferior quality medical equipment, China is not likely to show a defensive posture. For China, protection of its economic interest remains Priority 1, as it aims to challenge US for a place in the ‘First World’ of superpowers by 2050. It is best known to take desperate measures to safeguard economic interests of the nation. With the entire world backing away from Chinese companies and Chinese products, it is natural for China to feel cornered. However, ‘The Dragon’ is not habitual of laying low and bearing the punches.

What threats and opportunities do these present before India?

As almost all major companies of the world are contemplating shifting their businesses out of China, Indian leadership is required to proactively engage with them presenting the most practicable and convenient option. In the times of ‘Revival of Economic Nationalism’, India needs to create favourable conditions for these companies to set up their manufacturing bases. With the loss of reputation of Chinese companies, especially in the medical sector, Indian companies would only stand to gain.

Militarily, Indian Armed Forces are well poised to thwart any offensive maneuver by PLA. Indian troops at the border remain fully resolved to counter any challenge to Indian sovereignty. It only needs to be backed by a strong political will.

The moment is ripe to expand political clout of India as a nation. When the world is pointing fingers at China for their derisory approach in handling COVID-19 spread, India needs to project itself as the major power of South Asia and create a conducive global environment aligned with its national interests.

About the author

Lt Col Anand Bohra, SM is a serving officer of the Indian Army. A decorated soldier, he holds vast experience in Counter Insurgency Operations in the North Eastern sector of India. He has represented the Indian Army in United Nations Mission in South Sudan and attended prestigious foreign training. The officer is a passionate scholar of China and possesses first-hand knowledge of PLA having served at Indo-China border for four years.

Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan sends a bill of Rs 36.36 lakh to UP government for the buses used to ferry students from Kota

OpIndia Staff
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Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan sends a bill of Rs 36.36 lakh to UP government for the buses used to ferry students from Kota

Even as the row between the Congress party and the Uttar Pradesh government continues with regard to buses to ferry migrants to UP, the Rajasthan govt has sent a bill of Rs 36 lakh to the UP govt for some buses they had arranged last month. The Rajasthan govt is asking the UP govt to pay Rs 36,36,664/- for 70 buses that they had provided to transport students from Kota to UP last month.

Almost one after the Coronavirus Lockdown was imposed in the country, the Yogi Adityanath government had sent 560 buses to Kota to bring the students from UP to their home state. The UP govt was the first state to initiate steps to bring back their natives stuck in other states during the lockdown, which was done after students in Kota had sent desperate messages to the state govt asking to be brought back.

Accordingly, between 17 and 19 April, 560 buses sent by UP govt had returned with around 10 thousand students from Kota in Rajasthan. But after that more students from UP, who had not initially registered to return, demanded that they also want to go home. As a result, the UP govt decided to rent 70 buses from the Rajasthan Transport Corporation to carry the additional students. When the Corporation sought money for diesel, the UP govt had said that the same will be paid later. But as the Corporation didn’t agree to that, Rs 19.76 lakh was paid for the fuel, and the students recached home safely.

But now the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan has sent a bill of Rs 36,36,664/- to the UP government as rent for the buses from Kota to Agra and other places in UP. The letter sent to the UP state transport corporation asks the amount to be transferred through RTGS.

Congress is playing petty politics at the time of crisis

It is notable that this bill has been sent at a time when a political war is been going on between Congress party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi and UP government over buses to ferry migrants. After Priyanka Gandhi had offered 1000 buses to carry migrants from Rajasthan to UP, the Yogi govt had agreed to the offer. But when the Congress party submitted the list of buses for approval, it was found that the list also contains auto-rickshaws, trucks, ambulances, cars etc.

An FIR against Ajay Lallu and Priyanka Gandhi’s private secretary Sandeep Singh was filed at the Hazratganj police station in Lucknow for cheating and forging documents, and later Ajay Lally was arrested. Even before Congress party had submitted the list of buses, they had already run the buses and over 500 buses carrying migrants had reached UP border near Agra. As the buses were yet to be approved, the local admin didn’t allow them to enter the state, which created another conflict between Congress and UP govt. The Congress workers had staged a protest due to the same, after which Ajay Lallu was removed by UP police from the spot.

US deports Telangana engineer Ibrahim Zubair Mohammad to India who was convicted for financing Al Qaeda leader

OpIndia Staff
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US deports Telangana engineer Ibrahim Zubair Mohammad to India who was convicted for financing Al Qaeda leader

The United States have deported an Indian convicted of terror funding on Tuesday. 40-year-old Ibrahim Zubair Mohammad was convicted in a terror-financing case in the USA and was sentenced to five years of jail. He landed in India on Wednesday after he was deported as his jail term was over. He is currently isolated at a quarantine centre in Amritsar, Punjab.

Mohammad, an engineer from Telangana capital Hyderabad, was arrested in 2011 for providing monetary and material assistance to Al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awalki. He was sentenced to jail for five years after he had pleaded guilty of the charges. According to the US justice department, he was accused of financing terrorism in a bid to support violent jihad against Us military personnel in Iraq.

According to the US justice department, Ibrahim Zubair Mohammad, along with two Pakistani nationals Asif Ahmed Salim, and Sultane Room Salim, had pleaded guilty of financing terrorism, as they had transferred thousands of dollars to Anwar al-Awlaki to support violent jihad against U.S. military personnel in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places in the world in 2009.

Zubair’s brother Yahya Farooq Mohammad was sentenced to 27½ years of jail, because he had also hired a hitman to kill a judge hearing a terror case.

In 2009 Farooq Mohammad and two other people had travelled to Yemen and gave around $22000 to Al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awalki’s associates. $17000 of this amount was given by Asif and Sultane in the USA. Ibrahim Zubair Mohammad had facilitated in transferring the money to Farooq overseas so that the same can be handed over to the Al Qaeda leader. Farooq had moved to Dubai, and has used Zubair’s US address for bank transactions. Zubair had collected cheques from Asif Salim and Sultane Salim, and deposited in his brothers account. Between 2004 and 2009, approximately 50-60 transactions were made by Ibrahim Zubair Mohammad in his brother Yahya Farooq Mohammad’s account.

According to justice department statement, Ibrahim Mohammad is an Indian citizen who studied engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign from 2001 through 2005.  In or around 2006, he moved to Toledo, Ohio, and married a U.S. citizen.  He became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in or around 2007.

After Zbair landed in India on Wednesday after he was flown in a special flight, Indian security officials questioned him to find out if he had any terror links in India. According to the officials, he seem to have been self-radicalised after watching videos of al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki.

Migrant bus row: Uttar Pradesh Congress Chief Ajay Lallu sent to 14-day judicial custody

OpIndia Staff
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Migrant bus row: Uttar Pradesh Congress Chief Ajay Lallu sent to 14-day judicial custody

Ajay Lallu, the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee Chief, has been sent to 14-day judicial custody. Ajay Lallu was arrested in Agra on Wednesday in connection with the protests held by Congress leaders over the movement of migrant workers in the 1000 buses provided by Congress on instructions of Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi. He has been lodged in temporary jail.

Ajay lallu rearrested for forging documents

As per reports, Ajay Lallu was granted bail on Wednesday in connection with the case lodged against him under sections 188 and 269 of the Indian Penal Code and Epidemic Act in the Fatehpur Sikri Police Station. But before coming out after release, another FIR was lodged against him and he was rearrested for allegedly forging documents.

An FIR against Ajay Lallu and Priyanka Gandhi’s private secretary Sandeep Singh was filed at the Hazratganj police station in Lucknow for cheating and forging documents.

This came after UP government’s regional transport officer R P Dwivedi verified the bus numbers and found many vehicles that were mentioned in the list are auto-rickshaws or goods carriers, trucks and ambulances, etc.

Indian National Congress suspends Rai Bareli MLA

The Indian National Congress MLA from Rae Bareli Aditi Singh from the position of General Secretary of the women’s wing of the Congress party and has initiated anti-disciplinary action against her. Aditi had been National In-charge of Priyadarshini, the Congress women’s wing.

Aditi Singh had slammed her own party for playing “cheap politics” over the issue of arranging 1,000 buses by general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to ferry stranded migrant laborers to their homes amid coronavirus lockdown.

Taking to Twitter, she condemned Congress for playing petty politics at the time of such a disaster. She informed that in the list of 1000 buses provided by Congress, a staggering 297 vehicles are junk buses, 98 of it are auto-rickshaws or other vehicles like trucks and ambulances and 68 vehicles are without papers.

Uttar Pradesh government takes control of Shia and Sunni Waqf Boards in the state: Read details

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh government takes control of Shia and Sunni Waqf Boards in the state: Read details

The Uttar Pradesh government has taken over the control of Shia and Sunni Waqf Boards, after their five-year term ended last week and elections to the boards were postponed because of the coronavirus lockdown.

According to the reports, Uttar Pradesh Minister for Minority Affairs Mohsin Raza said that CEOs will be appointed by the government in the meantime to look after the work of the two boards.

“Both the boards were constituted during the previous Samajwadi Party regime and large-scale irregularities have been committed by both the boards while dealing with Waqf properties. Muttawalis (caretakers) of Waqf properties have been appointed without adhering to rules. The government has already recommended a CBI inquiry into this,” said Minister Raza.

The Sunni Waqf Board’s tenure was completed on March 31, while that of the Shia Waqf Board ended on May 18.

Notably, at present, all the files and documents related to the Supreme Court’s decision on the Ayodhya Mandir case and the consent for the construction of a mosque on five acres of land at any other place in Ayodhya are with the outgoing chairman of Sunni board, Zufar Farooqi. Farooqi said that he was willing to hand over the concerned files to the designated authority of the state government.

The governance, administration and supervision of waqfs boards in Uttar Pradesh are done under the provisions of Uttar Pradesh Muslim Waqfs Act, 1960. Both Shia and Sunni Waqf Boards are statutory bodies under the law passed by Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly.

Earlier, the outgoing Shia board chairman Waseem Rizvi had written a letter to UP govt seeking an extension of his term due to the prevailing situation. However, Sunni Board chairman Zufar Farooqui didn’t seek any extension.

Waqf Boards have more than 3 lakh properties in Uttar Pradesh

Reportedly, there are around 3 lakh Sunni waqf properties and 7,225 Shia waqf properties in the state of Uttar Pradesh. These properties are controlled by these respective Waqf boards.

Meanwhile, Waseem Rizvi, former chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board, has written a letter to the state government seeking an extension of its five-year tenure.

“Powers resting with the board under the Waqf Act can only be fulfilled by the board and not by a government-appointed administrator. The election process should have begun long before the pandemic struck, but nothing was done,” said Waseem Rizvi, who is a four-time chairperson of Shia Waqf Board between 2005 and 2020.

However, Sunni Central Waqf Board’s former chairperson Zufar Farooqui has not sought an extension. The Sunni Waqf Board had earlier intimated the government in February last week about completion of tenure.

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