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Congress leader and grandson of Maharaja Hari Singh says 2011 census in J&K was fudged, urges govt to use 2021 data for delimitation

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Congress leader and grandson of Maharaja Hari Singh says 2011 census in J&K was fudged, urges govt to use 2021 data for delimitation

A day after Modi government set up a delimitation commission to redraw the territorial constituencies of the Union Territory Jammu and Kashmir, Congress leader and grandson of Hari Singh who signed Instrument of Accession, welcomed the decision of the Modi government but also expressed apprehensions regarding the using of 2011 census data for delimitations of constituencies.

On Saturday, Congress leader Vikramaditya Singh took to Twitter to state that setting up of Delimitation Commission for Jammu and Kashmir was a welcome step. However, he raised doubts regarding using 2011 census as the data for the process and called it a “critical mistake”.

Vikramaditya Singh stated that evidence showed that census data of 2011 pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir was fudged and using it for delimiting new constituencies will be a mistake. He also urged the government to use 2021 census data as the base data.


The Modi government on Saturday had constituted a Delimitation Commission to redraw Lok Sabha and Assembly Constituencies of the Union Territory Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland.

The Delimitation Commission will be headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai. Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and state election commissioners of Jammu and Kashmir and the four states will be the ex-officio members.

Delimitation is the process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or a province with a legislative body. The new delimitation will enable the process of redrawing the Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the four northeastern states.

The last delimitation across the country was conducted in 2002, but these states were left out due to various reasons. In the four states of North East India, delimitation could not be carried out along with other Indian states due to prevailing security reasons. But now, the government thinks the situation has changed.

The delimitation in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir comes nine months after the controversial Article 370 was scrapped and the state was divided into two union territories. The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 which was cleared in Parliament in August 2019, mentioned new delimitation to redraw the constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir according to section 62 of the Act.

“No women in Delhi cabinet”: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal get his hypocrisy called out for tweeting about equality on Women’s Day

OpIndia Staff
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“No women in Delhi cabinet”: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal get his hypocrisy called out for tweeting about equality on Women’s Day

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today has his hypocrisy called out when he tweeted on occasion of International Women’s Day and talked about equality.


“Only when women and men become truly equal partners can we progress,” Kejriwal said in his tweet. He was soon called out for lack of women participation in his own Delhi Cabinet.


He also came under fire for referring to women as ‘someone’s mother, sister and daughter’ to be deserving of respect.


Netizens also reminded Kejriwal about AAP volunteer Soni who had committed suicide after she alleged sexual harassment by AAP members.

Read: Did AAP lie about Atishi’s achievements or is Kejriwal threatened by women in power?

She had said that Kejriwal asked her to ‘compromise’ before taking the step.

Women empowerment and Arvind Kejriwal

Following the victory in concluded Delhi Elections, Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal had come under fire for not including a single woman in his cabinet. This is the second time in a row that Delhi government led by Arvind Kejriwal has not a single woman minister in his cabinet. The AAP campaign was built around claims of some kind of great education revolution in Delhi, for which the credit was systematically given to Atishi Marlena. However, despite the brouhaha around it, she was left out.

After Basant Utsav at Rabindra Bharati, school girls in West Bengal’s Malda desecrate another Rabindranath Tagore song with vulgar lyrics

OpIndia Staff
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After Basant Utsav at Rabindra Bharati, school girls in West Bengal’s Malda desecrate another Rabindranath Tagore song with vulgar lyrics

In a video that has now gone viral on social media, a group of four girls studying in Class XI at a reputed school in Malda, West Bengal could be seen vandalising a timeless classic (Sedin Dujone) of Nobel Laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore. They had replaced words from the romantic composition with references to “sex”, “penis” and “voyeurism.”


The loose translation of the original composition goes as, “While I was strolling on my known path, the Moon had risen to the night sky… That was when we met without knowing about the divinity of the moment.”

However, the vulgar parody of Tagore’s song goes as:

“On our way under the night sky, we were fuc*ed by a di*k at one place. All this while, an uncle from the neighbourhood watched us fu*k. Sister fuc*er! We fuc*ed a di*k at one place. (3) ”

School authorities had vowed to take “appropriate action” against the students after the contentious video came to light. The school Headmistress, Depashree Roy, had “reprimanded” the students and added that they need “counselling.”

She, however, allowed the accused to sit for class tests. Meanwhile, the girls and their guardians had tendered an unconditional apology for the vulgar song which they initially claimed to have made “for fun.”

Earlier, a group of youngsters at the Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata were seen sporting cuss words and slangs disrespectful to Tagore on their bodies during the Basant Utsav celebrations on the university campus.

While one body marking read “Dudu chai (I need b**bs)”, the other highlighted “F*ck you” in bold letters. Another group of girl could be seen sporting, “Bada Chada Uthalo Gogona (The d**k has risen to the sky)“. This line was made by distorting a famous song by Rabindranath Tagore, which had caused outrage from social media users.

Not only the youths sported the obscene words on their bodies, the vulgar parody of Rabindranath Tagore’s song made by Youtuber Roddur Roy was also played at the event, and the students danced to the tune of that song made with replacing original words with vulgar words.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University has already tendered his resignation avter photographs and videos of the event viral on social media which were subsequently picked up by national media.

RTI reveals Aam Aadmi Party’s Delhi government spent Rs 29 crores on advertisements two months before elections

OpIndia Staff
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RTI reveals Aam Aadmi Party’s Delhi government spent Rs 29 crores on advertisements two months before elections

Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government has spent a whopping amount of Rs 43 crore on advertisements from August last year to January this year of which nearly Rs 29 crores was spent in just two months of December 2019 and January 2020 ahead of the Delhi assembly elections.

An RTI application filed by an activist named Vivek Kumar to the Directorate of Information and Publicity under Delhi government has revealed that the Aam Aadmi Party government has spent Rs 42.67 crore of public money on party’s promotion ahead of the Delhi assembly elections.

The details on total expenditure incurred on advertisement and publicity of Aam Aadmi Party in print media, internet media, electronic media and others from August 2019 to January 2020 is:

RTI document revealing AAP’s’ ad spending

Ever since Arvind Kejriwal elected as Chief Minister of Delhi, his obsession with publicity and to create an image for himself by using public money is only increasing.

An earlier RTI document had revealed that Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party had spent about Rs 78 crore annually on advertisements in the first four years of its tenure, more than any previous governments in Delhi. The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government had spent Rs 311.78 crore on advertisements between 2015 and 2019, on an average of Rs 77.94 crore annually, four times that of the Congress.

The AAP came to power in 2015 and spent Rs 81.23 crore on advertisements in 2015-16 and in 2016-17, the expenditure was Rs 67.25 crore, the Directorate of Information and Publicity (DIP) said in reply to the RTI application. The Delhi government saw its maximum expenditure on advertisements in 2017-18 when it spent Rs 117.76 crore.

It is surprising to see that Arvind Kejriwal, who had come to power accusing Congress of corruption and inefficient governance structure, has himself resorted to unnecessary spending on boosting his publicity rather than utilising the public funds for furthering developmental activities.

Congress-Gandhi link in Yes Bank scam: Founder Rana Kapoor had bought Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s paintings for Rs 2 crore

OpIndia Staff
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Congress-Gandhi link in Yes Bank scam: Founder Rana Kapoor had bought Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s paintings for Rs 2 crore

In a shocking disclosure, the Income Tax department has found an alleged nexus between former Yes Bank promoter Rana Kapoor and Gandhi-scion Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, reports Times of India.

According to new revelations, Rana Kapoor has bought a painting of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for a large sum raising suspicion over Gandhis’ involvement in Yes Bank scam. Following the disclosures, the Income Tax Department is investigating whether there is a link between Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor and Congress’ Priyanka Gandhi.

Reports indicate that Rana Kapoor had close links with the Gandhis. Rana Kapoor had allegedly bought a painting by Priyanka Gandhi for a whopping Rs 2 crore. The massive expose comes after Rana Kapoor was questioned for almost 30 hours by the Enforcement Directorate.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor under money laundering charges in the wee hours of Sunday. The banker was held under the provision of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) around 3 AM after he did not cooperate with the officials.

Read: Jignesh Shah’s firm rented property owned by Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka: Here is all you need to know about NSEL scam

Rana was questioned by the ED sleuths for over 30 hours after the central agency raided his residence on Friday night. He will be produced before a local court during the day to obtain custody, the officials said.

The central agency is probing Kapoor’s role in connection with the disbursal of loans to some corporate entities and the subsequent alleged kickbacks reportedly received in his wife’s accounts.

The ED action came after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday imposed a moratorium on the capital-starved Yes Bank, capping withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account, and superseded the board of the private sector lender with immediate effect.

Yes Bank will not be able to grant or renew any loan or advance, make any investment, incur any liability or agree to disburse any payment.

On Friday, the Reserve Bank of India had published a draft of the scheme of reconstruction for the troubled private sector bank. Public sector bank State Bank of India will infuse capital in Yes Bank by acquiring 49% stack.

After SBI picks up the stake, a new board will be constituted for the bank, and the administrator appointed by RBI will hand over the control of the bank to the newly formed board. State Bank of India will nominate two directors in the board of directors, while RBI may appoint additional directors exercising its powers.

Convicted ISI agent Ghulam Nabi Fai actively lobbying against India, to influence US lawmakers, media: Reports

OpIndia Staff
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Convicted ISI agent Ghulam Nabi Fai actively lobbying against India, to influence US lawmakers, media: Reports

Ghulam Nabi Fai, a notorious criminal and the ISI’s pointsman in the United States, who was convicted for working in the United States for Pakistani intelligence network Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to lobby for Kashmiri independence, has become active again to influence US lawmakers and influencers to further Pakistan’s agenda on Kashmir, reports Sunday Guardian.

Reportedly, certain backers of the Indian interest in the US believe that the recent anti-India propaganda in the United States, especially from the Capitol Hill and in the media, is the result of the intense lobbying from Fai.

Fai, who was arrested in July 2011 from Virginia for concealing the transfer of $3.5 million from the ISI to fund his lobbying efforts, was sent to 24 months of a prison sentence in March 2012. He began his sentence from 26 June 2012 at the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland. However, he was released earlier in 2013 for his “cooperation” with US officials.

We had earlier reported regarding Fai, who is known to be the public face of the anti-India Kashmiri lobby in the United States. He has organised high-profile events to lobby against the Indian government on the issue of Kashmir. Fai, who was born Kashmir was charged with using at least $4 million in Pakistani funds in a bid to influence the US position on the issue Kashmir.

Interestingly, Gautam Navlakha – another notorious ‘Urban Naxal’ who is accused of plotting to kill Prime Minister PM Modi, has connections with Ghulam Fai. Navlakha attended events organized by Ghulam Nabi Fai in a past to deliberately tilt USA’s policy regarding Kashmir against India.

Fai, after hiding for a couple of years following his release, has now restarted his dirty tricks and has tried to activate his anti-India lobbying. The report suggests that Fai has resumed his interactions with members of the US Senate and the media and has become very active following the passage of CAA in India.

“He has been appearing on audio-video mediums across the US to highlight ‘Indian atrocities in Kashmir and against Muslims’, penning articles and collaborating with Indian influencers for the same purpose,” an intelligence official said to The Sunday Guardian.

Fai is now the secretary-general of the Washington-based World Kashmir Awareness Forum (WKAF), which is headed by Ghulam Nabi Mir, president of World Kashmir Awareness Forum. WKAF is among the most aggressive anti-India voices in the US and openly calls for Kashmir’s secession from India.

Mir’s son, Aimem had earlier served as president of the youth wing of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) two times. He had worked in a top advisory position in the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a national security post in the Treasury Department, where he was appointed by President Barack Obama. Aimem’s appointment had led to a lot of controversies because of his close links with the ISNA, as it is known to be the most prominent Muslim Brotherhood group in the US.

In his statement to the Virginia court after his arrest, Fai had confessed of receiving $500,000 (Rs 3 crore) in the year 2000 by the ISI to push Pakistan’s agenda. This included Rs 60 lakh for US Congress members, Rs 1.20 crore for organising conferences, Rs 35 lakh for media relations and Rs 18 lakh for organising Congress members’ trip to Kashmir.

These events were organised under the aegis of the Kashmiri American Council (KAC), which also goes by the name of “Kashmir Center”. The FBI found that the KAC is one of three “Kashmir Centers” that are actually run by elements of the Pakistani government, including Pakistan’s military intelligence service, the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI). The two other “Kashmir Centers” are in London and Brussels.

In 2001, the budget was revised to $455,000, $490,000 for 2005 and $719,000 for 2006. By the time he was arrested in 2011, Fai had a coffer of almost Rs 7.5 crore per year which he was spending on conferences, influencing members of the media and people at the Capitol.

Fai and the FBI special agent, Sarah Webb Linden, who investigated the case, identified Javed Aziz Khan, also known as “Brigadier Abdullah” as the ISI officer responsible for handling Kashmiri affairs in the mid-1990s.

Read: USA: Pakistan PM Imran Khan holds meeting with convicted felon and ISI mole Ghulam Nabi Fai as staged anti-Modi protests fail

According to Fai himself, the ISI had worked on three objectives. The first objective is to persuade the US administration that self-determination in Kashmir would advance the national interests of the United States. Secondly, to influence the Congress, with the House International Relations and the Senate Foreign Relations Committees being the centrepieces of KAC’s advocacy effort. Lastly, the idea was to capture media attention to influence the debate on Kashmir, including staging creative events that draw the press corps to the issue of Kashmir.

In April 2012, the Jammu and Kashmir state government had constituted an SIT to probe the organisations and individuals in the state who were on the payroll of Fai and ISI. The SIT was constituted under the leadership of Uttam Chand, a 2002 batch IPS officer, who was posted as SSP, Badgam. Chand is presently on a Central deputation in the Cabinet Secretariat. There is not enough progress on the SIT front and no action was taken against individuals and organisations, who were working for Fai in India.

As per the government order, Chand was required to unravel Fai’s links in the state and find about the hawala funds that were reported to be received by various individuals, including separatists, journalists, intellectuals, NGOs etc., from Fai. The findings of the SIT were expected to be the precursor to seeking the extradition of Fai from the US. However, the matter was forgotten.

In 1980, a Public Safety Act (PSA) warrant was issued against Fai by the then-District Magistrate in Badgam for his involvement in anti-national activities, which is still pending against him in police records. After the issuance of the PSA warrant, Fai had fled the Kashmir valley and reached Saudi Arabia from where he was sent to the US by the King Faisal Foundation which paid for his schooling and other expenses at Temple University in Pennsylvania.

The importance of Fai for Pakistan can be understood from an October 2016 report prepared by a 13-member committee of the Pakistan Senate which recommended constitution of a Media Coordination Committee (MCC), comprising journalists, representatives of the Foreign Office, Ministry of Information, Parliament and intelligence to prepare counter-propaganda campaign against India and to design and promote a media strategy for continually highlighting the Kashmir issue.

The committee had also called for regular special briefings of foreign journalists for publicising the Jammu and Kashmir issue and had directed Pakistani officials to indulge in a “comprehensive outreach” exercise to those in India who are opposed to “Modi’s extremism and his anti-Pakistan policies, including political parties, media, civil society organisations and human rights groups”.

Enforcement Directorate arrests Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor over money laundering charges

OpIndia Staff
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Enforcement Directorate arrests Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor over money laundering charges

The founder of the crisis-hit YES Bank, Rana Kapoor, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Sunday around 3 am in Mumbai. He was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), following allegations of mismanagement and financial irregularities.


Earlier, his upscale residence in ‘Samudra Mahal’ complex in Worli area was raided by the ED on Friday night. Reportedly, Kapoor was questioned for over 20 hours by the central agency on Saturday, finally leading to his arrest on Sunday morning.

The Enforcement Directorate was investigating whether a dummy company controlled by Kapoor and two of his daughters, Doit Urban Ventures, received kickbacks to the tune of ₹600 crores in return for granting a ₹4,450 crore loan to Dewan Housing Financial Corporation Limited (DHFL).

Despite the firm failing to return the money, the Yes Bank management did not initiate any action. Officials suspect that DHFL had siphoned off ₹13,000 crores (including the ₹4,450 crore Yes Bank loan) through 79 dummy companies.

Kapoor is also believed to be involved in Employees’ Provident Fund (PF) where the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd. (UPPCL) invested ₹4,100 crore worth of funds in DHFL without seeking required approval.

The Enforcement Directorate had also searched the residences of Kapoor’s 3 daughters on Saturday as the officials believe that they are “linked to some companies to which the suspected “proceeds of crime” have been traced.”

Yes Bank became the second bank to collapse in the financial year on Thursday after the Reserve Bank of India imposed restrictions on it, after a similar fate faced by Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank in September last year.

After the bank was in financial trouble for almost two years, RBI finally decided to take action, and imposed a moratorium on the bank for 30 days, along with taking over the management of the bank. The regulator has imposed a cap of ₹50,000 on withdrawals from accounts in the Yes Bank for a month.

On Friday, the Reserve Bank of India today published a draft of the scheme of reconstruction for the troubled private sector bank. Public sector bank State Bank of India will infuse capital in Yes Bank by acquiring 49% stack.

After SBI picks up the stake, a new board will be constituted for the bank, and the administrator appointed by RBI will hand over the control of the bank to the newly formed board. State Bank of India will nominate two directors in the board of directors, while RBI may appoint additional directors exercising its powers.

PM Modi signs off from social media after wishing on the occasion of Women’s Day, seven women achievers take over

OpIndia Staff
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PM Modi signs off from social media after wishing on the occasion of Women’s Day, seven women achievers take over

On the occasion International Women’s Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the nation and signed off from Twitter, handing over his social media accounts to seven women achievers to celebrate the special day.

Taking to Twitter on Sunday, PM Modi has handed it over to seven women achievers of the country who will share their life journeys through his accounts through the day. However, PM Modi did not disclose the names of the seven women achiever who would handle his social media account.

“Greetings on International Women’s Day! We salute the spirit and accomplishments of our Nari Shakti.  As I’d said a few days ago, I’m signing off. Through the day, seven women achievers will share their life journeys and perhaps interact with you through my social media accounts,” tweeted PM Modi.


On Tuesday (March 3), in a move that left everyone surprised, Prime Minister Modi had announced that he was contemplating quitting social media on Sunday. The cryptic tweet sent people wondering what exactly could be the reason. Next day, PM Modi announced that he would be handing over his accounts on various social media platforms to inspiring women to mark International Women’s Day.

“This Women’s Day (March 8), I will give away my social media accounts to women whose life & work inspire us. This will help them ignite motivation in millions,” he had tweeted.

The Twitter handle of the Prime Minister’s Office has 32 million followers.

In September 2019, PM Modi was the third-most followed world leader on the microblogging site, behind only US President Donald Trump and his predecessor Barack Obama. The Prime Minister was the first Indian to cross the 50-million follower’s mark on Twitter.

Later in the day today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with the Nari Shakti awardees to mark International Women’s Day on Sunday. The interaction will take place after President Ram Nath Kovind gives away the Nari Shakti awards at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday morning.

The Nari Shakti awards are given annually to individuals, groups, institutions in recognition of their exceptional work towards the cause of women empowerment, especially for vulnerable and marginalised women. Modi had on Tuesday said he would be handing over his accounts on various social media platforms to women who inspire.

‘Indian Greta’ Licypriya Kangujam who ‘turned down’ PM Modi’s #SheInspiresUs honour may have faked her ‘achievements’ to stardom. Read how

OpIndia Staff
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‘Indian Greta’ Licypriya Kangujam who ‘turned down’ PM Modi’s #SheInspiresUs honour may have faked her ‘achievements’ to stardom. Read how

Manipuri child ‘activist’ Licypriya Kangujam shot to limelight in past few days for ‘turning down’ government of India’s ‘#SheInspiresUs’ movement honour on Twitter because she did not ‘want to be celebrated if PM Modi was not going to listen to her’.


Soon she was used by Modi detractors to attack the PM.


‘Woke’ comedians also huddled up to develop sudden respect for Licypriya.


Congress supporters who have been accused of violence in Uttar Pradesh’s anti-CAA riots also hailed her.


Other Congress leaders, too, hailed her and claimed that this 8-year-old inspires them.


Ocean of fake news, BBC even profiled Licypriya after she turned down ‘SheInspiresUs’ honour but conveniently failed to mention that it may be an elaborate fraud created by her father, unfortunately using his young daughter as a bait.

Except, last night, former National General Secretary of Congress’ students’ wing, National Students Union of India (NSUI), Angellica Aribam took to Twitter to reveal how Licypriya was made into a celebrity over fake claims of achievements.


Aribam mentioned that in April 2019, Licypriya claimed that she was on her way to UN headquarters in Geneva to address a ‘global UN session’ for ‘Disaster Risk Reduction’. The news was widely reported and Licypriya was congratulated on social media for ‘making India proud’. Except, it turned out to be fake. After Imphal Free Press uncovered that not only was she not invited to the UN but her father was also reported to be an alleged conman.

An investigation by Imphal Free Press revealed that her entire ‘UN invite’ was a sham and a cooked up story by her father, Kangujam Kanarjit. IFP got suspicious over the news item since when they investigated the claims, the UN event showed that registration for delegates was still on and the names of speakers wasn’t confirmed yet. Hence, Licypriya’s claims that she is going to address the session was already on thin ice.

Licypriya claimed to be working as a “Child Disaster Risks Reduction Advocate in International Youth Committee (IYC)” which did not have much internet presence. IFP got hold of a press release on the basis of which this news report was published. The press release was issued by IYC that had no specific address and the pin code corresponded to Safdarjung area in New Delhi. The address was partial and IFP had little success in tracing. However, soon enough the search result showed that the IYC chairman was one Dr KK Singh. The Dr KK Singh was Kangujam Kanarjit, who IFP had exposed as a conman back in 2015. As per IFP, Kangujam Kanarjit, was a man behind the Global Youth Summit and World Youth Summit held at Imphal and is charged of cheating and fraud. He has been accused by several businessmen of duping them.

Licypriya’s father, Kanarjit’s court proclamation requesting his appearance. (image: @angellicaaribam on Twitter)

Kanarjit has been accused of cheating multiple people, with amounts as high as Rs 19 lakh. In 2015, he was arrested in Manipur with charges of criminal case number 176 of 2015 under Section 420 (Fraud), 324 (Assault) and 406 (Criminal breach of trust). As per investigation by IFP, a place he had rented in Porompat and carried out his clandestine activities under the Club 25 banner was allegedly sold to three different individuals without the knowledge of the real owner. Kanarjit was later released on an interim bail and has been an absconder since.

When the story of Licypriya attending UN event broke, eyebrows were raised as the source of her attending an event at UN in Geneva was routed through IYC, which has a history of fraud, dubious and shady work. Soon after the IFP investigation, the story quietly disappeared. Later, in a now deleted Facebook post, Licypriya wrote that she has ‘decided’ not to attend the UN event in Geneva. “Finally I decided not to attend the program in Geneva next month as I am completely in depression. Even my visa and flight tickets was ready. This is not the way to treat your “Ningol” [daughter]” she reportedly wrote on Facebook.

Read: Russian President Putin criticises climate activist Greta, dismisses her as a ‘poorly informed teenager’

She accused IFP of being ‘paid media’ and ‘killing her career’ by spreading lies about her in the name of her father. However, after her Facebook post, when EastMojo, Northeast India-based news webstie, crosschecked Licypriya’s claims of attending the UN event as a speaker. Stephanie Speck, Chief, Communications, Advocacy, Knowledge Management and ICT, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction confirmed to EastMojo that Licypriya was not supposed to attend the event as a speaker.

The citizen engagement platform of Government of India hailed her ‘achievements’ and said that Licipriya has been awarded one ‘Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Children Award’ and one ‘World Children Peace Prize’ and an ‘India Peace Prize’. Journalist Chitra Ahanthem, who was part of the team investigating for IFP story, said that the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Award in all possibility a fraud award as well.


In July 2019, she was awarded one “Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Award” by one Munna Kumar, founder of Khwaab Foundation.


However, Aribam pointed out that the 8-year-old is used by her father (Licypriya’s Twitter profile shows that her account is managed by a guardian).

This is not the first time children have been used to fool media by making fake claims. In 2019 itself, one Tanmoy Chakraborty had claimed he was invited by NASA to be part of a competition. However, his claims were questioned by one NASA hydrologist, Manabendra Saharia who said that the NASA ‘certificate’ Chakraborty was showing off was fraudulent.

In 2005, one Saurav Singh from Uttar Pradesh had claimed to have topped NASA competitive exams which was eventually denied by NASA.

Climate change activism is the latest buzzword and with child ‘activists’ being propped by parents and organisations, it is only a matter of time before more such fake ‘achievers’ become the voice of the generation.

3 new cases of Coronavirus confirmed in India, total rises to 34

OpIndia Staff
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3 new cases of Coronavirus confirmed in India, total rises to 34

Union Health ministry reported three more positive cases of novel coronavirus infections in India on Saturday, which raises the total cases up to 34 in the country.

The ministry also said that all the patients are stable. Of the three new cases, two belong to Ladakh with travel history to Iran while one is from Tamil Nadu who has travel history to Oman.

The Health Ministry said that more than 150 people who came in contact with two American nationals who tested positive for coronavirus in Bhutan and had also toured various places in India, had been put under Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP). The second floor of Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati, where the Americans had stayed, was also evacuated today.

108 Swab samples of Indians in Iran were received on Saturday morning. These samples arrived through Mahan Air Flight from Tehran. The flight went back with many Iranian nationals. The samples are being tested in the laboratory in AIIMS.

Six scientists have been sent to Iran by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), and equipment and reagents worth approximately Rs 10 crore have been dispatched to enable them to set up a laboratory there.

The Health Ministry reported that 7,26,122 passengers from 7,108 flights have been screened at airports. Between Friday morning and Saturday, 73,766 passengers from 573 flights have been screened.

The ministry noted that fifty-two laboratories for testing novel coronavirus are now operational across the country. An additional 57 labs have been provided with Viral Transport Media and swabs for sample collection.

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