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Intelligence agencies alert UP police about possible attack on Yogi Adityanath at Gorakhnath temple by assailants disguised as journalists

OpIndia Staff
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Intelligence agencies alert UP police about possible attack on Yogi Adityanath at Gorakhnath temple by assailants disguised as journalists

The Uttar Pradesh Police has been alerted by Intelligence agencies about a possible terror attack on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during his visit to Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur.

As reported by the wire agency IANS, the attacker may possibly enter in the guise of a journalist. Yogi Adityanath maintains distance from journalists everywhere, but he’s easily accessible to media in Gorakhpur. He also organizes Janata darbar and meets local people on his visit to Gorakhnath Temple in Gorakhpur.

“Through our officials, we got oral information that security agencies have issued an alert regarding attack on the chief minister. CM Yogi Adityanath is not under threat from any journalist, but unwanted elements in the guise of journalists,” an officer in Gorakhpur said.

Following the alert, the security has been tightened in and around Gorakhnath Temple. The Gorakhpur police are preparing fresh photo identity cards of local journalists for proper scrutiny of their credentials.

In the month of January, 5 members of Islamic fundamentalist organization Popular Front of India were arrested by UP police planning to disrupt Yogi Adityanath’s visit to Kanpur while protesting against CAA.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath is known for his straight forward speeches. He campaigned for BJP in the Delhi assembly elections mainly targetting Aam Aadmi Party, Congress, and the Anti-CAA protestors in Shaheen Bagh. In a public rally, Yogi had given a furious speech mentioning that his government does not feed biryani to terrorists, it was congress’s ritual to do so.

In an interview to BBC, after they termed the Anti-CAA protestors as the descendants of those who stayed back in India during partition, Yogi had affirmed, “They hadn’t done any favour. They hadn’t done any favour to India. When India was partitioned, it should have been opposed. Arguments in favour of India must be supported. Those which are against India must be opposed. This is what our nationalism says and it is also the duty of every Indian citizen.”

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh bats for vegetarianism, calls beef a “huge culprit” in global warming

OpIndia Staff
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Congress leader Jairam Ramesh bats for vegetarianism, calls beef a “huge culprit” in global warming

While answering a query over the role of vegetarianism in combating climate change in an event in Kerala, former union minister and senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh called the beef industry a “huge culprit” in global warming and said that a vegetarian diet is more has a lower carbon footprint than a non-vegetarian one.

“I know that the beef curry is a very important element in Kerala’s diet but there is no doubt in my mind that the carbon footprint of a non-vegetarian diet is greater than the carbon footprint of a vegetarian diet”, said Jairam who was participating in a discussion on the ecosystem of Western Ghats at the Krithi International book fair, organised by a state government-controlled society here.

“I have always held this view that if you want to do something on global warming, become a vegetarian,” Ramesh said. He, however, clarified that the choices about the food are a lifestyle issue.

Read- You want to save the Earth? Then ban beef, not firecrackers

Highlighting the leadership role played by women in leading environment movements in the country”, the senior Congress leader said: I think the environment is a feminist movement in India. If young women take an aggressive role in environmental issues… I am actually a great optimist,” Jairam Ramesh added.

Globally, beef is considered to be responsible for 41 per cent of livestock greenhouse gas emissions, and livestock accounts for 14.5 per cent of total global emission. In fact, according to one expert, eating less red meat, particularly beef, would be a better way for people to cut carbon emissions than giving up their cars.

The production of beef requires 28 times more land than pork or chicken, 11 times more water and results in 5 times more climate-warming emissions. As compared to staples like potatoes, wheat, and rice, the impact of beef per calorie is far more extreme. It requires 160 times more land and produces 11 times more greenhouse gases.

We don’t fight elections only for the results, our objective is to spread our party’s ideology to maximum people: Home Minister Amit Shah

OpIndia Staff
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We don’t fight elections only for the results, our objective is to spread our party’s ideology to maximum people: Home Minister Amit Shah

Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking today on day two of the Times Now Summit 2020 in New Delhi, said that he humbly accepts the Delhi election results in which his Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a drubbing, winning just eight of the total 70 Assembly seats.

Speaking about his role in the recently concluded Delhi Assembly Election in which BJP emerged as runners up, Shah said: “I have worked tirelessly for every election, not just for Delhi elections”.

Shah said the BJP doesn’t fight elections just for victory. “We have put our heart and soul into every election, not just in Delhi. It’s not for the first time that we have lost an election. We had lost in Bihar as well as other states. We don’t fight elections only for the results. Our objective is to spread our party’s agenda to maximum people”, Shah told the audience during a fireside chat at the summit.

He stated that BJP campaigns to spread ideology, not just to win. “For many parties, elections are about forming a government or toppling a government. BJP is an ideology based party, for us elections are also elections to enhance our ideology. We don’t fight elections only for victory.”


We humbly accept that we have lost in Delhi. We will now worry about, sitting in Delhi, that this government (AAP government) functions properly,” Amit Shah said.

Read- Home Minister Amit Shah says ready to meet Shaheen Bagh ‘protestors’ to talk on CAA and NRC

Shah denied that the people of Delhi had rejected the BJP. “It’s not like the people rejected us. Kejriwal was third in the Lok Sabha elections. That doesn’t mean that he was rejected by the people of Delhi. Elections are the result of a combination of several factors. Ideology is independent of election results. We did not leave ideology even after sitting in Opposition for decades. We had opposed Article 370 then, we’ve abrogated it now,” he said in response to a question.


“My tweet about winning 45 seats in Delhi had nothing to do with election results, that was my assessment. It happens that assessments go wrong,” he said, clarifying about his tweet a day before the counting of votes in Delhi expressing confidence about forming a BJP government in the capital.

On Shaheen Bagh, Amit Shah said elections are not fought on a single issue. “We made Shaheen Bagh a poll issue and that is still an issue,” he said.

Further speaking on his remark that people should press the button on EVM so hard that current should be felt in Shaheen Bagh, Shah said it’s a certificate from the Opposition that from the entire campaign, they picked up this issue. “I didn’t mean individuals should get current, it is a way to make people understand the issue.”

He accepted that hate remarks like given by West Delhi MP Parvesh Varma on Shaheen Bagh could have hurt the party in Delhi. “We had distanced ourselves from those comments. It is possible that we might have suffered partially because of those comments,” the Home Minister said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party had managed to win 8 seats of the 70 Delhi assembly seats in the recently concluded elections with Delhi’s mandate going in favour of the Aam Aadmi Party which came back to power in the capital by winning 62 out of the 70 seats.

‘Sharjeel Imam spoke of bringing Assam to a halt, so we locked him up in jail’: Amit Shah

OpIndia Staff
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‘Sharjeel Imam spoke of bringing Assam to a halt, so we locked him up in jail’: Amit Shah

Home Minister Amit Shah gave an interview to journalist Navika Kumar at the Times Now Summit. During the interview, the former BJP President touched upon a variety of issues and made his positions clear on several contentious issues. Amit Shah reiterated that there was nothing anti-Muslim about the Citizenship Amendment Act and reminded the country again that numerous Congress governments and politicians since independence have advocated for the exact same provisions in the CAA.

Most significantly, the Home Minister threw his weight behind the actions of the Delhi Police at the height of the anti-CAA riots. Defending the actions of the Police at the Jamia Milia University, he said that the Delhi Police did nothing wrong and said that the response of the Police was adequate given prevailing circumstances.

On the arrest of Sharjeel Imam, the Home Minister said that people should not make extremist statements and that it is dangerous for the country. He said, “As far as Sharjeel Imam is concerned, unhoney Assam band karne ki baat kadhi thi, humne abhi unko band kar kar jail me rakha hai (He had spoken of bringing Assam to a halt, so we have locked him up in jail).”


Amit Shah also said that no decision has been made on the NRC yet. However, he did say that it was in the party manifesto. The Home Minister also said that the BJP does not need a ‘certificate of secularism’ from anyone.

Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra and Foreign Service Institute renamed after Sushma Swaraj on the eve of her birth anniversary

OpIndia Staff
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Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra and Foreign Service Institute renamed after Sushma Swaraj on the eve of her birth anniversary

The union government has announced that the Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra and Foreign Service institute will be renamed after former external affairs minister Late Smt. Sushma Swaraj. In a series of tweets, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar informed that the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra will be renamed as Sushma Swaraj Bhawan and Foreign Service Institute as Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service.


This announcement was made in the light of the sixty-eighth birthday of Sushma Swaraj on 14 February.


The Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in New Delhi was inaugurated by prime minister Narendra Modi on October 2, 2016. The decision to construct it was taken by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, while the foundation stone was laid by former PM Manmohan Singh in 2011. The Kendra is dedicated to the welfare of the Indian diaspora. It has been developed as a hub of activities for sustainable, symbiotic and mutually rewarding economic, social and cultural engagement between India and its Diaspora. Activities, seminars, events, workshops pertaining to the Indian Diaspora are organised at the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra, now renamed as Sushma Swaraj Bhawan.

Sushma Swaraj Bhawan

The Foreign Service Institute is the institute in New Delhi where Indian Foreign Service officers are trained. The institute, which functions under the ministry of external affairs, caters to the professional training needs of the trainees of the Indian Foreign Service who are inducted into the service via UPSC every year. The website of the institute has already been updated to reflects its new name, Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service.

Website of Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service

Reacting to this announcement by the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson twitter handle, Governor Swaraj, husband of Sushma Swaraj tweeted in gratitude from him.


Sushma Swaraj was a prominent leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, had been the youngest cabinet minister in the history of India, the first woman Chief Minister of Delhi and of course one of the longest standing woman politicians of the country.  As a Union Minister in the NDA government, she handled various portfolios and brought radical and important changes in the ministries. She was known as one of the most responsive ministers while handling the Ministry of External Affairs and also known as one of the most popular foreign ministers ever.

Renaming the institutions after a giant like Sushma Swaraj is a tribute to a brilliant leader like her.

Home Minister Amit Shah says ready to meet Shaheen Bagh ‘protestors’ to talk on CAA and NRC

OpIndia Staff
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Home Minister Amit Shah says ready to meet Shaheen Bagh ‘protestors’ to talk on CAA and NRC

Home Minister Amit Shah while speaking at Times Now summit said that he is willing to talk to those opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register for Citizenship (NRC).


Home Minister said that he will meet anyone who is wiling to talk on the CAA and NRC. When Times Now journalist Navika Kumar asked him if he’d meet Shaheen Bagh protestors who’ve been blocking the road since almost two months now, he replied in affirmative. He added that he will meet those willing to meet him within three days. He further added that he has not yet been informed about reasons behind the protests.


“Which Article in the Act is an issue? How is this Act anti-Muslim or anti-minority?” Shah asked. The CAA ‘protestors’ have been claiming that the Act is anti-Muslims and that the Indian Muslims will be rendered stateless. However, it is far from reality. The Citizenship Amendment Act only fast-tracks Indian citizenship of persecuted religious minorities from three neighbouring Islamic countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. It does not affect Indian citizens, Muslims or otherwise, in any which way. Hence, the entire premise of the protests is baseless.

Srinagar: Ahle Hadees cleric and former terror organisation chief found murdered in Mosque, allegedly by another Maulvi

OpIndia Staff
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Srinagar: Ahle Hadees cleric and former terror organisation chief found murdered in Mosque, allegedly by another Maulvi

Prominent Ahel-e-Hadees cleric and former chief of Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen (TuM), Abdul Gani Dar, (78) of Russu Beerwah Budgam was reportedly found murdered in a mosque in Maisuma, Srinagar on Thursday. TuM is an Islamic terrorist organization operating in the valley which was banned by the Home Ministry last year in February.


As per reports, Abdul Gani Dar was murdered by another Maulvi at the Mosque.


Reportedly, Abdul Gani Dar was hit with by the perpetrator in the first floor of the Mosque after he had completed his mid-day prayer. The Police were informed immediately about the murder and the body was sent for a postmortem. A case has been registered over the matter and investigations are currently underway.

Interestingly, the murdered person Abdul Gani Dar, alias Abdullah Gazali was allegedly involved in a 2011 murder of Maulana Showkat Ahmad Shah, the then president of the Jamiat Ahle Hadith. The Maulana was killed in an IED blast done with the help of a LeT terrorist, at a Mosque in Maisuma, Srinagar.

Though a person named Nissar Ahmad Khan was arrested for triggering the blast, the police had stated that it was Abdul Gani Dar alias Abdullah Gazali who had hatched the murder plan along with Ashiq Hussain Faktoo,  a dreaded separatist leader in Srinagar jail who is also Asiya Andrabi’s husband.

Gazali was granted bail by a Srinagar court in 2015 after it held that the prosecution has failed to provide enough evidence of his involvement in the 2011 murder.

Saba Naqvi continues to fear-monger, conjures up a story of Hindi speaking Afghan refugee moving to Australia ‘because of CAA’

OpIndia Staff
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Saba Naqvi continues to fear-monger, conjures up a story of Hindi speaking Afghan refugee moving to Australia ‘because of CAA’

Saba Naqvi, the incorrigible fake news peddler, masquerading as a journalist has been quite consistent in distorting or misrepresenting facts and attributing the worst possible motives to the government to advance her destructive agenda. Today, the mythomaniac has once again taken to Twitter to conjure up a story against Citizenship Amendment Law.

While sharing a picture of a Hindi speaking Afghan refugee on the microblogging site, Saba expressed her anguish that despite living in India for over a decade, this young girl’s family has decided to move to Australia because of the newly introduced Citizenship Amendment Act.


Saba claimed that an Afghan refugee girl who has been living in India for a decade and also knows Indian classical dance form like Bharatnatyam, will move to Australia. She appended that this move is because of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Read: Saba Naqvi mirrors Jihadis, insinuates that re-settling Kashmiri Pandits in the valley is a part of the ‘Hinduisation’ project

In another Tweet, Saba continued to mislead people by saying that “People came to India, from Buddhists to Muslims to Hindus and Sikhs, because we were a warm plural nation that welcomed. Muslims are not welcome in India so even those who love our county will seek safer options. Sad…” without probably realising that Indian citizens are not as harebrained as she is to fall for her whoppers.

Many promptly replied to Saba by pointing out the provisions under the new law.


While some poked fun at the bad script she had concocted.


Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri also responded to Saba Naqvi’s fear-mongering by writing: “She is spreading hatred. Bigotry. Communal mindset. Someone should challenge these fake news generators in court.”


CAA fast-tracks Indian citizenship of persecuted religious minorities from three neighbouring Islamic countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Other people seeking Indian citizenship could continue to apply for the same as per normal provisions. The ‘Afghan refugee girl’ could have applied for Indian citizenship should she so wish, could do so after a year since normal provisions allow refugees in India to apply for Indian citizenship after lapse of 11 years.

Islamic terror group Jaish creates ‘Ghaznavi Force’ to carry out Pulwama-style terror attacks in India: Intel reports

OpIndia Staff
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Islamic terror group Jaish creates ‘Ghaznavi Force’ to carry out Pulwama-style terror attacks in India: Intel reports

The latest intelligence reports have revealed that Pakistan-sponsored Islamic terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has created a new group of highly-trained terrorists called ‘Ghaznavi Force’ to carry out Pulwama-style terror attacks in India. These reports come a day ahead of first year anniversary of the ghastly Pulwama terror attacks which claimed lives of 40 CRPF jawans.

According to the inputs gathered by the Indian intelligence agencies, Pakistan’s notorious spy agency – the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) joining hands with terror group JeM has made an elaborate plan to carry out more deadly terror attacks in India.

Reportedly, the newly-created armed group, which is being called the “Ghaznavi Force” comprises fighters from other banned terror outfits like LeT, Hizbul Mujahideen, AuGH and Al Badr. The terrorists belonging to this group might attempt to target security forces, their convoys, vital installations and border outposts by planting IEDs, the agencies have warned.

The jihadis of the ‘Ghaznavi Force’ may also use explosives-laden trucks, vehicles to carry out attacks on the Indian security forces operating in Kashmir and border areas.

Following these warnings, an alert has been sounded and the security forces operating in the Kashmir Valley have been directed to remain vigilant and exercise caution. Security agencies operating in the Valley have been asked to increase coordination for accurate and timely analysis of inputs being intercepted by the Indian intelligence agencies.

These warnings come in the wake of reports that 27 Jaish terrorists were being trained in the Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir region to launch terror attacks in India. The JeM is currently providing training 27 terrorists for launching attacks against India, the reports said.

Out of the 27, eight are from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. They are being trained by two instructors from Punjab, Pakistan and three from Afghanistan.

In January this year, the Jammu and Kashmir Police busted a Jaish-e-Mohammad module in Srinagar and arrested five of its operatives, averting a major terror attack planned on January 26. A large cache of incriminating material and explosive substances, including gelatine sticks, explosives, detonators, arms, explosive body vests, batteries and nitric acid, were also recovered following searches based on their disclosures.

Income Tax Department clarifies that PM Narendra Modi was correct when he said only 1.5 crore people pay income tax

OpIndia Staff
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Income Tax Department clarifies that PM Narendra Modi was correct when he said only 1.5 crore people pay income tax

Yesterday prime minister Narendra Modi made some comments about income tax payers in India which was attacked by may left-liberals claiming he was giving false numbers. Speaking in Times Now Summit 2020 on 12 February, PM Modi had said that in a country of 130 crore, only 1.5 crore people pay income tax.


Eager to prove that the prime minister was lying, usual suspects started claiming that the actual number of taxpayers is much higher as per the government’s own data. A report published by PIB in October was cited by them, which had said that the number of returns filed had gone up from 3.31 crore in 2013-14 to 5.44 crore in 2017-18. Therefore, the number of people of who paid tax was 5.44 crore, and not 1.5 crore as Modi said, they claimed.

Most people accusing Modi of lying assumed that the number of people who filed income tax return equals to the number of people who actually paid Income Tax. They forgot one basic fact that everyone who earns income is required to file income tax returns, but not all of them are required to pay tax. People need to pay tax only if their income is above the minimum slab in the income tax for a year, and a large number of file returns with zero taxable income as per the slab.

To dispel the false allegations of fake data against the PM, the Income Tax department has issued clarifications saying that the numbers given by Modi were correct. In a series of tweets, the tax dept said that in the financial year 2018-19, 5.78 crore individuals had filed income tax returns. Out of them, 1.03 crore people showed income below Rs 2.5 lakh and 3.29 crore people disclosed income between Rs 2.5 and Rs 5 lakh. This means out of total 5.78 crore returns, 4.32 crore declared income below Rs 5 lakh. The budget in 2019 had exempted taxpayers with up to Rs 5 lakh income from paying tax, therefore, these 4.32 crore people were not required to pay any tax on income. As a result, only the remaining 1.46 crore actually paid income tax.


So, when PM Modi said that only 1.5 crores pay income tax, he was not lying or giving a much less figure as alleged. In fact, he had rounded up 1.46 crore to 1.50 crore.

Earlier, another baseless allegation was made against Modi regarding the same speech. Talking specifically about professionals, Modi had said that only 2200 professionals like lawyers, doctors, Chartered Accountants, Bollywood stars etc declare income of more than Rs 1 crore. But several pro-Congress journalists had deliberately misinterpreted him by saying that he said the number of people declaring income above Rs 1 crore is 2200, while the real number is around 1 lakh. They had deliberately ignored that Modi was only talking about professionals, and not overall taxpayers. The I-T dept said that only about 2200 professionals such as Doctors, Chartered Accountants, Lawyers others have disclosed annual income of more than Rs 1 crore from their profession, therefore the number given by PM Modi was absolutely correct.

The department also informed that around 8,600 people have declared above Rs 5 crore, and around 3.16 lakh individuals disclosed income above Rs 50 lakh for 2018-19.

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