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Madhya Pradesh: Removal of Shivaji’s bust in Sausar by administration causes outrage, protesters block highway

OpIndia Staff
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Madhya Pradesh: Removal of Shivaji’s bust in Sausar by administration causes outrage, protesters block highway

Protesters in a town in Madhya Pradesh took to streets to express their disapproval against the Congress-led government in the state for uprooting a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj allegedly in an outrageous manner in Sausar town in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara district.

As per sources, Shiv Sena and some other organisations had written to the local administration, requesting them to install a bust of Shivaji Maharaj in Mohgaon Square intersection in the town. The Municipal Councillor visited the town after receiving the letter and earmarked a place for the installation of the statue. However, after experiencing inordinate delay from the administration in the installation of the statue, the organisations took it upon themselves to erect the statue at the designated place. The organisation constructed a platform on the said site and installed the bust themselves on Monday night.

When the local authorities came to know that the organisations installed the bust themselves, they tried to uproot the statue at night citing no administration approval to erect a bust at the said site. The authorities tried to demolish the statue with the help of a JCB which sparked outrage in the region.

The locals present at the site didn’t allow the bust to fall. As soon as the news of authorities trying to insultingly knockdown Shivaji’s bust ran through the town, a raft of people swarmed the site in protest against the administrative action. The gathered people also jammed the Chhindwada Nagpur highway.

The Chhindwara ADM Rajesh Shahi while speaking to ANI claimed that the bust was put up on the government land on Monday night without approval and it was subsequently stopped by the authorities.

“An authorisation has to be sought from the administration for installing statues. SDM Sausar had apprised me that some people are installing a statue without any approval. Later, a meeting with stakeholders including organisations who were involved in the installation of the bust was conducted and everyone agreed that due process will be followed for installing the bust,” Shahi said.


Tweeting a video of the bust being removed, former Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan said that Shivaji is the pride of the nation and his humiliation will not be tolerated at any cost. He said that if there were issues with the installation, it could have been removed respectfully. “But this government takes pride in insulting great men,” he added.

He also demanded that MP CM Kamal Nath should apologise for the incident and asked to arrange for installing the bust. He also questioned Shiv Sena, asking whether they will tolerate such an insult to Shivaji.

State Congress spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedi has rejected the allegations, saying that JCB was used to remove the bust because the platform on which it was installed was very strong. He said it was placed in a haphazard manner causing disruptions in traffic.  He assured that the bust will be installed in a respectful manner after completing due formalities in a proper place.

Local Congress MLA Vijay Choure said that Sausar municipality on Tuesday approved a proposal to re-install the bust at the same intersection.

Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanams to construct Sri Venkateswara Temple in Jammu and Kashmir

OpIndia Staff
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Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanams to construct Sri Venkateswara Temple in Jammu and Kashmir

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) will soon be constructing a temple of Lord Venkateswara Swamy in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. According to reports, the UT government will soon allocate 100 acres of land to build a replica of the famous Tirupati temple near Jammu.

The TTD Executive officer Anil Kumar Singhal said on Friday that the Government of Jammu had already identified seven places for the construction of the temple. Suitable places for the temple construction work were finalized by a team of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) officials. However, a final conclusion on the place of construction was decided and soon, the construction work for the temple is set to commence.

As per reports, the administration of Jammu and Kashmir has agreed to allot 100-acre land to TTD near Jammu-Katra highway for constructing a temple of Sri Venkateswara Swamy. TTD will be constructing a temple along with Vedic school and hospital in the minimum span of two years.

The TTD trust is also looking forward to constructing a Veda Pathshala in Kurukshetra very soon. Another Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple construction will be taking place in Mumbai too. The Maharashtra Government has already allotted land in Bandra where the temple will be constructed possibly at the cost of 30 Crores.

“We also met the Chief Secretary of Jammu & Kashmir and explained the details of our project. It has been a long-pending demand of pilgrims from many North Indian States visiting Tirumala that a replica of the temple be constructed in Jammu,” an official of the TTD Board said after meeting J&K administration regarding the proposal. The TTD delegation met the officials following instructions from Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy.

The delegation was led by Rajya Sabha MP V Vijaya Sai Reddy, who said that although TTD board will contribute, funds will also be raised from devotees to construct the temple, along with a Vedic school, a marriage hall and a hospital.

Singhal also stated that after Jammu, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams is aspiring to construct temples in Varanasi, the popular pilgrimage and the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Construction of temples in Chennai, Vishakhapatnam, and Bhuvaneshwar the construction is underway. The TTD has constructed Sri Venkateswara Swamy temples in Hyderabad, Kurukshetra, and Kanyakumari which are functional and attract impressive pilgrim populations.

The TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy said that that the board has resolved to construct Lord Venkateswara temples in Varanasi, one of the holiest places and most popular pilgrim towns in the country. Reddy added that the board will write a letter to the government of Uttar Pradesh seeking allotment of land for the proposed temple of Venkateswara Swamy.

DHFL Scam: ED finds customised software used to create fake accounts for money laundering

OpIndia Staff
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DHFL Scam: ED finds customised software used to create fake accounts for money laundering

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has made a major discovery during the probe into the DHFL scam when they found software used by the Wadhawans to launder Rs 12,773 crore from the DHFL.

The ED discovered found out that Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan created shell companies to divert money from the NBFC they were investigating suspicious land deals related to the late Underworld gangster, Iqbal Mirchi.

The investigating team discovered that the software, installed in the main operating systems of DHFL, was used to create fake folio numbers and accounts, where the siphoned money was equally distributed. The total amount in these dummy accounts is almost close to Rs 12,800 crore.

The ED found that the software was specifically created for the purpose of hiding fake loans or the amount laundered through the NBFC from RBI and other agencies, indicating that DHFL’s promoters were directly involved in laundering money.

According to ED’s investigating team, the fake loan profiles or accounts created by the software are mainly residents of the slums as DHFL provided loans to SRA projects as well. The real people had no idea that their documents and profiles were misused by DHFL. Even the staff in government quarters have been listed as debtors of DHFL in the system. Hundreds of crores were laundered in their name without their knowledge.

Such was the creativity around this functioning of the software that it would distribute loan amounts in a pattern. For instance, if Rs 1 crore was to be distributed equally then the software would create some number of such fake accounts and distribute unanimously from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 25 lakh.

The ED got access to the software after the arrest of Kapil Wadhawan, chairman of DHFL. Kapil Wadhawan is in judicial custody of the Enforcement Directorate till February 18.

As per KPMG forensic audit report, Enforcement Directorate has found Rs 12,773 crores laundered by DHFL and another Rs 20,000 crore remains untraceable. DHFL owes over Rs one lakh crore to multiple financial institutions, including a Rs 40,000 crore exposure to banks.

On February 7th, The Enforcement Directorate (ED) team investigating the Iqbal Mirchi case had discovered a bigger case of money laundering, where DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan were the prime accused.

India Today refers to country’s ace badminton coach Pullela Gopichand as “little known”, social media schools the media group

OpIndia Staff
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India Today refers to country’s ace badminton coach Pullela Gopichand as “little known”, social media schools the media group

The India Today media group, one of the major media company in the country, on Wednesday stoked a controversy after they condescendingly referred to country’s ace Badminton coach Pullela Gopichand as ‘little known’.

On Sunday, International Olympic Committee had announced that Chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand had received an honourable mention in the prestigious 2019 International Olympic Committee’s Coaches Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of the role he played in the development of the game in the country.

However, India Today group, who seems to have had some sort of discomfort over such prestigious recognition for Pullela Gopichand, chose to show their eliteness by referring to him as a ‘little known’ person. They referred to Gopichand as ‘the little-known India coach’ while sharing their report on Twitter.

The demeaning of Pullela Gopichand by India Today group, however, did not go well across the social media platforms. The netizens schooled the media group for its blunder.


Another social media user said Gopichand is as little known as much Rajdeep Sardesai is known as a ‘journalist’.


Other users mentioned the achievements of the Gopichand on Twitter and shamed the media group for their error.


The 46-year-old  Pullela Gopichand is not only the country’s one of the greatest sports stars but also known for his extremely successful coaching career. During his playing career, he won the prestigious All England Open Badminton Championship becoming the second Indian to achieve this feat after Prakash Padukone.

After his retirement, Gopichand took up the mantle of coaching and also became the chief coach of Indian Badminton unit. During his coaching career, he has trained country’s badminton players including Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Sai Praneeth, Parupalli Kashyap, Srikanth Kidambi etc.

Under Gopichand’s coaching, Saina Nehwal went on to win the bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics and PV Sindhu won a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Pullela Gopichand has also received the Arjuna Award in 1999, the Dronacharya Award in 2009 and the Padma Bhushan – India’s third highest civilian award – in 2014.

India Today group which is known for employing India’s greatest fake news expert Rajdeep Sardesai and fake sting video producer Rahul Kanwal perhaps needs to educate themselves regarding the contribution of Pullela Gopichand towards the development of Badminton as a serious sport in the country, which has brought great honour to India at global sports events.

Delhi Airport: Foreign currency worth Rs 45 lakhs stuffed in peanuts, meatballs seized by CISF

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi Airport: Foreign currency worth Rs 45 lakhs stuffed in peanuts, meatballs seized by CISF

A novel way of currency smuggling set the Delhi Airport authorities on their heels when a passenger was caught with foreign currency worth Rs 45 lakhs stuffed in peanuts, biscuit packets and meatballs by the CISF.

The clever ruse was unearthed when a passenger named Murad Alam was intercepted by security personnel on Tuesday evening on account of his “suspicious” behaviour when he reached Terminal-3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport to board an Air India flight to Dubai.

A video of the interception was uploaded by the CISF on its official Twitter handle which showed security officials cracking the peanuts, opening the sealed biscuit packets and hauling out meat pieces to extract concealed cash rolled inside.


CISF spokesperson Assistant Inspector General Hemendra Singh claimed that this was an ingenious and a peculiar way of smuggling currency. He added that when physical checking of the passengers’ baggage took place, high volume of foreign currencies were found hidden in cooked mutton pieces, peanuts, sealed biscuit packets and other eatables.

The approximate value of seized cache was Rs 45 lakhs which have been handed over to Customs authorities for investigation, Singh said.

Ahead of the FATF plenary meet, Pakistan court convicts 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, orders jail term in two terror funding cases

OpIndia Staff
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Ahead of the FATF plenary meet, Pakistan court convicts 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, orders jail term in two terror funding cases

26/11 terror attack mastermind and terror organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed has been convicted in two terror-financing cases by a Pakistan court today. The LeT chief has been slapped with a prison sentence of five and a half years and a fine of Rs 15,000 in each case. The sentences of both cases will run concurrently.


A Lahore anti-terrorism court convicted him under Pakistan’s Anti Terrorism Act Section 11-F (2) and 11-N. The court had earlier reserved its verdict in the two cases on February 6. ATC judge Arshad Hussain Bhatta announced the verdict. Saeed has been locked in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail.

Saeed was arrested by the Pakistan government in July last year, following immense pressure from global powers and facing the prospect of a FATF blacklist.

The United States had then welcomed Hafiz Saeed’s indictment by a Pakistani court, urging Islamabad to ensure a full prosecution and expeditious trial of the charges against him.


Interestingly, Hafiz Saeed’s conviction has come a few days before the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary in Paris that will decide on Pakistan’s blacklisting or greylisting. The FATF’s plenary group is scheduled to meet in Paris between 16-21 February to formally announce what it thinks of Pakistan’s performance on tackling money laundering and terror financing.

The Counter-Terrorism Department of Pakistan had registered 23 FIRs against Hafiz Saeed and his accomplices on the charges of terror financing in different cities of Punjab province and arrested him on July 17 last year. He is held at the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore.

Read: Pakistan gets UNSC to allow the release of monthly expenses for 26/11 Mumbai terror accused terrorist Hafiz Saeed

Hafiz Saeed-led JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai terror attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans. In December 2008, Saeed was put under house arrest in Pakistan under the Maintenance of Public Order Law, only to be freed nearly 10 months later on orders of the Lahore High Court. In 2019, Pakistan’s counter-terrorism department held Saeed and his Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) guilty of ‘terror financing’.

Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed was recently declared terrorists under the anti-terror UAPA Amendment Bill 2019 which was recently passed by the Indian Parliament after Amit Shah took charge as the Home Minister of the country.

Assam may consider ‘ethnic tribe’ nomenclature to 40 lakh Assamese-speaking Muslims of Brahmaputra valley: Report

OpIndia Staff
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Assam may consider ‘ethnic tribe’ nomenclature to 40 lakh Assamese-speaking Muslims of Brahmaputra valley: Report

The Assam government may consider ‘ethnic tribe’ nomenclature to four groups of Assamese-speaking Muslims residing in the Brahmaputra Valley. As per a report in the Times of India, the Assam Minorities Development Board has proposed that these Muslims do not have any history of migration from Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan).

“We have proposed to replace ‘indigenous’ with ‘ethnic tribe’ because Assam so far has no official definition of who is an indigenous Assamese,” said Assam minorities development board chairman Muminul Aowal.

He added that the four communities – Goria, Moria, Desi and tea tribe Jolha – are already recognized as more other backward classes (MOBC).

According to Aowal, the Assamese-speaking Muslims number about 40 lakhs out of the 1.18 crore Muslims in the state. Aowal further added that the proposal to include Muslim into the ‘ethnic tribe’ community will not include the Maimal group of Muslims, who are Bengali-speaking.

“The Maimals are in the Barak Valley and the government will consider their case later. At this moment, we are talking of only those in Brahmaputra Valley,” Aowal added.

He added ‘Desi’ and ‘Ujani’ groups will be clubbed as Desi while the Sayed group will be included in the Goria group. These group of Muslims trace their lineage to the 15th century and the majority of them took to Islam by conversion between 13 and 17th century, Aowal added.

Read: Understanding Assam protests: Here is how it emphasizes the necessity of NRC, and CAB is not to be blamed for the mess

“None of these groups can be called migrant Muslims. The Gorias and Morias worked for the Ahom kings and the Desis were originally Koch-Rajbongshis who converted to Islam. Those following Islam among the people brought by the British from the Chota Nagpur plateau to work in tea gardens comprise the tea tribe Jolha,” he added, as per the TOI report.

However, the new proposal is yet to receive the approval of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. The nomenclature is expected to be approved before the start of the socio-economic census. Aowal said the Census operation to be carried out by state home and minority welfare department will be completed before the next assembly election due early next year.

Congress does not have a leader to project: Kapil Sibal on the party’s poor performance in Delhi assembly election

OpIndia Staff
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Congress does not have a leader to project: Kapil Sibal on the party’s poor performance in Delhi assembly election

After the massive defeat of Congress party in Delhi assembly election, the senior leader of congress, Kapil Sibal said that there is no leader worth projecting in the congress party.

While speaking to ANI Kapil Sibal said, “we do not have a leader to project. This is the issue within the party. We will look into it and resolve it at the earliest”.

After the Congress party was unable to open an account in Delhi assembly elections for second consecutive time, the Congress leaders seem to be gloating over the Aam Aadmi party’s win and BJP’s defeat stating that the voters have rejected its divisive politics.

Kapil Sibal was reacting to the statement of NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar, who had said that “the regional parties must come together to defeat BJP. The Delhi results not merely limited to capital because people from almost all the states resided there”. Sibal responded in favor saying, “The kind of polarized politics and the card of dividing society that is being played by the ministers of BJP is not going down well with people of Delhi and India. You can see the reflection of that in the results emerging in states like Jharkhand and Chattisgarh”.

He added, “It is time for them especially Amit Shah to realize that there is no point in dividing people as it has an impact on electoral results as well on investments in India as the world pester the confidence of investors.”

In the upcoming Bihar election, the Congress leader said: “The BJP will meet the same fate as Delhi in Bihar assembly election.”

“No state funding for religious education”: Assam govt to shut all govt-run Madrassas and Sanskrit Tols, to be converted to regular schools

OpIndia Staff
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“No state funding for religious education”: Assam govt to shut all govt-run Madrassas and Sanskrit Tols, to be converted to regular schools

In a significant decision, the Assam government has decided to shut all state-run Madrassas and Sanskrit Tols in the state. The religious schools running in the state will be converted to regular high schools and higher secondary schools within 4-5 months.

Announcing the decision, education minister Himanta Biswa Sharma told media that it is not the job of government to teach religion, religious scriptures and Arabic and other languages for religious purposes. “If someone is teaching religion using own money that is no problem, but if state funding is used to teach Quran, then we have to teach Gita, Bible also,” he said. Therefore, the govt run Madrassas, High Madrassas and Sanskrit Tols (schools) operating in the state will be converted to regular schools very soon.

The minister clarified that only government-run religious schools are being shut down, which means Madrassas run by mosques, Sanskrit schools run by non-govt organisations etc will not be affected by this move.

The teachers working in the Madrassas and Sanskrit Tols will not lose their jobs. Teachers teaching religious subjects will get salaries till their retirement while sitting at home, as they will not be needed to teach anything in the schools. Teachers of other subjects will continue to teach their subjects in the converted general schools.

Read- Assamese Muslim body claims unregulated Madrasas are promoting fundamentalism

Himanta Biswa Sarma made this announcement while talking to reporters after launching a scholarship program for students named Gyan Deepika. Under this scheme, college students are being paid Rs 700 per month for ten months in a year towards their expenses. Rs 7000 for the current year is already being transferred to bank accounts of the beneficiary students. He said that from next year, the government will make payment for hostel admission and monthly mess dues on behalf of students staying in hostels.

Earlier the education minister had said that the state government is planning to disband the State Madrassa Education Board and Assam Sanskrit Board, and their academic duties will be handed over to the Board of Secondary Education.

Karnataka: Congress MLA’s out on bail son Mohammad Nalapad rams his luxury car on Bengaluru road, flees the spot leaving four injured

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka: Congress MLA’s out on bail son Mohammad Nalapad rams his luxury car on Bengaluru road, flees the spot leaving four injured

The out on bail son of Karnataka Congress MLA NA Harris, Mohammad Nalapad, has reportedly injured four people on a Bengaluru road on Sunday when he rammed his high-end luxury car into other vehicles. He immediately got off his car and allegedly fled the accident spot.

The Bengaluru Traffic Police have now issued a notice asking him to appear for questioning at the earliest. “If he fails to appear for questioning, he will be arrested,” said an official.

Mohammad Nalapad is out on bail after remaining in judicial custody for three months in a case of attempt to murder in 2018, where he had brutally assaulted and injured a man at a pub.


Bangalore traffic police have reportedly confirmed that it was Mohammad Nalapad who had rammed his Bently into a bike and an auto near Mekhri Circle and had fled the spot.

In the incident which took place near Mekhri Circle on February 9, the Congress MLA son, Nalapad was rash driving his Bentley car when he went and hit a biker and an autorickshaw, injuring four people. The biker has suffered a fracture in his leg and is undergoing treatment at a hospital.

Read: Bengaluru assault case: CM Siddaramaiah ‘offers’ reconciliation to save Congress MLA’s son Mohammed Nalapad

According to eyewitnesses, Nalapad was at the wheel and was driving rashly. He fled from the scene after the accident, leaving the car behind. A day later, his gunman appeared before the police claiming responsibility for the accident, telling them he was the one behind the car.

Ravikante Gowda, Joint Commissioner of Police said, “A man named Balakrishna came to surrender as the one who was driving the car. The investigation has, however, showed that it was Nalapad who was driving when he met with the accident. The investigating officer has issued him a notice to appear before the police.”

Mohammad Nalapad was arrested in 2018 after he allegedly thrashed a businessman’s son at a pub. He is now out on conditional bail facing several serious criminal charges.

As per reports, the son of a Congress MLA had not only thrashed the 24-year-old Vidwath in 2018 but allegedly followed the victim and asked him to ‘kiss his feet and say sorry’, which the victim refused to do. Irked by this, Nalapad had allegedly hit the victim again causing him severe injuries. Vidwath was taken to the hospital in a semi-conscious state. The brother of the victim had then alleged that his family and friends had to face Nalapad’s goons as they barged into the hospital with his bouncers and beat up his brother as well.

As his son failed to secure bail after allegedly thrashing a 24-year-old Vidwath, the Congress MLA, in a bid to dismiss the claims of the victim, had allegedly leaked confidential medical reports of the victim through a Facebook post.

Following his conduct, Mohammad Nalapad who was then the general secretary of the Bengaluru District Youth Congress was expelled from the party for 6 years.

As per latest reports, Mohammad Nalapad has now surrendered before the Sadashivnagar Police. He has claimed innocence and said that he was not in the Bentley but in another car, a Lamborghini.

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