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Rohtak: 4,000 earthen pots used to store drinking water at PM Narendra Modi’s rally, replaced nearly 2 lakh water bottles

OpIndia Staff
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Rohtak: 4,000 earthen pots used to store drinking water at PM Narendra Modi’s rally, replaced nearly 2 lakh water bottles

On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election rally in Rohtak, Haryana turned out to be an environmental awareness programme as various eco-friendly measures were taken up to ensure that there was no use of plastics in the rally.

To achieve it, the district administration of Rohtak had arranged nearly 4,000 earthen pots to store drinking water, ahead of the rally. The step was taken after PM Modi urged the citizens to stop using single-use plastic and save the environment.

The district administration had appealed to the public not to use the plastic mineral water bottles at the rally venue.

A Haryana cadre IPS officer Pankaj Nain has informed that as many as 3000 earthen pots were used for the first time in Prime Minister Modi’s rally in Rohtak. The move is likely to replace 2 lakhs plastic bottles, he said.


In the rally, PM Modi also appealed to the public to help conserve water by adopting rainwater harvesting techniques.

Rajiv Jain, media advisor to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar as quoted in an ANI report said, “Use of plastic is harmful to humans and the environment. Several lakhs of people will be participating at the PM’s rally. These earthen pots have been arranged for them. We have bought these pots from Rohtak and nearby districts.”

The Prime Minister in his Independence Day speech had urged citizens to eliminate the use of single-use plastic, besides suggesting that shopkeepers should provide eco-friendly bags to customers. In his Independence Day speech, PM Modi also spoke about launching a new mass movement against single-use plastic from October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

In his monthly “Mann Ki Baat” address too, Modi had said that the time had come for the citizens to join hands in curbing single-use plastic.

Pakistan ‘secretly’ releases terrorist Masood Azhar from jail, plans ‘big action’ in Sialkot-Jammu-Rajasthan region: Reports

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan ‘secretly’ releases terrorist Masood Azhar from jail, plans ‘big action’ in Sialkot-Jammu-Rajasthan region: Reports

Pakistan has released its most dreaded terrorist Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar from the jail, hoping that the Islamic terrorist could plan ‘big action’ in Sialkot-Jammu-Rajasthan region, reports Hindustan Times.

As per the report, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) has now received the information regarding the additional deployment of Pakistani troopers along the India-Pakistan border near Rajasthan as Islamabad is planning “a big action” and has released dreaded terrorist Maulana Masood Azhar to plan these terror operations.

According to the input, Pakistan is considering attacks in Sialkot-Jammu and Rajasthan sectors in the coming days in response to the Narendra Modi government’s decision to abrogate Article 370 which had given Jammu and Kashmir a special status. The input warned that Pakistan has started deploying additional troops near the Rajasthan border as part of the plan.

The information has been conveyed to the respective Border Security Force and army field formations in Jammu and Rajasthan sectors to avoid any surprise attacks from the Pakistani army and the troops have been asked to remain alert, the officials cited above said.

Earlier, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had threatened “fullest possible response” to India’s moves in Jammu and Kashmir. Khan added the global community would be responsible for any “catastrophic” aftermath as he continued his rhetoric amid rising tensions with New Delhi since the government abrogated Article 370 and bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories.

The comments by Khan, who last week said there was a risk of India-Pakistan war, came on a day Pakistani army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had said they were prepared to “go till any extent”. Bajwa added they were ready to “give sacrifices for our Kashmiri brothers, fulfil our duty till the last bullet, last soldiers and last breath”.

Amid rising tensions between the two countries, the IB input has said Pakistan has “secretly” released Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar to plan terrorist operations along with other terror organisations which are working openly in Pakistan. There were reports that Maulana Masood Azhar was taken into protective custody after the February 14 Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad had taken the responsibility for the cowardly attack in which 40 paramilitary troopers were killed and prompted India to carry airstrikes on the group’s camp in Pakistan’s Balakot on February 26. Amidst rumours of his death, he had resurfaced in August after abrogation of Article 370 and in a message to his followers had reportedly said, “One chapter of Ghazwa-e-Hind and of Jihad Kashmir has been complete. Alhumdulillah the the Mujahideen of Kashmir got victory in Kashmir.”

Reportedly, the officials speaking to Hindustan Times has said that Pakistan’s spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), had no inkling that the Indian government would revoke Article 370 on August 5. “It is being considered the ISI’s biggest intelligence failure in history and now they are under pressure to act,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

The official also added that while the Pakistani army will try to play mischief, militants like Azhar have been unleashed to carry out terror attacks in India. “Pakistan may try to use the current situation and the Indian government’s focus in Jammu and Kashmir to target somewhere else.”

Azhar, who is wanted in India for several attacks, including the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack, was among four people declared as individual terrorists on September 4 under a new anti-terror law passed in August.

On Saturday, in a wide-ranging interaction with journalists in New Delhi, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval had said that Indian Army would do everything to protect the lives of Kashmiris from Pakistani terrorists even if we ‘have to impose restrictions’. He had added that Pakistan is trying to create trouble and some 230 terrorists have been spotted across the border.

Retired IAF officer commits suicide, blames P Chidambaram for economic slowdown

OpIndia Staff
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Retired IAF officer commits suicide, blames P Chidambaram for economic slowdown

A retired IAF (Indian Air Force) officer committed suicide in Allahabad and wrote a suicide note addressed to Prime Minister Modi. In his suicide note, he has blamed former Finance Minister P Chidambaram for the current economic slowdown.

As reported by India Today, Bijan Das in his suicide note has blamed the UPA government for the scams and financial mismanagement due to which he has not been able to find employment after retirement. He added that the effects of financial mismanagement and scams is seen after a few years and while GST and demonetisation may have temporarily effected the economy, the current slowdown cannot be blamed on it.

In his letter addressed to the Prime Minister, he said that the current state of economy is due to the financial scams from UPA era. He specifically blamed former finance minister P Chidambaram who is currently lodged in Tihar jail for his alleged involvement in INX Media scam.

He further requests the PM to help his son Vivek Das, who had once participated in a music reality show, in his singing career. He had reportedly also asked Allahabad administration to not hand over his body to the family as he did not want his son to see him like that. However, the authorities have reached out to the family for further investigation.

A tribute to Ram Jethmalani: The 95 Year old Young Man

Shubhendu Anand
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A tribute to Ram Jethmalani: The 95 Year old Young Man

Who says that old age is a second childhood? Ram Jethmalani was still a young man at 95, who believed that the older you grow, the younger must be your company.

Eklavya, ace archer from the Mahabratata, made a statue of Guru Dronacharya from the mud Drona walked upon, and worshipped it as his guru. Though he never had formal interaction or training under Dronacharya, he considered him as his guru and was later known for his exceptional ability and dedication towards his teacher. In the internet era, Ram Jethmalani became the Drona of the law student, and internet the mud statue. His speeches, lectures and debates became a source of legal knowledge and information for thousands of students across India. Ram Jethmalani was the reason why people across generations, including myself, chose to study law.

A child prodigy, Jethmalani completed his law degree at the age of 17 and was admitted to the Bar at the age of 18 after a special resolution was passed for him as the age to start practicing law at that time was 21. In 1947, this 24-year-old lawyer came to India with a pair of clothes and a toothbrush from Sindh after partition and lived in the refugee camps in Pune. And a decade later he was on the front page of national newspapers. The young Jethmalani shot to fame after his involvement in the landmark Nanavati Murder Trial in 1959. Ever since, the man didn’t look back and continued to be the top criminal lawyer of the country till he hung his boots in 2017. The man defied the notion of generation gap. No lawyer has been as famous as him.

Jethmalani donned many hats. Apart from being the ace criminal lawyer, he was also the Chairman of the Bar Council of India for four tenures both before and after the infamous emergency, during which he had exiled himself to Canada. And it was during his tenure as Chairman, Bar Council of India, country’s topmost law school, the National Law School of India University, Bangalore was established. He also served as Union Minister in the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Vajpayee. In 2010, he was elected as the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association.

Ram Jethmalani was the founding Vice President of the Bharatiya Janata Party when it was formed in 1980. Mr. Jethmalani was one person who believed in the leadership of Narendra Modi and stood with him despite all odds. He even defended him boldly in media and on public platforms. In 2012-13 he said in public gathering, “I’m firm on my statement that Narendra Modi is the Best PM India candidate from BJP and is the best person to lead the country.” He had very critical views about Rahul Gandhi, who was then being projected as the Prime Ministerial candidate. In an interview with Rajat Sharma of India TV he said, “If Rahul become PM, thousands will migrate out of the country. I would not employ Rahul Gandhi even as a clerk in my office.”

Ram Jethmalani had his fair share of controversies every time he took up a case. He has defended in court, people from every sphere of life, from scamsters like Harshad Mehta and Ketan Parekh to the assassins of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, from BJP patriarch Lal Krishna Advani and current home Minister Amit Shah to Congress leader Ajit Jogi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Ram Jethmalani was everyone’s friend. No one could question his loyalty for India and the rule of law. Jethmalani considered himself a patriotic Indian, next a lawyer, and after that a politician who was trying his best to use whatever space is available within his range to protect constitutionalism, the rule of law, and the socio-economic interest of India. On this score, even his worst detractors could not make any charge against him.[1]

In the famous interview with CNN-IBN, where Ram Jethmalani slammed Sagarika Ghose for asking “idiotic questions”, Jethmalani boldly said, “I decide according to my conscience who to defend. A lawyer who refuses to defend a person on the ground that people believe him to be guilty is himself guilty of professional misconduct. And mind you, I have a conscience that many people would be proud of.”

People would often ask him why he took up the cases of the infamous or the damned, Jethmalani, with his acerbic wit, would reply, “All the milestones of law haven’t been created in the cases of good people, they have been created in the cases of bad people. Good law is not made in cases of good people, but bad people.”

Jethmalani had a penchant for finer things in life- he loved his Mercedes Benz, his Black Label Scotch whiskey and his morning game of badminton. He was also called ‘the ladies’ man’, but he never shied away from it. In one of the TV interviews he laughingly said, “Aashiq toh main bachpan se hi hoon!” He was also very fond of youngsters and student and he continued to teach them till his retirement from the bar. Every month/weekend he would go to Pune to teach at the Symbiosis Law School where he was also an Emeritus Professor. Citing this as the reason behind his lean schedule on Mondays and Fridays, the veteran lawyer told a bench of Supreme Court, “I am the only lawyer who gets no work on Mondays and Fridays.” With these two days being the busiest days in the Supreme Court, Jethmalani’s comment was a gentle jab at lawyers who make a killing on these two days. But the judges seemed to share no sympathy with this comment. Aware of the heavy price tag that comes with hiring Jethmalani, the judges remarked, “Your one matter a week is sufficient to cover the entire week for other senior lawyers.”

I grew up reading about Mr. Jethmalani and listening to him on TV and over the internet. Ten years ago, when I was doing my undergraduate degree in arts at TISS, I had memorized one of the speeches of Ram Jethmalani by heart. The more you listened to Ram Jethmalani, the more you liked him, and the more you wanted to emulate him. This man had something which no other lawyer in the country had. I’ve been lucky to have seen him in action at various occasions at the Bar in Delhi.

Ram Jethmalani survived on conviction. History might take a long while to come to terms with conviction, but in the end, it rarely has any other choice. Jethmalani always believed that conviction should be more important than convenience in life. How else would he have ruled the bar for nearly seven decades?

“He doth bestrode the narrow world like a Collosus and we petty men walked under his huge legs ….” The man we all aspired to become is no more of this world. His memory will live in our hearts forever.

With the demise of Ram Jethmalani at the age of 95, a golden chapter in the legal history of India comes to an end. There can never be another Ram Jethmalani. Om Shanti!

 

(The author is an Advocate, practicing primarily in the Supreme Court of India and is Chamber Junior to the Additional Solicitor General of India.)

NDTV journalist who insulted ISRO scientist found selling ISRO images on Getty, social media users question whether it’s allowed

OpIndia Staff
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NDTV journalist who insulted ISRO scientist found selling ISRO images on Getty, social media users question whether it’s allowed

After NDTV journalist Pallava Bagla was seen misbehaving with ISRO scientists during a media interaction following the descent of Vikram lander on moon from the Chandrayaan-2 mission, another shocking fact about regarding Bagla and ISRO has surfaced. Bagla had demanded that only ISRO chairman should address the media, terming ISRO scientist DP Karnik, who was addressing the media, as ‘junior’.

It was later known that Pallava Bagla has covered ISRO for years, and he is close to ISRO officials and scientists. He is so close the space research organisation that even NDTV promoter Prannoy Roy thinks he has contributed a lot to ISRO, a reason perhaps why he had considered below his dignity to be briefed by anyone below the ISRO chief. Now, it has been discovered that Bagla has been selling images taken at ISRO premises for payment.

The NDTV journalist has uploaded hundreds of images on commercial photography site Getty, which are available for sale. Many of such images are from ISRO premises, showing individual scientists, including chairman Dr Kailasavadivoo Sivan, and various satellites and other scientific instruments being developed and assembled at ISRO. Most of such images are priced at ₹23,000, or similar amounts.

After discovering the images, social media users have started whether it is legal and ethical, and whether Pallava Bagla has obtained permission from ISRO and scientists before selling their photographs for personal benefit.


Getty is world’s leading stock image and editorial photography site, and the terms of conditions for selling images on the platform says, “You must have written permission from an individual or property owner allowing the use of that person’s likeness or property (for example, a private home, a place of business) for commercial purposes”. It says that “a release is required for all content that includes recognizable people or properties”.

Although Getty rules talk about taking permission, that rule is applicable for commercial licences, and not editorial licenses. All of his images are under Editorial licence category, so he may not be violating Getty terms, but that still leaves a question, whether ISRO allows photos of its properties and people to be used for commercial purposes. It is not known whether the NDTV journalist has obtained any permission from ISRO and the individuals that he has photographed before using their photographs for is own commercial benefit.

Pallava Bagla covered ISRO as a journalist of NDTV, and it is not known whether NDTV allows its journalists to use images collected during the job for personal benefit.

BJP MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar also raised these questions after he encountered the images.


Social media users have also noted that Pallava Bagla has been capturing images of women scientists and selling those on Getty.


The website of Getty Images shows that Pallava Bagla has uploaded 3853 images, and 507 of them include the tag ISRO.

It may be noted that he has uploaded photographs from many other scientific institutions from around the world, not just ISRO. Such images include inside of a nuclear reactor in Russia, inside and outside of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant etc.

As it is not known whether Bagla had obtained permission from ISRO and concerned persons, and whether ISRO has any policy on commercial use of photogpraphs shot in its premises, it can’t said whether Bagla is violating any norms or not.

Here are 6 innovations which prove that Pakistan is a leader in cutting edge technology

OpIndia Staff
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Here are 6 innovations which prove that Pakistan is a leader in cutting edge technology

Pakistanis have been in a celebratory mood ever since ISRO lost contact with Vikram Lander of Chandrayaan 2 mission with only 2.1 km left for the descent. The Minister for Science & Technology of Pakistan, Fawad Hussain Chaudhry, has been especially busy on social media getting himself trolled by sending out obnoxious and idiotic tweets.

Thus, we decided to look into Pakistan’s own scientific accomplishments which have seen some cutting-edge innovation in recent years. Here is a list of Pakistani accomplishments which can be classified as ‘giant leaps for mankind’.

1. Tarzan: The Water Car

Self-professed inventor, Agha Waqar Ahmad, claimed to have invented a car that ran on water in 2012. Ahmad claimed to have discovered an ‘easy way’ to split the two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen which required ‘almost no energy’.

“By the grace of Allah, I have managed to make a formula that converts less voltage into more energy,” he said in an interview. “This invention will solve our country’s energy crisis and provide jobs to hundreds of thousands of people.”

Scientists, of course, debunked the fraud but that didn’t stop the Pakistani Qaum from falling for it. The stand-in minister for religious affairs, Khursheed Shah, appeared on television with him and took a ride in his small Suzuki rental. Popular and well respected talk-show hosts demanded that he receive state funding and protection. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan’s nuclear programme, told Hamid Mir, a popular television journalist, “I have investigated the matter, and there is no fraud involved.”

Despite critics from the scientific field rubbishing his claims, Ahmad remained resolute in his claims. “I am not concerned with theory. I have given a practical demonstration that a vehicle can run on water,” he said. “What more proof do these critics need?” And he continued to be feted by the country’s establishment until they found another clown to obsess over.

2. Petrol from Water and Solar Energy

A Pakistani Politician in 2018 claimed that he has discovered a novel method to extract petrol from water and solar energy. Dr Moazzam Niazi, chairman Pakistan Aman League stated that he and his fellows “had not only devised a new method for generating petrol but also extracted sugar from solar radiations.”

Niazi asserted that a 950 million investment in Pakistani rupees will be required to extract petrol from water and sunlight. “I wish before the next general elections, I could provide free petrol to Faisalabad’ the ‘scientist’ had opined.

3. ‘Suparco’ sent Hubble Telescope to Space, claims Pakistani Minister

Pakistani Minister for Science & Technology, Fawad Chaudhry, claimed that it was Suparco, Pakistan’s space programme, that sent the Hubble Space Telescope into space and not NASA.  “…one of the ways to see is the Hubble Telescope, which is the world’s biggest telescope and was sent [into space] by Suparco, which is installed in a satellite,” he said.

Incidentally, Fawad Chaudhry, who looks like the stereotypical fat kid at birthday parties who wants to eat everyone else’s piece of cake after finishing his own, had said as the Minister of Information that he would ask Suparco to send some Pakistani politicians to Outerspace, politicians who had been creating a nuisance in the country. He would ask Suparco to make sure they can never return, he said.

4. Suicide Bombers

Big Boy Fawad said, in a now deleted tweet, that his country makes the best suicide bombers. He cemented his assertion by going on to ask ‘any doubt?’ We can’t say we have any.

Until now, we were under the impression that the Pakistani suicide bombers were actually Suparco’s man-rocket ventures which had an unfortunate way of exploding in public spaces, especially in crowded areas. It did catch us by surprise when we learnt that these were in fact suicide bombers, radical Islamic terrorists created by Pakistan, and not Suparco’s man-rocket ventures.

5. Hepatitis curing ‘Junglee’ Pigeon

In an undated video that had gone viral on social media, a man in Pathani kurta and pyjama, an outfit which is quite common in Pakistan, was lying down as another man, perhaps a quack, demonstrated how a pigeon could ‘suck’ out hepatitis the man is suffering from by pressing the pigeon’s anus on the navel of the man.

While the text of quoted is sarcastic, referring to the quack as a doctor and mocking the practice, the fact that Pakistanis, and some Islamic and Middle Eastern countries, indeed believe in such cures instead of medicine is not something that should be completely ruled out.

6. JinnTube

Pakistanis have successfully invented a ritual to identify the religious beliefs of Jinns. Jinns can be Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and even Muslims, we learnt from this novel initiative. Then, there is ‘jinna’ and ‘jinni’, presumably male and female jinns. The Pakistanis have also invented a ritual to convert Kaafir Jinns to pious Muslim Jinns.

Psychological maladies such as depression, anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) are classified as symptoms common to “Magic, Evil Eye and Jinn Possession”. Traumatic phenomena such as infertility and miscarriages were also categorized as such symptoms.

In unrelated news, 36% of Pakistani adolescents are reported to be suffering from anxiety and depression. 14.3% of young students are reported to be suffering from Bipolar disorders as compared to the global average of 2.4%. Prevalence of Schizophrenia and substance abuse disorders is high as well. As per one report in a leading Pakistani daily, around 50 million Pakistanis are suffering from common mental disorders. Pakistan, it seems, has substituted mental health professionals with Jinn experts.

Uttar Pradesh: Three-year-old kid addicted to ‘Motu Patlu’ and ‘Doraemon’ on phone, to get counselling for mobile addiction

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Three-year-old kid addicted to ‘Motu Patlu’ and ‘Doraemon’ on phone, to get counselling for mobile addiction

In a strange incident, a three-year-old kid has been taken to a counselling centre in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh by his mother as the kid was addicted to the mobile phone, reports Times of India.

Reportedly, the mother of the kid brought her three-year-old son to Mann Kaksh,  a counselling centre at Bareilly district hospital and complained that her child was suffering from bed-wetting (enuresis) and needed help.

However, it turned out that he was not going to the toilet because he did not want to leave the phone even for even a few minutes. The three-year-old toddler spent around eight hours daily watching animation shows  ‘Doraemon’ and ‘Motu Patlu’.

In last two months alone, Mann Kaksh has received 39 cases of children addicted to mobile phones, most of them belonging to the age group of 10 to 18 years, growing up in a virtual world of social media and video games.

Speaking to Times of India, Dr Ashish Kumar, a psychiatrist at the district hospital said that in the majority of the cases, it came to light that parents provide mobile to their children at an early age to keep the kids busy so that their own work is not affected. This later becomes a cause of addiction and bad behaviour among children.

Ashish Kumar also added that mobile addiction leads to other diseases among youngsters, too. “Many young people end up spending long hours on phones to cope up with anxiety and depression. A few of them become more frustrated as they start comparing their lives with others on social media. The long hours on mobile disturb their sleep. They all are inter-connected,” said Kumar.

On the three-year-old boy’s counselling, Khush Ada, a clinical psychologist at Mann Kaksh, said, “In the case of three-year-old addicted to phone, his mother would handover mobile to her child while performing household chores. Even when he came for a therapy session, he didn’t let his parents talk to us till he got the phone.”

Reportedly, most parents who visit the counselling centre complain of study-related problems and headache among children. However, after going through case history, they learn that the root cause is mobile addiction.

According to Khush Ada, children spend hours on their phones browsing social media sites and playing games and they start living in a virtual world and ignoring studies and sleep. “If a phone is taken away from them, they become agitated. We conduct counselling of both parents and the child for a digital detox,” added Ada.

Chief medical officer Dr Vineet Shukla added that parents should restrict the use of phones among children. To keep children engaged, parents should make them play with blocks or in the open, said Shukla.

For deaddiction, a counsellor suggested that young people should uninstall apps or games on which they spend maximum time or change the colour code of phone as black and white so that they “stop enjoying games”. Young people can also keep their phones far away from their beds before going to sleep so that they don’t touch it if they wake up in the middle of the night, the counsellor added.

Journalist tweets ‘Shooter Dadi’ Chandro Tomar has passed away; ‘you’re in a hurry,’ she quips

OpIndia Staff
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Journalist tweets ‘Shooter Dadi’ Chandro Tomar has passed away; ‘you’re in a hurry,’ she quips

Dadi Chandro Tomar, 88 year old pistol shooter, whose biopic ‘Saand Ki Aankh’ is scheduled to be released on 25th October, has taken Twitter by storm. A Lucknow-based journalist Rohit Singh today tweeted that she has passed away. However, ‘Shooter Dadi’, with her raw humour quipped, ‘Bahut jaldi mein hai yo chhora (you are in a lot of hurry)’.

Tweet by ‘Shooter Dadi’ Chandro Tomar

Rohit Singh has now deleted his tweet.

Dadi Chandro Tomar, with her inimitable wit and humour has developed a strong fan following on Twitter. Recently, she was admitted to hospital after a group of monkeys attacked her and she hurt herself trying to escape them. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister announced that her medical expenses will be borne by the state government.

Chandro Tomar, nicknamed ‘Shooter Dadi’ is a sharpshooter from Johri village in Bagpat, Uttar Pradesh. She learnt shooting in 1999 when she was in her 60s and has won over 30 national championships.

Her biopic, ‘Saand Ki Aankh’ (literal meaning bulls eye) is slated to be released on 25th October, 2019. Produced by Anurag Kashyap, the film stars Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar.

ISIS uses cows strapped with bombs to attack security forces in Iraq, bid foiled

OpIndia Staff
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ISIS uses cows strapped with bombs to attack security forces in Iraq, bid foiled

The Islamic State (ISIS) has started using cows as booby traps laden with explosives as weapons of war, according to reports. Two cows were strapped with explosives and were headed towards a military checkpoint in Diyala, a province in Iraq, when Iraqi soldiers opened fire and “blew them up”. The incident occurred on the first day of this month.

One civilian was injured in the failed terror attack, Kurdish website Rudaw reported. This is the first time the terrorist group is using cattle as weapons in their war. However, there have been previous occasions when they have used other animals in terror attacks. Fourteen people have been killed in six incidents of “donkey-borne IEDs” since 2010.

They had also used dogs strapped with bombs to attack security forces.

Local official Saqid Husseini said that ISIS “has lost the ability to recruit young people and would-be suicide bombers, instead they are using cattle.” The Diyala Province is home to Kurds, Sunnis and Shias and is intrinsic to the dispute between the Kurdish regional government and Iraq, with both claiming ownership.

ISIS has re-established its presence in the area amidst the dispute. According to a report by the Institute for the Study of War earlier this year, Isis holds a “durable support zone” in the south of the province, and has “increased its attack tempo against security forces, local tribal figures, and commercial sites.”

While India is orbiting around the moon, Pakistan is orbiting around terrorists: An open letter to Pakistan minister for science, Ch Fawad Hussain

OpIndia Staff
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While India is orbiting around the moon, Pakistan is orbiting around terrorists: An open letter to Pakistan minister for science, Ch Fawad Hussain

On the wee hours of Saturday, 7th September, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) lost touch with Vikram Lander, when it was only 2.1 kms away from the lunar surface. While rest of the country stayed awake witnessing history being created, Pakistan’s Federal Minister of Science & Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain was also up to give company to us. As Indians along with the people from science and technology community across the world hailed ISRO for the remarkable feat, Fawad Hussain decided to mock India and ISRO for even attempting it. A bit rich coming from a country which specialises in sending terrorists to the neighbouring country on which it has to depend even for medicines. 

Former Goa Congress leader and editor-in-chief of Goa Chronicle and Indian Expose, Savio Rodrigues wrote an open letter to Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on how while India is orbiting around the moon, Pakistan is orbiting around terrorists.

His open letter which was first published on Indian Expose has been republished here verbatim with his permission. 

It is with great amusement I read your tweets on India’s unmanned effort to the moon.

I hope you are aware that the Chandrayaan 2 is currently orbiting around the moon and will continue to do so.

The unexpected outcome of Vikram Lander not going as per the plan of ISRO and the loss of communication is mere technical uncertainty. This uncertainty will be cleared post the analysis of data over the next couple of weeks.

The biggest learning, history of science has taught us, is that there is no concept of failure only learnings. It is through learning that science has advanced phenomenally and aggressively over the years.

You revelled on social media – Twitter to be precise – over the #IndiaFailed hashtag. I as common Indian citizen has not seen it as a failure. We may have not got the desired result but once our scientist analysis our data we would learn what we need to do better and what we have done right.

You are the Minister of Science and Technology for your country. It is a country I don’t look upto to fondly due to our estranged relationship as nations.

Having said that and keeping as nations, our politics aside, science and the technological advancement in the frontiers of space science is not a proprietary to a nation but a learning for all nations.

It is disappointing that as a Minister of Science and Technology you do not possess the scientific temperament to understand and comprehend that science is for the benefit of every human.

The success of the planned outcome of Vikram Lander touching the surface of the moon would have help not only India but through India the entire world; to understand new dimensions of space explorations and would even give us learnings to that could be adopted in science applicable for our own planet’s benefit.

As an Indian and as a human, I possess an appreciation for science and it’s advancements. Space exploration is not a science that will bear immediate fruits but will set stepping stones for future generations globally. It will open doors to go where no man or woman has ever ventured into in outer space.

Most individuals living on this planet have an in-built scientific temperament and when one develops a scientific temper then it appreciates any nation, even an enemy nation if they have done something progressive in the field of science.

Unfortunately your juvenile, hate-filled and condescending tweets does not reflect on the prowess of India’s space mission but a lack of character, statesmanship and scientific temper in you as a representative of a nation.

Let me take you through the lack of progress of Pakistan as a nation experimenting the field of space exploration.

The Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) which was set-up in 1961, took a shocking 50 years to launch its first communication satellite into the Orbit. In this effort too, you took assistance of China and used Chinese-made launch vehicle with aid from a subsidiary of the China Aerospace and Technology Corporation.

The Chandrayaan 2 Mission was a success in many ways but one of its most important moot points of its success was that the ISRO scientists built the space ship and the Vikram Lander indigenously and did not rely on assistance of another nation or aid from another nation. We did seek but it did not come at the time we wanted it and our scientists decided to build on its own.

The problem with SUPARCO has and will always be funding which has been denied on numerous occasions by your own country and other countries. The reason has been the fact that there has been very little progress or advancements in space exploration related sciences. In this vicious circle of lack of funding and lack of advancement in science your country has failed to ensure a sustained growth rate of scientific advancement and innovation.

Funnily SUPARCO started 8-years before ISRO started and look at the leaps that our scientists have taken in the field of space explorations. Your nation’s performance sadly looks pale in front of what my scientists have achieved. Developed countries have applauded India’s scientific advancements and even our performance with Chandrayaan 2 and Vikram Lander has been appreciated and encouraged by many nations.

You can make tall claims that SUPARCO sent the Hubble Telescope into space, but the world knows the truth. You got trolled on Twitter for this ill-informed statement. Your own people mocked your intelligence and might I add, glaring stupidity.

Let me be brutal. If you are going to make an army general instead of a scientist to head your space research program, you have not understood the nature of science or the importance of a scientist in a leadership role. It is like asking a dentist to do an eye cataract surgery.

Of course the reasons to the discussions taken by your government is no concern of mine, but to me it defies logic and borders on irrationality.

You boldly stated not too long ago that Pakistan would launch its first manned mission into space in 2022. I seriously doubt that Pakistan would even come close to achieving such a phenomenal feet in the field of space exploration. My estimate is that it would take at least 15-years or more years to achieve such a manned space mission.

It is good that in March 2019, SUPARCO took part in the Global Space Congress for the first time held at Abu Dhabi. Those are good and positive steps.

The little yet commendable feats you have achieved as a nation in the field of space sciences has never been indigenous, it has always been through partnership with China, Russia or UK. That’s because you don’t foster a positive scientific temperament in your nation. This was clearly visible in your series of tweets over India’s Chandrayaan’s 2 Moon Mission. You are not a man of science and you do not know to appreciate science.

When a nation has a Minister of Science and Technology like you, who acts as a juvenile and completely lacks the scientific aptitude to understand science and space exploration, it is going to be lagging behind.

Write it down somewhere. Post the Chandrayaan 2 Mission, India will make gigantic leaps in our Space Mission initiatives. It will be a formidable power in space explorations it will do it indigenously and with strategic partnerships with other nations.

The only temperament your nation possess is a temperament to breed terrorists. So do not worry about India’s space mission. While Chandrayaan 2 is orbiting around the moon and will do so for the next whole year, Pakistan as a nation is orbiting around terrorists.

I hope you take my open letter in the spirit that we as the world need to grow and advance in science in all spheres, so instead mocking or belittling, be matured and stop making a fool of your position and your nationality, you are after all a minister of a country.

Jai Hind!

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