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Gujarat Congress MLA wants unmarried girls to stop using mobile phones, supports ban on intercaste marriages

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat Congress MLA wants unmarried girls to stop using mobile phones, supports ban on intercaste marriages

Gujarat Congress MLA Geniben Thakor has extended her support to the resolution adopted by Thakor community in Banaskantha district which bans unmarried girls from using mobile phones. The resolution also bans inter-caste marriage. She said that such a ban would put a stop to ‘such incidents’.

The Kshatriya Thakor Samaj, in a community meeting on July 14 at Jegol village, decided to “ban” the use of mobile phones by unmarried women and said that if anyone “violates society’s norms”, it would be considered as a crime.

A heavy penalty has been proposed for girls and the parents who break these rules. To avoid legal complications the resolution used creative euphemism for ‘inter-caste marriages’. “Whichever girl ‘puts the community down’, her responsibility will lie with the family and the parents will be liable to pay fines according to the Constitution and such fine will be Rs. 1.5 lakh for the daughters and the penalty sum for the parents of such sons will be Rs. 2 lakh,” the order read.

Congress MLA Geniben Thakor justified the move by saying that such ban on usage of mobile phones by unmarried girls will ‘automatically control the boys’. “Since girls are easily controlled because they stay with their parents, it is right to ban the mobile phones for girls,” she said.
This is not the first time Geniben Thakor has given such a controversial statement. Last year, while addressing a farmers’ gathering, she had said that she was pained by the plight of the farmers and if it were up to her, she would kill them (BJP leaders) and go to jail if it were to come to that.

Nitish Kumar govt directs police to ‘gather information’ on the RSS and its subsidiary outfits in Bihar

OpIndia Staff
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Nitish Kumar govt directs police to ‘gather information’ on the RSS and its subsidiary outfits in Bihar

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had reportedly ordered the state police to gather information on the RSS and its 17 subsidiary outfits in the state. On 28 May 2019, the Superintendent of Police (Special Branch), Patna had sent a letter to Deputy SPs (Special Branch) to “collect names, addresses, phone no & professions of the office bearers of RSS & its below mentioned supporting organisations”, residing in their areas “within 1 week”.


The letter directs teh DSPs to gather information on the RSS and its 17 subsidiaries namely: VHP, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Jagaran Samiti, Dharm Jagaran Samanvay Samiti, Hindu Rashtra Sena, Rashtriya Sevika Samiti, Shiksha Bharti, Muslim Rashtriya Manch, Durga Vahini, Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Bharatiya Rail Sangh, ABVP, Akhil Bharatiya Shikshak Mahasangh, Hindu Mahasabha, Hindu Yuva Vahini and the Hindu Putra Sangh.

Reportedly, the Special Branch is tasked with confidentially briefing the chief minister. It is not clear whether the DSPs have already submitted their reports.

KC Tyagi, national secretary-general of JD(U), said that this was a routine issue. He said that such an exercise would be conducted by the intelligence wing from time to time. He also said that the government does not intend to target any organisation.

A senior RSS leader has said that some of the names mentioned in the letter did not even exist. “This indicates how the intelligence wing of the state police functions in the state,” he said, adding that altogether 37 subsidiary organisations of the RSS are active across the country.

The letter was reportedly written five days after the 2019 Lok Sabha results were announced in which the BJP led NDA was re-elected with an astounding majority.

In May, just before the swearing-in ceremony was about to begin at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, Nitish Kumar had announced that it won’t be joining the cabinet of the Modi government. JDU chief Nitish Kumar said that inclusion of just 1 JDU MP in the cabinet would have meant symbolic participation and that he has informed the BJP that they don’t need it.

Congress leader Kapil Sibal and wife to be sued by journalist Barkha Dutt for fraud and cheating in Tiranga TV case

OpIndia Staff
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Congress leader Kapil Sibal and wife to be sued by journalist Barkha Dutt for fraud and cheating in Tiranga TV case

There seems to be no end to the fighting between Congress leader Kapil Sibal and ‘journalist’ Barkha Dutt over the Tiranga TV fiasco, as latter has now decided to initiate criminal and civil proceedings against Kapil Sibal and his wife for cheating, fraud and refusal to honour the contract.

In a tweet, controversial ‘journalist’ Barkha Dutt, once the blue-eyed girl of the Congress ecosystem, threatened her former boss Kapil Sibal and his wife Promila Sibal for cheating and refusing to uphold the contract.


In her tweet, Barkha Dutt said that she intends to initiate proceedings so that the staff of Tiranga TV, whom she claims to support, fully get their due compensations of 3 months after they were arbitrarily sacked by Tiranga TV promoted by Kapil Sibal.

Just yesterday Barkha Dutt had written a complaint to National Commission for Women against Tiranga TV promoter Promila Sibal accusing her of abusing female staff members of the channel including Barkha Dutt. She had alleged that senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal and his wife-Promila Sibal had referred to the female employees of their channel Tiranga TV as Kutiya or Bitch.

The National Commission for women had taken cognisance of Barkha Dutt’s complaint against Tiranga TV promoters. It had also clarified that it is only taking up the matter of outraging the modesty of women.

On July 15, in a series of tweets, Barkha Dutt had alleged that journalists working at Tiranga TV were abruptly sacked, without any prior notice and they were not offered 6-months severance payout.

Barkha Dutt had also said that Kapil Sibal had threatened her of defamation suit for calling him Mallya. She had compared him with the fugitive liquor baron for not paying due compensation to fired employees and going to London. Dutt had said that she refuses to withdraw the comment, and will fight the case if required. Barkha Dutt had also accused Kapil Sibal’s wife of being insensitive to the plight of employees.

Later, in the evening, the crisis took an ugly turn when Kapil Sibal appointed bouncers at the Tiranga TV office to intimidate journalists who were sitting on a peaceful protest against the channel’s unprofessional conduct. Employees were apparently on an all-night sit-in dharna to demand a 6-month payout.

Rebel MLAs cannot be compelled to attend house proceedings, speaker to decide on resignations in time-bound manner: SC

OpIndia Staff
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Rebel MLAs cannot be compelled to attend house proceedings, speaker to decide on resignations in time-bound manner: SC

In a big relief to the rebel Congress-JDS MLAs, the Supreme Court pronounced its order in Karnataka MLAs resignation case stating that they cannot be compelled to participate in proceedings of the state assembly till the speaker decides on their resignations.

Reportedly, the three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi delivered an interim order stating that it was imperative to maintain Constitutional balance in the judgement.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the speaker has to decide on resignation of 15 MLAs in a time-bound manner and he cannot compel the rebel Congress-JDS lawmakers to participate in proceedings of Assembly till the Speaker rules on their resignation. The top court directed Karnataka speaker KR Ramesh Kumar to decide on the resignations of the rebel Congress-JDS MLAs under Article 190 in a time-bound manner.

The Supreme Court has also ruled that the rebel MLAs have the liberty to decide on whether they wished to attend the trust vote which has been scheduled to take place on Thursday, July 18.

Interestingly, the Supreme Court has refused to decide the issue of disqualification of the rebel Congress-JDS MLAs under the Tenth Schedule. The Supreme Court also said that the other larger legal questions need to be decided and deserved an answer only at a later stage.

The HD Kumaraswamy led Congress-JDS coalition government has now pushed into a corner with leaving them only option to seek trust vote on Thursday to prove their majority in the assembly. With 15 rebel Congress-JDS MLAs getting a huge relief from the Supreme Court, the Congress-JDS government will be short of numbers to prove their majority in the assembly.

Congress gives adjournment motion in Lok Sabha over ‘tension at Indo-China border’, even after Army Chief rubbished claims

OpIndia Staff
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Congress gives adjournment motion in Lok Sabha over ‘tension at Indo-China border’, even after Army Chief rubbished claims

The Congress party today gave an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha over “tension at Indo-China border” despite Army Chief clarifying it that there is no such situation.

Last week General Rawat clarified said that had been no Chinese intrusion. He was addressing the reports of Chinese intrusion on the Line of Actual Control(LAC). Some Tibetans had hoisted the Tibetan flag on the occasion of Dalai Lama’s birthday on July 6th, which got the Chinese troop curious.


“Celebrations were underway on our side by some Tibetans in Demchok sector. Based on that, to see what was happening, some Chinese also came opposite. Everything is normal,” he had said on 13th July.

However, despite the clarifications issued by the COAS, Congress gave an adjournment motion over non-existent ‘tension’ at the Indo-China border.

Not the first time

This is not the first time Congress has tried to question the armed forces and Indian government on matters relating to China. Following the 2017 Doklam standoff, Congress had actively fanned media speculations over renewed Chinese aggression at the standoff site. The Congress indulged in it despite the government’s clarification of the unchanged status quo.

On 8th July 2017, Rahul Gandhi had a meeting with the Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui which was not made public. When some media houses reported the meeting, the Congress party termed it fake news. But later the meeting was confirmed by the Chinese embassy on its website.

The above happened when both the countries were engaged in the Doklam Standoff, which lasted till August 2017. Earlier this year, the then Congress President Rahul Gandhi had accidentally revealed that he had a secret meeting with the Chinese ministers during his Kailash Mansarovar visit.

New Zealand coach Gary Stead expects ICC to think about sharing the World Cup in future

Ritesh
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New Zealand coach Gary Stead expects ICC to think about sharing the World Cup in future

The Kiwi Coach, Gary Stead hopes that ICC will review the World Cup final rule and allow the teams to share the trophy in case of a tie in super over.

New Zealand lost the World Cup final after the match was tied twice, and the winner was decided on the most number of boundaries.

“I’m sure when they were writing the rules, they never expected a World Cup final like that. I’m sure it’ll be reviewed.” Stead said.

On sharing the trophy, he added: “Perhaps when you play over seven weeks, and you can’t be separated on the final day then that is something that should be considered. It’s a very, very hollow feeling that you can play 100 overs and score the same amount of runs and still lose the game – but that’s the technicalities of the sport.”

The World Cup final was watched by more than 2 billion people across the globe, and it will go down in history as the most celebrated One Day International of all time. The two teams played an excellent cricket over 100 overs, and it was only because of the boundary rule that a World Cup winner was decided.

Modi government has cancelled registration of 14,800 NGOs in last five years for FCRA violations

OpIndia Staff
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Modi government has cancelled registration of 14,800 NGOs in last five years for FCRA violations

Over the last five years, the Narendra Modi led government has deregistered over 14,800 NGOs registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), which were receiving funds from abroad, reports Times of India.

According to the reports, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai responding to a written question in the Lok Sabha said the registrations were cancelled because the NGOs committed violations of the provisions of the FCRA.

The Home Ministry said that various NGOs and association in India received nearly Rs.50,000 crore as foreign contributions over a period of three years from 2015-16 to 2017-18.

Minister Rai also said Rs.16,894.37 crore foreign contribution has been received by various NGOs in 2017-18, Rs.15,343.15 crore foreign contribution was received by them in 2016-17 and Rs 17,803.21 crore in 2015-16.

As per Rai’s answer in the Lok Sabha, the foreign contributions to NGOs has increased in 2017-18 as compared to 2016-17.

The NDA government has been committed to the cracking down on foreign funding to NGOs that violate FCRA norms. Last year, MoS Home Kiren Rijiju had informed in the Rajya Sabha that the government had cancelled the FCRA registration of over 13,000 NGOs for FCRA violations.

Recently, the CBI had filed an FIR against advocate Indira Jaising’s NGO Lawyers Collective for alleged FCRA violations.

CBI raids residence and office of former SP leader and mafia don Atiq Ahmad in Allahabad

OpIndia Staff
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CBI raids residence and office of former SP leader and mafia don Atiq Ahmad in Allahabad

A CBI team has carried out a series of raids at the residence and office of mafia don turned SP politician Atiq Ahmad in Allahabad on Wednesday, reports Times Now.


Reportedly, the CBI officials have carried out raids with a heavy police deployment near SP leader Atiq Ahmad’s residence located at Atala area in Allahabad.

Speaking to Times of India, Brajesh Kumar Shrivastav, SP city, confirmed that a CBI team had conducted raids at Atiq’s house and his office premises.

CBI registered an FIR against Atiq Ahmad

The Central Bureau of Investigation had registered a case against former Samajwadi Party MP Atiq Ahmed and 17 others after real estate dealer Mohit Jaiswal had accused them of kidnapping and assaulting him inside a prison in December 2018.

An FIR has been filed by the Uttar Pradesh government against former Samajwadi party MP Atiq Ahmad on the direction of the Supreme Court on charges of extortion and kidnapping businessman Mohit Jaiswal.

The Case:

The Samajwadi Party leader, Atiq Ahmed had allegedly beaten up real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal in Deoria Jail in Uttar Pradesh and had demanded extortion money from the businessman.

Jaiswal had accused SP leader of kidnapping him from Lucknow and alleged that he was forcibly taken to Deoria Jail. When he reached Atiq Ahmed’s barracks, he was asked to sign away his four companies worth Rs 40 crore to Ahmad. Jaiswal had said that he was thrashed by Ahmed himself and his goons inside the jail when he refused to do so.

Following the incident, the Supreme Court had directed to shift former MP to a high-security jail in Gujarat. However, Mafia-turned-politician was still lodged in Naini Central Jail and was not shifted to a high-security prison in Gujarat, despite a recent Supreme Court order to make the shift.

US-based Indian journalist mistakes Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf as Indian ‘official’ news agency, gets slammed on Twitter

OpIndia Staff
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US-based Indian journalist mistakes Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf as Indian ‘official’ news agency, gets slammed on Twitter

At a time when the IQ levels of self-proclaimed liberal progressive journalists are under serious questioning due to the often bizarre stands displayed by them, a journalist has claimed that Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is the ‘official’ news agency of India.

Raju Narisetti, the Director and Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia Journalism School, New York, has mistaken the ruling political party in Pakistan for an Indian news agency, that too the ‘official’ news agency.

Image via Twitter

Narisetti, who has spent a long career in journalism working for various media houses like Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and many others, looked at a tweet from the official Twitter handle of Pakistan’s ruling political party and thought that it has come from the Press Trust of India, which he further claimed is India’s ‘official’ news agency.

Yesterday, Pakistan’s ruling party PTI had tweeted saying “Freedom of expression is the beauty of democracy but expressing the enemy’s stance is not freedom of speech but treason against its people”.

Narisetti was quick to conclude that the PTI there (despite the display image of the handle being the logo of the Pakistani political party) is the press Trust of India, hinting that press freedom in India is now in a slippery slope.

Twitter users were quick to slam the knee-jerk tweet.


Politician Omar Abdullah and Nidhi Razdhan of NDTV, who has done a fair share of fake news peddling herself, also corrected Narisetti. They also pointed it out to him that PTI is not an ‘official’ Indian news agency.

Via Twitter

Raju Narisetti has literally spent an entire career in the media and journalism industry. A career journalist like him making such an error and jumping to sly-hint a so-called ‘slippery slope of press freedom’ only displays that it is often the journalists themselves who are on a ‘slippery slope’ due to their prejudice and biases, not the press freedom in our country.

Kapil Sibal claims Barkha Dutt was sacked before her tweets, won’t be paid anymore, Barkha says Sibal is lying

OpIndia Staff
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Kapil Sibal claims Barkha Dutt was sacked before her tweets, won’t be paid anymore, Barkha says Sibal is lying

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal has claimed that senior journalist Barkha Dutt was sacked from Tiranga TV on 13th July two days before her sensational tweets on the Sibals. The Sibals, who are promoters of Tiranga TV have claimed that Barkha was fired on 13th July on ‘disciplinary grounds’ after she ‘levelled serious allegations’ against them. Kapil Sibal has reportedly said that since Dutt’s contract was terminated on 13th July on ‘disciplinary grounds’, she is not entitled to any further compensation.

Promila Sibal, Kapil Sibal’s wife and one of the promoters of the channel, said that Dutt’s contract was for a year and was due to expire in September 2019 and she was not entitled to any compensation beyond that. Dutt, however, had claimed that she was fired for speaking about the internal emails where she compared Sibals with Mallya for not facing the staff and going on a holiday to London instead.

Promila, however, refuted the claims and said that they were in London to ‘celebrate their grandson’s academic success’ and had not fled due to financial reason. She has even denied the allegations that the Sibals would use abusive language for female employees, calling them ‘kutiya’ or ‘bitch’. Calling the allegation ‘frivolous’, Promila said that neither she nor Kapil had met Barkha in last 3-4 months. Kapil Sibal, too, chimed in saying that Barkha wrote the accusation ‘as an afterthought’.

In fact, the Sibals have now put the blame of financial troubles of the channel on Barkha. They claim that they were hesitant to launch the channel but ‘reluctantly decided to go ahead with it’ after Dutt protested saying how many journalists had joined the channel giving up their current jobs. As Barkha had predicted, the Sibals also blamed the newly elected Narendra Modi government for the advertisers to back off. Lack of advertising revenues led to deepening of their financial troubles, they claim.

Barkha, on the other hand, has alleged that Kapil Sibal is ‘lying again’. She has claimed that her contract requires the Sibals to pay her a year’s salary if the channel shuts or terminates before. Dutt says that Sibal’s claims regarding her contract are patently false. “Contract clearly stipulates that if channel shuts before the year or even contract terminated, remaining period of a year to be paid. Sibal lies again,” she tweeted.

Tiranga TV’s sacked employees have been narrating their situation on social media for the last couple of weeks. However, things came out in the open after Barkha Dutt, in a series of tweets on 15th July, revealed how dire the situation with Tiranga TV is. She had confirmed that about 200 employees of the channel were sacked without adequate compensation. She had also revealed that Kapil Sibal and his wife had planned to blame Modi for the crisis at the channel, and added that there was no interference in the channel from the union government. Later that night, bouncers were sent to Tiranga TV’s office to intimidate the protesting employees.

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