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[Video] Sprinter Dutee Chand creates history, wins gold at the Universiade, the World University Games in Naples

OpIndia Staff
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[Video] Sprinter Dutee Chand creates history, wins gold at the Universiade, the World University Games in Naples

Dutee Chand, the ‘fastest woman of India’, became the first Indian woman track and field athlete to win a gold medal at World Universiade in Naples. The 23-year-old took 11.32 seconds to finish the 100 mtrs sprint.

Dutee took to Twitter to announce her victory and said, “Pull me down, I will come back stronger!”.


Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted his congratulations to Dutee and shared her gold-winning sprint video.


President Kovind, Prime Minister Modi and other leaders also congratulated Dutee on her achievement.


Del Ponte of Switzerland came second with 11.33 seconds and Lisa Kwayie of Germany clocked in 11.39 seconds to win the bronze medal.

Last year, Indian sprinter Hima Das won the gold in 400 mtrs in World Junior Athletics Championship. Dutee’s own personal national record stands at 11.24 seconds.

Fact Check: Is the Finance Ministry restricting media entry in its premises as claimed by the media and Congress?

OpIndia Staff
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Fact Check: Is the Finance Ministry restricting media entry in its premises as claimed by the media and Congress?

As the Finance Ministry decided to restrict the unauthorised access of journalists into its premises in the North Block, some sections of the Lutyens media began to spread false propaganda stating that the central government places restrictions on the flow of information to press.

Joining hands with the press, CPI-M general secretary Sitharam Yechury resorted to spreading misinformation citing an Indian Express article. He stated that the government has resorted to denying access to journalists as it has lied and fudged data. He also accused the government of destroying the right to information by denying due access to journalists.


Editor Guild of India’s Chief Shekhar Gupta’s ‘The Print‘, which has a habit of peddling fake news once again peddled half-truths in its reports claiming that Nirmala Sitharaman had restricted the entry of journalists into the finance ministry.


The Congress Party too, just like its former President Rahul Gandhi relied on half-truths to target the government. In a tweet, the Congress party called it an ‘unprecedented move’ and claimed that the BJP government has limited press freedom and control the information that the public receives.


However, the Finance Ministry has rejected any such rumours of ‘banning’ or ‘restricting’ the entry of journalists inside the North Block. Instead, the Finance Ministry has brought a new set of rules for an organised flow of information between the media and the government. The new rules by the Finance Minister will bring ease to reporters as new facilities have been set up for effective information flow to the media.

The Finance Ministry’s new regulation states that a new procedure has been introduced to streamline the entry of media persons inside the premises of the North Block. The Finance Ministry has even set up an air-conditioned waiting area. Further, refreshments such as tea, coffee are being provided to the journalists in regular interval.

A statement released by Finance Ministry

The process has been further streamlined with issuing of appointments to the media personnel including PIB accredited card holders. Once an appointment has been scheduled, journalists will need no separate entry passes to enter the premises. No other restrictions or ban have been put by the Finance Ministry as claimed by the media.

Although it is true that accredited journalists will also need to make appointments now to meet finance ministry officials, such provisions are already in place at other ministries like defence and PMO. The requirement to take appointment is an additional step that the journalists will have to take, but that can’t be termed as restrictions in the flow of information and denying access.

Earlier government-accredited journalists were allowed to enter the finance ministry offices in North Block without any prior appointment. But this access is restricted every year before the budget presentation to prevent leaking of sensitive information. But this year the ministry did not lift the restriction after the budget was presented. Instead, the ministry decided that accredited journalists will need an appointment before entering the ministry offices.

Hindu activists deny reports of Hauz Qazi Muslims ‘helping in installing idols’, say they were serving food to Hindus only for photo-ops

OpIndia Staff
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Hindu activists deny reports of Hauz Qazi Muslims ‘helping in installing idols’, say they were serving food to Hindus only for photo-ops

The Hauz Qazi temple desecration on 30th July shook the very conscience of the country. In the heart of Delhi, a Durga Temple was desecrated, idols broken, and according to the local Hindus, the Muslim mob responsible even urinated in the temple. After simmering communal tension, yesterday on 9th July, Vishwa Hindu Parishad organised an event for the ‘Praan Pratishtha’ of the idols and also organised a feast for the locals (Bhandara). While the chants of Jai Shree Ram reverberated in the bylanes of Chandni Chowk, one photo of Muslims serving food to the Hindus took the media by storm.

What was the event

The event, organised by Vishwa Hindu Parishad was for the consecrated of the idols that had been desecrated by the Muslim mob on 30th June. Essentially, without Praan Pratishtha, the idol itself does not get the divinity of an idol that is to be worshipped by Hindus.

The event, according to Hindu activist Aviral Sharma, was one organised wholly by VHP and was funded not only by the local Hindus of Hauz Qazi but Hindus from all over Delhi who were outraged at the Durga Temple desecration.

Along with the ritual of consecrated, there was also a Bhandara (feast) that was organised by VHP for the locals of the Hauz Qazi area.

The photo that went viral

While there were several photographs from the event that went viral when Hauz Qazi was saffronised, one photograph, in particular, took the Lutyens media by storm. The photograph was of 2-3 Muslim men serving food to the Hindus of the areas during the ritual.

Photograph from Hauz Qazi

What the media said about the photograph of Muslim serving food in Hauz Qazi

The Media was immediately enthralled by the photograph.

CNN News 18 reported that the Muslims of Hauz Qazi were distributing food during the consecrated ceremony in a show of communal harmony.

Hindustan Times went a step ahead and reported that

The underlying theme of the media reports was that peace-loving Muslims of the Aman Committee had contributed in the consecrated ritual as a gesture of peace.

What Hindu activists present in Hauz Qazi say

Hindu activists who were present at the consecrated ceremony in Hauz Qazi and those who were a part of organising the event have categorically denied these reports.

OpIndia spoke to Aviral Sharma, one such Hindu activist who was present at Hauz Qazi and has been closely associated with the organisation of Hindu events in the area.

Aviral Sharma said that the event was organised by VHP and the money for the event came from donations by Hindus. The Muslims of Hauz Qazi did not pay any amount towards the Praan Pratishtha event and hence, reports that they ‘helped install new idols’ in the Durga Temple are outright lies.

About the photograph that went viral showing Muslims of Hauz Qazi serving food in the Bhandara, Aviral said that on one table, the Imam of Fatehpur Masjid was standing and distributing water. Mostly, the Hindus of the area refuse to entertain. In fact, he said that the table at which Muslims can be seen standing and serving food was right in front of the Durga Temple and was set up by VHP itself. 

Ayush Gupta, another Hindu activist present in Hauz Qazi chimed in and re-asserted what Aviral said. He maintained that the Muslims of the area had no contribution to the event.

Vishal Sharma, another activist said, “They were not even there during Praan Pratishtha. This is just to make sure the Media covers their side and not the plight of Hindus”.

Aviral Sharma claims that the Aman Committee members simply came to the table for photo-ops and then disappeared soon after a few photographs were clicked.

Yogi Adityanath directs Cow Protection Commission to issue certificates and provide security for transportation of cattle

OpIndia Staff
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Yogi Adityanath directs Cow Protection Commission to issue certificates and provide security for transportation of cattle

Amidst a spate of reports of mob lynching incidents happening across the country, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has prepared a roadmap in collaboration with Cow Protection Commission, in order to put a curb on cattle smuggling and avoid lynching-related incidents in the state. The government has directed the Cow Protection Commission to issue certificates for transportation of cattle and entrusted it with the responsibility of their safety. This will ensure that while legal transporters of cattle will get protection, illegal transporters and smugglers will be detected easily.

Yogi Adityanath chaired a meeting on Monday involving the Cow Protection Commission and the Animal Department to follow a proper mechanism to avoid lynching related incidents. Yogi Said, “Certificates should be issued to those who seek to transport cattle from one place to another and requisite security arrangements should be made for their safe passage.”

UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said, “Our government is committed to the protection of cows. However, we will never tolerate any chaos. By providing protection and certificates to cow carriers, we are ensuring that incidents of mob lynchings don’t happen anywhere in the state and at the same time those involved in smuggling of cattle are identified and arrested.”

In the meeting of the Cow Protection Commission, the UP CM Yogi said that the commission should conduct regular checks of illegal smuggling of cows. He stated that the safety and protection of cows is of utmost importance and in the matter related to finance, Gaushalas should aim to become self-reliant. Yogi instructed the officials to provide Rs 30 per day for fodder to farmers who own two cows. He also asserted that the compost and cow urine should be stored, which can be later sold along with other products.

Rahul Gandhi joins Congress MPs to raise slogans in Lok Sabha over Karnataka issue

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi joins Congress MPs to raise slogans in Lok Sabha over Karnataka issue

Desperate times call for desperate measures! The Congress party which is going through a major crisis in Karnataka, today, found support in its ex-president, Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi was seen joining his fellow MPs in raising slogans on Tuesday as the Karnataka political crisis echoed in the Lok Sabha. He, however, did so while remaining seated and did not go in the Well of the House with the other protesting MPs.

Rahul had arrived in the lower house at noon just before the commencement of Zero Hour. At that time Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury tried to raise the Karnataka issue and accused the BJP of “poaching” its MLAs in the state.

Speaker of the house, Om Birla, however, discouraged Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from raising the issue as the matter was already discussed in the House on Monday and Deputy Leader of Lok Sabha Rajnath Singh had responded to the charges.

Unsatisfied with the Speaker’s response, Chowdhury again tried to raise the issue. He then scribbled a few slogans on a piece of paper and gave it to his fellow MPs sitting behind him, who promptly raised them.

The members raised slogans like “Down with dictatorship” (Tanashahi band karo), “Stop the politics of poaching” (Shikar ki rajneeti band karo) and “We want justice”.

Rahul soon joined the bandwagon, while remaining seated in the front row of the Opposition benches. Though his pitch was not as high as the others, he repeated the last words of the slogans. Sonia Gandhi was also sitting next to him.

The Congress MPs, showing complete disrespect toward the house, entered the Well, as they continued with their sloganeering. The Speaker, Om Birla, warned the members against bringing posters.

“This is our right,” said one of the members, to which the Speaker retorted, “No, it is not your right. The country is watching you. This is your House. By bringing placards, don’t make it (Lok Sabha) the House of a civic body,” Birla lambasted.

The Congress has been blaming the BJP for the recent crisis its coalition government is facing in Karnataka.

In a desperate attempt to save the ship from sinking, Karnataka Congress MLA DK Shivakumar and JD(S) MLA Shivalinge Gowda have arrived in Mumbai today, to hold talks with the rebel Congress MLAs. The rebel MLAs flew to Mumbai last week after submitting their resignations.

Yesterday, the Karnataka state assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar rejected the resignations of 8 out of 13 rebel Congress MLAs because they were not in the ‘prescribed format’. The BJP MLAs who had gone to the Vidhan Soudha to meet the Speaker left without meeting him as he was ‘not there’. The speaker has asked for six days’ time to decide on resignations.

The JD(S) also accused the BJP of ‘buying’ MLAs in Karnataka for Rs 1,000 crore. Meanwhile, the BJP has demanded that Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy should resign. Today they will protest at the Gandhi statue in Vidhan Soudha in Karnataka.

On July 8, after an independent MLA and minister, H Nagesh quit the alliance, 21 Congress MLAs had also submitted their resignation to the party chief to placate the 14 rebel MLAs who withdrew their support to the Congress-JD(S) coalition on Saturday.

Interestingly, if the resignation of these 14 rebel leaders [11 from the Congress and three from the JD(S)] are accepted, the coalition government’s strength in the Assembly would be reduced to 102, besides the Speaker.

With the support of two independents, who on Monday resigned from the ministry, the BJP has 107 MLAs in the 224-member House, where the half-way mark is 113.

“Desist from false propaganda”: Congress denies reports that it had demanded front row seat for Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha

OpIndia Staff
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“Desist from false propaganda”: Congress denies reports that it had demanded front row seat for Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha

The Congress party has denied reports that it had demanded a front row seat for Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha. Congress leader in the lower house Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury posted a tweet last night to deny the media reports regarding the same.

Yesterday, it was reported that Congress party had requested for a front row seat for the former Congress president in the Lok Sabha, but the government had denied the same as. It was reported that the request was denied as the Congress party is eligible for only 2 seats on the front row as per rules depending on the number of Congress MPs.


Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that neither Rahul Gandhi nor the Congress party ever put forward any demand for ‘Front Row’ seat for Rahul Gandhi in the parliament. He termed the news as “false propaganda”, and asked to desist from it. Chowdhury also informed that the party has proposed seat number 466 for Rahul Gandhi.

He informed that Rahul Gandhi has been allotted a seat in the second row and he will be sitting there.

Is this how Congress crumbles? While Karnataka govt falls, Rahul Gandhi celebrates Twitter followers and other top leaders snooze

Nirwa Mehta
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Is this how Congress crumbles? While Karnataka govt falls, Rahul Gandhi celebrates Twitter followers and other top leaders snooze

The cracks in the Karnataka government are widening and snowballing towards an imminent collapse. As state leaders of Congress struggle to keep things in order, the national leadership seems to be living in a parallel universe.

Karnataka state assembly elections in May 2018 were the first major breakthrough for Congress after a string of failures. The party got into the unholy alliance with JD(S) which had almost half the MLAs they had to form the government. However, things have been turbulent ever since.

However, in December 2018, Congress got a new lease on life. The party formed government in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. In Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the party has barely managed to get the majority to form the government.

The fall of the Karnataka government may have a bigger psychological impact than the humiliating defeat of 2019.

Who is doing what

Former President Rahul Gandhi is busy celebrating his Twitter follower count crossing a 10 million mark. He is on his way to Amethi where BJP’s Smriti Irani gave him a humiliating defeat in 2019 elections. One has no idea what the interim President Motilal Vora is up to. Vora is also a co-accused in the National Herald scam with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is also busy with cricket so much that he even used cricket analogy to slam the union budget. Meanwhile, the frontrunners for the post of party chief are also missing in action. Perhaps they are busy trying to build the ground for the top post. Poster urging Rahul Gandhi to give Jyotiraditya Scindia ‘national leadership’ was recently seen outside Bhopal Congress office.

Milind Deora resigned as Mumbai Congress chief saying he was looking forward to playing a national role to stabilise the party. However, Deora is conspicuously absent in the Karnataka crisis. Especially when the rebel Congress MLAs are in a Mumbai hotel.

That leaves us with Sachin Pilot. While there is mounting pressure on him to quit as state party chief, his rival and CM Ashok Gehlot is also pegged as possible names as Congress President. None have said a word on Karnataka crisis yet.

What it means for Congress

None of the top contenders to replace Rahul Gandhi as Congress President have gone into firefighting mode to save the Karnataka government. Rahul Gandhi himself is busy celebrating his Twitter followers and visiting Amethi, a constitution he lost. And he is not even attempting to save the government in Karnataka.

While the Congress has been in shambles ever since the 2019 election debacle, it has thus far blamed everyone from the senior leaders of the party to Praveen Chakravarty, their Data Analytics Department head. However, one has to question the part-time politician’s commitment to the profession if while his government falls, the entire party that is led by the Gandhis have simply gone into their snooze mode.

Perhaps the contenders to replace Rahul Gandhi are testing waters to see who ascends the throne first. The party is crumbling right under the nose of the leaders who want to lead it but they just don’t seem to care.

West Bengal: Female BJP worker found hanging in Midnapore, BJP alleges harassment by TMC

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: Female BJP worker found hanging in Midnapore, BJP alleges harassment by TMC

A woman activist from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Kalpana Bhuiyan, was found dead in Keshpur in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district on Tuesday. Her body was found hanging near ward number 4 in Golad Gram Panchayat’s Ammudiya Village, reports Zee News.

The death of the BJP Mahila Morcha activist has ignited a political furore in the area. Her fellow workers in the BJP are blaming the TMC workers for the alleged suicide. They are claiming that Bhuiyan was mentally tortured and humiliated by the TMC cadres which forced her to take such extreme step.

Meanwhile, TMC has denied the allegations, claiming that there was a conflict in her family, due to which the woman committed suicide. They have stated that Bhuiyan’s death was a suicide due to personal issues and it has no political angle.

The police also claimed that there was no political angle to the incident. However, an investigation into the matter is underway.

BJP has been on the receiving end of political violence in West Bengal since before the Panchayat Elections in 2018. Many BJP workers have been brutally murdered in West Bengal before and after the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls. However, the political tussle between the BJP and TMC has become bloodier after BJP won a remarkable 18 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.

Innumerable incidents have been reported where TMC goons have unleashed their atrocities on BJP workers and supporters converting West Bengal into a battle zone.

Addressing a gathering at Kolkata’s ICCR auditorium during the BJP membership drive on July 7, West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh had claimed that over 72 party workers have been reportedly killed between April and July this year. “Since April, a single day has not passed when reports of atrocities on our workers did not surface,” the BJP MP added.

Earlier, BJP leader Mukul Roy had alleged that all the incidents of violence in the state are being carried out at the behest of TMC Supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with the support of the administration.

Moreover, the BJP had observed a ‘black day’ in the state and called for a 12-hour general strike in the Basirhat sub-division last month, in the aftermath of the face-off which ensued between the BJP and West Bengal Police in Sandeshkhali, North 24 Parganas district which had claimed the lives of five BJP workers.

In the wake of such incidents of violence in the State, the BJP had also demanded the resignation of West Bengal Chief Minister and All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) Chief Mamata Banerjee as the Home Minister of West Bengal.

‘Human Rights’ activist John Dayal asks fellow panelist to ‘rape’ a woman if he wanted to, normalises sexual assault on live TV

OpIndia Staff
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‘Human Rights’ activist John Dayal asks fellow panelist to ‘rape’ a woman if he wanted to, normalises sexual assault on live TV

Controversial Christian activist and self-proclaimed human rights activist John Dayal, stoked a huge controversy. Dayal tried normalised rape culture by asking a fellow panellist, Prafulla Ketkar to go and rape anybody he wanted. He said that Ketkar rape anybody and nobody would stop him. Prafulla Ketkar is the Editor of Organiser, a publication affiliated with the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh).

The Times Now debate

In a Times Now debate, John Dayal and other panellists including Prafulla Ketkar were discussing the issue of inclusion of the history the RSS in the syllabus of the second year BA (History) course in Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University.

During the course of the debate, John Dayal referred to the RSS as ‘murderous secret society’ with two faces. In the whole debate, Dayal went on to make unsubstantiated claims against the RSS.

Responding to John Dayal’s tirade, Prafulla Ketkar accused him of being secretive himself and a supporter of rapists and paedophiles. Ketkar referred to various church abuses and crimes committed by Christian priests.

He then questioned John Dayal regarding his dubious human rights activism and his silence during the Bishop Franco rape case. Dayal made a shocking remark claiming that Ketkar could also ‘rape’ the nun and nobody will stop him from doing so.

As a ‘human rights activist,’ Dayal’s insensitive remark sent shock waves in the Times Now studio.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf8br_6iARw?start=1230]

Calling his statement obnoxious, Times Now Editor Navika Kumar immediately asked Dayal to apologise to Prafulla Ketkar. John Dayal had to finally apologise on the live show as fellow panellists asked him to take back his comments and tender an apology to Ketkar.

Who is John Dayal

John Dayal, an ultra left-wing ideologue, is often known for his bigotry views. He has time and again exposed his anti-Hindu and anti-Indian views. Recently, he had even been part of the nexus, which stood for Rohingyas. He had even written to Prime Minister Modi to not deport the illegal Rohingya immigrants from India despite these posed a national security threat to the country.

A known punching bag of Arnab Goswami, John Dayal is known for his bigotry. Dayal is also the secretary general of the All India Christian Council and a past president of the All India Catholic Union. He was part of the 32-member group which drafted the controversial Communal Violence Bill. If at all the Parliament had passed the bill, it would have been a death knell on the Hindus of the country.

Uttar Pradesh: 6-year-old raped and murdered after being lured with biscuits by her neighbour Farooq

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: 6-year-old raped and murdered after being lured with biscuits by her neighbour Farooq

In another deplorable incident, a 6-year-old minor girl was brutally raped and murdered by her neighbour, Farooq (24) in a village in Fatehpur, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diGViXFcxdc]

Farooq, who was drunk, reportedly lured the girl with a biscuit and took her to a secluded place where he raped her and thereafter murdered her.

When the villagers saw the accused hiding the dead body in a sack, they caught him and beat him up, after which he was handed over to the police.

The police subsequently admitted the accused to the hospital as he suffered serious injuries after being thrashed by the villagers.

Speaking of the incident, the SP, Ramesh Kumar confirmed that a 6-year-old girl has been murdered by her neighbour named Farooq. The deceased’ body has been taken into possession and sent for post-mortem. The accused has been arrested. Only after the post-mortem report is out, it will be clear how the baby was killed, said the SP.

The minor’s mother claimed that her daughter was playing outside the house when Farooq lured her and took her away and did wrong to her. Later the child’s body was found in a sack, the mother said, furthering that when her child went missing, she had also gone to Farooq’s house to inquire, but he had refused, saying that “she was not there”, claimed the minor’s mother.

Such cases of sexual assault on women especially minors has been on the rise in Uttar Pradesh. Last month we reported how a minor girl was gang-raped for nearly two years by her own four cousins as they were jealous of her sister for excelling in studies. A teacher also participated in the crime against the girl. The incident came to the fore after the video of the rape inside the Islamia school in Sadarpur of Bareilly district reached the family WhatsApp group.

Moreover, in the last month at least five cases of crime against young girls have come to fore across different parts of Uttar Pradesh. Visibly miffed with the police for failing to ‘instil fear’ among criminals in the state, Uttar Pradesh CM, Yogi Adityanath, in a high-level meeting with senior police and home department officials on June 11, had asked the state police to re-activate the anti-Romeo squad.

Despite, persistent efforts by Uttar Pradesh government, a 19-year-old Tausif Imran Khan had repeatedly raped a 14-year-old class X girl and recorded her on his mobile phone. He had, allegedly, also attempted to brainwash her to convert to Islam by taking her to various religious places.

Moreover, recently, we had reported how the barbarity exhibited in the brutal killing of a three-year-old Tina (name changed) by Zahid and Aslam in Aligarh has shaken the conscience of the country.

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