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‘Mazrool said he would make me Musalmani’, said the wife molested by Muslim men who thrashed her husband and hurled casteist abuses

The wife of the Dalit man who was beaten up by some Muslim men in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh on June 21 has alleged that one of the accused Mazarool Hasan had touched her inappropriately and torn her kurta. She said that Hassan threatened her that he would make her Muslim. “Mazrool told me that he would make me a Musalmani (Muslim woman)”, she alleged.

Recently a video of Dalit man being beaten by a mob had gone viral on social media. Later on, it was found out that the video of a June 21 incident where a Dalit man named Shashank Padam Bhusan Sonkar was brutally beaten up by some Muslim men after he stopped them from molesting his wife.

According to a report by journalist Swati Goel Sharma of Swarajya, Sonkar ran a coaching centre in Mohalla Kharkha of Amethi’s Jais area. This is a Muslim majority area as told by Sonkar. His coaching centre provides free of cost one month course in computers under the Prime Minister’s Digital India programme.

As per the report, an FIR was registered on June 21 which stated that on the day of the incident, Sonkar and his wife Gayatri were at the coaching centre. Around 3:50 PM, Mazrool Hasan entered into the coaching centre and started molesting Gayatri. She raised an alarm hearing which Sonkar came running.

Hasan dragged Sonkar out of the coaching centre and hurled casteist remarks at him calling him ‘Sale Khatik’ (Khatik is a Scheduled Caste). Soon three men named Shabbu, Faiziyab and Rehaan joined Hasan and started thrashing Sonkar with iron rods with an intention of killing him. When Sonkar’s younger brother Mayank and sister Sarika tried to stop them, they were also attacked.

The victims have alleged that the police did not add several of their allegations in the FIR and that the motive of the attackers is also not mentioned therein. Sonkar has alleged that Mazrool and some other men have been pressurising him to shut down the coaching centre. “They are jealous that a Dalit like me is able to successfully run a coaching centre while several men from their community failed to do so in the past”, said Sonkar. The victim couple told that there have routine attempts to intimidate them but this was the first time that an assault happened.

The report mentions the statements of two eyewitnesses of the incident Azad Mehboob and Khatija Bano. Mehboob is the owner of the space rented to Sonkar for running his coaching centre and Khatija Bano is a student at his coaching centre. Mehboob told that he was sitting at his shop which is on the ground floor when the incident took place. He said that he saw Sonkar being dragged out of the coaching centre and brutally beaten. “I snatched a wooden rod from an attacker twice and tried to intervene. But I do not know till date what really ensued between the two sides”, he said. Mehboob told that Mazrool’s daughter also studies at the centre. Khatija told that Mazrool’s daughter had been absent for a week before the incident.

Mehboob told that Mazrool had tried to defend his actions before the onlookers by alleging that his daughter was assaulted by Sonkar but his daughter herself refuted the allegation before the police.

An organisation named Agniveer has reported the matter to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC). The organisation wrote a letter to the NCSC chairman Ram Shankar Katheria accusing the police of going soft on the culprits. It alleged that the victims’ statements were not recorded as per section 164 of the CrPC due to which the accused got the time to get a stay against their arrest from the court.

Mobile billboard with “Help end enforced disappearances in Balochistan” message seen outside Lord’s cricket ground before World Cup Final

Yet another political slogan related to South Asia was seen during the Cricket World Cup when a truck carrying mobile billboards was spotted today outside the Lord’s cricket stadium. The billboards read “Help end enforced disappearances in Balochistan”. The truck was spotted before the start of the World Cup final match between New Zealand and England.


The posters were displayed during a campaign conducted by Baloch Republican Party and World Baloch Organization who were protesting against human rights abuses in Balochistan.

This is the fourth time that political messages have been displayed during the World Cup. Just two days ago, an aeroplane with a political message in support of Balochistan was spotted over Edgbaston during the Australia-England semifinal match. The banner had read, “World must speak up for Balochistan”.

Reportedly, after this incident, the airspace above the grounds have been ordered to be closed due to security concerns.

Earlier a plane was seen flying over Headingley stadium in Leeds where India is battling Sri Lanka in a World Cup cricket match. The plane carried the message “India stop genocide and free Kashmir”.

Last month, while Pakistan and Afghanistan were playing the ICC World Cup 2019 at the Headingley Cricket Ground in Leeds, fans of both teams broke into a fight outside the stadium. The fight broke out after fans spotted a plane carrying a slogan ‘Justice for Balochistan’ flying over them.

Baloch activists have been campaigning during the Cricket World Cup using posters and banners to attract the attention of the world towards atrocities of Pakistan government in Balochistan province. Earlier, Pakistani fans were seen tearing such posters put up by Baloch organisations in London.

Chandrayaan 2: India’s mission Moon cheaper than Hollywood blockbusters like Avengers Infinity Wars and Bandra Worli Sea link

One of the most startling facts about India’s ambitious second mission to the moon- Chandrayaan 2 besides being the world’s first expedition to the south pole region of the moon is its economical budget. The mission is touted to be accomplished within a budget of Rs 960 crores, which is approximately $143 million, significantly cheaper than the budget of several Hollywood movies.

Recent superhit movies like Marvel’s Dark Pheonix, Avengers’ Infinity Wars and Avengers’ Endgame etc. all had their budgets on the higher side of Rs 1200 crores. However, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has managed to encapsulate the Chandrayaan-2 mission at just about Rs 960 crores.

The United States has so far invested about $100 billion (in current prices) in 15 Apollo missions to the Moon. China’s first expedition to Moon in 2007 cost about $180 million. In fact, the Chandrayaan-2 mission is cheaper than even the construction of Bandra Worli Sea link which took about $340 million.

The Chandrayaan -2 comprises two main elements: Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) ‘Bahubali’ rocket and the Lunar module (orbiter, Lander ‘Vikram’ and rover ‘Pragyan’). The GSLV Mk III rocket (Rs 370 crores) plays a vital role in overcoming Earth’s gravitational field and thrusting the satellite out of the Earth’s atmosphere. The second stage comprises of a core booster that provides thrust to the rocket after the first stage is detached. The cryogenic engine in the third stage provides the rocket with the last-mile thrust.

The Lunar module of the Chandrayaan-2(Rs 603 crore) would comprise of three integrated parts namely: the Orbiter, the Lander (Vikram) and the Rover (Pragyan). The Rover would be used to conduct experiments on the Moon’s surface. The mission is to land at the south pole of the moon. This would be the world’s first expedition to the south pole region of the Moon.

With the Chandrayaan-2 mission, ISRO will use the moon as a laboratory to better understand Earth’s history. The moon was believed to have been a part of the Earth at one point in time. The water held at the south pole of the moon might be 3-4 billion years old, containing clues of the atmosphere during the earlier days of the solar system.

Besides this, the water may also serve a utilitarian purpose as well in the distant future. Reports also suggest that ISRO would be hunting for Helium-3 as well. In future, Helium-3 could be possibly used for waste-free nuclear energy. This particular isotope is rare on Earth but is found in abundance on the moon.

Porn is bigger than Amazon or Netflix and that’s a cause for worry

I recently did a piece in praise of India’s new Child Pornography Bill but the issue didn’t leave me and several related issues teased as a stripper does in a bar full of men. Porn is one of those words which have a totally different meaning to me now than when I was in my 20s and I guess it’s true to most of the 1970s generation.

But I wasn’t prepared to how pervasive it is to humanity once I got inside the sheets of reality and fumbled with its contours.

Do you know the porn industry is bigger than Hollywood? Meatier than major baseball leagues, NFL and NBA, combined? That porn sites get more visitors than Netflix, Amazon and Twitter combined do in a month? That just one site, XVideos, is larger than New York Times, CNN and Dropbox combined?

And this is still just foreplay and not the real deal. That is now laid bare by SimilarWeb.com, a data-mining gold standard, which tells us that two porn websites –XVideos and Pornhub—engage more visitors and their time than—hold your breath—even Google! Indeed, in terms of worldwide website rankings, these two are in the Top 8, bigger than Amazon, Wikipedia, MSN, Yahoo, Netflix, eBay, LinkedIn, PayPal or WhatsApp. Phew!

The net worth of the Porn industry was $97 billion dollars two years ago which could feed up to 5 billion people a day. The profits are upwards of $15 billion which is one-and-a-half times more than Hollywood. So if you know Google and Netflix as behemoth bandwith-consuming companies, include Mind Geek as the third biggest for it owns PornHub, Brazzers, YouPorn and Reality Kings.

And how much do you think the pornstars are worth? Jenna Jameson was once rated to be worth more ($30m) than some of Hollywood’s top stars. Their one shot is worth bucketful of sweat to producers, and not just to viewers.

Lest you think this is a piece for titillation, this in reality is to stoke your conscience. With such figures involved, millions of girls—and boys—are lured into a cycle of exploitation where their personal and emotional orchard is laid waste for filthy bucks. Most find themselves unable to break free of this matrix, transported from city to city, country to country, continent to continent. Those who watch inflict no less damage on themselves for sociologist confirm they are prone to unstable and aggressive behaviour. Lot of fantasies stoked by porn-clips actually are the seeds on which heinous crime such as rape grow.

A few other facts perhaps could let the terrible truth sink in our minds. A recent report has found out that (a) 35 percent of all internet downloads are porn; (b) 64% of youth in 13-24 age bracket are its biggest consumers; (c) teen videos are most watched and teen viewership is the biggest too; and (d) lesbian was the most searched porn term on the world’s largest porn site last year.

All these issues need to be discussed in public for porn is not a personal choice alone. When you watch such a video, you actually play your role in someone’s exploitation; and often eventual destruction. The society needs a robust debate on porn. It needs mass awareness. It’s the underbelly of humanity. So many lives are destroyed, crimes propped and it could all be happening with our active, sick contribution.

Take a call. Now.

Chandrayaan-2: Here’s what ISRO plans to achieve in its second mission to the moon

ISRO has today announced the commencement of the 20 hours launch countdown for its second mission to the moon, the Chandrayaan-2. The GSLV-MkIII, carrying the Chandrayaan-2, would be launched at 2:51 am from the second launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota.


If the mission turns out to be successful India would be the fourth country to land on the moon. Previously the US, the former Soviet Union and China were the ones to have successfully accomplished the moon landing. Here is what the Chandrayaan-2 seeks to achieve.

The Chandrayaan-2 would comprise of three integrated parts namely: the Orbiter, the Lander (Vikram) and the Rover (Pragyan). The Rover would be used to conduct experiments on the Moon’s surface. The mission is to land at the south pole of the moon. This would be the world’s first expedition to the south pole region of the Moon.


So what’s there in the south pole? 10 years ago the Chandrayaan-1 mission had found evidence of water on the Moon’s sub-surface. Subsequent findings have also indicated the presence of water at the poles, in the darker side.

Till now only traces of sub-surface water has been found on the Moon. However, there is a greater possibility to find water in the south pole as it has a larger surface area under a permanent shadow. The south pole also contains craters that are cold traps and contain a fossil record of the early solar system.


As explained by ISRO, the mission is to use the moon as a laboratory to better understand Earth’s history. The moon was believed to have been a part of the Earth at one point in time. The water held at the south pole of the moon might be 3-4 billion years old, containing clues of the atmosphere during the earlier days of the solar system.

Besides this, the water may also serve a utilitarian purpose as well in the distant future. Reports also suggest that ISRO would be hunting for Helium-3 as well. In future, Helium-3 could be possibly used for waste-free nuclear energy. This particular isotope is rare on Earth but is found in abundance on the moon.

“The countries which have the capacity to bring that source from the moon to Earth will dictate the process. We don’t want to be just a part of them, we want to lead them”, said ISRO chairman K Sivan.

Reportedly, Wester media and scientific journals have said that the Chandrayaan-2 would only be costing half of the budget of the Hollywood movie “Avengers Endgame”.

According to ISRO the most critical part of the mission would be the landing on the Moon’s surface. In April this year, an Israeli private mission crash-landed on the Moon’s surface.

ISRO had announced the launch date of the mission a month ago. Once launched by the GSLV rocket, the composite structure—Orbiter, Lander and Rover together—will use five orbit raising manoeuvres over 16 days before it lands on the moon. The Chandrayaan-2 mission would cost Rs 603 crore while the GSLV MK III would cost Rs 375 crore.

ISRO recently signed an MoU with the Indian Air Force (IAF) to select and train astronauts for India’s first manned mission, the Gaganyaan project. An all-weather earth observation spy satellite RISAT-2B was launched greatly boosting the country’s space capability.

Update: The Chandrayaan2 launch on 14th July was called off hours before the takeoff. The moon mission was successfully launched today from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. 

SP leader Azam Khan to be listed as land mafia on the Anti-Bhoo Mafia portal of Uttar Pradesh government

Senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan might soon be listed as a land mafia on the Anti-Bhoo Mafia (anti-land mafia) portal of the Uttar Pradesh government. Khan, who is infamous for making controversial statements, has more than 30 cases in his name. Majority of these cases relate to grabbing of land belonging either to the government or to poor farmers.

The Anti-Bhoo Mafia portal was set up by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the year 2017 to identify land mafia and register complaints relating to land grabbing. According to Ajay Pal Sharma, the Superintendent of Police, Rampur, said that Khan’s name would be recommended to be listed on the portal considering his long history of involvement in land grabbing cases.

“The District Magistrate and I would be reviewing reports (FIR/cases) of various police stations in the district which relate to land grabbed by Azam Khan or his aides. Subsequently, his name would be recommended to be listed on the land mafia portal of the government”, said Sharma.

An FIR was registered against Khan, who is a member of Parliament from Rampur, by the Revenue Department at Azim Nagar Police Station. Based on the FIR a case was also registered against him on Friday. According to the FIR, Azam Khan and Aaalehasan Khan, a former police officer and Khan’s close aid, grabbed land from 26 farmers and utilised it in the construction of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University. The University project was allegedly worth crores. The victim farmers whose lands were allegedly grabbed by Khan and were tortured to sign a forged sale deed will now file separate FIRs.

The State Revenue Department’s complaint alleges that Khan had misused his position as Cabinet Minister between 2012-17 for grabbing the land of the farmers. He is alleged to have illegally occupied 5,000 hectares of land. “This land comes under the riverside (of Kosi river) and cannot be acquired. However, revenue records were forged and subsequently, this land, worth over several hundred crores, was illegally occupied by Jauhar Ali University”, a Revenue officer said.

The SP supporters are opposing the action of the State government.

Hyderabad based TV anchor accuses ‘Bigg Boss Telugu’ organisers of demanding sexual favours, case registered

Swetha Reddy, a Hyderabad-based actress and television anchor, who was nominated for the third season of the reality show ‘Bigg Boss Telugu’, has lodged a complaint with the Banjara police in Hyderabad alleging that the organisers of the reality show asked her for sexual favours in exchange for being selected for the final round.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZphGXrI1r-k]

While speaking to news agency ANI, the Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Banjara Hills division, KS Rao said that the police have lodged a complaint against four members of the reality show at the police station, and further probe is underway based on the complaint lodged by the journalist. The accused persons have been identified as Abhishek, Ravikanth, Raghu and Shyam.

“We received a complaint on July 13 afternoon from a senior journalist and anchor stating that in March, she received a call from ‘Bigg Boss Telugu’ stating that she has been selected for its third season which will begin on July 21,” ACP Rao said.

“She accepted the offer and met four members of the reality show. As per the statement, during the meeting, those four members misbehaved with her and asked her to satisfy their boss for the final selection for the show,” he added.

The TV presenter also alleged of being body shamed by all accused during their meeting. Recalling the ordeal, Swetha said, “They (organisers) didn’t give me any agreement and asked me how I am going to satisfy the boss. They also body shamed me.”

A complaint under IPC section 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) has been registered.

The third season of Bigg Boss Telugu will be aired from July 21 on Star Maa channel. It will be hosted by superstar Akkineni Nagarjuna.

Angry mob of over 100 people barge into Emergency ward of hospital and attack doctors after patient Saira Bano died of heart-attack

A major furore erupted over the death of a patient named Saira Bano in the Lari Cardiology centre in Lucknow. After the patient’s death in the Hospital, the angry family members along with 100 other people barged into the Emergency ward and created a ruckus there. Resident doctors had to hide in the bathroom to save themselves from the public fury. After this, the agitated doctors declared strike due to which many patients had to face a lot of difficulties.

The case pertains to KGMU’s Lari Cardiology. Saira Bano, a resident of Khara, was admitted to Lari Cardiology at noon on Friday afternoon. The doctors reported that she had a minor heart attack. Resident doctors of the Lari Hospital gave her emergency treatment and stabilised her, after which she was allowed to leave. However, around at 1:30 AM in midnight, she was again having some trouble. Her family took her to the same hospital but the doctors refused to admit her as the hospital was fully occupied and there was no bed for the patient.

The family of the patient has alleged that Saira Bano died because the doctors refused to admit her in the hospital. Half an hour later, the family members came along with around 100 people of an angry mob who forcibly entered the Emergency ward and started attacking the doctors. Vice-Chancellor Prof MLB Bhatt was informed about the ongoing fracas. Even after the police’s arrival, the mob remained inside the Emergency ward. After great toil, police succeeded in getting the mob out of the Emergency ward and settle the matter.

The Emergency ward of the Lari Hospital didn’t operate for 5 hours as it was held hostage by the mob. The patients coming in for treatment were in profound distress watching the mob taking over the Emergency ward and not letting the doctors do their job. The hospital authorities put up a notice shifting their Emergency services to the Trauma centre. On the other hand, OPD also started late due to resentment among doctors.

Recently, the attack on the NRS Hospital and the Bengal police’s lack of action over the violent mob had led to nationwide protests by doctors who had demanded that the government must ensure the safety of doctors. In West Bengal alone, reportedly, there have been hundreds of attacks over doctors and medical staff in the last few years. The apathy of the TMC government and its appeasement politics were severely criticised by doctors in the state.

Almost all major hospitals and medical colleges had joined the protests against the Mamata government. The protests were only halted after CM Mamata Banerjee visited the doctors personally and assured safety and security at hospitals.

RBI to launch mobile app for currency note identification to help visually impaired people

The Reserve Bank of India will soon come up with a mobile application to help visually impaired people in identifying currency notes.

“The Reserve Bank of India has been sensitive to the challenges faced by the visually challenged in conducting their day to day business with Indian banknotes,” said the central bank which is at the moment in a lookout for a vendor to develop this particular mobile application.

The RBI said that identification of banknote denomination is key to the successful completion of cash-based transactions by visually impaired persons.

As of now, Intaglio printing based identification marks for helping the visually challenged in the identification of banknotes denomination is present in the notes of Rs 100 and above.

The proposed mobile app would be able to identify the denomination of notes of Mahatma Gandhi Series and Mahatma Gandhi (new) series. It would do this by capturing the image of the notes placed in front of the mobile camera, the RBI said while inviting bids from tech firms to develop the app. It would also generate “audio notification” intimating the currency note denomination to the user if the image is captured correctly. Else, it will intimate the user to try again in case of the image is not readable.

The central bank had last year in June declared that it would explore the feasibility of developing such a suitable device or mechanism. It had added that this would aid the visually impaired in the identification of Indian banknotes.

At present, banknotes in the denominations of Rs 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 2,000 are in circulation. Besides Re 1 notes is also issued by the Centre.

If successful, the RBI would help about 80 lakh blind or visually impaired people in the country.

Modi government 2.0’s first 100 day plan: 167 ‘transformative ideas’ shortlisted to be implemented by October 15th

Modi government 2.0 has shortlisted 167 ‘transformative ideas’ and has set an internal target of 100 days to implement the plan. The first 100 days of the Modi government’s second stint would be completed on October 15, 2019.

Cabinet secretary Pradeep K Sinha in a communication to all secretaries on July 10 said that based on the recommendations of the Sectoral Group of Secretaries, and after further consideration by the Group of Ministers, “it has been decided to implement 167 transformative ideas as the 100-day programme of the Government.”

July 5, 2019, to October 15, 2019, will be the period for implementing these ideas, which have been shortlisted after several rounds of presentations by all the ministers and top-level deliberations.

Few among the approved ideas of the Modi 2.0’s 100 days plan:

  • The department of administrative reforms and public grievances’ plan to upgrade the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System to expedite processing of public grievances.
  • Plans to launch a national e-services delivery assessment and a new Central Secretariat Office Manual of Office Procedure.
  • The human resource development ministry has been tasked with launching a mega drive to fill up 300,000 faculty vacancies across all higher education institute.
  • The ministry of culture shall ensure completion of the structure of the museum on prime ministers of India at Nehru Memorial Museum & Library.
  • The inauguration of three new barrack museums at Red Fort.
  • Several activities associated with the commemoration of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary.

The officials maintained that the idea behind the 100-day plan is to ensure that the Modi government 2.0 wastes no time in deciding its course of action. It added that the BJP-led government had begun preparations for this, even as the Lok Sabha elections were underway.

Meanwhile, Sinha’s communication accessed by the Economic Times confirmed that the secretaries have been tasked with implementing these ideas under their own supervision. The cabinet secretary has also said he will be monitoring the progress of this ‘100-day plan’ through weekly status reports that each secretary will be expected to send to him every Friday by 5 pm.

Performance monitoring of the 100-days plan

Further, all ministries have been asked to put out performance monitoring dashboards on all major the major schemes that would be worked on so as to enable public access to the progress made on these schemes. Moreover, according to officials, a consolidation of training institutions and printing presses under every ministry has also been sought.

Keeping up the promises made in the election manifesto, the Modi government, almost immediately after taking an oath for its second tenure, kickstarted India’s road-building mission with an ambitious and exacting daily target of several kilometres of newly built roads.

Moreover, keeping up to another key promise, that is the promise of roads in even the smallest and remotest hamlet, the Modi government is also planning to connect all villages with roads, irrespective of the villages’ size or population, before the Prime Minister’s Independence Day speech on August 15.

This will mark a departure from the policy to date under which roads connected all houses in villages with more than 500 persons in the plains and more than 250 persons in hilly areas.

In addition to this, the Modi government also plans to build 5,000 kilometres of roads by 2022 in areas which have been already identified by the Home Ministry. Moreover, in the next five years, around 18,000 kilometres of roads built under the initial phases of PMGSY will now be widened and strengthened.

Recently, Union Minister of Agriculture, Radha Mohan Singh had elaborated on the steps that had been taken to improve the affairs of the agricultural sector by Modi government 2.0. Singh reaffirmed the government’s commitment toward doubling farmers’ income.

Moreover, Modi himself, on June 20, interacted with farmers across the country via the NaMo app and reasserted his government’s commitment to its goal for India’s agriculture sector of doubling farmers’ income by 2022.

Recently, Minister of Commerce and Industries, Suresh Prabhu had also announced that the UAE and Saudi Arabia had decided to use India to address their food security concerns and that the two countries were looking to invest in the agricultural sector in India. He had further stated that the NDA government has removed restrictions on organic and processed products which will benefit Indian farmers who are looking for a higher price for their products.