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Arnab takes dig at ‘unemployed journalist of Radia fame’ without naming anyone, Barkha hits back

OpIndia Staff
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Arnab takes dig at ‘unemployed journalist of Radia fame’ without naming anyone, Barkha hits back

The quintessential face of the Congress media ecosystem – Barkha Dutt, has scored a massive self-goal on Thursday. Barkha Dutt proceeded to humiliate herself after she reacted to a statement made by Republic TV Chief Arnab Goswami without realising that there was no specific reference to her in those statements.

The heartburn for Barkha Dutt comes as a result of a series of events that took place after ’eminent intellectuals’ wrote a letter to the Prime Minister against ‘rising intolerance’ in the country after BJP came back to power.

On Wednesday, Arnab Goswami had ‘hacked’ into the press conference of ‘intellectual’ Aparna Sena to pose twelve questions at these ‘achievers’ who had alleged the rise of hate crimes across the country.

However, Barkha Dutt seems to have got triggered after Arnab Goswami exposed these political lobbyists masquerading as intellectuals. A ‘hurt’ Barkha Dutt targetted Arnab Goswami and insinuated that what he did was not journalism. Barkha said if what Arnab Goswami did was journalism, she was the Prime Minister of India.


On Thursday, Arnab Goswami began his show by targetting some of the ‘journalists’ for having an ‘opinion’ on him. In an indirect attack, Arnab Goswami made references to certain ‘unemployed’ and ‘permanently unemployable’ journalist, without making any direct reference to Barkha Dutt or any other specific journalist. He has also targetted them for writing a ‘500$ sell-out piece’ for some American piece of crap.


However, the generalised reference made by Arnab Goswami seems to have hit Barkha Dutt where it hurts her the most.

As soon as the video went viral, an upset Barkha Dutt posted her reactions on Twitter. ‘An anchor spent more minutes to huffing, puffing, frothing, fuming against her after she had punctured his bombast’, wrote Barkha Dutt. Barkha Dutt took offence to Arnab Goswami attack on some ‘unemployable’ journalists jibe despite the fact that he did not make any reference to her. By dragging herself, Barkha Dutt has now put her foot in the mouth and ended up embarrassing herself.


This is not the first time that Barkha Dutt has taken offence after Arnab Goswami exposed some of the icons of the Congress-backed Lutyens media ecosystem. In 2016, Arnab Goswami had launched a monologue against a set of “pseudo-liberals”, who he did not name. But, he had asked specific questions of those people who were known for toeing Pakistani line, projecting a terrorist as an innocent, people who had given away operational details of the movement of the armed forces.

Barkha Dutt, who was one of those people who ticked all those boxes, got extremely agitated and had targetted Arnab Goswami, who was then in Times Now.

Arnab Goswami had also slammed Editor Guild’s Chief Shekhar Gupta and his print for being the beneficiaries the ‘Freebie’ culture and stated that there is a section of Lutyens Delhi elites who have lived on freebies all their lives and they are the people who hail and celebrate this freebie culture.

Arnab had also emphasized some ‘UnPrintable’ facts where a certain journalist, allegedly Shekhar Gupta, had obtained lands in Chhatarpur to build large farmhouses in the name of NGOs. He added that there are journalists who had obtained cars from private companies during the 2g case.

62 celebrities write an open letter to point out hypocrisy of the ‘achievers’ who wrote an open letter on ‘rising intolerance’

OpIndia Staff
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62 celebrities write an open letter to point out hypocrisy of the ‘achievers’ who wrote an open letter on ‘rising intolerance’

62 celebrities and artists including film star Kangana Ranaut, lyricist Prasoon Joshi, classical dancer and MP Sonal Mansingh, filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, Vivek Agnihotri have written an open letter against ‘selective outrage and false narratives’.

The letter is in response to the letter written by ‘achievers’ who had written to PM Modi on ‘rising intolerance’. The 62 celebrities say that the previous letter by ‘achievers’ express selective concern and demonstrated clear political bias and motive.

Calling the letter as an ‘attempt to foist a false narrative with an intention of denigrating the democratic ethos and norms of our collective functioning as a nation’, the 62 undersigned say that their concern ‘smacks of dishonesty and opportunism’.

Open letter by 62 celebrities (image: ANI)

The letter further points out the hypocrisy of the 49 ‘achievers’ by stating their silence on other hate crimes where they remained uncomfortably silent. They also question their silence when the widely pedalled ‘hate crimes’ turned out to be false cases. The silence on political murders and violence in West Bengal under Mamata Banerjee is also questioned by these celebrities.

Open letter by 62 celebrities (image: ANI)

The celebrities assert that they are confident that India shall continue to develop and progress without paying heed to the ones with those who want to destabilise the country.

Signatories of letter (image: ANI)
Signatories of letter (image: ANI)
Signatories of letter (image: ANI)

In the letter dated to 23rd July 2019, 49 celebrities, including filmmakers like Anurag Kashyap, Konkana Sen Sharma, Mani Ratnam, Aparna Sen and many others, wrote to PM Narendra Modi, stating that they are ‘deeply concerned’ about a number of tragic events that have been happening in the country in recent times. The letter said claimed that ‘Jai Shri Ram is now a provocative ‘War-cry’. One of the signatories to the letter is a convicted Naxalite, Binayak Sen.

BJP stakes claim to form government in Karnataka, Yeddyurappa to take oath as CM at 6 PM

OpIndia Staff
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BJP stakes claim to form government in Karnataka, Yeddyurappa to take oath as CM at 6 PM

Days after the fall of the HD Kumaraswamy led Congress-JDS government in Karnataka, BJP leader and CM candidate BS Yeddyurappa arrived to meet the governor today and staked claim to form the government.

Yeddyurappa will take oath as the CM today evening at 6 PM. The BJP will have to prove their majority by 31st July.

It is notable here that the Karnataka government led by HD Kumaraswamy had fallen three days ago after failing the floor test. An intense political drama that has been unfolding in Karnataka since earlier this month has seen many rebel MLAs from Congress and the JDS hole up inside resorts. The coalition has been alleging that BJP has poached its MLAs to dethrone the government.

Yesterday, 3 rebel MLAs Ramesh Jarkiholi, R Shankar and Mahesh K were disqualified by the speaker.

Note: The story has been edited to reflect latest changes.

Azam Khan should be appreciated: NCP’s Majeed Memon endorses sexist ‘poetry’ on BJP MP Rama Devi

OpIndia Staff
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Azam Khan should be appreciated: NCP’s Majeed Memon endorses sexist ‘poetry’ on BJP MP Rama Devi

A day after Azam Khan’s sexist remarks against BJP MP Rama Devi created a massive outrage in the Lok Sabha, NCP ‘s Majeed Memon has now stood behind the Samajwadi Party (SP) leader stating that the comment made by Azam Khan was not disrespectful and should be seen as something said in appreciation.

According to an ANI, the NCP leader said, “What he (Azam Khan) has said does not seem to be offensive. He did not say it meaning any disrespect to the honourable chairperson. I don’t think Azam Khan would do such a stupid thing. I don’t think an issue is to be made out of this. On the contrary, it may be taken as a complimentary comment for which there should be appreciation.”


On Thursday, Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan had stoked controversy in the Lok Sabha with his sexist and disrespectful remarks against BJP member Rama Devi, who was presiding over the House. During the debate of Triple Talaq Bill, Speaker Rama Devi had asked Azam Khan to speak looking at the chair and address the house through the presiding officer.

Reacting to this, Azam Khan told BJP MP Rama Devi, acting chair of the Parliament, that he wished to stare into her eyes for an eternity. He further said that he likes her so much that he wants to keep staring into her eyes and that he will keep staring at her until she feels compelled to tell him to stop staring at her.

MP Rama Devi was visibly upset with Khan’s remarks and ordered them to be expunged from the records. She told him that it wasn’t an appropriate way to talk to her. Other members of the Parliament, too, were outraged by Khan’s conduct and demanded that he apologize.

Most shockingly, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav, however, found nothing wrong with it. He said that Khan’s remarks were nothing but ‘poetry’.

Bangladeshi cow smugglers tie explosives to cows neck, throw them in river to discourage the BSF from intercepting at West Bengal border

OpIndia Staff
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Bangladeshi cow smugglers tie explosives to cows neck, throw them in river to discourage the BSF from intercepting at West Bengal border

Bangladeshi cow smugglers on the India-Bangladesh border at West Bengal have come up with a cruel and dangerous modus operandi to smuggle the cattle. The BSF on Thursday recovered cows with IED (improvised explosive devices) tied around their necks. The IEDs were aimed at the BSF troops who would try to intercept the cow smuggling and catch the smugglers.

The BSF officials say this is the cruelest method of cow smuggling they have come across since this poses a threat to both, the cow as well as the BSF personnel. Some cows were recovered from the river near the Haradurga border post along with south Bengal frontier. These cattle had an IED placed inside an aluminium canister and tied around their necks. The cows were then tied with banana trunks and ropes and dropped in a river from Murshidabad, North 24 Parganas.

In total 365 cattle which were being smuggled were recovered by the BSF since Wednesday. The BSF is currently studying the IED tied to the cows to scare off the BSF troops.

Earlier this month, a BSF jawan had lost his hand after cattle smugglers from Bangladesh hurled bombs at him. Around 25 cattle smugglers had entered 200 mtrs into the Indian side of the border with the help of local villagers. BSF constable Anisur Rehman suffered pellet injuries to his lungs, liver and stomach from two country-made bombs thrown at him. The smugglers were armed with bombs, dahs (cleaver-shaped weapon), axes, bamboo sticks among others.

Exclusive: DD National instructed to discontinue re-run of series by Yoga instructor Ira Trivedi, other DD channels issued advisory

Nupur J Sharma
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Exclusive: DD National instructed to discontinue re-run of series by Yoga instructor Ira Trivedi, other DD channels issued advisory

A tweet by Doordarshan (DD National) had inspired outrage on Social Media after Yoga instructor Ira Trivedi was all set to appear on the channel hosting a Yoga show called “Yoga with Ira Trivedi” which was set to air on Friday, 6:30 AM.


Soon after the tweet by DD National, several netizens started posting several of Ira Trivedi’s old interviews and tweets where had proven herself to be anti-Hindu. In a 2017 interview that went viral on Social Media, Ira Trivedi had described beef as the ‘cheapest source of protein’. Ira Trivedi was talking about the ban on beef. According to her beef is an important source of protein for the malnourished and that the ban on beef would be unfair, especially to the Muslim community.

Several tweets of hers also went viral where she had proclaimed that the Quran is actually a progressive text and modern Hinduism is regressive.

After the outrage, Shashi Shekhar, who is the CEO of Prasar Bharati had responded to one such netizen taking cognisance of the complaint raised. He had even asked his team to investigate and respond to the complaint.


Speculations of Ira Trivedi being fired from DD National started gaining ground after a tweet by DD National for the same Friday 6:30 AM show indicated that it would be hosted not by Ira Trivedi but Yoga instructor Yagini Muthanna.


According to OpIndia sources, the show by Ira Trivedi that was set to be aired on DD National was a re-run of previously recorded episodes and DD National has now been instructed to discontinue airing the re-runs of the show hosted by Ira Trivedi. Other Doordarshan channels have been sent advisories to that effect.

The series that was hosted by Ira Trivedi was produced by Doordarshan Delhi as part of a series of different yoga programmes produced to highlight yoga prior to the International day of yoga in 2017. The series comprised of 60 episodes, the reruns of which have now been pulled off-air.

Currently, there is no contractual obligation between Doordarshan and Ira Trivedi, confirmed OpIndia sources.

Former Indian diplomat says Referendum 2020 movement backed by Pakistan’s ISI lacks mass support

OpIndia Staff
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Former Indian diplomat says Referendum 2020 movement backed by Pakistan’s ISI lacks mass support

Former Indian diplomat Ashok Sajjanhar said despite Pakistan’s backing “Referendum 2020” has failed to gain mass support. He asserted that in spite of Pakistan funding the banned Sikh fundamental groups including Babbar Khalsa International and Khalistan Commando Force, the movement has failed to attain the desired push.

Former Indian diplomat says "Referendun 2020" has failed to gain mass support.
Former Indian diplomat said despite Pakistan’s backing, “Referendum 2020” has failed to gain mass support.

Sajjanhar has served as an ambassador to Kazakhstan, Sweden, and Latvia claimed Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s spy agency has a hand behind plottings against India.

“There are enemies of India, like Pakistan, who want to wake up the issue of Khalistan. They have been trying to provoke the Sikhs of India and incite them but have not been successful in any way,” Sajjanhar said.

He added the whole idea of “Referendum 2020” to demand a separate state by Sikhs has failed to amass the required support. He further went on to suggest that various critical forces were working hard to incite this movement but would fail to drive it in any significant manner.

Comparing the motives of the neighbouring countries, he added India intends to maintain stability in the region through an agreement on Kartarpur Corridor. While Pakistan was fanning the Khalistan movement by pledging its support to separatist organizations like Sikhs for Justice.

Sajjanhar further added Sikhs have more right to their historical Sikh shrines located within Pakistan. “Hundreds of Sikh religious places are located in Pakistan. So, how will all these things be included in the idea of Khalistan?” he questioned.

Pointing to the territorial and political position of Punjab, he said Sikhs are not in majority as the state comprises Hindus, and Muslims, among others. He debunked the theory stating, “So, in any sense of the world this idea is not viable.”

Punjab has in the past, suffered enormously from a decade long militancy in the 1980s. Towards the mid-199s the Khalistani movement fizzed away paving way for peace and prosperity in the state.

Meanwhile, the people in Punjab have demanded strict action against the plotters of “Referendum 2020” living abroad.

Amidst acute economic crisis, Pakistan federal minister daydreams sending first Pakistani to space by 2022

OpIndia Staff
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Amidst acute economic crisis, Pakistan federal minister daydreams sending first Pakistani to space by 2022

Even as Pakistan continues to be in the throes of dire economic crisis, with no reliable solution in sight, Pakistan federal minister for Science and Technology, Fawad Hussain had Twitterverse in splits with his lofty goal of sending first Pakistani national to Space by 2022.


Hussain posted a tweet claiming that the process of selecting the first Pakistani to space will commence in 2020 and by 2022 the first person will be sent to space. He said that by February next year, 50 people will be shortlisted, which will come down to 25 and from them one will be selected. He also hailed it as Pakistan’s biggest space event in its history.

This tweet by the Pakistani minister has obviously come in response to India’s latest space mission, the Chandrayaan-2, which was successfully launched on July 22. This is India’s second mission to moon, and the first to involve landing a rover on the earth’s only natural satellite.

While the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is traversing around the world from one country to the other, literally and metaphorically carrying a begging bowl with him, grovelling to the respective state heads to sanction financial aids for lifting Pakistan out of the spiralling economic catastrophe, the Science and Technology Minister of Pakistan, on the other hand, is busy deluding the gullible Pakistanis into believing that their country is capable of achieving such an ambitious feat, much less being financially strong enough to pull it off.

The outrageous assertion made by Pakistani minister Fawad Hussain elicited hilarious reactions from the Twitteratis who not only mocked and ridiculed his claim but also poked fun at Pakistan’s rapidly shrinking economy and the country’s alacrity to support terrorism.

Taking a dig at Pakistan, one Twitter user dryly remarked that now Terrorists trained by ISI will go to Space.


Another Twitter user mocked Pakistan’s current state by stating that now Pakistanis will ask for money from the aliens.


Talking about the abject situation in Pakistan, one Pakistani Twitter user said that 50 is too less a number and that the entire population will apply for going to the Space.


One Twitter rightly pointed out the incoherencies accompanying Fawad Hussain’s statements. He said Pakistan has not been able to send a single satellite in Space but it expects the world to believe that it will send a manned mission in Space.


One Pakistani ironically questioned the entire worth of the project of sending men into Space. The user questioned what would they do in Space, just watch the stars and moon and then return back?


Space expedition is a niche field that requires scientific acumen and the ability to make large investments to fund concomitant space research, both of which are not particularly Pakistanis’ forte. Pakistan, who still relies on its all-weather ally China to send its satellites to Space, to claim that they will send a manned mission in Space by 2022 is not just a wishful thinking but a delusional fantasy.

30 convicted illegal immigrants lodged in Assam jails deported to Bangladesh

OpIndia Staff
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30 convicted illegal immigrants lodged in Assam jails deported to Bangladesh

30 Bangladeshi nationals who were lodged in Assam jails for illegally entering India were deported back to their country through Kalibari ghat border in Assam’s Karimganj district on Thursday.

According to the reports, these 30 Bangladeshi nationals, including 3 women, had illegally entered India without valid documents. They were kept in various detention centres in Assam after the local courts convicted them of illegal immigration.

Karimganj Superintendent of Police, Manavendra Debroy said, “In all 30 people were deported back to Bangladesh. They were sent back in groups of 5 after completion of formalities and handed over to Bangladesh authorities.”

Illegal Bangladeshi immigrants are different from ‘declared foreigners’ who are kept in detention centres for their inability to prove they are Indian citizens. Those deported today were ‘convicted foreigners’ who entered India without valid documents.

They were imprisoned in detention centres inside jails in Cachar, Kokrajhar, Tezpur, Goalpara and Jorhat districts of the northeastern state. There are about 6 detention centres in Assam where people who are declared foreigners by foreigners’ tribunals are kept.

The decision to send back 30 Bangladeshi nationals comes on the heels of Home Minister Amit Shah’s declaration that not a single illegal immigrant and infiltrator will be spared and the government will be committed to identifying and deporting each one of them.

Sources claim there are 60 more Bangladesh nationals lodged in various detention centres convicted of illegally crossing over into India from Bangladesh. In the past too, the government had deported back illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Last July, 52 of them were deported back while in January this year, another 21 were sent back to Bangladesh.

Yoga teacher Ira Trivedi takes a u-turn after social media outrage over her anti-Hindu and beef promotion posts, says she loves Hindu Dharma

OpIndia Staff
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Yoga teacher Ira Trivedi takes a u-turn after social media outrage over her anti-Hindu and beef promotion posts, says she loves Hindu Dharma

A self-proclaimed yoga teacher, Ira Trivedi, who runs a show on national broadcaster Doordarshan, has taken to Twitter today to proclaim that she is a strict vegetarian and respects Hindu religion.


She added that she promotes vegetarian diet to all those who practice yoga. She also said how her tweets on Hinduism were out of context.


It all started yesterday when her 2017 interview with CNN News 18 went viral on social media. In the video, she describes beef as the ‘cheapest source of protein’. Ira Trivedi was talking about the ban on beef. According to her beef is an important source of protein for the malnourished and that the ban on beef would be unfair, especially to the Muslim community.


Ira is the granddaughter of Congress leader and ex-union minister VC Shukla.


He was the Information and Broadcasting Minister in the Indira Gandhi government and a close associate of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi. During his tenure, he was notorious for muzzling the press. He was the Congress leader who banned Kishor Kumar’s songs from AIR and Doordarshan.

However many pointed out that she was making factually incorrect statements and showed why beef wasn’t the cheapest source of protein.


After the video went viral, several screenshots of her previous tweets were also widely shared. In one of the tweets, Ira says the Quran is a progressive text and labelled modern-day Hinduism as regressive. In response to this Ira Trivedi claimed that her tweets have been taken out of context. However, Twitterati wasn’t satisfied with her apology.


Several users were astonished by her anti-Hindu statements, labelling her as “Hinduphobic”. Users also questioned the Doordarshan for choosing her as a host for one of their programmes. Ira Trivedi hosts the show “Yoga with Ira Trivedi” on the national broadcaster.


In response to one of the tweets, the CEO of Prasar Bharati Shashi Shekhar had taken note of the issue and forwarded it to the Director-General of Doordarshan.


Ashok Shrivastav, a TV journalist for DD had also questioned Doordarshan for choosing Ira Trivedi as the host. Ira Trivedi had also tweeted an apology to him.

In October last year, as the #MeToo movement gained momentum, Ira Trivedi had accused Chetan Bhagat of trying to forcefully kiss her as well as of inappropriate behaviour. This evoked a response from Chetan Bhagat who shared screenshot of her email which she had signed off as ‘miss u kiss u’.

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