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HDFC Bank promises ‘appropriate action’ against employee for exercising his constitutional right, people threaten boycott

OpIndia Staff
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HDFC Bank promises ‘appropriate action’ against employee for exercising his constitutional right, people threaten boycott

A journalist employed by the AFP news agency, Uzair Hasan Rizvi, has implored HDFC Bank to act against one of its employees for views he calls ‘Islamophobic’ and ‘Xenophobic’. He has also tagged Mumbai Police suggesting that the person he is accusing of bigotry is in need of counselling.


In the concerned post, a data scientist had suggested that in light of the partition since Hindus were not given an opportunity to express their opinion on the matter of India becoming a secular country and giving citizenship to Muslims, there ought to be a Brexit-style referendum where Hindus can register their opinion. According to him, “a bunch of elitists” forced their personal idea of India upon the Hindus of the country.

In response to Rizvi’s tweet, HDFC has stated that it has taken cognizance of the matter and will take appropriate action against the individual concerned.


HDFC’s tweet has sparked outrage among people on social media who claim that the employee was merely expressing his constitutional right of freedom of expression. People further stated that he was not threatening violence or forcing his opinion down anyone’s throat.


People have also threatened to boycott HDFC if any adverse action is taken against the employee for his opinions.


It is also notable here that the journalist who accused the concerned HDFC employee with Islamophobia has his own history of Hinduphobia. In 2017, he had shared a tweet branding the Hindu custom of ‘Ayudh Puja’ during the Vijaya Dashami celebrations in Bengal as ‘Saffron camp learning from Godse’.

The attempt to have employees sacked for expressing their opinions and branding any general observation as ‘Islamophobia’ is not new. Last year, a celebrated Indian chef Atul Kochhar was hounded by such so-called ‘secular liberals’ after he tried to highlight that Hindus have suffered under Muslim invaders in India, a plain historical fact.

Recently, a doctor in the UK was accused of Islamophobia and is on the verge of losing his job after his simple act of asking a woman to lift her veil so he could hear her talk regarding her daughter’s illness was termed as ‘discrimination’.

The series of events will also bring into focus the debate on whether private companies ought to regulate the freedom of expression of its employees beyond the regulations imposed by the Constitution of India.

Breaking: Attempted break-in carried out at IAF Rafale project management team in Paris suburb

OpIndia Staff
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Breaking: Attempted break-in carried out at IAF Rafale project management team in Paris suburb

As per reports, a break-in attempt was made in the Indian Air Force’s Rafale Project Management Team in a Paris suburb on Sunday night.


As per reports, an Indian team headed by a Group Captain rank officer is in France to oversee the 36 Rafale aircraft production as well as training of Indian personnel there. The Defence Ministry has been briefed about the incident by the Indian Air Force.

Businessman’s ex-driver kidnaps his son, a class one student for ransom, shoots himself after retaliation by UP Police

OpIndia Staff
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Businessman’s ex-driver kidnaps his son, a class one student for ransom, shoots himself after retaliation by UP Police

In an unexpected turn of events, an ex-driver of Abhishek Singh, a businessman in Prayagraj, who kidnapped the contractor’s son for a ransom of Rs 3 crore shot himself when countered by the Uttar Pradesh Police.

The incident occurred when the Uttar Pradesh police corned the kidnapper, Sanjay Yadav, in Suriyawan area in Bhadohi district, Prayagraj, after putting his mobile phone on surveillance. The UP police tracked the kidnapper’s location and reached the spot where the kidnapper fled with the child in a red car. Realising that he has been cornered the abductor open fired at the police. This invited retaliation from the police force. Intimidated by the retaliation the accused shot himself.

The police rushed him to the nearest hospital where he was declared dead. The child, Ranvir Singh, was rescued safely and handed over to his family. Ranvir Singh is a student of class one studying in St. Joseph’s College.

The ex-driver, Sanjay Yadav, resident of Katak Jhansi kidnapped Ranvir, around 6 pm from the gymnastics hall of Boys High School and College located in the Civil Lines area of Prayagraj where the child went for extra classes.

Ranvir’s father, Abhishek Singh had dismissed Sanjay Yadav from his job a few months ago. Yadav reached the gymnastics hall of Boys High School and College and told Ranvir’s instructor that it was Ranvir’s birthday next week and he needs to take him for shopping.

Since the teacher recognised Yadav he did not smell anything fishy and he let the child go.

Yadav took Ranvir away and later called Abhishek Singh to inform that his son has been kidnapped and would be released for a ransom of Rs 3 crores.

Abhishek immediately informed the UP Police who were quick to respond. Several officers including SP city Brajesh Shrivastav reached Singh’s house. In an exemplary display of alertness, the Uttar Pradesh police put the abductors’ phone on surveillance and successfully traced the kidnapper’s location and rescued the child.

In another unique encounter by the Uttar Pradesh police, the personnel had shouted ‘thain thain’ as an attempt to echo the sound of a gunshot to intimidate criminals during an encounter in Sambhal after his revolver got jammed. However, it was later reported that in the same encounter a criminal was arrested after being shot at in the leg.

AAP’s Sanjay Singh wants Arnab Goswami to either go to a mental asylum, be jailed or drowned

Nirwa Mehta
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AAP’s Sanjay Singh wants Arnab Goswami to either go to a mental asylum, be jailed or drowned

One of the biggest takeaways of 2019 Lok Sabha elections is that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders have lowered the bar of decency in the political discourse to such an extent that only another AAP leader can only lower it further. With 2019 Lok Sabha election results less than 24 hours away, seems like AAP leaders are the biggest casualties in losing their senses.

From AAP chief floating conspiracy theory that PM Modi wants him assassinated to their social media teammate sharing dubious links of shady websites to allege ‘switchover’ of EVMs, AAP has set such standards that nothing seems outlandish anymore.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP and senior leader Sanjay Singh today took to Twitter to share a video clip of Republic TV Editor Arnab Goswami where Arnab is mocking how the Opposition parties are riding on the ‘EVMs are hacked’ bogey.


In it, Arnab mocks AAP leaders as well and says how AAP may not even get 100 seats in Delhi.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh then responded to the tweet by saying that Arnab should be sent to a mental asylum in Agra.


To that, an RJD MP quipped that Agra asylum is running at full capacity. Sanjay Singh then responded by saying how he should then be sent off to Andaman, which is famous for its now-defunct cellular jail or be drowned in the Indian Ocean.


Sanjay Singh is often caught making derogatory comments, including against the judiciary. Recently, in a big setback to AAP, the Supreme Court has refused to give a hearing to the plea of AAP Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh after the top court found that the earlier statements made by Sanjay Singh against judiciary were derogatory.

Sanjay Singh had questioned the neutrality of the Supreme Court after its split verdict on power-sharing in Delhi. Criticising the Supreme court judgment, Singh had tweeted in Hindi, “Does the Supreme Court not pronounce verdicts against the interests of Modiji? The central government lied in the court on corruption in Rafale (deal), but SC was silent. Did the SC give a verdict on CBI or was it a joke? Played with the emotion of crores of people of Delhi. Is this the Supreme Court or local court of Tehsil?” In a separate tweet he had asked whether the SC has lost its dignity.

Madhya Pradesh: Congress govt to reopen 12-year old murder case against Sadhvi Pragya in which she was earlier acquitted

OpIndia Staff
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Madhya Pradesh: Congress govt to reopen 12-year old murder case against Sadhvi Pragya in which she was earlier acquitted

After the Exit Polls predicted a victory for Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur from Bhopal, the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has announced that it is planning to reopen a 12-year old murder case against the BJP Lok Sabha candidate.

State Law Minister, P C Sharma, on Tuesday, said that the government will seek a legal opinion of reopening the murder case of ex-RSS pracharak Sunil Joshi in which Pragya Singh was acquitted. “We will seek a legal opinion on that report and then take a decision about moving a higher court,” he said.

According to Sharma, the district collector then took the decision to shut the case by himself without consulting the law department for a legal opinion on the matter. “The district collector should have sent the report to the law department instead of deciding that there was no need to move a higher court,” he said.

The BJP, for its part, has dubbed the move as political vendetta. “It looks like the MP government is going to take this decision because Pragya Thakur contested the election as BJP candidate against Congress’ Digvijaya Singh. This is politics of revenge,” state BJP spokesman, Rajnish Agrawal, said.

Sadhvi Pragya has found herself in a hub of controversy after her nomination from Bhopal where she is up against Congress stalwart Digvijay Singh. Recently, her Godse remark earned her a strong condemnation from the Prime Minister himself.

She is currently out on bail in the Malegaon blast case. The BJP has consistently maintained that her candidature is a mark of protest against the Congress’ Hindu Terror initiative.

Congress leader Udit Raj accuses Supreme Court of ‘rigging the polls’

OpIndia Staff
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Congress leader Udit Raj accuses Supreme Court of ‘rigging the polls’

Congress leader Udit Raj accused the Supreme Court of rigging the Lok Sabha elections in a tweet posted on Monday.

Udit Raj tweet accusing Supreme Court

He had tweeted in Hindi, “Why doesn’t the Supreme Court want to count all VVPAT slips? Are they also involved in the rigging? Due to the poll process government work is slowed down for 3 months, what difference does it make if it takes 2-3 days to count?”

He questioned whether the Supreme Court was involved in the alleged rigging of the elections following its decision yesterday where the court dismissed a petition seeking 100% matching of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) with the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during the counting of votes on 23rd May and termed it nonsense.

Udit Raj has also been previously caught spreading fake news after joining the Congress party. He has been angry with the BJP ever since he was denied a ticket by the party for the Lok Sabha Elections.

Ever since the Exit Polls for the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections were released, the Opposition parties have initiated a concerted effort to discredit the EVMs used in these elections. The Congress President, the Deputy CM of Delhi from the Aam Aadmi Party, numerous other senior politicians from other Opposition parties and even some journalists have been peddling fake news and bizarre allegations against EVMs.

On Monday, AAP’s social media team member Savita Anand had peddled a fake ‘news telecast’ made by a dubious ‘Tricolour News Network’.

Yesterday, several journalists had tried to peddle the baseless claims and videos being circulated on social media. The ECI had debunked the claims of EVM replacement or safety issues by issuing clarifications, reinforced by support from representatives of candidates at each location concerned, removing all doubts and aspersions.

Amidst the EVM hacking propaganda spined by various opposition parties, the Election Commission Tuesday set up a 24-hour control room at the Nirvachan Sadan, New Delhi, to monitor complaints relating to EVMs.

Relax, DD’s iconic Satyam Shivam Sundaram logo is not being changed, yet

OpIndia Staff
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Relax, DD’s iconic Satyam Shivam Sundaram logo is not being changed, yet

Recently Prasar Bharti, the statutory autonomous body that manages All India Radio and Doordarshan, India’s public service broadcasters, had tweeted saying that it had selected the top 5 logos from the Doordarshan logo contest.


The tweet stated that over 10,000 entries were received for the said contest. Media reports stated that the public broadcaster is about to change its iconic logo for Doordarshan, that had been familiar for countless Indians over the years. DD’s logo and music are often cited among the most nostalgic childhood memories by many.

Reports have stated that the 5 shortlisted logos will earn prize money of Rs 1 lakh each for their creators and as a new government takes charge, DD will probably be seen with a brand new logo.

Following the news, many Twitter users also expressed their concerns. Some were concerned over the new designs and the lack of the Sanskrit text “Satyam Shivam Sundaram” that had been a part of the DD logo since its inception.


It is notable here that the original DD logo was designed by Debashish Bhattacharya, a former student of the National Institute of Design. The logo represented the human eye with the concept of the Chinese philosophical symbol of ‘Yin and Yang’.

Over the years, though the colour scheme and background has been modified to fit modern tastes, the basic design had remained the same. Different variations of the same logo have been used for different channels under DD.

Following the reactions on Twitter, Shashi Shekhar, the CEO of Prasar Bharti clarified that the shortlisted logos are the winners of a contest in 2017 and there is no immediate plan to change the iconic DD logo. He further added that a variant of one of the shortlisted designs was used recently for the new look of DD India, Doordarshan’s English News channel.


DD’s logo, its introductory music and the Sanskrit words “Satyam Shivam Sundaram” have been a part of childhood for many Indians who cherish them as fond memories. Though the onset of private channels has flooded the TV viewing experience for Indians, DD always maintains a special place. Even if DD decides to revamp its logo, people perhaps would love to see a more stylish version of the same logo that they identify with so much.

Amidst the EVM row, Election Commission sets up 24-hour control room to monitor complaints relating to EVMs

OpIndia Staff
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Amidst the EVM row, Election Commission sets up 24-hour control room to monitor complaints relating to EVMs

Amidst the EVM hacking propaganda spined by various opposition parties, the Election Commission Tuesday set up a 24-hour control room at the Nirvachan Sadan, New Delhi, to monitor complaints relating to EVMs.

“The complaints related to storage issues at strongrooms, security of strongrooms, permissions to candidates to post their agents at strongrooms, CCTV monitoring, movement of any EVMs, and any complaints during counting related to EVMs can be informed at control room, number is 011-23052123 (with 5 hunting lines),” the EC said.

Ever since the Exit Polls for the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections were released, the Opposition parties have initiated a concerted effort to discredit the EVMs used in these elections. The Congress President, the Deputy CM of Delhi from the Aam Aadmi Party, numerous other senior politicians from other Opposition parties and even some journalists have been peddling fake news and bizarre allegations against EVMs.

In the latest bid, 21 opposition parties met the officials of the Election Commission of India (EC) on Tuesday to submit a memorandum duly signed by their party representatives claiming that EVM guidelines were flouted during the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.

Under such circumstances, the EC has issued clarifications saying that it would like to “emphatically and unambiguously” clarify that all such reports and allegations are “absolutely false and factually incorrect.”

”The visuals aired on TV and social media do not pertain to any EVMs used during the polls”, it furthered.

The EC had also stated that post-polls all EVMs and VVPATs are brought under security cover to designated strongrooms, which are sealed with double locks in the presence of candidates and observers of the commission. The entire process of storage and sealing of the strongroom is video recorded.

“Continuous CCTV camera coverage is done till completion of counting. Each strongroom is guarded with round-the-clock security by Central Armed Police Forces”, it said.

To add insult to injury, former President Pranab Mukherjee has hailed the EC for conducting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections ‘perfectly.’

What is more appalling is that despite the Supreme Court dismissing the petition to seek 100% matching of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during the counting of votes on May 23, the opposition parties are in no mood to relent from cooking up unnecessary controversies.

However, all the speculations and bickering will soon be put to rest after the curtains to the election results are drawn on May 23.

India has 90 crore eligible voters, ‘journalists’ and opposition claim votes of 400 crore voters are ‘missing’

OpIndia Staff
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India has 90 crore eligible voters, ‘journalists’ and opposition claim votes of 400 crore voters are ‘missing’

As the exit polls predicted an NDA victory in the Lok Sabha elections, opposition leaders and some ‘journalists’ who actually seem to be working as media representatives of the opposition parties have been going full throttle to peddle lies and outlandish claims concerning EVMs. These logic-defying claims are not only undermining the credibility of the Election Commission of India but also cast doubt on the election process, thereby attempting to disregard the public mandate.

Yesterday, several journalists had tried to peddle the baseless claims and videos being circulated on social media. The ECI had debunked the claims of EVM replacement or safety issues by issuing clarifications, reinforced by support from representatives of candidates at each location concerned, removing all doubts and aspersions.

However, some ‘journalists’ have not stopped their attempts to spread fake news.  ‘Journalist’ Saba Naqvi, who has been called out for being an AAP cheerleader time and again, was found peddling a lie published by AAP propaganda blog Janta Ka Reporter.

Via Twitter

Saba attempted to spread the ‘EVM replacement’ lie that was already clarified by ECI. To reinforce the lie, she shared a report by the pro-AAP blog that was already busted for its fake news. When Saba says 20 lakh EVMs are missing, she essentially says votes of 400 crore voters have gone missing. A single EVM can store 2,000 votes. That means if 20 lakh EVMs have gone ‘missing’, votes of as many as 400 crore voters have gone ‘missing’. Which is more than 4 times the actual number of eligible voters in India (90 crore).

The article Saba shared was about the ’20 lakh missing EVMs’ claim that was busted earlier this month.

In an article published earlier this month, The Frontline magazine, published by The Hindu group had claimed that 20 lakh EVMs have gone missing from the possession of ECI. The article had cited an RTI-based PIL in the Bombay High Court to support its claim.

However, the ECI had responded to the claims that were subsequently run by TV9 Bharatvarsh and had stated that the article had selectively quoted partial and one-sided information.

“It is noticed that this news story has selectively quoted some information obtained by an individual through RTI application from multiple Pubic Authorities and a PIL filed in the Bombay High Court. This news story carries only partial and one-sided information, which is inaccurate and based on the specious misinterpretation of the facts in the matter, therefore creating unwarranted doubts in the minds of the general public,” the statement read.

Rejecting these claims, the statement pointed out that ECI follows strict protocols and compliance procedures regarding the movement of the EVMs and VVPATs and no machine can leave the designated ECI warehouse without prior approval of the commission.


Following the rejection of the claims by ECI and the clarification over the issue, Frontline magazine had accepted that their report is false and a rejoinder will be published. TV9 Bharatvarsh had removed the report from their website and YouTube channel.

AAP propaganda blog Janta Ka Reporter had referred to the same claims in the article on May 8 that was shared by Saba. However, it is notable here that the propaganda blog had also made a video on the report and that report was taken down by Twitter for the fake news it peddled.

Janta Ka Reporter’s Raifat Jawed had even attempted to cry victim after his fake news peddling video was taken down by Twitter. He had stated that the ECI had bullied Twitter into removing the video.

While Frontline magazine and TV9 Bharatvarsh acknowledged their mistake after the ECI’s clarification, Janta Ka Reporter had tried to brazen it out. However, Saba Naqvi sharing the fake news weeks after the claims were already busted only shows the extent to which opposition parties and their ecosystem are willing to go in their attempts to subvert the electoral mandate.

Saba’s claims and attempts to peddle lies were called out by Twitter users too.


Some political leaders are already calling for violence and attempting to incite riots in case the results do not favour them. Journalists and social media influencers sharing fake news is just another part of the same goal. It is indeed unsettling how, even after repeated clarification, lack of any evidence and continuous debunking of their lies, some vested interests are hell bent to peddle their agendas just on lies and assumptions.

This is another in the series of lies being peddled by AAP, Congress and other opposition parties and their media accomplices to spread doubts in the minds of the public. On Monday, AAP’s social media team member had peddled a fake ‘news telecast’ made by a dubious ‘Tricolour News Network’ that is owned by a Romanian lady who also owns businesses that promises sensual massages to people. As the counting of votes will commence tomorrow, in the coming hours, the lies being peddled will expectedly intensify further.

Convent schools in Mumbai barred Dabbawallas to deliver food to students

OpIndia Staff
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Convent schools in Mumbai barred Dabbawallas to deliver food to students

Many schools in Mumbai, especially the convent schools in South Mumbai have barred the famous dabbawallas of Mumbai to deliver tiffin to school students.

The schools said that some parents fear that their child’s health will be affected by the food from outside, or sharing tiffin that does not suit their taste or religious ideology. They also cited the dabbawallas as a security threat.

The drastic drop in the volume of supplies caused resentment amongst the dabbawalla association, which called the ban a money making racket by the school’s canteen contractors. They added that the contractors are in league with school principals to share profits with them.

Reportedly, Raghunath Medge of Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers, the main union of tiffin carriers, said that as many as 50 percent of all schools across the city, mainly convent schools, have stopped their entry. He says that the number of tiffins which they supply to schools has dropped to 20,000 from a lakh tiffins.

Miffed by the school’s decision, Subhash Talekar of the Mumbai Dabbawallahs’ Association issued a press note which read, “On the one hand, schools are banning junk food while on the other, discouraging children from eating healthy, home-cooked meals. They are forcing students to buy food from the school canteen just as they once forced them to buy books, shoes and uniforms from the school or from retailers appointed by the school,”

However, many schools have rubbished the allegations. Fr Anthony Fernandes of St. Teresa’s school, Girgaum has cited reduced school timing as the reason for barring the tiffin service in its school. It said that the convents timings had been reduced to five hours and the students were back home in time for lunch.

The school’s further asserted that parents whose children are studying in these convents are mostly in unison with the school’s decision. Schools said that the parents also believed that these Dabbawallas are a security threat and moreover, some fear health hazards while others believed that children sharing their tiffins do not suit their religious ideology.

While convent schools invoked the restriction, Mumbai BJP President Ashish Shelar called this ban inappropriate. In a letter to CM Devendra Fadnavis and Education Minister, Vinod Tawde he said, “Dabbewalle of Mumbai is world-famous for their management skills, since 1980, they have been working extremely hard for 365 days to deliver Dabbas to 2 lakh people daily. These services are working very honestly. Therefore, it is unfair to ban them from delivering school food. The school should take care of the safety of the children, but the services should be continued in the same manner as other service providers are allowed to continue.”

Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis has ordered the Mumbai Police Commissioner to convene a joint meeting with the school authorities and the Dabbawalla union to resolve the issue with immediate effect.

Earlier there have been incidences where few Missionary schools have displayed religious intolerance. Last year a convent school in Gujarat had barred girl students from entering school if they were found to be wearing henna (mehendi) on their hands. The school later apologised for the same. In another such incident, a convent school teacher had cut off a Rakhi from a student’s wrist for which the Gujrat government had sought an explanation for hurting religious Hindu sentiments.

We had earlier reported that in a similar incident that occurred in Kerala, the principal of a government school in Pallakad had issued a diktat, threatening the students with expulsion if they are found to be using religious symbols like kumkum on their foreheads or sacred threads on their wrists. Earlier, a government school run by an evangelical Christian affected an order on girl students not to wear flowers and bindi.

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