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A Sri Lankan church escaped terror attack as it ended its Easter Sunday Mass early

OpIndia Staff
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A Sri Lankan church escaped terror attack as it ended its Easter Sunday Mass early

Reports have emerged confirming that St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral in Batticaloa town in Sri Lanka was the initial target of the suicide bomber who eventually blew himself up at the nearby Zion Church after realising that the Easter mass at St Mary’s had already ended.

According to a report in the Daily Mirror, the bomb blast that killed a total of 29 people, including 14 children, occurred around 9 am at the Zion Church on Central Road in the heart of the town, just when the mass was to begin. St Mary’s Cathedral is also located on the same road.

Locals and residents confirmed that a suspicious man had first entered the St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral half an hour earlier and the Catholic priest also confirmed that he had seen the same man lurking around the church the previous day as well.

St. Mary’s Cathedral, Batticaloa, Srilanka

Actually, what helped the St Mary’ church escape the bomb blast, was that the priest in charge had called the Easter Service at 7 am instead of the usual 7.30 am, half an hour earlier than the usual time. So, by 8.30 am when the suicide bomber arrived, most of the people who had congregated left. Therefore, he headed towards Zion Church where the bomb attack was eventually conducted.

The Zion Church was one of three churches and three luxury hotels which were targeted by suicide bombers, who carried out 8 coordinated dastardly bomb attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday killing over 350 people and wounding hundreds.

St. Mary’s Cathedral and Zion Church on Google Earth

Narrating his encounter with the suspect, Pastor Ganeshamoorthy Thirukumaran or Pastor Kumaran of Zion Church said, “I noticed a person standing near the pastor’s office, with a bag on his shoulder and clutching another bag to his chest.

“I asked him who he was, and why he was standing there. He replied that he had just come to observe what was happening at the church and asked me details about the church,” Pastor furthered.

The man identified himself as ‘Umar’ from the nearby Oddamaavadi Town, Pastor Kumaran reportedly said who also confirmed that the suspect was of medium height and looked in his 30s.

“I then invited him into the church as I thought he was like the many new people who come to our church. I didn’t have any doubts or suspicions about him,” confirmed Pastor Kumaran.

He recollected of asking a senior worshipper, Brother Stanley to speak to the visitor. The suspect’s demeanour and answers raised suspicion in the eyes of Brother Stanley who requested the bomber to leave the church premises.

The man, in turn, tried to force his way into the church. When his path was blocked, he reportedly detonated the bomb just outside the church, close to a group of children.

Unfortunately, Pastor Kumaran’s son was also among the children who died in the explosion.

According to Batticaloa Division Police Superintendent Nuwan Mendis, the head of the suspected bomber was found on the roof of a house near the church.

Mendis confirmed that investigators were trying to identify the killer through CCTV footage “and other methods”.

Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana: How have the villages adopted by Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi fared

OpIndia Staff
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Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana: How have the villages adopted by Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi fared

A ground report from Prime Minister Modi’s adopted village is a story of an experiment gone right.


In October 2014, Prime Minister Modi launched ‘Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana’ a rural development programme under which members of parliament ‘adopt’ villages and work towards the development of the villages. Under this scheme, each MP is required to choose one village each from the constituency that they represent, except their own village or the village of their in-laws and fix parameters and make it a model village. Under that scheme, Prime Minister Modi first adopted Jayapur, a village on the outskirts f his constituency, Varanasi.

The above report by CNNNews18 shows that over 400 toilets, 16 bio-toilets have been built, banks and ATM services have been made possible over 100 streetlights have been installed and electricity is available 24 hours. In the video, it can be seen that potable water is available from even the roadside tap, something that is not possible even in big urban cities. There has been an insurance cover for 2,500 people in the village and new classrooms are constructed in primary schools.

In Jayapur, one ‘Atal Nagar’ is also developed where the vanvasis (forest dwellers) are given pakka homes to live. Efforts are made to provide modern facilities to the poor people in the village. A Mumbai-based food processing company has contributed towards the development of ‘Atal Nagar’. Atal Nagar has 24 hour water, literacy classes, temple, garden and solar lights installed. Cottage industries are also set up to help people with employment. A resident of Atal Nagar says that he lived in a hut before PM Modi built these houses for them.

In contrasts to this, Congress President Rahul Gandhi had initially criticised the Yojana when it was launched. “Simply adopting a village is not enough, empower people, “Rahul Gandhi had said soon after the scheme was launched. However, Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi reluctantly adopted a village each in Amethi and Rae Bareli. While Sonia Gandhi adopted one ‘Udwa’ village from Jagatpur block in Rae Bareli, Rahul Gandhi has adopted ‘Deeh’ village in Jagdishpur block in Amethi. Jagdishpur was ‘industrialised’ during his father Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure as the Prime Minister.


However, despite ‘adopting’ the villages, the MPs of these parliamentary constituencies seem to have taken them for granted. A report from 2017 during the Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections shows the dismal state of the village. In April 2017, only 19 out of the 608 households who live in Sonia Gandhi’s adopted village had a toilet. Others have to go to farms to relieve themselves. The women have to make this trip before dawn. 40 Kms away from the city Rae Bareli, Udwa had fragile tin-roofed houses where one even has to bend to enter the house. “Villagers say she has hardly visited, neither has any Congress leader inquired about their requirements,” the report from 2017 read. A report from April 3, 2018 reads that in Udwa village, the school students were found cleaning classrooms with brooms even as teachers sat there. The toilets were locked and opened only when students needed to use. There was no running water and it looked as if it was not cleaned since months.

Similar is the fate of the Jagdishpur village adopted by Rahul Gandhi. A primary school in Jagdishpur had only one teacher present. Principal’s room was filled with sacks of ration food and classrooms had heaps of coal. Students roamed about as their food was cooked in their classrooms. Nothing seems to have changed in all these years. A report from 2015 about Jagdishpur states how Rahul was critical of the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana and made sure the villagers who were pining their hopes on him for some development work knew that he is not really interested. “People were angry, there was some loose talk of burning his effigy but we shushed that up,” a farmer had said when Rahul Gandhi had dismissed the scheme after adopting the village as tokenism.

According to a news portal website ‘UttarPradesh.org’, till March 2018, the only sign of development in Rahul Gandhi’s adopted village is a water tank. That too had not started functioning till a year back. The village head had reportedly said that despite completion of almost four years of adoption of the village, there was nothing that was done for the village that sets them apart from the other villages. The hospital was at least 10 km away from the village and no work was undertaken for banks and higher educational institutes. He said that if Rahul Gandhi were to try even a little bit, the village could have undergone a transformation.

On the other hand, Prime Minister Modi in October 2018 adopted a fourth village under the scheme. After adopting Jayapur, PM Modi went on to adopt Nagapur, Kakarhia and Domari village. Similarly, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Textiles Minister Smriti Irani, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Rural Development Minister N S Tomar have each adopted three villages. BJP allies Ram Vilas Paswan and Harsimrat Kaur Badal have also adopted three villages each in their respective constituencies.

Watch: When asked whether they would support Rahul Gandhi, people declare “No”

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: When asked whether they would support Rahul Gandhi, people declare “No”

As election season heats up with the soaring summer temperatures in India, the contests, rivalry, and political games are proving to be quite an entertainer for the people of India. With three phases of the elections now being over and four more remaining, the shades and moods of democracy are a delight to watch some times.

In a video shared on social media, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath was seen in a candid conversation with India Today’s Rahul Kanwal in his show Jab We Met aired on 24 April, where he travels to different parts of the country to interview political leaders.


In the video, Rahul Kanwal is seen walking with MP CM Kamal Nath conversing on political issues where the CM approaches some people gathered near a fence wall to watch. Kamal Nath asks the people whether they will support Rahul Gandhi in the upcoming elections. The people immediately reply “No”. When asked whom they will rather support, they say, ‘Kamal Nath’.

The video suggests that at a local level, leaders like Kamal Nath, even though they are corrupt and allegedly had a hand in the 1884 genocide of Sikhs, still have more acceptability compared to Rahul.

Interestingly, Rahul Kanwal is seen saying to Kamal Nath that he might get in trouble for this.


The interaction might have been brief and may not reflect the mood of the voters like some opinion polls or predictions. But it does reflect the disenchantment of the people from the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. The Indian voter has changed a lot. No longer can the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty expect to win over voters by just flashing their faces and smiles.

However, BJP spokesperson Suresh Nakhua has claimed that India Today had deleted the video of the people’s interaction with Kamal Nath after they uploaded it.


In the run-up to the general elections, it was evident that most regional parties in the opposition did not want Rahul Gandhi as their potential PM candidate. Mamata Banerjee, Mayawati, and Chandrababu Naidu had openly criticised the idea when DMK endorsed Rahul as the PM candidate. This also shows that the era where the Gandhi dynasty dictated terms in Indian politics might be long over. Congress had tried fielding Priyanka Gandhi as another desperate attempt to cash in the ‘Naamdar power’ but that stunt too seems to have failed miserably.

This is also in contrast to the supporters of BJP, because, while the opposition might get support for local leaders from the masses, perhaps no BJP supporter will ever say that they do not want PM Modi. In fact, in most interactions seen in news shows and social media, BJP supporters in even the most rural, remote regions say they are voting for PM Modi.

Business Standard’s article insinuating that private entities benefit more from coal policy than consumers is flawed and ill-argued

K Bhattacharjee
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Business Standard’s article insinuating that private entities benefit more from coal policy than consumers is flawed and ill-argued

Business Standard published an article recently, authored by Nitin Sethi, titled ‘NDA’s coal block policy and new regulations face critical questions’ where it was insinuated that private entities gained more from the central government’s coal policy and consumers and state governments suffered as a consequence. It was also insinuated that the private sector gained more from the ‘back door’.

The author appears to have put great faith in the newly elected Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh from the Congress party for the letter penned by the latter in which Baghel claimed that the Centre’s policy could cause a potential revenue loss of about Rs. 9 trillion over the life of the coal blocks in its territory.

The author has also put great faith in a PIL filed by one Dinesh Kumar Soni the matter of which is still being heard by the Court. A source in the Coal Ministry spoke to OpIndia.com regarding the matter and called the report ‘baseless’, ‘erroneous’, ‘full of falsehoods’ and ‘a collection of blatant misrepresentations’.

The article mentions Baghel asserting that the state governments under whose jurisdiction the coal blocks fell should have the right of first refusal and have a say in the allocation of blocks to other states. The Chhattisgarh CM has also demanded that the reserved price for such blocks be increased from Rs. 100/tonne to at least Rs. 500/tonne.

Responding to these demands, the Ministry Source told OpIndia.com that the allocation criteria include the distance of end-use plant from the mine to encourage efficiency and economies through pit head generation. That is, one of the criteria for the allocation of coal blocks is the distance between the mine and the thermal power plant where the coal produced from it will be put to use. Therefore, the coal-bearing States will always benefit if any PSUs apply for a coal mine.

“In fact, out of the 10 coal mines that have been allotted in the State of Chhattisgarh, PSUs of Chhattisgarh state had applied for only 4 coal mines. Accordingly, they were allotted 3 (Extractable Reserves of 392 MT) out of the 4 coal mines for which they submitted applications. The transparent auctions and allotments have resulted in revenue of Rs 2,867 crore to Chhattisgarh compared to zero amount under the previous policy. In addition, they will also collect royalty and District Mineral Funds (DMF) from coal mined,” the source said.

As for the demand to raise the reserve price, we were told, “The demand for raising the reserve price from Rs 100 MT to Rs 500 MT is not tenable. The increase in reserve price will lead to increased electricity tariffs for consumers across the country especially farmers, the poor and middle class. It would affect the ability of State Governments to provide affordable and regular electricity across the country.”

Basically, raising the reserve price will increase the cost of electricity production. Consequently, the cost of electricity will go up for consumers and the electricity bills of customers will increase.

The article also makes the claim that “Mining companies see huge potential from the MDO route.” It also makes the assertion that the MDO business could corner 52 billion tonnes of coal reserves. In reality, under the new regulatory framework established by the NDA government, PSUs are permitted to appoint a Mine Development Operator (MDO) through a competitive bidding process in a free and transparent manner providing a fair opportunity to all. At the end of it all, the PSU still continues to be the mining leaseholder and the coal produced is entirely the property of the PSU. Therefore, it appears misguided to make the claim that MDO business could corner ’52 billion tonnes of coal reserves’.

Baghel’s primary disagreement appears to be with the government’s decision to allocate coal blocks to PSUs. The article states, “Though the initial focus was on auctions, the government has ended up with more allocated blocks (58) than auctioned ones (31). It is this allocation policy that Baghel has questioned.”

The Ministry source told us that the primary reason for this was the low response from bidders in auctions. Two rounds of auctions have apparently been cancelled due to low response. “Had the mines not been put up for allotment, there would have been a loss of revenue to Chhattisgarh State because there were few takers from the auction process. By allotting these mines to PSUs, Central Government has ensured production of coal, which has led to royalty and DMF earnings for Chhattisgarh,” the source said.

We were also told that the production of coal from allotted mines is actually higher than the production of coal from auctioned mines. And these mines are providing the local populace with plenty of economic opportunities and also assisting in the development of the area.

The same author had published a sensationalist story last year on the same issue. We had published a detailed report back then debunking the claims that were made in the said piece.

After serial blasts shook Sri Lanka, another blast heard in Pugoda, 40 kms from capital Colombo, no casualties reported

OpIndia Staff
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After serial blasts shook Sri Lanka, another blast heard in Pugoda, 40 kms from capital Colombo, no casualties reported

Amidst heightened tensions in Sri Lanka following the Easter Sunday suicide bomber attacks on the island state that killed over 350 people and left over 500 injured, another blast has been reported from a vacant land behind the magistrate’s court in the town of Pugoda, 40 km east of the capital Colombo. Police said investigations are underway.


The Sri Lankan police have also confirmed that it was not a controlled blast like the day before when they found a bomb that had not detonated and had carried out a controlled blast after failing to dispose of the bomb.

On Sunday, the terrorist group targeted Easter worshipers and high-end hotels hosting international guests with coordinated explosions. The series of blasts was carried out across 8 locations in three different cities including Colombo. St Anthony’s Church in Colombo, St Sebastian’s Church in the western coastal town of Negombo and a church in the eastern town of Batticaloa were targeted during Easter mass.

Further, three more explosions hit Shangri-La, the Cinnamon Grand, and Kingsbury, all five-star hotels. Scores of foreigners and locals injured in these blasts were admitted to Colombo General Hospital.

According to the details which unfolded gradually, the Islamic State (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the dastardly attack.

According to the latest reports, two Muslim brothers carried out two of the suicide bombings in two hotels rocking the island country on Sunday. Investigators have not revealed the names of ‘both bothers,’ however, divulged that they were sons of a wealthy Colombo spice trader.

Earlier, it was reported that the bomber of Shangri-La was identified as Zahran Hashim. Another suicide bomber was named as Abu Mohammad who targeted the Batticaloa church. They were among other suicide bombers to hit three churches and three luxury hotels. The attack on the fourth hotel failed, leading the police to the now-banned Islamist group.

Outrage over the terror attack rose after the government admitted that a major intelligence lapse from the Sri Lankan government’ side led to the dastardly blasts and thereafter asked two of its top security officials to resign.

The Sri Lankan government had also confirmed ‘National Thowheed Jama’ath’ (NTJ) as the local organisation responsible for these deadly terrorist attacks. However, it has also expressed possibilities about the involvement of an international group to execute colossal attacks of this magnitude.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s Deputy Defence Minister has revealed that these serial blasts were carried out in ‘retaliation’ to the Christchurch attack in New Zealand.

Note: This is a developing story and we will update this article when more details emerge. 

Student group of TISS demands scrapping of awards like Gold medal as it ‘upholds concept of merit’

OpIndia Staff
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Student group of TISS demands scrapping of awards like Gold medal as it ‘upholds concept of merit’

In 21st April 2019, the ‘Intersectional Feminist Collective’ which is a student collective group of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Hyderabad took to Facebook to support the movement demanding the scrapping of merit-based awards like ‘Gold medals’, ‘Silver medals’, ‘Best Student’ etc because it reinforces the ‘different levels of privileges’ held by the students.

FB post by the student group

The group expressed ‘solidarity’ with the Student Action Committee that was evidently spearheading a campaign against the provision for awarding ‘Gold medal’, ‘Silver medal’, ‘Best Student’ and ‘Best Dissertation Award’.

The Facebook post said that given the students at TISS are from different social backgrounds, there is a need to acknowledges “differential levels of privileges” of each student. The students’ group also believes that academic performance is a reflection of the ‘privilege’ a certain student holds according to their social background.

They say, “to assess a student solely based on their grades institutionalises the concept of merit while invisibilising one’s class, caste, gender and ableist privileges that enable these achievements”.

The Student’s group says that the concept of merit itself is against justice and equality and express their “dissent” against the practice of giving awards to students and the concept of merit itself.

Social Justice Warriors and modern feminists often believe that the concept of merit is oppressive and that it should not be celebrated and awarded. They believe that merit is a construct of one’s privileges that comes from either caste, class or gender.

In fact, in 2007, Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had told the Supreme Court that merit is based on a genetic accident.

RJD’s lawyer, Ram Jethmalani, had told the Court, “merit-based upon genetic accident is being concretised by a few marks in the examination. But merit cannot be the basis for entry into public services. Merit cannot be a benchmark”.

Jethmalani’s remarks came during his arguments supporting the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation for Admission) Act 2007 providing for quota in central educational institutions.

After getting Bangladeshi actors to campaign, Mamata’s TMC caught running ads in Bangladesh appealing for votes

OpIndia Staff
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After getting Bangladeshi actors to campaign, Mamata’s TMC caught running ads in Bangladesh appealing for votes

Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress was caught running ads appealing for votes in Bangladesh on Facebook.

As seen in the above video, when you click on the ‘info and ads’ on the official Facebook page of Mamata Banerjee led TMC, you could see the countries where TMC is running ads during the ongoing general elections. The drop-down menu gives two countries as an option, meaning, TMC is running ads in the two countries. The first country is India which is understandable because the elections are being held in India. The second option, however, is Bangladesh, the neighbouring country West Bengal shares its porous wall with.

Mamata’s TMC is running as many as 13 ads on Facebook, including an ad where Mamata is appealing to people in Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency to vote for TMC in the ongoing elections. Why is Mamata appealing for votes in Bangladesh via Facebook is anybody’s guess because last we checked, only Indian citizens could vote in Indian elections.

The West Bengal Chief Minister appealing for votes in Bangladesh was also pointed out by other Twitter users. Surprisingly, when OpIndia team tried searching for the same on a mobile phone, it threw up a message that TMC is running no ad in Bangladesh.

TMC’s Bangladesh ads on Facebook

Facebook, however, did show ‘Bangladesh’ as an option. Facebook shows the location as an option in the dropdown menu only if the page has ads running in that location. That could mean that TMC might be in the process of pausing ads in Bangladesh after being called out on social media.

This is not the first time Mamata has involved the neighbouring country Bangladesh for appealing for votes. Earlier this month, two Bangladeshi actors were found campaigning for Mamata’s TMC in West Bengal. Bangladeshi actors Ferdous Ahmed and Gazi Adbun Noor were campaigning for TMC in parts of Bangladesh. While Ferdous’ visa was revoked by the MHA blacklisted, it was discovered that Noor visa had already expired.

West Bengal shares a porous international border with Bangladesh and illegal infiltration from Bangladesh has been a cause of worry for India’s security. Mamata Banerjee, however, has no qualms in appealing for votes in a country from where illegal infiltration is rampant and a cause of worry for India.

Subash Chandra Bose’ kin and BJP leader CK Bose heckled by TMC goons, alleges inaction by Kolkata Police

OpIndia Staff
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Subash Chandra Bose’ kin and BJP leader CK Bose heckled by TMC goons, alleges inaction by Kolkata Police

The autocracy and hooliganism in the state of West Bengal have once again come in the forefront as Netaji Subash Chandra Bose’ kin who is also a new induction into the BJP, Chandra Kumar Bose, complained of being heckled by TMC goons during clashes which erupted between BJP and TMC cadres in South Kolkata, reports Republic TV.

The incident occurred when CK Bose was going to the election commission’s office to file his nomination while the respective parties were conducting their rallies in the state’s capital city.

Throwing light on Mamata Banerjee’s flawed law and order situation, the South Kolkata’s BJP candidate alleged that the Kolkata Police stood there in silence while his party workers saved him.

Explaining the situation in which he was caught up, Bose said, “You see today I was very lucky because I had over 5000 people accompanying me to the Election Commission office to submit my nomination papers. You see, we were peacefully walking down, we had to cross Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee’s residence in Bhawanipur area. While we were walking down, a group of TMC workers with TMC badges and flags were waiting at the corner of the road and they were not letting us pass and go towards the EC office.”

He further alleged that the TMC goons were swearing at him and approaching him. He said, “they were swearing at me and approaching me. They literally wanted to grievously harm. My workers forced them out and the police were also there but were not controlling the mob. They were approaching me, my people had to protect me. I am telling you, I would’ve been murdered if my party workers wouldn’t have protected me.”

“The people of South Kolkata are challenging Mamata Banerjee, they don’t want Mamata Banerjee and the TMC to be in South Kolkata Lok Sabha seat because they have done nothing. This government has caused terror among people, which doesn’t believe in democracy, it is an autocratic rule. Mamata and TMC feel that they’re going to get wiped out from South Kolkata that’s why they are physically harming the candidate. They smashed a couple of cars after I crossed. It was sheer luck that I could escape. I am not scared, but why should an Opposition leader be attacked by TMC goons,” he added.

This election season has witnessed several incidents of violence under Mamata’s regime in the state. Moreover, electoral polls in West Bengal are often greeted with violent skirmishes and clashes between competing parties. With Mamata Banerjee at the helm of affairs in West Bengal, TMC goons are empowered to run amok carrying out their depraved activities with impunity. It is widely believed that TMC goons are protected and sheltered by TMC leadership which further emboldens them to execute their nefarious activities.

Recently a video had surfaced where a local TMC worker can be seen brandishing a gun during a roadshow in the Birbhum Lok Sabha constituency.

Yesterday, in an ensuing clash between Congress workers and TMC workers, one man lost his life. There have been multitudes of reports of TMC goons perpetrating violence against their political adversaries. In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, a BJP leader was thrashed and was left to die by TMC goons in West Bengal’s Islampur.

Interpol to look into India’s demand for red corner notice against Islamist preacher Zakir Naik

OpIndia Staff
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Interpol to look into India’s demand for red corner notice against Islamist preacher Zakir Naik

Interpol has decided to look into India’s request for issuing a red corner notice against Islamist preacher Zakir Naik. A team from Interpol is expected to visit New Delhi as part of its investigation into the matter. The Ministry of Home Affairs will hand over a dossier on Naik to the Interpol officials.

Zakir Naik had fled the country following the 2016 Dhaka terror attack where the terrorists claimed to be admirers of Naik. he is wanted in India for money laundering, hate speech and other offences of promoting communal hatred.

A red corner notice is sent to the 194 Interpol member countries, where a fugitive who is pending extradition is located and provisionally arrested.

Presently, Naik lives in Malaysia where he has been granted permanent residency by the Malaysian government. India’s request for extraditing him has been kept pending since January 2018. The Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad has said that Naik would not be extradited as long as he doesn’t cause any trouble in Malaysia.

According to a report, the Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files (CCF) met on April 19 to discuss India’s red corner notice request. The Commission would discuss the legal implications of issuing a red corner notice against Naik. NIA officials have been quoted to seem confident that that the CCF would issue a global arrest warrant for Zakir Naik.

Naik had approached the Interpol in 2017 playing the victim card saying that he was targeted for being a Muslim. NIA had refuted his claims and said that they have solid evidence on all charges laid against him. Interpol has finally agreed to take up the red corner notice request and CCF would inform India its final decision in a few days.

Government awards 5,700 km of roads under the ambitious Bharatmala project

OpIndia Staff
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Government awards 5,700 km of roads under the ambitious Bharatmala project

The Government of India has awarded 5,700 km of projects under its ambitious Bharatmala infrastructure project. An official with the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has confirmed that Centre is keenly working with state governments to address and solve land acquirement issues for this project.

Estimated at a cost of Rs 5.35 lakh crore, the mega Bharatmala project is an initiative by Modi government that aims to construct 34,800 km of highways across the country. The news was confirmed by Nagendra Nath Sinha, MD of National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited in conversation with CNBC-TV18


The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has awarded around 2,222 km of road contracts in the financial year 2019. In FY19, around 3,400 km of roads were constructed as opposed to 3,071 km in FY18. Sinha also underlined that presence of abundance capital, leading to fund availability, did not hinder land acquisition.

Earlier, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had reiterated Modi government’s commitment to building world-class expressways network in the country. Gadkari had asserted government intent to award work for 6,000 km of road under the Bharatmala initiative.

The Bharatmala project is a part of the plan conceptualized and approved by the Modi government in 2017 to create a modern roadways infrastructure network across India. Under this initiative, the government plans to construct 83,677 km of highways in five years at the cost of Rs 7 lakh crore, which includes the 34,800 km of Bharatmala project. In December 2018, Gadkari had announced that 1.31 lakh km of National Highways had been constructed till that point of time.

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