As Former Congress President Sonia Gandhi is set to arrive in Chennai today to inaugurate the statue of the founder of the DMK and four-time CM of Tamil Nadu, Late M Karunanidhi at party headquarters, several Netizens are tweeting with the hashtag #GoBackSonia expressing displeasure over her visit.
Sonia along with other politicians was invited for the inauguration. Sonia confirmed her participation and said that it was an honour to attend the function as Karunanidhi strove all his life for social justice, democracy and betterment or the poor and the downtrodden. However, people seem to feel otherwise.
Corruption Queen to inaugurate statute of Corruption King #gobacksonia
While people are tweeting to express their outrage, the mainstream media remain tight-lipped over the issue. Earlier when PM Modi had visited Tamil Nadu to attend the Defence Expo-2018, DMK had led the protests held by the opposition parties against PM Modi’s visit.
Some on Twitter termed the protests as ‘planned’. They even questioned why the media, that reported the #GoBackModi Twitter trend was today tight-lipped about the #GoBackSonia trend.
Every single Tamil journalist went gaga over Go Back Modi trend. They were integral part who planned & helped to trend it & made it big by reporting it non-stop in their news channels. Now there is a National trend #GoBackSonia these journos will neither tweet nor report as news.
The CBI has got a boost in its investigation into the alleged corruption in the AgustaWestland helicopter scam after it has been able to acquire an important piece of evidence against middleman Christian Michel, reported Times of India.
According to the reports, the CBI has got a significant document pertaining to Italian investigations which had initially pointed out irregularities in the helicopter deal. An internal audit report carried out by the AgustaWestland of Christian Michel’s firms Global Trade and Commerce Ltd London and Global Services FZE, Dubai has indicated that payments worth 34 million euros (approx Rs 276 crore) made by them were “dubious”.
The report of the AgustaWestland vice-president (auditor), Giorgio Casana, was shared to the CBI by the Italian authorities in his response to a letter with hundreds of fax dispatches between the representatives of Michel and AgustaWestland, where had they discussed the VVIP helicopter tender, payments and meeting details among other things.
The Times of India has reported that CBI sources have said that Casana had travelled to Dubai to audit GTCL and GSF and noticed significant irregularities in using 34 million euros of the total of 42.27 million euros paid by AgustaWestland to Michel.
Reportedly, Christian Michel and his office manager David Syms were then confronted by Casana for these “dubious” payments, but both gave “false explanations” regarding the transaction of such a large amount. However, Michel has claimed that he took money from AgustaWestland as a fee for “consulting”, but the investigators claim that they were bribes and that he did not provide any consulting business to the company.
The audit report obtained by CBI officials is reported to play an important role in the next charge sheet, which will be comprehensive and mentions the alleged “dubious” transactions.
Christian Michel, who is in the custody of CBI, has already admitted to receiving payments from the AgustaWestland. The ToI has reported that Michel has admitted that he had paid $11,000 per month to the “family” for a few months, referring to the former IAF chief Air Marshal (retired) SP Tyagi and his cousins.
Christian Michel is also reported to have met former IAF and defence ministry officials regularly. CBI has also accessed the fax between AgustaWestland and the intermediaries that reveal that Tyagi was lobbying for AgustaWestland even after his retirement.
The wanted fugitive and middleman in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal, Christian Michel, was brought to India late on Tuesday night following his extradition by the UAE.
Christian Michel is accused of money laundering, bribery, and fraud in connection with the Rs 3,600-crore worth AgustaWestland scam. It is believed that not only did he pay kickbacks to politicians, officers and agents but also involved certain celebrity journalists to swing the deal.
In an earlier report, we have elaborated on the anti-Brahmin bigotry of Sylvia Karpagam, an activist associated with the Right to Food Campaign, a civil society initiative that has demanded that Akshaya Patra’s mid-day meals contract is terminated by the Karnataka government.
In this report, we shall delve into the background of the Right to Food Campaign (RFC) itself which has sent letters to the Chief Minister’s office and other departments of the state government with the above-stated demand.
The Foundation Statement of the RFC states, “The right to food campaign is an informal network of organisations and individuals committed to the realisation of the right to food in India.” The steering group of the RFC comprises of People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) and Jan Swasthya Abhiyaan (JSA) among others.
As we have reported earlier, the HRLN is part of a campaign to abolish sedition laws in India. Organizations associated the CDRO such as PUCL, PUDR, APDR, CPDR, APCLC are part of the same campaign. The HRLN is a division of the Socio-Legal Information Centre (SLiC). The SLIC receives crores of rupees in donations from Bread for the World and Miseroer, two Christian organizations which also provided funds to Equations, the organization that published the report demonizing the Amarnath Yatra. Miseroer was also connected to the French NGO that filed a complaint in France against the inter-governmental Rafale deal between India and France.
The organization has also received funds from the European Union and George Soros’ Open Society Institute. The French NGO that filed a complained against the Rafale deal in Franch, other than Miseroer, was also connected to George Soros. The HRLN has been providing free legal aid to Rohingya detainees across the country. The network has filed PILs related to the implementation of the RTE Act. The HRLN is also connected to COHR, Manipur, an organization that harbours separatist inclinations through its Manipur unit.
People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)
As for the PUCL, we have reported extensively on their links to the arrested ‘Urban Naxals’. One of those raided in connection with the violence at Bhima Koregaon, Sudha Bharadwaj, is the General Secretary of the Chhattisgarh unit of PUCL. Another among those raided, Father Stan Swamy is also associated with the PUCL. Gautam Navlakha, who had links with an ISI funded Kashmiri separatist, was associated with People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) for a long time as an activist, a fraternal organization of the PUCL.
Convicted for sedition and helping Naxalites to set up a network to fight the state of India, Binayak Sen was a Vice President of the PUCL even after his conviction by Raipur Sessions Court. The West Bengal unit of PUCL also published a book exonerating Sen of all his crimes and branded him a “victim of state atrocity”. Shoma Sen, one of those arrested in June, is an executive member of CPDR, another fraternal organization of the PUCL. Anand Teltumbde, another of those raided by Pune Police, is the General Secretary of CPDR. The CDRO also has links with the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP) through its constituent organizations. The CRPP was branded a Maoist front organization by the UPA government in 2011.
The Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) that published the report demonizing the Amarnath Yatra in collaboration with Equations, an organization that receives funding from Christian Organizations is also affiliated to the CDRO.
Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA)
Another organization that is part of the steering committee of RCF is the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA). As per its ‘About Us‘ section, the JSA was formed in 2001 with the coming together of 18 national networks. Organizations such as the Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI), Christian Medical Association of India (CMAI) and National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) are part of its National Coordination Committee.
The Spider’s Web
Bread for the World and Misereor, two Christian organizations, donated huge sums of money to Equations, the organization that published the report demonizing the Amarnath Yatra. Equations collaborated with JKCCS, an organization that is affiliated to the CDRO, an umbrella organization whose constituent members have intimate links to ‘Urban Naxals’. The two Christian organizations also donated huge sums of money to HRLN, an organization that is part of the steering committee of the RFC along with the PUCL.
This is the second instance of collaboration that has come to our notice between an organization that receives funds from the above mentioned Christian organizations and organizations that have intimate links to ‘Urban Naxals’ and separatists.
Besides these two instances, Sherpa, the French NGO that filed a complaint against the Rafale Deal there is partners with Misereor among other organizations such as George Soros’ Open Society.
Conclusion
The demand to terminate Akshaya Patra’s contract has been made by the Right to Food Campaign which represents a very specific section of ‘Civil Society’. This section receives funding from Christian organizations abroad, from George Soros’ Open Society Institute which has a very controversial record and has intimate links to ‘Urban Naxals’ and separatists.
An organization in the steering group of RFC receives huge funds from the same organizations that donated huge sums of money to another organization that published a report demonizing the Amarnath Yatra. Under such circumstances. the attack on Akshaya Patra appears to be part of the nefarious agenda of these ‘civil society’ organizations.
Massive preparations for the Prayagraj Kumbh Mela 2019 are underway as the date for the world’s largest spiritual congregation is moving closer. Dignitaries from 72 countries have arrived at Prayagraj to witness the preparations for the “intangible cultural heritage of humanity” as recognised by the UNESCO.
Heads of missions of 72 countries from all across the world arrived at Prayagraj today morning to witness first hand the #MakingOfKumbh. They were taken on a tour of Kumbh area, briefed about the preparations & taken on a cruise ? in Holy #Sangam. #KumbhMelaPolice#Kumbh2019pic.twitter.com/LQjPtsBbtl
The Kumbh Mela which takes place every twelve years at the ‘Sangam’, a confluence of the three holy rivers of Ganga, Yamuna and the Saraswati (now extinct) at Prayagraj is going to witness the never seen before celebrations. The city of Prayagraj is undergoing massive makeover ahead of the Mela. Under the “Paint my City Campaign” street art is being used to increase the aesthetic value of various sites at Prayagraj.
Under “Paint My City” campaign, an audience based research was conducted by the Prayagraj Mela Pradhikaran to analyze the prime locations where paintings will be made by brilliant artists to beautify the city. Witness this marvelous artworks during your visit to #Kumbh2019pic.twitter.com/a0e6mYV5aX
To facilitate the travel of the pilgrims visiting the Kumbh Mela, the Indian Railways has laid down various projects. 800 special trains are proposed to run during the Kumbh Mela from various stations of Allahabad district for the pilgrims coming to the Kumbh Mela.
श्रद्धालुओं की धार्मिक आस्था को ध्यान में रखते हुए और पर्यटन को बढ़ावा देने के लिए केंद्र सरकार ने रेलवे द्वारा वसूले जा रहे मेला अधिशुल्क को समाप्त करने का निर्णय लिया है, जिससे कुम्भ और ऐसे सभी मेलों में लगाए जा रहे अधिशुल्क से यात्रियों को राहत मिलेगी pic.twitter.com/7BNyVIQrBm
Amusement parks and various fun rides will also be set up to make the Mela experience memorable for the little ones.
To make this Kumbh Mela a memorable for the young ones, amusement parks with various amazing rides will be set-up in the Mela area. Families can have a great time while experiencing this divine festival of spirituality. #Kumbh2019#KumbhCallspic.twitter.com/mqD601FGLR
The Mela celebration which spreads over a period of about 55 days will have guests from all over the world. Around 5000 NRI are expected to visit the Prayagraj Kumbh this time.
The ancient city of Prayagraj, which was earlier called Allahabad, was renamed by the Yogi government in October this year on the request on the seers from different Akharas.
Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL) has decided to issue a Rs 1000 crore defamation notice to controversial Congress leader and Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu for his defamatory and false allegations against the media organisation said Zee News.
According to the reports, Zee News has sent a notice to Sidhu days after he had threatened and accused the media of telecasting a fake video of his speech, where pro-Pakistan slogans were allegedly raised during the rally. In its Rs 1000 crore defamation notice, the media has asked Sidhu to apologise within 24 hours of receiving it.
Zee News editor-in-chief Sudhir Chaudhary in a Twitter post said, “@ZeeNews issues ₹1000 crore defamation notice to Navjot Sidhu for his defamatory and false allegations against Zee Media. If he doesn’t apologise, we shall use all legal recourses to take this case to its logical conclusion.”
The notice has asked Sidhu to tender an unconditional public apology and not to repeat such defamatory statements against the Zee News. The notice has also asked Sidhu to refrain from issuing further threats or hatred against the media organisation. Sidhu had allegedly threatened the Zee News when he had said “nani yaad dila denge” after Zee News had shown a video ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans were raised at an election rally addressed by senior party leader Navjot Singh Sidhu.
However, party leaders remained defiant and instead accused Zee News of playing a ‘fake video’. Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala as a proof of their claim had posted a 45-second clip of the video to falsely accuse Zee News of posting fake news.
Sudhir Chaudhary had outrightly denied the allegation of the video is fake and said they can present at least seven feeds to prove that pro-Pakistan slogans were indeed raised during the election rally. Sudhir Chaudhary had accused the Congress party of attempting to muzzle the voice of the media in the country for not toeing the line of the party.
We at OpIndia had done a fact-check on the issue and had found that someone indeed had shouted ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ during the Sidhu’s speech at an election rally in Khairthal, Alwar in Rajasthan on December 1. The Congress leaders had edited out this part while posting a video proof that no such slogans were raised.
Recently, Navjot Singh Sidhu had been put into a tough spot by his own party members after Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had also revealed that Pakistan Army General Qamar Javed Bajwa had revealed the Kartarpur corridor news to Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu even before Imran Khan was sworn in as their Prime Minister, indicating a bigger conspiracy hatched by the Pakistan Army.
Following a cordon-and-search operation in Sirnoo village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, launched by the security forces following an intelligence input, three terrorists have been reportedly killed in an encounter which broke out this morning.
An army jawan was also martyred during the encounter.
as per reports, an Indian jawan-turned-terrorist, Zahoor Ahmad Thokar was also among the terrorists who have been neutralised. The other two slain terrorists are identified as Adnan Wani and Tahir Hizbi.
Hizbul Mujahideen had claimed in July this year that Zahoor Ahmad Thokar of 173 Territorial Army, who went missing along with his service rifle, had joined the terrorist organisation.
The encounter broke out as the militants opened fire at the army jawans while they were carrying out the search operations following a tip-off about the presence of terrorists in the area. The security forces retaliated leading to an encounter, the official confirmed.
During and after the incident, a large number of civilians reportedly gathered to protest against the encounters and soon it turned violent. Reports state that the gathered civilians resorted to stone pelting to disrupt the operations and the forces had to retaliate by tear-gas shelling and eventually firing. As per the latest reports, eight civilians have been killed and over 50 have been injured in the retaliatory action by security forces.
Local villagers often serve as human shields for the hiding terrorists and attack security forces with stones to create a distraction during anti-terrorist operations. Incidents of heavy stone pelting and attack on security forces are often seen in the valley.
Former DGP of Jammu and Kashmir, Sesh Paul Vaid expressed his anguish over civilian deaths and stated that civilians in the area are instigated by terrorists and their ‘masters across the border’ to reach the encounter site to disrupt operations.
Anguished at the loss of lives of civilians in an encounter in Pulwama. Continued instigation by terrorists and their masters across, for the civilians to reach the encounter site and disrupt the operation by stone pelting leads to loss of precious lives. Terrible.
Following the civilian deaths, the Pulwama area has turned tensed and internet services have been suspended in the area. Train service between The Banihal town and Kashmir valley has also been suspended.
Patna’s special court has convicted former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA from Nawada Raj Ballabh Yadav and five other perpetrators for raping a 15-year old minor girl in 2016. Yadav has been convicted under various sections of Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act. The quantum of sentence will be decided on 21 December.
The MLA was suspended from RJD, post-allegations and was lodged in jail for past two years.
The case dates back to February of 2016. A 15-year old girl, a resident of Bihar Sharif was reportedly abducted by her a woman, Sulekha Devi to a location 15 KM from district headquarters. According to reports, the woman and Yadav consumed alcohol and forced the minor girl to watch pornographic videos. Yadav then allegedly directed the girl to imitate the lewd acts. When the girl resisted, she was raped and confined the entire night.
After the ordeal, the girl reached and registered a complaint at Nalanda district police station. As the case was against an MLA of incumbent RJD-JDU government, the victim appeared before a magistrate and narrated the incident. She identified MLA from photos shown to her.
The five others convicted also include Sulekha Devi and bodyguards who are charged under Immoral Traffic (Prevention Act), in addition to IPC and POCSO. There were 22 witnesses from the prosecution or victim’s side and 15 from MLA or defenders side.
After the case gained momentum and MLA was lodged in jail, RJD expelled the legislator to save it from embarrassment. In October, RJD’s leader of opposition Tejashwi Yadav was caught in a controversy after he was featured with Raj Ballabh Yadav in posters during his Samvidhan Bachao Yatra. Tejashwi had said that he was not aware of the posters and the allegations on MLA were not proven.
A Parliamentary panel headed by Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge has expressed “serious concerns” over Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd’s (HAL) “failure” to timely provide the required number of Tejas aircraft to the Airforce, which according to the panel would adversely affect the Indian Airforce’s combat capabilities.
The Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, an Indian state-owned aerospace and defence company, which the Congress party supremo has been recently using as a tool to continue his political dramatics to target Narendra Modi led BJP, has been in the radar as a report on ‘Design Development, Manufacture and Induction of Light Combat Aircraft’, submitted by the public accounts Committee was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Friday, which mentioned that there have been huge delays in the development of the supersonic fighter jet.
This failure to deliver, according to reports, resulted in two LCA squadrons not materialising, forcing the IAF to upgrade several aircraft, including the MiG-BIS, MiG-29, Mirage-2000 and Jaguar aircraft at a cost of Rs 20,037 crore. The panel observed that due to this laxity, the phased out MiG-21s had to be revised and the IAF is having to operate with 35 squadrons as against 42 squadrons sanctioned.
Unlike Rahul Gandhi’s false allegations and rhetorics, which had been earlier busted many times, this directive coming from a panel headed by one of his own party members further establishes that though HAL has always been very much part of the Rafale deal, somehow HAL has not been equipped to fulfil the requirements. For this reason perhaps, way back in 2015 Dassault had also expressed its inhibition in partnering with HAL, flagging its concern about the technical inadequacies of HAL.
Continuing with his age-old rhetorics, Rahul had earlier tweeted a link where former HAL chief T S Raju had claimed that the Rafale jets could have been built in India. However, Scientist and columnist Anand Ranganathan had then put out a thread of tweets with articles busting the myth that state-owned HAL had the ability to make fighter jets.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi has been repeatedly telling the world that the Modi government bypassed the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in favour of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence, and that insinuating kickbacks were received by the Modi government for the deal. Repeating his baseless allegations for the millionth time, he had also claimed that Modi has snatched a multi-million contract from HAL.
Contrary to his allegations, in 2005, HAL and Snecma (now known as Safran) had formed a joint venture company Snecma HAL Aerospace Pvt. Ltd, to manufacture various parts for the French company in India. In 2015, they signed a MoU to set up a facility to manufacture several high-tech parts for the Dassault Rafale’s Snecma M88 engine. And now, Dassault has formed an alliance with this Snecma HAL as one of their offset partners. Snecma HAL will get some business as part of Dassault’s offset obligation.
In the past, various ministers of the Government of India, the Reliance Group, and the French government, all have punctured his frivolous allegations and now even the Supreme court has debunked all the allegations made by Rahul Gandhi about the Rafale deal, reiterating the same points the Indian Government and others have been repeating continuously. But it so seems that the Congress Supremo is in no mood to accept his mistakes and concede his defeat.
Eight cattle smugglers were arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police in Bahraich district on Friday. Four of them were history-sheeters. The Police were tipped off about the smuggling in Rupaidiha and Nanpare area, close to the Indo-Nepal border. The smugglers were trying to flee to Nepal.
During interrogation, the smugglers are reported to have revealed that they used to steal the cattle in the dark of the night and take them across the border where they used to sell it in Nepal and surrounding areas. The arrested have been identified as Basheer, Sher Khan, Arif, Naseem, Rafik, Shafikh, Sharif and Sharbat Ali. All of them are believed to be relatives.
As per reports, the smugglers even tried to trample the Police personnel with their vehicle. However, they were unsuccessful in their attempt. The team that arrested the smugglers have been rewarded with a sum of five thousand rupees. The Police recovered four cattle, unlicensed pistols, ammunition, and a transportation vehicle from those arrested.
Recently, 10 cow smugglers were caught with 500 kilograms of cow meat in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit. The arrests come after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered a strict crackdown on cattle slaughter in light of the violence at Bulandshahar. In Bulandshahar, carcasses of cows were discovered by villagers which soon escalated into a rampage after they claimed that the Police wasn’t heeding their complaints.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) today set aside AIADMK led Tamil Nadu government’s order of permanently closing down the Sterlite copper smelter plant owned by Vedanta Ltd situated in Thoothukudi. The Green court issued directions for the Tamil Nadu State pollution regulator (TNPCB) and the Vedanta Ltd. It has directed the Tamil Nadu state pollution regulator to pass fresh order of renewal of consent for the smelter within three weeks and has directed the company to spend Rs 100 crore within 3 years for the welfare of the people in the area.
The plant which contributed 40% of the copper to overall demands in India was shut down following violent protests in the month of May this year. A report by the CEO of the Sterlite had estimated that the closure of the plant will affect around 30,000 direct and indirect jobs would disrupt the smelter supply to around 800 small and medium industries.
The protesting NGOs and pressure groups had accused the Sterlite plant of contaminating the local environment by discharging various harmful waste which, as claimed by the protesters, has also lead to an increase in the cancer cases in the region. Vedanta denying the allegations of the protesting groups had claimed to have adhered to all norms.
The Committee constituted by the NGT in its report has termed the closure of the Sterlite plant as unjustified and against “natural justice”. The Committee headed by Former Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court Tarun Agarwal observed that Sterlite was not given sufficient time to respond to the allegations of the TNPCB.
Tamil Nadu state government has said it will challenge the NGT order in Supreme Court.
