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#MeToo: Government commissions Home Minister led GoM to deal with sexual harassment at workplace

OpIndia Staff
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#MeToo: Government commissions Home Minister led GoM to deal with sexual harassment at workplace

After a torrent of sexual harassment cases came to the fore against eminent personalities, the Narendra Modi government has sprung into action constituting a Group of Minister(GoM) under home minister Rajnath Singh’s supervision to bolster law and order framework to fight sexual harassment at workplace.

The GoM will comprise of three other ministers as well- defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari and women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi will all be part of the committee that will suggest actions to be implemented in providing legal and institutional framework to deal with matters of sexual harassment of women at workplace.

The Home Ministry said, “A group of ministers has been commissioned in the view of the need for broader consultation on this issue, with the belief of developing appropriate recommendations and laying down a comprehensive plan of action and for ensuring its timely implementation.” The Home Ministry contended that they are committed to upholding the safety and dignity of women in the workplace.

A time frame of 3 months has been allotted to the GoM for examining the existing safety provisions for women and develop recommendations to further strengthen them and make it more effective.

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act is a key legislation in ensuring the safety of women at workplace and for effective redressal of the complaint raised by them. The Ministry of women and child development has also launched an Electronic Complaint Box that empowers and facilitates women to raise complaints of sexual harassment at the workplace. Once the complaint is lodged, it is transmitted to the authority concerned having jurisdiction to act on it. A mechanism will be put in place to monitor the accountability of these authorities.

Despite High Court order, Delhi government schools seek voter ID and Aadhaar details of parents of students

OpIndia Staff
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Despite High Court order, Delhi government schools seek voter ID and Aadhaar details of parents of students

The Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government had sought the Voter ID and Aadhaar details of all the 87 lakh students in Delhi’s schools along with those of their family members. In a circular dated September 11, the Directorate of Education had, on behalf of the Delhi government sought the details.

However, the circular was opposed and a PIL was filed in the Delhi High Court against the circular by the Government School Teachers’ Association on September 19. The Delhi HC, after hearing the PIL, had given the verdict on October 1 that it cannot be made mandatory for the students and their family members to provide their Aadhaar and Voter Id details to the Delhi government.

However, Vikas Bhadauria, a journalist from ABP News, has tweeted yesterday that despite the HC order, schools in Delhi are still seeking the Voter Id details of parents from the students. In a letter that Bhadauria claimed was from Delhi Public School branches in which a form was attached for filling the voter id details of parents and students, along with photographs and mobile numbers. The letter states that the schools have been asked to collect the data by the Directorate of Education and it is mandatory.


The government seeking voter id details of parents has raised suspicion and is being objected by many.


It is notable here that in the verdict by the Supreme Court of India, though the constitutional validity of Aadhaar was upheld, the court had stated that it is not mandatory for mobile connections, bank accounts and school admissions. Though as per the claims, the Delhi government seems to have stopped asking for Aadhaar details, the seeking of voter id details have created discontent.

CBI feud: Four men caught and beaten up by Verma’s security personnel, handed over to Delhi Police

OpIndia Staff
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CBI feud: Four men caught and beaten up by Verma’s security personnel, handed over to Delhi Police

The CBI internal war has taken yet another turn as four men were grabbed and beaten up by the security personnel of the sacked CBI Director Alok Verma on Thursday morning.


The four men were first taken inside Alok Verma’s residence before eventually being handed over to Delhi Police.

The four men are reported to be ‘suspected IB officers’ by abusive troll masquerading as journalists, who, according to ‘sources’ could be delusional.


However, reports are emerging that that may not be the case.


According to the reports, the four men were present near Verma’s residence and they were targetted by the security personnel of the former CBI chief, who allegedly obstructed them from carrying out their work. The presumed IB officials were caught near Verma’s official residence around 6 AM today by Verma’s personal security officials.

The four men are reportedly identified as Dhiraj Kumar Singh, Ajay Kumar, Prashant Kumar and Vinit Kumar Gupta. The Delhi Police have taken all the four into their custody.

The ongoing CBI ‘turf-war’ between the two topmost officials Alok Verma and Rakesh Asthana has become a national issue presently. The issue which began as a turf war has now taken unprecedented turns leading into the politicisation of a sensitive issue.

The Union government soon stepped in to resolving the issue and decided to change the top leadership of the CBI comes against the backdrop of an ugly feud between the CBI Director Verma and Special Director Asthana over the issue of an alleged bribery case involving Asthana. It appointed senior IPS officer M Nageshwar Rao to take over the duties and functions of CBI Director.

Alok Verma, a 1979 batch IPS officer from AGMUT (Arunachal, Goa, Mizoram, UTs) cadre has also accused Asthana of his involvement in alleged corruption with regard to the Sterling Biotech case and has filed an FIR against Asthana alleging him of receiving Rs 3 crore as a bribe in Moin Qureshi case.

Meanwhile, Asthana has responded to the charges by writing to the Cabinet Secretary saying that Verma was interfering in his investigation and had tried to stall a raid on Lalu Prasad in the IRCTC case. Rakesh Asthana also alleged that Verma had accepted to the bribe from Satish Sana in relation to Moin Qureshi’s case.

Out on bail: Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia granted bail in Delhi CS assault case

OpIndia Staff
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Out on bail: Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia granted bail in Delhi CS assault case

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs were granted bail by Delhi court today in the Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash assault case.


Next date for scrutiny of documents is scheduled for 7th December.

Earlier this year in February, Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash had registered a complaint with the Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) that AAP MLAs, in front of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, had assaulted him at the CM’s residence when he was there for a meeting. However, the CMO had denied the allegations.

Following the accusations, not only there was no apology issued, but one of AAP MLAs justified the attack as well as appeared to be encouraging mob violence against people who were perceived as corrupt. In a letter to DCP North, Prakash had described the incident where he said that he was threatened with false cases against him under SC/ST act and physically assaulted by MLA Amanatullah Khan and another MLA who he claimed that he could identify. He has also claimed that he was assaulted in the presence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

In August this year, the Delhi Police had filed a charge sheet naming Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and 11 other AAP MLAs for criminal conspiracy.

Prashant Bhushan, Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie file PIL at Supreme Court seeking Rafale deal probe

OpIndia Staff
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Prashant Bhushan, Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie file PIL at Supreme Court seeking Rafale deal probe

On 24th October, former BJP leaders Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, and left-wing activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan filed a PIL in Supreme Court seeking court-monitored probe into the Rafale deal.

The petition alleges that in the Rafale deal there is prima facie evidence of cognizable offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act by public servants occupying the highest of public offices in the country. The petition mentions that they had filed a complaint before the CBI alleging corruption in Rafale deal on 4th October, but no action was taken.

The petition alleges that CBI did not register an FIR because highest public servants in the country were involved and there is extreme pressure on CBI due to which the agency could not perform its duties in a fair and impartial manner.

The petition repeats the same allegations that Prashant Bhushan, Rahul Gandhi etc have been making, that Dassault was forced to give the majority of offset contracts to “RAL” which was set up recently. These allegations have been already proved as false, as Reliance share in the offset contract is less than 10%, with an investment component of less than 3%. Moreover, Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited (RNAVAL) was originally known as Pipavav Shipyard which was set up in 1997. The company was acquired by Reliance Infra, after which the name was changed to Reliance Defence and Engineering, and then to RNAVAL.

The petition alleges that the new deal to purchase 36 Rafale jets gives undue benefits to Reliance Aerospace Limited (RAL), a company which does not exist. Perhaps they are referring to Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited (DRAL), which is a joint venture between Dassault Aviation and Reliance group.

The petition has urged the Supreme Court to direct CBI to register the FIR and start a probe under the court’s supervision. It also wants the court to direct the Central Government to stop influencing or intimidating the officers that would investigate the complaints. They also request that the CBI officials that would handle the investigation should not be transferred or taken off charge. It is interesting that there is no FIR, investigation in the complaint yet, but the petitioners have already assumed that only those the CBI officers that were transferred or asked to go on leave will investigate the Rafale matter. Prashant Bhushan, Rahul Gandhi and others have already started a ‘save Alok Verma’ mission, the CBI director who was asked to go on leave till investigation on allegations against him are done.

Earlier this month, Arun Shourie and Prashant Bhushan had met Alok Verma, and demanded probe into the Rafale deal. It was an unusual event, as generally politicians don’t approach the CBI directly requesting probe. Generally, people go to court or ask the government for CBI investigation.

Several petitions were already filed at the Supreme Court by several petitioners, but the top court had observed that the allegations “appear to be grossly inadequate”. The court had also refused to issue any notice to the government in the matter. However, the court wanted to know the steps taken by the government of India in taking the decision to purchase the Rafale jet. The court had clarified that it had not considered the allegations made by the petitioners in their respective petitions while seeking this information from the government. The court also said that details of pricing and technical information need be provided.

Secret Service intercepts ‘potential explosive devices’ sent to Obama, Hillary and White House

OpIndia Staff
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Secret Service intercepts ‘potential explosive devices’ sent to Obama, Hillary and White House

The Secret Service on Wednesday intercepted two suspicious packages containing ‘potential explosive devices’ addressed to the White House, former President of the United States, Barrack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington and New York respectively.

As per reports, a suspicious package containing a pipe bomb addressed to the White House was intercepted at Joint Base Bolling in Washington. The device addressed to the White House also contained projectiles.

The CNN has also reportedly evacuated their New York offices after receiving a suspicious package. Earlier, an explosive device was also found in the mailbox of George Soros, a liberal philanthropist, who has been often targeted by far-right groups. According to the Secret Service, the packages were immediately identified during routine mail screening procedure and were handled appropriately.

As per the FBI, the package intended for Clinton was found in the vicinity of her residence in New York and Obama’s package was intercepted in Washington. Based on the time and material, the law enforcement agencies suspect the same person behind all the devices.

As of now, the United States Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies are carrying out the investigation.

Diwali 2018: where are the ‘Green Firecrackers’ that Supreme Court has mandated?

OpIndia Staff
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Diwali 2018: where are the ‘Green Firecrackers’ that Supreme Court has mandated?

Responding to petitions seeking a ban on firecrackers in India, Supreme Court on 23rd October imposed several restrictions on firecrackers, refraining from a blanket ban. Apart from setting a window of only two hours, 8 pm to 10 pm, for fireworks during Diwali, the apex court also said that only Green Crackers will be allowed in the country. Green crackers are low pollution firecrackers that scientists have developed in recent years. Diwali this year is just two weeks away, and the question arises, are there enough such firecrackers available in the country, or rather are there such firecrackers available in India at all.

Last year union environment minister Harsh Vardhan had requested scientists to develop less polluting firecrackers, soon after that several CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) laboratories began working on creating such fireworks.

The altered chemical composition of these “green firecrackers” result in 40% lesser toxic emissions; created in such a way that they emit water vapour and air after exploding, which suppress dust as well as dilute the toxic gases that are traditionally emitted at first. They also include safe minimal aluminium and safe thermite crackers. Moreover, they look the same and sound exactly like the traditional fireworks, especially the flowerpots and bijli, and may be less expensive.

However, according to reports, there is much scepticism regarding these green firecrackers among ecologists. Environmentalists claim they have not received any permissions to test them out, with Diwali being merely two weeks away, it seems unlikely to experiment with these eco-friendly crackers will be possible in such little time.

Environmental activist from PESO (Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation) Vikrant Tongad said, “Even if a stockpiling of these new crackers are done, it is impossible to test their standards now. It is too late for this Diwali.”

Indian manufacturers also claim that there no such thing as green firecracker in the market yet, and point that their products already meet the specifications of PESO. They say that they have already completed production for this year, and they can’t produce green firecrackers. Traders also say that even if such products are available, they would not able to procure it in just 15 days. Many of them also have old stock, which they can’t sell now.

Sunil Dahiya, Senior Campaigner from Greenpeace India mentioned, “The lack of seriousness shown to public health crisis is appalling. Both central and state governments have been indifferent to it since many years now. Yet, efforts are being made by us to make at least a fraction of newly tested green crackers available.”

“There’s nothing called green crackers. Only some of the harmful chemicals used in crackers earlier, will not be used anymore,” said Vijay Panjwani, advocate for the Central Pollution Control board. It was one of the suggestions made as part of the government’s affidavit for the proposal of ‘green crackers’, the Supreme Court only accepted parts of the affidavit.

Given this backdrop, there is a big question mark over this year’s Diwali. For all practical purposes, there is actually a blanket ban on firecrackers, as the apex court has ordered something which is not available at present, and which can’t be produced for the entire country in such a short period of time.

If the court order is fully implemented, there will be no fireworks this year. And if traders and people chose to defy the court order and use existing available firecrackers, that would be disrespect of Supreme Court of India.

‘He was being mentally and physically tortured’: Complaint filed against Bishop Franco for harassment of Father Kuriakose

Aditi
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‘He was being mentally and physically tortured’: Complaint filed against Bishop Franco for harassment of Father Kuriakose

A complaint has been lodged against the Kerala nun rape case accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal by the brother of Father Kuriakose, who was found dead in Hoshiarpur, Punjab,  alleging harassment of his deceased brother by rape accused Bishop Mulakkal and his supporters as per reports.

Father Kuriakose had given a statement to the police against the rape accused Bishop Franco and stood in solidarity with the nuns who were demanding Bishop Franco’s arrest. Jose Kattuthara, Fr. Kuriakose’s brother, in the complaint lodged with Punjab’s Dasuya Police, has alleged that his brother was harassed mentally and physically at Mulakkal’s behest.

“I and my family members suspect that our brother’s death was not natural as he was under pressure and being tortured by Franco and his people,” Jose said in his complaint. Jose further told, “Father Kuriakose was the first priest who spoke against Franco through electronic media. Since then he was threatened by Franco and his own parish members started turning against him at Franco’s directions”. Jose recounted that Fr Kuriakose had told him about the harassment he was going through. “He (Kuriakose) told me that ever since Franco came out on bail, he was being mentally tortured,” Jose said.  In his final call to us last week, Father Kuriakose said that if Bishop Franco gets bail, his death would be imminent, and asked us to pray for him, Jose added.

Giving out other details Jose said, “Kattuthara’s salary was reduced to Rs 500 and that too was irregular. He was one of the senior priests of the diocese. All his positions were taken away from him. Kattuthara’s residence and a vehicle parked outside his residence was attacked the day he gave a statement against Mulakkal”.

Father Kuriakose was found dead in his room at St Mary’s Church in Dasuya by his cook around 9 am on Monday. According to Sister Lisabeth, the principal of the St Paul Convent School, who saw Fr Kuriakose’s body in his room, “When we broke opened the door, we found father lying on his bed. We immediately took him to the civil hospital, where he was declared brought dead”. “There was vomit in the room and some tablets were found near the bed,” she added.

She confirmed that Fr Kuriakose had differences with Mulakkal. This was also confirmed by Father James Chaco Ullatil, the head priest at Dasuya church, who said, “Father Kuriakose didn’t like the policies and working style of Franco”.

Meanwhile, the autopsy of Fr Kuriakose’s body has been conducted at the Civil Hospital in Dasuya on Tuesday. The details about the autopsy conducted have not been disclosed yet. Doctors involved in the autopsy said they found no external or internal injuries on Father Kattuthara’s body, and the cause of death will be revealed once the visceral report comes out.“The chemical analysis report will take around three months in arriving, and the histopathology report will come in a month and a half. Only then will we have complete clarity on the cause of death,” Dr Jaswinder Singh, a member of the hospital’s medical board, said.

Virat Kohli makes history! Reaches 10,000 ODI runs in 205 innings, surpassing Tendulkar’s record

OpIndia Staff
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Virat Kohli makes history! Reaches 10,000 ODI runs in 205 innings, surpassing Tendulkar’s record

This day will be marked as a momentous day for all cricket lovers as the Indian cricket team captain and skipper, Virat Kohli became the fastest-ever batsman today to reach 10,000 one-day international runs, making history in his 205th innings against the West Indies in Visakhapatnam.

The 29-year-old captain outperformed fellow Indian cricket legend, Sachin Tendulkar, who first crossed the 10,000-run mark in 259 innings in 2001.

Kohli became the fourth Indian cricketer after Sachin Tendulkar (18426), Sourav Ganguly (11221) and Rahul Dravid (10768) to join the 10000-run ODI club.

In fact, during the 2nd ODI match against the Windies at Visakhapatnam, Kohli became the third Indian batsman to complete 4000 runs on home soil. Here too he outshined by becoming the batsman to take the least number of innings to complete 4000 runs on home soil for India. Kohli reached the mark in his 78th innings at home, while Tendulkar had taken 92 innings to complete the milestone.

Image courtesy: Hindustan Times

Earlier on Wednesday, Kohli surpassed Tendulkar as the highest scoring Indian against West Indies in ODIs, going past his 1573 run mark.

As the flamboyant right-handed batsman goes all out to set new records his fans took to Twitter to magnify his accomplishments which completely justifies the frenzy.


Not only did the fans express their respect for the ‘superstar’, but many from the cricket fraternity took to Twitter to express their admiration.


Virat Kohli has made it a habit of sorts to make or break a record while he goes out to bat in the middle. Kohli has become the 13th batsmen in cricket history to score over 10,000 runs in ODI format. However, by reaching the milestone in the least number of innings and becoming the fastest to cross the 10,000-run mark, the cricket Indian captain added another feather in his already star-studded cap!

Opposition and sympathetic media lies, obfuscates, flip-flops about the CBI fiasco to undermine Modi govt

OpIndia Staff
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Opposition and sympathetic media lies, obfuscates, flip-flops about the CBI fiasco to undermine Modi govt

After CBI Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana was sent on leave, the opposition parties and left-wing activists have gone on overdrive in defending the Director. Congress party has alleged that Verma was going to investigate the Rafale deal and that’s why the government has ‘transferred’ him. Several activists have claimed that CBI Director has a ‘collegium protected tenure’ and the central government can’t sack him. Prashant Bhushan claims PM has no authority to send CBI director on leave as his tenure is protected.


The claim that the government has removed Alok Verma is false. The CBI director has been sent only on leave, along with number two in the agency Special Director Rakesh Asthana. It is interesting that while people like Prashant Bhushan were opposing the appointment of Asthana by the Modi government, and even filed a PIL at SC against the appointment, are supporting Verma now. This clearly shows that in this ugly fight inside the CBI, the opposition parties and left liberals have taken a clear side. They have deliberately ignored the fact that Rakesh Asthana also has been sent on leave, and offices of both the officers were sealed.


It is important to remember that there are allegations of corruption against both the top officers of CBI, and both the allegations must be investigated fairly. As Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today, CBI is the premier investigating institution in the country, and there can’t be any doubt about the integrity of the agency. Not only in India, but in other countries also CBI’s reputation must be spotless.

As there are serious allegations against both the officers, impartial investigation into them is a must. If the officers continue in their jobs, that would not be possible. The officers can not supervise investigations against themselves, that would be a mockery of the process. That’s why both the director and special director has been sent on leave so that an impartial investigation can be ensured. The government has not sacked Alok Verma, only sent on a leave, so violating his fixed 2-year term does not arise. After the Lokpal Act was passed, the appointment of CBI director is now governed by this act, according to which a panel comprising Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India and Leader of the Opposition selects the CBI Director. But the functioning of the agency still comes under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, under which CBI was formed.

According to the finance minister, the CVC had recommended under the CVC Act and DSPE Act that the investigations cannot be conducted by the concerned two officers or under the supervision of them. That’s why it was decided that for the institutional integrity of CBI, and to maintain fairness in investigations, the two officers will sit out of CBI till the time the investigation is completed, as an interim measure.


Referring to conspiracy theories that CBI director was going to investigate the Rafale deal, Arun Jaitley said that this also casts a serious doubt. He said that if the accusation is true, that means the opposition parties and activists have access to future plans of CBI director, and that raises a big question on the integrity of the person. Even Rahul Gandhi tweeted the same allegation, which points towards the probable existence of a Congress informer inside CBI. And if they are not getting inside information, that would mean the allegation is untrue and baseless.


It is important to note that no case of Rafale deal was allotted to CBI, and nobody from CBI had announced that they are probing the deal. If the Congress party and left-wing activists have access to confidential information from CBI, that is actually a big issue.

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