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India signs new 777 million USD defence deal with Israel for Barak 8 missiles

OpIndia Staff
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India signs new 777 million USD defence deal with Israel for Barak 8 missiles

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has been awarded an additional $777 million contract to supply LRSAM air and missile defense systems to seven ships in the Indian navy. According to reports, the contract has been signed with India’s state-owned Bharat Electronics Limited.

In 2016, India became the first country in the world to incorporate the Israeli-made Barak 8 surface-to-air missile into its arsenal, which was then scheduled to launch in Germany as well.

Also known as Barak-8, Indian-Israeli surface-to-air missile (SAM) has been designed to defend against any type of airborne threat including aircraft, helicopters, anti-ship missiles, and various other combat jets. It has been in constant use by Israel as well as the Indian Navy now, in the air and missile defense system.

On signing this latest deal, the sales of the Barak 8 over the past few years itself have crossed over $6 billion, according to IAI, whose partnership with India dates back to many years.

IAI Chief Executive Officer Nimrod Sheffer said, “India is a major market for IAI and we plan to culminate in a joint system of development and production while also reinforcing our positioning in India, keeping in mind the increasing competition.”

The LRSAM missile had been tested on Sa’ar 5 class missile ships about two years ago and proved to have the potential to intercept aerial threats at a range of hundreds of kilometers, such as missiles carrying heavy explosive warheads, precision missiles, and planes.

As per reports, leaders of Israel and India have pledged to deepen their ties, with increased participation of both countries in cooperative projects in the field of agriculture and advanced technologies. Along with the United States of America and long-term partner Russia, Israel is now emerging as one of India’s biggest suppliers of weapons.

In 2017, IAI struck a $2 billion deal to supply missile defense systems to the Indian army and navy, subsequently followed by another contract of $630 with BEL in order to provide Barak 8 surface-to-air missile systems for four ships in the Indian navy. The Barak 8 was developed by IAI in collaboration with Israel’s defense ministry, India’s DRDO and the navies of both the countries.

India has proved to be a major market for Israel and the IAI further plan to reinforce their position in India with the provision of more warfare supplies.

Congress’ flip flop: Opposed Alok Verma when Modi appointed him, supports him as Modi removes him

OpIndia Staff
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Congress’ flip flop: Opposed Alok Verma when Modi appointed him, supports him as Modi removes him

In the ongoing tussle between two factions of the CBI, the government of the day, citing ongoing investigations, has sent both the officers involved Rakesh Asthana and Alok Verma on leave. However, the Opposition, ready to attack the Modi government on almost any and every incident that takes place in the country, has claimed that Verma’s ouster is because of his keenness to probe the Rafale deals.

Stating that the country and the constitution are in ‘danger’ Congress President Rahul Gandhi tweeted that Verma was forcefully sent on leave because he was ‘collecting documents in the Rafale scam’.


Congress official handle, too, tweeted on similar lines that ‘democracy is in danger’.


These claims, by all standards, seem concocted and fantastical with no evidence as back up. However, while lending their support to Verma, Congress is conveniently forgetting that when he was appointed as the new CBI chief in January 2017, Congress had vehemently opposed his appointment. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge had given a dissent note when Verma was appointed as the CBI chief citing he had no experience of having served in CBI and also had very little experience in vigilance.

Verma is a 1979 batch IPS officer from Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre and was appointed CBI director for a period of 2 years by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet.

Not-so-surprisingly, Congress is not the only one who has suddenly changed their stance on Verma. Supreme Court lawyer and now-ousted Aam Aadmi Party founding member Prashant Bhushan, too, extended his support to Verma after having opposed his appointment terming it ‘illegal’. It would seem like the only motive of Congress and its sympathisers like Prashant Bhushan is to oppose the decisions of Modi government even if it means throwing caution and consistency to the wind.

‘Activists’ Rehana Fathima who tried to desecrate Sabarimala, transferred by BSNL after protests

Jhankar Mohta
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‘Activists’ Rehana Fathima who tried to desecrate Sabarimala, transferred by BSNL after protests

Facing resentment for her attempt to enter the holy Sabarimala shrine and desecrate it following Supreme court orders which granted permission to women of all ages to enter the temple ignoring the shrines age-old tradition barring women of menstruating age to enter the holy place, activist Rehana Fathima, a BSNL employee, has been transferred to the Palarivattom telephone exchange in Kochi, where she would not be required to interact with the public, news agency PTI reported.

BSNL on Monday has begun its disciplinary procedures against activist Rehana Fathima and more action will follow after the completion of an internal enquiry, BSNL officials informed.

As per reports Sabarimala Karma Samithi carried out a protest march to the Palarivattom BSNL office on Tuesday demanding her removal from the company. However, sources informed that BSNL has not yet dismissed Fathima from her job.

Last Friday, amidst the Sabarimala tension, it was reported how the head priest at Sabarimala threatened to shut the temple door and handed over the keys as two women, Kavitha Jakkala, a journalist with Hyderabad based Mojo TV and activist Rehana Fathima tried to enter the shrine.

The erstwhile royal family of Pandalam, who are the custodians of the Sabarimala temple, asked the head priest to close the doors of the shrine as two women headed for the temple under police protection. Protesters also squatted on the path leading to the hilltop temple.

The controversial activist, Rehana Fathima had sparked a squabble calling the age-old traditional ban on menstruating age as “unconstitutional.” Pathanamthitta police had on October 20, registered a case against activist Rehana Fathima against a complaint filed by Sabarimala Achara Samrakshana Samithi, Secretary Padmakumar P, for putting up social media posts that were “communally divisive” in nature.

As she tried defying the age-old belief several unidentified people had allegedly vandalised her house in Panambilly Nagar last Friday. On the other hand, the activist was expelled from the Muslim community by the Kerala Muslim Jama’ath Council for “hurting sentiments of lakhs of Hindu devotees”.

Rehana Fathima, who stirred a major controversy by trying to enter the shrine has had a very contentious past. A model in the past Fathima has been a part of the ‘Kiss of Love’ campaign in Kochi in 2014 against the purported moral policing. She had also stirred a controversy last year after she posed topless in a photo with watermelons as a mark of protest against a Kozhikode-based college professor’s remark comparing women’s breasts to watermelons.

She has also acted in a film called “Eka” produced by her partner Manoj K Sreedhar. The film is focused on “intersexuality”. The film features nudity and several bold scenes with Fathima. The film’s poster goes, “I am intersex, I have a p**is and a v***na by birth, I want to live”.

VHP scales up preparations for Ram Mandir, 70 trucks carrying stones to arrive at Ayodhya soon

OpIndia Staff
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VHP scales up preparations for Ram Mandir, 70 trucks carrying stones to arrive at Ayodhya soon

As per reports, the VHP has scaled up its preparations for the construction of the much awaited Bhavya Ram Mandir at Ayodhya following recent proclamations made by senior leaders of the RSS and the BJP.

VHP leaders have claimed, as per reports, that 70 trucks will soon arrive in Ayodhya carrying stones. In addition, more artisans are said to have been roped in to carve them into pillars and other structures for the Temple. The procurement is said to be more than four times the amount they had brought in more than a year ago at their Ramjanmabhoomi Mandir Nirman Karyashala (Temple construction workshop).

The scaling up of VHP’s efforts appears to have the approval of its senior brass. “We are not going to step back. This is a battle for the victory of truth. We are just waiting for the Supreme Court order,” VHP’s international vice-president Champat Rai told TOI while asserting that more stones and artisans would be brought in to speed up the work.

Reports stated that there was a heavy police presence in Ayodhya on Tuesday. The road to the temple was closed down. But after the recent announcements, activities in the city have reportedly increased. Pilgrims and visitors have been pouring into the ‘Karsewakpuram’ where the proposed model of the three-storied temple is kept by the VHP.

Recently, at the annual Vijayadashami celebrations at Nagpur, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat urged the NDA government to formulate a law to felicitate the construction of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. Soon after, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath had said in Chhattisgarh that Ram Mandir will be built soon.

No urgent hearing of review petition: SC to Romila Thapar on Urban Naxal case

OpIndia Staff
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No urgent hearing of review petition: SC to Romila Thapar on Urban Naxal case

The Supreme Court on Friday declined an urgent hearing of a review petition filed by historian Romila Thapar in the case of the arrests of five ‘Urban Naxals’ for their alleged role in the Bhima Koregaon violence.

According to reports, Romila Thapar had filed a review petition seeking a review of the Supreme Court order of rejecting a SIT probe into the arrests of Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferriera, Sudha Bhardwaj, and Gautam Navlakha. The court rejected the plea and further permitted the Maharashtra Police to continue with the investigation.

The Supreme court headed by the then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on September 28 had refused to interfere with arrests of these five ‘Urban Naxals’ and had extended the interim house arrest of the activists. The apex court proceedings had ruled that ‘dissenting views expressed or difference in political ideology’ had nothing to do with the case.

The apex court had ruled that the accused cannot have a say on how the police should investigate the case and had asked the arrested persons to move to the trial court with their appeals.

The Pune Police had conducted raids and arrested the five accused at the end of August. The arrested persons were accused of links with Maoists networks. The arrests were in relation to the Bhima Koregaon violence. Earlier, the Pune police had arrested Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut and Sudhir Dhavle in the case. The arrested persons in August raids had moved to the Supreme court and had obtained an order for house arrest instead of judicial custody.

In a recent development, the Pune police have now informed a special court in Pune that the accused in connection with the Elgaar Parishad case were in contact with Central Committee members of the banned CPI-Maoist, and they had discussed routing funds for Maoist activities through hawala transactions.

Kiren Rijiju’s presence in the bilateral security meet annoys the Dragon

OpIndia Staff
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Kiren Rijiju’s presence in the bilateral security meet annoys the Dragon

For the first time, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju was part of India’s delegation in a bilateral security meet with China as per reports. However his presence on the delegation riled China as Rijiju hails from the Indian State of Arunachal Pradesh which China claims as part of its own territory.

As per reports, the Chinese made a strong representation to object this arrangement and had even asked for correction of this “wrong move”.

Rijiju was initially on the delegation but on Chinese insistence, his name was dropped. He had been kept off the meetings with Chinese officials until Monday. On Monday, while the restricted dialogue was underway between Rajnath Singh and Zhao Kezai, China’s Minister of Public Security, Rijiju was called in to participate in delegation-level talks. He was also part of the document signing.

The Home Ministry spokesperson confirmed Rijiju’s presence in the meeting but pleaded ignorance to any protest from the Chinese side.

Rijiju’s presence in the meeting held on Monday with Chinese officials is significant as until this time, the Indian government had been conceding to the sensitivities of China regarding Arunachal Pradesh. China had earlier protested against any high-level visits to Aunachal. It is for the same reason that Rijiju was absent from delegation-level talks during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India in September 2014. He also skipped the President of India’s state banquet for his Chinese counterpart during that visit.

According to the statement of MHA, during the meeting held on Monday, issues of mutual interest, including bilateral counter-terrorism cooperation were discussed, and both the sides welcomed increased cooperation between India and China in the area of security cooperation.

In April 2017, during the visit of the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh, China had warned about taking “necessary measures” to defend its territorial sovereignty and accused India of “obstinately” allowing the Tibetan spiritual leader to visit the “disputed” parts of the Northeastern state, causing “serious damage” to bilateral ties.

Prashant Bhushan’s flip flop on Alok Verma shows that his only aim is to oppose Modi

OpIndia Staff
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Prashant Bhushan’s flip flop on Alok Verma shows that his only aim is to oppose Modi

Amidst the ongoing battle between two factions of the CBI, the government of the day, citing ongoing investigations, has sent both the officers involved Rakesh Asthana and Alok Verma on leave. But this has not gone down well with some of the known Modi Government detractors.

According to the SC lawyer Prashant Bhushan, the BJP government removed Alok Verma from his office as he was pursuing corruption charges on Special Director CBI Rakesh Asthana. Bhushan also alleged Asthana’s involvement in the Rafale deal was the reason for the government’s alacrity to protect him from Verma’s investigation.


The government had already claimed that they have sent both the officers on leave. In the meanwhile, the government has appointed senior IPS officer M Nageshwar Rao, a joint director within the CBI to take over the duties and functions of CBI Director with immediate effect. This decision comes soon after it was reported that Asthana and Verma had both been summoned by the Prime Minister.

If this wasn’t enough, Prashant Bhushan has insinuated charges of corruption against M Nageshwar Rao and called him a tainted officer.


But this didn’t go down well with an aware Twitter user (@iAnkurSingh), who took it upon himself to out Prashant Bhushan’s shameless hypocrisy.


As outed by Ankur, it can be seen that Prashant Bhushan, in the past, had moved to the Supreme Court terming appointment of CBI Chief Alok Verma as ‘illegal’. The SC had then quashed Bhushan’s petition and refused to interfere in his appointment. Bhushan had also insinuated that Alok Verma was appointed by the Modi government to protect the corrupts.

Today, Prashant Bhushan is vehemently protesting against the government’s move of asking Alok Verma to proceed on leave. One cannot help but wonder what motivates Prashant Bhushan to take such diametrically opposite stance in just over 20 months. From calling Alok Verma’s appointment as ‘illegal’ to his ouster as ‘illegal’, Prashant Bhushan’s flip-flops have sent his followers in a tizzy. It also testifies that Bhushan’s only aim is to stop Modi, even if it comes at the cost of being exposed as a churlish hypocrite.

In the past too Prashant Bhushan has been accused of sharing fake news from dubious sources just to sustain his campaign against the Modi government. When the veracity of the news was outed, he quietly deleted his post without tendering an apology. This has become a pattern now. Prashant Bhushan has attempted to spread misinformation and half-baked allegations several times in the past. He had alleged recently that PM Modi had arranged for Mehul Choksi’s Antiguan citizenship. He had also circulated a ‘news clip’ that claimed that Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Jio has bought 30 crores phones from China and it is a big scam. Both his claims were wrong.

Telangana: Voters’ list contains names of nearly 190 Rohingya illegal immigrants

OpIndia Staff
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Telangana: Voters’ list contains names of nearly 190 Rohingya illegal immigrants

According to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, the names of nearly 190 Rohingya illegal immigrants residing in Telangana have appeared in the state voters’ lists. The senior officials have said that they have initiated the process of verification and deletion ahead of the assembly elections in Telangana.

“We have received the list from the Election Commission with nearly 190 names of Rohingya living in Telangana to be verified. We have sent the list to Returning Officers (RO) and Assistant ROs to verify,” the officer told the media.

The officer further added that they have so far deleted 25 names of Rohingyas from the voters’ list. He said the process of updating is still going on and the remaining deletion of the names will be done before the second supplement list of voters is published.

According to the reports, the names of Rohingya immigrants had appeared in voters’ list of few constituencies near Hyderabad and the list has been now sent to the respective districts for verification and deletion of names if required.

There are as many as 39.60 lakh voters in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation limits and nearly 3,600 Rohingya immigrants holding UNHCR cards reside near Hyderabad.

One of the officers said that the names of the illegal voters have been deleted after obtaining Form 7 from them. “They were given a seven-day notice for the removal of the name,” said the officer. Telangana Chief Electoral officer Rajat Kumar has reiterated that they have received specific instructions from the Election Commission to not include identified immigrants in the voters’ list.

We had earlier reported about an incident of three Rohingya Muslims getting arrested in Hyderabad for obtaining Aadhaar cards, passports, PAN cards, drivers’ license, voter ID and opening bank accounts claiming to be Indian nationals. The trio, including a woman, had used fake documents and fraudulent means to obtain Indian documents of identity and nationality.

In order to curb the movement of Rohingya Muslims across the country, the Railway boards after receiving the letter from intelligence agencies have directed RPF units across all the divisions to watch out for any movements of Rohingyas towards the southern states.

Rajasthan state Muslim forum demands election tickets from ‘secular parties’ in proportion to the population

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan state Muslim forum demands election tickets from ‘secular parties’ in proportion to the population

With Rajasthan assembly elections round the corner, the state joint forum of the major Muslim organisations in Rajasthan has started voicing their demands over ticket distribution from ‘secular parties’ in proportion to the population. The forum proclaiming the current situation to be fatal for the country’s democratic system expressed concern over the declining ratio of Muslim representation in the assembly.

The forum conveners, Qari Moinuddin, Muhammad Nazimuddin, Hafiz Abrar Ahmed, Advocate Packer Farooq said that all ‘secular political parties’ must ensure participation of all religious sections including Muslims.

Last month it was also reported how the president of the Congress party’s minority cell in Rajasthan, Nizam Quereshi, had appealed to the Congress party demanding 18-20 seats exclusively for candidates from the Muslim community.

This revelation came in the wake of reports hypothesising that the Congress is likely to field fewer Muslim candidates in the upcoming assembly election in Rajasthan than the last time. A senior Congress leader had made it clear that “There is a clear direction from the high command that tickets should be given to candidates who can win. We will not unnecessarily get into any kind of balancing act. At the end of the day, only seats will be counted.”

A political analyst named Anil Kumar Singh had however asserted that the move appeared to be in sync with the party’s strategic shift to soft Hindutva. “In its campaign so far, the Congress has not raised issues related to minorities at high decibel. Its president, Rahul Gandhi, is visiting temples and offering puja on his visits. It clearly indicates that the Congress looks to ‘kill’ BJP with its own medicine,” he said.

The Rajasthan Muslim forum, however, demanded that tickets should be given to nominees who belong to the weaker section of the society and to people who would understand Muslim predicaments and would put in the effort to resolve them rather than to candidates with communal and criminal backgrounds considering they are popular and have better chances of winning.

The Forum further advised the ‘secular parties’ to consult the representatives of the Muslim to include the issue of security, education, employment etc for minorities in the party manifesto.

While all parties gear up for 2019 general elections it was reported a few months back how Rahul Gandhi in his desperate attempt to boost his image, had met some Muslim intellectuals and activists at his residence. Interestingly, the leaders of the so-called Muslim intellectual class had then conveyed their displeasure over the Congress Party’s recent narrative of being soft to Hindus. During the meeting, the intellectuals had also advised Rahul Gandhi to do a “self-introspection of the Congress party”, claiming that the party had changed a lot in recent times.

Congress apparently is now sitting on a powder keg. While Rahul Gandhi declared himself as a ‘janeu dhari Hindu’ in a bid to appease the Hindu electorate which has been disgruntled with Congress for a while owing to its “Hindu Pakistan” and “Saffron Terror” sort of remarks, the Muslim community which has been Congress’ core vote bank, considering how Congress has appeased the minority for decades, seems disgruntled at this pseudo-Hindutva stand. Considering that the Congress party is now stuck in a baited trap, it would be interesting to see what would be the parties trajectory in the upcoming elections.

Rajasthan, along with four other states, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Telangana and Chhattisgarh go to polls in the upcoming weeks. Rajasthan will vote on 7th December and the counting of votes will take place on 11th December.

With Pakistan’s recent love for Congress, does Imran Khan’s statement have larger implications

OpIndia Staff
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With Pakistan’s recent love for Congress, does Imran Khan’s statement have larger implications

Fearing that his ‘peacemaking efforts’ may be rebuffed by India with the 2019 elections because of ‘anti-Pakistan rhetoric’, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that he will resume peace talks with India after the elections are over.

Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative Forum also known as “Davos in the desert” in Riyadh, Khan said, “Pakistan wants peace with all our neighbours particularly India and Afghanistan for regional peace and stability”. Explaining how peaceful relations would help India and Pakistan, Khan said, “Peace with India would help the two countries to divert their resources towards human development instead of indulging in the arms race. Similarly, peace in Afghanistan would help Pakistan to have an easy access to the Central Asian states for bilateral economic and trade activities”.

In September, India called off the meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries, planned for the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly the same month, to protest against the killing of security personnel in Kashmir and a Pakistani postage stamp that was “glorifying” a terrorist.

However, Khan’s statements raised eyebrows as after the recent bonhomie between Congress and Pakistan.


That is not it. Congress ministers on many occasions in the past have praised Pakistan. Pakistanis have also on one occasion reverted back by praising Congress President Rahul Gandhi for slamming PM Modi. Not to forget how senior Congress leader, Mani Shankar Aiyar while expressing his love for Pakistan, had blamed India for stopping the dialogue between the two nations. He also went on to say in an interview that to start a dialogue between to nations, Prime Minister Modi needs to be removed from his post. Former Union Minister of External Affairs, Salman Khurshid, too, on his visit to Pakistan, had hailed Pakistan as a democratic country and slammed Modi government.

Congress, on its part, also seems to be having a soft corner for the neighbour. Recently, Congress was found promoting a ‘Modi hatao desh bachao’ ad on Facebook in Pakistan. When Congress was called out on the same, the party decided to blatantly lie after quietly deleting the post.

Keeping this in view, it may not come as a surprise that Khan is rooting for a Congress government in India in 2019.

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