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UIDAI confirms that TRAI chief’s Aadhar number was not used to reveal his personal data

OpIndia Staff
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UIDAI confirms that TRAI chief’s Aadhar number was not used to reveal his personal data

The ongoing strife between the TRAI chief, R S Sharma, and the Aadhar critics on social media has forced the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to intervene and declare that none of the information pertaining to Sharma was fetched from Aadhaar database or the UIDAI’s servers.

The UIDAI on Sunday dismissed claims of certain ‘hackers’ on social media, who alleged that they accessed personal details of the TRAI chief by using his Aadhaar credentials. The organization issued a clarification that the ‘so-called hacked’ personal details of Sharma, was already available in public domain as he has been a public servant for decades and that people should not believe such fraudulent elements active on social media.

In a statement released by UIDAI, they specified that “Sharma’s mobile number is available on National Informatics Centre’s (NIC) website as he was once Secretary IT. His date of birth is available in the Civil List of IAS Officers which is kept in public domain and his address is on Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) website because he is the Chairman. They clubbed all these inputs and claimed to have breached the Aadhaar database.

Aadhaar database is fully safe and secure and no such information about Mr Sharma has been fetched from UIDAI’s servers or Aadhaar database.” It further read: “It is strictly not the issue about Aadhaar. It is a challenge of emerging digital world and personal data protection which have been sought to be addressed in the recommendations submitted by the Justice Srikrishna Committee.”

Recently the TRAI chairman had thrown an open challenge to all the Aadhar defamers, by sharing his 12 digit Aadhar number on Twitter and challenging them to try and harm him in any way using his Aadhar details.

A French security ‘expert’, who goes by the nickname Elliot Anderson, made Sharma’s personal information public on Twitter. Soon, people grabbed this opportunity and started sharing Sharma’s personal details like his PAN and alternative phone number on the public domain.

When contacted by TNIE, Sharma said, “Let the challenge run for some time”. On the revelation of Sharma’s PAN by the French hacker, which critics believes is the tie-breaker to support their argument, UIDAI reiterated that people usually give PAN or mobile number at many places.

As reported by Aaj Tak, an individual used R S Sharma’s Aadhar number deposited one rupee in his bank account to justify that the Aadhar number can be misused, but that justification becomes laughable since depositing money can’t be considered a marker of ‘hacking’, but perhaps withdrawing money could.

People on Twitter, however, did not leave this opportunity and were prompt to call out at this farcical act, which was executed to downplay the Aadhar legitimacy.

Jalandhar Bishop Rape case: Kerala Christian priest threatens a nun to withdraw her support for the victim

OpIndia Staff
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Jalandhar Bishop Rape case: Kerala Christian priest threatens a nun to withdraw her support for the victim

An audio tape has now surfaced where the family of a Kerala based nun and a priest are heard talking, and the priest has been alleged to have attempted to bribe and threaten the nun.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVDyyDR-Y9g]

In the leaked audio tape, it is alleged that Father James Erthayil of the Kanjirappallly diocese of Carmelites of Mary Immaculate has attempted to bribe Sister Anupama from the Missionaries of Jesus in Kottayam. Sister Anupam is one of the five nuns, who stood in support of the 44-year old nun, who was allegedly sexually harassed for many years by the Bishop Franco Mullakkal of Jalandhar diocese.

In that 11-minute audio tape, a priest introduces himself as a friend of the Father Mullakkal has tried to lure Sister Anupama to make her withdraw the support given to the sexually harassed nun. The Kerala priest has offered 10 acres of land and a convent, which would be built exclusively for those six nuns, who belong to the Missionaries of Jesus. They are presently residing in a convent in Kuruvilangad, Kottayam.

The leaked audio has now given to rise to the suspicion that the Catholic Church has been attempting to bury cases of sexual harassment which have been registered against their Bishops and priests.

Father James has warned that the nuns would be ostracised by their families if they continue to support the survivor. He further says, “I am the priest you met yesterday during the mass. I have tried to meet you twice but was not able to meet you. I have gotten information, not that anyone directly spoke to me, that ‘they’ would buy some ten acres of land and build a convent to accommodate some eight-ten nuns.”

The priest in the audio says that the convent would be built near existing Kanjirappallly diocese in Erumeli. Sister Anupama then asked about whether Father Mullakkal will be building the convent and the priest confirmed it, that the Jalandhar diocese and a benefactor will build the convent for the nuns.

The nun then refused the offer and tells him they are not willing to withdraw any case. “We must get justice. We don’t desire to lose any life or sell our dignity. They targeted first”, she said.

Father James then issued threats to Sister Anupama by saying, “If you go to any of the convents in Orissa or Assam, you can get threats. But instead, if you move away from all this and go to another convent headed by an independent Bishop, then there won’t be threats.”

This issue came to surface when a nun from Kerala had accused Father Franco Mulakkal, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar, of raping her multiple times from 2014 to 2016. The nun has further alleged that she had approached the Syro-Malabar Church authorities over the matter but no action was taken against the Bishop which made her approach the Police.

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to mow down illegal construction in disgraced former cop Sanjiv Bhatt’s house

OpIndia Staff
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Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to mow down illegal construction in disgraced former cop Sanjiv Bhatt’s house

Days after his security cover was withdrawn by the Gujarat Government, Supreme Court today denied him any relief, whereby the illegal construction over the common wall in his bungalow will be demolished. As per reports, in 2011, his neighbour Pravin Patel had filed a plea in the High Court claiming that Bhatt had started a two-storey construction over common boundary wall. In 2012, the court asked the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) to take action, following which a notice was issued to remove the construction in 3 days or the authorities will demolish it.

However, the AMC took no further action and the illegal construction was expanded to include sitting room, servants’ quarter and kitchen. His neighbour again filed a plea in 2018 to seek removal of the illegal construction. On 12th July, the AMC reached to execute the High Court order of demolishing the construction but Bhatt got a stay from Supreme Court to halt the demolishment drive till 30th July.

However, today, the Supreme Court directed the corporation to demolish the illegal construction without any further delay. Sanjiv Bhatt is known to be a controversial person, as he has time and again peddled lies and fake news to defame the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Earlier, he had used a picture of a Kashmiri boy and the security officers and twisted it to suit his agenda. He is called out almost every day for his anti-India rants and bigotry on social media.

Court issues summons to Lalu Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Rabri and others as accused in IRCTC scam

OpIndia Staff
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Court issues summons to Lalu Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Rabri and others as accused in IRCTC scam

In another major setback for Lalu Prasad Yadav, a Delhi court has summoned him and his family, including his son Tejashwi Yadav, who are accused in the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) scam.


The CBI had earlier filed a chargesheet against 14 members for involvement in the scam and had asserted that there is enough evidence against the accused Lalu Yadav and other members.

The Special Judge Arvind Kumar has now ordered them to appear before the court on August 31. The RJD leader is accused in a case of alleged irregularities, as he had allegedly granted operational contract of two IRCTC hotels in Ranchi and Puri to a private firm, owned by Vinay and Vijay Kochhar, in return for a prime land plot in Patna in 2006.

The CBI, which had on April 16 filed the charge sheet in the case, had said that there was enough evidence against the accused. The CBI had to get prior sanction from the authorities to prosecute B K Agarwal, the additional director of the Railway Board, who was the managing director of IRCTC then.

Apart from Lalu Yadav and his family members, former union minister Prem Chand Gupta and his wife Sarla Gupta, BK Agarwal, then managing director of IRCTC, and then IRCTC director Rakesh Saxena were also named in the charge sheet.

The other accused are the then group general managers of IRCTC V K Asthana and R K Goyal. In addition to them, the directors of Sujata Hotel and the owners of Chanakya Hotel Vijay Kochhar, Vinay Kochhar are also made accused in the IRCTC scam.

Lalu Prasad Yadav has been convicted for indulging in fodder scam when he was the Chief Minister of Bihar. He and his family, including daughter Misa Bharati and son Tejashwi Yadav, are facing several cases related to disproportionate assets and also for conducting benami transactions.

Earlier, the Income Tax department has seized the benami properties of Lalu’s daughter Misa Bharti, son-in-law Shailesh Kumar and his son and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav in Gurugram, Delhi and Rewari.

AAP Punjab rift widens as talks with Manish Sisodia fail, Sukhpal Singh Khaira calls for MLA convention

OpIndia Staff
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AAP Punjab rift widens as talks with Manish Sisodia fail, Sukhpal Singh Khaira calls for MLA convention

Troubles for Aam Aadmi Party’s Punjab unit grow as the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Sukhpal Singh Khaira was removed from the post which has led to a sense of discontent growing in the party.

It is reported that the meeting between Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and Sukhpal Khaira has not yielded any positive results, as Manish Sisodia refused to review the decision of removing Khaira as Leader of Opposition. The Khaira group demands to reinstate him as the leader of the opposition, as they view that the decision of his removal was undemocratic.

Khaira was accompanied by the fellow MLAs of the state, the likes of Kanwar Sandhu, Nazar Singh Mansahia, Rupinder Ruby, Baldev Singh, Jagdev Singh Kamalu, Jagtar Singh Hissowal and Pirmal Singh. Senior Leader HS Phoolka and former MLA from Delhi, Jarnail Singh had also attended the meeting.

Kanwar Sandhu speaking to the media said the meeting was to make the leadership understand that the decision to remove the LoP was undemocratic. He blamed that the leadership has either not heard the voice of Punjab or is not interested in hearing it.

Sukhpal Singh Khaira has now called for a convention to be held on August 2 and has also started mobilizing the people for the same. It is reported that Khaira is adamant to go ahead with the convention, as the leadership of the party is not happy with Khaira organizing the convention. He further said that he is not leaving the party and would ensure that no defection takes place from the party.


Khaira said he was not for any designation, but the manner in which he was removed from the post was arbitrary and humiliating. “We respect Kejriwal, but it does not mean that we are his slaves or we do not have self-respect,” he said while addressing AAP workers in Bhatinda. He accused the party leaders of promoting “button culture”, referring to the decision making on important decisions by sitting in Delhi.

It is reported that the rift in the party started when Kejriwal had to apologize to senior Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia for falsely accusing the latter of running a drug trade. At that time, Khaira and Bhagawat Mann had objected to Kejriwal’s decision and Mann had also resigned from the post of state chief.

The AAP Punjab Unit’s co-president Balbir Singh had accused him of accepting money from party workers. It was also reported that Khaira was alleged to have supported “referendum 2020”, which intends to create a separate state for Sikhs.

Sukhpal Singh Khaira, MLA from Bhulath, was appointed as the leader of opposition after HS Phoolka resigned from the post as he has decided to step away sighting conflict of interest, to fight the cases relating 1984 Anti-Sikh riots in the Supreme Court. The AAP in Punjab has now changed the leader of opposition two times in just a span of 15 months.

The party has now appointed a Dalit leader and Dirba MLA, Harpal Singh Cheema as the new leader of opposition. It is reported that the party has chosen him to develop the leadership, as the Panchayat elections in the state are expected to be held in September this year and also for the next year Lok Sabha election.

TMC and Congress oppose Assam govt’s decision to expose illegal immigration in the state

OpIndia Staff
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TMC and Congress oppose Assam govt’s decision to expose illegal immigration in the state

The BJP government in Assam on Monday published the final draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC), from which about 40 lakh residents of the state were excluded, which as a result pegs them as illegal immigrants.

Hence as reported by the media, out of the total 3.29 crore people in the state, only 2.89 crores have been deemed as eligible to be included in the list. The state’s NRC coordinator though assured that those not included can raise an appeal.

Even though this decision of the Assam government resonated with many, the Congress and the TMC have come out to oppose it.

Following the publication of the draft, the TMC’s MP Sougata Roy gave an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha, which was followed by an uproar by the party’s MPs, which subsequently led to an adjournment till 12 PM. One of its leaders also alleged that this decision would have “serious ramifications on the demography” of the states adjoining Assam.

Even its official social media accounts issued a statement calling it an inhuman decision:


Subsequently, in a press conference, TMC Chief Mamata Banerjee also plunged into the matter by claiming that people having Aadhaar cards and Passports too have not been included in the list. She further alleged that people have been excluded on the basis of their surnames and questioned whether the government was carrying out a forceful eviction.

She also claimed that people are being isolated via a game plan to throw out Bengali speakers and Biharis, and questioned as to where would these 40 lakh non included citizens go. She also alleged that this exercise was vote politics by the BJP.

The Congress party in Assam too has expressed its opposition by claiming that 40 lakh exclusions are too high and surprising. It thus alleged that the BJP had a political motive behind the NRC. Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge too has termed the exclusion to be wrong.

Incidentally, such an opposition against the exclusion was also noted in the past, when Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind’s chief – Maulana Syed Arshad Madani openly threatened that if 50 lakh Muslims were left out of the NRC, the state of Assam would burn. He had also threatened that such an exclusion would lead to retaliation and killings.

Metamorphosis: Kejriwal is now Rahulified as he tears up a report of the LG at a public gathering

Nirwa Mehta
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Metamorphosis: Kejriwal is now Rahulified as he tears up a report of the LG at a public gathering

If Congress’ prime ministerial candidate for 2019 Rahul Gandhi has resorted to using heart emojis, like a twelve-year-old schoolgirl high on Snapchat, in his tweets to make a political point, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, upset with the ecosystem ditching him in favour of Rahul Gandhi has started the process to woo back the favour.

And as Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal draw inspiration from each other on how to conduct themselves in public, with Rahul learning a few stunts from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Kejriwal has again gone back to taking lessons from Rahul.

Aam Aadmi Party chief, on Sunday, decided to tear up the Delhi LG’s report on CCTV cameras.


In the video, while addressing a crowd gathered, Kejriwal says that the ‘Janta’ wants me to tear up the report, and since the will of people is the will of God, I will tear it up. And then a smiling Kejriwal tears up the report. This reminded me of the time when in September 2013, the then Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, in a major embarrassment to Congress had stormed into a press conference being addressed by Ajay Maken and torn up the ordinance on convicted politicians.

Rahul Gandhi had called an ordinance brought out by his own government as ‘nonsense’ and given his personal opinion that the ordinance should be ‘torn up and thrown out’. In 2012, too, during a rally in Uttar Pradesh, Rahul had torn off a ‘list of promises’ made by Mayawati and Mulayam Singh to Uttar Pradesh during elections.

Rahul Gandhi tearing up promises made by Mayawati and Mulayam Singh during the run-up to 2012 UP elections

The report, which Kejriwal tore up, was of the committee the LG had set up, which comprised of police personnel. The report said that those getting the CCTV cameras installed in Delhi, even from their own money, will have to get a licence from the police. To that, Kejriwal took a dig at the police and insinuated that getting a licence would mean bribing the police.


He then said that he would be signing a file today that no licence is required to install the CCTV cameras. He mocked Delhi Police and asked ‘Does Police need another avenue to make illicit money?’ In the run-up to the 2015 Delhi Assembly election, Arvind Kejriwal in his manifesto had promised to install 15 lakh CCTV cameras across the state ‘to improve women’s safety’, which was shrugged away by Sanjay Singh, who is now AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP.

But in his defence, Kejriwal need not have learnt the trick of putting up a public spectacle of things from Rahul Gandhi, because before all this, in August 2011, Arvind Kejriwal had burnt a copy of Lokpal bill during the protests which tricked thousands of people into believing that Kejriwal could be a better alternative.

The Delhi LG office, in response to the CCTV issue, has said that the over 2 lakh CCTV cameras as installing across the city without coordination and that it requires proper framework and information mechanism.


The LG office said that the use of surveillance cameras should not become a tool to violate the privacy of individuals which is a fundamental right. Earlier, too, we had reported how Kejriwal wanted CCTV cameras installed in schools classrooms to wash his hands off his duty of ensuring the safety of children in school.

This stunt of Kejriwal just appears like one more of his attempt to shrug off the responsibility of ensuring safety and blame either ‘lack of CCTV cameras’ or ‘Delhi Police is not with us’ in case the CCTV cameras are installed and they require police intervention.

Amidst all this Kejriwalification of Rahul and Rahulization of Kejriwal and the tussle between Delhi CM and Delhi LG, the same ‘janta’ they all keep talking about is here, watching.

Karnataka : Muslim mob attacks Hindu youth for talking to a Muslim lady

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka : Muslim mob attacks Hindu youth for talking to a Muslim lady

In a shocking incidence of intolerance that was reported, a group of Muslims assaulted a Hindu man, named Suresh, a resident of Farangipete, in Bantwal, Karnataka, on Sunday afternoon.

As informed by the Dakshina Kannada district police, a group of youths assaulted Suresh for talking to a Muslim woman on his way back home. Suresh while driving back from Bantwal to his house, stopped his car at Farangipet on noticing this woman he knew and exchanged pleasantries with her before leaving. A group of youths noticing this waylaid him and launched an attack at Suresh while hurling abuses at him for simply interacting with the lady, according to reports.

Police from Bantwal Rural station has recorded the statement of Suresh after admitting him to a hospital in Puttur and registered a case under IPC section 144, 323, 504 r/w 149.

B.R. Ravikanthe Gowda, SP, said they have definite clues about the accused and would nab them. The woman was sent home with her relatives, he said.

In the past too, several such cases of rising intolerance have been reported. On one such instance last year, Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh witnessed communal clashes, leaving hordes of people including policemen injured, after a Muslim mob attacked a convoy of Kaanwariyas (devotees of Lord Shiva) for taking out their kaanwar yatra through ‘their area’.

Similarly, in a bizarre incident which occurred mid last year, in Esakhpur village, Azamgarh Uttar Pradesh, where the village was locked in a communal dispute for 4 days because of the grazing of goats by a Hindu boy which accidentally entered a field belonging to one Ahmed. Things turned so serious that there were communal fights which were reported, involving sharp weapons and even guns.

We had also reported yet another disgraceful occasion where a Muslim mob had allegedly attacked a Hindu man after he tried to save a Muslim friend during a dispute, leading to communal tension in the village.

Assam : As 52 Bangladeshis get deported, 40 lakh potential illegal immigrants identified today

OpIndia Staff
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Assam : As 52 Bangladeshis get deported, 40 lakh potential illegal immigrants identified today

A day before the final draft of the National Registry for Citizenship (NRC) list was published, a total of 52 illegal Bangladeshis were reportedly deported back to Bangladesh. According to reports, the 52 persons were evicted near the Manakachar sector near the Assam-Meghalaya- Bangladesh trijunction area.

As per reports, the 52 deported people were all ‘convicted foreigners’. The NRC data had listed foreigners after they had failed the citizenship test and termed so by the Foreigners’ Tribunal. Many such declared foreigners have been kept in six detention camps across the state.

Anticipating possible law and order situations, section 144 has reportedly been implemented in seven sensitive districts in the state and any gathering of four or more persons has been also prohibited. The last draft of 1.9 crore applicants was released in December 2017. State government officials have reported that with help from the centre being provided, they are ready to tackle any law and order situations. The superintendent of police in the South Salamar mankachar region have stated that all the 52 persons had entered the Indian side illegally and had been arrested over a period time from across different regions in the state, He had added that the government helped them get in touch with the Bangladeshi high commissioner for the travel permit.

Assam was scheduled to release the final draft of the NRC list today at 10 am. Home Minister Rajnath Singh had stated a few days back that people need not worry about the list as it is a draft list only and those failed to make it to the list, can reapply with their objections and claims within 30 days. The list is finally out and set to be available online and also will be displayed across the 2500 Nagrik Seva Kendras.

According to the NRC list, of the total 3 crores 29 lakh population of Assam, 40 lakh have not made their way to the NRC list that pegs them as illegal immigrants.


The NRC listing and its execution are being monitored by the Supreme Court and as per its rule, people who had entered the state after 24 March 1971 and their descendants will be declared ‘illegal immigrants” in the absence of due citizenship documents.

As preparatory measures in the case of an unrest, 220 additional companies of the central paramilitary forces with 22,000 personnel have been deployed in the state.

Opposition political parties have issued inflammatory statements over the issue and even blamed the BJP government of communal discrimination. But the state government and even the Army Chief have asserted repeatedly that illegal immigrants do pose a threat to the demographic and security of the country.

Times Group deletes report, apologises to Subramanian Swamy after circulating a misleading quote on Rafale deal

OpIndia Staff
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Times Group deletes report, apologises to Subramanian Swamy after circulating a misleading quote on Rafale deal

With the Gandhi family training their guns at the Rafale deal between the Modi government and the French government, the deal has taken prominence in media headlines. Yesterday, a Times Group website ‘IndiaTimes’ published an article that claimed BJP politician and legal activist Subramanian Swamy has said that the Rafale deal was corrupt and that had threatened to go to court against the Modi government.

IndiaTimes quoted a PTI story with Swamy’s quote about how no one is buying the planes and that if India doesn’t buy these planes, the aviation company Dassault would wind up.

However, soon Subramanian Swamy tweeted clarifying that he had issued no such statement yesterday and that he was prepared to take legal action against such mischevious reporting.


Soon thereafter, even PTI issued a statement saying that the agency has not issued any such story quoting Subramanian Swamy.


After the clarifications and the threat of legal action issued by Subramanian Swamy, IndiaTimes updated their story with a disclaimer that the quote was actually issued by Swamy in the year 2015 and that “the story and the quote started circulating again yesterday”.

The story, however, didn’t end there. Swamy was still not backing down and insisted on suing the Times Group.


When a Twitter user plugged the 2015 article, Subramanian Swamy responded with his reasons for issuing this statement back in 2015.


For the uninitiated, Swamy has a colourful list of names that he refers to some politicians with. TDK (tadakka) refers to Sonia Gandhi. He explained that he has protested back in 2015 because he wanted the Modi government to scrap the 126 plane Rafale deal signed by the Congress government which was corrupt. He says that after his protest, the Congress deal was scrapped by the Modi government and new negotiations for the 36 plane deal was started by the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

It turns out that the Modi government has indeed scrapped the deal signed by the Congress government and had renegotiated a new deal with India specific modifications and one where it is reported, the planes are much cheaper with additional features, as compared to the jets that the Congress government had decided to buy.

Soon, IndiaTimes tweeted apologising to Subramanian Swamy and said that they were pulling the story down.


Swamy refused to accept the apology and asserted the Times Group must sack the reporter and Editor responsible for the gaffe.


Not willing to let the matter go, Swamy tweeted in the afternoon that he has called a meeting of his legal eagles in order to decide what further action can be taken against the Times Group.


It is however interesting how a media agency can attempt to pass off an old statement as a current one, without even giving its readers the context it was said in, thereby misleading their readers.

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