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Rahul Gandhi claims Amethi will scale new heights a day after shifting responsibility to Modi and Yogi

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi claims Amethi will scale new heights a day after shifting responsibility to Modi and Yogi

Never a dull moment when Congress President Rahul Gandhi makes a public appearance. Yesterday, while on a 3-day visit to his and his mother’s constituencies Amethi and Raebareli, Rahul Gandhi had shrugged off his responsibilities as an MP of Amethi. While interacting with school children, when a student questioned him on the implementation of laws in the constituency which he represents in the Lok Sabha since 2004, Gandhi told her to ask about such things to Prime Minister Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, since it is not his job to implement laws.

Interestingly, a day after washing hands off all responsibilities of the constituency, Rahul Gandhi, while addressing a gathering in Amethi, said Amethi will scale new heights in years to come.


He said that Amethi’s name will be taken in the same breath as California and Singapore and that it will be a popular education hub a day after claiming that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is solely responsible for things that happen in Amethi.

We look forward to hearing more from him as we gear up for 2019 elections.

BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde’s convoy hit by truck, suspects attempt on life

OpIndia Staff
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BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde’s convoy hit by truck, suspects attempt on life

BJP MP and Union minister of state for skill development and entrepreneurship, Anantkumar Hegde on Tuesday claimed a ‘serious attempt on his life’ was made. In a series of tweets, Hegde posted pictures and video of the incident which took place when he was travelling on the national highway near Halegeri in Ranebennur taluk of Haveri district in poll-bound Karnataka.


While Hegde was unhurt in the incident, his support staff was injured, he tweeted.

He claimed that the vehicle which hit him was driving in the wrong direction and was parked on the road horizontally and it approached his convoy at great speed. He claimed that the people who gathered there caught hold of the driver, Naser, who did not appear intoxicated.


In subsequent tweet, he has urged the police to take investigate the incident.


The minister suspects a bigger nexus behind the incident.

Semengate: No semen detected in the balloon exhibit submitted by 2 LSR students on Holi eve

OpIndia Staff
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Semengate: No semen detected in the balloon exhibit submitted by 2 LSR students on Holi eve

In a twist in the tale, Forensic Science Laboratory report states that no semen could be detected on the balloon sample submitted by the two students who had alleged that some men threw semen filled balloon at them on the eve of Holi earlier this year.

Two Lady Sri Ram College students had alleged that balloons with ‘gooey’ substance were thrown at them, which they believed had semen in it. Not undermining the harassment many women have faced under the guise of Holi celebrations by unruly people, many people had raised doubts of balloons having semen even back then as it did seem physically impossible to collect so much semen in one balloon to throw at as many as two-three women.

Of course, the so-called journalists were quick to feel ashamed as a Hindu for the bizarre allegations.

It is on these occasions that one marvel at the fact that liberals religiously believe that terrorism has no religion but swear vociferously with the same dedication that hooliganism does, and only when it is related to Hinduism.

While we do need strict action against hooliganism, action also should be taken against those who spread such false news without thinking about the consequences and repercussions.

Sanjeev Sanyal on cash crush : Unusual increase in demand, about Rs 45,000 crores withdrawn recently

OpIndia Staff
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Sanjeev Sanyal on cash crush : Unusual increase in demand, about Rs 45,000 crores withdrawn recently

The Principal Economic Adviser to the Government, Sanjeev Sanyal gave an exclusive interview to Mirror Now and explained the possible reasons for the current cash crunch.

He asserted that there has been a sudden and unusual spurt in demand in some states, starting with Karnataka and Telangana, spreading to other states. While it was a surprise, the government is fully aware and is responding to the situation accordingly. He said the RBI and the Finance Ministry is coordinating and there is no need to worry.

When asked that since the unusual cash demand originated in Karnataka, has it got anything to do with the upcoming elections, Sanyal responded by saying that he would not like to speculate as to why this unusual spurt has happened, but he conceded that there has been speculations about this being coordinated and politically motivated.

He said that usually, there is a circulation of this money, but recently, the money hasn’t been coming back into the system. He reiterated that the system has the notes and the demands will be met. He also mentioned that the government has indeed reduced the printing of the Rs. 2000 denomination notes and the printing of other denomination notes have been increased. He conceded to the possibility of higher denomination notes being hoarded, but the demand isn’t one that cannot be met by the RBI. No real problem will be caused other than short-term inconvenience. The RBI always has enough in reserve, and more can be printed if required.

He also mentioned that this wouldn’t lead to inflationary pressure since inflation happens when extra cash is spent. And if the money is being hoarded, it would mean it is not being spent which would mean it wouldn’t lead to inflation. Hoarding and inflationary pressures cannot happen at the same time.

He reiterated, that the causes for this cash crunch will have to be investigated. Taking a dig at Economists, he said that he wouldn’t like to behave like many of them and make extrapolations based on single data points.

Sanyal also explained that this has got nothing to do with solvency of banks. The banking system in fact, is being cleaned up. Successful auctions are being done and banks are on the mend.

This was possibly a response to the allegations levelled by Rahul Gandhi, where he tweeted and said :

“Understand the deceit of Noteban, your money in Nirav Modi’s pocket. Modiji’s ‘Mallya maya’, the terror or noteban is again spreading. The country’s ATMs are again empty, what has been done to the country’s banks,”


Faye D’Souza, the anchor of the show asked Sanyal if there was going to be an investigation to find out how such large amounts were withdrawn and by whom. To this, Sanyal clarified that when he talks about ‘investigation’, he means it as a purely intellectual exercise where the government and RBI analyses the trends, and unless there is evidence, there is no reason to believe that any criminality is involved. There are all kinds of spikes that happen in Economic dynamics and there is no evidence to suggest there is anything criminal going on.

The first aim is to meet the demand, and then the investigation and analysis will ensue.

Interstingly, Sanyal said that this sort of spike is not common considering this is not the festival season which is generally during October.

Towards the quantum of demand, the Principal Economic Adviser said that around Rs. 45,000 crores was withdrawn in recent times.

The Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs had also earlier made the same assertion. “It is being said that there is a cash shortage in the country, but actually that is not the case,” said Subhash Chandra Garg, secretary, department of economic affairs. Garg said that every month, the demand for hard cash in the country is about Rs 19,000 crore-20,000 crore. However, in the past few months, it has been a different story. “Between January to March, demand for cash rose up to Rs 45,000 crore in the country, and that was supplied,” Garg added.

Sanjeev Sanyal also assured that this matter will be “solved within days”.

The full interview can be watched here :

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh6IYWEAZXM]

Congress social media head shares fake image of a newspaper in a bid to malign BJP

OpIndia Staff
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Congress social media head shares fake image of a newspaper in a bid to malign BJP

Congress Social Media head, Divya Spandana is known to use some rather questionable tactics in her quest to hand Congress a social media makeover. Today, she has gone a step further and shared a photoshopped image of a newspaper, ‘The Hindu’, in a bid to malign the BJP and the Prime Minister.

She tweeted an image of the newspaper ‘The Hindu’ that displayed the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and BS Yeddyurappa with a tag line that read “For a corruption state”. She even tagged the BJP Karnataka official handle on Twitter in a bid to poke fun at this supposed gaffe.

As it turns out, the image tweeted by Spandana was a fake. A picture of the original paper reads “For a Corruption Free State”. Spandana shared a picture with the word “Free” edited out.

This is not the first time the Congress Social Media incharge has been caught spreading lies and using less than ethical means for her party’s propaganda. A video of Spandana had recently gone viral where she was seen urging her party workers to create multiple accounts on Social Media platform Twitter in order to target political opponents. She was also recently slammed for making derogatory and cheap comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a hilarious gaffe, when the Prime Minister had taken a tough stand against the Canadian Prime Minister for snubbing Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, Divya Spandana had taken to Twitter to proclaim how much India loves Justice Trudeau and that she would volunteer to hug him.

In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica controversy, after a poster of Congress Party was seen hanging over Alexander Nix’ wall, Divya had also done a u-turn. In an earlier video, she was seen talking about how psychoanalysis is an important part of handling Social Media. She had said :

It is all about, you know, it is about one person looking at it and how you communicate. And how you, I wouldn’t say condition, but how you take control of the other person’s mind and get them to see what you want them to see. That is what it is. I want you to see the truth, but the BJP probably wants you to see other things. But social media is all about controlling the other persons mind. There is  psycho-analysis…social media. 

In a later interview with Barkha Dutt, after the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke out, she was heard saying, …”We don’t believe in manipulation or rigging of elections, pyscho-analysis and I think ideologically and also looking at their track record of what they did with Brexit and Trump’s election, I don’t think we are somebody who wants to work with a company like that”.

While it is not new for the Congress’ Social Media head to misrepresent, some would say that by sharing a fake image which is so easily verifiable, she has gone a tad too far. One wonders if ‘The Hindu’ would take any action against Spandana for misrepresenting the paper.

Congress claims it never used the term ‘Saffron terror’- here are a few examples to refresh their memory

OpIndia Staff
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Congress claims it never used the term ‘Saffron terror’- here are a few examples to refresh their memory

On Monday a special NIA court today in Hyderabad acquitted all the accused in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast which claimed nine lives. Incidentally, all the acquitted accused in this matter belonged to the Hindu faith, and as a result, the Congress party was accused of falsely peddling the “Saffron Terror” narrative while it was in power

After being cornered over this issue, the Congress surprised many by claiming that it never used the term “Saffron terror”. Reports quoted All India Congress Committee (AICC) spokesman PL Punia asserting that there was no such thing as Saffron terror while challenging people to produce a video or sound clip of Rahul Gandhi or any other Congress leader using the same.

With Congress now feigning ignorance over their propagation of the phrase “Hindu terror”, here are a few instances of the Congress leaders openly contradicting this claim.

Most famously, a Wikileaks tape dating back to 2009 recorded former US ambassador to India – Timothy Roemer recounting how Rahul Gandhi in a conversation with him claimed that radicalised Hindu groups were a bigger threat than the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Besides Rahul Gandhi, senior Congress leaders too have made similar allegations.

In 2013, the then Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde claimed that BJP and the RSS were spreading “Hindu terrorism” via their “training camps”. He also alleged that Hindus were behind Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid blast which now has been proven to be a lie.

In 2010, erstwhile Home Minister P Chidambaram “cautioned” law enforcement authorities with regards to “the recently uncovered phenomenon of saffron terror”.

Even controversial Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has been quoted in 2013 as questioning as to why did all the “Hindu terrorists” have RSS links. He though had a change of heart two years later when he objected to the use of the term saffron terror.

As the AICC spokesman P L Punia had challenged people to produce even a single clip of Congress leader leaders using the said terms, here are a couple of video clips too, which corroborate the allegations made by Chidambaram and Shinde.

In the first clip, former Home Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram is seen talking about the recently uncovered phenomenon of “Saffron Terrorism” implicated in many bomb blasts of the past:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mhcUmXHruE?start=37]

In another video Senior Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde is seen claiming to receive a report that BJP and RSS training camps are spreading Hindu terror:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqqcFsha6ZE?start=53]

In light of the aforementioned evidence, it remains to be seen whether the AICC spokesperson PL Punia will apologise for misleading people. It also needs to be seen whether party president Rahul Gandhi too will apologise for defaming a whole community via the “Hindu terror” bogey, now that Congress has denied the existence of the same.

Telangana priest carries a Dalit on his shoulder into the temple, enacts a 2700 year old ritual

OpIndia Staff
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Telangana priest carries a Dalit on his shoulder into the temple, enacts a 2700 year old ritual

A Hindu priest in Hyderabad carried a Dalit devotee into Ranganatha Swamy temple’s sanctum sanctorum on Monday to disseminate equality of human beings. Amidst the traditional nadaswaram and mridangam music and Vedic chantings by priests, Chilkur Balaji Temple Archaka CS Rangarajan carried Aditya Parasri, a fervid devotee from the scheduled caste and a resident of Jiyaguda on his shoulders into the temple. Parasri was wearing a turban and was garlanded with flowers.


This act was highly appreciated and applauded by the massive crowd that had gathered to witness the significant event. Later, the duo along with other priests and residents circumambulated the path in the temple.

The past event which propelled him to do the Seva, Rangarajan said he wanted to do the Muni Vahanai Seva to reinstate the Sanathana Dharma which treated everyone equally. “The prime objective of this gesture is to propagate equality. The ritual coincided with the 1,000th birth anniversary celebrations of Vaishavaite saint Ramanucharya, who preached equality of human beings. So we did the activity like an utsavam (festival),” he said. According to the priest, “this is the re-enactment of a 2,700-year old incident.

A visibly excited Aditya, who is a Brahmachari and a devotee of Goddess Devi, said that he was honoured to receive such a warm welcome. He added that it could be the beginning of breaking the barriers of social evils like untouchability and caste discrimination which is dividing the country.

“Being a Dalit, my family was oppressed and was humiliated when I was denied entry into Lord Hanuman temple in my native Mahbubnagar. This practice is still existent in several temples. It is very sad that although our Constitution provides for the protection of the downtrodden sections, we are still being looked down upon,” he explains, hoping that this is just the beginning of the change.

This gesture by the priest will also go a long way in dispelling the myths and also tackling casteism within the Hindu society.

Some journalists running extortion racket out of Nirav Modi’s buyers’ list, claims report

OpIndia Staff
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Some journalists running extortion racket out of Nirav Modi’s buyers’ list, claims report

A startling claim about the aftermaths of the PNB fraud came to light today when news portal pgurus.com today published a report that stated that there are a bunch of journalists who, by their contacts in the Income Tax department, have got hold of a list and using it to blackmail people.

The report stated that after the Nirav Modi bank fraud was reported, the Income Tax officials raided Nirav Modi’s showrooms across the country and several accounts and purchase related documents were seized. Among these documents, there was a list of VVIP purchasers and the amount they paid to purchase jewellery from Nirav Modi’s outlets. The list also separates the total amount paid by these VVIP purchasers through accounted ways and the amount paid by unaccounted ways or cash payments.

The seven-page list published in the pgurus.com report features some very prominent names in India’s media, entertainment and business houses. The report goes ahead to allege that some unscrupulous journalists, in collusion with certain dishonest officials at the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Finance Ministry, got hold of the list and have since been allegedly blackmailing people who have their names featured in the list. These journalists, who run news websites have reportedly made it into an extortion business.

The report then explains that In India, due to unfriendly tax regimes, it is often a common practice for the rich to buy jewellery through cash payment. The report claims that an actress approached pgurus.com stating that she is being blackmailed by journalists even after she paid 5 lakhs each to a website owner and a TV journalist who blackmailed her over the list. The actress, on condition of anonymity, has stated that even after she paid the two, she got phone calls from other journalists who too wanted to extort money.

The pgurus.com report stated that though it is a tax violation to pay for jewellery through unaccounted cash, it is a bigger crime to blackmail and demand extortion money. The list features name like Shobhana Bhartia, the owner of Hindustan Times who was one the biggest purchaser for several years. The list also includes big names like Deepti Salgaocar and Kokilaben Ambani, the sister and mother of industrialists Mukesh and Anil Ambani. Several other prominent individuals from political, media and industry backgrounds. The pgurus.com report further added that though the list does feature several powerful and rich people, the unscrupulous journalists have only tried to blackmail artists and actresses who were not very powerful. The report has published the entire list and added that they are doing it to put a stop to the extortion racket being run by the unethical journalists.

The revealing report also was the epicentre of a social media meltdown by abusive troll masquerading as a journalist, Swati Chaturvedi. The list also included her name and mentioned that she had allegedly purchased jewellery and made payment of 14 lakhs through allegedly unaccounted methods. Film-maker Vivek Agnihotri was threatened with legal action when he asked Swati about it.


Swati insisted she has a bill and asked Vivek to check with relevant authorities.


Swati however, switched to her usual style soon and avoided answering then question Vivek asked.


If the claims of the report are indeed true, it not only raises questions on the professional ethics of the journalists but also points towards the loopholes in the system that unscrupulous people take advantage of.

Nidhi Razdan is schooled about ‘loan write off’ and the ‘recovery process’ with a simple example

OpIndia Staff
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Nidhi Razdan is schooled about ‘loan write off’ and the ‘recovery process’ with a simple example

The media has been mixing up loan waiver and loan write off for the longest time. In fact, even Rahul Gandhi has peddled this lie multiple times even after being corrected. So when Nidhi Razdan, who is famous for conducting an entire debate based on fake news, furthered the same lie again, Twitter user and CS Ashutosh Muglikar felt compelled to explain the basics to her with a simple example.

It all started with this tweet where Nidhi Razdan insinuated that if 90% money from Non Performing Assets haven’t been recovered, it means they might never be recovered.

To this, Ashutosh Muglikar pointed out Nidhi’s flawed logic.


He then proceeded to explain the concept with a simple example. He took the example of two friends, Ramesh and Suresh. He explains how Suresh borrows money from Ramesh at a 10% interest against security of his bike and scooter. They money was then invested in his business.


He then explains a scenario where Suresh is unable to pay the amount. While Ramesh asks for the money back several times. Frustrated, Ramesh, in accordance with RBI rule, provides for the outstanding amount as a loss.


Ramesh then ‘writes off’ the amount in his books and goes to the court to recover his money. After a while, he sells the scooter kept by Suresh as security and recovers Rs 10,000 from the Rs. 60,000 that he is owed.


He postulates that while this entire process is on, a channel like NDTV starts screaming about how only 10,000 has been recovered and in their inimitable style, ask for the resignation of the Prime Minister.


He goes on to explain the court proceedings. Says that a man approached Ramesh with an offer to buy the entire company for Rs 40,000 and eventually, Ramesh decides to forgoe his ‘unapplied interest’ and recover whatever money he can.


He then explains how NDTV and Nidhi Razdan’s logic is hollow and their shrill noise about how the money can never be recovered are nothing but uninformed opinions.


We can only hope that with such a simple illustration, we can only hope that people like Nidhi Razdan and Rahul Gandhi are able to grasp the nuances.

India to grow at 7.3% this year, fastest through Asia, reports World Bank

OpIndia Staff
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India to grow at 7.3% this year, fastest through Asia, reports World Bank

The World Bank, in its twice-a-year South Asia Economic Focus report has forecast a growth rate of 7.3% for India and 7.5% for 2019 and 2020.


The report says that Indian economy has also recovered from the November 2016 demonetisation and implementation of Goods and Service Tax in July 2017.

The World Bank further said India should strive to accelerate investments and exports to take advantage of the recovery in global growth.

“Growth is expected to accelerate from 6.7 in 2017 to 7.3 percent in 2018 and to subsequently stabilise supported by a sustained recovery in private investment and private consumption,” the World Bank report said.

A report by Asian Development Bank released last week also resonated with the World Bank report. The economy grew 6.6 percent in the last fiscal as it battled the lingering effects of demonetisation in 2016, businesses adjusting to Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 2017, and a subdued agriculture.

In November 2016, in a bid to curb the black money menace, Modi government took a bold step of demonetising Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 currency notes. The unprecedented had left the opposition pointing out fingers at the ruling parties dauntless decision. P.Chidambaram, Congress leader and former Finance Minister even called the ‘surgical strike’ on black money ill-conceived.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, was in an all-out attacking mode, saying that ‘November 8 is a sad day for the country.”


However, various reports have emerged since then which show a different story. E-filing of income tax grew by 17%, bringing more people under the tax bracket. In fact, even the 2017-18 Economic Survey tabled in the Parliament earlier this year asserted economic revival.

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