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India’s all women operated railways stations: Women empowerment on the right track

Sanghamitra
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India’s all women operated railways stations: Women empowerment on the right track

The Indian Railways has taken some innovative measures in its dedication to women empowerment. The organisation, which is considered as one of the largest employers in the world, has over one lakh female staff and is continuously increasing hiring of female employees. The Indian Railways, in a unique measure, has started deploying all women staff at some railway stations. Matunga in Mumbai became the first such station.


The Matunga Station has all women staff. From stationmaster, ticket collectors to cleaning staff. A team of 30 women undertake all operations of the station.


While Matunga is a suburban station that sees local trains, Gandhinagar in Jaipur became the first main-line station to be “manned” by an all-female staff.


Even the security personnel at Gandhinagar station are all women.


The picture of an all-women crew posing in front of the gorgeous wall painting was indeed a sight for sore eyes.

all women staff at Gandhinagar station

Adding further glory to Indian Railways, the Ajni station in Maharashtra became the third such station on the eve of International women’s day.


On 8th March, the organisation took its commitment to women employment to another level by operating major trains with all women crews. Koyna Express, Deccan Express, Mumbai Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express, Ranchi Bici Tori Express, Howrah Digha Express, Dadadham Express, Gorakhpur Nautanva Express, Baramati Express, Sangamitra Express, Bhopal -Bilaspur Express all were managed by women.


Matunga, Gandhinagar and Ajni are not the only stations, The Railways has further included several other stations to the list. Govindpuri (UP), Chandragiri (Andhra Pradesh), Vidyanagar (Telangana), Maninagar (Gujarat) New Amaravati station (Maharashtra) are all being operated by women staff. Karnataka’s Dharwad got an all women staff too.

all women staff at Dharwad: pic courtesy ANI

The Indian Railway has given a very fitting tribute to these women who work tirelessly. These initiatives not only empowers and encourages women employees, they also send a very positive message to the society. More power to these women!

Pakistan High Court clears way for terrorist Hafiz Saeed’s political party to contest elections

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan High Court clears way for terrorist Hafiz Saeed’s political party to contest elections

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday issued an order that helps the Milli Muslim League (MML) to register with the Pakistan Election Commission as a political party to contest the upcoming general elections in 2018.

The Milli Muslim League is the political party founded by Hafiz Saeed, The leader of Jamat-ul-Dawa (JuD) terror organisation and the mastermind behind the Mumbai terror attacks of 26/11. Saeed is also featured in the United Nation terror blacklist.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had taken a decision in October 2017 not to allow the MML to register as a political party after objections from Pakistan’s Interior Ministry. According to reports, the Islamabad High Court’s decision yesterday clears the way for MML to register itself for the upcoming elections.

This decision has come barely a day after the Lahore High Court extended a stay order on the  ‘possible arrest’ of Hafiz Saeed till April 4. Hafiz Saeed had moved the court in anticipation that the Pakistan authorities might put him under house arrest again under pressure from the US.

This decision has evoked severe criticism in India.


According to a statement issued by the MML, Justice Aamer Farooq of the IHC has issued an order to the Pakistan Election Commission to register the party. The Pakistan government is yet to comment on the development. Pakistan is under tremendous pressure from the US to take action against terror organisations operating in the country. Both the JuD and the Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation, which are headed by Hafiz Saeed are declared as fronts of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) by the United States and the UN security council.

The US has also declared a bounty of USD 10 Million over Hafiz Saeed. Pakistan had put Saeed under house arrest for about 10 months owing to pressure from the US and also had raided some of its properties and offices.

The US has also withheld defence aid for Pakistan accusing it of failing to crack down on terror groups. The US has also backed the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to put Pakistan on its ‘Grey list’ for not taking strict measure to curb terrorism.

Fresh allegations of minority appeasement emerge against the Congress government in Karnataka

OpIndia Staff
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Fresh allegations of minority appeasement emerge against the Congress government in Karnataka

A document allegedly belonging to the Directorate of Minorities of Karnataka recommending media kits for minority journalists and two pages of government advertisements (per month) for newspapers owned by minorities has emerged in public domain.  The letter has been allegedly written by the Directorate of Minorities to the Department of Information and Public Relations on 1.03.2018.

Sadananda Gowda, the Union Minister of Statistics & Programme Implementation at the centre tweeted the document.


The body of the letter says :

The daily newspapers which have got the minority certification from the government must be given two pages of advertisement per month regarding the progressive achievements of the government. For the certified official journalists [of these minority newspapers] a media kit containing a laptop, handicam, steel camera should be provided at a cost of ₹ 61,750.

Minority editors and journalists association’s assistance should be taken to identify beneficiaries at the state and district level. The association has received the recognition of department of information and public relations. The grants must be approved for the Directorate of minorities for this purpose. 

The full letter can be read here :

The controversial letter attributed to minority department of Karnataka

While the Congress party or any functionary from the Karnataka Government hasn’t responded to this letter yet, if the information put out by BJP is true, it points towards yet another attempt to appease the minority.

Sagarika Ghose abuses an author who asked Rahul Gandhi a tough question in Singapore

OpIndia Staff
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Sagarika Ghose abuses an author who asked Rahul Gandhi a tough question in Singapore

Congress President Rahul Gandhi somewhat looked like making a fool of himself in Singapore, while having a panel discussion at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy on Thursday. Apart from making odd statements about connecting all MRI machines, he was also seen counter questioning the audience to possibly try and avoid answering them. Since the panel interview also involved the audience interacting with Rahul, it saw some of the attendees asking tough questions to the Congress President, which of all people, angered controversial journalist Sagarika Ghose.

The person in question Prasenjit K. Basu posed a question to Rahul asking him why did India’s per capita income grow slower as compared to the world when “his family” was in power. He followed it up by asking why did the per capita income see a much faster growth soon after Rahul’s family relinquished the Prime Ministerial position of the country.

A video of the exchange was tweeted by netizen Vivek Shetty:


As seen above, rather than properly answering the question, Rahul proceeded to ask a condescending counter question. When Mr Basu later schooled Rahul on economic principles, it was met with an uneasy attempt on part of the dynast to come up with an answer.

Later the official Twitter account of the Congress party decided to put out an edited video to cut short Mr Basu and Rahul’s exchange to possibly mitigate the embarrassment of their leader. This was strongly objected to by Mr. Basu, who even threatened legal action for the same.

With Rahul’s gaffes going viral on social media, a spokesperson for the party too decided to start damage control by predictably taking refuge under the garb of liberalism:


Even though Sanjay Jha had merely sung Rahul Gandhi’s praises, Sagarika Ghose decided to use it as a plank to launch an abusive, elitist and anti-Hindu tirade against Mr Basu:


Such an act of Sagarika which also involved deriding the Hindu epic Ramayana, predictably drew out reactions from people:


Such a slave like response by Ms Ghose might shed the light on the operating procedure of the so-called neutral journalists, who are seen going to extreme extents in a bid to maintain their and their “master’s” hegemony, all under the garb of neutrality, liberalism and political correctness. But when such tactics don’t work, they are seen shedding their masks and exposing their deep contempt for the Hindu culture and the beliefs of the masses.

After Amit Shah and Ajit Doval, is ‘The Wire’ planning to target Arun Jaitley and his daughter with a shabby hitjob?

OpIndia Staff
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After Amit Shah and Ajit Doval, is ‘The Wire’ planning to target Arun Jaitley and his daughter with a shabby hitjob?

India’s former Finance Minister, P Chidambaram and his son are fast sinking into their own quagmire. What can the ecosystem do to salvage the two? If not save them, can the ecosystem at least divert the attention of the country to save them from the ignominy of being the centre of attraction? It appears that this might be the case and we may get to see it happen really soon.

Leftist portal ‘The Wire’, which frequently publishes “exposés“, linking ruling politicians and their children to non-existent scandals, may be trying to pull another fast one in the next 24 to 48 hours. A source in the know has told us that the portal is trying to ensnare Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in a new “scandal”. This has also been reported by another online publication.

The plan seems to be this: Link Arun Jaitley’s daughter’s legal firm to Mehul Choksi’s Geetanjali Gems, and thus attack Jaitley, firing of his daughter’s shoulders.

The above report and our source claim the following: Jaitley and Bakshi, the legal firm of Arun Jaitley’s daughter, has been in business for 10 years. Apparently, the firm was engaged by Mehul Choksi’s Geetanjali Gems Limited in December 2017, for handling the disputes they are having with regard to their showrooms. They signed a retainership contract which eventually lasted for barely month since the law firm terminated the arrangement as soon as Choksi was named in the PNB scam. They also returned the retainership fee that was given to them through electronic transfer.

Further, we have learnt that in the one odd month of the contract, the legal firm did not handle any legal case nor did they offer any legal advice to Choksi. Yet, our source says, ‘The Wire’ may try to make this story into another “explosive” link between the scam-tainted Choksi and Finance Minister Jaitley. If this story is eventually published by ‘The Wire’, it is expected that it would be steeped in innuendo and nudge-nudge-wink-wink signs which would somehow link Jaitley with Choksi.

The timing of this potential report is crucial. It comes at a time when former Finance Minister Chidambaram is in the dock for the INX media case. Plus, Chidambaram is also in the gaze for signing a last minute order which primarily benefited Choksi’s and Nirav Mehta’s firms. A report which links Choksi to Jaitley then would make life much easier for Chidambaram.

So for some reason, ‘The Wire’ has decided not to cover a story on why Chidambaram, on the day 2014 Lok Sabha results were known, okayed a schemed that benefitted 13 private firms including that of Mehul Choksi and later the then RBI governor sanctioned that diluted 20:80 Gold Scheme five days before Modi took oath as the new Prime Minister. This glaring connection between Chidambaram, Raghuram Rajan and the Nirav Modi – Mehul Choksi scam has escaped the brave journalists at ‘The Wire’ completely.

Further, very recently the same leftist site published another half-baked report, trying to again link the revenue secretary to Nirav Modi. While the link failed miserably, enough innuendo was generated to again target the revenue secretary. The story was panned by all and when the reporter was point blank asked to specify where the official had flouted rules, there was no clear answer.

Amusingly, the bias that the TheWire has displayed in the coverage of this Nirav Modi – Mehul Choksi Bank scam is staggering. If one tries to search for details of the 20:80 Gold Scheme that P Chidambaram and Raghuram Rajan sanctioned in a hurry to benefit 13 firms including that of Mehul Choksi, one would only find an asinine article about 2 measly gold biscuits which some “anonymous bribe giver” dropped off, as an act of benevolence, to benefit Hasmukh Adhia, which Adhia later submitted to the government toshkhana. While the Scam has squarely landed on the Congress’ doorstep, TheWire, in all its “independent journalism” glory, and kept firmly shut on any Congress connection.

Only time will tell whether the latest hit-job story sees the light of day and whether it has any bite, besides the expected bark. OpIndia.com at the moment cannot confirm what the source claims, but the reputation of  TheWire makes us believe that the above is certainly within the realm of possibility.

Government’s gift on Women’s Day: Biodegradable sanitary napkins at Rs 2.50

OpIndia Staff
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Government’s gift on Women’s Day: Biodegradable sanitary napkins at Rs 2.50

The Government of India on Thursday launched biodegradable sanitary napkins priced at just Rs 2.50 per pad. The napkins will be available in the Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyaojna Kendras (PMBJP). The napkins will be available in a pack of 4 pads, priced at Rs 10 per pack.

Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers, Ananth Kumar has stated that the sanitary napkins are manufactured by the department of pharmaceuticals under the ministry and will be available across the 3200 PMBJP Kendras by May 28, 2018. They will be sold under the brand name ‘Suvidha’. 28 May is observed as World Menstrual Hygiene Day.


The scheme is aimed to benefit rural and underprivileged women across the country. The minister also added that at present, the market price of 4 sanitary napkins is Rs 32 on average and the low priced Suvidha napkins will benefit millions of women. He further added that the pads are oxo-biodegradable and hence environment-friendly too.

The minister also said according to the National Family Health Survey, about 58% of Indian women use locally prepared napkins. While 78% of urban women use sanitary napkins, only 48% of rural women have access to sanitary napkins. He insisted that the ‘Suvidha’ napkins will help to bridge the gap.

Ananth Kumar added that the sanitary napkins available widely in the market are usually non-biodegradable and not environment-friendly. But the ‘Suvidha’ napkins have a special additive which will react with oxygen and will be degraded naturally. He added that its biodegradable nature will also be beneficial as the discarded sanitary napkins constitute a major health and environmental hazard. The cheap availability of the Suvidha napkins is in line with the Prime Minister’s aim to make quality healthcare available to common people at affordable prices.

Watch: The best of Rahul Gandhi in Singapore

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: The best of Rahul Gandhi in Singapore

After flying to Italy days before his 3 stunning moral victories in the North East elections, Rahul Gandhi flew to the other end of the world. At Singapore, Rahul had a panel discussion at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore. While Rahul Gandhi was speaking with all seriousness, netizens found Rahul’s statements bizarre, incoherent and downright funny.

When Rahul explained what Singapore means to him, some on social media wondered if the video was real or was a cut-paste job by some slick editing:


Rahul Gandhi’s innovative means of “measuring” the situation in J & K also drew hilarious reactions:


With great power comes great responsibility. With many great powers, comes an absurd Rahul Gandhi statement on power:


Rahul Gandhi at one point in the show actually gave a green signal to the Indian economy as of today. He called India’s growth performance “a decent show”, which contradicts his stand in India where he constantly attacks PM Modi for India’s poor economic performance. After the question was over, Rahul realised his gaffe and tried to do some damage control:


Another block-buster suggestion from Rahul to somehow “connect” all the MRI machines in a country, via some sort of network, to “revolutionise healthcare”:


The follow-up question to this actually drew a better response: If this is so good an idea, why has it not been done yet! Perhaps only one person understood that Rahul wanted to be the Mark Zuckerberg for MRI machines:


In another segment, Rahul almost admitted that one of the Congress party’s MLAs was a former terrorist:


The pièce de résistance though could be the epic moment where Rahul chose to answer a question, by asking the person who asked the question, what he thought the answer was:


In closing, one must watch this epic roast of Rahul, which came before his hilarious videos from Singapore:


Rahul Gandhi is the gift that keeps on giving.

Hyderabad man brutally assaults wife for switching off their Wi-Fi connection

OpIndia Staff
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Hyderabad man brutally assaults wife for switching off their Wi-Fi connection

A woman living in the Somajiguda area of Hyderabad, was brutally beaten by her husband on Wednesday night. As per reports, the woman named Reshma Sultana was assaulted because she allegedly switched off their home’s Wi-Fi, to try and make her husband to go to sleep.

Switching off the Wi-Fi around midnight, angered the husband Omer Pasha so much that, he punched her indiscriminately. This resulting in the wife picking up injuries on her chest, face and head. She therefore got admitted in a private hospital to undergo treatment. Since then, Reshma’s mother has lodged a complaint with the Panjagutta police.

Reshma and Omer have been married to each other for the past six years and have three daughters. They live in the Maktha area in Somajiguda, opposite the Raj Bhavan. As per S Ravinder, Panjagutta police inspector, the couple incidentally have had a history of marital dispute and relatives are now trying to solve the issue amicably. If that doesn’t result in a breakthrough, then the matter will be referred to the Women police station for counselling. A case too would be registered if needed.

Reshma is being helped in the legal and the medical matters by Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) Party’s spokesperson Amjad Ullah Khan. He has alleged that Omer has been harassing his wife for a long time.

Video: AAP MLA gets into a spat with a senior bureaucrat for not being shown proper ‘respect’

OpIndia Staff
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Video: AAP MLA gets into a spat with a senior bureaucrat for not being shown proper ‘respect’

The tussle between the Aam Aadmi Party and the bureaucracy doesn’t seem to be ending and has now spread itself to Punjab. This time it involves AAP MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan from Kotkapura, Punjab and Faridkot’s additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Keshav Hingonia, with the former alleging that the latter disrespected him.

As per reports, the issue began at about 11:30 PM on Wednesday when the MLA reached Hingonia’s office to submit a memorandum which sought an inquiry into MNREGA payments made in the district. As per the MLA, the officer didn’t stand up while receiving the memorandum and “insulted” him by asking him to leave the premises. Reports claimed that the MLA wanted the officer to stand up so that a photograph came out better. One report has claimed that the MLA had other objections like the officer not replying to his greeting and not offering him a place to sit.

A video of the spat was tweeted by Gagandeep Singh:


In the video the MLA is seen raising his voice to assert that Hingonia is “his officer” to which the officer retorted that he (MLA) is not the government and just a MLA. This further angered the MLA who then tried to assert that he indeed was the government, which snowballed into the AAP MLA belligerently asking the officer to listen to him. When the MLA was asked not to raise his voice, he promptly responded that it was his voice and he could raise it.

While the MLA was talking about his voice, the officer asking him to leave the office, who himself goes into a different room. The video ends with the MLA’s supporters chanting “ADC Murdabad” and leaving the office. The video has gone viral on social media.

The MLA though has refused to step back and vowed to raise the matter with the assembly’s privilege committee. He has also claimed that he will write a letter to the Lal Bahadur Shastri academy, asking them to provide better training to the IAS officers about dealing with public representatives.

This incident comes merely days after violent tendencies of AAP’s Delhi MLAs were allegedly exposed, when the Chief Secretary was assaulted at CM Kejriwal’s residence. But rather than tying to diffuse the crisis, AAP supremo Kejriwal has been seen indulging in whataboutry and another MLA has been recorded openly calling for an assault on IAS officers.

Siddaramaiah unveils a state flag in the run up to Karnataka assembly elections

OpIndia Staff
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Siddaramaiah unveils a state flag in the run up to Karnataka assembly elections

The Karnataka government has approved a state flag and will be sending it to the centre for approval. As of now only Jammu and Kashmir has a separate official state flag. Karnataka had been using an unofficial state flag so far. This is the first attempt by any state other than J&K to propose an official state flag.


The Indian constitution does not approve or prohibit a state flag currently. Thus, the issue will be a matter of debate not only among political parties but also legal experts. A committee had been formed by the state government in order to study the matter.

The advocate general of Karnataka had told The Hindu that the state flag was not in violation of the constitution as long as it did not disrespect the national flag.

“In Bommai’s case, the Supreme Court has declared that federalism is a basic feature of the Constitution and States are supreme in their sphere. This being the Constitutional position, there is no prohibition in the Constitution for the State to have its own flag. However, the manner in which the State flag is hoisted should not dishonour the national flag. It has to be always below the national flag. The national flag code specifically authorises the use of other flags subject to the regulation by the court. So State flag is not unauthorised”

The Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramiah said, ‘As there is no prohibition to a state flag in the constitution, I hope that the centre will approve’, while launching the flag in front of the press. He also stated that the colour white had been added to the existing red and yellow flag as it represents peace. The state emblem has been included at the centre of the flag.

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