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US returns 297 artefacts stolen from India, Modi govt recovers 640 antiquities in last 10 years as part of cultural preservation

OpIndia Staff
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US returns 297 artefacts stolen from India, Modi govt recovers 640 antiquities in last 10 years as part of cultural preservation

In a major boost to the Modi government’s initiative to preserve history and culture, the United States returned 297 stolen artefacts to India.

The development was confirmed on Saturday (21st September) by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) during PM Modi’s visit to the North American country.

“On the occasion of the visit of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to the United States, the US side facilitated the return of 297 antiquities that had been stolen or trafficked from India. These will shortly be repatriated to India,” it stated.

As part of the symbolic handing over of the trafficked antiquities, a few select pieces were put on display for US President Joe Biden and the Indian Prime Minister.

In a tweet, PM Modi stated, “Deepening cultural connect and strengthening the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural properties. I am extremely grateful to President Biden and the US Government for ensuring the return of 297 invaluable antiquities to India.”

The artefacts, mostly made of terracotta, are almost from 4000 years (2000 BC to 1900 AD) ago. Some of the antiquities are however made of ivory, wood, metal and stone.

The notable ones include Apsara in sandstone, Jain Tirthankar in bronze, Lord Ganesh in bronze, Standing Lord Buddha in sandstone, Lord Vishnu in Bronze, Anthropomorphic figure in copper, Lord Krishna in bronze, Lord Karthikeya in granite.

In July 2024, the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Archaeological Survey of India signed a Cultural Property Agreement to enhance cooperation in protecting cultural heritage.

The United States has returned a whopping 578 cultural artefacts to India in the past 8 years (10 in 2016, 157 in 2021, 105 in 2023). The total number of stolen antiquities recovered since 2014 now stands at 640.

Shraddha Walker 2.0? Woman found murdered in Bengaluru, dead body chopped into pieces and stuffed in refrigerator

OpIndia Staff
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Shraddha Walker 2.0? Woman found murdered in Bengaluru, dead body chopped into pieces and stuffed in refrigerator

On Saturday (21st September), the dead body of a brutally murdered woman was discovered at her residence in the Vyalikaval locality of Bengaluru. The deceased was identified as Mahalakshmi (29).

Her body was chopped into pieces (estimated to be between 20 and 40) and stored inside a 165-litre refrigerator. It is suspected that Mahalakshmi was killed 15 days ago.

Her phone had been switched off since 2nd September this year. The matter came to light when the victim’s neighbours complained of a foul smell.

The police were called in and the surrounding area was cordoned off. The cops recovered the maggot-infested body parts and began a probe into the matter. They also took the help of forensic experts and the dog squad.

Mahalakshmi stayed alone in Bengaluru after she separated from her husband, Hemant Das, earlier this year. She was a native of Nepal.

The victim has a 4-year-old daughter, who lives with her ex-husband. On learning about the matter, Hemant Das also reached the crime spot. He reportedly used to come to Mahalakshmi’s house with their child every fortnight.

While speaking about the disturbing incident, the police informed, “Mahalakshmi’s phone had been switched off since September 2. As she was not reachable, her mother and sister were worried and came to the house.”

“When we opened the door, we could see maggots crawling on the floor and the entire floor sticky with the victim’s blood that had dripped from the refrigerator’s door. Legs were cut and placed on top of the refrigerator, while remaining body parts were placed on the middle shelves. The head was placed at the bottom of the refrigerator,” they added.

The present case is reminiscent of the murder of a 27-year-old woman named Shraddha Walker by her live-in-partner Aftab Amin Poonawalla. He had strangled the victim to death on 18th May 2022 and then chopped her body into 35 pieces.

Over a span of several days, Aftab disposed of her body parts at 18 different locations in the National Capital. The gory details and severity of his heinous crime have sent shockwaves across the country. He was arrested in November of that year.

Propagandist YouTuber Dhruv Rathee summoned by Delhi court in defamation case filed by BJP volunteer, Arvind Kejriwal had agreed to apologise for sharing the same video

OpIndia Staff
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Propagandist YouTuber Dhruv Rathee summoned by Delhi court in defamation case filed by BJP volunteer, Arvind Kejriwal had agreed to apologise for sharing the same video

Pro-AAP propaganda YouTuber Dhruv Rathee has been summoned by a Delhi court in connection to a defamation case filed by software engineer and BJP volunteer Vikas Pandey. Judicial Magistrate Ankit Garg of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s court in Saket has ordered Rathee to be present in the court on 19 November.

The court stated that his presence during the hearing is necessary, and he must not fail to attend. The order issued by the court said, “WHEREAS your attendance is necessary to answer to a charge of offence punishable U/Sec. of, you are hereby required to appear in person (or by pleader, as the case may be) before the (Magistrate) of Judicial Magistrate First Class 01, on the day of 19-11-2024. Herein fail not.”

Responding to the summon, Vikas Pandey tweeted, “Dear @dhruv_rathee, hate to bring you the bad news when you just became a father, but you have just been summoned regarding the fake videos you made about me. It’s about time you stop running from law and appear in the court.”

The case relates to a series of videos Dhruv Rathee had published in 2018, where he had alleged that Vikas Sankrityan, also known as Vikas Pandey, was a member of the BJP IT Cell and had tried to bribe some Mahaveer Prasad, who claimed is an ex BJP IT Cell member, with Rs 50 lakh to speak against him.

After the three-part video series was released, Vikas Pandey filed a defamation case against him claiming ₹15 lakh. Rathee had claimed that Mahaveer Prasad had recording of the call where Pandey allegedly bribed him to talk against Rathee. But after Pandey filed a police complaint, Rathee in a follow-up video said that he ‘regrets’ that he didn’t have the recording of ’50 lakh bribe’ offer.

Notably, Vikas Pandey had also sued Arvind Kejriwal for retweeting the videos of Dhruv Rathee. In February this year, the Delhi High Court upheld the suit, declining Kejriwal’s plea to quash the case. In a significant ruling, the court said that retweeting defamatory content does amount to defamation.

After that, Kejriwal told the Supreme Court that he made a mistake by retweeting the defamatory, and was ready to apologise. In August this year, the apex court granted him six weeks of time to file the apology, and stayed the case against him.

Union law ministry notifies appointment of Chief Justices of eight High Courts including transfer of one Chief Justice

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Union law ministry notifies appointment of Chief Justices of eight High Courts including transfer of one Chief Justice

The Central Government, through the Ministry of Law and Justice, notified on Saturday the appointment of Chief Justices to eight High Courts to fill key judicial positions and ensure the smooth functioning of the judicial system in various states.

Union Law Minister (Independent Charge) Arjun Ram Meghwal announced the appointment of Chief Justices to eight High Courts, via his official X (formerly Twitter) handle. This social media post shared the government’s decision, marking a significant development in judicial appointments across India.

The Supreme Court Collegium, in its recommendations regarding the appointment of Chief Justices, originally made proposals on July 11, 2023. However, on September 17, 2023, the Collegium altered some of its earlier recommendations concerning the appointment of Chief Justices to four High Courts.

According to the notification, Justice Manmohan, who is currently serving as the Acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, has been appointed as the regular Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court.

Justice Indra Prasanna Mukerji, a sitting judge of the Calcutta High Court, has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court.

Justice Rajiv Shakdher, a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court, has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. Similarly, Justice Suresh Kait, also from the Delhi High Court, has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

The notification from the Ministry of Law and Justice also includes the appointments of Justice Nitin Madhukar Jamdar (from the Bombay High Court), who has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court.

Justice Tashi Rabstan, currently the Acting Chief Justice of the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, has been appointed as the regular Chief Justice of the same court.

Justice Shriram Kalpathi Rajendran (from the Bombay High Court) has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.

Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao, the current Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, has been transferred and appointed as the Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court.

(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

Delhi court takes cognisance of defamation complaint filed against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor by BJP’s Rajeev Chandrasekhar

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Delhi court takes cognisance of defamation complaint filed against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor by BJP’s Rajeev Chandrasekhar

The Rouse Avenue court has taken cognisance of Defamation complaint filed against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. This complaint has been filed by BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

He has alleged that Tharoor made false statement against him in an interview alleging that Chandrashekhar was bribing the voters in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency. He has said that this statement hurt his reputation and resulted in losing the Lok Sabha election 2024.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Divya Malhotra took cognizance of the offences and listed the matter on October 4 for pre summoning evidence.

“On the basis of the submissions made and the material placed on record, which prima facie disclose the ingredients of the offence, I take cognizance of the offence(s) under Sections 500 IPC and 171G IPC,” Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate said in the order passed on September 21.

BJP leader Rajeev Chandrashekhar has filed a Defamation complaint against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. Senior advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey alongwith Vaibhav Gaggar appeared for BJP leader.

It has been alleged that the proposed accused has defamed the complainant by making false and derogatory imputations on the national television that he had been bribing voters in the Thiruvananthapuram Constituency, knowing fully well that such statements were false and with the intent to lower complainant’s reputation and to affect the result of upcoming elections.

It is also alleged that the interview(s) was/were published by various news channels as well as on social media platforms at the behest of the proposed accused and resulted in loss of reputation of the complainant in the society, which ultimately resulted in the complainant losing the Lok Sabha Elections, 2024.

The complainant has filed a complaint under section 200 Cr.P.C. read with sections 499/500 IPC and 171G IPC.

The court also allowed an application for filing of amended complaint. The same has been taken on record.

(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

Bangladesh govt reverses decision to ban export of Hilsa to India, approves export of 3000 tons of the fish on the occasion of Durga Puja

OpIndia Staff
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Bangladesh govt reverses decision to ban export of Hilsa to India, approves export of 3000 tons of the fish on the occasion of Durga Puja

The interim government of Bangladesh has approved the export of 3,000 metric tons of Hilsa fish to India ahead of Durga Puja, the commerce ministry said in a statement on Saturday. Earlier, the government had decided against exporting hilsa to India this year to boost domestic supply amid a shortage of supply.

“The Ministry of Commerce has approved the export of Hilsa fish to India in light of the upcoming Durga Puja,” stated a statement issued by the Bangladesh Commerce Ministry.

According to the order signed by Sultana Akhtar, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, this decision aims to cater to the requests of various exporters. The statement specified that the export of 3,000 metric tons of Hilsa fish has been approved, provided that all prescribed conditions are met.

The approval for export came after India reportedly sent a letter to Bangladesh requesting to import Hilsa fish from the country on the occasion of Durga Puja.

The ministry has instructed applicants to submit their requests to the Deputy Secretary of the Exports-2 Branch by noon on September 24. It emphasized that applications submitted after this deadline will not be accepted, and those who have already applied need not resubmit.

Hilsa fish, known as the national fish of Bangladesh, is highly regarded for its flavour and is celebrated through Hilsa festivals in various supermarkets across Dhaka. It is also popular in West Bengal, India.

The export of Hilsa fish adds a significant cultural touch to the Hindu festival of Durga Puja. In recent years, Bangladesh has practised “Hilsa diplomacy” by permitting exports of this delicacy during the festival, strengthening ties with its neighbouring country.

Bangladesh was exporting around 5000 tons of Hilsa every year since 1996. But this was suddenly stopped in 2012 for unknown reasons. Some years ago, the Sheikh Hasina govt started the Hilsa diplomacy by approving exports of specific quantity during Durga Puja. In 2023, the ministry had permitted 79 companies to export 50 tonnes of hilsa each—totalling around 4,000 tonnes—to India on the occasion of Durga Puja.

The interim govt had earlier announced that they will be stopping this and won’t approve Hilsa exports to India. But now they have changed their decision and allowed export of 3000 tons.

GCMMF files FIR for fake news that Amul supplied ghee adulterated with animal fat to Tirupati temple, Mumbai Congress leader, ‘Spirit of Congress’ and others delete tweets

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GCMMF files FIR for fake news that Amul supplied ghee adulterated with animal fat to Tirupati temple, Mumbai Congress leader, ‘Spirit of Congress’ and others delete tweets

Amid the ongoing controversy over animal fat including beef fat and pig fat found in ghee used to make famous laddus of Tirupati Balaji temple in Tirumala, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation has filed an FIR against several social media users for spreading fake claim that Amul supplied the adulterated ghee. Yesterday, Amul had clarified that it never supplied to Tirupati temple after several X users including Congress supporters claimed that Amul replaced Nandini to supply ghee and it was Amul ghee where several animal and plant based fats were found.

Hemant Gauni, Deputy General Manager (Sales) at GCMMF, filed the complaint with the Cyber Crime department of Ahmedabad police, saying that on 20 September, he spotted several users claiming on X that Amul supplied ghee with animal fat to Tirupati temple. He said that the posts on the social media site were made in enmity, to defame and cause harm to the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which owns the Amul brand, by spreading rumours.

As per police, the FIR mentioned seven X handles as accused, which are ‘Spirit of Congress’, ‘Banjara1991’, ‘chandanAIPC’, ‘SecularBengali’, ‘rahul_1700’, ‘profapm’ and ‘prettypadmaja’. Dr. Lavina Sinha, DCP Cyber Crime, said that during investigation, more accounts were found who had posted the fake news, action will be taken against all of them.

She said that police will be seeking details from ? and Meta about the accounts. The DCP added that the FIR has been registered under BNS sections 336 (4) (forgery), 196(1A) (Promoting enmity), and relevant sections of the IT Act.

Jayen Mehta, Managing Director of GCMMF (Amul), said that the FIR has been filed to stop people from spreading fake news about Amul products. He reiterated that Amul never supplied ghee to Tirupati temple.

After the FIR was filed, several of the X users have deleted the posts spreading the fake news. This included a handle named Spirit of Congress and Mumbai Congress social media general secretary Vidya. However many tweets with the claim are still present on the social media platform.

Mumbai: BMC cancels demolition of illegal construction in mosque in Dharavi after local Muslims block road in protest

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Mumbai: BMC cancels demolition of illegal construction in mosque in Dharavi after local Muslims block road in protest

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) drive to demolish the alleged illegal section of a mosque in Dharavi, which is considered Asia’s largest slum, has been cancelled after huge numbers of locals gathered on the streets.

Speaking on the case, Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad said, “Action scheduled for today has been cancelled. We met the Chief Minister last night. We had urged him for this. Everyone kept forth their views here peacefully. It has been cancelled and everyone has gone home. I appeal to the people to maintain peace.”

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 5, Mumbai, Tejaswi Satpute, said that the environment is peaceful in Dharavi.

“A huge crowd had gathered in Dharavi on 90-foot road and after they were requested, they left the area. The environment is peaceful in Dharavi. There are a lot of messages that are misleading on social media. I appeal to everyone not to trust any such messages,” she said.

According to the BMC, it had issued a notice to the concerned to remove the construction of the encroached mosque on the 90-foot road in Dharavi.

“Also action was taken according to this notice. However, the BMC administration should give a deadline of 4-5 days to remove the encroached construction from the said place. The trustees of the mosque have submitted a written request to the Deputy Commissioner of Circle 2 of the BMC and the Assistant Commissioner of G North Division that the construction will be removed on its own during this period. The BMC has accepted the request after the concerned have written a request to remove the construction on their own. It is clarified by the municipal administration that the trustees have also been instructed to remove the encroached construction within the stipulated time,” it said.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that there is a court decision in this regard.

“The decision talks about demolishing unauthorized construction. BMC had also started action a few days ago. At that time, it was requested that this unauthorized construction be removed after Eid. Even today, when the BMC team went there, they said that they would remove the encroachment in the next four to five days, so the team has returned. In any situation, it will not be right if someone creates a law and order situation and creates an obstacle. I am sure that they will do the same as they have written to BMC,” he said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray said, “These people are planning to start a Hindu Muslim riot, there is a plan to divide Hindus and Muslims. This has never happened in our government, they are talking in terms of caste and religion and their children are running ICC and BCCI, they are abroad.”

(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

Rahul Gandhi tries to blame BJP after claiming Sikhs have no religious freedom in India, his comments were used by terrorist Pannun for Khalistani propaganda

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Rahul Gandhi tries to blame BJP after claiming Sikhs have no religious freedom in India, his comments were used by terrorist Pannun for Khalistani propaganda

Days after casting aspersions on the religious freedom of the Sikh community in India during his trip to the United States, Rahul Gandhi has now blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for quoting him out of context.

In a tweet on Saturday (21st September), he claimed, “The BJP has been spreading lies about my remarks in America. I want to ask every Sikh brother and sister in India and abroad – is there anything wrong in what I have said?”

“Shouldn’t India be a country where every Sikh – and every Indian – can freely practice their religion without fear? As usual, the BJP is resorting to lies. They are desperate to silence me because they cannot stand the truth,” the Gandhi scion brazened out.

“But I will always speak up for the values that define India: our unity in diversity, equality, and love,” he claimed. Rahul Gandhi is the leader of the Opposition from the Congress party, which orchestrated the genocide of the Sikh community in 1984.

On 10th September this year, the Gandhi scion stirred the hornet’s nest during his address to the Indian diaspora in Herndon city in Virginia State of the US. He painted a doomsday image of India and cast aspersions on the religious freedom, enjoyed by the Sikh community, in the country.

First of all, you have to understand what the fight is about. Fight is not about politics. That is superficial. The fight is about whether he as a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear his turban in India or as a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear a kada in India. Or he as a Sikh is going to be able to go To Gurdwara? That’s what the fight is about and not just for him (but) for all religions,” Rahul Gandhi had claimed.

Comments of Rahul Gandhi used to further Khalistani propaganda

The Gandhi dynast thus effectively played into the hands of the Khalistanis, who are always on the prowl to demonise India as an unsafe place for the Sikh community.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the founder of the banned terror outfit ‘Sikhs for Justice (SFJ)’, claimed that the statement made by Rahul Gandhi was “firmly grounded in the factual history of what Sikhs have been facing under successive regimes in India since 1947 and also corroborates SFJ’s stance on the justification for Punjab Independence Referendum to establish Sikh homeland Khalistan.”

Source: X

In his official statement, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said, “While addressing the gathering in Washington DC where many pro-Khalistan Sikhs were in attendance, Rahul Gandhi justified SFJ’s global Khalistan Referendum campaign when he stated: ‘Fight in India is whether a Sikh will be allowed to wear turban and kada, go to gurudwara’.

Source: X/Sikhs For Justice

“Rahul’s statement on ‘existential threat to Sikhs in India’ is not only bold and pioneering but is also firmly grounded in the factual history of what Sikhs have been facing under successive regimes in India since 1947 and also corroborates SFJ’s stance on the justification for Punjab Independence Referendum to establish Sikh homeland Khalistan,” he added.

AAP leader Atishi takes oath as new Chief Minister of Delhi, five others sworn in as ministers

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AAP leader Atishi takes oath as new Chief Minister of Delhi, five others sworn in as ministers

Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi took oath as Delhi Chief Minister on Saturday at Raj Niwas. Other AAP leaders, including Saurabh Bharadwaj, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gahlot, Imran Hussain and Mukesh Ahlawat also took oath as council of ministers in the Atishi-led Delhi cabinet.

At 43, Atishi has become the third woman Chief Minister of Delhi, following in the footsteps of Sushma Swaraj and Sheila Dikshit. A prominent leader of AAP, Atishi has played a key role in improving education in Delhi’s government-run schools during her time as an advisor to the former Education Minister, Manish Sisodia.

Atishi expressed mixed feelings about the change in leadership. She said that she is happy about the trust placed in her by outgoing CM Arvind Kejriwal but is also sad that he has resigned from his post. Speaking to the media, she added that she would work hard to bring Kejriwal back as Chief Minister after the upcoming assembly elections.

“First of all, I would like to thank the popular CM of Delhi, AAP national convener, and my guru – Arvind Kejriwal. He gave me such a huge responsibility and trusted me for it. This can be done only in AAP, only under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal, that a first-time politician becomes the CM of a state. I come from an ordinary family. Had I been in any other party, perhaps I would not have been given even an election ticket,” Atishi said.

After taking oath as Delhi Minister, AAP MLA Mukesh Ahlawat said, “It’s all because of Arvind Kejriwal and Baba Saheb that people like me become the Minister. We will work as much as possible – the priorities will be to work for the people of Dalit and backward communities.”

AAP leader and Delhi minister Kailash Gahlot said, “Arvind Kejriwal’s guidance as party’s national convenor will remain. Our only goal is to continue to work for the people of Delhi like before and to bring back Arvind Kejriwal.”

Atishi currently represents the Kalkaji constituency in the Delhi Assembly and holds the most portfolios in the Delhi government. She joined the Delhi cabinet in March 2023 and is now set to lead AAP as it prepares for the upcoming assembly polls.

Additionally, the Delhi Chief Minister’s parents, Tripta Wahi and Vijay Singh were also present during the ceremony at Raj Niwas.

(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

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