In the hustle and bustle of the day, it is only natural to miss some of the biggest developments that impact the nation. The OpIndia Evening Dispatch will catch you up on the day’s event even if you have been busy thus far.
1. PDP leader’s car used in 2017 Amarnath Yatra attack, ‘integrity report’ sought after suspicions of ‘sympathy towards separatists’: NIA
In a letter written to the Jammu and Kashmir police, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sought an ‘integrity report’ on former PDP legislator Aijaz Ahmad Mir, saying that “it is believed that he has a soft corner towards the separatists.”
According to reports, a vehicle belonging to the former PDP legislator, Aijaz Ahmed Mir was used in the 2017 sensational attack on Amarnath pilgrims that left seven dead. Earlier a police officer named Adil Bashir Sheikh deployed with Aijaz Ahmad Mir had absconded with seven assault rifles of colleagues from a Police post guarding his residence. Later Sheikh had joined the Hizbul Mujahideen.
2. Maharashtra: Cow smugglers crush police constable Prakash Meshram to death, arrested
In a horrific incident, two Muslim cow smugglers have mowed down a police constable, Prakash Meshram and injured two others after they tried to stop these cattle smugglers near Warora late on Sunday night, reported Times of India.
According to the reports, two Muslim youth- Imtiyaz Ahmed Faiyyaz (19) and Mohammad Raza Abdul Qureshi (20) were present in one of the two pickup vehicles smuggling cattle from Wani in Yavatmal district to Nagpur. The police officials had barricaded the road to carry out the routine checks. The cattle smugglers, afraid of getting caught drove past the first check post while injuring two cops who tried to stop them. At the second check post, two police constables stood behind the barricades and signalled the drivers using torchlight to stop. instead of stopping, the smugglers drove their trucks over barricades killing one constable on the spot.
3. In Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh, third BJP leader found murdered within a week
Chhatrapal Singh Rawat, a BJP worker from Madhya Pradesh, was found murdered in Gwalior on Monday. This is third such murder of a BJP worker in Madhya Pradesh within a week. Another BJP office-bearer, Magan Siddiqui was seriously injured after he was reportedly attacked in Jabalpur on Sunday.
Earlier on Sunday, Balwadi BJP leader Manoj Thackeray was found murdered in a field after he had gone for a morning walk. Prior to that, Mandsaur BJP leader Prahlad Bandhwar was shot dead in full public view
4. After threatening to thrash BJP workers publicly, BSP leader now offers 50 lakh reward for MLA Sadhna Singh’s head
Reacting to the remarks made by the BJP MLA Sadhna Singh on BSP supremo Mayawati, a former BSP MLA Vijay Yadav has announced a 50 lakh bounty on Sadhna Singh’s head. Yadav has offered to award Rs 50 lakh to whoever brings Singh’s head. Sadhna Singh had made certain insulting remarks about Mayawati relating to the 1995 Lucknow Guest House incident when Mayawati was assaulted by Samajwadi Party workers in a Lucknow guest house and was rescued by an RSS Swayamsevak.
Few says ago Vijay Yadav had remarked in a public meeting that once the BJP is out of power, they (BSP-SP alliance) will thrash BJP workers publicly.
5. Trouble mounts for AAP: BJP Delhi files defamation case, demands de-recognition of AAP as political party
The BJP Delhi unit on Monday filed a criminal defamation case against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP members. The case has been for allegations levelled by Kejriwal against the BJP of deliberately deleting names of lakhs of voters from the electoral roll in Delhi. In December 2018, Kejriwal had alleged that the BJP got 30 lakh votes deleted.
Other than Arvind Kejriwal, AAP Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Gupta, MLA Manoj Kumar and AAP spokesperson Atishi Marlena have been named in the case. The Court has accepted the plea and the matter will be heard on 5th February.
6. Shut down madrasas across India as ISIS ideology is being promoted to influence students: Shia Waqf head Waseem Rizvi to PM Modi
Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board Chairman Waseem Rizvi has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a shut down of all madrasas across India stating that ISIS ideology is being promoted there to influence the students, reports ANI.
Reportedly, in a letter addressed to PM Modi dated January 21, Shia leader Rizvi said that if madrasas in the country are not shut down with immediate effect, then within the next 15 years half of the country’s Muslims will get influenced by Islamic State ideologies.
7. Business Standard bigotry: After Kanwar Yatra, the Kumbh Mela gets linked to ‘unemployment’
The Business Standard’s bigotry towards Hindu festivals is scarcely ever hidden. Earlier, it had insinuated that the Kanwar Yatra was so popular because of unemployment in the country. And now, it has again made the assertion that the Kumbh Mela attracts millions of people because they are unemployed.
8. Here is why #DarpokAbhisar is trending on Twitter
When he is not busy making embarrassing videos ‘investigating’ train tragedies, the Ramnath Goenka award-winning journalist Abhisar Sharma is busy sending abusive direct messages to Twitter users who make fun of him. Turns out, the journalist went on a blocking spree because people dig out his old embarrassing tweets and Sharma could not take a joke or two. It all started when a Twitter user @firkiii made fun of him.
9. NIA and EVM Hackathon organisers rubbish sensational claims made by the ‘EVM Expert’
The Foreign Press Association, which was a co-organiser of the London EVM hackathon event, has rubbished hacker Shuja’s claims and termed them unsubstantiated. The FPA disassociated itself from the claim made by the masked hacker Syed Shuja and said that not a single claim made by the hacker has been corroborated. The Italian journalist moderating the event also said that the hacker had no solid proof for the “serious allegations” that he made about the elections in India and in London.
NIA has also ruled out any link between investigation into Gopinath Munde’s death and the death of NIA officer Tanzil Ahmed. The agency has said that the officer was shot dead over a property dispute, and his killer Muneer had also admitted to his crime
10. Did Congress just concede defeat after Court took cognisance of Vivek Doval’s defamation case against Jairam Ramesh?
On 16th January 2019, the Caravan Magazine published an article targetting Ajit Doval’s son Vivek Doval. The article insinuated wrongdoing on the part of Vivek saying that he heads a hedge fund in Cayman islands. Promptly the Congress had picked up the malicious article and conducted a press conference where allegations were hurled upon Vivek Doval, NSA Ajit Doval’s son.
After that, Vivek Doval flew down to Delhi to file a criminal defamation case against not just Caravan Magazine editor and journalist, but also Congress leader Jairam Ramesh for malicious and defamatory allegations.
After the massive blowback by Vivek Doval, the Congress seems to have developed cold feet, one would imagine. In a Congress press conference today, which was held by Anand Sharma, a journalist began to ask him a question regarding Vivek Doval. Immediately, Anand Sharma said that he doesn’t know “who this person is”.
