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Self-proclaimed saint Shraddhanand, serving life term without parole for killing his wife, pleads for his release like Rajiv Gandhi’s killers

OpIndia Staff
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Self-proclaimed saint Shraddhanand, serving life term without parole for killing his wife, pleads for his release like Rajiv Gandhi’s killers

80-year-old Swami Shraddhananda, who has been in jail for the last 29 years for killing his wife for money, has approached the Supreme Court seeking his release. The killers of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi have recently been released from jail. Therefore, Swami Shraddhananda has filed a petition in court to similarly release him from jail. Through his counsel, Shraddhanand filed the petition before a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli.

Swami Shraddhananda has been serving a jail term since March 1994 in connection with the murder of his wife Shakira. Shakira was the granddaughter of Sir Mirza Ismail, the Diwan of Mysore. Shakira was married to Akbar Khalili, who served as India’s ambassador to Australia and Iran. In 1985, Akbar Khalili and Shakira’s marriage broke up. The very next year, Shakira got married to Shraddhananda.

Advocate Varun Thakur, appearing for Shradhanand, argued before a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justices Hima Kohli and J B Pardiwala that the convict was sentenced to life imprisonment. There is also no parole for the murder he has committed. He had already spent 29 years in jail without meeting anyone. Now that Rajiv Gandhi’s killers have been released from jail, the same benefit should also be granted to Swami Shraddhananda, the counsel pleaded.

Advocate Varun Thakur said, “He has already been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder. He has already spent 29 years in jail. He said he did not get parole even for a single day during this period. The convicts in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi have been released after 30 years in jail. This is a violation of the right to equality.”

After hearing the arguments of the lawyers, the court said it would hear Shraddhananda’s plea. Shraddhananda is now over 80 years old. Thakur said that Shraddhananda has been in jail since March 1994. Originally he was awarded the death sentence, but later it was commuted to life imprisonment by the Supreme Court. The lawyer said despite his death sentence, he was kept in solitary confinement in Belagavi jail for three years. He also claimed that he was suffering from many ailments.

In 1991, Swami Shraddhananda drugged Shakira at her bungalow on Richmond Road in Bengaluru in order to rob her of assets worth an estimated Rs 600 crore. He had buried her alive while she was still under the influence of alcohol. Following a court order, the police dug up the ground and pulled out Shakira’s body. Shraddhanand was arrested in the case on April 30, 1994.

In 2000, a trial court in Bengaluru convicted him and sentenced him to death. In 2005, the Karnataka High Court also upheld the death sentence, but in 2008, on an appeal by Shraddhanand, the Supreme Court commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment without any remedies. The court had said that no person shall meet him in jail and a parole application cannot be filed.

It is interesting to note that while Shraddhananda has been jailed without the facility of parole, the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case were granted paroles regularly. Six convicts serving jail terms, Nalini Sriharan, her Sri Lankan husband Murugan Sriharan, three other Lankan convicts Santhan, Robert Payas and Jayakumar, and an Indian national Ravichandran were released from 4 different jails on 12 November, after the Supreme Court ordered their release. Ravichandran was already out on parole, therefore he went to jail for formalities and came out a free man.

Punjab: Three persons including two shooters accused of killing sacrilege-accused Pradeep Singh arrested

OpIndia Staff
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Punjab: Three persons including two shooters accused of killing sacrilege-accused Pradeep Singh arrested

A week after Pradeep Singh, a Dera Sacha Sauda adherent charged in the 2015 Bargari sacrilege charges, was shot dead by six assailants, Punjab Police made three arrests of those allegedly responsible for the shooting. Two of the three arrested accused are shooters. The Punjab police arrested the accused on 17th November 2022.

In a shocking incident on Thursday, 10th November 2022, Pradeep Singh was shot dead in Punjab’s Faridkot by six unidentified attackers in Kotkapura town of Faridkot district. The incident occurred while Pardeep was opening his shop in Kotkapura, police said, adding that Pradeep Singh’s gunman was injured in the incident.

Manpreet Singh Manni and Bhupinder Singh Goldy, two shooters, were taken into custody by the Punjab Police on Thursday 17th November 2022 in Hoshiarpur. Baljit Singh, alias Manna, the third suspect, was detained for giving logistical assistance to three gunmen from the gang’s Haryana arm.

With the arrest of the shooters from the Faridkot district, five of the six accused have been apprehended, and the hunt for the sixth continues. While the three shooters of the Haryana module, including two minors, were captured in Patiala by the Delhi Police special cell less than 24 hours after the murder on November 10, Manni and Goldy are members of the Punjab-based module of the Canadian Goldy Brar’s gang.

Punjab’s director general of police (DGP), Gaurav Yadav, tweeted on Thursday to share the news. He said in the video, “Pradeep Singh’s targetted killing took place on November 10. Today Punjab police achieved a big success in arresting Manpreet Singh Manni and Bhupinder Singh Goldy. Both these shooters have been arrested as a result of an intelligence-based operation. They were arrested from Hoshiarpur in an operation conducted jointly by the Faridkot and Hoshiarpur police teams along with counter-intelligence (CI) members of Jalandhar police. Faridkot police have also arrested Baljit Singh, alias Manna, for providing logistic support to three shooters from the Haryana module.”

Goldy Brar, an associate of fugitive Harvinder Singh, alias Rinda, and incarcerated mobster Lawrence Bishnoi, according to Yadav, is the mastermind of the crime. Police sources said that Goldy Brar was managing the modules on his own.

It is notable that, in 2015, Pardeep Singh was accused of stealing a ‘bir’ (copy) of the Guru Granth Sahib in Faridkot. He was out on bail. Protests erupted in Faridkot following ‘sacrilege’ incidents in 2015. In October 2015, police opened fire on protesters in Behbal Kalan, killing two people and injuring several others in Kotkapura, Faridkot.

Madhya Pradesh: Minors converted to Islam at children’s home during lockdown sent home, NCPCR launches probe against the home operator Haseen Parvez

OpIndia Staff
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Madhya Pradesh: Minors converted to Islam at children’s home during lockdown sent home, NCPCR launches probe against the home operator Haseen Parvez

On November 17, Thursday, NCPCR chief Priyank Kanoongo shared that three minor inmates of a care centre in Madhya Pradesh’s Raisen district who were allegedly converted to Islam by the centre’s operator, Haseen Parvez, have been handed over to their father. The NCPCR investigation into the matter assisted the children in reuniting with their family, over two years after they were separated during the lockdown amidst the Corona epidemic in 2020.

NCPCR chief Priyank Kanoongo took to Twitter to share the news report on the same. “Update! These three children have returned to Damoh with their father,” tweeted the NCPCR chief..

According to media reports, the incident occurred in the Gauharganj area in Madhya Pradesh’s Raisen district. The three siblings who were converted to Islam are all minors, aged 4, 6, and 8. The converted minors involved two girls and one boy. These children are said to be from Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh district and belong to a Hindu family under the OBC category.

Notably, on Saturday (November 12), National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairman Priyank Kanoongo informed that a case of religious conversion of three children in a children’s home has come to the notice of NCPCR during a recent investigation in Madhya Pradesh. 

Kanoongo took to Twitter to inform about the incident and wrote, “During an inspection of a child welfare centre in Raisen, Madhya Pradesh, a case was found where the operator was changing the names and religion of three children,” he tweeted.

OpIndia had reported how Haseen Parvez, the operator of the centre, changed the religion of the three children to Islam, changed their names to Muslim ones and got their Aadhar cards made. He also claimed himself to be the guardian of the children and put his name on their Aadhaar cards.

The matter came to light during an inspection of the centre by NCPCR chairman Priyank Kanoongo after receiving an oral complaint. When he talked to the children, they said that their original names were different which have been changed at the centre. After that, Kanoongo ordered a probe and asked for the confiscation of the records.

An FIR had been filed against the centre’s operator Haseen Parvez. This child centre is a government-funded private entity. Kanoongo stated that the operator will be restricted from operating a similar facility in the future.

Big Basket flaunts how thousands of Indians have ‘BigBasket’ as their password, only to realise it’s not something to be proud of. Read why

OpIndia Staff
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Big Basket flaunts how thousands of Indians have ‘BigBasket’ as their password, only to realise it’s not something to be proud of. Read why

On November 15, Mint published a story based on NordPass’s report on passwords used by internet users around the world. In country-specific information, the report suggested that “password” was the most common password used, with over 3.4 million usages. “123456” was the second most used password. Surprisingly, “bigbasket” stood in the fourth position. Signifying the popularity of the online grocery store, the report claimed that it is the fourth most common password in India.

Nordpass report on most common used passwords. Source: NordPass

Big Basket assumed it was a PR worthy of info

Without going into the details of how NordPass generated the list, Big Basket flaunted the Mint’s report on its official Twitter handle, thinking this was something to be proud of. However, things were not in their favour as the information used in the report was based on data leak incidents.

In a now-deleted tweet, BigBasket wrote, “Keeping your partner’s name as the password (X). Keeping our name as the password (✔)”. However, as soon as they realised that it was nothing to be proud of and the list meant their servers were not robust and secure, the tweet was deleted.

Understanding NordPass’s report on common passwords

A Twitter user Ravi Handa published a detailed thread on the issue. Handa contacted NordPass to understand how they came up with the report on the most used passwords. In email communication, Handa asked NordPass about the source of the data.

In a reply, NordPass confirmed that they compiled the list in association with the independent researchers who evaluated 3-TB worth of data.

Interestingly, they clearly pointed out that the independent researchers they partnered with were experts in cybersecurity incidents. Furthermore, when asked where the 3-TB data came from, NordPass said they could not disclose the source as they had signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with the source(s). NordPass also mentioned they had no access to the database of any company or server to collect the said information, which makes it clear that the password list came from the leaked data.

Furthermore, even the Mint report clearly suggested that the passwords were compiled based on the data analysed by data security experts. NordPass noted that 73% of the 200 most commonly used passwords this year were the same as last year. Around 83% of the passwords mentioned in the list by NordPass were easy to crack under a second, that include ‘password’ and ‘123456’. Hackers would take approximately five minutes to crack passwords in case of users using ‘bigbasket’ as their password, the report suggested.

The data security incident of 2020

Big Basket has been under the scanner for a data breach in October 2020. As per reports, data of around 20 million users was allegedly leaked then. In April 2021, a hacker group identified as ShinyHunters allegedly released the data for free on a hacker forum. The hacker wrote that the data file contains email, password (hashed), name, phone number, address, order details and other information of the users. It is believed that the data is from the infamous October 2020 breach. The information security firm Cyble Inc. had identified the breach and published a post on November 7 on its website.

As per a detailed report published by global threat intelligence SaaS provider Cyble, the alleged data breach happened on October 14, 2020. Cyble detected the breach on October 30 during its routine Dark Web Monitoring. The data was available for $40,000. Cyble validated the data, and on November 1, they informed BigBasket about the breach. The company urged them not to disclose the breach. Cyble advised them to let the customers know as they have the right to know about the breach.

On November 2, Cyble started informing the customers about the breach. VP-Engineering, Big Basket, approached Cyble for support and service, but Cyble refused, stating it was a high-risk engagement. However, later Cyble agreed to provide free/non-obligatory services. Big Basket was supposed to disclose the agreement between Cyble and Big Basket, but nothing happened from Big Basket’s end.

On November 7, Cyble made a public disclosure about the breach. On November 9, Big Basket acknowledged that the data was leaked. It must be noted that not only Big Basket’s data but other companies’ data were also compromised. Cyble later discovered that the infamous hacker group ShinyHunters was behind the breach. On November 12, it was revealed that a threat actor identified as The Polaris had paid ShinyHunters $40,000 for the data.

It is probable that the leaked data used to compile the common password list included data leaked from BigBasket, as there is a high probability that most people who used BigBasket as passwords are subscribers of the online store, and most probably they used it for their BigBasket accounts.

Disclosure by Big Basket

On November 10, Big Basket made a disclosure statement on social media platforms and said that as the company has been using OTP for login, there was no need to change the password. However, the company did not say anything about the other information like name, address, phone number etc., getting leaked.

Update:

OpIndia had contacted NordPass for details on the common password list, and they said that ‘bigbasket’ appeared as the 4th most common password in breaches that happened in late 2021 and 2022. This indicates that this data didn’t come from the breach of BigBasket user data that took place in 2020.

NordPass told OpIndia that the database used for the report is based on leaked data published on the Dark Web from data breaches that took place in 2022 around the world, along with some breaches in late 2021. The company said that they didn’t have access to raw data, they received already compiled lists of common passwords.

Delhi Court dismisses bail plea of AAP minister Satyendar Jain and two others in the money laundering case

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi Court dismisses bail plea of AAP minister Satyendar Jain and two others in the money laundering case

On November 17, Thursday, the Delhi Rouse Avenue Court denied bail to AAP minister Satyendar Jain in connection with the money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The bench of special judge Vikas Dhull also rejected the bail of Vaibhav and Ankush Jain, co-accused in the case. Satyendar Jain was sent to judicial custody on June 13 on completion of his ED custody in connection with a money laundering case filed against him by CBI in August 2017.

Special judge Vikas Dhull was supposed to issue the order yesterday. However, the matter was postponed for today since the order was not ready.

The AAP leader had urged the court to grant him bail, claiming that keeping him in detention would serve no purpose any longer. The Delhi Court’s Special Judge Vikas Dhull, however, reserved his order on the bail plea on November 17.

Notably, prior to this, the Delhi Court’s Special Judge Geetanjali Goel had also reserved her order on Jain’s bail plea on June 14. That time, AAP leader Satyendar Jain’s counsel, senior advocate N Hariharan had stated before the Delhi court that the Delhi minister has ‘sleep apnea’ and that he should be granted bail on medical grounds. 

Jain’s counsel also told the court that he has cooperated with the agency at every stage and no more custody is required. He submitted that the AAP leader meets the triple test for bail as he is not a flight risk and also the evidence is mostly documentary in nature and cannot be tampered with. Jain’s counsel also told the court that witnesses have never raised the allegation of threat.

Interestingly, prior to this, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had notified the trial court on Tuesday, June 14, that during questioning, Delhi minister and AAP leader Satyendar Jain claimed that he lost his memory due to the effects of Covid.

AAP leader Satyendar Jain charged with money laundering

On May 30, the ED arrested Satyendar Jain under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. On May 31, the trial court remanded him to the custody of ED. The agency raided the residence and other places associated with Satyendar Jain on June 6 and 7. Following the raid, the agency confiscated Rs. 2.85 crores in cash and 133 gold coins weighing 1.80 kg in total.

The Health Minister of Aam Aadmi Party’s Delhi government was charged with money laundering in August 2017 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Based on the FIR made by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the ED initiated a criminal case against Jain, alleging that he could not explain the source of income received by four firms in which he was a stakeholder. From 2010 to 2014, the firms allegedly laundered Rs 16.39 crores in cash.

The Home Ministry authorised the prosecution of Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in these matters, including disproportionate assets and money laundering, in November 2019. Under the PMLA, 2002, the Enforcement Directorate temporarily attached immovable assets worth Rs. 4.81 crores owned by Akinchan Developers Pvt. Ltd, Indo Metal Impex Pvt Ltd, and others in April of this year. This step was taken in connection with the case filed against AAP minister Satyendar Jain, his wife Poonam Jain, and others for disproportionate assets and money laundering.

Bihar: School headmistress Sajda Khatoon converts a classroom into a bar, safeguards drunkards while they ‘enjoy drinks’, caught red-handed

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar: School headmistress Sajda Khatoon converts a classroom into a bar, safeguards drunkards while they ‘enjoy drinks’, caught red-handed

Bihar, which has a ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol, is now seeing its schools emerging as a den of alcoholics. On Wednesday, November 16, two people were caught drinking alcohol in a primary school located in Makranda village of Manigachi block of Darbhanga. The duo were enjoying their drinks in a locked room on the first floor of the school and were being guarded by school headmistress Sajda Khatoon and her husband Mohammad Mukhtar.

According to the reports, the incident came to light when Senior Deputy Collector Pushpita Jha conducted a surprise inspection of the school on November 16. When she asked to open the lock of the room on the first floor of the school, she was shocked by the scene inside. Two guys were consuming alcohol while being provided with all the ‘comforts’ in the room including a carpet, a bed, cigarettes, and matchboxes.

Seeing Jha, both the men consuming alcohol, identified as Prakash Saday and Mithilesh Saday, ran away from the spot. They reside in the same village and had arrived in the classroom especially to consume alcohol. Reports mention that school headmistress Khatun allowed them to enter the class located on the first floor of the school and she used to protect them by locking the door from outside. She used to secure the keys and ensure nobody disturbed them during their ‘leisure’ time.

Meanwhile, Khatun’s husband Mohammad Mukhtar used to hide the liquor bottles after these ‘sessions’. He also hid the bottles on Wednesday after Prakash Saday and Mithilesh Saday were caught red-handed by Pushpita Jha. Jha has instructed the BDO and BEO to look into the matter and suspend the headmistress after inspection. Along with this, details of other teachers employed at the school have also been sought. Describing it as a serious matter, Darbhanga DM Rajeev Roshan has said that such incidents will not be tolerated.

Notably, this is not the first incident in which people have been caught drinking alcohol in a Bihar school. Recently, a video surfaced from Ara in which some people were seen having a liquor party comfortably while sitting inside a government school. In September, 150 cartons of liquor were recovered from a government school in Vaishali. A room in this school was being used as a godown by the people involved in the illegal business of liquor.

While schools in Bihar have become liquor dens and the involvement of staff is becoming more evident, the state government earlier this year had ordered the school teachers to report any ongoing alcohol-related activity on or near school grounds to authorities.

The very media that celebrates Rishi Sunak, derided PM Modi for his ‘Hinduness’ – the result of a colonised mind

Virender Kapoor
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The very media that celebrates Rishi Sunak, derided PM Modi for his ‘Hinduness’ – the result of a colonised mind

Now we have a brown man in 10 Downing Street. Indians across the world are orgasmic, to say the very least! Everybody is now noticing the sacred thread on his wrist and saying ‘wow look at that such a grounded Hindu, a man of Indian origin now governing Britain that ruled us for two centuries! He wears his religion on his wrist’

Now let’s explain what that sacred thread is for those who do not really know about it. It is called Kautuka which is a red-yellow coloured ritual protection thread, sometimes with knots, found in Hindustan. It is sometimes called mauli, raksasutra, (in Northern parts of India), kaapu, kayiru or charandu (in Southern parts). That much for the etymology.

Of course, most Hindus were excited when Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to several Hindu temples and sacred shrines in the last several years. In 2014, PM Modi began his journey by performing the Ganga Aarti on the bustling ghats of Varanasi. Headlines screamed (some in sarcasm) Cultural awakening: How PM Modi is leading the revival of temples in India. A renaissance of sorts. Some shout Hindutva! The left was rightly-in their right, right?-Up in arms.

Some Indians were nitpicking as usual when PM Modi went to several temples across the country. One goes like this in The Telegraph ‘Modi hails only one religion for protecting faith ‘during slavery’. 

The same Telegraph is going gaga over Rishi Sunak meeting King Charles in Buckingham palace a few days later with his sacred thread tied to his wrist. It reports, though obliquely, “Yesterday was Diwali, that great festival of lights celebrating triumph over adversity. As PM-in-waiting, Mr Sunak doubtless will have lit his own candle, hoping to chart a way through the adversity that is surely to come. For the rest of us, the fact that Britain now has its first non-white Prime Minister is a triumph of its own, though it is perhaps how little the colour of his skin matters that is the greatest cause for celebration.”

“‘Proud Hindu’ Rishi Sunak sports sacred thread during 1st speech as UK PM | 5 times he displayed his roots- After the 2017 general elections, Sunak took his oath of allegiance as a lawmaker on the Hindu holy book Bhagavad Gita”, reported India Today. Voila. 

Now also Angrezi Hindus need a stamp of a practising brown Hindu from White land to feel proud of being a Hindu. Yes, he is a man but are you? I am proud of Him as someone with roots in India, but not you.

No wonder PM Modi does not bother about blinkered liberal’s comments on these things.

How deep-rooted is the rot of colonization set in our mind? No wonder PM says decolonization of ‘Indian Minds’ is required. They had been brainwashed for two centuries, now some minds need to be re-washed to clean and white-washed to bring them to normalcy.

English is a bridge language between many nations today. There are around 1.5 billion people worldwide who speak English either natively or as a second language. Hindi (with 615 million) speakers and Spanish accounted for the third and fourth most widespread languages.

The mindset problem

We are incorrigible. I am aghast when Indian parents, especially Indian mothers, speak to their children only in English at home and of course outside (they have to); And Dada Dadi, Nana Nani too. A poor waiter in a restaurant is far from fluent in English and the mothers insist on speaking to him in English! They are taught good morning and not Namaste.

So White saabs are dead and gone but Brown saabs still live on.

English is still fine but many speak Hindi in English which gives you (at least me) goosebumps. It is not very uncommon to see some brown saabs and their mems saying ‘Hum Abhee Ataa hai, tum kahan jataa hai’ types.

We are so phoren impacted that we struggle in a Chinese restaurant with chopsticks but will probably not use a spoon and a fork. We eat Tandoori chicken with a fork and knife. Is this an inferiority complex- yes I think it is.

We the modern Indians say Ciao for bye (a Spanish word meaning goodbye). But hesitate in saying Namaste which is used for both greeting and goodbye. 

They also say proudly that they cannot count more than three in Hindi. To an average middle-class Indian, English is sacred and is like an ‘educated hai’ tag.

We are taught table manners very proudly in every English-speaking domain. Do you know why a quarter/side plate is kept on the left of the centre/dinner plate? Let me explain. The British had continental food and they had the main dish like roast chicken or cutlets and sauce on the centre plate and bread or bread rolls on the side plate. They used a fork and knife to cut the main dish and put it in the mouth and then broke a piece of bread with the left hand and put it in the mouth. Simple. Logical too.

We do the same with Indian food too. Cut copy and paste. We have butter chicken or chicken curry on the centre plate and tandoori roti on the side plate on the left. And now the circus starts- Saab takes his right hand stretching over his centre plate to reach the roti struggling to break it and then makes a ‘girahi’ (morsel) dipping it in the butter chicken and then putting it in his mouth. The entire exercise is so clumsy and inconvenient. If it is not boneless chicken then chicken leg can be leg before wicket and slips into the coat. But we still follow it. This is the colonization of mind in action.

We must thank Indian cinema (baptized as Bollywood) that they have made Hindi a popular language not only in India but across the world. ‘Mera joota hai Japani..’ of Raj Kapoor fame is still popular in Putin’s Russia.

‘Misleading and fallacious’: Govt refutes reports claiming that Covaxin approval was rushed due to political pressure, Bharat Biotech also denies

OpIndia Staff
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‘Misleading and fallacious’: Govt refutes reports claiming that Covaxin approval was rushed due to political pressure, Bharat Biotech also denies

On Thursday (November 17), Press Information Bureau (PIB) issued a press release refuting claims made by media reports alleging that regulatory approval for Bharat Biotech-manufactured Covaxin was rushed due to political pressure.

According to the claims made by some media reports, Bharat Biotech, the manufacturer of the indigenous COVID-19 vaccine – Covaxin – was forced to skip certain processes and accelerate clinical trials of the Covid-19 vaccine due to political pressure. According to the Union Health Ministry, these media reports are completely false, fallacious, and ill-informed.

The Central government clarified that it has along with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) “have followed a scientific approach and prescribed norms in approving COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use authorization.” 

The CDSCO subject expert committee (SEC) met on January 1 and 2, 2021, and made recommendations on the proposal for restricted emergency approval of the COVID-19 virus vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech.

“The SEC of the CDSCO met on January 1st and 2nd, 2021, and made recommendations on M/s Bharat Biotech’s proposal for Restricted Emergency Approval of the COVID-19 virus vaccine. Before Covaxin was approved for restricted emergency use in January 2021, the SEC reviewed the vaccine’s data on safety and immunogenicity and recommended that permission be granted for restricted use in an emergency situation in the public interest as an abundant precaution, in clinical trial mode, to have more options for vaccinations, particularly in the case of infection by mutant strains,” the press release read. 

It was only after Bharat Biotech presented scientific data, that the SEC granted approval for the commencement of the phase 3 clinical trial of the proposed dose of Covaxin. 

Furthermore, the purported ‘unscientific changes’ in Covaxin clinical trials, as claimed in news reports, were made following M/s Bharat Biotech’s submission to CDSCO, compliance with due process in CDSCO, and approval from the DGCI.

Moreover, on March 11, 2021, the condition of administering the COVID-19 vaccine in ‘clinical trial mode’ was removed based on additional submissions made by M/s Bharat Biotech and an assessment of interim efficacy and safety data by SEC of CDSCO.

Notably, a STAT report published on November 15 titled, ‘A very worrying scenario’: Internal documents on India Covid-19 vaccine raise troubling questions about the approval process,” claimed that Covaxin, despite discrepancies in clinical trials was approved by the regulators. The report also claimed that trial protocols were ‘changed’ to ‘expedite’ the approval process. 

Screengrab of the STAT report

The report further claimed that several executives at Bharat Biotech ‘argued’ that they faced ‘political pressure’ to get the vaccine developed quickly, however, denied taking any shortcuts for the same. 

Interestingly, the ‘misleading and fallacious’ STAT report was quoted by left-wing propaganda portal The Wire in its report which claimed that one of the directors of Bharat Biotech admitted to having ‘skipped’ mandatory steps in process of approval. 

Screengrab of The Wire report

It is worth noting that Bharat Biotech has also issued an official statement regarding the matter. In its statement, the Covaxin manufacturer has condemned the targeted narrative peddled by a few individuals and groups with no expertise in vaccines or vaccinology. 

“It is well known that they helped perpetuate misinformation and fake news throughout the pandemic,” the company said. Bharat Biotech outrightly rejected the claims that it was under ‘pressure’ to expedite the development of Covaxin.

“There was no external pressure to accelerate the development of COVAXIN. The pressure was all internal to develop a safe, and effective vaccine for the Covid-19 pandemic, to save lives and livelihoods in India and globally,” the statement read. 

This, however, is not the first time that media, especially The Wire has spread misinformation about Covaxin. The Wire, in an article on 29 December 2021 claimed, “The virologist said currently there is currently no data available on the immune response generated by Covaxin.”

Bharat Biotech, back then, stated that the data on the immune response generated by Covaxin has been published in several reputed international peer-reviewed journals through 2020 and 2021. The data on booster doses has been submitted to the authorities.

According to the company, the above-mentioned false statements by media outlets are only a few examples of the many false claims and misinformation shared by many publications against their vaccine and company. They’ve also stated that they’ll keep ‘fact-checking’ the false claims.

Bharat Biotech had then urged media outlets to be responsible in their reporting, noting that news articles on medicine, science, vaccines, and pharmaceuticals, among other topics, must be based on actual scientific facts and data, rather than ideological, political, or financial biases.

Saudi Arabia exempts Indian nationals from submitting police clearance certificates, cites strong relations with India

OpIndia Staff
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Saudi Arabia exempts Indian nationals from submitting police clearance certificates, cites strong relations with India

The Kingdom of Saudia Arabia has announced that Indian nationals will be made exempt from submitting a Police Clearance Certificate to obtain a visa. The kingdom has cited the strong strategic partnership between the two nations as the reason.

The Saudi Arabian embassy in Delhi shared the information in a tweet.

“The PCC will no longer be a requirement for Indian citizens to obtain a visa for travelling to Saudi Arabia. This decision has been taken as a part of the efforts of the two countries to further strengthen their relations. The embassy appreciates the contribution of over two million Indian citizens living peacefully in the kingdom”, the embassy stated.

India under PM Narendra Modi has maintained a strong bilateral relationship with Saudi Arabia. PM Modi was also presented with Saudi Arabia’s highest civilian honour, King Abdulaziz Sash, in 2016 at the hands of Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz.

Allahabad HC dismisses plea challenging continuance of Yogi Adityanath as UP CM, imposes Rs 11,000 fine for wasting court’s time

OpIndia Staff
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Allahabad HC dismisses plea challenging continuance of Yogi Adityanath as UP CM, imposes Rs 11,000 fine for wasting court’s time

Indian courts see all kinds of strange petitions, and the Allahabad High Court saw another such case where the petitioner, Dr M Ismail Faruqui, tried to argue that Yogi Adityanath should be removed from the post of Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Dr Farugui argued that Yogi Adityanath was not qualified to contest the election for the Legislative Assembly of UP due to a violation of provisions under Rule 4A of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961. However, the court dismissed his petition and imposed a fine of Rs 11,000 on him for wasting court’s valuable time.

The bench of Justice Attau Rahman Masoodi and Justice Om Prakash Shukla dismissed the plea while stating that the petitioner had filed a similar case previously as well.

The court said, “This court, having given a thoughtful consideration to the issue in hand, finds the present petition to be very amusing. The petitioner seems to be on a spree of filing this kind of petition as admittedly, an identical petition praying inter-alia for the same relief vide W.P © no. 5627 of 2022, was dismissed as withdrawn.”

Deliberating the merits of the petition, the bench said, “As per Section 80 of the Representation of People’s Act, 195, no election shall be called in question except by an Election Petition presented in accordance with the provisions of this part.”

The court also noted that by filing the petition, the petitioner was calling into question Yogi Adityanath’s election from the Gorakhpur seat, something which the law doesn’t permit him to do directly since he was neither an elector nor a candidate at the election on the seat.

Imposing the monetary fine, the court added, “The courts have also from time to time held that no litigant has a right to unlimited draught on the court time and public money in order to get his affairs settled in a manner as he wishes…. The court cannot be oblivious to the fact that today people rush to courts to file cases in profusion under this attractive name of public interest.”

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