On 11th November 2022, Sri Ram Sena chief Pramod Muthalik said that if Karnataka Congress MLA Tanveer Seth installs a statue of Tipu Sultan then it will be demolished just like the Babri disputed structure was demolished in Ayodhya. Pramod Muthalik gave this statement in response to the announcement of installing a statue of Tipu Sultan in Mysore or Srirangpattanam by Congress MLA Tanveer Seth.
Pramod Muthalik and his supporters and members of Sri Ram Sena cleansed the Idgah ground of Hubli with Goumutra on 11th November 2022 and celebrated the Kanakadasa Jayanti there. Pramod Muthalik addressed the public gathering after the Jayanti celebrations. Muthalik said that the Idgah ground was defiled during Tipu Jayanti celebrations. Therefore, it was cleaned before the Kanaka Jayanti celebrations.
According to reports, the Congress MLA Tanveer Seth had said in a public event, “The future generations will get to learn the truth about the history of our land. I will install a statue of Tipu Sultan although the installation of statues is prohibited in Islam.”
Replying to this jibe, Pramod Muthalik said, “If a statue of Tipu is installed, we will destroy it like we destroyed the Babri Masjid.” Muthalik questioned, “How you can install a statue of Tipu Sultan? It is an anti-religious statement according to Islam. So a fatwa should be issued against Seth. Muslims will hang Tanveer Seth for making such statements.”
Pramod Muthalik added, “India and Pakistan are separate countries on the basis of religion, and just as Pakistan is confined to Muslims, so India is a Hindu nation. We oppose the forced addition of the word ‘secular’ in the constitution of India.”
About celebrations of Tipu Sultan Jayanti, he said, “Tipu Jayanti was celebrated yesterday and the Idgah ground was defiled. So today we have done purification by sprinkling cow urine. BJP has given permission for the Tipu Jayanti celebration in order to stir up politics. Tipu was a fanatic, a Kannada traitor. It is not right to allow the Jayanti of such a traitor. The Corporation is following a dual policy on the issue of Tipu Jayanti.”
About contesting the assembly elections, Pramod Muthalik said, “I am going to contest in the upcoming elections. The three constituencies of Dakshina Kannada and North Karnataka have been thought of. I don’t need support from the BJP. BJP does not want people like us.”
While the Aam Aadmi Party has made and continues to make tall claims to keep the health of the citizens a priority, a doleful incident took place in the Dera Bassi area of Punjab. A sobbing mother of a 20-year-old son undergoing treatment at a local hospital in Dera Bassi was forced to hold a glucose bottle while his father pushed a cart for around 16 km to take him to Chandigarh for further treatment after the ‘108’ helpline told them there had been no ambulance for transportation of patients.
According to the reports, 20-year-old Ehtesham, son of Dera Bassi-based used cloth merchant Abdul Ahad, had been undergoing treatment at a private hospital for the past three days. He was taken to the Civil Hospital at around 10 am on November 11 after his condition worsened.
Further, the doctors at the Civil Hospital monitored his health condition and referred him to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32 for specific treatment. Ahad asked for an ambulance service to take his son to GMCH, sector 32. However, he was asked to contact the ‘108’ helpline for the service.
When Ahad contacted the helpdesk, the operator indicated her inability to provide an ambulance, stating that none was available for its disposal. When asked about how soon it could be arranged, Ahad was advised to make their own arrangement to reach the hospital.
Ahad grabbed his cart and asked his wife Noorez Khatun to hold the glucose bottle as they raced their son to Chandigarh at around 2 pm. The boy who was undergoing treatment lay down confined in a small-sized cart while his parents ferried him to Chandigarh in absence of an ambulance.
“My son’s platelet count was around 22,000. I called up the helpline for an ambulance, but they claimed non-availability. I chose not to take the chance of waiting for the Health Department to provide me with an ambulance,” said Abdul at the GMCH-32. He also held a doctor’s note reading “fever, body aches, abdomen pain and low platelet count. Please refer to GMCH-32.”
BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga took cognizance of the incident and slammed the AAP government for failing to fulfil the medical requirements of the citizens. “Ambulance was on ‘VIP duty’ in the AAP government rule… so what could have the poor father done? He could not leave his son to die so ran his cart on the street and asked his wife to sit behind and hold the bottle of glucose in her hand. This is how they reached Chandigarh from Derabassi,” he tweeted.
आम आदमी’ की सरकार में एंबुलेंस ‘वीआईपी ड्यूटी’ पर थी… इसलिए बेचारा पिता क्या करता, अपने बेटे को मरता तो छोड़ नहीं सकता था। इसलिए बाप ने रेहड़ी चलाई और मां हाथ में ग्लूकोज लिए पीछे बैठी रही। ऐसे वो डेराबस्सी से चंडीगढ़ पहुंचे। pic.twitter.com/RRfTckUQhH
Also, Dr Adarshpal Kaur, Mohali Civil Surgeon took cognizance of the incident and said, “Doctors try and help patients as far as possible. We will go into the incident and take preventive measures to ensure such incidents do not recur.”
On Saturday, 12 November 2022, a video went viral on social media where a student of the ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (IFHE) in Hyderabad, Himank Bansal, was being beaten up by the other students of the institute and forced to chant ‘Allahu Akbar’.
In the video shared extensively on social media, a group of students can be seen beating up and threatening Bansal inside a hostel room.
Hyderabad: Hindu Law student Himank Bansal, Student, was brutally beaten and forced to chant ‘Allah Hu Akbar” in IBS campus by Muslims.
Following the assault, Bansal filed a complaint with the police where he detailed the circumstances leading up to the attack on him.
Complaint filed by Himank BansalComplaint filed by Himank Bansal
In his complaint, Bansal mentioned that one of his friends from 1st year BA-LLB course, Dipasha Sharma, called him a pedophile for being friends with a girl 3 and a half years younger than him. When Bansal tried to defend himself saying he doesn’t want any sexual relations with her and cited references from Islamic scriptures to explain how he is not wrong, the girl shared his messages with everyone else in college.
As per the complaint by Bansal, subsequently, 15 to 20 guys burst into his hostel room and beat him up while accusing him of hurting religious sentiments. The assaulters further asked him to chant Allah-hu-Akbar while beating him up. He was also threatened during the course of the assault, as were his family members.
The group of students also asked him to remove his trousers, and upon refusal further physically assaulted him. Himank Bansal has named several of these people in his complaint with details of their respective actions during the assault.
Video and photographic evidence of the assault has also been submitted to the police along with the complaint by Bansal. Following his complaint, the Cyberabad Police shared that a case has been registered on 11th November 2022 by Shankarpally Police Station against the culprits under the provisions of 307, 342, 450, 323, 506, R/W 149, IPC, and Sec 4(I),(II), and (III) of the Prohibition of Ragging Act of 2011
In the incident reported at IBS Institute, A case was registered on 11.11.2022 by Shankarpally PS, agansit the culprits under the provisions of 307, 342, 450, 323, 506, R/W 149, IPC and Sec 4(I),(II), and (III) of the Prohibition of Raising Act of 2011. The action is being taken. https://t.co/uknlITNxbJ
Further action is being taken in the case by the police. The institute has also initiated action against the students involved in the assault as well as Himank Bansal.
Several Adivasi and Hindu organisations on Friday reached the Malegaon city police station in Nashik District to seek strict action against a person named Imran Sheikh, whom they accused of abducting a minor tribal girl in the month of October. The organisations, including the ‘Eklavya Adivasi Veer Samaj’ and ‘Eklavya Adivasi Bahuddeshiya Samajik Sanstha’, submitted a memorandum to the Upper District Magistrate, stating that the police are not taking the case seriously because the victim girl belongs to the tribal community.
The tribal organisations also stated that the matter is about love jihad and that they will conduct a severe protest march on Monday (November 14) if the police fail to find the victim and take action against the accused. On October 24, a minor girl aged 14 suspiciously went missing from her home. The family members of the girl lodged a police complaint on October 25 and stated that the girl had been abducted by a person named Imran Sheikh. The girl’s mother who works on daily wages also demanded severe police action against the accused.
According to the complaint filed by the girl’s mother, the girl had suspiciously gone missing on the morning of October 24. “She was sitting with her younger sister in the drawing room. I went to my daily job of garbage picking at around 6 in the morning. When I returned, I saw that my elder daughter was not there in the drawing room. On asking the younger ones, she said that did have gone to the washroom. And she never returned,” the mother of the victim girl said in her complaint. She also suspected that Imran Sheikh has abducted her daughter.
FIR copy obtained by Opindia
The Maharashtra Police then filed an FIR against an unknown person for kidnapping a minor bhil tribal girl under section 363 (punishment for kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. However, the family members of the girl stated that the girl had been abducted by Sheikh and that the Police has failed to launch an investigation into the case. “The FIR has been filed on October 25 and it’s 11 November today. No action has been taken by the Police. Instead, they are calling us continuously for interrogation when they actually should call Sheikh and his family members,” the woman said to the DM on Friday. She was accompanied by the members of the Adivasi organization and also other Hindu organisations in Malegaon.
The members of the Adivasi organization alleged that the police are not taking the case seriously. “This is a clear case of love jihad and the Police also know it. They are trying to conceal the matter under some unidentified political pressure. It’s been 14-15 days now and no action has been taken against Sheikh. Instead, the family of the girl is being harassed,” said Machindra Govind Shirke of ‘Eklavya Adivasi Veer Samaj’.
Copy of the letter by ‘Eklavya Adivasi Veer Samaj’ obtained by Opindia.
“The girl is a minor and has been abducted by the accused. We have requested the Police to look into the matter immediately and if no action is taken within the next two days, a massive protest will be organized on Monday (November 14). The Police must find the girl within two days,” he added. The National Commission of Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has taken cognizance of the incident and has assured to take action in the case.
Noted!
— प्रियंक कानूनगो Priyank Kanoongo (@KanoongoPriyank) November 11, 2022
Notably, the Police filed an FIR under section 363 (punishment for kidnapping) of the IPC, 1860 but failed to add the relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, despite knowing that the victim girl is a minor.
Meanwhile, the police are said to have formed three units to search for the missing girl and also to nab the suspected accused. Team Opindia tried to call the police to confirm the details of the investigation but the calls remained unanswered. Further investigations into the case are underway.
Love Jihad in Jharkhand: Minor girl goes missing; her mother accuses Shahid Ansari of kidnapping her and forcing her to convert to his religion
An eerily similar case was reported from Jharkhand’s Hazaribag district earlier today. A mother of a 16-year-old, a resident of Hazaribag district in Jharkhand, filed a missing complaint on November 7, 2022. According to the complaint filed at Keredari police station in Hazaribag, she has accused a youth named Shahid Ansari and his cousin Arbaz Ansari of kidnapping her minor daughter.
She alleged that Shahid has abducted her with the intention to forcefully convert her religion and thereafter marry her. The minor reportedly went missing on November 4, 2022. OpIndia has a copy of the complaint submitted by the victim’s mother.
The woman alleged that even six months ago, the accused sent his parents to threaten them that they would abduct their daughter if they did not concede to their demands. According to the victim’s mother, the accused’s parents were accompanied by the District Sadar of Anjuman Muslimeen Committee, Habib Miyan. Shahid’s parents and Habib Miyan then threatened them and warned that if they wanted to continue staying in the village, they would have to live on their terms.
The Adani group announced on Friday that subscriptions to its open offer to purchase an additional 26% of NDTV’s public shares will be available from November 22 to December 5. The prior schedule for Adani’s open offer was from October 17 to November 1.
Together with AMG Media Networks and Adani Enterprises Ltd., Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt. Ltd. (VCPL) has put out a proposal to acquire an additional 26%, or 1.67 crore equity shares, at an offer price of Rs 294 per share. The Adani Group reiterated its plan to complete the open offer process for more NDTV shares in a letter sent last month to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
In August, Adani Enterprises Ltd’s subsidiary AMG Media Networks Ltd purchased Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt Ltd (VCPL), which had lent Rs 403.85 crore to NDTV promoter business RRPR Holding Pvt Ltd in 2009 and 2010. Radhika Roy and Prannoy Roy were the owners of RRPR Holding.
RRPR provided warrants to VCPL in exchange for this interest-free loan, entitling it to convert them into a 99.9% share in RRPR. RRPR owned 29.18 percent of NDTV, hence Adani Group obtained a 29.18 percent stake in NDTV in this manner. Following the acquisition of VCPL for Rs 113.75 crore, the Adani Group declared an open offer to purchase another 26% interest in NDTV.
If Adani Group has indirect control over a stake that is more than 25%, it is required by Indian law to make an open offer to buy at least 26% more from current shareholders and give them the opportunity to withdraw.
According to the Adani Group’s plan, the open offer would be made at 294 rupees per NDTV share for a maximum consideration of $62 million. NDTV would receive 55.18% of this amount, assuming a full subscription.
The Adani group stated in its letter to SEBI earlier that it intended to execute the open offer regardless of the status of the share transfer from RRPR to VCPL. It also requested that Sebi share its comments on the Draft Letter of Offer (DLOF) prepared in relation to the open offer.
However, the dispute was taken to the Supreme Court when Sebi filed an appeal against NDTV regarding a ruling issued by the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on July 20 this year. NDTV had previously petitioned the Supreme Court on the same order. The SAT ruling decreased the penalty on Roys of NDTV and their promoter business, RRPR Holding, from Rs 25 crore to Rs 5 crore. It also withheld the Sebi findings that the founders had given control to Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited (VCPL) via loan contracts in 2009-10.
Days after the UK High Court rejected Nirav Modi’s appeal against his extradition to India, retired Bombay High Court judge and Congress leader Abhay Thipsay, who was a defence witness of Modi, was seen at Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. Abhay Thipsay, who joined the Congress party in 2018, appeared as a defence witness for Nirav Modi in a hearing in a UK court in 2020.
On Friday, November 11, a Tweet in Hindi from Congress’ official Twitter handle read, “Today in #BharatJodoYatra @RahulGandhi ji met retired judges and lawyers and discussed their problems, the current situation in the country and the purpose of the visit. Together we have to get the country out of this difficult situation.”
आज #BharatJodoYatra में @RahulGandhi जी ने सेवानिवृत्त न्यायाधीशों एवं वकीलों से मुलाकात कर उनकी समस्याओं, देश के ताज़ा हालात एवं यात्रा के उद्देश्य पर चर्चा की।
Abhay Thipsay was seen in one of the photos posted by the party which showed him holding a microphone as if addressing the crowd, while another showed him sitting in the front row.
Picture of retired Bombay High Court judge and Congress leader Abhay Thipsay at Bharat Jodo Yatra (source: Congress Twitter handle)
Picture of retired Bombay High Court judge and Congress leader Abhay Thipsay at Bharat Jodo Yatra (source: Congress Twitter handle)
Abhay Thipsay is a retired Bombay HC Judge who joined the Congress party in 2018 after meeting the then Congress President Rahul Gandhi. He had joined Congress ‘to fight communal forces and communalism’. He later launched a book blaming Hindus for bomb blasts done by Islamic radicals. He was the same judge who convicted 9 out of the 17 accused in the Best Bakery case. Justice Thipsay claimed that the Hindus carried out the 2008 Malegaon blasts.
Thipsay had faced flak for granting bail to actor Salman Khan in a hit-and-run case after a lower court convicted him in 2015.
Congress member Abhay Thipsay appeared as an expert witness for Nirav Modi in UK Court
Thipsay had particularly been in news in 2020 after he appeared as a defence witness for fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi in a hearing in a UK court in May of that year. During the extradition proceedings, Abhay Thipsay, a retired judge turned Congress leader and a close confidante of Rahul Gandhi, had informed the London court via video link that the charges levelled by Nirav Modi which include criminal conspiracy, cheating and dishonestly inducting delivery of property, would not stand scrutiny under Indian law.
Thipsay, who testified via video link, claimed that some of the police statements in the case against Nirav Modi as well as the definition of deception will be “inadmissible” under Indian law.
In his testimony, Abhay Thipsay had also claimed that there was no victim of the scam done by Nirav Modi, therefore he is not guilty. When the Indian govt’s counsel pointed out that Punjab National Bank was the victim as it has lost around $2 billion in the fraud, Thipsay had claimed that a corporate body can’t be victim, and he had asked the govt to identify persons who were deceived by Nirav Modi.
Since Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has always harped on the alleged proximity between Nirav Modi, the key accused in the PNB scam, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing the latter of assisting the offender, it was extremely paradoxical that Abhay Thipsay, a retired judge turned Congress leader and Rahul Gandhi’s close confidante, appeared to defend Nirav Modi.
UK Court had slammed Abhay Thipsay
While giving the go-ahead for the extradition of Nirav Modi to India, the UK court had made scathing remarks against defence witness Abhay Thipsay for not revealing his political affiliation. The judge had said, “I note he has never disclosed his party-political affiliation either in the report’s biography or in relation to this declaration as an expert and disclosure of any potential conflict of interests”. The court had said that it is inevitable that he could have foreseen that his affiliation to the Congress party may attract interest.
UK court, which permitted extradition of Nirav Modi, is scathing against Congress party’s Abhay Thipsay, former HC judge.
In giving testimony in favour of Nirav Modi, Thipsay “never disclosed his party-political affiliation” or “any potential conflict of interests”.
Interestingly, after the former judge’s testimony in support of Nirav Modi in the UK Court became public and triggered a controversy in India, he had requested the court to make his testimony ‘private’.
BJP attacked the retired Bombay HC judge and Congress members for appearing as witnesses for fugitive economic offender Nirav Modi
After Thipsay appeared to defend fugitive Nirav Modi in the UK court, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad called a press conference and mounted an attack against the Congress leader. “There is overpowering suspicious circumstances from which we can infer that the Congress is trying its best to save and bail out Nirav Modi,” Ravi Shankar Prasad sharply noted in a press conference in May while accusing Thipsay of working at the behest of Congress to save Nirav Modi.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra had also Tweeted asking “what was the deal between Rahul and Nirav?”. Patra Tweeted, “Here in India, Rahul Gandhi questions the government over Nirav Modi … On the other hand, Rahul’s special and Congress’s Abhay Thipsay (former judge) witness in favour of Nirav Modi. After all, what is it that Rahul does not want Nirav to come to India? What was the deal between Rahul and Nirav at the party that night?” Patra appeared to be referring to a party attended by Nirav Modi and Rahul in Delhi in 2013.
यहाँ भारत में राहुल गाँधी नीरव मोदी को ले,सरकार से सवाल पूछते है .. दूसरी तरफ़ राहुल के ख़ास एवं Congress के Abhay Tipsay (पूर्व judge) नीरव मोदी के पक्ष में गवाह बनते है आख़िर ऐसा क्या है जो राहुल नहीं चाहते नीरव भारत आए? उस रात पार्टी में राहुल और नीरव में क्या लेन देन हुई थी? pic.twitter.com/jrHDeDP6B2
However, despite the desperate attempts of Congress member Abhay Thipsay to defend the scamster Nirav Modi, on November 9, 2022, the UK High Court ordered the extradition of fugitive Nirav Modi to India. The High Court rejected diamond dealer Nirav Modi’s appeal against his extradition, clearing the route for his return to India. The verdict was delivered by a bench consisting of Lord Justice Jeremy Stuart-Smith and Justice Robert Jay. Nirav Modi is wanted in India for the $2 billion loan scandal at Punjab National Bank (PNB).
A mother of a 16-year-old, a resident of Hazaribag district in Jharkhand, filed a missing complaint on November 7, 2022. According to the complaint filed at Keredari police station in Hazaribag, she has accused a youth named Shahid Ansari and his cousin Arbaz Ansari of kidnapping her minor daughter.
She alleged that Shahid has abducted her with the intention to forcefully convert her religion and thereafter marry her. The minor reportedly went missing on November 4, 2022. OpIndia has a copy of the complaint submitted by the victim’s mother.
The copy of the complaint filed by the minor girl’s mother
The woman alleged that even six months ago, the accused sent his parents to threaten them that they would abduct their daughter if they did not concede to their demands. According to the victim’s mother, the accused’s parents were accompanied by the District Sadar of Anjuman Muslimeen Committee, Habib Miyan. Shahid’s parents and Habib Miyan then threatened them and warned that if they wanted to continue staying in the village, they would have to live on their terms.
After the incident gained traction, members of various Hindu organisations went on a hunger strike demanding prompt action against the accused. They expressed displeasure with the way the police have been handling the case and alleged that the police are not paying attention to the case and doing little to bring the minor girl.
According to the complaint, Mukhtar Ansari’s son Shahid, his cousin Arbaz, and four unknown accomplices abducted the 16-year-old minor girl on November 4, 2022, at around 2:30 pm. The victim’s mother alleged in the complaint that the accused, who arrived on two motorcycles, barged into their house and dragged away the minor. According to the mother, the abduction was carried out in order to force the minor to convert to Islam and marry Shahid.
The victim’s mother also wrote in the same complaint that the accused robbed gold and silver jewellery worth around Rs 3 lakh 30 thousand and cash worth Rs 25000 from the victim’s house during the abduction. The woman claimed she reported the incident to the police the same day.
The victim’s aggrieved mother told OpIndia that she is still waiting for her daughter to be rescued. According to local resident Sanjay Sharan, the victim and the accused’s families live in adjacent villages. He stated that the accused Shahid works somewhere in Karnataka and it is feared that he might have taken the girl there with him.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) will not attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s arrival at Hyderabad’s Begumpet airport on Saturday. PM Modi is visiting Hyderabad to dedicate to the nation Ramagundam Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited’s (RFCL) urea manufacturing plant, as well as participate in state road and rail development programs.
In the absence of the Chief Minister, PM Modi will be received by Minister for Animal Husbandry, Fisheries & Cinematography, Talasani Srinivas Yadav.
PM Modi on Thursday, in a tweet, shared information about his visit to the southern states. “Over the next 2 days, I will be traveling to 4 states in the South- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana to take part in diverse programmes aimed at strengthening India’s growth trajectory,” the PM tweeted.
Over the next 2 days, I will be travelling to 4 states in the South- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to take part in diverse programmes aimed at strengthening India’s growth trajectory.https://t.co/JcJYenJFNr
Telangana government whip Balka Suman has claimed that Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has not extended an official invitation to CM K Chandrasekhar Rao which is an insult of the CM. However, the Ministry of fertilizers and chemicals has invited the CM to attend the event.
“The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has not extended an invitation to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO). Normally, the PMO will invite the chief minister to attend an official program as a guest. The Ministry of Fertilisers and Chemicals, on the other hand, asked the chief minister to participate in the Ramagundam programme, so it is not an invitation. The CM was insulted three times by the PMO because he was not invited,” state government Whip Balka Suman claimed.
Notably, ever since the announcement of PM Modi’s visit to Telangana, the poster war between the BJP and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), the renamed Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), is on. In these banners and posters, PM Modi is asked not to visit the state.
Reacting to the controversy, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, who is also an MP from Secunderabad in the state said, “Why should KCR involve politics in this? The Prime Minister launching multiple projects benefiting the state and dedicating them to the nation is a source of pride and prestige for Telangana.”
Minister Reddy stated that Union Health and Family Welfare and Fertilizers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had written to KCR personally inviting him to the RFCL inauguration.
BJP State President Bandi Sanjay Kumar claimed that a plot was hatched by the chief minister to hinder the prime minister’s visit. “The chief minister is someone who does not have the culture to receive the prime minister,” Bandi Sanjay claimed.
Bandi Sanjay also alleged that CM KCR could have used the opportunity to put forth the issues of Telangana before PM Modi. “KCR not coming to the event indicates that the CM does not have the courage to face the Prime Minister”, he added.
Notably, this is the fourth time that CM KCR will not be receiving PM Modi during his visit.
About Ramagundam Project
Ramagundam Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited (RFCL), a joint venture company of National Fertilizers Limited (NFL), Engineers India Ltd (EIL), and Fertilizer Corporation of India Limited, is in charge of the project (FCIL). With an investment of over Rs. 6300 crores, RFCL was entrusted with the responsibility of establishing the New Ammonia-Urea Plant. The Jagdishpur-Pulpur-Haldia Pipeline will supply gas to the RFCL Plant.
In a press release, the central government informed that the Plant will ensure a sufficient and prompt supply of urea fertilizer to farmers in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Chattisgarh, and Maharashtra. The Plant will not only increase fertilizer availability, but it will also boost overall economic development in the region, including the development of infrastructure such as roads, railways, ancillary industry, and so on. Besides, the region will benefit from the development of MSME vendors to supply the factory with various goods. The RFCL’s ‘Bharat Urea’ will provide a significant boost to the economy by not only reducing imports but also providing impetus to local farmers through timely fertilizer supply and extension services.
Himachal Pradesh is set to elect its next government today, 12th November 2022, as the voting for the 68 assembly seats is underway in the state. However, the counting of votes will only occur on the 8th of December alongside Gujarat assembly votes where voting is set to conclude on December 5.
Himachal Pradesh is famous for oscillating between Congress and BJP, as no party has been able to secure consecutive victories since Virbhadra Singh led Congress in 1985. With BJP led by CM Jai Ram Thakur as the incumbent this time, there have been speculations that Congress may stage a comeback in Himachal Pradesh despite struggling across the country.
While pollsters expect a nailbiter between BJP and Congress this time, there was another party trying to make the contest triangular but seems to have given up months ahead of the elections, the Aam Aadmi Party.
Strange Aam Aadmi Party campaign in Himachal Pradesh
A few months ago, it looked like we may witness a three-cornered fight for the Himachal Pradesh assembly for the first time as Aam Aadmi Party tried to gain a foothold in the state. Immediately after winning neighbouring Punjab comprehensively, AAP supremo and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann headed to Himachal to conduct a road show in CM Thakur’s home turf, Mandi.
Himachal Pradesh | AAP national convenor & Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal along with Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann hold a roadshow in Mandi
First, we eradicated corruption in Delhi & then in Punjab, now it's time to uproot corruption from Himachal Pradesh: Arvind Kejriwal pic.twitter.com/UprzNyOeoo
With the overwhelming success in Punjab, AAP thought that they can easily move to the neighbouring state going to polls next, however, the different nature of Himachal Pradesh politics seems to have stumped them and they quickly cut short their campaign. Even though AAP is fielding candidates in almost all the constituencies, but even their ardent supporters aren’t expecting much on 8th December when the votes are counted.
While Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is literally camping in Gujarat for the past few months for the assembly elections there, Himachal has been pretty much abandoned by the party. Even Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann has spent more time in Gujarat than he ever did in Himachal. In fact, Punjab government has been footing the bill for AAP’s ad expenses in Gujarat as well as per reports.
This could be because the party got no traction in Himachal Pradesh while it got some positive responses in Gujarat. Even though the party says they haven’t abandoned Himachal and their candidates are focusing on door-to-door campaigning, the absence of big faces and any large-scale campaign suggests they have just given up on the state.
The party seems to have invested all its resources in Gujarat where BJP has been ruling for the last 26 years. Even though nobody expects AAP to come close to defeating BJP, but with Congress abandoning ground, they are aiming to become the main opposition party. However, they haven’t made any such attempt in Himachal where they seem to have abandoned the ground to make sure anti-BJP votes aren’t split between them and Congress.
33 years ago, during the height of terrorism in Punjab, 19 students were killed by Khalistanis in an engineering college. On November 10, 1989, Khalistani Sikh terrorists attacked one of the most renowned engineering colleges in the country, located in Punjab, and killed 19 students who were sleeping inside a hostel. Everyone on the Thapar Engineering College campus in Patiala, which is 40 miles southwest of Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab, was devastated by the tragedy.
The institution was crowded with several hundred students who had come from all across India to attend a four-day youth festival that started a few days later. The assailants arrived at the campus in a car, managed to pry open the main gate chain, and then made their way to Hostel A, where they held a night watchman at gunpoint until he unlocked the entrance.
The assailants then stealthily entered two rooms that had 24 students and started firing with the Chinese-made AK-47 assault rifles they were carrying. NIT Kurukshetra students were staying in one room, and students from Chandra Shekhar Azad Agriculture University in Kanpur were lodged in the adjacent room. Nineteen students died on the spot, and five others were injured and taken to a hospital in Patiala in critical condition.
The majority of the 19 people killed were Hindus. Eight were from the adjacent state of Haryana’s NIT Kurukshetra University, and the rest 11 were from Chandra Shekhar Azad Agriculture University, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
The NIT Kurukshetra students killed in the horrific attack were Anil Pandurangi from Goa, Ajay Chaudhury from Uttar Pradesh, Mrinal Bhuyan from Meghalaya, Shailender Chadha from Haryana, R Viswanathan from Tamil Nadu, Anish Choudhury from West Bengal, Ashok Ahlawa from Haryana and Rajan Thakral from Punjab.
The incident happened at 2:30 a.m. on November 11, only hours before Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi arrived in Chandigarh for a short visit. Surprisingly, Gandhi made no public remark about the incident, which killed 19 innocent students.
From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, the insurgency in Punjab led by Khalistani terrorists resulted in the killings of many innocent Hindus who were targeted merely for being Hindus.
Moga Massacre 1989
During the terror regime at that time, Khalistani terrorists opened fire on RSS workers taking part in the daily shakha in Jawahar Lal Nehru Park in Punjab’s Moga district in June 1989, killing 25 Swayamsevaks and injuring 35 RSS members. A large bomb, possibly set by Khalistani terrorists, detonated in the park a short time later, killing a couple and two police officers.
The park.
One eyewitness recalled the Khalistani terrorists asking the Swayamsevaks to take down the Sanghi flag they had flown in the Park during the daily Shakha that was being held at the time. The Swayamsevaks would not give in to their demands. Enraged, Khalistani separatists began shooting indiscriminately at RSS Swayamsevaks, resulting in the death of 25.
The infamous “Abohar Goli Kaand” of 1990
Previously, OpIndia reported on Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) terrorists wreaking havoc in Abohar, Punjab. Abohar is a small town in the district of Fazilka, close to the India-Pakistan border. With the purpose of killing everyone, the Khalistani terrorists stormed the town’s trade centre, firing uncounted rounds from their semiautomatic rifles on March 7 1990.
Excerpt about the incident from ‘Itihas Ke Jharokhe Se Abohar’ by Late Mathura Das Hiteshi
People attempted to flee the market, but the packed route made this impossible. Shopkeepers began locking their doors as promptly as possible, while customers sheltered inside. Those selling items from carts fled to save lives, but many were mortally wounded. According to official records, around 45 people died in the shooting and two bomb blasts, which occurred an hour later at the same spot where rescue operations were in full swing.
It is notable that the concept of Khalistan, a separate religious homeland for Sikhs, which led to all this violence against non-Sikh religious factions, did not emerge spontaneously. It was the inevitable outcome of a number of changes that had transpired within Sikh society.
