Hasan Minhaj, the comedian, was denied entry at the Howdy Modi event in Houston during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the USA. The denial of his entry had caused a mild controversy and it was speculated that he was denied entry due to his adverse comments about the Prime Minister during one of the episodes of his show The Patriot Act.
Now, Vijay Chauthaiwale, in-charge of the foreign affairs department of the BJP has clarified that Hasan Minhaj was offered a seat as one of the 50,000 people in the audience because he did not register himself as a media person. However, he did not want that seat. Ordinary citizens were not permitted to enter with a camera due to security reasons.
On the show, Hasan said, “They said ‘Mr Minhaj we are out of space and you have been denied because of some of the comments you have made’. And I was like ‘I am sorry for making fun of cricket.’ They’re like ‘No. the comments you have made about Prime Minister Modi were not appreciated and you’ve been blacklisted’.”
“And I was in the parking lot watching this whole thing on live stream while I’m looking at the stadium. And I am watching the program. And during the program, they’re honouring the prominent Indian-Americans. And then they show a photo of me on the Jumbotron and people start clapping. So they were honoring me for my comedy while also blackmailing me and blackballing me and kicking me out for my comedy,” he added.
In a big boost to India’s defence preparedness, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has built an alternative road to connect the Doklam valley, the site of a 73-day military standoff between India and China in 2017 along the Chumbi valley where China, Bhutan and India converge.
According to the reports, the newly built alternative road will now make easier to access the area through two points, easing the logistic difficulties, and decreasing time. This will further make the process of deployment the forces at the border smoother and faster.
The new road stretches from the Indian Army’s Bheem base to Doka-la.
Location of Doklam plateau, image via stsfor.org
During the Doklam standoff in 2017, the Indian Army was forced to move to the trijunction through a single road in the absence of an alternative, which had delayed the deployment of troops in Doklam. The new infrastructure will now change the military dynamics in the region favouring India in its eastern front.
With this development, reaching Indian Army’s Doka la base, situated at the edge of the Doklam plateau near Sikkim, now only takes 40 minutes as against a seven-hour journey earlier on a mule track. The new route will offer a strategic advantage to India as it can move troops much quicker than earlier.
The work on the road was authorised in 2015, even before the 73-day military standoff between India and China in 2017. According to the BRO, the newly made Bheem Base-Dokala road “was blacktopped on a war footing”. This has enabled defence preparedness of the country in the wake of any enemy aggression.
The Doklam standoff at the India-Bhutan-Tibet trijunction began on June 16, 2017, when the People’s Liberation Army arbitrarily entered Doklam in a bid to alter the status quo in violation of Beijing’s existing understanding with both India and Bhutan. The stand-off ended on August 28, 2017, when both Beijing and New Delhi announced that all their soldiers had been withdrawn from the disputed site.
Reportedly, the BRO is also building another road to Dokala on the Flag Hill-Dokala axis, which is scheduled to be finished by 2020. This road on the Flag Hill-Madhubala-Dokala route will pass through steep terrain at an altitude ranging from 3601 to 4200 metres. The BRO has already built 10 km of this road, a remaining distance of a little more than 20 km will be completed within a year.
In addition to these roads, the BRO will complete blacktopping another 11 India-China border strategic roads by this year. Further, the blacktopping of another nine roads will also be completed next year.
As per a Hindustan Times report, out of the 61 strategic roads covering 3,346 km being built by BRO along the India-China border, 3,298 km are now connected. Nearly 2,400 km of these roads are already blacktopped, making them all-weather roads.
“Construction of just six roads, three in the east and three in the west of the India-China strategic roads with a total length of just 58 km remain,” said Lieutenant General Harpal Singh, director general of BRO.
With rapid infrastructure growth and speedy work, the dynamics of this strategically important region has been changed significantly. With all-weather alternative access into Ladakh, passing through the Rohtang -Koksar- Kelong route into the Zanskar valley and further up into Nimu, the BRO is also constructing three more tunnels — Baralach La, Lachung La, and Tanglang La. The Rohtang tunnel is set to be opened this year.
The 180 km-long road parallel to the India-China border connecting Passighat to Brahmakund in Arunachal Pradesh is also complete. Significantly, Taksin and Tama Chung Chung are linked by the road connecting the Eastern and Western RALP (Rest of Arunachal Pradesh, a military term), cutting down thousands of kilometres of journey.
In the west, the critical 255 km Durbok-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie (DSDBO) road connecting Leh to the northernmost corner of India, which lies a few kilometres south of the crucial Karakoram Pass, is now complete and blacktopped. Most importantly, all the 40-odd bridges along the DSDBO road have been widened and strengthened to allow heavy vehicles to travel.
Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief Kamal Haasan reiterated his anti-Hindi imposition stance by calling Hindi a ‘little child in diapers’ in comparison with older languages of the country.
Speaking at an event organised by the Department of Visual Communication of Loyola College in Chennai on Tuesday, the actor turned politician said that though Hindi is a good language it should not be imposed on people.
“Among the family of languages, the youngest one is Hindi. It is a little child in a diaper. We will have to take care of that language because it is our child too. We will definitely take care of it. Compared to Tamil, Sanskrit and Telugu, it is still the youngest language,” said Kamal Hassan.
Reiterating his stance on imposing Hindi on citizens who do not speak Hindi, Hassan said, “Our contention is, do not stuff it down our throats. You called us for dinner, lay it on the plate. Don’t make us a guest and give us a menu, which orders to eat. We will not accept it.”
The MNM chief had earlier also slammed the Union minister Amit Shah and called his remark on Hindi against “unity in diversity”. Kamal Haasan said that Indians were promised unity in diversity when India became a republic and that ‘No Shah, Sultan or Samrat should renege on the promise of unity in diversity of India’.
It is surprising that though HM Amit Shah had cleared the controversy fomented by the opposition over his remarks on the Hindi language, Kamal Haasan has been whipping up the same exhort over and over again to deride the government.
Last month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had slammed the opposition indulging in language politics. He cleared that he had never asked for imposition of Hindi anywhere in the country but advocated its use as the second language after one’s mother tongue.
His statement was, however, distorted and used to stir controversy. Immediately media was abuzz with reports that Amit Shah was seeking a common language for the country and had proposed Hindi’s name. This got the ball rolling and raised the hackles of political leaders in some non-Hindi speaking states, especially in South India.
Controversial journalist Barkha Dutt has demanded Rs 74 lakh in damages from senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal, his wife Promila Sibal, promoters of Tiranga TV, reports, ThePrint.
The Patiala House court on September 27 issued summons against the Sibals after Tiranga TV had suddenly shut shop in July this year.
Super proud and satisfied to appear for @BDUTT before the Patiala House Court. Summons have been issued against the promoters of Tiranga TV and @KapilSibal ‘s wife Ms. Promila Sibal in civil suit. Good result today but more to come!
Taking to Twitter, lawyer Raghav Awasthi expressed his jubilation for getting summons issued against the Tiranga TV promoters-Kapil Sibal and Promila Sibal for his client.
Thanks @raghav355. It really is about the principle and not surrendering to intimidation of media. Now over to the courts https://t.co/gm8gh2681z
Responding to her lawyer’s tweet, Barkha Dutt had said that “it really is about the principle and not surrendering to intimidation of media”. She added that now it is over the courts.
Earlier, controversial journalist Barkha Dutt had posted on Twitter about the arbitrary sackings of Tiranga TV employees without due compensation and advance notice. In a series of tweets Barkha Dutt had alleged that journalists working at Tiranga TV were abruptly sacked, without any prior notice and they were not offered 6-months severance payout. She also alleged that senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal and his wife-Promila Sibal had referred to the female employees of their channel Tiranga TV as Kutiya or Bitch.
Barkha Dutt, who had joined the Tiranga TV at its launch, had also alleged that she and other senior employees of the channel were not paid her salaries for over a year. The had said that Kapil Sibal had threatened her of defamation suit for likening him to Mallya. She had compared him with the fugitive liquor baron for not paying due compensation to fired employees and going to London.
Dutt also filed a complaint with National Commission of Women against the Tiranga TV promoters for using abusive expletives against the female employees of the channel.
According to Kapil Sibal, Barkha Dutt was sacked from the channel on ‘disciplinary grounds’ two days ahead of her tweets against the channel.
On May 14 this year, Gulsher, who fled to India from Pakistan, fearing persecution from the extremist elements for being a Hindu is facing difficulties for getting his 3 siblings admitted in Delhi schools. After running post to pillar, Gulsher has now moved to the High Court of Delhi seeking admission for 3 of his siblings in Delhi schools. He has alleged in the petition that the Delhi government had denied permission for their admissions citing upper age limit.
A Pakistani national who had legally migrated to India in May this year, has approached Delhi High Court seeking admission of his 3 siblings in a Delhi School. Petition contends that the Delhi Government had denied admission to his siblings due to upper age limit. pic.twitter.com/HTUNDU7lgJ
Gulsher has already approached the school administration, field legislators and senior officials to seek help in training their 3 children, but his complaint is left unheard. Earlier, Supreme Court lawyer Ashok Aggarwal wrote a letter to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal informing him about the whole case but it appears that the letter had gone unheeded.
Gulsher, with his three children came to India from Sukkur, Sindh in Pakistan and are currently camped at Bhatti Mines Hindu refugee camp in Chhatarpur area of New Delhi. Gulsher’s three children, Moona Kumari (18 years), Sanjina Bai (16 years) and Ravi Kumar (17 years) were unceremoniously removed after giving admission in a government school in Delhi because ‘they were too old’.
In September, OpIndia had reported Gulsher’s plight who had revealed that after giving admission to his children, they were denied the same on the grounds of exceeding the prescribed age. According to the father of the children, they have submitted the documents collected from their school in Pakistan to the Delhi school and on the assurance received by the school, bought the book-copies and dress-shoes for all 3 children. He further lamented that their precious time was being wasted while sitting at home and they were suffering from mental torture because of the denial of admission by the school.
McDonald’s India has today been served the second legal notice for their evasive and unclear reply to the first one and for the subsequent delay in responding.
The 2nd Legal Notice to McDonald’s after their evasive interim reply to 1st legal Notice.
They have to answer on the Policy of serving ONLY HALAL MEAT & either change it or court case pic.twitter.com/Xla5HeXOG0
The popular fast-food chain which has been facing trouble ever since the global chain admitted on discriminating against non-Muslims as part of their business model in India in August 2019. One Harish Sharma had filed a legal notice to McDonald’s India through advocate Ishkaran Bhandari on August 26. The legal notice was sent to McDonald’s India, Mr Amit Jatia (Joint Venture partner and McDonald’s India’s Managing Director) and Mr Vikram Bakshi (Joint Venture partner and McDonald’s India’s Managing Director).
The second notice served today to Addressee no. 1- Mc Donald’s India, Addressee no. 2- Mr Amit Jatia (Joint Venture partner and McDonald’s India’s Managing Director) specifies that the defendants need to answer to the legal notice in full, failing which the plaintiff has the authority to take civil and criminal action against the addressee and/or another person concerned with the issue.
The first notice referred to the statement made by McDonald’s India in August where it asserted that all the meat used by them is Halal meat. The notice sought clarification from the food chain about their policy with regards to Jhatka meat which is more humane and also, is slaughtered and consumed mostly by Hindus and Sikhs as opposed to Halal meat, which is, by Sharia, slaughtered only by Muslims. Since Halal guidelines mandate that only Muslims are involved in the entire slaughtering and packaging process, the notice also said that McDonald’s is discriminating against other religions who are involved in the business and denying them the equal opportunity to earn.
The notice further said that the tweet makes it evident that the food chain serves only Halal meat and not Jhatka or Kosher meat, and hence, choosing to serve only a specific kind of meat amounts to social, racial and religious discrimination and violates basic fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitution. Further, it said that certain sects are barred from eating Halal meat since the process of slaughter is extremely painful for the animals and hence, by serving only Halal meat, McDonald’s is hurting the religious sentiments of such groups.
Despite demanding a response from the food chain within 15 days, McDonald’s India had been evasive in its response and asked for more time to respond to the legal notice in details.
The second legal notice served today specified that the claimant, Harish Sharma had not yet received any detailed reply from the defendants despite the time demanded by McDonald’s had concluded.
The practice of buying Halal meat exclusively by McDonald’s India could also invite charges under the SC/ST Act, OpIndia has learnt from Ishkaran Bhandari. This, since Jhatka meat, is mostly slaughtered and processed by members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Hindi media outlet Dainik Bhaskar has issued an apology for not paying tribute to former Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri on the occasion of his birth anniversary which he shares with Mahatma Gandhi on the 2nd of October.
The newspaper said, “On the 2nd of October, along with the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, it was also the 115th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. Shastriji has made an invaluable contribution to the development of the nation. We failed to focus on Shastriji on the 2nd of October, therefore we apologize for it.”
Lal Bahadur Shastri was the second Prime Minister of India and had succeeded Jawaharlal Nehru to the post. He was also the Prime Minister of the country during the 1965 Indo-Pak war. He died under mysterious circumstances in Tashkent, the cause of which is still debated to this day. His slogan of ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ continues to reverberate across the country to this day.
The CBI court today extended former Union Minister P Chidambaram’s judicial custody till October 17, 2019. CBI had moved an application to the court seeking an extension of the judicial custody of the erstwhile finance minister which was set to end today. Chidambaram has been held up in Tihar Jail for his alleged involvement in the INX Media scam.
CBI Court extends P Chidambaram’s judicial custody till October 17.#PChidambaram
Besides, Chidambaram also moved an application for home-cooked food in Tihar. Earlier too, Chidambaram had filed a plea seeking home-cooked food in Tihar but the court had listed the hearing to October 3. Prosecution counsel Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that CBI has no objection to Chidambaram’s petition for home-cooked food.
Earlier in the day, minutes before Chidambaram’s arrival, the court was sent into a frenzy after an unclaimed bag was reported in the court premises. The security officials evacuated the courtroom and a thorough inspection was carried out to avoid any unforeseen incident.
P Chidambaram has been in custody since August 21 and is currently lodged in the Tihar jail. He is under the scanner of CBI and the Enforcement Directorate in the INX Media case in which he is accused of misusing his position as India’s finance minister and granting several clearances to the INX Media company.
Chidambaram has moved to the Supreme Court seeking bail in the INX Media case. The CBI has been objecting his bail on the ground that he might influence witnesses.
The BJP has fielded Mahila Morcha leader and TikTok star Sonali Phogat against Congress’ sitting MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi from Adampur seat in Haryana. The state is to go to polls on 21st October along with Maharashtra. Sonali Phogat, who is quite a star on TikTok goes by the username ‘@sonaliphogat’.
Finally a Tik Tok star gets BJP’s ticket for Adampur constituency, the Bishnoi’s home turf.
Meet Sonali phogat, another interesting candidate for Haryana assembly election. pic.twitter.com/WkxRjI86wD
Phogat has been associated with the BJP and has also been part of the Mahila Morcha. She then ventured into acting and has acted in various serials. Her husband Sanjay Phogat was found dead under mysterious circumstances in December 2016.
The result for the 90-seat Haryana Assembly elections will be declared on 24th October. As per reports, Phogat has been an actress and has also acted in some serials. After the announcement, Sonali Phogat’s followers on TikTok have been through the roof.
Adampur falls in the Hisar region of Haryana and has been a stronghold of Bhajanlal family. Bhajanlal family members have never lost an election fighting from Adampur seat since 1967. Congress’ Kuldeep Bishnoi himself has won it thrice. However, Bhajanlal’s grandson Bhavya Bishnoi lost the 2019 Lok Sabha election to BJP’s Brijendra for Adampur seat.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has said that media reports of former PM Dr Manmohan Singh visiting Pakistan for inauguration of Kartarpur Corridor are incorrect. As per news agency ANI, Captain Singh said that while he is definitely not going to Pakistan for the inauguration, he believes Dr Singh will also decline the invite.
Earlier, media reports had poured in that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has accepted Pakistan’s invitation to join the 1st Jatha to Kartarpur Gurdwara on November 9.
According to the reports, the Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had met the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and invited him for the inauguration of Kartarpur corridor and attend the main event at Sultanpur Lodhi to mark Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s 550th Prakash Purab.
In a tweet, Captain Amarinder Singh had confirmed that he had earlier invited Dr Singh to join him on the Jatha to Kartarpur Sahib.
Happy to meet former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh ji at his residence today. Have invited him to join us on the 1st Jatha to Sri Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara & attend the main event at Sultanpur Lodhi to mark Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s #550thPrakashPurab. pic.twitter.com/CZw5bbeUDj
There is no official denial from Dr Manmohan Singh yet. The proposed visit of Manmohan Singh to Pakistan to visit Kartarpur Sahib may spark new outrage within the country as the visit to the terror state of Pakistan by former Prime Minister might send wrong signals at a time when the whole world is rejecting Pakistan for its state-sponsored terror.
Last week, Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had said that his country had decided to invite Manmohan Singh to attend the inaugural ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor.
However, there were reports that Singh’s office was not at all aware of Pakistan’s plans on the event and had maintained that he was unlikely to travel to the country in view of the current tense situation over Kashmir.
The proposed Kartarpur corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur in Pakistan with the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district of Punjab, and facilitate visa-free movement of Indian pilgrims, who will only have to obtain a permit to visit the revered Kartarpur Sahib.
However, a Pakistani spy, part of a larger espionage network, was caught recently by the military intelligence from Gurdaspur in Punjab. The accused Pakistani spy was sending photographs and information related to the construction of Kartarpur corridor to his handlers in Pakistan through his WhatsApp number raising doubts about Pakistan’s intention to build the corridor.
Earlier, the Chief Minister of Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh had also warned the country about Pakistan’s treacherous plans to use the Kartarpur corridor to inflict terror on India, especially by reviving Khalistani terror. Captain Amarinder Singh had reiterated his position on the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor by Pakistan. He claimed that it is an ISI ploy to strengthen anti-India forces, including the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ).
Pakistan is scheduled to open the Kartarpur Corridor for Indian Sikh pilgrims on November 9, days ahead of the 550th birth anniversary of first Sikh guru Baba Nanak Dev on November 12. Initially, only 5,000 pilgrims will be allowed to visit daily from India but later it will be increased to 10,000 pilgrims per day.
On November 22 last year, the government of India had announced its intention to build the Indian side of the Kartarpur Corridor and had urged Pakistan to reciprocate by building the corridor on Pakistan side.
Senior Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu had caused a severe controversy after he posed with Khalistani terrorist Gopal Singh Chawla during his controversial visit to Pakistan to inaugurate the Kartarpur corridor.
