Over four months after Divya Spandana, Congress’ IT cell head deactivated her Twitter account and vanished from public space, Congress has announced a new social media head. In a statement released today, Congress has announced Rohan Gupta as new social media cell head with immediate effect.
Gupta has earlier served as social media head for Congress for Gujarat ahead of 2017 state assembly elections. He is the son of Congress leader Rajkumar Gupta and was currently the national media coordinator of AICC.
During the 2017 Gujarat State Assembly elections, Gupta was found sharing fake ‘survey’ predicting poll results after the phase 1 of voting was concluded. On 10th December 2017 Rohan Gupta had shared a survey of the polling done in the first phase of Gujarat, which showed Congress winning 65 seats out of total 89. The second phase for elections was yet to be held in Gujarat on 14th December 2017.
Following this controversy, Parindu Bhagat, in-charge of Gujarat election legal cell, on behalf of BJP leaders has filed an application for publication of exit poll as violation of Election Commission’s notification which had banned publication of any exit poll before 14th December 2017. An offence was registered against Gupta in Ahmedabad Crime Branch’s cyber cell.
A day after Pakistan’s desperate Prime Minister Imran Khan once again raised the Kashmir issue in his address to the United Nations General Assembly, Defence minister Rajnath Singh took a dig at him on Saturday saying that Imran Khan has been creating content fit for cartoon makers as he continues to propel his anti-India narrative.
He was speaking in Mumbai on the occasion of the commissioning of India’s second Scorpene-class attack submarine, INS Khanderi, at the Mazgaon Docks.
“While our progressive steps in Jammu and Kashmir are receiving global support, Pakistani Prime Minister has been running around door-to-door and creating content for cartoon makers. Recent US visit of Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji showcased India’s emergence as a superpower. We witnessed how Modi Ji was welcomed by top leaders of the US at jam-packed Stadium,” said Rajnath Singh.
“Pakistan should understand that today with the strong resolve of our government and advancement in naval capacity with additions like INS Khanderi, we are capable of giving a much bigger blow to it,” he said.
Earlier also the defence minister had warned Pakistan against any misadventure. He had cautioned Pakistan against “repeating mistakes of 1965 and 1971”.
Since the Indian government went ahead with its audacious decision on Jammu and Kashmir Pakistan’ Prime Minister has made peddling false narratives on Kashmir into a life goal. Though being shunned globally and also admitting to his failure in selling his bootless agenda to the world, Imran Khan refuses to forego.
Prime Minister Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan addressed the 74th session of UNGA yesterday in New York. While PM Modi spoke about peace and harmony and the way forward in combating climate change and terrorism, Pakistan PM Imran Khan continued to whine against India while cooking up a recipe for disaster. Not only did he overstep the time limit allotted to him (he spoke for over 30 minutes against allotted 15-20 minutes), Khan continued his vile anti-India propaganda on abrogation of Article 370.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan delivered his address at the UN General Assembly in New York yesterday. As you would expect, his speech was full of absurdities, lies and exaggerations about India. And a comical attempt to position the pauper nation of Pakistan as a savior of Muslims across the world.
But as distasteful as it is to admit, he did manage to squeeze in one factually correct remark.
Ex-Home Minister and Congress leader being quoted by Imran Khan at UNGA
As much as we may hate to admit this, the fact is that he is quoting Sushil Kumar Shinde correctly and in context. As Home Minister in the UPA-2 government, Shinde did actually say this at Jaipur in 2013.
Sushil Kumar Shinde, ex Home Minister and Sr Congress leader had made the claim in 2013
Hope the Congress is proud today. Their pandering to vote bank politics has shamed India in front of the whole world. There is no doubt that this highly irresponsible remark from Sushil Shinde will be quoted and re-quoted and cited for generations to come.
What else do we expect from Imran Khan. He is the Prime Minister of an enemy nation. When India’s Home Minister says that India’s largest opposition party is a terrorist organization, of course the enemies of the country will seize on it with great delight.
Why would the enemy listen to our excuses? Why will they see the reality of what happened in 2013? That India’s ruling party of sixty years was facing electoral disaster, buried under scams and economic collapse. That as a last ditch desperate measure, they decided to label their political opponents as ‘terrorist.’ Why would the enemy show us that understanding or cut us any slack? Of course they wouldn’t. They will do what suits them, not us.
This is why a Home Minister should choose their words carefully. A party that has ruled for sixty years should have some sense of responsibility. Some sense of history. And if it is not too much to ask, some grace.
All political parties come to an end one day. The Congress is at the end of its political road. The nation will remain. The Congress will not. But the nation will be stuck forever with these words of Sushil Shinde. Our enemies will continue to mock us with it.
The opposition in any democracy is as much a part of the system as the ruling party. The BJP was the largest opposition party in 2013. It had Chief Ministers in major states, hundreds of elected MPs and MLAs. Over several decades, almost half of India’s population had lived in a BJP ruled state at some point or the other. The BJP had even produced a Prime Minister who ran the country for six whole years: he had his finger on the button that controls India’s nuclear arsenal.
So when Shinde was calling the BJP a terrorist organization, he was not smearing just BJP. He was smearing the nation. He was saying that there are terrorists who are occupying and have occupied the highest constitutional offices in India. He was essentially calling India itself a terrorist state.
When India’s Home Minister goes on record to say something so outrageous, how can you expect our enemies not to seize on it?
And so an irresponsible remark from Shinde, made in political pettiness and desperation, has gone global. And will likely remain so.
The irony is: there is no Congress left today that we can demand answers from them. The party is scheduled to vanish over the next few years. The remarks from Shinde will remain on record, though.
Oh and just where were India’s celebrity “dissenters” when these remarks were made in 2013? Today, if the Indian government moves to designate some “activist” somewhere as “anti-national,” we have a liberal crowd that swoops in to defend them. With songs about the glory of “dissent.” Where were these people when Congress Party in 2013 conveniently labelled their biggest opposition as ‘terrorists’?
One more thing. Have you noticed that while Pakistan fought and lost three big wars to India at the time of Congress governments, Pakistan rarely shows any bitterness to Congress? Their anger is always directed at RSS and BJP.
Ever wondered why? What does that tell you about how Pakistan thinks about its conflict with India?
Dear Congress, we are all in this together as Indians. We always were. Perhaps you didn’t understand this in 2013. And as India’s politics unfolds in the coming years, you will probably never again get a chance to make amends.
With every passing day, fresh revelations are emerging in the high profile honey-trap racket in Madhya Pradesh. As per a latest IANS report, there is strong evidence which suggests that huge amounts, running into several crores, was pocketed by two women, Shweta Jain, the kingpin of the racket and Shweta’s friend and accomplice in the sex scandal, Barkha Soni.
While the former floated two private limited companies in a span of six months out of the money extorted from bureaucrats, ministers and MLAs, the later ran an NGO, Samarth Samajik Seva Sanstha Samiti, to secure funds generated from the honey-trap racket.
It has also been reported that Barkha Soni frequented the Congress Headquarters in New Delhi and her Facebook wall is full of her pictures with prominent faces of the party. The report also suggests that Shweta hobnobbed with state BJP leaders.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the MP Police, investigating one of the biggest sex scandals in the country, revealed that on January 19 this year, Shweta floated a real estate and construction company, Deepthimantham Enterprise Pvt Limited to enter into big construction projects, patronised by a few IAS officers. Six months later, on July 26, she floated another company to nab contracts relating to software and computer hardware. While Aarti was appointed director, Shweta became the managing director of this firm.
After a Special Investigative Team (SIT) was formed to investigate the high profile honey-trap racket, five women, including the wife of a former Congress IT cell vice-president, had been arrested in connection with the case.
It was reported earlier that the investigating team has found that besides several ministers and IAS officers in the state, Bhopal-based media persons are also involved in the sex scandal.
As per an IANS report, the names include a resident editor of a Hindi newspaper, a cameraman of a news channel and the owner of the regional satellite channel.
The media persons, as per the report, were not the victims of the honey trap racket but rather the ‘conduits’. The media persons allegedly helped broker deals between the bureaucrat victims and Shweta Jain, the kingpin of the racket.
In another development, the father of Monika Yadav, the 18-year-old girl who was arrested among other women, was detained by the Indore police for interrogation. Reports stated that Monika had revealed that some material evidence is hidden in her house and the police team had gone to the Sawansi village in Rajgarh district along with Monika.
Arti Dayal, Shweta Swapnil Jain, Barkha Soni, Shweta Vijay Jain, Monika Yadav and a driver named Omprakash Kori were the first persons to be arrested in the high profile honey trapping racket. Barkha is the wife of a former Congress IT cell vice president and a former Mahila Congress member. Shweta had even tried to get an election ticket from Sagar but could not do it after her MMS went viral.
As many as 13 IAS officers, a former governor and a former chief minister are reportedly among the people used by the racket to extort money and favourable deals for their NGOs. The police are now examining thousands of digital files, filled with lurid sex chats, videos and images that were recovered from the arrested persons.
According to the Bloomberg News agency, the US President Donald Trump and climate activist Greta Thunberg are both front-runners for the Nobel Peace Prize that is going to be awarded in the month of October. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has received 301 nominations from around the world this year. The nominations of Trump and Thunberg were both put forward by Norwegian lawmakers from opposing sides of the political spectrum.
A few days ago President Trump had asserted that he would get a Nobel prize if they would hand it out fairly. “I think I’ll get a Nobel prize for a lot of things if they gave it out fairly, which they don’t,” Trump told reporters while he was with Prime Minister Imran Khan.
While talking about the Nobel Prize, Trump had also criticised the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to former US President Barack Obama right after he was elected as the US President. Trump said, “He had no idea why he got it and you know what, that was the only thing I agreed with him on.” Trump had earlier in the year said that Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe had nominated him for the peace prize but he has not confirmed about it.
It is notable to mention that Trump is facing the threat of impeachment for the third time in his tenure. He is currently facing the threat of impeachment over a whistle-blower’s complaint alleging that he abused his power when he asked Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate Joe Biden.
Another controversial nominee for the Nobel peace prize is the teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, who recently drew flak for her zealous critique of the horrific ramifications of the climate change at the United Nations. Speaking to dozens of heads of states, business leaders, and senior representatives from civil society from around the world, Greta, in an overly theatrical manner held them all accountable for the deteriorating environment, telling them that they are still “not mature enough to tell it like it is”.
Other top contenders for the prize include three youth peace activists Hajer Sharief, Ilwad Elman and Nathan Law Kwun-chung, Reporters Without Borders, Control Arms Coalition etc. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is a top nominee for the prize, for the reconciliation he forged in 2018 with Eritrea, ending the war between the neighbouring countries, he is also pushing Ethiopia towards new democratic freedoms.
America’s first Sikh police officer, Sandeep Dhaliwal was shot dead on Friday (local time) in northwest Harris County in Houston.
#BREAKING ; America’s First turbaned Sikh police officer shot Friday during a traffic stop in northwest Harris County in Houston. pic.twitter.com/fqaUCnBt59
— Ravinder Singh Robin ਰਵਿੰਦਰ ਸਿੰਘ راویندرسنگھ روبن (@rsrobin1) September 27, 2019
India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar took to Twitter to express grief on the murder of the Sikh Indian-American police officer and pay his condolences to the bereaved family.
He said, “Deeply saddened to hear about the murder of Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal, a Sikh Indian-American officer in Houston, USA. We recently went to that city. My condolences to his family.
Deeply grieved to learn of the shooting of Deputy Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal, a Sikh Indian-American officer in Houston. We have just visited that city. My condolences to his family. https://t.co/BBUJOFcjB8
The Houston Chronicle (the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas) quoted Sheriff Ed Gonzalez as saying that Harris County Sherrif’s Office Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal was shot at when he pulled over a vehicle. Someone approached him from behind and opened fire at him.
Sandeep Dhaliwal was a 10-year veteran in the force and the agency’s first Sikh deputy. He was taken by helicopter ambulance to the Memorial Hermann Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
The authorities have arrested two people in connection with the fatal shooting and a weapon was found that deputies believed was used to shoot Dhaliwal, informed the Sheriff.
“This guy had a heart of gold, he treated his brothers and sisters in law enforcement as if they were just brothers and sisters. He thought of them before he thought of himself. He thought of the broader community before he thought of himself,” said Adrian Garcia, Harris County police commissioner.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, released a statement on Friday, saying “this tragic loss is a grave reminder of the risks that our law enforcement officers face every single day.”
“I thank the officers who bravely responded to apprehend the suspect, and I assure you that the state of Texas is committed to bringing this killer to justice,” Abbott said.
Dhaliwal worked with United Sikhs, an NGO, to help organize the donation of truckloads of supplies for Americans after the devastating Hurricane Harvey in Texas wreaked havoc in August 2017.
Four years ago, the then Sheriff implemented a policy to allow Dhaliwal to wear turban and beard for the first time while patrolling Harris County streets.
Once again Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s desperation to draw International attention towards his anti-India rhetoric drives him to piggyback on Congress. Launching another attack on India, Pakistan’s PM while speaking at the UNGA in New York on Friday said that previous Congress Home Minister gave a statement that, in RSS camps terrorists are being trained. In 2013, the then Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has accused the BJP and the RSS of fanning Hindu terrorism.
Continuing his vile narrative against India over the Kashmir issue following the abrogation of Article 370, Imran Khan also flouted his time limit set by the UN for the address of world leaders.
Imran Khan and his government, who have been continuously trying to peddle his anti-India narrative after India went ahead with revoking the special status provided to Jammu and Kashmir, have often quoted the opposition party to corroborate their anti-India stance.
Recently, Khan had said quoted Congress on the sidelines of the UNGA session in New York. He said, “Even the Congress party in India has commented that poor people have been shut inside for 50 days. No one knows what’s happening with the political prisoners.”
Earlier this month, Pakistan’s anti-India dossier to the UNHRC featured former Congress President Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders. The dossier quoted remarks made by Rahul Gandhi in the aftermath of India’s decision to abrogate Article 370 for Jammu and Kashmir where he had taken to Twitter to castigate Jammu and Kashmir authorities and had cast doubts on the Indian government.
Prior to this too, Pakistan had written to the UN accusing India of carrying out human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir and had used this statement by Rahul Gandhi and other leftist leaders to further its narrative.
Though India’s position over the Kashmir issue has always been the same, maintaining that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and any discussions with Pakistan will only be bilateral, Pakistan is not willing to abstain.
Not only has the PM of the neighbouring country been using Indian politicians’ opposition to further his agenda, but its media has also used Congress MPs and other opposition leaders’ speech in Parliament to further their agenda on Kashmir.
After India’s decision on Jammu Kashmir, Pakistani news channel Geo TV showed objections held by the Congress politicians and other opposition leaders repudiating the central government’s stand vis-a-vis Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistani news channel showed Congress senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s proclamations that BJP had murdered the constitution of India. P Chidambaram stating that it is the Black day in the country’s constitutional history was also broadcasted while slamming India. It also showed RJD leader Manoj Kumar Jha’s apprehensions that Kashmir will turn into Palestine within 5 years.
India’s political opponents have always given enough material to Pakistan which they have lapped up to advance their nefarious propaganda against India. The comments made by Congress politicians and other opposition leaders are co-opted by Pakistanis to project India as an occupying force, engaged in subjugating and repressing Kashmiris through illegal abolition of Article 370 and unwarranted bifurcation of the state.
Yesterday, media was flooded with reports that Dr Kafeel Khan, an accused in the Gorakhpur children’s death case that took place in August 2017, was given ‘clean chit’ in a departmental inquiry.
NDTV reporting on Dr Kafeel KhanHindustan Times writing on Dr Kafeel KhanThe Hindu reporting on Dr Kafeel Khan
The media reports read that a departmental inquiry had ‘absolved Dr Kafeel Khan of all the charges’ of medical negligence and corruption at Gorakhpur’s BRD medical college where several infants had died due to disruption in oxygen supply over alleged nonpayment of dues. Media reports said that Khan has now demanded a CBI probe and referred to himself as a ‘scapegoat’.
Somewhere buried in the report is the part that the committee has not absolved him of running a private practise till August 2016.
However, now the BRD medical college administration has issued clarification that the media reports of Dr Kafeel Khan given ‘clean chit’ are incorrect.
UP government clarification on Dr Kafeel Khan
In a statement issued, it states that there have been reports in various media publications like Times of India, Amar Ujala, NDTV, News 18 as well as social media like WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook regarding suspended Dr Kafeel Khan absolving him of all the accusations. The statement acknowledges that Dr Kafeel Khan has also made statements on social media in this regard.
The statement mentions that Dr Kafeel Khan was suspended following the death of infants in BRD medical college, Gorakhpur from 22nd August 2017. An inquiry commission was set up on 11th September 2017 and Dr Kafeel Khan had appeared before the same on 21st May 2018, 27th August 2018, 18th March 2019 and 29th March 2019.
UP government clarification on Dr Kafeel Khan
The statement mentions that while Dr Kafeel Khan has been found not guilty of negligence and corruption, he has still been found guilty of running a private practice and two other accusations. The committee is still inquiring into the matter and no decision has been taken in case of Dr Kafeel Khan. Other than these, inquiry is still on for other accusations against him.
The administration said that it is incorrect to say that Dr Kafeel Khan has got clean chit.
In an extremely tragic incident, 30 children had died in the Baba Raghav Das Medical College, Gorakhpur over a period of 48 hours in August 2017. Some of the deaths happened after contractors allegedly stopped supplying liquid oxygen due to non-payment of dues of about Rs 63 lakh. Khan was arrested after it was revealed that he was involved with taking oxygen cylinders meant for the hospital away for use in his own nursing home. He was allegedly arrested in 2009 in Delhi on charges impersonating someone in the examination for medical registration. Some reports have also claimed that he was suspended from Manipal University for criminal cases against him.
First Secretary MEA Vidisha Maitra, while exercising India’s Right to Reply against Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s anti India rant said that Khan’s threat of unleashing nuclear devastation qualifies as brinkmanship and not statesmanship.
She questioned whether Pakistan will acknowledge that it is the only government in the world that provides pension to an individual listed by the UN in the Al-Qaeda and Daesh sanctions list? Last week, Pakistan got UNSC to allow release of monthly pension to 26/11 Mumbai terror accused Hafiz Saeed who is also a global designated terrorist.
Referring to Pakistan government’s move to inviting UN observers to Pakistan to ‘verify’ the resurrection of terror camps, Maitra said that the world must now hold him accountable for that. She questioned whether Pakistan can deny it is home to many UN-designated terrorists. “Can Pakistan PM confirm that it is home to 130 UN designated terrorists and 25 terrorist entities listed by the UN?” she questioned.
#WATCH Vidisha Maitra, First Secretary MEA exercises India's right of reply to Pakistan PM Imran Khan's speech says, "Can Pakistan PM confirm the fact it is home to 130 UN designated terrorists and 25 terrorist entities listed by the UN, as of today?" pic.twitter.com/vGFQH1MIql
“Will Pakistan deny that Financial Action Task Force has put the country on notice for its violations of more than 20 of the 27 key parameters? And would PM Imran Khan deny to the city of New York that he was an open defender of Osama bin Laden?” Maitra said exercising India’s Right to Reply at UNGA.
Pointing out minority persecution in the terror country that Pakistan is, Maitra said “Pakistan has shrunk the size of its minority population and has subjected them to atrocious blasphemy laws,” while exercising India’s Right to Reply. In a scathing response to Khan, she added, “Pogroms, PM Imran Khan Niazi, are not a phenomenon of today’s vibrant democracies. We would request you to refresh your rather sketchy understanding of history. Do not forget the gruesome genocide perpetrated by Pakistan against its own people in 1971.
Speaking on the persecution of minorities in Pakistan, she added, “This a country that has shrunk the size of its minority community from 23% in 1947 to 3% today and has subjected Christians, Sikhs, Ahmadiyas, Hindus, Shias, Pashtuns, Sindhis and Balochis to draconian blasphemy laws, systemic persecution, blatant abuse and forced conversions.”
“For someone who was once a cricketer and believed in the gentleman’s game, today’s speech bordered on crudeness of the variety that is reminiscent of the guns of Darra Adam Khel,” she added.
Speaking on the abrogation of Article 370 making Jammu & Kashmir an integral part of India without any riders attached, she said, “The mainstreaming of Jammu & Kashmir, as well as Ladakh, in India’s thriving and vibrant democracy with a millennia-old heritage of diversity, pluralism and tolerance is well and truly underway. Irreversibly so.” Khan in his speech at UNGA last night had criticised India for abrogation of Article 370.
In August this year, the Government of India abrogated Article 370 which gave separate status to Jammu & Kashmir and bifurcated the state into union territories of Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir. Further asking Khan to not meddle in India’s internal matters, Maitra said, “Citizens of India do not need anyone else to speak on their behalf, least of all those who have built an industry of terrorism from the ideology of hate.”
Last night, while addressing the UNGA, Pakistan PM Imran Khan had continued to whine against India while cooking up a recipe for disaster. Not only did he overstep the time limit allotted to him (he spoke for over 30 minutes against allotted 15-20 minutes), Khan continued his vile anti-India propaganda on abrogation of Article 370.
India, through its First Secretary MEA Vidisha Maitra, to exercise its Right to Reply to Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s anti-India rant at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The Right to Reply means the right of a country to defend itself against criticism at the same venue where it was made.
Prime Minister Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan addressed the 74th session of UNGA yesterday in New York. While PM Modi spoke about peace and harmony and the way forward in combating climate change and terrorism, Pakistan PM Imran Khan continued to whine against India while cooking up a recipe for disaster. Not only did he overstep the time limit allotted to him (he spoke for over 30 minutes against allotted 15-20 minutes), Khan continued his vile anti-India propaganda on abrogation of Article 370.
Khan not only asked the world leaders present in the Assembly to ‘Google’ about RSS founders (because he himself fumbled), he even quoted Congress again in his speech to attack the RSS. “The previous Congress Home Minister gave a statement that in RSS camps, terrorists are being trained,” he told the world leaders.
Khan, who was addressing the Assembly for the first time even spoke of ‘Islamophobia’ other than attacking PM Modi, India and raking up the Kashmir issue.
