Monday, November 25, 2024
Home Blog Page 5417

Cow has become cause of terror for some: Abhisar Sharma’s deranged rant on cows is also factually incorrect

Purveyor of fake news, Abhisar Sharma, who likes to identify himself as a ‘journalist’, through the propaganda website NewsClick’s YouTube channel has gone on a deranged rant against cows. So much that he even declared that cows have become a cause of ‘terror and fear’ for some.

Sharma started this rant as a response to PM Modi’s speech in Mathura from Wednesday where he expressed anguish at those who think that discussing cows and Hinduism is regressive. PM Modi had said that it is unfortunate for the country that some people get agitated whenever they heard the words ‘Om’ or ‘cow’ and think that we have gone back to the 16th century. Those who have destroyed the country have not left any stone unturned to destroy the country, he added.

To this, Abhisar, in his 12-minute rant, begins with saying that cow worship is equal to patriotism. Snidely, he folds his hands and says how even if people do not love their country, they should at least worship the cows. At around 4 minutes into the video, he tries to point out ‘hypocrisy’ by saying that on one hand, we talk about cow protection and cow worship, on the other hand, India is on the second position in ‘export of beef’. To substantiate his claims, he shared a screenshot of a website ‘beef2live.com’ to show the top five countries which export beef. Except, this screenshot itself showed that the beef which was exported from India was buffalo meat.

Abhisar Sharma showing off how he does not know the difference between cow and buffalo.

Since Abhisar Sharma doesn’t seem to know the difference between the two bovines, here is a quick reckoner.

Left (cow), right (buffalo) (image: YouTube)

Moving on, at around 5:15 minutes into the video, Abhisar says how since 2016, 44 people have been allegedly killed by cow vigilantes.

Abhisar Sharma citing a Human Rights Watch report

Abhisar, while citing the above report, mentions how it was not any Indian organisation which compiled it but US-based Human Rights Watch as if somehow any non-Indian organisation compiling a report becomes more credible. He says that these figures can be corroborated by various government numbers too, but does not divulge further information on these ‘government numbers’.

Now, the above data which was published by Human Rights Watch was based on a faulty data compiled by IndiaSpend’s dubious and incomplete database from factchecker.in. We have earlier reported how IndiaSpend’s fact-checking website, factchecker.in in its cow-related hate crimes database, the very one which was relied upon by HRW was incomplete, flawed and heavily biased. The report had mentioned how 90% of such crimes took place after Modi took office as Prime Minister. However, the database had hardly included any cow-related violence before Modi took office in its database from 2009 to 2018.

The mainstream media has been actively promoting how the ‘cow-related’ violence has increased in India after Modi came to power. Abhishek Banerjee, a columnist with OpIndia, had written about how IndiaSpend (the same people who run the ‘factchecker’) have regularly indulged in peddling this narrative. They had earlier filed a report how 87 people had died in cow-related violence since 2010, of which 97% of the crimes happened after Modi came to power. The above ‘interactive fact-check’ map is an extension of the same report’. As can be seen even then that their ‘research’ was based on ‘Google search’ with particular keywords.

On Wednesday, IndiaSpend’s faulty FactChecker.in finally decided to pull down the ‘Hate Crime Watch’ (HCW) after being exposed several times for Hinduphobia and bias. In a series of tweets, factchecker.in announced that HCW was moving to a ‘new home’.

Abhisar then furthers the lies by saying how cows are one of the primary reasons of mob lynching in India. He mentions that in the name of ‘gau raksha’, minorities and Dalits are terrorised. He goes on to slyly communalise mob-lynching incidents since 2016 by naming the victims so as to identify their religion. The victims’ names he mentions are invariably Muslim.

Sharma very conveniently forgets to add how there has also been a spike in fake hate crimes where people, most of them Muslims, have accused that they were ‘lynched’ and asked to say ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and brutally beaten up when they refused to say so. Further investigation in these cases revealed that these cases were false and the ‘victims’ were lying about the communal angle.

Further, towards the end of his rant, at around 11 minutes, Abhisar Sharma says “At some point, the cow has become a cause of terror and inconvenience for some and for this only and only state and central governments are responsible.”

It is interesting that for the Lutyens cabal, the mere mention of ‘cows’ or ‘Hinduism’ is akin to spreading ‘terrorism’. Their Modiphobia and seamlessly morphed into Hinduphobia to a point where even the deaths of Hindus seem to not move them into realising how their false narrative is ensuring communal strife in the society. They ensure that th truth is never allowed to stand in the way of their propaganda that aims to demonise Hindus simply because Hindus voted for PM Narendra Modi. The faith and beliefs of the majority population has become a mere tool in the hands of the motivated, sold-out media to spread senseless minoritarianism while sentiments like ‘nationalism’ are demonised endlessly with lies and half truths.

After eating away billion dollars of US money and arms in the name of Jihad, Pakistan blames USA for making them a ‘dangerous country’

Sliding to irrelevance, Pakistan – the cradle of Islamic terrorism, has now resorted to new rhetoric of pushing the blame on others to avoid condemnation for its own failures. As the terrorist state of Pakistan has been globally isolated and shamed for its state-sponsored terror policy, a desperate Prime Minister has now held the United States of America, one of their erstwhile patrons, responsible for the current crisis in Pakistan.

Speaking to Russia Today, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday pointed fingers towards the United States of America for the current state of Pakistan and blamed America for its policies adopted during the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s and the ‘War on Terror’ post 9/11 terror attacks. Imran Khan also stated that it was because of America’s policies during the Soviet-Afghan wars and post-2001 that resulted in Pakistan becoming a dangerous country in the world.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLu_-zzykDI]
Pakistan PM Imran Khan said it was unfair to blame Pakistan for the setbacks suffered by Washington in Afghanistan. He further added that Pakistan suffered damage when it decided to side with the US post 9/11. “Had we not participated in the American war after 9/11, we would not have been the world’s most dangerous country,” said Imran Khan.

“In the 80s we were training these Mujahideen people to do jihad against Soviet when they occupied Afghanistan. So, these people were trained by Pakistan, funded by the US’s CIA and now a decade later when the Americans come into Afghanistan, the same groups who are all in Pakistan are supposed to say that now because Americans are there it is no longer jihad its terrorism,” Khan said to Russia Today.

“It was a big contradiction and I strongly felt that Pakistan should have been neutral because by joining in, these groups turned against us”.

Khan said that Pakistan lost 70,000 people and over 100 billion dollars of the economy. “In the end, we were blamed for the Americans not succeeding in Afghanistan. I felt it was very unfair on Pakistan,” he added.

It is a bit rich for Pakistan Prime Imran Khan to put the blame on the United States of America for their own failure to develop as a functioning state. Ever since the state of Pakistan came into existence, it has always acted as a rental state to other powers while surviving on the alms and grants provided by its so-called allies.

In 1979, at the height of the cold war when Soviets invaded Afghanistan, Pakistan, being at the strategic crossroads, was used by the Americans as a base for their operations to oust the Soviets from Afghanistan. Since then, the United States of America has invested a lot in Pakistan hoping that the Islamic country would promote its strategic goals in the region.

With America cosying up to Pakistan, billion dollars of worth arms, machinery, planes, food, grants flew to the terror state so that they could fight America’s war in Afghanistan, first against the Soviets and then against the Islamic group, which they had nurtured in the form of ‘Mujahideen’ in the past decade.

It is not just limited arms and aids. Pakistan, realising the weakness of the Americans, were able to negotiate better terms with their allies, resulting in Pakistani establishment gaining leverage in diplomacy, international fora, which they somewhat used effectively to subdue it eternal enemy – India.

The direct beneficiaries of America support in Pakistan were its military establishment. The ‘War on Soviets’ and ‘War on Terror’ both needed massive military buildup, which resulted in the modernisation programme of Pakistani military establishment. In a way, the United State of America literally built Pakistani armed forces with training and armaments to fight their war in Afghanistan.

The Americans saw Pakistan as a strategic point and spent huge money in the Pakistan post-2001. Pakistan was the direct beneficiary of war on terror. Without any doubt, it can be stated that Pakistan as a state would have ceased to exist if the USA had chosen not to fight their wars in Afghanistan.

Since the 1980s, Pakistan has received billions of dollars of funds to fight America’s war in Afghanistan. The Americans have poured in huge resources in Pakistan without reaping any gains in return from Pakistan. Pakistan, on the other hand, has stabbed their allies in the back by not only sidestepping from fighting terror but also being an ally for those Islamic terror groups by giving safe havens inside its territory.

In fact, Imran Khan is not incorrect in saying that the United States of America armed and funded Islamist groups to further its own ambitions. For example, there were several allegations that it was the CIA that had funded even Osama Bin Laden for its war against the Soviets and supported his ‘Afghan warriors’. There were several speculations that David Headley, the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack was also a CIA asset gone rogue. That he was sent to gather intel from Pakistan terror groups and then, he was radicalised.

It is thus true that the USA has furthered Islamic Jihad to meet its end. However, Pakistan was used by the USA because it was predisposed to using and supporting Islamic extremism. Till date, Pakistan uses Jihad as a state policy. In fact, it appeals to the Islamic Nations based on its Islamic identity more than on merits of diplomatic arguments. For Imran Khan to now say that Pakistan should have stayed neutral is a direct assault on the USA and against the decades of funding that the terror state got from the USA because it was more than willing to wage Jihad.

It is also interesting that Imran Khan would say that joining the famed ‘war on terror’ turned the Jihadi groups against Pakistan and hence, Pakistan should have stayed neutral. Firstly, Pakistan staying neutral was not an option because they only commodity that they had to trade to get enough funding for their survival was Islamic extremism. Secondly, Imran Khan seems to be living up to the nickname he acquired before he became the Prime Minister – Imran Taliban Khan. Taliban and other Jihadi organisations have often blamed the West for everything that ails Islamic nations. By saying that supporting America in its Afghanistan mission has resulted in the downfall of Pakistan is just Imran Khan speaking the language that the Taliban has spoken for decades.

The Americans seem to have finally woken up from their slumber as they have now realised that Pakistan has been playing a dangerous game with them all along. Ever since Donald Trump assumed the seat of the US President, American policy on Pakistan has seen a decisive shift. Recently, the US had slashed its aid to Pakistan by a further $440 million. Last year the USA had cancelled military aid worth over 300 million USD.

Before that, the Pentagon had slashed aid worth 1 billion USD, citing Pakistan’s failure to crack down on terror outfits. During Imran Khan’s visit to the US recently, Donald Trump had said to his face that the US has decided to cut down aid to Pakistan. “We were paying 1.3 billion dollars to Pakistan as an aid for many years. Pakistan was not doing anything for us. They were really subversive,” said Trump recently.

President Donald Trump had also reiterated that the relationship between Pakistan and the United States of America was better once they decided to cut down the aid to Pakistan as the latter failed to take actions against terrorist groups emanating from Pakistan.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has recognised that his country has been relegated to third-grade trash, especially by the Western powers, which was also evident in recent Pakistan’s fiasco to internationalise the issue of Kashmir following the revocation of special status in Jammu and Kashmir. With Americans deciding to not to stand with a terror state, Pakistan PM Imran Khan seems to have frustrated and back to his usual rhetorics of blaming everyone for their misdeeds.

India to grant visa to Sikhs who had left the country during the 80s’ militancy, ‘adverse list’ cut down to just 2 names

The government of India has decided to cut down the ‘Adverse List’ of members of the Sikh community that earlier contained 314 names and has brought it down to just 2 names.

Apart from that, the government of India has directed all its missions abroad to provide appropriate visas to all categories of asylum seekers of Indian origin and their family members whose name does not appear in the central adverse list. The visa norms for the asylees and derivatives(their family members) will be inline with other citizens of the respective countries they are living in.


In addition to this, the government if India has directed that all asylum seekers of Indian origin, who will be eligible for issuance of long-term visas will also be eligible to apply for registration as Overseas Citizens of India cards after they have applied for and held normal visas for the period of two years.


Earlier in April this year, India had directed all its missions abroad to abolish the local blacklists they held against asylees of Indian origin in the respective countries. Usually, asylees of Indian origin (and their family members) in a country were denied regular consular services and prevented from applying for Indian visas and OCI cards. The government had at that time, directed all Indian missions to discard their local lists and follow only the central ‘Adverse List’.

It is notable here that a considerable number of Sikhs had sought asylums in countries like USA, UK and Canada for the fear of persecution during the post-Khalistan crackdown. Thousands of Sikhs have not been able to visit India even years after the end of Khalistani terrorism.

Zakir Naik spews hate yet again, says abrogation of Article 370 is act of war by the the BJP govt against the biggest Muslim community in the country

0

In a yet another anti-India statement issued by controversial radical Islamic preacher Zakir Naik has said that Kashmir is being ‘singled out’ because it is a Muslim majority state. According to a report published by India Today, Naik has called the current situation in Kashmir as an ‘act of war by the BJP government against the biggest Muslim community in the country.’

Adding to his hate speech against Indian government, Naik ‘warned’ against a Palestine-like situation building up in the state. He even furthered the lie that Kashmiri youth are being arrested and ‘sent to undisclosed jails in and outside Kashmir’. Adding to his lie, he alleged that every ‘detainee is reported to being subject to extreme torture that lasts for hours. There are reports of beating with sticks and rods and electrocution for hours at a stretch.

Earlier in the month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken up the issue of Naik’s extradition with his Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamad. Naik has escaped India and is taking a shelter in Malaysia.

Naik is wanted in India for serious charges related to terrorism after his name cropped in connection with a ghastly terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka on July 2016.

Radical Islamist Zakir Naik, a Mumbai-born 53-year-old who is the founder of the controversial ‘Peace TV’ has been living in Malaysia since 2017 after fleeing from India and the previous government there had granted permanent residency to him.

Although the current Mahathir administration has barred the controversial Islamic preacher from delivering public speeches, it is yet to take any decision on sending him back to India.

India exporting bulletproof jackets to over 100 countries, 4th nation to have a national manufacturing standard

India has begun exporting its bulletproof jackets to over 100 countries now. As per a report in The Economic Times, an official from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has informed that Indian made bulletproof jackets are made as per India’s own standards which are in conformation with international norms for the jackets.

India is reportedly only the fourth country after the USA, UK and Germany to have its own standard on bulletproof jackets which provide 360 degrees protection. At present, India is exporting these jackets to over 100 nations, including several European nations.

BIS Deputy Director Rajesh Bajaj recently stated at an event that BIS brought all the stakeholders together and decided on a national standard, which is of international quality. The Indian armed forces are now producing as per this standard.

JK Gupta, a scientist associated with the team that formalised the national standard on bulletproof jackets, stated that earlier, India was unable to procure quality bulletproof jackets in the absence of a national standard. There was a long pending demand from the armed forces to set a national standard for the jackets. Finally, BIS had formulated a national standard on bulletproof jackets in 2018, following directions from the Prime Minister’s office and NITI Ayog, informed Gupta.

Dr Gupta further informed that under the Make In India program, India now has the facilities and world-class design capabilities on the jackets.

Gupta further informed that as of now, two PSUs, Medani and Ordnance Factory Avadi, near Chennai are producing these jackets and there are also three private firms, SNPP (Palwal), Starwire (Faridabad) and MKU in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh are manufacturing bulletproof jackets as per BIS norms.

More than 1.86 jackets have already been supplied to the Indian armed forces and the process is underway for more, he added. Gupta further stated that the BIS standard is tough and provides 360 degrees protection to soldiers, even from steel core AK-47 bullets travelling at 700 metres per second. The jackets are being manufactured keeping the various shapes and sizes of Indian soldiers in mind.

The BIS has also ascertained testing protocols to determine the shelf life of the jackets. NITI Ayog member and former DRDO chief VK Saraswat had informed earlier that Indian armed forces need more than 3 lakh bulletproof jackets.

It is notable here that India has been manufacturing bulletproof jackets since long but the manufacturers did not follow a specific standard and often the quality varied as per customer demands. The Indian armed forces also lacked bulletproof jackets till 2018.

In April 2018, ending a nine-year wait, the defence ministry under Nirmala Sitharaman had finally ordered over 1.86 lakh jackets for the armed forces, priced at Rs 639 crores. During the UPA rule in 2009, the MoD had given the nod for buying 1.86 lakh jackets but the proposal kept pending for various reasons. Finally, in 2016, the MoD had made an emergency procurement of 50,000 bulletproof vests.

Maharashtra: Congress MLA threatens to beat up people in his constituency if he sees BJP flags

0

With state election season heating up in various states, Congress leaders in Maharashtra seem to have taken it to a new level. Maharashtra Congress MLA Sunil Kedar was found threatening people of his constituency that if he sees any BJP flag outside house of anyone, he will beat them to pulp.


As reported by Times Now, Kedar reportedly said that he will beat up people if he sees the BJP flags outside their houses. He was speaking in Nagpur on the recent defections within the party when he threatened the villagers and said that “If I see BJP flags outside your house, I will come to your house and beat you to pulp.” As per reports, he used the Hindi phrase ‘din mein taare dikha dunga‘ to try and intimidate the villagers.

Leaders from Sharad Pawar lead Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Indian National Congress (INC) joining the saffron alliance of Bhartiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena (BJP-SS). The first instance of a major switchover was witnessed ahead of the 2019 Lokshabha Elections with stalwart Congressman and its Leader of Opposition (LoP)in Maharashtra Assembly, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil resigning from his post. He officially joined BJP in June 2019 only after his son Sujay went on to register his maiden Lokshabha victory from Ahmednagar on a BJP ticket. Radhakrishna Vikhe, soon after his induction was awarded a cabinet berth in Maharashtra Government. Another Congress veteran a 7 term MLA, Kalidas Kolambkar, (Wadala, Mumbai) has officially joined BJP on the last day of July 2019. Former state minister and Congress leader Harshvardhan Patil too recently joined the BJP.

Shah Rukh Khan wishes everyone on Ganesh Visarjan, fundamentalists ask him whether he is really a Muslim

Film star Shah Rukh Khan last night took to photo-sharing website Instagram to post pictures ahead of Ganesh Visarjan. “Pooja done….Visarjan done. Ganpati Bappa Morya!! May the happiness of the world and beyond come into every household & for every family,” he posted. However, he was soon targeted by fundamentalists for not being ‘Muslim’ enough.

Shah Rukh Khan gets hate from fundamentalists on Instagram

“I love you but you Muslim and Why all this??? Omg really I’m sad for you” said one person while other questioned him if he is really a Muslim. One Instagram account ‘teeniabbasi’ also said that he needs hidayah more than a non-Muslim’. Hidayah is an Arabic word for ‘guidance’.

Shah Rukh Khan gets hate from fundamentalists on Instagram

“Life is too short… remember without Allah, you are nothing!” and “With my respect to SRK I respect all religions. But what you do shows that you are a Muslim by name only,” were some of the more hateful comments directed towards Khan.

Shah Rukh Khan gets hate from fundamentalists on Instagram

Khan, one of the most popular Bollywood actors, was shamed by Islamists for ‘worshipping a statue made by man himself’.

Shah Rukh Khan gets hate from fundamentalists on Instagram

Abuses were also hurled towards Shah Rukh Khan for worshipping Lord Ganesha.

The hate continued even on Twitter.

Shah Rukh Khan gets hate from fundamentalists on Twitter

This is not the first time Shah Rukh Khan has been on the receiving end of abuses. Last year, after he had tweeted a picture of his son celebrating Ganesh Puja, Muslims had called it a ‘sin’ and had abused and condemned him.

Earlier, Bollywood actress Sara Ali Khan, daughter of another actor Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh, was also abused on Instagram for wishing people on occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.

Popular Bengali actress and a TMC MP from West Bengal, Nusrat Jahan was insulted on Facebook for celebrating Durga Puja as it was ‘inappropriate’. Cricketer Mohammad Kaif was trolled by Muslim fundamentalists for celebrating Christmas and condemned for performing the Surya Namaskar. Another cricketer Irfan Pathan was told by fundamentalists that Raksha Bandhan is ‘against Islam’ and abused when he wished everyone on a special day.

Cricketer Mohammad Kaif was also trolled by Muslim fundamentalists for celebrating Christmas with his family. He was also declared a bad Muslim by Islamists for celebrating his daughter’s birthday. Apart from this, cricketer Irfan Pathan was ‘informed’ by Muslim fundamentalists that celebrating Raksha Bandhan was against Islam, after he posted a picture of himself with a Rakhi on. Mohammad Kaif too was at the receiving end of similar trolling after he attacked for performing Surya Namaskar. 

In the past, a freelance protestor from JNU, Shehla Rashid, was forced to deactivate her Facebook account as well after receiving rape threats from Muslims. The rape threats were in response to Rashid asking Muslims whether they would let their sisters and daughters marry a non-Muslim man of their choice.

On another occasion, Arshad Mansuri, a Muslim doctor from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, had claimed that he was receiving threats due to his pledge to donate his organs after death. His pledge had angered a section of his community who were angered by his committing an “anti-Islamic” act.

China and Pakistan only countries to raise Kashmir at UNHRC, Indian delegation meets UNHRC chief to apprise of the situation

0

While all the member countries of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) believe Kashmir issue to be an internal matter of India, Pakistan and China remain the only to raise Kashmir at the UNHRC. After it made Kashmir references at the meeting, a high-level Indian delegation led by MEA Secretary (East) Vijay Thakur Singh met UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Thursday at 3 pm (local time) in Geneva to apprise her about the current situation in the region.

Rajiv Kumar Chander, India’s ambassador and permanent representative to the UN was also present as a part of the delegation that met Bachelet.

This meeting was held at the backdrop of Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s claims, at the UNHRC meet on Tuesday, that India has transformed Jammu and Kashmir into a largest “caged prison on this planet” after the abrogation of Article 370. He went on to allege that human rights were being “trampled with impunity” in J&K.

India firmly rejected Qureshi’s allegations and hit back stating that a “fabricated narrative” on J&K came from “the epicentre of global terrorism” and from a nation, which conducts cross-border terrorism as a form of ‘alternate diplomacy.’

China at the UNHRC meet said it opposes any ‘unilateral action,’ which could complicate the situation in the region. It had urged both India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and avoid further escalation of tensions.

Pakistan is spooked ever since India abrogated Article 370 from J&K, which granted a special status to the state, bifurcating it into two Union Territories. Since then, it has been running from pillar to post trying in a bid to internationalise the Kashmir issue but has failed in all its attempts. The nation has been shunned globally for its stereotypical rhetorics over Kashmir, however, the perturbed country refuses to abstain.

In another futile attempt, it raked Kashmir issue in the UNHRC once again. While doing so, its Foreign Minister, had in a grand Freudian slip admitted that Kashmir is very much part of India.

Pakistan has been trying its level best to convince the entire world that India resorts to Human Rights violations in Kashmir. Sadly enough, it has not been able to convince its own ministers about the same.

Today, while speaking to Pakistani media, one of their own minister’s Brig. Ijaz Ahmed Shah admitted on record that Pakistan has failed to convince the international community. He was heard saying that people across the globe trust India not Pakistan on Kashmir. He also blamed Pakistan’s ‘ruling elite’ including Prime Minister Imran Khan for destroying the image of the country.

Indian Army officer on UN peacekeeping mission found dead in Congo, had gone missing on Saturday while kayaking in Lake Kivu

0

In an unfortunate incident, an Indian Army officer serving in Congo who had gone missing on Saturday was found dead inside Lake Kivu Thursday.

Lieutenant Colonel Gaurav Solanki was serving in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a part of the Indian contingent in the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission. Officials said the mortal remains of the deceased officer were recovered after an intensive search operation. The officer’s body was retrieved around 11 am on September 12 from Lake Kivu, about a kilometre away from an island.


On September 8, Lieutenant Colonel Solanki had gone for kayaking to Lake Kivu with a group. Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes which lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. The army sources had informed that while everyone else had come back after kayaking, Lieutenant Colonel Solanki was missing.

After a massive search operation using speed boats and helicopters, the dead body was retrieved around 11 a.m. on Thursday. Solanki`s body was found at a distance of one kilometer from Tchegera Island which lies in the lake. The cause of the army officer’s death is yet to be ascertained. Sources said enquiries are underway to ascertain the cause of death even though prima facie it appears that Solanki died due to drowning accidentally.

Solanki was deputed as a military observer in a UN mission in the Central African nation. He had completed his assignment in Congo and was due to return to his regiment in India within the next few days.

It is pertinent to mention that India is one of the largest troop contributors to UN Peacekeeping missions in the world and at present stands on number three. Indian troops posted with UN peacekeeping missions have done a commendable job and have meritoriously served across global destinations.

Indian Army has a long distinction of serving these missions and has been serving for over 57 years. During this period, it has covered 43 United Nations Missions with more than 90,000 Indian soldiers contributing to the service.

Indian troops are credited with participating in some of the most difficult operations and have suffered various casualties during this service. Losing Lieutenant Colonel Solanki is indeed regrettable.

Chidambaram has company: AAP MLA Som Dutt to spend 6 months in Tihar for beating up and assaulting a man

0

As if JKLF chairman Yasin Malik’s company was not enough, former Union minister P Chidambaram, who was sent to judicial custody in Tihar Jail for his alleged involvement in the INX Media scam, has another company in the form of AAP MLA Som Dutt. Dutt has been ordered to spend 6 months in Tihar Jail for beating up and assaulting a man.


Dutt was sent to Tihar Jail after he was convicted for assaulting a man during the 2015 assembly elections campaign in Delhi. He had filed a plea against his conviction, however, the Magistrate dismissed it and instructed him to serve a 6-months jail term.

Recently, Chidambaram was sent to Tihar for judicial custody till September 19, 2019, which has now been extended until September 23, 2019. Chidambaram is an accused in the INX Media scam that involves charges of bribery and lobbying in granting foreign investments worth over Rs 300 crores to INX Media. INX Media, later known as NewsX was owned by Peter and Indrani Mukherjee of the sensational Sheena Bora murder case. Chidambaram is accused of misusing his power as the finance minister to grant INX Media an FIPB clearance.

Malik is currently lodged in Tihar for terror funding case. In addition to this, after a delay of almost 3 decades, Malik’s trial in the 1990 IAF personnel’s murder case resumed on Wednesday at the TADA (Terrorist & Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act) court in Jammu.