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IAF launches combat simulator mobile game ‘Indian Air Force: A Cut Above’, WC Abhinandan features in trailer

OpIndia Staff
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IAF launches combat simulator mobile game ‘Indian Air Force: A Cut Above’, WC Abhinandan features in trailer

The Indian Air Force in collaboration with India-based developer Threye Interactive has launched its flight battle simulator mobile game, named ‘Indian Air Force: A Cut Above’.

Air Marshal BS Dhanoa has launched the combat-based mobile game at the National Bal Bhavan in the National Capital today.


The Indian Air Force wants the nation’s youth to be inspired by the combat pilots and popularise the Indian Armed Forces as a career option for young Indians. The game named Indian Air Force: A Cut Above is a step in that direction.


This game will be offered on Android as well as IOS devices. Players flying the aircraft could get control of the planes through touch controls or on-screen buttons. The game features anti-aircraft guns to shoot down incoming enemy aircraft or to destroy enemy radars. The game offers a lengthy tutorial that takes a player through the paces of flying and controlling the aircraft, as well as air combat.

The teaser of the game which was launched on 20 July through a Twitter post attracted great responses.

Besides featuring state-of-the-art Sukhois, Mi-17 helicopters and a mid-air refuelling tanker, the teaser of the game shows a character modelled, in terms of appearance, on Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman.

Wing Commander Abhinandan, flying a vintage Russian-made Mig-21 fighter, was part of the Indian Air Force package that took on the Pakistan Air Force warplanes on February 27 during a dogfight. He shot down Pakistan’s F-16 jet with a short-range Vympel R-73 air to air missile fired from his MiG-21 Bison. During the air-fight, Abhinandan’s MiG-21 Bison was also shot down by Pakistan, which had led him to eject from the jet, landing him in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. Abhinandan was held captive in Pakistan for almost 60 hours before he was released on March 1, 2019.

His act of bravery had won him many accolades and legions of admirers in India. This is probably prompted the IAF to feature a character in the game who sports Abhinandan’s trademark moustache.

As of now, the game will be available in single-player mode, but the IAF has plans to launch a multi-player mode soon.

The Indian digital gaming industry is growing rapidly, with behemoths like Alibaba backed-Paytm, Tencent, Youzu and Nazara investing in it. Being amongst the top five countries for mobile gaming in the world, the industry is already worth over $890 million.

According to KMPG and Google reports, the number of Indians who play online games has gone up from 20 million in the year 2010 to 250 million by 2018. Further, estimates suggest that India’s mobile games market will be worth $1.1 billion by 2020, and the number of users projected to become 628 million by then.

Zomato takes cognizance of Halal-Jhatka debate, says will provide Jhatka tag if customers demand it

OpIndia Staff
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Zomato takes cognizance of Halal-Jhatka debate, says will provide Jhatka tag if customers demand it

Food Delivery Service, Zomato, stirred a huge controversy on Wednesday after it attempted to run a PR exercise by tweeting ‘Food has no Religion’. People were outraged by the fact that Zomato prostrated before one community for Halal meat but preached food has no religion on another issue.

Now, Zomato has issued a statement over the Halal controversy. They stated that they provided a Halal tag on their service so that customers could make an informed choice about the food. The certification is provided by an All-India body.

Significantly, however, the company said that they will add a ‘Jhatka’ tag as well if consumers ask for it. Jhatka is a secular way of slaughtering animals as opposed to the Islamic practice of Halal.


In its statement, although Zomato reasserted what it had said previously, the rest of it is a marked departure from it. They appear to have taken cognizance of the fact that not all of their customers are willing to consume Halal meat. All things considered, it is a welcome step in the right direction. Now, the government must set up a certification authority for Jhatka.

Mystery over CCD owner Siddhartha’s suicide deepens as details of alleged Hawala links with Congress leader DK Shivakumar emerges

OpIndia Staff
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Mystery over CCD owner Siddhartha’s suicide deepens as details of alleged Hawala links with Congress leader DK Shivakumar emerges

Within hours after the body of Cafe Coffee Day founder, VG Siddhartha was found on the banks of the Nethravathi River in Mangaluru, shocking details are emerging concerning his alleged ‘hawala’ transactions involving Karnataka Congress strongman DK Shivakumar.

Hawala link with DK Shivakumar

According to Republic TV, sensational details have emerged related to the tax probe carried out by the Income Tax department against Siddhartha, the same investigation that VG Siddartha had dubbed as ‘harassment’ in his letter to the board dated July 27. Reportedly, the Income Tax department in New Delhi and Karnataka has made a series of disclosures over the circumstances surrounding VG Siddhartha going missing.

A Times Now report suggests that the investigation against VG Siddhartha began after the IT officials had searched properties of senior Karnataka Congress leader DK Shivakumar. The agency had carried out searches on August 2, 2017, at DK Shivakumar’s properties, with the action also including raids at DK Shivakumar’s financial assistant N Chandrashekar Sukapuri’s residence.


The Income-tax department alleged that they came across financial transaction between DK Shivkumar’s daughter and Cafe Coffee Day. Chandrashekar had admitted that Rs.20 crore was transferred to DK Shivkumar in a roundabout and concealed fashion by the CCD.

The Income Tax officials have also revealed that a person named Rajneesh Gopinath, brother of CCD Director of Finance Muneesh was found to be involved in various hawala transactions. He was allegedly involved in money laundering on behalf of CCD through Deekshith, an employee of CCD and a very close confidante of VG Siddhartha, another person Ravi and Rafi, an employee of Sharma Transport – known hawala operator and closely linked to DK Shivakumar.

Siddhartha’s signature in the letter does not tally with annual reports:

Interestingly, on Wednesday, the Income Tax officials have put out a statement saying that Siddhartha’s signature in the purported suicide note does not tally with the one in the Annual Reports of the Cafe Coffee Day raising suspicions about his death.

The Income Tax Department has also denied charges of harassment during their probe against Café Coffee Day promoter VG Siddhartha and pointed out that the signatures of the entrepreneur available with them were different from those on a letter being widely published on the social media.

Income Tax investigation against VG Siddhartha

VG Siddhartha had admitted of having an unaccounted income of Rs.362.11 crore and Rs.118.02 crore, in his hands and M/s Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd respectively in the sworn statement to the IT officials. VG Siddhartha had filed the revised return of income but had not included that undisclosed income, except the sum of around Rs.35 crore in his individual case.

As IT officials had got the information that VG Siddhartha is planning to sell his shares in Mindtree Ltd, they had swung into action finding that VG Siddhartha and M/s Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd together held nearly 21% of the shareholding in Mindtree Ltd. It was also gathered that the deal for sale of shares was set to be finalised in January 2019.

The IT Department said VG Siddhartha had fetched Rs.3,200 crore from the sale of Mindtree shares, and after paying back a loan of Rs 3,000 crore and other charges for the deal, the balance amount of Rs.46 crore was paid towards minimum alternate tax (MAT), out of total Rs 300 crore payable. The IT sleuths had also recovered numerous messages from his mobile phone that indicated his “active involvement in cross-border hawala transactions.”

History could remember Modi as one who freed Indian Muslim women

Ashish Shukla
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History could remember Modi as one who freed Indian Muslim women

What do I tell which all of you already don’t know? Maybe to my Muslim brethren who fault the Triple Talaq Bill—still not an Act till President Ram Nath Kovind puts his pen to paper– on its (a) criminal; (b) maintenance; (c) interference; and (d) whataboutery aspects that  (i) cruelty against wife is a criminal offence; (ii) maintenance provided for by erring husbands is statutory; (iii) interference citing Islam is neither borne out by Quran nor by practice since most Muslim states, including Pakistan, have outlawed it; nor (iv)  Hindus or other minorities could escape punishment for cruelty against wife.

Maybe to those who are still smarting at the betrayal of Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP), along with those avowed champions of “minorities” and “secular values” such as JD(U), TRS, RJD, TDP and NCP that when push came to shove, these parties didn’t want to be seen in the Muslim corner and stand against the overwhelming tide. Parties such as SP and BSP still have nightmares about BJP leading in 385 out of 403 assembly seats and why Muslims are no longer the vote-bank they espoused! Their personal brief honeymoon is over too.

Maybe to those who see Mehbooba Mufti as a champion of Islam, a baffling fact that her two PDP members in the Rajya Sabha stayed away from the vote-count even as she kept scare-mongering that BJP was “entering into our (Muslim) homes” using the legislation. Her rival for favours in the Kashmir Valley, Omar Abdullah didn’t miss out in pointing out her double standards even as he himself kept his counsel to himself.

And then you have Arvind Kejriwal who bemoaned the loss of Muslim votes after the 2019 Polls but is now frozen to his spot on the matter of Triple Talaq Bill. This is the man who wants a survey done on government jobs to ascertain the percentage of Muslim employees and whether the low number is evidence of a deep-rooted prejudice by the system.

Maybe to those who know or don’t know the names of the Congress leaders who absented themselves (namely, Vivek Tankha, Ranjib Biswal, Mukut Mithi, Pratap Bajwa and Sanjay Sinh), it may come as a surprise that they did so against the express whip of their party to be present in the Rajya Sabha proceedings. Sonia Gandhi and the two apples of her eye: Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra have cloaked themselves from the public scrutiny on Triple Talaq Bill and their writ probably doesn’t run large as it used to.

Today, the husband-wife duo of Rajdeep Sardesai and Sagarika Ghose; Shekhar Gupta and Barkha Dutt are like frogs in the well of silence. Gupta has donned the persona of a Sherlock Holmes as he delves into every grain of coffee that its founder, now unfortunately dead, VG Siddhartha ever managed for his enterprise, Café Coffee Day. Barkha Dutt has worked herself into a lather on the Unnao rape victim. Sagarika Ghose is just a cryptic “I-don’t-support-Triple-Talaq” while her husband is just an anchor on the subject with no personal opinion. And you thought their calling was upholding “freedom” and “gender justice.”

All of them have been caught in a bind. You stand up for Triple Talaq Bill and you alienate the Muslim community which number over 9 crores. You rail against the Bill and earn the wrath of fair gender and not just of Muslim women.

It’s the larger picture which has left them shaken to the core. An empowered BJP would now find it easier to push for the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A.  The hoax of scare-mongering is exposed. BJP, in one stroke, has created millions of extra votes for itself. The Opposition has nothing better than a fig leaf to hide their shame. The injustice of Shah Bano has been righted after a generation’s gap.

Above all, empowering Muslim women could transform the community. It frees them up to express an opinion and seek financial security, gain education and pass on the good word to their kids. It loosens the control of Mullahs and Owaisis who exert it through the boardroom of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) or the platforms of All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM).

As for Modi, history could judge him as the leader who took the first steps towards the emancipation of a community which were led up the garden path by Nehru-Gandhis; Muftis and Abdullahs; Bukharis and Owaisis without deliverance.  This would be the irony of the sweetest kind.

Azam Khan’s son and Suar MLA Abdullah detained by UP Police for obstructing raids at University

OpIndia Staff
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Azam Khan’s son and Suar MLA Abdullah detained by UP Police for obstructing raids at University

Uttar Pradesh Police has on Wednesday detained senior Samajwadi Party leader and MP Azam Khan’s son Abdullah Azam Khan for obstructing the ongoing raids at the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur. Abdullah is the Chief Executive Officer of the University and is an elected representative from the Suar Assembly Constituency in the state.

Speaking to media, Rampur SP said, “We have detained Abdullah Azam Khan for obstructing search operation at Mohammad Ali Jauhar University.” As per reports, Abdullah has been taken to an undisclosed location.

Abdullah had termed the probe a vendetta. He said, “This is not an investigation. They (state government) are trying to finish an educational institution. They have no search warrant and everything is being done at the behest of the government.”

In an unrelated matter, Abdullah is also under investigation for allegedly submitting false details in his passport. According to reports, Abdullah Khan has been booked under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 12 of the Passport Act.

The Police had conducted raids on Tuesday morning at Azam Khan’s Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur. The police had conducted search operations at ‘Mumtaz Central Library’ of the University after a complaint by the principal of Madarsa Aliya, wherein he stated that 9000 books and rare manuscripts from the Madarsa have been stolen.

The Maulana Ali Jauhar University has been under limelight after local farmers lodged dozens of cases against SP leader Azam Khan alleging that Khan had grabbed their farmlands using forged documents to establish the university. Khan has already been declared as a ‘Bhu-Mafia’ (land mafia) by the UP government. After 26 FIRs were lodged against Khan, the UP government has constituted a 9-member SIT to probe the allegations against the SP leader.

Azam Khan had allegedly used brute force and intimidation tactics to threaten local farmers and had acquired their land either by force or by forged documents. Alay Hassan Khan, the then Rampur circle police officer has been named in the complaints as Khan’s partner in crime.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan calls for a cabinet meeting over increased prices of ‘Roti’ and ‘Naan’

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan calls for a cabinet meeting over increased prices of ‘Roti’ and ‘Naan’

In a peculiar incident, parody country Pakistan’s parody Prime Minister Imran Khan himself chaired a cabinet meeting on Tuesday to decide on the gas tariffs for tandoors and prices of roti and naan, reports Dawn.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken a stern notice of increasing prices of naan and roti and decided to take immediate steps to revert them to their original rates,” said Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan at a press conference after the cabinet meeting.

Pakistan government also shared a video of the above cabinet meeting on Twitter.


The video shared by the Government of Pakistan has been muted. Perhaps Pakistan was afraid that India would steal its tandoor tariff rate secret from them, which may cause further distortion and hunger in an already hungry country.

At present naan is selling at Pakistani Rs.12 to Rs.15 in different cities of the country. However, before an increase in the gas tariff and rates of wheat flour, naan price ranged between Rs.8 and Rs.10. Similarly, roti is available at Rs.10 to Rs.12 while its previous rate was Rs.7 to Rs.8.

Reportedly, Prime Minister Imran Khan-led cabinet also called a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet on Wednesday aimed at reducing the gas tariff especially for ‘Tandoorwalas’ and cutting the price of Atta (wheat flour) and duties on it.

CJI denies not taking action on Unnao rape victim’s letter, asks secretary-general why the letter wasn’t placed before him

OpIndia Staff
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CJI denies not taking action on Unnao rape victim’s letter, asks secretary-general why the letter wasn’t placed before him

The Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi has dismissed reports saying that the CJI failed to take any action on the letter written to him by the Unnao rape victim. He has asserted that the letter dated July 12 was never placed before him. However, he has assured that he will try to do something constructive in this case.

On Wednesday, the CJI had sought a report from the Supreme Court registry as to why the letter by the Unnao rape victim was not placed before him. He has given a week time to the registry to respond.

The Unnao rape victim had written to the CJI on July 12, fifteen days prior to the tragic road accident she met with on July 29, about the threats she was allegedly receiving from Kuldeep Sengar’s men.

In the letter, she had cited threat and intimidation and had urged the CJI to take prompt action against those involved.

Alleging that some people had come to her house and threatened her and her family with dire consequences, the survivor had written, “Take action against those who are making threats. People came to my house and threatened to take back cases, otherwise, the whole family will be put in jail in fake cases”, the survivor wrote on July 12.

Former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar is the prime accused in the high profile rape case. The case pertains to how the victim was lured and raped by a host of people, including the BJP MLA and how co-ordinated and meticulous schemes were hatched to silent the victim and intimidate her relatives by framing them in police cases based on flippant charges.

On Sunday, the victim of the Unnao rape case was travelling to Rae Bareli with her two aunts, and her lawyer Mahendra Singh when their vehicle was hit by a truck, rendering them critically injured. The vehicle collided with a truck going in the opposite direction towards Lalganj in UP. The victim is now battling for her life.

Two of her aunts were killed in the accident while her lawyer also sustained serious injuries. The woman’s family has filed a complaint alleging “conspiracy” behind the car crash.

Jamshedpur: 3-years-old girl beheaded, mother’s illicit lover being probed with criminal conspiracy, two others arrested

OpIndia Staff
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Jamshedpur: 3-years-old girl beheaded, mother’s illicit lover being probed with criminal conspiracy, two others arrested

A decapitated body of a three-year-old girl who went missing from the Tatanagar railway station was found in the bushes in a lane adjoining Ramamdhin Bagan in Jamshedpur on Tuesday. However, the police is yet to recover the head of the body which is still missing. The torso was sent for post-mortem today. The police believe that the girl was allegedly raped by her captors as injuries were found on her private parts.

On Monday, the police arrested the accused Kailash and Rinku Sawe based on the CCTV footage. The three-year-old was picked up by the kidnappers on Thursday last week while she was sleeping with her mother at the Tatanagar railway station. CCTV footage reveals one of the accused, Rinku taking the girl away from her mother while she slept in his arms.

During their interrogation on Tuesday, the both accused confessed to their crimes. The admitted to the police that they killed the girl and threw her body in the bushes. Based on the information gleaned from the accused, the police launched a search operation and recovered the decapitated body. However, it is yet to find the head of the body.

Rinku Sawe’s mother Tara Sawe is a constable at Giridih district police. Rinku is a repeat offender who came out of jail after serving his sentence a few weeks ago. The Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Noor Mustafa Ansari said, “Rinku was earlier convicted and jailed for two years for abducting with the intention to kill a seven-year-old child from Jemco-Azadbasti locality on April 9, 2015.”

Police is still collecting information about the other accused Kailash to ascertain if he top had a criminal background.

According to the police, both criminals entered Tatanagar Police station and saw the girl sleeping with her mother and her illicit lover Monu Mandal. They then induced the girl with them and took her out from the second entrance gate. They then took her to Telco area, going past the Kerala Community School. The CCTV footage of the cameras near the school and that of the petrol pump along the road confirm this.

The girl’s mother was released by the police after recording her statement. The police is probing Mohammed Sheikh alias Monu Mandal’s role in the case, who brought the deceased and her mother to Tatanagar from Purulia.

“Male passengers, driver, conductors sat as mute spectator,” woman narrates harrowing experience on Mumbai bus

OpIndia Staff
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“Male passengers, driver, conductors sat as mute spectator,” woman narrates harrowing experience on Mumbai bus

Vaishali Nakhua, a Mumbai resident today took to Twitter to share her harrowing experience on a bus in Mumbai. Nakhua was taking a public bus in Mumbai when one Amit Sanse allegedly took her picture and video recorded her without her permission. Nakhua confronted him and saw he had been taking videos and pictures of other women passengers without their knowledge as well.


She adds that the accused came and sat parallel to her in the bus. When she caught him taking her picture, she snatched his phone.


She adds how the male co-passengers in the bus sat there as mute spectators while Nakhua herself took on the accused.


“The only offered by driver – conductor was “let’s take bus to police station”, she tweets. OpIndia has reached out to Vaishali Nakhua for a comment and we shall update the report once we have more information.

Alwar: Cattle smugglers fire bullets and injure villagers, one accused Salim Khan arrested

OpIndia Staff
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Alwar: Cattle smugglers fire bullets and injure villagers, one accused Salim Khan arrested

After numerous incidents of cattle smuggling and cattle theft-related violence, another shocking incident has come to the fore in Alwar when cattle smugglers yesterday opened fire at the locals who attempted to stop them.

The incident occurred in the Kauthmar village on Tuesday night. Two people have been injured in the incident and one of the accused have been nabbed by the police. Salim Khan, who fired at the locals was later caught by the villagers and handed over to police.

As soon as the police were informed about the incident, it rushed to the spot. Following the complaint, a blockade was held to catch the smugglers.

Following the incident, DSP Omprakash Meena and Kathumar SHO Rajesh Varma reached the Deshmukh General Hospital on Wednesday morning to take stock of the situation and record the statement of the injured. According to the eye-witness, they were going along the Pahadi Nagla Dhan Singh road when they saw 3-4 youths discreetly sneaking past with smuggled cattle. When confronted, one of them fired at them and they both were injured. Salim, the accused who fired at the locals was later apprehended by the villagers and handed over to the police.

This is not the first time that Alwar is in the news for cattle smuggling. In the past too, there have been skirmishes between the locals and the cattle smugglers who steal cows and allegedly transport them to the neighbouring Haryana to illegal slaughterhouses.

The entire Mewat region of Haryana and Rajasthan has been a hotbed of cattle smugglers who often turn violent. On Monday, a young Gau Rakshak Gopal was shot dead by smugglers as he attempted to chase them.

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