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Sagarika apologises to Maj Singh for calling him an ‘idiot’, continues to maintain she knows more about wars than most decorated officer of territorial army

OpIndia Staff
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Sagarika apologises to Maj Singh for calling him an ‘idiot’, continues to maintain she knows more about wars than most decorated officer of territorial army

Journalist Sagarika Ghose is a ‘liberal’. By virtue of being a ‘liberal’, Ghose gets the moral authority to be more knowledgeable in all fields. After referring to a decorated soldier of the Territorial Army as an ‘idiot’ because he did not agree with her assessment of ‘war’, she has finally apologised to him. However, her apology comes with conditions.


Sagarika first apologised to Major Singh ‘if he got offended’. Essentially, ‘liberals’, as a rule, are never wrong. They usually apologise if their ‘being right’ offends others others who clearly couldn’t know more than them. Ghose added that she continues to believe that Major Singh’s tweets, where he disagreed that only the poor join the army and that the wars are fought for the ‘bloodlust’ of the elite.

Major Navdeep Singh is one of the most decorated volunteers in the history of the Indian Territorial Army. A lawyer by profession, Major Navdeep Singh has basically signed up to go to war for the Nation when the country needs him.

However, Major Singh’s logical tweets defied Ghose’s reasoning who thought his views were ‘shockingly obtuse’ and his reasoning ‘intriguingly limited’.

Ghose then also took an offence when someone said that she is not a level-headed journalist and not even a decent human.


Sagarika then mocked her own apology which showed how hollow her sorry was to Major Singh.


As if already writing a draft of her next book, “Why I am a victim”, she said that her reaction, of referring to Major Singh as an idiot for a disagreement, was because she thought the civil conversation was a hostile one. One’s mind boggles at this lack of comprehension skills.


“Sorry to all, sorry standing on my head, sorry sitting down, apologies, apologies, apologies,” she tweets, showing how hollow her apology was.

When another police Twitter user asked her that apology and all is fine, but she should at least answer the points raised by Major Singh, she shifted goal posts and gave a juvenile excuse.


She says that Major Singh asked her ‘out of syllabus’ questions. Whereas, Major Singh had just used that as an example. All Major Singh had pointed out was as against Sagarika’s views on war, men and women in uniform are not ‘sons of poor’. He had added they are also not fulfilling an elite’s ‘bloodlust’. Then used the government offices as an example to prove a point when Sagarika displayed her lack of comprehension skills.

Further, she again ‘apologised’ to Major Singh, after a few hours, as an afterthought claiming how she just assumed he was a troll.


In yet another tweet she said how she is usually on the receiving end of the ‘trolls’, she assumed Major Singh was also one.


Essentially, for ‘liberals’ anyone who disagrees with them, even if politely and keeps the disagreement civil, is a ‘troll’. ‘Liberals’ are never wrong.

Randeep Hooda schools Dia Mirza for her disparaging remarks against the forest department

OpIndia Staff
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Randeep Hooda schools Dia Mirza for her disparaging remarks against the forest department

In an unfortunate incident, a 6-year old tigress was ruthlessly beaten to death by villagers in Uttar Pradesh. Quoting statements from an article related to the tigress’ death, an anguished Dia Mirza proceeded to disparage the forest department that they couldn’t rescue the wounded animal.


However, this didn’t sit well with actor Randeep Hooda. He was quick to admonish the RHTDM actor for her sweeping accusations against the forest department. Hooda, an animal enthusiast himself, claimed to have inquired about the status of the wounded tigress with the officials. He added that the officials had informed him that she was beyond rescue at the time when she was found.

Hooda however, asserted it is the forest officials who look after the well-being of the wildlife and not just the NGOs.


Shortly afterwards Mirza responded only to distance herself from the quoted remarks undermining the forest department. She defended herself claiming that she will always champion the cause of forest rangers and officials and that her previous tweet merely contained quotes from the attached article.

In a snarky rejoinder, Hooda shot back questioning why would one share only a particular quote from the entire article then?


This time, however former beauty queen accepted the “stark reality” that forest department is not up to the snuff and needs to be strengthened in order to make them more adept in dealing with man vs animal conflicts.

Hooda then pointed out the inconsistency in her statement stating that she indeed meant what she had quoted in her first tweet. He exhorted Mirza to stop making villains out of the forest officials based on rumours and credit other parties for the hard work done by them.


In a Pilbhit village of Uttar Pradesh, an angry mob had mercilessly thrashed a helpless tigress with sticks and spears. The attack on the wild cat was so savage that it ended up injuring almost every part of her body.

“Sustained fractures and injuries… on almost every part of her body,” Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) field director H Rajamohan told news agency IANS.

A probe has been launched to investigate the matter and to determine why did the forest officials fail to rescue the tigress earlier. The probe will also ascertain whether the enraged mob stopped the forest officials from tending to the injured tigress.

GST Council reduces tax on Electric Vehicles and their chargers in a view to curb pollution

OpIndia Staff
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GST Council reduces tax on Electric Vehicles and their chargers in a view to curb pollution

In a welcome move, the Goods and Services (GST) council on Saturday proposed to slash the GST rates of all-electric vehicles from 12 to 5 percent. Applauding the council, Power Minister RK Singh said this step will be significant in promoting the sales of electric vehicles and accomplishing pollution-free cities.

As per reports, Singh asserted, “I welcome this decision by the GST council. It will go a long way in promoting electric vehicles in India and making our cities pollution-free.”

Besides, the council also recommended a reduction in GST rate for chargers and charging stations from 18 to 5 percent. The council also recommended that hiring of electric buses with a seating capacity of 12 passengers by local authorities or more should be exempted from GST purview.

The council meeting was presided over by GST Council Chairperson and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. As per the official statement, the proposed changes will come into effect from August 1.

India is grappling under the menace of pollution and various measures have been taken to reduce the effects of the same. Pollution poses a serious threat and is responsible as the root cause of various life-threatening disease.

The Supreme Court on March 12, 2019, had questioned the reason for people seeking a ban on firecrackers suggesting that automobiles appeared to cause more pollution. It had directed the government to submit a comparative study on the matter.

In a bid to curtail the rising pollution, the apex court had, last year, imposed a ban on firecrackers triggering a sharp response from the citizens.

In a bid to keep the check on rising pollution, India is aggressively pushing electric vehicles and take a big leap in the emerging industry. With an eye on containing pollution, the government intends to have only electric three-wheelers running on the roads by the year 2023 and only electric two-wheelers by 2025.

Home Ministry approves deployment of 10,000 additional troops in Kashmir

OpIndia Staff
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Home Ministry approves deployment of 10,000 additional troops in Kashmir

The Union Home Ministry, on Friday night, passed an order to deploy 100 companies of additional parliamentary forces in Jammu and Kashmir. As per the fresh move, 10,000 troops will soon join their counterparts in the valley.


The decision by the Centre comes days after the National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval returned from Kashmir. Doval had visited the valley to take stock of the security and infrastructure development in the state.

Reportedly, the Centre’s order states that additional deployment of forces will help in strengthening the Counter Insurgent (CI) grid homeas well as maintaining law and order situation in the valley. 40,0000 paramilitary personnel have already been deployed in Jammu and Kashmir due to the ongoing Amarnath Yatra.

The order also lists the details of troops, which will be mobilised ahead of the Independence Day on August 15. According to the report, 50 additional companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 30 companies from the SSB, and 10 companies each from the BSF and ITBP will be deployed.

However, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti seems to be spooked by the government’s decision and has criticized the move. She once again raised the need to have peace talks with the people of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and the Pakistan government.


Last month, Home Minister Amit Shah, while speaking in the Lok Sabha, had slammed the policies of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru during and after partition. He asserted the issue of J&K is a Congress legacy and depicts the failures of the then PM Nehru.

Hanuman statue found broken in Aligarh, Bajrang Dal leader says Muslims did it

OpIndia Staff
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Hanuman statue found broken in Aligarh, Bajrang Dal leader says Muslims did it

Communal tension had erupted in Aligarh today after a Hanuman statue was found broken by unknown elements last night. According to reports, a statue of Hanuman placed at the Gandhi park near the bus stop was found broken last night.

Hearing about the incident, workers of the Bajrang Dal reached the spot and held a protest against the desecration of the statue. Talking to media, Dal leader Gaurav Sharma said that when few Bajrang Dal workers had reached the park last night after hearing about the incident, the night guard posted at the park informed them that Muslims have broken the statue. He added that they have video of the statement given by the guard, which will be handed over to the police.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHVUE3DM3Rc]

Sharma asked how the statue was broken when there are CCTV cameras at the park and the police station is located nearby, and why nobody is caught by police so far. He added that if a mosque was vandalised, the entire city would have been burning. The Bajrang Dal leader also alleged that women are regularly harassed the park by ‘messengers of peace’.

An argument also took place between police and workers of Bajrang Dal and other Hindu organisations. To calm down the situation, the police immediately got a new statue and placed it at the park. Police said that they will install a gate at the park and will ensure that such an incident is not repeated in future.

India receives its first batch of four AH-64E Apache attack helicopters from Boeing

OpIndia Staff
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India receives its first batch of four AH-64E Apache attack helicopters from Boeing

In a major fillip to India’s defence readiness, 4 Apache attack helicopters, ordered by the Indian Air Force have touched down at the Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad today. It is a significant development as Apache is the first attack helicopter to be inducted in India’s defence arsenal.

The four AH-64E Apache helicopters are amongst the first batch of choppers delivered to India after PM Modi signed multi-billion dollar contract for 22 Apaches in 2015. Another batch of 4 helicopters is expected to arrive next week. The 8 attack choppers will then be moved to Pathankot airbase and will be formally inducted in the IAF in September.

The complete fuselage of the Apache helicopter has been made by Tata Boeing Aerospace in Hyderabad in India. TBAL is a joint venture between Boeing and Tata Advanced Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons.

The IAF believes that the induction of Apache will greatly enhance its tactical capability and prove to be a game-changer. Until now, Indian Airforce is operating Russian-built Mi-35s, which are almost at the brink of retirement. Mi-35s are called as ‘assault helicopters’, used to lift troops to heavily defended territories. However, Apache helicopters, in every respect, is an attack helicopter that is hailed as the world’s most advanced multi-role combat helicopter.

One of the deadliest attack helicopters, Apache is equipped with a 30mm cannon under the nose, that can fire 1,200 rounds in less than two minutes. It also comes with 70mm rockets, which can be guided or unguided. The Apache has a capacity to carry 80 of them in one go, along with Hellfire missiles. With the help of advanced avionics on board, together, these missiles can identify, track and demolish targets with remarkable accuracy, even in pitch darkness.

The model AH-64E Apache, which India has procured is the most modern variant manufactured by Boeing and is currently also a part of US Army’s fleet. By 2020, IAF will have a fleet of 22 Apache helicopters. According to the sources, the delivery of these 4 combat helicopters are ahead of schedule.

Apart from this, the Indian Army is going to get an additional six Apaches. In 2017, the government cleared the acquisition of extra Apaches as the Indian Army was insistent on having its own attack helicopters.

India’s acquisition of helicopters from the USA has been going on smoothly, unlike most other defence purchases. In February this year, 4 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters were delivered by Boeing. Both these helicopters are part of a $3.1 billion deal for purchase of 15 CH-47F(I) Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and 22 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters from American aviation giant Boeing.

A dangerous development: Oxfam India CEO invites Congress to form an ‘alliance’ with civil society

K Bhattacharjee
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A dangerous development: Oxfam India CEO invites Congress to form an ‘alliance’ with civil society

Amitabh Behar, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Oxfam India, recently wrote a fawning article on the Congress party. In the article, Behar offers numerous sermons to the Congress party and eulogizes its idea of India.

It’s extremely troubling as Oxfam is an international organization with interests that do not appear to align with the national interests of our country. That an international organization that claims to be an ordinary Non-Government Organization is directly interfering with the politics of the country should ring alarm bells at the highest echelons of power.

Behar’s article displays blatant political partisanship as he eulogizes the Congress party while demonizing the current ruling dispensation. It’s also a foreign-funded NGO registered under the FCRA Act with registration number 231661035. That the CEO of Oxfam India is directly attempting to influence the politics in the country sets a dangerous precedent as international organizations and hostile countries could use FCRA NGOs to influence the outcomes of Indian elections. It is a threat to the sovereignty of the country and has profound implications for our national interests as well.

Behar says of the Congress, “The Congress has been a banyan tree of ideas under which a broad range of multiple and even diverse ideas have been nurtured and nourished as long as they have a common core ethos—which is in line with the fundamentals of the ideological frame of the Congress and the idea of India.”

The CEO of Oxfam also argues that the Congress party should work closely with “civil society”, a euphemism for foreign-funded NGOs and others that have close ties with ‘Urban Naxals’. He argues that Congress should enter an “alliance” with civil society and reach out to such organizations with “due humility” to ensure the revival of the party.

He writes, “It is evident that a robust civil society needs an enabling environment in which their primary right to exist and civic right of association or function is not stifled. With this backdrop, the Congress would benefit significantly by working in close or loose coordination (or alliance) with civil society, which can strongly help in amplifying the issues of the common and marginalized people. This could revive the movement space of the Congress by foregrounding people’s issues and also help in mass action. On the other hand, the Congress must with due humility reach out to civil society and adopt/imbibe the people’s agenda and build traction for the core issues of poverty, exclusion and development.”

It is important to remember that the Congress party has allied with foreign-funded organizations inimical to Indian national interests in the past. For instance, people associated with foreign-funded organizations were part of the National Advisory Council committee that drafted the anti-Hindu Communal Violence Bill.

The Congress party is suffering a huge crisis as a consequence of its great defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. At such a critical juncture for the party, the CEO of Oxfam India appears to be inviting the Congress party to engage in a quid pro quo deal with civil society.

In its desperation, if the Congress party does decide to ally with such organizations, it will provide an opportunity for international institutions to interfere with the democratic process of India. It could have grave consequences for our country and it ought to concern every citizen of this country regardless of their political orientation. The Government of India, too, ought to follow the matter closely and take steps to ensure that the sovereignty of our country isn’t compromised by international organizations.

Gujarat: Muslim youth beaten to death by family members and relatives of a tribal girl for having an affair with the girl

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat: Muslim youth beaten to death by family members and relatives of a tribal girl for having an affair with the girl

In Gujarat’s Bharuch district, a Muslim boy died after he was allegedly beaten up for having an affair with a tribal girl. He was beaten up by the family members of the tribal girl on Thursday and had succumbed to his injuries by the next day.

The 18-year-old boy, a resident of Dharoli village, was in a relationship with a tribal girl from the neighbouring Boridra village. Allegedly, the girl’s parents were against her relationship and pressurized her to end it.

Speaking about the incident, Deputy Superintendent of police L K Zala said, “In the past one month, the girl had stopped meeting the boy, and this might have driven him to go to Boridra village to meet her. Her relatives found him in the village and beat him up with wooden sticks and iron rods.”

Reportedly on Thursday, the youth took his new KTM bike and went with his friend Viral Vasava, also from the same village, to his brother-in-law Moin Patel’s house in Ankleshwar. They didn’t return that night. The police said that both of them had parted ways.

At night, the youth’s elder brother got a call from Atul Vasava, a resident of Kurchi village near Boridra village. Atul informed him that his brother was beaten by some of the youth in the village.

The elder brother and his father rushed towards the village. They found the youth lying on the roadside in a pool of blood. He was injured in the head, hands and legs. His damaged bike was found lying on the roadside.

They rushed him to the Jayaben Modi hospital in Bharuch in an ambulance. On the way, the youth said that he was beaten up by Boridra boys with iron rods and wooden sticks. He later succumbed to his injuries on Friday morning.

That night the brother lodged a complaint with the police against Ajay Vasava, Vijay Vasava, Vikas Vasava, Dinesh Vasava, Akshay Vasava, and five others with Jhagadia police station. Police booked them under various sections of the IPC. After his death, police added IPC 302 (murder) to the charges and began an investigation.

As the news of the youths death spread, the police have also deployed personnel in large numbers in both the villages to prevent any communal clashes between the two communities. The body of the youth was buried outside the village outskirts on Friday.

Sagarika Ghose calls the most decorated officer of Territorial Army an ‘idiot’ because he respectfully disagreed with her assessment of ‘war’

OpIndia Staff
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Sagarika Ghose calls the most decorated officer of Territorial Army an ‘idiot’ because he respectfully disagreed with her assessment of ‘war’

Social Media is a space with several benefits. It was democratised dialogue and ended the hegemony of the Lutyens elite who thought they could exercise on a monopoly on what the country chooses to discuss. However, there is a flipside. Often the erstwhile ‘veteran journalists’ who have now been exposed to be empty propaganda machines denigrate the ones who don’t agree with their worldview, however, skewed it might be. Today, Sagarika Ghose, the erstwhile ‘respected journalist’ chose to go on a ranting spree and abuse a highly decorated officer of the territorial army, Major Navdeep Singh.

It all started when the Leftist propaganda website The Wire carried an asinine excerpt from Sagarika Ghose’s equally asinine book ‘Why I am a Liberal’.


Sagarika Ghose plugged The Wire tweet with her own narration. She implied that she was a “liberal patriot” who works for “peace” and hence loves her country more than those wanting to send “sons of the poor” to the front lines to “satisfy their own elite bloodlust”.

Several people took strong offence to the implication of what Sagarika Ghose was saying. Firstly, the fact that only the poor join the army. Then, the fact that the Indian Army fighting a war is the result of the rich and elite’s “bloodlust”. Thirdly, the assumption that peaceniks like her who would rather praise a terrorist nation like Pakistan are far more patriotic than the ones who seek retribution.

One of the people who raised a strong objection to Sagarika Ghose was Major Navdeep Singh. Major Navdeep Singh is one of the most decorated volunteers in the history of the Indian Territorial Army. A lawyer by profession, Major Navdeep Singh has basically signed up to go to war for the Nation when the country needs him.

Major Navdeep Singh made an astute comment. He said that he considers himself a ‘liberal’ and also stands for peace. However, men and women in uniform are not “sons of poor”. The Indian Army is not a militia satiating a tinpot leadership’s bloodlust but an ethical military working under a constitutional democracy to protect the people of India.


Sagarika Ghose, of course, assumed that she knows far more than the man who trains with the Indian Army every year and has pledged to fight for his country when the need arises.

She countered Maj Navdeep Singh by saying that most of the infantry that fights at the border at the behest of politicians who sit in air-conditioned rooms are ‘sons of the poor’. Maj Navdeep, however, said that the logic is flawed since going by it, all government employees at the lower rungs of the official ladder and even private sector are from ‘poor families’. And hence, there was no point singling out the military alone.


In a rather shocking tweet, Sagarika Ghose resorted to calling Major Navdeep Singh an ‘idiot’ while arguing about military matters and wars.


Continuing to be the thorough gentleman the Major Navdeep Singh is famed to be, he took strong exception to the language used by Sagarika Ghose and asserted that he should not have engaged with her in the first place.


While Sagarika Ghose’s drivel ended here, it is pertinent to note that Sagarika Ghose was arguing with a man who has pledged to put his life on the line in the event of war, about war.

Major Navdeep Singh has won several commendations from the Indian Army.

  • GOC-in-C’s Commendation: 2004 (event unknown)
  • Chief of the Army Staff’s Commendation (On Independence Day 2005)
  • GOC-in-C’s Commendation (Also on Independence Day 2005)
  • AOC-in-C’s Commendation by Air Force (Republic Day 2006)
  • GOC-in-C’s Commendation (Republic Day 2007)
  • Chief of the Army Staff’s Commendation (Army Day 2008)
  • Seventh Decoration (Date and nature unknown)
  • Chief of the Army Staff’s Commendation (Army Day 2010)

While the only achievement to Sagarika Ghose’s name is that she has successfully spread here propaganda for decades aided to a position by her powerful father. War is often considered a necessity to keep the peace. Besides, India has lived under the delusion of peace while soldiers have laid their lives down in Kashmir and on the border at the hands of Pakistan sponsored terrorists.

While win-sipping elites like Sagarika Ghose peddle their ‘peace-agenda’ while living in the safety of her home, soldiers have laid their lives down fighting a terrorist army and a terrorist country. It is certainly easy to pend down lofty platitudes while demanding peace, however, freedom and peace are free because someone else has already paid the price of that freedom with his blood.

AgustaWestland case: Kamal Nath’s nephew escapes from ED office during questioning, gets interim relief from arrest till Monday

OpIndia Staff
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AgustaWestland case: Kamal Nath’s nephew escapes from ED office during questioning, gets interim relief from arrest till Monday

In a bizarre incident, the nephew of Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath disappeared from ED office when he was being questioned in connection with the Agusta Westland chopper scandal. According to reports, Ratul Puri escaped from the Enforcement Directorate office in Delhi using the excuse of going to the bathroom.

Ratul Puri is a businessman and the chairman of the Hindustan Powerprojects. He is being probed by ED in the VVIP chopper case, and had appeared for questioning earlier also. He was asked to come to the ED office on Saturday for further questioning, and accordingly, he was present there today morning. After a brief questioning, he said that he needs to use the urinal, but after that, he never returned. Some media reports say that he left the ED office when he was asked to wait for sometime before his questioning begins.

It is speculated that ED was about to arrest him today. Reports say that he may have come to know about that while in the ED office, and therefore gave the agency a slip the moment he found an opportunity to avoid getting arrested.

Although Puri has been maintaining that he has no relation with the chopper deal and the scam involved with it, ED had confronted him with evidence that they have collected recently. He is suspected of receiving kickbacks from the UPA era chopper deal which was cancelled by the UPA government after the details of the scam emerged. The Income Tax department had also raided his home recently and recovered several documents. Rajiv Saxena, who has turned approver in the case, had revealed about Puri’s link with the deal. The probe agencies say that his bank accounts were used to divert the kickback money in the deal.


Soon after coming out of ED office, Ratul Puri approached a Delhi Court for anticipatory bail. The court has granted him interim relief from arrest till July 29.

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