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Man gives triple talaq to wife for stopping him from drinking

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In yet another case of triple talaq, a Muslim man in Uttar Pradesh pronounced triple talaq on his wife who stopped him from drinking alcohol, according to reports. The husband had also brutally beaten up the wife. The accused was arrested by the police after the woman filed a complaint in the police station.

The woman who is a resident of Doghat police station area was married to the accused, a resident of Baghpat police station area, six years ago. According to the woman, the accused was addicted to drinking. A year ago he had lost his one leg in one accident after which his father helped him to open a shop. He could not even manage the shop because of his alcohol addiction and suffered losses. He also used to come home drunk every other day and assault his wife.

As per the report, the accused came home drunk on Friday evening and started abusing his wife. He even pushed her to the ground and tried to strangulate her. Next morning he drew her out of the house after which she went to the police station accompanied by her elder sister. The husband has in turn accused his wife initiating the violence and beating him up. A case has been registered against the accused as told by Inspector Karanveer.

The cases of triple talaq do not seem to end despite the Supreme Court judgement declaring the practice of triple talaq as unconstitutional and the government bringing the Triple Talaq Bill.

India Reiterates that Arunachal Pradesh is integral part of India after China objected to PM Modi’s visit to the state

The People’s Republic of China seems to have to been rattled after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Arunachal Pradesh today. Modi inaugurated various development projects in the state. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that PM’s visit to the state, which it dubs as South Tibet, will complicate the so-called border dispute.


PM Narendra Modi reached Itanagar in the morning from Guwahati, where he unveiled several development projects at IG Park. The prime minister laid the foundation stone for the construction of Greenfield Airport at Hollongi near Itanagar. He also dedicated a 110 MW Pare Hydroelectric Plant in the state to the nation.

“China’s position on the China-India boundary question is consistent and clear-cut. The Chinese government has never recognised the so-called ‘Arunachal Pradesh’ and is firmly opposed to the Indian leader’s visit to the East Section of the China-India boundary.” Chinese spokesperson was quoted by reports. She also added that India should refrain from escalation or complication of existing problems, and “cherish the momentum of improvement in bilateral relations.”

The spokesperson for Ministry of External Affairs Raveesh Kumar hit back at China’s comments and stated that Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable or integral part of India. He also added that China should not be bothered about Indian leaders visiting the state.

“The consistent position has been conveyed to the Chinese side on several occasions” The statement read.

China on many instances has indulged in cheap diplomatic tactics to exhibit its hegemony over the state of Arunachal Pradesh.

In October last year, China had expressed objection to  Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, which also happens to be leader’s home state. In April 2017, during the visit of the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh, China had warned about taking “necessary measures” to defend its territorial sovereignty and accused India of “obstinately” allowing the Tibetan spiritual leader to visit the “disputed” parts of the Northeastern state, causing “serious damage” to bilateral ties.

India and China have taken part in 21 rounds of talks over the so-called dispute. The same issue was also one of the prime reason for the 1962 Indo-China war, which had left many Indian soldiers martyred. China currently also has territorial disputes with other countries like Vietnam, Japan and the Philippines.

“Rahul Baba ko ginti nahi aati”, Amit Shah addressing Shakti Sammelan in Pune

After addressing the booth workers of BJP in Uttar Pradesh in a number of events, BJP President Amit Shah today reached Pune to address the booth workers at the Shakti Kendra Sammelan ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Shah started his address by reminding the party workers about how the 2019 Lok Sabha elections are for the party. He also pointed out the important role played by its workers in the party saying “this party belongs to its party workers, not the leaders”Shah shared his own experience of having worked as a party worker since childhood.

Praising the progress made by the party, Shah said that no one could imagine a BJP govt in states like Assam, Manipur and Tripura. He said that BJP was at the fourth place in UP and today it has formed a government in UP with 325 seats. Shah credited the structure of the party’s booths and the booth workers for various victories of the party.


Shah said that BJP has been successful in eliminating dynasty politics in the period between 2014 to 2019. He said that people who did appeasement and vote bank politics have been sidelined as BJP has introduced the politics of performance. Coming down heavily on Congress party, Shah said that out of the 70 years of independence, the Gandhi family ruled for 55 years and yet nothing was done. He said that Modi ji has done in 55 months what Congress could not do in its 55 years of rule.


Shah called the budget presented by the union government as a ‘budget for fulfilling the aspirations of the people of the country’. Launching a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi for mocking the amount of Rs 6,000 set out in the budget for small farmers, Shah claimed that Congress had waived the loan of 3 crore farmers worth Rs 53,000 crores in 10 years while the Modi government with the special benefit for farmers set out in the budget will be transferring Rs 75,000 crore in the banks accounts of around 13 crore farmers in one year.


He asked Rahul Gandhi to compare the work done for farmers by his Congress government with that of the Modi government, Shah sarcastically remarked, “Rahul Baba ko ginti nahi aati”. Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Aloo ki factory‘ statement made during a speech in Agra, Shah questioned Rahul’s knowledge of farming.

Shah listed out before the party workers other schemes initiated by the Modi government including the income tax rebate for individuals up to 5 lakhs of annual income, economic reservation, defence budget, electrification of villages, ayushman bharat etc. Shah lauded the  Modi government for conducting a surgical strike in Pakistan and showing it its rightful place. Shah expressed the party’s commitment to making the country illegal immigrants free. He said that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) has helped in identifying 40 lakh prima facie illegal immigrants in Assam. “Hamare liye ma bharti ki surkasha sabse uchh sthan par h”, Shah asserted.


Shah told the party workers not to worry because of the Mahagathbandhan. He said that it is an alliance of regional parties. “What influence will rallies of leaders like Deve Gauda ji, Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati, Mamta and Stalin have in Pune, Nasik, Dhuhe, Kolhapur and Jalgaon”, he said. Shah condemned the killings of  80 BJP workers by TMC workers in West Bengal. He urged the party workers to give the answer of these killings by winning elections in the State.

Repeating the party’s commitment of constructing the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Shah assured the party workers that a grand temple will be built by the BJP at the Ramjanmbhoomi.

Kerala Nun Rape Case: Church official now says nuns who supported victim will not be transferred till court case is over

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Taking the note on the recent attempts by the Missionaries of Jesus congregation to threaten and oust the nuns, who had stood behind the victim nun and protested against the rape accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal, Bishop Agnelo of the Jalandhar diocese has directed the Missionaries of Jesus congregation to stop their transfer until the case reaches a conclusion.


Reportedly, Bishop Agnelo, Apostolic administrator in charge of the congregation has written a letter to the five nuns who had protested against Franco Mulakkal. The letter reads, “there will be no move from Diocese of Jalandhar to oust you from Kuravilangad Church as long as you are needed for the court case.”

According to a report in The Hindu, the Bishop has written a letter to the nuns stating that he was giving a directive to Regina Kadamthottu, Superior General of the Missionaries of Jesus congregation, not to issue any letters to the five nuns without his explicit permission.

“This will be an order to her from me as Apostolic Administrator in charge of the Congregation-since it is of Diocesan Right, it comes under me,” letter quoted according to the Hindu.

The letter has ensured the nuns would not be moved from the Kuravilangad Convent as long as they were needed for the court case. “The truth will only emerge when all the evidence is presented. I am sure the Church would want the truth to emerge,” it noted.

We had earlier reported on how attempts were made from the Missionaries of Jesus congregation to shunt out four nuns for supporting the victim nun who had accused Bishop Franco of rape.

The Missionaries of Jesus congregation had reportedly made several attempts to isolate, discredit and harass the nuns who stood in support of the victim. They had been ousted from the Kuravalingad convent and had also been threatened by the congregation to shed their “rebellious attitude”.

On 16th January, four out of the five nuns who had supported the rape survivor nun were asked to leave the Kuravilangad convent and go back to convents, previously assigned to them. The letter accused nuns of ‘issuing malafide statements’ and spreading baseless stories to ‘tarnish the image’ of the Missionaries of Jesus congregation. Sister Anupama, one of the four nuns served transfer notice had slammed the notice and alleged that this is a ploy to break a unity of nuns to save Bishop Franco, who is facing rape allegations from one of their colleagues.

Apart from threats and intimidation, Father Kuriakose who had testified against Bishop Franco was found dead under mysterious circumstances. One of the nuns who was protesting against the rape accused Bishop was relieved of her duties by the Syro-Malabar Church.

Bishop Franco Mulakkal, Archdiocese of Jalandhar, Punjab, was arrested by the police officials on September 21st after the investigating team finally found evidence that linked him in the sexual harassment case. A nun from Kerala had accused a Bishop from Jalandhar of raping her. The accused, Franco Mulakkal, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar, is said to have raped her at a guest house in Kuravilangad in May 2014 and exploited her sexually on several other occasions.

Franco Mulakkal was soon granted bail and his grand welcome by the Catholic organisation had caused outrage at many levels with suspicions that the religious congregation is putting its weight behind to shield the accused and vilify the victim.

Recently, the National Commission for Women (NCW) had written to Kerala CM Vijayan to ensure the safety of the nuns who are the witness in the case against Franco Mulakkal and had stated that the CM’s personal intervention is needed to prevent sabotage of material evidence and witnesses in the case.

Delhi court orders FIR against Arnab Goswami, Republic TV on Shashi Tharoor’s complaint of ‘stealing’ Sunanda death probe documents

A Delhi Court has ordered registration of FIR against Republic TV and its editor Arnab Goswami on a complained filed by Shashi Tharoor. The Congress leader had alleged that the channel had stolen confidential documents related to the investigation into the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar. Tharoor had also alleged that his email account was hacked by the channel to obtain information about the case.

In the complaint, Shashi Tharoor had accused Republic TV and Arnab Goswami of gaining illegal access to police records and his email account, and then broadcasting the same on the channel to boost its viewership. Response to an RTI query had revealed that the information showed by the channel was not available in the public domain, the complaint further added.

Responding to the complaint, Metropolitan Magistrate Dharmender Singh said that a police investigation is required to find out how the channel got access to the documents, and persons associated with it should be examined in the matter, as it discloses a cognizable offence.

“In these circumstances, SHO concerned is directed to register FIR in this matter and investigate the same as per law. Copy of this order be sent to SHO concerned for compliance,” ordered the court.

The order was issued by the court on January 21, but it was made public yesterday.

During the hearing, Tharoor’s advocate said that during the investigation into the death, police collected a number of items/materials of the Sunanda Pushkar and recorded statements of Shashi Tharoor and one of his aides Narain Singh. All those documents/materials were part of the confidential record and within the sole possession of the investigation team.

Advocate Vikas Pahwa said that “during several broadcast, certain documents were shown on News channel which were stated to be documents related to investigation of the death of complainant’s wife. Such documents are copy of internal file notings of Delhi police, copy of statement of complainant given to Delhi police, copy of statement of complainant’s aide Narain Singh, pictures of deceased which were taken during autopsy”.

Further, when Shashi Tharoor had made RTI queries with the Delhi Police, he was informed that “it is not permissible to share the information/documents related to any investigation to any public member/ media till the case is pending investigation”.

Shashi Tharoor alleged that the RTI reply clearly indicates that the channel had accessed the documents illegally, but the police did not take any action, forcing him to file the complaint with the court.

Sunanda Pushkar was found dead was found dead in room number 345 of the Leela Palace hotel in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi on 17th January 2014. According to initial reports, Sunanda was suspected to have committed suicide. Later reports stated that the cause of death was unnatural. Recently Shashi Tharoor was charged in the case for cruelty and abetment to suicide. The court has ordered the start of the trial against Tharoor from February 21.

While Rahul Gandhi supports Mamata, WB Congress President rules out any possibility of alliance with TMC

Days after the Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee held a mega-rally to show a strength of unity among opposition parties, the mask of the superficial solidarity is off as the West Bengal state unit of Congress has expressed its strong disapproval of allying with Mamata Banerjee’s party.


The West Bengal Congress President has insinuated that the alliance with the Trinamool Congress is devoid of dignity and hence there won’t be any alliance with the party. Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had expressed his support for Mamata Banerjee to call upon the opposition leaders for “United India Rally”. Rahul had written a letter addressing the TMC chief as ‘Mamata Di’ and backed the latter’s decision to call for a united opposition front to fight the might of the BJP.

Though the Congress-High command has decided to forge an alliance with the TMC, the local cadres of the West Bengal Congress have long been opposing such an alliance and have periodically expressed their reservations on the prospect of getting into an alliance with the TMC.

The disillusionment among West Bengal Congress was evident when the state unit of Congress planned to organise a state-wide protest against the TMC government for the involvement of many TMC leaders in the chit-fund scams. The Congress state unit also emphatically cited the countless murders of INC supporters allegedly done by TMC workers to register their protest against the Congress-TMC alliance.

Though the central leadership of the Congress has been showing solidarity and even going to great lengths to seek their support, the state Congress unit has long been opposed to the TMC.

In the past, West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary had launched a scathing attack on Mamata Banerjee and went to the extent of comparing Mamata Banerjee to a “chameleon”. He also alleged that in 2005, Banerjee brought an adjournment motion against illegal migrants, but now, she has changed her stance. He also compared her to a ‘Trojan Horse’ who is hell-bent on dividing the opposition unity.

Rahul Gandhi himself has been duplicitous about his stance on the Mamata Banerjee led party. Gandhi’s stance on Mamata’s culpability in the various scams that have taken place in Bengal has wavered to suit his changing political ambitions. Having once accused Mamata Banerjee of looting Bengal, Rahul Gandhi today hails her as the saviour of the democracy while the Congress West Bengal Unit continues to reel under the TMC excesses.

Congress had even supported Mamata Banerjee when she had staged a Dharna opposing the CBI’s attempts to question the Kolkata police commissioner in the Saradha chit fund scam case. It is notable here that Nalini Chidambaram, wife of senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram, is also one of the accused in the Saradha chit fund scam.

ED nails Robert Vadra’s link with arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, confronts with 2016 I-T dept interrogation report

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Robert Vadra has been questioned by the Enforcement Directorate for the third day today in money laundering and other cases against him. According to reports, today ED confronted him with the detail of Sanjay Bhandari’s interrogation by the Income Tax department in 2016, which show that Vadra has a link with the fugitive arms dealer.


In 2016, offices of Sanjay Bhandari were searched by the Income Tax department in a tax evasion case, when confidential defence ministry documents were found in his possession. The officials had also found emails exchanged between Bhandari and Vadra. Now, the ED has produced a portion of questioning of Bhandari by I-T department on 30th April 2016, where he had agreed that he had booked flight tickets from France to India on the instructions of Robert Vadra. This document was produced by ED when Robert Vadra had denied any link with Bhandari during his questioning. Vadra has been denying any link with Bhandari in the questioning by ED till now.

The document shows that Sanjay Bhandari was asked by the Income Tax officials whether a ticket for Robert Vadra to travel from Nice, France to Delhi in India was booked by him on behalf of and who had made the payment.  Answering to that question, Sanjay Bhandari had confirmed that he had booked the ticket on the instruction of Robert Vadra, although he said he did not remember who made the payment.

Earlier, copies of emails had emerged which showed that Sanjay Bhandari was working on the renovation of a property owned by Robert Vadra in London. One email sent by Sumit Chadha, close associate of Bhandari, had talked about payment for work done on the property. Vadra had replied to the same that he will look into the same and Manoj will sort out the matter.

Manoj Arora is Executive Assistant of Robert Vadra and he is also being probed by ED in the money laundering case. Copies of the emails were marked to one email ID [email protected], which is allegedly an email ID of Sanjay Bhandari.

Anti-right wing bias: Twitter refuses to appear before Parliamentary Committee on IT

The micro-blogging site, Twitter, which has been receiving a lot of flak over its bias against accounts with a right-wing ideology has reportedly declined to appear before the Parliamentary Committee on IT that had summoned them over the issue of safeguarding citizens’ rights on social media platforms.

According to Financial Express, Twitter Chief Executive Officer and top officials have declined to appear before the Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology headed by Anurag Thakur which had issued a summons to Twitter via an official letter on February 1st. The meeting was initially scheduled on February 7th but was later postponed to February 11 to allow the Twitter CEO and senior officials more time to make themselves available.

Apparently, Twitter has now cited “short notice of the hearing” as the reason, despite being given 10 days to travel, the sources said. The letter sent to Twitter clearly stated that “it may be noted that the head of the organisation has to appear before the committee”. It further said, “he/she may be accompanied by another representative”.

Twitter has displayed its disdain to rule of law by sending a junior employee to represent them at the Indian Parliamentary IT Committee. Reportedly, the parliamentary panel has not taken down this incident well as the junior authorities representing the hearing have no decision-making authority.

The committee reportedly received a letter on February 7 from Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s global lead for legal, policy, trust and safety, stating, “No one who engages publicly for Twitter India makes enforcement decisions with respect to our rules for content or accounts in India.”

The curious case of Twitter censoring social media users for disagreeing to left-wing and ultra wing ideology at the time of crucial general elections has upset several social media users. With opposition parties and Lutyens media ecosystem backed by the Congress party indulging in false narratives and propaganda, right-wing users have expressed fear that more fake news may emerge in the social media platforms.

It is also accused that several prominent right-wing accounts are shadow-banned by Twitter. This means while the account is not blocked or suspended, the Tweets posted by that account do not appear on the timeline of the followers of that accounts. Tweets from such ‘shadow-banned’ accounts do not appear in search results also, effectively meaning that tweets of such persons remain invisible to users unless they visit the Twitter account page of such persons.

Kolkata police commissioner being grilled by CBI in Shillong for his role in chit fund scam

Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation in relation to the Sarda Chit Fund scam, today morning, in Shillong, Meghalaya. A ten-member CBI team is reportedly assigned for the questioning of the IPS officer.


Rajeev Kumar was accompanied by two senior police officers from West Bengal, including Deputy Commissioner of Special Task Force Murlidhar Sharma and a counsel. The team had arrived at Shillong on Friday, a day before Kumar’s grilling.

An Indian Express report states that Kumar has told CBI that he will not be able to stay put in Shillong for long, in the wake of Sarwasti Puja tomorrow, and board examinations starting on February 12. The two Police officials and Kumar’s counsel was asked to leave from the CBI office.

As per reports, a three-member team from Delhi is currently grilling the officer and the questioning is expected to be carried out in 3 phases.


Meanwhile, groups of TMC workers have reportedly staged a protest outside CBI national headquarters in CGO Complex, Delhi.

The CBI has alleged Kumar of tampering with crucial evidence related to Sardha ponzi scam, that allegedly involves various TMC leaders. The buzz around the scam escalated after on Kolkata Police had forcefully detained eight CBI officials who had gone to visit police commissioner Rajeev Kumar to obtain crucial information regarding the scam.

Following this, CM Mamta Banerjee had resorted to ‘dharna’ politics alleging Modi government of indulging in vendetta politics and using CBI to meet political ends.

CBI then approached the Supreme Court, alleging the state machinery and police of deliberately obfuscating facts and hampering the investigation into the Sardha Chit Fund Scam. SC had given CBI a big relief and had asked Rajeev Kumar to appear before the agency, in Shillong, a place which it deemed was politically neutral. SC had also directed CBI to not to exercise coercive actions like arrest against Kumar.

Airports, tunnels, hydel project, bridge, AIIMS, Bio Refinery: PM Modi launches a range of development projects in North East

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting North East today where he inaugurated several development and infrastructure projects. The prime minister is visiting Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Tripura today, after he attended a rally in West Bengal yesterday. Here are the projects that are being inaugurated by Modi today:

Arunachal Pradesh

Narendra Modi reached Itanagar in the morning from Guwahati, where he unveiled several development projects at IG Park. The prime minister laid the foundation stone for the construction of Greenfield Airport at Hollongi near Itanagar. At present the nearest airport from the Arunachal capital is the Lilabari Airport at Lakhimpur, Assam. In addition to providing better connectivity to the region, the airport will also unravel the tourism potential of the state. The airport will boost the economic growth of the region and will be of strategically important to the nation.

The upgraded Tezu airport was also inaugurated at the event. The airport has been retrofitted and a new terminal has been constructed for commercial operations under the UDAN scheme. Prime Minister Modi said that this perhaps the first time when an airport has been inaugurated and the foundation stone was laid for another on the same day in the same state.

Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of Sela Tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh. It will provide all-weather connectivity to Tawang Valley for civilians as well as security forces throughout the year. The tunnel will reduce travel time to Tawang by an hour and boost tourism and related economic activities in the region.


He also dedicated a 110 MW Pare Hydroelectric Plant in Arunachal Pradesh to the nation. The project has been executed NEEPCO, which will harness hydro power potential of the river Dikrong, a tributary of Brahmaputra. This hydel project will provide cheap hydroelectric power to the North Eastern states, which will improve the availability of power in the region.

Apart from these, a dedicated Doordarshan channel for Arunachal Pradesh, DD Arun Prabha was launched by the prime minister at the event. The prime minister also inaugurated 50 health and wellness centers in the state through remote control.

Assam

After attending the event at IG Park in Itanagar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Guwahati for next round of events. Assam BJP had organised a huge gathering of more the 3 lakh people to attend the rally at Changsari, in a crucial show of strength on the backdrop of ongoing protests against the government over the Citizenship Amendment Bill. There, he participated in Bhoomi Puja for construction of AIIMS at Changsari near Guwahati. The foundation stone for the AIIMS was laid by the PM last year, and preliminary earthwork at the site has been completed since then. The AIIMS in Assam will be constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana at an estimated cost of ₹1,123 crore.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also laid the foundation stone for Guwahati-North Guwahati bridge over the Brahmaputra. The bridge will immensely help the people of North Guwahati, and also help in the expansion of the capital city on the north bank of Brahmaputra. The bridge will be built at a cost of ₹1,925 crores, and 80% of the same will be funded by BRICS New Development Bank (NDB). The 1600 meter long bridge has been designed as a Multispan Extradosed bridge.

Prime Minister also launched several oil and gas projects in Guwahati. This included the North East Gas grid, which will ensure uninterrupted availability of natural gas across the region, City Gas Distribution Networks in four districts, Modular Gas Modular Gas Processing Plant in Tinsukia, NRL Bio-Refinery at Numaligarh, and 729 km gas pipeline from Barauni to Guwahati, passing through Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim & Assam.

Tripura

The last leg of PM’s visit to the region will be at Agartala in Tripura. There he will inaugurate the Garjee – Belonia Railway Line in South Tripura. PM will also inaugurate New Complex of Tripura Institute of Technology at Narsingarh. A statue of Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur will be unveiled by the PM at Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport, Agartala.