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Allowances paid to Jawans deployed in Siachen and Maoist areas hiked by more than double

OpIndia Staff
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Allowances paid to Jawans deployed in Siachen and Maoist areas hiked by more than double

The risk and hardship allowances for armymen posted in Siachen and forces deployed for counter-insurgency operations in Maoist infested areas have been more than doubled. The increased payments are among the higher allowances the government notified in the Gazette on 6 July.

According to an official statement, the allowance paid to soldiers deployed at Siachen – the highest battlefield in the world – has been increased from Rs 14,000 to Rs 30,000 per month and for officers it has been hiked from Rs 21,000 to Rs 42,500 per month. Similarly, the High Altitude Allowance has been raised from Rs 810-16,800 to Rs 2700- 25,000 per month.

The Counter Insurgency Operations Allowance has been hiked from Rs 3,000-11,700 to Rs 6,000-16,900 per month. The Command Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) Allowance, paid to CRPF personnel deployed in Maoist-infested areas, has been increased from Rs 8,400-16,800 to Rs 17,300-25,000 per month.

MARCOS and the Chariot Allowance, paid to marine commandos, has been increased from Rs 10,500-15,750 to Rs 17,300-25,000 per month.

For Sea Going Allowance, the conditionality of 12 hours has been reduced to four hours and the allowance has been increased from Rs 3,000-7,800 to Rs 6,000-10,500 per month.

The allowances for Modified Field, Field and Highly Active Field Area have been hiked from Rs 1,200-12,600 to Rs 6,000-16,900 per month. Flying Allowance has been raised from Rs 10,500-15,750 to Rs 17,300-25,000 per month and this has been extended to the BSF Air Wing also.

Aeronautical Allowance now has been extended to the Indian Coast Guard, Higher Qualification Incentive for Defence Personnel, Test Pilot and Flight Test Engineer Allowance, Ceilings of Deputation (Duty) Allowance for Defence Personnel, Detachment Allowance and Para Jump Instructor Allowance.

Lalu in fresh trouble as CBI raids his Patna home: Here’s all you need to know

Hemant Bijapurkar
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Lalu in fresh trouble as CBI raids his Patna home: Here’s all you need to know

RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family literally woke up to to a shock today after they found the CBI at the doorstep of his Patna home. A similar raid was being carried out at 11 other locations.

This trouble follows similar scrutiny of Lalu’s family members by other investigative agencies. Recently Income Tax officials had seized an alleged benami house and plot of land owned by Lalu’s daughter Misa Bharti.

Even Lalu’s son Tej Pratap Yadav who is the current  minister for Health, Minor Water Resources, Environment and Forest in the Bihar government, had received a notice from BPCL for falsely claiming ownership of a land to start a petrol pump. He is also involved an a Patna Zoo Soil scam in which he allegedly gave a Rs 90 lakh contract via Patna Zoo to a company in which he, his mother and siblings were shareholders.

Now that the past has finally caught up with Lalu again, lets look at the whole development:

Why did the raids take place:

According to the CBI, this case pertains to Lalu tweaking a tender process in order to benefit certain hoteliers while he was the Railway Minister in the UPA government. CBI says that it could make out a case of conspiracy and fraud based on the evidence it has so far.

Apparently three acres of land in western Patna was transferred in 2006 to a company called Delight Marketing Private Ltd, which is known to Lalu’s family. The land was subsequently transferred to another company called Lara projects, which reportedly is owned by Lalu’s family. Even though the land was valued at about Rs 32 crores, it was transferred to Lara at just about Rs 65 lakh.

The CBI is also examining tenders that were awarded to private firms for operating railway hotels near stations. A tender awarded for the maintenance of IRCTC Hotels/BNR Hotels in Delhi and Puri in 2006 is also under scrutiny.

BNR hotels, which were dubbed as Heritage Hotels of the Indian Railways, were taken over in 2006 by IRCTC. But these were then transferred to M/s Sujata private limited for maintenance and upkeep. The transfer was done while disregarding the set guidelines.

So who all are accused in the case?

As reported by ANI, various big shots are under the radar of the CBI. This includes Lalu, his wife Rabri Devi and his son Tejashwi. PK Goel, the former Managing Director of IRCTC, the promoters of Hotel Chanakya and Hotel Sujata, and Saira Gupta, the wife of RJD leader Prem Chand Gupta are also among the accused.

Which places were raided by the CBI?

A total of 12 places were raided by the CBI today from 7:30 in the morning. These include Lalu’s Patna residence, residence of RJD leader Prem Chand Gupta, the New Friends colony in Delhi, Chanakya BNR hotel in Ranchi and residence of former IRCTC MD PK Goyal. Locations in Puri were also raided.

What does Lalu have to say about it?

Initially, nothing. He wasn’t even at his house when the raids took place. He was in Ranchi to appear in his fodder scam case, and said that he would speak later. Later he dubbed everything as a political vendetta.

What did alliance partner Nitish have to say?

Alliance partner Nitish doesn’t seem to have reacted yet and was reported to have had a meeting with Senior Officials. This comes at a critical juncture for him as he has already aggrieved his “Mahagathbandhan” partners by formally backing NDA Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind.

Things might have turned especially tricky for Nitish as BJP is calling for him to sack Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav and he won’t want to create an image of someone who shelters the corrupt.

The Congress though tried to provied full support for Lalu by questioning the silence of 13 years regarding this matter, thereby also possibly blaming their own government for inaction.

What next?

The news has broken that CBI  questioned Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav so it remains to be seen if they do the same with Lalu.

Amit Shah confident about installing BJP government in Odisha in 2019

Saswat Panigrahi
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Amit Shah confident about installing BJP government in Odisha in 2019

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah has charted the party’s Mission Odisha during his three-day-long tour to the eastern state. The master-strategist presented a road map for ousting Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government in the 2019 Assembly elections.

Shah’s Odisha visit aims at reviving the party’s infrastructure in the state at the grassroot levels. It was part of his 110-day-long countrywide whirlwind tour to galvanise the party cadre and expand the BJP’s footprints in the birth centenary year of party’s ideologue Deendayal Upadhayaya. 

Amit Shah’s tour across the nation focuses on taking stock of the party’s organisational strength, further expansion of ideology and electoral appeal. Odisha is the fourteenth state the BJP president has toured as part of his 110-day-long countrywide tour.

Odisha features prominently in BJP’s scheme of things. So far the state has been one of the unconquered territories. But the BJP president is confident of winning the state in the next Assembly elections in 2019.

“The BJP will secure two-third majority in the 2019 Assembly elections and form the next government in Odisha,” a confident Shah said while addressing party workers in Bhubaneswar as he winded down his three-day-long Odisha tour on Thursday. The BJP president exhorted party workers not to rest till the party captured the power in Odisha.

Shah travelled more than 400 km by road in three days. Taking on BJD supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is considered as a “high-flyer” in politics, the BJP president said, “I have travelled to various places in Odisha in these three days. But it was not like an aerial visit by Naveen Patnaik. I sensed the mood of people of Odisha in favour of the BJP.”

“The high-flying Chief Minister has failed to grasp and address the people’s problems,” he added.

Amit Shah launched his three-day-long grassroot connect drive from Patnaik’s home turf Ganjam on 4 July to deliver a message to the Odisha Chief Minister and his BJD. Ganjam is the district where Patnaik’s Hinjili Assembly constituency is located. Shah took part in the Mo Booth Sabuthu Majboot (My Booth is the Strongest) programme in Hugulapata village in Ganjam. He interacted with locals, addressed a public meeting and had lunch with at a Dalit household in Hugulapata village.

Shah went on a door-to-door campaign at Hugulapata village of Kukudakhandi Block in Ganjam district. He discussed with the villagers about various welfare programmes implemented by the Narendra Modi government.

At Berhampur, Shah addressed a huge gathering of party’s booth level workers from Ganjam, Gajapati and Kandhamal districts.

At Hugulapata in Ganjam, the BJP chief launched a scathing attack on the Naveen Patnaik government. Shah lashed out at the BJD government for the migration of labour force from Odisha to other States.

“It is unfortunate that this labour force, which is helping in the development of other States, is not used for the development of Odisha,” he said.

On the second day of his Odisha tour on 5 July, the BJP president visited the historical Biraja Temple in Jajpur and offered prayer. Later addressing public meetings at various places, including Arei and Panikoili in Jajpur district, Shah attacked the “misrule” and “inefficiency” of the Naveen Patnaik government for the under-development of Odisha despite the State being endowed with rich natural resources.

“The BJD dispensation in Odisha has failed miserably to ensure development during its 17-year rule. It is a paradox that Odisha, which is endowed with abundant mineral and natural resources, is left far behind in terms of development,” Shah said.

At Panikoili in Jajpur, Shah addressed BJP’s booth level workers of north Odisha districts.

The BJP present said during the last three years of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, the grants for Odisha has increased many fold, but Naveen Patnaik government has failed to utilise the funds, leaving the state in the grip of poverty and backwardness.

On the last day of his Odisha tour, Shah held a massive road show from Kalpana square to Basantpur in the state capital of Bhubaneswar.

Later he visited Basantpur village – under in Ekamra assembly constituency – which is located at the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. The BJP president was given a traditional welcome there. Shah met people from different social and economic strata in the village. He went to Booth No-191 in Basantpur village and spent some time at a Dalit house and had famous Odisha snacks moodi.

Addressing a huge public rally in Bhubaneswar, Shah said, “BJP alone is capable of pulling Odisha out of the morass and steer the state on the path of rapid development.”

In Odisha, this time Naveen Patnaik is staring at a strong anti-incumbency as there are a galaxy of issues – ranging from corruption, to misgovernance – plaguing the state. In the last Pachayat elections, the BJP succeeded in making a giant stride in Odisha politics, leaving Patnaik’s BJD in a tailspin. With renewed hope and new vigour, the BJP is sanguine about riding a saffron surge in the land of Shree Jagannath and Amit Shah was seen wearing that confidence during his three-day tour.

Cricket and Dog – latest reasons of Hindu-Muslim clashes at two places in Meerut

OpIndia Staff
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Cricket and Dog – latest reasons of Hindu-Muslim clashes at two places in Meerut

In two separate incidents in the last couple of days, Meerut in Uttar Pradesh has witnessed communal clashes between Muslims and Hindus that were triggered by petty fights between a few individuals. Police deployment had to be made in both the cases to stop the situation from getting uglier.

In the first case, a cricket match that took place four days back has now resulted into communal clashes with both group accusing each other of making targeted attacks. The incident happened in Sardhana area of Meerut where an altercation took place between two groups while playing cricket.

Youths belonging to the Muslim and Dalit communities were reported to have come to blows during the match, but the fight was contained on that day. However, a day later, Muslim group is alleged to have attacked the homes of Dalits and even fired at the youths from country made pistols.

Banti, one of the those injured in the attacks and firing, has claimed that the Muslims had organised a panchayat, where they decided to attack them in a planned way. Around 10 persons, including a woman, suffered injuries in this attack and they are being treated in a local hospital.

After this attack, Dalits are also reported to have carried out counter attack on the homes of Muslims, causing injuries to the other side. With situation turning worse, police forces had to be deployed in the area and cases have been registered.

Both the groups are accusing each other of starting the fight and denying any organised or planned violence on their part. The situation is reported to be tense but under control after police intervention.

Meerut Hindu-Muslim clash
Injuries after communal clashes following a cricket match (source: Amar Ujala)

In another incident that took place in Indira Chowk area of Meerut, police had to be deployed to contain communal clashes that happened after a hotel owner objected to a dog littering the area outside his hotel.

The Hotel is owned by two brothers Satish and Pramod, who were frustrated with one guy Nadeem who used to bring his dog daily outside his hotel leading to littering in the area. When the brothers objected to this, Nadeem went away but returned with a mob of 20-25 people from his locality.

Armed with sticks, the Muslim mob not only attacked the hotel owners and damaged the hotel property, they beat up others too who were in the hotel or in the vicinity. This led to the other group respond to the attack and the soon the incident took communal colours.

Police was informed as groups started stone pelting and soon the situation was brought under control. Police is reportedly scrutinising the CCTV footage of the hotel to identify the culprits and have registered cases against 24 people. Two have been arrested though Nadeem is still on run.

Police has claimed that while people are angry, situation is under control and police deployment has been done to stop any further violence.

65 years old Kartik Ghosh stabbed to death by Jihadi mobs in Basirhat, West Bengal

OpIndia Staff
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65 years old Kartik Ghosh stabbed to death by Jihadi mobs in Basirhat, West Bengal

The mob violence in Basirhat in West Bengal over a Facebook post has now taken a life. 65 years old Kartik Ghosh became the first casualty of the violence being perpetrated in the region.

The Basirhat region in West Bengal has been on the boil since Monday, after Jihadi mobs decided to go on rampage, burning and looting Hindu establishments, assaulting villagers, and burning vehicles as a form of protest against the Facebook post, which allegedly denigrated their religion.

Even though Jihadi mobs were wrecking havoc all around, which also included the desecration of Hindu temples and symbols like Lord Jagannath’s Rath, the only consolation people were holding on to, was that there were no casualties yet reported due to the clashes.

This too diminished on Thursday morning after it was reported that 65-year-old Kartik Chandra Ghosh had succumbed to his injuries. According to his son, Kartik was stabbed multiple time by unknown assailants on Wednesday.

Clashes had broken out in their Bhayabla locality which is a part of ward number 20 of Basirhat sub-division. Around 1 PM Kartik was walking back to his home when the area was attacked by “members of the minority community”.

The mob stabbed Kartik multiple times and fled the spot. He was rushed to a local hospital which in-turn referred him to R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. Kartik unfortunately didn’t respond to the treatment and breathed his last on 8:07 AM Thursday.

Kartik was described as a small businessman who used to sell chicken and groceries to earn a living for his family. His body has now been sent for autopsy.

This death has drawn political reactions. The BJP claimed that Kartik was their party member, which was disputed by the family, either as a fact or possibly in fear of further repercussions by radicals.

West Bengal’s top BJP leadership of Dilip Ghosh and Locket Chatterjee were denied entry into the Kolkata hospital by TMC members when they came to meet Kartik’s grieving family. This resulted in a scuffle between the BJP and TMC workers outside the Hospital, which reportedly resulted in a BJP worker getting dragged inside and then getting beaten up.

Apparently 21 people have been injured till now in the Basirhat violence and 8 are undergoing treatment in the Kolkata hospital.

The situation in Basirhat continues to be tense with police having to use tear gas shells and batons for calming things down.

What could be Pakistan’s response to the deepening India-Israel friendship?

Hemant Bijapurkar
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What could be Pakistan’s response to the deepening India-Israel friendship?

On 4th of July, India and Israel embarked upon a new historic chapter, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first ever Indian Prime Minister to touch down on the shores of Israel.

The Israeli establishment left no stone unturned in providing the best possible welcome for PM Modi. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his whole cabinet were at the airport to welcome him and there were a lot of inter-personal touches given to the communication and events.

India as a nation has a whole lot to gain from Israel. Today Israeli startups are leading the tech world, Israel leads the world when it comes to agri-tech and has been also dubbed as an agricultural superpower in recent years. Its military is considered one of the most highly trained in the world and Israel has also been called a key to solve global terrorism.

So there is lot to learn from Israel as we try to find solutions to India’s job, agriculture and national security woes.

Also in an interview to Arnab Goswami, PM Netanyahu stated that the way to eliminate terrorism was by sharing intelligence and by cooperating in classified ways. He, in the same interview, stated that India and Israel are natural allies and a great partnership would come out of the visit.

All this would be music to the ears of million of Indians, but obviously it is not going to amuse many in Pakistan.

Pakistan as a nation has always thrived on internal conflict, socio-political instability, and compromised national security of India. With Israel possibly helping India in rectifying it, the response of Pakistan to this new relationship would be one to watch out for.

As it turns out, Pakistan hasn’t been sitting idle and as a response to this shift in India’s policy towards Israel, has decided to rake up the one and the only issue it can think of that it feels can be the proper response to the development – Kashmir.

Even as PM Modi hasn’t yet left Israeli soil, Pakistan’s leading daily The Dawn has come out with an op-ed regarding the the Indo-Israeli embrace. The article cited Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni’s decision to ask for support for the ‘oppressed Muslims in Kashmir’ on Monday, which the article speculated was a reaction to the impending visit by PM Modi to Israel.

The article then tried to draw similarity between oppressed Palestinians and the so-called oppressed Kashmiris, who have been denied the ‘freedom and dignity they desire’.

The report tried to see a silver line in by arguing that Indo-Israeli partnership has provided an opportunity for Pakistan to ‘highlight the Kashmir issue with Iran and others’. Pakistan appears to be in a hurry and reports suggest that it is already planning to escalate the Kashmir issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Now there aren’t as such many options in front of Pakistan. Knocking on the doors of ICJ in itself might not do any good as it has been time and again reiterated by India that both the countries are bound by the Shimla and Lahore agreement to find a “Bilateral” solution to the unresolved issue. Also external-affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has just a month back stated that, no third party can be involved in the Kashmir talks.

What Pakistan hopes to achieve is an anti-India nexus of Islamic countries thanks to the friendship with “Jewish” Israel. And there are some reasons why Pakistan’s hopes might appear real and reasonable.

For example, normally Saudi Arabia and Iran’s diplomatic relations are steeped in conflict and disagreement, which is fundamentally based on the Shia-Sunni divide, but when it comes to Israel, both the countries have similar views.

Saudi Arabia hates Israel. So much so that both the countries have no diplomatic relations and even don’t have any direct air-routes. When US President Donald Trump took a direct flight – in the dedicated airline for the US president – from Saudi Arabia to Israel, it was touted as a great symbolic step. Going a step ahead of Saudi, Iran’s Ayatollah has laid out legal and religious justifications to kill all the Jews and annihilate Israel.

It might be a dream scenario for Pakistan if such unbridled hatred could be directed towards India, because India and Israel are now friends. But would it happen?

Even though Modi’s critics like to paint him anti-Muslim and some in Indian media tried to link his Israel visit as extension of his alleged anti-Muslim politics, he has always received very warm receptions from Saudi Arabia and Iran during his official visits there, with no Israel type hostility ever being on display. This will end just because Modi got a rousing welcome in Israel may remain a wishful thinking of Pakistan.

The next stop for Pakistan might be to turn the UN against India. When it comes to Kashmir the UN has largely favoured India, as evident by Nawaz Sharif’s disappointment with the UN’s non interfering stance when it comes to Kashmir.

But when it comes to the Israel-Palestine conflict, UN continues to pass resolutions like Israel’s settlements in the so called Palestinian territory having no legal validity. The resolutions even called the settlements “a flagrant violation under international law”. This is at a time when PM Netanyahu had called for “direct bilateral negotiations with Palestine”.

This means that Pakistan will need to do a lot to equate India with Israel on the Kashmir issue, which it has been trying, though without success.

One of the major reasons why Pakistan has failed is because that country is increasingly being seen as a terrorist-friendly nation. There has been a marked departure in US policy regarding Pakistan, and it is no longer a ‘natural ally’ in the ‘war on terror’.

This means, that Pakistan needs new ‘agents’ to push its narrative where terrorism in Kashmir is whitewashed and stone-pelting is romanticized as Intifada (Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation), for which it would need the help of its accessories in the media and in the establishment.

Ironically, some in the Indian media and ‘intelligentsia’ are doing this job better than Pakistan in whitewashing Islamic terrorism in Kashmir, through acts such as equating Indian Army chief with General Dyer. No wonder, Pakistan had decided to reach out such sections in India as part of its new Kashmir policy.

Overall, all these options in front of Pakistan might not even take off if India plays its cards right and maintains the right balance between the Islamic countries and Israel, which it appears to be doing by being in favour of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Even if India forsakes this balance, it might not have anything to worry about as Pakistan itself has virtually no credibility in the eyes of Middle Eastern countries. This was evident after Saudi Arabia planned to scrutinise Pakistanis before letting them in or Pakistan being utterly humiliated during Donald Trump’s recent Islamic summit.

18 Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh under ‘Operation Prahaar’ last month

OpIndia Staff
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18 Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh under ‘Operation Prahaar’ last month

As many as 18 Maoists were killed in a joint counter-insurgency operation in Tondamarka area of Sukma district of Chhattisgarh between 23 June and 25 June, the police said. Tondamarka area, situated deep inside the forest under Chhintagufa police station limits, comes under the Red Corridor.

The counter-insurgency operation named ‘Prahaar’ was conducted by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) and Special Task Force (STF) of Chhattisgarh Police and District Reserve Guard (DRG) of Chhattisgarh.

“We have received confirmed reports that 14 Maoists were gunned down in the exchange of fire with the security personnel during that operation, while another four injured cadres succumbed later,” Sukma Superintendent of Police Abhishek Meena said.

All the slain Maoists, identified so far, belong to the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), local intelligence sources say.

While three DRG jawans were martyred during the counter-insurgency operation, six security personnel were injured.

Sukma district is situated near the tri-junction of three states — Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. It could be noted that the Maoists have inflicted maximum causalities on security forces in Sukma district.

The Maoists had killed 25 CRPF personnel in a deadly ambush in Burkapal area of Sukma district when the jawans were engaged in securing an under construction road. This was the second major attack by Maoists on a road opening CRPF party in the recent times. On 11 March, a similar attack in Bhejji area of Sukma had killed 12 CRPF personnel.

Chinese state-controlled media calls for promoting anti-India sentiments in Bhutan, Sikkim’s ‘independence’

OpIndia Staff
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Chinese state-controlled media calls for promoting anti-India sentiments in Bhutan, Sikkim’s ‘independence’

In the wake of stand-off between Indian Army and China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at India-China-Bhutan tri-junction, the Chinese state-controlled media called for a disintegration of Sikkim from the rest of India and promoting anti-India sentiments in Bhutan.

“Beijing should reconsider its stance over the Sikkim issue. Although China recognised India’s annexation of Sikkim in 2003, it can readjust its stance on the matter. There are those in Sikkim that cherish its history as a separate state, and they are sensitive to how the outside world views the Sikkim issue. As long as there are voices in Chinese society supporting Sikkim’s independence, the voices will spread and fuel pro-independence appeals in Sikkim,” a brazen editorial in state run Chinese newspaper Global Times said.

“After independence, New Delhi inherited the brutal colonial policies of Britain and pursues regional hegemony at the sacrifice of tiny Himalayan nations,” it ranted.

In a clear attempt to incite violence in Sikkim, the editorial called on Chinese citizens to “fuel” pro-independence movement in the Indian state bordering China.

It could be noted that the opinion pages of the state run Chinese newspaper are often used by Chinese authorities to send out signals to India during standoff between the two countries.

The editorial suggested that Beijing should rally the world for the abolition of treaties that New Delhi had signed with Bhutan.

“India has startling control and oppression over Bhutan, and as a result, Bhutan has not established diplomatic ties with its neighbour China or any other permanent member of the UN Security Council. Through unequal treaties, India has severely jeopardised Bhutan’s diplomatic sovereignty and controls its national defence,” the editorial said.

“China should lead the international community in restoring Bhutan’s diplomatic and defense sovereignty. Unfair treaties between India and Bhutan that severely violate the will of the Bhutanese people should be abolished. China needs to put more efforts into establishing diplomatic ties with Bhutan at an earlier date as well,” it added.

India has often claimed that Beijing provides arms, funds and logistical supports to insurgent groups operating in the northeastern states and Global Times editorial is a validation of that very fact.

“With certain conditions, Bhutan and Sikkim will see strong anti-India movements, which will negatively affect India’s already turbulent northeast area and rewrite southern Himalayan geopolitics,” the editorial said.

Indian Army and Chinese troops are locked in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation at the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction after China’s attempts to forcefully build a strategic highway through the Doklam plateau, which is Bhutanese territory. The 269-sq km Doklam plateau is strategically located at the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction, the place where borders of the three countries meet.

Meanwhile, India has asked China to pull back its troops from Bhutanese territory.

“The Chinese troops should stay where they were earlier… They have entered Bhutan’s territory… they should not intrude into Bhutanese territory. This is our security concern and this is our stand,” Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said while speaking to reporters in New Delhi.

Infiltration down, more terrorists killed in the Kashmir Valley than last year

OpIndia Staff
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Infiltration down, more terrorists killed in the Kashmir Valley than last year

Counter terror operation in Kashmir Valley is gaining momentum. According to reports, as many as 92 terrorists were killed till 2 July this year. This is against 79 in the corresponding period of 2016.Of the 92 terrorists killed till 2 July, most of the targets were big and prominent terror operatives.

Similarly, there is an increase in the number of terrorists killed in counter-insurgency operations during the BJP-led NDA rule at the Centre in comparison to the Congress-led UPA rule. While 72 and 67 terrorists were killed in anti-terror operations in Kashmir Valley during the UPA’s tenure of 2012 and 2013 respectively, the number rose to 110 in 2014, 108 in 2015 and 150 in 2016 during the NDA’s tenure.

Number of incidents of infiltration has also shown a marked decline. While 124 infiltration incidents have been reported till May-end this year, 371 incidents were reported in 2016.

Further, incidents of stone-pelting witnessed a dip. While 142 stone-pelting incidents have been reported till June this year, there were as many as 820 stone-pelting incidents in July last year alone following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

The improvement of the figures is largely to do with Indian Amry’s strategy to actively engage with the terrorists and other anti-India forces in a seamless coordination with para-military forces, intelligence agencies and state police with a full backing of the Central government.

“The forces have been given a free hand to track and intercept the terrorists holed up in the valley, before launching intelligence-based operations with due mapping of the target and how to neutralise terrorists with minimum collateral damage,” a senior Home Ministry official was quoted as saying.

The government has given a free hand to the Army to take stern actions against those who are spreading terror and vitiating the atmosphere in the Valley. The Army has launched Operation Clean Up to flush South Kashmir of terrorists. At the same time, the Army has been carrying out “punitive fire assaults” against Pakistani posts along the Line of Control (LoC).

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley had expressed satisfaction over the “aggressive domination” and “readiness” of the troops along the LoC in Jammu & Kashmir. “The aggressive domination and readiness of troops for befitting response to any misadventure by enemy is very satisfying,” Jaitley had said.

The intelligence agencies are simultaneously taking steps to choke terror funding in Kashmir. In a first, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided Kashmiri separatist leaders in connection to the funding they reportedly received from Pakistan to spread terror in the Valley. The amount received by the Kashmiri separatists from Pakistan in last one year, to keep the turmoil in Kashmir active, could run into several hundred crores. The funds are used for attacking security forces by carrying stone pelting, burning schools and other government buildings.

Janta Ka Reporter, in a legal offence, reveals identity of the minor whose FB post led Jihadis to riot in Basirhat

OpIndia Staff
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Janta Ka Reporter, in a legal offence, reveals identity of the minor whose FB post led Jihadis to riot in Basirhat

AAP leaning propaganda blog Janta Ka Reporter, notorious for spreading unverified information, looked like sinking to a new low on Wednesday, after it revealed the name and photo of the minor, whose allegedly offensive Facebook post triggered the riot by Jihadi mobs in West Bengal’s Basirhat.

The Basirhat region in West Bengal has been on the boil since Monday, after Jihadi mobs decided to go on rampage, burning and looting Hindu establishments, assaulting villagers, and burning vehicles as a form of protest against the Facebook post, which allegedly denigrated their religion.

While a few media houses were reporting things as it is and other were trying to water down things, Janta Ka Reporter (JKR) decided to take things to a whole different level.

They published an article (still live on their website; we are not linking it back as it can compromise the safety of the minor) titled “What really happened in Bengal and how it was designed to cause riots”, which began with mentioning the full name of the boy. The article also removed all the ambiguity about him being a minor by introducing him as a 17 years old, and proceeded to share his picture:

The name, age and picture have been revealed by JKR. We at OpIndia.com have blacked out those information as it is against law.

In the rest of the article, it tried to insinuate that it was actually the RSS and the BJP, which decided to use the boy as a pawn in order to instigate riots in the region. While the article not even once condemned the Muslim mobs for their rampage and painted them as ‘poor from a very backward area’, it decided to cast aspersions on the integrity of the West Bengal governor by calling him abusive and a BJP block President.

Coming back to the issue of disclosing the identify of the minor student who has been arrested, JKR is clearly violating the section 74(1) of the Juvenile Justice Act by ‘revealing the identity of the minor’.

As per the section 74(1) of the JUVENILE JUSTICE (CARE AND PROTECTION OF CHILDREN) ACT, 2015 [PDF]:

Section 74 which JKR is violating

The section explicitly mentions that no media publication shall disclose information that may lead to the identification of the minor in conflict with the law. The JKR has clearly violated it by openly publishing the name and picture of the accused.

The act specifies that such an action can only be undertaken after proper permission is given, provided such a disclosure is in the interest of the minor, which clearly isn’t the case here. In fact, the safety of the minor has been compromised by revealing his identify, who could now be attacked by some overzealous Islamist after being released from jail and after the matter has subsided.

The section specifies that anyone violating the section 74(1) shall be punished with an imprisonment for a term stretching up to 6 months or a fine which may extend to Rs 2 lakh or more.

It remains to be seen if the Ministry of Women and Child development would take adequate action against the publication.

JKR had added a disclaimer in the end of the article that it didn’t endorse the views of some ‘award winning author’ who is supposed to have written it. But that can hardly be an excuse for carrying out a legal offence. They could have blackened the name and face of the accused while republishing that article, especially when they knew that the boy was under 18 years of age as per that article itself.

(with inputs from Srikanth and Ananth)

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