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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says India and China must not drain each other’s energies

By
The Commune
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Waving flag of China and

As the Russia-Ukraine war continues, China has said that India should help each other accomplish goals, instead of “draining each other’s energies,”.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made this statement on Monday (March 7) as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) continues to build its presence in East Ladakh.

Yi who was holding an annual press briefing in Beijing said, “ties with India had met with some setbacks in recent years and some forces have tried to create conflict and division between China and India,”.

Ties between the world’s most populous country took turn for worse when Chinese soldiers attacked the Indian Army in Galwan in June 2020, which led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of PLA soldiers who lost their lives.

According to China, only four of its soldiers had died in this clash but it is estimated over sixty soldiers of the PLA were killed by the Indian Army.

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Harsha murder accused charged under UAPA

By
The Commune
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Progress has been made in the brutal murder of Bajrang Dal activist Harsha when Karnataka Police filed charges under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention (UAPA) Act, 1967 against Mohammad Qasif (Kasif), Syed Nadeem, Rihan Sharief, Asif Ullah Khan, Abdul Afnan, Nihan, Faraz Pasha, Abdul Khadar Jilan, Abdul Roshan and Jafar Sadiq. 

Harsha who was only 26 years was brutally hacked to death near Kamat Petrol Pump on NT Road in Shivamogga, Karnataka on February 20 because of a Facebook post over the hijab controversy.

The UAPA is only invoked when a case has angels pertaining to national security and the Karnataka police are have a strong suspicion of a larger conspiracy behind the murder” and that is why it has decided to charge those arrested under the UAPA.

There is even a possibility after a local police investigation is completed, the state government may turn the case over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) that looks into the broader spectrum.

Harsha was a tailor by occupation and hailed from Seegehatti and was a proud member of Bajrang Dal, and he proudly displayed his saffron shawl to demand uniformity in the dress code in schools and colleges.

A friend of Harsha who requested anonymity and also happens to be a Bajrang Dal activist said, Harsha was under surveillance by his assailants for a few weeks and the murder was a “well-planned plot”. 

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Made-in-India PARAM Ganga supercomputer installed at IIT-Roorkee

By
The Commune
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On Monday (March 7), B V R Mohan Reddy, Chairman, Board of Governors at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, installed the made in India Petascale Supercomputer “PARAM Ganga”.

The PARAM Ganga has been built under the approach of the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) and the installation of 1.66 PFLOPS (Peta Floating-Point Operations Per Second) supercomputing at IIT Roorkee will now provide computational power to the user community of IIT Roorkee and neighbouring academic institutions.

The development of this supercomputer is a joint initiative of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

IIT Roorkee had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the CDAC to establish a state-of-the-art Supercomputing facility involving critical components such as motherboards for servers, direct contact liquid cooling data centers are manufactured in India progressing towards the Government of India initiative of “Atmanirbhar Bharat.”

While addressing the event, Reddy said, “IIT Roorkee will carry out advanced research and capacity building using this supercomputing infrastructure developed under NSM. I am happy to see that the critical components of PARAM Ganga, such as motherboards for compute nodes and direct contact liquid cooling data centres, are manufactured in India as per the Government of India initiative of Atmanirbhar Bharat.”

Dr Darbari highlighted, “The basic idea behind building a Petascale Supercomputer with manufactured in India components is to lead the path towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat and accelerate the problem-solving capacity in multidisciplinary domains simultaneously. To this effect, “PARAM Ganga”, the new high-performance computational (HPC) facility would aid researchers to solve complex problems of national importance and global significance. The new HPC infrastructure will serve as an essential compute environment for the modern-day research along with their theoretical and experimental work.”

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US: Annual threat assessment report by ODNI states Modi will not tolerate any Pakistani provocations

By
The Commune
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modi assam west bengal

A report released by the Office of Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi if there are any real or perceived Pakistani provocations by Pakistan, India is more likely than in the past to respond with military force. 

The report was given to the US Congress on the annual threat assessment made by the US Intelligence Community and in that report, it reads, “expanded military posture by both India and China along the disputed border elevates the risk of armed confrontation between two nuclear powers that might involve direct threats to US persons and interests and calls for US intervention.”

“Crises between India and Pakistan are of particular concern because of the risk- however low – of an escalatory cycle between two nuclear-armed states,” it said.

“Pakistan has a long history of supporting anti-India militant groups; under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is more likely than in the past to respond with military force to perceived or real Pakistani provocations, and each side’s perception of heightened tensions raises the risk of conflict, with violent unrest in Kashmir or a militant attack in India being potential flashpoints,” it said.

The ODNI has also assessed that the ongoing tension between New Delhi and Beijing will remain strained after the Galwan valley incident which is the first confrontation between the two nations since 1967.

“Previous standoffs have demonstrated that persistent low-level friction on the Line of Actual Control has the potential to escalate swiftly,” the report said.

The ODNI report also makes it very clear that Beijing sees increasingly competitive US-China relations as part of an epochal geopolitical shift. China views the American diplomatic, economic, and military measures against it as part of a broader US effort to thwart China’s rise and undermine Communist Party rule.

The report also states that China uses well coordinated, “whole-of-government tools to demonstrate strength and compel neighbours to acquiesce to Beijing’s preferences, including its territorial and maritime claims and assertions of sovereignty over Taiwan”, it said.

“Beijing will press Taiwan to move toward unification and will react to what it views as increased US-Taiwan engagement. We expect that friction will grow as China continues to increase military activity around the island, and Taiwan’s leaders resist Beijing’s pressure for progress toward unification,” it added.

China views Taiwan as its own territory under its uncompromising one-China policy and any conflict could seriously disrupt global supply chains for semiconductor chips as Taiwan dominates production, the report said.

The report also acknowledges that both China and India will play critical roles in determining the trajectory of temperature rise.

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Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel carries budget papers inside briefcase made of cow dung

By
The Commune
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The Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel made a very symbolic entry into the assembly hall when he was seen carrying a briefcase made of cow dung to present the state budget.

Baghel reached Chhattisgarh Assembly on Wednesday and the budget papers for the financial year 2022-23 were inside a square-shaped bag made of cow dung. He also posted a picture with his bag at his office.

The budget session of the Chhattisgarh Assembly began on Monday and Baghel last year had launched an electricity generation project that uses cow dung as fuel at a farmers’ event to mark Gandhi Jayanti.

Baghel said that such initiatives will see women and youth get opportunities and also will be a step towards realizing Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of ‘Gram Swaraj’ (village self-rule).

“The entire world is worried over global warming. There is talk of green energy everywhere, so our government has decided to make electricity from cow dung. In every village, such a unit will be set up in gauthans (a place in rural areas where cattle are kept), where cow dung is procured under the Godhan Nyay Yojana scheme,” Baghel had said.

“Gauthans will produce electricity from cow dung, besides manufacturing organic manure, doubling the benefits and incomes of Gauthan Samitis and women self-help groups,” the state government said in a press release.

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Is the newly-elected Chennai Mayor really a Dalit or an Evangelical Christian?

By
The Commune
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The DMK government in Tamil Nadu had reserved Mayor post of Chennai for a woman belonging to the Scheduled Caste.

Accordingly, R Priya of the DMK was recently sworn in as the Mayor of Chennai. She had contested in the recently concluded urban local body elections in Tamil Nadu and emerged as winner from the Mangalapuram ward. Her father, R Rajan, is the area co-secretary for the DMK. Her grandfather Chengai Sivam was a former MLA from Perambur.

However, Priya’s claims of being a Dalit is being disputed as she is alleged to be a Christian.

Union of Catholic Asian News (UCA News) has published an article in which it has been stated that she is said to be a member of the Evangelical Church of India (ECI). The news outlet’s Twitter handle tweeted the article with the caption that Priya Rajan is a ‘Dalit Christian’.

 

After Priya’s victory, several social media posts have also added weight to the claims of she being a Christian.

One Christian man named Santhoshprem Vinfred claimed that Priya Rajan is his relative with late former DMK MLA Mr. Rajan being his own uncle.

Another Christian man in his Facebook had posted “Let us thank God for placing a Christian in power.” He also mentioned in his post that she is a member of the Otteri Evangelical Christians of India (ECI) Church in Tamil Nadu.

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Priya after taking over as Mayor met with Bishop Ezra Sargunam, a rabid Christian fundamentalist who shares close ties with the DMK and is known for his hate speech against Hindus. Pictures of this meeting had gone viral on social media.

The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950 states that any person who professes a religion different from Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism shall cease to be a member of the Scheduled Caste (SC).

The Supreme Court in a 2015 ruling had said that once a person ceases to be a Hindu and becomes a Christian, the social and economic disabilities arising because of Hindu religion ceases and hence it is no longer necessary to give him/her protection meant for a Scheduled Caste member.

The apex court also held that a person from Christianity or Islam whose ancestors belonged to a caste categorised as a Scheduled Caste, will be entitled for reservation benefits, when the person returns back to the Indic faiths.

In February 2021, former Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha said that as per the Constitution of India and Indian statute, Hindu persons eligible for reservation benefits, like those belonging to Scheduled Castes, cannot avail the same benefits if they convert to Christianity or Islam.

If at all, Priya Rajan’s religion is established as a Christian, her appointment as Mayor would become illegal and hence liable to be disqualified.

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Russia’s S-400 shoots down Ukrainian fighter jet 150 km away, delivery to India to be on time

By
The Commune
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As Russia promises to supply India the S-400 triumf surface-to-air missile [SAM] system on time, it has emerged that this advanced air defence system has managed to shoot down a Ukrainian fighter jet at a distance of 150 Km. 

As per reports, Russia on February 25, downed Ukrainian fighter jets near Kyiv and sources have confirmed that one of the downed Ukrainian Su-27 fighters was shot down by an S-400 anti-aircraft missile fired by an air defence system.

Russia has claimed that this fighter was hit by a SAM system S-400, which was located in Belarus and according to BulgarianMilitary.com, Moscow deployed at least two S-400 batteries on the territory of Belarus as the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had also asked Russia to deploy at least two more batteries on the outskirts of Minsk.

If this is true, Russia managed to shoot down a Ukrainian Su-27 fighter with its S-400 SAM system in combat from a distance of 150 km, it would be the first time this weapons platform has been used in an actual war showcasing its true capabilities. 

However, Russia has not given in any official statement that it has indeed used the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system that shot down the Ukrainian fighter jet.

It must also be noted that the S-400 that hit the Ukrainian fighter was just one-third of its range because the S-400 is designed to strike at aerial targets at a distance of 400 km and its radars can detect targets at a distance of 600 km.

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Muslims in Vellore convert house-cum-godown into mosque, locals protest

By
The Commune
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Locals along with Hindu Munnani are protesting against the construction of a new Mosque in Sarkar Mandi street in Vellore, Tamil Nadu. 

The protesters claim that the mosque was allegedly built without proper permission and by altering a house overnight. 

The land belongs to an Islamic juice shop owner named Abdul Rahim and was being used as a storage facility. It was recently renovated and a board that reads “Nawab Habibullah Khan Mosque” was put outside. The place was earlier used for private namaz by close family members and friends but is now being opened as a public mosque. 

Reportedly, there are three temples located just a few metres apart and a mosque in the area could create friction between people from different religions.

GS Iqbal, president of Dravida Muslim Munnetra Kalagam (DMMK) was quoted saying in a report that, “The mosque has been there since 1866, and we have revenue records and Wakf board documents supporting that. They (Hindu Munnani) are now opposing this and trying to create religious tension in the area. We have submitted evidence to the RDO and urged the district administration to take action against them,”.

According to journalist Rajesh Rao, documents obtained through RTI, reveal that one Abdul Rahim pays property tax for the building. Though it is a residential building, a juice shop is run in the front by him. He says that if the mosque is allowed to be built, there would be difficulties in celebrating Hindu festivals as they would start objecting. People will gather for namaz in large numbers and park their vehicles on roads haphazardly, resulting in traffic snarls, he said.

He added that Hindu traders directly and indirectly are threatened, pressurized to change their stand. “Efforts are on to divide them on communal, caste basis. They are spreading a lot of falsehood on social media and media. During the previous AIADMK rule, they were dormant, but after DMK won both in assembly and the recent local body elections, there has been full swing activities to build a mosque here. They know that DMK would support.”, he was quoted saying in a report.

Recalling a similar incident that happened earlier, he said “In Sathuvacharry, Islamic trust bought a piece of property and started building a mosque in 2008. Thanks to Hindu Munnani’s protest, which lasted till 2011, and legal battle, they were forced to abandon it.

He noted the instance where Vellaiyan and Dr Arvinda Reddy, who led the protests, were killed by Islamic fundamentalists. H. Ahmed, a state level functionary of the Manitha Neya Makkal Katchi state level functionary puts out clarion calls on social media asking Muslims to gather in large numbers and in spreading false messages about Mahesh and other Hindu leaders.

He said that Muslims in DMK are unanimous in the issue but the Hindus in DMK are forcing Hindu traders to adjust.

When the commotion was reported on February 24, Vellore SP reportedly tried to pacify members of both the communities saying that the Revenue Department is looking into the issue. The Vellore RDO has said asked both sides to present their views.

(With inputs from Organiser)

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Kerala police seize ₹1.5 crore worth drugs from Kannur, Afzal and his wife Balkis arrested

By
The Commune
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In the Communist-ruled state of Kerala, police have arrested Afzal (33) and his wife Balkis (31) were apprehended from Muzhappilangad which led to one of the state’s largest drug hauls.

The police caught the drug smugglers from Kannur and recovered 2 kg of MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine), 7.5 grams of opium, and 7 grams of brown sugar in their possession worth over ₹1.5 crore. 

The couple was caught after the police received and according to City Police Commissioner R Elango, the drugs were brought in on a bus from Bangalore, and Afzal and Balkis went to the postal service office in Thekki Bazaar on March 6 to pick up the package.

As of now, the Kerala police is also looking into their clientele and both have been questioned by the Supredentent of Police who recorded their statement.

According to R Krishnan, who is the City Police Commissioner in Kannur, drugs are being smuggled into the region via parcels and couriers, and a thorough investigation into this matter will be conducted.

(With inputs from OpIndia)

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DMK Min Sekar Babu’s daughter marries lover, seeks police protection against her father

By
The Commune
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Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowents (HR&CE) Minister PK Sekarbabu’s daughter who married her lover a few days ago is currently seeking protection for herself and her husband from her father.

“Vanakkam. My name is Jayakalyani. My father’s name is Sekarbabu. He is the HR&CE Minister of Tamil Nadu.”, she says in a video. 

Pointing to her newly-wed husband, she says “His name is Sathish. We’ve been in love for 6 years. Both of us have now eloped and married. Both of us got married with consent. Both of us are majors. We didn’t get any help or support from anyone. 

Jayakalyani (24) has studied MBBS. Her husband (27) has studied till diploma and is doing business.  

Jayakalyani has appealed to her father not to intimidate any member of her husband’s family because they got married. “My father should not disturb anyone from his family or friends.”, she says in the video. 

Jayakalyani and her husband, Satish Kumar have submitted a memorandum to the Bengaluru Police Commissioner. 

Addressing reporters, she said that they tried to elope in August 2021 but were caught just days after. Sathish and his family were under police custody and were beaten up, Jayakalyani said. Her Minister father had back then registered an FIR against Sathish then.

“My father has registered many false complaints and FIRs against him. We’ve all proof of that.”, she said.

She said that both of them came to Karnataka fearing persecution from her father. She said that she did not receive any help from Tamil Nadu government/police since the government machinery is in the hands of the DMK in Tamil Nadu.

“My father is ready to kill both of us, hence we’ve come to Karnataka. If we go to Tamil Nadu now, we won’t be alive”, she said seeking protection for both her husband and his family. 

Satish Kumar had also released a video where he said that he and Jayakalyani were in a relationship for six years before her politician father came to know about it in January, 2021. “Because of that, we didn’t speak for a while. But later, we started talking again and in August, we ran away together from Chennai. I’m scared now. There are threats to my family from Sekar Babu,” he had said.

Activist Bharath Shetty told IANS that the couple had sought assistance through social media and Shetty said “We organised a marriage ceremony as per Hindu tradition. They have been given life threats from the girl’s family and hence they are requesting for security by the Bengaluru police,”.

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TheCommune
The Commune is a news and views portal focusing on social and political issues of the southern part of India with a focus on Tamil Nadu.
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