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The Week’s senior journo puts problematic tweet over BJP office bombing; deletes tweet after backlash

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The Commune
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On Feb 10th, a petrol bomb was hurled at the BJP office ‘Kamalaalayam’ which is situated in T. Nagar, Chennai. While this happened in the wee hours in the presence of the Tamil Nadu police, the police present had also cleaned the spot where the petrol bombs landed.

One person named ‘Karukka’ Vinod has been arrested in connection with the incident. Reports have stated that Vinod is a history sheeter with a track record of violence. Meanwhile, the BJP had demanded a probe by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) after several reports of attack against party’s cadres.

In view of this case yesterday, a Senior Special Correspondent from The Week, Lakshmi Subramanian, took to twitter to convey her opinion on the case. She said in Tamil, “The place is not even worthy of bombings, idiots.” The tweet came immediately after this happening, and indirectly referred to the Kamalaalayam.

A netizen has now rightly asked, “If some places are not even worth for bombing, can The Week clarify which places are worthy of bombing?” After this pointing out, the journalist has deleted the tweet from her account. The statement however, justifies bombings, as far as the place is ‘worthy’ of it.

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PM to participate in high level segment of One Ocean Summit

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The Commune
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the high-level segment of One Ocean Summit on 11th February at around 2:30 PM through a video message. The high-level segment of the Summit will also be addressed by several Heads of States and Governments including Germany, United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan, Canada, among others.

One Ocean Summit is being organised by France from 9-11 February, in Brest, France, in cooperation with the United Nations and the World Bank. The objective of the Summit is to mobilise the international community to take tangible action towards preserving and supporting healthy and sustainable ocean ecosystems.

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NIA arrests Al Qaeda operative in UP ahead of Assembly election

By
The Commune
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On the eve of the first phase of the state assembly election in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested an al-Qaeda operative who was allegedly involved in a conspiracy to carry out an IED blast in Lucknow.

The person who is now in police custody is one Tawheed Ahmad Shah, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district, and he was arrested on Monday.

The case was registered by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in July last year in Gomtinagar police station against the accused who was recruiting members for the global terrorist organisation al-Qaeda’s affiliate Ansaar Gajwatul Hind (AGH) and wanted to commit acts of terror in Lucknow.

Tawheed was also involved in the procurement of arms, ammunition, and explosive materials to be used for attacks in Uttar Pradesh as it tries to vote for a new state government.

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Congress leader Sonia Gandhi did not pay rent for 10 Janpath residence for 16 months, RTI reveals

By
The Commune
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In another case of embarrassment for the Congress party, as per information ascertained under RTI, several properties occupied by Congress leaders, including party supremo President Sonia Gandhi, have not been paid.

The RTI was filed by activist Sujit Patel and it revealed how the Congress owes rent of several of its properties.

According to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, there has been pending rent against Congress party headquarters on Akbar Road of ₹ 12,69,902 and the last time that the rent was paid was in December 2012

Similarly, Sonia Gandhi’s plush residence on 10 Janpath Road, there is a pending rent of ₹4,610 and the last rent received was in September 2020.

As per the housing rules which allow accommodation to national and state political parties every party is given three years’ time to construct their own office following which the government bungalow will have to be vacated.

The Congress was allotted land in June 2010 on 9-A Rouse Avenue to build a party office and the Congress party was required to vacate the Akbar Road office, however, it has taken multiple extensions so far.

In July 2020, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who is the Congress general secretary was sent an eviction notice to vacate her Lodhi Road accommodation within a months’ time.

Taking a dig at Sonia Gandhi, BJP’s Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga alleged that she is not able to pay rent because she can’t do scams.

“Sonia Gandhi ji not able to pay her rent after losing elections. It is obvious because she can’t do scams now but political differences aside I want to help her as a human being. I launched a campaign #SoniaGandhiReliefFund and sent ₹10 to her account, I request everyone to help her,” he said in a tweet.

Mr Bagga also shared a screenshot of money transferred by him to the account of the Congress interim chief.

 

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Chennai Corporation tells artists to ‘not highlight’ Hindu idols in Chola paintings drawn on subway

By
The Commune
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The Chola-era paintings being painted on the walls of RBI Subway, Rajaji Salai, as part of the “Singara Chennai 2.0”  project will undergo changes as the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has asked the artists not to highlight ‘Hindu idols’, in order to avoid controversy. Already, about 20% of the artwork has been completed.

Artists working on the project were quoted saying in a report by Times of India that some groups exerted pressure and complained to the GCC. However, the civic body has denied such external pressure. “No groups have opposed it. “Some aspects of the paintings were not approved by Greater Chennai Corporation. So, we asked the contractor to rectify it. It is purely internal and there is no external pressure,” deputy commissioner (works) M S Prashanth was quoted saying in the report.

It is to be noted that on 7 February 2021, the Greater Chennai Corporation’s official Twitter page had tweeted photos of the semi-completed artwork. These photos had idols in them, and the officials did not seem to have any problem with it.

The contractor in charge of the project, J P K Vijay was quoted saying in the report that he did not get prior approval for the ideas, but also clarified that the concept was to recreate Chola-era paintings as public art. “They (officials) today asked us to modify the idols. I explained the theme undertaken and further told them that paintings from other religious beliefs too will be included. We will be modifying some of the already done work,” he said.

He also said that this project was mainly focused on Tamil culture and that his recent projects for the GCC also garnered wide appreciation. An artist, who also worked on the project so far, said that even if there is no opposition, there is no need to modify, as the artworks depicted Tamil culture and heritage and not religion as misunderstood. A group of about 15 artists from across the state are a part of this project.
(With inputs from Times of India)

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Petrol bombs hurled at BJP TN office, mainstream media portrays terror incident as ‘protest against NEET’

By
The Commune
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Kamalalayam, the headquarters of BJP Tamil Nadu unit located in Thiyagaraya Nagar, Chennai was attacked with petrol bombs during the wee hours of Thursday (February 10).

Unidentified persons who came in a two-wheeler hurled petrol bombs at the entrance of the office and sped away. No one was harmed in the attack.

It is pertinent to note that the attack took place despite the presence of Tamil Nadu police.

The police have reportedly collected the CCTV footages from cameras placed at the office and in adjacent roads. However, they have not yet released the CCTV footage. The police present had also cleaned the spot where the petrol bombs landed.

One person named ‘Karukka’ Vinod has been arrested in connection with the incident. Reports have stated that Vinod is a history sheeter with a track record of violence. He was reportedly came out of jail 3 days ago.

https://twitter.com/CTR_Nirmalkumar/status/1491644459745828865

However, the Tamil mainstream media quoting police sources has reported the incident peddling that the said Vinod committed the act to protest against BJP’s position on NEET.

The BJP has demanded a probe by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) after several reports of attack against party’s cadres. The party also what was the hurry for the police to clean the place before forensics team collected evidence.

Speaking to reporters, BJP Tamil Nadu President K. Annamalai also said that the state police has been tapping his phones and monitoring his movement.

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AIADMK candidate found dead after alleged death threats from DMK candidate

By
The Commune
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An AIADMK candidate, who was to contest from the 36th Ward in the Kancheepuram district, was found dead in his residence today. The candidate’s father had said that he had committed suicide due to threats from political opponents.

The victim was identified as T Janakiraman (36) who was also a ward secretary. He was actively campaigning for votes after he filed his nomination for ward no. 36 Municipal Corporation. DMK candidate Subburayan is also a candidate contesting for the same ward.

Today morning, Janakiraman’s family members found him dead in his room. The doctors declared him dead after checking his body. A case was registered by the Vishnu Kanchi Police, who are now investigating.

In a complaint, Janakiraman’s father Venugopal said his son told him that he had received threats from those who were contesting against him. “My son was mentally strong and had clarity of thought. This incident has occurred due to threats from someone,” said Mr. Venugopal while seeking police action against those who were allegedly responsible for the death of his son.

AIADMK district secreatary and former Minister V Somasundaram, former MP Kanchi Paneerselvam and former MLA P Ganesan, staged a protest demanding that the police take action against those allegedly responsible for Janakiraman’s suicide.

(With inputs from The Hindu)

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China accuses Quad again, calls it exclusive blocs with cold-war mentality

By
The Commune
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China has accused QUAD, the four-nation alliance of global economic powers of India, the US, Japan, and Australia should stop driving wedges between regional countries and accused the members, including India and US, of creating a bloc confrontation and having a “cold war mentality.”

Zhao Lijian, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said, “We oppose exclusive blocs to create bloc confrontation,” Lijian said while answering a question on the Foreign Ministers’ meeting of the Quad. We hope that the US and relevant countries can get a clear picture of the situation, feel relaxed, abandon the Cold War mentality, stop driving wedges between regional countries and contribute to regional peace, stability and prosperity,”.

The Quad was created to counter the aggression and is working to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence from China’s growing military presence in the strategic region.

On Friday (February 11), foreign ministers from the four countries will be participating in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue in Melbourne.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a statement said the meeting is an opportunity to follow up on their virtual meeting held in February last year and exchange views on regional strategic issues given their shared vision of a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.

However, this Quad meeting comes under the shadow of tension over Russia’s military build-up on the Ukrainian border and China openly threatening Taiwan.

Daniel Kritenbrink, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs while speaking to reporters in Washington on February 4 said, “In this era of intense competition, changing strategic landscapes, economic coercion and, of course, this very difficult global pandemic, there is no greater global partnership than what we’re trying to accomplish through the Quad,”.

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India to showcase LCA Tejas at Singapore Air Show

By
The Commune
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After the sale of BraMos to the Philippines, India’s indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) TEJAS will be showcasing its capabilities at the Singapore Air Show.

The Singapore Air Show is one of the world’s premier aviation events and will be held from February 15 to 18 at the Changi Exhibition Centre.

However, the Singapore air show is very important because it will allow countries in South East Asia to get an up close and personal look at this fighter that has some of the most advanced technology in it.

Tejas is a single-engine, multi-role supersonic fly-by-wire (FBW) fighter with the ability to refuel in the air. It has a glass cockpit with an advanced digital cockpit, multi-mode radar, integrated digital avionics system, advanced composite material structures, and a satellite-assisted inertial navigation system, making it a fourth-generation fighter.

India is now looking to sell the TEJAS to the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), as it wants to replace its aging BAE Systems Hawk 108 and Hawk 208.

Also, the cost of the TEJAS matches the RMAF expectations and India is hoping for a countertrade for the sale of TEJAS to the Royal Malaysian Air Force for palm oil because Malaysia has some budgetary and Forex issues and wants a barter payment system by trading in Palm oil for 18 fighter jets.

India is the world’s largest importer of palm oil and is responsible for buying more than 9 million tons annually and the majority of its comes from Indonesia and Malaysia.

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Jai Bhim crew’s Oscars publicity fails, film doesn’t make it to nomination list

By
The Commune
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A month back, the headlines mostly spoke about Jai Bhim making it into the Oscar nominations.  Tamil media and a coterie of YouTube channels were jumping that that a scene from Jai Bhim,  had made it to The Oscar’s official YouTube channel. It was also pedddled that the movie has been selected for the Osccars.

However, The Commune had earlier busted the half-truths peddled by popular media channels that the movie has been nominated for the Oscars. The film Jai Bhim had not made it into any jury selected nomination list, and merely made it into a ‘Reminder List’ of the Oscar, i.e., a list of movies that would qualify all the necessary rules, to make it to nominations.

The general nomination list for Oscar, is not the one that is determined by the Oscar jury. Instead, it is the list of all films submitting their entries, asking that they should be considered for the Award. There are rules such as, “Movies should be more than 40 minutes. They should have a specific pixels and sound quality,” that act as qualifiers for films to even apply for the Oscar awards. The Oscar then releases a list of all movies that basically qualify these rules, called as a ‘Reminder List’.

In such a manner, a Reminder List consisting of 276 films have been released for 2022. Movies like Marakkar and Jai Bhim amongst others, are a part of that list. It is to be noted that the Reminder List is neither the Awardee List, nor the Nomination List. It is just a list of films that have qualified to apply for the award. So, the film’s team submitted Jai Bhim for this list, and claimed that ‘Jai Bhim has been qualified for the Oscars’. They basically only shared news about half of the truth, making people believe that the movie has actually received that much appreciation.

In reality, a movie called Koozhangal was selected to represent India for the Best Feature Film category of the Oscars this year, but it was not selected by the Academy Awards jury.

However, like this was not expected, all media channels have reported that ‘Jai Bhim fails to make it to Oscars’, spreading a wrong narrative that it had the chances to make it to the Academy Awards. However, the reality is that Jai Bhim was never going to make it to the Oscars, as it was not even selected by the film makers crew of India, to be considered to be sent for the Oscar nominations. Believing that Jai Bhim actually had a chance, many netizens have reacted worried on its failure to make it. However, it would only be correct if media channels spell out the whole truth behind this, instead of reporting half truth, that helps spread an agenda.

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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.
Contact us: thecommune.news@gmail.com
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