After the assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and Kerala which was conducted on 6 April, Makkal Neethi Maiam (MNM) chief Kamal Haasan in a tweet raised concerns about medical wastes from Kerala getting dumped in villages near Pollachi, Tamil Nadu.
The actor-politician said, “Medical waste from Kerala is being buried in a garden near Pollachi for many years. It is the responsibility of the government to stop the anti-social elements from destroying the surroundings. Both the state governments should immediately pay attention to this.”
கேரளத்தில் இருந்து வரும் மருத்துவக் கழிவுகளை பொள்ளாச்சிக்கு அருகே உள்ள தோட்டத்தில் குழி தோண்டி புதைத்திருக்கிறார்கள்.இது பல ஆண்டுகளாக நடந்துவருகிறதாம். சூழலை அழிக்கும் சமூகவிரோத செயல்களைத் தடுக்க வேண்டியது அரசின் கடமை. இரு மாநில அரசும் இதை உடனடியாகக் கவனிக்க வேண்டும்.
Locals have been raising the problem for many years while the Kerala government looked the other way. Many netizens took to the comments section saying if the actor-politician knew about the issue only now, after the elections.
Some also called out Kamal Haasan for not tagging Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the tweet. One user asked if whether the actor-politician is scared of tagging Pinarayi Vijayan as Kamal shares a close relationship with the communist Chief Minister.
கேரளாவில் இருந்து நாம் பாடம் கற்றே ஆக வேண்டும்- அப்படித்தானே உலக்கை.
@vijayanpinarayi விஜயனை tag பண்ண பயமா.
— @GopalanVs- a proud Hindu-(MODI KA PARIVAR) (@GopalanVs2) April 9, 2021
Farmers belonging to Senampathy near Pollachi seized three lorries that had come from Kerala dumping medical and plastic waste. A case has been registered against Saju Antony, a land owner from Thrissur, Kerala. It has been revealed that large pits have been dug and waste buried in that private land for more than three years.
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Ending all speculation on whether the United States will force India to make a “net-zero” pledge, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said that the pledge was not an absolute requirement for India and it is already doing everything needed to get there in regards to climate action.
Kerry made the statement after meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (9 April), reports Times of India.
A lot of experts in India were fretting that America will use its powers to force India to make a “net-zero” pledge. However, Kerry made it very clear that to ask India to make a net-zero pledge was not his message to PM Modi.
Kerry said, “He (Modi) understands the challenge. It would be great if India wanted to say that but I don’t think it’s an absolute requirement.”
In December last year, PM Modi had said that India is not just on its way to achieve the targets set by the Paris Agreement, but will also far exceed them beyond expectations.
John Kerry also was appreciative of India’s ambitious plan to take its installed renewable energy capacity to 450 GW by 2030. He went on to say that if the goal is achieved, India would be one of the few nations helping “keep 1.5 degrees alive”.
When asked if he was was putting together a consortium to finance India’s renewable energy ambitions, John Kerry said that there are a lot of countries willing to invest in India’s green energy ambitions under the right investment conditions and the US is keen to work very closely with India, focusing on technology and financing.
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A Varanasi Court on Thursday (8 April) gave its approval for a survey of the Kashi Vishwanath temple and Gyanvapi Mosque complex by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
The ASI is expected to form a committee to conduct the survey, while the Uttar Pradesh government has been directed by the court to bear the cost of the archaeological survey. The court has also stipulated that at least two members of the five-member team of eminent archaeologists should be from the minority community.
Lawyer Vijay Shankar Rastogi had filed a plea seeking the land on which Gyanvapi Mosque stands be transferred to Hindus as the mosque was built by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1664 after bringing down a portion of the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
After his plea was filed, in January 2020, the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee had filed an objection against the petition seeking a survey of the Gyanvapi compound.
The Archaeological Survey of India will now conduct a survey of the area in order to find out more details and whether a Masjid was built on the land of the temple.
According to lawyer Shehzad Poonawalla, if the Masjid was been built after destroying a Mandir, the Muslim community should go for conciliation.
The matter will be taken up by the court next on May 31, 2021.
However, reacting to the Varanasi court order, Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board in Lucknow said it will approach Allahabad High Court challenging the archaeological survey.
Waqf Board Chairman Zufar Ahmad Farooqui in a statement said, “Our understanding is clear that this case is barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. The Places of Worship Act was upheld by a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in the Ayodhya judgment.”
The status of Gyanvapi Masjid is, as such, beyond question, he asserted.
“Even otherwise, we can say as per legal advice that the order of survey is questionable because technical evidence can only supplement certain foundational facts. No evidence has been produced before the court that suggests that there was a prior existing temple at the site of the mosque,” he added.
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A class 3 student who was caught for stealing a bicycle got a sweet surprise from Kerala police who bought him a new cycle in order to make him realize his mistake.
Recently, a complaint was lodged at the police station that a bicycle was stolen from a house near Attappadi in Palakkad district of Kerala.
Inspector Vinod Krishnan was shocked when he found the thief as it turned out to be an eight-year-old boy. The class 3 student admitted to stealing a small bicycle from the house next door out of desire to ride a bicycle. The police retrieved the bicycle from him and handed it over to the owner.
The boy was later sent home after counseling. Later, the police went to the boy’s house and gifted him a new bicycle. The boy happily accepted the gift and promised that he will never steal again.
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A study conducted by Harvard University has praised the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh (UP) in handling the massive migrant crisis and the unforeseen challenges caused during the time of coronavirus pandemic.
An official spokesman from the University highlighted how efficiently the UP government handled the migrant crisis by providing transportation facilities, delivering ration kits, and running healthcare centres for outbreak prevention.
The migrant labourers returning to UP were mostly earned daily wages for survival and the state government announced schemes to provide free ration to the migrants.
The Harvard report went at length and reported how the Yogi government ‘model’ manages to take care of prevention from the pandemic, sustenance of their families, employment arrangements along skill mapping and other logistics.
The state government had organised in one of the most efficient manners, the safe return of migrants and create employment opportunities in the state by taking a holistic approach towards addressing the crisis, the study said.
The Yogi government not only provided buses and train services for stranded migrants but it also arranged transportation facilities for within-state travel and ensured that the schemes of the government became known to the people so they can utilise them.
As per data the state government arranged 1604 trains and brought back over 21 lakh migrants through Shramik trains i.e. 80 per cent of the total migrants who returned to the state.
The state government also brought back thousands of migrant workers from Delhi within a time span of 24 hours after the borders were sealed on March 28, 2020, and ensured round-the-clock free buses were made available for migrants wanting to travel within the state.
It had also put in place a three-step approach for outbreak prevention – thermal screening, quarantine, and isolation and the health department formed more than 90,000 screening teams to screen the migrants and anyone who came in contact with them.
The state government also set up as many as 18140 quarantine facilities as per the guidelines issued by National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and a total of 15.15 lakh migrants were quarantined at different points in time. The third step was isolation and testing of the migrants with suggestive symptoms.
The state government developed two types of ration kits: a 15-day ration kit and a 7-day ration kit for the migrants. Over 20.67 lakh families availed of these benefits out of which 16.35 lakh were provided with the 15-day ration kit. It established community kitchens.
Also, a total of ₹1,51,82,67,000 has been transferred to 15.18 lakh migrants’ account.
The state government devised a three-tier system (L1, L2, and L3) to deal with suspected and positive cases of COVID-19 in the state. By June 23, 2020, a total of 403 L1 hospitals, 75 L2 hospitals, and 25 L3 hospitals had been fully set up in the state.
However, what is even more important was formulating long-term plans to build economic opportunities for migrants closer to home using skill mapping of the migrants in order to get suitable employment for them.
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The Congress party deleted a tweet it posted on April 8th after it was mocked by netizens for tweeting in support of the BJP on food prices.
The Congress criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet, accusing him of keeping the middle class from purchasing food under the current regime.
Congress compared food prices in Delhi at the end of the UPA-2 regime in April 2014 to current food prices in Delhi in the accompanying chart.
Social media users pointed out that the graphic, which indicated that the price of the quoted items was only as high as Rs 3 to Rs 17 per kilograms or litre, proved low food inflation.
The Reserve Bank is currently recommending an inflation target of 2 to 6 percent per annum in 2016. Both high inflation and deflation contribute to lower consumer purchasing power, thus hampering the growth of GDP.
A passenger travelling from Bengaluru to Delhi in an Air Asia flight on April 6 took off his clothes and started misbehaving with the cabin crew following an argument.
The man on board Air Asia flight number I5-722 started arguing with the cabin crew about the life jacket and went on to misbehave with the female cabin crew. Though the crew tried to calm him down, he started stripping himself removing all his clothes one after another, and stood naked. He is also said to have asked for a kiss from the female cabin crew.
One of the crew members with the help of other passengers brought the situation under control and informed the pilot of the same. The pilot then conveyed the matter to Delhi Air Traffic Controller and took permission for an early landing.
The passenger was later handed over to the police with the help of CISF. A case has been registered against the passenger by Delhi Police.
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A Hindu and Muslim who have been friends for more than four decades passed away together at a hospital near Ariyalur.
Mahalingam, 78, a resident of Jubilee Road, Jayankondam, Ariyalur district, was a priest at the Kaliamman temple who also ran a tea shop in the area. Jainulabudin, 66, who lived opposite his house, ran a rice mill.
The two have been close friends for 40 years and regularly participated in auspicious and mourning ceremonies held at their homes. Old age had led to both of them develop ailments taking a toll on their health.
For the past few days, the two have been receiving treatment at Jayankondam Government Hospital in adjacent beds. The two died in a row within half an hour yesterday evening.
Their relatives and the people of the area paid a tearful tribute to both and rejoiced at having been inseparable even in death.
This is Part 3 of a Special Report on the Kerala-based Christian evangelical organisation, Gospel For Asia, and the Believers Eastern Church. Here are Part 1 and Part 2.
A series of actions taken by various Indian law enforcement agencies and Indian tax authorities against Kerala-based Gospel for Asia have brought to light large-scale diversion of donor funds for acquisition of assets and investment in “for profit” activities. One of India’s largest evangelical organisations, Gospel For Asia (GFA) is headed by self-styled Bishop Moran Mor Athanasius Yohan I Metropolitan, Believers Eastern Church.
GFA is also facing a class action suit in Canada from aggrieved donors and has just settled another class action suit in USA from aggrieved donors. Donor funds vanishing into thin air, funds ’round-tripped’ from the US to India and back to the US as “anonymous donations”, diversion of donor funds into for-profit activities, defamation suits to browbeat opponents − this is only a tip of the proverbial iceberg of serious allegations levelled against GFA and Believers’ Church.
The Lure of “100 % Guarantee For Donor Fund to Field”
Donors to GFA were assured that 100 % of their donations will be sent to the field-intended beneficiaries without any administrative or other expenses. This guarantee was a huge motivating factor for donors to send in their donations. A donor sending in donation for child support was under the assurance that his or her entire donation will reach the child. But that was not the case.
Apart from diverting nearly 80 % of the donations to non-donor intended purposes, even the wordings of the “100 % guarantee” were altered in due course. An excerpt from the now settled class action law suit reads:
27. But GFA revised its explanation of the 100% Guarantee by adding the following wholly new verbiage: “We are committed to honouring your gift preferences, however, occasionally we receive more contributions for a given project than can be wisely applied to that project. When this happens we use the funds to meet a similar pressing need.”
The following two screenshots from GFA’s website illustrate the change:
Investment in “For Profit” Activities out of Donor Tied Funds:
In flagrant violation of India’s Foreign Currency Regulation Act, 2010 and a complete diversion of donor funds, Gospel for Asia and Believers Church invested huge sums of money in acquiring rubber plantations, construction of hospitals, colleges and schools. An excerpt from the now settled class action law suit:
38. Yohannan created Believers Church in 2003. From 2003 through 2014, GFAsolicited and collected approximately $700,000,000 from U.S. donors. During this period, Believers Church bought and operated the following: (1) A 2,300-acre for-profit rubber plantation, the Cheruvally Rubber Estate (2) Carmel Engineering College, a for-profit undergraduate institute in Kerala, India, of which K.P. Yohannan is the “patron” as shown on the College’s homepage (3) Believers Church Medical College Hospital, a for-profit, 500-bed teaching hospital established in Kerala in 2014, of which K.P. Yohannan is the “patron,” 4) At least six for-profit primary schools in Kerala, India, for which K.P. Yohannan is patron (5) Sponsorship of a football (soccer) club playing the Myanmar National League.
The Missing Millions of Gospel For Asia:
In 2013, of the $76.3 million GFA-International received from GFA entities in the United States, Canada, and Germany, almost $43 million went missing, no longer accounted for in GFA financial documents nor received in India per FC-6 forms.
The four Indian-based GFA affiliates (GFA-India, Believers Church, Love India Ministries, and Last Hour Ministries) declared receipt of $33.6 million from foreign sources. Just $28.3 million was declared to have come from the U.S., Canada, and Germany through GFA-International; the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand had sent the balance directly to these GFA affiliates.
Between 2007-2014, Gospel for Asia spent around 20% of donor funds on actual mission expenditure, i.e., donor tied specific sponsorships like child support, water wells, toilets, blankets purchase of livestock for income support etc. Rest of the funds were diverted for other activities in a complete let down of donor’s intentions.
2013 – Gospel for Asia. Utilisation of donations for various activities (Class Action Suit document page 18/109, para 29. (Source: Gospel For Asia financial statements and FCRA returns submitted to Govt. of India)
Exhibit 5 of Class Action Suit (since settled out of court)
Misleading Statements in Public Appearances
Gospel for Asia leader KP Yohannan, who calls himself “Moran Mor Athanasius Yohan I Metropolitan, Believers Eastern Church” has been caught in many bold-faced lies, including saying that he is not on any boards or trusts in India and has no legal control of entities there, when numerous public records show that he has full legal authority over Believers’ Church, its assets, and other entities there.
During a meeting with staff and in an interview with Francis Chan uploaded in Gospel Asia’s YouTube Channel, he said:
My role is being a spiritual father of right now about 2.7 million people scattered throughout all these nations and I do not have any legal say or decision about legal matters. My role is a spiritual leadership. You may not have asked that but there are hundreds of trusts and entities in all these countries. I don’t sit on any of those things. There are their own people. And my role is the spiritual leadership.
Contrary to what Yohanan said, a perusal of the constitution of the Believers Church shows that the Metropolitan of Believers Church wields enormous powers and is the final authority on every issue concerning Believers Church. He has powers not only on spiritual matters, but on entire administration, organisation and restructuring/re-organisation of Believers Church. In most of the court cases filed by Believers Church, Government agencies, brochures of educational institutions of Believers Church, Yohanan is shown as the Managing Trustee of Believers Church.
Excerpts of the Constitution of the Believers’ Church outlining the powers of the Metropolitan Bishop
Believers Church Properties Registered Personally Under the Name of the Metropolitan, and not the Church Institution
According to the Constitution, the Metropolitan also is co-owner with Believers Church of all property maintained by the church. In 2005, local church pastors were reminded to register property in Yohannan’s name. The following letter was sent to make sure they did it according to church policy.
A copy of the letter sent to local church pastors by GFA, reminding them to register properties under the name of the Metropolitan Bishop
This is in clear violation of Foreign Currency Regulation Act, 2010 which mandates that all properties created out of FCRA receipts shall be registered in the name of the institution receiving the funds. FCRA rules clearly state that:
Every asset purchased with foreign contribution should be acquired and possessed in the name of the association since an association has a separate legal entity distinct from its members.
In view of this rule of the GFA of registering church properties in the name of K P Yohanan in his capacity as the Metropolitan of the Believer’s Church, it is quite possible that numerous properties are registered under his name. For example, in reply to an RTI query, the Mandal Parishad Development Officer of Tadepalligudem Mandal in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh gave the reply that in the village of Dandugarra, the site of Believers Church is registered in the name of K P Yohanan and not in the name of the church.
Reply to the RTI query revealing that in the village of Dandugarra, the site of Believers Church is registered in the name of K P Yohanan and not in the name of the church
Since land records are maintained by state governments, Government of India should attach all properties of Believers’ Church in India. They should also obtain full details of each and every property registered in the name of K P Yohanan or Believers Church anywhere in India.
Diversion of Donor Funds to Income-generating Activities and Asset Buying:
One of the charges levied against Gospel for Asia by the Ecumenical Council for Financial Authority was diversion of donor money towards income generating activities. To quote from their report:
1. Use of field-generated funds to satisfy designated foreign contributions. During our meeting on July 1, ECFA first learned that GFA and its field partners have engaged in a multi-year practice whereby field partners at least partially satisfied the designations on foreign contributions (primarily from U.S. donors, restricted for field use in India) by using locally generated field income (contributions from donors in India, profits from an India based rubber plantation, hospitals, etc.).
Such a move is clear violation of donor’s mandate as well as the provisions of Clause 8, Section 1(a) FCRA Act, 2010 which clearly states that:
Every person, who is registered and granted a certificate or given prior permission under this Act and receives any foreign contribution shall utilise such contribution for the purposes for which the contribution has been received.
Investing FCRA contributions in profitable ventures and using the profits arising thereof for welfare activities is also prohibited by FCRA Act and the rules framed thereunder. Between 2003 and 2013, only 20 % of the donor funds were utilised for donor mandated purposes and 80% was diverted for Gospel for Asia−Believers Church asset acquisitions and investments in “for profit” business ventures.
There are several income producing entities in Asia. That’s why partly why we have 35% of our church is self-sustaining, by God’s grace now in Asia.
From the foregoing, it is very clear that Gospel for Asia and Believers Church had a clear-cut strategy of diverting the bulk of donor funds to asset building and investments in “for profits” ventures so that they could be totally self-sustaining without depending upon any donor or subject themselves to the laws of various countries. In a ruthless pursuit of this objective, they have completely let down their donors who parted with their hard-earned money to help the poor and needy. For more than three decades, GFA has violated multiple laws in countries where it operates. Though the law is slowly catching up with the violations of GFA and Believers Church, the sheer scale of operations of GFA spanning almost all continents over a time period of three decades calls for a much wider and deeper probe by Indian law enforcement agencies. They should consider joining the ongoing class action suit in Canada.
Another step that needs to be implemented immediately is to make it mandatory to submit to the Government of India, on a quarterly basis, all literature, posters, videos, and other material relating to fund-raising by FCRA NGOs abroad. The sheer amount of misinformation about India, especially portraying India as a country of mass poverty, is causing serious damage to the nation’s image.
This part concludes the Special Report on the alleged fund-diversions and other illegalities perpetrated by Gospel For Asia and Believers’ Church.
Acknowledgement: The author of this report acknowledges the efforts made by Warren Throckmorton, a blogger and professor at Grove City College (https://www.wthrockmorton.com/), who has meticulously documented, from 2015 onwards, all issues relating to GFA. Despite threats of legal action, he has exposed the misdeeds of Gospel For Asia and Believers Church.
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On Thursday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi briefed the Chief Ministers of all the states about the necessary procedures to be followed in order to take stock of the rapid progression of the second wave of COVID-19. The meeting also reviewed the current situation in each state as well as the vaccination progress.
During this meeting, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s distracted antics became an object of ridicule and soon started becoming viral on social media. Screenshots of the videocall showed him half asleep, with disinterested expressions on his face started being shared by multiple users on Twitter, and several people amongst the Twitterati accused him of throwing ‘caution to the air’, as he had not been paying attention to the PM’s instructions on the standard procedures to be followed in order to curb the spread of the virus.
Soon after these images started making news, there were several users who also shared screenshots of the Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray busily checking his phone while in the meeting.
Netizens, who were enraged at these careless displays by the CMs of two states whose coronavirus tolls were the highest, accused them saying that their attitude was the reason for the rapid increase in the cases in their states. They went on to say that it was worthy of shame that two CMs who had constantly been critical about the Modi government were doing such acts.
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