Home Blog Page 1492

NIA raids 11 locations across India, arrests three for recruiting new members into ISIS

PFI arrested love jihad law Indore NIA Kerala ISIS

In a disturbing development, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested three individuals from Kerala on charges of  recruiting new members for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

With the state now being seen as home to Islamic terrorism, the frequent raids and arrests of Jihadists from Kerala are an affirmation of the growing Jihadi network in the state.

On 15 March, the NIA conducted simultaneous raids across eleven locations in Kerala, Bengaluru and Delhi and arrested three Muslims hailing from Kerala. The accused have been identified as Mohammad Ameen alias Abu Yahya, Mushab Anuvar and Rahees Rashid. They have been charged under sections 120B, 121 and 121A of Indian Penal Code & Sections 17, 18, 18B, 20, 38 & 40 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The accused ran various propaganda channels on social media and recruited new members for the ISIS module.

In Kerala, the raids took place in the districts of Kannur, Kasaragod, Malappuram and Kollam. The arrests come amid the impending Kerala Assembly elections.

The NIA also revealed that the accused had planned to migrate to Jammu and Kashmir to engage in terror activities. During the raid, the investigative agency also confiscated several digital devices including laptops, mobile, hard disk, pen drives, SIM cards and ISIS-related documents from the accused.

Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.

India now part of select group of nations having nuclear missile tracking technology

India nuclear missile tracking technology

India has now joined a select group of nations that possess nuclear missile tracking capability. The secretive vessel with this technology, referred to as VC 11184, was quietly commissioned into service by the Indian Navy in October last year, reports the Economic Times.

The ship has the capability to monitor missile launches by India’s adversaries, Pakistan and China, at long distances.

This nuclear missile tracking ship was under construction at Visakhapatnam’s Hindustan Shipyard since 2014.

The successful commissioning of this ship was due to the direct involvement of the Prime Minister’s Office and the National Security Advisor. This project was under the supervision of the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), India’s technical intelligence agency.

The ship had cleared trials in 2020 but the induction got delayed by a few months due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, harbour trials of the ocean surveillance ship began sometime in 2018.

The ship will be operated by a joint crew, from the NTRO, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Navy.

With the induction of the vessel into service, India is now part of a small group of four countries — the US, Russia, France and China — which operate similar vessels.

The weight of this vessel is 15,000-tonne and will carry a surveillance system that has three dome-shaped antennas. The ship’s surveillance system has been put through extensive testing since 2018.

Apart from tracking missile launches, this ship will also be used for electronic intelligence (ELINT) and monitoring missile tests as part of the ballistic missile defence programme that is under development.

Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.

“Work to lay foundation for Ram Mandir begun, construction to finish in 3 years”, says VHP

Ram Mandir Ayodhya construction temple chariot

The much-awaited work to lay the foundation for Ram Mandir in Ayodhya began on Monday (15 March) and as per the information that has been made available, the 13,000 sq ft foundation will be filled with more than 50 layers of cohesive material to raise the foundation to 25 ft above the ground level.

The trustees of Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, including general secretary Champat Rai, trustees Dr Anil Mishra, Raja Vimlendra Mohan Pratap Mishra, Mahant Dinendra Das performed Vedic puja at the site before the commencement of the works.

“The work to fill the foundation for construction of Shri Ram Mandir commenced with Vedic Puja at Shri Ram Janmbhoomi today. Office bearers of Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra and senior government officials were present on the occasion,” the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra said in a tweet.

According to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), so far ₹ 2,500 crore has been collected for the construction of the Ram Mandir.

“Based on banks’ receipts till February ₹ 2,500 crores has been collected during donation drive for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya,” the outfit said in a statement.

Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust’s general secretary Champat Rai on 7 March said that the construction of the grand temple of Lord Ram in Ayodhya is likely to be completed in three years.

Rai said that the temple will be built in about two and a half acres of land and a wall, known as the “parkota’, will be built around it. He said that retaining walls will be built inside the ground to prevent the effects of floods. “This work will be completed in three years and with this preparation, we are doing all the work”, he added.

Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.

Indus River Commission to meet after 2.5 years

Top officials from the Indian and Pakistani Indus Commissions are to meet in Delhi on March 23 and 24 to discuss a number of issues, including Pakistan’s concerns over the implementation of Indian hydropower projects on the Chenab River, as per Saxena, a senior Central government official.

It is noteworthy that, under the terms of the Indus Water Treaty, the two Commissioners must meet alternately once a year in India and Pakistan. This year’s meeting will be held in New Delhi on March 23-24. This will be the first meeting between the two commissioners after the repeal of the special provisions of Section 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. It is noteworthy that India has sanctioned several hydropower projects in Ladakh after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A.

The Central government has approved hydropower projects in Turbuk Shiok, Shanku, Nimu Chilling, Rondo and Ratan Nag in the Leh area. India had already informed Pakistan of these plans. However, this issue is expected to be the central issue during the meeting. Saxena added during his address to the press that Pakistan’s concerns over the design of Indian hydropower projects on the Chenab River would also be discussed.

Earlier, last year’s meeting, scheduled to be held in New Delhi in March 2020, was cancelled for the first time since the Indus Treaty came into force in lieu of the epidemic. India proposed to Pakistan in July 2020 that a meeting to discuss the pending issues related to the Indus Water Treaty should be held in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, but Pakistan insisted that the talks be held at the Attari checkpoint.

However, India said it was not optimal to hold the meeting at the Attari Joint Check Post due to the global pandemic. Saxena had said that the meeting will now be held with all corona protocols in place. The meeting is set to take place after a gap of almost two and a half years. Earlier, the last meeting took place in August 2018 in Lahore. The Indian delegation will be led by Saxena along with consultants from the Central Water Authority, Central Electricity Board and the National Hydropower Corporation.

Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.

Chicago River dyed green to celebrate St Patrick’s Day

The Chicago River turned green after the city’s Mayor Lori Lightfoot reversed an earlier decision not to open the waterway due to the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. After Lightfoot granted permission for the citizens to perform the dyeing ceremony before St. Patrick’s Day, people on boats began throwing green dye along the river at 7 p.m. on Monday, local time. The clear view of the Chicago River, which has since turned green throughout, delighted pedestrians engaged in morning walks.

Chicagoans Lori Jones and Mike Smith noticed that the water had turned green and said that they were happy to see the tradition, which began in 1962, to have now re-emerged this year after Corona. “We are delighted that Mayor Lightfoot decided to continue this tradition because, like so many other things in 2020, we missed this one last year,” Jones, 59, told the Chicago Tribune.

Last year, Lightfoot abruptly cancelled the city’s 2020 parade and the river dyeing ceremony just days before it was to take place in the early days of the pandemic. She had recently said she would not allow the parade this year as well due to the prolonged effects of the pandemic and that claimed that the river would not be dyed again. But a spokesman for Lightfoot said in a statement that the city had authorized its partners, the Chicago Plumbers’ Union Local 130, to dye the river, out of respect for its long-standing heritage.

Although this has been received with a lot of cheer from the public, environmentalists are concerned over the long-standing effects that this might have on the river’s water quality.

Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.

Construction of mosque in Ayodhya to start in May

Ayodhya mosque

It has been reported that the construction work for the grand mosque and hospital in Ayodhya is scheduled to start in May. In its judgement given on November 9, 2019, the Supreme Court of India granted 2.77 acres of land in Ayodhya for the construction of Ram Mandir, which was considered “a disputed structure”.

The apex court also ordered the Central government to provide 5 acres of alternative land for Muslims to build a mosque. Accordingly, 5 acres of land in Thannipur village was allotted for the construction of a new mosque. On this land, the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) set up by the Uttar Pradesh State Sunni Waqf Board is to build a new mosque.

The spokesman of the IICF, Attar Hussein, said that the site would house a huge mosque, a hospital, a museum and a cultural centre. The architectural design was developed by SM Akhtar, a senior architect.

In the mosque complex, a green area and a parking lot are also to be established. Next week, the design map will be sent to the Ayodhya city administration for approval. With the approval, construction work on the hospital will begin in May, he added.

Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.

Pak’s Hindu minority decides to ‘pardon’ the Muslim mob that demolished 100-year old temple

Pakistan Hindu temple

The minority Hindu community in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has decided to ‘pardon’ the radical Islamist mob that vandalised and burned down the century-old Krishna Dwara temple in the area, reports Times Of India.

A meeting was held between members of the persecuted Hindu community and some clerics from the area to resolve the dispute. In the conciliatory dialogue, informally called ‘jirga’, the accused have tendered an apology over the attack and a similar incident in 1997.

The Hindu community has reportedly agreed to pardon the mob accused of vandalising the century-old temple. In return, the Muslim clerics have assured full protection to the Hindus and their rights as per the Constitution of the Islamic Republic.

The temple, which is situated in Terri village of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak district was vandalised last December by a mob led by local clerics and members of radical Islamist party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam. The mob has also destroyed an adjoining ‘samadhi’ and set it on fire along with an under-construction house owned by a Hindu.

The shrine built before 1920 was a historic place of worship. A Muslim cleric from Karak, who enjoys the support of a militant group, had allegedly instigated the local Muslims against the Hindu community and provoked them to demolish the temple.

Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.

UP govt unearths irregularities in leasing out of govt land to Kamala Nehru Educational Society in Rae Bareli

sonia rahul gandhi national herald congress india

In another setback and embarrassment for the Indian National Congress, the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Police have uncovered mammoth irregularities in leasing out of government land to Kamala Nehru Educational Society in Rae Bareli in 2001, reports Times of India.

The UP Police has so far booked 12 people for fraud, including former staffers of the Society, revenue officials, and the then additional district magistrate (ADM) on the charges of tampering with government documents and causing damage to public property.

Rebel Congress MLA from Rae Bareli Aditi Singh said, “I would like to thank UP CM for pushing for a probe and registering a case against the culprits. The Gandhi family has huge stakes in the Trust with Vikram Kaul and Salman Khursheed being members. The land was allocated for the education of girls, but was never used for this purpose.”

Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.

Leader of Mahila Congress in Kerala shaves her head for being denied ticket

Things took an unfortunate turn for the Congress party in Kerala when its Mahila Congress chief Lathika Subhash shaved her head after being denied a party ticket to contest elections. She has alleged that she was denied the ticket due to coalition politics and the agreement hat was reached between the Congress and the Communist party.

Lathika Subhash decided to shave her head as an act of protest and injustice right in front of the Congress’s office in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday (14 March).

After shaving off her hair, Lathika said, “I removed my hair for women’s justice. I will resign from my post as Kerala Mahila Congress chief. I have even spoken to high command.”

Incidentally it was Rahul Gandhi who had appointed Lathika Subhash as the new president of the Mahila Congress in the state in 2018.

Already the party is facing a exodus of leaders and supporters. Last week senior Congress leader Chacko resigned from the party after he accused the party of rampant ‘groupism’.

“There is no democracy left in Congress. Candidate list has not been discussed with the state Congress committee. I have sent my resignation to Sonia Gandhi,” Chacko had said. “Being a Congressman in Kerala is very difficult. If you belong to some group in Congress then only you can survive. The leadership of Congress is not that much active,” Chacko had added.

Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.

Unique green rose found growing in Coonoor’s Sims park

Sims Park Coonoor green rose

Green roses, which are a unique form of roses and are rarely found in India, were found to have bloomed in Coonoor’s Sims Park. They were last found in 2019 after which they are found in full bloom only this year.

Over 3.10 lakh flower seedlings were planted in Coonoo’s Sims Park in January and were set to bloom in the summer season. These planted seedlings were watered and maintained by the park staff. As for the botanical nursery, green roses were grown and are now in full bloom. The fresh green rose plants were taken from the soil and re-planted in flower pots. Soon, they are to be placed for sightseeing purposes for the tourists.

In 2019, when this programme was first started, an official from the Horticulture Department in charge of maintaining the park, said, “We are planning to include the ‘Green Rose’ in the upcoming summer festival for it would be a sure attraction for tourists. The ‘Green Rose’ sapling which was planted by the late Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, adorns the entrance to Sims Park with tourists in awe of the new rose variety.”

About 50 ‘Green Rose’ saplings were originally brought to the Sims Park to add colour to the flower beds and attract more tourists in the months leading to the summer season in 2019.

Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.