Navy official burned alive in Palghar after his abduction from Chennai

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February 6, 2021

A seriously injured Navy official, with serious burns on his body, was found in Maharashtra’s Palghar on February 5. He later succumbed to his injuries on Saturday.

The official, identified as 27-year-old Suraj Kumar Dubey, was a resident of Ranchi in Jharkhand. He was abducted from Chennai and brought to Maharashtra. The kidnappers burned him alive as he refused to pay them a ransom of ₹10 lakhs.

“A case has been registered against three unidentified persons and a probe has been initiated,” said Palghar SP Dattatray Shinde. Shinde added that Suraj Kumar Dubey succumbed to his injuries on Saturday after being shifted to a Mumbai hospital for further treatment.

“The navy officer refused to pay a ransom of ₹10 lakhs. The locals informed police, then brought him into the district civil hospital, later in Mumbai. He was abducted near the Chennai airport,” said Shinde.

Police say that Dubey’s car was hijacked by three men from Chennai airport on January 31. He was confined at an undisclosed location in Chennai for three days. Subsequently, he was brought to the forests in the Western Ghats of Vevji village in Talasari taluka near the Maharashtra-Gujarat border around 9 am on February 5.

After seeing a naked man in the forest around noon, the locals informed the Vevji police station under Gholwad police station. A case has been registered against the three unidentified kidnappers under Sections 302, 364, 392 and 34 at the Gholwad police station.

Palghar is also the site of the infamous and gruesome lynching of Sadhus by a mob of over two hundred people. The video of the lynching of the two men in saffron cloths was widely shared on the internet and shook the conscience of the entire nation. Three men were brutally attacked right in front of the police, who stood as mute spectators.

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India and the EU hold first ever “High Level Dialogue” on trade and investment

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February 6, 2021

The first ever High Level Dialogue (HLD) between India and the European Union (EU) was held on Friday, 5 February. The dialogue was co-chaired by the Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and the European Union Executive Vice-President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis.

In the HLD, the Ministers emphasized the importance of global cooperation and solidarity in a post COVID-19 era and agreed for further deepening of bilateral trade and investment relations through a series of regular engagements.

The Ministers also agreed to meet within the next three months, with an objective for reaching consensus on a host of bilateral trade & investment cooperation issues, namely, a bilateral Regulatory Dialogue, an India-EU Multilateral Dialogue to explore further possibilities of cooperation, etc. In a significant step in taking India-EU relations forward, regular interactions for the re-initiation of bilateral trade and investment agreements were also discussed.

The Ministers concluded with confidence and commitment towards a renewed India-EU partnership in the commercial and economic spheres, reflecting the full potential of bilateral relations.

The EU and India had expressed commitment to establish this dialogue in the 15th India-EU Leader’s Summit in July 2020. A Ministerial level guidance towards bilateral trade and investment relations had also been decided upon in the summit.

Negotiations for a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the EU and India were launched in 2007. However, talks were suspended in 2013 due to “a gap in the level of ambition” between India and the EU.

Trade in goods between the EU and India was worth €80 billion in 2019, while trade in services between the EU and India increased rapidly from €22.3 billion in 2015 to €29.6 billion in 2018. The EU is India’s largest trading partner, with 11.1% of total Indian trade, on par with the USA and ahead of China (10.7%) [data from 2019].

The EU’s share in foreign investment inflows to India more than doubled from 8% to 18% in the last decade, making the EU the first foreign investor in India. Some 6,000 European companies are present in India.

(Published from PIB)

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“An internal matter”, UK reiterates its stance on farmers’ protests

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February 6, 2021

Pictured:  Nigel Adams, Minister of State for Asia

In the backdrop of the ongoing farmers’ protests in India, the British government has said that agricultural reform is the Indian government’s domestic policy issue. Responding to a question in the British Parliament on Friday, Minister of State for Asia in the Foreign Office, Nigel Adams, said, “We are aware of concerns in India and here in the UK about how these reforms might affect farming communities”, stressing that, “Agricultural reform is a domestic policy issue for the Indian authorities to address.”

When asked about the UK government’s assessment of the riots by agitating farmers on 26 January, the British minister stated, “The right to gather lawfully and demonstrate a point of view is common to all democracies. Governments also have the power to enforce law and order if a protest crosses the line into illegality… handling of protests is an internal matter for the Indian authorities.”

The previous week saw several India-related questions being asked in Westminster, with the Boris Johnson-led government clearly reiterating its supportive stance towards the Indian administration.

On UK’s ties with the QUAD ― Australia, India, Japan and US ― Adams said, “No decisions have yet been made on the form UK engagement with the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue could take.”

In reply to a question on Kashmir, Adams said, “The UK’s position remains that it is for India and Pakistan to identify a lasting political resolution to the situation, one that takes into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people.” He clarified that Kashmir was “raised” by UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab with his Indian counterpart External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar during the former’s India visit in December.

When a question was asked on Chinese aggression against India, Adams replied, “As neighbours, India and China have an important relationship with one another” and that London “welcome[s] discussions” while continuing to “support a peaceful resolution” between India and China on the border question.

More recently, tensions between the UK and China are on the rise, as China’s actions to assimilate Hong Kong into the Chinese political system has drawn sharp criticism from the UK. In what is seen as a violation of the “One country, two systems” principle and the erosion of Hong Kong’s political autonomy, the new national security law promulgated by China in the erstwhile British colony has forced the UK to open a special visa route for the island’s residents to become UK citizens.

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Big moment for Atmanirbhar Bharat, 118 tanks developed by DRDO received orders

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February 6, 2021

An order for two regiments of the new indigenous Arjun 1A tank for the Indian Army is on the anvil. The two regiments, comprising 118 tanks, have been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and incorporates 71 improvements from the original version.

They are expected to go through the usual route for clearance: The Defence Acquisition Council and the Cabinet Committee on Security. This deal is worth ₹8,956 crore, not just for the tanks but also, spares and servicing.

The Army already has two regiments of the earlier version of the Arjun. While the T-90, a Russian designed armoured vehicle, is the Army’s MBT or main battle tank, the Arjun is being considered suitable for use, particularly in the southern Rajasthan area, in the Thar Desert. Tank movement in the Punjab and northern Rajasthan is now more difficult because of urban settlements, canals and the increase in vegetation.

Anti-tank weapons

Five indigenous anti-tank weapons are in the final stages of development, top government sources said. They include the Nag anti-tank guided missile, its standalone version called SANT, the HELINA or the one delivered from helicopters. There will also be an MPATGM or the man-portable version as well as using the Arjun gun barrel.

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Hip hop artist Unkonfined deletes tweet supporting farmers protest, clarifies that he “fell victim to good intentions”

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The Commune

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February 6, 2021

American Hip-Hop Artist Unkonfined (stylized as ʋиκσиғιиɛ∂) on Wednesday tweeted in support of the farmers’ protests going on in India. However, he soon deleted his tweet, and clarified in a video that he deleted the tweet as he does not know much about the issue.

Unkonfined, who currently has more than 3,86,000 followers on social media platform Twitter, had simply tweeted “Support the farmers. #FarmersProtest”

This then led to a huge backlash from his Indian fanbase who soon unfollowed him. Here is a screenshot of the now-deleted tweet:

In his video explaining why he sent the tweet and then later deleted it, Unkonfined said that several people had been messaging him and had asked him to tweet with the hashtag ‘#FarmersProtest’. He decided to do it as he has a lot of followers in India. He further said that the deletion has nothing to do with supporting or not supporting the farmer protests. He said that he deleted the tweet because he does not know enough about the matter. “I deleted it because I don’t know enough about it to talk about,” Unkonfined said in his video. He further went on to say, “It’s important to educate yourself before you say anything and I should not have put a tweet out there that I don’t know anything about.”

THIS is an example of Real Maturity on SM! Appreciate @unkonfined 's honesty and candour. I completely agree that w/o knowing enough, Influencers ought not to opine about sensitive issues. And- if they realise they've been mistaken, they owe it to their fans to admit it! 👍🏻👏🏻💪🏻👌🏻 pic.twitter.com/SBSCyicMzT

— Jyoti Kapur Das 🇮🇳 (@jkd18) February 3, 2021

As reported earlier, some international celebrities like pop-star Rihanna, porn-star Mia Khalifa and radical climate activist Greta Thunberg have tweeted in support of the farmers’ protests against the Centre’s farm laws to build international pressure on India. Greta Thunberg had even posted a ‘toolkit’ allegedly prepared by the Poetic Justice Foundation to be used for this campaign, containing messages to be posted on social media, accounts of media houses, journalists and politicians to be followed etc. The celebrities had even tweeted the same messages contained in the toolkit from their Twitter handles.

Unkonfined further clarified on Twitter that he was not paid to tweet in support of the protests and nor was he part of a coordinated campaign. He admitted that he “simply fell victim to having good intentions”.

“I wanna be very clear here that I was in no way a part of a coordinated effort, was not presented a toolkit, and do not ever get paid to tweet. I simply fell victim to having good intentions but not knowing anything about the topic. It was wrong and I deleted it within minutes”, he tweeted.

https://twitter.com/unkonfined/status/1357546787687395330

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Church election atrocities: Each household to get mutton biryani once a month, two wheeler, silk sarees, and many other goodies

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The Commune

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February 6, 2021

A never-seen-before election campaign is going on in Tirunelveli district for the Diocesan Elections. The voters there are being lured with lucrative promises that each household would be given a two-wheeler, silk sarees and dhotis and sewing machines. There have also been announcements including the offering of mutton biryani once a month.

The election to elect members to the General Assembly from the towns under the Tirunelveli Diocese of the South Indian Church is to be held on the 7th February. Out of the 115 towns in the Tirunelveli constituency, 140 members are to be elected for the diocese. The winning members in the Tirunelveli Diocese are usually elected as the Secretary, Secretary of the Education Status Committee, Treasurer amongst others. The council controls 500 churches, 120 DDTA schools, 10 colleges, an engineering college and a teacher training school.

The two parties that are contesting in this election are Vedanayagam’s party and DS Jayasingh’s party. Apart from them, two independent candidates for the Sivanthipatti assembly constituency in Konkanthanpaarai have made promises to impress voters in a way that will win them the diocese elections.

They have announced that they will provide a free Honda Activa vehicle to all the families in the Konkanthanpaarai if they win. It has also been announced that mutton biryani will be provided on the first Sunday of every month and all voters between the ages of 18 and 120 will be given two silk sarees free of cost for the festive days of Christmas and New Year. They had also promised to provide two silk dhotis and shirts to men and a free sewing machine for women to start self-employment.

This brings into question their source of income for granting the freebies, as well as the means of funding that they will be receiving in order to do so.

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Love Jihad: Muslim tutor threatens to murder girl’s brother if she doesn’t get converted to Islam and marry him

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The Commune

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February 6, 2021

In the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, a 25-year-old tutor named Amaan has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping and trying to force his 18-year-old student to convert and marry him, reports The Indian Express.

Members from the Hindu Jagran Manch and Bajrang Dal demanded the police to rescue the kidnapped girl.

The incident occurred on Tuesday (02 February) in Meerut and after the tutor was arrested on Wednesday (03 February) night, the girl was sent to her family after the police had recorded her statement before a magistrate at a court in Meerut.

“Amaan was the woman’s tutor and they had developed a friendship. He had asked the woman to elope with him and marry him after converting to Islam,” police said.

“When she refused, Amaan threatened to kill her younger brother and under pressure, she left her parents’ place in Meerut on Tuesday (02 February) morning and went to Delhi with him,” said in-charge of the police station where the FIR was lodged.

When the daughter went missing the parents lodged a complaint identifying Amaan as the prime suspect and the police lodged the FIR under IPC Section 362 (kidnapping) and traced the victim to a place in the national capital.

“We brought her to Meerut and then arrested Amaan. We have also added the relevant section of the UP anti-conversion ordinance to the FIR after she recorded her statement before the magistrate and alleged that Amaan forced her to convert at a mosque in Delhi,” said the in-charge of the police station.

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KS Bhagawan, known for abusing Hindu Gods, gets smeared with black paint

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The Commune

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February 6, 2021

Bengaluru-based woman advocate, Meera Raghavendra smeared black paint on the face of a Kannada writer and ‘rationalist’, KS Bhagawan who is known for abusing Hindu Gods.

Two months ago, Meera Raghavendra had filed a petition against KS Bhagawan for hurting religious sentiments. Allegedly, he made a statement against the Hindu religion at a press conference in Mysuru. As the hearing happened at the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) court, he had come to the court for the hearing. Reportedly, KS Bhagawan was granted bail.

When he walked out of the court, Meera smeared his face with ink and was heard telling Bhagawan, “Are you not ashamed to talk about God at this age (in this manner).” She went on to say, “I am ready for everything, even ready to get arrested.” Following the incident, KS Bhagawan along with his advocate has filed a complaint at the Halasuru gate police station. Meera also uploaded the video on Twitter which went viral.

https://twitter.com/MeeraRaghavendr/status/1357233534646112259

This is not the first time KS Bhagawan is accused of hurting Hindu religious sentiments. In 2018, KS Bhagawan wrote a book, “Rama Mandira Eke Beda?” (Why there should be no Rama Mandira). This invited criticisms from various sects of people on social media. Recently, the Public Library Book Selection Committee withdrew its recommendation to purchase this book.

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Madurai bench of Madras HC asks Centre to consider printing Netaji image on Indian currency

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February 6, 2021

On Thursday (February 4), the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court (MHC) asked the Central government to consider printing the image of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on Indian currency. Reportedly, the petition was filed by K.K Ramesh.

The Madurai bench of the MHC saw some unusual public interest litigation petitions such as, to change the name of Tamil Nadu, to announce Lord Murugan as Tamil God, etc. One among them is to print the image of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on the Indian currency. A Division Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and S. Ananthi heard these petitions.

While hearing the petition about Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Judges said, “The contribution made by Netaji to the nation was unparalleled and one could not ignore his sacrifice.” The judges disposed of the petition filed by K.K. Ramesh of Madurai and they asked the Central government to consider the representation.

Seven years back, the then President of India Pranab Mukherjee had accepted a proposal for imprinting the image of Bose on Indian currency notes. Though the proposal was forwarded to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), it is yet to be carried out. With the year-long 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose commencing from January 23, residents of Cuttack city have also raised the demand for currency notes featuring Netaji.

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Pastor involved in abduction gets arrested, mob of Christians block road and create ruckus

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The Commune

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February 6, 2021

A Christian pastor who was held for abducting a lorry driver and extorting money was arrested and was being taken to the magistrate court when about a mob of about 50 Christians blocked the road and created ruckus.

Mohandas, who runs a church in Vyasarpadi was driving his car, when a lorry travelling on the Poonamallee National Highway collided with this car, causing minor damage. Enraged, the pastor had demanded compensation from the lorry driver.

The lorry driver had then spoken to the lorry owner who had offered to pay a compensation of ₹ 30,000 for the damage to the car. But the pastor who refused to accept it took the lorry driver to a car repair shop in Madhavaram, along with a few accomplices. They had then asked for an additional ₹ 30,000 in order for them to release the lorry driver.

The owner of the lorry then registered a complaint with the police about his lorry driver being abducted. Police then rescued the lorry driver Manikandan and arrested pastor Mohandas, his driver and four accomplices, Isaac, Jeeva and Anbu. The four were charged with kidnapping and were being taken to the Poonamallee court, when a mob comprising of more than 50 Christians gathered on the road causing public nuisance. Police force were then brought in to clear them.

(With inputs from Kathir News and Puthiyathalaimurai)

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The Commune

Navy official burned alive in Palghar after his abduction from Chennai

India and the EU hold first ever “High Level Dialogue” on trade and investment

“An internal matter”, UK reiterates its stance on farmers’ protests

Big moment for Atmanirbhar Bharat, 118 tanks developed by DRDO received orders

Church election atrocities: Each household to get mutton biryani once a month, two wheeler, silk sarees, and many other goodies

Love Jihad: Muslim tutor threatens to murder girl’s brother if she doesn’t get converted to Islam and marry him

KS Bhagawan, known for abusing Hindu Gods, gets smeared with black paint

Madurai bench of Madras HC asks Centre to consider printing Netaji image on Indian currency

Pastor involved in abduction gets arrested, mob of Christians block road and create ruckus

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