As per reports filed by defence journalist Shiv Aroor, between 29 August and 8 September, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) opened fire on Indian positions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on four occasions.
First shots fired at LAC Ladakh during this standoff were actually on Pangong south bank on Aug 29 & 31, followed by 🇨🇳 fire on Sep 7 & fire exchange on north bank on Sep 8. All times initiated by PLA as Indian Army ‘readjusted’ positions at heights. Full story on @IndiaToday
The first shots were fired by China at the south bank of Pangong Tso lake on 29 and 31 August. Shots were again fired by Chinese soldiers on 7 and 8 September. And finally, a short exchange of fire also took place on 8 September between the two armies.
On all occasions, the firing was initiated by the PLA to try and prevent the Indian Army from ‘readjusting’ its positions along the LAC.
As per an Indian Express report, 100 to 200 shots were fired in the air by both sides on the North Bank along the ridgeline where Finger 3 and Finger 4. This happened in the first week of September when India took China by surprise by ‘readjusting’ its positions on the North Bank.
As reported earlier, the Indian Army has been victorious in its pursuits, despite the Chinese attempts and it now dominates the heights overlooking the Chinese camps on both the North and South Bank of Pangong Tso lake.
The Indian Army is also matching China man-to-man after reports emerged of the PLA mobilising 50,000 troops near the LAC.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India while commenting on the recent petition filed at the Delhi High Court about the marriage of SOGIESC community under the Hindu Marriage Act said that homosexuality is unnatural and that the Church does not accept homosexuality as it is against nature and what God has taught.
“Indian society and law do not recognize such a concept. Homosexuality is unnatural and the Church does not accept that which is against nature because we follow what God has taught us”, Bishop Joshua Mar Ignathios, Vice President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India was quoted saying in a report by UCA News dated September 15, 2020.
He said that the Church neither promotes nor propagates homosexuality and believes that it is always for men and women and happy families.
“The Church believes in natural activities and it will always stand for that”, he said.
Muhammad Arif, the chairman of Center for Harmony and Peace, was quoted saying in UCA News that same-sex marriage, homosexuality and gay culture are all Western culture.
“Same-sex marriage, homosexuality and gay culture are all Western culture, which some people think is correct, but I don’t think our society is ready to accept them at this moment.”, he had said.
He said that our country has a history of people living peacefully and following the age-old tradition of marriage between men and women and that it will be difficult to accept same sex marriages.
A petition was filed at the Delhi High Court seeking the recognition of the right of SOGIESC (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics) community members to marry under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
The public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed by defence and strategic affairs expert Abhijit Iyer Mitra, intersex activist Gopi Shankar Madurai, transgender activist G Oorvasi and senior women rights and lesbian activist Giti Thadani.
The matter has now been adjourned till October 21.
In what is being seen as a significant moment in the Indian Parliament, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, China has illegally occupied of 38,000 square km of Indian land and it considers another 90,000 square km as its own.
This statement made by the Defence Minister was a clear indication towards Aksai Chin which China took away from India in the 1950s.
India in the last week has taken a very tough stand with China as it refuses to deescalate tension while engaging in talks acting as a smokescreen for its blatant aggression.
For a very long time, India had tried the diplomatic route to ease the tension while remaining firm, however, with this statement that China is illegally occupying Indian territory, the ball is now in the court of China with India now showing its intent and resolve,
Speaking in the Parliament, Singh said, “We have told China that such incidents won’t be acceptable to us,” Rajnath said.
“We believe that this alignment is based on well-established geographical principles confirmed by treaties and agreements, as well as historical usage and practice, well-known for centuries to both sides,” the minister said.
Since April, China had noticed buildup its troops and armaments in the border areas adjacent to eastern Ladakh. Even when senior leaders from both countries were holding a discussion at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Russia, the Chinese side again engaged in provocative military manoeuvers on the night of August 29 and August 30 to alter the status quo in the South Bank area of Pangong Lake.
However, the Indian army using all its resourcefulness at the LAC prevented such attempts from succeeding for the PLA.
The Defence Minister said, “As is clear from these events, the Chinese actions reflect a disregard of our various bilateral agreements,”. He went on to add that increase in troops level by China goes against the 1993 and 1996 agreements and to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border, China must respect and abide by the explicitly recognised agreements of both 1993 and 1996.
After establishing an empire setting up businesses in every sector under the sun, the Ambanis have entered the animal business and are now setting up their own animal kingdom. The ‘Greens Zoological, Rescue, and Rehabilitation Kingdom’ is being established in Gujarat’s Jamnagar by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) as an exotic destination of animals that will function both as a zoo and animal shelter.
The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) coming under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has approved the Master Layout Plan for this mammoth project of Reliance. However, this entire project has remained low-key with access to the area being restricted and information about the project in public domain being minimal.
For this ‘animal kingdom’, creatures are already being sourced from different places. It is being said that exotic species from different countries are being imported. These include – African Lion, African Elephant, Cheetah, Jaguar, Giraffe, Kangaroo, Ostrich, Chimpanzee, Gorilla, Orangutans, Lemurs, White Rhino, Impala, Pheasants, Marmoset, Binturong to name a few. The Master Layout Plan enlists some 79 different species of animals, amphibians and birds that consists of both native (Indian) and exotic species.
While the master layout plan proposes to house 6 Asian Elephants, it is being said that ‘108 elephants’ are being accumulated by Reliance for this animal kingdom cum rehabilitation centre.
It is also alleged that these elephants are being procured from different parts of the country through dubious means. Videos have also surfaced where elephants can be seen with legs tied closely with ropes and leash and being transported.
Murali, a Chennai based elephant activist says that Reliance is associating themselves with NGOs like Wildlife SOS and going after private elephant owners and poor mahouts by buying their elephants for throw away prices or by slapping cases of animal cruelty against them if they refuse to part with the animal. These elephants are being taken from temples, circus, and other individual elephant owners. In a series of tweets he said that 54 elephants have been accumulated till date.
Most of the elephants are reportedly sourced from Assam, Jaipur, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Remember the elephant that Surya and Shruthi Hasan rode in the movie 7-am Arivu? Her name is Gulebagavali, an elephant from Tamil Nadu. She is now in the Jamnagar animal kingdom.
Gulebagavali elephant during the shoot of the film 7am Arivu
Speaking to The Commune, a family member of Gulebagavali’s original owner told that the elephant was raised by their family ever since she was a calf. She was handed over to a relative for taking care post the owner’s demise as the owner’s grandson who was next in line to take care of the elephant had gone to pursue higher studies. But, the relatives had sent Gulebagavali on a 2 year lease period to Jaipur.
The grandson thought of getting back the elephant from Jaipur after the lease period. He had reached out to the custodians of the elephant in Jaipur to get back his elephant and was even willing to shell out ₹15 lakhs if need be. However, he was told that they had sold Gulebagavali to Reliance’s animal kingdom for ₹12 lakhs.
Probing further, The Commune found that 4 elephants from the Rambo Circus have been sent to the Jamnagar animal kingdom four years back. The Indian Express had reported about this on January 2, 2017. The four elephants – Anar, Nitya, Champa and Saraswati bid adieu to the circus and its owner to spend their rest of the lives in Jamnagar. The circus had got in touch with one Ghom Bahadur, a trustee of a temple in Jamnagar. It was agreed that the ownership of the elephant would remain with the circus while elephant’s food, medical, maintenance and other expenses would be taken care by the temple trust. Along with the elephants, 7 mahouts who took care of the elephants were also shifted to Jamnagar. It was also reported that there were 3 additional staffs and a veterinarian to take care of the elephants.
This facility for the elephants in Jamnagar is said to be 160 acres, comprising of trees like teak wood and also has a huge pond to give the elephants the natural environment they need.
The owner of Rambo Circus had come to the decision to part away with his elephants as the circus had spent a lot of time, money and effort in fighting legal battles for the circus animals brought upon them by Animal Welfare Board of India at the behest of NGOs like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Wildlife SOS and ResQ Animal Coalition. This had resulted in major financial losses that made the maintenance of elephants difficult.
“It is to avoid sending these elephants to the centres run by Wildlife SOS that the circus owner sent it to Jamnagar animal kingdom in the hope that it will lead a better life there, as many elephants taken over by Wildlife SOS had died in their shelter camps”, a source related to Gulebagavali elephant said.
Elephant activist Murali notes that the Ambanis are going after such elephants where the ownership is in question or the ones which are entangled in legal troubles created by NGOs like Wildlife SOS and PETA.
Most of these elephants are being taken by a temple trust called the Radha Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust through gift deeds. These gift deeds are registered on ₹20 stamp paper which is kept a secret. It is to be noted that buying/selling animals through gift deeds are banned.
Although they say that the ownership of the elephant remains with the original owner, a clause is inserted in the gift deeds that states that the original owner is not allowed to ask for the return of the elephants.
A gift deed of one of the elephants given to Radha Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust
A close source related to the development said that the original owners are not even apprised of how their elephants are doing leave alone letting them see their elephants once in a while. “Initially they send pictures and videos of the elephants, but later that also stops”, laments an elephant owner.
Speaking to The Commune, Mr. Sathya Narayanan of the Indu Makkal Katchi who has been aware of these developments told that while the Ambanis may have their intentions right, their associations with NGOs like Wildlife SOS and individuals like Sangita Iyer (a Canadian documentary filmmaker who demonized mahouts and caretakers of temple elephants in Kerala) is questionable.
Mr. Sathya says that foreign NGOs like Wildlife SOS and PETA are influencing and interfering in Indian policy making through their high profile connections in the Central government by making changes to dog breeding rules, aquarium rules, elephant shelter camps, etc.
“They Ambanis have the required facilities to take good care of the animals, and we in fact appreciate them for it, but their modus operandi of going after elephants by associating with dubious NGOs and individuals is disappointing. They are not just hitting on the livelihoods of the persons whose lives are dependent on these animals but are also separating them from these animals from their original owner which is akin to separating a family.”, Mr. Sathya Narayanan said.
“Let the Ambanis have the elephants in their animal kingdom. We don’t have any problem. We just want them to ensure that their original owners are compensated fairly and are allowed access to their elephants.”, said Mr. Sathya.
He added that the IMK is willing to help the Ambanis in their endeavours.
Meanwhile, a source related to Gulebagavali told that they have written to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Cell, the Madurai division of the Forest Department and also to the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau in the hope of getting their elephant back. He told that since the Forest Department is also hand-in-glove in this, their complaint just does not see any progress.
But one of the Forest Ranger has been proactively taking steps and has assured Gulebagavali’s care takers that their elephant shall be brought back.
“We just hope that someday we get to see our Gulebagavali. We miss her!”, Gulabagavali’s care takers say.
In a historic move, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a bill to provide for 7.5% quota within the existing reservation framework for students who had studied in state government schools and clearing the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).
This will be implemented from the present academic year.
The decision has been taken following the submission of a report by the one man Commission under Justice P. Kalaiyarasan earlier in June 2020 that pointed out the socio-economic disparities between government and private school students.
This 7.5% quota is considered for implementation in private colleges too.
Of the total 59,785 candidates who took the exam from Tamil Nadu in 2019, only 2557 students from government and government-aided private schools cleared the exam. Only five of them reportedly got admitted under the government quota for the 2019-20 academic year. However, this phenomenon does not seem to be because of NEET as the number of government school students getting medical admission has remained low for a long time.
Between 2009 and 2013, merely 177 Tamil Nadu government school students secured MBBS admissions. In 2014, the number was 32, in 2015 and 2016 it was 35, though considerably above the numbers reported for 2018 and 2019.
Experts point out that the reason that apart from the inability to afford coaching class, is the poor standard of the Samacheer Kalvi syllabus introduced in 2009 by the then Karunanidhi that deteriorated teaching standards and learning outcomes of government school students thereby impacting their critical thinking and problem solving skills.
Back in 2006, the DMK government under Karunanidhi abolished the Tamil Nadu Professional Courses Entrance Examinationexams for professional courses like engineering and medicine. Since then, admissions to these professional courses happened through 12th standard results which were heavily inflated.
The NEET was mandated by the Supreme Court of India in 2016 when it overturned its own judgement delivered in 2013 that declared the exam as unconstitutional.
Since then, NEET has been conducted every year across India for admission into undergraduate and postgraduate medical courses.
In an unprecedented show of raw hatred, Sunni Muslims who are the majority in Pakistan took out a huge demonstration and participated in a huge anti-Shia protest in Karachi.
Video on social media has emerged where tens of thousands of Sunni extremists can be seen shouting, “Kafir, Kafir Shia Kafir,”.
Kafir in Islam means infidels. Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and other non-Muslims are called Kafirs in Pakistan and regularly suffer injustices at the hands of Sunni Muslims.
Hindus girls are kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam to and marry them off to Muslims men.
The protests were held after Sunni community in the country was provoked by a broadcast of an Ashura procession last month that commemorates the killing of Hussein, grandson of Muhammed, at the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD.
Hussein is recognized as the ‘Martyr Of Martyrs’ by both Sunni and Shia as he is a member of the Ahl al-Bayt (the household of Muhammad). In the battle of Karbala that took place just 48 years after the death of Prophet Mohammad, Hussein and many of his blood relatives were killed by Yazid ibn Mu’awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, commonly known as Yazid I, who was the second caliph of the Umayyad caliphate.
On September 6, a brutal video was posted in twitter were Qaisar Abbas, a Shia Muslim in Kohat city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan was gunned down in cold blood by an unidentified man as he tended to his shop.
The Shia Muslims form 20% of the population in Pakistan and the persecution of Shia Muslims in a Sunni-majority Pakistan is not new. They are often targeted during Muharram processions. Even in India, fights have broken out between the two sects during Muharram.
For the Shia Muslims, Ali ibn Abi Talib, cousin and son in law of Mohammad was the rightful person to become the leader of the faithful and after him his direct descendants to take the rightful place.
Other minorities who face constant persecution are the Ahmadiyas who are considered Kaffir, infidel by both Shias and Sunnis, the people of Balochistan, and Pashtuns.
In another victory against China, India received more votes than China to become the member of the United Nations Commission on Status of Women (CSW), a body of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
India, Afghanistan and China had contested the elections to the Commission on Status of Women but when the votes were tabulated among the 54 members, China could not cross the half-way mark.
TS Tirumurti, permanent representative of India to the United Nations tweeted, “India wins seat in prestigious ECOSOC body! India elected member of Commission on Status of Women (CSW). It’s a ringing endorsement of our commitment to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in all our endeavours. We thank member states for their support.”
India elected Member of Commission on Status of Women #CSW. It’s a ringing endorsement of our commitment to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in all our endeavours.
India will be a member of United Nation’s Commission on Status of Women for four years, from 2021 to 2025. On June 18, 2020, India received overwhelming support and was elected as one of the non-permanent members to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) with a majority of 184 votes out of 192, where the minimum requirement was 128.
A new museum in Agra that was called the ‘Mughal Museum’ will henceforth be known after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, after a decision made by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday (September 14).
Regarding the change of name, CM Adityanath categorically said, “How can our heroes be Mughals?”. He also said that the name Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj will invoke nationalism and self-esteem.
आगरा में निर्माणाधीन म्यूजियम को छत्रपति शिवाजी महाराज के नाम से जाना जाएगा।
आपके नए उत्तर प्रदेश में गुलामी की मानसिकता के प्रतीक चिन्हों का कोई स्थान नहीं।
During the review meeting, Adityanath reiterated that his government has always nurtured the nationalist ideology and the time has come to do away with subservient mentality.
It was Samajwadi Party leader and former CM of UP Akhilesh Yadav who had laid the foundation stone of the museum in 2016. The museum is located in an area of about six acres of land near the eastern gate of the Taj Mahal.
The idea was to let tens and thousands of tourists who visit each year to see the Taj Mahal to expose them to the Mughal era’s weapons, culture and dresses among other such articles.
While it is not clear if the name change would have an impact on the nature of the museum, government sources were quoted saying in The New Indian Express that it is likely to have an impact on the nature of the project too.
The CM also took stock of projects worth over ₹10 crore in Agra division, comprising Agra, Firozabad, Mainpuri and Mathura districts.
The Legal Rights Observatory (LRO), a legal activism group working to safeguard Indian interests has exposed that the NGO of ‘activist’ Colin Gonsalves, the Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), received funds to the tune of about ₹50 crore from foreign Christian organizations. These funds have been used for defending rioters who created ruckus during the anti-CAA agitation in court.
In a series of tweets, LRO exposed the nexus between church organizations that send money from abroad and ‘activists’ in India like Colin Gonsalves who use that money for peddling an anti-Indian agenda.
Colin Gonsalves became popular for his witch-hunting against PM Modi after the 2002 Gujarat riots. Now Gonsalves has emerged as one of the conspirators behind the anti-CAA riots across India.
The revelation by LRO has exposed the deep affiliation between Church and various NGOs working in India under the garb of human rights.
The Church denominations which have been exposed for funding unrest in India through HRLN are: Bread for the World Germany (Protestant), DKA Austria (Catholic), MISEREOR (German Catholic), Karuna TrustUK (Dalit- Buddhist) INCLO (13 NGOs) and Belgium HQ European Commission.
These Church organizations had funded HRLN as patrons of its ‘Socio-Legal Information Center’ to provide legal support and defend the rioters in court.
Just a few days back, the government had cancelled the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) of many NGOs who were allegedly involved in an evangelical expedition in tribal areas to convert them to Christianity.
The website run by HRLN openly claims that its lawyers defended stone pelters, rioters, arsonists and criminal elements involved in anti-CAA riots across the country.
Safoora Zargar, the prime riot accused was also defended by HRLN. According to LRO says that utilisation of foreign funds for anti-India activities is a direct violation of FCRA Section 12A(4)(V)(VI) and 12(4B) 1,2,3,6 and have written to the Union Home Ministry for the arrest and prosecution of Colin Gonsalves and other directors of HRLN by invoking UAPA against them.
The Church denominations which funded crores to HRLN's patron "Socio-Legal Information Center" are Bread for the World Germany (Protestant) DKA Austria (Catholic) MISEREOR (German Catholic), Karuna TrustUK (Dalit- Buddhist) INCLO (13 NGOs) n Belgium HQ European Commission pic.twitter.com/cFnNPF9PD1
The HRLN appoints retired Supreme Court judges as directors or on its board to manipulate and influence the justice process so as to get a favourable judgement for its litigants. Most of its trustees are either retired judges or belong to the academia.
The HRLN is fighting for the POCSO accused Mohammad Zubair of AltNews who had shared a picture of a minor girl to target a user on Twitter.
The LRO has called for slapping sedition case and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against Gonsalves and the cancellation of FCRA license for HRLN.
The National Investigative Agency (NIA) has confirmed that MBA graduate from Bengaluru Faiz Masood, who has been one of the most important recruiters for the Islamic terror organisation ISIS, has died in Syria.
Masood, last seen seven years ago has been killed in Syria as revealed by Abdur Rahman, the opthalmologist working at the city’s M S Ramaiah Medical College. Abdur Rahman was arrested last month by the NIA.
Masood belonged to a wealthy family and had left his parents, wife and two children to go to Syria seven years ago. But no missing complaint was filed.
Rahman who is an opthalmologist by profession was recruited by Masood is said to have visited an ISIS medical camp in Syria in early 2014 for treatment of ISIS terrorists and stayed with Islamic State operatives for 10 days and returned to India.
Rahman told NIA investigators that he and a fellow associate a doctor had met Masood when they crossed over from a refugee camp in 2013 and reached the border town of Atme in Syria. There they witnessed a lot of infighting became very ‘disillusioned’ by the activities at the camps. During this period there was an attack that reportedly led to the death of Masood.
