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“Accomplished poet and writer” busted: Accused of extorting money from husband

A new twist has come to light in the controversial saga surrounding “accomplished writer-activist” Meena Kandasamy. Earlier, The Commune had published a report titled TNM’s eulogy on anti-Hindu bigot ‘Periyar’ ends as propaganda piece for DMK+, ‘poet’ quoted in article launches personal attack on those calling out fallaciesThe report had pointed out how the anti-Brahmin and anti-Hindu rhetoric being peddled in The News Minute‘s article was actually full of Dravidian propaganda with no basis in reality.

It was then that Meena Kandasamy, in typical Periyarite fashion, went on a vitriolic rant against Brahmins, “Brahminism” and The Commune. Meena Kandasamy’s incitement of hatred against a particular Hindu community did not set well with several Twitter users. It must be noted here that Meena Kandasamy’s continued endorsement of “Periyar” is extremely dangerous, as there is ample evidence of EV Ramasamy’s hate for the Brahmin community and the Hindu community at large. In fact, in a speech in 1973, EV Ramasamy called for a genocide of Brahmins, saying that all Brahmins must be killed and all temples and murtis destroyed’.

Meena Kandasamy soon got sucked into a maelstrom of her own making when she belittled and engaged in blusterous diatribes against those who critiqued and responded to her foul-mouthed outbursts.

In a latest development, noted journalist, documentary filmmaker and Men’s Rights activist Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj revealed in a series of tweets that in 2014, Meena Kandasamy filed a case against her former husband under IPC sections 498(A) and 506(ii). Section 498(A) of the Indian Penal Code is the dreaded “anti-dowry law”, which has been frequently misused and has been weaponized by a section of people especially those well-to-do. Data from the NCRB also shows that cases under 498(A) have acquittal rates of more than 80 percent and have the lowest conviction rate among all cases of crimes against women.

After filing a case against her former husband under section 498(A) in February of 2014, Meena Kandasamy has never appeared in The XVIII Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court at Saidapet, Chennai, for a period of more than six years! This is despite the fact that her case still in the evidentiary stage.  The hearings were postponed by the Court every time and the first hearing of Meena Kandasamy’s case was in July 2014. Perhaps Meena Kandasamy, who currently “divides her time between Tamil Nadu and East London” according to a bio on her website, cannot find the time to appear in Court.

Deepika Bhardwaj has also alleged that Meena Kandasamy, in what can only be called extortion, demanded money from her husband to drop the case.

Furthermore, in her submissions to the Court through her lawyers, the ‘firebrand feminist’ follower of EVR has admitted that her parents promised to give her then-husband ₹50 lakhs, 100 sovereigns (about 800 grams) of gold, and household electrical appliances like refrigerator, washing machine, mixie, etc.

It is noteworthy that Meena Kandasamy, who often kicks up a fuss against “Brahminical patriarchy” on Twitter and in her seminars, has admitted to her father promising dowry to his son-in-law.

With Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj exposing this record of Meena Kandasamy, the ‘accomplished poet and writer’, who otherwise lectures on freedom of speech and expression has blocked the former on Twitter.

Amid gloom Indian startups received funding of over $9 billion

According to data from consultancy firm Tracxn, even under the adverse challenges of Covid-19, Indian startups received investments nearly $9.3 billion in 2020.

In 2019, a record $14.5 billion raised by Indian startups. However, compared to the investment that Indian startups received in 2020, it is a much lower figure but still under such economic conditions. 

As per reports, there were 20 funding rounds with deal size $100 million or larger in 2020 compared to 26 in 2019. The figures, however, exclude the funds raised by Jio Platforms which was 20 billion dollars, which dwarfs other investments.

The report also reveals that fortunes for the Indian startups turned significantly in the second half of the year and startups raised just 4.2 billion dollars in the first half of the year from about 461 deals, said Tracxn.

The year saw 11 Indian startups including RazorPay, Glance and Unacademy becoming a unicorn.

One of the most important takeaways from the report published by Tracxn is that global tech giants Google, Microsoft and Facebook have invested more in Indian startups compared to Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Tencent amid border tensions with India.

(Image Credits: Inc42)

Grand temple for Lord Ram to cost ₹1,100 crore, funds to be raised by reaching out to 11 crore Hindu families

Sri Ram temple Christians Ram Mandir Ayodhya Karnataka

As the time nears for the construction of the grand temple of Lord Ram at the holy ancient city of Ayodhya, the cost of construction is estimated at around ₹1,100 crore, of which around ₹300-400 crore will be the cost of building the main temple structure, as per a report  by Times of India.

Treasurer of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, Swami Govind Dev Giriji Maharaj, said that the structural engineers are drawing up a plan for the foundation of the temple. The entire temple will be completed in three-and-a-half years.

The Ram temple trust has already received nearly ₹100 crore in online donations and the trust has a grandiose plan to reach out to four lakh villages and 11 crore Hindu families to make a contribution no matter how small it is.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad will soon launch a movement that will ensure maximum participation of devotees to raise funds for the grand temple by a mass contact and fund contribution campaign.

Experts from Roorkee based Central Building Research Institute and IITs at Mumbai, Delhi, Madras and Guwahati are working along with special engineers from Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Tata Group to prepare the plan for a strong foundation of the temple.

Mutated Wuhan Virus strain reaches India, 6 UK returnees test positive

As the number of coronavirus cases has come down in India, in a new development six UK returnees in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune have been found to be positive with the new variant genome, the central government said on Tuesday (29 December).

As of now, they have been kept in a single-room-isolation in designated healthcare facilities after the British government had recently announced that the newly identified strain of the virus found in their population is up to 70 per cent more transmissible.

After this announcement, Indian authorities decided to suspend flights to and from the UK till 31 December. So far the government found that about 33,000 passengers had disembarked at various Indian airports from the UK from between 25 November to 23 December midnight.

To prevent the spread of this new variant of the virus, all these passengers were tracked and subjected by the states and UTs to the RT-PCR tests.

The good news so is that only 114 have been found positive and the positive samples were then sent to 10 labs.

“A total of six samples of six UK returnee persons have been found to be positive with the new UK variant genome. Three in NIMHANS, Bengaluru, two in CCMB, Hyderabad and one in NIV, Pune. All these persons have been kept in single room isolation in designated Healthcare facilities by the respective state governments. Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine,” the health ministry said.

At the same time, a comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others.

However, the threat of the spread of this newly mutated virus looms large, as its presence has already been reported by Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore.

In the last few weeks, there was a sudden spike in Covid-19 cases in South East England. This led to enhanced epidemiological and virological investigations and from these analyses, viral genome sequence data was identified that a large proportion of cases belonged to a new single phylogenetic cluster.

Karnataka Legislative Council Deputy Chairman found dead near railway track

The body of 64-year old Karnataka Legislative Council Deputy Chairperson SL Dharmegowda was found beside a railway track at Gunasagara in Kadur taluk, in the state’s Chikkamagaluru district, early on the morning of December 29.

According to reports, Dharmegowda had left his farmhouse at Sakharayapattana after 10 PM on Monday night. After he failed to return home, family members went searching for him and found his body near a railway track between Gunasagara and Kabli. According to sources close to Dharmegowda, he had asked the driver of the car to park the vehicle near the railway track at Gunasagara and had reportedly told the driver that he was meeting someone there.

All necessary arrangements have been made at District McGann Hospital, Shivamogga for an autopsy. Police security has been beefed up around the hospital too. MLC R Prasanna Kumar, Urban Development Minister B A Basavaraju, district in-charge Minister K S Eshwarappa and other elected representatives are present at the hospital.

In a tweet, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa expressed his shock and sorrow at hearing the news of Dharmegowda’s tragic death.

Temple land worth crores recovered from illegal encroachers in Salem

Encroached temple land of over 3,000 sqft worth over ₹100 crore was recovered in Salem following relentless efforts by Hindu Munnani and Thiru Thondar Peravai (Saiva Devotees Forum).

The 3.60-acre land is located at Salem-Bengaluru National Highway in Thiruvakavandanur area which had been donated by a devotee by the name of Krishnan Chettiar in 1899. It had been given to the Venugopala Swamy Temple located at Chinnakkadai Street in Salem.  Over the years, a plethora of establishments and stalls came up in this land, encroaching and illegally claiming right to temple property.

The temple administration later filed a case at the Madras High Court which passed an order to evict the illegal encroachments. On December 24, the temple administration, members from the Hindu Munnani and Saiva Devotees Forum came down to the land armed with the court’s order. The shops located on the property were sealed.

“As far as over 80 houses are concerned, encroachers have been served notice through court to evict within 15days” Hindu Munnani functionary Santhosh was quoted saying in a report by the Organiser. The Saiva Devotees Forum President Allikuttai Radhakrishnan said that the encroached temple lands in Salem district would be retrieved with the help of courts and would be handed over to the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department.

Police security had been posted in order to prevent any mishap or law and order issue from taking place as the case was ongoing in court. However, some of the encroachers quarreled with the government officials and temple authorities when they came to seal the shops near AVR Roundtana. A police team led by Suramangalam Assistant Commissioner Nagarajan came to the spot to bring the situation under control.

Seven shops were sealed in the first phase and the eviction drive is likely to continue in the coming days.

A similar incident took place in Chennai, wherein land belonging to the Kapaleeswarar temple had been recovered by the same organizations.

Hindu Munnani functionary Santhosh said that 3,000 square feet land worth ₹4.5 crore has been taken into custody now with the remaining portion of the ₹100 crore land yet to be retried.

(With inputs from Organiser)

Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons, Dinamani

EVR’s UNESCO Award – Stalin version: DMK chief in 2003 travelled all the way to London to receive doctorate from a bogus university

On December 25, social media accounts created as part of MK Stalin’s image building exercise posted a picture that said that the DMK chief when he was Mayor of Chennai, was awarded a doctorate by the ‘Irish International University’.

The social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc named ‘Stalinudan TN’ (Tamil Nadu with Stalin) posted a picture stating that MK Stalin was the only Mayor from India to have participated in the ‘International Mayors Conference’ and was awarded a ‘doctorate’ by the ‘Irish International University’ for his contribution to ‘local governance’.

Image

However, it turns out that the said university is an unaccredited bogus university that offered ‘sub-standard and worthless degrees’.

A BBC News report dated January 7, 2008 said “The bogus Irish International University (IIU), which offers sub-standard and worthless degrees, has been allowed to flourish in the UK – virtually unchecked by the government – for the last seven years.” The investigative report of the BBC went on to describe it as an educational scam that targeted foreign students.

A report by The Irish Times called the Irish International University as a “bogus university” that “targets overseas students with the promise of earning an Irish university qualification online that holds ‘international recognition’

A video of DMK chief MK Stalin receiving the ‘doctorate degree’ from the university has been posted in his official YouTube account.

This has now become a fodder for netizens critical of the DMK with many reminiscing how Dravida Kazhagam leader E.V. Ramasamy Naicker (known as ‘Periyar’ by his followers) was awarded the ‘Socrates of South-East Asia’ award by UNESCO.

It has been said, written and ingrained in the minds of people that Ramasamy Naicker was conferred with the title of “Socrates of South-East Asia” by the UNESCO. For more than 40 years, this lie has been peddled with several articles and research papers on EVR written based on this lie.

However, an email response from the UNESCO office in Delhi had confirmed that no such award/title was given to E.V. Ramasamy Naicker. Following this, the lie has now been removed from the new textbooks.

“Not possible to bring about political change I expect through media and social media”: Rajini withdraws from politics citing health reasons

Just days ahead of his announcement regarding the launch of his party, Superstar Rajinikanth has announced that he will not be starting a party and take the plunge into electoral politics.

In a detailed statement, Rajinikanth stated that his health condition prevented him from entering politics and added that he saw the recent COVID scare during the film shoot of ‘Annathe’ in Hyderabad as a message from God.

He also stated that it was not possible to bring about the political change that he expects by just campaigning through media and social media adding that this reality will be acknowledged by any person well versed with politics.

“I know that people will say different things about me if I backtrack now as I had said earlier that I would take the political plunge even if my life was at stake. But I do not want to make my followers a scapegoat fearing that.” he said in his statement.

“Therefore, I regret deeply to inform you that I won’t be able to start a political party and come into politics”, he added.

He thanked the members of the Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM) for believing in him and for acting in accordance with his command. He said that he will forever remain in gratitude to members of the RMM for keeping his health concerns supreme and being open to whatever decision that he takes.

 

#BREAKING: Superstar Rajinikanth quits politics

Just within weeks after Rajinikanth announced his political entry, the Superstar in a statement announced his decision to quit politics citing health reasons

Mayiladuthurai becomes the 38th district in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Monday inaugurated the newly-formed Mayiladuthurai district. The 38th district in the state has been carved out of Nagapattinam district. The Chief Minister inaugurated the district through video conferencing from the Secretariat in Chennai. The new district comprises four taluks – Mayiladuthurai, Sirkazhi, Tarangambadi, and Kuthalam. It has a total population of 9.01 lakh.

It will have Mayiladuthurai as its headquarters and has been carved out of Nagapattinam district. It may be recalled that the people of Mayiladuthurai had been demanding for it to be a separate district for almost 25 years. The four districts carved out were Tirupattur Chengalpattu Tenkasi and Ranipet.

R Lalitha, who served as the special officer for district formation has taken charge as the district collector. IPS officer Srinatha has been appointed as the superintendent of police. The officials assumed charge at the Mayiladuthurai collectorate soon after the inaugural function. Handlooms Minister O S Manian, Poompuhar MLA Paunraj, Mayiladuthurai MLA Radhakrishnan, and others were present in Mayiladuthurai during the inaugural function.

Earlier, the CM had announced that few new districts will be formed in the state for administrative convenience and accelerating the public welfare schemes. According to which, Kallakurichu, Tirupattur, Chengalpattu, Tenkasi and Ranipet were announced as separate districts this year.