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Communist Party of China tells families of dead PLA soldiers in Galwan clash to skip traditional funeral, tries to cover up

The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs has told families of those who died at the hands of the Indian Army that they must not follow the traditional burial ceremonies and funeral services but should be conducted remotely.

The reason it has given is the threat of Wuhan virus but it seems like Beijing is deliberately trying to downplay and supress reminders of the violent clash.

According to an intelligence assessment by the United States, the Communist Party of China (CPC) is not willing to recognise its dead soldiers who had died fighting the Indian Army in the Galwan Valley in the Ladakh.

Beijing is putting pressure on the families of fallen soldiers and has told them not to conduct burials and in-person funeral ceremonies.

However, The aggrieved families are not being silent and the Chinese government is struggling to silence social media platforms like Weibo.

On June 15, the Chinese troops ambushed the Indian troops and 20 Indian soldiers died fighting the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA). When the dust settled, China had suffered nearly 100 casualties.

In India, the soldiers were given a military funeral and due recognition and being called martyrs and heroes.

Even the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his monthly radio programme Mann ki Baat on June 28, conveyed condolences to the kin of Indian Army personnel who lost their lives in the Galwan valley clash.

He said the sacrifice of these families is “worth worshipping”.

However, nearly after one month of this clash, China, has not given the official figures.

It is a very high probability, almost all the Chinese soldiers who lost there lives in Galwan Valley were the only child to their parents. To compound to this, greaving families are being mistreated by the Chinese government by denying them to skip traditional funeral rights.

The US News reported that according to the US intelligence assessment, China is into a massive coverup of the showdown because Beijing appears to consider this a blunder.

For China, the clash in the Galwan Valley with the Indian army is hard to digest. By many estimates and according to some experts of China, the PLA underestimated the will and aggressive nature of the Indian army.

So far the Chinese government has acknowledged the deaths of only a few officers but the editor-in-chief of Global Times had tweeted earlier that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including the dead and seriously injured.

American intelligence believes that atleast 35 Chinese soldiers were killed in Galwan.

 

China denies burial to its soldiers who lost their lives in Galwan Valley clash

China has denied permission to conduct burials of its soldiers who had lost their lives in the Galwan valley face-off. It was reported that the Chinese government is unwilling to acknowledge its soldiers’ sacrifices and forcing their families against conducting in-person funerals. Apparently,  the families of these Martyrs have been mistreated by the Chinese Government, and have been refused burial rites. Their families have been told to forego traditional burial ceremonies, and to conduct them remotely.

A source had said that “The reality is they don’t want to create martyr soldiers. So they have banned functions where friends and families can pay their respects for the PLA deceased.”

China has still not disclosed the number of soldiers who had lost their lives in the incident. This has been faced with a lot of backlash, and has been viewed as a weak attempt by Beijing to cover up.

In the monthly radio program Mann ki Baat, Prime Minister Modi as meanwhile conveyed condolences to the families of the Galwan valley martyrs.

Source: The Times of India

Gold smuggled into Kerala could have been used to fund terror groups

The investigation into the Kerala gold smuggling by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has revealed startling details. According to the NIA, proceeds from the Kerala gold smuggling may have been used for funding terrorist activities.

As per details released by the NIA, around 150kg of gold was smuggled into Kerala over the past 10 months.

Key suspects Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair have been taken in by the NIA Court on Monday (Jul 13) and remanded in the agency’s custody till July 21.

Since the NIA has suspected terror funding, it has sought the custody of the two for probing “the terrorist angle”.

The agency is likely to invoke provisions of Section 16 and 17 of The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 UAPA, which prescribes punishment for raising funds for terrorist activities, against the accused Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair.

Investigators informed the Kochi-based NIA court that Swapna Suresh and Sarith Nair, who were previously employed at the UAE Consulate, and used the loophole in the movement of diplomatic baggage to smuggle gold.

As any transactions using cash/wire transfer can be traced, gold is being sued by terror groups for funding. The NIA told the special court that gold which was smuggled was not meant for jewellery groups.

One of accused Sandeep Nair claimed the gold was meant for UAE diplomat named Rashid Al Sheimeili and asked the court to question his role in the investigation.

Earlier, K T Rameez, a Malappuram-based businessman,was arrested on Sunday by a customs special investigation team. More information will come forth from this end as well and will help the investigation.

Rameez was nabbed from his residence at Vettathoor near Perinthalmanna in the early hours of Sunday (Jul 12). His arrest as per the customs is crucial to the progress of the investigation into the gold smuggling case.

The gold smuggling case has become a serious political problem for Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan because Swapan Sundar, had close ties to the office of the CM office.

The arrest of Rameez and his subsequent interrogation in custody could provide further details of investors in the gold smuggling and key personnel involved in coordinating the smuggling in Kerala.

UAE all set to launch its MARS mission

The mission to Mars has been something that has been chased by quite a few countries off late, and a surprise entry on this list is the United Arab Emirates. The Emirates Mars mission aims to capture the most comprehensive picture yet of the Red Planet. It is set to launch from Japan this week making history as the Arab’s first-ever interplanetary mission. It is to be launched from Japan and it is expected to be delayed due to the weather conditions.

The country aims to inspire its youth to go into STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), and has therefore named the spacecraft, ‘Al Amal’, which translates to ‘Hope’. This is an unprecedented feat for the Gulf country since most missions take at least a decade to develop, while this was done in a period of just 6 years. Approximately 450 engineers and technicians worked on the Hope probe for six years.

The probe is touted to reach Mars over the next seven months and is expected to spend an entire Martian year in orbit which is 687 days. Over the course of the orbit, it is to collect various data about the planet’s atmosphere which could potentially solve the riddle as to why it is now uninhabitable.

(Source: CNN)

After Lord Murugan, ‘Periyarists’ and DMK mouthpieces attack Lord Ram

In yet another targeted attack against Hindus and their beliefs, ‘Periyarists’ and members of the DMK and its mouthpieces have started maligning Lord Ram calling him a ‘migrant’ (Vandheri) and other abuses, after Nepal’s Prime Minister comment yesterday (July 13) about Lord Ram belonging to Nepal and that ‘real Ayodhya’ is in Nepal.

The DK, DMK and Communist groups have now pounced on the absurd claims made by Nepal’s PM and have started creating distasteful memes.

Isai SD, State Deputy Secretary of DMK IT Wing shared a meme captioning it as “Our MCs (meme creators) are the best!”

 

Isai SD with DMK Chief MK Stalin

DMK mouthpiece and sympathizer Savukku Shankar and a prominent Twitter user share the following posts on his timeline.

In this tweet, Savukku insults Lord Ram by making comparisons with the Tamil movie Nepali

In the above picture, a Twitter user by the name (Joker in Tamil) writes “Dei! You shouted for boycotting foreign products. But now it looks like you guys have ‘looted‘ a ‘foreign God‘”

In the above picture shared by Savukku Shankar it says “Sanghis tried to put poonool (sacred thread) and saffron robe for Tiruvalluvar. But Nepalis have now put a cap on Ram and made him a gurkha”.

The above statement not just insults Lord Ram and but also denigrates Gorkhas of Nepal, a community that shares a rich bond with India with even a regiment in their name in the Indian army.

One Jeyachandran, a DMK supporter says that Lord Ram is from Nepal and those who object to this should show birth certificate of Lord Ram prove that he is Indian (an apparent reference to NRC).

Another DMK office bearer by the name Karthik Bala Subramanian also shares memes insulting Lord Ram.

Another picture shared by the user “Samooga Aaivaalan” with a picture of Karuppar Koottam (a rabid Youtube Channel that puts vulgar videos on Hindu Gods) shares a meme in which it calls Ram as “Nepali Nikki”.

This too insults both Lord Ram and calls racial slurs against Nepalis.

Earlier today, the Youtube Channel Karuppar Koottam  run by a group of Dravida Kazhagam (DK) and Communist ideologues and sympathizers of (DMK) was booked for their vulgar videos on Lord Murugan.

Time and again, Hindus and Hindu Gods have been under attack from DK (Periyarists), DMK and Communist groups under the garb of rationalism.

16-foot Burmese Python rescued in Assam

A 16-foot Burmese python was rescued from the Borghat Chapanala area in Assam’s Nagaon district on Saturday and later released in the Swang Reserve Forest. The animal rescue officials who captured the snake claimed it to be 16 feet long and that it weighed 38 kilograms.

Reportedly it was found while it was ravaging a pet goat in the village. This video was posted by ANI, and immediately got 32000 views in just 2 days, as well as more than a hundred retweets and close to 1000 likes. The video footage captured by locals shows the reptile being captured by the animal rescuer as a crowd behind him watches the scene in awe.

The Burmese python is one of the five largest species of snakes in the world. Native to Southeast Asia, they are often found near water, marshy areas, and semiaquatic areas. The reptile can grow to 16 feet. But specimens of more than 23 feet are uncommon.

Last week, a 15-feet-long King Cobra was rescued by forest officials from a village near Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore. The snake was spotted in the village of Narasipuram, a suburb of Coimbatore city. The pictures show a man using metal hooks to capture the venomous serpent from behind a plastic drum. It appeared to be slithering at the side of a shanty. The snake was later taken to the Survani forest and released in the wild.

 

 

‘Glee’ actress dies while attempting to save drowning son

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2018, file photo, Naya Rivera participates in the "Step Up: High Water" panel during the YouTube Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif. The search to find “Glee" TV show star Rivera in a Southern California lake ended Saturday, July 11, 2020, without any results, authorities said. The Ventura County Sheriff's Office said in a tweet Saturday night that the search of Lake Piru will resume Sunday morning. Authorities said Thursday they believe Rivera drowned in the lake. Her 4-year-old son was found alone in a rented boat. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)

Naya Rivera, the 33-year-old actress was found dead after drowning in a California lake. She had gone missing last Wednesday at Lake Piru, following which a search operation was launched. Her 4-year-old son Josey was found stabbed on a boat wearing a life jacket. Her last act before she died attempting to save her son from drowning. The Guardian  reported that Bill Ayub of the Ventury county sheriff’s department said that based on the location where the body was found, physical characteristics, and the fact that no one else had been reported missing in the area, they were “confident” that the body found was that of Rivera.

Her body was retrieved and sent for biopsy, all the preliminary examination did not show any evidence of foul play or suicide. Sgt Kevin Donoghue, a spokesman for the police department, had earlier told the BBC that they were “putting every available asset and resource” into the search. He added that Rivera’s son had seen his mother “disappear beneath the water”. The police are investigating the cause of death though it is suspected that the lake strong currents could have been the reason for her death.

Naya Rivera became popular after her acting career’s biggest break, ‘Glee’. She is also famously known for acting in series like Baywatch and the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

Israelis seek solace in tree-hugging while social-distancing

A woman takes part in a campaign by Israel's Nature and Parks Authority calling on people to join sightseeing tours and find comfort in tree hugging amid a spike in the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Jerusalem July 9, 2020. Picture taken July 9, 2020. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Israelis have started finding solace in hugging trees, after social distancing has forbidden them from embracing their loved ones. This initiative was started by Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority, to help its citizens overcome grief and a sense of detachment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In this unpleasant corona period we recommend to people around the world to go out to nature, take a deep breath, hug a tree, express your love and get love,” Orit Steinfeld, the authority’s marketing director, said in Apollonia National Park, to Reuters. This park is situated 15km north of Tel Aviv, Israel’s capital, and has become a hotspot for those who are craving physical contact. Tree-huggers such as Barbara Grant heeded the advice during a tour arranged by the Authority. “The most basic human need is for connection, for touching, for hugging,” she said, lamenting that, as a health precaution, she can’t hug her grandchildren. This campaign by Israel is following a similar initiative by Iceland’s forestry department in April. This has also been compared to the Chipko Movement that led the path to the Vanmahotsav celebrations in India.

After flattening a coronavirus infection curve in May, Israel has experienced a spike in new cases over the past several weeks. Following this, there were strict social distancing norms imposed, and masks have been made mandatory.

Meanwhile, Israel’s coronavirus cases stand at 40,632, while the death toll is at 365.

Bishop Franco Mulakkal’s bail in rape case cancelled by Kottayam Sessions Court, non-bailable warrant issued

The Additional District and Sessions Court I, Kottayam has cancelled the bail granted to the Bishop Franco Mulakkal, head of the Latin Catholic Church diocese of Jalandhar, who has been accused of rape reported the New Indian Express.

Sessions Judge G Gopakumar also issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Franco on Monday (13 July) for repeatedly failing to present himself (14 times) before the court since November last.

The court also ordered the forfeiture of the bail bond and a case be registered against the persons who stood as sureties. A show-cause notice will be issued for the surety amount of Rs 2 lakh against individuals who furnished the bond.

The influential bishop so far had failed to appear for the proceedings on more than 10 occasions. The last time he was in court was on November 30, 2019, to secure bail extension.

Franco’s reasons for not turning up for his court date appearance was on the grounds that his Jalandhar residence was situated in a COVID-19 containment zone. Also, the defence counsel said the bishop could not appear before the court since he is in quarantine.

According to his counsel, Bishop Franco had got himself an air ticket to fly down to Kerala but just before that he had met with his advocate Mandeep Singh Sachdev who later tested COVID positive, and hence Franco was asked to go in quarantine.

However, the precedence that the Catholic Bishop residence falls in the Civil Line area in Jalandhar falling within the containment zone turned out that it was not the case.  This was proven by the Advocate Jithesh Babu, special public prosecutor(SPP), who submitted this before the court.

The SPP elucidated the court that the accused was deliberately trying to delay the legal proceedings and based on that the court issued a non-bailable warrant.

Franco Mulakkal is the first bishop in Indian Catholic history to be arrested for raping a nun multiple times between 2014 and 2016.

“I repeat, there will be no return to the ‘old normal’ for the foreseeable future”: WHO chief declares

WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a press briefing on Monday said that the pandemic is only about to worsen globally and that “there will be no return to the old normal for the foreseeable future”.

“I want to be straight with you. There will be no return to the old normal for the foreseeable future. I repeat, there will be no return to the old normal for the foreseeable future. But there is a roadmap to a situation where we can control the disease and get on with our lives.”

“We cannot go back to the way we did things before my friends. Business as usual has failed us. We must come together in a global conversation to take these hard borne lessons and turn them into action. My friends, make no mistake. The greatest threat that we face now is not the virus itself, rather it is the lack of leadership and solidarity at the global and national levels.”, Tedros said.

https://twitter.com/SomethinkMore/status/1281941101213933568

He said that that too many countries are heading in the wrong direction present and that ‘the virus remains the public enemy number 1’.

He further added that we cannot defeat the pandemic with a divided world. “The COVID19 pandemic is a test of global solidarity and global leadership. The virus thrives on division but is thwarted when we unite. How is it difficult for humans to unite to fight a common enemy that is killing people indiscriminately?”

He said that controlling the pandemic would require three things to be done: a focus on reducing mortality and suppressing transmission, an empowered and engaged community that takes individual behaviour measures and strong government leadership to coordinate strategies and efforts that are communicated clearly and consistently.