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For the first time, Govt. of India lays down rights for electricity consumers

By
The Commune
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Tamil Nadu SC Family Denied Electricity For 9 Years Due To Caste-Based Discrimination

Union Ministry of Power has promulgated rules laying down the rights of power consumers in the country.  While issuing these rules here today via Press Conference, R.K.Singh, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, said, “These rules shall empower the consumers of electricity and added that these Rules emanate from the conviction that the power systems exist to serve the consumers and the consumers have rights to get the reliable services and quality electricity.” He said that Distribution Companies across the country are monopolies – whether government or private – and the consumer has no alternative – therefore it was necessary that the consumers’ rights be laid down in Rules and a system for enforcement of these rights be put in place.  “This is what the rules provide for”, Minister Singh said.

The Minister further said, “These rules are also an important step towards furthering the ease of doing business across the country. Implementation of these Rules shall ensure that new electricity connections, refunds and other services are given in a time bound manner.  Wilful disregard to consumer rights will result in levying penalties on service providers.” He said that this is one of the major initiatives and yet another step by the Union Government to put consumer in the centre-stage of public utility services.  The Rules will benefit about 30 crores existing and the prospective consumers in the country. Stressing upon the need for awareness of all consumers especially in rural areas/villages, he said, States and DISCOMs are being advised to provide wide publicity to these highly consumer friendly Rules of the Government.

Here are the key areas  covered in the Electricity (Rights of consumers) Rules:

a)         Rights of consumers and Obligations of Distribution licensees

b)         Release of new connection and modification in existing connection

c)         Metering arrangement

d)         Billing and Payment

e)         Disconnection and Reconnection

f)          Reliability of supply

g)         Consumer as Prosumer

h)         Standards of Performance of licensee

i)          Compensation Mechanism

j)          Call Centre for Consumer Services

k)         Grievance redressal mechanism

Under the rights and obligations, it has been stated that it is the duty of every distribution licensee to supply electricity on request made by an owner or occupier of any premises in line with the provisions of Act. It also states that it is the right of consumer to have minimum standards of service for supply of electricity from the distribution licensee.

(Published from PIB)

Fin Min releases 8th Instalment of ₹6000 crore to states as back to back loans to compensate for GST shortfall

By
The Commune
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The Ministry of Finance has released the 8th weekly instalment of ₹6,000 crore to the States to meet the GST compensation shortfall. Out of this, an amount of ₹5,516.60 crore has been released to 23 States and an amount of ₹483.40 crore has been released to the 3 Union Territories (UT) with Legislative Assembly (Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir & Puducherry) who are members of the GST Council. The remaining 5 States, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim do not have a gap in revenue on account of GST implementation.

The Government of India had set up a special borrowing window in October, 2020 to meet the estimated shortfall of ₹1.10 lakh crore in revenue arising on account of implementation of GST. The borrowings are being done through this window by the Government of India on behalf of the States and UTs.  The borrowings have been done in 7 rounds. The amount borrowed so far was released to the States on 23rd October, 2020, 2nd November, 2020, 9th November, 2020, 23rd November, 2020, 1st December, 2020, 7th December, 2020, 14th December, 2020 and 21st December, 2020.

The amount released this week was the 8th instalment of such funds provided to the States. The amount has been borrowed this week at an interest rate of 4.1902%.  So far, an amount of ₹48,000 crore has been borrowed by the Central Government through the special borrowing window at an average interest rate of 4.6986%.

In addition to providing funds through the special borrowing window to meet the shortfall in revenue on account of GST implementation, the Government of India has also granted additional borrowing permission equivalent to 0.50 % of Gross States Domestic Product (GSDP) to the states choosing Option-I to meet GST compensation shortfall to help them in mobilising additional financial resources. All the States have been given their preference for Option-I. Permission for borrowing the entire additional amount of ₹1,06,830 crore (0.50 % of GSDP) has been granted to 28 States under this provision.

(Published from PIB)

Watch: Late Balochistan activist Karima Baloch wishing PM Modi for Raksha Bandhan

By
The Commune
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Balochistan activist Karima Baloch who was vocal about the atrocities and human rights abuses committed by Pakistan establishment in Balochistan was found dead in Toronto Canada on December 21. was one of the pioneer women activists in Balochistan and had raised the issue of Balochistan in the United Nations sessions in Switzerland much to the dismay of Pakistan.

In 2016, Karima on the occasion of Rakshabandhan, sent out wishes to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi through video message and urged him to voice out the plight of Balochis in international forums.

Here is the English transcript of what she said:

“On the day of Rakshabandhan Modi ji this baloch sister looks upto you as a brother and has something to say. My name is Karima Baloch and I am the chairperson of Baloch Students Organization. I want to let you know that in Balochistan thousands of men have been killed by the Pakistani army and at the same time we do not know the fate of the many who have also disappeared and the sisters of these thousands of disappeared brothers are still looking for them.

However, we also know that many of the brothers who have disappeared will never return but the sisters will still keep a watch hoping that they will return one day.

On the auspicious day of Rakshabandhan, We, your baloch sisters ask for your support to raise the plight of our people. We ask you as our brother to raise the issue of baloch genocide on international forums.

We, your sisters from Balochistan want you to be our voice against this injustice against our people perpetrated by Pakistan military.

We will fight our own battle, however, what we are asking is you become our voice and spread the message of our struggle for independence from tyranny to the rest of the world.

I have also written something in Gujarati which is your mother tongue.”

FPIs pour in large into India: ₹54,980 crore invested in Indian equities

By
The Commune
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Indian Firms Raise Over ₹3 Lakh Crore From Stock Market In 2024

Amid the pall of gloom over the losses incurred due to COVID-19, there is good news for the Indian economy because foreign investors are betting big on the net inflows into the Indian equities.

As per a report in Economic Times, Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) pumped in ₹54,980 crore in Indian markets in December amidst availability of excess liquidity in global markets. Also, there is the expectation of a fresh stimulus package by various central banks.

According to reports, ₹48,858 crore have been invested into Indian equities, and ₹6,122 crore have been invested in the Indian debt segment.

Himanshu Srivastava, associate director – manager research, Morningstar India said, “availability of excess liquidity in global markets and low-interest rates diverted foreign flows into emerging markets like India.”

Harsh Jain, co-founder and COO at Groww said, “After months of buying a few select stocks, FPIs are beginning to broaden their horizon as buying in small and mid-cap space has increased,”.

November saw the whopping sum of ₹62,951 crore invested into Indian equity markets which was the highest-ever inflow of funds recorded ever in a single month.

Many market analysts think there is a positive outlook by investors towards India amid the drop in the number of COVID-19 cases and the successful vaccine development against COVID-19, both in India and the rest of the world.

 

Balochistan human rights activist and Pak establishment critic Karima Baloch found dead in Toronto, Trudeau maintains stoic silence

By
The Commune
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Anti-Pakistani activist Karima Baloch who was vocal about the atrocities and human rights abuses committed by Pakistan establishment in Balochistan has been found dead in Toronto Canada, according to Balochistan Post.

Karima entered Canada as a refugee from Pakistan and was named as one of the world’s 100 most “inspirational and influential” women in 2016 by the BBC.

On Sunday, December (20), Karima was reported missing and the Toronto Police had requested for public assistance in locating her. However, later her family confirmed that Karima’s body has been found.

Canadain Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not spoken about this incident who had recently gone out of his way to comment on internal affairs of India. It is noteworthy to mention that Trudeau’s cabinet has Khalistani sympathizers and quite often resort to posturing against India to appease Sikh vote bank in Canada.  

Balochistan Post said that the sudden death of the activist has raised serious concern because another Baloch dissident, journalist Sajid Hussain was found dead in May under mysterious circumstances in Sweden. 

Karima Baloch was one of the pioneer women activists in Balochistan and had raised the issue of Balochistan in the United Nations sessions in Switzerland much to the dismay of Pakistan.

In 2019 interview, she accused Pakistan of systematically stealing the natural resources of Balochistan and the elimination of her people. Historically Balochistan has always had important geostrategic importance and with its huge untapped natural resource reserves, it became a perfect target for exploitation.

For the last seventy years, the natural resources of Balochistan have been usurped by Pakistan without giving any benefit to the local population. Pakistan has now joined forces with China under the umbrella of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to plunder the mineral rich region at industrial scale. 

Dissidents and critics of the Pakistan military, who are living in exile are often targeted with many living under constant fear both within and outside Balochistan. However, their anguish is well-founded because there is enough evidence of the Pakistani military indulging in human rights violations including abducting, extrajudicial killings of detainees and running of rape camps.

The most effective way for the Pakistan military to reach anyone who protests against them is by targeting the female members of the family. Once in custody, the women in the family are subjected to rape or eliminated leaving no choice. 

Pakistan military is also accused of running para-military death squads and non-state actors in the form of Islamic terror groups founded by the military to carry killings and to subjugate Baloch civilians.

At present, thousands of Baloch political activists are compelled to seek asylum in European counties and most of them are journalists and human rights activists.

“I feel disgusted to listen to Hindu religious stories”: says lady in the presence of DMK chief MK Stalin at Christmas celebrations

By
The Commune
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The DMK  held a function in the run up to Christmas at Santhome near Mylapore in Chennai. The event, presided by DMK chief MK Stalin, saw the participation of several party functionaries, DMK MLAs and MPs and Christian pastors from different denominations.

Kalaiarasi Natarajan, DMK supporter and a self-proclaimed ‘scholar’ on Saiva Siddhanta who addressed the event said “Tamil denotes Saivas. Saivites are Tamils. No matter where they are and which religion they follow or ‘create’, they are Tamils. Fundamentally, they are Saivites. Here in Tamil Nadu, the Christians and Muslims are old Tamils. They are our umblical cord relatives. ..one of the speakers mentioned the word ‘Hinduism’.. I am disheartened by the usage of that term. Please don’t use the word ‘Hindu’ religion. There is no such thing as Hinduism. It is only 200 years old. We are Saivites. We were there even before the stone age. Whether they are Muslims or Christians, they are our umblical cord. They are our brothers. They are our kith and kin.”

She further added, “Never use the word ‘Hindu’. It is because you use the term ‘Hindu’ that it becomes our weakness. Never use that henceforth. There is no such thing as ‘Hindu’ religion.”

“Nowadays, when you hear the word ‘Hindu’, the whole body burns. I feel disgusted to listen to Hindu religious stories”. Kalaiarasi said in the presence of DMK chief M.K. Stalin

She also goes on to hail Christian missionaries like G.U. Pope and Bishop Caldwell while rubbing off the greatest Tamil scholar ‘Tamil Thatha’ U. Ve. Swaminatha Iyer.

The Christian leaders along with the DMK chief present at the event smiled and even clapped their hands for Kalaiarasi’s speech against Hindus.

This video is now going viral on social media with several Hindus condemning MK Stalin for trying to incite religious hatred by providing platform to people to speak against Hindu religion at an event organized to commemorate Christmas.

It is noteworthy to mention that the DMK (an atheist rationalist party) which does not wish Hindus on their festivals like Deebavali, Ganesh Chaturthi or Thai Poosam organizes a gala event for Christmas.

The DMK and its alliance parties like the VCK and Communists are known for their anti-Hindu stance to cater to their minority votebank.

Earlier, Karuppar Koottam, a ‘Periyarist’ group with close ties to the DMK shared blasphemous content on Hindu God Murugan by derogating Kanda Sashti Kavasam. VCK  leader Thirumavalavan citing Manusmriti called Hindu women prostitutes. DMK leader Stalin’s dusted off the vibhoodhi (sacred ash) from his hands without applying on his forehead in front of freedom fighter Muthuramalinga Thevar’s samadhi. His son Udayanithi Stalin refused to accept Purnakumba respect when he had gone to a village to kickstart the DMK’s election campaign.

Saturn and Jupiter align together in a celestial conjunction on Winter Solstice after several centuries

By
The Commune
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People all over the world witnessed the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction, a rare celestial event that happens only once in every 400 years. The celestial event made Jupiter and Saturn appear as one bright star in the night sky. The event was visible to the naked eye as well, though those with a telescope would have enjoyed a better view.

However, despite appearing super close, Jupiter and Saturn will actually be more than 450 million miles (730 million km) apart. Earth, meanwhile, will be 550 million miles (890 million km) from Jupiter.

This is the first such event since 1623 and nearly 800 years after the alignment of Saturn and Jupiter occurred at night. This event last occurred in the 17th century, back in Galileo’s time. The planets were separated by just 0.1 degrees. The planets will again appear to come as close as this from the Earth only on March 15, 2080.

This is being dubbed as ‘the great conjunction’. This is because this “great conjunction” is popularly referred to as the “Christmas Star.” On December 21, almost all the viewers across the world were able to see the two gas giants very close to each other, while they were still hundreds of millions of miles apart in space. Astronomers say so-called conjunctions between the two largest planets in our solar system are not particularly rare – Jupiter passes its neighbour Saturn in their respective laps around the Sun every 20 years.

https://twitter.com/nachobooo/status/1341006229460582400

Saudi Arabia to expunge anti-Zionist, anti-Israel content content from its school text books

By
The Commune
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In a significant development in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, the most powerful country in the regions has begun the process of removing anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist contents from the country’s textbooks for the coming school years.

This information was reported by the Jerusalem-based Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education.

This news comes when there are talks of a possible normalisztion of relations between Saudi Arabia, home to the two of Islam holiest mosques and the Jewish nation of Israel. 

For weeks there has been the news of possible normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. However, it has reached fever pitch last week, when senior White House adviser to President Donald Trump Jared Kushner said, “normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia is inevitable”.

Credit must also be given to President Donald Trump who pushed the Arab nations to mend ties with Israel and recognize this nation which was formed three years after the end of the Second World War to give the Jews their own country.
 
In some of the school books that children read in Saudi Arabia, there are stories of religious prediction wherein the Muslims would kill all the Jews as per a prophecy. This has served as a foundation anti-Semitic views in the Muslim world, including India.
 
The monitoring group said that while it “did not find that new tolerant material had been injected into the curriculum, a substantial amount of offensive material had been removed.”
 
The classic anti-Semitic trope that Jews, identified as “Zionist forces,” use villainous methods, including money, women, and drugs to control the world has been dropped.
 
“Examining the trendline of our 2002, 2008 and even 2019 reports of the Saudi curriculum, it is clear that these new 2020 textbooks represent an institutional effort to modernize the Kingdom’s curriculum,” said IMPACT-se CEO, Marcus Sheff.
 
“The Saudi authorities have begun a process of rooting out anti-Jewish hate,” he further said.

Fahad Nazer, the spokesperson for the Saudi Embassy in Washington, said, “a very concerted effort to remove all [offensive material] from the entire curriculum.”
 
Hatred of Jews is still present, including “a decontextualized and ambiguous” story about Jewish “wrongdoers,” who are described as monkeys.

According to the report, “There is clearly still work to be done. However, the changes made thus far show promise for a moderate and tolerant curriculum. Further improvements need to be made. But the overriding impression is of a willingness to engage, to participate in dialogue regarding curriculum content and finally move towards textbook reformation.”

This is a major shift in the regional politics of the Middle East after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco began the process of normalizing its relations with Israel.
 
However, there is still a lot of work to be done in improving the relations between both these nations. Some experts in this region see the normalization of ties between some of the Arab countries with Israel as a political experiment for Saudi Arabia to test the waters.

Saudi Arabia is still is an Islamic theocratic state and any overt outreach between both nations could trigger internal strife. It is an open secret, Saudia Arabia wants to eventually establish diplomatic relationship with Israel, but the question is how much time it will take.

NIA arrests 17 persons belonging to SDPI/PFI in Bengaluru violence case

By
The Commune
-

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a press release issued on December 21 stated that 17 persons belonging to the Popular Front of India (PFI) and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) have been arrested in connection with the Bengaluru violence that rocked the city on August 11, 2020.

SDPI members namely: President of SDPI Bengaluru District Mohammad Shareiff, President of KG Halli ward Imran Ahmed, and other senior leaders of the party like Rubah Waqas, Shabbar Khan and Shaik Ajmal had conducted meetings at Thanissandra and KG Halli wards in Bengaluru on the evening of August 11.

“…they conspired, mobilized, and led the crowd gathered at KG Halli Police Station to attack the police personnel, causing huge damage to the public and police station vehicles.”, the press release read.

The statement also said that SDPI President of Nagwara ward Abbas had mobilized large crowd at KG Halli police station through his associates Azil Pasha, Irfan Khan and Akbar Khan.

The NIA said that its investigations had revealed the extensive use of social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp groups to mobilize people from far off places, assemble at KG Halli police station and spread terror.

So far, 187 accused have been arrested and further investigations are continuing.

On 11 August 2020, at around 08:00 PM, more than 1000 people gathered in front of the house of Congress MLA Shri Naveen Srinivas Murthy (Pulakeshi Nagar constituency) at Kavalbyrasandra, Bengaluru City. The mob was protesting against the derogatory social media (Facebook) post about Prophet Mohammed made on 11.08.2020 at around 4 pm by Shri Naveen, nephew of the MLA allegedly insulting the religious sentiments of the Muslims.

 

Christian missionary and accomplices who tried to proselytize through enticements arrested under new law in UP

By
The Commune
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Four people, including a South Korean woman, have been arrested in Noida for trying to forcibly convert Hindus to Christianity through enticements. The missionaries have been enticing two families through money and forcing them to convert.

A 50-year-old South Korean woman named Anmol (Moo Soo Lee) along with Seema, Sandhya and a man named Umesh Kumar who were arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police have been involved in missionary work in the Noida area for a long time. Anmol has been a frequent visitor to India for the past few years, pretending to help financially and trapping families who are finding it difficult to make ends meet, to convert.

She is said to be associated with a missionary organization. Umesh Kumar, reportedly works as a driver for her, and has also converted people to Islam by bribing them. The trio has been arrested for helping Lee’s try to convert some newcomers in the area.

While Lee was staying in an upscale apartment, the other three were renting a house in Malakpooi village in Surajpur. Two families in Surajpur had agreed to convert after Lee had enticed them with money to fulfill the basic needs. She had insisted them to come to church on Sundays.

Lee went to the homes of the two families at 11 a.m. on the day of the incident, grabbed the two and read some verses from the Bible. They also forced the family to remove the idols they had been worshipping. This had caused a stir after neighbours came to know of the matter.

When one of them came to the police station to report the incident to the police, the family admitted that all four, including Lee, had been forcing them to convert. Police have since arrested the four. A case has been registered against them under the newly introduced anti-conversion ordinance enacted by the Yogi Adityanath-led government.

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