Complaint lodged against DMK MLA for trying to grab land illegally

By

-

September 3, 2020

Locals have lodged a complaint with the District Collector against the Anaikattu DMK MLA A.P. Nandakumar for trying to usurp the land near the new bus stand in Vellore district.

Workers from the electricity department had arrived to shift an electrical transformer located at the backside of the restaurant located opposite to the new bus stand.

At that time, the people of the area had told the workers that the transformer posed no hindrance to them. But the electrical workers told that the restaurant management has already paid to get the transformer shifted.

Later, it was found that the restaurant was run by none other than Anaikattu DMK MLA Nandakumar.

Following this, the people of the area lodged a complaint with the District Collector saying that the DMK MLA was trying to illegally grab the land.

Asteroid bigger than the Great Pyramid of Giza to hit Earth’s orbit this week

By

The Commune

-

September 3, 2020

NASA scientists have said that an asteroid twice the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza is set to hit the Earth’s orbit on Sunday (September 6).

The asteroid called the 465824 (2010 FR) will be crossing the Earth’s orbit on September 6 2020.

The asteroid is reportedly travelling at a speed of 31,400 mph. The scientists have been tracking it since 2010. It was found by Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) on March 18, 2010.

The asteroid, dubbed 4, would be 4.6 million miles away from the Earth and would not pose a threat to the planet, however, it has been classified as “Near Earth Object” and a “Potentially Hazardous Asteroid” by NASA.

The asteroid is reported to be 120-270 metres in diameter which is twice as big as the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

Pakistan blocks dating apps like Tinder, Grindr citing ‘immoral and indecent content’

By

The Commune

-

September 2, 2020

Pakistan has blocked five dating apps including Tinder and Grindr (for gay, lesbian, bi, trans, and queer people) stating that they hosted ‘immoral and indecent content’.

The other blocked apps include Tagged, Skout and SayHi.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority had stated that it had blocked the services as it did not receive a reply to the notices issues to the companies advising them to remove dating services and moderate live streaming content on their apps.

It added that it can “reconsider” the block if the apps adhere to local laws and moderate indecent and immoral content.

According to CNN, Tinder and Grindr were downloaded 440,000 and 300,000 times respectively in the last 12 months. Tagged and SayHi had each been downloaded about 300,000 times in Pakistan, and Skout 100,000 times in the past 12 months, the CNN report said quoting Sensor Towers data.

Indian Army along with SFF, captures Finger 4 Ridgeline along LAC

By

Balaji Subramanian

-

September 2, 2020

In a rapid mission to capture the North Finger 4 Ridgeline at Pangong Tso along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), units of the Indian Army along with the formidable Special Frontier Force (SFF) has mounted a mission that has left the PLA in total disarray, India Today has reported.

The Indian Army and the SFF which mostly comprises of Tibetans have now taken control of the Finger 4 feature on the north bank of Pangong Tso Lake. This is a strategic location and it is only a few hundred metres away from the Chinese posts.

This position has now given the Indian Army the all-important dominating heights on the ridgelines along Finger 4.

The report adds that the Indian Army has carried out a readjustment of deployment this week and established its posts on the Indian side of the LAC.

Whenever the Indian Army has gone on the offensive, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had to move back. Earlier the army had gained a big advantage over the PLA by successfully beating it to occupy a strategic height at the southern region of the Pangong Tso Lake.

118 Chinese Apps including PUBG banned after Chinese escalate tensions in Ladakh

By

Balaji Subramanian

-

September 2, 2020

As India intensifies its resolve at the Line of Actual Control, the government at the centre has banned 118 additional Chinese apps including the popular multiplayer game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.

This action was initiated by India’s Ministry of Information and Technology. The ban was implemented after the IT Ministry, had received various complaints of the apps stealing user data.

This could, in turn, can be mined by countries hostile to India’s national security. Also, the recommendation for the banning of the apps came from the Home Ministry.

The decision to ban 118 Chinese apps comes at the heel just days after the Chinese People Liberation Army (PLA) carried out another unprovoked military aggression at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

India had banned 59 Chinese apps in the month of June including the popular short video sharing app TikTok, data sharing app ShareIt, UC Browser and scanning app CamScanner.

In a press release by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had said “In the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India and security of the State. And using the sovereign powers, the Government of India has decided to block the usage of certain Apps, used in both mobile and non-mobile Internet-enabled devices.”

The ministry also found all these apps were engaged in activities “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India”.

Here is a list of the 118 Chinese apps which have been banned in India.

Navalny’s poisoning confirmed, reports say he was poisoned using Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok

By

Vaibavi Jayakumar

-

September 2, 2020

Berlin hospital authorities confirmed that Alexei Navalny was indeed poisoned and that it is likely that he was poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent called “Novichok”. It is infamous for having been the cause of death of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter who were then in Britain, back in the day.

Alexei Navalny is one of the biggest critics of the Kremlin, and more particularly, Russian President Vladimir Putin. He mysteriously collapsed on a flight from Siberia to Moscow on August 20 and was flown to Berlin last week for treatment, following a plea by his wife to the Russian Government seeking the same. While his condition remains critical, this new confirmation about the cause of his collapse has confirmed the already present suspicions over the alleged poisoning of Navalny. The cholinesterase inhibitor was identified in his blood by the doctors in Berlin.

Steffen Seibert the spokesperson to German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday said that after testing by a military laboratory, it was ascertained that “a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group” was used on Navalny. During the statement, Seibert added that they intended to inform the European Union and NATO about the results of Navalny’s test. Additionally, Seibert pledged to consult with Russia to reach an “appropriate joint response”.

Meanwhile, Russia has responded to these accusations calling them ’empty noise’ and baseless allegations. Russian doctors who had treated Navalny in Siberia went on to justify their previous claim that poisoning was ruled out as no trace of poisonous substances was found in his body.

Youtuber arrested for insulting Hindu deities, suspected to have terror links

By

Vaibavi Jayakumar

-

September 2, 2020

Islamic Youtuber Heer Khan, who was conducting hate propaganda online against Hinduism by posting derogatory comments against Hindu deities in her YouTube channel ‘Black Day August 5’ was arrested on August 26. Following several rounds of interrogation, there have been suspicions that she might have connections abroad.

According to Inspector General (IG) (Prayagraj range) K P Singh, “Police have interrogated the woman at length and we are currently looking into her connections, both, in the country and abroad. We found that one Waris, currently working in the UAE and two men from Hyderabad used to send her money. Two Pakistani youths have also been found to be in touch with her.”

She has also been in touch with several people by means of chats and WhatsApp calls and has been receiving funds for conducting this hate crime. She had revealed upon investigations that her maternal uncle was the former president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and is currently associated with another organisation. She said her uncle’s son was an active member of the Student Islamic Organisation (SIO). The IG said that Sana, her uncle and his son had attended the protests against the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Mansoor Ali Park in January 2020.

She had initially been arrested and booked under Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language) and 505 of (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) of the IPC and, Section 66 of the Information Technology (IT) Act. Later, following the results of the interrogations, the Prayagraj police added more sections to the FIR to include charges of spreading disharmony through mischievous content, sedition and section 67 of the IT Act.

Taiwan redesigns passport to ‘avoid being mistaken as China’

By

Vaibavi Jayakumar

-

September 2, 2020

Taiwan is all set to roll out a new passport in January that emphasizes the word ‘Taiwan’ and minimizes the English words ‘the Republic of China’. Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said that their passports needed to be redesigned to ‘distinguish their nationals from Chinese citizens’.

“Since the beginning of the Wuhan pneumonia outbreak this year our people have kept hoping that we can give more prominence to Taiwan’s visibility, avoiding people mistakenly thinking they are from China,” Wu told reporters.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said it did not matter what “petty moves” Taiwan made, it could not change the fact that Taiwan was an inseparable part of China. China claims democratic Taiwan as its sovereign territory and says only it has the right to speak for the island internationally, a position it has pushed firmly during the pandemic, especially at the World Health Organization.

Taiwan has been debating its identity for years including the name of the country. It had been under wraps, but due to the pandemic, it came back into the spotlight. Notably, the Taiwan government is also considering a name change for its largest airline carrier, China Airlines, to avoid being mistaken as China.

Kinnimangalam excavations reveal Tamil Nadu’s first ever ‘Pallipadai’

By

Vaibavi Jayakumar

-

September 2, 2020

About 40 kms away from Keezhadi, archaeologists excavating Kinnimangalam, near Madurai, have stumbled upon what is believed to be the first-ever pallipadai inscription.

According to the Archaeological Department, the inscription found at Kinnimangalam contains references to the first ‘pallipadai‘ inscription. Pallipadai is sepulchral shrine (a Shiva temple) built on the cemetery of a king.

Archaeologists say that the details engraved on a stone pillar date back to the period between 2nd century to 1st century BCE and hence said to be oldest pallipadai discovered in Tamil Nadu.

The pillar with Tamil Brahmi inscriptions and another with ‘Vattezhuthu’ were found in the Ekanathan Mutt temple premises a few weeks ago.

The words ‘Egan Aadhan Kottam’ (region or territory of a king or chieftain) are inscribed in the pillar. Even though ‘Adhan’ commonly appears in Brahmi inscriptions in Tamil Nadu, the ‘Kottam’ word has been found for the first time on an inscription slab.

Another ‘Vattaezhuthu’ inscription, said to belong to the 7th or 8th century CE was also found and it contained the word ‘pallipadai’ (sepulchral shrine). The inscription, found on a broken pillar in a mutt, is said to belong to the 7th or 8th century CE. This is the first time that the word ‘pallipadai‘ written in Vattaezhuthu has been discovered.

Similarly, excavation conducted on the 19th of last month in a temple premise revealed an inscription dating back to the period of Visayaranga Sokkanathan of 1722 AD. It contained the words ‘pallipadai’ and ‘samadhi’. The temple is said to have been constructed in memory of a single family.

Man buries dead father inside his house, causes a stir

By

Vaibavi Jayakumar

-

September 2, 2020

A 37-year-old man named Balakrishnan made headlines after he buried his dead father inside his house. His father, Ramasamy, was a 65-year-old farmer in Perambalur district, who had been ill for the past few months. He had died on Monday evening.

Balakrishnan, a lorry driver, had been living with his wife and kids in Tirupur. He had come to his village Kalarampatti in Perambalur district after he heard the news of his father’s death. Balakrishnan had consulted a local godman about his father’s last rites, who had instructed him to bury the remains inside the house or on the same premises. That night, he had dug a pit in front of his house to bury the body. Villagers who saw this had informed the Perambalur police.

It is to be noted that none of the locals had attended the funeral because they had had a dispute with Ramasamy’s family. When the police had rushed to the spot, Balakrishnan assured that he would later cremate his father’s body. But that night, he had fixed the body in a sitting posture and built a structure around his father’s remains inside the house using bricks.

When the police came to know about this, they exhumed the body after they destroyed the grave like structure that was built around it. They later cremated it in the creamtorium in the presence of the dead farmer’s family.

The Commune

Complaint lodged against DMK MLA for trying to grab land illegally

Asteroid bigger than the Great Pyramid of Giza to hit Earth’s orbit this week

Pakistan blocks dating apps like Tinder, Grindr citing ‘immoral and indecent content’

Indian Army along with SFF, captures Finger 4 Ridgeline along LAC

118 Chinese Apps including PUBG banned after Chinese escalate tensions in Ladakh

Navalny’s poisoning confirmed, reports say he was poisoned using Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok

Youtuber arrested for insulting Hindu deities, suspected to have terror links

Taiwan redesigns passport to ‘avoid being mistaken as China’

Kinnimangalam excavations reveal Tamil Nadu’s first ever ‘Pallipadai’

Man buries dead father inside his house, causes a stir

NATIONAL NEWS

Why Did Modi Govt Move To Zoho Workplace And Why This...