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Police confirm Karuppar Koottam – DMK links

By
The Commune
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Investigations done by the Tamil Nadu police has revealed the links the between the rabid Youtube channel Karuppar Koottam and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

Earlier on July 15, one Senthilvasan Muthusamy was arrested by the Central Crime Branch after cases were registered from different quarters for their vile and abusive video on Hindu God Murugan.

Senthilvasan Muthusamy is a resident of Velachery, and is a member of the YouTube channel Karuppar Kootam, run by Surendar Natarajan.

It was reported in The Commune that Senthilvasan had close ties with the DMK IT Wing.

Pictures surfaced established the close relationship shared by Karuppar Koottam and the DMK. In fact, it has led to questions if whether the DMK IT wing is behind the channel itself.

In one of the pictures, Palanivel Thiagarajan DMK MLA from Madurai Central constituency and the head of DMK’s IT wing can be seen having a luncheon with some of the members of the Karuppar Koottam.

In another picture, Surendar Natarajan can be seen on top a campaign vehicle holding a mic and canvassing votes for the DMK.

Several leaders from the AIADMK too exposed members of the Karuppar Koottam’s links with DMK IT Wing.

With the police confirming now, it has been proved beyond reasonable doubt that the DMK has been promoting a channel that abuses Hindus and Hindu Gods.

All India Christian Forum extends help to woman sexually harassed by former Principal of Loyola College, Chennai Father Xavier Alphonse

By
The Commune
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The All India Christians Forum has extended its full support to senior faculty member of Loyala College, Chennai who was sexually harassed by Father Xavier Alphonse, the former principal of Loyala College and former Director for Loyola College Alumni Association.

The woman had approached the Madras High Court in 2016 to get justice. The High Court issued notices to the accused Father Xavier Alphonse but no response has been submitted by the accused in the court till date. The case has been gathering dust for the past 4 years.

The Goa Chronicle quoted Savio Rodrigues, the President of the All India Christian saying that sexual harassment and sexual abuse is an evil that plagues the Catholic Church. He said that people like Father Xavier Alphonse assume that they can do anything and be safe under the protection of a powerful institution like the Jesuit Order (Loyola College belongs to the Jesuit Order).

“This attitude is behind the reason there has been no reply to High Court notices for 4-years from the accused priest and from the Loyola College as well. We believe in the judiciary, therefore we will use our legal expertise to ensure that the victim gets justice.”, Savio Rodrigues was quoted saying.

Mr. Rodrigues said that it is not normal for a middle class woman falling prey to sexual abuse at workplace to fight against a powerful institution like the Jesuit Order. The woman’s family had reached out Mr. Rodrigues for legal support who then decided to take up the case and help her get justice.

Mr. Rodrigues also noted that the Loyola College administration and alumni have remained mute on this case despite the fact that the sexual harassment survivor is known to most of the senior members.

Earlier, the apex body for Catholic Church in the country, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, facing allegations over repeated sexual harassment by its clergymen, released guidelines to be implemented in every “department, organisation, undertaking, establishment, institution, office branch or unit which is established, owned or controlled, wholly or partially financed by funds provided by the Catholic Church. This has only remained a toothless guideline as many instances of sexual harassment in Church gets reported.

US and India to co-develop air launched UAVs

By
The Commune
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As China keeps escalating tensions in the Line of Actual Control (LAC) against India and in the South China Sea, talks are being held for the co-development programme for the air-launched unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), according to a top Pentagon official, the TOI reported

Top Pentagon official and under-secretary of defence Ellen M Lord who addressed in the India Ideas Summit organised by the US-India Business Council said, “I would like to highlight a very exciting project we are currently negotiating- air-launched unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV will be a co-development programme between the US Air Force research labs, the Indian Air Force, India’s Defense Research and Development Organisation, and an Indian startup company,”.

Lord is the Pentagon’s point person for the ambitious US-India Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI), and as the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer, she said that the US-India defence cooperation has gotten deeper in the last few years.

As American looks for nations to partner to provide stability in the Indo-Pacific region, India is the natural choice to stop the unbridled march of China who wants total domination.

That is why in the last few months, the cooperation between India and the United States has increased.

The under-secretary also pointed out that in the last 10 years the sale of military hardware has exponentially and the US wants to become India’s first choice in defence solutions.

Lord further added, “The industrial cooperation is a key focus area for the future of defence collaboration and we think that this industry guidance will increase industrial collaboration within the DDTI framework,”. The United States welcomes any partnership that enhances US national security objectives, decreases defence procurement costs and leads to greater supply chain stability,”.

The US government according to Lord, have reviewed on India’s defence procurement procedure or DPP, and Lord said, “The United States is aware that many countries, including India, use offset in defence sales. The US government will not take part in any negotiation concerning offsets between the industry and a foreign government. “We encourage all governments to ensure that offset processes are transparent and applied equally to all competitors”.

Imran Khan wants Pakistani tax evaders to invest their black money into Naya Pakistan Housing Program

By
The Commune
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Prime Minister Imran Khan who won the 2018 general election on the platform of Naya Pakistan and dreams of creating Riyasat-e-Madina has asked tax evaders to invest their illicit wealth in housing projects initiated by him, WION reported.

As per the new rule, the Federal Board of Revenue will look the other way if black money is invested in construction projects like the Pakistan government’s Naya Pakistan Housing Program by December 31.

Zaigham Rizvi, member of Naya Pakistan Housing Program taskforce, in an interview said, “There is all this money with developers who have been doing tax evasion and small scale projects. I support the decision to bring funds from the dark economy into a tangible economy. Construction will generate some sort of tax directly or indirectly if that money is put through the value-added system.”

Pakistan is under lot of economic strain and the arrival of the Wuhan virus has made the matter worse. It is estimated as high as 56% of the nation’s wealth is illegal money and Khan is hoping to jump-start the economy with this plan.

However, in Pakistan, the rich seldom pay any tax and in an embarrassing, if not startling revelation it has been discovered that most of the special assistants of Imran Khan, have dual citizenship and they have not revealed there financial details and assets.

Such voluntary discloser schemes are not new in Pakistan and have been tried before but have not had any success.

The reason attributed to the failure to bring black money back into the economy is due to the very people who make such rules. The biggest tax evaders are the politicians and many happen to be large landowners who never declare their true wealth.

Apart from PETA, anti-Jallikattu campaigner Antony Clement Rubin goes after temple elephants in Tamil Nadu

By
The Commune
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Self-proclaimed ‘animal activist’ named Antony Clement Rubin has been going after several temple elephants in Tamil Nadu and trying to oust them from the temples to be sent to elephant camps run by the government.

Antony has filed several cases regarding the same with the Madras High Court “to take custody of” temple elephants and keep them in elephant camps.

In the year 2019, Antony had filed three writ petitions (WP/32313/2019, WP/32149/2019, WMP/32601/2019) which are under various stages of litigation.

A few days back, the Tamil Nadu Forest Department decided to send Deivanai, the temple elephant of Tiruparankundram Subramania Swamy Temple to Assam after it killed a assistant mahout named S Kalisadan on May 24. Deivanai has a history of attacking her caretakers. She had killed a mahout in Madurai earlier this year.

It was reported that the lease period of the elephant ended in 2017.

After the Forest Department confirmed the news of Deivanai’s transfer, Antony took to his Twitter to state that 6 more elephants will hopefully be ousted from temples.

Antony had previously moved the court to shift Masini, the elephant donated by late former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa to Samayapuram Mariamman Temple to the Teppakadu camp. He said that the elephant was in the Teppakadu camp since it was three-month-old after being abandoned by its herd and that it was sent to the temple 9 years later.

Antony along with his friend Deepak Nambiar of Elephas Maximus Indicus Trust are targeting elephants being taken care at Hindu temples and mutts claiming that they are being illegally held without proper documents and put to torture.

The Hindu Makkal Katchi has expressed concerns over the targeting of elephants present in Hindu temples and mutts by individuals and organizations who have no stake in temple matters. They have questioned the intentions of ‘Antony Clement Rubin’ in interfering in Hindu temple affairs. Hindu Makkal Katchi has also demanded that the cases be withdrawn and involve them as a stake holder in matters relating to temple elephants.

Earlier, Lakshmi, the elephant was displaced from her home in Manakula Vinayagar temple by PETA. She was kept in Krishi Vigyan Kendra with scanty food and water and no proper shelter. After a sustained protest led by several organizations like Hindu Makkal Katchi and BJP, Lakshmi returned to her home in Manakula Vinyagar Temple in Puducherry last week.

Prior to this, PETA was made to run helter-skelter after they tried to ban Jallikattu, a traditional sport native to Tamil Nadu. Antony too campaigned for banning Jallikattu.

Indian-made iPhones to hit the market soon

By
Preetika Parashuraman
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For the first time, the tech giant Apple has begun making a top end model of its product – its flagship iPhone11 in India giving a boost to the Make-in-India initiative and Atmanirbhar Bharat. The iPhone11 are being manufactured at the Foxconn plant near Chennai. 

The production is expected to go up in phases may consider exporting the iPhone 11 made in India, to reduce the dependence on China. 

Prices haven’t come down. However, industry executives have said that it could be an option later on as local production is set to cut excise duty by 22%.

Apple is said to be considering a plan to make the new iPhone SE at the Wistron plant near Bengaluru.

This aims to grow localisation of Apple’s manufacturing in the country and make use of benefits under the  Government’s production linked incentive (PLI) scheme

Another of its contract manufacturers, Pegatron, recently registered a subsidiary in India. 

The iPhone 11 is the biggest seller in India.

The supply of the India-made product have reached stores.

Apple makes two other handset models in the country — the iPhone XR at the Foxconn plant and the iPhone 7 at the Wistron factory.

Source: ET

Democratic representative Ocasio-Cortez rips Republican Congressman Yoho for his sexist slur

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to the upper House of the US Parliament to accuse Congressman Ted Yoho, for having used sexist slurs against her. This has come to be seen as an extraordinary moment in the United States house of representatives as she took down the “sexist culture of accepting violence in violent language against women”, of which even the country’s president has been accused of.

The BBC reported that Ocasio-Cortez was entering the Congress to vote when Ted Yoho had interjected her along with Texas congressman Roger Williams and had called her “disgusting” and said that “she was out of her freaking mind”. When she had retorted and called him rude, he had called her “a f***ing b***h” before leaving.

Following this, the New York City Democrat made a powerful speech calling this a ‘pattern’ of bad behaviour by men and said, “This issue is not about one incident. It is cultural,” she told lawmakers, calling it a culture “of accepting violence and violent language against women, an entire structure of power that supports that”. “When you do that to any woman, what Mr Yoho did was give permission to other men to do that to his daughters,” she added. “In using that language, in front of the press, he gave permission to use that language against his wife, his daughters, women in his community, and I am here to stand up to say that is not acceptable.”

She added that, she was prepared to let the incident go until Mr Yoho “made excuses” by citing his wife and daughters in a speech on Wednesday, and said, “I am someone’s daughter too. My father, thankfully, is not alive to see how Mr Yoho treated his daughter.”

Ocasio-Cortez, a freshman who has made her mark as one of Congress’s most outspoken progressives, on the House floor on Thursday described the incident.

PIL seeking stay on Ram Mandir Bhoomi Pujan dismissed by Allahabad HC

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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Allahabad High Court dismissed a PIL filed by an ‘activist’ who is seeking a stay on the Ram Mandir Bhumi Pujan at Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya. Saket Gokhale had filed a petition with the Allahabad High court seeking a stay on the Ram Janmabhoomi event citing ‘public interest’.

The PIL was dismissed by a bench led by Chief Justice Govind Mathur after observing that “The entire petition for writ is based on assumptions and there is no foundation for apprehending violation of the prescribed protocol”. He added that the court hopes that the Uttar Pradesh government and the organisers would ensure that the required measures for social distancing are adhered to.

The Bhumi Pujan is set to be held on the 5th of August and will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with senior party leader LK Advani. The Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone in the event that will have 150 guests.

The construction of the Ramjanmaboomi temple is touted to be completed by 2023, and the contract has been given to Larsen & Toubro (L&T) which will construct the temple using Sompura Marbles and have started collecting soil samples to begin foundation work.

Modi makes it difficult for Chinese firms from getting government contracts

By
The Commune
-

The Union finance ministry has made an important amendment in its public finance rule. On Thursday (July 23), the government took this important decision to bar all government agencies from procuring goods and services from bordering China and Pakistan on the basis of national security, the Hindustan Times reported.

This decision by the Modi government comes at a time when China has still not kept its promise of de-escalation at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh.

The statement issued by the Ministry of Finance said “any bidder from such countries sharing a land border with India will be eligible to bid in any procurement whether of goods, services (including consultancy services and non-consultancy services) or works (including turnkey projects) only if the bidder is registered with the Competent Authority. The Competent Authority for registration will be the Registration Committee constituted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Political and security clearance from the Ministries of External and Home Affairs respectively will be mandatory”

The private sector has no such restriction on how to conduct business. However, the Order takes into its ambit public sector banks and financial institutions, autonomous bodies, Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs)and Public-Private Partnership projects receiving financial support from the Government or its undertakings.

The Competent Authority for registration will be the Registration Committee constituted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

All political and security clearance will only be given from the Ministries of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs respectively.

Relaxation has been provided in certain limited cases, including for the procurement of medical supplies for containment of COVID-19 global pandemic till 31 December 2020.

The new provisions will apply to all new tenders. In respect of tenders already invited, if the first stage of evaluation of qualifications has not been completed, bidders who are not registered under the new order will be treated as not qualified.

Mentally ill homeless persons do not require ID proof for COVID-19 testing

By
Preetika Parashuraman
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The Delhi High Court made a suggestion to the Central Government to look for a mechanism for COVID-19 testing and issue guidelines accordingly for mentally ill homeless people.

This will also include those without any identity or address proof. 

Even if people do not have any identity proof, some mechanism should be implemented to provide them the basic facility of testing, according to a division bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan. 

The High Court has granted time to resolve this issue on August 7, 2020.

This came to light after the Delhi High Court heard a Public Interest Litigation seeking guidelines with respect to COVID-19 testing for mentally ill homeless people. 

In an affidavit, the Delhi government stated that the main problem faced by mentally ill homeless people is the lack of identity and address proof. 

The identity and address proof is mandatory under the guidelines of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). 

The affidavit included that homeless mentally ill people deserve all healthcare services, even testing for COVID-19. 

It also stated that according to Section 3 (3) of the Mental Healthcare Act-2017, the government is responsible to take all necessary measures for providing services required by people with mental illnesses. 

The plea said that the COVID-19 pandemic has put extra pressure on the government to not only provide for mental health but testing as well.

Source: ANI

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TheCommune
The Commune is a news and views portal focusing on social and political issues of the southern part of India with a focus on Tamil Nadu.
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