An AN-32 transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force with 13 people on board lost contact with ground agencies around 35 minutes after it took off from Jorhat in Assam on Monday.
According to official, the aircraft has been reported missing after it took off from the Jorhat on Monday afternoon around 12:25 pm. It lost all contacts with ground staff at around 1 PM. A total of eight crew and five passengers were on board the aircraft.
The Indian Air Force has launched the search and rescue operation to trace the missing the aircraft. According to the IAF, all available resources have been employed to locate the aircraft. A Sukhoi-30 combat aircraft and C-130 Special Ops aircraft have been deployed to locate the AN-32 aircraft.
Prior to this, on 22 July 2016, an Antonov An-32 twin engine turboprop transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force disappeared while flying over the Bay of Bengal. The aircraft was en route from Tambaram Air Force Station in the city of Chennai. There were 29 people on board. The search and rescue operation became India’s largest search operation for a missing plane on the sea in history
On the expected lines, the Modi 2.0 government has reappointed Ajit Doval as National Security Advisor. Doval is considered to be very close to the PM Narendra Modi.
According to a Personnel Ministry order, Ajit Doval has been given a five-year extension. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment with effect from May 31, 2019. He has also been given Cabinet rank in the government in recognition of his contribution in the national security domain. Earlier, his rank was of minister of state. “During the term of his office, he will be assigned the rank of Cabinet Minister,” the order said. Ajit Doval is the former IB chief.
It is remarkable that in the guidance of Ajit Doval, the 2016 surgical strikes and the 2019 Balakot airstrikes took place. He is also credited with solving the Doklam standoff between India and China in 2017 when the two countries were engaged in a bitter turf war for several months. He was appointed National Security Advisor in May 2014.
PM Modi took over office on May 30 for second term. He gave the Home Ministry to his close confident Amit Shah, while Ajit Doval is again awarded National Security Adviser’s job. His appointment will be co-terminus with the term of the prime minister.
In a disturbing incident a debt-ridden man of Bengaluru forcefully hung his 12-year-old son to a ceiling fan. The incident was shot on phone by the accused’s teenaged daughter.
The 3 minute, 47 second video shows Suresh forcefully hanging Varun from the ceiling fan as Geetha and his daughter cry and move around. The daughter is heard pleading in Marathi to leave her brother. The video ends abruptly when Geetha snatches the phone from her daughter’s hand. After the death of her son, Geetha committed suicide. Suresh also tried to kill himself but the daughter stopped him in doing so.
According to police, Suresh Babu, 43, is a sales executive while his wife Geethbai worked as a house help in a nearby residential locality. The couple was running a chit fund, in which they faced heavy loss. They had borrowed money from money lenders. When they failed to repay it, Suresh and his wife decided to kill themselves and their 17-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son, Varun. On investigation, police found that it was a mass suicide attempt. Suresh has been arrested and charged with murder and abetment to suicide.
Prime Minister Modi has the utmost zeal and enthusiasm to serve and help the people in need. His initial hardships of life not only taught the value of hard work but also exposed him to the avoidable sufferings of the common people. This inspired him from a very young age to immerse himself in service of people and the nation. One would find that he is a complicated man — isolated, a blend of populist, nationalist and a self-made success story. He has tried to make the country’s notoriously sluggish bureaucracy more efficient, implementing an online system to track when bureaucrats actually arrive at work. The most important quality in his is that whatever assignment or schemes for implementation he takes, he makes sure it is well completed and will always be behind that person till it is completed.
Modi has taken pains and has made commendable efforts to get a record-breaking election where people have voted across caste, class, region, and religion to unseat the Congress and bring in the BJP-led NDA government. Every time he was given a responsibility in the party – whether at organising a rally or an election campaign in a hostile region – he always exceeded expectation. His powerful ‘personal connect’ with the people on the ground is complemented by a strong online presence.
PM Modi has asserted for global peace and regional peace and India is capable and strong. According to Forbes survey, PM Modi has raised his profile as a global leader in recent years during official visits with US President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping and has also emerged as a key figure in the international effort to tackle climate change, as warming affects millions of his country’s rural citizens.
He is well known for his public speaking abilities, as he speaks, he very easily connects with his audience. His speeches are inspiring, powerful and optimistic. As people had high expectation from him and he did fulfilled them and still he is fulfilling them and may keep it on. His public speeches show us the direction in which we should lead our lives and we can make our lives better. He is an all-rounder who tries to cover every aspect of development from education to health, as he believes nothing should be left when it comes to development. His way of looking at life should be followed by everyone. His life and he himself have become an inspiration for everyone. His personal honesty is unquestionable. He has an open personal life. It is an open book. He has also kept his team from any corruption and one would have found that none of his team or the officers are charged with corruption and has so far maintained corruption-free government. He is able to read the mind of the people and adjust himself accordingly.
PM Narendra Modi has taken India’s global standing to newer heights with the world applauding his transformational leadership. He is known for his trim beard, stern demeanor, and imposing a rhetorical style. There is no doubt that Modi will rejuvenate India and will make it a bright beacon to the world. He has the capacity to convert every adversity into an opportunity.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
The newly inducted 57 cabinet members is a welcome step with a combination of experienced and fresh faces as ministers. It was obvious that one didn’t expect any major reshuffles within the incumbents for vying top cabinet rank portfolios. The appointment of the experienced diplomat S.Jaishankar as Minister of External Affairs comes at a crucial stage as India now looks forward to strengthen and renew the foreign policy matters, especially related to oil import sanction imposed from Iran amongst the other issues which require a prime focus now.
Also with the creation of the new Jal Shakti (Water Resources) ministry and allocation of an experienced minister to look after the newly formed Ministry of Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is a surprise move. The PMO until now was headed by the Hon’ble PM and the day to day affairs was looked after by the Ministry’s senior bureaucrat. With the allocation of a minister to PMO, it needs to be seen as to how the matters amongst the various ministries will be taken care through active co-ordination.
While it is good to know that the most of incumbents have retained their initial ministries allotted previously, it is also surprising that many key portfolios like Civil Aviation, Women and Child Development, Communications, Law, I&B etc have been allotted with an additional responsibility to many ministers. Some of the portfolios will now see upto 4 ministries being handled by an incumbent and on an average of 2 portfolios allotted to the ministers.
The size of such a jumbo cabinet may have shrinked by giving additional portfolios but it is high time to follow the principle of one man one portfolio aided by Independent/MoS rank ministers. Such a move will help in speedy delivery of day to day services of the respective Ministries and Departments and may also help and quick disposal of cases. It may further help the Ministries to function in an effective manner under a single functioning minister with the support of atleast 2 Independent/MoS ministers respectively, if reduction of size of the cabinet is otherwise is not possible.
Varun Dambal
Hike in scholarship for martyrs’ children a right step
It is welcome step that new Union Cabinet in its very first meeting paid practical tribute to those brave persons having martyred their lives fighting against terrorism and Naxalites by increasing scholarship-amounts for their children to rupees 2500 and 3000 respectively for boys and girls thus further depicting sincerity towards girl child through such distinction in amounts.
But providing annual grant of rupees 6000 to all farmers by removing capping of two-hectare land will make even those turning farmers to convert their black money into white by showing agricultural income from produce in their lavish farm-houses and purchase of agricultural-land only for tax-evasion. Policy should provide relief to actual farmers by subsidy on input-items needed for agriculture on production of affidavits about income. A small sum of rupees 6000 per annum that too paid in instalments of rupees 2000 is practically meaningless even though it costs heavily to public-exchequer. However burden on the exchequer should be compensated by permitting say rupees five lakhs annually as tax-free agricultural income to avoid misuse of limitless exemption for turning black money into white.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
Former Union Minister and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief Upendra Kushwaha has cautioned the BJP that Nitish Kumar will deceive it again and it should be ready for “Dhokha number 2” from him. Rashtriya Lok Samata Party is former ally of the BJP. In seat sharing, Upendra Kushwaha did not get expected seats in the Lok Sabha elections and finally quitted the NDA. Later on, he joined the Mahagathbandhan led by RJD and the Congress.
Kushwaha said, “I want to tell BJP people that Nitish Kumar has been known for disrespecting the people’s mandate. Betraying people’s mandate and alliance partners are his old habits. BJP should be ready to witness ‘Dhokha number 2’Aisa koi saga nahi jisko Nitish ne thaga nahi (There is nobody who has not been cheated by Nitish). Hence, the BJP should remain “cautious.” Kushwaha said that Nitish Kumar’s remark that the JD-U would not join the Modi cabinet reminded him of ‘sour grapes’.
It is notable that Nitish Kumar had snapped ties with the BJP in June 2013 after Narendra Modi, the then Gujarat chief minister, was made the BJP’s campaign committee chairman for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. He later joined hands with the RJD and the Congress to form Grand Alliance in Bihar which won the last state assembly elections. In July 2017 Nitish Kumar deserted the RJD and resigned. Thus, the government of Grand Alliance collapsed. Within hours, he joined hands with the BJP and became chief minister again.
Relations of the BJP and JD-U are tense after Nitish Kumar rejected the offer of one cabinet berth in the Modi 2.0 government. In the reaction to this, he expanded his cabinet in Bihar and offered the BJP just one cabinet berth, while 8 ministers of JD-U were sworn in.
The Bombay High Court on Monday upheld the Constitutional validity of the amended section of Indian Penal Code 376 (e) under which repeat offenders in rape cases can be awarded life imprisonment or death penalty.
A division bench of Justices B P Dharmadhikari and Revati Mohite Dere dismissed petitions filed by three convicts in the Shakti Mill gang rape case challenging Constitutional validity of the legal provisions under which they were sentenced to death in 2014.
“We are of the opinion that section 376 (e) of the IPC is not ultra vires to the Constitution and hence need not be quashed in the present case,” the court said.
The three accused Vijay Jadhav, Mohammed Kasim Shaikh, Mohammed Salim Ansari gang raped a 23-year-old photojournalist on August 22, 2013 in the defunct Shakti Mills compound at Lower Parel. On March 20, 2014, a trial court convicted all three accused and they were later sentenced to death under the newly-introduced Section 376E of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The trio has challenged the constitutional validity of Section 376E that prescribes life imprisonment (imprisonment till death of the convict) or death sentence for repeat rape offenders.
It is remarkable that under an amendment to section 376 (e) of the IPC, repeat offenders in rape cases faced life imprisonment or a death penalty. The amendment was made after the gang rape of a 23- year-old woman in Delhi in 2012.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has also hit back at Modi government for imposing Hindi on the people of Maharashtra. Raj Thackeray’s party warned the Centre to not incite them.
MNS tweeted, “Hindi is not our mother tongue, do not enforce it on us and incite us.” It is remarkable that the HRD ministry has draft an education policy that proposes to introduce Hindi as a third language in all non-Hindi speaking states. Tamil Nadu was the first state to launch a protest against the draft National Education Policy. DMK is likely to pass a resolution against the move.
The centre has gifted an issue to marginalised opposition parties. The Maharashtra Assembly elections are due in October this year. Therefore, opposition parties will not leave any opportunity to attack the government and gain political mileage.
On the other hand, the Centre on Monday dropped the contentious provision of mandatory teaching of Hindi in non-Hindi speaking states, as it issued a revised draft education policy amid outrage over its earlier suggestion.
“Students who wish to change one or more of the three languages they are studying may do so in Grade 6 or Grade 7, so long as they are able to still demonstrate proficiency in three languages (one language at the literature level) in their modular Board Examinations some time during secondary school,” the revised draft of the NEP said. In the earlier draft, the panel had suggested mandatory teaching of Hindi in non-Hindi speaking states.
Earlier, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar made it clear that the committee had only prepared a draft report and no decision has been taken on implementing it. He said that no language should be imposed on anyone.
Meanwhile, former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah has also slammed this move. Siddaramaiah tweeted, “New National Education Policy draft imposes Hindi in non Hindi states & this goes against our sentiments. If recognition of regional identity is inconsistent according to few then imposition of Hindi is nothing but a brutal assault on our States. Instead of imposing Hindi, the government should focus on recognising regional identities & give more space to the states to express & manifest their ideas through their own culture & language.”
New National Education Policy draft imposes Hindi in non Hindi states & this goes against our sentiments.
If recognition of regional identity is inconsistent according to few then imposition of Hindi is nothing but a brutal assault on our States.#StopHindiImposition
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Eighth All India Convention for the ‘Hindu Rashtra’ was organised by the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti in Goa recently. Participants strongly supported the idea of the Hindu nation. However, there are a lot of practical and constitutional difficulties in achieving this goal in the near future. The Convention raised a big question, is it possible to have a separate nation for Hindus? Is it possible to convert India into a Hindu Rashtra?
It is worth mentioning that for the last eight years, this Convention has been being organised in Goa for the establishment of the Hindu Rashtra. Renowned figures, including thinkers, saints, judges, advocates, social workers and trustees of religious institutions, participate in the Convention and they all want to achieve the goal of the Hindu Rashtra.
Chetan Rajhans, Sanatan Sanstha spokesperson, said, “There were no ‘Secular and Socialist’ Words in the Constitution when it was adopted. In 1976 provision of Article 368 B of the Constitution was amended and these words were added. Similarly, a party with a majority in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha can amend Article 368 B again and add ‘Hindu Rashtra’ word constituently. In 2011, after the movement of Anna Hazare against corruption, corrupt political parties brought the Lokpal bill and made it an act. Likewise, through the continuous movements of Hindu organisations, the so-called secular leaders will one day accept India as Hindu Rashtra.”
As long as the secular Constitution exists, the Hindu Rashtra is not possible. Also, it is very difficult to change the secular Constitution of India, because civil war can break out if it is done so. People will not accept it. The hypothesis of the Hindu Rashtra comes from a special group. They comprise only 5-6 per cent of the society. The entire nation does not support it. The majority of Hindus is not in favour of it. Then, the question arises, how can the goal of the Hindu Rashtra be achieved? It is only possible when the lawmakers of the country will decide to do it and amend the Constitution. So, this country will always remain secular. There should be will power in the country for this purpose.
Many speakers in the Convention advocated their point of views strongly for the establishment of the Hindu Rashtra. But at present, if political leaders show their will power for the Hindu Rashtra, there will be mayhem in the country. At the same time, it is not possible to change the Constitution overnight. Therefore, the struggle will continue for a longer time.
Afternoon Voice spoke to a family of Nalasopara, which has been converted to Christianity seven years back. On being asked Miranda and his family (To hide their identity we are not disclosing many details) what lead them to leave Hindutva, they replied that they have not left Hindutva. They chased priorities by converting themselves to Christianity. He said, “The reason being they provide us medicines, they provide us help centre, they provide us money to survive and fulfill our needs, they provide us jobs. If the government of India and any Hindu organization do so, why will anybody get converted? The unemployment ratio, poverty, and money crunch are very much. So, this was the dignified way, we have chosen. What is wrong if we have chosen a religion? My religion is not anything like holy promises. So, we changed ourselves.” Mahendra Mitalkar has been converted to Christianity and now he is called Miranda.
On the fourth day of the convention in Goa, Vaidya Ramprakash Pande, managing Acharya of ‘Sadguru Seva Pratishthan’ in Ayodhya, said, “Ayodhya is ‘Kaushalnagari’ created by Deities and its total land admeasures 84 Kos (1 Kos is a little more than 3 kms.). In its surrounding, Sitakund, Saptasagar Sarovar along with many ponds and lakes exist. However, Ayodhya city now remains only 5 sq. kms. In remaining areas, mosques and majars are erected. The land mafia has usurped many ponds and filled them with soil. Presently 34 mosques have been built in Ayodhya. Hindus should awaken about the Islamisation of Ayodhya that is taking place rapidly.”
Ramesh Shinde, National Spokesperson of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, said, “In the name of Secularism, Hindus are being deprived of Dharma Shikshan. The Vedpathshalas do not get any privileges from the government. But the temples in states like Kerala are taken over by government run by communists, who in turn think Dharma as opium. All pro-Hindu organisations from various parts of India are coming together to fight this unconstitutional take over of temples.”
He said, “Sanatan Sanstha exposed scams happening in Dr. Narendra Dabholkar’s trust and found out illegal deposits were made by the Marxist Communist Party in the Cooperative bank under Govind Pansare’s name. Due to this, the progressives along with investigating agencies are making Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti a ‘soft target’. Furthermore, they are trying hard to term Sanatan a terrorist organisation by using ‘Goebbels techniques’. Leftists have killed many devout Hindu leaders and activists in Kerala and Karnataka. This matter is not being discussed; however, it is being pretended that only the killings of Dabholkar, Pansare, Gauri Lankesh, and Kalburgi have occurred, and devout Hindu organisations are terrorists. Since evidence is lacking in the cases filed in the Court, the cases are also not being heard. However, the innocence of Sanatan and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti will be proved in the coming days.”
Madan Gupta, founder of ‘Rishi Jivan Samaj’ in Telangana said, “In Sanatan Dharma, a temple works for keeping District, State and Nation together. A temple is a court, culture and economic centre.”
Adv. Rabindra Ghosh, President, ‘Bangladesh Minority Watch’, Bangladesh said, “I will raise my voice against the atrocities on Bangladeshi Hindus till my last breath.”
Tridandi Swami Chaitanya Das Bharati Maharaj, District Vice President of ‘Hindu Aaikya Vedi’ in Kerala said, “In Kerala State, 44 hectors of land has been usurped by many people, and we have filed a petition in the High Court against it. Our fight continues”.
TR Ramesh of ‘Temple Worshippers Society’ in Tamil Nadu said, “Because of the bravery displayed by Marathas, Hindus in Tamil Nadu and Odisha are surviving today. Unfortunately, nothing is mentioned in the history about this. Lakhs of acres land owned by the temples in South India has been taken over by the government. In Kerala alone, 4 lakh acres land has been usurped by the State Government.”
Participants of the Convention demanded to release Adv. Sanjiv Punalekar immediately. This demand was made by more than 30 advocates who arrived from various states of the country and Bangladesh. Adv. Sanjiv Punalekar has been arrested by CBI.
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, universally known as Veer Savarkar, an Indian independence activist, initially defined the concept of Hindutva and Hindu Rashtra, in his book ‘Essentials of Hindutva’. More discussion on that topic is there in his another book called ‘Hindu Rashtra Darshan’. In this book, Savarkar defines a ‘Hindu’ as आसिंधु सिंधु पर्यन्ता, यस्य भारतभूमिका । पितृभू: पुण्यभूश्चैव स वै हिंदुरिति स्मृत: ॥ — Anyone who regards and claims this Bharatbhumi from the Indus to the Seas as his Fatherland and Holyland is a Hindu. That is the Hindutva definition of a Hindu. It must be noted that both beliefs in Fatherland and Holyland are required to qualify as a Hindu. Savarkar had considered Hindu to be the original word and Sindhu the Sankritised version of Hindu. However, he had assumed the commonly accepted Aryan Invasion Theory. If we look at the overall sentiments of Sacred Hindu (Sanatan Hindu), India was already an undeclared Hindu Rashtra just like Iran is an undeclared Zoroastrian country.
Some staunch Indians have made huge efforts over decades, sacrificing a lot for creating a National Identity, which is still not perfect but is definitely on its way to finishing in perfection. This is no easy job as our politicians and lawmakers lack will. The so-called secular Hindus are another obstacle.
India has always been a Hindu Rashtra without it being explicitly said or written. The word “Hindu” as used in today’s context is pretty restrictive and boxed. Technically “Hindu” refers to the area around the Indus River, its valley and plains beyond towards the east and south. Hindu-ism is a philosophy and a way of life as ancient as humankind. It is the basic way of life to live in harmony and cohesion not only with the fellow human but also with the nature around us. This is the core of Hindu-ism in the broader context. Any human being born on this soil is automatically a Hindu logically. Indoctrination into a particular set of customs/rituals/belief system orients the human to think in a particular direction, thereby making him/her/it a follower. The freedom from restrictive names, geographical boundaries, and by-the-book fanaticism is what makes Hindu-ism different and everlasting.
At one hand, we are taking pride over our diversity and multicultural integrity, but on the other hand, we think of making India a “Hindu Rashtra” (Nation of Hindus). The need of the hour is to unite Indians – especially Hindus together under a Single Umbrella to Form a Hindu Rashtra or a pruritic Hindu Religion only Country (like say Pakistan or any other Islamic nation where religion matters predominantly) by ruthlessly killing its minorities of foreign-based religions that already exist in India like Islam and Christianity that have original descendants as well as local Hindu converts into these two religions of late.
Also, India has different faiths like Buddhists, Parsis, Jews, etc. which have a large or minor population spread across different parts of India. So, primarily, religion is just a matter of individual choice and it is a person’s faith and belief.
Hindus and Indians are normally tolerant of other faiths, views, and beliefs apart from the Majority Hindus who have Accepted, Tolerated, and also Encouraged other Religions to Stay in India and make this as their Motherland as well. Hence, primarily, hatred based on religion does not work in India over a period of time — since the Hindus themselves are Divided, Fragmented, and Sub-divided into Castes, Sub Castes, Inter Castes, Casteless, Converted, so on and so forth. Religion was not a major problem in India after the Partition in 1947; those who wanted to leave were free to do so, and those who wanted to stay back, were also allowed to be here. Although there were Riots and Killings after the Partition of India, everything went back to Normal and Muslims have become almost Twice the population what they were before the Aftermath of Partition in India! Since the Hindus are Not a Uniform Culture where everyone has Equal Rights, we don’t have a Common Religious Goal as such and everybody have their Own Versions and Interpreting Hinduism as a Way of Life as per their knowledge, belief, and also convenience. Getting All the Hindus United itself is a Herculean task and Retaining them as One Entity will become Tougher as we have Different Schools of thoughts and ideals. The Hindu Populations are also Declining (Only 1 or 2 children per Family unlike the previous generations which had 8 to 10 kids) and we don’t have Joint Families like the past with high divorce rates, low reproductive abilities, unstable jobs, stressed lifestyles, no back up mechanisms, unemployment, jealousy and comparisons, etc.; unless the crucial issues are not addressed, many Hindus can get converted to other religion who give them money to address daily needs, education, medical facility, and jobs. Make sure that no child celebrates Christmas and our schools do not give holidays on any other non-Hindu festivals. We are the largest democracy in the World where even the smallest number of religion following people live in peace and freedom, such as Jews. We celebrate our diversity every day. Yet we do not realise it. We love people who excel in their work. We celebrate success and we celebrate it for all, irrespective of their religion. Northern India is already is an undeclared “Hindu Rashtra”. To declare India as a Hindu nation, the glorious party should get a majority in Rajya Sabha also as to change the rules. The Constitution needs to be re-written and last but not the least, we the Hindus need to be united.
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Eighth All India Convention for the ‘Hindu Rashtra’ was organised by the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti in Goa recently. Participants strongly supported the idea of the Hindu nation. However, there are a lot of practical and constitutional difficulties in achieving this goal in the near future. The Convention raised a big question, is it possible to have a separate nation for Hindus? Is it possible to convert India into a Hindu Rashtra?