Delhi: Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal today inspected Radha Soami Satsang Beas campus in Chhattarpur area for setting up a facility with 10,000 beds for #COVID19 patients. https://t.co/a1TJvqSaQ2

Lt Governor Anil Baijal travelled to south Delhi’s Radha Soami Satsang Beas campus on Sunday to inspect a makeshift facility being set for 10,000 Covid-19 patients in the national capital.  “This will be the city’s biggest facility of its kind,” a government official said. Baijal had stepped in to reach out to the spiritual organisation to join the effort earlier this week as the city struggles to rapidly raise the number of beds available for patients when Delhi’s Covid-19 peaks next month. “This is a unique joint venture between the government and a community group and will be a great help to meet the projected requirement of beds,” Anil Baijal said as he took a quick tour of the facility at Chattarpur Bhati. Delhi’s health department has projected that Covid-19 cases in Delhi could rise to 1 lakh by this month-end, and breach the 5 lakh-mark by the end of July.  The government has estimated that it would need 80,000 beds for patients by the time the disease count reaches 5 lakh. The Health Department will provide facilities such as oxygen cylinders/concentrators, as well as other medical and paramedical staff for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.  Radha Swami Satsang will take care of food and doctors. “This is a fight where all of us have to join hands to defeat this pandemic,” Lt Governor Baijal said, who had headed to the facility straight from Home Minister Amit Shah’s review meeting on Covid-19. Amit Shah had asked the city government to raise testing, get hospitals to reduce the charges for 60 per cent of their beds for Covid-19 patients and give Delhi 500 railway coaches modified to treat patients.


Tripura govt considering to hold assembly session outdoors in view of #Covid19 crisis

https://t.co/IBrzqrFkhb https://t.co/ZUIMV7LaYZ

Tripura law minister Ratan Lal Nath on Saturday said that the state government is considering to hold its assembly session at a park here due to the coronavirus outbreak.  The session is scheduled in the third week of September and it will be difficult to maintain social distancing in the assembly house, said Nath who paid a visit to the Heritage Park.  The law minister said that assembly sessions in many states such as Assam were held outside the assembly building.  However, the final decision on holding the assembly session in the open is yet to be taken, he added.  Tripura on Saturday registered 280 new coronavirus cases, pushing the state’s tally to 8,389, a senior health department official said.  The total cases include 2,240 active cases, 6,061 recoveries and 70 deaths.  Nearly 238,000 samples have been collected for Covid-19 testing so far.  Tripura’s budget session, which started on March 20 was cut short by two days due to the pandemic and was called off soon after the budget was passed in the assembly.  (With inputs from PTI)


Hearing begins in Supreme Court on Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case. Court to decide on whether the case may be sent for court-monitored mediation to save time. https://t.co/SHoTN7edL8

The Supreme Court is hearing the decades-old Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title dispute case on Wednesday, days after it suggested mediation as a way to resolve the politically sensitive issue. The apex court will also begin hearing a petition seeking a review of its December 14, 2018, judgment in the Rafale jet purchase matter in the open court.  At the same time, it will also take up the government’s application seeking certain corrections in the December 14 order. Here are the highlights: SC adjourns hearing in Rafale case to March 14Hearing into the Rafale deal adjourned to March 14 by the Supreme Court bench .  CJI responds to Prashant BhushanChief Justice Gogoi responds to Prashant Bhushan, “If we accept attorney general’s arguments, we will not look into the documents relied on by you and we will reject it.  Or we will look into the papers and see how they are relevant and decide the case. ”Prashant Bhushan defends document which the AG called ‘stolen’Petitioner Prashant Bhushan defends the use of the documents that the Attorney General called ‘stolen’; cites the case where a whistleblower gave him a diary entry of ex-CBI director Ranjit Sinha and the court didn’t ask for the source and proceeded in the matter on the basis of the diary. Govt will produce original of documents published by Hindu tomorrow: AGAG Venugopal says the government will produce the original copy of the documents published by the Hindu newspaper and relied on by the petitioners in the court tomorrow.  Also details of the action taken by government on the stolen document will be given tomorrow, adds AG.  ‘Every statement by court will be used to destabilise govt or oppn’: AGAttorney General tells SC, “ Every statement by this Court will be used to destabilise either the government or the opposition.  Why should the court become a party to such an exercise?  This is why I am appealing to this Court to exercise restraint.  Defence procurements can’t be judicially examined. ”‘No FIR yet into theft of documents related to Rafale deal’: AGAG tells SC, “ FIR has not been registered so far into the theft of documents pertaining to Rafale deal”: PTI ‘Should the court not look into evidence if there is corruption’:CJINews agency ANI quoted Chief Justice Gogoi as saying, “Primary question is that should the court not look into the evidence or the document, if there is relevance or corruption? ” AG Venugopal says, “It should not be looked into as it deals with defence and secrets. ”: ANIAG tells SC source of document should be disclosedAttorney General KK Venugopal told the Supreme Court that the source of the document should be disclosed to the court by those who published it: ANIFirst squadron of Rafale jets to be delivered in September this year: AGAttorney General Venugopal tells SC, two squadrons of Rafale fighter jets are coming in flyaway condition; first one will be in September this year, reports PTI.  Rafale fighter jets are needed: AG to Supreme CourtRafale fighter jets are needed although MiG 21 of 1960s performed beautifully against F-16, AG tells SC : PTI .  ‘Some F-16s came and bombed us.  What can we do’?  AGAttorney General Venugopal says , “Some F-16s came and bombed us , what are we to do ?  Can’t we enter a deal to buy planes? ” AG cites recent Indo-Pak tension to justify Rafale purchaseAG raises the recent tension between India and Pakistan to justify the purchase of Rafale jet, says we are trying to protect the security of the country.  If CBI probe ordered now, huge damage will be done: AG to SCAttorney General KK Venugopal said that if a CBI investigation is directed now, huge damage will be done to the country : ANI SC objects to statements by AAP MP Sanjay SinghSC objects to certain statements made by AAP MP Sanjay Singh - also a petitioner in the case- about the apex court .  CJI Gogoi says, “We have with us certain statements made by him in connection with the Rafale and CBI case which are very derogatory”; won’t hear his review petition. Hearing resumes in Rafale case after breakSC bench reassmbles, hearing resumes in Rafale caseHearing in Rafale case to resume at 2pmSupreme Court rises for lunch, hearing in Rafale case to resume at 2 pm. Scrutiny will affect future purchases: AGAttorney General says recent incident has shown how sensitive it is so far as defence purchases are concerned.  He says such a scrutiny will affect future purchases.  Countries would be hesitant before entering (into a deal with India).  They would say we would have to pass hurdles of parliament and TV channels and finally the court.  He says prosecution would be launched against the two papers and the lawyer who has annexed it with the petitionNotes annexed in review petition privileged, can’t be taken note of: AGAG says the notes published in a newspaper and annexed in the review petition are privileged and cannot be taken note of.  He says we are dealing with defence purchases that involve security of the stateDocuments relied upon by Bhushan stolen: GovtGovernment takes preliminary objection to Bhushan’s review petitions, says the documents relied upon by him and others were stolen from the ministry by present or former employees.  Attorney general KK Venugopal says an investigation has been ordered into the stolen papers.  AG has to inform the court the progress made in the probe at 2 pmWon’t look into affidavits not filed before it: SCSupreme Court says it won’t look into any supplementary affidavits or other documents not filed before it : PTI CJI refuses to accept fresh affidavit by Prashant BhushanChief Justice Gogoi refuses to accept any fresh affidavit by advocate Prashant Bhushan. SC begins hearing petition to review its order on Rafale dealSC begins hearing petition seeking a review of its December 14, 2018, judgment in the Rafale jet purchase matter. In case of mediation, parties can suggest names: CJIIn the event court orders for mediation, Chief Justice Gogoi says the parties can suggest names of mediators.  Names to be given during the course of the daySC reserves order on mediationSupreme Court reserves verdict on whether the Ayodhya matter should be referred for mediation.  UP opposes mediationUttar Pradesh opposes mediation, says it’s for the court to decide on the legality of whether mediation can bre ordered or not.  Says mediation can be ordered when it appears to court there exists an element of a settlement. .  considering the facts of the case, the nature of dispute and possible fallout not be advisable or prudent to undertake this path”‘You’re assuming this is a point of view that can’t be put forth in mediation’Justice Bobde says: “You are assuming this is a point of view that can’t be put forth in mediation.  You can always put forth this”‘Janma sthan is a matter of faith and belief’: Lawyer for Ram LallaSubmissions by senior advocate CS Vaidyanathan for the deity : “Statement has already been recorded that Ayodhya is Ram janmabhoomi but which is the janma sthan is a matter of faith and belief. . this is a matter that is non-negotiable . .  nobody can possibly agree to some other place being the janmabhoomi. .  the only thing is to find an alternative place for a mosque; With regard to the temple coming up . . nobody can possibly agree to another place. ”We are open to mediation: Rajeev Dhawan, lawyer of Muslim partiesRajeev Dhawan, lawyer for Muslim parties, says it has to bind everybody otherwise court would be ignoring the fact there is a procedure under the law.  He says sentiments need not be gone into by the court.  Sentiments will always be there for communities . .  Sabarimala had sentiment . .  there will always be some angst . .  why is the court talking about angst otherwise what’s the purpose of procedure. .  we are open to mediation”Purpose of mediation is eventual compromise: Justice ChandrachudJustice DY Chandrachud also says that the purpose of mediation is eventually there shall be a compromise . .  effectively dispose of the dispute ; once suit assumes a representative character . .  there can’t be any compromise to the suit. Can a dispute of this nature be mediated? : Justice ChandrachudJustice DY Chandrachud asks Rajeev Dhawan, appearing for Muslim parties, whether a dispute of this nature which is not just between two people but is a wider dispute between two communities, can be mediated?  He says even if we go through mediation, whether it would be possible to bind millions of people to the outcome of mediation.  There can be a panel of mediators: Justice BobdeJustice SA Bobde says, “There need not be one mediator but a panel of mediators. ”: ANI ‘We also know history’: Justice Bobde“We also know history. .  we are trying to tell you we have no control over what happened in the past .  Over Babar invading or who demolished . . . .  no one can undo that . . we can only undo what exists before us in the present moment and that is the dispute:”: Justice Bobde‘Case about hearts and minds and healing’: Justice BobdeJustice SA Bobde told the Hindu Mahasabha lawyer : “We are conscious of the politics of this country it’s going to have an impact on .  It’s about minds, hearts and healing if possible and we do not really understand how it is being rejected even before it is attempted. ”Justice Bobde snubs Hindu Mahasabha lawyerJustice SA Bobde snubs the lawyer for Hindu Mahasabha, says, “Are you not pre -judging the whole thing. .  are you not saying it’s a failure even before it’s attempted.  We think that is not fair . .  when the court is ordering a mediation we are not yet assuming somebody will give up something . .  we think it’s not primarily a dispute over the 1500 yards of land.  This is about sentiment or faith. .  do not think we are not conscious of it or do you think you have more faith than us. ”Hindus not ready for mediation: Hindu MahasabhaHindu Mahasabha’s argument: Hindus are not ready for any mediation. .  it’s a deity property and nobody has the right to mediate .  For us it’s a sentimental issue. .  do not refer the matter to mediation. .  we are waiting for outcome of result since 1950. SC begins hearing Ayodhya title dispute caseSC bench begins hearing in the Ayodhya title dispute case.  A five judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi is hearing the case.  SC to hear petition seeking review of its order on Rafale dealThe Supreme Court is also hearing today a petition seeking a review of its December 14, 2018, judgment in the Rafale jet purchase matter in the open court.  At the same time, it will also take up the government’s application seeking certain corrections in the December 14 order. Five judge bench of SC to hear Ayodhya caseA five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, and comprising justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and SA Nazeer, will hear the Ayodhya title dispute case.  14 cases pending before SC since 2010 in Ayodhya disputeThere are fourteen appeals pending before the top court against the 2010 Allahabad high court judgment trifurcating the disputed site at Ayodhya for Ram Lalla, Nirmohi Akhara, and the original Muslim litigant. SC to decide on appointing a mediator in Ayodhya case todayThe SC had fixed March 6 as the date for passing its order on whether to appoint a mediator and gave eight weeks’ time for verification of the translation of the documents, translations and records in the case. Difference of opinion over mediation process in Ayodhya caseThe Nirmohi Akhada and many of the Muslim litigants agreed to the mediation process.  However, the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas (RJN) and a Muslim litigant Iqbal Ansari opposed the proposal, saying such efforts have failed in the past.


Prime Minister of China went to Mosque to pray as the only way protect himself from Coronavirus.

A 2015 video of a former Malaysian prime minister praying at a mosque in China is being shared with false claims that the China Prime Minister Li Keqiang is seeking protection from Coronavirus by praying at a mosque.   The viral video, with an Associated Press (AP) logo, shows a group of men praying at a mosque with the Arabic greeting of 'As-Salaam-Alaikum' audible in the background.  The viral video is being circulated across WhatsApp and social media platforms with the caption: "China PM who told we'll translate the Quran as our own, realised that the only one way to protect from the Corona virus is doing 'sajtha' to Allah and went to mosque to pray, Masha Allah. . . . "      The caption also refers to recent reports that China would be rewriting the Bible and Quran to 'reflect their socialist ideology'.   Across Facebook it has amassed over thousands of views from different pages.  View an archive of the video on Facebook here.   Pages with over thirteen thousand followers have also shared the video with the same claim.  View the video on the Facebook page here and view the archived post here.   We also received the video on the BOOM helpline number (+91 7700906111) enquiring for its veracity.        China PM who told we'll translate the Quran as our own, realised that the only one way to protect from the Corona virus is doing 'sajtha' to Allah and went to mosque to pray, Masha Allah. . . .  pic. twitter. com/5zS3u2m8wO View the tweet here and the archive here.   Fact Check BOOM found that video is from 2015 and shows the then Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi visiting a mosque in China, during his official visit to the country.  The video does not feature current Premier – Li Keqian – the prime minister of the Chinese government.    BOOM analysed the keyframes of the video and scanned through archives of wire news agency Associated Press and found the video uploaded to their official channel in July 2015.  The description of the video reads, "Pan Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi walks into mosque".  The video has also carried the story from the visit, "On the second day of his five-day trip to China, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi visited Beijing's Nan Xia Po Mosque and took part in Friday prayers.  The mosque is one of China's oldest, built around three hundred years ago during the Qing dynasty. "    View the AP video below: According to other media reports, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the Prime Minister of Malaysia at the time, visited Beijing's Nan Xia Po Mosque to take part in Friday prayers on the second day of his trip.  Badwai visited the three hundred year old mosque and even met the Imam Zhang Wan Chun.    Also Read: False: Coronavirus Found In Broiler Chickens Also Read: Boiled Garlic Water For Treating Coronavirus?  Not Really India confirmed its third positive case of Coronavirus on February 3, 2020.  All the three cases are from Kerala and travelled to India from Wuhan.  The 2019-novel Coronavirus has so far claimed 427 lives and has 20,500 confirmed cases.  BOOM has debunked several such false messages surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic.  View our thread on the same, below.  #Thread🚨: Since the outbreak of #CoronaVirus, we have debunked #FakeNews around the novel Coronavirus.  A WhatsApp forward is viral falsely claiming @MoHFW_INDIA has issued an emergency notification.  (1/n) #CoronaVirusFacts @WHO https://t. co/0lbBu7FIfO


"This was not an exoneration." Why prosecutors dropped charges against Jussie Smollett in favor of an 'alternative resolution': https://t.co/w1tiqC7Xpl https://t.co/yG9OEJRlaL

    Police said investigators had more than enough evidence to convict actor Jussie Smollett but in an unexpected turn of events, prosecutors decided to drop all charges against him.

    Chicago’s mayor and police superintendent still think the “Empire” actor staged an attack on himself and even the lead prosecutor on the case said he still believes that Smollett carried out a crime.  So, how did Smollett get cleared of all charges?

    Here’s what several CNN analysts had to say about the latest twist in the case and the possible reasoning behind it.

    Police in Chicago found several pieces of evidence that led them to believe that Smollett orchestrated the attack.

    Investigators had footage of the men involved in the alleged assault buying a ski mask, sunglasses and other items.  They also had a check that Smollett used to pay one of them.

    But no surveillance cameras captured the incident and one of the men was actually Smollett’s personal trainer, the actor’s attorneys said.

    If prosecutors saw holes in their case, they had to do the “best they could do in the interest of justice. ”

    “I’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt and believe they looked at the evidence and didn’t feel they could prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Sara Azari, a criminal defense attorney.

    Smollett’s transformation from victim to suspect in the reported attack captured national headlines.  Celebrities and politicians lent their fervent support and others doubted the actor’s claims.

    Meanwhile, police got into a difficult situation, Azari said.  They quickly tried their case in the court of public opinion.

    As Smollett was being accused of filing a false police report, Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson notoriously lambasted him in a news conference for wasting police resources.

    He also pointed out that officers were “pissed” when they learned Smollett’s alleged true motive.  Authorities said he had staged the attack because he was unhappy with his salary.

    For Joey Jackson, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, police actions were an overstep.

    “How does he ever get a fair trial when you have the superintendent going on ‘Good Morning America’ blasting him,” he said.

    “You have wonder whether or not they overplayed their hand,” Jackson added.  “That is that they just went after him so relentlessly on everything else that it poisoned the jury pool. ”

    A major twist in the case came when police alleged that Smollett hired two brothers and paid them $3,500 to stage the attack.  Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo were arrested last month after police tracked the cabs and rideshare cars they used before the attack.

    The men eventually confessed to the alleged plot and appeared before a grand jury but they were released without charges.

    Laura Coates, a former federal prosecutor, said the Osundairo brothers could have had a role into the prosecutors’ decision to drop Smollett’s charges.

    “Maybe it’s a matter of the two brothers who as late as February and March did not have a plea agreement, did not have an immunity deal,” Coates said.  “They may have recanted, meaning they changed their tune.  How do you prove it then? ”

    CNN has reached out to the brothers’ attorney for comment.

    Earlier this month, the brothers said they had “tremendous regret” for their involvement in the incident.

    The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office dropped all charges against Smollett on Tuesday but released little about why it abandoned the 16 felony disorderly conduct charges.

    The lead prosecutor in the case said they reviewed the case’s facts and considered Smollett’s volunteer service in the community as well as his willingness to forfeit his $10,000 bond.  He also noted that Smollett had no prior felonies and wasn’t a danger to the community.

    “That to me sounds like a deferred prosecution,” Coates, the former federal prosecutor, said.

    “It is quite common,” she said.  “Prosecutors thinking about reviewing the evidence decide that maybe a criminal solution or criminal prosecution is no longer the most effective way to reach justice. ”

    Speaking to reporters, Smollett’s attorney, Patricia Holmes, denied that the prosecutors’ decision to drop the charges was part of a deal or a deferred prosecution.

    First Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Magats, the lead prosecutor, told CNN affiliate WLS that dropping the charges did not mean the actor was exonerated.

    When asked whether he considered Smollett to be innocent, the prosecutor told WLS: “No. ”

    “This is not celebrity justice.  This case is well too high profile for a District Attorney’s office to just hand over a gift of exoneration to Jussie Smollett,” Azari said.

    The secrecy surrounding the details of the sudden dismissal of Smollett’s charges has left some people calling for greater transparency from the prosecutors office and has led to speculation.

    A judge agreed to seal Smollett’s court file at the request of his attorneys and without the opposition from prosecutors.

    Johnson, who had expressed his disappointment over the dismissal, criticized the move suggesting that defense attorneys brokered a deal to “circumvent the judicial system. ”

Ex-police chief: Police and mayor thrown under the bus

    “Nothing has changed other than the fact that this guy got to the state’s attorney’s office somehow and they worked out a back door deal that threw the mayor and the police department under the bus.  Period,” said Former Philadelphia police commissioner Charles Ramsey, agreeing with Johnson.

    Other legal analysts said the decision to keep the records from public disclosure will stop the community from learning what really happened.

    “We have a right as the American people to know why these charges were dropped.  If Jussie is telling the truth, we should know that,” said civil rights attorney Areva Martin.

    Others like Cheryl Dorsey, a retired Los Angeles Police Department sergeant, said the truth may come another way.

    “We’ll know that this thing that the police are saying is true when Jussie’s great, great legal team doesn’t sue Chicago PD for defamation or slander,” she said.
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Read the entire letter Attorney General William Barr sent to Congress on the Mueller report: https://t.co/6V9Z389bL6 https://t.co/cF8XgT5dm2

Editor’s Note: David A.  Andelman, executive director of the Red Lines Project, is a contributor to CNN, where his columns won the Deadline Club Award for best opinion writing.  Author of “A Shattered Peace: Versailles 1919 and the Price We Pay Today,” and translator of “An Impossible Dream: Reagan Gorbachev and a World Without the Bomb,” he was formerly a foreign correspondent for The New York Times and CBS News.  Follow him on Twitter @DavidAndelman.  The views expressed in this commentary are his own.  View more opinion on CNN.

  Many Europeans are fearing the consequences (and in the case of Russia, hailing the initial conclusions) of the Mueller report and what it portends for the future of Donald Trump’s presidency and his prospects for a second term.

  With Europe heading into a political campaign of its own for the European Parliament, the resurgent, populist right in a host of countries has to be feeling a new energy now.  Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon recently wound up a long swing across the continent shoring up right-wing, populist parties and vowing to set up “war rooms” in a host of countries in advance of the May balloting.  That vote will determine the future of Trump-style politicians’ efforts to increase their clout in Europe’s pan-national legislative body.

  On Monday, France’s leading centrist daily Le Monde expressed worry that Mueller’s “conclusions reinforce Trump in his battles to come, even including his re-election,” as the banner headline to the piece by its Washington correspondent, Gilles Paris, observed (translation is mine).

What was Mueller thinking?

  Meanwhile, Germany’s national daily Suddeutsche Zeitung noted, “Robert Mueller showed the Americans – at least those who want to know it – what kind of character their president has. ” As its Washington commentator Hubert Wetzel concluded in a far from oblique reference to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s electoral problems: “In a democracy, however, there is only one reasonable, legal and legitimate way to drive an elected president out of office: to defeat him at the next election” (translation is mine).

  By contrast, Russia’s state-owned RT branded the entire probe one of the “greatest hoaxes in US history” and questioned whether now the “Russiagate narrative’s peddlers” would be held accountable –  especially the “Democrats and mass media” – “for weaponizing the Mueller probe against Trump, ruining US-Russia ties and the lives of many Americans. ”

  Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quick to point out in statements to Russian media: “We believe the accusations that continue to be made against Russia in terms of interference in the US electoral processes are unfounded because even the brief information that is listed in the summary [of the Mueller report] has no basis. ” He apparently could not resist concluding with a typically Russian turn of phrase: “It’s hard to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if it’s not there. ”

Barr's letter is not Mueller's report

  Some still saw the Mueller report as a “questionable triumph for Donald Trump,” as the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung headlined its report.  Yet the paper reserved some cautionary words for American Democrats, many of whom have some support among more liberal forces in Europe.  FAZ, as it is called, asked: “Are Democrats disintegrating? ” The paper’s commentator warned, “Many an undecided voter could be satisfied with the result that there was no systematic conspiracy with Russians. ”

  In Britain, the overwhelming political energy these days is being reserved for its own Brexit meltdown, with the latest chapter to be played out later this week.  Still, The Telegraph’s Ben Riley-Smith didn’t hold back from calling the Mueller report “a huge win for the White House” and adding that “any hopes of impeaching the president have taken a resounding blow. ”

  Still, there is a growing feeling that Europe has long decided the most prudent course is to go it alone without the United States and without Donald Trump.  The most immediate evidence?  French President Emmanuel Macron, himself a target of his own right wing, and once a close Trump ally, had not a single comment about the Mueller report.  He was busy entertaining Chinese President Xi Jinping in the south of France and assembling European leaders with Xi this week in Paris to discuss a joint approach to global warming.
© 2021 Cable News Network.  A Warner Media Company.  All Rights Reserved.   CNN Sans ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network.


Mumbai: Water logging in parts of the city following incessant rainfall; visuals from Vakola area. #MumbaiRain https://t.co/5QdUhKBuYA

Mobile internet services have been restored in five districts of Jammu region - Jammu, Reasi, Samba, Kathu, and Udhampur on Saturday morning after 12 days of restrictions, officials said. While the Jammu region has got some relief, the mobile telephone services in Kashmir valley continue to remain suspended. Telephone services, including mobile phones and landlines had been suspended in Jammu and Kashmir on April 5 ahead of the Centre abrogating Article 370 which gave special status to the state.  The government also split the state into two union territories. According to PTI, landline services in 17 exchanges of the Kashmir Valley were restored on Saturday.  These exchanges are mainly in Srinagar district’s Civil Lines area, Cantonment area and the airport. Also Watch | Article 370 country’s internal matter: Syed Akbaruddin The landline services have been restored in Budgam, Sonamarg and Manigam areas of central Kashmir.  In north Kashmir, the services have been restored in Gurez, Tangmarg, Uri Keran Karnah and Tangdhar areas, officials said. In south Kashmir, the landline services have been made operational in Qazigund and Pahalgam areas. On Friday, Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary, BVR Subrahmanyam announced at a press conference in Srinagar that telecom connectivity would gradually be restored in a phased manner.  He said the government has to keep in mind the constant threat posed by terrorist organisations using mobile connectivity to organise terror attacks.  Most lines would be functioning before the weekend is over, he said. Also on Friday, the Supreme Court refused to interfere with restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir, saying it would like to give the government some more time to restore normalcy in the region. The apex court was hearing a petition by Anuradha Bhasin, the executive editor of Kashmir Times who has challenged the restrictions in the region.  She had sought relaxation on mobile, landline, Internet services and movement of journalists in Jammu and Kashmir. A heavy deployment of security forces continue across Kashmir valley.


Video shows massive crowd as PM Modi goes to file his election nomination

A video clip from the funeral procession of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is being shared with a false caption alleging that a massive crowd turned up in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was on his way to file his nomination for the Lok Sabha election.  The caption with the video, which shows Modi and BJP President Amit Shah walking along a sea of people, reads, 'This is called filing a form.  Open your eyes wide and see sycophants, this is how a lion walks. "  (Hindi translation: इसे कहते है फार्म भरने जाना,,आंखें फाड़ के देख लो चमचों शेर की चाल)  The video can be viewed here and its archived version can be accessed here.   The two-minute-long video, shot on a mobile camera, shows a huge crowd walking behind a vehicle decorated with marigold flowers.  Walking closely behind it, are PM Modi and Shah, flanked by security personnel.  The decorated vehicle, actually, is a hearse carrying the mortal remains of Vajpayee.   When BOOM ran a reverse image search, we found several news reports with similar video clips.  The video is from the funeral procession of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.   Vajpayee breathed his last on August 16, 2018.  A funeral procession was held from Old Delhi Gate on August 17.  However, since the viral video is shot from what appears to be a balcony, the chants of 'Atal Bihari Amar Rahe (Long live Atal Bihari) cannot be heard clearly.


NEW: America's top military officer says he is "100 percent" confident Qassem Soleimani, Iranian commander killed in yesterday's strike, approved attack on Iraqi military base last month that killed a U.S. contractor. https://t.co/QSxiQVDm9C

By Jessie Yeung, Fernando Alfonso III, Tara John, Julia Hollingsworth, Rob Picheta, Mike Hayes, CNNCNN has obtained the following daylight images of the scene of the air strike that killed Qasem Soleimani. From CNN’s Sharif Paget in Atlanta.  Translation by Eyad Kourdi in Gaziantep, Turkey. An influential Shiite cleric in Iraq, who heads the largest political bloc in Iraq's parliament, says he is mourning the deaths of Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leaders killed in US strikes on Friday, adding that his militias are ready to defend Iraq during this time. Muqtada al-Sadr said in a Twitter statement he has given orders to his previously dismantled Mehdi Army to be prepared to “protect Iraq. ”“As the patron of the patriotic Iraqi resistance I give the order for all mujahideen, especially al-Imam al-Mehdi Army, Promised Day Brigade, and all patriotic and disciplined groups to be ready to protect Iraq,” he said. Sadr also called on Iraqis to exercise “wisdom and shrewdness” and asked that God “protect the region from dangers and protect our beloved Iraq. ”The UK's foreign minister has issued a brief statement in response to the killing of Soleimani, saying that the threat of further conflict is in "none of our interests. "From CNN's Nick Paton Walsh in London A Western intelligence official told CNN that Soleimani's "cult status inside and outside Iran" means an Iranian response is "highly likely," be it through its proxies or cyberattacks. In terms of the longer-term impact, the intelligence official said: "This overt and covert sparring has been going on for 40 years and while there could be a short-term high-profile response, expect Iran to be in this for the long haul. "Iraq's Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi has said the killing of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in the US airstrike violates the conditions for the presence of American troops in the country. Muhandis, Iraq’s deputy head of the Iran-backed Shia paramilitary forces known as the PMF, was killed alongside top Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani in the airstrike. “It is a flagrant violation of the conditions for the presence of the American forces in Iraq and their role which is supposed to be limited to training Iraqi forces and fighting ISIS within the international coalition forces, under the supervision and approval of the Iraqi government”, Abdul Mahdi said in a statement issued Friday. He went on to call for an extraordinary parliamentary session to convene and decide on the next steps Iraq could take.  On Thursday evening, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said he had received  requests from Iraq to downsize the US military presence in the country, currently at about 5,000 troops. The US confirmed it was sending around 750 additional soldiers to the Middle East on Wednesday, after attacks broke out in Baghdad among hundreds of protesters in response to airstrikes in Iraq and Syria conducted by US forces. The news of Qasem Soleimani's death has sharply divided politicians along party lines, with almost uniform praise for US President Donald Trump by Republicans, while Democrats have expressed concerns over the legality and consequences of the strike.   Former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democratic candidate in this year's presidential election, said Trump had "tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox" with the airstrike. And while Soleimani "deserved to be brought to justice for his crimes against American troops and thousands of innocents throughout the region," Biden warned that "we could be on the brink of a major conflict across the Middle East. "Sen.  Bernie Sanders, who is also running for president in the Democratic primary, called it a "dangerous escalation" that brings the US "closer to another disastrous war in the Middle East that could cost countless lives and trillions more dollars. ""Trump promised to end endless wars, but this action puts us on the path to another one,” he said.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned that the US could not "put the lives of American service members, diplomats and others further at risk by engaging in provocative and disproportionate actions," in a statement.  Meanwhile, fierce Trump ally Sen.  Lindsey Graham praised the President's "bold action against Iranian aggression" in a series of tweets, in which he warned Iran against retaliatory action.  Republican Sen.  Marco Rubio of Florida accused Soleimani's Quds Force of choosing "the path of escalation" after Trump imposed economic pressure. "Iran chose to respond to economic pressure with #IRGC sponsored & directed attacks aimed at killing Americans," Rubio said in a tweet.  "They chose to ignore these warnings because they believed @POTUS was constrained from acting by our domestic political divisions.  They badly miscalculated. " Sen.  Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, said "General Soleimani is dead because he was an evil bastard who murdered Americans," in a news release.  From CNN’s Mary IlyushinaRussia's Foreign Ministry has said the US airstrike will lead to growing tensions in the Middle East and issued condolences to the Iranian people, according to Russian state-run news agency TASS. "Soleimani devotedly served the cause of protecting Iran’s national interests.  We are offering our sincere condolences to the Iranian people,” the statement added. Earlier on Friday, prominent Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev issued a statement on his official Facebook page, saying the killing of Soleimani is “a mistake” that can hurt the US in the long run and “destroys” all efforts to save the Iran nuclear deal.   Kosachev wrote: “I believe this is more than killing an important figure, this is a mistake.  And the reason for this mistake is the typical American habit of personalizing any problem: 'Remove Saddam (Milosevic, Yanukovych, Gaddafi, Bin Laden, etc. ) and everything will be solved. ' But this is the logic of the show, not politics.  It doesn’t work longterm, but it can hit the organizers of the show like a boomerang. ”The US airstrike at Baghdad International Airport that killed Qasem Soleimani was only miles away from Bagdad's Green Zone, home to government buildings and the US Embassy, which was attacked by protesters on New Year's Eve.  Protesters attacked the embassy on Tuesday, scaling the walls and forcing the gates of the compound, as hundreds demonstrated against American airstrikes on an Iran-backed militia group in Iraq. The pro-Iranian demonstrators were mostly from Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), a coalition of predominantly Shiite militias.  Formed in 2014 to fight ISIS, the PMU were recognized under a 2016 Iraqi law as an independent military force that answers directly to the prime minister. Despite the Iraqi law, most observers see many of those groups, including Kataib Hezbollah, as maintaining strong links to Iran and its security forces, from which they receive funding and other support, as well as some direction. Three leaders of powerful militia groups were also seen at the protest, including Kataib Hezbollah leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis -- who was later killed alongside Soleimani in Thursday night's airstrike.  Read more hereThe US State Department has urged its citizens in Iraq to depart "immediately" due to "heightened tensions" in the region.  Its statement also told citizens to stay away from the US Embassy in Iraq, which was stormed by pro-Iranian protesters on Tuesday. The French government has also warned its citizens to stay away from any gatherings in Iran.  A statement on the French Embassy's website on Friday advised them to stay “prudent and discreet. "It also recommends people do not take pictures in public spaces. Please enable JavaScript for a better experience.


Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate from East Delhi Lok Sabha seat, Atishi, campaigns in Vishwas Nagar area of the constituency. #LokSabhaElections2019 https://t.co/hJONT1Uhsv

Politics is the flavour of the summer and Delhi’s youth are making sure their voices are not drowned out by the cacophony of electioneering.  On May 12, around 11. 2 lakh young voters, aged between 18 and 23 years, will cast their votes in the national capital and they are clear about their expectations — new undergraduate colleges, skill training centres and more employment opportunities. Of the 11. 2 lakh, 2. 5 lakh are first-time voters. Pranav Singh, a first-time voter and an undergraduate student at Delhi University’s (DU) School of Open Learning (SOL), said he wanted to join a regular college.  “I had scored 67% marks in class 12 that was not enough to get me admitted to a regular college.  I had no option but to join the distance learning school.  The competition might be less if there were more undergraduate colleges in the city,” the Mayur Vihar resident said. In the last four months, students pursuing graduation through the SOL have held several protests demanding new colleges.  “Ahead of every election, parties promise more colleges to accommodate all students in the regular stream.  The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had also promised to build 20 colleges in Delhi but nothing has happened,” Dinesh Singh, a second-year student at SOL, said. DU is the only central university in the capital that can affiliate colleges.  Presently, it offers 56,000-odd undergraduate seats across 63 colleges, for which there are around 2. 5 lakh aspirants every year.  There are only two Delhi government-run universities in the city, of which only Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University affiliates colleges and that, too, technical ones. Manoj Sinha, principal of Aryabhatt College, said no new college has been added to DU since 1997.  “Over these years, the difference between demand and supply has widened enormously.  There is an immediate need to open new colleges as the existing ones are saturated,” he said. The voters, aged 22-23 years, said “lack of jobs” is their concern.  “Ever after securing a seat in a DU college, there are not many employment options.  Things are still better for those pursuing technical or professional courses.  What about those who have done their graduation in humanities and are working as contractual teachers?  There have been no appointments to permanent teaching posts in government schools,” Praveen Singh, a BA (honours) History student at Kirori Mal College, said. Young voters residing in unauthorised pockets of the city are demanding “skill centres” in their neighbourhoods.  Waseem Akhtar, 22, a resident of Seelampur, said, “Most youngsters in our area are school drop-outs.  The government should provide some skill training centres to help us learn a livelihood,” Akhtar, who works in a small shoemaking unit, said. The three major political parties in Delhi – the AAP, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — are trying to woo these voters. AAP’s East Delhi candidate Atishi, who worked as the former advisor to Delhi education minister, said her party is batting for “full statehood” to address the issue.  The party, in its manifesto, has already promised 85% reservation for Delhi residents in all city colleges and government jobs.  “With full statehood, we will be able to get a new university in Delhi wherein 85% seats will be reserved for Delhi students.  If we attain a full statehood, we will also provide an additional 2 lakh government jobs to Delhiites,” she promised. BJP’s Chandni Chowk candidate Harsh Vardhan said “youth are with the BJP this time”. “If elected, we will bring in all youth-oriented schemes such as Make in India and Startup India to create employment opportunities for the youngsters here,” he said. Rajesh Lilothia, the Congress candidate from North East Delhi, said his party is planning to build skill training centres across the city.  “It’s very important to give students a platform to brush up their skills and make them job ready,” he said.


Delhi: Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar holds meeting with farmers' leaders from Haryana at Krishi Bhawan. https://t.co/Wzmd1zesW0

Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Saturday was holding a meeting with farmers’ leaders from Haryana at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi, news agency ANI reported.  The meeting comes even as a farmers’ leader said they will sit on a hunger strike on December 14 at Delhi’s Singhu border.  Farmers have been protesting at the border for 17 days now against the three laws passed by Parliament in September.  The farmers fear that latest legislation will leave them at the mercy of the big corporates as it does not promise minimum support price. The Centre had sent a draft proposal of reforms earlier this week that it is planning to incorporate in the laws.  However, the protesting farmers rejected the proposal and have remained firm on the demand for the repeal of the laws


A video is being shared on social media with a claim that it shows BJP workers distributing money to bring the crowd for Yogi Adityanath’s rally in West Bengal.  Recently, Yogi Adityanath campaigned for BJP in the poll-bound West Bengal.  Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post. Claim: BJP workers distributing money to bring the crowd for Yogi Adityanath’s rally in West Bengal. Fact: The posted video is an old one.  The video is being shared on the internet at least since October 2019.  So, it is not related to Yogi Adityanath’s recent campaign in West Bengal.  Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE. When the screenshots of the video were run through Yandex Reverse Image Search, the same video was found to be uploaded on YouTube in October 2019.  Also, an extended version of the same video was found on YouTube with the title – ‘जन आशीर्वाद यात्रा: रघुबर दास सरकार की नयी योजना- रैली में आओ Rs 500 पाओ! ’ (Translation – Jan Aashirwad Yatra: New scheme by Raghubar Das Government – Come to rally and get Rs 500). While FACTLY could not confirm the exact location and context of the video, it can be observed that ‘Abki Baar 65 Paar’ (in Hindi) is written on the t-shirts of the people in the video.  ‘#AbkiBaar65Paar’ is a slogan used by BJP in their campaign for the Jharkhand Elections -2019. To sum it up, an old video is being falsely shared as BJP workers distributing money for Yogi Adityanath’s rally in West Bengal.


The 270 narrow-body jet order is potentially worth a reported $30 billion. https://t.co/RhhMetniDZ

By Chris Isidore, CNN BusinessUpdated 3:33 PM ET, Tue June 29, 2021 New York (CNN Business)United Airlines on Tuesday announced orders to buy 270 jets, the largest aircraft purchase in the company's history and the biggest order by any airline in about a decade.


Delhi: Five Manipur MLAs who joined BJP today after they had resigned from Congress, meet party's national president Jagat Prakash Nadda. https://t.co/t03uPYwGzR

Five former MLAs who recently resigned from Congress, joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday during a function at the party office in Delhi.  The five former MLAs are Ngamthang Haokip (Saitu), Paonam Brojen (Wangjing Tentha), Oinam Lukhoi (Wangoi),Okram Henry (Wangkhei) and Ginsuanhau (Singhat). Confirming the development when contacted, Okram Henry said that they joined (BJP) to have a stable government and bring peace and tranquillity among the people of the state under the new hope and new thoughts of the party. BJP’s national general secretary Ram Madhav, national vice president Baijayant Panda and Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh were present at the event held in the national capital at around 4. 30pm, a source said. Earlier in the day, state chief minister welcomed the former Congress MLAs in a post on Twitter. “I extend my warmest welcome to the five former Congress MLAs from Manipur, Ginsuanhau, O Lukhoi, Ngamthang Haoikip, P Brojen and O Henry on joining @BJP4India today in New Delhi in presence of Shri@rammadhavbjp ji and Shri @PandaJay ji,” he wrote on Twitter.  I extend my warmest welcome to the five former Congress MLAs from Manipur, Ginsuanhau, O. Lukhoi, Ngamthang Haokip, P. Brojen and O. Henry on joining @BJP4India today in New Delhi in presence of Shri @rammadhavbjp ji and Shri @PandaJay ji.  pic. twitter. com/flrq0gzBXULater Chief Minister Biren along with the two BJP national leaders and five ex-MLAs called on party’s national president JP Nadda at the latter’s office, sources said. On August 10, six Congress MLAs-Md Abdul Nasir(Lilong), Ngamthang Haokip (Saitu), Okram Henry(Wangkhei), Paonam Brojen(Wangjing Tentha), Oinam Lukhoi (Wangoi) and Ginsuanhau (Singhat) Manipur resigned from Manipur State Legislative Assembly and congress party. Later on August 16, state Chief Minister Biren Singh along with the ex-MLAs left for New Delhi to meet the BJP national leadership in New Delhi.  The team is expected to return to Manipur within 2-3 days.


No new cases found out of 382 samples tested in last 24 hours. Total #COVID19 positive cases in the state stand at 160, cured/discharged 123, active cases 37 and 0 deaths: Department of Information and Public Relations, Government of Mizoram https://t.co/IcvbLsZZOG

With over 30,000 fresh Covid-19 cases recorded in the last 24 hours, infections in India are inching closer to the 1 million mark.  While the death rate remains low, the growth rate of the cases is close to 3. 4% per day.  For the latest headlines watch this playlist with Vikram Chandra Get free access to newsletters, alerts and recommendations


“Most Democrats are looking for a different answer than what Senator Sanders is offering,” Pete Buttigieg says.

“We have such terrible division emanating from the White House, I don’t think that it makes sense to match it with a different form of division.” #CNNTownHall https://t.co/qWOIqVvr9t

The movie mogul was convicted of sexual assault and of rape in the third degree. President Trump calls Harvey Weinstein verdict a ‘great victory’ for womenReacting to Harvey Weinstein's conviction on criminal sexual assault and third-degree rape charges, President Donald Trump hailed a New York jury's decision as a "great victory" for women and sought to tie the disgraced movie mogul to prominent Democrats while ignoring allegations about his own behavior towards women. "I think from the standpoint of women it was a great thing, it was a great victory and sends a very strong message," Trump said during a wide-ranging news conference Tuesday in New Delhi, India, when asked what the result means for women who may be afraid to come forward with their own experiences with sexual assault or harassment. The president attempted to tie the 67-year-old Weinstein to Democrats while simultaneously distancing himself from the now jailed sex offender, saying he was "never a fan" of Weinstein and claiming prominent Democrats -- specifically Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton -- "loved him. ""The people who liked him were the Democrats," Trump said.  "He gave tremendous money to the Democrats. "The question now, Trump said, is whether the Democrats give the money back? Back in October 2017, ABC News reported that at least eight Democratic senators either donated or vowed to donate contributions Weinstein provided in past campaigns.  They included Democratic presidential candidate Sen.  Elizabeth Warren, who said she donated $5,000 she received from Weinstein in 2012 to charity. Former Democratic presidential candidates Sen.  Cory Booker of New Jersey and Sen.  Kirsten Gillibrand of New York both donated campaign contributions they had received from Weinstein to charities supporting women.  Booker donated $7,800 he got from Weinstein to the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual assault, a nonprofit charity organization. New York Sen.  Chuck Schumer also donated a total of $14,200 in past contributions from Weinstein to several charities supporting women. Trump said he has been too busy traveling and taking meetings to follow the trial closely. At least 17 women have accused Trump of varying inappropriate behavior, including allegations of sexual harassment or sexual assault, all but one coming forward with their accusations before or during his bid for the White House.  Trump has denied the allegations and no charges were ever filed against him. During Trump's 2016 campaign for president, a hot-mic recording of his interview with "Access Hollywood" surfaced, and he was caught making foul-mouthed remarks about groping women, saying, "When you’re a star they let you do it. . .  You can do anything.  Grab them by the p---- You can do anything. "Trump later dismissed the remarks as "locker room banter. "Weinstein was found guilty of criminal sexual assault and of rape in the third degree in a New York court.  He was found not guilty of the more serious charges of predatory sexual assault and of rape in the first degree. The judge in the case remanded Weinstein into custody without bail against his attorneys' request. His lawyers said they will appeal the conviction, claiming there were "extremely troubling" issues with the trial. The outcome of the riveting trial is seen as a landmark moment in the #MeToo movement, which was spurred into mainstream awareness after allegations against Weinstein were first reported in October 2017 by The New York Times and The New Yorker. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events


Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman: It is also proposed to increase custom duty on gold & other precious metals from 10% to 12.5%. #Budget2019 https://t.co/b3aS6GHBHO

Petrol and diesel would be dearer by about Rs 2 per litre, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in her budget speech.  The minister, who presented her maiden budget, has also hiked the customs duty on gold and other precious metal from existing 10 per cent to 12. 5 per cent. Presenting the Union Budget, she said crude prices have softened from their highs and it gives her room to review excise duty and cess on petrol and diesel. “I propose to increase special additional excise duty and road and infrastructure cess each by one rupee a litre on petrol and diesel,” she said. ALSO WATCH | Budget 2019 | Petrol and diesel cess increased by Re 1 per litreThe finance minister also said surcharges on individuals having taxable income of Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore; and Rs 5 crore and more have been raised. She also said there will be no merchant discount rate (MDR) charges on digital transaction made at big establishments having annual turnover of more than Rs 50 crore. For updates on Budget 2019, click hereThe finance minister also announced TDS (tax deducted at source) of 2 per cent on cash withdrawal of more than Rs 1 crore from a bank account. She said faceless assessment of tax returns in electronic mode is being launched this year in a phased manner.  Also Read | Budget 2019 highlights


Video claims that two Muslims are trying to molest a girl

A disturbing video showing a youngster molesting a girl while another youth records the depraved act has been shared with a caption which purports to show that the accused duo belong to the Muslim community.  However, the accused, who were arrested by the Jaunpur (Uttar Pradesh) police, are not Muslims.  A caption with the viral post reads "Pure Horror.  At least 2 Peacefuls Beating a Girl, they trying to torn her Cloth, and this might ended into Gang Rape  Location - Unknown  Help to trace these B*stards Please don't feel shame to RT. " While the caption does not directly mentions the accused as Muslims, it uses the term 'peaceful' which is widely used nowadays to refer to people from the community in a derisive way.  Due to the graphic nature of the video, BOOM has decided not to share the video.    The 45-second long video shows a youngster trying to forcefully undress a girl.  Another youth can be seen filming the heinous act.   One of the replies on the tweet mentions that the incident is from Jaunpur and the duo had been arrested.  BOOM checked the Twitter timeline of Jaunpur police and found their tweet related to the incident.  The incident was reported from Zafrabad of Jaunpur.    Jaunpur superintendent of police VK Mishra, while briefing the media about the incident, said that incident was from Zafrabad police station.  Police had registered an FIR against the accused Chhattu alias Hriday and Kallu.  The duo has been arrested.  The minor girl had gone to herd sheep in the area when the accused came on a motorcycle and harassed her -- VK Mishra, SP, Jaunpur The names of the accused mentioned by the SP clearly indicate that they don't belong to the minority community.  The incident had also been reported widely earlier this month by several newspapers.  Reports on the incident can be read here and here.


A post accompanying the video of a man urinating on a Shiva lingam is being shared on social media platforms giving the incident a communal colour by claiming that the boy belongs to the Muslim community.  Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post. Claim: Video of a Muslim boy urinating on Shiva Lingam. Fact: The video actually shows an old incident of a miscreant urinating in a temple in Vishakapatnam’s Pisinikada village back in 2018.  Multiple regional news agencies reported the incident.  These reports identified the miscreants as Ramesh and Anand, both belong to the Christian community, FIR has been registered against them.  Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE. YouTube search with relevant keywords led us to a 2018 Telugu regional news channel video report which reported the same video in the post.  According to this report, the incident took place in Vishakapatnam’s Pisinikada village where a couple of miscreants urinated on Shiva Lingam.  Further as per the report, Police have filed a case and investigating it. Another news report which reported the incident can be seen here.  As per this report, the miscreants were identified as Ramesh and Anand from Krishnapuram village of Anakapelli Mandal, and that an FIR has been filed against these two.  Going by the general convention, both these names do not represent a person from the Muslim community. Altnews, a fact-checking organisation accessed the FIR copy related to the incident.  Even the FIR named the culprits as Ramesh and Anand.  Also, as per Anakapalli rural police sub-inspector, both the accused confessed that they belong to the Christian community. In view of the recent incident of a Muslim boy being allegedly beaten for entering a temple to drink water, misleading posts like these are being shared on social media platforms. To sum it up, old video of a man urinating in a temple is revived with a false communal narrative.


Sen. Mazie Hirono to Attorney General William Barr on his handling of special counsel Mueller’s report: “You’ve chosen to be the president’s lawyer and side with him over the interests of the American people.” https://t.co/TfPZTJ4wu7 https://t.co/1wC01QAREe

  Attorney General William Barr said special counsel Robert Mueller was “a bit snitty” in his letter expressing misgivings about the attorney general’s letter to Congress summarizing Mueller’s findings.

  At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, Barr brushed off the criticisms in a new letter from Mueller, in which the special counsel objected to Barr’s initial four-page letter to Congress.  Mueller’s letter showed the former FBI director felt Barr’s letter to Congress didn’t fully capture his 448-page report.

  “You know, the letter’s a bit snitty, and I think it was probably written by one of his staff people,” Barr said.

  A spokesman for the special counsel, Peter Carr, declined to comment to CNN when asked about Barr’s characterization.

  The Washington Post first reported Mueller’s letter to Barr.  CNN later obtained the full letter.

  The Wednesday hearing was the first time Barr made an appearance before Congress since the release of a redacted version of Mueller’s report last month.

  In the hearing, Democrats clashed with the attorney general over his handling of the Mueller findings and his decision not to prosecute for obstruction of justice.  Some of the Democratic senators accused Barr of lying to Congress and the public about Mueller’s concerns, and multiple senators called for Barr’s resignation as attorney general.

  “(Mueller’s) letter was an extraordinary act, a career prosecutor rebuking the attorney general of the United States, memorializing in writing,” said Democratic Sen.  Richard Blumenthal.  “I know of no other instance of that happening. ”

  Barr said in the hearing that he called Mueller after receiving his letter and spoke to Mueller on speakerphone for about 10 to 15 minutes with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in the room, in addition to other staff members.

  Blumenthal asked Barr if anyone had taken notes of the call, and Barr said “there were notes taken of the call. ”

  “May we have those notes? ” Blumenthal asked.

  “No,” Barr said.

  “Why not? ” Blumenthal followed up.

  “Why should you have them? ” Barr said, before Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham ended the hearing.

  As of 4:30 p. m. , “snitty” – which means disagreeably ill-tempered – was the top trending word on Merriam-Webster. com, and look ups had spiked 150,000%, according to the website.

  CNN’s Katelyn Polantz contributed to this report.
© 2021 Cable News Network.  A Warner Media Company.  All Rights Reserved.   CNN Sans ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network.


Odisha: PM Narendra Modi received by CM Naveen Patnaik and Governor Ganeshi Lal on arrival at Bhubaneswar Airport. The PM will be conducting an aerial survey of the areas affected by #CycloneAmphan. https://t.co/QsQmXBZmU9

Sep 05, 2021-Sunday

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Saddened to hear about Cyclone Amphan hitting coasts of India, Bangladesh: Afghan PresidentTelecom networks operating at 65-70% capacity in affected districtsBengal staring at record agri-loss due to Cyclone Amphan: MinisterNation stands in solidarity with West Bengal and Odisha: PM ModiCyclone Amphan effect on Nagapattinam; fishing harbour wall damagedPM Modi said Odisha has made a good name for itself in rescue, relief nd restoration measure: Odisha Chief SecretaryPM Modi announces ex-gratia of  ₹2 lakh to next of kin of deceased in OdishaMy prayers, thoughts and love to those affected by Amphan: Shah Rukh KhanPM Modi announces advance assistance of  ₹500 crore for cyclone-hit OdishaEuropean Union announces $5,45,000 aid for India in wake of Cyclone AmphanPM Modi holds review meeting in Bhubaneswar over Cyclone AmphanNepal expresses grief over loss of lives in West Bengal due to Cyclone Amphan22 opposition parties resolve to call upon Centre to provide urgent help in view of Cyclone AmphanDeath toll in Bangladesh reaches 22Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina speaks to Bengal chief Minister Mamata Banerjee amid cyclone crisisCyclone Amphan, which hit India’s eastern coast yesterday with winds gusting up to 185 kmph has affected 4. 5 million people across 1,500 villages of Odisha.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee conducted aerial survey of the areas that have suffered the wrath of the cyclone.  Banerjee said that so far 80 people have lost their lives due to the cyclonic storm in the state.  While Odisha government said that no death has occurred so far due to the storm.  Bangladesh has recorded 22 deaths and many have been left displaced in the country's coastal areas.  The Prime Minister also went to Odisha after leaving from West Bengal and carried out an aerial survey of the areas affected in the state.  Cyclone Amphan is the most powerful cyclone to strike eastern India and Bangladesh in over a decade. Here are the latest updates on Cyclone AmphanSaddened to hear about Cyclone Amphan hitting coasts of India, Bangladesh: Afghan PresidentStating that he was saddened to hear about cyclone Amphan hitting coastal regions in India and Bangladesh, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Friday expressed his 'heartfelt condolences to the two friendly nations'. Telecom networks operating at 65-70% capacity in affected districtsTelecom networks continued to operate at 65-70% capacity on the third day after super cyclone Amphan wreaked havoc in coastal districts of West Bengal, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said on Friday. Continuous power outages, frequent fibre cuts and electricity wires on roads have made restoration of telecom networks a challenging task, COAI said. Bengal staring at record agri-loss due to Cyclone Amphan: MinisterCyclone Amphan has ravaged the farming sector in at least 14 of the 23 districts in West Bengal and the loss incurred may create an all-time record, state Agriculture Minister Ashish Banerjee said on Friday. Nation stands in solidarity with West Bengal and Odisha: PM ModiThe nation stands in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in West Bengal and Odisha.  The Central Government assures all possible support as well as assistance towards the rehabilitation, restoration and reconstruction efforts: PM ModiCyclone Amphan effect on Nagapattinam; fishing harbour wall damagedHigh tides due to the 'Amphan' cyclone that played havoc in West Bengal have caused damage to the rubble mound wall in the fishing harbour under construction at a cost of  ₹120 crore at Tarangambadiin Nagapattinam district. PM Modi said Odisha has made a good name for itself in rescue, relief nd restoration measure: Odisha Chief SecretaryThe road forward for us is to strengthen our infrastructure (like power and housing) and make it cyclone resilient.  PM Modi said Odisha has made a good name for itself in rescue, relief nd restoration measures: Chief Secretary of Odisha Asit Kumar TripathyPM Modi announces ex-gratia of  ₹2 lakh to next of kin of deceased in OdishaExpressing solidarity with the people of Odisha and deep sorrow for the lives lost, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia of  ₹2 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and  ₹50,000 to the seriously injured in the cyclone in the state: Government of IndiaMy prayers, thoughts and love to those affected by Amphan: Shah Rukh KhanBollywood superstar and West Bengal brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan has expressed concern for those affected by the super cyclone Amphan which has devastated the state, and also affected parts of Odisha. PM Modi announces advance assistance of  ₹500 crore for cyclone-hit OdishaGovernment of India announces  ₹500 crore for Odisha, as a measure in advance.  Government will further help Odisha government and make rest of the arrangements to come out of this crisis, after the complete survey and the formation of a rehabilitation plan: PM Narendra ModiEuropean Union announces $5,45,000 aid for India in wake of Cyclone AmphanThe EU is determined to start helping people in need with no further delay and provides initial funding of €500. 000 for India and €1. 100. 000 to support the immediate response in Bangladesh: Janez Lenarčič, Commissioner for Crisis Management (European Union), reports ANI. PM Modi holds review meeting in Bhubaneswar over Cyclone AmphanOdisha: Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a review meeting with senior officials and minister of the state in Bhubaneswar after his aerial survey of the areas affected due to Cyclone Amphan.  CM Naveen Patnaik, Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Pratap Sarangi are also present, reports ANI. Odisha: Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a review meeting with senior officials and minister of the state in Bhubaneswar after his aerial survey of the areas affected due to #CycloneAmphan.  CM Naveen Patnaik, Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan & Pratap Sarangi are also present.  pic. twitter. com/MZEHtn4wxtNepal expresses grief over loss of lives in West Bengal due to Cyclone AmphanNepal government is grieved over loss of lives and destruction of properties in West Bengal by Cyclone Amphan.  Government extends its heartfelt condolences to bereaved families of deceased as well as to Indian Govt.  It also wishes speedy recovery of injured: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepal22 opposition parties resolve to call upon Centre to provide urgent help in view of Cyclone Amphan22 opposition parties resolve to call upon Centre to provide urgent help to fellow citizens in view of Cyclone Amphan.  The parties call upon Centre to declare Cyclone Amphan as national calamity: Resolution. , reports PTI. Death toll in Bangladesh reaches 22Bangladesh began assessing the damage caused by Cyclone Amphan that killed at least 22 people and left many displaced in the country's coastal areas.  It was the most powerful storm since cyclone 'Sidr' killed nearly 3,500 people in 2007, reports PTI. Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina speaks to Bengal chief Minister Mamata Banerjee amid cyclone crisisSheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh had a telephonic conversation with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to enquire about the damages caused due to Cyclone Amphan, reports ANI. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has spoken to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over phone to enquire about the damages caused by extremely severe #CycloneAmphan: Bangladesh media (file pic) pic. twitter. com/HpBMYSQH7FFirst published: May 22, 2020 09:24 IST


Delhi: 12 Bengali film & television actors, joined BJP in presence of party leaders Mukul Roy & Dilip Ghosh, earlier today. https://t.co/iqP19smHnO

Several Bengali actors, including Parno Mittra, joined the BJP here on Thursday in presence of the party’s West Bengal unit head Dilip Ghosh. Welcoming the 12 actors into the party fold, Ghosh said the people in the state are inspired by the leadership and development work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Rishi Kaushik, Kanchana Moitra, Rupanjana Mitra and Biswajit Ganguly are among the film and TV stars who joined the BJP at its headquarters here. People belonging to different walks of life from West Bengal including leaders from the TMC, CPI(M) and Congress have been joining the BJP since the Lok Sabha elections were announced in March this year. The BJP is eyeing to wrest power from the Trinamool Congress in the state and has emerged as the main opponent of the Mamata Banerjee-led party. Several state leaders, including MLAs, from other parties have also joined the BJP since its impressive show in the recent general elections.  The saffron party won 18 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal.


Kerala has decided to ban Jio’s Internet services from 2021. The government will start its own network services and mobile phones at half of Jio’s prices.

Amid the ongoing farmers’ agitation, the Kerala Assembly on Thursday, December 31, passed a unanimous resolution demanding repeal of the Centre’s three contentious agricultural laws. Now, if a viral claim circulating on social media is to be believed, the Kerala government has decided to ban operations of Reliance Jio in the state from 2021.  The claim further says that the Pinarayi Vijayan government has also decided to provide government-owned network service and mobile phones at half of Jio’s prices. One such claim in Hindi translates to, “A fitting reply to Modi and Ambani by the communist government in Kerala!  From the new year, Jio’s Internet service will be shut in Kerala.  The government’s own network, Kerala Fibre Net, and the phone starts at half the price of Jio!  Red Salute”. India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claim to be false.  The Kerala government has neither banned Jio nor started a state-owned Internet service. The archived versions of similar posts can be seen here, here and here. The Kerala government trying to ban Jio’s Internet services in the state would have definitely made headlines.  However, we could not find any such report, even by Kerala’s leading media houses.  We then searched for news reports on Kerala starting a state-owned network service. According to a report published on November 2, 2020, by “Mint”, the Kerala government plans to provide free Internet to government institutions and two million families living below poverty line through its project ‘Kerala Fibre Optic Network’ (KFON). The article also says that KFON is the first-of-its-kind among states, but is similar to the Government of India’s ‘BharatNet’ project.  However, we could not find any report on Kerala starting a state-owned network service. A report by “The New Indian Express” said KFON is expected to partner with private Internet service providers (ISPs) such as Reliance Jio, BSNL and Airtel for providing seamless bandwidth connectivity in Kerala. For more clarity on the matter, we reached out to Mohammed Y Safirulla, IT secretary of Kerala. “State governments cannot ban any telecom network.  All telecom providers have equal rights to operate in a state.  KFON is just a Kerala government project to provide optical fiber connectivity across the state over a period of time.  It does not affect private network providers in any way.  KFON does not aspire to be a telecom service provider or an Internet service provider,” Safirulla said. AFWA also spoke to Mosses Rajkumar, the project head of KFON. Rubbishing the viral claim, Rajkumar said, “Through KFON, we are only creating a back-end infrastructure on which local cable TV operators and network providers will be able to provide high-end bandwidth connectivity. ”“By February, we are hoping to provide connectivity to around 1,000 government officers by purchasing Internet from ISPs.  Offering network to households will take more time and we will need to call tenders from private network operators, which will definitely include Jio,” he said. Hence, it is clear that the viral claim saying Kerala government has banned Jio Internet services in the state is false.  Also, Kerala is not offering state-owned Internet connection or mobile phones. The number of crows determines the intensity of the lie.


West Bengal: BJP leader Saumitra Khan and workers of the party protest in front of the Election Commission office in Kolkata over the attack on state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh's convoy in Sitalkuchi, Cooch Behar earlier today. https://t.co/N5jUIQTYWq

A month-long exhibition of artworks by Maharashtra-based Prashant Shashikant Patil, who uses a glue gun to create 3D drawings, kicked off at CIMA gallery here on Friday. The themes showcased in his work -- domestic life, memories, fear and fragility -- have been well portrayed through a network of lines, making his installations three- dimensional and organic. Patil, who hails from Koregaon and completed his Masters in Fine Arts from Visva-Bharati, said light and shadow play an important role in almost all his works displayed at the exhibition, which was inaugurated by Gianluca Rubagotti, the consul general of Italy in Kolkata. "Many of my artworks, mounted on frames, cast shadows on the wall, which is reminiscent of the traditional lifestyle that finds a place in our memories.  I try to connect people through their memories of the past," the artist said at his first solo exhibition, which is showcasing 29 of his drawings. In many of his installations, the winner of the CIMA award in 2019 combines glue with natural dyes or mud collected from rural areas. "Visva Bharati gave me the freedom to explore various mediums of work," the 29-year-old artist added. Heaping praise on Patil, CIMA director Rakhi Sarkar said, "He has successfully found a connection between the cultures of Maharashtra and Bengal.  Both the states are deeply rooted in their respective cultures.  Prashant brought the two states together. "


BSP to file a plea in Rajasthan High Court tomorrow against the merger of six BSP MLAs in the state with Congress party. https://t.co/vpJNndM2Po

Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will file a plea in Rajasthan High Court tomorrow against the merger of its MLAs in the state with the Congress.  Earlier in the day, BSP supremo Mayawati lashed out at Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, alleging that he merged her MLAs with the Congress out of “malicious intent”.  She said that the BSP supported the Congress unconditionally after the Assembly elections in Rajasthan.  “In Rajasthan, after elections results, the BSP gave unconditional support of all its six MLAs to Congress.  Unfortunately, chief minister Ashok Gehlot, out of his malicious intent and to damage the BSP, merged them with Congress in an unconstitutional.  He did the same even in his last tenure,” Mayawati said on Tuesday.  She said that the MLAs in question will lose their party membership if they don’t vote against the Congress in proceedings to be held during the assembly Session.  She said the party is willing to even move the Supreme Court.   BJP leader Madan Dilwar files another petition before Rajasthan High Court against the merger of six BSP MLAs in the state with Congress party.  The petition seeks cancellation of the membership of the six BSP MLAs from the state legislative Assembly.  https://t. co/B7tdKQQJMg pic. twitter. com/JSslfskx80“The BSP could have gone to the court earlier too but we were looking for a time to teach Congress party and CM Ashok Gehlot a lesson.  Now we have decided to go to the court.  We will not let this matter alone.  We will go even to the Supreme Court,” Mayawati said. Meanwhile, BJP leader Madan Dilawar on Tuesday filed another petition before the Rajasthan High Court against the BSP MLAs merger with Congress party.  This is his third petition against the merger.  In a relief to the Gehlot government, the High Court had dismissed Dilawar’s petition on Monday.  Dilawar filed his second plea earlier today, seeking cancellation of the membership of the six BSP MLAs from the state legislative Assembly. .


156 new #COVID19 cases have been reported in Madhya Pradesh today, taking the total number of cases to 11582. Death toll rises to 495 after 9 deaths were reported today: State Health Department https://t.co/JuIy6gMuL8

Jharkhand reported one more Covid-19 fatality on Thursday, taking the coronavirus death toll in the state to 11, a government bulletin said. This is the second death in the last two days with the mortality rate of the state standing at 0. 57 per cent compared to the national rate of 3. 33 per cent, it said. Twenty-three fresh Covid-19 cases were detected during the day taking the total number of cases in the state to 1,919, the bulletin said. With 47 people recovering from the disease, the total number of cured patients now stands at 1,198. Jharkhand now has 710 active cases, it said. Of the total coronavirus positive cases, 1,588 were migrant workers, the bulletin added.


New York City's vulnerabilities in focus after becoming coronavirus pandemic's epicenter. https://t.co/T9piQRS0rO

By Dakin Andone and Christina Maxouris, CNNUpdated 10:57 PM ET, Sat March 28, 2020  (CNN)New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have been placed under a 14-day travel advisory in the latest effort by United States officials to slow down the rapid spread of the deadly coronavirus.  CNN's Jacqueline Howard, Matthew Hoye, Cheri Mossburg and Hollie Silverman contributed to this report.


Foreign envoys who are on a visit to Jammu and Kashmir meet the civil administration in Jammu https://t.co/uauzDekA2o

A group of 23 foreign envoys and senior diplomats will arrive in Jammu on Thursday morning. Thursday is the second day of the foreign envoys’ visit to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).  Soon after arriving in Jammu, the envoys will meet with the chief justice of J&K high court. Later they will meet with J&K’s lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha at Raj Bhavan.  He is likely to brief the envoys about the development projects in J&K and the situation in the Union territory. The envoys will be meeting several delegations comprising civil society members, District Development Council (DDC) members and political leaders at a hotel in Jammu.  The delegation will leave for New Delhi in the evening. The group includes European Union (EU) ambassador Ugo Astuto, and envoys from Brazil, Cuba, Estonia, Finland, Tajikistan, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, EU, Bangladesh, Malawi, Eritria, Cote d’Ivore, Ghana, Senegal, Swedan, Italy, Malaysia, Bolivia, Belgium and Kyrgyzstan. Also Read | ‘Impressive’: Foreign envoys after visiting Jammu and KashmirIn Srinagar, the envoys had an hour-long meeting with DDC and panchayat members on Wednesday. The diplomats also met different groups at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) on the banks of the Dal Lake, including some writers, artisans, businessmen and people running NGOs.  The group also visited the Hazratbal shrine and meet a small group of local journalists in the evening to receive first-hand information about the situation in J&K.  They also meet mayor Junaid Mattu and DDC members in Srinagar—mostly from Apni Party and independent candidates. This is the third batch of diplomats to visit Jammu and Kashmir since the government scrapped the region’s special status in August 2019 and split it into two union territories in an effort to improve governance, boost development and tackle cross-border terrorism. The first two groups visited Jammu and Kashmir in January and February 2020, and plans to send a batch of envoys from EU states last year were put on hold because of the Covid-19 pandemic.


With 68,898 Covid-19 cases, India’s tally surges past 2.9 million; recovery rate over 74%

https://t.co/nBs1FUxH7B https://t.co/7R4bYycPbT

India recorded 68,898 cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) disease and 983 deaths in a single day, taking the country’s tally past 2. 9 million, Union health ministry data showed on Friday. This is the third day in a row that the daily Covid-19 cases in the country have been more than 64,000--it was 64,531 on Wednesday and a record 69,652 on Thursday.  The number of active cases stands at 692,028 across the country and the death toll at 54,899, the health ministry’s dashboard showed at 8am. With 62,282 recoveries in the last 24 hours, India’s recovery rate amongst Covid-19 patients has reached 74. 29%.  India now has 2,158,946 coronavirus disease patients who have recovered.  The gap between active and recovered has gone up further at 1,466,918. “Early identification through TESTING, surveillance & contact TRACING along with focus on timely and appropriate clinical TREATMENT of COVID19 patients have ensured that not only is the Case Fatality Rate is lower than the global average and progressively declining ( current figure is 1. 89%), but also a small proportion of the active cases are on ventilator support,” the health ministry said on Thursday. India performed 9 lakh tests in close to 15,00 labs spread across India for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) for the second consecutive day on Thursday, taking the total number of tests in the country to 3,66,71,613 so far, which experts say is important to know the exact disease burden. “Recovery of 20,96,664 patients has been made possible because of effective implementation of the policy of testing aggressively, tracking comprehensively and treating efficiently.  Focus on Standard of Care protocol including use of non-invasive oxygen, better skilled doctors in the intensive care units (ICUs) and hospitals, and improved ambulance services have culminated in yielding the desired results,” said the Union health ministry in a statement. Uttar Pradesh performed the maximum number of tests at 109,516 on Thursday.  The close second was Bihar with 107,945 tests, followed by Maharashtra that performed 76,591 tests.  Meghalaya had zero tests performed on Thursday, followed by Andaman and Nicobar Islands with 366, and Sikkim with 387 tests in a day. India is the third-worst country hit by the coronavirus pandemic as 22,609,467 people have been infected by Sars-Cov-2, which causes the coronavirus disease, and 792,708 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University’s tracker.  The United States has recorded 5,573,743 cases and Brazil 3,501,975.


Tamil Nadu: BJP national president JP Nadda holds a core committee meeting with leaders of the party, in Madurai. https://t.co/YtxgYTPKdP

The Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday urged the Election Commission to restrain Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from campaigning in Tamil Nadu for the April 6 Assembly election, for allegedly violating the model code of conduct.  It also wanted the EC to direct the police to register an FIR against him for "inciting the youth to another freedom struggle. "BJP state in-charge, election liaison committee, V Balachandran, alleged that Gandhi's campaign in St. Joseph's Matric Higher Secondary School in Mulagumoodu in Kanyakumari district on March 1 was akin to an election campaign in school premises. In a memorandum submitted to chief electoral officer (CEO) Satyabrata Sahoo on Thursday he said Gandhi's political campaign in the educational institution violated provisions of the model code of conduct for which strict action including "prohibitory orders for his poll campaign in Tamil Nadu is required. " Further, the Congress leader committed offences under sections 109 (punishment for abetment) and 124 A (sedition) of the IPC for his remarks that India now needs another freedom struggle, it said. Quoting Rahul Gandhi during his interaction with students, the memorandum said, "the Congress leaders comparison of the current situation with that of pre-Independence during the British rule and inciting the youth for another freedom struggle has been made with the intent to cause hatred, contempt and excite disaffection towards the government established by laws. "While answering a question, Gandhi had replied, "there is lot of anger being spread in the country, lot of fear, and that is what we have to fight. We have to fight the division, anger, fear and once again make India happy, comfortable, fearless and united," it said. His statement violates sections 124 A of the IPC, Balachandran claimed.


An edited clip of AIUDF Chief Badruddin Ajmal is being shared to falsely claim that he said if the Congress-AIUDF alliance is voted to power in Assam, India will become an “Islamic country”.  AIUDF has formed a grand alliance with Congress and six other parties ahead of the polls.  CLAIM The 36-second-long video was shared by ABP News journalist Astha Kaushik with the claim: “All India United democratic front party के बदरूद्दीन अजमल कह रहे हैं कि भारत जल्द ही इस्लामिक स्टेट बनेगा!  क्या अब कांग्रेस पार्टी इसपर अपनी राय ज़ाहिर करेगी?  क्योंकि इसी AIUDF के साथ असम में कांग्रेस गठबंधन है!  (sic)” (Translation: Badruddin Ajmal of All India United democratic front party is saying that India will soon become an Islamic state!  Will the Congress party now express its opinion on this?  Because Congress is in alliance with the AIUDF in Assam. ) The tweet was viewed over 15,000 times, but was later taken down.  Columnist Ratan Sharda, too, tweeted the video claiming that the AIUDF leader said, “Mughals have ruled India for eight hundred years.  One day this country will become an Islamic nation. ” He later deleted the tweet.  Actor Paresh Rawal quote-tweeted Ratan Sharda’s tweet, saying, “As expected no outrage from liberals! ” The Twitter handle of Asianetnews Hindi also shared the video, making a similar claim.  The clip was shared by Karnataka MP and BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje, stating that the “sinister plan of making Assam a Sharia state is out!  (sic)” Several Twitter and Facebook users have shared the 36-second-long video with similar claims.  The Quint received multiple queries on the claim being made in the video on its WhatsApp tipline as well.  WHAT DOES BADRUDDIN AJMAL SAY IN THE VIRAL CLIP?  In the video, he can be heard saying, “Mughals have ruled over India for 800 years.  This country will become an Islamic nation.  Who will form the government?  Our UPA-mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) will form the government over there, Insha Allah.  And in that government, your party (UDF), Lock and Key (the party symbol) will be a coalition partner, Insha Allah.  In India, there would have been no Hindus, everyone would become Muslim. ” WHAT WE FOUND OUT We searched on YouTube with the keywords ‘AIUDF Badruddin’ and came across a 2019 video uploaded with the caption: ‘Maulana Badruddin Ajmal speech at Barpeta [sic. ]. ’ In the 21-minute-long video, at 04:30 minutes, while addressing the public, he said, “I wanted to say a lot but we don't have a lot of time.  This election is not a child’s play for us.  This is not a panchayat election or an MLA election.  This election is to decide who will sit on Delhi’s throne as the prime minister.  Do you want to see Modi as PM? ” At 05:49 minutes, he can be heard making a remark about the Mughals.  At 06:22 minutes, he spoke about the British and said that they ruled the country for 200 years.  “They didn't dare to make India a Christian nation.  Then after India gained Independence, the Congress ruled over the country for 55 of the 70 years, from Nehru (Jawaharlal Nehru), Shastri (Lal Bahadur Shastri), Rajiv Gandhi to Singh (Manmohan Singh) to Narasimha Rao.  No Congress leader dreamt of making India a Hindu Rashtra,” he added.  He then went on to say, “But Modi ji, doesn’t have this dream.  Your dream will become a lie.  Now you have to vote for lock and key and not for Modi, BJP, RSS and Himanta.  Then, we can make sure the government that will be formed after Ramzan will not have Modi as the PM. ” “We (UPA mahagathbandhan) will form the government and in that government, your party AIUDF will a coalition partner. . .  We thought our fight was with the BJP or with Kumar Dipak Das.  Now Himanta is paying money to Khaliq saab.  Khaliq saab goes to Himanta Biswa Sarma's house for 2-2. 5 hours everyday.  He can't digest food without meeting Sarma,” he can be heard as saying.  At 07:57 minutes, he said, “Who will form the government?  Our UPA-mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) will form the government over there, Insha Allah.  And in that government, your party (UDF), Lock and Key (the party symbol) will be a coalition partner, Insha Allah. ” The circulated video has been heavily edited to reflect that Ajmal made such a statement.  AIUDF ISSUES CLARIFICATION The official Twitter handle of AIDUF also tweeted a chunk from the longer video stating, “Here’s the original video from where parts are clipped to make the doctored one (sic). ” “This is 100 percent fake.  Parts from different speeches have been merged to make this and project that if Congress-AIUDF alliance comes to power, it will make Assam an Islamic state,” news agency ANI quoted Badruddin Ajmal as saying.  Evidently, an edited video of AIUDF Chief Badruddin Ajmal was shared by many social media users with the false claim that if the party and its alliance comes to power, India will become an Islamic nation.  (Editor’s Note: The story has been updated to include tweets by Asianetnews Hindi, actor Paresh Rawal and BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje carrying the edited video)


Sensex 301 points up, currently at 49,460; Nifty at 14,739 https://t.co/gPEKqzafL1

The Sensex ended at 49,201. 39, up 42. 07 points, while the Nifty was 14,683. 50, up 45. 70 points.


A grotesque picture of blood smeared faces of a father and daughter allegedly depict them playing holy with cow blood

A grotesque image of a man and a little girl smiling as their faces are smeared in blood is going viral on Facebook in India.  The picture is accompanied with provocative text that claims the man played 'Holi' with the blood of a cow on 'Bakrid' and is making India "secular".    The image with posted by a Facebook user Prabhas Arya has been shared over 500 times.  Many others have commented expressing shock at the insensitive language and image posted by ‘Muhammad Firoz Khan’.  A random check of the old posts by Prabhas Arya (Click Here) shows there is a clear pattern of anti-Muslim messages, videos, pictures and articles.    When we searched for Muhammad Firoz Khan on Facebook, we found several pages but were not able to locate any user connected to the image.    The existence of this post was brought to BOOM’s notice by one of our readers who felt that the image may have been doctored.  We reverse searched the image on Google and found that the man in the image is not an Indian but a school teacher based out of Egypt.      A page dedicated to Mohamed El Askary is also available on Facebook where he has been described as a teacher/lecturer.        BOOM looked for more news articles from Egypt and using Google Translate, the following details emerged.  Mohamed El Askary, a resident of Cairo had published this image with his daughter (as per some news articles) in September 2016, following the slaughter of the Eid lamb.  His post attracted widespread anger and condemnation, prompting him to delete the picture, according to news reports.   Askary, a history teacher and also principal of a local school in Cairo was called a 'Vampire' for posting this objectionable and insensitive image with a minor.    Al Arabiya quotes one of Askary’s students who defended his action and said that the teacher is known to publish strange pictures of the feast.    We also found this article by an Egyptian blogger Dina Hashish, where the author argues why young children should not witness animal sacrifices.  Askary’s image with his daughter found mention in the article as the author forcefully makes her point against the practice.    BOOM has not been able to confirm whether Prabhas Arya tampered with the original image but it is clear that the image was doctored to add the provocative text.  Askary’s name was changed to Muhammad Firoz Khan to give it an Indian connection, a deliberate act given the current heated debate about cow slaughter ban and the several incidents of violence against Muslims.


Video of the recent Ethiopian Airlines crash

A six-year-old video of a cargo plane crash is being shared on social media with a false claim that shows the recent Ethiopian Airlines that crashed on Sunday.  BOOM found that the viral video is from 2013 and shows a Dubai bound cargo plane crashing in Afghanistan and not the Ethiopian passenger plane that crashed, killing all 157 members people on board.  The Facebook post at the time of writing the story had nearly 43,000 views and received more than 1,500 times.   BOOM even received the same video on our helpline number ( 7700906111) with text saying, 'Ethiopian Airlines'.  BOOM reversed image searched key frames from the video, obtained by by running the video on the digital verification tool InVID.  An article published on May 1, 2013 in Digital Journal matched one of the photos and reported that it was images from a Boeing 747 crash at Bagram Airfield military base in Afghanistan.  BOOM searched for information on the crash and found many media reports about the same.  A report by Associated Press from May 1, 2013 mentioned, 'a military vehicle aboard an already overloaded plane in Afghanistan broke free and struck critical operating systems, probably leading to the 2013 crash that killed all seven crew members. ' CNN had also uploaded a video on their YouTube page and explained that the plane crash was possibly recorded by a vehicle's dashboard camera.  On March 10, 2019, a passenger aircraft of Ethiopian Airline heading to Nairobi crashed within minutes after its take off from Addis Ababa.  The plane crash left 157 people dead including crew members.  The false claim was previously debunked by Snopes and AFP Factcheck.