Tag: India

  • Kevin Pietersen mocks Team India after Chennai loss against England

    Former England player Kevin Pietersen on Tuesday mocked Team India after their humiliating defeat in Chennai against England, reminding them of the warning he had issued to Virat Kohli’s men pertaining to their Test series against Joe Root-led side after their glorious win at Gabba last month.

    “India, yaad hai maine pehele hi chetawani di thi ke itna jasn na manaye jab aapne Australia ko unke ghar pe haraya tha (India, remember I warned you earlier not to celebrate too much when you defeated Australia at their home),” he tweeted after India suffered their second defeat at home under the captaincy of Kohli, losing to England by 227 runs in the Test series opener. 

    https://twitter.com/KP24/status/1359059768082579456?s=19

    Earlier, after the series win in Gabba last month, while most took to social media to congratulate India for their impressive win, Pietersen had tweeted: “India – yeh aitihaasik jeet ka jashn manaye kyuki yeh sabhi baadhao ke khilaap hasil hui hai. Lekin, asli team toh kuch hafto baad aa rahi hai jisse aapko harana hoga apne ghar mein. Satark rahe , 2 saptaah mein bahut adhik jashn manaane se saavadhaan rahen (India – Celebrate this historic victory, as you achieved it against many hurdles. But, the real team is coming after two weeks, that you have defeated in your home. Be cautious, beware of celebrating too much in 2 weeks).”

    https://twitter.com/KP24/status/1351501549013504001?s=19

    India was set a target of 420 in the final innings in Chennai but lost Rohit Sharma early in the chase. The reverse swing of James Anderson, ably assisted by left-arm spinner Jack Leach combined to take seven wickets between themselves helped England fold India for just 192 runs. 

    The win helped England take a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series while denting India’s hope of reaching the World Test Championship final. 

  • VIDEO: Couple dive 60 feet underwater to tie the knot

    VIDEO: Couple dive 60 feet underwater to tie the knot

    A couple tied the knot 60 feet underwater off the coast of Neelankarai in India on Monday. This is reportedly India’s first underwater traditional marriage.

    “We dived in at an auspicious time and exchanged our garlands along with tying the mangal sutra,” said the couple.

    The couple was wearing traditional dresses. The bride wore a sari while the groom wore a Veshti (dhoti). They performed the marriage rites underwater.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vGSuIBQ0WQ&feature=emb_title

    Both the groom, Chinnadurai, and bride Swetha are software engineers. Chinnadurai is a licensed scuba diver while Swetha has also been learning to dive since last month.

  • Asim Azhar’s ‘Ghalat Fehmi’ trends in India

    Asim Azhar’s Ghalat Fehmi from the film Superstar, is trending in India a year after it’s release.

    Read more – Indians lose it after an old picture of Rihanna with Zulfi Bukhari surfaces

    Sharing the lyrics of his song on Twitter, Asim wrote: “Ghalat Fehmi trending in India after a year of it’s release.”

    “Art surely has no boundaries and that’s beautiful,” added the singer.

    He later also shared that the song is trending at number two on Spotify India.

    A romantic number, Ghalat Fehmi featured in Mahira Khan and Bilal Ashraf’s Superstar, which released in August 2020. The film was directed by Mohammed Ehteshamuddin and released by Hum Films.

    Read more – Asim Azhar asks PCB to stop ignoring him

    Meanwhile, the singer has also announced that he will releasing new music soon.

  • VIDEO: Indian official drinks hand sanitizer instead of water

    VIDEO: Indian official drinks hand sanitizer instead of water

    An Indian official accidentally drank hand sanitizer mistaking it for a bottle of water at a public meeting.

    According to details, Ramesh Pawar was at a budget committee hearing in Mumbai on Wednesday when he sat down and took a sip from a bottle placed at the table.

    He took a sip but a person around him hurried to warn him that it was hand sanitiser. The official instantly noticed his mistake and spat out the sanitiser while others at the meeting rushed to help him and gave him a bottle of water.

    In another such incident, at least 12 children were hospitalized after they were given hand sanitiser drops instead of oral polio vaccine drops in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

  • Kangana defines ‘porn singer’ for Ali Gul Pir

    Ever since Rihanna extended her support for the farmers’ protest in India, Kangana Ranaut is having a meltdown and has been brutally attacking the singer on social media.

    During the Twitter tirade, Kangana referred to Rihanna as a “porn singer”. The actor also accused the singer’s friend and Canadian politician Jagmeet Singh of being a “terrorist”.

    “There is a Khalistan in his head also,” said Kangana about Jagmeet. “A porn star followed him and that’s his biggest achievement.”

    Responding to Kangana’s tweet, Pakistani comedian Ali Gul Pir asked her to define “porn singer” for him.

    “Porn singer? Is that a singer who makes music for porn films only?” asked Pir.

    “They will refuse to sing for normal films? Please explain further. I didn’t know such a niche existed, just curious,” he added.

    Replying to Pir’s tweet, Kangana explained the meaning of “porn singer” saying: “Someone who can’t sell music without making it sensual/adult. Unlike classical and genuine singers where the body is of no consequence.”

    “A porn singer is hugely dependent on his/her flesh show off, private parts exposure, and mediocre talent. This makes them absolutely massy, and junk,” added Kangana.

    https://twitter.com/KanganaTeam/status/1356891798011052032

    “Like someone who doesn’t have talent, hasn’t done much work and relies on controversy and putting people down to stay in the news,” said Ali after Kangana explained the meaning to him.

    “Thanks for clearing it out for me,” he added.

    To further prove her point, Kangana tweeted pictures of herself and Rihanna side by side.

    What do the protesters want?

    According to details, farmers hailing from northern Punjab and Haryana states, the two biggest agricultural producers, are demanding the repeal of laws passed by the parliament in September that they say will favour large corporate farms, devastate the earnings of many farmers and leave those who hold small plots behind as big corporations win out.

    On the other hand, Modi has billed the laws as necessary to modernise Indian farming.

    At the heart of these protests are Indian farmers’ fears that the government’s moves to introduce market reforms to the farming sector will leave them poorer — at a time when they are already frustrated over their declining clout as the government aims to turn India into a hub for global corporations.

  • India slams Rihanna, Greta Thunberg, Mia Khalifa for supporting farmers protest

    Rihanna on Tuesday created a flutter in India by wading into months-long farmer protests against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agricultural reforms. Tens of thousands of young and old farmers have blocked roads leading into New Delhi for more than two months, sheltering in tractors from the cold.

    A tractor rally by farmers last week in New Delhi turned violent. Police responded by shutting down the internet, digging ditches, driving nails into roads and topping barricades with razor wire to prevent farmers from entering the capital again.

    “Why aren’t we talking about this?!” Rihanna said in a Twitter post, sharing a CNN article on the demonstrations with her 100.9 million followers on the platform, using the hashtag #FarmersProtest.

    The same article was shared by teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, who also expressed solidarity with the farmers.

    US Vice President Kamala Harris’ niece Meena Harris also extended her support to the protest, writing: “We ALL should be outraged by India’s internet shutdowns and paramilitary violence against farmer protesters.”

    https://twitter.com/meenaharris/status/1356747965713371138?s=20

    Similarly, Mia Khalifa and John Cusack also extended their support to the protesting farmers.

    The international celebrity tweets triggered an online storm in India, where the farmers’ protests have become one of the biggest challenges to Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he took power in 2014. Modi has asserted the laws are necessary to modernise India’s agriculture sector, but farmers fear they would be placed at the mercy of big corporations.

    India’s government has bristled at international remarks on the protests, calling them an “internal matter”.

    In an official statement, the foreign ministry said that the celebrities needed “a proper understanding of the issues”.

    “The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible,” read the statement, with the hashtags #IndiaTogether and #IndiaAgainstPropaganda.

    “We would like to emphasise that these protests must be seen in the context of India’s democratic ethos and polity, and the efforts of the Government and the concerned farmer groups to resolve the impasse,” it added.

    Meanwhile, Kangana Ranaut, a vocal Modi supporter, responded to Rihanna by calling the protesting farmers “terrorists” and Rihanna a “fool” and an “American porn stars”. She also called Thunberg a “dumb and spoilt brat.”

    Similarly, Akshay Kumar offered traction to MEA’s statement by sharing it and writing: “Let’s support an amicable resolution, rather than paying attention to anyone creating differences.”

    India — the world’s biggest democracy — regularly uses internet shutdowns to limit information sharing during disturbances.

  • All you need to know about Indian farmers’ protests as world shames Modi govt

    With international celebrities, including Rihanna and Greta Thunberg, voicing concerns over the law and order situation in India as farmers continue to give the Narendra Modi-government a tough time while seeking fulfillment of their demands, ‘#FarmersProtest’ has become the top trend on Twitter even beyond Indian borders — in Pakistan.

    But what do the protesters, who have now been on roads for two months, really want?

    The ongoing demonstrations caught most attention when Indian law enforcement resorted to violence against the farmers who had converged on New Delhi on the country’s Republic Day.

    According to Associated Press (AP), farmers hailing from northern Punjab and Haryana states, the two biggest agricultural producers, are demanding the repeal of laws passed by the parliament in September that they say will favor large corporate farms, devastate the earnings of many farmers and leave those who hold small plots behind as big corporations win out.

    Modi has billed the laws as necessary to modernise Indian farming.

    In recent weeks, people who are not farmers have also joined in, and the protests gained momentum in November when the farmers tried to march into New Delhi but were stopped by police. Since then, they have promised to hunker down at the edge of the city until the laws are repealed.

    At the heart of these protests are Indian farmers’ fears that the government’s moves to introduce market reforms to the farming sector will leave them poorer — at a time when they are already frustrated over their declining clout as the government aims to turn India into a hub for global corporations.

    The new legislation is not clear on whether the government will continue to guarantee prices for certain essential crops — a system that was introduced in the 1960s to help India shore up its food reserves and prevent shortages.

    While the government has said it is willing to pledge the guaranteed prices will continue, the farmers are skeptical and want new legislation that says such prices are their legal right.

    Farmers also fear that the legislation signals the government is moving away from a system in which an overwhelming majority of farmers sell only to government-sanctioned marketplaces. They worry this will leave them at the mercy of corporations that will have no legal obligation to pay them the guaranteed price anymore.

    The Modi government argues that this is designed to give farmers more choice in who to sell their produce to. It also says the legislation will benefit farmers by boosting production through private investment.

    The government has offered to amend the laws and suspend their implementation for 18 months — but that has not satisfied farmers who want a full repeal.

    Clauses in the legislation also prevent farmers from taking contract disputes to courts, leaving them with no independent means of redress apart from government-appointed bureaucrats.

    These perceived threats to their income terrify India’s farmers, who are mostly smallholders as around 70% of them own less than 1 hectare of land.

  • Kangana Ranaut has a meltdown after Rihanna tweets about Indian farmers

    Just as expected, Kangana Ranaut had a meltdown after Rihanna extended her support for the ongoing farmers’ protest in India. Sharing an article which reported on the internet shut down in several districts of Haryana amid violent clashes between police and farmers over the weekend, the multi-Grammy award-winning singer said: “Why aren’t we talking about this?”

    Soon after Rihanna’s tweet, Kangana, who has been actively slamming those participating in the protests, reacted to the singer’s tweet calling her a “fool” and referring to the farmers as “terrorists”.

    “No one is talking about it because they are not farmers they are terrorists who are trying to divide India so that China can take over our vulnerable broken nation and make it a Chinese colony much like the USA,” wrote an agitated Kangana.

    “Sit down you fool, we are not selling our nation like you dummies,” she added.

    https://twitter.com/KanganaTeam/status/1356640083546406913

    When Twitter user brought up an old tweet of Kangana’s in which she had said: “Alexa play Diamonds by Rihanna”, the actor lashed out saying: “I took over my account in August last year. Before that, it was a team fan page.”

    Mujhe na pop music samajh aata hai, na hee main English gaane zyaada sunti hoon,” she added.

    Kangana then launched into a full blown attack against Rihanna, calling her a porn star and saying that there is nothing special about her.

    Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has appreciated Rihanna’s gesture of support for the farmers.

    “You have earned the respect of every farmer of the world and particularly of Punjabis all around the world,” said Chaudhry in a tweet. “You have shown your heart is in the right place.”

    “Loads of respect,” he added.

    Farmer’s Protest

    Thousands of farmers have gathered at Delhi’s gateways to demand a repeal of the Centre’s three new farm laws. The protesting farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana as well as Uttar Pradesh, are worried the new laws will eliminate the safety cushion of a Minimum Support Price and procurement system while rendering ineffective the mandi system that ensures earnings for various stakeholders in the farm sector.

  • Serial killer kills two more women after release on bail

    Serial killer kills two more women after release on bail

    Indian police have arrested a serial killer who allegedly murdered two more women after the court released him on bail.

    Hyderabad city police commissioner Anjani Kumar told the media that Maina Ramulu was involved in the murder of 18 women over the last 24 years and was arrested and convicted earlier in 16 cases of murder.

    Police said Ramulu became a psychopath at the age of 21 and started targetting married women after his wife eloped with her boyfriend.

    Hyderabad Police Task Force arrested 45-year-old Ramulu in the city in connection with the murder of two women in Ghatkesar and Siddipet towns in December 2020. According to police, Ramulu used to approach women in their 30s and intoxicate them by offering liquor and took them to isolated areas apparently to have sex.

    In many cases after killing women with stones or strangulating them, he would burn their faces by pouring alcohol to make identification difficult. He continued to commit the crimes even after serving an eight-year term in jail and coming out on bail.

    In the latest incident, he picked up one Venkatamma from a liquor vend in Yusufguda area of Hyderabad on December 30 and killed her at an isolated spot in Ghatkesar. The other victim, an unidentified woman in her 30s, was picked up from a vend to death at a village.

    After his first arrest in 2009, a local court sentenced Ramulu to life imprisonment on February 2011.

    During his sentence he was admitted to mental hospital for treatment. While he was in hospital he escaped with five other inmates on December 30, 2011.

    During the next two years, he committed five more murders on the borders of the city and was re-arrested by the police in May 2013. Later, he approached a high court for release and committed two more murders while on bail.

    “I suffered a lot because of what my wife did to me. I killed these women to see that others don’t suffer like me,” Maina Ramulu had told the police after his arrest.

  • Ex-ISI chief was working for India’s RAW?

    Ex-ISI chief was working for India’s RAW?

    The Ministry of Defence has opposed a request seeking removal of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general (DG) Lt Gen (r) Asad Durrani’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL), saying he had been “interacting with hostile elements” including Indian intelligence agency RAW since 2008 and was likely to be involved in future publications against the interest of Pakistan, Dawn reported.

    The spymaster had landed in trouble after co-authoring a book, “The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace”, with Amarjit Singh Dulat, the former head of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), in 2018.

    After the book’s publication, the Military Intelligence (MI) had written to the interior ministry to put Durrani’s name on the ECL and the same was done in May 2018. The former spymaster challenged the move in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in 2019.

    In its para-wise comments submitted in response to Durrani’s petition in the IHC on Wednesday, the Defence Ministry said the ex-ISI chief’s name was placed on the no-fly list for “his involvement in anti-state activities”. It said a perusal of the book The Spy Chronicles revealed that it contained “certain contents concerning [the] national security of Pakistan, being in contravention of the provisions of the Official Secrets Acts, 1923”.

    “It is further highlighted that there are [a] number of such publications on the way, supported by hostile elements which contain content to create misperception, confusions, question marks against the top leadership circles at country level and to target the common people,” reads the ministry’s response.

    It added that Durrani had been “affiliated/interacting with hostile elements especially Indian RAW since 2008”, saying although he had submitted an affidavit “committing to refrain from such activities” to the government, the same had still not been seen “in tangible terms”.

    According to the ministry’s reply, Rule 2(c) of the Exit from Pakistan (Control) Rules, 2010, authorised the federal government to prohibit a person from exiting Pakistan for a foreign destination if the said person is involved in “‘acts of terrorism or its conspiracy’, ‘heinous crimes’ and ‘threatening national security’”.

    Moreover, it said Articles 15 and 19 of the Constitution clearly stated that the “freedom of movement and freedom of speech are subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by [the] law in the public interest and integrity, security or defence of Pakistan”.

    It said Durrani’s name could not be removed from ECL “at this stage” because inquiries being conducted against him were being finalised. It said the former ISI chief wanted to travel abroad with the intention of participating in international conferences, forums and talks which will have “serious national security implications as evident from the recently published book ‘Honour Among Spies’” — which was also authored by Durrani and published “through Indian publishers/RAW supported elements”, according to the defence ministry.

    “Moreover, the petitioner also appeared on social media on October 12 and 13, 2020, and expressed his views which of course cannot be well received by any patriotic citizen,” the ministry stated, continuing to defend the placement of Durrani’s name on ECL.

    The ex-ISI chief’s petition is expected to be taken up again by the IHC next month.