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 The Wire, Tarushi Aswani, October 30, 2020 New Delhi:  More than seven months after the communal riots that shocked northeast Delhi with instances of looting, vandalism and targeted killings of Muslims and their properties, survivors still report harassment and humiliation within their immediate neighbourhoods. A month ago, 14-year-old Fiza’s family sold their house in Shiv Vihar so they could move to a safer location. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, they not only moved out but also accepted the abysmal amount they received when they put their property on the market. In ordinary times, the house, which they had bought in 2010, would have sold for Rs 20 lakh. However, with the property market down due to the pandemic, they could sell it for just Rs 12 lakh. The loss of Rs 8 lakh was worth it, they said, since they continued to feel unsafe in their Shiv Vihar neighbourhood long after the overt violence ended. “Hindus in our lane had been making daily life difficult for us since ...

  The Wire Dated: September 08, 2020 By: The MHA suspended FCRA licenses of Ecreosoculis North Western Gossner Evangelical in Jharkhand, the ECA in Manipur, Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jharkhand and NLFA in Mumbai New Delhi:  The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) this year has suspended the licenses of six non-governmental organisations (NGOs) under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010, of which four are Christian associations, according to a report in  The Hindu . An FCRA licence is mandatory for a non-profit organisation to receive foreign funds. The four Christian groups whose FCRA was suspended are Ecreosoculis North Western Gossner Evangelical in Jharkhand, the Evangelical Churches Association (ECA) in Manipur, Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jharkhand and New Life Fellowship Association (NLFA) in Mumbai. The reasons for the suspension or violation were not specified, the  report  said. At least two US-based Christian dono...

The New Indian Express August 22, 2020 The Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC), which is the state’s apex church organisation, is wary of a Chinese cult called 'Church of Almighty God' that is suspected to have spread its tentacles into the Christian-majority state. In a statement addressed to fellow church workers, NBCC general secretary reverend Dr Zelhou Keyho cautioned: “I am writing this with a grave concern concerning a cult, called the Church of Almighty God from China, reportedly making inroads into our land. The Church of Almighty God or Eastern Lightning cult is a well-organized group, aggressively moving forward with publication and creating many Facebook pages and colourful artwork that appears biblical and enticing”. Keyho said the cult teaches that Jesus has returned to earth as a woman, named Yang Xiangbin, also called Lightning Deng, and the New Testament has been replaced by their new bible called "The Word Appears in the Flesh". ...

The New Indian Express  August 07, 2020 KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia was looking for a country except India to send Zakir Naik, but not many countries are willing to accept the controversial preacher, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has said. Naik, a 54-year-old radical Islamic preacher wanted by the Indian authorities for alleged money laundering and inciting extremism through hate speeches, left India in 2016 and subsequently moved to the largely Muslim Malaysia, where he was granted permanent residency when Mahathir was the prime minister. Claiming that the fugitive Islamic preacher "would not be safe from the Indian public", the 95-year-old politician, who is eyeing a comeback, said he would like to send Naik to some country "where we feel he will be safe." "For the time being he (Naik) can stay here but we would like to send him to some other country where he would be safe. Unfortunately, not many countries are willing to accept him," Mahathir was qu...

The Indian Express July 29, 2020      POINTING OUT that OIL “does not have, till date, the required consent to establish and/or consent to operate to either carry out drilling and testing of hydrocarbons in Well Baghjan-5,” a panel of experts set up by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has flagged a series of violations in the company’s Baghjan project in Assam’s Tinsukia where a gas well erupted on May 27. In a preliminary report, the panel has recommended “scrutiny of all existing projects of OIL in Assam” in view of “serious and grave infraction against the statutory environmental safeguards”. The report blamed “deficiency in understanding” and “proper planning of critical operations” for the blowout. “There was a clear mismatch between planning and its execution at site and deviations from the standard operating procedure. There were serious deficiencies, of proper levels of supervision of critical operation at the well site, both from the contractor as well ...

India Today July 03, 2020 The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) have come together to step up efforts for a possible vaccine for the novel coronavirus. Bharat Biotech and ICMR could now launch the indigenous vaccine Covaxin by August 15 for the public. ICMR expects to launch the Covid vaccine by August 15 after completion of clinical trials. To step up these efforts, ICMR has written to all stockholders to treat it as top priority. ICMR has developed the indigenous Covid-19 vaccine (BBV152 COVID vaccine) partnered with BBIL. The ICMR has selected 12 institutes for clinical trial of the country's first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine, an official had said on Thursday. In a letter to the selected institute where the clinical trial is to be done, the ICMR also informed that it is envisaged to launch the vaccine for public health use latest by August 15, 2020 after completion of all clinical trials, news agency...

LiveMint July 02, 2020 Within the broader manufacturing space, speciality chemicals is one of the few bright spots, which has witnessed strong growth both in the domestic market, as well as on the export side Topics chemicals Mumbai: India's speciality chemicals companies are catching the fancy of private equity investors amid robust growth in the industry over the last few years and as the country's chemicals businesses find favour with global firms looking to de-risk their supply chains from China. In the past 10 days, two private equity investors have struck deals in the speciality chemicals space, highlighting this interest. On Tuesday, Baroda-based specialty aroma chemicals company Best Value Chem (BVC) said Premji Invest, the investment arm of billionaire Azim Premji, will acquire a controlling stake in the company. While last week, Convergent Finance, an investment advisor to Infinity Investment Management, said that it is picking up a minority st...

The Hindu June 25, 2020 In its first global report on the illegal wildlife trade, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has described it as a “global threat”, which also has links with other organised crimes like modern slavery, drug trafficking and arms trade. The illegal trade is estimated to generate revenues of up to $23 billion a year. The report says financial probe is key to dismantling the syndicates involved, which can in turn significantly impact the associated criminal activities. ‘Easy to blame China; but India’s wildlife trade is thriving too’ Findings of the study, which expressed concern over the lack of focus on the financial aspects of the crime, are based on inputs from about 50 jurisdictions across the FATF global network, as well as expertise from the private sector and civil society. Complex fraud and tax evasion The “Money Laundering and the Illegal Wildlife Trade” report said “criminals are frequently misusing the legitimate wildlif...

FirstPost June 27, 2020  The deaths of P Jayaraj and his son Fenix, allegedly in police custody in Madras's Tuticorin, have caused massive outrage across the country. Jayaraj and Fenix died at a Kovilpatti hospital on 23 June after being arrested for allegedly extending business hours of their cellphone shop in violation of lockdown norms. Their relatives have accused police of severely thrashing the father and son at Sathankulam Police Station. It is a tragedy that this occurred, allegedly at the hands of those meant to uphold law and order. While it is important to note that an official report affixing responsibility is yet to be released, this is hardly an isolated instance of police brutality. Indeed, the history of policing in India is closely intertwined with oppressive colonialism. The first formal system of policing was established in the mid 19th Century via the Indian Councils Act of 1861. The establishment of such a control structure was ...

Dailyhunt March 10, 2020 The CBI has filed a charge sheet against aviation consultant Deepak Talwar for allegedly diverting Rs 90.72 crore received by his NGO Advantage India from a European defence manufacturer in violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), officials said on Monday. Talwar is already in prison in cases relating to alleged corruption in lobbying for aviation deals, they said. The charge sheet was filed after nearly two years of investigation in which the agency has named Talwar, Advantage India, some officials of the NGO among others, they said. The agency had taken over this case in November 2017 on a reference from the Home Ministry by registering an FIR against Talwar, Advantage India, According Health Care Pvt. Ltd. among others under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy, forgery and provisions of FCRA act 2010. In its FIR, the agency had alleged that Talwar and his NGO received funds from a Europe-based defence man...

Hindustan Times February 28, 2020 Chhattisgarh mining projects violating forest act: Activists Mining projects in Chhattisgarh’s Hasdeo Arand forests are bypassing gram sabha consent for forest diversion in blatant violation of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and the Forest Rights Act, 2006, some sarpanches and environmental activists have alleged. The latest among several such attempts is a notice sent to four gram panchayats seeking their “no-objection certificate” (NOC) for forest diversion of about 2012.88 hectares (ha). The Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and the Forest Rights Act, 2006 make gram sabha, or an assembly of all village adults, consent mandatory for diversion of forests under their jurisdiction.  The forest conservation rules specify that the district collector completes the process of recognising forest rights of people who live in the project area.  The collector is also mandated to obtain the consent of each gram sabha having jur...

The Washington Post February 24, 2020   The anti-Greta: A conservative think tank takes on the global phenomenon For climate skeptics, it’s hard to compete with the youthful appeal of global phenomenon Greta Thunberg. But one U.S. think tank hopes it’s found an answer: the anti-Greta. Naomi Seibt is a 19-year-old German who, like Greta, is blond, eloquent and European. But Naomi denounces “climate alarmism,” calls climate consciousness “a despicably anti-human ideology,” and has even deployed Greta’s now famous “How dare you?” line to take on the mainstream German media. “She’s a fantastic voice for free markets and for climate realism,” said James Taylor, director of the Arthur B. Robinson Center for Climate and Environmental Policy at the Heartland Institute, an influential libertarian think tank in suburban Chicago that has the ear of the Trump administration. In December, Heartland headlined Naomi at its forum at the UN climate conference in Madrid, where...