NATIONAL NEWS
Yati Narsinghanand named in Haridwar hate speech case FIR
The Uttarakhand Police on Saturday added the names of two more persons in the FIR pertaining to the religious conclave in Haridwar organised between December 17-19, where calls were made for genocide and violence against Muslims. One of the organisers of the event — Yati Narsinghanand — who faces criminal cases in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi as well, was named in the FIR on Saturday. Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati in his office in Dasna. The police also added Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code to the existing first information report (FIR). The Section prescribes a maximum of three years imprisonment for deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs. At the religious gathering, Mr. Narsinghanand had called on Hindu youth to become Prabhakaran and Bhindranwale and provoked Hindus to pick up arms against the Muslims, promising to give them ₹1 crore for it. Another speaker at the event — Sagar Sindhu Maharaj, whose name was added — had asked Hindus to have more children and spare Muslims only if they converted to Hinduism.
FCRA registration of 6,000 NGOs ceases to operate from January 1
The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) registration of nearly 6,000 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) has ceased to operate from January 1 as the Ministry of Home Affairs refused to renew their application or the NGOs did not apply for one. An MHA official said on Saturday that it declined to renew the FCRA registration of 179 NGOs, while 5,789 associations did not apply for a renewal before the December 31 deadline. The prominent names whose registration was not renewed include Oxfam India and Missionaries of Charity, a catholic religious congregation set up by Nobel laureate Mother Teresa. A video grab taken from Oxfam India website. Oxfam India that works for economic and gender justice among Adivasis, Dalits, Muslims, and women stands to lose access to over ₹62 crore in its designated bank account. The NGO that claims to have helped 10 lakh people in Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh in the past one year had also transferred over ₹4 crore to 140 small NGOs and educational institutions before September 2020. The latest amendments to the FCRA brought in September 2020 bars NGOs to transfer foreign fund to other domestic NGOs. Some of its biggest donors are Oxfam, Australia (₹3.1 crore), Oxfam, Germany (₹2.8 crore), Oxfam, Great Britain (₹7 crore) and Stichting Oxfam International, Netherlands (₹7 crore).
NIA to probe Sikhs for Justice operative’s Pakistan links
The National Investigation Agency will probe the suspected involvement of Germany-based Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) operative Jaswinder Singh Multani in the use of drones for the smuggling of arms, ammunition, explosives and drugs into the Indian territory by Pakistan-based syndicates. Based on inputs related to his alleged role in attempts to revive terrorism in Punjab, the agency has registered a case against him and his associates. Following an alert from Indian agencies, the police in Germany detained him a few days ago. Multani was released after he submitted an affidavit that he would cooperate with the authorities concerned, said an official. We have evidence indicating that Multani has been in touch with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). He also has links with smuggling syndicates in Pakistan and on the Indian side in Punjab. Through social media platforms and encrypted chat messengers, he radicalises gullible young men from Punjab and motivates them to indulge in such illegal activities, the official said.
12 killed, 15 injured in stampede at Vaishno Devi shrine in J&K
At least 12 devotees were killed and 15 others injured in a major stampede at the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Katra in Jammu’s Reasi district on Saturday. The incident took place at around 2.45 a.m., when a large number of devotees was queuing up for darshan at the sanctum sanctorum inside the cave shrine on Trikuta hills on the first day of the new year. Preliminary reports suggested that an argument broke out [between devotees] which resulted in people pushing each other, followed by a stampede, Jammu & Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh said. A sudden rush of devotees at the shrine triggered, some of the survivors said, blaming mismanagement for the tragedy. Nothing but mismanagement was the cause for this tragic accident. They were aware about the possible rush but allowed the people in unhindered, a pilgrim from Ghaziabad said while waiting outside a mortuary to identify a body. The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, however, denied the charge, saying all necessary arrangements were made in view of the expected rush.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Ahead of Geneva talks, U.S. and Russia have Ukraine crisis and NATO expansion to sort out
U.S. President Joe Biden holds virtual talks with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Washington, U.S. on December 7, 2021. With less than two weeks to go before senior U.S. and Russian officials are to meet in Geneva, the chasm is deep and the prospect of finding an exit to the crisis faces no shortage of complications. Mr. Biden on Friday told reporters that he advised Mr. Putin when they spoke by phone a day earlier that the upcoming talks could only work if the Russian leader deescalated, not escalated, the situation in the days ahead.
Hindus from India, US, UAE pray at 100-year-old Maharaja Paramhans Ji mandir in Pakistan
The programme has been organised by the Pakistani Hindu Council in collaboration with Pakistan International Airlines. The rituals will go on through the night till afternoon of Sunday, Hindu Council officials said.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin tests COVID-19 positive for COVID-19
The Defense Secretary of the United States Lloyd Austin announced on January 2, 2022, that he has contracted Coronavirus. The news came as the highly infectious Omicron variant sweeps across the country. As per the statement by Pentagon Chief, Austin’s symptoms were mild, and that he will quarantine at home for the next five days. Lloyd Austin also informed that he is fully vaccinated as well as boosted, which had rendered the infection much milder than it would otherwise have been. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that he was last in contact with President Joe Biden on December 21, 2021, more than a week before a started to experience the COVID symptoms.
Lionel Messi tests positive for Covid-19
Football star Lionel Messi has tested positive for COVID-19 along with 3 other Paris-Saint-Germaine footballers. The club announced this on January 2, 2022.The three other players who tested positive for COVID-19 include Nathan Bitumazala, Sergio Rico and Juan Bernat. All players are currently under isolation. The PSG has a match against Vannes in the French Cup round of 32 on January 4, 2022.
