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Rajnath Singh alleges Kerala’s move on probe agencies challenges federal structure of India

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Rajnath Singh

Ahead of assembly election in Kerala, Union minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday alleged that Kerala government’s decision of judicial inquiry against the Enforcement Directorate challenges the federal structure of the country. Speaking at a poll rally in Thiruvananthapuram, Singh criticised the Left-led government headed by Pinarayi Vijayan, which made the decision at a cabinet meeting on Friday.

Singh said that the Kerala cabinet has taken a decision to hold judicial inquiry against central agencies probing the gold smuggling scam. It means that Kerala government is challenging the federal structure of the Constitution.

Hitting out back at Singh, Senior CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said that the defence minister says its violative of Federal principles of the constitution but what the Central government is doing is violative of federal principles. Suggesting him to re-read Constitution, Yechury said Its a Gross violation that’s why it merits judicial examination.

The agency had derailed the investigation in the gold smuggling and dollar cases while the state crime branch has already registered a First Information Report against officials of the Enforcement Directorate.

The state government had decided to appoint Justice (Retd) KV Mohan to head the commission but the Central government is awaiting for the clearance from Election Commission as the model Code of Conduct s imposed in the state, where assembly elections are being held.

The state Crime Branch had earlier filed a case against officials of the Enforcement Directorate for allegedly forcing Swapna Suresh – prime accused in the gold smuggling case to give statements against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

The state BJP has scoffed at the government’s unprecedented step.

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Case against Flipkart, others for selling T-shirts idiolising Bishnoi, Dawood

During the online vigil, the cyber security officials found that several e-commerce platforms, including Flipkart, AliExpress, and marketplaces like TeeShopper and Etsy, had been selling T-shirts that glorify gangsters like Lawrence Bishnoi and Dawood Ibrahim.

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The Maharashtra cyber crime branch has filed a police case against Flipkart, online marketplaces and other e-commerce platforms for selling T-shirts glorifying gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, officials said on Thursday.

According to the release, the state’s cyber wing has filed a case under various Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections, including 192 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 196 (promoting enmity between different groups) and 353 (public mischief) and provisions of the Information Technology Act.

During the online vigil, the cyber security officials found that several e-commerce platforms, including Flipkart, AliExpress, and marketplaces like TeeShopper and Etsy, had been selling T-shirts that glorify gangsters like Lawrence Bishnoi and Dawood Ibrahim.

The statement said the cyber unit has filed the case not only against the platforms that hosted these listings, but also against the sellers responsible for listing these objectionable products.

An official said, “The products, which idolise criminal figures, pose a significant risk to the society by promoting a distorted image (of values) which could influence young minds negatively.”

In its release, the cyber unit said it considers this as material harmful, as it attempts to corrupt the values of the youth by using seemingly casual apparel to spread messages that glorify criminal lifestyles.

Earlier, another popular e-commerce platform Meesho faced backlash from people for selling t-shirts branded with Bishnoi.

Filmmaker and journalist Alishan Jafri, taking to X, highlighted the issue and called it an example of India’s latest online radicalisation.

“People are literally selling gangster merchandise on platforms like @Meesho_Official and Teeshopper. This is just one example of India’s latest online radicalisation,” he wrote on X.

In a series of posts, he pointed out various concerning incidence that he came accrosed. “For much of October, I was following India’s online gangster fan groups. At a time when the police and NIA are struggling to stop youths from joining gang crime, social media influencers are making quick money by promoting gang content and glorifying gangsters,” he said.

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India calls out Canada’s move to ban Australia Today for airing S Jaishankar’s press conference

The MEA said that these actions yet again highlight the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech.

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India calls out Canada’s move to ban Australia Today for airing S Jaishankar's press conference

A few hours after Australia Today aired External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s press conference in Australia, Canada banned the outlet. The External Affairs Minister gave remarks on the India-Canada diplomatic standoff. 

Reacting to this, India on Thursday said it was surprised by Canada’s move to ban the outlet and emphasized that it highlighted Ottawa’s hypocrisy towards freedom of speech. Australia Today, which is an important outlet for the Indian community in the country, had aired the joint press conference of S Jaishankar and his Australian counterpart Penny Wong in Canberra.

In a weekly media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that they understand that the social media handles, pages of this particular outlet, which is an important diaspora outlet, have been blocked and are not available for viewers in Canada. He continued that this happened just an hour or a few hours after this particular handle carried the press conference of S Jaishankar with Penny Wong. He called out the incident, mentioning that they are surprised, and the matter looks strange to them.

He further underlined that these are the actions which yet again highlight the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech. He noted that the External Affairs Minister spoke about three things: Canada making allegations and a pattern had developed without any specific evidence, surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada, which he termed as unacceptable, and  the political space which has been given in Canada to anti-India elements. 

With this one can draw conclusions, why Australia Today channel was blocked by Canada, the spokesperson said. Australia Today focuses on news and analytical pieces related to the Indian community in Australia and elsewhere across the world.

This incident follows days after devotees were attacked by pro-Khalistani at a Hindu temple in Canada’s Brampton, with S Jaishankar calling it deeply concerning. Furthermore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also condemned the attack and said that there were cowardly attempts to intimidate Indian diplomats.

The diplomatic standoff between India and Canada began in September last year when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian government agents might have been involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a claim outrightly rejected by New Delhi.

Later in October 2024, ties between both the countries nosedived when Canada termed the Indian High Commissioner a person of interest in its investigation into Nijjar’s murder. Issuing a strongly worded statement, India dismissed the fresh charge and recalled the envoy and some diplomats, while expelling six Canadian officials, including Canada’s acting High Commissioner.

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Wikimedia Foundation says no notice from Indian government received

The government also questioned why Wikipedia should not be classified as a publisher, rather than an intermediary.

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The Wikimedia Foundation said on Thursday that it has not received any official notice from the Indian government pertaining to its content.

The statement from the Wikimedia Foundation comes days after reports citing government sources, reported that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had issued a notice to Wikipedia casting aspersions about bias and inaccuracies in its articles. However, there was no official communication from the Indian government on the matter.

According to the alleged notice, the Government of India questioned Wikipedia over multiple complaints about bias and inaccuracies on the platform. The government in its alleged letter to Wikipedia noted that a small group of editors appears to have significant control over the contents, particularly influencing its neutrality. 

The government also questioned why Wikipedia should not be classified as a publisher, rather than an intermediary.

In a statement, the platform spokesperson said: “The Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit that operates Wikipedia, has not received any official notice from the Indian government regarding editing practices or the accuracy of content on Wikipedia in the last two days.”

The statement further noted that Wikipedia volunteers carefully curate information from reliable news sources and other reputable external publications and they don’t add original content to the site.  

It added that such an approach ensures that Wikipedia compiles information from credible sources. “All sources are cited on article pages, upholding our commitment to transparency,” said the spokesperson.

“More than 850 million Indians visit the site every month, the fifth highest in the world,” the statement said. “Globally, more than 260,000 volunteers contribute content to the site,” the statement added.

It also mentioned that Indian Wikipedia editors are constantly ranked as “one of the top number of contributing editors from a single country globally.

Furthermore, the statement said that the platform articles are required by its editorial policies to maintain a neutral point of view, adding volunteers from many backgrounds and political persuasions to edit Wikipedia.

“This model reinforces that Wikipedia articles present a broad view of knowledge about a topic, rather than any one perspective,” the spokesperson said.

This development occurs alongside ongoing legal proceedings involving WF in a defamation lawsuit filed by news agency ANI regarding its Wikipedia page, which describes the news agency as a “propaganda tool for the incumbent government.” In its lawsuit, ANI has requested the identities of three anonymous editors who made changes to the page. It’s important to note that WF has no physical presence in India.

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