Breaking:

In Oct, Home Minister @AmitShah gave an interview to CNN News18 where he claimed "there are bomb-making factories in every district of West Bengal".

So, I filed a 4-point RTI seeking the source of Home Minister's comments.

And this is where it gets shocking.

(1/5)
I'd asked for

(1) a list of the bomb making factories in Bengal referred to by Amit Shah

(2) Whether MHA had briefed Shah about this

(3) Whether Shah's remarks were based on official records

The Home Ministry's answer is NO. They claim they don't have any such info.

(2/5)
Further, the Home Ministry claims law & order is a state subject.

Ergo, that answers the 4th question I'd asked which is: "has info about these alleged bomb factories been shared with West Bengal Police."

They haven't done that. Why? Because no such factories exist.

(3/5)
It is SHOCKING that the Union Home Minister of India would openly perpetrate fake news about internal security matters just to malign & insult the state of West Bengal for electoral gains.

How can the Home Minister be trusted when he lies openly on record about things?

(4/5)
Getting this info wasn't easy. MHA stalled giving a response since October. Even 1st appeal wasn't responded to. An MHA official called me & said "we've been told not to reply on this".

Finally got the response after issuing a legal notice last week.

#NewIndia apparently

(5/5)
PS:

This blatant lying also happens because mainstream interviewers & reporters NEVER ask the ruling party to provide sources or facts to back their claims. They never challenge their falsehood.

And this is why they manage to push such lies with impunity.
Also a request:

I’d be grateful if someone could translate this thread in Bengali, tweet it, & share the link with me. I’ll RT it.

The people of Bengal should know how the outsider Home Minister Amit Shah has tried to insult the state for petty electoral gains.

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More from @SaketGokhale

13 Feb
I write this with incredible sadness & disappointment.

There’s a video circulating since 3 days calling for some of us (incl. journalists) to be hanged to death because we were mentioned as “accounts to follow” in Greta Thunberg’s toolkit supporting the farmer protests.

(1/5)
The shitty & violent conspiracy video was taken down by YouTube but tweeted out by BJP leaders including Kapil Mishra.

The website @ThePrintIndia even legitimized the video since the journos mentioned are @ShekharGupta’s competitors.

(2/5)
And yet, there’s barely even been a murmur condemning them. There’s barely anyone who’s even spoken about it.

This same pattern repeats every year. No one speaks up unless someone is framed or they’re killed.

We light candles for the dead but ignore the lead up to it.

(3/5)
Read 6 tweets
27 Jan
BIGGEST SCOOP of the year:

Have you been curious about the accounts of PM CARES? The PMO has blocked all RTI requests about them.

But there's a catch & some records are here:

Read on 👇
There's something called the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) which comes under the Controller General of Accounts, Ministry of Finance.

It records details of ALL govt expenditure by different agencies.

They claimed PM CARES is private. But it isn't.

(1/4)
Step 1: Go to the website of PFMS at pfms.nic.in

Step 2: Click on "Know Your Payments"

Step 3: Under "Bank", type "State Bank of India"

Step 4: Under "account", type "2121PM20202" (which is the PM CARES account according to their website)

(2/4)
Read 5 tweets
6 Jan
Exclusive:

Mystery of Bharat Biotech's Phase 1&2 Covid-19 vaccine trials:

Bharat Biotech registered its Phase 1&2 trials for Covaxin with India's Clinical Trials Registry (CTR) - a division of ICMR - which happens to be Bharat Biotech's partner.

Here's some shocking details 👇
Phase 1 details by Bharat Biotech were registered on 1st July, 2020.

Remember - this was the time when ICMR issued a shocking letter saying "vaccine must be ready by Independence Day" so that Modi could earn brownie points.

Total number of volunteers: 1125

(1/8)
Phase 2 details by Bharat Biotech were registered on 8th September, 2020.

This was literally within 2 months of registering Phase 1 trial.

Basically, Phase 2 trial details were registered before Phase 1 was even complete.

Total number of volunteers in Phase 2: ONLY 124

(2/8)
Read 10 tweets
3 Jan
Bharat Biotech has a bit of a shady history dating back to 2016.

After the Zika virus outbreak, Bharat Biotech had announced that it has developed the "world's first Zika vaccine" named Zikavac.

The company began advertising this vaccine publicly & through PR releases

(1/4)
Subsequent to this, Bharat Biotech was summoned & pulled up by the Director General of Health Services.

DGHS said that the co. was cashing in on the Zika outbreak & had announced a vaccine without informing the govt.

indiatoday.in/mail-today/sto…

(2/4)
Now with Bharat Biotech's "Covaxin" being approved for restricted use (whatever that means), the big question remains as to why the Modi govt wants to gamble with the life of citizens.

Govt claims "Covaxin" is approved only for situations where there's a vaccine shortage.

(3/4)
Read 5 tweets
30 Dec 20
Important:

As I'd said yesterday, the Rajya Sabha gave me a list of MPs who have secured an EXTRA "guest accommodation" along with the "guests" occupying these.

These are prime Lutyens Delhi MP houses being given to "guests" who are not public servants in any way.

Thread 👇
The concept of "guest accommodation" under Rajya Sabha rules was to help MPs accommodate their visitors who travel to Delhi during Parliament Sessions.

Along with VP House Hostel & Western Court Hostel, a few houses on North & South Avenue have been designated for this.

(1/9)
Rules of the Rajya Sabha state that these "guest accommodations can only be allotted for 3 months max.

Moreover, the pool of housing on North & South Avenue is EXTREMELY LIMITED according to the Rajya Sabha handbook.

These plush Lutyens houses are from MP housing quota.

(2/9)
Read 10 tweets
14 Oct 20
Exclusive:

The Modi govt has been handing major defense contracts & technology to a favorite Nagpur-based firm.

What's shocking is that they're doing this despite knowing that the company's explosives were being used by terror group ISIS in Iraq & Syria.

Thread 👇
On 1st Oct, the Modi govt signed a contract worth 409 crores with Economic Explosive Ltd (EEL) to supply 10,00,000 Multi Mode Hand Grenades to the Indian Army.

EEL is a subsidiary of Nagpur-based Solar Industries (an explosive maker with nothing to do with solar energy)

(1/9) Image
In 2018, Solar Industries was given a technology transfer by the Ministry of Defense to produce propellant booster for the BrahMos missile.

2 months ago, Solar Ind. cleared DRDO trials to get the technology & make Pinaka artillery rockets for the Indian Army.

(2/9) ImageImage
Read 11 tweets

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