[FACT CHECK]

The @nytimes recently published an article about the Turkish occupation of Afrin, calling it a ‘safe zone’. The article contains several inaccuracies about the situation on the ground, outlined

Presenting you the 1st Phase Opinion Poll of West Bengal Vidhan Sabha Election 2021 by Bongo Prokash. It's a joint venture by me & @ThePaulSaheb, 2 more such polls will be out in March. Please give your feedback. Constructive criticism will be appreciated trolls will be blocked.

In Coochbehar, BJP is sweeping all the seats except Sitai. Udayan Guha losing, so is Rabindranath. Rajbongshis stay with BJP.

In Alipurduar it's a BJP landslide. BJP maintains it's Lok Sabha strength & adds with recent defection by good organization leaders from TMC.

In Jalpaiguri too BJP sweeps, TMC draws a blank.

In Darjeeling the game becomes interesting. GJM is a divided house now in alliance with TMC. Tamang & Gurung factions heavily divided. GNLF backs BJP. BJP+GNLF ahead in Siliguri, Phansidewa, Naxalbari while GJM marginally ahead in Kalimpong, Kurseong & at the moment in Darjeeling

Sources : Do not under estimate the power of a poisonous snake – Mylapore Broker Gurumurthy. In an order issued today, government of Tamil Nadu appoints former HC Justice S Baskaran as Chairperson of Tamil Nadu Human Rights Commission. 1/n

This S Baskaran, is a native of Thiruthuraipoondi and belongs to the community of “Mudhaliyar” He was a puppet of notorious judicial broker “Judicial Krishnamurthy”. This, S Baskaran, as long as he was a High Court Judge, 2/n

was a ‘string puppet’ of the said judicial broker ‘Judicial Krishnamurthy’.

S Baskaran is an alcoholic and also an ardent Hindu devotee (???) At the end of every Friday, he would start on a spiritual tour to worship Hindu gods, in his official car. 3/n

All logistics for his temple visits would be arranged by the said broker ‘Judicial Broker’. When Justice S.Baskaran retired, he had hundreds of “orders reserved cases”, add sources. 4/n

To quote an anecdote, when DVAC office staff ask for leave to visit temples, a senior police officer, whom this author personally know, use to say “work is worship”. 5/n

People think Modi needs Punjab to win. He won without Punjab, not once, but twice, and what happens in the state does not impact his political prospects at all. Heck, he'd be long gone when Punjab runs out of ground water 15-20 years from now. Yet, he's taking the right call.

I was on the ground in Punjab in 2019, and what most Sikhs I interacted with told me was they would want BJP to play a greater role in the politics of the state. They narrated how they were sick of the Akalis, of the stagnant regime of the Captain, and they trusted Modi.

I was in Anandpur Sahib, the constituency that was won by @ManishTewari later. I interacted with a few folks, running shops of religious artefacts around the Anandpur Sahib, and most of them wanted more industry in the region. More industry, more jobs, more prosperity.

Yes, there are blessed families in terms of agriculture in the state but there are two extremes. The ones who are blessed, and the ones who are not. For the ones who aren't, there is a need for more infrastructure, more industry, more investments. The state has potential.

The new farm laws would have created a generation of agripreneurs, created the potential for cold-storage, formalised functioning of small farms, contract farming, and what not. The fertile lands of the state offered unlimited potential merely from an agricultural point of view.

100 lives and my last operational flight

Indian Parliament was attacked by gunmen in December 2001 .. The pak sponsored terror angle was deeply being investigated and the government of the day warned the armed forces to be ready for any eventuality . 1/n

This was the period when my release from service had come through and I was getting ready for civilian life , with no idea where to go and what to do . I was in Sena bhavan trying to register with DGR for jobs having done a course in industrial security . 2/n

I was within 2 kms of parliament when it was attacked and still remember the news being played out on the radio of the shop where I stopped to grab a sandwich after all the running around , which many ex servicemen will easily relate to 3/n

In a few months , I would be an ex serviceman . The thought would often cross my mind but the decision was made and I was on my way out ! The heart therefore was heavy while I was busy conducting my last few heading a two helicopter dett . In Srinagar 4/n

Flights in my favorite bird the Mi-171vs was heavy I was trying to soak as much of Kashmir where I spent 6 long years navigating the mountains would soon fade into a memory. I would be out in the rough and tumble of the civilian world of which I had no idea at that point 5/n