Roger Federer has revealed that organisers of the re-launched and condensed Davis Cup gave him three days to decide if he would commit to the controversial competition.
Speaking at the Swiss Indoors tournament where he will play in Sunday’s final against Romanian qualifier Marius Copil, the world number three said that given the impossibly short time frame to make a decision, he opted out of any commitment.
“They only left me three days to decide,” Federer said, “I didn’t to have time to consult with all the people I had to consult.”
“I could not make a decision in that time, so I told them to do what they wanted.” The 20-time Grand Slam champion has voiced doubts about the wisdom of the one-week format to be introduced by organisers Kosmos, who have promised the International Tennis Federation up to $3 billion in prize money over the next quarter-century.
The competition is set to feature 18 countries in the November 18-24 finals in Madrid next year, and will replace the classic home-and-away ties played four times per year for decades.
Kosmos is headed by Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique, who is hoping fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal will play in the upcoming event.
Novak Djokovic has said he will give precedence to the ATP’s intended re-launch of the defunct World Team Cup in January 2020, at various Australian venues.
Major players feel that a big event in late November combined with one in January before the Australian Open will mean too much tennis and too little rest. Federer said earlier this month in Shanghai in that his chances of playing the Davis Cup were all but non-existent.
“I highly doubt it, of course. We’ll see what happens,” he said.
“I don’t think this was designed for me, anyhow. This was designed for the future generation of players.” Argentina and Britain received wild cards to the new-look event, and will compete along with the four 2018 semi-finalists and the 12 teams who win qualifying rounds next February.
“I don’t like being under that kind of pressure,” Federer said of the deadline Kosmos handed him.
India number three Pranjala Yadlapalli qualified for the main draw of a WTA tennis event for the first time in her fledgling career on Sunday.
Pranjala outclassed her Georgian opponent Oksana Kalashnikova in straight sets in the second and final qualifying round match of the $125,000 L&T Mumbai Open at the Cricket Club of India (CCI).
The 19-year-old mass communications under-graduate from Hyderabad, seeded third in the qualifiers aided by her ranking of 280 on the WTA circuit, needed one hour and 15 minutes to carve out a 6-4 6-3 victory over Oksana, who is ranked a distant 9,999.
Still, it was a satisfying day for the Guntur-born Pranjala as she joined her Indian compatriots India number one Ankita Raina (direct entrant) and wild cards Karman Kaur Thandi and Rutuja Bhosale in the main draw of 32.
In Sunday’s match against the left-handed Oksana, Pranjala broke the 28-year-old Georgian rival’s serve twice in the first set and four times in the second to romp home.
Meanwhile, the tournament was hit by the withdrawal of Israel’s Julia Glushko. Her place in the main draw will be taken by a lucky loser.
Recently, I highlighted the ongoing #Metoo campaign and the wrong side of it a few days back in an article with the heading: The wrong side of the right #Metoo. Today, I want to discuss one unique case involving a BJP spokesperson and one doctor from Bengaluru. The case occurred almost three years back and was quite a sensational topic at that point of time as it was involving a BJP worker and some social media stalwarts.
Let’s refresh this particular story again and understand how some feminists and #Metoo activists have actually destroyed the whole cause and how double-faced they actually are. Somewhere around the year 2015, BJP worker and social media activist Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga was a good friend of one lady from Bengaluru, Dr. Jwala Gurunath, who was also quite active on the social media and famous for getting into Twitter spats and hurling abuses to others, be it men or women.
She got into an ugly scuffle with one right-winger Nupur Sharma who’s currently with OPIndia. Nupur is considered to be a strong online media activist and she is very strong on facts. Nupur was hurled with all kind of abuses by Dr. Jwala and all feminists from an anti-right wing. Her body parts were discussed by these so-called feminists and even her unborn child was not spared. She was seven months pregnant then. As per Tajinder, Dr. Jwala being a friend, asked him to attack Nupur online as he also had a very large following on social media and was an activist, which Bagga refused. Later, from there, things between Bagga and Dr. Jwala took an ugly turn.
One fine day, on January 1, 2016, Dr. Jwala Gurunath accused Tajinder on Twitter that after he missed his flight in Bangalore on September 19, 2015, he called the doctor repeatedly late at night asking her if he can come to her house and sleep. On the basis of this story, she accused him of molestation. Following which Bagga sent her a legal notice on January 5, 2016, as he knew there is no truth in the accusation that the doctor was making against him and it will not stand a test in a court of law. Moreover, the Doctor accusing him of molestation on social media was harming his reputation. After getting to know that he has sent a legal notice, Dr. Jwala Gurunath filed a case against him under the SC/ST Act. She accused him to have used casteist abuses against her because she knew an FIR was unavoidable under the SC/ST Act and there was no case which could stand on molestation charges. Bagga then fought it legally and appealed in the High Court to get the charges quashed against him. While preceding, the High Court summoned Dr. Jwala Gurunath four times to appear before the court and put forth her point but she did not do so. Following which, Bagga got the FIR quashed filed by Dr. Jwala.
Recently, after the #Metoo campaign took off, many feminists have taken it for granted to allege anyone and settle their personal scores. They take a different stand for different cases on the basis of their agenda. One such personality is Shehla Rashid — when it came to her partner in the activism on Kathua Rape Case, Talib Husain, who raped a girl from the JNU, Rashid just made few tweets in “Law will take its own course” mode for tokenism. But the same Rashid, raked up the Dr. Jwala case on Twitter to settle her scores with the right-winger and BJP spokesman Bagga, which eventually Dr. Jwala failed to prove in the court. Finding the support from the left wing feminist, Dr. Jwala too took this occasion to again settle her scores with Bagga. Subsequently, Bagga too took it to the social media and released a video including all the proofs in his argument including call records, WhatsApp chats, and screenshots. Post this counter, Dr. Jwala and the so-called champions of feminism got rattled and a series of abusive tweets and posts were seen.
It seems that these so-called feminists are behaving like anarchists. They just want to go on an accusing spree against any target they choose on the social media, put their judgement on the social media, get the accused crucified as it happens in mob justice without giving them the right to defend themselves through our legal justice system and if at all they do so, they’re accused of suppressing the voices of liberalism and feminism. We saw the same happening in MJ Akbar’s case that I had written in the Editorial which I have mentioned above. India, Indians, and society need to be saved from such elements.
The mainstream media and the people sitting there in the AC chambers are no less than the hypocrites. They pick up the cases and story selectively, target the accused day and night without checking the facts, deliver the justice in their newsrooms as mandated by their paymasters, and get vanished after that without any accountability.
(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)
The #Metoo movement was started with an objective where women can come forward to share the sexual harassment incidents undergone by them. However, many people have started misusing this campaign for gaining publicity and political mileage. Delhi BJP spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga has become the latest victim of the #Metoo campaign, where allegations levelled against him by Dr. Jwala Gurunath almost three years back, has once again come to haunt him. Jwala has once again made the same allegations against Bagga which she had made earlier.
Bagga shared his #Hetoo story that happened a few years back while Afternoon Voice already had published a story earlier: “I am waiting for Law to do justice; I don’t want Twitter justice: Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga” where Bagga alleged dirty game being played against him to gain political advantage. As we stated in the story, on December 24-25, 2015, Jwala had sent Bagga some screenshots of Twitter regarding a fight that was happening between her and right-winger Nupur Sharma. Since Bagga has a huge social media following, she asked him to defend her by posting abusive tweets against Nupur which Bagga rejected to do. Since then, Jwala took onto Twitter to defame him on all manners.
According to him, people like Dr. Jwala Gurunath is trying to malign the #Metoo movement by making false allegations against him. Besides, JNU student activist Shehla Rashid has been making allegations against Bagga for garnering political mileage.
When Shehla Rashid and Bagga were involved in a Twitter spat on the sexual harassment issue, Dr. Jwala Gurunath also attacked him. Bagga later released a video on Youtube which contained several screenshots, events, and call recordings showing how he was falsely implicated in the case then and how these ladies are trying to blackmail him under the garb of the #Metoo movement.
Bagga posted a video online and mentioned that almost three years back, he had a conversation with Jwala on Twitter and later, they became good friends. Jwala had a tiff with Nupur Sharma as the former sought Bagga’s assistance to abuse her. When Bagga refused to assist Jwala, she warned him of dire consequences.
Speaking to Afternoon Voice, Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga said, “On January 1, 2016, Jwala alleged that when I was in Bengaluru, I had requested her whether I can sleep at her residence. Jwala then started calling me a molester. I sent her a legal notice on January 5, 2016. When I tweeted the same, Jwala tried to save herself and filed a case against me on January 8, 2016. She also alleged that I used to make casteist remarks against her and filed false charges against me under the SC/SC Act. When a complaint is filed under the SC/ST Act, an FIR was registered and a bail was granted later. I had fought the case in the court for six months. I refused to take up this matter on social media and news channels and planned to fight a legal battle.”
Two years after this incident when the #Metoo movement started, Jwala again started making allegations against Bagga. Subsequently, Shehla Rashid started supporting Jwala and began politicising this issue. Since the allegations were made against Bagga in the last few years, hence, he tried to clear the air. He shared the WhatsApp chats and other communication backups in his video. Later, Bagga approached the court and presented his point of view.
The court forwarded a notice to Jwala. It asked Jwala to present the ‘missed call record’ as the evidence which was shared earlier as screenshots and was ‘fake’ as per Bagga. Bagga stated that Jwala didn’t turn up to the court as she possessed fake evidence. Since Jwala had lost her father during that time when the case was under judiciary, Bagga waited and presented the case again after three months. The court once again sent notice to Jwala and asked her to appear before the court. He alleged that how Jwala had used the social media to tarnish his reputation. Bagga shared some screenshots of the chat he had with Jwala in which she told him that she is coming to Delhi and whether he will meet him and these chats were dated 22 days prior to the complaint she had filed against him on December 9, 2015. After not receiving a favourable reply from Bagga, Jwala said that it is better to meet him in Bengaluru.
Bagga raised a question — how can a woman, who had made sexual harassment allegations against him, speak to him in this friendly manner? He had to undergo severe hardships as the Karnataka Police had reached Delhi to arrest him. One year later, when Bagga became the BJP spokesperson, journalist Swati Chaturvedi alleged that ‘a molester’ was appointed for this post. Another journalist Rifat Jawaid also alleged that Bagga is involved in molestation activities.
In a reply to the alleged expose by Bagga, Dr. Jwala Gurunath tweeted stating, “This is not #Metoo moron. You called 33 times from airport. I have told this several times. You can’t break me with a silly video. You exist only on Twitter. Your whole house is just equal to my kitchen. Poor moron go make a house.”
After the alleged expose of Delhi BJP spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga against Dr. Jwala Gurunath on Youtube, Afternoon Voice tried to connect the doctor but was unable to reach her.
Also read the story that AV carried earlier where Bagga alleged dirty game being played against him to gain political advantage:
Union minister for road, transport, and highways Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said India is a “rich nation with a poor population” as those who ruled the country earlier benefitted their own families.
“Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not one family’s party. It is not a party which does politics on basis of caste, religion, language. Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji was our tallest leader, but BJP was never identified with his or LK Advani Ji’s name… Today there is Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji and Amit Shah Ji. Leadership has kept changing, but this party has never run on any particular person’s name. This party functions on the basis of thinking and principles,” Gadkari said while addressing the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) here.
“We are a rich nation with a poor population. Those who ruled benefitted their own families. Prime minister gave birth to a prime minister, chief minister gave birth to a chief minister and so on… Democracy is close to being non-existent. We have to change this,” he added.
Gadkari further stated said development of sectors like agriculture, industry, and services are key essentials for any nation to progress.
As air quality in the city and adjoining areas continues to deteriorate due to stubble burning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his monthly radio programme Mann ki Baat on Sunday urged farmers to do away with the practice.
The Prime Minister made the request by sharing two anecdotes, one of a farmer, Gurucharan Singh, who not only gave up the practice but also urged his relatives to do so for the welfare of the society.
He then gave an instance of a village in Punjab, named Kalal Majra, which opted for mixing it in the soil using alternative technology, instead of burning the paddy straw.
Prime Minister Modi further applauded those working for the betterment of the society and a cleaner environment. “My best wishes to all the people who are trying their best to keep the environment clean. You are taking forward the legacy of our Indian culture of leading a healthy lifestyle. Even the smallest steps can make a huge difference,” added the Prime Minister.
He also laid special emphasis on environmental conservation and the environmental problems faced by people around the world.
As a solution to environmental problems, Prime Minister Modi gave an example of tribal communities and how they have peacefully co-existed with nature. “We should learn from their culture and tradition and include it in our practices to build a more sustainable developed society,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi praised the Bishnoi tribe in Rajasthan, Warli/Varli tribe from Maharashtra, Naga tribe and several others for their contribution towards conservation of the environment.
Over the past few years, stubble burning from Punjab and Haryana has become a major contributor to air pollution in the capital. Despite the ban on stubble burning, farmers continue to burn paddy straw claiming that they lack feasible alternatives.
Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati on Sunday urged the Supreme Court to take cognisance of BJP chief Amit Shah’s comment that the courts cannot give orders that cannot be followed.
She was referring to Shah’s comment on the Sabarimala imbroglio in Kerala on Saturday.
“BJP Chief Amit Shah’s statement that ‘Supreme Court can’t give orders that can’t be followed’ (on #Sabarimala issue) is condemnable. The Supreme Court must take cognisance of his statement,” agencies quoted Mayawati as saying.
Shah, who was in Kannur on Saturday, had come out came out in support of Ayyappa devotees, who have been protesting against the state government’s decision to implement the Supreme Court verdict allowing entry of women of menstrual age into the Sabarimala temple.
Listing court verdicts which have not been implemented, including on ‘Jallikattu’ (traditional bull taming sport of Tamil Nadu) and prohibiting loudspeakers in mosques, Shah said “impractical” directions should not be given by courts and they should pass orders that can be implemented.
Meanwhile, the BJP’s Kerala unit chief PS Sreedharan Pillai announced the party’s protest programme against the arrest of Sabarimala devotees who defied the Supreme Court order.
“Over 4,000 innocent people were illegally arrested/detained. So BJP will observe a one-day fast in front of the DGP’s office in Trivandrum and March to the SP’s office in other districts on Oct 30. From November 8 onwards, there will be six-day Rath Yatra from Kasargod to Sabarimala,” he told agencies.
He claimed that leaders of the ruling CPI (M) are atheists and have decided to destroy Sabarimala.
Festive spree is at its peak and the festival of lights or Diwali is just a few days away. Festive shopping, preparing yummy snacks, sweets, and savoury food, travel plans, meeting dear ones, decorations — all these must be the common ones in many of your celebration plans. Crackers, diyas, rangoli, flowers, home decor pieces — Diwali bash is all fun.
The celebration of light’s triumph over the dark has seen many changes so far. While the adaptation of modern technology has taken over, many vintage traditions have taken a back seat. On the other hand, in the last two decades, many festive rituals have ended up being just a festive routine with the massive commercialisation-wave around. The red-marked Diwali holiday in the office calendar has now become a long weekend — that is mostly preferred to be utilised for near at hand weekend gateways, domestic pending works, or restaurant hopping and clubbing. For many, it’s no more a day devoted to festive mood and festive merriment! Being a 90’s kid, whenever Diwali comes, I feel that the magnitude of the festivity has become much lesser. What is to be blamed? Well, busy lives, being away from family to pursue a better career, and the primary of all — the rise of cost and expenses!
Keeping aside my glumness of being unable to celebrate this Diwali with my family, let’s talk about how to make this Diwali special and bring a smile on every face.
When we talk about the increase in the cost of Diwali decorative items, can we for a moment think about the Clay Diyas or Earthen Lamps in lieu of electrical decorations — and that too from the local small-scale vendors? While this goes suitably hand in hand with our arguments on celebrating eco-friendly Diwali, it has some other values too.
I fairly understand and I am also a responsible fraction of the modern shopping complex and online shopping dependency and convention. Why not for a change, we opt for shopping our decorations from these small temporary shops that return on roadside every year prior to the festival of lights! Their products are not only in the minimum price range but imagine how your purchase can make some difference in their lives. Festivals are theirs too; the celebration of light over dark is for within us and around us. While your shopping cart value might not make any difference to the Diwali celebrations of the wealthy shopping complex owner, but it will surely light up those roadside vendors’ Diwali evening! So, everyone who lives with his/ her family, make full use of this time and let’s make this Diwali a wonderful and colourful memory for everyone around you.
I wish you all a very Happy Diwali in advance!
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
Silver-alloy commemorative coins for the first time after independence was issued on October 2, 1969, to commemorate the Gandhi Birth Centenary at face-value of Rs 10 at a time when the value of silver-content in the coin was much lower than the face value of Rs 10! Moreover, these coins and their coin-sets were issued to the general public right from the date of issue on October 2, 1969. But the system has now been changed when the face-value of silver-alloy coins is much less than the silver content of the coin, evidently doing away with a system of providing commemorative coins at face-value to the general public.
Now only coin-sets in plastic-packs in two different categories of Proof and Uncirculated categories are sold at a much exorbitant price through a cumbersome booking-procedure making these reach to those having booked several months after advance-booking thus killing the very purpose of commemorating an occasion through the issue of coins.
Face-value of the silver-alloy coin should be kept at about double the then prevailing market-value of silver content, and these should be issued to the general public right from the date of issue from scattered distribution centres like all RBI offices, selected branches of public and private sector banks, and all philatalic-centres of Department of posts. There should be only one costlier Proof category of coin-sets with all denominations of coins issued on the occasion, and these should also be available at suggested distribution-centres right from the date of issue.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal
2) Newly-issued Re 1 notes available only at a premium
Only very few are aware of Re 1 notes having been re-issued on March 6, 2015, after being discontinued two decades back. Even majority of bank-employees have not seen these notes, what to talk of the general public. These notes are still sold at an extraordinary heavy premium of 10 times the face-value. It is significant that only one-rupee notes bear the signature of a secretary-rank officer of the central government, while notes in all other denominations bear the signature of the RBI Governor.
The Central government and the RBI should immediately stop the printing of Re 1 notes, and initiate an inquiry on the re-issue of these notes on March 6, 2015, with existing print-stock sold as a souvenir in attractive plastic-packs so that government rather than currency-dealers may earn a heavy premium on one-rupee notes. Since Rs 10 coins are not accepted by the public, coins should be only in denominations of Re 1 and Rs 5 with Rs 10 plastic notes issued for long life.
– Madhu Agrawal
3) Pak’s decision to take JuD off terror list shameful
Pakistan’s decision to take Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF) off banned list in Pakistan is shameful, as the ordinance that prescribed them under a UN resolution has lapsed and the new Imran Khan-led government did not extend it. The decision reflects that Pakistan is not sincere on the part of fighting against terrorism and terrorist organisations. So why does the new elected Prime Minister Imran Khan always talk about peace? Why does he make a commitment to eradicate terrorism? He should not forget that Hafiz Saeed is the co-founder of the LeT, which was responsible for the deadly attack in which 166 people were killed. He should not be rhetoric.
– M.F.U.Tandvi
4) May Azeem’s soul rest in peace!
This is one more incident in the series of unabated mob-lynchings under the Modi-led regime which have increased unprecedentedly since the ascendance of the BJP in power at the centre. These horrendous mob-lynchings have targeted the Muslims. The incident happened with an eight-year-old boy Mohd Azeem, who was studying in a Madrasa in Delhi. He was allegedly beaten to death by minors on Thursday. The incident occurred when there was a fight between the boys studying in the Madrasa and those living in the area over playing cricket. The boy fell down after the fight and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead. Two of the assaulters were caught by the people of the Madrasa, but they were later taken away free by a local woman named Saroj who even threatened them with more such things. My demand from the Delhi government that the Madrasa should be protected from wicked boys, there should be not allowed to enter Madrasa’s ground and the woman must be arrested, who encouraged the boys to do like this activity and threatened the Madrasa’ people, along with I demand that the government should take notice and ensure that there will not be a single death anymore. I offer my sincere condolences to Azeem’ family and may his soul rest in peace.
– A.S.B.I. Siwan
5) CBI’s matter must come to a conclusion
The crisis in the CBI does not seem to stay at a conclusion. The CBI looks like not only a caged parrot but also a chained one. Now the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is in the eye of the storm which is being speculated that it was on CVC’s directive that two senior-most officers of the agency – director Alok Verma and second-in-command Rakesh Asthana – were sent on leave. The present government is also involved in this whirlpool, to remove them at midnight which is against the Constitution and the Chief Justice of India. It is constituted in our country that the Chief Justice of India, leader of Opposition and the Prime Minister of India together can appoint and remove, only PM can’t do it alone. However, now the matter must be concluded as soon as much because its dignity and trust is falling among the people.
– F.T.Mulla
6) We should respect SC verdict
It was quite surprising that around 14,000 people have been arrested in connection with the violent protests against the entry of young women into the Sabarimala Temple earlier the month. Police have filed 440 cases in this regard. The BJP was spearheading the protest against the entry and now it would move to the courts to release the protesters. The violent protests took place and crackdown began throughout the state just after the verdict of the Supreme Court came to allow the entry of women of all ages into the temple, but they must go through the legal process to challenge the verdict. Violence always results in damages and losses. I condemn BJP’s stand to take protest marches against verdict throughout the state.
– MF Qasmi
7) I am proud of journalist Jamal Khashoggi
I am proud of the brave journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was killed inadvertently in choke hold inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He was a fearless person who had to pay with his life for writing columns critical of the Prince’s policies and his repressive measures. He has become a martyr to the cause of freedom of the press and his death is now mourned by the entire world. His death is a fresh example of a true journalist who gave up his life but doesn’t remain behind his mission. I appreciate his courage and his tireless efforts to expose the oppressive Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He will be remembered throughout the golden history of journalism whenever it will be written in future.
– Mohd Faheem
8) Why are people still suffering from hunger?
On the side where there is a high demand for development in the country, there is also a state in India where half of the population is suffering from hunger. 14 people in Jharkhand state, people have lost their lives by hunger. In a country where only the food is thrown away in the marriage, which can be filled with a poor stomach, it is very shameful for the people of the country. Recently, the Indian economy has been declared a fast-growing country, and in a state where people will not be able to feed themselves at one time for a period of three days, how will the country get development? Where there are rich people in India, whose incomes are in millions and who are called India’s richest people, do not have any obligation to review such states and help them, in such a way that they could prosper. Jharkhand also has innocent children who cannot get a meal once in three days, but alas! It is not helping them at the government level and not even cooperation at the social level for them.
– Ateequr Rahman Alqasmi
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
Superstar Shah Rukh Khan will start working on astronaut Rakesh Sharma’s biopic early next year, producer Ronnie Screwvala said.
With script written by Anjum Rajabali, the film will be directed by Mahesh Mathai and produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur and Screwvala under their banners Roy Kapur Films and RSVP Films respectively.
There were reports that Bhumi Pednekar has been signed opposite Shah Rukh in the film, reportedly titled “Saare Jahaan Se Achcha” but Ronnie said an official announcement will be made soon.
“We are doing that film with Shah Rukh Khan. We should begin it by February or March next year, but we haven’t announced the female lead yet,” Ronnie told a agency.
The producer, who has also backed Sushant Singh Rajput-Sara Ali Khan starrer “Kedarnath”, said going forward he wants to be more involved in each and every project he is a part of.
“This time around there is no compulsion. I can do three movies a year, or six. Telling the stories I want to tell is most important. That’s what I’m going to focus on, bring deeply involved with everything, from cast and script. That’s the plan,” he said.
Ronnie was speaking on the sidelines of the 20th edition of Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, where his “Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota” had its India premiere.
