AAP joined INDIA bloc to prepare blueprint for better India: Raghav Chadha 2
Ahead of the third INDIA bloc meet in Mumbai, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha on Wednesday said that AAP has joined INDIA to prepare a blueprint for a better India. “AAP has not joined the INDIA alliance for the PM post. Arvind Kejriwal is not in the race to become the PM. We have joined the INDIA alliance to prepare a blueprint for a better India,” the AAP MP said.
“If any party is saying this (that AAP has joined the INDIA bloc for the PM post), it means that we have many capable faces for the PM post. Many prominent leaders are the part of INDIA alliance,” he added. He further asked, do they (BJP/NDA) have any such face except PM Modi.
“Is there anyone in the BJP who can say that they want Nitin Gadkari, Yogi Adityanath or someone from Chirag Paswan’s party to become the next PM face…At their party, one can’t even express this kind of thought,” he said. Earlier in the day, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said party national convener Arvind Kejriwal is not in the race for Prime Minister.
“Arvind Kejriwal’s motive to join the INDIA Alliance is to save the country. Arvind Kejriwal is not in the race to be a Prime Minister. The issues like PM candidate and seat sharing will be decided by consensus by the alliance,” Sanjay Singh told ANI. The third meeting of the INDIA alliance will be held in Maharashtra’s Mumbai on August 31 and September 1.
The meeting will discuss the alliance strategies for the Lok Sabha election and the seat sharing in the states. A new logo of the INDIA alliance is also likely to be launched. A total of 28 parties are likely to participate in the third meeting of the newly formed opposition alliance in Mumbai.
The parties have come together to take on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is led by PM Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and prevent it from winning a third straight term at the Centre in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The first meeting of the joint opposition convened in Patna on June 23 and the second meeting was held in Bengaluru on July 17-18. The third meeting is slated to be in Mumbai on August 31-September 1.
The seat-sharing formula will not be easy for NDA and INDIA bloc in Maharashtra 4
Indian politics is more ideological than many believe, but most parties have proven to be masters of practical politics in their quest for power. Many alliances have been forged as quickly as they have fallen apart. In the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections and Maharashtra assembly polls, the combined vote share of the undivided Shiv Sena and BJP was more than 45 per cent, giving them a clear edge over Congress and its allies. However, after the 2019 assembly elections, the alliance of Congress, NCP, and Shiv Sena tilted the reckoning towards MVA, achieving an almost 50 per cent vote share.
The BJP has already announced that it aims to gain more than 41 seats in Maharashtra. But it will have to convince both Shinde’s Sena as well as Ajit’s NCP to give it a major share of seats for contesting the general elections. The task will be cut out, as BJP leaders in the past stoked a controversy when they declared that it would give Sena a share only in the assembly seats. BJP poached other political party leaders to form a government in Maharashtra to take revenge against the sabotage of Uddhav Shiv Sena, and on the other hand, in 2019, Shiv Sena also switched sides and formed a government with Congress and NCP by sabotaging BJP. In the past year, the political landscape in Maharashtra has experienced enormous uncertainty. The seat-sharing formula will be really challenging for both alliances in the coming time.
INDIA is having its first nationwide meeting in Maharashtra, and a state-wise seat-sharing formula could be discussed during the meeting. A logo for the alliance would also be unveiled on August 31. A senior leader from the Opposition said, “The logo will reflect the country and its unity, and those things that unify the country,” adding that a few more political parties may also join the meeting. The NDA and the INDIA bloc are projected to get 43 per cent and 41 per cent of the vote share, respectively, a recent survey found.
Meanwhile, tomorrow, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Mallikarjun Kharge will be attending the meeting. The unveiling of the INDIA alliance logo, formation of the coordination committee, the appointment of convenors, a discussion on the possible seat-sharing formula between the INDIA constituents for the general elections, strategies for the general elections, and several others are on the agenda of the Opposition INDIA alliance. The Shiv Sena (UBT) also released the first video teaser of the Opposition INDIA alliance meeting in Mumbai.
Matching the dates of the Opposition INDIA bloc’s third meeting in Mumbai, the ruling grand alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar group in the state will be holding a meeting at Worli in south Mumbai to discuss Lok Sabha polls. After the 2022 Maharashtra political crisis, Eknath Shinde, along with 40 MLAs, formed a government with the BJP. Eknath Shinde became the new chief minister. After the 2023 Maharashtra political crisis, the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party also joined the government.
The BJP-Shiv Sena-led alliance government in Maharashtra has gained strength after the entry of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction, but it is likely that the seat-sharing exercise for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls will be much more difficult for the BJP, which aims to contest most of the 48 seats in the state. Eknath Shinde’s rebellion in June last year led to the downfall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, which comprised the Shiv Sena, Congress, and the NCP. Apart from this, Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit joined hands with the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government, triggering a split in the NCP.
Presently, the BJP and its alliance partners—Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP–are short of the 41 seats that the BJP had won in alliance with the Shiv Sena in 2019. As per the survey, the NDA is projected to get a 40 per cent vote share with 20 seats, while the INDIA bloc is expected to get a 45 per cent vote share with 28 seats. The MVA alliance parties are part of the INDIA bloc.
Considering the aggressive approach of Ajit, convincing the NCP faction led by him to settle for something less than what is due will be tough. Both Shinde and Ajit do not have a fallback option if BJP forces its demand for the maximum share of the 48 seats. The BJP has always dominated regional parties. It will not be so easy for the Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar to strike a hard bargain as their fallback options are limited now. The BJP will press for all 25 seats it contested in 2019 and will tell the Shinde and Pawar factions to divide amongst themselves the remaining seats. Notably, the survey shows that if Lok Sabha elections were to happen today, the BJP would secure only 15 seats, which is 9 fewer than its previous tally.
“Yet, the biggest problem the BJP will face is to keep both Shinde and Pawar happy in the seat sharing for the Lok Sabha polls. The BJP will promise its partners that they will be compensated in the assembly elections. And this seat sharing will depend on the outcome of the Lok Sabha results. In contrast, Congress could improve its seat count to 10, a substantial increase from its single seat in 2019. Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar would contribute 18 seats to the INDIA bloc tally. The numbers favor MVA since 2019.
INDIA bloc has to take 'collective decision': Pawar on possibility of inclusion of parties like AIUDF 6
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said INDIA bloc has to take a ”collective decision” on the inclusion of new members and added that parties, like the Congress and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, need to be consulted over this. The former Union minister was responding to a question on the possibility of outfits, such as the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), being brought into the alliance fold.
Addressing a joint press conference at the Grand Hyatt Hotel here, the venue of a two-day INDIA alliance meeting that begins on Thursday, Pawar also did not seem enthusiastic about the prospect of the Akali Dal joining the grouping.
Asked about the possibility of the Punjab-based party making an entry into the alliance, he said there was no such proposal, but it could be thought about in case the Akalis were inclined.
However, he said, ”We can think about it, but it is not easy because we have (Arvind) Kejriwal, whose party (Aam Aadmi Party) is ruling Punjab. The Congress Party has a different policy there. That is why we will not do anything that enhances our differences.” Asked why Muslim parties, such as Badruddin Ajmal’s AIUDF, were not part of the opposition alliance and any possibility of their joining the front in the future, Pawar said, ”They have spoken with me and are inclined to go with us. But I can’t take a decision on this alone, we will have to speak with the Congress and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on this.” ”There will be a collective decision on that, and till then, accepting their overtures is difficult,” he said.
Leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc are set to hold hectic parleys during the two-day conclave here starting Thursday, during which they will announce a coordination committee and unveil a logo for the alliance.
They would chalk out a joint campaign strategy to take on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and iron out the differences among themselves. The leaders are also likely to announce a few panels to draft a common minimum programme for the alliance, and frame joint plans for holding agitations across the country and for seat sharing.
The Islamabad High Court on Tuesday suspended Imran Khan’s three-year sentence in the Toshakhana corruption case and ordered his release from jail, in a major relief to Pakistan’s embattled former prime minister ahead of the upcoming general elections.
A division bench comprising Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri announced the much-anticipated verdict, which was reserved on Monday.
”Decision of the District Court (has been) suspended by the IHC,” Khan’s party – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), said in a short WhatsApp message.
The court said that a copy of the judgment will be available shortly.
”The copy of the judgment will be available shortly… all we are saying now is that (Imran’s) request has been approved,” Justice Farooq said.
The bench also ordered the release of the 70-year-old leader on the production of surety bonds worth Rs 100,000.
Khan’s legal counsel, Naeem Haider Panjotha, posted on X, formerly Twitter: ”The CJ has accepted our request, suspended the sentence, and said a detailed decision would be provided later.” Khan’s sentence has been suspended, but he was not being released as a special court holding his trial in the Official Secrets Act directed the Attock Jail authorities to keep him in the “judicial lockup” and produce him on August 30 before the court in connection with the cipher case.
Former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi is already in custody in the same case.
The case launched last week alleged that Khan and others were involved in the violation of the secret laws of the country.
The bench reserved the verdict on Monday after the rival lawyers concluded their arguments on the suspension of the conviction and three-year sentence handed down to Khan by Additional District and Session Judge, Islamabad, Humayun Dilawar on August 5—a move that barred him from contesting general elections.
The former cricketer-turned-politician was sentenced on charges of unlawfully selling state gifts acquired by him and his family during his 2018–2022 tenure. He was also barred from politics for five years, preventing him from contesting an upcoming election.
General elections are scheduled to be held in Pakistan within 90 days after the dissolution of the National Assembly, which was prematurely dissolved on August 10 by President Arif Alvi. However, the polls are likely to be delayed as the government has announced that the elections could take place only after a new census is completed and new constituency boundaries are drawn.
The exercise could take about four months to complete, which means that polls may be delayed till next year.
The government’s announcement came on the same day that Khan was arrested after being sentenced to three years in prison for “corrupt practices”.
Khan challenged his conviction within days and the IHC began a formal hearing on August 22. It adjourned the case on Friday after the lawyer representing the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) did not appear due to illness.
Khan’s lawyer Latif Khosa completed his argument on Thursday, asserting that the verdict was given in haste and was full of shortcomings. He urged the court to set aside the sentence but the defence team demanded more time to complete its arguments.
His party welcomed the IHC verdict, with party Information Secretary Raoof Hasan saying that Khan’s arrest in any other case after the suspension of his sentence in the Toshakhana case would be “ill-intentioned and mala fide”.
”We are fortunate to be witnessing the re-scripting of Pakistan’s political and legal history,” he said, adding that “justice shall prevail”.
However, former premier Shehbaz Sharif expressed its displeasure at the court’s order saying that the sentence was suspended and ”not terminated”.
”The Chief Justice of Pakistan’s message of ‘good to see you’ and ‘wish you good luck’ has reached the IHC,” he said, claiming that “everyone knew about the verdict before it was even announced”.
”This moment is a matter of concern for our justice system,” Shehbaz said. “If a clear message is received from the higher judiciary, what else should the subordinate court do?” Separately, a three-member Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail is also set to resume hearing petitions against the Toshakhana case.
On Wednesday, the apex court after hearing various petitions against the Toshakhana case observed that there were “shortcomings” in the judgment of the sessions court.
The panel observed that the verdict was given in haste and without giving the right of defence to the accused. “Prima facie, there are shortcomings in the trial court verdict,” the chief justice said.
The apex court had also stated it would wait for the IHC hearing before giving its judgment. It resumed the hearing Thursday but adjourned it without fixing any date after it was told that the IHC was holding a hearing.
The Toshakhana case was filed in 2022 by ruling party lawmakers in the ECP, alleging that Khan concealed the proceeds from the sale of state gifts.
The ECP first disqualified Khan and then filed a case of criminal proceedings in a sessions court, which convicted him, and subsequently, Khan was sent to jail.
Khan is currently in Attock Jail following his arrest from his Lahore home.
The case alleges that Khan “deliberately concealed” details of the gifts he retained from the Toshakhana – a repository where presents handed to government officials by foreign officials are kept – during his time as the prime minister from 2018 to 2022 and proceeds from their reported sales.
As per Toshakhana rules, gifts/presents and other such materials received by persons to whom these rules apply shall be reported to the Cabinet Division.
According to reports, Khan received 58 gifts worth more than Rs 140 million from world leaders during his three-and-a-half-year stint and retained all of them either by paying a negligible amount or even without any payment.
Sexual assault in Delhi school: Kejriwal orders suspension of teachers, vice-principal 9
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has directed the immediate suspension of teachers and the vice principal of a Delhi government school where two boys were allegedly sexually assaulted by their classmates in April this year. On Tuesday, Delhi education minister Atishi said Kejriwal directed disciplinary action against the accused for failing to report the matter to the Police.
In a letter to the Education Secretary, Atishi said, “It is Our responsibility to ensure all children are safe and secure in our schools.” “And if any such instances of child sexual abuse are brought to light, then appropriate legal action has to be taken. We have to take all possible steps to ensure that such an instance is not repeated in our schools,” she wrote.
She added that the incident should “make us reflect and take corrective measures. We must do everything to ensure children are safe and secure at all times.” Atishi added that Kejriwal has directed the Directorate of Education to ensure rigorous training of all the principals and teachers on the provisions of POCSO.
Mandatory reporting of such incidents, tools for early identification of abuse, types of abuse, the impact of abuse on children, and remedial measures enabling the capacity building of teachers to support such students are among the measures directed by the chief minister. According to Atishi, the chief minister also directed the Directorate of Education to prepare high-quality material for the reference of all teachers and principals and issue guidelines for schools to handle cases of abuse in a supportive environment for children.
The Delhi Government has set up an inquiry committee to probe into the alleged sexual assault cases of two minor boys in a government school, according to an official statement. “It is tragic that such a despicable incident allegedly happened in the summer camp organized by the school. An inquiry committee has been set up, and a thorough probe is underway on the subject. Let the due course of law take place,” said an official statement.
If any teachers or staff were aware of this issue and did not bring it to the attention of higher authorities, then stringent action will be taken against them, it added. “We can assure you all that the Delhi Government will take swift and stringent action on the matter. We want to set the standard of education in the country, which includes character development among students,” read the statement.
It further said that such culpable deeds would not be tolerated and would be dealt with due severity. Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chief Swati Maliwal had on Monday issued notices to the Delhi Police and Directorate of Education in the alleged sexual assault case.
The Delhi Commission for Women has received information of sexual assault with two minor boys in a government school in Delhi. A 13-year-old boy who studies in the 8th standard in a government school in Rohini was allegedly sexually assaulted by other students of the school,” the notice read. “He has informed me that in April 2023, he attended school during summer camp, wherein some students forcibly took him to a nearby park and sexually assaulted him for 7 days. He has alleged that the accused students also threatened him not to disclose the incident to anyone. He stated that a couple of days ago, he narrated his ordeal to two of his teachers, but they asked him not to report the matter,” it added.
DCW Maliwal further mentioned that in another case, a 12-year-old minor was also sexually assaulted by the same group of students. “Another boy, aged 12 years old, has also alleged that the same students sexually assaulted him as well. He has informed me that in April 2023, during the summer camp, he was sexually assaulted in the school toilet. He has stated that the accused students had threatened him not to disclose the incident to anyone,” the notice read.”
He has further alleged that around 16 days ago, a student again tried to sexually assault him in the toilet. He has further stated that he had narrated the incident to two of his teachers in July and August, but they had asked him not to talk about the incident to anyone,” it added. DCW has requested the Delhi Police and Directorate of Education to provide a detailed action taken report on the two matters by September 1, 2023.
"Habitual offender": Mallikarjun Kharge on China including Arunachal in its "standard map" 11
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said on Tuesday that China is a “habitual offender” when it comes to renaming and redrawing maps of territories belonging to other countries. The Congress chief stated that the Indian territories, including Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin, are an indistinguishable and inalienable part of India. “No arbitrarily invented Chinese map can change that”.
His reaction came hours after China officially released the 2023 edition of its “standard map,” which shows the state of Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region as part of its territory. He tweeted: “China is a habitual offender when it comes to renaming and redrawing maps of territories, belonging to other countries. The Indian National Congress takes strong objection to any such illegal representation or renaming of India’s territories. We want peaceful coexistence with our neighbors, including China, and peace and tranquility at the LAC”.
“It is, however, painful to note that China’s deception and belligerence continue, post-Galwan, in the wake of PM Modi giving them a free pass by saying “no one entered our territory” after 20 of our brave soldiers were martyred”. The status quo ante before May 2020 should be of utmost importance, and the Modi government must not budge from anything less than the restoration of the same, he said.
Kharge expressed hope that the upcoming G-20 summit in India will be another opportunity for us to expose the issue of China’s transgressions into Indian territory on the global stage. “Modi Govt must ensure that the illegal Chinese occupation of 2000 square kilometres of Indian territory along the LAC must end,” he said in another tweet.
The map released on August 28 shows Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as South Tibet, and Aksai Chin, occupied by it in the 1962 war, as part of its territory. Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea are also included within Chinese territory on the new map. The map was released by China’s Ministry of Natural Resources during the celebration of Surveying and Mapping Publicity Day and the National Mapping Awareness Publicity Week on Monday in Deqing county, Zhejiang province, as per the China Daily newspaper.
Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Uttar Pradesh teacher Tripta Tyagi is shame on education system 13
These days, India is going through a lot of communal disharmonies, and the hate has made its way to the schools. Educational institutions have become political targets. Indian democracy is questionable. There are constant communal attacks in India. In the name of the so-called Hindu Rashtra, we are seeing atrocities. Thanks to Indian politics, the hate has not spared the future of India, and those are the young minds. Section 17 under the Right to Education Act 2009 completely bars corporal punishment on children, and the sentence under Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act would be rigorous imprisonment of up to five years and a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh, but when hate is supported by the government and ruling authorities, then there will be reward for such atrocities.
There was one viral video on social media where a Muslim student was slapped by his classmates on the instruction of the teacher. The teacher was telling some Hindu students to beat the Muslim student repeatedly. Soon after the controversy, Uttar Pradesh teacher Tripta Tyagi put out a video message, stressing that she had no communal motive behind asking students to slap their Muslim classmate. With folded hands, she repeated that she had “made a mistake” and sought forgiveness. The incident, which happened on August 24, came to light only after a video of Tripta Tyagi asking her students to slap a Muslim kid went viral.
In the video, Tripta Tyagi is seen asking the students to slap a Muslim child and also allegedly making a communal remark. The student is seen standing near the teacher’s desk, crying, as his classmates take turns to slap him, as the teacher looks on. Tripta Tyagi is also heard asking one of the students to hit the Muslim kid harder. Defending her actions, the Muzaffarnagar teacher has termed the incident a “minor issue”. She said though it was wrong on her part to get a student slapped by his classmates, she was forced to do it as she is handicapped and was not able to stand up and reach the student who had not done his homework.
The Uttar Pradesh government’s Basic Shiksha Adhikari served a show-cause notice to the school. The school was given government affiliation for a period of three years in 2019, which expired last year, but the management did not try for its renewal. In spite of all this, the school will not be closed, and normal teaching activities will continue there in the interests of students until an alternate arrangement is made for them. Meanwhile, the man who shot the video has said that the Muslim kid was beaten because he had not done his homework. The father of the kid has, however, maintained that there was no communal angle to the incident. He has withdrawn his child from school and will not be filing a complaint against the school. A case was registered against Tyagi under sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code on the complaint of the victim’s family.
If educators are doing such things, the repercussions will be seen in society when their students grow up and take up important jobs. If other students are hitting one student in front of the entire classroom, then this is shameful. Above all, she gave one arrogant interview to the media, and the biased media promoted that video without any hitch. No one in the media asked her why she brutalized a kid. So, obviously, no action and no arrest. It’s pretty clear that she was instigated by the ideology she followed.
Youngsters are unemployed; children are treated like this in school; girls and women are not safe in the country. It’s high time to stop the hatred and focus on things that are beneficial to the country. Currently, 50 students’ study at the school. Tripta Tyagi, the school teacher involved in the incident, continues to teach at the school. The school has been shut for now, and its students would be shifted to other schools nearby. State education department authorities are finding a solution to damage control. The boy’s father was very upset after the incident and could not eat for a couple of days. He had also started rambling at home after the traumatic experience. The child is doing better following a medical check-up but is still mentally upset even today.
Neeraj Chopra scripts history yet again, becomes first Indian to win gold in World Athletics Championships 15
Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra on Sunday scripted history yet again as he became the first Indian to win a gold medal in the World Athletics Championships with a best throw of 88.17m in the men’s javelin final.
In another first, three Indians finished in the top eight, with Kishore Jena (84.77m) and DP Manu (84.14m) taking the fifth and sixth spots, respectively. Never before did three Indians finish in the top eight of an event at the World Championships.
The 25-year-old Chopra dominated the competition and achieved his best throw of the day in his second attempt. He had a foul to start with, but then got 88.17m, 86.32m, 84.64m, 87.73 m, and 83.98m.
Pakistan’s reigning Commonwealth Games champion Arshad Nadeem took the silver with his season’s best throw of 87.82m, while Jakub Vadlejch (86.67m) of the Czech Republic got the bronze.
Olympic champion Chopra began with a foul but jumped to the top spot with his second throw, and from thereon, he led the field till the end. Nadeem also maintained his second position from the third round, after which it was 1-2 for the Indo-Pak duo till the end.
Chopra thus beat Nadeen once again, as the Indian also won gold in the 2016 South Asian Games. Since then, the two have competed against each other in more than a dozen events, and Chopra has always returned triumphant.
Chopra has now become only the second Indian—after legendary shooter Abhinav Bindra—to simultaneously hold the Olympics and World Championships titles. Bindra won the World Championships title when he was 23, and the Olympics gold at 25.
Chopra, who had become the first Indian Olympic track and field gold medalist in the Tokyo Games in 2021, had won a silver in the 2022 edition of the World Championships.
Before him, legendary long jumper Anju Bobby George had won a bronze in the 2003 World Championships.
The Indian superstar also became only the third javelin thrower in history to simultaneously hold the Olympics and World Championships titles after the iconic Jan Zelezny of Czech Republic and Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway.
Zelezny clinched Olympic gold in 1992, 1996, and 2000, while winning the World Championship title in 1993, 1995, and 2001. Thorkildsen won gold in the 2008 Olympics and the 2009 World Championships.
With his feat on Sunday, Chopra has won every title his sport has to offer. He has won gold in the Asian Games (2018) and Commonwealth Games (2018), besides four individual Diamond League Meeting titles (two each in 2022 and 2023) and the Diamond League champion’s trophy last year.
He also became junior world champion in 2016 and won the Asian Championship title in 2017.
Meanwhile, the Indian men’s 4x400m relay team raised hopes of a historic medal after finishing second overall in the heats with an Asian record time of 2 minutes, 59.51 seconds on Saturday. But, in the final on Sunday, the quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi and Rajesh Ramesh could do no better than finish a creditable fifth with a time of 2:59.92.
Parul Chaudhary created a national record of 9 minutes, 15.31 seconds while finishing 11th in the women’s 3000 meter steeplechase final. The earlier record was held by Lalita Babar (9:19.76), who had finished eighth in the final of the 2015 World Championships.
Chopra’s gold on the last day of competitions brought cheers to the Indian camp after an underwhelming start. Except for the performances of Chopra, Jena, Manu, Parul Chaudhary, the men’s 4x400m relay team, and Jeswin Aldrin (11th in the men’s long jump final), the World Championships outing was mediocre for the remaining Indians.
Long jumper Murali Sreeshankar and 3000 meter steeplechaser Avinash Sable were tipped to be the best performers after Chopra, but both failed to qualify for the finals in their respective events, much to the disappointment of the Indian camp.
In the 2022 edition, apart from the silver won by Chopra, five other Indians made it to the finals.
In the last edition of the showpiece, Chopra was beaten by Anderson Peters of Grenada for the gold. The Indian had settled for a landmark silver then, with a best throw of 88.13m in the final, to become only the second athlete from the country and the first male track and field athlete to win a medal in the World Championships.
Peters, who had won gold in 2019 as well, could not make it to Sunday’s final after he failed to even touch the 80-meter mark in Friday’s qualification round, which Chopra topped with his single throw of 88.77m.
It was a tense start as Chopra fouled his first throw, but he roared back with 88.17m in his second effort to jump to the top. He had 86.32 meters in his third attempt. Chopra led the field at the end of the first three rounds, when the bottom four out of the 12 competitors were eliminated. By then, Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem had catapulted himself to second spot with a third round throw of 87.82m.
DP Manu also moved up to fifth, while Jena too made the top eight at seventh after three rounds.
Germany’s Julian Weber was third after the first three rounds, but Vadlejch grabbed the bronze medal with his fifth round throw of 86.67m.
There was no change in the top two as Nadeem could not better his third round throw of 87.82m, though he came close to it in the fourth round with 87.15m. He fouled his fifth attempt, and by the time the Pakistani sent his spear to just 81.86m in his sixth and final attempt, the gold was assured for Chopra.
The Indian took the final throw but could come up with only 83.98 m, which, however, was inconsequential.
Kerala HC denies bail to TN native accused of being kingpin behind heroin smuggling 17
The Kerala High Court has denied bail to a Tamil Nadu native accused of being the kingpin behind the smuggling of over 217 kgs of heroin worth around Rs 1,500 crore that was seized by the coast guard from two boats off the Kerala coast in May last year.
Justice Ziyad Rahman A A denied the relief to Balakrishnan Periyasamy Pillai, saying that the materials on record prima facie show he had a role in the case and granting him the relief would send a wrong message to society.
The court arrived at a decision based on the call details records, cell tower locations, money transactions, confession statements of other accused and various other data related to Pillai that was placed before it by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
”Thus, from the analysis of the materials as mentioned above, it can be seen that, besides the confession statements, there are several materials showing the role of the petitioner (Pillai), at least prima facie.
”Thus, on appreciation of the materials placed before this court, by keeping the aforesaid principles in mind, I find that this is not a fit case in which bail can be granted to the petitioner. For the reasons mentioned above, any lenient view in the matter would be against the interest of society as a whole, and such a release would send a wrong message,” the court said.
With these observations, the court dismissed the plea for regular bail moved by Pillai.
According to the Centre and the DRI, the contraband was recovered from a foreign vessel and the two boats and the drugs were seized in Indian waters.
Besides Pillai, there are more than 20 others — some of whom were on the two boats — who have been arrested in the case.
The DRI, represented by Deputy Solicitor General (DSG) of India Manu S, told the court that the instructions and funds for the purchase of the two boats for transporting the drugs was given by Pillai.
The DSG opposed grant of any relief to him saying that the petitioner (Pillai) was the kingpin behind the entire transaction and he was the one who had provided the finances.
The lawyer for the petitioner claimed that the material placed on record was not sufficient to indicate his role in the case, but the contention was rejected by the court.
Heavy vehicle traffic banned on Mumbai-Goa highway till Ganesh festival culmination 19
The Navi Mumbai traffic police have banned the movement of heavy vehicles on the Mumbai-Goa highway from Sunday until the end of the Ganesh festival to be held next month.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Navi Mumbai, Tirupati Kakade, issued the order to this effect on Saturday.
During an inspection of the ongoing repair work on the same route, Maharashtra PWD Minister Ravindra Chavan was stuck in a traffic jam for more than two hours on Saturday.
Later, in a video released from Chavan’s office in the evening, the minister said that after a discussion with the chief minister and his deputy, it was decided to ban heavy traffic on the route for the time being and allow people to proceed to Konkan without any hurdles and the repair work to be carried out smoothly.
DCP Kakade said in the order that a meeting of stakeholders was held on August 23 on the condition of the Mumbai-Goa highway. It was decided that there should be no traffic jams to facilitate the smooth journey of those proceeding to Konkan for the festival. Also, the order said that repair work on the Mumbai-Goa highway is in progress, and hence the movement of heavy vehicles on it has been banned.
The traffic department has suggested alternate routes to be used by heavy vehicles while proceeding on the Mumbai-Goa route.
