Hacker Manish Bhangale was offered to tamper with evidence; he indicates a threat to Prabhakar Sail

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October 28, 2021

Ethical hacker approaches cops, claims he was offered Rs 5 lakh to obtain call data records of Shah Rukh Khan’s manager, others. On October 27, an ethical hacker reportedly approached the cops claiming that he was offered Rs 5 lakh to obtain call records of Shah Rukh Khan’s manager and others.

In an exclusive conversation with our Editor-in-Chief Vaidehi Taman, Manish Leeladhar Bhangale the hacker from Jalgaon about his shocking claims in the Aryan Khan drug case, he said, “Some persons called Alok Jain and Shailesh Chaudhary approached me and made an offer of Rs 5 lakh to tamper with evidence, they told me to manipulate the WhatsApp chat of Aryan khan and provide the CDR of Shah Rukh Khan’s secretary Pooja Dadlani’s mobile number, they further demanded the duplicate sim card of Sail.”

Manish Bhangale, an ethical hacker, has written a letter to the Mumbai Police Commissionerate informing those two men named Alok Jain and Shailesh Choudhary had approached him on October 6 to obtain call records of a few numbers, including SRK’s manager Pooja Dadlani. Bhangale was told that some officials and political leaders would come in contact with Mumbai. He was assigned to remove the CDR of some mobiles.

The report also stated that the men also showed him a WhatsApp chat backup file, which was named ‘Aryan Khan Chat’, and also asked him to provide a dummy SIM card in the name of Prabhakar Sail.

However, Bhangale did not take up the job. A few days later when he saw Prabhakar Sail’s name in the news, he thought of informing the authorities as he was approached to make a dummy SIM card in his name.

Prabhakar Sail, an independent witness, claimed an extortion bid of Rs 25 crore by some NCB officials, including the agency’s zonal director Sameer Wankhede, and others for letting off accused Aryan Khan in the drugs case. Prabhakar Sail said he was the bodyguard of another witness in the case, Kiran Gosavi, who is absconding after the NCB raids that were conducted on October 3 at the cruise terminal on Mumbai’s coast leading to the arrest of as many as 20 people, including Aryan Khan.

Aryan Khan, who was arrested earlier this month by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) after they raided an alleged ‘rave party’ on a Goa-bound luxury cruise, is lodged in Arthur Road Jail. His bail plea is currently being heard by the Bombay High Court. Ever since his arrest, support has been pouring in from all sides for Shah Rukh Khan and his family. While some have been visiting his residence, others have been posting supportive messages on social media. His fans have been gathering outside Mannat with posters and placards showing their solidarity for the superstar.

Exclusive Audio Conversation with Manish Bhangale

NCB registered many fake cases in which people were implicated and robbed?

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Vaidehi Taman

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October 27, 2021

Nawab Malik’s bold stand was widely appreciated. He stood his ground by exposing NCB’s corrupt officers. Now that an extortion angle has entered the narrative, things are getting obscure and vague. Sameer Dawood Wankhede will no longer be able to escape from going to jail for forgery if the charges are proven in ongoing investigations but if he carries on in spite of being guilty then understand there is no rule of law in the country.

In UPSC, he had filed the certificate of being a Dalit (SC) i.e., Hindu, at the same time he was signing the Nikahnama by becoming a Muslim. His Muslim brother-in-law is a witness to that Nikahnama. He cannot say that he was a Muslim at the time of marriage and later became a Hindu and was a Hindu when he got his SC certificate made.

Surprisingly, even after his fraud got exposed, some journalists and assigned IT cell members are defending him and he himself is calling the evidence against him a breach of his family privacy. Wankhede has compromised the privacy of many celebrities by making their WhatsApp chat public. There were a series of newsroom coverage and prime time debates. He showed no maturity while compromising these celebrities. See, Karma needs no address, today Wankhede is getting haunted by the same media.

Remember, when Alok Verma as the CBI chief, had investigated the complaint of taking huge bribes against some CBI officers. Later on, after transferring them, the CBI headquarters were raided overnight and the files and other documents of that alleged bribery were confiscated. After that, the case was hushed up by paying quite a lot of money in the BJP party fund and even today the CBI officer is enjoying his service extension. The officers who earn and share their bribery are liked by the governments.

Nawab Malik has made another big allegation against Sameer Wankhede by issuing a four-page letter which was sent to him by some whistleblower alleging the 26 NCB cases in the last year in which Sameer Wankhede along with his officers had made extortion. The letter also names the Commissioner of Delhi Police and the then NCB DG Rakesh Asthana.

The letter says recovery was also made from Bollywood actors. Nawab Malik says that he has been sent this letter by an employee of NCB from the post, after which he has also sent this letter to the DG of NCB so that they too should include the said letter in their investigation.

Nawab Malik, while releasing the letter sent by an unidentified NCB employee, said that ever since Sameer Wankhede was appointed as NCB Mumbai Zonal Director, he has been making fake cases. When Rakesh Asthana was the Director-General of Narcotics Control Bureau, he had sent an officer of his choice to Mumbai as the chief of the SIT to investigate the Sushant Singh Rajput drugs case. Along with this, Sameer Wankhede was also made the Zonal Director of Mumbai Zone after taking approval from Home Minister Amit Shah.

After this promotion, Sameer Wankhede along with this officer started implicating Bollywood actors in fake drugs cases. The letter has also alleged that Wankhede has extorted crores of rupees from the film artists after registering the cases. Bollywood actresses Deepika Padukone, Karishma Prakash, Shraddha Kapoor, Rakul Preet Singh, Sara Ali Khan, Bharti Singh, Harsh Limbachiyaa, Rhea Chakraborty, Shobhit Chakraborty and Arjun Rampal were unnecessarily harassed for perks and publicity.

It has been said that the lawyer is a friend of Sameer Wankhede and used to come and go to the NCB office without any restrictions. In the letter, it is also alleged that Sameer Wankhede used to approach every actor, and asked them to hire his lawyer friend for further negotiations. It has also been alleged in this letter that Samir Wankhede always implicated innocent people in false cases to get his news published in the media.

Sameer Wankhede had also formed a separate team in which there were many officers and employees of NCB to run their fake raid racket. It has also been written in that letter that if less quantity of drugs were found in the possession of the accused, then more quantity of drugs was shown so that the accused could not get bail unless he pay a huge amount as a bribe.

It has also been alleged that Sameer Wankhede’s some henchmen used to provide drugs to him so that drugs could be shown on the arrested accused in false cases. This unidentified NCB employee has alleged in his letter that Riya Chakraborty and Shobhik Chakraborty were implicated unreasonably. It has also been said in the letter that when the people of NCB used to go to the houses of the accused of search, they used to rob them of money and gold ornaments besides extorting money from them.

The letter also mentions implicating Nawab Malik’s son-in-law Sameer Khan in a false case. NCB arrested Sameer Khan by showing 200 kg of tobacco as ganja. In a way, NCB registered 26 different fake cases in which people were implicated in false cases and sent to jail. Above all lakhs of rupees were also collected from all these people to ease the case. If this letter has to be believed then, there is a serious concern. Hope the investigating agencies conduct their unbiased inquiries and expose the wrongdoing of NCB officers.

Should Nawab Malik resign? Wankhede has shared the caste certificate, family tree, birth certificate

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Afternoon Voice

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October 27, 2021

“If the evidence presented by me turns out to be false, I will resign and retire from politics,” said Nawab Malik, the minority minister. After the allegations of Nawab Malik, Sameer Wankhede has shared the caste certificate, family tree, birth certificate, Kotwali register copy, family photo. NCP minister challenged NCB officer Sameer Wankhede to produce his original birth certificate, if he dares to do so Malik would resign from active politics.

Minority Minister Nawab Malik has accused NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede, who is probing the Mumbai cruise drugs case, of getting a job through a fake certificate. Following the allegations of Nawab Malik, Sameer Wankhede has issued his father and his caste certificate. In the caste certificate, Sameer’s father is from the Mahar caste that comes to SC. Sameer Wankhede shared caste certificate, genealogy, birth certificate, Kotwali register copy, family photo and said that he did not tamper with any documents.

Nawab Malik said in a press conference today that the certificate shared on his Twitter was the original birth certificate of Wankhede. At the same time, NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede has said that he will come to Mumbai to answer all the allegations made by the minister.

Meanwhile, Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad has given a warning to Marathi actress and Sameer Wankhede’s wife Kranti Redkar who was randomly alleging the government of not allowing her husband to do his duties. Jitendra Awhad said that “when Sameer Wankhede raided a cruise with 4,000 passengers, he found only six people taking drugs. The remaining 3,994 were in order. That’s how I got this question. This action has been taken deliberately.”

Speaking at a press conference, Malik said that if there is a threat to the life of Kranti Redkar and his family, he should meet Home Minister Amit Shah. “I demand that Amit Shah provide Z security to Wankhede’s family,” Malik said. He further stated that “If the allegations in the certificate are false, I will retire from politics. And if it turns out to be false, at least they should apologize. His job is about to go”.

“My name is Dnyandev Wankhede on the service book. The name of Dnyandev Wankhede is also mentioned in all my government documents” said Sameer Wankhede’s father while talking to the media.

Sameer Wankhede said “Yes, I got married in a Muslim way because my mother wanted me to. My mother was a Muslim by birth and she converted to Hinduism by marrying my father. I am a secular person. I celebrate Eid and I also celebrate Diwali. I also go to temples and mosques. I have registered the marriage as per the Special Marriage Act after getting married as per the custom of the Muslim religion, as per the wishes of the mother. So, is this a crime? ”

Meanwhile, speaking about Sameer Wankhede’s certificate, BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar made the comment that 90,000 people have started working on bogus certificates in the state. To which Awhad said “This means that he has accepted that Sameer Wankhede’s certificate is bogus. If they are agreeing, then the role of the BJP is clear. “I congratulate them for that.”

Pegasus snooping attempt to ‘crush’ Indian democracy: Rahul Gandhi

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Afternoon Voice

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October 27, 2021

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday termed as a “big step” the Supreme Court appointing a three-member panel of cyber experts to probe the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus for surveillance of certain people and expressed confidence that truth would come out.

At a press conference, Gandhi alleged that only the prime minister or the home minister could have ordered the use of Pegasus spyware.

During the last Parliament session, the Opposition had jointly taken up the issue and had stalled proceedings demanding a probe, he recalled.

“We were asking three basic questions — who authorised Pegasus, which agency, which person authorised Pegasus as we all know Pegasus cannot be bought by a private individual, it has to be bought by a government; the second question was who was it used against; final thing was, did any other country have access to information of our people,” the former Congress chief said.

Asserting that alleged snooping using Pegasus is an “attempt to crush Indian democracy”, Gandhi said it is a “big step that the Supreme Court has said that they are going to look into this matter. I am confident that we will get the truth out of this”.

“We are quite happy that the Supreme Court has accepted to look into this. There is the institution of Parliament where we will raise this again and we will try to have a debate in Parliament. I am sure the BJP will not like that debate so they will make sure that debate is stalled but we will try to hold that debate,” he said.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday appointed a three-member panel of cyber experts to probe the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus for surveillance of certain people in India, saying every citizen needs protection against privacy violation and mere invocation of ”national security by State” does not render the court a “mute spectator”.

Finding material that “prima facie merits consideration”, a bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli declined the Centre’s plea to appoint an expert panel on its own, saying such a course would violate the settled judicial principle against bias.

Three experts on cyber security, digital forensics, networks and hardware were roped in by the Supreme Court to “enquire, investigate and determine” whether Pegasus spyware was used for snooping on citizens and their probe would be monitored by former apex court judge R V Raveendran.

The three-member technical panel, which has been given wide-ranging powers, would comprise eminent experts, Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, Prabaharan P and Ashwin Anil Gumaste and report to Justice Raveendran.

Mental Health among Indian Journalists is predominant

By

Vaidehi Taman

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October 27, 2021

media reporters, indian journalists, journalists, mental health, mental health of journalists, reporters, media in india — Image: Bhanu Prakash Chandra / TheWeek

Journalism is not a very easy profession but it’s somewhat voracious work. It involves a lot of legwork; the routine challenge begins with traffic on the way to your beat by the time you reach your workstation one is almost exhausted. We don’t even know what kind of atmosphere one has at home, what are the routine snags one has in their life. Sometimes you would be late, or worse, miss out on special family gatherings. There can be physical and emotional challenges too. But still, no matter what you have to be a hundred per cent with your deadlines.

Journalism work is hectic, sometimes even toxic. There would be times it will raid you of your personal time. Sometimes it’s a thankless job. you would be blamed for social misery and the ills of the world in general. Journalism may not be all that glamorous a job. You will sweat in your pits and on your back under the sun. You would get wet in the rain. You might also get harassed for some reason. Workplace hierarchy is another issue. Pleasing your bosses, dealing with lobby and fortuitous things is another issue. This may not be in all places but yes most of the media houses are cursed with such occurrences.

Journalism might have some perks but this job doesn’t pay much, especially if you are working in a small newspaper or establishment. With minimum staff, one has to give maximum output. Yes, there is stress and dealing with it is not easy. The glory of the byline makes you run to polls and above all compete with your own peers to get that visibility. That exclusive task gives an unlimited load for the story. It’s a tough time to be a journalist, but journalism is still one of the noblest professions.

These days journalism has become loud, unbalanced and stressful. In the greed of getting headlines, one has to be on toes searching for some breaking news. Sometimes sensation grabs all the limelight and most crucial stories take a backseat. Balancing between the scoop and factual is tough. Occasionally, if you are lucky, your well-written/edited news or feature articles would trigger the formulation of public policy that would pave the way for social change in a community.

Your decision would depend mainly on your values and priority in life. If you want to get rich, honest and neutral journalism may not seem the best option. If you are the type who puts greater weight on using writing skills and communication, endorsing government and certain personalities than pursuing fame and fortune, journalism might prove a wise choice.

You might also want to consider the fact that there will come a time in your life as a journalist that your values and priorities would change, and so you would have to re-evaluate your prospects. Today’s journalism is more inspired by Popularity rating and not by the passion to expose the truth. it is more about creating sensation and instigating public sentiments rather than putting forth unbiased news with pure fact.

It is more about getting personal and political favours than making citizens aware of the various political decisions, may it be tax reforms, police reforms, constitutional amendments. Investigation stories are getting fabricated, created to get Pulitzer nominations. Everything is saleable from book reviews to movie reviews. Like any other profession, it is all about money, fame and power. The only difference is journalism has incredible power to influence the masses and has the capability to become change-makers.

Some journalists played significant roles in breaking corrupt governments, unearthing scams and scandals, covering heinous crimes and making the unknown stories of exceptional people known to the world. In developing countries, especially rural masses who have limited access to information and govt schemes, less reach to the rest of the country. Journalism offers them a chance to see the other world. Make stories about their struggle, their innovations. But all in all, journalism has changed from the fourth estate to more of a puppet in the hands of the mighty and powerful.

Due to social media coverage by citizen journalists, there is a lot of competition between mainstream media and social media. From threats towards freedom of the press to low wages and intense work pressure; journalism is one of the professions which is defenceless to negative impacts on mental health. The journalists have to go through various parameters and prove themselves. These days hiring and firing journalists takes no time, demolishing establishments and chasing particular scribes to death is not new. Journalists of India goes through various pressures and that creates anxiety. I am happy that various press unions and clubs are discussing these factors on public forums. Let us see how we can create a better environment for media workers.

Cruise drugs case: Aryan Khan’s bail plea hearing in HC to continue tomorrow

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Afternoon Voice

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October 26, 2021

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing on the bail application of Aryan Khan, and the hearing will continue on Wednesday by Former Attorney General of India Mukul Rohatgi.

The bail hearing of Aryan Khan in the Bombay High Court comes amid the cloud of suspicion that has settled over the Narcotics Control Bureau after allegations of massive lapses in the investigation, extortion and payoffs.

Former Attorney General of India Mukul Rohatgi who is appearing for Aryan Khan’s bail plea in connection with drugs on cruise case began his arguments at Bombay High Court on Tuesday and said that Aryan Khan was invited to cruise as a special guest.

“He (Aryan Khan) was invited to the cruise as a special guest. He was invited by Pratik Gaba who was like an organiser. He invited accused 1 Aryan and accused 2 Arbaz Merchant. Both were invited by the same person. They both landed up together at the cruise terminal,” Rohatgi said in the courtroom.

Rohatgi further attributed NCB’s presence at the cruise to some prior information. “It appears that NCB had some prior information that people on this cruise were having drugs so they were present in a certain strength,” he stated. He that nothing was recovered from Aryan Khan when searches were conducted.

“My client, Arbaz and many others were apprehended. A search was conducted and nothing was recovered from Accused 1 (Aryan Khan). No medical at any point was conducted to ascertain if he has taken any drug,” he added.

Talking about the recovery of six grams of charas from Arbaz Merchant, Rohatgi said that Aryan Khan has no relation with him except for arriving with him there and there was no recovery of drugs from Aryan and no proof of consumption was reported.

“I have nothing to do with the allegations and counter-allegations that are currently on public/social media between Sameer Wankhede and certain political personalities, also have no connection or concern with Prabhakar Sail or (KP) Gosavi,” said Aryan Khan, in an affidavit to the Bombay High Court before a hearing on his request for bail.

He has been in Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail since October 8 and was briefly in the custody of the NCB before that. Aryan Khan’s High Court bail hearing comes amid the cloud of suspicion that has settled over the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) after allegations of massive lapses in the investigation, extortion and payoffs, including an alleged ₹ 8 crore payoff to NCB officer Sameer Wankhede who is leading Aryan Khan’s investigation.

Aryan Khan’s affidavit followed the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB)’s statement to the High Court alleging that his father Shah Rukh Khan’s manager “appeared to have influenced” an independent witness who has alleged payoffs.

In a written reply to the High Court on Sunday, the NCB alleged an “attempt to tamper with the investigation and derail it”. The anti-drugs agency said it needed more time to follow what is called the “international drug connection of Aryan Khan” revealed in the investigation. “The same is being investigated and as per stipulated guidelines, sufficient time is required to properly unearth this international drug connection,” said the NCB.

“Further, considering the influential position Aryan Khan holds in the society, he may tamper with the evidence and influence other witnesses whom he personally knows is very much possible,” the agency told the High Court.

The accusation against Shah Rukh Khan’s manager Pooja Dadlani as agency opposes Aryan Khan’s bail plea.

Opposing bail for Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) alleged in a statement to the Bombay High Court that his manager Pooja Dadlani “appeared to have influenced” a witness. In its written reply to the High Court yesterday, the NCB alleged an “attempt to tamper with the investigation and derail it”.

The details of the reply emerged just before the High Court hearing on the bail request of Aryan Khan, who has been in jail since October 8 in the drugs-on-cruise case. The NCB refers to the allegations of a witness, Prabhakar Sail, who has alleged in an affidavit that Kiran Gosavi, the private investigator whose selfie with Aryan Khan went viral and threw up questions, had planned to demand Rs 25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan’s manager Pooja Dadlani to settle the case. Of this, he has alleged, Rs 8 crore was meant for Sameer Wankhede, the NCB officer leading the investigation.

Rahul Dravid applies for Team India head coach post, VVS Laxman likely to take over at NCA

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Afternoon Voice

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October 26, 2021

Celebrated former captain Rahul Dravid is all but certain to be the Indian cricket team’s next head coach after he formally applied for the high-profile position on Tuesday.

With Dravid, the current head of National Cricket Academy applying, the job for the Cricket Advisory Committee becomes easier as there aren’t any big names in the fray who can match the batting great’s stature.

Also, it is reliably learnt that he is the first and only choice of BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah.

“Yes, Rahul has formally applied today as it’s the last day of the deadline. His team at the NCA, bowling coach Paras (Mhambrey) and fielding coach Abhay (Sharma) have already applied. His application was just a formality,” a senior BCCI official told PTI on Tuesday.

Dravid had recently met the BCCI brass in Dubai on the sidelines of the IPL final between Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings where Ganguly and Shah spoke to him about taking up the position once Ravi Shastri steps down at the end of India’s campaign in the ICC T20 World Cup.

Under Dravid, a new era in Indian cricket will start with the home series against New Zealand where he will take charge with a new T20 captain, which in all likelihood, will be Rohit Sharma.

Laxman in the fray for NCA, Kumble could be sounded out

Former India batting great VVS Laxman could again be back in the fray to head the National Cricket Academy in case the post falls vacant in the coming days. It is learnt from sources that Laxman might not continue as the mentor of IPL side Sunrisers Hyderbad and in case, he is selected, he would also have to leave his media commitments including commentary and writing columns.

The national coach and the NCA head are expected to work in close coordination keeping the interests of Indian cricket in mind.

It is understood that Dravid and Laxman, who have had a close bond since the time they played for South Zone and subsequently for India for close to a decade and a half, would be a perfect choice.

The other aspect that needs to be chalked out is the fact that Laxman is a resident of Hyderabad, where he has a young family with children just in their teens and also old parents.

Laxman, it is learnt, was reluctant to take up the NCA Director of Cricket offer but BCCI would once again be approaching him.

In case he again turns down the offer, they would have to look for other options. Anil Kumble is another big name but it remains to be seen whether the BCCI would approach the former India captain.

The NCA role worked well for Dravid as he is a Bengaluru resident.

In the case of Laxman, if he has to stay in Bengaluru for a minimum of 200 days a year, it is like temporarily shifting base and his remuneration also needs to be chalked out.

Sonia Gandhi asks Congress leaders to frame policies to percolate down party’s messages to grassroot level

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Afternoon Voice

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October 26, 2021

Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday stated that the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) releases important and detailed statements every day over the issues in the country but it fails to percolate down to the party’s grassroots cadres at the block and district level and she asked party leaders to frame policies over the matter.

Addressing the General Secretaries, In-Charges and PCC President of the party, during a meeting at the party headquarter here, Sonia Gandhi said, “The AICC releases important and detailed statements almost every day on issues that the nation is facing. But it is my experience that they do not percolate down to our grassroots cadres at the block and district level. There are policy issues on which I find a lack of clarity and cohesion even amongst our state-level leaders.”

She also asked the party leaders to train the workers to take on the unceasing onslaught of malicious disinformation campaigns at the behest of the BJP and RSS. “You must train our workers to take on the unceasing onslaught of malicious disinformation campaigns at the behest of the BJP/RSS. And you must train our people to fight it while upholding and projecting the core Congress ideology,” the Congress interim President said.

Launching a scathing attack on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government in the Centre, the senior leader said, “The Modi Government has sought to erode our institutions so it may evade accountability.” “Our own history bears witness to the fact that if an organisation is to succeed against injustice and inequality. If it is to effectively champion the rights of the marginalised, it must become a widespread agitation down to the grassroots,” she said.

Terming the new members in the party as the “lifeblood” of any political movement, the senior Congress leader said, “Young men and women across the nation seek a movement to give voice to their aspirations. It is our duty to provide them with a platform, as we have done for generations past.” Sonia Gandhi also gave emphasis on identifying and assigning Congress leaders and office bearers for the task of enrolling members in the party in a transparent fashion. She also talked about the training programmes for the party workers.

“You must ensure the clear delineation of the responsibilities of these individuals at the state, district, block, ward and village level. This is a vital responsibility that you are entrusted with,” she said. “Training programmes for our workers are therefore an absolute necessity. I want to emphasise that you should take it on priority. The fight to defend our democracy, our Constitution and the Congress Party’s ideology begins with being fully prepared to identify and counter false propaganda,” she added.

Earlier in the day, Sonia Gandhi presided over a meeting with core party leaders to discuss the upcoming Assembly elections to Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa, among other issues. The meeting was held at party headquarters.

Hardik Pandya’s shoulder injury “not serious” but team management will “wait and watch”

By

Afternoon Voice

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October 26, 2021

hardik pandya, hardik, shoulder injury, t20, t20 world cup, t20 wc Flamboyant India all-rounder Hardik Pandya’s shoulder injury sustained during the T20 World Cup opener against Pakistan is believed to be a minor one and he is likely to be available for the next game against New Zealand in October 31.

Pandya, who did not bowl in the IPL last month, is playing only as a batter right now and scored 11 off 8 balls on Sunday night, looking distinctly uncomfortable against pacers before being hit on the shoulder by a short ball.

“Yes, Hardik’s scan reports have come and the injury is not very serious. Also, the fact that there is a six-day gap between two games gives him enough time to recuperate,” a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

“But obviously, the medical team would wait and watch as to how he shapes up during the training sessions,” he added.

Pandya had recently said that he would be bowling during the knock-out stages but India’s chances hinge on the New Zealand game. Losing the match would seriously jeopardise their prospects of going ahead in the tournament.

The games against Scotland, Namibia and Afghanistan are expected to be easy wins for India, Pakistan and New Zealand.

Therefore, if India loses to New Zealand, it will hamper their chances of making it to the top two in the group.

In this scenario, Pandya’s fitness issues have seriously affected India’s balance.

In fact, there are questions being raised about the chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma assertions that Pandya will be bowling in the IPL to gear up for the World Cup.

He didn’t bowl an over and the communication on Pandya’s fitness status between the team management and selectors seems baffling at this time.

There have been conflicting reports about when he would start bowling.

Before the Pakistan game, the player said that he would perhaps bowl in the knock-outs but the statement did not look convincing.

Lakhimpur violence: Supreme Court directs UP govt to grant protection to witnesses

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Afternoon Voice

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October 26, 2021

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to grant protection to the witnesses of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case in which eight people including four farmers were killed during a farmers’ protest.

A bench headed by Chief justice N V Ramana asked the Uttar Pradesh government, represented by senior advocates Harish Salve and Garima Prasad, to record the statements of other relevant witnesses before judicial magistrates under section 164 of the CrPC.

“We direct the district judge concerned to entrust the task of recording of evidence under section 164 of the CrPC to the nearest judicial magistrates available,” said the bench which also comprised justices, Surya Kant and Hima Kohli.

The bench asked Salve to convey its concerns to forensic labs and experts on the preparation of reports on the electronic evidence of the incident.

The top court, meanwhile, asked the state government to also file its report on two complaints including the one related to the lynching of a journalist.

“The state is directed to file separate replies in the cases,” the bench said and fixed the plea for further hearing on November 8.

Observing that the probe into the Lakhimpur Kheri violence should not be an “unending storey”, the Supreme Court on October 20 had rapped the government, saying the court was getting the impression that the state police was dragging its feet, and also ordered the protection of witnesses.