Archives for August 2021

Mumbai: A head constable with the Mumbai police department, who had been posted as megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s bodyguard since 2015, was transferred amid reports of him allegedly earning Rs 1.5 crore annually, an official said on Friday.

The head constable, Jitendra Shinde, has been moved to D B Marg Police Station in South Mumbai as part of a routine transfer, the official said.

He was transferred 15 days ago and it was officially published in a police notice at that time, he said.

Bachchan has been provided ‘X’ category security by the Mumbai police. Shinde became a part of that security cover after he was given the responsibility of being the actor’s bodyguard in 2015, the official added.

As per the guidelines, a police constable cannot continue on the same post beyond five years, he said.

A media report published recently claimed that Shinde earned Rs 1.5 crore annual income while being posted as the superstar’s bodyguard.

Sources in the police department said that Shinde is one of the trusted bodyguards and could be spotted with Bachchan as part of his security cover.

Shinde’s wife runs an agency, which provides security guards to prominent personalities, they said.

The sources added that the state government was also verifying whether Shinde had provided the details of his assets to the police department.

Allahabad,: The Allahabad High Court on Thursday quashed criminal proceedings against paediatrician Kafeel Khan over an anti-CAA speech made by him at Aligarh Muslim University due to lack of necessary sanction from the government.

A single judge bench of Justice Gautam Chaudhary set aside a charge sheet and cognisance order passed against Khan, noting that the requisite sanction was not taken by district magistrate from central and state governments under Section 196(A) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

However, he made it clear that the charge sheet and its cognisance may be taken by the court after mandatory sanction is granted by the central as well as the state governments.

The charge sheet and cognisance order was passed against Khan by the Aligarh Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) in a case wherein Khan had allegedly delivered an inflammatory speech during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at AMU in 2019.

Following the event, an FIR was lodged against Khan under Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 505(2) (statement creating or promoting, enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) and 109 (abetment of offence) of the IPC.

Consequently, he was arrested. Police submitted the charge sheet before the Aligarh court on March 16, 2020 and the Chief Judicial Magistrate took its cognisance on July 28, 2020. Khan then filed a petition challenging it.

According to Section 196(A) of the CrPC, no court shall take cognisance of any offence under Section 153A of the IPC, except with the previous sanction of the central government or state government or the district magistrate.

Reacting to the development, Dr Kafeel Khan said, “This is a big victory for the people of India and restores our faith in judiciary.”

“Yogi Adityanath government’s high-handedness towards people of Uttar Pradesh has been completely exposed by this ruling of the honorable Allahabad High Court,” he said.

“We also hope this brave judgment will give hope to all pro-democracy citizens and activists languishing in jails across India. Long live Indian democracy,”he added.

MUMBAI: A head constable with the Mumbai police department, who had been posted as megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s bodyguard since 2015, was transferred amid reports of him allegedly earning Rs 1.5 crore annually, an official said on Friday.

He was transferred 15 days ago and it was officially published in a police notice at that time, he said.

Bachchan has been provided ‘X’ category security by the Mumbai police.

Shinde became a part of that security cover after he was given the responsibility of being the actor’s bodyguard in 2015, the official added.

As per the guidelines, a police constable cannot continue on the same post beyond five years, the he said.

A media report published recently claimed that Shinde earned Rs 1.5 crore annual income while being posted as the superstar’s bodyguard.

Sources in the police department said that Shinde is one of the trusted bodyguards and could be spotted with Bachchan as part of his security cover.

Shinde’s wife runs an agency, which provides security guards to prominent personalities, they said.

The sources added that the state government was also verifying whether Shinde had provided the details of his assets to the police department.

NEW DELHI: In a bid to promote electric vehicles in the country, Power Minister R K Singh has urged all union ministers and chief ministers to switch over to electric vehicles for all official purposes.

According to a power ministry statement, Singh has shot off letters to his union cabinet colleagues as well as all chief ministers in this regard.

The Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy has written to all the Union Ministers including the Minister of States (Independent Charge) and Chief Ministers of all the States/UTs to join the government’s initiative on transformative mobility, as per the statement.

The minister has also asked the union ministers and chief ministers to advise their respective ministries/departments to convert their fleet of official vehicles from present Internal Combustion Engine (ICE)/Petrol/Diesel Vehicles to Electric Vehicles for all official purposes, it said.

Such an action is expected to set an example for the general public and encourage them to switch over to E-Mobility, it added.

The initiative is part of ongoing “GO ELECTRIC CAMPAIGN” launched by the government to promote Electric Vehicles to meet multiple objectives – attaining the goal of reduction in emission, energy security, energy efficiency etc.

MUMBAI:  For a party that opposes the RSS ideology tooth and nail, Congress’ Maharashtra unit’s list of big-ticket office bearers released on Thursday night was heavy on people who switched from the saffron brigade, drawing discordant noises, especially from state president Nana Patole. The list was approved by Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi.

No sooner had the list surfaced than Patole rushed to Delhi, fearful that it may trigger a meltdown among the loyal cadre. On Friday, Patole complained to the central leadership that his recommendations were discarded in favour of those the party has steadfastly opposed. 

Patole’s fears have solid ground as on the list of office bearers is Akola’s Abhay Patil, who has been named general secretary of Maharashtra Congress. Patil is a hardcore RSS man and has shared the dais with Mohan Bhagwat on more occasions than one. His name was doing the rounds for a ticket in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, but was dropped after a background check that revealed his leanings. 

When contacted, Patil told this daily that he distanced himself from RSS after it tilted towards hardliners. Son of a former regional president of Vishawa Hindu Parishad, Patil said: “I grew up being close to the RSS ideology. However, the organisation is rife with casteism.

Elite communities are chosen for leadership, while those from other castes are asked to do the spadework. When I realised that RSS’s divisive ideology was not good for the country, I chose a secular party for the larger interests of society.” Another man with RSS credentials on the list is Ajit Apate, who, too, has been appointed general secretary.

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NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Saturday came down heavily on Punjabi singer and actor Yo Yo Honey Singh for not appearing before it in a domestic violence case filed by his wife.

Expressing displeasure, the court told Singh’s lawyer, “Honey Singh has not appeared. You have not filed his income affidavit and are not prepared with the arguments.” The metropolitan magistrate gave Singh one last opportunity to appear before the court and asked him not to repeat this conduct again.

Shalini Talwar has filed a domestic violence case against her singer-actor husband and sought Rs 20 crore as compensation from him under the Protection of Women From Domestic Violence Act.

Advocate Ishan Mukherjee, appearing for Singh, filed a reply to her complaint and apprised the court that she has already taken all the valuables with her, including jewellery, and can come to reside at her in-laws’ home in Noida in 15 days.

“We are ready to accommodate her. We will build a wall. It can be provided to her in 15 days,” Mukherjee said, adding that Singh has two properties costing around Rs 4 crores, of which property worth Rs 1 crore belongs to Shalini Talwar.

Hirdesh Singh, known professionally as Yo Yo Honey Singh, and Talwar tied the knot on January 23, 2011. In her plea, Talwar charted out how she was physically assaulted by Singh over the last 10 years.

She has also alleged that Honey Singh cheated on her. The 38-year-old woman claimed that she was subjected to numerous incidents of physical, verbal, mental, and emotional abuse at the hands of her husband and his family.

Talwar alleged that Singh and his family broke her mentally and emotionally to the extent that she almost started identifying herself as a “farm animal”.

MEXICO CITY: An all-woman Afghan robotics team known as the “Afghan Dreamers” are now safe in Mexico, and say they want to help others who remain in their country after the Taliban takeover.

“Many people are leaving, but there are still girls who have dreams, there are also people who have dreams, and we want countries around the world to help Afghanistan to have peace over there so that the girls over there can have the opportunities to continue their path as well.”

The four women, accompanied by a sister and another man, arrived Tuesday after travelling through six countries to reach Mexico.

They fled Afghanistan after the takeover of the country earlier this month by the Taliban, who have been hostile to women working or going to school after a certain age.

They said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press that they intended to keep working, and save those who were left behind.

“The reason that we left was that we didn’t want our history to be ended by Taliban,” said Saghar.

“We wanted to continue the path that we started to continue to go for our achievements and to go for having our dreams through reality. So that’s why we decided to leave Afghanistan and go for somewhere safe.”

Saghar, 17, who along with her teammates has competed in robotics competitions and won an award in 2017.

The young women, who have embroidered team uniforms, had won international attention, and had recently taken on the challenge of constructing ventilators out of car parts for COVID-19 patients.

But their very success made it dangerous for them in Afghanistan.

“The situation outside of our homes were really high, risky, and even especially for our team who have been, you know, has a high profile, status and achievement and which is not something that is in favor of the Taliban regime,” said Saghar.

The young women had decided to flee a month or two before their western city of Herat fell to the Taliban in early August; the tension had become unbearable.

“We were so stressed out we couldn’t eat and sleep well for many days,” said Saghar.

“And we were like, even crying many times and sitting together and crying and thinking about what a solution can we have.”

Mexico’s interior secretary, Olga Sánchez Cordero, said Wednesday that Mexico would grant asylum “to those Afghan citizens who require it.”

It is unclear how many more Afghans will be able to get out.

Mexico welcomed another group of 124 Afghan media workers and their families Wednesday after the group fled their country because of the Taliban takeover.

The Foreign Relations Department said the Afghans had worked for The New York Times and “various media outlets” and had requested humanitarian visas because of the Taliban’s hostility toward journalists.

Mexico’s offer of safe haven to Afghan journalists is a sharp contrast in a country that is unable to protect its own reporters.

But Mexico said the Afghan Dreamers will be allowed to choose where they want to go, which country they choose to seek asylum in, and what they want to do.

“Mexico is not expecting them to stay or go, but rather that they decide what they want to do,” said Assistant Foreign Relations Secretary Martha Delgado.

For now, the young women are thinking about everything they had to leave behind, and all the other Afghans condemned to live under the Taliban’s harsh rules.

“It was really quite hard when we decided to leave Afghanistan because we left our beloved ones over there, our home, our memories, and everything over there,” Saghar said.

“We, you know, saved our selves from that situation, we had calls from the children and our families saying that please save us the same as you did for yourself.”

“We hope that we find a way to help them as well,” she said.