Archives for December 2023

New Delhi : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had demonstrated his Jiu-Jitsu skills while engaging in a martial art bout with wrestler Bajrang Punia during his visit to the Virendra Akhara in Haryana’s Jhajjar district amid the row over Wrestling Federation of India elections.

Gandhi had a practice session with the wrestlers and displayed the Japanese martial art skills to them during the early morning visit on Wednesday.

In a video uploaded by Bajrang on ‘X’ on Thursday, Gandhi can be seen showing the ‘locks’ and ‘chokes’ technique in Jiu-Jitsu as he pinned Olympic Games bronze medallist Bajrang down on the mat.

Jiu-jitsu is a Japanese martial art form and a close combat sport.

The former Congress president also learnt some of the wrestling moves such as ‘dhobi pachaad’ and ‘dhak’ with Bajrang explaining him the difference between wrestling on the mud and on mat.

Gandhi is known to have an inclination towards combat sports and is also trained in Aikido, a modern Japanese martial art form.

According to Rahul’s aikido coach Sensei Paritos Kar, the Congress MP appeared for a test in 2013 which he passed and was subsequently awarded the black belt.

Gandhi had breakfast with the wrestlers during his meeting with them. He had milk, ‘bajre ki roti’ and ‘saag’ and was also offered some locally-grown vegetables which he took along with him.

“Today Rahul ji came to our akhada and we felt really good, he came to see how the wrestlers live and train and everyone was very happy,” Bajrang said in the video.

“He (Gandhi) said he practices Jiu-Jitsu, he was telling us the moves and how it starts and I showed the basics of our game like ‘dhobi pachaad’ and ‘dhak’.”

Dhobi pachaad is a famous move in which a wrestler lifts his opponent on the shoulders and then slams him to the mat, and in dhak, the wrestler holds his opponent in a headlock before throwing him to the ground.

Gandhi’s visit to the wrestling academy came days after Punia, who has been at the forefront of the protests against former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, returned his Padma Shri to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Punia took the decision following the election of Brij Bhushan’s close aide Sanjay Singh as the president of the WFI. The government suspended the new committee last Sunday.

“If we don’t raise the voice of our daughters and such people continue to curb them, then no daughter or sister will be able to raise their concerns in future in our country,” Bajrang said.

“I didn’t wan’t to leave it (Padma Shri).. if our sisters and daughters are not safe then what I will do with these laurels. They are our pride, if they are safe then we will get our pride on its own.”

On December 21, Sanjay was elected as the WFI president as the panel led by the close aide of Brij Bhushan won 13 of the 15 posts.

The wrestlers had demanded that no close associate of Brij Bhushan should enter the WFI administration.

Following the election, Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik announced that she would quit the sport, while World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat returned her Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award to the government in protest against Sanjay’s election.

Bajrang, Vinesh and Sakshi had led the five-month-long protest of wrestlers at Jantar Mantar after accusing former WFI chief Brij Bhushan of sexually exploiting several women grapplers.

Hours after getting elected as WFI President on Thursday, Sanjay Singh had announced that age group national championships will be held from December 28 in Gonda, UP.

It prompted the Sports Ministry to suspend the newly-elected panel for not following the provisions of its own constitution while taking decisions. Also, it asked the IOA to constitute an ad-hoc panel to manage the affairs of the sports body.

New Delhi: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was elected Janata Dal (United) president at the party’s national executive meeting here on Friday, with incumbent Lalan Singh stepping down and proposing his name, party leader K C Tyagi said.

The national council meeting of the party, scheduled to be held later in the day, is likely to ratify decisions taken in the executive meeting.

Sources said most key leaders within the party were of the view that Kumar being its most prominent face should take charge of the organisation at this crucial time in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls in 2024.

The party is part of the opposition INDIA bloc.

Singh’s leadership style was also criticised by several leaders within the party in their recent interactions with Kumar, the sources said.

Jerusalem (AP): The Israeli-Hamas war has already driven around 85% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people from their homes, levelling the northern part of the territory and heightening fears about a similar fate for the south as Israel’s air and ground offensive widened Friday.

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have streamed into the town of Rafah in the southernmost end of Gaza in recent days, according to the United Nations, crowding into an already overwhelmed area of the embattled territory.

More than 20,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children, have been killed since the start of the war, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants among the dead.

Currently:

Israeli strikes across Gaza kill dozens of Palestinians, even in largely emptied north

As Gaza war grinds on, tensions soar along Israel’s volatile northern border with Lebanon

Number of wounded Israeli soldiers grows, representing a hidden cost of war

On foot and by donkey cart, thousands flee widening Israeli assault in central Gaza

New Delhi: Delhi Police has sought the help of its Lucknow counterparts to trace a “cyclist cobbler” who created cavities in the shoes of Parliament security breach case accused Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D to fit smoke canisters in them, sources said.

Police want to make the cobbler a witness in the case, they said.

Sagar first tried to modify the shoes himself but approached the cobbler, who visited Alambagh in Lucknow on a bicycle, after he was unsuccessful, the Delhi Police sources said.

A Delhi Police team visited Lucknow to search for the cobbler earlier this month.

In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack on December 13, Sagar and Manoranjan jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow smoke from canisters and shouted slogans before they were overpowered by some of the MPs.

They gained entry into the Parliament using visitors’ passes facilitated by two-term Lok Sabha member from Mysuru Pratap Simha.

During interrogation, Sagar revealed that he tried to design shoes with a cavity after he found out that they were not checked during entry into the Parliament, the sources said.

“When he did not succeed in his attempts, he went to a cobbler in Alambagh. He has told the interrogators that he bought two pairs of shoes for Rs 595 each from a shop near his house and approached the cobbler, who visited Alambagh on a bicycle,” a source said.

“The cavity was found created by cutting the inside sole of the left shoe. The thickness of the sole of shoes is also found increased by affixing additional rubber sole at the bottom to support the cavity. The inside sole of the right foot shoe was also found partly cut,” according to the FIR.

A team of the Delhi Police Special Cell visited Lucknow earlier this month to search for the cobbler but was unable to trace him. The team also questioned several cobblers in Alambagh based on disclosures made by Sagar during his interrogation, the sources said.

Delhi Police wants to make the cobbler a witness in the case and is now taking the help of its Lucknow counterparts to find him, they said.

During its visit, the team recovered a pair of shoes, shoe soles and a ruler for measuring shoe size from Sagar’s house in Ramnagar in Lucknow’s Alambagh, according to the sources.

A diary and some books on freedom fighter Bhagat Singh were also recovered from his house.

Sagar’s family has told the investigators that he admires Bhagat Singh. His social media profile also showed that he used to share content related to Bhagat Singh and Cuban Marxist revolutionary leader Che Guevara.

Earlier, police said the accused persons in the Parliament security breach case wanted to replicate Bhagat Singh’s act of throwing bombs inside the Central Assembly during British rule in India.

A class 12 pass-out, Sagar worked as an e-rickshaw driver in Lucknow. His father Roshan Lal Sharma is a carpenter and his mother is a housewife.

The police team has already recorded the statements of Sagar’s family members, friends and the owner of the shop from where he bought the shoes.

Besides Sagar and Manoranjan, Delhi Police have arrested four people — Neelam, Amol Shinde, Lalit Jha and Mahesh Kumawat — in the Parliament security breach case.

All six have been booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Davanagere (KTK): Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday said the BJP national leadership will decide whether to take action against senior party MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, who has been publicly making statements and allegations against party’s state leaders.

He also urged partymen and leaders to raise their issues with national president J P Nadda or other central leaders and stop airing their concerns in public or before the media.

“He (Yatnal) is a sitting legislator, our national president and national unit will decide on whether to call and talk to him or take action,” Joshi said in response to a question whether there will be any action against Yatnal.

Yatnal, a former union minister and a known bete noire of former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has been publicly making allegations against the veteran leader and his son B Y Vijayendra for some time now. He had even openly criticised the party’s decision to appoint Vijayendra as its state president.

Yatnal had recently alleged that funds to the tune of Rs 40,000 crore was misappropriated at the time of Covid-19, during the previous BJP regime, under the leadership of then Chief Minister Yediyurappa

A section of party leaders have been demanding action against Yatnal.

Responding to another query about voices in the party that Yediyurappa camp has had an upper hand with respect to appointment of state office bearers, as his confidants have been appointed, Joshi said, “everyone in the party belong to BJP, and there is nothing like — someone is close to someone, while others are not.”

“If anyone has any issues or concerns they can bring it to the notice of the state president, and if it cannot be shared with the state president, it can be discussed with the national president. Instead, making open statements will not be good for the party. I want to tell all those making public statements that if they consider the party’s interest, stop making open statements; it’s not right,” he added.

Noting that the party’s national leadership has newly appointed a young state president (Vijayendra), Joshi, a Member of Parliament from Dharwad constituency, said, the appointment was made by the national president in consultation with the PM and other leaders, and it’s the decision of the central unit of the party.

Amethi (UP): Union Minister Smriti Irani Friday alleged that former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi ignored the development of Amethi, a constituency he represented in the Lok Sabha for 15 years, but built a guest house for himself.

During an interaction with people in Munshiganj here, the villagers drew her attention to the drainage.

Irani, a Lok Sabha MP of the BJP from Amethi, said, “It has only been four-and-a-half years for me. Rahul Gandhi has been MP for 15 years but he did not pay any attention to this. He did not even think about development and only built his guest house in Munshiganj.

“His government was at the Center for 10 years but he did not even think about the development of Amethi. Here, work was being done only on paper. Rahul Gandhi could not even build a drain properly in Amethi,” she said.

The Union minister said that under the BJP government, work has been done on the ground in Amethi and development works were being done at a rapid pace. Amethi is moving forward on the path of continuous development, she stressed.

During her visit to the constituency, Irani listened to the problems of the people through public dialogue programmes in Ramdevpur, Munshiganj, Sarai Khema, Loniapur, and Pithipur and directed the officials concerned to solve the issues.

Her plan to return to Delhi on Friday has been cancelled and she will continue to tour the constituency on December 30 also.

New Delhi: Gold prices tumbled Rs 350 to Rs 63,950 per 10 grams in the national capital on Friday amid weak cues in global markets, according to HDFC Securities.

In the previous trade, the precious metal had closed at Rs 64,300 per 10 grams.

Silver also plummeted Rs 1,000 to Rs 78,500 per kilogram, while it had settled at Rs 79,500 per kg in the previous close.

Meanwhile, in the futures trade, the February contract of gold declined Rs 244 to Rs 63,145 per 10 grams on the MCX. Also, the March contract of silver plunged Rs 1,166 to Rs 73,793 per kilogram on the bourse.

In the overseas markets, gold and silver were trading lower at USD 2,070 per ounce and USD 23.80 per ounce, respectively.

Spot gold at Comex was trading at USD 2,070 per ounce, down by USD 10 from the previous close in the international markets.

Comex gold dropped as traders locked profit after the precious metal prices hit a three-week high in the previous session, HDFC Securities’ Senior Analyst of Commodities Saumil Gandhi said.

Following a recovery in the dollar and rising US Treasury yields are also additional factors that weighed down on the yellow metal, Gandhi added.

Cape Town: India’s fast bowler Avesh Khan has been drafted into the Test squad for the upcoming match against South Africa in Cape Town. The second Test is scheduled to commence on January 3, and Avesh Khan’s inclusion follows the absence of Mohammed Shami, who was ruled out due to fitness concerns.

Avesh Khan, who marked his ODI and T20I debuts last year, showcased his prowess during the ODI series in South Africa this month, securing six wickets in three matches. The Madhya Pradesh pacer has a commendable record in first-class cricket, boasting 149 wickets in 38 matches, including seven five-wicket hauls.

India faced a setback in the first Test in Centurion, losing by an innings. Following Shami’s unavailability, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) opted for Avesh Khan as the replacement, hoping to strengthen the bowling unit for the upcoming fixture.

New Delhi : A Delhi court on Friday extended by one day the ED custody of three vivo-India executives in connection with a money laundering case against the Chinese smartphone maker and others.

The court extended the custody of Interim CEO of vivo-India Hong Xuquan alias Terry, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Harinder Dahiya and consultant Hemant Munjal on an application moved by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The ED had sought further custody of the accused for four days but the court granted only one more day for their custodial interrogation.

The accused were produced before the court on expiry of their six-day ED custody.

The accused were taken into custody again under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The federal agency had earlier arrested four people — mobile company Lava International’s MD Hari Om Rai, Chinese national Guangwen alias Andrew Kuang, and chartered accountants Nitin Garg and Rajan Malik — in the case.

They are in judicial custody at present.

The ED had filed a charge-sheet against these four in a special PMLA court in Delhi. The court recently took cognisance of the charge-sheet.

New Delhi: Congress’s National Alliance Committee, set up to facilitate seat-sharing talks with allies, will hold meetings with party leaders from the states here on Friday and Saturday, and the negotiations with the allies will formally start next week after the panel submits a report to party chief Mallikarjun Kharge.

With the clock ticking for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and preparations taking shape for the party’s “Bharat Nyay Yatra”, the Congress, which sounded its poll bugle at a rally in Nagpur on Thursday, is set to hold a series of high-level meetings.

According to sources, Kharge held an interaction with the Congress general secretaries in-charge of all states after the rally at Nagpur on Thursday evening and discussed the upcoming polls and organisational issues.

The five-member National Alliance Committee of the Congress is scheduled to hold meetings on Friday and Saturday with leaders from the states where the party is likely to contest the general election in an alliance with other INDIA bloc constituents.

The committee will then submit a report to the party president, providing details for the negotiation, including listing out the seats where the Congress is in a strong position.

The sources added that while in some states, talks with the allies have already started at the local level, the negotiations will formally start next week, after the report is presented. They also said while the equations with other parties may differ in states, the final call on the alliance will be taken from a “national perspective”.

The committee formed last week is headed by senior Congress leader Mukul Wasnik and has Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel, Salman Khurshid and Mohan Prakash as its members.

The first meeting of the party’s manifesto committee for the general election, headed by former Union minister P Chidambaran, is scheduled to be held on January 4.

Kharge, along with former party chief Rahul Gandhi and general secretary K C Venugopal, held a series of meetings with state Congress chiefs and other leaders over the last few days. While broad discussions were held on forming alliances, the meetings largely focused on organisational matters and the strategy for the Lok Sabha polls.

Another meeting will be held on January 4 with party leaders, including Congress chiefs and legislative party leaders from the states through which the “Bharat Nyay Yatra” will pass. The final route of the march will be decided at the meeting.

The detailed route of the yatra will be announced on January 8 while a theme song will be released on January 12.

The sources said the yatris will cover around 120 kilometres a day, including around five to seven km on foot.

A number of public meetings and interactive sessions with locals and marginalised groups have been planned during the yatra.

The “Bharat Nyay Yatra” led by Gandhi will start from Manipur in the east on January 14 and conclude in Mumbai in western India in March. It will cover 14 states and 85 districts.

The march will traverse through Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Leaders from other INDIA bloc parties are also expected to join the yatra, though the plans are yet to be finalised.