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Mirzapur’s Sania: Daughter of TV mechanic who is set to become first Muslim woman IAF pilot

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LUCKNOW: Diligence and determination help realise all dreams, believes Sania Mirza, the daughter of a TV mechanic from Mirzapur, as she has cracked the prestigious NDA exam and will join the Academy in Khadakwasla in Pune on December 27. 

Who is Sania Mirza? First Muslim girl in India to be selected for fighter pilot training

She will be the country’s first Muslim woman and the state’s first IAF pilot.

Hailing from the Jasovar Village in Mirzapur, a backward district of eastern UP and known for its carpets, Sania always dreamt of becoming a fighter pilot in Indian Air Force. She cracked the NDA exam by securing the 149th rank.

“There are only two seats reserved for women in the fighter pilot category. I had attempted earlier also but failed. This was my second attempt and I managed to qualify for it this time,” says Sania with a glint of pride blended with happiness in her eyes.

In the National Defence Academy 2022 examination, there were a total of 400 seats of which 19 seats were reserved for women. Of those 19, two seats were reserved for fighter pilots.

Sania, who considers India’s first woman fighter pilot Flight Lieutenant Avni Chaturvedi of Madhya Pradesh as her role model, has many feathers to her cap.

She studied from primary to Class 10 at Pandit Chintamani Dubey Inter College in the village itself. After that, she attended the Guru Nanak Girls Inter College in Mirzapur city and became the district topper in the 12th UP Board. On April 10, she appeared for the NDA exam.

“I was very much inspired by Flight Lieutenant Avani Chaturvedi and decided to join NDA. I hope the younger generation will someday get inspired by me as well,” says Sania.

Strongly believing that language can never be a barrier on the way to success, Sania, a student of Hindi medium, said that firm determination paved her way to success. “Students having received education in Hindi medium are also capable of following their dreams with success,” she asserts.

Not only her parents, Shahid Ali Mirza and Tabassum Mirza, but the entire village is taking pride in her success. “Sania, after completion of her training successfully at Khadakwala, would be another fighter pilot serving the nation,” says the proud father Shahid Ali.

Soon, the mother, Tabassum Mirza pitches in saying, “Our daughter has made us and the entire village proud. She has pursued her dream with conviction and is an inspiration for every girl in the village to follow their dreams.”

However, Sania has credited her success to her parents and to the Centurion Defence Academy where she learned the trick to crack NDA.

Women have been making a mark and the sky has been the limit for them in the defence sector. Flight Lieutenant Avani Chaturvedi is the country’s first woman combat pilot along with Mohana Singh Jitarwal, and Bhawana Kanth. On the other, Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh, commissioned in 2017, made the country proud as the first Rafale woman fighter pilot.

Two Indian-origin dairy owners’ stores attacked by robbers in New Zealand

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New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern

MELBOURNE: Two dairy stores owned by Indian-origin businesspersons were targeted by armed robbers this week in New Zealand, according to media reports, nearly a month after a businessman of Indian descent was killed in a similar attack.

Ajit Patel, who owns a dairy on Melrose Road, said that five masked men with baseball bats came into his store for about 10 to 15 seconds early on Monday, a report by 1News said.

Patel said the men tried to take the till but did not succeed.

In another attack, a group of people ram-raided Sandra Dairy on Marua Road in Ellerslie and stole several items before fleeing in a second vehicle, said a police spokesperson.

The two shops were among six stores across Auckland and Waikato areas that were targeted by robbers earlier this week.

The country has seen increasing cases of violence and crime against small business owners among which Indian-origin businesses have been the target of many of them.

Last Saturday, four men entered Indian-origin Puneet Singh’s dairy store in Hamilton and cut off two of his fingers with a machete.

Last month, a 34-year-old Indian-origin dairy shop worker, Janak Patel was murdered in Sandringham following which the country erupted in protests.

Following the murder, the New Zealand government announced new measures to combat retail crime – including a fog cannon subsidy scheme open to all small shops and dairies.

Deported Charles Sobhraj will go back to crime: Supercop

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Serial killer Charles Sobhraj

BENGALURU: “Hello Charles!” “Charles? Who? Are you crazy? I am not Charles.” “You remember I had arrested you in 1971. Your game is up, Charles!” These are the famous lines that could turn a crime thriller into a box office hit. Fifteen minutes after Charles Sobhraj – the international criminal – walked into the O’Coqueiro restaurant in Porvorim at 10.30 pm on April 6, 1986, his game was up. His nemesis, the then senior police inspector, Agripada police station, Mumbai, Madhukar Zende had pinned him down and tied him. His men, in mufti, by then had emptied Charles’ revolver. The police recovered $10,000 bills from Charles’ shoes.

“I told the constables in the escort team to not move out of the vehicle or allow Charles to step out even to attend nature’s call. I had given two empty tins to them for the purpose. They were to take the crook to Mumbai where a special aircraft was sent by the Delhi police to take him to Delhi,” reminisced Zende, now 85, and settled in Singapore.

This was the second time that Zende had arrested Sobhraj after November 1971, when the latter had planned to execute a heist at the Air India cash counter office in the New India Assurance building near Flora Fountain in Mumbai. On a tip-off from a petty thief Ajay Parekh, Zende, who was then an inspector at Gamdevi police station, Mumbai, had arrested him.

“Charles had checked in at the Taj Hotel and his five to six accomplices in different hotels. They had planned to rob the AI cash counter office, when I arrested him near the Taj Hotel on November 11, 1971. We recovered receipts of the hotels where his accomplices were lodged, arrested them and recovered a lot of weapons,” said the retired supercop.

Charles dangerous, crafty, says retd cop

“CHARLES was 28 years old then. He was wearing a full suit that day. After his arrest he told me ‘you have done your work. I will do mine.’ He did not open his mouth thereafter. We handed him over to Delhi police, who wanted him in connection with the Ashok Hotel robbery case in which Charles was involved. 

That was the first case against him in India. He made use of the blackouts during the 1971 Bangladesh war and escaped from the hospital after he was lodged in Tihar jail. He had faked some illness to get admitted in the hospital,” said Zende.

“Charles is dangerous. He is crafty and brash with no love for anyone else other than himself. He has no respect for the police or the judiciary. The first time we had arrested him in 1971, he was a petty criminal with the Hotel Ashok robbery and some other theft cases on his resume. In 1986, he had become a hardened criminal and had killed around 20 women,” said the retired cop.

Born in Saigon to an Indian father and a Vietnamese mother, Sobhraj embarked on an international life of crime and ended up in Thailand in 1975. He posed as a gem trader, befriended his victims, many of them Western backpackers on the hippie trail, before drugging, robbing and murdering them.

He was nicknamed ‘Bikini Killer’ because of the attire his victims were found in. After killing them he used their passports for undercover international travel and trade in drugs and precious stones. ‘The Serpent’ was his other nom de guerre for slipping out from under the nose of the police in Thailand. He
went on a killing spree between  1972 and 1976. “Charles can be mistaken for a foreigner or of Oriental origin. He is physically fit, clever, deceptive and ruthless,” Zende said.

About that evening on April 6, 1986, the retired cop, who was awarded the President’s medal for distinguished service, a cash award of Rs 15,000 by the Maharshatra government and “lot of recognition and accolades” from the people, said that he had a premonition that day that something good would happen. “At 5 am on April 6, 1986, I had a dream that I will do some good work. We had information that Charles was in Goa. He had bought a peacock colour Rajdoot motorcycle and
wanted to contact his wife in the USA.

O’Coqueiro restaurant was frequented by foreigners for good food and the international call facility. I went there with a small team of five to six policemen and waited there. At 10.30 pm, two men wearing sun hats walked in and I recognised one of them as Charles. I grabbed him. He was wearing a green shirt and jeans. I wore a red shirt with white collar, which I have preserved and wear it on my birthday on March 4,” added the octogenarian officer. O’Coqueiro restaurant has named one of the delicacies as ‘Zende platter’ in praise of the officer.

On the release of Sobhraj from the Nepal prison, Zende said he wont be surprised if Charles goes back to crime.

Historic show by Neeraj Chopra and CWG stars but dope cases shame nation again

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Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra (File photo| AP)

NEW DELHI: Neeraj Chopra continued to conjure up history-scripting performances, inspiring the likes of Avinash Sable and Murali Sreeshankar in their quest for global success, but the age-old dope menace raised its ugly head again and shamed the nation at the global stage. 

At least six top Indian athletes were caught for using banned drugs and the run-up to the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, as usual, was marred by a series of dope-positive cases.

The legendary long jumper Anju Bobby George, also senior vice president of Athletics Federation of India, dropped a bombshell, saying that athletes who trained abroad brought back banned drugs for distribution among some of their colleagues.

The 24-year-old Chopra, the poster-boy of Indian athletics, continued his exploits after his historic javelin throw gold in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

He won a silver in the World Championships in the USA in July to become only the second Indian after Anju — who won a bronze in 2003 Paris edition — to win a medal at the showpiece.

In September, he became the Diamond League champion by winning the Finals of the prestigious meeting series, adding another ‘first’ to his name.

Chopra, however, could not defend his Commonwealth Games gold at Birmingham due to the “minor” groin injury he sustained during the World Championships.

It was another eventful year for Chopra but he could not breach the 90m mark.

He came agonisingly close with his 89.

94m throw when he finished second in the Stockholm leg of the prestigious Diamond League.

Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem did the unthinkable as he beat world champion Anderson Peters with a monster throw of 90.18m for the CWG gold, thereby becoming the second Asian after Chao-Tsun Cheng of Chinese Taipei to enter the exclusive 90m club.

In the absence of Chopra, it was left to steeplechaser Sable and long jumper Sreeshankar to lead the Indian challenge in the CWG where the competition is almost world level in some events.

They did admirably well by winning a silver each in historic feats.

Sreeshankar missed the gold by a whisker while Sable ended the hegemony of the Kenyans who have won all the three medals in men’s 3000m steeplechase event since the 1998 CWG.

But the most remarkable was the 1-2 finish by Eldhose Paul and Abdulla Aboobacker in the men’s triple jump which helped India achieve its second-best medal haul after the 2010 Delhi CWG with one gold, four silver and three bronze.

High jumper Tejaswin Shankar who made it to the Indian CWG team after a Delhi High Court order also won a bronze.

Other medal winners were Annu Rani (bronze in women’s javelin throw), Priyanka Goswami (silver in women’s 10,000m race walk) and Sandeep Kumar (bronze in men’s 10,000m race walk).

India also won three medals in the U-20 World Championships in Colombia with quartermiler Rupal Chaudhary, a farmer’s daughter hailing from Meerut district in Uttar Pradesh, winning two medals.

Even as India emerges as a force to reckon with at the global athletics scene, a series of high profile dope positive cases took the sheen off the impressive performance on the field.

Kamalpreet Kaur, who had finished sixth in the women’s discus throw final in Tokyo Olympics after a drastic improvement in her personal best last year, tested positive for a steroid and the Athletics Integrity Unit handed her a three-year ban till March 2025.

This was followed by Olympian javelin thrower Shivpal Singh being banned for four years till 2025 after he tested positive for steroid Metandieonone in October 2012.

Just before the World Championships and the CWG, came the news of dope positive cases of top sprinter Sekar Danalaxmi and Aishwarya Babu, who had created a triple jump national record during the National Inter-State Championships in June.

Quarter-miler MV Jilna was first named in the CWG team and was later quietly withdrawn after testing positive for a banned drug.

Veteran quartermiler and Arjuna awardee MR Poovamma also joined the ‘Hall of Shame’ of dope-flunked athletes with the Anti-Doping Appeal Panel of the NADA handing her a two-year suspension for testing positive for stimulant methylhexaneamine last year.

Discus thrower Navjeet Kaur Dhillon was the latest top athlete to be caught in the dope net.

A few legends of athletics like Praveen Sobti, who played the character of ‘Bheema’ in blockbuster TV serial ‘Mahabharat’ serial and medal winner in both Asian Games and CWG, breathed his last in the year gone by.

India’s ‘golden girl’ PT Usha, who set the track on fire in the national and continental level in the 1980s besides missing an Olympic medal by a whisker in 1984, was elected unopposed as president of Indian Olympic Association.

IPL auction 2023: Sam Curran sold to Punjab Kings for record salary of Rs 18.50 crore

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Cricketers Sam Curran, Ben Stokes, and Cameron Green who are in the mini IPL auction.

KOCHI: Sam Curran and Cameron Green broke all-time Indian Premier League (IPL) auction records as they were picked on Friday for Rs 18.50 crore and Rs 17.50 crore by Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians, respectively 

Curran set a new record, surpassing South Africa all-rounder Chris Morris who was snatched up by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 16.25 crore in 2021.

Curran was Player of the Tournament in the T20 World Cup after his skills as a “death bowler” closing down opposition batsmen in the final overs turned him into a potent weapon for England.

The left-arm quick and attacking middle-order batsman had a successful stint with Chennai Super Kings but parted ways after a back injury and missed the 2022 edition.

Curran has a strike rate of nearly 150 and was placed in the top band of the auction list alongside big-hitting compatriot Ben Stokes.

Star all-rounder Ben Stokes was sold to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for Rs 16.25 crore.

Earlier, England batter Harry Brook had become the first millionaire at the IPL 2023 Mini Auction after Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) snapped him up for a whopping Rs 13.25 crore. Sunrisers Hyderabad also picked India opener, Mayank Agarwal, for Rs 8.25 crores.

New Zealand veteran batter and skipper Kane Williamson was bought by the defending IPL champions Gujarat Titans for his base price of Rs 2 crore.

Williamson had an ordinary IPL 2022 with SRH. In 13 matches, he could only score 216 runs in 13 matches at an average of 19.64 with just one fifty. His strike rate was also extremely sub-par at 93.51. He was released by the franchise ahead of the IPL 2023 auction in November.

In 13 T20Is this year, Williamson scored 443 runs at an average of 36.91 with three fifties. His strike rate, however, has been a little subpar for T20I standards, sitting at 118.76.

Out-of-favour India batter Ajinkya Rahane was sold at his base price of Rs 50 lakh to Chennai Supper Kings, the only bidder for the player.

West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder was sold to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 5.75 crore.

South Africa batter Rilee Rossouw and Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib-Al-Hasan went unsold.

The soon-to-be 24-year-old Harry Brook had recently emerged as the leading run-scorer in the Test series against Pakistan, scoring 468 runs at an average of 93.60, with three centuries and one half-century and the best score of 153. He was also given the ‘Man of the Series’ for his superb performance in the longer format.

Brook was also given the ‘Man of the Series’ award for his superb show in the seven-match T20I series against the Asian giants that took place in September-October as a part of the tour. In seven innings, he scored 238 runs at an average of 79.33, with one half-century and the best score of 81*.

Meanwhile, former England captain Joe Root (base price Rs 1 crore) and South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw (base price Rs 2 crore) went unsold.

Eighty-seven players went under the hammer in the auction.

The IPL tournament made more than $11 billion for the economy each year, according to pre-pandemic estimates.

In June, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sold the broadcast rights for the next five seasons to global media giants for $6.2 billion.

This year it expanded to include 10 franchises battling it out in 74 matches, climaxing in a final in the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad in front of 105,000 fans — and millions more watching on television and smartphones.

Debutants Gujarat Kings won that battle on their home ground.

The Mumbai Indians are the richest and most successful side in IPL history with five titles to their name.

Attracting some of world cricket’s top stars with bumper salaries, the IPL helped make Twenty20 hugely popular, attracting hundreds of millions of viewers and spawning copycat events worldwide.

The BCCI is also working to launch a five-team women’s edition of the tournament next March, ahead of the next IPL season.

NIA carries out raids at 14 locations in Kashmir, chargesheets three

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NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday conducted searches at several locations in the Kashmir Valley and Jammu in a case related to militant activities by various militant organisations. According to the statement issued by NIA, the agency conducted searches at 14 locations in Kulgam, Pulwama, Anantnag, Sopore & Jammu.

According to the NIA spokesperson, the case pertains to the criminal conspiracy for carrying out terrorists & subversive activities hatched by the cadres and OGWs of various proscribed organizations and their affiliates and off-shoots, operating under various pseudo names, at the behest of their Pakistani handlers. “They are involved in carrying out attacks by using cyber-space in J&K, targeting minorities, security personnel and spreading communal disharmony,” the spokesperson said. Meanwhile the NIA on Friday filed a chargesheet against three people accused in a case of terror-funding through cross-LoC trade. The case was registered suo-moto on December 16, 2016.

Passengers from hotspot nations to need Covid -ve papers to fly

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NEW DELHI: Starting next week, India will make Covid-19 negative reports mandatory for international arrivals from countries reporting a spike in cases so as to further minimise ingress of any new variant of the bug into the country.

“In the next one week, selected countries will be identified where the caseload is higher,” Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in a TV interview on Friday. “People from there who come to India will have to upload their Covid-19 RTPCR reports,” he added.Countries reporting a surge in Covid-19 cases include China, the US, Japan, Korea, France, Greece and Italy.

On Thursday, the health ministry had announced new travel guidelines for international arrivals, which included 2% random Covid tests of passengers from hotspot countries. A day later, the ministry advised states to be alert in view of the upcoming Christmas and New Year festivities and directed them to strengthen surveillance, ramp up testing, and ensure the wearing of masks, especially in crowded spaces, including indoors.

Mandaviya held a Covid review meeting with state health ministers and asked them to ensure hospital infrastructure is ready to meet any eventuality. He directed them to carry out mock drills in hospitals to check their preparedness. “Need to collectively reinvigorate the system and remove any sense of complacency and fatigue,” he said and requested them to expedite testing.

India’s first nasal Covid vaccine is ready for use
India’s first intranasal Covid vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech has been approved by the Union Health Ministry as a booster dose and will be available on the CoWIN platform from today

Bengaluru MLAs want unused government vehicles to be scrapped

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BELAGAVI: An interesting debate was held, particularly among the Bengaluru MLAs in the Assembly, over disposing of old government vehicles parked in front of offices in the state. Calling attention of the House on the issue on Friday, MLA B Harshavardhan said parking of unused vehicles in front of offices and the roadside creates space constraints, especially in cities.

He urged the government to declare them as scrap and generate income for the state exchequer by selling them. Several members echoed the same sentiment and some of them said the vehicles stocked in the police stations create congestion and affect smooth vehicular movement.

They urged the government to identify 5-10 acres of land on the city outskirts to dispose of such vehicles. Even, Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri said such vehicles should be sold, before being turned into scrap.

In reply, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhu Swamy said the government was framing a scrapping policy in line with the Central policy. However, for sale of unused government vehicles, there was a set procedure and as far as vehicles in front of police stations, it is for the court to decide.

Sania Mirza to pair up with World No 11 Anna Danilina for Australian Open 2023

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Sania Mirza and Anna Danilina

NEW DELHI: India’s ace tennis star Sania Mirza will pair up with Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina to compete at the Australian Open 2023, which will begin on January 16.

For the first Grand Slam of 2023, the Indian tennis player will partner with the World number 11 in the world, according to Imran Mirza, the tennis star’s father and coach.

However, Sania Mirza’s participation in the Australian Open’s mixed doubles competition has not yet been confirmed.

Sania ranked number 25 in the world in the WTA doubles rankings, had intended to give up playing competitive tennis after the 2022 season, but later changed her mind.

The Indian tennis player is presently competing in the World Tennis League, which is taking place in Dubai.

Former number 1 in the world in women’s doubles, Sania Mirza, reached the finals of the WTA 500 Charleston Open and the WTA 250 Strasbourg Open in 2022. She participated in six other women’s doubles semifinals in addition to two finals.

An achievement of Sania for the year was reaching the Wimbledon 2022 mixed doubles semifinals with her Croatian partner Mate Pavic. Saina, 36, made her first Grand Slam semifinal appearance in five years.

Sania has won two Australian Open championships in her career, one in women’s doubles with Martina Navratilova and the other in mixed doubles with Mahesh Bhupathi in 2009.

At the Australian Open 2022, Sania Mirza paired with Nadiia Kichenok in women’s doubles and was knocked out in the first round. She teamed up with USA’s Rajeev Ram in the mixed doubles and made it to the quarter-finals.

BJP’s politics of religion will be its undoing: HDK

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HD Kumaraswamy (Photo | Shriram BN, EPS)

BENGALURU: The battle for politically important Mandya is going to be intense in the 2023 Assembly elections. This is one of the few districts where the fight is usually between JDS and Congress.

Yet on Friday, senior JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy chose to target BJP, which received a negligible number of votes in all the seven constituencies in the 2018 elections.

Saying that BJP is doing politics in the name of religion, he alleged that the ruling party does not want development. It only uses people by making them emotional, but voters will not fall prey to BJP’s antics. BJP’s politics of religion will be its undoing, he added.

On Panchamasalis seeking 2A reservation, he said a comprehensive study should be conducted on their educational, economical and cultural status and their everyday earnings before deciding on the quota category. Kumaraswamy’s attack on BJP comes in the backdrop of BJP MLC CP Yogeshwara criticising JDS recently. Yogeshwara is likely to contest against the former CM again in the coming polls.

KR Pet in Mandya district is another constituency where JDS will face a serious challenge from BJP. This time, JDS is going all out to consolidate its position in the sugarcane belt and good turnouts at its Pancharatna Yatra have only made the party confident.

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