NEW DELHI:  The outgoing year 2022 has been inspirational and wonderful for India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday in his last  ‘Mann Ki Baat’ episode of the year.  Expressing gratitude to the people, PM Modi said that it was the strength of the people of the country, their cooperation, their determination and success that made the outgoing 2022 an inspiring year.

The PM also made an appeal to the people to be more cautious as Covid-19 has again started spreading in many countries. Lauding the country’s performances in 2022, the PM said: “In 2022, India completed 75 years of Independence and started observing the ‘Amrit Kaal’. This year the country gained new momentum.”

He also said it attained the status of the world’s fifth largest economy, achieved the record surpassing “incredible” figure of 220 crore Covid vaccine doses and crossed the “magical” export figure of $400 billion.

The country adopted and lived its resolution of ‘self-reliant India’ and welcomed its first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant and also attained glory in space, drone and defence sectors in the year, he added. Extending the spirit of ‘Ek Bharat-Shreshtha Bharat’ (one India, great India), many events were organised, he said, citing the Madhavpur Mela in Gujarat and the Kashi-Tamil Sangamam in Varanasi.

Speaking about assuming the Presidency of G20, the PM said: “In 2023, we have to take the enthusiasm of G-20 to new heights, making this event a mass movement”. Modi greeted people on Christmas and for the upcoming New Year and also paid tributes to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. “I am happy that in the era of evidence-based medicine, yoga and ayurveda are now standing up to the touchstone of tests of the modern era,” he said.

TIRUCHY:  Amid the Union government’s recent advisory to states and union territories to ramp up genome sequencing and track variants in the wake of a surge in Covid-19 cases across the globe, Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Wednesday said testing is being carried out in Chennai and assured that fresh cases are being monitored in the state.

The minister made the comment while inspecting the venue at Sannasipatty in the district where Chief Minister MK Stalin would on December 29 provide medical kit to the ten millionth beneficiary under the ‘Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam’ scheme. The chief minister is also expected to unveil a slew of projects, including a `1.99-crore seminar hall at Kanniyakumari Government Medical College Hospital.

Pointing out that the scheme offering medical service to residents at their doorstep was launched in the State from a village in Krishnagiri on August 5, 2021, the minister also highlighted the CM’s assurance to a 13-year-old girl undergoing treatment for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) in Chennai of meeting all her medical expenses. 

The chief minister is also expected to inaugurate various units at the Villupuram Government Medical College Hospital, including a radiation oncology unit at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore and telecobalt radiation therapy unit set up at Rs 4.5 crore. 

At Chengalpattu Government Medical College Hospital, a decentralised waste treatment system at a cost of Rs 1.2 crore and a paediatric intensive care unit building would be opened. The CM would also inaugurate a Rs 1.90-crore worth building at the Kallakurichi Government Medical College Hospital. A CT scan machine purchased by the Tambaram government hospital at Rs 2.5 crore will also be inaugurated.

In Tiruppur, a new outpatient department building coming up at Rs 1.14 crore at the Nambiampalayam primary health centre (PHC), and a 30-bed facility at Vellore’s Melapatti PHC set up at Rs 2.23 crore will also be inaugurated.  Municipal Administration Minister K N Nehru was present during the inspection.

CHENNAI: Former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, when she was being treated at a private hospital in Chennai in 2016, turned down foreign doctors requests to get treated abroad, says VK Sasikala. 

“Though we wished that she be given treatment abroad, it did not take place because of her decision,” Sasikala said here on Friday. 
 
Breaking her silence on the report of the Arumughaswamy Commission, Sasikala said, “Doctors from foreign countries personally asked Amma about treating her abroad, but she denied saying Chennai is a medical hub and all facilities are available here. Though we all wished to take her abroad, it did not take place because of her decision. Amma was recovering well, and on the day she suffered cardiac arrest, she was watching the television.”
 
She was answering queries from reporters after celebrating Christmas with elderly people at Mercy Home on Halls Road here. Sasikala revealed that Jayalalithaa had ordered gold jewels to be presented to the doctors and other medical staff who looked after her. 

“We had fixed December 19 as the date for her discharge from the hospital, and she told the jewellery makers that the gift items should reach her by December 15. “
 
When questioned about the report of the Arumughaswamy Commission, Sasikala said, “AIIMS doctors, private hospital doctors and government doctors gave statements on Amma’s health on a daily basis, and there was nothing to hide.”

Questioned whether Jayalalithaa discussed who should lead the AIADMK after her time, Sasikala said, “Amma knew who would be best suited for that job. Even works on that count were going on. But unexpectedly, she fell. Even now, I confidently say that no one can harm the AIADMK.”

Responding to a query about the possibility of unifying the factions of the AIADMK since Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam are flexing their muscles in different directions, VK Sasikala said, “I am confident that unification of the AIADMK is possible even now I say, we will all together face the Lok Sabha elections and win.”
 
On the charge that AIADMK, though being the principal opposition party, has been facilitating another party occupying that space, Sasikala said, “In Tamil Nadu, there is no such situation.  Press and Youtube channels cannot decide who should be in power. We have witnessed this truth during the Amma (Jayalalithaa) regime. It is the people who decide, and they alone make a political party win.” 

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. 

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.

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.