Archives for August 2021

Javed Akhtar

Mumbai: Lyricist Javed Akhtar on Monday urged the Bombay High Court to dismiss a plea filed by actor Kangana Ranaut seeking quashing of the criminal defamation proceedings initiated against her by a metropolitan magistrate’s court in the city, on a complaint filed by him.

In a counter-affidavit filed in the HC, Akhtar said, through his lawyers NK Bharadwaj and associates, that the metropolitan magistrate’s court in suburban Andheri had followed a due process in launching the criminal defamation proceedings against Ranaut.

Akhtar’s counter-affidavit was filed in response to a plea filed by Ranaut through her counsel Rizwan Siddiquee last month in which she challenged the defamation proceedings initiated earlier this year, saying the magistrate’s court had failed to apply its mind to the case.

Ranaut had said the magistrate’s court did not independently examine the complainant or the witnesses named in the complaint against her. It had instead relied merely upon the Juhu police’s discretion and initiated the case against her.

The counter-affidavit stated the magistrate had been well within his powers to initiate the proceedings against the actor.

Akhtar said the magistrate had gone through his complaint and his statement made on oath, detailing his grievances against Ranaut.

He further stated that while the Criminal Procedure Code provided for the magistrate to independently examine witnesses, it did not make the same mandatory.

“The MM (metropolitan magistrate) followed due process of law before proceeding to initiate the summoning order against the applicant (Ranaut). That it was only after considering the footage of the interview dated July 19, 2020, and detailed verification of the statement made by the respondent (Akhtar) and the statement of witnesses that the MM proceeded to issue process against the applicant (Ranaut),” reads Akhtar’s affidavit.

Akhtar filed a criminal complaint against Ranaut in November last year before the Andheri metropolitan magistrate alleging that she made defamatory and baseless comments against him in a television interview given to journalist Arnab Goswami.

In December 2020, the court directed the Juhu police to conduct an inquiry into Akhtar’s complaint against Ranaut. The police subsequently informed the court that an offence of defamation, as alleged by Akhtar against the actor, was prima facie made out, and further probe is required.

The court then initiated criminal proceedings against Ranaut and issued summons to her in February this year.

As per section 202 of the CrPC, a magistrate, on receipt of a complaint of an offence of which he or she is authorised to take cognisance of, can inquire, or direct the police to see if an actual case is made out, before issuing summons to an accused person.

In his counter-affidavit, Akhtar also said that Ranaut never cooperated with the police’s probe. He stated the actor refused to respond to the summons in the case and that she continued to make defamatory statements against him on social media even after the proceedings were initiated in the case.

The high court is likely to hear Ranaut’s plea on August 18.

The Andheri metropolitan magistrate’s court on July 27 allowed as the “last chance” Ranaut’s plea seeking exemption from personal appearance in the defamation case filed by Akhtar and directed her to remain present on the next date of hearing on September 1 without fail.

Metropolitan magistrate, Andheri, RR Khan, had also rejected the plea of Akhtar, filed through his lawyer, seeking issuance of an arrest warrant against the actor but said the complainant can move the plea again if Ranaut fails to appear at the next hearing.

Saranya Sasi

Thiruvananthapuram: Popular Malayalam actress Saranya Sasi died at a private hospital here on Monday, sources close to her said. The 35-year-old actress was diagnosed with brain tumour years ago and underwent surgical procedure several times as part of the treatment.

When she faced a severe financial crisis, Saranya’s friends and well-wishers had raised funds for her treatment.While she was undergoing treatment for tumour, she contracted COVID-19 in May this year.

She recovered from the virus infection but her health condition worsened due to related complications.

Hailing from Pazhayangadi in Kannur district, she had acted in a few Malayalam movies like ‘Chacko Randaman’ and ‘Chotta Mumbai’ and was a popular TV actress in the state.

Condoling the death, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the actress fought the disease confidently.

Hailing her commitment towards society, Vijayan recalled that the actress had set aside an amount from her medical expenses for the people when the state was hit by floods.

New Delhi: Enough of video of phone calls, now sportspersons should get rewards as promised, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Monday in an apparent swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In an Instagram post, he posted screenshots of media reports claiming that Olympians in the past had not been paid the rewards announced in Haryana.

Gandhi also attached screenshots of tweets made in 2019 by Tokyo Games medal winner Neeraj Chopra – who won India’s first ever gold in a track-and-field event – and Bajrang Punia, who won the bronze in wrestling, in which they urged ministers and authorities to fulfil the promise of rewards for athletes after winning medals.

“Players should get their dues along with congratulations, not cuts in the sports budget,” Gandhi wrote on Instagram.

“Enough of video of phone calls, now hand out the amount of rewards,” the former Congress chief said in an apparent swipe at the prime minister who spoke with several medal winners and videos of which were widely shared on social media.

Bhopal: BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh has said the coronavirus cannot harm Madhya Pradesh where the chief minister is ‘Shiv’ and the state party unit chief in ‘Vishnu’.

Currently, Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, while Vishnu Dutt Sharma is the state BJP president.

The Congress claimed BJP leaders were only engaged in seeking applause from their party workers by making such statements, despite “3.28 lakh deaths from January to May this year” in the state, which the opposition party said was much higher than the normal fatality rate in the state.

In a tweet on Sunday, Chugh said, “How can corona harm Madhya Pradesh where state president is Vishnu and Chief Minister is Shiv.”

He was at the state BJP office here to participate in the launch of the Rashtriya Swasthya Swayamsevak Abhiyan, a programme to provide health care training to BJP workers so that they can volunteer during the pandemic and other health-related crisis.

Chugh also said that 135 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines will reach health centres in the country by December this year.

Meanwhile, state Congress spokesman Bhupendra Gupta hit out at the BJP, saying its leaders speak like this only to seek applause from their party workers.

Gupta claimed “3.28 lakh people died in Madhya Pradesh between January and May this year, which was 54 per cent higher than the normal death rate”.

He further claimed that the BJP state president himself admitted that 3,500 people from the families belonging to BJP workers and leaders had died due to COVID-19.
 
“Chugh should have told us where Shivraj and Vishnu Dutt were when COVID-19 was wreaking havoc? Were they sleeping? How will they curb the pandemic in future? Gupta asked.

On equating the two leaders with the Hindu Gods, he said, Such dictatorial forces in the entire world consider themselves as supreme powers. Such forces believe they are God.

However, state BJP secretary Rajneesh Agrawal said this was just a way of speaking.

He (Chugh) only mentioned the first names of the CM and the BJP state president, Agrawal pointed out.

He said the BJP government and the party organisation were engaged in serving the people during the pandemic.

The pandemic spread across the world. It was important how the state government dealt with it and the party organisation served the people in the time of crisis. Now, the pandemic is under control,” he said.

The Congress only spread chaos during the pandemic crisis, Agrawal alleged.

On Sunday, Madhya Pradesh reported 10 COVID-19 cases, taking the tally of infections to 7,91,960, while the death toll remained unchanged at 10,514, as per the state health department.

The number of recoveries in the state stood at 7,81,298, leaving the state with 148 active cases, as per official figures.

BALLIA: A BJP leader has supported farmers” agitation against the three new farm laws and said that the BJP-led central government could withdraw them keeping in mind Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

Due to protests against the farm laws, BJP leaders could not enter villages in western UP, he said, adding the farmers can also gherao them in the future.

On the deadlock in parliament over Pegasus snooping, Singh said opposition’s demand should be considered in a democratic country.

“If opposition wants probe, government should go ahead with it. It is the responsibility of the government that parliament runs smoothly,” he said.

Questioning preparations of the predicted third wave of COVID-19, Singh said the state government did not learn from the second wave and no effective arrangements were made to tackle the expected surge in cases by the end of the month.

TOKYO: Top Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri, who had finished joint 42nd in the men’s event at the Tokyo Olympic Games, has said that woman golfer Aditi Ashok’s monumental effort of finishing fourth at the quadrennial showpiece on Saturday should “brings a change in attitude in people” about the sport.

The world No. 200 carded a 3-under 68 in the final round to register a combined score of 15-under and missed out on a medal spot by one shot.

India’s No.1 men’s golfer Lahiri appreciated Aditi’s performance and said, “I hope it brings a change in attitude in people and golf as a sport can grow like any other Olympic sport in India.”

“The biggest win for Aditi is that so many more Indians now know what golf is, how it works. And then, really just putting golf on the map in India, I think this is really quite a turning point for golf,” Lahiri told Olympics.com.

Lahiri added that the fact that a large number of Indians woke up early on Saturday to watch Aditi’s final round in Tokyo was a “big win” for the sport.

“I think more people woke up and learnt about the sport this morning than even if she would have won a major or someone from the men’s contingent would have won. I think it’s a win for golf. That’s the biggest win.”

Lahiri felt Aditi’s performance will inspire a whole generation to take up the sport and represent the country on a big stage.

“I think it’s fantastic. Aditi just played absolutely unbelievable golf. Given all the challenges that she had to face. The competition, the stage, so many people wanting her to do well. She has done phenomenally well. It will be a big boost for golf,” Lahiri said.

“Aditi will be a superstar for young girls and she totally deserves to be so. There is a whole generation of girls who want to grow and play like her. It’s not just girls, people are going to take notice of the sport. Parents are also going to take notice of the sport,” he added.

NEW DELHI: It started with a bang, tapered off in the middle and then ended with the kind of spectacular fireworks that make historic events grand.

So, there was the first medal in track-and-field which also happened to be the first gold in 13 years, the first medal in hockey in 41 years, the first silver in weightlifting, the first boxing medal in nine years, the first woman with two Olympic medals, the most number of debutants ending up on the podium, and the most number of medals ever won, it all happened in one single Games for India.

And it all happened at the Games which carried the tag of troubled long before the opening ceremony, thanks to the unrelenting COVID-19 pandemic.

It all happened after one year of shutdown that sent most training and competition schedules haywire.

Mighty impressive? No, it was way more than that.

India’s campaign at the Olympic Games was as much a story of human resilience as of sporting excellence and it came to the fore on the opening day of competitions itself starting with Mirabai Chanu.

The Manipuri weightlifter stands a mere 4’11” but lifted 202kg (87+115) to fetch a silver and put India on the medals tally, showing the world why size doesn’t and shouldn’t matter.

In her moment of glory, the phenomenal weightlifter was a personification of perseverance.

She had left the same stage in tears and dejection five years ago, failing to log a single legal lift.

And there she was smiling ear to ear on July 24 becoming India’s first silver-medallist in weightlifting.

It was just the kind of start that the country needed but what followed was a lull.

Some top contenders bowed out without making an impact, the biggest disappointment being the 15-strong shooting contingent.

A lot many questions about their preparations came up after only one, Saurabh Chaudhary, managed to make the finals and none could get on the podium.

Nobody had a clear answer as to what went wrong even as stories of factionalism, ego battles and petty differences began to crop up from different corners.

It seemed that the Indian campaign had hit the disaster note early and would not be able to recover.

But along came P V Sindhu and put things back on track with her bronze.

The seasoned Hyderabadi shuttler was looking to better the silver she won in the 2016 Games.

She couldn’t do that but managed to become the first Indian woman with two Olympic medals.

While she was at it, the two hockey teams also showed stomach for fight after early setbacks.

And in the boxing ring, an heir apparent to the iconic M C Mary Kom began to take shape in Lovlina Borgohain (69kg).

The 23-year-old from Assam ended with a bronze on August 4 as women got down to the task of rebuilding momentum in the Indian camp.

And it worked out quite spectacularly.

The very next day, Ravi Kumar Dahiya became only the second Indian wrestler to clinch a silver at the Games but the first to do so on debut.

Hours before that came the long-awaited hockey medal, a bronze worth it’s weight and wait in gold.

Manpreet Singh and his inspired teammates scripted a comeback to remember against Germany in the play-off to sow the seeds of hockey’s resurgence in the country for a generation that grew up hearing tales of greatness while watching a painful slump in the sport.

There were tears, joy, nostalgia and above all a sense of renewed pride because hockey was India’s sport before it declined and cricket took over the mind space.

The stage seemed set for a grand finale and it was with Neeraj Chopra’s javelin striking gold, India’s first in 13 years overall and the first in athletics.

Bajrang Punia’s resolve paid off for him with a bronze on the wrestling mat as the debutant grudgingly accepted the medal after falling out of the expected gold medal contention.

Then there were those who were hit by the curse of the fourth-place finish.

Their agony was a story in itself as golfer Aditi Ashok and the women’s hockey team ended within touching distance of the podium but not quite there.

So, India’s performance at the Games was bigger than the unprecedented seven medals.

It reflected confidence, best personified by Chopra when he owned the Olympic stadium with his self-assured gait during the final in which the 90m man — the great Johannes Vetter — wilted.

In Tokyo, the Indians who did well were not surprising anyone, they were living up to the billing earned over the last three years.

Surprise was some of them falling short like the shooters, and the archers.

And in that lay the country’s story of progress in sports.

India is not quite there yet but is certainly inching closer one step at a time.

SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh Congress vice president Ravi Thakur demanded on Sunday that the state government should provide immediate compensation to the farmers of Lahaul-Spiti tribal district whose ripe crops were damaged due to the cloudburst over the Tojing Nullah on July 27.

Thakur, also a former MLA of Lahaul-Spiti, told the media here that a majority of farmers of Udaipur subdivision in Lahaul valley lost their ripe crops of peas, cauliflowers, broccoli, iceberg lettuce and lilium flowers due to flash floods triggered by the cloudburst.

At least eight people were killed in flash floods in Lahaul-Spiti triggered by the cloudburst over Tozing Nullah in Udaipur on July 27.

Several roads were also blocked due to landslides.

Thakur accompanied by Lahaul-Spiti Congress incharge Maheshwar Chauhan alleged that the BJP government in the state failed to handle the situation that arose due to the flash floods.

Alleging that state Technical Education Minister and Lahaul-Spiti MLA Ram Lal Markanda had submitted a false affidavit during 2017 Assembly polls claiming that he had no property, Thakur said he filed a petition in the state High Court in this regard.

Markanda is evading his appearance before the court while a number of witnesses including several government employees already recorded their statements in the court, he added.

Thakur and Chauhan demanded panchayat elections be held in Lahaul-Spiti district along with the by-election to Mandi parliamentary seat.

Thakur further demanded that the foundation stone installed at the site of Atal Tunnel Rohtang by Congress president Sonia Gandhi on June 28, 2010 in the presence of then CM Prem Kumar Dhumal and Union minister Virbhadra Singh, who passed away last month, should be immediately reinstalled.

The former Congress MLA stated that the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government had provided Rs 1,355 crore for the construction of the tunnel.