Archives for 2021

MUMBAI: Bollywood Superstar Salman Khan on Sunday was discharged from a hospital after he was bitten by a non-venomous snake at his farmhouse near Panvel in adjoining Raigad district, sources said.

According to sources, the snake bit Khan’s hand on Saturday night, following which he was taken to a hospital at Kamothe in Navi Mumbai.

The actor was discharged on Sunday morning.

“Salman was bitten last night and taken to a hospital. He was discharged after six hours. He is back home and well,” sources close to the actor said.

Khan is back to his Panvel farmhouse, where he will be ringing in his 56th birthday on Monday.

He was recently seen on the big screen in “Antim: The Final Truth”, which released last month.

SHAMLI: If the Yogi Adityanath government returns to power in Uttar Pradesh for a second term, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi will start wearing Hindus’ sacred thread ‘janeu’, worn across the shoulder, and chanting Lord Ram’s name, a UP minister said on Sunday.

This will be in the line of leaders like Rahul Gandhi wearing ‘janeu’ and Akhilesh Yadav visiting Hanuman temples to pay his obeisance amid the strengthening BJP’s ideology, UP’s Panchayati Raj Minister Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary asserted.

Chaudhary, who hails from Moradabad and is a member of the state’s Legislative Council, made the remark at a youths’ meet in Shamli.

Chaudhary reiterated his remark about Owaisi to the PTI, saying it is bound to happen.

Asked what makes him feel that Owaisi will start wearing ‘janeu’, he said, “We are taking our agenda forward. Due to this agenda, Akhilesh Yadav has begun going to Hanuman temples and offering prayers.”

“Due to this agenda, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has begun wearing ‘janeu’ and telling his ‘gotra’ to one and all,” the minister said.

“This is the impact of our ideology due to which people have left their own agendas and started following ours,” he said.

“Those who used to indulge in appeasement and speak about minorities only, those who did not accept the existence of Lord Ram and had given an affidavit in the court that Ram was an imaginary figure, have begun wearing ‘janeu’ and visiting temples,” he asserted.

In September 2007, the Centre had told the Supreme Court that there was no historical evidence to establish the existence of Lord Ram or the other characters in Ramayana.

In an affidavit filed before the apex court, the Archaeological Survey of India had rejected the claim of the existence of the Ram Sethu bridge in ancient times, linking to India’s southernmost tip to Sri Lanka.

When contacted, Owaisi told PTI, “What is wrong with you people? If someone makes an obnoxious statement, you want my reaction? What type of reaction do you want from me? I don’t want to comment on such mad statements.”

Owaisi had announced that his party will contest 100 seats in the upcoming assembly elections.

He is currently engaged in the poll campaigning for his prospective party’s candidates, crisscrossing the state, particularly the Muslim-dominated areas, and exhorting them to develop their own leadership for their welfare.

BHOPAL:  Music label Saregama on Sunday said the company will change the lyrics and the name of the song ‘Madhuban mein Radhika nache’ after Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra alleged that the video of the track has hurt Hindu religious sentiments. 

Earlier in the day, Mishra set a three-day deadline for actor Sunny Leone and composers Sharib-Toshi to remove the ‘Madhuban mein Radhika nache’ music video and apologise or face legal action.

The minister’s warning had come after priests in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, protested against the video. “This is yet another incident where vidharmi (heretics) are making a mockery of our religion and hurting sentiments of Hindus in the name of art and creativity. Radha is a goddess for us (Hindus) and we’ve temples dedicated to her. Why don’t Sharib-Toshi dare to make a video song pertaining to their own religion?” the minister told journalists in Bhopal.

This isn’t the first time the MP minister had issued an ultimatum to makers of serials, web series and advertisements allegedly hurting Hindu sentiments. Earlier, he had announced that comedians including Munawar Faruqui, Kunal Kamra and Vir Das won’t be allowed to perform in the state. 

Meanwhile, two Hindu right wing outfits tried to burn an effigy of Sunny Leone here accusing her of “indecent dance” and hurting their religious sentiments in a music video, police said on Sunday.

The incident took place on Saturday when the activists belonging to the two bodies tried to burn the actor’s effigy objecting over song “Madhuban”.

The song shares a few words of its lyrics with the iconic ‘Madhuban mein Radhika naache re’ song from 1960 film ‘Kohinoor’.

The activists belonging to ‘Srikrishna Sena Sangathan’ and ‘Yuva Brahmin Mahasabha’ were stopped in the act with assurance of an FIR in the matter, a police officer said.

“Surveillance cell has been requested to stop obscene dance scene in the song,” Vrindavan SHO Ajai Kaushal said.

No FIR was lodged in the matter till late Sunday evening.

During their protest, when the activists could not burn the effigy, they crushed it under their feet.

“On the assurance of action against the actor and producers, the plan of burning the effigy was withdrawn,” Sanjiv Singh Baba, national president, Srikrishna Sena Sangathan said.

Last week, a section of priests in Vridavan too had expressed objection over the video.

Akhil Bhartiya Tirth Purohit Mahasabha of Vrindavan has now extended its demand and has sought action against people behind the video produced by music label Saregama.

The producer, director, and financer should also be booked for the “offense”, Mahesh Pathak, the body’s national president said.

GUWAHATI: A mob of youngsters, suspected to be from a right wing organisation, created a ruckus during the celebration of Christmas at a Presbyterian church in Silchar town of southern Assam’s Cachar district on Saturday night.

After making their way into the church, the boys said they had no issue with the Christians celebrating Christmas but demanded the Hindus present there must leave the place at once saying that they had no business to be there.

The mob was livid that the Hindus were at the church when they were expected to celebrate “Tulsi Diwas” that coincided with Christmas. The local media reported that the youth, who had saffron scarfs wrapped around their neck, had allegedly manhandled the crowd and beat up one as they were forcing the Hindus vacate the church complex.

Cachar SP Ramandeep Kaur said it was a “small” incident. “There was an open and community Christmas celebration. Apart from Christians, there were people from other communities participating in the celebration,” the SP said.

She said that the mob said that Hindus should not participate in the celebration of Christmas. “We have not received any formal complaint so far. However, legal procedures against the people involved are being undertaken,” she added.

Last year, the Cachar administration filed a case suo moto after a right wing organisation had asked the Hindus against visiting any church in the district on Christmas day or face dire consequences.

DEHRADUN: After state cabinet minister Harak Singh Rawat announced his resignation along with another MLA on Friday late evening, the state Bhartiya Janta Party president denied this saying the issues will be sorted soon. 

Though no resignation letter was received by the Governor of Uttarakhand till the time of writing this report. 

Sources from the Congress claimed that he was in Delhi yesterday and might join the Congress on Saturday in Haridwar in presence of former CHief Minister Harish Rawat or even later.

However, state BJP president has denied any such thing. “If there is any issue, it will be resolved soon. No one is resigning from the party or cabinet post,” said Madan Kaushik, state BJP president who was in Gopeshwar and will be teaching Dehradun on Saturday morning.

The state forest minister reportedly resignef in anger while the cabinet was on meeting in the state secretariat.

Another BJP MLA Umesh Sharma ‘Kau’ was also rumored to resign from the party which the MLA himself denied saying that he is the ‘Soldier’ of the BJP.

Interestingly, Harak Singh Rawat led rebellion against the then Harish Rawat government in year 2016 when nine rebel MLAs including Harak Singh Rawat left the Congress and joined the BJP. Kau was also among the rebels. 

Later, all nine contested on BJP ticket winning the 2017 assembly elections. Many of them including Rawat were given cabinet berth in the BJP government

Earlier this month, with talks of Harak Singh Rawat meeting Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Delhi, rumors of four other rebel leaders who left Congress to join Bhartiya Janta Party in year 2016 have been abuzz in power corridors of the hill state. 

However, political analysts say the minister in question is know for playing ‘pressure politics’. 

In October this year, former state cabinet minister Yashpal Arya who was cabinet minister in the incumbent BJP government joined Congress with his son Sanjiv Arya who won Nainital assembly seat in 2017 state assembly elections.

Arya had left Congress in January 2017 to join the BJP. He won the 2017 state assembly elections from Bajpur seat of Udham Singh Nagar district while his son won the elections to become MLA from Nainital assembly seat of Nainital district. 

The state BJP has been in alert mode since then. The BJP and the Congress remain at their competitive best to snatch each other’s leaders as the state assembly elections approach.

In an interview with TNIE, Harish Rawat when asked about allowing the rebels join the Congress back had said that the rebels must accept their ‘Crime Against Democracy’. 

“Look, they all have committed crime against the democracy. And in democracy if anyone accepts their mistake their apology must be accepted. But they just admit the crime against democracy which they committed. Also, we know there is a ruckus in the BJP and they also realize now that they are stuck in the wrong party,” the former CM had said. 

Later, Harak Singh Rawat had said that he and Harish Rawat are two brothers. The former went even ahead stating that his place is always at his (Harish Rawat) feet as a younger brother.

BHOPAL: A high level meeting chaired by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan put it’s seal on appointment of 25 BJP leaders as heads and vice chairpersons of Nigam and Mandals (state boards/ corporations) in Madhya Pradesh on Friday evening.

The long pending exercise finally ensured the rehabilitation of at least nine former MLAs, seven of them ex-Congress MLAs, who had lost the November 2020 by-elections on BJP tickets, after quitting their old party in March 2020, to bring down the 15 months old Kamal Nath led Congress regime.

Six of these seven former Congress MLAs were union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia loyalists, who were awaiting their political rehabilitation a year after their by-poll loss.

The seven Congress MLAs, who were appointed as heads or vice chairpersons of state corporations, included ex-ministers Imarti Devi (appointed head of MP Laghu Udyog Nigam), Aidal Singh Kansana (head of MP State Agro Industries Development Corporation Limited), Giriraj Dandotiya (MP Urja Vikas Nigam). Four other ex-Congress MLAs, among them Ranveer Jatav, Jaswant Jatav, Munnalal Goyal and Raghuraj Kansana too have been appointed as heads of state corporations.

These seven former Congress MLAs were among the 22 Congress MLAs, whose resignations from the Vidhan Sabha and their parent party had scripted the collapse of the Kamal Nath government in MP in March 2020. All these seven MLAs, however, had lost in the November 2020 by-elections on BJP tickets from the same seats they had won from as Congress candidates in 2018 assembly polls.

The two former BJP MLAs (all being originally from the saffron party), including Manju Dadu and Ramesh Khatik were appointed as vice chairpersons of state corporations/boards. Two BJP leaders, Rajendra Singh Mokalpur and who finished second in past assembly polls too have been appointed vice chairpersons of state corporations/boards.

Besides them, at least four former BJP organization leaders, including Shailendra Barua, Jitendra Litoria, Ashutosh Tiwari and Jaipal Chawda too have been appointed heads of state boards/corporations.

According to informed political sources, among the new appointees, maximum six each are CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia backers, while two are considered close to ex-CM Uma Bharti.

Senior state BJP leader Vinod Gotiya, who is considered close to BJP national president JP Nadda has been appointed the head of MP State Tourism Development Corporation.

Importantly, the BJP national general secretary (organization) BL Santosh during his visit to MP last month had asked for completing the long pending political appointments to state boards/corporations at the earliest.

The completion of long pending appointments to state boards/corporations by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government assumes significance in view of the upcoming panchayat polls and future urban local body polls.

The posts of heads and deputy heads of state boards/corporations have been lying vacant since the Shivraj Singh Chouhan led previous BJP government had lost power in 2018 assembly polls. The successor Kamal Nath government had made a few political appointments to the boards/corporations, but most posts were still vacant.