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Venue completion on track for Tokyo 2020 Olympics, say organizers

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[Nasheman news] Tokyo The organizers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on Tuesday said that they were confident that the new venues would be completed in time for test competitions to be held later this year, despite problems in many projects.

The organizers on Tuesday showed the progress made in the construction of the new sports facilities in the Tokyo Bay area to reporters and evaluated the status of the work — with less than a year and a half to go before the Olympics, reports Efe news.

One of the biggest projects is the new Aquatics Center, which has been embroiled in a scandal about the falsification of technical data related to its anti-earthquake systems by a Japanese company.

The arena would have to replace or repair 32 such units used in its structure, which are mandatory according to Japanese law, after the company KYP admitted to using irregular material in its seismic protection systems.

Takahiro Otani, the head of planning and development of the venues, told Efe in a statement that this unexpected change would not affect the original schedule, which aims to complete the Aquatics Center by February 2020 and host test competitions in April.

He added that earthquake protection was “100 percent guaranteed” in this facility, which would have a capacity of 15,000 and host the Olympic competitions in swimming, synchronized swimming and diving.

Around 55 percent construction is complete for the Aquatics Center, which means that the work is progressing at a slower rate than the other projects due to its enormous size: 65,000 square meters, two Olympic-size swimming pools and another one for diving.

Other facilities which have witnessed delays include the new Ariake Tennis Park, where the organizers had to find a new construction company after the first contractor went bankrupt.

Work is progressing as per schedule for the 15,000-capacity Ariake Arena stadium, which will host volleyball, and the Olympics Gymnastics Center – with a capacity of 12,000 – as well as the venues for kayaking, canoeing and archery.

All these facilities are located on artificial islands in the Tokyo Bay, the area with the biggest concentration of Olympic venues, where the 18,000-capacity Olympic Village is also being constructed.

The organizers said that all the venues will be ready in time for a series of test competitions before the Games, to be held in three rounds: the first this summer, the second between October 2019 and February 2020 and the third in spring 2020.

The second Summer Olympics in the Japanese capital – 56 years after the Tokyo 1964 Games – will be held between July 24 and August 9, 2020, while the Paralympic Games will start on August 25 and finish on September 6.

Punjab Police arrests 2 accused in Ludhiana gang rape case

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[Nasheman news] Chandigarh The Punjab Police has arrested two men who had allegedly gang-raped a 21-year-old woman in Ludhiana district.

Police officials said on Wednesday that raids were being conducted at various places by different police teams to nab the remaining accused.

Those arrested so far include Jagroop Singh and Sadik Ali, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Ranbir Singh Khatra said. Both accused are residents of Ludhiana district.

Khatra said police investigations have revealed that six men were involved in the gang rape of the young woman on February 9 night when she was driving along a canal in a car with her male friend.

The victim had alleged that she was gang raped by at least 10 men after she and her friend were attacked and abducted.

Both were taken in their car to an isolated plot in the Issewal area of Ludhiana district and the woman was gang raped while her friend was held captive.

Police officials said that raids are being conducted to arrest the four other accused. These include Ajay Kumar, Syed Ali, Surma and another one (not yet identified but relative of Surma).

All the suspects are in the 25-30 age group, police officials said.

The police registered a case of rape and under other sections of the Indian Penal Code against the accused.

Khatra had earlier admitted that there were lapses by the local police in dealing with the matter due to which the gruesome crime took place.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Vijay Rattan was suspended for dereliction of duty as he had failed to investigate the matter seriously and did not inform his seniors about it after receiving a complaint about the incident.

The accused had called up a friend of the rape victim’s friend and demanded a ransom of Rs 2 lakh. The friend approached the police following the call but the police did not take immediate action.

The couple were set free on Sunday following which they complained to the police.

SP-BSP delegation meets UP Governor to protest grounding of Akhilesh

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[Nasheman news] LucknowA delegation of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and its ally Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) met Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik at the Raj Bhawan on Wednesday and submitted a memorandum against the grounding of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav at the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport here.

The 15-member delegation, led by senior party leaders Ahmad Hasan and Rajendra Chowdhary, apprised the Governor of the development and registered their protest against what they termed was throttling of democratic and political rights. 

BSP supremo Mayawati has already castigated the Yogi Adityanath government over the action and called it a conspiracy to thwart their political movement across the state.

Yadav was to take a private chartered flight to Prayagraj on Tuesday where he was to attend a students union event, which was disapproved by the Allahabad University officials. 

The former Chief Minister was asked by district officials of Lucknow to go back to his home as the Allahabad administration had apprehended law and order issues if the SP leader visited the campus.

The incident had sparked protests across the state with SP workers disrupting traffic, taking to the roads and attacking government property. 

Amit Shah visited Goa to collect Rafale files from Parrikar’s bedroom: Congress

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Nasheman News :  Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national President Amit Shah’s “real” mission during his Goa visit on Saturday was to take away files related to the Rafale deal from Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s bedroom, Goa Congress spokesperson Jitendra Deshprabhu alleged on Tuesday.

He also claimed that some of the documents related to the Rafale deal, which were leaked to the media over the last few days, could have been part of Rafale files which were stashed at Parrikar’s private residence.

“The Congress alleges that (Shah’s) Goa visit was to collect the files at Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s home… The files were taken away. Once the files are taken away, they (Shah and the BJP) can be at peace and they can then sack Manohar Parrikar, who can no longer blackmail the top leadership now,” Deshprabhu alleged at a press conference organised at the opposition party’s state headquarters.

He said a leaked audio tape, purportedly containing a journalist’s conversation with Health Minister Vishwajit Rane, had already confirmed that the former Defence Minister did keep files related to the Rafale deal in his bedroom.

The controversial tape, in which Rane is heard telling a yet-unnamed journalist that Parrikar during a recent cabinet meeting had said that Rafale files were stashed in his bedroom, had created a stir in Parliament in January.

Deshprabhu now alleges that Shah visited the state to collect the same clutch of files and had an unscheduled 45 minutes with Parrikar at the latter’s private residence, before eventually addressing a party booth workers’ meeting near Panaji.

He also alleged that some of the documents which were leaked to the media over the last few days came from the former Defence Minister’s residence.

“It is possible that a few documents have slipped from there. Because N. Ram (of The Hindu) is quoting documents. Documents are also being sourced from other places. Where are they coming from? Amit Shah’s job was to clear files from Parrikar’s bedroom so that their scam is not exposed,” he added.

Go and sit in the corner: CJI to CBI official

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Nasheman News :“Go and sit in the corner,” Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi told former acting CBI Director M. Nageswara Rao, after holding him guilty of contempt of the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

A bench headed by the Chief Justice was in no mood to listen to Rao’s explanations on the issue of transferring out Additional Director A.K. Sharma, who was probing the Bihar shelter home horror, without the court’s permission.

Rao and CBI’s in-charge of prosecution S. Bhasuran were held guilty of contempt of court for disobeying its order to not transfer out Sharma. They were also fined Rs 1 lakh each.

Refusing to accept the unconditional apology tendered by Rao on Monday, the bench, also comprising Justice L. Nageswara Rao and Justice Sanjiv Khanna, directed the CBI officer to sit in the courtroom for the remaining working hours of the day. 

“The dignity of the court must be maintained, but this is brazen,” Chief Justice Gogoi said. 

Rs 2,000 aid to BPL families announced not eyeing elections’

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Nasheman News :  Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Tuesday said the Rs 2,000 assistance to 60 lakh below the poverty line (BPL) families was not announced with an eye on the Lok Sabha elections.

On Monday, Palaniswami made the announcement to provide financial assistance to the BPL families in the state affected by the cyclone Gaja, drought and failure of rains.

Speaking in the Assembly, Palaniswami said many districts are suffering from drought and agricultural workers are not getting sufficient wages. People affected by the cyclone Gaja in several districts of the state don’t have jobs.

Taking these factors into account, the government announced Rs 2,000 financial grant to the BPL families, he said.

“The aid will be given to all the BPL families regardless of their political affiliation.”

He said the outlay for this will be Rs 1,200 crore and will be made in the supplementary demands for grants to be made this fiscal.


Swiggy launches ‘Stores’ platform for FMCG, medicine delivery

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Nasheman News :  In a bid to challenge the dominance of online fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) delivery platforms like Grofers and Big Basket, food delivery app Swiggy on Tuesday launched “Stores” – a platform to allow users to order groceries, medicines and other daily amenities.

“Swiggy ‘Stores’ extends the option of ordering food from nearby restaurants to ordering anything from any store across your city,” Sriharsha Majety, Co-Founder and CEO of Swiggy wrote in a blog-post. 

With “Stores”, Swiggy aims to connect people to every store, retailer or brand – both online and offline – and deliver goods to people’s doorsteps. 

“We’re taking our first step by launching across Gurugram and will deliver from over 3,500 stores across the city. We’ve already partnered with over 200 stores in categories such as fruits and vegetables to florists and pet care stores,” Majety added. 

“Stores” platform has been made available within the main Swiggy app itself. 

“We are launching ‘Stores’ in beta for now, while we fine-tune the service to make sure it meets the high standards that we at Swiggy hold ourselves to,” Majety noted.

Swiggy’s new platform comes amidst controversies ignited by hundreds of restaurant owners sending a petition to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) alleging wrongdoings by food delivery companies. 

The petition, first reported in January, accused Swiggy, Zomato, Uber Eats and Foodpanda of misusing their dominant positions by engaging in practices such as deep discounting, in-house kitchens and internal sourcing.

Court nod for lie-detector test of Kalabhavan Mani’s friends

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Nasheman News : A court here on Tuesday granted permission to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct lie-detector tests on seven friends of late actor Kalabhavan Mani.

On February 8, Jaffer Idukki, Sabumon and five others had presented themselves before the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate, offering to undergo the tests as demanded by the CBI that was probing the popular actor’s death in 2016.

According to the guidelines, the test can take place only with the concurrence of those who are to undergo it.

Mani, 45, who acted in some 200 films in Malayalam and other languages, was admitted to a hospital in Kochi on March 4, 2016 for an alleged liver ailment. He died two days later.

Forensic experts said an insecticide (Chlorpyrifos) was found in the actor’s blood but the police failed to crack the case.

Mani was staying in a 30-acre farmhouse near Chalakkudy, away from his home, his wife and daughter, where these friends were believed to be present on the day the late actor fell ill.

After his death, the hospital authorities reported the presence of an organophosphate pesticide in the body, leading to speculation that Mani might not have died a natural death.

Ever since, his family has been running from pillar to post to ascertain the real cause. In 2018, the Kerala government too sought a CBI probe.

Karnataka BJP seeks judicial probe into audio tape

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Nasheman News : The BJP’s Karnataka unit on Tuesday sought a judicial inquiry into the audio tape in which state Assembly Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar’s name figured in an alleged conversation between party leader B.S. Yeddyurappa and JD-S legislator Naganagouda Kandakur’s son Sharanagouda.

“The Speaker should order a House committee probe or judicial inquiry into the audio tape as we do not trust the (state) government to hold a fair probe by its police monitored SIT,” Bharatiya Janata Party MLA J.C. Madhuswamy said in the Assembly amid a ruckus between the ruling and opposition members.

Echoing Madhuswamy, another BJP MLA Suresh Kumar said his party feared a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe would lead to a witch hunt against its members.

“Hence, we urge a judicial probe into the audio tape,” Kumar told the Speaker.

On the Speaker’s directive, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Monday ordered the SIT probe into the audio tape he released on February 8 to expose Yeddyurappa’s alleged attempt to lure Kandakur to join the BJP.

The Speaker has asked for the inquiry report in the next 15 days.

Rejecting the BJP’s demand, Kumar said an SIT probe was desirable as a judicial inquiry would be delayed.

Kumar adjourned the House proceedings when the ruling and opposition members levelled charges and counter-charges during the debate on the issue.


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