Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court has dismissed a PIL seeking rehabilitation of families evicted from a slum to make way for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, but said these people can still approach state authorities which should consider their claim “with a sympathetic approach.”

The court passed its order on Tuesday on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Bandhkaam Mazdoor Sangathan, seeking rehabilitation of 68 to 70 families evicted from a slum near a railway bridge in Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati area to make way for the bullet train project.

The court, however, ordered rehabilitation of some of the families living in an area given to the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRC), which is carrying out the project.

In its plea, the workers’ union had claimed that the ‘JP Ni Chali’ slum was illegally demolished by the state and railways authorities for the bullet train project, without providing them an alternate accommodation as per state government policies.

They had sought the court’s direction to restrain authorities from carrying out any further eviction and to provide them immediate relief, including temporary shelter. They had also sought rehabilitation under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

The slum comprised 68 to 70 houses comprising around 350 people, with all of them possessing requisite documents, entitling them for rehabilitation as per the Gujarat slum rehabilitation policy and government housing schemes, they said in the plea.

The slum was demolished on March 15, 2021, where these families resided for over three decades, said the plea.

The first demolition happened in 2018 to make way for the bullet train project. After that, the slum dwellers moved to the road side. The demolition was then carried out in March last year, despite several representations made by the slum dwellers to the railway and local authorities, it said.

The plea also claimed that the NHSRC had at first given verbal assurance for rehabilitation, but later turned it down.

The state government had submitted before the court that the slum dwellers were not entitled for benefits under its resettlement and rehabilitation policy, and they could not be considered as project-affected persons.

London: Olympic gold medal-winning javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was on Wednesday nominated for the prestigious Laureus ‘World Breakthrough of the Year’ award, making him the first Indian to be featured in the short-list for this category.

He was clubbed alongside tennis stars Daniil Medvedev and Emma Raducanu among others.

The 23-year-old Chopra last year became only the second Indian to win an individual Olympic gold medal and first in track and field in Tokyo with a throw of 87.58 metres in his second attempt. The performance catapulted him to superstar status in India and also brought him worldwide acclaim.

“…it’s a great honour for me to be recognised in the wider sporting world for what I achieved in Tokyo. From being a kid in a small village in rural India who only took up sport to get fit, to standing on top of an Olympic podium, it’s been quite an eventful journey so far,” Chopra said in a statement issued by The Laureus Academy.

“I feel privileged to be able to represent my country and win India medals at the global stage, and now to have this recognition from Laureus and be considered alongside such exceptional athletes is a really special feeling.”

He is now only the third Indian to fetch a Laureus nomination after cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and wrestler Vinesh Phogat.

Phogat was nominated in the ‘Laureus World Sporting Comeback’ category for the year 2019, while Tendulkar won the ‘Laureus best sporting moment in the last 20 years’ in 2020.

The moment in consideration was Tendulkar’s teammates lifting him on their shoulders after India won the 2011 ODI World Cup at home.

A panel of more than 1,300 sports journalists and broadcasters of the world have selected the nominees in each of the seven categories for this year’s Laureus World Sports Awards.

The winners will be revealed in April, following a vote by the Laureus World Sports Academy, the world’s ultimate sports jury, made up of 71 of the greatest sporting legends of all time.

At the 2016 World Under-20 Championships, Chopra won the gold medal.

Also nominated with Chopra for the Breakthrough Award are FC Barcelona’s football prodigy Pedri, the 19-year-old who was voted best young player at the Ballon d’Or, Yulimar Rojas, who broke the 26-year-old triple jump world record, and swimmer Ariarne Titmus, who twice beat champion Katie Ledecky at 200 and 400m in Tokyo.

The battle for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award will be one of the most competitive ever.

The short-list features NFL star Tom Brady, Bayern Munich’s prolific goal-scorer Robert Lewandowski, new Formula One world champion Max Verstappen, tennis world no.1 Novak Djokovic, and two of the greatest Olympians — swimmer Caeleb Dressel, who won five gold medals in Tokyo, and Eliud Kipchoge, who won back-to-back marathon gold medals.

Several top-notch Olympic performances dominate the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year category.

Elaine Thompson-Herah matched fellow Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt with gold medals in the 100, 200 and 4×100 metres relay; Allyson Felix passed Carl Lewis as the most decorated track and field US Olympian; Australian swimmer Emma McKeon’s four gold and three bronze tied the record for the most medals ever won by a woman in a single Olympic Games; and American swimmer Katie Ledecky won two more gold and two silver medals.

Italy’s men’s football team is among the frontrunners for the Laureus World Team of the Year Award after their victory in Euro 2020. There are two other football nominees — the Argentina men’s football team, including Lionel Messi, who won the Copa America; and FC Barcelona women’s football side, who won their first Champions League.

They are joined by China’s Olympic diving team, who won gold medals in seven of the eight events, the Milwaukee Bucks, inspired by Giannis Antetokounmpo, who ended their 50-year wait for a second NBA championship, and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team which won a record eighth consecutive Constructors’ World Championship.

Senior Punjab Congress leader Sunil Jakhar

Chandigarh: Senior Punjab Congress leader Sunil Jakhar has claimed that 42 MLAs wanted him to be the chief minister of the state after the unceremonious exit of Amarinder Singh last year.

Jakhar could be heard saying this in a video — that has surfaced online — while addressing a gathering in Abohar on Tuesday.

Jakhar’s nephew Sandeep Jakhar is contesting the Punjab assembly polls as a Congress candidate from the Abohar seat.

Sunil Jakhar was among the front runners for the chief ministerial post. But the party preferred Charanjit Singh Channi, who became the first chief minister of Punjab from the Scheduled Caste community.

Forty-two votes went for Sunil (Jakhar), 16 for Sukhjinder Randhawa, 12 votes for Maharani Preneet Kaur (Amarinder Singh’s wife and Patiala MP), six votes for Navjot Singh Sidhu and two votes for (Charanjit Singh) Channi, Jakhar said.

He also said he even declined the post of deputy chief minister offered by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to him.

Forty-two MLAs voted for me despite the fact that I was nothing at that time. I was not even PPCC president, Jakhar said, pointing out that the party had sought to know from the MLAs whom they wanted to be the chief minister after the exit of Amarinder Singh.

Seventy-nine MLAs were called up to know whom they wanted to be the CM. Sunil was not even an MLA, he added.

Amarinder Singh was made to resign as the chief minister by the Congress amid a bitter power tussle with Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu.

The chances of Jakhar becoming the chief minister were scuttled after the statement of senior Congress leader Ambika Soni who had said the party should go with a Sikh face.

Charanjit Singh Channi, who replaced Amarinder Singh last year, is the first chief minister of Punjab from the Scheduled Caste community.

On January 27, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi had announced at a virtual rally that the party would go with a chief ministerial face in the Punjab elections.

Over the past several weeks, Channi and state Congress chief Sidhu have, directly or indirectly, made a case for themselves to be declared as the party’s chief ministerial candidate.

New Delhi: A total of 1,807 communal riot cases were registered in different parts of the country during 2018-2020 in which 8,565 people were arrested, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

Replying to a written question in the Upper House, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said the highest number of communal riot cases were registered in Bihar, followed by Maharashtra and Haryana.

A total of 512 communal riot cases were registered across India in 2018, 438 in 2019 and 857 in 2020, Rai noted.

While 4,097 people were arrested for riots in 2018 in different parts of the country, 2,405 people were arrested in 2019 and 2,063 in 2020, he said.

A total of 4,169 people were charge-sheeted in 2018, 2,281 in 2019 and 1,908 in 2020, he added.

Altogether, 200 people were convicted for the riots in 2018, 332 in 2019 and 229 in 2020.

In Bihar, 419 riot cases were registered in the said three years, in which 2,777 people were arrested, 2,316 charge-sheeted and 62 were convicted.

In Maharashtra, 167 riot cases were registered in the three years, in which 1,332 people were arrested, 1,324 charge-sheeted and 10 were convicted.

In Haryana, 146 riot cases were registered in the three years, in which 294 people were arrested. All of them were charge-sheeted and just three convicted.