Surat: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday appeared before a magistrate’s court in Surat city of Gujarat to record his statement in connection with a criminal defamation case filed against him over his remark on the “Modi surname”.

This was the third time the Congress MP appeared before the court in connection with the 2019 case.

The court had on October 26 directed Gandhi to appear before it between 3 pm and 6 pm on October 29 to record his statement.

The former Congress president landed at the Surat Airport in the afternoon and headed to the court, situated in the Athwalines area of the city.

Chief Judicial Magistrate A N Dave had earlier asked Gandhi to appear on October 29 to record his statement further, after the testimonies of two new witnesses were taken since the Congress leader last appeared before the court on June 24 this year.

Prior to it, the Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad in Kerala had appeared before the court in October 2019 and pleaded not guilty for his comment.

BJP legislator from Surat, Purnesh Modi, had filed a complaint against Gandhi in April 2019 under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 499 and 500 that deal with defamation.

In his complaint, the MLA had alleged that Gandhi, while addressing a poll rally in 2019, defamed the entire Modi community by purportedly saying “how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?” Purnesh Modi is now a minister in the Gujarat government led by new Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, holding the portfolios of road and building, transport, civil aviation, and tourism and pilgrimage development.

Since Gandhi’s last appearance before the court, testimonies were taken of two more witnesses, the then electoral officer of Kolar in Karnataka, where the Congress leader made the controversial remark, and a videographer employed by the Election Commission to record his speech.

In his address at the rally in Kolar on April 13, 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Gandhi had allegedly asked, “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi…how come they all have Modi as the common surname.

Chennai: Superstar Rajinikanth on Friday underwent a procedure to restore blood supply to brain and he is recovering well, a hospital here that is treating him said.

The top Tamil star was admitted on October 28, “following an episode of giddiness,” the hospital said.

Rajinikanth was “thoroughly evaluated by an expert panel of doctors and was advised to undergo Cartoid Artery Revascularisation,” a medical bulletin issued by Kauvery Hospital said.

“The procedure was performed successfully today and he is recovering well. He is likely to be discharged from the hospital after few days,” the bulletin issued by Dr Aravindan Selvaraj, co-founder and executive director of the hospital said.

CHENNAI:  Pakistan’s win over New Zealand is probably the best result from an Indian perspective. While England are in pole position to advance from Group 1 — they have now won two in two and look good to even hold both World Cups at the same time — Group 2 is no less fascinating. 

That being the case, it is going to be a a three-way fight for the one remaining spot to qualify from Group 2. Apart from India and New Zealand, Afghanistan too are a team in contention, they won’t be pushovers in these conditions. Given they play Namibia and New Zealand in the afternoon, the absence of dew mean they have the conditions to make most use of their spinners. As far as New Zealand are concerned, they play three of four remaining matches in the afternoon. Their only remaining night match is against India on Sunday.  

All of this leaves India in a slight position of bother. Apart from Afghanistan, all of their games are in Dubai where captains have opted to field first with their eyes closed. The onset of dew in the second-half of the match means spinners have been neutralised. So unless pacers get the early breakthroughs and are intelligent with the use of variations, it is near impossible to defend totals. “Toss definitely is going to be a factor in this tournament. If the dew keeps creeping in in the latter half the game, you need those extra runs in the first half then,” India captain Virat Kohli said after match against Pakistan.

Going back to IPL and now, out of the 12 matches played in Dubai, only one has been won by the team batting first. That was Chennai Super Kings who put up 192, way above the par score on a new surface. Although the average first innings total in international T20s in 2021 in Dubai is 116.33, that’s way short of 156.23 during the IPL. With dew around, it is essential to add at least 30 more runs to be on the safer side while defending. 

However, it’s easier said than done. In the IPL final, Chennai were able to go for a big total against a bowling line-up that had three good spinners only because they had depth in their batting. It is the luxury that franchise cricket provides. It is one India doesn’t have. 

In that regard, India may be tempted to bring in Ishan Kishan in place of Hardik Pandya or even Suryakumar Yadav. The all-rounder injured his right shoulder against Pakistan and on Wednesday he bowled during the net session. However, it is understood that India will not rush him unless he is fully confident of his bowling.

If Pandya is going to be used only as a batsman, Ishan would be a welcome addition. Apart from being a left-hander who could affect opposition’s match-up plans, Ishan can be used as a floater. Even on the pitches in Dubai, he scored three fifties in seven innings for Mumbai Indians. Given in Ravindra Jadeja, India have an in-form finisher, playing Ishan over Pandya would give India an edge. 

With Kiwis having Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi, having an additional left-hander will also be an advantage should boundaries be shorter on one side. After the loss against Pakistan, India need to get back to winning ways against New Zealand or risk saying goodbye to their own party.

PANAJI: The Goa government told the Bombay High Court’s bench here on Wednesday that the victim in a 2013 rape case, in which journalist Tarun Tejpal was acquitted, was named and shamed and the trial court’s judgement was “retrograde” and “fit for fifth century”.

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, representing the Goa government, stated before the bench that the prosecutrix (woman) was “named and shamed”.

He also termed the judgment of the trial court as “retrograde” and “fit for fifth century”.

Justice Dere said “in not just this case, but in all the cases of rape, we will not allow lawyers to read the evidence, we will read it ourselves”.

She said a lawyer can point out the page number while submitting about the evidence.

On May 21 this year, a sessions court acquitted Tejpal, the former editor-in-chief of the Tehelka magazine, in the case where he was accused of sexually assaulting his then colleague in a lift of a five-star hotel in Goa in November 2013 when they were attending an event.

Later, the Goa government filed an appeal against it in the HC.

The matter came up before the HC’s division bench on Wednesday when Tejpal’s lawyer Amit Desai submitted to the court to consider two applications filed by him.

Tejpal has challenged the maintainability of the Goa government’s appeal against his acquittal in the case.

Desai said the permission to file application (challenging the session court’s order) was not granted by the state government to the public prosecutor on the day when it was filed.

He also said that they have filed an application for ‘in-camera’ hearing into the matter, which Mehta opposed.

The bench will hear later Tejpal’s application seeking in-camera hearing into the matter.

The hearing on Wednesday was held in virtual mode.

NEW DELHI: Amid trouble in the grand alliance of the opposition in Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav said he had a telephonic conversation with Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday.

However, the details of the discussion are still unknown.

The telephonic conversation comes after Congress and RJD broke off the alliance ahead of the by-polls in Kusheshwar Asthan (SC) and Tarapur constituencies in Bihar scheduled on October 30.

Earlier, breaking the alliance with Congress in Bihar, Lalu Yadav had said that RJD’s candidates would lose their deposit in the elections if they remain in alliance with the Congress in the state ahead of the by-polls in two assembly constituencies.

However, on Tuesday, the RJD chief called upon Congress to become a ‘strong alternative’ to the BJP at the national level politics and said that his party has always supported Congress in every situation.

The RJD and the Congress had contested the 2020 Bihar polls as coalition partners. The alliance fell short of 10 seats from the majority mark in the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, with RJD emerging as the single-largest party with 75 seats. Congress could only manage to win 19 of the 70 seats it had contested on.

The ruling coalition, NDA secured a majority with 125-seats in the 243-seat strong Bihar Legislative Assembly of which BJP won 74 seats, Janata Dal (United) on 43 while eight seats were won by two other NDA constituents.

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan Police has directed all district police heads to ensure strict compliance to the law that restricts the construction of places of worship on police premises, inviting strong BJP criticism which termed the Congress government “anti-Hindu” and demanded the order be withdrawn.

He has said that all the superintendents of police in the state have been asked to ensure compliance to this Act.

Reacting to the order, the BJP said it has exposed the “anti-Hindu” face of the Congress government.

“The state government should immediately withdraw this unjustified order. Traditionally, places of worship have been established in police stations even before independence and they are also worshiped. This maintains a pleasant and spiritual atmosphere in the police stations,” BJP state president Satish Poonia said in a statement.

Party MP Kirodi Lal Meena termed the Congress government “anti-Hindu” and demanded the directive be withdrawn.

Meena said the police are wasting their time and energy on issuing such an “illogical order” rather than managing the “deteriorating” law and order situation.

In the order, Ponnuchami has said that in the past years, there has been an “increase” in the trend of construction of places of worship in various types of office complexes/police stations of the police department in the name of faith, which is not legal.

The Rajasthan Religious Buildings and Places Act 1954 prohibits religious use of public places, the order said.

Also, there is no provision for the construction of a place of worship in the map prepared and approved for the construction of administrative buildings of police stations, the order said.

It went on to direct police officers/employees and other unit in-charges to ensure the act is strictly followed.

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday welcomed the Supreme Court order of setting up an expert committee on the Pegasus spyware issue, and said it has negated alleged attempts of the government to evade and divert attention in the name of national security.

“Welcome SC order setting up Special Committee to examine misuse of spyware Pegasus despite Modi Government’s embarrassing attempts to evade, avoid and divert attention in the name of National Security. Satyamev Jayate,” he said.

The Supreme Court has appointed a three-member panel of experts to probe into the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus for surveillance of some persons, saying every citizens needs protection against violation of privacy.

The court was hearing pleas seeking independent probe into reports of alleged snooping by government agencies on eminent citizens, politicians and scribes by using Pegasus.

An international media consortium had reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for surveillance using Pegasus spyware.

LUDHIANA: After chairing a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi announced a special session of Legislative Assembly on November 8 to “repeal” the three farm laws and notification enhancing the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) in the state.

Punjab Chief Minister also demanded to withdraw notification citing the increase in Border Security Force (BSF) range from 15 km to 50 km.

“We also demand the Centre to withdraw notification citing the increase in BSF range from 15 km to 50 km or else we will be forced to stop it by November 8. This will affect Centre-State relations,” said Channi.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa was missing from the meeting.

Farmers have been protesting at different sites since November 26 last year against the three enacted farm laws: Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

Farmer leaders and the Centre have held several rounds of talks but the impasse remains.

Punjab is slated to go to the polls early next year.