Embroiled in the Sushant Singh Rajput’s suspicious death case, actor Rhea Chakraborty has filed a complaint with Mumbai Police against the late actor’s sister, Priyanka Singh. Rhea, the prime accused in the CBI case, has requested the Mumbai Police to file an FIR against Priyanka Singh, Dr Tarun Kumar (from RML Hospital, Delhi) and others under IPC, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act & Telemedicine Practice Guidelines for allegedly prescribing drugs to the actor without any consultations.
Rhea Chakraborty’s complaint states that Priyanka had sent Sushant a prescription by Dr Tarun Kumar and he “appears to have prescribed medication controlled under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 to Sushant without any consultation as mandated by law.”
According to the complaint filed by Rhea, Priyanka had sent Sushant a prescription by Dr Tarun Kumar, who “appears to have prescribed medication controlled under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 to Sushant without any consultation as mandated by law”. The complaint added that the medicines prescribed by the doctor (Dr Tarun Kumar) were “prohibited from being prescribed electronically under the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines, 2020”.
She has accused that the so-called prescription appeared ‘forged and fabricated’.
Rhea had alleged in her complaint that Sushant had died just days after ‘obtaining this unlawful prescription’. She had sought an investigation into the role of Priyanka and doctor Kumar for providing the late actor with an unlawful prescription. The complaint was filed based on Whatsapp messages between Sushant and his sister on June 8.
As per the chats between SSR and Priyanka, his sister had suggested him to take Librium for a week, Nexito every day and Lonazep whenever he was afflicted by an anxiety attack.
Rhea being grilled by NCB in connection with drugs probe linked with the death of Sushant Singh Rajput
As a part of the ongoing investigation into the death case of Sushant Singh Rajput, Rhea Chakraborty is currently being grilled by Narcotics Control Bureau. As per various reports, Rhea had reportedly confessed of procuring drugs but never consuming them. Earlier last week, Rhea’s brother, Showik Chakraborty, was arrested along with others in connection with the drugs probe linked with the death of Sushant Singh Rajput.
On Monday, TMC MLA and Education Minister Partha Chatterjee took to Twitter to slam the former Governor of Meghalaya, Tathagata Roy, after he made remarks hinting at the situation in the state and alluded that it is turning into ‘West Bangladesh’.
The TMC Minister tweeted, “Bengal is a land where respect for people is paramount! Tathagata Roy has made some wild obnoxious comments and he should really consider the idea of entering Bengal politics with such a polluted mindset.”
Bengal is a land where respect for people is paramount! @tathagata2 has made some wild obnoxious comments and he should really reconsider the idea of entering Bengal politics with such a polluted mindset!https://t.co/IZ5V0X33xu
Partha Chatterjee had shared an old article listing some remarks by Roy on modern-day Bengali ‘liberalism’ where he had insinuated that the people of the state are being forced to seek menial jobs in other state while the state’s ruling politicians seek trivial issues to stir up controversies. The article shared by Partha Chatterjee mentions Tathagata Chatterjee making blunt remarks on a variety of matters, which included the suggestion that the terrorists responsible for the Pathankot terror attack should be wrapped in pig’s skin and buried in pig excreta.
Tweet by former Meghalaya Minister riles up Trinamool Congress
Earlier, in the day, Tathagata Roy had expressed fears about how so-called ‘progressive thoughts’ had led to the destruction of the State. Without naming any political party, he took potshots at the ruling dispensation on how it was hellbent on turning the West Bengal into ‘West Bangladesh’. Praising the Prime Minister, the former Meghalaya Governor said that the fear of Narendra Modi had prevented the State from turning into the ‘West Bangladesh’.
He tweeted, “There is no state in India called ‘Bengal’. West Bengal,through its so-called ‘progressive thoughts’ has shot itself in the feet and would have been halfway today to becoming West Bangladesh. It is only the fear of the Iron Man in New Delhi that prevents it. Jai Hind.”
There is no state in India called ‘Bengal’. West Bengal,through its so-called ‘progressive thoughts’ has shot itself in the feet and would have been halfway today to becoming West Bangladesh. It is only the fear of the Iron Man in New Delhi that prevents it. Jai Hind.
In a series of tweets, Roy had emphasised how Shyama Prasad Mukherjee had worked to create West Bengal, a land for Bengali speaking Hindus. Sharing some incidences from the region’s political history, Roy had stated that had it not been for Mukherjee, Bengali Hindus would have all been slaughtered. He had also discussed how the radical Bengali Muslims call Mukherjee as ‘Shyama Poka’, an insect.
Rising political violence in West Bengal
Political violence is on the rise in West Bengal, ever since Mamata Banerjee and the ruling TMC came to power. Bolstered by political patronage, the goons have turned into a nightmare for the political opponents in the State. Recently, a BJP worker named Rabin Paul was lynched to death in the Pathar Ghata village in Kalna in West Bengal. He was first beaten mercilessly by about 50 TMC supporters and then taken to another place in the village where Paul was thrashed by the TMC Deputy Chief. The family alleged that the TMC workers stopped the victim’s daughter when she tried to offer him water. The TMC workers also threatened to thrash Paul’s daughter if she tried to help her father.
On July 13, The West Bengal police had recovered the dead body of Debendra Nath Roy, a BJP MLA from Hematabad, in a closed tea shop in the village of Balia in Bindol Panchayat in Rajiganj. Roy was found hanging from the roof of the shop. He had been missing from the previous night. While the West Bengal police has ruled out ‘foul play’, the BJP unit of West Bengal has alleged that the MLA Debendranath Roy was murdered. BJP President (North Dinajpur) stated that the ‘suicide note’ was a conspiracy by the police to protect the murderers of the deceased politician. “We are not satisfied with the probe by the CID and will stick to our demand for a CBI investigation,” he was quoted as saying.
Radical Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, who has been on the run from the law enforcement authorities in India, is back in the news again. A recent video of him advocating Muslims to refrain from becoming IAS/IPS officers is doing the rounds on the internet.
On being asked by a ‘Muslim brother’ whether a Muslim can become a bureaucrat in a democratic country like India, Zakir Naik replied, “If you can follow the ‘deen‘ (religion), then, it is permissible. Else, it is not.” He then responded to another Muslim who inquired whether it was possible for a Muslim to become an IAS, in light of the alleged ‘anti-Muslim’ hatred.
The Islamic preacher informed, “It is not impossible but difficult.” Under the assumption that a Muslim IAS officer would ‘definitely’ be intimidated by his colleagues, Naik stated, “When they attack you, Islam or the Prophet, can you reply them back? Do you have the courage to reply? If you are timid and shy, don’t take such a job. If you can answer them and are bold, go ahead with it.”
Become IAS officer only if you protect Muslims and Islam, recommends Naik
Later in the video, he emphasised, “If you are a strong person who can face the criticism of the non-Muslims, attacks of non-Muslims on Islam, stay away from bribery, follow the Sunnah and Quran, go ahead with the job.” Zakir Naik also warned Muslim IAS aspirants by citing the examples of Muslim officers who have ‘deviated’ from Islam.
His advice to his fellow ‘Muslim brothers’ is premised on the belief that the ‘objective’ behind bagging the coveted job of an IAS or IPS officer is to respond to fellow colleagues, defend Islam, and follow the teachings of Allah and the Quran.
He also asserts the narrative that even for an IPS and IAS officers, it is always about Muslims and non-Muslims. He repeatedly says that ‘they’ will defame the Quran and the Prophet and asserts that for Muslims who are selected into these jobs, it is all about defending Islam from ‘them’.
Zakir Naik video
Hate preacher casts aspersions about the honesty of IPS officers
In the same video, the hate preacher then made sweeping statements about IPS officers. Naik claimed, “Not all, but the majority of IPS officers for sure are corrupt… If an honest officer goes there, he either becomes corrupt or he has to leave the job… The setup is such that if you don’t agree with them, then, they will make life difficult for you.”
Zakir Naik is not new to making bizarre claims
Radical Islamic preacher Zakir Naik is not new to making bizarre assertions. Earlier, he had declared that despite his noble efforts of “taking the side of Muslims” and “showing the ugly face of oppressors”, NDTV’s star journalist Ravish Kumar will not find a place in the ‘Jannah’ or Muslim heaven.
In the video titled, “Dr. Zakir Naik on the fate of Ravish Kumar who stands for Muslims & Righteous Non-Muslims”, he explained how Ravish Kumar and other ‘good non-Muslims’ did not deserve the Muslim heaven or ‘Jannah’. Naik said that whatever the ‘good deeds’ people like Ravish Kumar may do for the benefit of Muslims since they have not converted to Islam, they will still go to hell because of the crime of ‘shirk’ (heresy, idol worship) is bigger than any other crime.
NIA books Zakir Naik in love-jihad case
Recently, Zakir Naik, along with two Pakistani hardline preachers have been named as accused in an FIR filed by the National Investigation Agency in connection with the high-profile “love jihad” case. The said case involved the daughter of a Chennai-based businessman and the son of a top Bangladeshi politician, belonging to former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
The father of the daughter had complained with the Chennai Central Crime Branch in May that his daughter, who was studying in London, was radicalised and forcibly converted to Islam. He had also alleged that his daughter was kidnapped by Bangladeshi men and spirited away to Bangladesh.
Social media has been on fire recently, metaphorically of course, after certain ex-Muslims decided to post obscene images of Goddess Kali in order to offend the Hindu community. A certain line was crossed and as was to be expected, a response directed at one of them, Armin Navabi, the founder of Atheist Republic, made an obscene comment on his deceased mother.
To spare our audience of the vulgarity of the whole situation, we shall not post the obscene image of Goddess Kali and neither shall we share the obscene remark directed against Navabi’s mother. Suffice it to say that the ex-Muslim’s mother was insulted in the same manner as he had insulted Goddess Kali, who is regarded and worshipped as a mother by Hindus worldwide.
What proceeded then was grave condemnation from the atheists of the individual who had targeted Navabi’s mother. Concurrently, the user’s tweet was lauded and appreciated by those at the other end of the spectrum. Others believed the response was completely justified and within the acceptable boundaries of freedom of expression. Then there were those who disagreed. And Twitter has been in turmoil ever since.
But how did it all of this begin? Where did the raging debate originate? Here, we shall look into the cascading series of events that led to the situation where ex-Muslims are dishonestly drawing a false equivalence between Hindus and Muslims. And yes, certain ex-Muslims are drawing that equivalence and certain others have gone to the extent of decreeing that Hindus are worse while responding to blasphemy, which is a funny allegation as Hindus merely responded to insult with insults of their own.
Origins: Riots in Malmo, Sweden
It might be hard to believe but the origins of the current controversy do lie in the events of the Scandinavian country miles away. Soon after the rioting, an ex-Muslim, Abdullah Sameer, claimed that the fire was lit by the people who lit fire to the Quran. His argument was, “Yes, the Muslims should not be reacting this way. They are wrong to escalate to burning buildings and rioting. But why spark the match when you know you have crazies who will react this way.”
Abdullah also claimed that the people who burnt the Quran “just want to see the world burn”. As it turns out, the ‘ex-Muslim’ does not really appear to believe in freedom of expression. He also appears to suggest that Muslims would have reacted any differently if the ones burning the Quran had been liberal themselves. And even if they were liberals, they would have been branded far-right anyway.
Robert Spencer, the Director of Jihad Watch, commented on the matter and slammed Abdullah Sameer for his stance on the issue. He said, ““Ex-Muslim” flies into a rage over the burning of the Qur’an. Apparently according to this “ex-Muslim” we should all bow to Sharia blasphemy laws and violent threats, rather than defend the freedom of expression even when we disagree with what is expressed.”
He added, “Of course, this is the same “ex-Muslim” who became an Islamic apologist a few weeks ago when I dared to point out that the material on women in the Qur’an and Sunnah makes for a culture of violence against them. So this is no surprise.” Thus, we have good reason to suspect the motivations of this particular ex-Muslim at the very least.
Abdullah Sameer ties himself in knots
Apart from having a run-in with Robert Spencer for his problematic opinions, Abdullah Sameer had arguments with others as well. And during his arguments, he tied himself up in knots further. He claimed that he did not have an issue with burning the Quran per se, but he only had an issue with it when members of far-right groups indulged in it. “I think its unwise and counterproductive,” he said.
When he was asked whether he would tweet a sexualised image of prophet Mohammed, Abdullah Sameer flatly denied and claimed, “It would undermine the academic friendly approach I am trying to take and everything I worked for thus far.”
Abdullah Sameer vs Robert Spencer: Enter Hindus
The ex-Muslim took a dig at Robert Spencer and claimed that the “Hindu mob” questioning his problematic stance were all followers of the latter. “Robert, when are you going to convert to Hinduism? You’re pretty much already one of them,” he asked. Spencer was obviously displeased with the insinuations made in the comment and called him a “bigoted, hateful creep”. Abdullah responded, “Care to answer why it is you’re primarily followed by Hindus? Whats up with that Robert?”
The ex-Muslim then proceeded to drag Hindus into the squabble and equated the RSS with Taliban. He said of Hindus, “India and the world would be much better without intolerant nasty religious tribal people like yourself.” When it was pointed out to him that India was secular because of Hindus, he responded, “Then why is eating beef illegal in 24 of 29 Indian states? Isnt that a religious injunction?” All of this happened during the last days of August.
Armin Navabi is summoned by his ex-Muslim comrade
Soon enough, Abdullah posted a sexualised image of Goddess Kali, which further earned him the wrath of the Hindus on social media. Along expected lines, he was confronted over the matter which he perceived to be an ‘attack’. Soon after, in the early days of September, he made a tweet where he tagged Armin Navabi.
Abdullah said in his tweet tagging Armin Navabi, “I’m getting attacked by Hindus, Muslims, and the far-right (Spencer types). My blog is being DDOSed and I dont even know which of the three is responsible. Now I know how @ArminNavabi feels.” That tweet is likely to have attracted the attention of Armin Navabi who is the main instigator behind the drama that unfolded.
Soon, Armin Navabi made the sexualised image of Goddess Kali which broke the dam and led to a torrent of fiery exchanges. Atheists in India got involved in the whole matter as well. And that is how, a matter that was initiated by Abdullah Sameer’s reaction to the riots in Sweden came to affect political discourse in India.
Armin Navabi saga: Not an organic development
Thus, quite clearly, the series of events was not entirely organic and ex-Muslims deliberately plotted to target Hindus over the matter. The possibility that the entire thing was organised to deflect attention from the riots in Sweden by Radical Muslims cannot be denied. In the aftermath of the events that occurred, ex-Muslims also drew a false equivalence between Radical Muslims and Hindus and attempted to paint the Hindus in broad brush.
There is no evidence at all that Hindus are anywhere even close to Radical Muslims. Hindus had only responded to offensive tweets with offensive tweets. They had not rioted or engaged in acts of violence against the ex-Muslims. Even so, Hindus were demonized. The whole purpose of it appears to have been to promulgate the narrative that radical Muslims are not a uniquely violent group, even though they clearly are.
In the current saga, what appears to have suffered the most is the credibility of ex-Muslims. Next time onwards, before voicing their support for ex-Muslims, Hindus will think through their decision a thousand times over. Truly, the whole episode does tend to remind one of the Butterfly Effect which theorises that the smallest of changes in one part of the world could end up causing a tornado in the other part of the globe. The concept is imagined as a butterfly flapping its wings and causing a typhoon.
Now that India’s economy is reeling from Coronavirus, it seems that Rahul Gandhi wants to blame everything on GST. This is good political posturing in place of good economics. So I have two basic questions for Rahul Gandhi.
(1) If Rahul Gandhi was opposed to GST, why did the Congress Party vote in favor of GST in the Rajya Sabha in 2016 and 2017?
This was really not so long ago. But public memory can be short. So let me quote the news stories from 2016 that bear this out. This is from the Economic Times on Aug 4, 2016:
“The Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, 2014 was approved by the Rajya Sabha with 203 votes in favour and none against. The debate witnessed a rare bonhomie among the government and the opposition.”
Did you see that? Not a single vote was cast against the bill (the AIADMK walked out). All Congress members, present and voting, supported the bill.
The same unity was seen in the Rajya Sabha in 2017, when the government had to pass four pieces of enabling legislation to operationalize GST.
Congress gave a nod to the GST bll
In fact, Jairam Ramesh said he wanted to move some amendments, but Dr. Singh personally asked him not to do so. If the Congress was opposed to the bill, why did they vote for it on the floor of the house? Twice!
(2) Why did the Congress miss the original GST deadline of April 1, 2010?
In his video, Rahul Gandhi boasts that there was something called “UPA’s GST” which would have done great things for the country. Unlike the NDA’s GST, which incidentally the Congress party voted for.
Okay, so why did the UPA not pass the GST Bill? They were in government, no? In fact, the first ever deadline for GST was set as April 1, 2010. This deadline was announced in the Budget speech on the floor of Parliament back in 2006. The Finance Minister was P Chidambaram.
From 2006 to 2014, the UPA had 8 full years. Why did they not pass the GST bill and unleash an era of milk and honey upon the nation, as Rahul Gandhi would have liked?
Here’s the thing. In every country in the world, GDP growth has taken a hit in the first two years after implementation of GST. The overhaul only bears fruit in the long haul. That’s why it is quite dangerous for a government to unleash this big reform. In fact, BJP made a record of sorts by becoming the first ruling government in the world to get re-elected after implementing GST.
And the Congress fully understands this point. It always did. In order to see this, look no further than the political code behind April 1, 2010, the GST deadline set by the Congress in 2006.
Why April 1, 2010? The General Election is supposed to be in 2009 and two things could have happened. Either Sonia ji’s govt gets re-elected or it doesn’t. If they lose, then it’s not their problem any more. If they win, they implement GST within the first year of their second term, so that the shocks subside in two years and the benefits become apparent before the next election in 2014. No way would UPA have passed GST between 2006 and 2009!
In fact, the political risks of Modi implementing GST in 2017, so close to the next election were apparent to all. You would remember the Congress in mid-2017, not opposing GST, but merely asking for another 3 month delay in implementing it. To push the peak of economic troubles as close to the election as possible. This did not go unnoticed among media commentators.
Congress wanted to push back the implementation of GST
“Let’s start with some facts. No government across the world has been re-elected after they implemented goods and service tax (GST). Not just that, the benefits of the GST were always reaped by the succeeding government.”
The thing is, GST was always an all party effort. The Congress fully participated in it. They just did not want any of the political risks of it.
You might remember that at the launch ceremony of GST in 2017, the government had invited every former Prime Minister of India to take part. Including, of course, Dr. Manmohan Singh.
But Dr. Singh did not attend. He might have told Jairam Ramesh not to move an amendment on the floor of the Rajya Sabha, when it really mattered. But when it came to taking responsibility, he was nowhere to be found.
That’s classic Dr. Singh for you. In PM Modi’s colorful analogy, wearing a raincoat in the shower.
Right at the time of the launch, PM Modi made it a point to state that this was not an achievement of one party or one government.
PM Modi on implementation of GST
Indeed, it was an all party effort. And that’s even more true than you may realize.
As with most far reaching economic reforms in India, GST was first conceived by Vajpayee’s government, who in 2000 appointed the panel that drafted the basics of GST.
Who was heading that committee? You would be surprised. It was Asim Dasgupta, the Finance Minister in the then Communist government of Jyoti Basu in West Bengal. Indeed, Asim Dasgupta was the only CPIM member to attend the GST launch, despite his party announcing a boycott.
BJP, Congress, CPIM. All colors of the Indian political spectrum. Everyone came together to work on GST. But when it came to the implementation, there was only one man who was willing to take the political risk: Narendra Modi.
Yes, we were not adequately prepared for the pandemic. We were just wrapping up universal toilet coverage. We didn’t have time to build the healthcare infrastructure to hold off a pandemic that has brought the United States and France (ranked #1 in healthcare by WHO) to their knees. Without the pandemic, this would have been the year of the rebound.
PM Modi took a big political risk in 2017. It paid off. Turns out the risk was even bigger than we imagined. He is in the thick of it now, facing the thundershowers. One thing I can assure you. He’s not wearing a raincoat. History will decide in 2024.
Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut on Monday took to Twitter to share videos of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials raiding her office premises alleging that the corporation officials will be tearing down her property tomorrow.
ये मुंबई में मणिकर्णिका फ़िल्म्ज़ का ऑफ़िस है, जिसे मैंने पंद्रह साल मेहनत कर के कमाया है, मेरा ज़िंदगी में एक ही सपना था मैं जब भी फ़िल्म निर्माता बनूँ मेरा अपना खुद का ऑफ़िस हो, मगर लगता है ये सपना टूटने का वक़्त आ गया है, आज वहाँ अचानक @mybmc के कुछ लोग आए हैं ? pic.twitter.com/C7zGe8ZyGe
She said she built this office after putting in hard work of 15 years and she had always dreamt of having her own office. “But looks like that dream of mine will come to an end.
They have forcefully taken over my office measuring everything, also harassing my neighbors when they retorted @mybmc officials used language like ,” वो जो मैडम है उसकी करतूत का परिणाम सबको भरना होगा” I am informed tomorrow they are demolishing my property ? pic.twitter.com/efUOGJDve1
She further stated that BMC officials have forcefully taken over her office and are measuring up things and harassing her neighbours. “What that madam has done you all will now have to pay for it,” the BMC official told the neighbour, she said. Kangana further informed that the BMC might be demolishing her property tomorrow.
I have all the papers, BMC permissions nothing has been done illegal in my property, BMC should send a structure plan to show the illegal construction with a notice, today they raided my place and without any notice tomorrow they demolishing entire structure ?
She asserted that she has all the papers in order and she has done nothing illegal on her property. “BMC should send a structure plan to show the illegal construction with a notice, today they raided my place and without any notice tomorrow they demolishing entire structure,” she tweeted.
Shiv Sena is the majority party in the BMC.
Kangana vs Shiv Sena
Kangana Ranaut and Shiv Sena locked horns after the Bollywood actress called out Bollywood mafia and expressed that she sometimes fear for life. She had recently called out the anti-India posters like Azadi which were spotted in Mumbai and said how these things make Mumbai appear like Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), the part of India illegally occupied by Kashmir. Following this, Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut called her a ‘haramkhor‘ girl and other Shiv Sena leaders asked her not to go back to Mumbai if she does not feel safe.
After the perceived threat to her life, the Home Ministry today gave her a Y grade security cover. Hours later, the BMC officials raided her office.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday said that India’s next mission to Moon, Chandrayaan-3, may launch in early 2021. While discussing the project, he said that Chandrayaan-3 will not have an orbiter but will include a rover and a lander.
Chandrayaan-3 was announced after Vikram hard-landed on moon surface in 2019
In January 2020, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) had announced several projects including Chandrayaan-3. However, due to the Covid-19 lockdown, many projects at ISRO were delayed. Chandrayaan-2 was launched on 22nd July 2019. India’s Vikram Lander carrying the Pragyan rover hard-landed on 7th September and could not recover from the impact. The orbiter is still working fine and has been sending data.
Images from Chandrayaan-1 showed rusting along the poles
Singh said that ISRO’s first moon mission Chandrayaan-1 sent pictures of Earth’s satellite, indicating possible rusting along the poles. Though the moon’s surface is rich in iron, it lacks two elements, water, and oxygen that is essential for creating rust. According to the scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the rusting could have been caused due to the impact of Earth’s atmosphere. “In other words, it means that the Earth’s atmosphere could be protecting the Moon as well. Thus, the Chandrayaan-1 Moon data indicates that the Moon’s poles are home to water, this is what the scientists are trying to decipher,” the statement added.
Images sent by #ISRO mission Chandrayaan-1 indicate possible impact of Earth’s atmosphere on the Moon. World’s leading Space institution NASA takes note of this finding. pic.twitter.com/NkKKHAOuk0
While talking about India’s first Manned Space mission Gaganyaan, he said that there are constraints due to the Covid-19 pandemic that are causing disruptions in the plan for Gaganyaan. “But efforts are going on to stick to the timeline of around 2022,” he added.
The minister also added that the training process and other crucial preparations for Gaganyaan are in place.
Over 1 kilo gold has been seized by customs officials in a span of just two days in separate incidents at the Calicut Airport, Kerala. The Commissionerate of Customs (Preventive), Cochin has taken to Twitter to inform that the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) at Kozhikode (Calicut) airport has seized a total 653 grams of gold and 10,000 cigarettes from the possession of four passengers travelling by two different flights.
One passenger carried 325 grams of gold by flight SG 9560 from Jeddah. While the remaining three passengers carried 10,000 cigarettes, 207 grams of gold and 121 grams of gold separately by flight SG153 from Dubai, said the Commissionerate.
The person travelling from Jeddah concealed the gold inside adaptors and cello tape.
— Commissionerate of Customs (Preventive), Cochin (@ccphqrskochi) September 6, 2020
While the three passengers travelling from Dubai hid the gold and cigarettes inside a speaker and the wheels of a trolley bag, the Commissionerate added.
AIU Calicut seized 207gm gold, 121gm gold and 10000 cigarettes from 3 pax travelling by flight SG153 from Dubai. The gold was concealed inside a speaker and wheels of trolley bag. Further investigation is underway.@cbic_india@cgstcustvm#IndianCustomsAtWorkpic.twitter.com/Cq0Oz80psU
— Commissionerate of Customs (Preventive), Cochin (@ccphqrskochi) September 6, 2020
The two cases are being investigated further said the Commissionerate of Customs (Preventive), Cochin in its tweet.
In a similar case, a passenger arriving from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia was caught by the AIU at Kozhikode (Calicut) airport on September 5 carrying around 700 gms of gold valued at Rs 36 lakhs. The passenger had concealed the gold in a pressure cooker.
AIU Calicut seized 700gm gold valued at Rs.32.67 Lakhs from a pax travelling by flight SG 9760 from Jeddah. The gold was concealed inside a pressure cooker. One pax has been arrested & further investigation is in progress@cbic_india@cgstcustvm#IndianCustomsAtWorkpic.twitter.com/PuAMyxAoza
— Commissionerate of Customs (Preventive), Cochin (@ccphqrskochi) September 5, 2020
Kerala gold smuggling racket
Multiple cases of gold smuggling have been reported from Kerala in the past. In one such high-profile, multi-crore gold smuggling case that stung the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left front government in Kerala, the NIA had found that the racket had managed to bring in 1.5 quintals (150 kgs) of gold in the country through diplomatic channels at Thiruvananthapuram airport since September 2019.
The NIA had also disclosed that the smuggling of gold was not done for jewellery but funding terrorist activities in India.
The name of the Chief Minister’s office in Kerala was dragged in the case when it was disclosed that the 30 Kg of gold that was seized on 5th July by customs was smuggled by misusing diplomatic immunity.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s close aide and IT secretary M Shivshankarhad allegedly helped the now arrested- Swapna Suresh smuggle the gold.
PM Modi today joined President Kovind through video conferencing to address the inaugural session of the Governor’s Conference. He discussed new National Education Policy, NEP 2020 and its transformational impact, claiming that the new policy seeks to focus more on learning than on studying and goes beyond curriculum and lays emphasis on critical thinking.
LIVE: PM @narendramodi addresses inaugural session of Governors’ Conference on National Education Policy via video conferencing. https://t.co/rPaINAGtYW
The conference titled as Titled ‘Role of NEP-2020 in Transforming Higher Education’, was being organised by the Ministry of education and is being attended by Education ministers of all states, Vice-chancellors of state universities and other important functionaries.
NEP will give a new direction to the social and economic life of 21st century India
“The policy will give a new direction to the social and economic life of 21st century India,” PM Modi said while adding that the work on National Education Policy 2020 had started around 4 to 5 years back and millions of people, both from the urban and rural background, associated with the education sector had played a role in the formulation of the policy. PM Modi said that over 2 lakh suggestions from the public have been incorporated in the NEP.
Speaking about NEP’s role in making India self-reliant, PM Modi claimed that the new education policy will provide direction to the country’s goal of #AatmanirbharBharat and play a pivotal role in fulfilling the national aspirations.
The new policy lays stress on practicality, performance, critical analysis and assessment and would enhance the employability of the country’s youth with a practical learning approach, PM Modi said.
NEP paves the way for the establishment of top international institutes in India
Addressing the critical issue of youth leaving the country in the pursuit of their higher education, PM Modi said that the NEP has paved the way for the establishment of the best international institutions’ campus in India to grapple with brain drain & also provide opportunities for youth from ordinary families to study at world-class universities without spending a fortune.
“With the new policy, we’ve opened the gateway for best international institutes to open their new campuses in India for our students. When top universities will open their campuses in India, our students will get more competitive and will not have to go abroad for higher education,” PM Modi said.
Students can choose the subjects that align with their interests
One of the important features of the new economic policy is that it grants students with the option of choosing the subjects that aligns with their interests. The pressure on students to choose specific streams have been removed. The flexible policy would allow students to select subjects in accordance with their interests and liking, PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister also highlighted that the vocational exposure that the policy would grant to the youth right from their formative years will better prepare them for the future in a dynamic and ever-evolving environment and consequently, it will increase their participation in the global job market and employability in India.
World number one Tennis player Novak Djokovic was disqualified in the US Open fourth round on Sunday after he struck a line judge with a ball in the first set of his match against Pablo Carreno Busta from Spain. He was seen frustrated after wasting three set points against Busta.
In the video circulating over social media, he could be seen hitting the ball reasonably hard to the back of the court that hit the female line judge in her throat. Novak was immediately seen running towards her to check her well being. After reviewing the video, followed by a discussion with the player, the referee informed him about his disqualification.
Statement by US Open on Novak Djokovic
In a statement, US Open said that in accordance with the Grand Slam rulebook, following his actions, the tournament referee defaulted Novak Djokovic from US Open 2020. He will lose all ranking points earned at the US Open and will be fined prize money won at the tournament.
Novak issued a statement on his Instagram account and said that the situation had left him sad and empty. He checked on the line person and the tournament told him that she was okay. He added, “I‘m extremely sorry to have caused her such stress. So unintended. So wrong. I’m not disclosing her name to respect her privacy. As for the disqualification, I need to go back within and work on my disappointment and turn this all into a lesson for my growth and evolution as a player and human being.”
Djokovic’s name has been associated with several controversies in the past.
Being one of the most famous anti-vaxxers, he has often been seen promoting alternate medicinal practices that clash with sports science. In May, world number two Rafael Nadal said in a statement that Covid-19 vaccines are made compulsory by the governing bodies of Tennis, then Djokovic has to oblige if he wants to continue his career in Tennis.
Novak believes in telekineses and telepathy. In 2017 he appointed Pepe Imaz who worked as his ‘mental guru’ till they parted ways in 2018. He also reportedly taught Djokovic how to ‘levitatie’. He came under fire for endorsing a product for alleged brain cell growth.
His wife, Jelena, shared a video that linked 5G technology to the Covid-19 outbreak. The said controversy on a larger scale led to the destruction of 5G towers in several locations worldwide.
Recently, he was criticized extensively for traveling in June for the Adria Tour exhibition tournament organized by his brother Djordje Djokovic. Photos and videos appeared on social media where the players and spectators were seen flouting social distancing norms. Novak along with Croatia’s Borna Coric, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria and Viktor Troicki were tested positive for Covid-19 during the tournament.
Novak in 2016 questioned if women deserve equal prize money in Tennis. He said that men deserve to be paid more compared to women.
