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Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju directs SAI to dispose all pending sexual harassment cases in 4 weeks

OpIndia Staff
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Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju directs SAI to dispose all pending sexual harassment cases in 4 weeks

On January 16, the Indian Express published a report and alleged that 45 complaints of sexual harassment have been registered around 28 Sports Authority of India (SAI) institutes.

The report found that most people found guilty of charges of sexual offence were “let off leniently.” Cases range from molestation to physical abuse across various sports events. Many accused kept on training their victims for years, even after numerous complaints. The report claimed that many predators go away with a pay reduction for a month or an absent increment for a year.

It prompted Union Sports Minister, Kiren Rijiju, to direct SAI to speed up pending inquiries and address all complaints of sexual harassment within four weeks. He highlighted the Government policy of zero tolerance on sexual harassment in SAI institutes.

“There is zero tolerance for sexual harassment on SAI campuses. The inquiries that are underway will be speeded up. I have directed that all pending cases will be disposed within the next four weeks,” Kiren Rijiju said in a statement.

Rijiju conceded that the responsibility of providing a safe environment to both male and female athletes lies with the SAI. He vowed to make the existing system more robust with respect to dealing with sexual harassment complaints.

Reacting to the Indian Express Report, SAI has claimed that “substantive deterrents” are already in place and that sexual harassment on campus is not rampant. Having said that, the administration acknowledged the need to make punishments harsher for those found guilty of sexual offences.

35 complaints have been received between 2011 and 2019, suggests official SAI records. 15 cases still have pending inquiries whereas punishment has been handed out to the accused in 13 cases, while inquiry is in progress in 15 cases.

2 accused were acquitted by a court while one complaint was withdrawn. One accused committed suicide whereas three cases turned out to be fake. A total of 27 cases were filed by athletes against their coaches.

Sports Authority of India has a standard procedure to deal with complaints alleging sexual harassment. The first step, as per norm, is the setup of an Internal Complaint Committee with a senior lady as chairperson. Women should constitute the majority in the committee.

The panel should also include members of NGOs. Second, the accused official or coached is transferred to another place so that the complainant is not threatened or intimidated. Third, various workshops are conducted in several local languages to sensitise trainees about sexual harassment. Call centres are in operation wherein sportspersons can directly reach for help over the phone. Lastly, SAI has 12 regional committees to deal with complaints.

Watch: One of the convicts in the 2013 Gudiya rape case in Delhi attacks female journalist in courtroom

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: One of the convicts in the 2013 Gudiya rape case in Delhi attacks female journalist in courtroom

In a video which is being shared widely on Twitter, a convict in the 2013 Gudiya gang-rape case in Delhi was seen attacking an India Today journalist and another outside the Karkardooma court in New Delhi today.

The visuals of the incident show the convict, in a blue jacket, first attacking a female journalist who was video recording the proceedings on her mobile, thereafter attacking another journalist, while coming out of the courtroom after hearing. The convict also tries to snatch the mobile phones of journalists on the way out of the court.


A Delhi court found two accused Manoj Kumar and Pradeep guilty of gang-raping a 5-year-old girl (named by media as Gudiya) in the year 2013 in Gandhi Nagar area of New Delhi. Additional Sessions Judge Naresh Kumar Malhotra today convicted them saying that the case had shaken the society’s “collective conscience”. The court will announce the quantum of punishment on January 30.

“Collective conscience of the society shaken. In our society, minor girls are worshipped as goddesses,” the court set up under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) said, furthering: “The child, who was just five years old, experienced exceptional depravity and extreme brutality.”

On April 15, 2013, convicts Manoj Shah and Pradeep Kumar had abducted and brutally raped the child in a locality in east Delhi. They had fled after committing the crime, leaving the victim at Manoj’s room believing her to be dead. The minor was rescued after nearly 40 hours on April 17, 2013.

Shah was arrested in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur city, while Kumar was arrested from Darbhanga in the same year. The chargesheet in the case was filed on May 24, 2013, and the court framed charges against them on July 11, 2013.

In 2014, one of the accused, Pradeep, had moved the court claiming he was a juvenile at the time of his arrest. The high court had in 2018 declared that Pradeep was not a juvenile and sent him to trial before the sessions court.

This incident had occurred merely four months after the 2012 Delhi gangrape and murder case and fuelled widespread outrage.

Gujarat ranks top in water efficiency survey under National Hydrology Project, Delhi ranked among the worst performers

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat ranks top in water efficiency survey under National Hydrology Project, Delhi ranked among the worst performers

While Gujarat has been ranked the top on efficiency targets in the review of state and Central government water departments by the ministry of Jal Shakti, Delhi remains in the worst-performing state category according to the ranking for 2019 circulated to different state governments recently, according to a ranking done by the government.

In November 2019, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) had also claimed that water quality in Delhi is worst as it failed in all the 19 parameters set by them. The AAP led Delhi Government had, however, refuted the reports claiming of “bias” in sample testing.

Among the seven Central departments reviewed, the Survey of India has got the top rank followed by the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) and Central Water Commission. The Central Pollution Control Board, the country’s pollution watchdog, has got the lowest rank, in the ranking for the year 2019.

According to the previous years ranking, Telangana had topped the state’s water efficiency while Gujarat was ranked seventh. Merely in a year’s time, Gujarat climbed the ladder and has become the number one state, according to the survey. Among the states that significantly improved its ranking was Tamil Nadu, which stood at 13th position as compared to 33 in 2018.

The departments are reviewed on parameters for procurement, finance, real-time data acquisition system, data digitization, analytical work, pieces of training. The agencies have been given a score out of 100. Those scoring 48-100 are termed satisfactory, the ones scoring between 40- 48 are moderately satisfactory; a score between 34-40 falls under moderately unsatisfactory category and a score below 34 is in the unsatisfactory category.

Read- Delhi Jal Board supervisor admitted water contaminated due sewer pipes damage but no funds allocated for repair, claims Delhi resident

Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat SW, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra Rajasthan, Telangana, and West Bengal SW have done satisfactory work under the project. Here, SW stands for the surface water department and GW for the groundwater department.

Gujarat surface water department scored 80.51, followed by Damodar Valley Corporation with 68.24 scores and Rajasthan with a score of 66.73. The other states have scored less than 50, indicating that there is a vast scope of improvement in these states to achieve the national water targets.

Rajasthan was ranked 16th in the April-May 2018 rankings. In the rankings issued in December 2019, the state has made the best performance occupying the third rank.

The ranking has been done under the National Hydrology Project that aims to improve drought and flood management, creating a state-specific database on availability, plugging leakages in canals and dams and meteorological forecast on water resources information system.

The aim of the ranking is to review the Central and the state government departments dealing with water to achieve the target to provide piped drinking water connection to every household in the next five years. And, to have a water resources information system (WRIS) for all states to create a real-time integrated National Water Information Center (NWIC).

After wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim, five members of Bangladesh cricket coaching staff opt out of Pakistan tour

OpIndia Staff
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After wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim, five members of Bangladesh cricket coaching staff opt out of Pakistan tour

In yet another humiliation for terror-state of Pakistan, five members of the coaching staff of the Bangladesh cricket team has decided not to travel with the team for the first leg of the Pakistan tour later this month.

According to the reports, Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) cricket operations chairman Akram Khan said that Neil McKenzie, the white-ball batting coach, is among those who have withdrawn alongside fielding coach Ryan Cook due to security reasons.

Earlier, Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim, who is their batting mainstay had also decided to not to travel to Pakistan.

Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, who is contracted to BCB as spin consultant, has also not been called up for such a short series. Team analyst Shrinivas Chandrasekaran was not considered on account of being an Indian citizen.

“Strength and conditioning coach Mario Villavarayan broke his hand recently while team analyst Chandrasekaran will be working with the team over Skype. McKenzie and fielding coach Cook will also not be going, while we haven’t yet confirmed on our new bowling coach,” Akram said.

Head coach Russell Domingo will now only have services of physio Julian Calefato in addition to the regular staff while Sohel Islam who is the fielding coach and Tushar Kanti Howlader, who is the strength and conditioning coach.

Bangladesh is set to play three T20Is, two Tests and an ODI in Pakistan between January and April. The T20I series will be played from January 24-27, followed by the first Test from February 7 to 11. Bangladesh will then return to Pakistan in April for the one-off ODI which will be played on April 3 and the second Test from April 5-9.

Karnataka: Six members of radical Islamic organisation SDPI held for plotting to kill Hindutva ideologue Chakravarthy Sulibele and BJP MP Tejasvi Surya

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka: Six members of radical Islamic organisation SDPI held for plotting to kill Hindutva ideologue Chakravarthy Sulibele and BJP MP Tejasvi Surya

The Bengaluru police on Thursday arrested six members of radical Islamic organisation Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) in connection with the attempted murder of an RSS worker Varun Bhoopalam. They also unearthed a plot to kill influential Right-wing ideologue Chakravarthy Sulibele and Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya.

According to the reports, 31-year-old BJP cadre Varun Bhoopalam was attacked with machetes and knives while he was returning from a pro-Citizenship Amendment Act gathering at Town Hall on December 22.

The Bengaluru police soon began to nab the culprits and arrested six SDPI members in connection with an attempt to kill BJP worker Varun Bhoopalam. During the investigation, the six accused revealed to the investigating officials that they were hired as hitmen to stab social worker Chakravarthy Sulibele and Tejasvi Surya, who had also taken part at the gathering on December 22.

The arrested include Mohammed Ishan (33), Syed Akbar (46), Syed Siddique Akbar (30), Akbar Basha (27), Sanaullah Pasha (28) and Sadiq-ul-Ameen (39).

Initially, the gang pelted seven stones at the crowd to create chaos near the rally site and to create a distraction so that they could attack either one of the influential leaders. However, the stone-pelting did not create any ruckus at the gathering. As their plan failed, the gang wanted to kill any of the Hindu workers who attended the rally.

Later, they followed Varun Bhoopalam who was on his way home on a rented bike. They attacked him near Kalasipalya and fled towards Bidadi. In fact, two of them returned to see if the man had indeed died. But by then Varun was shifted to Victoria Hospital and later survived.

Reportedly, a case has been registered against the accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Bengaluru Police is constituting a new Special Investigation Team (SIT) to handle this case.

Bhaskar Rao, Bengaluru Commissioner of Police said that these SDPI workers were there in Bengaluru to carry out attacks on leaders supporting CAA. He added that they were being paid Rs 10,000 from their handlers to create ruckus. The case has now been handed over to anti-terror unit.

He added that these six people do not have any contact with the Muslim community leaders. They were told to create panic in Bengaluru. The six accused were produced in court on Friday and have been remanded to police custody till January 20.

‘Historian’ Ram Guha’s strident criticism of Rahul Gandhi triggers a meltdown for abusive troll Swati Chaturvedi

OpIndia Staff
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‘Historian’ Ram Guha’s strident criticism of Rahul Gandhi triggers a meltdown for abusive troll Swati Chaturvedi

Abusive troll masquerading as journalist Swati Chaturvedi today had an inconsolable meltdown following self-proclaimed “eminent” historian Ram Chandra Guha’s scathing remarks against former Congress President Rahul Gandhi.

In a sharp criticism of the Gandhi scion, Guha asserted that the Kerala state did a disastrous thing by electing the 5th generation dynast-Rahul Gandhi and that the Wayanad MP stands no chance against the “self-made” PM Modi. Extolling PM Modi, Guha said that Modi had 15 years of experience as a chief minister of state and is a hard-working and self-made politician.

Though Guha’s epiphany did not reveal anything that is not already known. His sharp criticism of Rahul Gandhi and mild approval of PM Modi’s credentials as an experienced leader was enough to trigger a meltdown for abusive troll Swati Chaturvedi for whom BJP’s meteoric rise in politics has been a cause of perpetual distress.

In a flurry of tweets, Swati vented out her frustration on Ram Guha’s stinging assessment of Rahul Gandhi by balancing out with her critical remarks for PM Modi. Displaying that she is still disconnected with the ground reality, Swati quoted Guha’s tweet to express utter disbelief over unswerving faith placed by people in PM Modi. “I still don’t understand how academics, policy makers and the media bought into the Modi myth,” a begrudging Swati tweeted.


Shortly thereafter, Swati issued another tweet accusing Ram Guha of being “disingenuous” for his castigatory statements for PM Modi.


However, Swati did not just stop there. Perhaps, sensing an urgency to restore the credibility of Rahul Gandhi, Swati dropped the semblance of subtlety and launched a frontal attack targeting Ram Guha. Quoting a tweet that mentioned Guha’s remark about Kerala doing a disastrous thing by electing Rahul, Swati opined that Guha was “sounding deranged” on the subject of Rahul Gandhi.


In a subsequent tweet, Swati, clearly ruffled by Guha’s deprecatory statements for Rahul Gandhi, went on to claim that Guha harbours hatred for the Gandhi scion and that he is acting at the behest of RSS as a “lightening rod” for the Sangh.


Meanwhile, after facing criticism from Congress-friendly media, Guha has been retweeting compliments he is getting for suggesting how Rahul Gandhi at the helm of affairs in Congress may actually be one of the main reasons PM Modi gets the popular vote.

Hyderabad: Osmania university professor Chintakindi Kasim held for alleged links with Maoists

OpIndia Staff
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Hyderabad: Osmania university professor Chintakindi Kasim held for alleged links with Maoists

Following a pre-dawn search at his residence at faculty quarters of the university, Telangana Police have arrested an associate professor of Telugu department at Osmania University in Hyderabad, Chintakindi Kasim, for his suspected link with the Maoists.

Chintakindi Kasim was allegedly involved in a case registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act among other sections in Mulugu Police station in 2016.

The case against the professor has been registered under Section 10.18 of the UAPA along with IPC Sections 120 B (Punishment of criminal conspiracy), 121 A (Conspiracy to overawe, by means of criminal force) and 124 A (Sedition by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation). He is accused of having links with banned CPI (Maoist) and propagating Maoist ideology in urban areas.

According to police sources, the team of police officials which was led by Gajwel ACP of Siddipet Police commissionerate have conducted searches at the professor’s house on Saturday and seized several books and hard disks.

“We obtained a search warrant and conducted searches at his residence in the early morning. We seized certain documents and some electronic evidence,” the police official said.

He further said the police have the information that the OU faculty is in continuous touch with Maoists party leaders. Kasim is allegedly working as an organiser of “united front vertical” of Maoists for Telangana state. “He is the coordinator for funding and other things,” the official said adding Kasim will be produced in a local court in Gajwel on Saturday.

A police official on the condition of anonymity said that they have seized his mobile phones, pen drives, revolutionary literature and some incriminating material including the correspondence between Kasim and top Maoist leaders.

While the professor’s wife has said that the professor was being targeted as he is writing and talking about social inequalities, problems of caste and unemployment, a CPI senior leader Narayana alleged that the government was deliberately filing false cases to harass intellectuals under the pretext of having Maoist links.

Continuing its crackdown on people allegedly linked with the outlawed Community Party of India (Maoist), the Telangana Police had arrested another professor of Osmania University suspecting links with Maoists. In October 2019, an assistant professor K Jagan, also a member of Viplava Rachayitula Sangham (Virasam), a revolutionary writers’ association, was picked up from his residence in connection with a case registered against him under relevant sections of unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) over suspected Maoists links.

Bollywood actor Shabana Azmi injured in car accident on Mumbai-Pune Expressway

OpIndia Staff
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Bollywood actor Shabana Azmi injured in car accident on Mumbai-Pune Expressway

Bollywood actor Shabana Azmi has been injured in a car accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway near Kahalpur.


Azmi and her car driver both got severely injured when their car was hit by a truck when they were on their way from Pune to Mumbai. Her husband, lyricist Javed Akhtar, was also in the car with them and he is safe. The injured are shifted to MGM Hospital.

Rajasthan: Pakistani immigrant Neeta Kanwar who was granted citizenship in September elected Sarpanch in Tonk

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Rajasthan: Pakistani immigrant Neeta Kanwar who was granted citizenship in September elected Sarpanch in Tonk

Pakistan-born Neeta Kanwar, who had been granted Indian Citizenship in September 2019, has been elected the village head (Sarpanch) of Natwada, Tonk. She recently made headlines after she decided to contest the polls held on Friday. The results were declared the same day.


A report by Hindustan Times states that Kanwar has defeated her opponent Sonu Devi by 362 votes. A total of 2,494 votes were polled and 1,073 votes were cast in Kanwar’s favour. Following her victory, an elated Kanwar thanked the people and vowed to work with honesty.  She is now hailed as ‘Kanwrani Saab’ in her village.

Neeta Kanwar was born in Sindh, Pakistan but later moved to India with her mother and sister to pursue higher education. Her father and brother who are farmers decided to stay back in Pakistan. She graduated with a BA degree in 2005 from Ajmer’s Sophia College. She was married in 2011 and has two kids.

Read- While Congress party keeps protesting against CAA, Congress govt in Rajasthan gives land at half prices to Pakistani migrants in the state

Her father-in-law, Thakur Laxman Singh Karan, had been a three-time Saprach. Soon after the seat was reserved for general category women, he insisted Kanwar contest the polls.

As reported earlier, Neeta Kanwar wants to ensure better healthcare and financial independence for women. This story comes to light at a time when the country is witnessing vicious protests against the Citizenship Act, National Register of Citizens (NRC), and National Population Register (NPR).

Savarkar’s kin welcomes Sanjay Raut’s comment on Veer Savarkar while Aaditya Thackeray continues to monkey-balance

OpIndia Staff
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Savarkar’s kin welcomes Sanjay Raut’s comment on Veer Savarkar while Aaditya Thackeray continues to monkey-balance

Though Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut’s proclamation ‘Jail Savarkar opposers’ has been welcomed by Savarkar’s kin Ranjit Savarkar, on Saturday, Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray, probably anticipating the repercussion this statement might have on the newly formed Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP alliance, has attempted to counterbalance the situation by saying that he was unsure as to in what capacity Raut had said such a comment.

When asked to comment on Raut’s Savarkar remark, senior Sena leader and chief minister, Uddhav Thackeray’s son said: “I have not listened to his statement in what capacity he said this. He has already given justification for his statement. There may be different views but this is democracy. There should not be controversy.”

Attempting to scale down the controversy and nip any reaction from the Congress, Thackeray furthered that there were bound to be ideological differences when parties with different ideologies come together and described this as one of the features of democracy. He said that such issues would not affect the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in any way and that the coalition is stable.


Earlier Shiv Sena’s motormouth leader Sanjay Raut had opened a can of worms by hitting out at its alliance partner in Maharashtra – NCP and the Congress, saying that those who criticise Veer Savarkar will only realise his sacrifice if they spend two days at the cell in Andaman Cellular Jail where Savarkar was imprisoned.

Speaking to the media, Shiv Sena RS member Sanjay Raut launched an attack on the Congress party, especially Gandhi-scion Rahul Gandhi for ridiculing nationalist hero Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

Read- ‘Tiger has turned into a cat’: Fadnavis on Sena’s silence over Congress insulting Savarkar, Savarkar’s grandson seeks case against Seva Dal

“Those who oppose Bharat Ratna for Veer Savarkar, whoever they may be, they may belong to any party, they may have a different ideology, all such people should spend two days in the same cell in Andaman jail where Savarkar was lodged. Then they will understand the importance of his struggle and sacrifice made for the nation. It is our constant demand that Veer Savarkar be awarded Bharat Ratna – it is up to Home Ministry,” said Raut.

Batting for Bharat Ratna for Savarkar, the Sena MP said that his party is unmoved on the demand. He  said that people speaking against Savarkar will understand his role in nation-building only when they are put in the same prison in Andaman where the British had lodged Savarkar.

Of late, Shiv Sena has inadvertently rubbed its alliance partner Congress on several occasions. Though Congress is yet to comment on Raut’s indirect assault, the latter’s statement has definitely pleased Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s grand-nephew Ranjit Savarkar. Welcoming Raut’s statement Ranjit Savarkar said that Sena must keep in mind that the Congress is not protesting against Savarkar but also maligning him. He reminded Sena of its strong opposition against Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyyar. He said that he expects Sena to play a similar role.

Raut’s delayed reaction comes after a huge controversy that had erupted across the country following Rahul Gandhi’s cheap dig at Veer Savarkar. The controversy began first after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi refused to withdraw his December 2019 “rape in India” remark claiming that his surname was Gandhi, not Savarkar.

Congress, Shiv Sena’s new alliance partner, has on several occasions attempted to malign Veer Savarkar’s contributions to India’s freedom by branding him as a “loyal colonialist”.

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