5 times World Chess Champion Grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand has faced a lot of tricky opponents during his long and illustrious career, and he had the answers to all of them while competing against them. However, an innocent question by 8-year-old twins at the Chess Olympiad in Chennai left the Chess genius at a total loss of words and made him admit that he doesn’t know the answer.
Anand was attending a Q & A session at the ongoing Chess Olympiad in Chennai, when the twins decided to ask him a question.
One of the twins asked, “How to reset the pieces?” As Anand started answering and talking about the direction he prefers his knights to face while setting up the board, the kid stopped him and asked, “How to distract the pieces?”
The question clearly caught the former world champion off-guard and he eventually said, “I have no idea.”
The video of the cute exchange was shared on social media and everyone appreciated the cute kids who left one of the greatest ever chess players speechless.
On 31st July 2022, a team of central agency NIA and Gujarat ATS reached Surat, Bharuch and Navsari for investigation. NIA has also arrested one suspect named Jaleel for questioning. According to reports, the action is being taken in connection with a 2021 terror module case.
In a joint operation by Surat police, NIA, and ATS, a suspect in the age group of 20-25 years is detained. He is identified as one Maulana Jaleel. Maualana Jaleel is being interrogated since 5 AM as per local media reports. He is taken to the SOG office in Gopipura extension for questioning.
As per TV9 Gujarati, Jaleel is also accused of sedition.
According to a report by News18 Gujarati, the action has been initiated in connection with a terror module case that appeared in 2021. The name of Bhatkal village surfaced in this module. The interrogation of the persons associated with this case led the agencies to a person living in Lalgate area of Surat.
On Saturday late night, one suspect who belongs to Ahmedabad, was nabbed after raids in Navsari and was being questioned too. In Bharuch, too, one father-son duo was being interrogated in the case, reported News 18 Gujarati. They are suspected to be associated with terror group Al Badr.
It may be noted that recently suspects with links to ISIS were arrested from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. On July 28, a man named Asif was arrested in Tamil Nadu. The NIA questioned him for ten hours and after that, he was taken into custody. A case has been filed against him under various sections of the IPC and UAPA. Apart from this, one of the men, Adil alias Zuba, was arrested in Tamil Nadu last Monday, that is, July 25, 2022.
Earlier on Sunday, 24th July 2022, the Central Crime Branch nabbed a man named Akhtar Hussain from the Tilak Nagar area of Bangalore. Preliminary investigations have revealed that the accused were on the verge of carrying out terrorist attacks. Akhtar Hussain was also associated with Al-Qaeda. Akhtar is a native of Assam and came to Bangalore seven months ago. He used to work as a delivery boy in a food delivery app.
Amidst the reports of taking weekly holidays on Friday instead of Sunday in Muslim-dominated areas in Jharkhand, a report has come to light where a teacher was allegedly beaten for not allowing Muslim students to go for Namaz. The incident took place in the Goilkera block of West Singhbum district on July 29. As per reports, Ramendra Dubey, who is a teacher in a Government School, was beaten up in front of students by one local leader of the ruling party Jharkhand Mukti Morch (JMM) Akbar Khan, who is a close aide of state minister Joba Manjhi.
Reports suggest that on Friday (July 29), when Dubey reached the school premises at 9 AM, Khan was already present there. Khan called him, to which Dubey said he would come after taking attendance of the students. Khan followed him and grabbed his collar from behind, and started beating him.
When Dubey asked Khan why he had beaten him, Khan questioned him why Muslim students were not allowed to go for Namaz at 11:30. Dubey refuted his allegations and told Khan that he never stopped anyone from offering Namaz, but Khan stated the students told him otherwise. Dubey further alleged that Khan threatened to kill him.
Dubey went to the Goilkera Police Station on the same day and tried to file a complaint against Khan. However, the Police reportedly refused to take his complaint allegedly because of Khan’s association with the ruling party. His complaint was later submitted on July 30, and an FIR was filed only after he removed the point where he talked about Namaz in the complaint.
Akbar Khan has claimed no such incident of assault happened. He said if any student wants to go home for Namaz or Pooja at 11:50 AM at the time of the break, he should be allowed to go. He further claimed that he was being implicated in political controversy.
OpIndia tried to call Goilkera Police Station but could not connect.
Controversial filmmaker and movie critic Kamaal R Khan made a sensational claim on Twitter earlier today. KRK, as Kamaal R Khan is popularly known, said that producer-director Anubhav Sinha had paid him to badmouth Priyanka Chopra’s paternal cousin Mannara ahead of the release of her debut film, Zid, in 2014.
Sharing his experience, KRK was revealing how a lot of people pay him to say bad things about them, so that they get publicity. He said that the first time it happened was when Anubhav Sinha paid him to say bad things about Mannara.
The movie critic wrote, “First time producer director Anubhav Sinha paid me to say bad about #ManaraChopra in 2014 when her film #Zid was releasing. I thought it’s coincidence. Otherwise why will ppl pay me for saying bad about them. But since then so many people have paid me for saying bad about them.”
First time producer director Anubhav Sinha paid me to say bad about #ManaraChopra in 2014 when her film #Zid was releasing. I thought it’s coincidence. Otherwise why will ppl pay me for saying bad about them. But since then so many people have paid me for saying bad about them.?
KRK further shared that people themselves request him to give them more dirty abuses, and are willing to pay more for that. He mentioned that these abuses are not related to the reviews of their films, but more of personal abuses.
If I am getting paid for saying bad about people. Then you can understand that any talent is not a bad talent. Even people are requesting to give them more dirty abuses and they are ready to pay me more which normally I refuse. I am not talking here about film reviews.
Anubhav Sinha is a writer-producer-director active in the film industry for over 2 decades. He has worked on films like Tum Bin, Aapko Pehle Bhi Kahin Dekha Hai, Tathastu, Cash, Ra One, and Zid (Mannara’s debut film) etc. More recently, he has made films like Thappad and Anek.
When Sinha’s film Article 15 had released, he had gone on an abusive rant against people who criticised him for turning the well-publicised Badaun case into a propaganda film against Brahmins. Even though all details from the case were changed, Anubhav Sinha painted it as a film based on a true story to further his propaganda, and lashed out at anyone who pointed this out.
On July 31, unknown assailants killed Aam Aadmi Party Municipal Councillor in Malerkotla. As per reports, AAP Councilor of Ward No 18 Akbar Bholi was heading towards the gym on Sunday morning when two assailants shot him dead.
Punjab: पंजाब में लगातार हो रहा खून-खराबा, अब सत्तारूढ़ AAP के पार्षद की मलेरकोटला में दिनदहाड़े ली गई जानhttps://t.co/Pd1COkZhzP
It is noteworthy that Bholi’s elder brother Mohammad Anwar was also killed by two assailants who came on motorbike. Mohammad Anwar was a Congress councillor and was killed in January 2020. The reasons behind the murder of Akbar Bholi are unclear. The Police have initiated an investigation into the matter.
Akbar Ali had left the Congress party and joined Aam Aadmi Party just before Punjab Assembly Elections.
Law and order issue in Punjab
Since the Aam Aadmi Party government formed in Punjab, there have been persistent law and order issues in the state. On May 29, Congress leader and controversial singer Sidhu Moosewala was shot dead in Moosa Village of district Mansa. On May 10, the Punjab Police Intelligence Office in Mohali was attacked by an RPG.
On July 28, India Today Consulting Editor and senior journalist Jayanta Ghosal came to the rescue of the West Bengal government, especially the Chief Minister of the state, Mamata Banerjee while discussing the SSC Scam. During a debate on the channel where Rajdeep Sardesai was the host, he said, “I am completely convinced that Mamata Banerjee didn’t know (about the sea of cash and SSC scam).”
He justified his claims by saying, “Because I tried to understand, I was in Kolkata yesterday, I talked to her. She was so upset, and she took the time to take action not because she was supporting Partha but because she was trying to understand what was happening.” Ghosal further claimed CM Banerjee did not know who SSC Scam accused Arpita Mukherjee was, even though there are photographs and videos that say otherwise. BJP Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala refuted his claims and showed him a video where CM Banerjee was praising Mukherjee for her “good work”.
Who is Jayanta Ghosal?
Born in 1962, Jayant Ghosal has worked as a political journalist for over four decades. His main association has been with Bengali Newspaper Ananda Bazar Patrika, where he works as a journalist. Apart from that, he has written for India TV, Bartaman, ABP News and others. He is also serving as Consulting Editor for the India Today group.
Media liaison for WB government
Ghosal is believed to be a close aide of Trinamool Congress’s chief Mamata Banerjee in the media sector. In September 2020, he was appointed as Information & Development Officer (IDO) by the Government of West Bengal. His main job as IDO was liaising between the Government of West Bengal and the Central Government’s various ministries.
As per the order issued on September 18, 2020, his profile as liaison for the WB government would not disallow him from engaging in other pursuits. The order read, “While he will thus be at the disposal of the Government of West Bengal for liaison, coordination and information dissemination, his other pursuits (not disharmonious with public interest, as envisaged by the Government of West Bengal) are not disallowed by this engagement. He will keep the State Government informed about his such other pursuits, if any.”
He was provided with office space in the Principal Residential Commissioner’s office and Kolkata Information Centre. The perks included a monthly salary of Rs 1.5 lakh and air-travel expenditure on duty in the Delhi-Kolkata-Delhi sector.
It is noteworthy the post was specially created by the West Bengal government.
West Bengal government has created a post of Information and Development Officer who will liaison with the Centre on behalf of the state. Senior journalist Jayanta Ghoshal has been appointed to the post.
In a tweet, PTi journalist Soumyajit Majumder said, “West Bengal government has created a post of Information and Development Officer who will liaison with the Centre on behalf of the state. Senior journalist Jayanta Ghoshal has been appointed to the post.”
Awarded by the WB govt
Furthermore, the West Bengal government also awarded him Banga Bhushan Award 2022 on July 25, 2022, just three days before he participated in the debate on India Today. Banga Bhushan Samman (Award) is a state award instituted by the government of West Bengal to honour the prominent personalities of different fields. The awards were started by the WB government in 2011.
Ghosal authored a book on CM Banerjee
Ghosal has been working closely with the West Bengal government, which is clear by the fact that he also authored a book on Mamata Banerjee titled “Mamata: Beyond 2021”, released in February 2022. The book revolves around Banerjee’s political career. According to the book’s description, Ghosal travelled across the state to understand which factors contributed to the TMC’s victory in the last Assembly Elections.
Book cover of “Mamata: Beyond 2021” by Jayanta Ghosal. Source: Amazon
It read, “There was a massive gap in the BJP’s understanding of Bengali identity, which Mamata was able to exploit. An ‘overdose’ of central intervention, ranging from paramilitary forces to intelligence agencies to targeting key TMC leaders, added to the BJP’s disconnect with voters. Increasingly, the state felt the divide between New Delhi and Bengal grow.” The book also explored the questions, including if Banerjee considered herself to be a suitable candidate for the post of Prime Minister.
According to Outlook, Ghosal has deep access to the BJP-RSS at the highest levels. He wrote, “Many BJP and RSS leaders now believe underestimating Mamata in 2024 — as Narendra Modi and Amit Shah did in 2021 — would be a blunder. So Mamata Banerjee will have to take many more innovative steps to make herself a widely-acceptable leader who can be an alternative to Narendra Modi. Far from being inactive on this front, she is preparing quietly. Her mission ‘New Delhi 2024’ will be worth watching.”
He further pointed out that to portray herself as a national leader, she would try to shed the pro-Muslim image that had been created during her tenure as Chief Minister of West Bengal. Furthermore, if the regional parties do well in the 2024 elections, he would surpass the image of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as a national leader in the eyes of associated parties, especially Congress.
Jayant Ghosal’s debates, articles and op-eds mostly attempt to portray Mamata Banerjee as a beloved leader with a high possibility of performing well at the national level. However, her portrayal differs in the voters’ minds, especially because of the poor performance of TMC in different states, including Goa and continuous attacks on BJP workers in the state of West Bengal.
Days after the arrest of Partha Chatterjee, the former Trinamool Congress (TMC) Minister confessed to the involvement of the party high command in the School Service Commission (SSC) scam, reportedIANS.
During the course of interrogation, he told investigators that everyone in the TMC including top party leadership was privy to his activities. He alleged that fellow TMC members were aware that money was collected in exchange for providing government school jobs to ineligible candidates.
While speaking about the matter, an Enforcement Directorate official said, “He claims that he was just the custodian. He never asked for any money neither accepted any from candidates. There was a party diktat and he was following orders. He was supposed to sign documents prepared by others.”
“The money was also collected by others and sent to him. He had been instructed to keep the money in safe custody. Hundreds of crores were later taken away for ‘party’ use. Only a fraction of the sum was confiscated. This is what he has revealed so far,” the official emphasised.
Another official of the central agency informed that Partha Chatterjee has confessed to the involvement of other Departments in providing jobs via fraudulent means to ineligible candidates.
“People allegedly got railway jobs by paying money. He has also mentioned a certain office in Majerhat where these deals were struck. Partha Chatterjee claims that the party took so long to take a decision about his fate as other leaders were cleaning up their homes. Once this was over, they washed their hands off, leaving him to fend for himself,” the official emphasised.
Besides, Partha Chatterjee has also alleged that the top leaders of the Trinamool Congress visited the properties that he bought in the name of Arpita Mukherjee. He also said that the party need a front like an actress to stash the money.
The Case against Partha Chatterjee
A day after the Enforcement Directorate recovered ₹21 crores in cash, jewellery and foreign currency to the tune of ₹50 lakhs each from the residence of Arpita Mukherjee, the central agency arrested the ex-TMC heavyweight leader on July 23.
On July 22, ED conducted a raid on the properties of West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee as part of an investigation in this case. Two days later, a special court remanded Trinamool Congress (TMC) Minister Partha Chatterjee to Enforcement Directorate custody till August 3 this year.
He had reportedly helped 10 relatives of his bodyguard to secure jobs in different East Medinipur schools using ‘concocted and fabricated papers.’ Following allegations of corruption and impropriety, Partha Chatterjee was ousted from the Trinamool Congress.
Earlier, the TMC Minister was ‘greeted’ with ‘chor chor’ chants outside AIIMS Bhubneshwar. Videos had emerged wherein the crowd gathered outside the hospital could be heard shouting ‘chor chor’ slogans as Partha Chatterjee was being wheeled into the hospital.
On Sunday (July 31) morning, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at the residence of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut over his alleged involvement in the Patra Chawl land scam case.
The development comes days after the Sena leader skipped two summons of the central agency, citing the ongoing Parliamentary session. Sanjay Raut was directed to depose before the ED’s Mumbai office but he instead sought time till August 7.
The case pertains to the irregularities in the re-development of Patra Chawl near Dharavi and alleged financial transactions involving the wife and 2 associates of Raut.
Mumbai | Enforcement Directorate officials reached Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut’s residence around 7am today; currently conducting a search and questioning Raut, in connection with Patra Chawl land scam case pic.twitter.com/e2bfEVW3s7
Following the Enforcement Directorate’s action, Raut took to Twitter to allege political vendetta. “I have nothing to do with any scam. I am saying this by taking the oath of Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray..Balasaheb taught us to fight.. I will continue to fight for Shiv Sena,” he tweeted in Marathi.
कोणत्याही घोटाळ्याशी माझा काडीमात्र संबंध नाही. शिवसेना प्रमुख बाळासाहेब ठाकरे यांची शपथ घेऊन मी हे सांगत आहे..बाळासाहेबांनी आम्हाला लढायला शिकवलंय.. मी शिवसेनेसाठी लढत राहीन.
“False action..False evidence…I will not leave Shiv Sena…Even if I die, I will not surrender. Jai Maharashtra,” he said in another tweet. Raut was only called in for questioning and there really wasn’t any question about ‘surrendering’ yet.
खोटी कारवाई.. खोटे पुरावे मी शिवसेना सोडणार नाही.. मरेन पण शरण जाणार नाही जय महाराष्ट्र
It must be mentioned that the Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached ₹11.15 crore worth of properties of Varsha Raut, wife of Sanjay Raut, and his 2 associates, namely, Pravin M Raut and Swapna Patkar.
Sanjay Raut was interrogated for 10 hours by the central agency on July 1 this year. He was asked to appear before ED on July 20 but he gave it a miss. A new summon was issued on July 27 but the Sena leader missed it too. This compelled the central agency to land at his residence directly.
In a shocking development, West Bengal’s Howrah police have nabbed three Congress legislators from Jharkhand traveling in a car with huge amounts of cash. The police are yet to count the cash and have arranged for note-counting machines to get the total amount. The operation was carried out in Howrah on 30th July 2022. Besides cash, police have also recovered gold from the vehicle.
Howrah,West Bengal| We’ve nabbed 3 MLAs of Congress from Jharkhand namely Irfan Ansari, MLA from Jamtara, Rajesh Kachhap, MLA from Khijri & Naman Bixal, MLA from Kolebira with huge amounts of cash. We would only be able to count it once counting machines come: SP Swati Bhangalia pic.twitter.com/yo8VYyW9Yq
According to police sources, the three Congress MLAs have been identified as Rajesh Kachhaap (MLA from the Khijri constituency), Naman Bixal Kongari (MLA from the Kolebira constituency), and Irfan Ansari (MLA from the Jamtara constituency).
The cash recovery sequence in West Bengal seemingly does not stop at Arpita Mukherjee. According to a report by the Ananda Bazar Patrika, a search was conducted on a vehicle going from Kolkata to Jharkhand on Saturday afternoon and a large quantity of cash was recovered. According to police sources, it was reported by a secret informer that a lot of money was being carried in a car from Kolkata to Jharkhand. Accordingly, police were deployed along the route. A black car was stopped near Ranihati junction on National Highway 6 in Panchla in the afternoon. The number plate of the vehicle mentioned MLA Jamtara.
#Breaking: Major cash recovery in Bengal’s Howrah district. A car with name plate MLA Jamtara intercepted at Howrah’s Ranihati area Machines being brought in to count the cash. Three Jharkhand MLAs were reportedly traveling in the said vehicle. Identities being verified. pic.twitter.com/wvAyYeVmzF
The vehicle, money, and the MLAs were taken to the Panchla police station. Howrah district rural superintendent of police Swati Bhangalia said the cash counting machines will be deployed to count the huge amount of money. The police are trying to find out where the money came from and where it was being taken. Police are currently interrogating the Congress MLAs in this case.
On 30th July 2022, CBI conducted a search operation on the premises owned by auto driver-turned-real estate baron Avinash Bhosale, who is an arrested accused in the Yes Bank-DHFL case. In its raid, the Central Bureau of Investigation seized an AugustaWestland helicopter from the builder. According to a report by the Indian Express, Avinash Bhosale is allegedly involved in a scam involving DHFL that caused a loss of Rs 34,615 crores to a consortium of 17 banks led by the Union Bank of India.
CBI seized a helicopter during search conducted at premises of builder Avinash Bhosale in Pune. He was allegedly involved in scam involving DHFL that caused loss of Rs 34,615 cr to a consortium of 17 banks led by Union Bank of India. The helicopter is AgustaWestland make: Sources pic.twitter.com/oGMLf9oK1k
Besides, in a supplementary charge sheet submitted by the CBI in the Yes bank-DHFL case, Avinash Bhosle is accused of diverting Rs 300 crore from the funds he had received through different means while he got a loan of Rs 700 crore sanctioned from Yes bank through Rana Kapoor in 2018 to buy a property at 5 Strand in London, valued at GBP 100 million, which is approximately Rs 1000 crore. The news of the CBI seizing an AugustaWestland helicopter from his premises appeared as the central agency raided his various properties in Pune on 30th July 2022.
According to the CBI’s charge sheet, Bhosale’s firms got Rs 68.82 crore in advisory fees, Rs 183 crore in loans from DHFL, and another Rs 317.40 crore in Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) and interest/premium from Radius Group entities.
The charge sheet reads, “Investigation reveals that out of the said amount of Rs 569.22 crore, a significant amount of Rs 300 crore was diverted by accused Avinash Bhosale to acquire a property at 5 Strand London, valued at GBP 92.5 million (GBP100 million with taxes/fee, etc.) through an SPV namely M/s Flora Developments Ltd. floated in the UK. The purchase was financed through a loan of GBP 70 million sanctioned by accused Rana Kapoor/Yes Bank to the said Flora Developments Ltd in April 2018.”
According to the agency, their investigation indicated that accused Kapil Wadhawan, Dheeraj Wadhawan, Rana Kapoor, Sanjay Rajkumar Chhabariaa, Avinash N. Bhosale, and Satyan Gopaldas Tandon planned to fraud Yes Bank and DHFL.
The charge sheet further says, “Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan misappropriated the funds amounting to Rs 4,733 crore invested/provided as loan/investment by Yes Bank Ltd to M/s DHFL & M/s Belief Realtors Pvt. Ltd. in the year 2018 and dishonestly disbursed and diverted Rs 4,727 crore against receipt of the said Yes Bank funds to the companies of accused Kapoor, Chhabarias and Bhosale.” The funds were transferred as loans, ICD investments, or consultancy charges.
