A Delhi court on Thursday framed charges of abetment of suicide against Aap Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Prakash Jarwal and his aide in connection with the suicide of a South Delhi-based doctor.
A 52-year-old doctor, Rajender Singh was found dead by suicide on April 18, 2020, at his Delhi residence. In a note recovered from the spot, the doctor had held Jarwal and his aide Kapil Nagar responsible for his death. In the note, Singh had alleged that the AAP MLA and his aide were ‘harassing’ him and his family over the water supply business.
Alleged case of extortion
Reportedly, Singh was involved in the business of water supply with the Delhi Jal Board since 2007. The police in a case had alleged that Jarwal and his associates, which included the doctor were involved in extorting money from the water-tanker owners.
‘Enough material on record’
The court observed, “There is enough material on record to prima facie show that the accused Prakash Jarwal and Kapil Nagar extorted the deceased Dr Rajinder by threatening to kill him and his family if he did not pay the money for plying his tankers with DJB.”
Jarwal has been framed under IPC sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 120-B (punishment of criminal conspiracy), 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt), 384 (punishment for extortion), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) by Additional Sessions Judge Geetanjali Goel.
‘Complaint based only on diary’
An FIR was registered on the complaint of Hemant Singh, the son of the deceased. Jarwal’s lawyer in the court submitted that the entire complaint against his client was made on the basis of ‘observations made in the diary of the deceased.’ He added that the ‘complainant himself was not a witness to the demand or extortion of money”.
He further added that there was nothing to show that Prakash Jarwal himself had demanded money.
FIR says Singh threatened and intimidated by Jarwal and others
As per the police investigation, the money extorted from water-tanker owners was routed through the AAP MLA’s brother Anil Jarwal. The money was then invested in several properties and farmhouses located in Delhi, Gurugram and Jaipur.
The police had recovered a WhatsApp group in the name of tanker-owners whose administrator is Nagar, Jarwal’s close aide. Jarwal also is a member of the group.
As informed by the police, the investigations revealed the direct involvement of both the accused in running the tanker mafia in Sangam Vihar and Tigri.
On Friday (November 12), Pakistani cricket team captain Babar Azam took a U-turn after blaming fellow cricketer Hassan Ali for the match defeat against Australia during the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2021.
In a video shared on the official Youtube channel of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Babar Azam was heard as saying, “We need to learn from our defeat. The unit that we created should not break. None should point fingers at each other. We did not play well as a team. One should not resort to blaming his teammates. None of you will talk negative and instead focus on the positives. Yes, we have lost. No issues. We will learn from it.”
He further added, “It takes a long time to form a unit like this. This defeat should not lead to its breakup. One loss in a cricket match should not de-motivate anyone to desert the team. I always back everyone. We have maintained a family-like atmosphere within the team. Everyone has put in effort… All of you have discharged your responsibilities in each match. This is what is expected from the team… I know everyone is unhappy but this is temporary.”
Although the Pakistani skipper appeared seemingly understanding and supportive towards all team members, this was however not the case on Thursday (November 11) night. Babar Azam was quick to throw his fellow teammate Hassan Ali under the bus after the match loss.
“The turning point of the match was the dropped catch of Matthew Wade. A new batter coming in then and it would have been a different scenario and maybe a different result. As a player, you should always be on your toes and take any opportunity that arises,” Babar Azam had remarked.
Hassan Ali put up a poor show against Australia during the semi-final match. He had conceded 44 runs in 4 overs, with the Australian side hitting him for 4 fours and 1 six. Despite an economy rate of 11 per over, he failed to get any wickets. He gave 15 runs in the 18th over and dropped the crucial catch of Matthew Wade in the 19th over, which proved to be a gamechanger for Australia. Wade went on to smash 41 runs in just 17 walls to lead his team to a comfortable victory.
Although Babar Azam has now resorted to ‘damage control’ mode, Opindia had earlier reported how Hassan Ali was vilified for being a Shia Muslim by many in Pakistan. He was subjected to a flurry of personal comments, charges of match-fixing, derogatory remarks about his mother and Indian-born wife.
Given that Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country, Islamists do not leave any chance to abuse the Shia community for any misfortune that befalls the country. Following Pakistan’s humiliating loss to Australia, conspiracy theories about Hassan Ali being a Shia (and hence losing the match deliberately) began floating on social media.
Soon after the match loss, Pakistani cricket fans had flooded social media with hateful and abusive remarks against Hassan Ali.
US President Joe Biden has called Satchel Paige “the great negro” at during his Veterans Day address at the Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday. While speaking on the occasion, Biden had drifted into a story about the late baseball player Satchel Paige who played in the so called ‘Negro Leagues’ before joining Major League Baseball in the late 1940s.
NOW – Biden tells a story about pitcher Satchel Paige, referring to him as “the great negro at the time.”pic.twitter.com/uwnkUlBTsL
Biden said, “I’ve adopted the attitude of the great negro at the time, pitcher of the Negro leagues, who went on to become a great pitcher in the pros — in Major League Baseball — after Jackie Robinson. His name was Satchel Paige.” The statement was made as Biden honored former U.S. Ambassador, Donald Blinken, an Army veteran and father of Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Biden talked about Satchel Paige when he pitched a win against Chicago on his 47th birthday and added, “And all the press went in and said, ‘Satch is amazing. Forty-seven years old. No one’s ever, ever pitched a win at age 47. How do you feel about being 47?’ He said, ‘Boys, that’s not how I look at it.’ And they said, ‘How do you look at it, Satch? And he said, ‘I look at it this way: How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?’”
The gaffe has expectedly sparked significant social media outrage with users recalling the time when he had said Black people are not Black if they do not vote Democrat.
Joe Biden literally called someone a "Great Negro" at his speech today.
This is the same man who told Black voters they "ain't Black" if they don't vote for them.
IMAGINE if anyone on the Right had made a remark ANYWHERE NEAR this.
Calling someone a “negro” in modern context is not OK, especially if you are a career politician named Joe Biden with a LONG history of saying racist things and promoting racist policy.
It’s disgusting that Democrats are actually *excusing* this in the name of politics.
This is not the first time that Joe Biden has dropped the n-word. The last time he said it, it was during the Virtual Munich Security Conference in February this year.
Biden id, of course, used to committing gaffes at this point. Only recently, President Biden had let out a huge fart during a conversation with the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowles, at the COP26 in Glasgow. As per reports, the fart had surprised the Duchess so much that she could not stop talking about it.
The Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) has sought Interpol’s help for deportation of two men who are currently believed to be in the United States in connection with a case involving derogatory remarks posted against judges and judiciary on social media platforms, a report published in Times of India said.
The central probe agency used Blue Notice to ascertain the whereabouts of the two suspects—C Prabhakar Reddy aka ‘Punch’ Prabhakar and Mani Annapureddy—and is using diplomatic channels to secure their extradition to India. It took the use of Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty(MLAT) to collect information related to Facebook profiles, Twitter accounts, Facebook posts, tweets, YouTuber videos from Facebook, Twitter, Google etc. of the suspects.
According to the sources close to the CBI, the agency had arrest warrants issued against the two suspects and had also filed six more charge sheets in the case. About 6 people from different places in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have been already arrested and sent to judicial custody in relation to the case. They are accused of making disparaging remarks against judges of the Andhra Pradesh High Court over certain verdicts.
Supreme Court had said judges are not priority of probe agencies
The CBI’s efforts to seek international assistance for nabbing two suspects in the case came after the apex court of the country expressed its displeasure with the probing agencies for their failure in bringing to book the accused. Earlier in August 2021, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana lamented that judges were not on priority for the investigating agencies and that their complaints of being harassed and intimidated were not being important enough to be addressed despite the involvement of specialised bodies like the CBI in the investigation.
Besides the 6 arrested, the CBI had arrested another 5 accused in July and August and also filed five separate charge sheets against them. A total of 11 charge sheets have been filed against all the arrested 11 accused while the CBI has sought assistance from Interpol to deport the remaining 2 accused in the case.
In addition to this, the probe agency had also questioned Lok Sabha MP Nandigam Suresh and former MLA Amanchi Krishnamohan, both belonging to YSR Congress, in the case. In a separate case in October 2020, the Andhra Pradesh HC had fumed over derogatory posts made by YSRCP leaders after they had accused the judges of being ‘partial’. The YSRCP leaders were criticising the HC after its request for a CBI probe into the ‘Amaravati scam’ was rejected by the High Court.
CBI took over the case in November 2020 and filed a case against 16 people accused of making derogatory remarks against the judges and the Indian judiciary. Until then, the CID, Andhra Pradesh, was probing the matter and had filed 12 FIRs in the case. The original FIRs were registered on complaints of Registrar General of high court of Andhra Pradesh. After taking over the case, the CBI had gotten social media companies to delete the contentious posts, along with getting YouTube channels blocked from the social media platforms and public domain.
After an electrifying T20 World Cup semi-finals in Dubai, several videos of heartbroken Pakistani fans have surfaced on social media. Pakistan faced an embarrassing defeat in the semi-finals played on Thursday against Australia.
The Pakistani fans gathered in the stadium and in front of the TV sets were quite confident about their team’s win, however, one over by bowler Shaheen Afridi and a dropped catch by Hasan Ali, changed the dynamics.
Several Pakistani fans were caught on camera shedding tears and explicitly blaming Ali for the loss.
‘Dil toot gaya’
Slamming Ali and crying at the same time, a fan interviewed outside the Dubai cricket stadium said that Ali was just concerned about his hairstyle. He further said, “Dil toot gaya hai, aawaz hi nahi nikal rahi (I am heartbroken and unable to speak).”
He also claimed that Ali had no idea how important the match was.
Another teary-eyed fan crying on the shoulder of a fellow spectator also blamed Ali for the loss, but then said, “After all it’s a game.”
“I don’t have words,” said another fan at a time when some other disappointed fans from the crowd asked the Pakistan cricketers to eat ‘pizze and burger.’
“Ek nikkame bowler aur tournament ke sabse mehenge bowler ke vajah se match haar gaye (We lost the match because of the most useless and expensive bowler of the season),” the fan whined further.
Children sob after loss
In another video, a young boy can be seen crying profusely after Pakistan’s defeat.
Former Pakistani cricketer Shoiab Akhtar also took to Twitter to share a video of a disheartened young boy. “This is what happens when your team plays well. Fans get engaged. Thats why this World Cup was so important for us,” he said.
This is what happens when your team plays well. Fans get engaged. Thats why this World Cup was so important for us. pic.twitter.com/u9nfRYS8Ye
In another video, an enraged fan can be seen hurling insults at Ali for dropping a crucial catch. “You go get photoshoots done, make videos and dance like eunuch,” lamented the fan.
Calling him ‘ek takke ka,’ the fan also blamed team selection for the defeat.
Ali receives religious abuses
With even the captain of the Pakistan cricket team blaming Hasan Ali in the post-match presentation for the loss, it was obvious that the fans would hold him the sole culprit.
Apart from abuses, fans of the Sunni-majority country went about asking if Ali was a Shia and abused him in vile language.
Considering Ali’s wife is an Indian, several labeled him a traitor and accused him of match-fixing.
The Supreme Court of India warned the Army of contempt action in a plea filed against Army Chief of Staff MM Naravane related to permanent commission for women. The SC bench was led by Justice Chandrachud and comprised of Justice AS Bopanna as well.
Justice DY Chandrachud led bench indicates that it is going to hold the Army guilty for contempt for not granting permanent commission to women officers as per its earlier judgment
The plea was filed over an alleged delay in granting permanent commission to women. ASG Sanjay Jain appearing for the Army Chief of Staff said that an affidavit had been filed related to the matter and the conduct of the women was considered while rejecting the same.
Justice Chandrachud said, “We had said that all the women who cleared 60% shall be given a permanent commission, you can’t now say 60% + fitness + Conduct, resolve it from your end so we can close the contempt.” The Justice had also said, “The army might be supreme in its own right but the constitutional court is equally supreme.”
The case relates to a plea filed by 72 women alleging that they had been denied permanent commission even after scoring 60% in the special no. 5 Selection Board.
On Wednesday (November 10), Congress leader Parsadi Lal Meena courted controversy after he threw a man out of an event for seeking help. Meena is the Cabinet Minister for Industry Development and State Enterprises in the Congress-led-Rajasthan government.
As per reports, the incident took place in the Ladpura Panchayat in Lalsot town in the Dausa district of Rajasthan. Parsadi Lal Meena had gone there to attend an administrative campaign. At that time, an elderly man from Karanpura village named Mithalal had reached the event with his family to seek help from the Congress Minister.
Mithalal recounted that his young son Buddhiprakash was lured by two men into going to Maharashtra in search of iron casting work on September 18, 2019. However, since then, they did not allow his son to return to the village. Mithalal told Parsadi Lal Meena that his son was being threatened with death, whenever he talked about returning back to his village from Maharashtra.
He added that he last spoke to Buddhiprakash on November 2, 2019. The elderly man had filed a complaint against the two people, who took his son away, on December 10, 2019. However, the cops did not take any action for 2 long years. Mithalal pleaded with the Congress Minister to help rescue his son. Instead of being empathetic to the elderly man’s tragic story, Parsadi Lal Meena asked the helpless man to get lost.
“What can I do? Were you dead for the past 2 years? Get out,” the Congress leader yelled. He then summoned his security personnel and asked them to escort Mithalal and his relatives out of the camp. A video of the incident was shared on social media by Dainik Bhaskar.
Nathulal Meena, the Chief of Lasot, had also engaged in a heated argument with the victim’s family and drove them away. He defended his behaviour by claiming that the matter did not fall under the jurisdiction of the Lalsot police station. He also claimed that Mithalal was being misled by people.
Two Bangladeshi smugglers were killed by the Border Security Force (BSF) near the Indo-Bangladesh border at Sitai locality in Cooch Bihar district of West Bengal in the early morning of November 12 at around 3 AM. One BSF trooper was also injured after smugglers attacked the BSF patrolling party which tried to stop them while entering Indian territory.
Two Bangladeshi smugglers were killed along India-Bangladesh border in Cooch Behar district, West Bengal. One BSF trooper also injured as the smugglers attacked the BSF party trying to stop them while entering Indian territory. The incident took place around 3 am today: BSF pic.twitter.com/SYOhxOyP95
According to the reports, the BSF team spotted some Bangladeshi smugglers trying to smuggle cattle by lifting them over the barbed wire fence using improvised cantilevers. They entered Indian territory by using ladders out of iron bars to cross the fence. When the BSF warned them to go back, the smugglers attacked BSF personnel with iron rods, sticks and sickles. One BSF personnel suffered injuries in the attack and he was rushed to the hospital. Initially, BSF personnel utilised non-lethal weapons to deter miscreants but used force after the smugglers attacked them. Later, two bodies of smugglers were spotted near the international boundary.
The miscreants from Bangladesh side ventured into Indian side, tried to smuggle cattle using improvised bamboo cantilever. BSF had warned them to go back. Our troops utilised non lethal weapons to deter miscreants, but they attacked on BSF troops with ironrods & sticks: BSF pic.twitter.com/CzvY3BjfMV
BSF also issued a statement regarding the encounter. “On 12th Nov 2021 at about 0300 hrs, miscreants from Bangladesh side ventured into Indian territory and tried to smuggle cattle heads by establishing improvised bamboo cantilever. BSF domination ahead of the fence warned them to go back, but miscreants didn’t pay heed to BSF, “ it said.
On the other hand, journalist Anupam Mishra claimed that not two but three died in the encounter between BSF and cattle smugglers. He also shared the video of a deceased smuggler.
Three dead in an encounter between BSF and cattle smugglers at coochbehar. Tmc claims that this incident is a fallout of centres notification expanding bsf jurisdiction to 50 km. Today Home secretary Ajay bhalla meeting with bengal home sec and chief sec on bsf jurisdiction issue pic.twitter.com/2FD5RZ4biv
He said that ruling TMC has alleged that this incident was a fallout of Centre expanding the jurisdiction of BSF to 50 km.
Notably, the Union Home secretary Ajay Bhalla today (November 12) is set to visit Kolkata and he will meet West Bengal chief secretary H K Dwivedi to discuss pending land acquisition for construction of border fence, road projects, Border Out Posts (BOPs) and Integrated Check Posts (ICPs). He is also set to meet officials of BSF, coast guard and district magistrates from border areas to discuss security-related issues.
November 12 holds a special significance in the history of India. For this was the day in 1969 when one of India’s most powerful prime ministers, Indira Gandhi, was expelled from her own party on charges of violating the party discipline.
On November 12, 1969, the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi was purged out of the Congress party after simmering tensions between herself and the “Syndicate”, a group within the Congress party, broke out in the open. The party President, S. Nijalingappa, one of the foremost leaders of the “Syndicate” expelled Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from the party for “fostering a cult of personality”. Indira’s ouster ultimately led to the split in the Congress party.
The fallout between the “Syndicate” and Indira Gandhi could be ascribed to the leadership crisis in Congress following the demise of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964. Nehru committed a host of blunders during his tenure as the country’s head but one of his lesser talked about failures is not leaving behind him a credible deputy who would lead the Congress party in his absence or after his retirement.
As a consequence, there were several regional leaders in the Congress party but none powerful enough to fill in the void left by Nehru. Mutual interest and self-preservation dictated them to join hands and take the reigns of the party, which would have been practically impossible in their respective individual capacities. This group of powerful leaders who were non-Hindi speaking came to be called the “Syndicate” and they started wielding outsize influence on the Congress party after Nehru’s demise.
The preeminence of the “Syndicate” group was such that they are largely credited for electing responsible for electing Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi as the prime minister for the first time after Nehru’s death. Most of the members of this “Syndicate” were from the South, led by K Kamaraj. Indira locked horns with this “Syndicate” and was re-elected as the Prime Minister of the country in the 1967 elections. However, she had to yield to the Syndicate’s demand of appointing Morarji Desai as the deputy prime minister.
1969 Presidential elections pits Gandhi against the Syndicate
Indira was chafed at the repeated interference of the syndicate in the smooth functioning of the party and hobbling the Prime Minister of the country in effectively dispensing her duties. The syndicate, on the other hand, could not quite come to grips with the fact that the “gungi gudiya” (dumb doll)—their snide reference for Indira—had started raising opposition against them.
During that time, India’s then-president Dr Zakir Hussain died and VV Giri, who was the vice president, was made the acting president. The Syndicate wanted Neelam Sanjiva Reddy to succeed Khan as the president of the country. Reddy was already the Lok Sabha speaker then and Indira feared his appointment to the post of President would pave the way for the Syndicate to replace her with Morarji Desai as the Prime Minister of the country.
Indira Gandhi with K Kamaraj and Morarji Desai
In a bid to avert this crisis, Indira floated the name of Jagjivan Ram in the Congress Working Committee but it was vetoed by the Syndicate and Reddy was selected as the official candidate for president. Meanwhile, VV Giri had resigned and nominated himself as an Independent candidate for the post of President. In the absence of Giri, CJI Hidayullah was made the acting president.
The syndicated suggested Giri could be appointed as the Lok Sabha speaker. This was the moment when the rift between Indira and the Syndicate finally came out in open. Although Indira had to contend with the syndicate’s choice of Neelam Sanjiva Reddy during the 1969 presidential elections, being the leader of Congress members in Lok Sabha, she played her trick and refused to issue a whip to Congress members. She also asked Congressmen to “vote according to their conscience”, which was an indirect appeal to vote against the Congress’ chosen candidate. V.V Giri, the rebel Congress candidate won the election. A total of 163 Congress MPs voted for VV Giri and 11 out of the 12 Congress-ruled states also got a majority.
Indira Gandhi expelled from the Congress party, resulting in the split of the party
The Syndicate decreed that CD Deshmukh, the candidate of opposition Jana Sangh and Swatantra Party, should be given the second priority vote. But Indira Gandhi had her way and ensured that the Congress’ official candidate Neelam Sanjiva Reddy is defeated by the rebel Congress candidate, VV Giri. Following the presidential elections, Indira Gandhi launched a concerted campaign to weaken the hold of the Syndicate on the Congress party. She toured various parts of the country and mobilised Congressmen as a show of strength to the syndicate.
Morarji Desai with former prime minister Indira Gandhi and S Nijalingappa during AICC meeting, Bangalore. (Image Source: Indian Express)
Indira Gandhi’s supporters went against their own party, demanding a special Congress session to elect a new president. They were convinced that the Syndicate did not enjoy the majority and was clinging on to the power through illegitimate means. Disgruntled by Indira Gandhi and her supporters, Nijalingappa wrote an open letter, accusing the Prime Minister and her associates of sabotaging the internal democracy of the party. In response to the letter, Indira Gandhi stopped attending the meetings called by Nijalingappa.
Then on 12 November 1969, the Congress Working Committee met at two places—one at the PM’s residence and the other at the Congress’ Jantar Mantar road office. At the meeting that held at the Jantar Mantar office, Nijalingappa expelled Indira Gandhi from the party on disciplinary grounds. Indira’s expulsion led to the split in the Congress party, with 446 of the 705 Congress members walking over to Indira’s side. The faction led by Indira Gandhi was known as Congress(R) and also referred to as “Indicate” while the one led by the syndicate leaders came to be known as Congress(O) or “Syndicate”.
President Ram Nath Kovind presented Padma Awards to 141 awardees for the year 2020 on November 8. The awards included that 7 Padma Vibhushan, 16 Padma Bhushan and 118 Padma Shri Awards. Like earlier Padma awards during the Modi govt, unsung heroes from humble backgrounds were recognised by the govt for their achievements, a welcome change from earlier when the awards were almost exclusively reserved for elites.
However, as always, there are always some people who are not happy with the list of awardees. First, the left-liberals complained about actress Kangana Ranaut awarded the Padma Shri award, accusing her of hate speech. Now, they have found another excuse to attack the Modi government for the selection of awardees.
Several social media users are asking why Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra was not awarded a Padma award. A Twitter user that identifies himself as ‘Liberal, Secular, anti Bhakt’ asked if Chopra was ignored because he is a Farmer’s son and vocally supported Farmers demands.
7 Sportspersons received Padma Awards but not Neeraj Chopra, India’s only Gold Medalist. Is it because Neeraj Chopra is a Farmer’s son and vocally supported Farmers demands?
Another secular, liberal annonumous Twitter account asked the questions, asking if Neeraj Chopra was not given a Padma award because he had vocally supported farmer’s demands, or because he “came out as a decent human who stood by secular values.”
7 Sportspersons received Padma Awards but not Neeraj Chopra, India’s only Gold Medalist. Is it because Neeraj Chopra as a farmer’s son had vocally supported farmer’s demands? or is it because he came out as a decent human who stood by secular values?
As if following a toolkit, several other Twitter users asked why Neeraj Chopra didn’t get a Padma award.
Kangna is awarded with ‘Padma Shri’. Looking at the current priorities, not Neeraj Chopra, Babita Phogat is looking to be the best fit in the next list. ?♀️?♀️?♀️?♀️
Kangana Ranawat =Padma Award Neeraj Chopra = ❎ Why ?? Bcz Neeraj Chopra ia a Farmer’s son ? If u want Padma then Tweet like Kangana …. If u want Z category security then Tweet like Kangana This is new normal of Modi Regime .
7 Sportspersons received Padma Awards but not Neeraj Chopra, India’s only Gold Medalist. Is it because Neeraj Chopra as a farmer’s son had vocally supported farmer’s demands?
2021 awards of Padma Vibhushan, Bhushan, Padmasri, people like Karan Johar, Kangana, Sumitra Mahajan, Ram V Paswan, Keshubhai patel, Sushma Swaraj, Fernandes, Ekta, etc can get it, but India’s sole gold medalist Neeraj Chopra failed to make it to the list. Sad state of affairs!!!
7 Sportspersons received Padma Awards but not Neeraj Chopra, India’s only Gold Medalist. Is it because Neeraj Chopra is a Farmer’s son and vocally supported Farmers demands?
Although it seems shocking that Neeraj Chopra was not honoured with a Padma award, there is a perfectly valid reason for that. This is because, the awards given on November 8 were for the year 2020, and Chopra won the gold medal in Olympics in 2021. The Padma awards were announced on Republic Day on January 26 this year itself, months before the Tokyo Olympics were held in July-August.
Therefore, there is no way Neeraj Chopra’s name can feature in a list published on January 26, as he clinched the gold medal in javelin throw on August 7.
It is possible that he will be honored with a Padma award next year, when the list of awardees for various awards for the year 2021 is announced, and there is no valid reason to criticise the Modi govt for not awarding this year. However, the critics have forgotten that Neeraj Chopra has been already selected to receive the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, the highest sporting award in the country. This year 12 sportsperson have been named for the Khel Ratna award, which will be presented tomorrow by the president of India.
