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Tokyo Paralympics: Yogesh Kathuniya wins silver medal in discus throw F56

OpIndia Staff
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Tokyo Paralympics: Yogesh Kathuniya wins silver medal in discus throw F56

Indian para athlete Yogesh Kathuniya today won silver medal in discus throw F56 at Tokyo Paralympics.

PM Modi took to Twitter to congratulate Kathuniya on the feat.

Yogesh suffered paralytic attack at age 8 which left his limb coordination impaired.

He slowly developed an interest in javelin throw and slowly became passionate towards it. Last year he participated in his first ever international competition. In 2019, Yogesh won the bronze medal in the men’s discus throw F56 final at the Dubai World Para Athletics Championships to qualify for the Paralympic Games. 

Tokyo Paralympics: Avani Lekhara wins gold in women’s 10m AR Standing SH1

OpIndia Staff
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Tokyo Paralympics: Avani Lekhara wins gold in women’s 10m AR Standing SH1

Indian para athlete Avani Lekhara today won the gold medal in women’s 10 metre AR Standing SH1.

This is the fourth medal for India at Tokyo Paralympics so far. She won the gold medal with a total score of 249.6 in the final, equalling the world record.

PM Modi took to Twitter to congratulate Lekhara.

Lekhara, a resident of Jaipur made her international debut in 2017 in World Cup tournament in UAE. She began shooting in 2015 on encouragement by her father. She started shooting and archery but realised she enjoyed shooting more. She was also inspired by Indian Olympian Abhinav Bindra’s book.

Indian para athletes Bhavina Patel (silver), Nishad Kumar (silver) and Vinod Kumar (bronze) have also made India proud by winning medals in para table tennis, high jump and discus throw respectively.

Joe Biden’s parting gift to Afghanistan? Deadly US drone strike in Kabul kills 9 civilians including 6 children: Reports

OpIndia Staff
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Joe Biden’s parting gift to Afghanistan? Deadly US drone strike in Kabul kills 9 civilians including 6 children: Reports

The United States of America conducted a drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan at a residential area allegedly targeting a vehicle that carried “multiple suicide bombers” associated with the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP). However, according to reports since then, at least 9 civilians have been killed in the drone strike, including 6 children.

A relative of the deceased told a local journalist working with CNN that 9 civilians were killed from one single family. At the time of writing this report, the Associated Press had reported that a local Afghan official had said that three children had died. There is some confusion about the precise number yet but it could be that the death toll was rising and hence, the different numbers.

Earlier, US CENTCOM spokesman Capt. Bill Urban had claimed, “U.S. military forces conducted a self-defense unmanned over-the-horizon airstrike today on a vehicle in Kabul, eliminating an imminent ISIS-K threat to Hamad Karzai International Airport.”

He stated, “We are confident we successfully hit the target. Significant secondary explosions from the vehicle indicated the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material.” He has said that the US forces were “assessing the possibilities of civilian casualties, though we have no indications at this time”.

Hours after the reports of the rocket attack, the Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said that a US airstrike targeted a terrorist who was going to attack the Kabul airport. The Taliban said that a drone strike by US forces targeted a suicide bomber in a vehicle who wanted to attack the Kabul international airport on Sunday. In a message to journalists, the Taliban spokesperson said that the vehicle was laden with explosives, but didn’t give any other detail.

CBI denies Congress claims of clean chit to Anil Deshmukh, the party had sent a ‘leaked report’ to media, politicians and judges

OpIndia Staff
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CBI denies Congress claims of clean chit to Anil Deshmukh, the party had sent a ‘leaked report’ to media, politicians and judges

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has denied the claims made by Congress that it has given a clean chit to former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh. In a statement, the CBI said that on the basis of a preliminary enquiry, FIR against Deshmukh was filed in April, and the probe against him is still underway.

Reacting to several media reports claiming that an ‘internal report’ by the CBI investigation officer said that no evidence was found against Deshmukh, CBI rejected the claims. The agency said in a statement, “A number of media queries have been received regarding a CBI case registered against the then Maharashtra Home Minister and unknown others. It may be recalled that the Mumbai High Court had ordered the registration of a Preliminary Enquiry) in the said matter based on several PILs filed before the court.

On completion of this preliminary enquiry, the competent authority directed registration of a regular case based on evidence collected during the enquiry and the legal opinion. The FIR registered by CBI on 21.04.2021 has been available on CBI website since 24.04.2021. Investigation into the matter is ongoing.”

India Today reported that a copy of the letter and FIR filed by CBI against Anil Deshmukh, they had found that a cognizable offence is made out in the matter. The letter exclusively accessed by Indian Today said, “Preliminary enquiry revealed that a cognizable offence is made out in the matter, wherein the then home minister of Maharashtra Anil Deshmukh and unknown others have attempted to obtain undue advantage for improper and dishonest performance for public duty.”

Earlier in the day, several media houses had reported that a ‘leaked report’ of a preliminary inquiry conducted by the agency had revealed that the agency had concluded that “no cognizable offence has been committed by Anil Deshmukh, the former Home Minister of Maharashtra”.

The ‘leaked report’ report was posted by Congress leader Sachin Sawant on Twitter today, claiming that it shows that the case against Anil Deshmukh was a conspiracy by the Modi govt. He had demanded a Supreme Court monitored probe into this ‘conspiracy’.

The so-called preliminary report said that the enquiry has revealed that no cognizable offence has been committed by Anil Deshmukh, and therefore, it had recommended closing the preliminary enquiry.

The alleged preliminary report posted by Sawant was purportedly prepared by CBI officer R S Gunjiyal. However, there are some problems with this ‘report’, as it is not signed by the officer. Moreover, the name of the officer was mentioned as R S Gunjyal, while the correct spelling of the name of the investigating officer in the case is R S Gunjiyal.

Now the CBI has denied recommending the closure of the investigation, which raises doubt on the ‘leaked report’ published and circulated by the Congress party.

It is noteworthy that the Congress party had sent this ‘leaked CBI report’ to several media houses, non-NDA chief ministers, politicians, journalists and select judges of Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court. Mumbai BJP posted the list of the entities to whom this report was forwarded, which showed it was sent to 28 entities or persons by Sachin Sawant or someone else from the Congress party.

While sending such a ‘leaked report’ to media houses and journalists is not unusual, the inclusion of Maharashtra, West Bengal and Punjab chief ministers, and Bombay High Court chief justice Dipankar Datta, justice S S Shinde of the same HC, and justice DY Chandrachud of the Supreme Court has raised eyebrows.

Any relevant document or report by CBI will anyway be submitted to the relevant courts, but the fact that the Congress party chose to sent the so called ‘leaked report’ to three select judges have raised many uncomfortable questions.

Woman booked for mercilessly beating up her child after video goes viral on social media

OpIndia Staff
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Woman booked for mercilessly beating up her child after video goes viral on social media

Shocking video of a woman mercilessly beating up a child, presumably her own, had gone viral on social media.

In about 2 minute long video, the woman can be seen hitting the child repeatedly, causing uproar amongst the netizens. It is now been reported that the woman in the video is the child’s mother Thulasi. Vadivazhagan, a resident of Vallipuram, Tamil Nadu had married Thulasi. They lived in Tamil Nadu’s Mottur village. However, the couple had constant fights.

Vadivazhagan then left Thulasi with her parents in Andhra Pradesh. Thulasi recorded the video of herself beating up the child. When relatives saw it, they alerted Vadivazhagan. He then brought the children back with him.

The police have now booked the mother on charges of beating up the two year old. The incident reportedly took place in February but it came to light only recently when her estranged husband saw the clips on her mobile phone. A case has been booked against her under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 355 (assault or criminal force with intent to dishonour person) of the Indian Penal Code read with Section 75 (abusing a child) of the Juvenile Justice Act.

ED summons Maharashtra minister Anil Parab for involvement in money laundering case of Anil Deshmukh

OpIndia Staff
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ED summons Maharashtra minister Anil Parab for involvement in money laundering case of Anil Deshmukh

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Maharashtra Transport Minister Anil Parab in connection with a money laundering case. The central probe agency has served him a notice asking him to appear before it on Tuesday. The minister has been in the money laundering case filed against former minister Anil Deshmukh and others.

Anil Parab has been asked to appear before the investigating officer of the ED at its south Mumbai on August 31. The case is related to the alleged ₹100 crore extortion racket alleged by former police commissioner Param Bir Singh that had led to the resignation of former home minister Anil Deshmukh.

Anil Parab was also mentioned by disgraced former cop Sachin Vaze in his letter to the NIA, where he had alleged that Parab had asked him to collect Rs 2 crore each from 50 contractors associated with the BMC. Vaze had also written that Parab had asked him to initiate talk about extorting Rs 50 crores from SBUT to end an inquiry.  Later, Param Bir Singh had confirmed that Sachin Vaze had informed him about the same after he was removed from the post of Mumbai Police Commissioner.

Reacting to the summon by ED, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut alleged that it is direct fallout of union minister Narayan Rane.

After Rane was arrested by Maharashtra police for his comments against Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, a video had emerged showing transport minister Anil Parab instructing someone on phone to arrest the union minister.

On the other hand, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya tweeted that now Anil Parab will have to give the “HISAB accounts for ₹100 crore VASOOLI of Sachin Vaze”. He added that Parab is linked to Collection from BMC Contractors, RTO transfers, ST Tickets Ghotala, illegal Dapoli Resort etc.

Has a feminist girl from Delhi really sued Coca Cola over its ‘penis-shaped’ bottles? Here’s what we know

OpIndia Staff
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Has a feminist girl from Delhi really sued Coca Cola over its ‘penis-shaped’ bottles? Here’s what we know

A photograph has gone viral on the internet where it is being claimed that a feminist girl from Delhi has filed a complaint against Coca Cola alleging that its bottles are shaped like a penis. The girl in the photograph has been identified as Priyanka Paul.

Feminist girl from Delhi really filed a complaint against Coca Cola over its 'penis-shaped' bottles? Priyanka Paul denies
Source: Twitter

The photograph has gone viral on the internet, having been shared widely by pages on Facebook and Instagram and accounts on Twitter. However, we can confirm that the claim is fake and has been confirmed to be fake by the girl seen in the photo on Instagram.

Priyanka Paul, who goes by the username ‘artwhoring‘ on Instagram, has shared multiple screenshots of the viral posts, calling them out for peddling fake news. She has updated her bio on the platform to clarify that she has not, in fact, sued Coca Cola.

Feminist girl from Delhi really filed a complaint against Coca Cola over its 'penis-shaped' bottles? Priyanka Paul denies
Source: Priyanka Paul aka ‘artwhoring’

In one her stories on Instagram, she has said, “The fact that so many people thought this was funny enough to post on their pages is what’s taking the cake for me, like it’s really not that funny, even for satire.”

Feminist girl from Delhi really filed a complaint against Coca Cola over its 'penis-shaped' bottles? Priyanka Paul denies
Source: Instagram

In another story, Priyanka Paul said, “Everyday I come on this site to be just blown away by the sheer dingbat-ness of the average Indian audience, use my face for better things than the most unfunny kind of incel humour I’ve ever seen, and people are really asking me if this is real.”

Feminist girl from Delhi really filed a complaint against Coca Cola over its 'penis-shaped' bottles? Priyanka Paul denies
Source: Priyanka Paul aka ‘artwhoring’

Priyanka Paul has also said that those spreading the photograph should at least tell people it is not real.

Feminist girl from Delhi really filed a complaint against Coca Cola over its 'penis-shaped' bottles? Priyanka Paul denies
Source: Instagram

She also said that the lack of orginality in the Indian ‘meme community’ is saddening. Paul also wondered whether the meme pages have a WhatsApp group because many of them were sharing the photograph.

Feminist girl from Delhi really filed a complaint against Coca Cola over its 'penis-shaped' bottles? Priyanka Paul denies
Source: Instagram
Feminist girl from Delhi really filed a complaint against Coca Cola over its 'penis-shaped' bottles? Priyanka Paul denies
Source: Instagram

The ‘feminist girl from Delhi’ also wondered whether it was some “savarna feminist sh*t”.

Feminist girl from Delhi really filed a complaint against Coca Cola over its 'penis-shaped' bottles? Priyanka Paul denies
Source: Instagram

The ‘feminist girl from Delhi’ meme was shared by pages with enormous reaches. She shared a post saying “1 million”, we are not sure whether she was referring to ‘likes’ on the post or the followers the page had.

Feminist girl from Delhi really filed a complaint against Coca Cola over its 'penis-shaped' bottles? Priyanka Paul denies

Paul also made a post saying that the claims made in the photograph was not real. She also told people to stop asking if it was real.

Feminist girl from Delhi really filed a complaint against Coca Cola over its 'penis-shaped' bottles? Priyanka Paul denies
Source: Instagram

Thus, it appears clear that the viral post, although it has been shared widely, is not real as the person in the photograph itself has confirmed that it is not.

Taliban teaming up with Pakistan-based terror groups like Jaish-e-Mohammad should not come as surprise. Here is why

Dibakar Dutta
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Taliban teaming up with Pakistan-based terror groups like Jaish-e-Mohammad should not come as surprise. Here is why

Days after Kabul fell into the hands of the Taliban, leaders of the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) met with the Talibs in the 3rd week of August, reported ANI.

While quoting senior Intelligence officials, the news agency reported that JeM sought the help of the Islamist organisation in ‘India-centric operations. The forcible takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, coupled with its recent meeting with Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists, has raised concerns about cross-border terrorism. The Indian intelligence agencies are expecting an influx of terrorists from Pakistan into the Indian Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

An official stated, “We have ordered intelligence agencies to keep watch on social media. On August 24, we received input regarding the movement of two terrorists from Pakistan who are planning a grenade attack in Srinagar. All agencies concerned have been alerted for coordination. All states have been alerted to conduct security drills and keep anti-terror units on high alert.” However, concerns about cross-border terrorism remain at an all-time high as Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid recently referred to Pakistan as a ‘second home’.

Not to forget, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Neelam Irshad Sheikh had claimed on live TV that the Taliban had vowed to help Pakistan in occupying Kashmir. Although the Taliban had recently stated that Jammu and Kashmir is an ‘internal issue’ of India and that issues with Pakistan must be sorted through bilateral talks, the words of the Islamist organisation cannot be taken at face value. At a time of such a geopolitical crisis, the meetup between the Talibs and JeM terrorists have brought back haunting memories of the past. The two had co-ordinated in the IC-814 hijacking and thus their alliance is not surprising at all.

The story of IC-814 Hijack, release of Masood Azhar and formation of JeM

Twenty-one years ago, on December 24, 1999, the Indian Airlines IC 814 carrying 178 passengers and 11 crew members from Kathmandu to Delhi was hijacked by Pakistan-based Islamic terrorists. The airline was hijacked by Harkat-ul-Mujahideen with the active support and assistance of the Pakistan Army before landing at Kandahar in Southern Afghanistan. At that time, Kandahar was the base of the Taliban government and was headed by Mullah Mohammed Omar. 

The hijackers demanded the release of 35 terrorists from Indian prisons, including the dreaded terrorist Maulana Masood Azhar in addition to $200mn in cash. However, Ajit Doval was able to bring the numbers down to 3. On December 31, 1999, after seven days, the hostage crisis came to an end as India agreed to release three of the top terrorists including Masood Azhar. Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar.

After his release, Maulana Masood Azhar regrouped his terror organisation, renamed his terror outfit ‘Harkat-ul-Ansar’ to ‘Harkat-ul-Mujahideen’ (HuM). A year later, Maulana Azhar, with a renewed vigour, started a new outfit – ‘Jaish-e-Mohammed’ (JeM). Azhar was actively backed up by Pakistan Army, who provided all the assistance. Even the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden and multiple Sunni sectarian organisations based in Pakistan backed Azhar to set up his new terror organisation.

JeM and its terror activities in India

Within a year of its inception, Azhar’s Jaish-e-Mohammed launched a series of deadly attacks that almost brought India and Pakistan to the brink of a full-scale war. On February 14, 2019, at least 40 CRPF men were killed in a ghastly act by a JeM suicide bomber in Lethpora in Pulwama. The terrorist, identified as Adil Ahmad Dar, rammed an SUV laden with over 300 kg of explosives into the CRPF bus that was carrying the CRPF personnel. The CRPF convoy of 70 vehicles carrying over 2000 personnel was on the way to Srinagar from Jammu after the highway opened for one way traffic after several days of closure due to heavy rainfall and subsequent landslides.

Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the attack and identified the suicide bomber (fidayeen) as Adil Ahmad from Kakapora in Pulwama, who had joined the Jaish-e-Mohammed in 2018. They also released a recorded video message of the suicide bomber. India had exacted revenge by decimating the Jaish terrorist camps at a hilltop in Balakot, Pakistan, 13 days later in a precision airstrike carried out by Indian Air Force.

On 18th September 2016, the country woke up to one of the most dastardly attacks by Pakistan. In the wee hours of the morning, at 5:30 AM, 4 heavily armed terrorists believed to be from Jaish-e-Mohammed, attacked the Indian Army Brigade Headquarters in Uri, near the Line of Control. The terrorists lobbed 17 grenades in 3 minutes killing 17 army personnel. Within just 10 days, the Indian Army carried out unprecedented surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC), annihilating at least 7 terror launchpads and inflicting heavy casualties on terrorists sheltered in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). JeM was also the mastermind behind the 2001 parliament attacks.

Tokyo Paralympics: India’s Vinod Kumar loses bronze medal, technical delegates say he was not eligible for F52 class discus event

OpIndia Staff
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Tokyo Paralympics: India’s Vinod Kumar loses bronze medal, technical delegates say he was not eligible for F52 class discus event

India’s Vinod Kumar has lost the bronze medal at Tokyo Paralympics after the technical delegates decided that he was not eligible for the discus F52 class. As per the latest reports, other competitors had lodged a protest against his medal win under some technicalities, following which the ceremony was put on hold.

The Technical Delegates of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics organising committee have informed in a state ment that the men’s Discus F52 event is under ‘Classification Observation Process,’ and results are being reviewed.

Indian athlete Vinod Kumar had earlier won the bronze medal at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics in the discus throw event.

Vinod Kumar’s throw of 19.91 meter for the third position also broke the Asian record in the category. Poland’s Piotr Kosewicz won the gold medal with a throw of 20.02m, and Croatian athlete Velimir Šandor came second with 19.98m. Kumar had registred his best throw on the fifth trial, as per reports.

Vinod Kumar was earlier announced as the bronze medal winner in the F52 category in the event. In this F52 classification, the athletes compete in a seated position.

Vinod Kumar comes from the family of Army Men, and he had also joined the BSF. But during the training period in 2002, he fell from a cliff in Leh and sustained serious injuries to his legs. He was bed-ridden for almost 10 years, during which he had lost both his parents.

After coming to know about the Para sports during the 2016 Rio Paralympics, he contacted the Sports Authority of India, and started training with the local coaches. He had participated in the Handisport Open Para Athletics Grand Prix in Paris in 2019, where he had finished in the fourth position. He had won bronze at the Fazza Para Athletics Grand Prix in 2021, where his world ranking was six.

This was the third medal won by India at the Tokyo Paralympics. Earlier, high jumper Nishad Kumar won silver in the T47 event and Bhavina Patel won silver in women’s singles table tennis in class 4 category.

2 reported dead in another explosion in Kabul at a residential area, Taliban claims US airstrike targeted a suicide bomber planning to hit the airport

OpIndia Staff
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2 reported dead in another explosion in Kabul at a residential area, Taliban claims US airstrike targeted a suicide bomber planning to hit the airport

An explosion was reported in Kabul on Sunday evening. According to locals in the area, the explosion was caused by a rocket hitting house in the area.

Visuals of the incident have emerged on social media. According to Republic TV, the explosion in Kabul occurred at the Gulai area of ​​Khajeh Baghra, in the 11th security district.

Asvaka, an Afghan news agency, reported that at least two were killed and three were wounded in the incident which was said to be a rocket attack.

In the wee hours of Sunday, the USA had informed that they carried out a drone attack in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, against an Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) target. However, names of those killed in the attack have not been released.

“We saw that rickshaws were burning. Children and women were wounded and one man, one boy and one woman had been killed on the spot. We tried to find people to bring something so that we can carry or transport the wounded,” one man was quoted by CNN as saying.

Only days earlier, the Kabul airport was rocked by a suicide bombing which claimed the lives nearly 200 people, including US service members.

Update: Hours after the reports of the rocket attack, the Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said that a US airstrike targeted a terrorist who was going to attack the Kabul airport. The Taliban said that a drone strike by US forces targeted a suicide bomber in a vehicle who wanted to attack the Kabul international airport on Sunday. In a message to journalists, the Taliban spokesperson said that the vehicle was laden with explosives, but didn’t give any other detail.

At present, it is not known whether the ‘rocket strike’ and this ‘drone strike’ are the same incidents. the report said that the rocket strike hit a residential building, while Taliban is saying the US airstrike hit a vehicle.

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