India

“Manoj Jha is a learned person. He has not given any such statement which is objectionable. Jha poem has not hurt any caste or community. He has not targeted anyone. He has pointed out the right things in public,” Lalu Prasad said while launching the book named “Sadak Se Sansad Tak” of his old friend and socialist leader Shivanand Tiwari in Patna.

“Shivanand Tiwari is a fearless person who is never scared of anyone. He was born in an upper caste family but he always became a voice of minority, and of deprived sections of society,” Lalu Prasad said.

He said that he and Bihar Chief Minister had separated in the past but now are united. “The communal forces are dictating terms in the country. They are trying to change the constitution of the country which is not a right thing,” Lalu Prasad said.

--IANS

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Visiting the poll-bound Madhya Pradesh to kick-start his party’s campaign,the former UP Chief Minister, on the second day of his visit, reached Chhatarpur district of Bundelkhand region, closely connected with Uttar Pradesh. He held a meeting with party workers and reviewed the poll preparations.

During a press conference in Chhatarpur, he targetted the BJP over the recently-passed Women Reservation Bill and challenged the BJP to give 33 per cent tickets to women in Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections.

"If the BJP really wants to give reservation to the women, it should give 33 per cent tickets to in Madhya Pradesh and if not do so, then it will be clear that BJP has passed this Bill for its political agenda only and it be considered that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cheated the people this country," Akhilesh Yadav said.

Meanwhile, he also said that his party will contest the Assembly elections in MP with the concept "PDA - (Pichde (backward class), Dalits, and Alpsankhyak (minorities)”. He added that his PDA alliance will try to give 20 per cent tickets to the women in Madhya Pradesh.

Asked about the INDIA bloc, Akhilesh Yadav said alliance's aim is to defeat the BJP in Lok Sabha elections. Asked if the SP will support the Congress in the state, he said: "Congress was short of majority in 2018 and SP was first to support. But, SP will contest elections on its own."

Akhilesh Yadav also said that people of Madhya Pradesh have decided to change the government and this time, the SP will win more seats than previous elections in Madhya Pradesh. Later, Akhilesh along with other party leaders had 'pattal bhoj' at a Dalit's home in Chhatarpur.

On Wednesday, he addressed a poll rally in Sirmour Assembly constituency of Rewa district, bordering Uttar Pradesh, and hit out at the ruling BJP over crimes against Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) and Other Backward Class (OBC) people in Madhya Pradesh.

SP has fielded former BJP MLA Laxman Tiwari from Sirmour.

The SP has so far declared its six candidates in two lists and third list of candidates is likely to be released soon, according to a SP leader in Rewa.

--IANS

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The arrested individual has been identified as Bharat Soni, a resident of Ujjain.

Earlier on Thursday, Ujjain SP Sachin Sharma said that a total of five suspects were detained for questioning.

One of them was detained on Wednesday, while four were detained on Thursday.

Sharma said that the victim hails from Satna district.

Meanwhile, the main accused who had been apprehended, tried to escape from police custody and collided with a cemented wall following which he was admitted to a government hospital, police Inspector Ajay Kumar said.

Interacting with the press, the police officer said when the accused was taken to the crime spot, he tried to escape.

"He (accused) ran away from the spot. However, the police personnel chased him. In the mean time, he collided with a cemented wall and got injured," Kumar said.

He further said one of the cops chasing the accused also got injuries but eventually, the accused was overpowered.

When asked if the accused sustained injury due to police firing, Kumar denied, saying: "He collided with a cemented wall."

"Victim's family has lodged a missing complaint on September 24. The girl has traveled from Satna to Ujjain," SP Sharma said.

The incident has sparked a political controversy in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.

The opposition Congress has questioned the law and order situation under the BJP government in the state.

AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, who is leading the Congress' campaign in the poll-bound state of MP, slammed the BJP government for the incident.

--IANS

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In a video statement, Raghvendra Pratap Singh said: “You are a Brahmin. Don’t forget it. You have forgotten that I am also a Rajput. We will not even think for a second before beheading you.”

He asked Jha why he has commented about the Thakur community in such a manner.

“Don’t you remember the old stories? You should apologise to the Rajput community. If you will not apologise be prepared to face the wrath of Rajput community,” he said.

Following the threatening statement of Raghvendra Pratap Singh, Rishi Mishra, the former MLA and spokesperson of RJD wrote a letter to the Home Minister Amit Shah seeking ‘Y’ category security for Jha.

“It is a matter of deep concern that a BJP MLA has given a life threatening statement against RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha. The BJP MLA Raghvendra Pratap Singh has threatened to behead Manoj Jha. A former MP (Anand Mohan) also gave a threatening statement to slit the tongue of Manoj Jha. BJP MLA and former minister Neeraj Kumar Bablu also threatened to cut tongue of Manoj Jha,” Mishra said.

He said that such statements may turn life threatening for him in future as well.

“Professor Manoj Jha is a civilized, peaceful and intellectual person. He has won the best MP award on the basis of intellectual speeches. He increased the respect of Bihar in the country. So, we demand Y category security for Manoj Jha,” Mishra wrote in the letter.

Manoj Jha had recited a poem referring to ‘Thakurs’ during the debate on the women's reservation bill in the Rajya Sabha last week.

The poem refers to 'Thakur', which the former MP Anand Mohan claimed was aimed at targeting a particular caste. He had said that he wouldn't tolerate humiliation of his community (Rajputs).

--IANS

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Abhishek (13', 48'), Mandeep Singh (24'), and Amit Rohidas (34') scored the goals for India to help their side get an important victory. Genki Mitani (57'), and Ryosei Kato (60') scored the goals for Japan.

India began the match with Jarmanpreet Singh making dangerous overlapping runs from the right flank to trouble the opposition. Japan's defence was tested when Jarmanpreet picked up a long pass inside the striking circle and found Sukhjeet Singh in front of the nets. But the tap from Sukhjeet just went wide.

A late penalty corner from Japan was well defended by goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak. A minute later, Abhishek (13') picked a deflected pass, and quickly turned around to strike the ball into the nets, putting India ahead by a goal to end the first quarter.

Trailing by a goal, Japan started searching for the equaliser with attacking moves. But Sumit made an important save inside the circle to deflect away the danger. Mandeep and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay built pressure on Japan's defence with powerful shots on target.

Mandeep (24') scored a fantastic goal with a diving tap after receiving a sublime pass from Nilakanta Sharma, and India doubled their lead. India continued to threaten up front, but Japan's defence managed to hold off India to 2-0 at halftime.

At the start of the second half, Japan started maintaining ball possession and made dangerous raids inside the circle. But the rock-solid Indian defence kept their calm and did not allow Japan any momentum in attack. India made the most of an early penalty corner in the third quarter as Amit (34') found the nets with a powerful flick and India went 3-0 up over Japan.

Kosei Kawabe created a chance to get a shot on target, but the Indian goalkeeper made another stellar save to maintain three-goal lead by the end of the third quarter.

A perfect counter-attack early on in the final quarter led to Abhishek (48') turning the ball into the nets, after combination play with Mandeep inside the circle, and India went ahead by 4-0.

Japan made a dangerous run inside India's circle, but Sumit made another important save to deny the opposition. Japan finally found a goal from a penalty corner late in the fourth quarter as Genki (57') put his name on the scoresheet.

Ryosei (60') scored another goal for Japan at the stroke of the full-time whistle, but it was not enough to change the result as India secured a 4-2 win.

India will next face off against arch-rivals Pakistan on Saturday.

--IANS

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Ashwin was a part of the 2011 and 2015 editions of the World Cup for India. In the tournament Down Under, he scalped 13 wickets in eight matches in India's run into the semi-final.

Previously, Axar was part of the 2015 squad and is now all set to miss out on his second ODI World Cup after sustaining a left quadriceps strain during India’s Asia Cup Super Four encounter against Bangladesh, subsequently missing the final of the continental event.

India have banked on the experience of Ashwin to fill the void left by Axar. Additionally, Ashwin brings in an off-spinning option that was previously missing in India's World Cup squad, which could prove to be crucial in the 46-day-long tournament when pitches begin to deteriorate.

During the three-match home ODI series against Australia, Ashwin picked up four wickets in two games. Axar too was named conditionally in the squad for the final ODI subject to his fitness but missed the game which India lost by 66 runs in Rajkot.

India begin their World Cup campaign on 7 October against Chennai against five-time Champions Australia. Before the tournament, Rohit Sharma's men will play two warm-up fixtures, the first against England on 30 September followed by the Netherlands on 3 October.

India World Cup squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav.

--IANS

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More than four months after commencing the work on its first project at Kakatiya Mega Textile Park (KMTP) in Warangal, it laid the foundation stone for the second cluster at Seetharampur in Rangareddy district near Hyderabad.

Kitex, which is the second-largest manufacturer of infant wear in the world, is setting up this cluster with a capacity of seven lakh garments per day.

The company thus intends to create a Guinness record. The plant will come up on 250 acres with an investment of Rs 1,200 crore. It will employ more than 11,000 people directly, more than 80 per cent of which will be women employees.

The entire investment will be operational by December 2024.

Minister for industries KT Rama Rao along with his ministerial colleagues P Sabitha Indra Reddy and P Mahender Reddy participated in the ground-breaking ceremony.

Kitex’s first investment project in Telangana is coming up at Kakatiya Mega Textile Park, Warangal where construction of a similar sized integrated fibre-to-apparel manufacturing cluster is ongoing in full swing and expected to commence operations by December 2023.

The company is investing Rs.1,600 crore in the Warangal plant. The cluster, spread over 200 acres, will employ more than 15,000 people directly, more than 80 per cent of which will be women employees. Kerala-based Kitex signed MoU with Telangana government in 2021 to invest Rs.2,406 crore in the state. --IANS

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She will be here for two days to investigate the matter.

Speaking to reporters, Sundar said that she would meet the students involved, police personnel and college authorities in connection with the case, and understand it.

"I am here to investigate the problems faced by the students and get to the bottom of this shocking incident," she said.

The police in Karnataka have lodged an FIR against three Muslim girls of a college here for allegedly filming Hindu female students while they were using the restrooms.

Minister for Women and Child Welfare Laxmi Hebbalkar, who is also in-charge minister of Udupi district, said on Wednesday that the police have registered an FIR in connection with the case.

"I have instructed the district Superintendent of Police to initiate action as per the provisions of law,"she said.

Hebbalkar further stated that strict action would be initiated against the accused individuals.

"No one is above the law," she said.

--IANS

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The opposition BJP and Hindu groups in the southern state have criticised the police for "harassing the activist instead of initiating action against the Muslim girls who recorded the objectionable videos".

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Basanagouda Patil Yatnal on Tuesday sought to know "if the police were sent to the residence of the woman activist to instill fear?"

"In democracy, police harassment is given for speaking the truth, Udupi police, what is happening? DGP and IGP should initiate action against the district superintendent of police. If he wants to pursue politics, let him tender resignation and join politics," Yatnal said.

Rashmi Samanth, the woman activist, reacting on the incident, posted on social media: "I'm from Udupi and nobody is talking about Alimatul Shafia, Shabanaz and Aliya who placed cameras in female toilets of their college to record hundreds of unsuspecting Hindu girls. Videos and photos were then circulated in community WhatsApp groups by the perpetrators."

The post has gone viral and triggered a debate in the communally sensitive coastal Karnataka region.

The police have been accused of entering her house in the night on Monday and repeatedly questioning and torturing her family members.

Adhitya Srinivasan, counsel for Samanth, said: "At around 8 p.m. on Monday, a group of policemen visited the residence of Rashmi Samanth. As she was not at home at the time, it was her parents who were questioned by the police and repeatedly asked about Rashmi's whereabouts."

Yashpal Suvarna, a BJP legislator from Udupi, said: "I don't know whether there is a video clipping or not, action must be initiated after taking suo moto case. The act of police going to Rashmi Samanth's residence and torturing her family can’t be tolerated."

Meanwhile, Udupi SP Hakay Akshay Machchindra clarified that since Rashmi Samanth had tweeted about the incident, her account had been inspected and the police spoke to her family members in this connection.

The incident of the three female students of a college belonging to a minority community being suspended for recording videos of Hindu girls in college restrooms was reported last week.

The incident took a communal turn with allegations surfacing on girls belonging to the minority religion recording the personal videos in restrooms and sending them to male students.

It was also alleged that these male students, also belonging to the minority community, would go on to make the videos viral on the social media.

According to sources, some Hindu girls also questioned the accused female students in the campus leading to arguments and confrontation.

--IANS

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In a conversation with co-contestants of 'Bigg Boss OTT 2', Pooja talked about her journey in Bollywood and how she still feels alright in trying new things and revealed why she came on the show.

She said that her life revolves around the thinking 'If you are the smartest in a room, you are in the wrong room.' She goes on to explain that she doesn't feel anything bad about things she has done in life.

Pooja said: "I only have regrets of things not done, not for things done! I feel it is important to at least try, either you lose something or you gain everything."

About the show, she said: "We can't hide what and who we are. Audience understands everything. One among us will only win, it is important to try and give our best."

In the upcoming episode, Pooja will also be getting a privilege for the nomination task as currently she is the captain of the house. Pooja has the right to decide who gets to nominate.

Pooja is the daughter of Indian filmmaker, Mahesh Bhatt and the half-sister of Alia Bhatt and cousin of Emraan Hashmi.

She played her first leading role in Mahesh Bhatt's television film 'Daddy' in 1989. Her breakthrough came with the romance comedy 'Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin'. She was last seen on the big screen in 'Sadak 2'.

'Sadak 2' is an action thriller road film. A sequel to the 1991 film 'Sadak', it stars Sanjay Dutt (reprising his role from the original), Alia Bhatt and Aditya Roy Kapur in the lead roles with an ensemble supporting cast, while Pooja Bhatt makes a special appearance.

The film marks Mahesh Bhatt's return as a director after 20 years. The film's story takes place twenty-nine years after the events of its predecessor.

--IANS

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