India News
Bhima Koregaon violence: Police get custody of three activists
As their period of Supreme Court ordered house arrest came to an end and a Pune court rejected their bail applications, three of the five activists arrested two months ago in Bhima Koregaon violence case by Mahasrashtra police were taken into police custody.
A plea by eminent historian Romila Thaparseeking a review of the Supreme Court’s earlier refusal to constitute a SIT to probe the charges against five activists was rejected by the top court a day before.
Five activists, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bhardwaj, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira and Gautam Navlakha, were arrested on August 28 by the Pune police and later sent to house arrest under the top court’s orders.
The activists had on September 28 been given four weeks time by the Supreme Court to seek legal remedies. That period ended on Friday, October 26.
Earlier this week, the Hyderabad High Court extended Rao’s house arrest period by three weeks while Navlakha’s arrest has already been quashed by the Delhi High Court.
Ferriera, Gonsalves and Bharadwaj had moved bail applications in a Pune court. While rejecting their applications on Friday, the city court said there seemed to be prima facie evidence of their involvement in the activities of the banned Maoist outfit.
The court also refused to entertain the plea of the defence lawyers that Pune Police be restrained from arresting them for a week to enable them to appeal this decision in a higher court.
On Friday (October 26) while Gonsalves and Ferreira were sent to Police custody till November 6 by a Pune Sessions Court, Bhardwaj was arrested from her home in Haryana’s Faridabad by Pune Police and was being taken to the Maharashtrian city.
The Maharashtra police has charged the activists of having links with the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) and purportedly having had a role in the controversial ‘Elgaar Parishad’ and the subsequent Bhima-Koregaon clashes.
“Following the court’s rejection of their bail pleas, our teams took Mr. Ferreira and Mr. Gonsalves into custody from their respective residences in Mumbai,” Pune’s Joint Commissioner of Police Shivaji Bodkhe told The Hindu on Friday.
Earlier on Friday, a special court had rejected applications filed by the three activists’ lawyers seeking a week-long extension of their house arrest thus paving the way for the Pune police to take them into custody again.
In a parallel hearing in Mumbai, the Bombay High Court had similarly rejected separate pleas seeking the extension of house arrest sought by Gonsalves and Ferreira.In his order rejecting the bail pleas of the three accused, Special Judge KD Vadane said that “the investigation against the accused was at a very crucial stage” and that “material collected by the investigating officer prima facie revealed their involvement in alleged unlawful activities against the unity, integrity, security and sovereignty of India,” reported The Hindu.
”The order took into account the prosecution’s submission of allegedly incriminating letters and e-mails which hinted at the involvement of the three activists in recruiting cadre for the outlawed CPI (Maoist) and purportedly made reference for the need to “assess the damage caused by the seizure of communications by the police”.
Arguing against the bail pleas last week, public prosecutor UjjwalaPawar had submitted two e-mails to the court that were allegedly “intercepted communications” exchanged between Maoist leader Ganapathy alias Comrade Chandrashekhar and poet Varavara Rao in July.
The police claimed that the mails were allegedly exchanged after the June 6 arrests of activist Sudhir Dhawale, prominent human rights lawyer Surendra Gadling, tribal activist Mahesh Raut, Nagpur University English Professor Shoma Sen and activist Rona Wilson.
Pawar told the court that the e-mails apparently revealed that top leaders in the Maoist Central Committee (CC) were ‘concerned’ after the June arrest of the five activists and that Ganapathy had allegedly asked Rao as to how the letters were leaked and how they had found their way into the hands of the Pune police.
The contents of the e-mail, quoted by Pawar in the court, has Ganapathy allegedly urging Rao to ensure the confidentiality of “this communication channel” and remarking that the five arrests (of Gadling and the others) had caused a lot of damage to the movement and that urgent steps were needed to boost the morale of the cadre.
Bharadwaj’s counsel had earlier argued that the so-called Maoist communications were of “dubious authenticity”.
Similarly, lawyers representing Sen and Advocate Gadling, during their bail pleas, had also separately submitted that there was nothing in the so-called Maoist communications produced by the Pune police to incriminate the activists and asserted that the supposedly ‘incriminating’ evidence against their clients was “manufactured”.
Bharadwaj, Ferreira andGonsalves had filed their bail pleas in the Pune sessions court in the second week of October.
In its swoop on August 28, the Pune Police had also raided two others, Anand Teltumbde in Goa and Stan Swamy in Ranchi, but they had not been arrested. The Bombay High Court on Friday said Teltumbde should not be arrested till November 1 and Swamy till October 31.
India News
Mumbai: Teenager steals family ornaments worth Rs 7.40 lakh and sells them to have fun with his friends
According to reports the boy’s father Selvin Armadurai (48) is a businessman based in Andheri East. Selvin lives with his wife Jaba. The couple have two children. Selvin’s son Edin Joy is 16 years old. He goes to the 11th grade at Shriniwas Bagraga College. His daughter is 14 years old and studies in Class 9.
A teenager stole family ornaments and sold them for enjoyment with his friends in Andheri (East). After his father came to know about the theft the teenager’s father lodged a complaint against his son for allegedly stealing the gold ornaments. According to the police the ornaments were worth Rs 7.40 lakh. Sahar police have arrested the sixteen year old under section 380 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Act. A case has been registered.
According to reports the boy’s father Selvin Armadurai (48) is a businessman based in Andheri East. Selvin lives with his wife Jaba. The couple have two children. Selvin’s son Edin Joy is 16 years old. He goes to the 11th grade at Shriniwas Bagraga College. His daughter is 14 years old and studies in Class 9. Selvin married again after his first wife passed away. His daughter and Edin Joy are from his first marriage. Afterwards Selvin married Jaba.
Selvin had given the ornament that belonged to his first wife and Children to his sister. When his sister was getting ready to visit her hometown in Tamil Nadu, She gave these gold ornaments to Selvin. Selvin placed the gold ornaments in his bed. He kept the gold ornaments in a plastic pouch for protection. Selvin’s wife and sister knew where he had kept the gold ornaments.
The matter came known on September 11, when Selvin’s daughter wanted to wear the gold ornaments. He couldn’t find the pouch containing them. Both of them told Selvin quickly about it. When Selvin asked his son he confessed to taking the gold ornaments. He said he sold them to have fun with his friends. The stolen gold ornaments are valued at Rs 7.40 lakh. The ornaments includes two chains, two bracelets, six rings, a pair of earings, two bangles and two chains.
India News
MotoGP issues apology for live streaming distorted map of India
MotoGP stated that it was never their intent to make any statement other than that of support and appreciation for their host country.
MotoGP has issued an apology for displaying a distorted map during its live-streaming of practice sessions for India’s inaugural MotoGP race, the IndianOil Grand Prix of India, which commenced on Friday at the Buddh International Circuit in Noida. The map omitted the union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, according to reports.
Issuing an official statement, MotoGP expressed its regret. The statement read that they apologise to their fans in India for the map shown earlier as part of the MotoGP broadcast. They added that it was never their intent to make any statement other than that of support and appreciation for their host country.
The statement stated that MotoGP is excited to be able to enjoy the Indian OilGrand Prix of India with fans across India and that they are loving the first taste of Buddh International Circuit. MotoGP Bharat which is now rebranded as the IndianOil Grand Prix of India, marks its debut in India as the 13th race of the 2023 season. The event is being conducted from today and will conclude on Sunday. Reportedly, features riders competing on superbikes at speeds exceeding 300 km/h to claim victory under the checkered flag.
Online controversy broke out when multiple social media users raised concerns about the map displayed during MotoGP’s live-streamed practice sessions. Users on social media platforms like X, formerly Twitter enquired why India’s wrong map was used and demanded an explanation from MotoGP and the Indian organisers.
Several social media users asked MotoGP to clarify why their live-streaming of the practice session had this map with Bharat’s head missing? They added that if it is a mistake, it needs to be immediately corrected and not repeated again in qualifying and the main race. They further requested MotoGP to provide a feed of the practice session, if they think the image is edited debunking the claim which is doing rounds on social media.
Following the uproar, the race organisers corrected the map and issued a clarification in response to the public’s concerns.
India News
Chandrayaan-3: ISRO postpones plans to reactivate Vikram Lander, Pragyan Rover on September 23
After Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover soft landing on the South Pole of the Moon on August 24, both Vikram and Pragyan functioned effectively for a duration of 14 Earth days. The Rover was put on sleep mode on September 2, while the Lander was on September 4.
The Indian Space Research Organisation on Friday postponed the plans to reactivate Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover to September 23.
After Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover soft landing on the South Pole of the Moon on August 24, both Vikram and Pragyan functioned effectively for a duration of 14 Earth days. The Rover was put on sleep mode on September 2, while the Lander was on September 4.
They were put on sleep mode for approximately 16 Earth days before the lunar night enveloped the south pole of the Moon.
Speaking on Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover, Nilesh Desai, Director of Space Application Centre said that earlier we planned to reactivate the Pragyan Rover and Vikram Lander on the evening of September 22, but due to some reasons we will do it on September 23, said Desai.
He further said a plan to take out the Lander and Rover from the sleep mode and reactivate it, adding that, we had a plan to move the Rover to almost 300 to 350 metres but due to some reasons, the Rover has moved 105 metres there.
In collaboration with MyGov, ISRO has invited the citizens to participate in the Chandrayaan-3 Mahaquiz. The step was taken with the motive to honour India’s amazing space exploration journey. This will help to explore the wonders of the moon and show our love and passion for science.
In order to participate in the Chandrayaan-3 Mahaquiz, the participants would be required to create an account on the MyGov website. There is a cash prize for the winners and it also allows individuals to download the certificate.
Earlier, the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) instrument onboard the Pragyan rover also detected aluminium, calcium, iron, chromium, titanium, manganese, silicon and oxygen, as expected.
ISRO also shared a graph of the observation on X, illustrating the temperature variation of the lunar surface at various depths, as recorded during the probe’s penetration.
