Month: January 2022

The untimely demise of his brother-in-law Jason Watkins has left choreographer Remo Dsouza and his family in utter shock.

Taking to Instagram, Remo posted a picture with Jason Watkins and wrote, “You broke our hearts brother, hope you finally found Peace.”

Jason Watkins died by suicide at his Yamuna Nagar residence in Andheri, Mumbai on Thursday, said police. The police took him to Cooper hospital and the doctors in the hospital declared him dead on arrival.

A day ago, Jason Watkins’s sister Lizelle mourned the loss of her brother, sharing emotional notes on Instagram Stories, one of which she later deleted. The post said: “Why? How could you do this to me? Will never forgive you.”

A case has been registered in the matter and further investigation is underway. (ANI)

KL Rahul-led India won the toss and opted to bat first against South Africa in the second ODI of the three-match series here at Boland Park, Paarl on Friday.
With the series on the line, India will be looking to bounce back in the second ODI at Paarl. Visitors have a lot to ponder after succumbing to a 31-run defeat against the Proteas in the first ODI. South Africa outclassed Indians in all three departments of the game and visitors will now be looking to make a comeback in this do-or-die clash.
For hosts, Sisanda Magala replaced Marco Jansen because of the workload on the latter.

At the time of toss, India skipper KL Rahul said: “I think it’s pretty straightforward, second game on the same strip and important to put runs on the board and guessing the wicket will get slower later on. In the middle overs we couldn’t get the partnerships going and that’s the learning from the last game, hopefully we can go out there today and show better performance. The batters themselves realized that’s where it went wrong, we will learn from it and we have spoken about it. We are playing the same team.”

At the time of toss, South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma said: “We probably would have wanted to bat first. Like KL said it’s quite straightforward. Saying that, I think there will be an opportunity where in the first hour with the ball nipping a bit. We got ourselves in a bit of a pickle losing wickets up front but the big partnership between Rassie and I got us going. Bowling was 80-85% on. We want to get even better from the last game, try to improve those five percenters. We’d like to seal the series now, but in saying that we’re going to have to do the basics well. One change, Sisanda Magala. comes in for Marco Jansen. Marco’s had a big workload, so we felt he was a bit flat in the first game. We’ve got full confidence in Magala.”

India’s Playing XI: KL Rahul(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(wk), Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, and Yuzvendra Chahal.

South Africa’s Playing XI: Quinton de Kock(wk), Janneman Malan, Temba Bavuma(c), Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Sisanda Magala, and Tabraiz Shamsi. (ANI)

After German Navy’s Frigate Bayern F217 arrived here, Berlin’s Ambassador to India Walter J Lindner on Friday said that peace in the Pacific region is important, and all 32 countries in this area should respect the International Sea law.
The warship was received by Ambassador Lindner and Maharashtra’s Minister for Protocol, Tourism, and Environment Aditya Thackeray.

“It’s important that you send out messages and the message is, we need free maritime routes, because we need some stability in the supply chains and it is very important. Secondly, peace in the region is very important,” Lindner told ANI.

“And third, the respect of our international order-based system is also important. There are 32 countries in this area, and it’s important that these countries respect International Sea law, so that we have a stable, peaceful region. So that’s why it’s not a routine visit. It’s something which comes in time,” he added.

Talking about the German Navy’s Frigate late arrival here, Lindner said things took some time, and then the COVID-19 pandemic struck. “India-Pacific has become a very crucial region, because this is where 60 per cent of all the international trade goes through, where you have 50 per cent of the world population and also have nuclear powers, where you have some regional tensions.”

He also expressed his gratitude toward German Navy’s Frigate Bayern, F217 arriving here and said, “I’m very happy that we made it possible to have this ship docking here amid COVID-19. It’s a visit among friends. I’m sure this will be an example of our good friendship between India and Germany.”

The envoy also spoke about his love for Mumbai. He said, “This is a special place for me because I was here 45 years ago, in Mumbai. It’s a wonderful city. Now with 20 million or so it’s a big city, but it’s a cosmopolitan city. I love it very much. I really feel at home when I come here.”

Aditya Thackeray welcomed the German warship upon its arrival in Mumbai and said, “It’s an honour to receive the German Navy here. Relations between the two countries are very good. It is important for us as a country to send out the message of freedom, democracy and stable maritime routes in the world.”

“This is the third time in the past six months that we have a naval group coming to Mumbai, it is a very important place. Mumbai sits on a very important maritime route, it’s a maritime city. And when you have naval carrier groups, or naval frigates coming here, which are out there in the open sea, protecting maritime routes, keeping it peaceful, keeping the region stable, I think it’s important for us as a state as a city, as a country, to send out this message of freedom, democracy and stable maritime routes in the world,” he told ANI. (ANI)

India reported 3,47,254 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours and the daily positivity rate stood at 17.94 per cent, said Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday.
The fresh infections are 29,722 more than yesterday. On Thursday, India logged 3,17,532 new COVID-19 cases.
The weekly positivity rate stood at 16.56 per cent, as per the government’s data released today.

With the addition of new infections recorded in the country, the active cases mounted to 20,18,825. As per the ministry, the active cases account for 5.23 per cent of the total cases.
As many as 2,51,777 recoveries were reported in the last 24 hours. With this, the total recoveries climbed to 3,60,58,806. The recovery rate is currently at 93.50 per cent.

The number of people who succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours is 703. The death toll is now at 4,88,396.
The country has so far registered 9,692 cases of the COVID-19 variant Omicron. There is an increase of 4.36 per cent in its cases since Thursday as per the ministry.

To detect the presence of the virus, 19,35,912 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours. Since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, 71.15 crore tests have been conducted.
Meanwhile, 160.43 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far in the country. (ANI)

The Kejriwal government on Friday recommended lifting of weekend curfews in the national capital in view of declining COVID-19 cases, said sources in the Kejriwal government.
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has sent a recommendation to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to end the weekend curfew.
In the proposal, Kejriwal also asked to remove the odd-even system in the markets and to allow private offices to operate at 50 per cent capacity, the sources added.
Earlier in the month, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has decided to impose a curfew in Delhi on Saturdays and Sundays to curb the COVID-19 surge.
As many as 12,306 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in the past 24 hours in Delhi on Thursday with a test positivity rate of 21.48 per cent. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the Somnath Temple is the epitome of faith and culture that is visited by over one crore pilgrims every year.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the new Circuit House near Somnath Temple in Gujarat, the Prime Minister congratulated the Government of Gujarat and the Somnath Temple Trust for the project.
“Somnath is the epitome of faith and culture that is visited by over one crore pilgrims every year, taking along new thoughts and experiences. The circumstances in which the Somnath Temple was destroyed, and the circumstances in which the temple was renovated by the efforts of Sardar Patel, both have a big message for us as we celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav,” he added.
“Today, the Somnath Circuit House is also being inaugurated. I heartily congratulate the Government of Gujarat, the Somnath Temple Trust and all of you on this important occasion,” said PM Modi.
He further said that this building has been designed in such a way that people staying here will also get ‘Sea View’.

“I am told that this building has been designed in such a way that people staying here will also get ‘Sea View’ That is, when people sit here peacefully in their rooms, they will also see the waves of the sea and the peak of Somnath will also be visible,” said the Prime Minister.
PM Modi said that the new Circuit House will become a centre point of tourism and the landscaping has been done in such a manner that sea view is available from every room.
According to Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Somnath Temple is visited by lakhs of devotees from India and abroad every year. The need for the new Circuit House was felt as the existing government facility was located far off from the temple. The new Circuit House has been built at a cost of over Rs 30 crore and is located near the Somnath Temple, the PMO said.
It is equipped with top-class facilities including suites, VIP and deluxe rooms, conference room, auditorium hall etc. The landscaping has been done in such a manner that a sea view is available from every room, it added. (ANI)

After the Arunachal Pradesh incident of abduction of an Indian youth by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the Congress Party is taking on the Modi government and demanding that an all-party delegation of the MPs should visit the Line of Actual Control (LAC) under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Speaking to the reporters, Congress MP and spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said, “The Congress party has always put the interest of the country above the interest of the party. We have never tried to derive political gains but have worked for the benefit of the nation. Be it the security of the nation, whether it is our brave army, whether it is issues of terrorism. Whether there were attacks on things like Raghunath Temple or Parliament, we never did politics on it. Even on top of that we never did our vote-bank politics about the brave army. It is the responsibility of all of us to see that the borders of our nation are safe. No one should enter our borders even a little bit.”

Gohil further said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had warned long ago that China is intruding into Indian territory but the Central Government did not do anything.
“Rahul Gandhi warned long ago that look, China is coming to our border, Modi ji, do something. But that matter was not taken seriously at that time. What I am putting in front of you, Rahul Gandhi is the leader of Congress, Modi ji does not listen to him. Some opposition party says in Parliament, he is not allowed to speak. You do not listen to him. But your state president, who is the president of Arunachal Pradesh, member of your national executive, which is considered to be the strongest decision-making committee in BJP, a member of that committee and a senior member of parliament of BJP is saying this. Modi ji, you will believe his words, will you not?” he added.

“I congratulate that MP, Tapir Gao ji. I know he must have been under pressure to delete the tweet but he hasn’t deleted it. That is why I thank him. We have put his tweet on the screen in front of all of you, in which he has written, ‘Chinese #PLA has abducted Sh Miram Taron, 17 years of Zido vill. yesterday 18th Jan 2022 from inside Indian territory, Lungta Jor area (China-built 3-4 kms road inside India in 2018) under Siyungla area (Bising village) of Upper Siang dist, Arunachal Pradesh’. His friend escaped from the PLA and reported to the authorities. All the agencies of the Government of India requested to step up for his early release,” said Congress leader.

“This BJP’s Arunachal Pradesh president, BJP National Executive member, senior MP Tapir Gao had said that a 17-year-old boy has been taken to China from inside our border in Arunachal. He had a friend with him who escaped by somehow saving his life. It has also been said that in 2018, China has built 3 to 4 km road in our territory. There is no one else to say this. Modi ji this is BJP MP, Modi ji this is Arunachal Pradesh BJP president,” he said.

He further asked the Prime Minister to say something on China.

“Modi ji, Gao is a member of the national executive. Will you ignore him now too? If you do this, then what Chanakya ji had said that when despite having a strong army, the ruler of the country who has neither courage nor spirit, that nation comes in trouble, their citizens and their borders. Here our citizens are taken away, a road is built inside our border, they enter and why are you silent on this? Your Twitter speaks like Kapalbhati. If you are not able to gather the crowd, such an atmosphere comes, then every day you keep on giving two-three speeches to the people for hours. Let’s say something on China too,” said Gohil.

Gohil further said, “I want to say this seriously and I also ask my journalist colleagues to take this seriously. A very senior officer of our army said that we have many such points where we are face to face with China and we also used to go patrolling till there. We used to do this patrolling for years, but there are many such points, where the government has forbidden the army to go on patrolling within its limits and these points which they told me from their territory were – PT 17, which is in Gogra. It is also said that Hot Spring has become a point. The second happened in Galwan Valley, where there was face-to-face situation. The third was Pangong, wherever the army of China and our country was face to face and the fourth was Kailash. The senior army officers who were saying on these four points were only talking about their territory that we used to go to these four places in my territory.”

“The government has forbidden us from patrolling–we should not do patrolling there and China is sitting there piling up and I don’t know what it would be doing in that territory of ours. It is not known because we have been forbidden from patrolling,” he said.

“I demand from Modi ji, my information may be wrong. Perhaps even one of your MPs can lie, so you can say that their information was also wrong. I demand to come to Modi ji. You will fight for the interest of the nation. Rahul Gandhi has said these are the values of the Congress party. We are with you shoulder to shoulder. Let us form a team of MPs of all political parties. The four places that I have said, where your MP has said that China had made a road, let’s go with the MPs of all political parties under your leadership. Doodh ka doodh pani ka pani hoga. If you say that no, everyone is safe here, show that to all political party people. Is it your 56-inch chest that you are sitting silently saying that it is a question of the interest of the nation, not a political issue?” he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, Arunachal East MP Tapir Gao claimed that a 17-year-old youth has been abducted from inside Indian territory.
Gao claimed that the youth was ‘abducted’ on Tuesday from Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Siang district. (ANI)

The Mumbai Police on Thursday arrested another person from Odisha’s Jharsuguda in connection with the ‘Bulli Bai’ case.

The cyber police of the Mumbai crime branch today intercepted Niraj Singh a 28-year-old MBA graduate from the Lamtibahal area under Brajrajnagar Police limits. He was reportedly involved in planning the app with the main accused who was arrested earlier.

With Niraj Singh, the police arrested a total of five people in connection with the case. Earlier police have arrested Sweta Singh, Vishal Jha, Niraj Bishnoi and Mayank Rawal in connection with the case. Meanwhile, arrested Aumkareshwar Thakur was involved in the ‘Sulli Deals’ app case.

The Jharsuguda SDJM Court has allowed Mumbai police to keep Niraj Singh for six days transit remand, said his lawyer.

Bulli Bai app was put up in Github open platform which auctioned Muslim women by putting up their images. (ANI)