Month: May 2022

Rajasthan Royals on Sunday confirmed that Shimron Hetmyer has left the team camp in Mumbai to travel back to Guyana midway through IPL 2022 for the birth of his first child.

Rajasthan confirmed the news by sharing the post on social media. “Shimron Hetmyer has travelled back to Guyana early morning today for the imminent birth of his first child, but he’ll be back soon,” it read.
In the video, Hetmyer is seen giving a message to the fans. Shimron Hetmyer has revealed that after the birth of his child, he will come back again.

“Shimron Hetmyer has travelled back to Guyana early morning today for the imminent birth of his first child. We are helping him in every way we can, and our best wishes are with him and his wife Nirvani,” RR wrote in a release.

The franchise also stated that the left-handed batter will be back soon.

“We look forward to Shimron then returning to Mumbai, and resuming duties at the Royals for the remainder of our matches in IPL 2022. All the best, Hettie. We can’t wait to have you back, this time as a father!” it added.

Hetmyer has been excellent this season with 291 runs in 11 innings at a brilliant average of 72.75 and a strike rate of 166.28.

In the absence of Hetmyer, RR has other options in James Neesham, Rassie van der Dussen and Daryl Mitchell. (ANI)

As the wheat production is estimated to fall short by almost three million tonnes this year, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that he will reduce the flour price even if he has to sell clothes.

While addressing a public gathering of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) in Bisham tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Shangla district, Sharif vowed to reduce flour prices in the province.
Sharif announced that he knew well how to reduce flour prices in the province. He directed the provincial government to make the reduction in the flour prices at its own expense, ARY News reported.

According to the Dawn newspaper, the country’s Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Saturday said that wheat production is projected to be 26.173 million tonnes against a target of 28.89 million tonnes while the estimated consumption would be around 30.79m tonnes.

The reason for this shortage is reduced area under wheat cultivation, shortage of water and fertilizer, and delay in the announcement of support price. Among other issues are oil price hikes and an earlier-than-usual heatwave.

These reasons had led to a shortfall of two per cent in production. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has also posed a severe shortage of wheat in Pakistan.

Sharif further criticised Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government and said that the certificates of traitors and loyalists are being distributed instead of working on a plan to provide fundamental rights to the citizens, the Pakistani media reported.

He continued by saying that the PTI government had acquired the highest loans in history but it did not invest anything in development and public welfare projects, ARY News reported.

The national economy was destroyed for not taking timely decisions to purchase oil and gas, he added. (ANI)

The doors of Badrinath Dham opened on Sunday amid the customary rituals and chanting of mantras.

Devotees thronged the temple. They were seen dancing at the opening of the portals.

The Badrinath Temple has been decorated with flowers and lights.

Located in Garhwal hill tracks in Chamoli district along the banks of Alaknanda River, Badrinath Temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

The shrine is one of the four ancient pilgrimage sites referred to as ‘Char Dham’ which also includes Yamunotri, Gangotri and Kedarnath.

It is situated in the town of Badrinath in Uttarakhand. It remains open for six months every year (between the end of April and the beginning of November).

Earlier on Friday, the Kedarnath Temple opened its doors for pilgrims.

The annual Chardham Yatra began on May 3 on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya with the opening of the portals of Gangotri and Yamunotri Temples in the Uttarkashi district.

Earlier this month, the state government had capped the number of pilgrims visiting the Char Dhams.

A total of 15,000 pilgrims are allowed daily at Badrinath, 12,000 at Kedarnath, 7,000 at Gangotri and 4,000 at Yamunotri. This arrangement has been made for 45 days.

This year, it is not mandatory for pilgrims to carry a negative COVID-19 test report or vaccination certificate.

Char Dham Yatra draws lakhs of tourists and devotees every year from across the country and abroad. (ANI)

The BJP is gearing up for presidential election and has begun reaching out to its allies amid indications that the opposition will field a joint candidate for the post.

Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan had a two-hour meeting with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday and the two leaders discussed various issues including the presidential and vice presidential elections, sources said.

They said that the BJP has stepped up preparations for the presidential election to be held before the last week of July. The party is also gearing up for vice-presidential election. Dharamendra Pradhan’s meeting with Nitish Kumar gains significance as the Janata Dal-United leader has in the past supported presidential nominees of rival parties.

In 2012, he had supported Pranab Mukherjee despite being part of the NDA. In the last election, he had supported NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind though he was part of Grand Alliance in Bihar at that time.

The sources said that the decision to send Pradhan to meet Kumar was taken after deliberations by the BJP’s central leadership. They said that Pradhan is likely to visit other states including Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

Bihar Education Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary also joined the meeting, the sources said.

They said there could be reshuffle of BJP ministers in the alliance government in Bihar and “non-performing ministers” could be replaced with new faces.

The sources said there was also discussion about Rajya Sabha seats falling vacant from the state.

The Nitish Kumar cabinet has scope for expansion and six more ministers can be appointed. (ANI)

The Central government has told the Supreme Court that the 1962 verdict of the five-judge Constitution bench case which upheld the validity of the offence of sedition under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, is binding and continues to be a “good law and needs no reconsideration”.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, in the written submissions, said that the 1962 five-judge bench judgement of the top court in Kedar Nath Singh v/s State of Bihar case which upheld the validity of Section 124A of IPC has stood the test of time and applied till date in tune with modern constitutional principles.

“It is a settled position in law that a judgment which withstood the test of time and has been followed not mechanically but in the context of changing circumstances cannot be easily doubted,” the Central government has submitted.

It said the 1962 verdict is a good precedent and that it requires no consideration and isolated instances of misuse cannot be a ground to uproot the precedent that has withstood the test of time for over six decades.

“The remedy would lie in preventing such abuse on a case-to-case basis rather than doubting a long-standing settled law declared by a Constitution bench since about six decades,” the Centre said.

The Centre further submitted that a three-judge bench cannot hear a legal challenge to the Constitutionality of Section 124A.

Only a bench of co-equal strength of Kedar Nath Singh can pose any doubts on the verdict, the Centre stated while adding that thus, for reconsideration of Kedar Nath Singh judgement, the matter will have to be referred to a bench of five judges or more.

It said, “The bench of three judges cannot reconsider the ratio of a Constitution bench without referring the matter to a larger bench. For a reference to a larger bench also it will be absolutely necessary for the bench of three judges to record its satisfaction that the ratio in Kedar Nath Singh (verdict) is so patently wrong that it needs reconsideration by a larger bench. The bench of three Judges cannot itself decide whether Kedar Nath Singh (verdict) is a good law or not.”

“The Kedar Nath Singh judgement has been the law of the land for more than six decades. The judgment balances constitutional rights and principles viz. needs of the State, to provide a reasonable interpretation,” it added.

The response of the Central government was filed on a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the sedition law.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on May 5 said that it will first decide the issue of whether the petitions challenging the Constitutional validity of Section 124A to be referred to the larger bench or not.

The bench had posted the matter for hearing on May 10 for arguments on referrals of the petitions to the larger bench and had also granted the last opportunity to the Centre to file its affidavit on the pleas.

Earlier, Attorney General of India KK Venugopal had told the Supreme Court that the sedition law should not be struck down but there is a need for guidelines on this section. What is permissible and what is impermissible and what can come under sedition need to be seen, said Attorney General.

Venugopal while defending the constitutional validity of Section 124A and the Kedar Nath Singh judgement said that it is a well-thought-out one and needs to be upheld.

Venugopal had argued that the misuse of sedition law has been brought under control.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for one of the petitioners, submitted that many people are in jail due to the provision and it needs to be struck down since it was a colonial law to protect their rule in India.

He had added, “We are in free India and we are not serving any masters. Each day a journalist or someone else spends in jail due to this then how does it fair. We are not subjects of the crown anymore.”

Various petitions were filed in the apex court challenging the constitutional validity of sedition law. The pleas were filed by former army officer Major-General SG Vombatkere (Retd), former Union minister Arun Shourie, NGO PUCL, Editors Guild of India, and Journalists Patricia Mukhim and Anuradha Bhasin among others.

Last year, CJI Ramana questioned the Central government on the requirement of sedition law even after 75 years of independence and observed that it was colonial law that was used against freedom fighters.

While pointing out that sedition law was used against freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi and Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the apex court had asked Attorney General KK Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, why it can’t be repealed. It had observed that the Centre has repealed many stale laws and enquired why the government is not looking into repealing Section 124A (which deals with the offence of sedition) of the IPC.

It had further said that the court was concerned about the misuse of such laws.

Chief Justice of India had also said that the apex court will look into the plea challenging the Constitutional validity of section 124A while adding that the “situation on the ground is grave… if one party does not like what the other is saying, Section 124A is used… It is a serious threat to the functioning of individuals and parties.”

CJI had said “use of sedition is like giving a saw to the carpenter to cut a piece of wood and he uses it to cut the entire forest itself”.

The top court had further told Attorney General that the conviction rate under Section 124A is very low.

Major-General Vombatkere (Retd) challenged the Constitutional validity of the sedition law on the ground that it causes a “chilling effect” on speech and is an unreasonable restriction on free expression, a fundamental right.

Arun Shourie sought direction to declare the sedition law unconstitutional arguing that it is “heavily abused”. Shourie in his plea had said that cases are being filed against citizens for “exercising their freedom of speech and expression”.

Section 124-A (sedition) under the IPC is a non-bailable provision.

Earlier, a different bench of the top court had sought a response from the Centre on a plea challenging the Constitutional validity of sedition law, filed by two journalists — Kishorechandra Wangkhemcha and Kanhaiya Lal Shukla — working in Manipur and Chhattisgarh respectively.. (ANI)

The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) on Saturday took suo-moto cognizance of the reports that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tajinder Singh Bagga was allegedly not allowed to wear his turban during his arrest by Punjab police.

“The Commission has taken suo-moto cognizance of the media reports that Tajinder Singh Bagga, a person belonging to Sikh Minority community, was allegedly not allowed to wear his turban during his arrest by Punjab police on May 6, 2022. This is a serious case of violation of the religious rights of a Sikh person. You are, accordingly, requested to submit a factual report on the alleged incident and media report within 7 days that is latest by May 14, 2022 to the Commission,” the Commission said in a letter to Punjab Chief Secretary.

Notably, Bagga reached his residence in Delhi on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday after he was detained by Punjab Police in the national capital yesterday. After this, he claimed that the Punjab police had barged into his home in large numbers and arrested him “as they do it with a terrorist”.

Earlier in April, Bagga had claimed that the Punjab police officials reached his home while he was in Lucknow to arrest him without informing the Delhi police.

Bagga said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) registered an FIR based against him on the basis of a “trimmed” video from his remarks on a television show where he had sought an apology from Kejriwal for his speech on the exodus of Kashmiri pandits in the Delhi Assembly in March.

Bagga also slammed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for “illegally” detaining him and said that his detention is an attempt to give a message that whosoever speaks against the AAP supremo would be termed the “biggest terrorist” and not spared.

Meanwhile, Mohali court in Punjab on Saturday issued an arrest warrant against Bagga and instructed police to arrest him and produce him before the court. (ANI)

Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban, who for long were the closest of allies, are now increasingly facing the prospect of getting involved in a war of attrition over their Islamist terrorism policies that have now come to haunt both of them, a report said.

Pakistan is now eager to wash its hands off the links with terror groups it supported and gave shelter to in the last few decades. In Pakistan, at the same time, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), sheltered in the inaccessible hilly terrains of Afghanistan, is planning attacks inside Pakistan, International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS) reported.

In recent months, the Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K) is creating mayhem inside Afghanistan as it targets the Taliban, the report said.

Both countries and their governments are confronting each other over the resultant violence. They are blaming each other for encouraging the terrorist groups to attack the other side, the report said.

The terror groups that have close links with state agencies on both sides have now become Frankensteins neither Pakistan nor Afghanistan want to pamper any longer. But they find their hands ties for several reasons, the report further said.

This year’s Ramzan period was particularly violent with suicide bombers targeting civilians and religious places in both countries, the report said, adding, the last such incident was a powerful explosion at the Khalifa Sahib Mosque in the west of Kabul that killed over 50 worshippers.

The ruling Taliban was quick to counter global criticism that it had failed to secure the country because it was still supporting terrorist groups in Afghanistan, the report said.

The Taliban backs the Pashtun demand for Pashtunistan, as claimed largely by “Pashtun Taliban”. It encompasses a large area of Pakistani territory south of Kabul including Pakhtunkhwa (formerly the North West Frontier Province or NWFP) inhabited by their ethnic clansmen, thereby taking their long-standing homeland claims to the municipal limits of Islamabad, the report further said.

The confrontation between the two countries has increased after the fencing work was taken up. Afghanistan says the fence affects the daily lives of families living on both sides of the border.

The farmers whose lands straddle the border also face problems. Same is the case with traders who make a living by exporting food products and other items from Afghanistan to Pakistan and vice-versa.

There is tension at the border after Taliban soldiers last December disrupted the fence construction work by the Pakistan military. The situation was not allowed to escalate with both sides backing down subsequently, the report said.

However, this January, a Taliban commander, Mawillawi Sanaullah Sangin, issued a warning to Pakistan. He was quoted by Afghanistan’s Tolo News as saying: “We (the Taliban) will not allow the fencing anytime, in any form. Whatever they did before, they did, but we will not allow it anymore.”

With the strained relations over the border fencing, the Taliban openly backing the demand for Pashtunistan, and Pakistan and Afghanistan both experiencing terrorist attacks, the region is literally sitting on a powder keg, the report concluded. (ANI)

Actor Aditi Rao Hydari is all set to make her debut at Cannes Film Festival 2022.

Aditi will represent smartphone brand Vivo India at the 75th edition of the festival.

“I am excited and thrilled to walk the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival to represent the brand and India on the global stage. As an artist myself, being a part of a prestigious institution that celebrates cinema is an exhilarating feeling,” she said.

Apart from Aditi, actor Deepika Padukone will also attend Cannes 2022 but as a jury member.

This year’s Cannes Film Festival will take place between May 17 to May 26 and the organisers will be axing COVID-19 curbs ahead of its 75th edition. They won’t be testing attendees, as it did last year, and will not institute a mask mandate. (ANI)

Mohali court in Punjab on Saturday issued an arrest warrant against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga and instructed police to arrest him and produce him before the court.

Notably, Bagga reached his residence in Delhi on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday after he was detained by Punjab Police in the national capital yesterday. After this, he claimed that the Punjab police had barged into his home in large numbers and arrested him “as they do it with a terrorist”.
Earlier in April, Bagga had claimed that the Punjab police officials reached his home while he was in Lucknow to arrest him without informing the Delhi police.

Bagga said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) registered an FIR based against him on the basis of a “trimmed” video from his remarks on a television show where he had sought an apology from Kejriwal for his speech on the exodus of Kashmiri pandits in the Delhi Assembly in March.

Bagga also slammed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for “illegally” detaining him and said that his detention is an attempt to give a message that whosoever speaks against the AAP supremo would be termed the “biggest terrorist” and not spared.

Meanwhile, Preetpal Singh Bagga, father of Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga said, “It has now been proven that they just want to book Tajinder Bagga in some case or the other. Delhi Police is present here in Janakpuri, they will be with us in all legal actions and we will cooperate with them.”

Earlier on Saturday, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya met Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga & his father at their residence in the national capital. (ANI)