Month: August 2022

Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said that the CBI raids at Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the national capital along with other places in the country were proof that the Aam Aadmi Party government had introduced the revamped Excise Policy to benefit the liquor mafia.

The chief of the Delhi unit of the BJP, Adesh Gupta slammed the AAP government for introducing the Excise Policy at a time when Covid was at its peak, alleging that the move was done ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections.
“They were not bothered about Covid but their sole focus was on bringing a new excise policy. They waived off Rs144 crore and gave the contracts to blacklisted companies instead of using the money for Covid relief,” said Gupta.

“The policy’s benefits to liquor mafia were seen when they favoured thousands of crores to the liquor mafia, when they increased their commission from 2.5 per cent to 12 per cent, when the number of dry days in Delhi was reduced from 21 to three,” the BJP leader said.

According to a CBI official, searches were conducted in seven States and a Union Territory, including the premises of fomer Delhi Excise Commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna under whose tenure, the revamped Excise Policy was approved.

Sisodia had in a tweet this morning said that CBI officials had arrived at his residence and had begun searches. “CBI has arrived. We are honest, building a future for lakhs of children. Unfortunate that in this country, whoever does good work is hassled just like this, that is why our country is still not number-1,” the deputy chief minister tweeted.

To this Adesh Gupta hit back and asked whether Sisodia could tell whose future he was talking about when he says he works for children. “Will he tell that he talks about the children for whom he has reduced the age of liquor consumption from 21 to 18?” Gupta alleged.

“Did he come to power to ensure an equal distribution of alcohol by working to bring an excise policy that would monetarily benefit only liquor mafia with illegitimate ways,” the BJP leader said.

Earlier today, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: “CBI is welcome. We will give full cooperation. Searches took place earlier too, but nothing was found. Nothing will be found now too.”

The Delhi CM stated that CBI has raided Sisodia’s residence on the day when the picture of the Delhi Model and Sisodia appeared on the front page of America’s biggest newspaper- New York Times.

Mewnwhile, the BJP Delhi unit chief attacked the “Delhi Model” by wondering if AAP came to power to benefit the liquor mafia.

“They initially claimed that the excise policy was a beneficial move, but they rolled it back after the CBI raids. Delhi government has spent crores of money on liquor mafia that could have been used in other productive areas and call it its Delhi Model,” Gupta said.

On July 30, Sisodia announced a rollback of the Excise Policy stating that only government outlets would sell liquor in Delhi from August 1. (ANI)

The Special Task Force, West Bengal detained two miscreants for their alleged involvement with the banned terrorist outfit Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), said the officials on Friday.

The arrests were made in the Sasan PS area, Barasat.
The accused have been identified as Abdur Rakib Sarkar and Kazi Ahasan Ullah.

“Special Task Force, West Bengal arrested 2 accused namely Abdur Rakib Sarkar & Kazi Ahasan Ullah for their alleged involvement with banned terrorist outfit Al Qaida from Kharibari, under Sasan Police Station,” said STF officials.

The officials also seized seditious documents from their possession.

A case has been registered under the relevant sections.

Further investigations are underway.

Earlier in April, Assam Police busted several modules of proscribed terror outfits Ansarul Bangla Team (ABT) and Al-Qaida Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), arresting 16 people so far, said Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

“In a long-drawn Operation Assam Police has cracked down on several modules of Ansarul Bangla Team /Al-Qaida Indian Subcontinent in Assam,” tweeted Sarma

The Chief Minister termed the police operation a huge success of intelligence and an example of courage.

“It’s a huge intelligence success and a true example of courage and dedication of Assam Police. Total Arrests so far -16,” added Sarma.

Mufti Saiful Islam (Bangladeshi National), Imran Hussain, Noushad Ali, Khairul Islam, Badshah Soleman, Mamunur Rashid, Mufti Suleman Ali, Saddam Hussain, Moqibul Hussain, are among some of the key accused arrested by the Assam Police.

Sharing the names of the accused, Assam Police said they will continue their offensive against the terror module.

“Thank you CM Himanta Biswa Sarma for continued guidance in the fight against AQIS and Ansarul Bangla. We remain committed to completely annihilating these terror modules. We shall continue our offensive,” tweeted Assam Police. (ANI)

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday conducted searches at the residence of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and several other locations in different states in connection with the alleged scam in the recently withdrawn excise policy of the Aam Aadmi Party government.

While the BJP leaders attacked the AAP government over “liquor corruption” and the Congress leaders backed the CBI action, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the probe agency “will find nothing”.
CBI said searches are being conducted today at 31 locations including in Delhi, Gurugram, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Bengaluru which, so far, have led to the recovery of incriminating documents, articles and digital records. It said investigations are underway.

The CBI has registered an FIR in connection with the case. Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena had in July recommended a CBI probe over alleged violations of rules in the Excise Policy which was implemented in November last year.

He had earlier this month suspended 11 officials, including then Delhi excise commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna and deputy excise commissioner Anand Kumar Tiwari, over “lapses” in the implementation of the Excise Policy.

Sisodia was among 15 persons booked in the FIR filed by CBI. Excise officials, liquor company executives, dealers along with unknown public servants and private persons have too been booked in the case.

The FIR said that “facts in the matter prima facie disclose the commission of offences” punishable under section 120-B, 477A IPC and section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988″ against the accused.

The premises of then Excise Commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna and Anand Tiwari were among those searched.

The raids led to a political slugfest with Union Minister Anurag Thakur hitting out at Kejriwal and Sisodia over alleged “liquor corruption”.

“No matter how hard a corrupt person tries to prove himself innocent, he will still remain corrupt. This is not the first case of corruption by AAP. There has been huge corruption in the liquor stores in Delhi,” Thakur said.

The Union Minister alleged that Delhi’s liquor policy was withdrawn on the same day a CBI investigation was ordered into it. “If there was no scam in the liquor policy, why was it withdrawn?” Thakur asked.

The Union Minister also alleged that Kerjriwal was shielding the corrupt. “Even when Satyendra Jain went to jail for corruption, he did not sack him and then he (Jain) claimed that he lost his memory.

“The Excise Minister has become Excuse Minister but I hope that his memory should not be lost,” Thakur said. Delhi Health Minister Jain is currently in judicial custody after being arrested in connection with a money laundering case.

On the basis of a report by the Delhi Chief Secretary, Delhi Lieutenant Governor had in July this year recommended a CBI probe into the Delhi Excise Policy over alleged violations of procedural lapses to “provide post tender undue benefits to liquor licensees.”

The Excise policy handed over the sale of liquor to private players and shut down all government-run liquor outlets.

On July 30, Sisodia announced a rollback and said only government outlets would sell liquor in Delhi from August 1.

As CBI officials arrived at his residence this morning, Sisodia said the AAP government is honest and referred to its work in the field of education.

“CBI has arrived. We are honest, building a future for lakhs of children. Unfortunate that in this country, whoever does good work is hassled just like this, that is why our country is still not number-1.”

Kejriwal also conveyed his support for Sisodia saying that nothing will come out of this raid and that many such happened in past. “I welcome CBI. We will cooperate fully. There have been many such probes, and raids in past. Nothing came out. Nothing will come out this time too,” Kejriwal said.

“CBI is doing its work, there is no need to be scared. We should let CBI do its work, they have an order from the top to hassle us. Obstacles will come but work won’t stop,” he added.

Sisodia also said he will cooperate with the investigation so that the truth comes out at the earliest.

“These people are troubled by the excellent work of Delhi’s education and health. That is why the health minister and the education minister of Delhi are on the radar so that the good work of education and health can be stopped,” Sisodia wrote.

“I extend my welcome to the CBI. I will cooperate with the investigation so that the truth comes out at the earliest. Till now many cases have been filed against me but nothing has come out. Nothing will come out of it either. My work cannot be stopped for a good education in the country,” he added.

Kejriwal tweeted mentioning that the CBI has raided his residence after a picture of the Delhi Model and Manish Sisodia appeared on the front page of American newspaper- New York Times.

Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta slammed the AAP government for introducing the Excise Policy even as Delhi was grappling with situation created by COVID-19.

“They were not bothered about Covid but their sole focus was on bringing a new excise policy. They waived off Rs144 crore and gave the contracts to blacklisted companies instead of using the money for Covid relief,” Gupta alleged.

“Ever since the new excise policy came into force, Sisodia along with Kejriwal kept making money by colluding with the liquor mafia. And when the CBI started the investigation, they started talking about various things due to the fear of being exposed,” Gupta told media persons.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh stressed that the raids on Delhi’s Deputy CM were an attempt to stop the “revolutionary work done in the education and health sector” by the Kejriwal-led Delhi government.

“Manish Sisodia was on the front page of America’s biggest newspaper New York Times. Everyone throughout the whole country is happy about it but not the BJP. He has done some extraordinary work when it comes to the health sector, be it Mohalla clinics or be it the education sector, the AAP leadership has revolutionised all of it. Now these CBI raids are nothing but an attempt to stop all of this,” Sanjay Singh told the media.

“”The developments prove that the next Lok Sabha election in 2024 will be AAP versus BJP, it will be Modi versus Kejriwal. We will fight. I am saying it again that you cannot stop Kejriwal, or our education or health model. You may arrest our health minister or education minister, but no work of Delhi will be stopped,” he added.

Aam Aadmi Party MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj said these were not the first raids on AAP leaders.

“But the question is what do these agencies recover? They should tell people if anything was ever recovered anywhere,” he said.

Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said he is surprised that the raids did not take place earlier.

“It is not surprising. We have been hearing about what has been happening in the Delhi Government for the last 7-8 years. It is surprising that the CBI raids didn’t happen earlier. Be it liquor case, construction of rooms in schools, teachers recruitment, the civil defence recruitment case or the case of the contracts wherever you see, there should’ve been not one but 10 CBI raids,” Dikshit told ANI.

Congress leader Alka Lamba also attacked the AAP government.

“If their policy was right, why they had they started the prior one by Sheila Dixit when she was CM of Delhi? AAP always criticises her tenure and now they are following her policies,” Lamba said in a tweet.

Former Congress leader Kapil Sibal targeted the government over the raids and said CBI and ED were its “long arms”.

“CBI , ED – the long arms of Government Now that Kejriwal is on the rise Time for BJP to destabilise So target Satyendra Jain Now Sidodia,” he said. (ANI)

Mini Mathur and Cyrus Sahukar are back with the second season of Amazon Prime Video’s ‘Mind the Malhotras’. Recently, the ‘Dil Vil Pyar Vyar’actor spilled beans about her thoughts behind playing the Shefali character in the show.

The first season gave viewers a peek into Rishabh and Shefali’s (Cyrus and Mini) mid-life and marital crisis-filled life, the next one will see them try to reignite the fire between them.

Mini Mathur, who plays the role of Shefali Malhotra has been a popular host for several reality shows and this is one of the few times she has chosen to act. While talking about rejecting other roles before doing ‘Mind the Malhotras’, Mini Mathur said, “When I joined the industry, the roles I was being offered were almost alike. So, I said no to so many such roles as I always wanted to play bold, dark, or cop kind of roles which challenged me. Shefali Malhotra in Mind the Malhotras was such a Bold role… basically, it’s me and that’s what I like to do.”

Produced by Applause Entertainment in association with Madiba Entertainment, the second season of the comedy-drama stars Mini Mathur as Shefali and Cyrus Sahukar as Rishabh, who are back to tickle viewers’ funny bones with their rollercoaster marital journey.

The series is helmed by Sahil Sangha and written by Sahil Sangha and Karan Sharma, and is an Indian adaptation of the Israeli show ‘La Famiglia’ distributed by Armoza formats.

As the show is streaming on Amazon Prime Video from August 12, the fans are showering endless love due to its rib-tickling humour. While the audience enjoyed the first season for its hilarious one-liners, the second session is receiving the same love for being one of the funniest sitcoms. (ANI)

On the occasion of Janmashtami, Shraddha Kapoor celebrated the Dahi Handi event with Maharashtra Chief Minister, Eknath Shinde in Thane, Mumbai.

At the event, the 35-year-old actor even danced on the ‘Cham Cham’ song from her movie ‘Baaghi’ which also starred Tiger Shroff.
Introducing the Shraddha, Eknath Shinde said, “She is a part of our Kolhapur Family. She is a Maharashtrian. She is one of the most loved Bollywood actresses, who has come here.”

In Thane, the festival of Janmashtami is celebrated on a large scale, and several Dahi Handi competitions are conducted over there. A huge crowd had gathered to see the Dahi Handi competition.

Janmashtami is a Hindu festival celebrating the birth of Lord Krishna. As per the Hindu calendar, Lord Krishna, an avatar of Lord Vishnu, was born on the eighth day of the month of Bhadra.

The day mostly falls in the months of August or September as per the Western calendar.

The festival is celebrated by offering prayers to Lord Krishna, with beautifully decorated swings, dance and music performances along with the Dahi Handi competition.

Shraddha shared the event look on her Instagram handle. https://www.instagram.com/p/ChcHrp5JNre/embed

She looked gorgeous in an orange salwar suit. The ‘Aashiqui 2’ actor accessorized her look with long silver earrings.

Shraddha opted for a subtle makeup look with pink lips and kept her tresses open to increase the chic quotient for her outfit.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Shraddha is currently working on her next project – an untitled film directed by Luv Ranjan in which she will share screen space with Ranbir Kapoor for the first time, which will be released on March 8, 2023.

Apart from that, she will be also seen in ‘Chalbaaz in London’ and the ‘Naagin’ trilogy. (ANI)

Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party chief Bandi Sanjay on Friday warned of action against those insulting the Bhagavad Gita by playing it during the death of a person and alleged that it is a “planned attack” on the Sanatana Dharma.

The remarks of the BJP leader came during Praja Sangrama Yatra phase 3 where he met Archakas Association in Jangaon on Thursday.
Bandi claimed that epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata are being depicted as a joke and said that he has issued warning against the insult of the Hindu epics.

“It has become fashionable to show Archakas (priests) in an insulting way. The situation has come where Ramayana and Mahabharata are shown as a joke. I have told them if Ramayana and Mahabharata are shown in an insulting way, we will hit back and they have stopped doing it,” he said.

Citing his childhood, the BJP leader said that the playing of Bhagavad Gita then acted as “tension relief”, however, it has turned to be stressful now “thinking if someone has died”.

“Nowadays Bhagavad Gita is played when someone dies, but when I was in school, in the morning it used to be played from the Shivalayam, it was such a tension relief. Nowadays, if Bhagavad Gita is played, tension starts whether someone has died,” he said.

“A fool played Bhagavad Gita when someone died. Taking it as a fashion Bhagavad Gita is played whenever anybody dies. Vaikuntha Ratha has Bhagavad Gita on it. I said in Karim Nagar that I will cut the tyres if anybody is seen displaying Bhagavad Gita on Vaikuntha Rathas. If Bhagavad Gita is played in the graveyard, they will be attacked, they will not be spared. It is a planned attack on the Sanatana Dharma, Hindu Dharma. They are converting it into a fashion,” Bandi added. (ANI)

Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor’s comments regarding his pregnant wife Alia Bhatt’s weight gain have not gone well down with netizens.

Alia and Ranbir are set to appear together for the first time in Ayan Mukerji’s upcoming directorial ‘Brahmastra’. The trio had come together on Thursday for a YouTube live to promote their new film.
During the live session, when the duo were asked why they are not actively promoting ‘Brahmastra’ in the way they do for other movies, Alia replied, “We will promote the film, and we will be everywhere but if the question you are asking is why we are not phailod everywhere, right now our focus is…”

It was at this point that Ranbir cut her in between and pointed at his wife’s baby bump saying, “Well I can say somebody has phailod (referencing her weight gain).” However, he did add that his comment was meant as a joke.

Though Ranbir made it clear that he was joking, unfortunately, it did not go well with many social media users, who later slammed the ‘Shamshera’ actor for allegedly ‘fat-shaming’ Alia.

The clip of the interaction circulated on several social media platforms including Reddit.

Expressing shock at Ranbir’s comment, one user wrote, “My ex was like this. He would say things about my weight and personality and try to pass them off as jokes. Alia should run far away from him.”

Another one shared, “Exactly. Slow abuse. Slowly the intensity increases if you keep on tolerating.. Classic Narcissist!”

A third person wrote, “Calling his pregnant wife fat is not what I expected from Ranbir.”

Ranbir and Alia tied the knot on April 14, 2022, and on June 2022, the couple announced the news of their pregnancy.

Apart from the baby’s arrival, the two are also waiting for the release of their film ‘Brahmastra’, which is scheduled to hit the theatres on September 9. Amitabh Bachchan, Mouni Roy, and south actor Nagarjuna will also be seen in prominent roles in Ayan Mukerji’s directorial. (ANI)

From lip-syncing on Bollywood dialogues to dancing on Hindi songs, everyone nowadays are showing their hidden talents. Dance videos often capture the curiosity of people who further share and reshare them on social media, leading to these clips going viral.

Age is just a number and here is the proof, a viral video of a man grooving on a hit song of none other than the dance guru Hrithik Roshan from his movie ‘Krrish’, has been making rounds on social media.
In the past week, the video was shared by an Instagram handle S. Suresh @s.sureshdancer. https://www.instagram.com/p/ChEfO-bFkS1/embed

In the video, the elderly man was seen doing some cool dance moves and hook steps of ‘Dil Na Diya’ song. He gave a powerful performance which impressed the users on Instagram.

As soon as the video went viral, the users chimed into the comment section.

One of the users wrote, “Sir respect your age and more than that, your attitude.”

Another user commented, “Age is just a number guys.”

“Fantastic mind blowing,” another user wrote.

The video of S. Suresh garnered more than 3,000 likes and has over 16.7K followers on Instagram. He frequently posts videos of him dancing to different hit songs. (ANI)

In a joint operation between Delhi Police and Jammu and Kashmir Police in assistance with the central agencies, a Hawala operator has been arrested, said officials on Friday.

The accused was allegedly involved in the funding of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Al-Badr terror outfits.
The accused has been identified as Mohammad Yaseen and was arrested from Jammu bus stand along with the terror funding amount of Rs 10 lakh.

“Working as an agent in Hawala transactions related to the funding of terror outfits LeT and Al Badr Mohd Yaseen has been apprehended. On 17th Aug 2022, Mohd Yasin gave around Rs 10 lakh to a terror operative Abdul Hamid Mir of Jammu and Kashmir for further use in terrorist activities in the state. In this regard, J&K Police registered a case vide FIR No. 37/2022, dt. 18/08/2022, u/s 13/17/18/40 UA(P) Act, PS Bus Stand, Jammu and Abdul Hamid Mir r/o Mendhar, Poonch, J&K has been arrested from Jammu Bus Stand along with the terror funding amount of Rs 10 lakh,” said a statement.

The officials also informed that the money illegally funded from overseas sources was used for funding terror-related activities in the valley.

The accused was under cover as a garment trader by profession and was operating from Meena Bazar, Delhi. He worked as a conduit for Hawala money, collecting funds received from sources based abroad and further delivering them to terror operatives in the valley. During interrogation, Mohd Yaseen disclosed that the hawala money was being sent to India at Surat and Mumbai through South Africa.

“The amount was further given to operatives of banned terror outfit LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiyba) and Al Badr in Jammu and Kashmir. Mohd. Yaseen is an important link for transporting funds from different parts of India to J&K.Recently, he has received Rs. 24 lakh sent via Hawala from South Africa, out of which he transferred Rs 17 lakh through two different couriers to terror operatives in J&K. Rs 10 lakh, given by him to arrested accused Abdul Hamid Mir, have been seized by J&K Police, whereas the remaining Rs. 7 lakh has been recovered from his house during search,” added the statement.

The arrests were based on information received from central agencies and Jammu and Kashmir Police regarding a person engaged in funding of terrorist activities and operating from Meena Bazar, Delhi. Accordingly, a raiding team was constituted and deployed at and around Meena Bazar, Delhi and apprehended the owner of the establishment on August 18.

The officials recovered one mobile phone, Rs 7 lakh from the accused. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, in a veiled attack on the Opposition parties in the country, said that “people who do not care about the country, stay indifferent to the problems faced by the nation”.

Lauding the efforts by the NDA government in the last eight years, he said that it is easy to form a government, but the BJP has “chosen the path of building the nation…which takes hard work.”
“It doesn’t take that much effort to form a government, but to form a country, hard work is essential,” PM Modi said while addressing the ‘Har Ghar Jal’ event.

“We (the BJP government) have chosen the path of building the nation. Hence, we are continuously working towards addressing and solving the challenges of both – the present and the future,” the Prime Minister said.

Taking a dig at the opposition parties, he continued, “People who do not care about the nation don’t show any concern or interest towards these problems. They can make big promises for the provision of water, but will never work towards it with a vision.”

The prime minister had last month warned against the culture of freebies, which certain political parties indulged in.

On Monday, the Supreme Court adjourned hearing of a plea against promises by political parties to distribute freebies from public funds during election campaigns.

Asking the parties to file their suggestion by Saturday, the top court said the concern was about spending the public’s money in the correct way.

The Supreme Court, on August 10, said that promising and distributing freebies by political parties during elections is a “serious issue” and an amount has to be spent on infrastructure etc.

The apex court was hearing a plea seeking direction to seize election symbols and de-register political parties that promised to distribute irrational freebies from public funds.

A bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Krishna Murari had told parties in the case: “Economy losing money and welfare of people, both have to be balanced. That is why this debate and there must be someone who can put their vision and thoughts. Please submit something.”

The Prime Minister today addressed the Har Ghar Jal Utsav under Jal Jeevan Mission via a video message. The event took place at Panaji Goa. Chief Minister of Goa Pramod Sawant, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat were among those present on the occasion.

The Prime Minister also greeted Krishna devotees on the auspicious occasion of Janmashtami.

At the outset, the Prime Minister shared every Indian’s pride in three important milestones related to the huge goals that India is working on in Amrit Kaal, that were accomplished today.

He said “Firstly, today 10 crore rural households of the country have been connected to piped clean water facility. This is a big success of the government’s campaign to deliver water to every household. This is a great example of ‘Sabka Prayas'”.

Secondly, he congratulated Goa for becoming the first Har Ghar Jal certified state where every household is connected to piped water. He also acknowledged Dadra Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu as first Union territories to achieve the feat.

The Prime Minister lauded the people, government and local self-government institutions for their efforts. He informed that many states are going to join the list very soon.

The third achievement, the Prime Minister informed, is that one lakh villages in different states of the country have turned ODF plus. After the country was declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) a few years ago, the next resolution was to achieve ODF plus status for villages i.e. they should have community toilets, plastic waste management, grey water management and Gobardhan projects. (ANI)