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Punjab Polls: After rescuing labourers, Sonu Sood hits streets again

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Months after he came to the rescue of labourers walking back home in the days of Covid-19 lockdown, actor and philanthropist Sonu Sood is himself hitting the streets.

With folded hands and smile on his lips, he’s going from house to house event in scores of villages drumming up support for his sister Malvika Sood Sachar contesting the Punjab Assembly polls less than a fortnight away.

With villagers complaining of lack of basic infrastructure facilities like public toilets, sanitation, drainage, disposal of sewage and large potholes as several people have met with accidents, Sood, accompanying his younger sister who is born and brought up in this town in the Malwa region, is assuring improvement, if the Congress party retains the helm in the state.

Malvika joined the Congress just a week ahead of the pronouncement of the February 20 polls for 117 Assembly seats.

She has replaced sitting Congress legislator Harjot Kamal, who joined the BJP and is again in the fray to retain the seat that has been the Congress stronghold since 2007.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)leader and former minister Tota Singh, who was convicted in 2012 in a case of corruption and sentenced to a year of imprisonment, represented this seat for two successive terms — 1997 and 2002.

Malvika, 39, married and running her parental family business in Moga, told IANS that she has taken the political plunge to dedicate herself to serve the society like her brother.

Sonu Sood’s childhood friends in his hometown, some 175 km from the state capital Chandigarh, described him as the messiah of tens of thousands of desperate migrants amidst pandemic and supporting school educations of scores of underprivileged, while his family believes his philanthropy spirit comes from his ancestry.

Born to a business family, the siblings’ father was in the cloth business and mother was an English lecturer in town’s oldest D.M. College of Education.

Their eldest sister is settled in the US.

“Sonu is a household name in every village. We have seen him on news channels on several occasions when he himself was on the streets to help the migrants who were returning to their homes during the pandemic. If he has zeal for serving society, we expect his sister will also follow in his footsteps,” octogenarian Nachhatar Kaur of Rattian village told IANS.

She said the brother-sister duo came to the village last week and sought votes with promise to strengthen village streets and the sewage treatment system.

Sharing similar sentiments, another village elder Ajaib Kaur added, “Ahead of the elections, Sonu’s sister came to our village and sponsored the school fees of several poor students when she came to know that their parents have lost wages due to the pandemic. She has provided money to poor villagers for rebuilding their ‘kutcha’ houses.”

However, Malvika’s rival and AAP candidate Amandeep Kaur Arora believes Malvika’s identity is only her brother.

“Malvika has no identity of her own. She is known only as Sonu Sood’s sister. My identity is that of a doctor and served ex-servicemen and their families,” Amandeep added.

SAD candidate Barjinder Makhan Brar, a lawyer by profession, believes in the dynasty’s advantage.

“My father (Tota Singh) remained an MLA of Moga twice and did a lot of development work. Sonu Sood has just surfaced. He’s just trying to woo the voters by using money. If he has philanthropic initiatives to his credit, what is the contribution of his sister to society? After all, the legislator is the local representative in the Assembly. The voters can’t be befooled for the sake of Sonu’s philanthropy,” he added.

In 2017, Harjot Kamal, then with the Congress, won the seat by securing 52,357 votes, while AAP’s Ramesh Grover finished second with 50,593 votes. Barjinder Brar polled 36,587 votes.

Incumbent Charanjit Singh Channi, the chief minister face of the Congress, while campaigning for Malvika, who did Master of Computer Application, on Wednesday announced if the party returns to power she would be a minister in his Council of Ministers.

In December 2020, a road in Sonu Sood’s hometown was named after his mother, Prof Saroj Sood. At this the actor said he cannot contain his happiness and this will always be the most important chapter in his life.

“Sonu is deeply attached to hometown, his family and friends. He prefers to travel to Moga whenever he spares time from his hectic schedule in Bollywood, Malvika, who runs cloth and education business, told IANS.

Sonu’s grandfather Vidya Rattan Sood was also a known philanthropist.

Malvika’s neighbour Rakesh Khanna said the people in the town are proud of Sonu for bringing this town into limelight through his philanthropic spirit.

He said his parents wanted him to become an engineer. He did his engineering from Nagpur.

“Besides having no godfather in the film industry, he established himself,” Khanna said, adding even his sister has no ego with the fame of her brother.

“Whenever Sonu is in his hometown, you can see him riding on his scooter from his college days. He also prefers to spend time in his father’s shop located in the main market,” Khanna added.

Crime

Accused in air hostess sexual assault case was porn addict: Gurugram Police

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Gurugram, April 19: Gurugram Police said on Saturday that the accused in the air hostess sexual assault case was a porn addict, an official said.

Gurugram Police Spokesperson Sandeep Kumar said that the accused used to watch porn videos habitually, which was also confirmed from the mobile phone recovered from him.

He said that during police interrogation, it was found that the accused has a B.Sc. (OT) degree from a private institute from the years 2019-2022, and he was an average student in studies.

“For the last five months, he was working as a treatment machine technician in the ICU of the hospital. The accused going to the victim at the time of the incident was confirmed from the CCTV cameras installed in the hospital,” he said.

The Spokesperson said that during interrogation of the accused, it was also found that he had watched porn videos before the incident and even after committing the crime.

“Which is also being confirmed from the search history of the accused’s mobile phone. He was produced before the court on Saturday, from where he was sent to judicial custody for further proceedings,” he said.

Meanwhile, the SIT on Friday nabbed the accused, after analysing at least 800 CCTV cameras installed inside and outside of the hospital, who sexually assaulted the woman when she was on a ventilator.

The accused was identified as Deepak (25), a native of Muzaffarpur in Bihar. The accused had been working as a treatment machine technician in the ICU of the hospital for the past five months and was arrested in the Sadar police station area on Friday.

An official privy to the investigation said that the accused has confessed to his crime in the matter.

“While investigating the incident, eight police teams checked the footage of 800 CCTV cameras installed in the hospital, and around 50 hospital staff, including doctors, were questioned about the incident. Keeping in mind the seriousness of the incident, the police teams investigated from every angle and collected a lot of information related to the incident, as a result of which the police got great success in identifying the accused who committed the crime,” said Arpit Jain, DCP (Headquarters).

On Thursday, Vikas Kumar Arora, Commissioner of Police, Gurugram, had constituted an SIT and ordered the identification and arrest of the accused.

As per the order of the Police Commissioner, an SIT was constituted under the leadership of Arpit Jain, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Headquarters, Gurugram, in which a total of eight different police teams were given special directions and deployed to collect information and evidence related to the incident.

Dr. Sanjay Durani, Medical Superintendent of the hospital, said in a statement that: “We have been informed that the police have identified a suspect who has been taken into custody in connection with the ongoing investigation concerning allegations of sexual assault on a patient. On the basis of information provided to us by the police, we have suspended the suspect employee. As we await the final outcome of the investigation, we will continue to provide full support to the police.”

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Business

FM Sitharaman to showcase India’s economic dynamism during US, Peru visit

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New Delhi, April 19: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to embark on an official visit to the US and Peru, beginning April 20, where she is slated to participate in multilateral dialogues to showcase India’s economic dynamism, as the country prepares a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the US, it was announced on Saturday.

During her visit to the US, the Finance Minister will visit San Francisco and Washington, DC, from April 20-25, according to a Ministry of Finance statement.

In San Francisco, FM Sitharaman would deliver a keynote address at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, titled ‘Laying the foundations of Viksit Bharat 2047,’ followed by a fireside chat session.

The Finance Minister will also interact with top CEOs from prominent fund management firms during a roundtable meeting with investors, besides holding bilateral meetings with CEOs from top information technology (IT) firms based in San Francisco.

She will also participate in an event featuring the Indian diaspora in San Francisco and interact with the Indian community settled there, said the ministry.

In Washington, DC, FM Sitharaman will participate in the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the 2nd G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) Meetings, the Development Committee Plenary, IMFC Plenary, and Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable (GSDR) meeting.

On the sidelines of the Spring Meetings, she will hold bilateral meetings with her counterparts from several countries, including Argentina, Bahrain, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, and the US; besides meeting EU Commissioner for Financial Services; President, Asian Development Bank (ADB); President, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB); United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Financial Health (UNSGSA); and First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

During her maiden visit to Peru from April 26-30, the Finance Minister will lead an Indian delegation of officials from the Ministry of Finance and business leaders, highlighting the strengthening bilateral economic and trade relations between the two nations.

Beginning her visit in Lima, she is expected to call on the President of Peru, Dina Boluarte, and Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen, besides holding bilateral meetings with the Peruvian Ministers of Finance and Economy, Defence, Energy and Mines, and also holding interaction with local public representatives.

The Finance Minister will chair the India-Peru Business Forum meeting with prominent business representatives in attendance from both India and Peru.

FM Sitharaman will also hold an interaction with the Indian investors and businesses currently operating in Peru, as well as the Indian business delegation visiting Peru. The Finance Minister will also participate in a community event in Lima, where she will interact with the Indian diaspora living in Peru, according to the ministry statement.

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National News

We can’t live like this: Women break down before NCW chief in riot-hit Murshidabad

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Kolkata, April 19: Women in Dhuliyan, one of the worst-affected areas in West Bengal’s minority-dominated Murshidabad district, have urged the Centre to set up permanent Border Security Force (BSF) camps in violence-hit pockets to ensure their safety following recent communal unrest over protests against the Waqf Act.

On Saturday, a delegation from the National Commission for Women (NCW), led by its chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar, visited Dhuliyan to meet those affected by last week’s violence, most of whom are Hindus.

Several women broke down during their interaction with the delegation and pleaded for the permanent deployment of central forces.

“We won’t survive without permanent BSF camps here. If needed, we are ready to offer our own land and homes for setting them up,” said a woman, sobbing and touching the feet of a delegation member.

The NCW team assured locals that their concerns would be conveyed to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

“We are here to stand with you in this moment of crisis. The whole country is watching and supporting you. We will submit a detailed report to the Centre and include the demand for permanent BSF presence in this region,” a delegation member told the women.

Even before Saturday’s visit, NCW member Archana Majumdar had stressed the need for permanent Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) camps in the region.

“The women victims in Murshidabad have clearly expressed the need for permanent CAPF deployment to ensure their dignity and safety. We will raise the issue with the Union government,” Majumdar said on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Murshidabad district administration has prepared a preliminary report on property damage. According to initial estimates, over 250 houses and 100 shops — mostly owned by Hindus — were vandalized during the unrest.

“This is just the initial estimate. The actual figure may rise as we complete the detailed assessment,” said a senior district official.

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