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Wrestler Bajrang Punia Returns His Padma Shri As A Mark Of Protest; Keeps It On The Footpath

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A day after Sakshi Malik decided to retire from professional wrestling due to the appointment of Brij Bhushan Singh’s close aide Sanjay Singh as the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Chief, fellow wrestler Bajrang Punia has taken another drastic step. Punia took to his official handle on X, writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about his desire to return his Padma Shri award.

A video surfaced on X (formerly Twitter) of Punia keeping his Padma Shri on the footpath outside of PM’s residence, having been surrounded by police officials and media personnel. The police officials seemed to be requesting him not to return his award, but the 29-year-old was likely adamant on doing it.

“Our protest site was vandalized” – Bajrang Punia

Punia took to X and recalled the events when they started protesting and how the authorities stopped them from doing it by destroying their site.

“Dear Prime Minister ji, hope your health is well. You must be busy in many work but I am writing this to draw your attention to what is happening to the wrestlers of the country. You must be aware that the women wrestlers of the country started a protest in January this year against Brij Bhushan Singh, accusing him of sexual harassment. I too had joined their protest. The protest stopped after the government promised strong action.”

“Our protest went on for 40 days. There was much pressure on us during those days. Our protest site was vandalized and we were also not allowed to protest any more. We did not know what to do next so we went to immerse our medals in the Ganga. Then we were stopped by the farmer leaders and coaches.”

The Haryana-born wrestler acknowledged government’s awards to them since several years, but also admitted that mistreatment of women have left him gutted. Hence, Punia has decided to relinquish it.

“The government has given us a lot. I was conferred with the Padma Shri in 2019. I also received the Arjuna, Khel Ratna award. When I got these awards, I was on cloud nine. But today the sadness weighs more. And the reason is a woman wrestler left the sport because of her security.”

“Sports have empowered our women athletes and changed their lives but the situation is such that the women who could have been the brand ambassadors of beti bachao, beti padhao are now leaving the sport. And we, the wrestlers who were ‘awarded’ could not do anything. I can’t live my life as a Padma Shri awardee while our women wrestlers are insulted. Hence I return this award to you,” he wrote.

Sanjay, who is also the UP Wrestling Association vice-president, was crowned as the new chief of WFI as panel emerged victorious, winning 13 out of 15 posts in the polls. 2010 CWG Gold medalist Anita Sheron also contested the election, but Singh received 40 votes, with the former receiving only 7. Brij Bhushan reacted to the massive development, hoping to have the wrestling events resume across the country.

Teary-eyed Sakshi Malik desired for a woman WFI chief:

Hours after Sanjay Singh emerged as the winner of the elections, Malik resigned and lamented the lack of woman as WFI’s chief. She said during a press conference:”If the president would be a woman, harassment would not happen. But, there was no participation of women earlier and today you can see the list, not even a single woman was given a position. We had fought with complete strength but this fight will continue. The wrestlers of the new generation have to fight.”

Entertainment

SC permits Ranveer Allahbadia to resume airing his shows

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New Delhi, March 3: The Supreme Court on Monday permitted popular YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia to resume airing his podcast on the condition that he will maintain the “standards of decency and morality”.

Allahbadia and several other YouTubers, including Ashish Chanchlani and Apoorva Mukhija, have been embroiled in the controversy for vulgar and crass comments made during an episode of Samay Raina’s ‘India’s Got Latent’ show.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh relaxed an earlier condition which had prohibited Allahbadia or his associates from airing any show on YouTube or any other audio/video visual mode of communication till further orders.

During the hearing, the Justice Kant-led Bench asked the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the second highest law officer of the Centre, to consider regulating the content in online media.

“We don’t want any regulatory regime which leads to censorship, but it can’t be a free for all,” it said.

The apex court clarified that Allahbadia’s shows should not comment upon the proceedings which are sub-judice.

Earlier, on February 18, the top court had stayed Allahbadia’s arrest subject to the condition that he would join the investigation, as and when summoned by the Investigating Officers.

“The interim protection against arrest is granted further subject to the condition that the petitioner will extend full cooperation to the ongoing investigation,” it had ordered.

The Supreme Court had added that no further FIR would be registered against Allahbadia on the basis of the episode aired on the show ‘India’s Got Latent’, for which two-three FIRs have already been registered.

Amid the controversy, Samay Raina had removed all videos of the show from YouTube, asserting that his intention was only to entertain and make people laugh.

Several complaints seeking legal action have been filed against popular YouTubers Samay Raina, Ranveer Allahabadia, Ashish Chanchlani, and Apoorva Mukhija over allegedly obscene and offensive remarks about parents in the comedy show ‘India’s Got Latent’.

As the legal proceedings unfold, the incident has sparked a broader debate about the limits of comedy and the responsibility of content creators on digital platforms.

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Crime

Haryana Cong worker murder case: Arrested man claims he was blackmailed

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Chandigarh, March 3: Two days after Youth Congress activist Himani Narwal’s body was found in a suitcase on a highway in Haryana’s Rohtak, the arrested man, Sachin, on Monday confessed that he knew the deceased and accused her of blackmail and extortion.

Haryana Police arrested the accused, a resident of Bahadurgarh, who was in an alleged relationship with Himani.

The suspect confessed to the crime during interrogation, saying they had been in a relationship for some time, a police official said.

During his arrest in Delhi, Sachin was found in possession of Himani Narwal’s mobile phone. The crime hogged the limelight after images of her walking with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi during his Bharat Jodo Yatra went viral.

The victim’s family, who has been demanding justice, suspected that some party leaders jealous of her swift rise in party ranks were behind the murder.

The woman’s body was found inside a suitcase near a flyover next to the Sampla bus stand in Rohtak on March 1. She had been missing for three days.

According to a preliminary investigation by the police, she was likely assaulted before being strangled to death. The autopsy report conducted in Rohtak’s PGIMS is awaited. She reportedly attended a wedding on February 27 in Rohtak and was supposed to attend a Congress roadshow on February 28. Her cell phone had been switched off since then.

“The government took swift action by arresting the killer within 24 hours,” said state Transport Minister Anil Vij.

Responding to allegations made by Congress leader Bhupinder Hooda regarding her murder, Vij countered by saying, “The government acts with complete promptness and seriousness… Hooda keeps making statements, it’s his habit.”

The victim’s brother, Jatin, said, “One accused has been arrested, and today we will cremate her body. A lot of rumours are being spread in the media… We will get justice.”

The police on Sunday formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident. Deputy Superintendent of Police Rajneesh Kumar told the media that the victim, who was pursuing an LLB (Bachelor of Law), used to live alone in the state while her family was in Delhi.

The victim’s mother, on Sunday, blamed the elections and the party. “The election and the party took my daughter’s life. Because of this, she made some enemies. They (the accused) could be from the party, or they could be her friends as well…On February 28, she was at home,” the victim’s mother Savita said.

“She was going with Rahul Gandhi and was close to the Hooda family, which is why people were having problems; they were jealous,” she added.

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disaster

Telangana tunnel accident: Authorities mull using robots as rescue operation continues on 10th day

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Hyderabad, March 3: The rescue operation in the partially collapsed Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district entered its 10th day on Monday, with the authorities exploring the possibility of using robots to trace the eight trapped men.

Multiple rescue teams of various agencies of the Centre and state continued desilting and machine-cutting at the locations identified by the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) after scanning the accident site through Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR).

The rescue teams of the Army, Navy, NDRF, SDRF, Singareni Mines Rescue, Fire Services, HYDRAA, South Central Railway plasma cutters, and Rat Miners continued to face impediments like water seepage.

The rescue workers are unable to remove silt, water and debris from the tunnel due to lack of a functional conveyor belt. Technical teams were busy repairing the belt, and it is expected to become functional by Monday evening, and this is expected to help in speeding up the rescue operation.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Sunday suggested the use of robots in the tunnel in which eight persons have remained trapped since February 22.

The Chief Minister, who visited the tunnel and held a review meeting with agencies involved in the rescue operation, asked officials to examine the possibility of using robots to prevent any further loss of life.

“Eight missing persons have not yet been traced. Experts have not concluded whether they are alive or dead,” he said.

The Chief Minister said it may take another 2-3 days for the rescue workers to come to a conclusion.

Chief Minister Reddy said the agencies involved in the rescue have not been able to come to a conclusion about the location of the machines and human beings, though they have tentatively identified the areas.

He assured that the state government would extend all help to the families of eight persons who had come from other states to work as engineers, machine operators or labourers. Stating that helping them is the responsibility of the government, he stressed the need for all to come together to console the families affected by the accident.

Two workers were injured, and eight others were trapped when a portion of the tunnel roof collapsed on February 22 at the 14th km point.

The trapped persons have been identified as Manoj Kumar and Sri Niwas from Uttar Pradesh, Sunny Singh (J&K), Gurpreet Singh (Punjab) and Sandeep Sahu, Jegta Xess, Santosh Sahu and Anuj Sahau, all from Jharkhand.

Of the eight, two are engineers, two are operators, and the remaining four are labourers. They were employed by Jaiprakash Associates, the contracting firm for the tunnel project

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