Former Union minister Chinmayanand, accused of rape, arrested

Agencies
September 20, 2019

Sept 20: Former Union minister Swami Chinmayanand, accused of rape by a law student, was arrested on Friday, his counsel said.

The BJP leader was arrested by the special investigation team (SIT) of Uttar Pradesh police from his residence 'Divya Dham' here amid heavy security deployment, his lawyer Pooja Singh told PTI.

He was taken for medical examination to a government hospital. He was then taken to the the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate where he will be presented.

Singh said the SIT took signatures of Chinmayanand's relatives on the arrest memo but no arrest-related documents were given to them.

As Chinmayanand was taken for a medical check-up, patients at the government hospital had to face a tough time as they were not allowed to enter the premises.

Teams led by senior police officials have been deployed at the court premises and the hospital. A team of police officials is also patrolling the area to ensure there is no disturbance, a senior official said.

The rape survivor, who is a postgraduate student at one of the colleges run by Chinmayanand's organisation, has alleged that she was raped and "physically exploited" for a year by the former Union minister.

The case is being investigated by the SIT set up by Uttar Pradesh police on the directions of the Supreme Court.

Chinmayanand, who was admitted to the medical college here on Wednesday, was referred to King George's Medical University (KGMU) in Lucknow.

But he chose to return to his residence on Thursday and get ayurvedic treatment there, according to his counsel Om Singh.

He underwent several tests at the Shahjahanpur hospital where a team of four doctors monitored his condition, a spokesperson told news agency.

The student had earlier threatened self-immolation if the police do not arrest him.

Inspector General Naveen Arora, who heads the SIT, said a mobile phone and a pen drive given by the student have been sent for forensic examination.

The pen drive contains 43 video clips which the student says support her allegations.

Police has registered a case of criminal intimidation and abduction against Chinmayanand on a complaint lodged by the woman's father. Later, the student also accused him of rape and "physical exploitation".

The SIT has also examined the principals of the two colleges where the studied in recent years.

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News Network
March 7,2020

Mar 7: Two Malayalam news channels, Asianet News and Media One, which were banned by the information and broadcasting ministry for their coverage of the recent violence in Delhi on Friday evening, were allowed to resume telecasting on Saturday morning.

While Asianet News appeared to have begun operations around 7am on Saturday, Media One was screening content by 9.30am.

The ministry of information and broadcasting had imposed a 48-hour ban on Asianet News and Media One for their coverage of the Delhi violence for 48 hours from 7.30pm on Friday. Both Asianet News and Media One were barred under Rule 6(1 c) and Rule 6(1e) of the Cable Television Networks Act, 1994.

The ministry of information and broadcasting alleged Asianet News and Media One were "biased" and critical of the RSS and Delhi Police.

The ban on Asianet News and Media One triggered a torrent of criticism of the move. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor asked how "Malayalam channels inflame communal passions in Delhi?" and alleged some English news channels were continuing "their brazen distortions" with impunity.

In a statement issued on Friday after the ban, Media One termed the move "unfortunate and condemnable" and called it a "blatant attack against free and fair reporting". Media One called it "an order to stop free and fair journalism".

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News Network
July 27,2020

Chengdu, China, Jul 27: The American flag was lowered at the United States consulate in Chengdu on Monday, days after Beijing ordered it to close in retaliation for the shuttering of the Chinese consulate in Houston.

Footage on state broadcaster CCTV from outside the consulate showed the flag being slowly lowered early Monday morning, after diplomatic tensions soared between the two powers with both alleging the other had endangered national security.

Relations deteriorated in recent weeks in a Cold War-style standoff, with the Chengdu mission Friday ordered to shut in retaliation for the forced closure of Beijing's consulate in Houston, Texas.

The deadline for the Americans to exit Chengdu has been unclear, but the Chinese consulate in Houston was given 72 hours to close after the original order was made.

On Saturday news agency reporters saw workers removing the US insignia from the front of the consulate.

Over the weekend, removals trucks entered the US consulate and cleaners were seen carting large black rubbish bags from the building.

Beijing says closing the Chengdu consulate was a "legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable measures by the United States", and has alleged that staff at the diplomatic mission endangered China's security and interests.

Washington officials, meanwhile, said there had been unacceptable efforts by the Chinese consulate in Houston to steal US corporate secrets.

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Agencies
February 11,2020

New Delhi, Feb 11: Votes between Hindus and Muslims were ''completely polarised'', said Congress party's Alka Lamba, as she trailed at Chandni Chowk assembly seat on Tuesday.

"I accept the result, but don't give up. Hindu-Muslim votes were completely polarised. The #Congress Party will now have to prepare for a new fight with new faces and a long struggle for the people of #Delhi. If you fight today, you will also win tomorrow," Ms. Lamba tweeted in Hindi.

As per the Election Commission (EC) website, Ms. Lamba is in third position with just 1,229 votes so far. AAP's Parlad Singh Sawhney is ahead with 23,281 votes followed by Suman Kumar Gupta of BJP.

Ms. Lamba, who had won from Chandni Chowk on an AAP ticket in the 2015 polls, was expelled from AAP last year after she joined Congress, citing differences with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

As per the EC official trends, AAP is maintaining a strong lead on 58 seats, while the BJP is far behind at 12. Congress has failed to open its account so far.

The counting of votes for 70 seats of the Delhi Assembly began at 8 am today amid tight security.

Delhi went to polls in a single-phase on February 8. AAP, BJP, Congress are the main political parties in the fray.

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