Latest news with #Virendra
News18
3 days ago
- Business
- News18
‘Can We Build IITs By Just Watching IPL?' IITian Questions India's Priorities
Last Updated: In his LinkedIn post, Virendra Grover asks if IPL's huge revenues could be taxed and used to fund new IITs and research. 'Can we build new IITs by just watching IPL?" This question surfaced in a LinkedIn post shared by career coach Virendra Grover. For over two months, India was immersed in the excitement of the Indian Premier League (IPL). It showed that the passion for cricket is undeniable. But Virendra raised an important question: what if the huge revenues generated by IPL were taxed and redirected towards building India's future like funding new IITs and research? Quoting IISc Bengaluru professor Mayank Shrivastava, Virendra, an IITian himself, wrote, 'India doesn't lack money. Indians don't lack money. What we lack is the vision to invest in the future." In his post, Virendra backs his point with some striking numbers. He shares that IPL 2023 revenue was Rs 11,770 crore and BCCI's surplus was Rs 5,120 crore. Over three years, IPL profits total Rs 15,000 crore. He says that with a potential tax of 40%, this money could be 'Enough to build 10 new IITs." He also highlights that franchise profits of Rs 800-1,200 crore per year could generate a tax potential of Rs 6,000 crore annually for research. But here's the irony Virendra points out in his post: 'BCCI pays no income tax (charitable status), Research labs pay GST on equipment, Bollywood, religious trusts, sports leagues = tax breaks." Quoting Shrivastava, he wrote, 'Entertainment is subsidised. Research is taxed." He then asks some hard-hitting questions: 'Why does a cricket board enjoy tax exemption while research institutions struggle for funding? Why are we taxing microscopes but not match tickets? If India truly dreams of becoming a tech powerhouse, is this where our money should go?" 'If 1% population has acquired more wealth, don't spend time in questioning that…instead help others Rise," he concluded. Take a look at the post here: In the comment section, one user said, 'Interesting. Did not know this. Disappointing. So it's more important to produce world class cricketers than scientists? Haha." Another shared, 'Food for thought for all the policymakers! Reason for not having good researchers and breakthrough researches in India." A person disagreed with Virendra's view, writing, 'With all due respect, this is a misguided comparison!! Like comparing car and carpet!! Entirely two different things! We cannot draw a comparison like this. And how can you say science is not thriving on its own. It's like if you have two eyes or kidneys, why not donate one?" Meanwhile, this year's IPL concluded with Royal Challengers Bangalore emerging as champions by defeating Punjab Kings in the final match.
News18
4 days ago
- News18
CBI Arrests Physically Challenged Man From Hisar For Raping Minors, Uploading Videos Online
Last Updated: Sources state Somnath raped minors, recorded the acts on video, and used these to blackmail them. He then uploaded the videos to his email ID and posted them on porn sites The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has apprehended a differently-abled man in Haryana's Hisar district on charges of rape and sexual exploitation of minor girls. According to the CBI, the accused, identified as Somnath (40), is a resident of Garhi Azima in Hisar district. His parents died nearly 30 years ago. He is a graduate and used to run a Common Service Center (CSC) in the village. The accused was also reportedly involved in searching for child exploitation material on the Internet, which brought him under the radar. According to the CBI, the accused had a habit of collecting such material, creating videos and photos himself, sharing them with others, and uploading them online. The CBI registered a case against the accused on May 29. On Tuesday, a six-member CBI team arrested Somnath from his village following a search of his residence. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said it used Interpol's International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) database and Cyber Tipline reports generated by Google and submitted to the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center (I4C) to trace the content and identify both the victims and the accused. Before the CBI traced the material and uncovered the role of the accused, no victim or their family had approached the police with a complaint. A CBI spokesperson stated that electronic devices containing objectionable material were seized from his residence during the search operation. The recovered content helped identify several child victims who were raped and sexually abused over the past few years and were exploited for pornographic purposes through threats and coercion. Sources reported that Somnath allegedly lured children to his shop by offering food items at the CSC. He enticed young girls with toffees and chocolates and then engaged in inappropriate behavior with them. According to the sources, Somnath raped the victims and recorded these incidents on video. He subsequently used these recordings to blackmail and further exploit them. Eventually, he uploaded these videos to his email account and posted them on pornographic websites. According to villagers, Somnath has been physically challenged since birth, with both legs affected. He has two sisters who lived in an orphanage and were married after reaching adulthood. The accused was known for his friendly behavior in the village, so no one ever suspected him. Somnath's cousin, Virendra, said that he lived alone at home after losing his parents at a young age. According to Virendra, Somnath generally behaved well but would avoid talking to anyone when his mood was off. A few days ago, he had an altercation with a woman over some issue, which had even reached the police station. However, the matter was resolved with mutual apology. Virendra also mentioned that Somnath lost the use of both his legs due to polio when he was four or five years old. Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from politics to crime and society. Stay informed with the latest India news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated! First Published:
Scroll.in
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Scroll.in
‘Pratap: A Defiant Newspaper': A thrilling account of a persistent voice of dissent in India
Chandar Mohan and Jyotsna Mohan's Pratap: A Defiant Newspaper opens with a tense and unfortunate moment in the history of Pratap, when its Jalandhar newspaper office became the target of a parcel bomb on June 24, 1983. Chandar Mohan had dismissed the tightly packed, difficult to open parcel when the peon first brought it into the office: 'Thinking that it must be the usual propaganda stuff that newspapers were being flooded with in those days'. However, 'The package had exploded – three employees were grievously injured, two of whom died in the nearby Civil Hospital'. Receiving a parcel bomb at a newspaper bureau was unprecedented, and the Pratap office became its unfortunate first victim. However, this terrible incident was immediately coded in the language of sacrifice. The authors record that Indresh Kumar, one of the employees who died, said on the way to the hospital, 'Sir, I have also made a sacrifice for the country.' This poignant snippet sets the stage for the book that presents the Urdu language daily Pratap and its Hindi language counterpart Vir Pratap as two of the most persistent voices of dissent in both pre- and post-partition India. Revolution and freedom The book's authors, journalists Chandar Mohan and Jyotsna Mohan, are very much part of the history of the newspaper that they set out to recount – Chandar Mohan ran the newspaper till it closed down in 2017, and his grandfather, Mahashay Krishan, established it in March 1919 in Lahore. Pratap' s story is interwoven with the story of the city's anti-colonial struggle. Mahashay Krishan's son Virendra was a college-going student when he encountered the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). HSRA was a prominent revolutionary organisation boasting strident members like Chandra Shekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh and Raj Guru, revered household names today. The authors recount HSRA events from the point of view of Mahashay Krishan and Virendra. At several points in the book, the authors paint the figure of the revolutionary as exceptional – 'Indian revolutionaries led a life less ordinary'. However, the book's specific contribution lies in situating Virendra's story: he was one of the relatively minor protagonists in the constellation of glistening HSRA figures whose stories are often better documented and celebrated. Virendra was part of the sea of dissenting figures who grieved Lala Lajpat Rai's death following the brutal lathi charge in Lahore. He was also one of the students who was immediately arrested after prominent HSRA members carried out the murder of John P Saunders to avenge Lala Lajpat Rai's death. He was apparently taking an examination when Saunders was killed, but was immediately locked up as one of the perpetrators who carried out the murder. Here, the authors signal at another experience, far more common perhaps, of the revolutionary who, like Virendra, was many times young, able-bodied, never lacking in zealous anger or energy, but 'exhibiting the distance between their passion and experience'. Historians like Kama Maclean, Daniel Elam and Aparna Vaidik have in recent years engaged with the potent idea of uncertainty, tentativeness, and failure embedded in the anti-colonial revolutionary impulse: not all went to plan, yet it was significant and mattered. Virendra himself went to jail nine times in the anti-colonial struggle for freedom. The book brings to life some other vivid details of unknown almost-heroes and almost-foiled plans. The authors recount a plan that Virendra and his friends Durga Das and Ranbir made to bomb the ballroom at Lahore's Lawrence Gardens. They did the recce, found the execution too ambitious, and decided to target instead the Governor of Punjab. Of Virendra and friends, the only one who knew how to shoot was married with a one-year-old child, which disqualified him. The friends then recruited a student of Law at Punjab University called Kamala to do the deed. Kamala volunteered to learn shooting, but they ultimately dropped the plot because of Durga Das' misgivings: 'The three revolutionaries…would be branded cowards for using a woman for such a dangerous mission – more so if she were to name them'. The authorial voice turns sardonic here with respect to women's roles in these revolutionary spaces, writing: 'The time had not yet come, after all, for Bhagat Singh's female counterpart to rise'. Kamala remains entirely anonymous: she went by her pseudonym and promptly got married after this incident: 'the chapter of the mysterious Kamala ended there'. Witnessing history Another meaningful recovery the book makes is its lingering focus on language politics, particularly significant given that in contemporary Indian imagination, Hindi and Urdu have been neatly divided along religious lines. This is a book about pre- and post-partition Punjab and makes an evocative point about Punjab's relationship to Urdu, where it was widespread: 'In Punjab, if a report was not published in the Urdu press, it was not credible enough from an Indian nationalistic perspective'. Naturally, therefore, the Urdu Pratap came first, followed by the Hindi Vir Pratap. (It also must be noted that these newspapers are not related to Kanpur's better-known Pratap, under the editorship of Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi). The book is pieced together from a variety of sources: scholarly research, first-hand accounts, personal interviews, Virendra's memoir Ve Inqalabi Din (Destination Freedom) and Chandar Mohan's own memory of working in the company. One rich source is the newspaper/s itself, which readers can catch some tantalising glimpses of via accompanying images. For instance, Pratap 's editorials being left open as big blank white gaps during the Emergency serve as a spectacular source that palpably places Pratap 's protest against press censorship. However, given the undeniable access both authors possess to the primary archives, we find barely any information about what Pratap actually published through its century-long run. This gap should perhaps serve as an invitation to scholars and writers interested in an investigation of these newspapers. The book often reads like a thriller, with fearful twists and turns at every corner. It also reads hurriedly, as if it needed to be pieced together fast, and the narrative needed to run uninterrupted. It sometimes leads to giving us a strong sense of urgency about the time. This particularly holds true for the years a young Virendra was actively participating in revolutionary politics – his incarceration years make for poignant reading. At times, however, this urgent writing style also makes it difficult to follow. Overall, the book provides an accessible way to delve into the history of a notable newspaper house's anti-colonial struggle against the British in India.
