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LIVE! Court to hear another anti-Sikh riots case against Sajjan Kumar today

08:42  Legendary kabaddi player Anup Kumar announces retirement:  

Anup Kumar, one of the most impactful kabaddi players the country has seen, on Wednesday announced his retirement with immediate effect, drawing curtains to an illustrious 15-year career.

   

A veteran in the sport, Arjuna awardee Anup began his international career in 2006 at the South Asian Games in Sri Lanka. He led India to gold medal at the Asian Games and was also part of the team which repeated the feat in the 2014 edition. 

 

The 35-year-old had also led India to memorable Kabaddi World Cup title triumph in 2016. 

 

In season 2 of the Pro Kabaddi League, Anup captained U Mumba and led the team to victory.

 

“When I started playing kabaddi, it was a great hobby and over the years a hobby became the most important part of my life. The day I took to playing kabaddi professionally, I had one dream, to represent my country and bring back a gold medal,” Anup said.

 

“I am one of the few lucky people who had the opportunity to accomplish the most important dream of my life. Today, with the Pro Kabaddi League, the magnitude of the sport has grown by leaps and bounds and I could not be happier than to watch and grow and be a part of this journey. 

 

“Coincidentally, today is also the 10th birthday of my son, and that makes this date even more memorable. Going forward, if there is anything I am confident about, it is knowing that I will always want to be connected to the sport,” he added. 

 

Reacting to the announcement, Pro Kabaddi League Commissioner Anupam Goswami, said, “This is a great decision by a great player from a great stage of kabaddi. Anup has been a senior player and a role model athlete for this sport. We totally respect his decision.”

 

Ronnie Screwvala, team owner U Mumba, said, “When I heard of Anup Kumar’s retirement, I have to say it didn’t surprise me because he is one of the smartest and intelligent players in Kabaddi. He gets his sense of timing on the field and I think he gets his timing when he is looking at his own career off the field as well.” — PTI  

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08:37  Court to hear another anti-Sikh riots case against Sajjan Kumar today:  

A Delhi court will hear today a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case against Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, who is accused of instigating a mob to kill Sikhs.

 

District Judge Poonam A Bamba is scheduled to record the statement of a key prosecution witness in the case and Kumar is directed to appear before the court.

Three persons — Kumar, Brahmanand Gupta and Ved Prakash — are facing trial on charges of murder and rioting in the case pertaining to the killing of Surjit Singh in Sultanpuri.

The witness, Cham Kaur, had on November 16 identified Kumar before the court as one who had allegedly instigated the mob to kill Sikhs.

Kaur had told the court that she had seen Kumar allegedly addressing the crowd in national capital’s Sultanpuri area in 1984 that Sikhs had killed “our mother” and instigated the mob to kill them.

“On October 31, 1984 we were watching TV on the demise of Indira Gandhi. On November 1, 1984 when I stepped out to look for my goat, I saw accused Sajjan Kumar addressing the crowed and was saying ‘hamari ma maar di. Sardaro ko maar do’ (killed our mother. Kill the Sikhs),” Kaur had told the court.

She had further said the next morning, they were attacked in which her son and her father were killed.

“My son Kapoor Singh and my father Sardarji Singh were pulled out of the hiding place on second floor, beaten badly and were thrown down from the roof,” she had said, adding that she herself received injuries in the attack.

During the proceedings, Kaur had also identified Kumar, who was present in the court.

“I could recognise the accused Sajjan Kumar, as we used to visit him for getting help in making ration card, passport. We used to visit the accused for getting the papers stamps as he was the MP/MLA,” she had said.

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00:13  Greenpeace may halve India staff after donations row:  

Environmental group Greenpeace said on Wednesday it could halve its workforce in India to 30 early next year due to a block on its bank account after accusations of illegal donations.

The Centre has tightened scrutiny of non-profit groups over the past four years. The government says they often act against India’s interests and has revoked licenses for thousands of foreign-funded groups.

Known for its campaigns against India’s coal-fired power plants, Greenpeace has been barred from receiving foreign donations since 2015.

The Enforcement Directorate froze Greenpeace’s main bank account on October 5.

Greenpeace, which denies wrongdoing, said it only had funds to pay employees for about two more months, meaning half of the staff of 30 were at risk of losing their jobs.

“There are multi-pronged attacks on us,” said Greenpeace spokesman Nandikesh Sivalingam, blaming the coal lobby.

“The coal industry is strong and powerful even if governments do want to move away from coal, including for climate change reasons.”

Source: Rediff