All national camps, except those preparing for Olympics, postponed due to COVID-19: Rijiju
New Delhi: All national camps, except for those where athletes are preparing for Tokyo Olympics, were on Tuesday postponed until further order in view of the COVID-19 pandemic with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) making arrangements for the return of the trainees to their homes.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said the academic training at the National Centre of Excellence and Sports Auhtority of India Centres will also be suspended. The Olympics are scheduled for July-August this year.
"Due to Covid-19, SAI has decided that: All National camps shall be postponed except for those where athletes are being trained as part of Olympics #Tokyo2020 preparation," Rijiju tweeted.
"Academic training in National Centre of Excellence & STCs shall be suspended till further order," he added.
Rijiju said the move is temporary and precautionary and training will resume if the situation caused by the pandemic improves.
"This is just a temporary and precautionary step for the safety of our sportspersons. I appeal all our young athletes not to be disheartened. We will resume the academic trainings soon after assessing the situation."
Later SAI stated that no tournament, sports function, seminar and workshop will be held till clearance is obtained and restrictions are withdrawn by the central or state authorities.
Hostel facilities of the trainees, however, might be kept open till March 20 to avoid inconvenience to athletes.
"Athletes who have an exam to take in the next few days will be allowed to stay at the center and take the exam. However, it is being ensured that all health procedures are followed and the highest level of hygiene is maintained so that athletes staying back do not catch an infection," the SAI said.
"All other trainees are being sent back home after intimation to parents and while following travel precautions. Those who have their home town within 400 kilometers of the centre will be provided AC-3 tier train ticket. Those whose hometowns are beyond 400 kilometers will be provided with an air ticket."
In India, the shooting World Cup and Indian Open Golf has been postponed so far, while badminton's India Open was also deferred after the Badminton World Federation (BWF) suspended all World Tour and sanctioned events.
A few days back, the government had issued two advisories regarding training and competition of athletes.
The ministry had told those, who were training and taking part in the events abroad especially for Tokyo Olympics qualifiers, to continue their competitions.
Rijiju had also clarified that there was no ban on national events with the advice that they be held without spectators.
The Athletics Federation of India is going ahead with the Indian Grand Prix series, from which athletes can qualify for the Olympics, starting March 20 without spectators.
Earlier, the SAI Centre in Bengaluru was shut down but those training inside were allowed to stay there and continue training.
National sports bodies such as the BCCI, the Boxing Federation of India and the All India Football Federation have decided to work from home.
More than 100 people have so far tested positive in India apart from three deaths. The disease has led to either cancellation or postponement of all sports events the world over in an Olympic year.
More than 7,000 people have been killed globally by the deadly virus, which was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The number of infected has swelled to more than 175,000.
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Gurugram Police arrest BJP Yuva Morcha member for spreading fake murder story on social media
New Delhi: Gurugram Police have arrested BJP Yuva Morcha member Hariom Mishra, for allegedly spreading a fabricated and communally sensitive story on social media about the murder of a college student in Gurugram.
Mishra who is also known as Shaurya Mishra had shared a collage of four photographs on his X handle earlier this month. He claimed that a 24-year-old college student, identified as Nikita Agarwal, had been murdered by her classmate Arif Khan in Gurugram. In the post, he alleged that the woman was blackmailed, forced into prostitution, gangraped, and eventually killed. He also claimed that Arif dumped her body in a forest. The claims were presented as being based on police sources.
The post went viral and garnering over 1.5 lakh views, and was amplified by several right-wing social media handles across X, Facebook and Instagram. A verification of the claims revealed that no such incident had taken place in Gurugram. A search of credible news reports showed no record of any such murder. The police said this news would have inevitably attracted media attention if it were true.
On December 11, Gurugram Police publicly refuted the claims through their official X handle. They stated that the information which was being circulated was completely false. The police warned that legal action would be taken against those spreading misinformation. Despite the warning, Mishra neither deleted the post nor issued any clarification.
Police in Gurugram confirmed Mishra's arrest on December 16. The police said a FIR was filed after he continued to spread false information about the alleged murder of a Hindu woman by Muslim man. Police said Mishra, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi district, is now being investigated.
Gurugram Police spokesperson Sandeep Singh told The Print that the accused had deliberately misrepresented facts and used objectionable content to spread hatred along religious lines. “Such posts can create serious disturbances in society, and the police take these matters very seriously,” he said.
A reverse image search conducted by fact-checkers at Alt News, revealed that the photographs used in the viral post were unrelated to the claims, while two of the images were traced to a Pinterest account belonging to influencer Maulik Chopra and another image was sourced from an Instagram post by influencer Shivam Thakur featuring a woman named Deepanshi Rawat. The fourth image was found on an unrelated Instagram page. The images depicted different individuals and had no connection to any crime.
Police said they are also investigating Mishra’s motive behind sharing the false and provocative content.
