MS Dhoni resigns as CSK captain, Ruturaj Gaikwad to lead side
In a shocking development, MS Dhoni, the veteran skipper of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), has stepped down from the captaincy just before the IPL 2024. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was supposed to replace him at the helm, will lead the Yellow Army, as confirmed by the IPL website.
Dhoni, who has been captaining CSK ever since the inception of the tournament, decided to quit his captaincy just before the IPL 2022. Ravindra Jadeja took on the leadership duties in his absence. However, it did not last long after CSK’s torrid performances under Jadeja’s captaincy, leaving CSK management to request Dhoni to rethink his decision again.
There have been plenty of rumours around the participation of Dhoni, who has now turned 42. Despite the fact that he looked fitter than ever in his recent practice sessions, there is a time when everyone has to hang up their boots. Now, speculations have resurfaced that this could be the last year for Dhoni in IPL.
Ruturaj made his IPL debut in 2020, and since then, he has only played for one franchise: Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Over the years, he has become quite a figure with supreme consistency at the top, having aggregated 1797 runs in 52 matches at an average of 39.07 and a strike rate of 135.52. His best IPL season came in 2021, when he tallied 635 runs over 16 outings at a spectacular average of 45.35.
Gaikwad will have his first match as CSK’s captain when they take on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2024 opener at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium.
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PIL in SC seeking action against racial violence targeting northeastern citizens
New Delhi (PTI): A PIL was filed in the Supreme Court seeking judicial intervention to address the "continuing constitutional failure" to prevent and respond to racial discrimination and violence against citizens from northeastern states and other frontier regions.
The PIL was filed on December 28 in the backdrop of the brutal killing of Anjel Chakma, a 24-year-old MBA student from Tripura, who succumbed on December 27 to grievous injuries sustained in a racially motivated attack in Selaqui area of Dehradun.
Anjel from Unakoti district's Machmara went to Dehradun after completing his graduation in Holy Cross School, Agartala, to pursue MBA, where he was stabbed to death in the presence of his younger brother Michael.
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The family members of Chakma want capital punishment or at least life imprisonment for all the accused involved in the incident. Anoop Prakash Awasthi, a Delhi-based lawyer, has made the Centre and all the states and Union territories as parties to the PIL.
"That the present writ petition is being filed seeking issuance of writ under Article 32 of the Constitution seeking issuance of writ in the nature of mandamus, order, direction or any other appropriate writ for the violation of fundamental rights as under article 14, 19 (1) a & (g) and 21, and thus seeking judicial intervention to address the issue of racial discrimination and violence against Indian citizens from the north-eastern states and other frontier regions of India," the plea said.
"We are Indians. What certificate should we show to prove that?" words that tragically became the last recorded assertion of Anjel Chakma about his constitutional belonging before the confrontation escalated into brutal violence, it said while recounting the offence leading to his death.
The plea referred to media reports about Chakma's death.
The attackers allegedly assaulted and stabbed both brothers and Chakma sustained severe injuries to his neck and spine, remained unconscious throughout his treatment, and died after more than fourteen days in intensive medical care, it said, adding his death triggered widespread anguish, protests, and demands for justice across the country.
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"Issue an appropriate writ (ad interim till a legislation is made) in the nature of formulating comprehensive guidelines, recognising 'racial slur' as a separate category of hate crimes and determining punishment for the same," the plea said.
It sought a direction to the Centre and the states to create a "nodal agency or a permanent body or commission or directorate" at the central level as well as at the level of each state where such racial crimes can be reported and redressed.
"Direct the respondents at central level as well as at the level of each state to make and create a dedicated special police unit in each district/metropolitan area to address the racial crimes," it said.
The plea sought a direction to the Centre and the states to organise "workshops and debates at educational institutes on the issue of prevailing racial discrimination and ways to redress the same".
The petition said that despite the unmistakable hate-based and racial motivation behind the crime, India's criminal justice system lacks any mechanism to recognise or record racial bias at the initial stage of investigation.
As a result, such offences are treated as ordinary crimes, "erasing motive, diluting constitutional gravity, and perpetuating a pattern of impunity", it said.
The plea said that the killing of Chakma is not an isolated incident but part of a long-standing pattern of racial abuse and violence against citizens from the northeastern states.
The petition recalls earlier cases, including the death of Nido Taniam in 2014 and numerous assaults on students and workers in metropolitan cities, incidents that have been formally acknowledged by the Centre in parliamentary replies but, according to the petitioner, remain unaddressed through any dedicated legislative or institutional framework.
