QWrap: Bhima Koregaon Tremors Reach Guj; Aadhaar Security a Sham?

Top 5 headlines of the day in 5 minutes.

Image used for representational purposes.

(Photo: The Quint)

1. Bhima Koregaon Violence Spreads to Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh

As schools reopened in Maharashtra after 16 FIRs were registered and 300 people were detained for the Bhima Korean violence, protests flared in the neighbouring states of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

Protestors in Gujarat burnt tyres on railway tracks and disrupted bus services in parts of Saurashtra and Junagadh.  FIRs have been filed against Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mewani and Umar Khalid for allegedly making statements that sparked the Maharashtra protests.

Meanwhile, prime accused Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote are yet to be arrested. Dalit rights activist Prakash Ambedkar demanded that PM Modi make his stand clear on the Maharashtra unrest.

(Follow continuos live updates.)

2. Aadhaar Data Breach: UIDAI Denies Report

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) denied The Tribune report which revealed a racket in Jalandhar, via which a journalist was able to gain access to the Aadhaar database of more than a billion Indians for just Rs 500.

“UIDAI assures that there has not been any Aadhaar data breach & that the data is fully safe & secure,” the board told ANI while calling the story a "case of misreporting.”

The report by The Tribune journalist Rachna Khaira says that after paying Rs 500 via Paytm to an ‘agent’, the group running the racket created a gateway for her within 10 minutes. Rachna then got a login ID and password for the Aadhaar portal which is only supposed to be accessed by the admins.

After entering the portal, the correspondent was able to access all details of any individual just by entering their Aadhaar number. The details that could be accessed included name, address, postal code (PIN), photo, phone number and email of the Aadhaar card holder.

(Read the full story here.)

3.Newly Released Video Shows Jadhav Expressing Anger at India

A second video of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav was released on Thursday, 4 January. In this video, Jadhav is speaking to the camera about his meeting with his family members.

He said his mother was ‘satisfied’ and ‘relaxed’ after seeing him, but went on to slam the “Indian public, the Indian crowd, the Indian government” for instilling fear in his mother and his wife.

I saw the fear in the eyes of my mother and my wife. Why should they fear? Whatever has happened has happened. [...] The Indian diplomat who accompanied my mother, was shouting at her the moment she stepped outside. Has she been brought under threat to meet me?

Kulbhushan Jadhav

India's External Affairs Ministry (MEA) has issued a statement hitting out at Pakistan by calling the video a “propagandistic exercise”.

“Absurdity of a captive, under duress, certifying his own welfare while mouthing allegations of his captors clearly merits no comment,” the MEA said.

(Watch the full video here.)

4. 19 Candid Questions With Badminton’s Mega Star, Viktor Axelsen

Viktor Axelsen won every big silverware up on offer in 2017. He started the year as the world number 3 and by September, the Danish star had climbed to the top of the rankings, for the first time in his career.

Two Super Series titles, his first World Championship gold and also a big win in the year-ending Super Series Finals are just some of the highlights of Axelsen’s mega season. Now as he starts 2018, Viktor is in India as part of Bengaluru Blasters’ team in the Premier Badminton League.

The Quint caught up with him on the sidelines of the tournament and got him to talk about his season, his stellar year and also a few changes the BWF has enforced on the players.

(Watch the full interview here.)

5. Things Richa Chadha Doesn’t Want to Hear In 2018

Yo! It won’t be a happy new year for Fukrey star Richa Chadha if she hears any of this stuff in 2018. We spoke to Richa recently and quizzed her about a list of things she doesn’t want to be told in the new year.

Richa’s list includes words that describe her, any advice on what she should wear, and her connection to Bholi Punjaban’s character in the Fukrey films. Watch the video and get an idea of what you should avoid speaking about when you run into Richa!

(Watch the full video here.)