LEAD

New Delhi: Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Saturday became only the second Indian to win an individual gold in the Olympics, out-performing the field by quite a distance to notch up the first track-and-field Games medal for the country. The 23-year-old farmer's son from Khandra village near Panipat in Haryana produced a second round throw of 87.58m in the finals to stun the athletics world and end India's 100-year wait for a track and field medal in the Olympics.

Chopra won the country's seventh medal and first gold in this Olympics and joined shooter Abhinav Bindra (2008 Beijing Games) as India's individual gold winners in the showpiece. With this, the country surpassed the previous best haul of six medal achieved in the 2012 London Games. Czech Republic throwers Jakub Vadlejch (86.67m) and Vitezslav Vesely (85.44m) took the silver and bronze respectively.

Even as opposition parties have huddled together and unleased a co-ordinated charge against the Centre in the ongoing monsoon session on several issues, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress seems to be carefully working on carving out its own leadership position within the grouping.

Instead of being party to a Congress-led move in the House or following the lead taken by its MP Rahul Gandhi, TMC MPs on Friday showed their solidarity with protesting farmers by attending the Kisan Sansad at Jantar Mantar all by themselves, in the first half of the day. The rest of the opposition, including Congress MPs, visited the agitation site in the second half.

The Supreme Court has sought the Union government's presence on Tuesday to answer the court's queries on the "serious issue" of alleged misuse of Pegasus spyware to snoop on phones of civilians and politicians, but expressed deep disappointment that the high-profile PILs demanding a judicial probe into the matter were filed casually and merely on the basis of newspaper reports without any authentic material.

Appearing for petitioner N Ram, senior advocate Kapil Sibal opened the arguments and said, "Pegasus is a rogue technology, entirely illegal. It infiltrates our lives without our knowing. That's the nature of technology. All that is required is a telephone call to infiltrate our phones. Then it hears, watches and surveys every minute of our movement. It is an assault on privacy, human dignity and values of our Republic. It then penetrates into our national internet backbone. It is an issue of national security. The government must answer the questions before SC."

There was no let-up in the Opposition’s pressure on the Government in Parliament Wednesday seeking a structured discussion in both Houses on the Pegasus affair. The standoff disrupted both Houses even as the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Thursday a clutch of petitions demanding a court-monitored investigation into the alleged potential targeting of activists, politicians and journalists using the spyware developed by an Israeli firm.

As the Opposition parties intensified their blockade of Parliament on Pegasus and the farmers’ protests, six MPs of the Trinamool Congress, Dola Sen, Md. Nadimul Haque, Abir Ranjan Biswas, Shanta Chhetri, Arpita Ghosh and Mausam Noor, were “named” and directed to withdraw from Rajya Sabha by Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu. In the din, the Government passed five Bills — three in Rajya Sabha and two in Lok Sabha.

Renewing his attack on the opposition for protests and disruption of Parliament over the Pegasus controversy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said acts such as tearing papers and making “derogatory” remarks on the way bills have been passed are an insult to the legislature and the Constitution.

Addressing the weekly parliamentary party meeting, the PM expressed his unhappiness at the conduct of opposition members. “The members who tore papers and threw around have not even regretted their conduct. This shows their arrogance,” parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said, quoting the PM. Modi accused the opposition of an “undemocratic” attitude and said they are not keen on meaningful debates. However, he asked BJP lawmakers to exercise restraint.