A New York judge ordered former US president and his companies to cough up $355 mn in penalties for duping banks interest of $100 Mn added to overall bill New York judge fines Trump, his organisation chennai l sunday l february 18, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 30 l LATE CITY EDITION $355 Mn Trump’s businesses run by his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr were ordered to pay $4 million each and a former CFO was asked to pay $1 million for inflating wealth on financial statements. Trump will have to pay interest from when he received benefits from his frauds, which could add another $100 million to his bills. His lawyers have said they will appeal | P15 $88.3 Million Trump has to pay in a separate defamation & sexual assault case Banned from taking loans from NY banks CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Live-in relationship to be out of central UCC draft JOLT to CONG Nath in Delhi amid buzz on joining BJP Law Commission official says it doesn’t fall within code’s purview a n u r a a g s i n g h @ Bhopal Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath and his first-time MP son Nakul Nath suddenly flew to New Delhi on Saturday afternoon, further fuelling speculation about the Congress veteran ending his decades-long association with the party and joining the BJP. However, senior MP Congress leaders, including Digvijaya Singh and state party chief Jitu Patwari, dubbed the speculation as baseless. Nath has not confirmed the speculation and told journalists in Delhi, “Why are you so excited? You’ll be the first ones to know if anything like what you are saying (joining BJP) happens.” Sources said the rift between Nath and the party high command, including Rahul Gandhi and those close to him, has widened since the party’s 2023 assembly poll defeat. Though Nath was in constant touch with Sonia Gandhi and was expecting a Rajya Sabha ticket, the Congress chose state party treasurer and wealthy Yadav politician Ashok Singh as its candidate. Earlier in the day a key Kamal , Nath loyalist and former minister Sajjan Singh Verma said, “Only three things matter in politics — Maan, Samman aur Swabhiman (respect and selfpride). When these are hurt, a leader is bound to take a major political decision.” In the morning, Nakul Nath reportedly dropped the word ‘Congress’ from social media bio. Verma’s social media page, too, had a similar change. The developments came hours after Nath (nine-time MP from Chhindwara) delivered an emotional speech to his supporters. P r eeth a N a i r @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoists BJP’s flag during the BJP National Council meeting in New Delhi on Saturday | PTI Modi drills 370 into party, gears it up for polls RA J E S H K U M AR T H A K UR @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday sought to add sentimental value to the party’s target of winning 370 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. “Winning 370 seats would be a tribute to party idealogue Dr Syama Prasad Mukharjee who made the ultimate sacrifice for the abrogation of Article 370 and preserving Bharat’s unity and integrity,” Modi said. He was addressing a gathering of his party’s national office-bearers prior to the commencement of their two-day national council meet here. The Modi government had read down Article 370 that gave special status to J&K, in August 2019. Modi urged the office-bearers to intensify the party’s Lok Sabha poll campaign around its pro-poor work and the country’s development, informing the people as how his government removed Article 370, acted for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, brought the bills for ensuring reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections and did a lot of pro-people welfare works in the last 10 years. In a post on X, Modi said, “Addressed the @BJP4India National Office Bearers. Complimented every Party Karyakarta for their exceptional efforts to serve people. Discussed ways to deepen our Party’s grassroots level connect across all sections of society Over the last decade, BJP has made a . mark as a party of development and good governance.” P11 Kejriwal appears virtually in court J AIS O N WI L S O N @ New Delhi Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday appeared before a local court here through video conferencing on a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) accusing him of skipping its summons in the excise policy scam. Kejriwal told Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Divya Malhotra that he wanted to appear in person but the budget session of the Assembly that commenced on February 15 Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal arrives at the Vidhan Sabha in New Delhi | PTI demanded his presence there. “I wanted to appear but all of a sudden the floor test came... Our budget session will go on till March first week. You may list the case after that, I will ap- pear in person,” Kejriwal orally stated in Hindi. Since the ED did not oppose his application, the court posted the matter for further hearing on March 16. On February 7, taking cognisance of the ED’s complaint, the court had sought Kejriwal’s personal appearance on February 17. “...prima facie offence under Section 174 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 is made out and there are sufficient grounds for proceeding under Section 204 of the CrPC, 1973 against Kejriwal,” the judge had said. In a significant departure from the Uttarakhand model, the proposed central law on the Uniform Civil Code is unlikely to go into the question of live-in relationships as it doesn’t fall within the UCC’s purview, highly placed sources in the law ministry said. The Uttarakhand code proposed mandatory registration of live-in relationships and stringent punishment for violators, spurring public debate on privacy and personal liberty . Sources said that senior members of the Law Commission are not in favour of bringing in live-in relationships under the ambit of the UCC bill. The 22nd Law Commission of India is tasked with drafting a nationwide UCC, a long-time poll promise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Members of the commission believe that the Uttarakhand code legalised live-in relations press clusive National narrative The BJP plans to push a national UCC narrative in the general elections. Recently, Union minister Amit Shah said that a secular country cannot have religion-based civil codes. “The enforcement of the UCC in Uttarakhand is for social change,” he said through compulsory registration, which is counter-productive, said sources. “The institution of marriage is sacrosanct and live-in relationships cannot replace it. The UCC is about common family law for all religious communities on matters such as marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance and succession. Co-habitation doesn’t come under the purview of the UCC. But the Uttarakhand UCC @ Chennai Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday said minority status granted to educational institutions in Tamil Nadu will henceforth have life time validity Ad. dressing a meeting of the Tamil Nadu Minorities Welfare Board, the CM said the state government had issued an order on February 2, 2024, for issuing permanent minority status certificates to all minority educational institutions to address their long-pending demand. The CM said the Pudhumai Penn Scheme, under which `1,000 per month is provided to girl students who had studied from Class 6 to 12 in government schools for pursuing higher education, will be extended to students of government-aided minority schools too. The state will also provide prematric scholarship for Muslim girl students, a scheme recently stopped by the Union government, through Wakf Board for the benefit of 1.26 lakh students. “I have also written to PM Narendra Modi to restart the scheme,” the CM said. Stalin, while making a slew of announcements for the welfare of minorities at the event, said the CM’s morning breakfast scheme will also been extended to students of Classes 1 to 5 in government aided minority institutions in rural areas. The government is taking steps to issue a standard operating procedure (SOP) to remove difficulties in getting permission for re- WITH THIS ISSUE The New Worker PLUS 12 PAGES Another cracker unit blast in TN, 10 dead H a r i n i M @ Virudhunagar Ten people, including four women, were killed and six others sustained burn injuries in explosions at a firecracker unit near Vembakottai in Virudhunagar district on Saturday afternoon. The incident occurred around 12.30pm at Ashok Sparklers Factory at Gundayirappu village when workers were involved in filling firecrackers with chemicals. Residents of neighbouring villages said they heard a series of explosions. “Of the 74 rooms in the unit, four were completely gutted, and one room was partially damaged,” sources said. Multi- Of the 74 rooms at Ashok Sparklers Factory at Gundayirappu near Vembakottai, four were completely gutted and one room was partially damaged | K K Sundar ple fire-tenders and fire and rescue service teams were rushed to the spot and the blaze was put out after hours of struggle. “Preliminary inquiry re- express read K Selvaperunthagai appointed president of TN Congress unit Chennai: The All India Congress Committee (AICC) late on Saturday appointed K Selvaperunthagai, the incumbent Tamil Nadu Assembly floor leader of the party, as the new chief of the state unit. Killiyoor MLA S Rajesh Kumar will be the Assembly floor leader | P7 Cotton candy sale banned in TN due to use of harmful chemicals Chennai: The state government has banned the sale of cotton candy after test results confirmed the presence of carcinogenic artificial colouring agent Rhodamine-B which is deemed unsafe for consumption under the FSSA rules | P4 Minority status of edu institutes will be permanent: CM E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e has given it a status of marriage now,” said the top official. The official pointed out that live-in relationships are currently referenced under the 2005 Domestic Violence Act, as domestic relationships. The law also has provisions for maintenance now. “In the Uttarakhand UCC, a child born from such a registered live-in relationship will be treated as legitimate,” the official said. While some of the BJP-ruled states like Assam and Gujarat are already mulling their own UCC bills by using the Uttarakhand model, the official said it will give rise to constitutional complexities. “Though states can enact some of the personal laws, the central law prevails in some cases,” he said. The Uttarakhand code mandates that persons in live-ins inform the concerned registrar within a month of the relationship, else they could face a jail term of up to three months, a fine of up to `10,000, or both. pair and renovation of places of worship of minorities, he said. In the appointment of teachers, the CM said the maximum age for appointment of teachers under general category and other communities (OC) has been increased to 53 and 58, respectively, in government schools, and the same will be extended to government-aided minority schools too. Education loans provided by co-operative banks for minority community students have also been increased to `5 lakh, Stalin said. continued on p7 Dravidian model follows the principle of “everything for every one”. DMK will not engage in dividing people on caste or religious lines —MK Stalin, Chief Minister vealed that there was overcrowding in the chemical mixing room, and the explosion could have been triggered during the handling of chemicals,” Virudhunagar collector V P Jayaseelan said. “It could have been due to a human error. We have ordered a thorough inquiry by an inter-departmental team,” the collector said. Chief Minister MK Stalin expressed his condolences and announced a solatium of `3 lakh each to the kin of the deceased and `1 lakh each to the injured. The CM also instructed ministers KKSSR Ramachandran and CV Ganesan to inspect the spot and carry out relief measures. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex gratia of `2 lakh each from PMNRF to the families of the deceased. The injured would be given `50,000 each, the PMO said. p7