The New Indian Express Wishes its Readers a NAGAPATTINAM l saturday l september 07, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Wrestlers Phogat, Punia join the Congress ahead of Haryana polls Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia were at the forefront of the wrestlers’ protest against ex-WFI chief and BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh Vinesh may contest from Julana seat Both quit Rlys before entering politics The two star grapplers met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence and later joined the party at the AICC headquarters. Sources said the party may field Phogat from the Julana seat in Haryana while Punia may not enter the fray. Speaking to the media, Phogat alleged the BJP maligned her while the grand old party stood with her during her tough moments ■ ■ Before joining the Congress, Phogat and Punia resigned from Indian Railways. However, it is not clear if the resignations have been accepted Congress leader K C Venugopal said Phogat received a showcause notice from the Railways after she met Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday. Sources said it was for violating service rules on meeting political leaders | P7 October 5 Poll date for 90 seats in Haryana; results will be announced on Oct 8 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 Call to change B’desh flag, anthem BJP promises 5 lakh Y e s h i S e l i @ New Delhi Amid the continuing uncertainty in Bangladesh after prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled on August 5, a section in the country is lobbying to get the national flag and the national anthem changed. The flag was designed by Narain Das and the anthem, Amar Sonar Bangla, written by the Bard of Bengal Rabindranath Tagore. “A lot of interest that has been generated about changing the national flag and anthem. Brig General (Retd) Abdullahil Amaan Azmi was among those who recently proposed this,” Prof Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah, a political commentator in Bangladesh, told this newspaper. Brig Gen Azmi is the son of Ghulam Azam, the former ameer (chief) of ‘Spiritual talk’ sparks outrage, two govt HMs transferred Bangladesh’s Jamaat-e-Islami. He was among the victims of forced disappearance under Hasina’s regime and was released recently . “The Bangladeshi flag has no symbol depicting Islam, like a crescent, nor does the anthem depict the 1971 freedom struggle. So, a lot of Bangladeshis are now open to the idea. For all one knows, suddenly a new flag and a new anthem could come into play a source in Dhaka said. ,’’ “The Awami League is facing an ex- Praveen’s record jump gives india sixth gold i n d r a n e e l d a s @ Chennai Express News Service @ Chennai CHIEF Minister MK Stalin on Friday ordered immediate formulation of guidelines on holding programmes in government schools after the controversial remarks of a ‘spiritual speaker’ on karma, rebirth and relation between past sins and disability sparked outrage. Facing severe backlash after the videos of the speech of Mahavishnu, founder of Paramporul Foundation, went viral on social media, the state transferred the headmistress of Ashok Nagar Government Girls’ Higher Secondary School and the headmaster of Saidapet Government Model School. In his speech, Mahavishnu had blamed the British for destroying Gurukulams and claimed that with mantras one could cause a rain of fire, cure ailments and even fly. “If God was kind, everyone should be born equal. One is born rich or poor, a criminal, or a hero. Why such differences? What you have been given in this life is based on what you did in your previous birth,” he told students. School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, who faced political heat, said police action would be taken against Mahavishnu for insulting Sankar, a Tamil teacher with visual impairments, who questioned his views. A committee led by school education director would investigate the matter in three to four days, he told reporters. While AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami claimed that the school authorities had allowed the speaker to hold the programme due to his connections with ministers, other political parties, including DMK allies TNCC and CPI, and PMK condemned the incident. P4 `850 M u cr TN inks o s with 3 us firms The state government on Friday signed MoUs with Lincoln Electric, Visteon, and Vishay Precision. CM’s visit to the US has got TN investments worth `4,350 crore so far | P4 istential crisis ever since Hasina left, so they have no say in this. With little or no trace of the founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman left — after his statues were razed and museums vandalised during the recent uprising — changing the flag and the anthem will not be much of an issue,’’ said another source in Dhaka. It could be a matter of time before a Presidential ordinance is issued to make the two far-reaching changes. Just when the Hasina government fell, the police uniform and logo were changed as it had the election symbol of the Awami League (a boat). The interim government is likely to bring in more changes to build a new narrative, which is in sync with what the hardliners are preaching and the influence they have begun to exercise, the source added. Praveen Kumar jumped 2.08m in the T44 category Silver in Tokyo, gold in Paris In Tokyo, Praveen had won silver to become the youngest Indian Paralympic medallist at the age of 18. The record was later broken by armless archer Sheetal Devi, who won bronze in the mixed team compound open archery a few days ago. The world of sport is unique. The stories it springs up are even more fascinating. Praveen Kumar is no different. He was born with a shorter leg and had battled an inferiority complex because of it as a youngster.Yet, his passion for sport drew him towards volleyball where he needed to jump more and had to rely on one leg (right) to get the lift. He had no idea then that one day he would be competing at the Paralympics and win medals. Praveen’s life took a providential turn in 2018 when he first visited the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. He met coach Satyapal Singh and he introduced Praveen to high jump. There were quite a few challenges though. Praveen’s height was not ideal for the high jump. At 168cm, he was considered short for a sport that thrives on height. Yet, coach Satyapal felt, he would excel in the sport because of his leg strength. “He used to play volleyball and had exceptional leg strength. He used to cycle 12kms daily from his home to school and stadium, which strengthened his legs,” said the coach. Born to a family from a modest background, in Govindgarh near Greater Noida, Praveen loved sport as it used to be a distraction from his disability. On Friday, after winning gold with an area record jump of 2.08m in the T44 category he said that credit should go to the coach. , jobs, terror-free J&K Article 370 has become history, will never return: Shah FAYA Z W ANI @ Srinagar THE BJP on Friday released its manifesto for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir elections, promising to root out terrorism, create five lakh jobs for youth, facilitate return of migrant Kashmiri Pandits, and bring out a white paper to fix responsibility of those involved in the emergence of militancy . The document, titled Sankalp Patra, was released by Union home minister Amit Shah at a press conference in Jammu, contains 25 promises that include developing the J&K economy through tourism, construction of 10,000 km of new rural roads, women’s financial security and self-reliance, addressing the illegal Rohingya and Bangladeshi settlements, among others. The manifesto also promises steps for the reconstruction of Hindu temples and shrines. In a snub to the National Conference, which is seeking restoration of Article 370, Shah asserted that Article 370 has become a history and can never be restored. Shah also criticised other po- litical parties for mindlessly demanding restoration of statehood, noting that he has already made a commitment in Parliament that it would be restored at an appropriate time after the polls. “The demand of statehood restoration by parties is to mislead the people. I have said in parliament that statehood will be restored. I have accepted it on the floor of Parliament,” he said. Shah arrived in Jammu on Friday for a two-day visit. According to the manifesto, abrogation of Article 370 has ensured peace in the region with visible reduction in terrorism, border shelling and militancy. Removal of Article 370 has led to complete integration of J&K with India, it said. Home minister Amit Shah (C) releasing BJP’s manifesto | PTI No talks with Pak, says Shah Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday clarified that India is not in favour of talks with Pakistan until it stops supporting terrorism. “Talks and bombs cannot go together,” he emphasised HC relief for TatkalForSure developer Express News Service @ Bengaluru THE Karnataka High Court has quashed the proceedings initiated by the Railway Protection Force against Gaurav Dahake from Aurangabad, an IIT graduate, who set up a startup a few years ago to help people book Tatkal tickets within 40 seconds. The court noted that the petitioner neither procured nor supplied tickets. All that he did was create an extension to the IRCTC website, which speeded up the process of getting Tatkal tickets confirmed. The process is said to have reduced the 7-minute confirmation time to just 40 seconds. It would benefit the public. Unless the ingredients of Section 143 are met, the crime itself could not have been registered, Justice M Nagaprasanna said. The petitioner set up buyhatke.com to help people save money during online transactions. In August 2017, he developed TatkalForSure software, which auto-fills details of travellers. All was well for three years when the petitioner was doing it for free. He began to charge `30 per ticket from February 2020, following which a case was registered.