MADURAI l thursday l october 17, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l LATE CITY EDITION Diwali bonanza for Central govt staff/pensioners as DA/DR up 3% The government’s decision is with effect from July 1 this year and will benefit more than 1 crore employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali DA/DR now at 53% of basic pay/pension cABINET CLEARS HIGHER MSP FOR RABI CROPS Earlier, the Centre had hiked DA/DR by 4 percentage points to 50% from January 1 , 2024. With the latest hike, DA and DR are now 53% of the basic pay/pension of central government employees / pensioners. The DA hike is based on the 12-month average of All India Consumer Price Index-Industrial Workers, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said after the Cabinet meeting ■ ■ The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also cleared the price hikes for six rabi crops, with increases ranging from `130 to `300 per quintal for 2025-26 marketing season beginning April 2025 The Minimum Support Price for wheat has been increased by `150 to `2,425 per quintal, a move that comes ahead of key state elections | P9 `9,448 crore Estimated Financial implication of the da/DR hike on the Central government 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 India violated sovereignty of Canada: Trudeau US, UK and other members of the Five Eyes group ask India to probe Canadian charges of suspects. The RCMP felt it had reached the threshold as it Canadian Prime Minister was soon turning to be a threat Justin Trudeau on Wednesday to public safety he added. , said there were clear indicaTrudeau said that when he tions that India had violated apprised Prime Minister NarenCanadian sovereignty alluding dra Modi in September 2023 (on , to the murder of Khalistani the sidelines of the G20 Summit radical Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Delhi) about the informain British Columbia last year. tion, he said that there CanadiHe was testifying before a ans who were involved in hate federal commission probing speeches and India would like into foreign interferthem arrested. “I told ence in the country. Modi that the people Trudeau named gangin Canada had freester Lawrence Bishdom of speech and we noi jailed in India, as would work with Inone of the conduits dia if it came to for criminal activiterrorism.’’ ties in Canada at the Earlier in the day, India asked alleged behest of the Canada’s allegations for proof Modi government. found resonance in Trudeau said Indi- Trudeau said they the Five Eyes intellian diplomats were engaged with the gence alliance it is collecting informa- Modi govt as they part of. The grouping tion of Canadians wanted to know if includes the UK, the who were opponents Indian agencies US, Australia and of or in disagreement were involved in New Zealand. “When with the Modi gov- harming Canadians it comes to the Canaernment. They passed as they needed to dian matter, we have the information to be accountable. made clear that the their gover nment, But India sought allegations are exw h i c h e m p l o y e d evidence, he said tremely serious and criminals like the they need to be taken Lawrence Bishnoi gang to seriously And we wanted to see . harm Canadians, he alleged. the government of India coopThe Royal Canada Mounted erate with Canada in its invesPolice (RCMP) wanted to dis- tigation,” State Department rupt this chain, which is why spokesman Matthew Miller they went public on Monday he told reporters. “Obviously they , , said. “We wanted to question have not,” he said. “They have the Indian diplomats but since chosen an alternate path.” they didn’t agree we asked As for Britain, its Foreign them to leave the country .’’ Commonwealth and DevelopTrudeau alleged that Indian ment Office said, “The Governdiplomats were involved in cov- ment of India’s cooperation ert, clandestine activities, and with Canada’s legal process is were withholding family visas the right next step.” Y e s h i S e l i @ New Delhi An aerial shot of Dr Ambedkar Nagar in Veppampatti, Pallikaranai, which is inundated with rainwater following the heavy rainfall on Wednesday morning | ashwin prasath Drifting depression shuns red-alert TN 30% flood mitigation E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai Though a red alert was issued for Chennai, Tiruvallur and other neighbouring districts on Wednesday change in direction , of the depression led to a significant drop in rainfall in most places since Wednesday morning. Later in the day, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) withdrew the red alert issued to Chennai, Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts. The drop in rainfall was due to the depression drifting northwest instead of the predicted westnorthwest direction, a few weather bloggers said. The change in direction of the weather system resulted in north Tamil Nadu receiving sparse rainfall and south Andhra Pradesh being pounded by showers, they said. “But the possibility of very heavy rainfall for north Tamil Nadu cannot be ruled out until the depression makes the expected landfall early on Thursday,” independent weather blogger K Srikanth said. “Due to a shift of 50-75km in the depression’s path, the cloud convergence shifted towards souther n Andhra Pradesh. The depression’s circulation is currently unstructured, with lower levels over sea and upper levels over land, causing a westward tilt. This has led to interior regions like Rayalaseema receiving rains,” he said. Briefing reporters on Wednesday, S Balachandran, Additional Director General of Meteorology at RMC, Chennai, said that moderate rainfall is expected to continue across the state for the next three days. On Thursday, heavy to very heavy rain is expected at isolated places over Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Ranipet, Tiruvannamalai and Vellore districts. Heavy rain is likely over isolated places in Tirupattur, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Salem, Villupuram and Kallakurichi districts. On Friday, heavy rainfall is likely over isolated places in Ranipet, Vellore, Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts, as per the RMC forecast. When asked why Chennai didn’t receive rainfall on Wednesday despite a red alert, Balachandran said that the red alert is not given solely based on the quantum of rainfall. “A red alert doesn’t necessarily mean all places across Chennai will receive over 20cm of rain. Other factors such as the number of days it has been raining, wind patterns, and the concentration of the weather system are also considered. Additionally forecasts are for a 24, hour period,” he said. P7 ‘Red alert doesn’t mean 20cm rain in all places’ When asked why Chennai didn’t receive rainfall, S Balachandran of RMC Chennai said, “A red alert doesn’t necessarily mean all places across Chennai will receive over 20cm of rainfall. Other factors such as number of rainy days, wind pattern, and concentration of weather system are also considered. Forecasts are also for a 24-hour period.” Nilgiris receives 449mm of rainfall in 24 hours Nilgiris district received a total rainfall of 449.3mm in 24 hours ending on Wednesday morning. Kodanad and Kotagiri received the highest rainfall of 62mm and 60mm respectively. A total of 131.50mm of rainfall was recorded in Coimbatore district in the 24-hour period ending on Wednesday morning. Terrorism won’t boost trade, Jaishankar’s veiled dig at Pak YE S HI S ELI @ New Delhi Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif (R) greets EAM S Jaishankar in Islamabad | PTI Informal Talks Foreign minister S Jaishankar and his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar held casual talks on two occasions since Tuesday evening, sources said Taking a jab at Pakistan’s policy of nurturing and exporting terror, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday that three evils—terrorism, extremism, and separatism—are holding back regional cooperation initiatives. Speaking at the 23rd Shanghai Corporation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Islamabad, Jaishankar said these evils should be rooted out before any progress can be made on trade and people-topeople connect. “ O u r e n d e avo u r s w i l l progress only when our commitment to the SCO Charter remains firm… this means be- ing firm and uncompromising in countering the ‘three evils’. If activities across borders are characterized by terrorism, extremism and separatism, they are hardly likely to encourage trade, energy flows, connectivity and people-topeople exchanges in parallel,” Jaishankar said in remarks that were seen as directed towards Pakistan. In a veiled reference to China, with which India has an ongoing border dispute, Jaishankar said that trade and connectivity initiatives must recognise territorial integrity and sovereignty, and it is essential to have an “honest conversation” on lack of trust. “If trust is lacking or coop- eration inadequate, if friendship has fallen short and good neighbourliness is missing somewhere, there are surely reasons to introspect and causes to address,” he added in an indirect reference to China’s assertive behaviour. Jaishankar also emphasised the need for comprehensive reform of the UN Security Council to make the global body more representative, transparent and efficient. “The SCO must be in the lead of advocating such change, not hold back on a matter of such importance,” he said. Ahead of the deliberations, Pakistan PM Shebaz Sharif shook hands with Jaishankar and received him. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha being greeted by Chief Minister-designate Omar Abdullah before the latter’s swearing-in, in Srinagar | PTI Omar 1st CM of J&K UT, Congress not part of govt FAYAZ WANI @ Srinagar colonial legacy Purged Blindfold off from SC’s new Statue of Justice S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi A new Statue of Justice unveiled in the Supreme Court library for judges does not have the iconic blindfold and the sword. The new open-eyed statue instead holds a copy of the Constitution of India in the left hand. There, however, is no change in the scales of justice in her right hand. Commissioned by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, the idea behind removing the blindfold was to send a message that the law is not blind in the country The blindfold in the co. lonial era statue signified equality before the law. And the sword had represented authority and the power to punish injustice. A well placed source said Justice Chandrachud believes that India should move forward from the British legacy. According to the CJI, the law is never blind; it sees everyone equally . Quoting the CJI, the source said, “the statue should have the Constitution in one hand and not a sword, so that a message goes out to the country that she dispenses jus- tice according to the Constitution.” While the sword is a symbol of violence, courts deliver justice according to constitutional laws, Justice Chandrachud reasoned. The court complex already has a mural on the Lady of Justice in classical Indian attire with more or less the same theme. Holding the scales of justice in her right hand and looking upward at the scales, she stands atop a lotus. On the other hand is the Constitution of India. Murals of Mahatma Gandhi and the Chakra complete the iconography in that restricted section of the court. Dy CM Surinder Choudhary Equal share to Jammu To allay fears that Jammu may be neglected, Omar gave 2 ministerial berths to the region, apart from deputy CM post. Javed Rana and Satish Sharma are the two ministers from Jammu NATIONAL Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah on Wednesday took over as the first elected Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory after Article 370 was read down. In a bid to maintain a balance between Kashmir and Jammu regions, Omar appointed giant killer Surinder Choudhary, who defeated J&K BJP president Ravindra Raina in Nowshera in the Jammu province, as the deputy CM. However, NC’s pre-poll alliance partner Congress chose not to join the government claiming it has decided to sit out till statehood is restored. Sources said the Congress is miffed with the NC’s offer of one cabinet berth as the grand old party, which has six MLAs, has been eyeing two berths. Since J&K is a UT with 90-member Assembly, there could be nine ministers including the CM. However, Omar filled only six posts on Wednesday , leaving three posts vacant. Two of the four ministers are from the Valley — Sakeena Itto, NC MLA Damhal Hanjipora in south Kashmir’s Kulgam, and Javed Dar, NC MLA Rafiabad in north Kashmir’s Baramulla. From the INDIA bloc, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, AAP MP Sanjay Singh, DMK’s Kanimozhi and D Raja, and CPI(M) veteran Prakash Karat attended the oath-taking ceremony . work yet to get over: CM E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday assured the residents of Chennai city and its suburban areas that a permanent solution to the long-standing issue of flooding during monsoon is in the works. Around 25%-30% of the work is yet to be done and would be completed soon, he said. “Flood prevention works carried out by the state government in Chennai have indeed helped manage heavy rains in the city. We have been taking precautionary steps to face the northeast monsoon. When the DMK government assumed office in 2021, a committee headed by retired IAS Officer V Thiruppugazh was appointed to recommend flood prevention m e a s u re s fo r Chennai,” the CM said, while inspecting rainhit locations in Pallikaranai and other areas. He further explained, “The government has been implementing the works (for flood prevention) step by step, since all of it cannot be completed in one go. Currently, about 25%30% work is left. When it is completed, the people of Chennai and its suburban areas will be provided a permanent solution to the flooding issues. We are confident of that.” Responding to a reporter’s query the Chief Minister said, , “Sanitary workers, government employees and all those engaged in rain-related works have done their job excellently . I congratulate them all.” P7 express read Chennai customs seize 56 exotic animals Chennai: In another interception of exotic wildlife trafficking by Customs officials, four Siamang Gibbon monkeys and 52 green iguanas were seized from a Malaysian national who landed at the Chennai airport from Kuala Lumpur on October 13 | P2 MUDA chief quits, says K’taka CM asked him to Bengaluru: Amid a row over irregularities in allotment of sites to CM Siddaramaiah’s wife, MUDA chairman K Marigowda quit on Wednesday, citing health reasons. Submitting his resignation, he said he quit after the CM asked him to resign from the post.
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