DEc 21 to be World meditation day A draft resolution co-sponsored by India was unanimously adopted in the UN to observe Dec 21 as World Meditation Day. India’s UN ambassador Parvathaneni Harish said, “Glad that India along with other nations of the core group guided the unanimous adoption of the resolution on the declaration of December 21 as World Meditation Day @UN General Assembly.” kochi l Sunday l december 08, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city edition 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 First day sees first boycott by Aghadi MLAs Samajwadi Party may exit MVA over Uddhav Sena’s glorification of Babri demolition S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in Maharashtra on Saturday refused to take part in the oath taking ceremony of the newly elected MLAs in protest against the alleged rigging of electronic voting machines (EVM) in the recent assembly elections. However, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar and others took their oath as MLAs. There was turbulence in the MVA, as the Samajwadi Party that has two MLAs in Maharashtra, threatened to walk out of the alliance. SP MLA Abu Azmi said the MVA was taking decisions without consulting them, including the boycott of the oath ceremony . Another SP MLA Rais Sheikh said his party was not comfortable with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction lauding the demolition of the Babri Masjid structure. “We will talk with our leaders and take the call on the MVA,” he said. As for the EVM issue, Ajit Pawar said that MVA was doing injustice to their voters. He said when the MVA did well in Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy CM Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar and others pay tribute to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, in Mumbai | PTI Home for double-engine coordination, says CM Mumbai: Amid continuing wrangling for plum portfolios in the ruling alliance, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday justified his claim on the home ministry, saying it would enhance coordination with the Centre. P8 the Lok Sabha elections, they had no problems with the EVM. “Now, the Opposition is blaming the EVM. This is nothing but cheating,” he said, adding they will have to take their oath on Sunday, else they will lose their assembly membership. Uddhav Sena’s MLA Aditya Thackeray said he suspected EVM rigging gave the Mahayuti the mandate. HC slams state over lack of clarity on SDRF E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @ Kochi The Kerala High Court has come down heavily on the state government for failing to maintain accurate figures regarding the availability and utilisation of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). When a case initiated suo motu regarding the Wayanad landslides came up for hearing, the court said: “If the state government is not able to give a statement regarding the fund, even an approximate figure, there is no point in having the discussion saying, ‘we have not got this money we don’t have ... the funds’. The Wayanad landslide happened in July and still there is no clarity Every day in . the news, we see claims that ‘Centre is not disbursing funds’, and this blame game continues.” A division bench comprising Justice A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Muhammed Nias C P said the blame game is US embassy says BJP’s charges disappointing y es h i se l i @ New Delhi In its pushback to the BJP’s charges, the US embassy in Delhi said it was disappointing that the ruling party would make accusations that ‘deep state’ elements and the US government were trying to destabilise India. “The US government works with independent organisations on programming that supports professional development and capacity building training for journalists. This programming does not influence the editorial decisions or direction of these organisations,” according to a spokesperson of the US embassy . It was responding to the BJP’s accusation on Thursday that US government and deep state elements were trying to destabilise the country The . ruling party alleged that the investigative journalism portal, Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), was providing ammunition to the Congress to target India and the BJP . violating the dignity of people of the state, especially people of Wayanad. The state government argued that `219 crore was needed immediately for disaster relief. However, the court questioned the basis of this claim, observing that the government was unaware of the actual status of the `677 crore reportedly available in the SDRF. “If you don’t know how much of the `677 crore is available for spending, how can you demand an additional `219 crore,” the court asked. The finance officer of SDRF, who was present in the court, informed that `782.98 crore was available in the SDRF, includ- ing state’s share of `97 crore. Of this, `95 crore was spent between April 1, 2024, and October 1, 2024. An amount of `677 crore is available in the account now. The court emphasised the urgent need for an accurate financial reconciliation. “You have `677 crore in your account, but you don’t know how much can be spent. What prior commitments are holding you back? Where is the reconciliation statement? Its absence is symptomatic of systemic issues,” the court said. “If the state has a utilisation certificate, will there be any difficulty in telling us the correct opening balance of the day the ,” ● More on P5 HC asked.  c i r c u la r o f c a u t i o n Improve performance, TDB tells temple priests M S V i d ya n a n d a n @ T’Puram In an effort to upgrade the efficiency of temple priests, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has issued a circular of caution to priests attached to it, urging them to improve their ‘work performance’ in line with the customs and standards of conduct stipulated by the temple where they work. Non-compliance with the guidelines will attract strict disciplinary action, said the circular. It comes in the wake of a report from the devaswom vigilance wing that priests of various temples are not performing their duty as per the tradition and customs. “Priests should perform their duties, including pooja and other ritu- als, in time, as per the custom and tradition of the temple. They should act in such a way as to increase the divinity and greatness of the temple,” it said. The devaswom board commissioner directed the new priests of a temple to meet the thantri and learn pooja and rituals. Those failing to follow this will face disciplinary action, it said. TDB president P S Prasanth said priests are duty-bound to preserve the divinity and sanctity of temples. “It is important for priests to learn about the customs and rituals peculiar to the temple where they work. The thantri of a temple is considered as the father of the deity Only . he can advise the priests on such mat● More on P5 ters,” he said. express read Mar George Koovakad elevated to cardinal Kochi: Pope Francis elevated Archbishop Mar George Jacob Koovakad to cardinal on Saturday, marking a historic milestone for the Catholic Church in India. Born in Chethipuzha, on August 11, 1973, Cardinal Koovakad was ordained in 2004. P2 Playing by the Roles WITH THIS ISSUE PLUS 12 PAGES