U.N. award for Gadgil The United Nations on Tuesday tapped ecologist Madhav Gadgil for the Champions of the Earth award, its highest environmental honour. Gadgil chaired the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel to study the impact of population pressure, climate change, and development in the ecologically fragile region. The panel recommended in 2011 that the entire hill range be declared an ecologically sensitive area kottayam l wednesday l december 11, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l 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 No-trust notice against V-P has 60 signatures First such notice against RS chairman so far P r ee t ha N a i r @ New Delhi The strained ties between the Opposition and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar came to a head on Tuesday as the INDIA bloc submitted a notice for a motion in the House to remove him from the post, accusing him of partisanship. Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Naseer Hussain submitted the notice signed by 60 MPs — including from the Congress, RJD, TMC, CPI, CPIM, JMM, AAP DMK, Samajwa, di Party — to Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody . The motion said, “Unfortunately, Dhankhar’s brief term has been rife with instances where he has acted in a manner that is explicitly partisan and unfair towards members belonging to the Opposition.” This is the first time that such a notice has been moved in the Rajya Sabha. While the Opposition conceded that the scales are tilted in favour of the ruling NDA, they said it was a “strong message to fight for parliamentary democracy”. Elaborating the reasons to move the motion, the parties pointed out that Dhankhar’s conduct of the House on Monday was particularly one-sided and totally unfair. “He was en- NDA has the numbers to defeat motion The NDA has 119, two more than the current halfway mark of 117 in the RS, while the Opposition has 85. Among the fence-sitters are the YSR Congress Party with nine and the BJD with seven members couraging and provoking the Treasury Benches to make outrageous remarks.” He has repeatedly acted in a manner that reduces the prestige of the position he holds, they charged. The Opposition enclosed a list of articles and videos covering various instances where the chairman has unjustly been critical of Opposition members or their actions. Later, Jairam Ramesh said that they were pained to move such a notice, but were “forced” to do so after he “crossed all limits” on Monday by allowing several members of the treasury benches to speak against the top Congress leadership in the House. Controversial speech SC asks Allahabad HC to file details of judge’s comments S U C H ITR A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi AMID criticism over the controversial speech of Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court, delivered at a VHP function on December 8, the Supreme Court on Tuesday called for details from the High Court. “The Supreme Court has taken note of reports of a speech given by Mr Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav, a sitting judge of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad. The details and particulars have been called from the High Court and the matter is under consideration,” an official statement said. At the VHP event, Justice Yadav reportedly said: “This is Hindustan, and this country will function according to the wishes of the majority. This is the law. That’s how Retract and apologise: Bar Association The Bar Association of India issued a strong statement condemning the HC judge’s speech. It said the judge should retract his statements and tender an apology for his remarks. It also urged the Chief Justice of India and companion judges of the Supreme Court “to deal with this issue in a stern and emphatic manner” any society works.” The judge also reportedly said that the main aim of the Uniform Civil Code is to promote social harmony, gender equality, and secularism. According to reports, the judge highlighted the cultural values of children brought up with Hindu values of non-violence, tolerance etc, contrasting them with those of other communities that practise animal sacrifice. The SC’s administrative action came after videos of the speech were circulated on social media, triggering strong S MaKrishna hailed as visionary reformer 1 May 1932-10 Dec 2024 The former Karnataka chief minister and external affairs minister was a visionary reformer with empathy and a trailblazer who redefined leadership, writes Biocon Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar Shaw | P7 reactions from several quarters, including opposition leaders who termed it hate speech against minorities. Echoing serious concern, senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Tuesday called for the impeachment of Justice Yadav. Lawyer Prashant Bhushan wrote to Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna seeking an ‘in-house enquiry’ into the conduct of the HC judge. CPM leader Brinda Karat also wrote to the CJI, flagging the HC judge’s speech. HC says no to flex boards praising govt at temples E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kochi The Kerala High Court on Tuesday banned flex boards praising the state government and Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) on the premises of the temples under the board. Observing that temples are places of public worship, the court directed the administrative officer of the Thuravoor Mahakshetram (temple) near Cherthala to take steps to remove the flex boards having the photog raphs of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan, TDB president and the local MLA, praising them for allowing ‘annadanam’ for Sabarimala pilgrims during the ongoing Mandala-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season. A division bench comprising Justice Anil K Narendran and Justice Muralee Krishna S directed the TDB and the devaswom commissioner to ensure that flex boards like the one seen at the Thuravoor temple are not placed on the premises of any temple under the management of the board. The court issued the order on a case initiated suo motu based on a complaint filed by P S Sreekumar of Thuravoor against a huge flex board placed at the Kizhakkenada of Thuravoor Mahakshethram. The court orally observed that the devotees go to the temple to worship God. The money collected for offerings should be used for temple’s needs and not for erecting flex boards, it said. The court also noted that the facilities being provided to pilgrims were not concessions given by the TDB. It is the statutory duty of the board to ensure that proper facilities are provided to Sabarimala pilgrims at temples under its management which are identified as ‘edathavalam’ for the devotees, it said. RBI-govt ties were best in my tenure: Das B E N N K O C H U V E E D A N @ Mumbai Outgoing RBI gover nor Shaktikanta Das on Tuesday said the relationship between the central bank and the government was “at its best during the past six years” during his tenure. Das, who demitted the office Tuesday, underlined the need for restoring the inflationgrowth balance as the key task for his successor Sanjay Malhotra, to whom he will pass the baton on Wednesday . Addressing his last press meet as RBI governor at the RBI headquarters in Mumbai, the civilservant-turned-central-banker said: “The perspectives of the finance ministry and RBI can differ, but during the past six years, all such issues were re- solved through internal discussions and coordination.” Listing out the new challenges for his successor, Das said the new governor will also have to navigate the changing world order and deal with cyber threats. He said the governor will have to keep in mind the requirements of the wider economy .