tiruchy l Sunday l December 08, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l late city EDITION DEcember 21 to be observed as World meditation day, says U.N. A draft resolution co-sponsored by India was unanimously adopted by all member countries in the UN to observe Dec 21 as World Meditation Day India guides adoption of resolution Dec 21 marks the beginning of uttarayana India’s UN ambassador Parvathaneni Harish said on social media, “A day for comprehensive well-being and inner transformation! 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 today (Friday).” ■ ■ Dec 21 marks the beginning of Uttarayana, which is considered as an auspicious time of the year, especially for meditation and inner reflection to fully harness the human potential, Harish added The other members who co-sponsored the resolution include Liechtenstein, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Mexico and Andorra Six months after Yoga day comes meditation day 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 US rejects BJP’s allegations y e s h i s e 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 wwere 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 ‘sOROS, rockefeller, U.S. AId fund OCCRP’ BJP said French media group Mediapart revealed that Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project was funded by US AID, George Soros and Rockefeller Foundation 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 . “The US has long been a champion of media freedom around the world. A free and independent press is an essential component of any democ- racy, enabling informed and constructive debate and holding those in power accountable,” the US embassy spokesperson added. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra had said that elements in the US deep state have colluded with a group of journalists and with India’s Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, to put a spoke in the wheel of India’s growth story using unsubstantiated allegations and malicious reports without a “shred of evidence.” “In fact, 50% of OCCRP’s funding comes directly from the US State Department. OCCRP, therefore, functions as a media tool for carrying out deep state agendas,” the party said in a series of posts on social media. Heavy rain in TN again from Dec 11 E x p r e s s New s Se r v i c e @ Chennai Security has been beefed up outside the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala on Saturday, after its security was breached | pti B’desh cagey on Hasina issue in talks with Misri B a l a C h a u h a n @ Bengaluru Bangladesh wants to “normalise ties with its big neighbour India,” said Shafiqul Alam, press secretary to Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus. Speaking to this newspaper from Dhaka, Alam said they are keenly awaiting the visit of India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to Dhaka on December 9. “This is the first high profile visit of the highest ranking officer from India after the August revolution and we look forward to meeting him. There are multiple issues of mutual interests between the two countries which will feature in the discussion. India is a big neighbour and a ISKCON temple world player. We would like to set on fire continue with our good relations,” said Alam. A group of people set He refused to comment on fire to an ISKCON whether an extradition retemple in a Dhaka quest of the ousted Awami district on Saturday. League leader and former The attack in Dhour prime minister Sheikh Hasivillage took place in na will feature in the talks the early hours. Police with Misri. have started a In August, Hasina’s 15manhunt for the year-regime was ousted by a culprits. The deities of student movement. She fled Sri Sri Laxmi Narayan her country and took refuge burned down | P10 in India. “We have an extradition treaty with India, and have pressed for her extradition, but we will have to wait till all the legal formalities are completed. She has been indicted by a tribunal here for murder. She is also accused of forced disappearances of thousands of people and rampant corruption. She is accused of mass extrajudicial killings during the August revolution,” Alam alleged. On attacks on minorities and their places of worship in Bangladesh, Alam acknowledged that there have been “isolated” incidents, including Friday night’s torching of a Hindu temple outside Dhaka by unidentified people and said that the interim government regrets communal violence and is committed to protecting the rights of the minorities. “But the reports in the Indian media are highly exaggerated. They are proving to be counter productive to our bilateral relations. We have not got fair press in India,” he added. WITH THIS ISSUE Playing by the Roles PLUS 12 PAGES A new low-pressure system has developed over the Bay of Bengal on Saturday and is heading towards Tamil Nadu. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the system is expected to move west-northwestwards and become more pronounced over the next 24 hours. The weather system is likely to approach the Tamil Nadu coast by December 11 (Wednesday), triggering heavy rainfall and potential thunderstorms. The development of the system resembles that of Cyclone Fengal, which had recently wreaked havoc in Tamil Nadu, leading to widespread flooding and damage across several districts. Forecasts for the coming days indicate light to moderate rainfall over Tamil Nadu and Puducherry intensify, ing into heavy to very heavy downpours in several coastal and interior districts from December 10 onwards. P7 First day, first boycott by Aghadi lawmakers SP threatens to exit the MVA over Uddhav Sena’s Babri glorification CM: Home for double-engine coordination Sud h i r Su r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy CM Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar and others pay tribute to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, in Mumbai | PTI Sud h i r Su 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 lauding the demolition of the Babri Mas- jid. “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 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. “We did not take oath in protest against the EVM rigging. We are raising our concern at the appropriate platform of the Election Commission of India. When the Markhadwadi village tried to conduct a mock poll to verify their voting through paper ballot, the local administration and the police disallowed it. Something is fishy he alleged. ,” 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. Both the BJP and the Shiv Sena are yet to thrash out a consensus on portfolio allocation, specifically home, which Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is keen on holding. Shinde’s argument is that finance and home are portfolios worthy of a deputy chief minister. If NCP’s Ajit Pawar can get finance with 41 MLAs, why can’t the Sena with 57 MLAs have home, he reasoned. Fadnavis said, “we feel the home ministry should remain with us for coordinating with the Centre on issues like Naxalism. Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde can also do coordination, but we strongly feel the home ministry should be with us.” He further added that as leader of the BJP in the state, he is always in contact with the party and its leadership in Delhi, one more reason why he should have the home ministry . In the outgoing Mahayuti government, Fadnavis as deputy chief minister was in-charge of the home portfolio. Of the 43 ministries, BJP wants to keep as many as 60% of them. express read VCK chief reiterates allegiance to DMK Chennai: VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan on Saturday reiterated his party’s continued allegiance to the DMK alliance, a day after party deputy general secretary Aadhav Arjuna slammed the DMK over dynastic politics. “Aadhav Arjuna’s comments against the DMK alliance were 100% wrong,” Thiruma said | P4 Nilgiri Tahr dies of suspected overdose Nilgiris: In a case of suspected overdose, a female Nilgiri Tahr was found dead at Avalanche Forest in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve on Friday afternoon, hours after it was administered sedative for radio-collaring. Postmortem revealed that the animal’s organs weakened allegedly due to sedation | P4