chennai l thursday l october 17, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 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 1 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 2 1. Dr Ambedkar Nagar at Veppampatti in Pallikaranai inundated following rainfall on Wednesday morning 2. Residents crossing a flooded Vyasarpadi road on a boat | ashwin prasath, Shiba Prasad Sahu Drifting depression spares 70% flood work completed in red-alert TN, pounds AP Chennai: Stalin E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai E x p r e s s 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 the direction of the depression led to a significant drop in rainfall in most places s i n c e We d n e s d ay 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 west-northwest direction, a few weather bloggers said. The change in the direction of the weather system re- sulted 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 5075km in the depression’s path, the cloud convergence shifted towards souther n Andhra Pradesh. The depression’s circulation is currently unstructured, with the lower levels over the sea and the upper levels over land, causing a westward tilt. This has led to interior regions like Rayalaseema receiving rainfall,” he said. Briefing reporters on Wednesday, S Balachandran, Additional Director General of Meteorology, 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 in isolated places of 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.  P7 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. While inspecting rain-hit locations in Pallikaranai and other areas, the chief minister 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.”  P7 Terrorism won’t boost trade, Jaishankar’s veiled dig at Pak Y ESHI SELI @ New Delhi Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif (R) greets EAM S Jaishankar in Islamabad | PTI 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-to-people 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 being 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-to-people exchanges in parallel,” Jais- colonial legacy Purged Blindfold off from Supreme Court’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. The blindfold in the colonial era statue signified equality before the law. And the sword had represented authority and the power to punish injustice. A well placed source said Chief Justice of India D Y 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 justice 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. Law not blind Commissioned by the CJI, the idea behind removing the blindfold was to send a message that the law is not blind in India hankar 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 essen, tial to have an “honest conversation” on lack of trust. “If trust is lacking or cooperation 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. exotic species haul by chennai customs In yet another interception of exotic wildlife trafficking by Chennai Customs officials, four Siamang Gibbon monkeys and 52 green iguanas were seized from a Malaysian national who landed at Chennai airport from Kuala Lumpur on October 13 | P2 Minor held for hoax threats to Indian flights SHEKHAR SINGH a n d U J WAL J ALALI @ New Delhi AT least 20 flights were disrupted at different airports in and outside India in the past 48 hours following hoax bomb threats, prompting the Ministry of Home Affairs to seek a report from the civil aviation ministry Civil Aviation Minis. ter Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu chaired a high-level meeting of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and CISF. “I am deeply concerned over the recent disruptive acts targeting Indian airlines, affecting both domestic and international operations, our law enforcement agencies are pursuing all the cases,” the minister said. Senior aviation ministry officials said that the threats targeted four IndiGo flights, two SpiceJet, and one Akasa Air, causing disruption and concern among passengers. “Six hoax threats were received on Monday seven on Tuesday and , as many on Wednesday an of,” ficial told this newspaper. Multiple FIRs have been filed by law enforcement agencies of different states, which include three cases being registered by Mumbai Police and eight by Delhi Police. Meanwhile, the Mumbai Police has detained a 17-year-old boy from Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon for allegedly sending threats to three flights. The boy reportedly created a social media account in his friend’s name to send the threats.