MEA raps Yunus aide for reckless remarks The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday panned Bangladesh for a now-deleted social media post by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’ aide Mahfuz Alam, claiming certain areas of India should be part of Bangladesh. “We would like to remind all concerned to be mindful of their public comments,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal chennai l saturday l december 21, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION Muhammad Yunus Mahfuz Alam 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 seven held Youth hacked to death near Nellai court Express News Service @ Tirunelveli Exactly a month after an advocate was brutally attacked with a sickle in broad daylight on the Hosur combined court premises, a 25-year-old man was murdered with a similar weapon, allegedly by a sevenmember gang, near the gate of the Tirunelveli district court on Friday . Police said the deceased, S Mayandi from Keezhanatham village, belonged to an intermediate caste and was killed by a gang of seven SC men in retaliation to the murder of SC panchayat ward member N Rajamani from the same village in 2023. Tension prevailed at the court campus, in Keezhanatham and surrounding areas. “Mayandi had come to the court to attend a hearing in connection with a criminal case against him. After a gang tried to attack him at Annapoorna hotel near the court, he ran towards the court campus. Special Sub-Inspector Uikkattan spotted one of the accused, M Ramakrishnan (25), chasing Mayandi with a sickle,” the city police said in a statement. P7 Provide security in all TN courts: HC Chennai: The Madras High Court on Friday took suo motu cognizance of the Tirunelveli incident and directed the TN government to provide security in all courts in the state | P2 Session ends, 11 killed, 40 injured as LPG tanker hits truck and explodes discord doesn’t Ambedkar issue set to resonate in Delhi and Bihar in the run up to the assembly elections P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi The winter session of Parliament, which saw unprecedented clashes between the Opposition and the ruling BJP, came to a close on Friday with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar cautioning the members to maintain dignity and decorum of the Houses. Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned sine die amid protests by the Opposition and treasury benches over the alleged insult to B R Ambedkar and directions by Speaker Om Birla to members against holding protests at any gate of Parliament. While Lok Sabha’s productivity was 57.87% in 20 days, passing four bills, the corresponding figure for the Rajya Sabha was 40.03% in 19 days and the passage of three bills. The session may perhaps go down in parliamentary history for setting a grim record for several reasons — from an ugly scuffle and a no-trust motion by against Dhankhar to a bitter discourse on Constitution and daily disruption of proceedings by both sides. The highlight of the session — a two-day debate on the 75th year of Constitution — snowballed into a major confrontation between the BJP and the Congress over Union home Special police team for rahul case A special team of the Delhi Police is expected to take over the probe into the FIR filed against Rahul Gandhi for allegedly ‘assaulting’ BJP MPs, sources said. Given the conflicting claims, the team plans to call MPs present during the scuffle to piece together the sequence of events. The police will examine CCTV footage and speak to the injured MPs | P9 minister Amit Shah’s comment on Ambedkar. During his speech on the Constitution, he said, “It has become the new fashion to say ‘Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar’. Had they chanted God’s name as many times, they would have found a place in heaven.” The scuffle outside Parliament led to an FIR against Rahul Gandhi after the BJP filed assault charges against him. With both the Congress and the BJP escalating the issue outside Parliament, it is bound to gain more traction and dominate the narrative in the forthcoming Delhi and Bihar assembly elections. R a j e s h A s n a n i @ Jaipur AT least 11 people were killed and 40 others injured when an LPG tanker exploded after colliding with a truck near Bhankrota on the Jaipur-Ajmer highway on Friday morning. Over 20 people suffered more than 50% burns. Sources said the condition of many of the injured is critical. The Bharat Petroleum LPG tanker was going from Ajmer to Jaipur when the accident happened. At around 5:45 am, the tanker was attempting a Uturn near Delhi Public School on the outskirts of Jaipur when another truck collided with it. Sushant Kumar Singh, deputy general manager (fire and safety) of GAIL India, said five nozzles on the tanker broke, releas- Firefighters douse the fire at the accident site on the Jaipur-Ajmer Highway | pti ing liquid LPG all over the area. The leaked gas ignited due to a spark, leading to an explosion. The fire spread across a 300metre radius, reducing dozens of vehicles to ashes. A nearby pipe factory and a sleeper bus were also damaged. Eyewitnesses said massive flames were visible from miles away, trapping many in their cars. Over 30 fire engines were pressed into service to extinguish the flames. To prevent further escalation, the LPG gas pipeline beneath the highway was shut off. Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma visited the injured in hospital. He also announced financial assistance of `5 lakh each for the families of the deceased and `1 lakh each for the injured. e x p r e ss r e a d TN CM lays stone for 222 projects worth `133 cr Erode: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin inaugurated 559 completed projects worth `951 crore in Erode. He also laid the foundation for 222 new projects worth `133 crore and distributed welfare assistance worth `284 crore to over 50,000 people. Also, he made eight promises, including renovation of roads in Erode district at a cost of `100 crore | P4 Waste found dumped in two more sites in Nellai Tirunelveli: A day after the Kerala government was directed to remove biomedical waste dumped in Tirunelveli villages, the district administration on Friday revealed that waste were found in 2 more villages —Sivaniyarkulam and Vadakku Ariyanayagipuram | P7 Wah chai Your cuppa is healthy, US FDA finally agrees P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Guwahati With the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recognising tea from the Camellia sinensis plant is a healthy beverage, the North Easter n Tea Association (NETA) raised a toast to it. On December 19, the FDA issued a rule to update the “healthy” nutrient content claim to help consumers identify foods that are particularly useful as the foundation of a diet that is consistent with di- etary recommendations. “Fantastic news for the tea industry,” said Peter F Goggi, president of Tea Association of the USA. “Tea is now officially recognized as a healthy beverage and tea can now claim this descriptor.” Bidyananda Barkakoty, adviser to NETA and former vice chairman of Tea Board of India, too expressed joy. “We are happy to know that tea derived from Camellia sinensis has got this recognition. Research worldwide has found the health benefits of drinking tea,” Barkakoty said terming it a “wonder drink”. The NETA urged the Centre to promote tea as a “healthy, lifestyle and wellness” beverage. Dipanjal Deka, secretary of Tea Association of India, Assam branch, said, “Ours is camellia assamica (Assam bush). I think the recognition is for tea in general. In any case, it is scientifically proven that tea has health benefits,” he added. The FDA said, “We agree that tea is derived from the plant Camellia sinensis…We previously recognized that green tea is made from Camellia sinensis in our response to a qualified health claim petition regarding the relationship between green tea and certain cancers.” “We do not have information to determine whether herbal infusions should qualify for the ‘healthy’ claim. We, therefore, extend automatic qualification for the ‘healthy’ claim to tea— and not to herbal infusions.”