Stalin seeks PM’s help for release of TN 16 fishermen from Sri Lanka

Chennai (Agencies):

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the release of 16 fishermen from Tamil Nadu who were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy.

In a letter to the PM on Tuesday, the Tamil Nadu CM requested him to initiate diplomatic steps to ensure the release of the fishermen.

“This is the third incident of attack/arrest of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan nationals/Navy within a month and as you are aware, these fishermen are solely dependent on their fishing activity for livelihood and such frequent incidents shatter the livelihood of poor fishermen and also cre- ate fear psychosis in the minds of poor fishermen from Tamil Nadu.”

He said that 102 fishing boats are in the custody of the Sri Lankan Navy as of date and added that six fishing boats that were released by Sri Lanka are yet to

Crucial Read

be repatriated to India.

Stalin, in the letter, requested the Prime Minister to initiate “necessary diplomatic steps to secure the early release of all 16 fishermen and 102 fishing boats that were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy.”

Tn Fishermen Rue

CUCUMBER FISHING m SEPT 13, 1996: SC on plea of accused dilutes the charges framed against them by the trial court and upheld by MP High Court. m MAY 2003:Indian govt formally conveys to the US its request for extradition of Anderson. m MAY 2004: A US court says it could order Dow Chemicals to clean soil and ground water in the abandoned factory site if the Indian government provides a no objection certificate. m JUNE 2004: The US rejects request for Anderson’s extradition. m OCT 26, 2004: The Supreme Court sets deadline of November 15 to pay out the rest of USD 470 million paid by Union Carbide as compensation. m JUNE 7, 2010: After more than 25 years, Bhopal CJM holds guilty all 8 accused and sentences them to two years of jail term. All convicts were granted bail. m FEB 28, 2011: The Supreme Court decides to hear on day-to-day basis Centre’s plea for restoration of culpable homicide charge. m MAY 23, 2011: Delhi court allows CBI plea seeking to extradite Anderson from the US. m APRIL 13, 2011: The Supreme Court questions delay in filing the curative petition. m MAY 11, 2011: The Supreme Court dismisses CBI’s curative petition but leaves it to Sessions court to consider strict charges against the accused persons. m JAN 12, 2023: The Supreme Court reserves verdict on Centre’s curative petition seeking enhancement of compensation to victims. m MARCH 14, 2023: The Supreme Court dismisses Centre’s curative petition seeking enhancement of compensation to victims.

Supreme Court allows Union Carbide to sell its stake in UCIL to McLeod Russell (India) Ltd of Calcutta.

The Chief Minister also recalled his earlier letters addressed to the Union External Affairs minister who had taken up the matter with the Sri Lanka government and despite all the efforts such incidents are continuing.

Chennai: The fishermen association affiliated with the Congress party, All India Fishermen Congress will conduct a protest march in Delhi in April against the Sea Cucumber fishing ban. The Centre banned fishing of Sea Cucumber in 2001 citing it as an endangered species. The fishermen are demanding to lift the ban on fishing this species. Notably, there is almost one case registered on a daily basis on smuggling of Sea Cucumber from India, especially from the Ramanathapuram coast. The farmers urged the Central govt to lift the ban so that the sale of Sea Cucumbers increases, fetching good profits for fishermen.

New Delhi (Agencies): India has emerged first responder in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) at global level, said Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, in his virtual message to a Workshop on Humanitarian Assistance, Disaster Relief, Risk Mitigation and Disaster Resilience rganized under the aegis of Integrated Defence Staff (IDS), Ministry of Defence today on 14th March, 2023 at New Delhi. The workshop was organized as part of India’s Chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and was attended by speakers from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Belarus, Mongolia, Pakistan and China along with speak- er from Russia in the virtual mode.

“In keeping with our cultural beliefs of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – the whole world is one family, India has been playing an important role in providing HADR in the region and beyond”, he added, citing the instances such as Operation Maitri – rescue operations during earthquake in Nepal, Assistance to Sri Lanka in 2016 during Cyclone Roanu, earthquake in Indonesia in 2018, flooding in Madagascar in January 2020, Supply of Vaccines during the COVID 19 pandemic etc. He further said that timely launch of Operation Dost following the recent earthquake in Turkiye is a testimony to India’s willingness to extend help to all possible corners of the globe.

UP:

5 KILLED, 9 INJURED IN AGRA LUCKNOW

EXPRESSWAY ACCIDENT

Firozabad: In a tragic incident on Tuesday, five people including a woman were killed while nine others in a collision between two four-wheelers on the Agra Lucknow Expressway, the police said. An ambulance on its way also collided with the car and leaving those inside it injured, they added. “The accident happened near pillar number 48 of the Agra Lucknow Expressway, near Thana Nasirpur area,” said Ravi Ranjan, District Officer, Firozabad.

Terrorist held in J&K’s Sopore district

Over 900 Omicron sub-variants detected in last 4 months: Govt

‘Vibrant Prog’ for border villages’ development

27-YR-OLD TRICHY

9

HELD IN T’GANA STATE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION EXAM PAPER LEAK CASE

Hyderabad: Hyderabad police arrested nine people in Telangana State Public Service Commission’s (TSPSC) public examinations question paper leak, officials said on Tuesday. Police said, “Based on the complaint given by Assistant Secretary of TSPSC on March 11, a case was registered. On March 13, the Commissioner’s Task Force and Central Zone team apprehended nine persons accused of stealing and leaking TSPSC’s Assistant Engineer (AE) Exam Question Papers.”

TEACHERS’ SCAM: TMC EXPELS KUNTAL

GHOSH,

Santanu Bandopadhyay

Kolkata: West Bengal’s ruling TMC on Tuesday expelled youth leaders Kuntal Ghosh (R) and Santanu Bandoopadhyay (L), both arrested in the multi-crore teachers’ recruitment scam in the state. This the second time that TMC has taken such a step in the matter since the central agencies started probing scam. Last July, the party stripped former state Education Minister and Secretary General, Partha Chatterjee of all his ministerial and party portfolios a week after his arrest by ED.

Srinagar: Security forces in Sopore arrested an active terrorist, an official said on Tuesday, adding arms and ammunition were also recovered from him. The terrorist has been identified as Owais Ahmad Mir. Based on specific input regarding the presence of a terrorist in Madina Bagh Moh at Dangerpura area, a joint cordon and search operation was launched by Sopore Police and the Army (22RR).

New Delhi (PTI): Omicron and its sub-lineages are the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variants in India, the govt informed Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. During the last four months, more than 1900 Omicron sub-variants have been detected among the samples analysed by the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) across the country, Minister of State for Health Bharasti Pravin Pawar said in a written reply. Given the emergence of

MAN DIES WITH COVID SYMPTOMS variants of Covid-19 virus with variable transmissibility and their possible health implications, INSACOG network laboratories conducts whole genome sequencing of samples for detection of mutant variants of the virus.

Chennai: The sample of a 27-year-old man who died with Covid symptoms in Trichy has been sent for testing to check for the presence of H3N2 virus, officials said on Tuesday. The victim was a resident of Trichy and worked in Bengaluru. Recently, he had gone on a vacation to Goa with his friends, where he fell sick and returned to Trichy on a flight on March 9. He died at GBR private hospital in Trichy on March 10.

New Delhi (ANI): The central government has approved a centrallysponsored scheme ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ for the comprehensive development of the border villages, said Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nisith Pramanik in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The programme aims to develop the villages in 46 border blocks of 19 districts in four States and one Union Territo- ry viz Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Ladakh (UT) abutting the northern border.

A fund of Rs 4,800 crore has been allocated for the programme for the Financial Year 202223 to 2025-26.

39 of world’s 50 most polluted cities are in India: Report

New Delhi: The Swiss firm IQAir in its ‘World Air Quality Report’ released on Tuesday ranked India the world’s eighth most polluted country in 2022, dropping from fifth place the previous year. In the list of most polluted cities in the world, out of the 50 cities, 39 are in India.

Chad, Iraq, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Kuwait, India, Egypt and Tajikistan were the top 10 most polluted countries while Australia, Estonia,

Finland, Grenada, Iceland, and New Zealand met the World Health Organization (WHO) PM2.5 guideline (annual average of 5 Aug/m3 or less).

The data from 131 countries was taken from over 30,000 groundbased monitors, govt or non-govt operated.

In India, the transportation sector causes 2035 per cent of the PM2.5 pollution while other sources of pollution are industrial units, coalfired power plants and biomass burning.

After the two top most-polluted cities, Lahore in Pakistan and Hotan in China, Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi is in

THE ‘WORLD AIR QUALITY REPORT’ third place and Delhi ranked fourth.

The report said that worldwide, poor air quality accounts for 93 billion days lived with illness and over six million deaths each year. As per report, 31 cities including 10 cities in Uttar Pradesh and seven in Haryana, have seen a steep percentage decline in pollution levels.

Delhi’s PM2.5 level is almost 20 times the safe limit, the report stated.

Delhi has so far been the most polluted capital in the world and the report made a distinction between ‘greater’

Delhi and New Delhi the capital. Both are in the top 10 and the infamous distinction of being the world’s most polluted capital goes to Chad’s N’Djamena. National Capital’s peripherals-- Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad have seen a decline in pollution levels. The report said that there is a 34 per cent decline in Gurugram to 21 per cent in Faridabad if compared to the average PM2.5 levels reported in previous years.