Biden-Trump Rematch no one Wants Joe Biden and Donald Trump swept their parties’ presidential nomination primaries on ‘Super Tuesday’, paving the way for the November polls Biden’s lone defeat in American Samoa madurai l thursday l march 07, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION There was a little flutter as Biden lost tiny American Samoa 51:40 to Jason Palmer, a little-known entrepreneur. But it did not halt his march towards renomination as the Democratic candidate for president. Trump lost Vermont while recording impressive victories in other places 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 Deal taking shape for BJD re-entry into NDA BJP may get more LS seats in alliance E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar Sham exam Alleged guardians of students climb a wall to help them cheat during the Class 10 board examinations, at a school in Haryana’s Nuh district, on Wednesday | PTI HC: Minister Udhaya wrong on ‘Sanatana’, but can’t be removed R SIVA K U M AR @ Chennai The Madras High Court on Wednesday declined to issue a writ of ‘quo warranto’ on petitions filed by members of Hindu Munnani against DMK ministers Udhayanidhi Stalin and P K Sekar Babu and Lok Sabha MP A Raja, questioning their right to hold office after their alleged comments against Sanatana Dharma. The quo warranto petitions questioned under what authority they were holding their official posts. Justice Anita Sumanth, while disposing of the petitions, said though the petitions are maintainable, no order can be passed to disqualify them as the pleas are premature. Criticising Udhayanidhi for the ‘divisive’ comments on Sanatana Dharma, the judge said that any statements made by those who are in public office should be ‘constructive’ and not ‘destructive’. “People holding constitutional positions shall propound constitutionalism,” she said. Udhayanidhi waded into the controversy when he said Sanatana Dharma, like dengue, HIV and malaria, should be eradicated from the society He made . the comments while speaking at a conference on eradication of Sanatana Dharma organised by the writers wing of the CPM in Chennai in September last year. Justice Anita Sumanth said equating Sanatana Dharma with HIV and Malaria is ‘against constitutional principles’ and such comments amounted to misinformation. She stressed that persons holding public offices shall show responsibility and must make comments like that on Sanatana Dharma only after going through ‘literature’ and ‘historical facts’. The judge said it was ‘alarming’ to note that the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) minister was attending a conference on the eradication of Sanatana Dharma while holding the portfolio to uphold Hinduism. Maha allies sore over BJP’s seat share plan S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai FIFTEEN years after their bitter break-up, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the BJP have almost stitched up the second innings of their alliance in Odisha. While the deal is being finalised at the top leadership levels, a formal announcement is yet to be made. But, it is only a matter of time, sources said. On Wednesday the day after Prime Minister , Narendra Modi’s visit to the state had given ample indications of the tie-up becoming a reality , both the parties engaged in hectic discussions with their respective leaders — the BJD in Bhubaneswar and the BJP at New Delhi — to for malise the partnership. The BJD summoned its MPs and MLAs to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s residence. After four hours of meeting, the party issued a cleverly-worded statement which said it will do everything in the greater interest of Odisha. Sources in the BJP claimed the alliance is a done deal and that the finer details would be announced soon — within the next 24 to 48 hours. Seat sharing will be decided after discussion between both the parties. There are, however, indications that the BJD will settle for a lion’s share of assembly seats, leaving the BJP with more Lok Sabha constituencies. After the core committee meeting of the BJP at New Delhi, former Union minister Jual Oram said that the issue was discussed but a final call will be taken by the central leadership. After the intervention of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the BJP-led Mahayuti in Maharashtra resolved its seat-sharing dispute and tentatively decided on a 36:8:4 formula for upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Going by the formula, the BJP will contest from 36 of the total 48 seats in the state while Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP will enter the fray from eight and four seats, respectively However, both allies of the . BJP articulated their dissatisfaction. Highly placed sources said after addressing poll rallies in Akola, Jalgaon and Sambhaji Nagar, Shah flew to Mumbai on Tuesday night and held discussions with Chief Minister Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. “Shinde said he has 13 sitting Lok Sabha members who left Uddhav Thackeray and joined him, so he sought at least 13 seats. Ajit Pawar sought nine seats,” said the source requesting anonymity. But Shah told them that multiple survey reports were suggesting otherwise. “There is palpable public anger against the allies and very little chance of their candidates emerging victorious. Therefore, it is better for the BJP to contest from more places in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. For the BJP , winning as many seats in the Lok Sabha as possible is important. Shah promised them a better deal in the assembly elections,” he added. But NCP’s Chhagan Bhujbal later said they will not settle for four. Two held for rape, murder of 9-year-old girl in Pondy E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ Puducherry continued on p5 e x p r e ss r e a d CM launches ‘Neengal Nalamaa’ scheme in TN Chennai: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday launched a new scheme, Neengal Nalamaa, (are you doing good?) to reach out to the people on phone and ensure that government schemes reach all the beneficiaries. As part of the scheme, CM, ministers, senior officials and district collectors will interact with people on the phone regarding the benefits of government schemes | P4 Activists stage protest on Beach Road in Puducherry| Sriram R Oppn calls for bandh INDIA bloc parties, including DMK and Congress, and the AIADMK have called for a bandh on Friday to protest against the increasing drug menace in the union territory The nine-year-old girl, whose body was found dumped in a drain near her residence at Solai Nagar in Puducherry on Tuesday was sexually assaulted before she , was murdered, police said. As protests broke out over the ghastly crime across the region on Wednesday, Chief Minister N Rangasamy met the parents of the girl and announced a solatium of `20 lakh to the family Lieutenant Governor Dr Tamilisai . Soundararajan promised to set up a fasttrack court to dispense justice expeditiously . Po l i c e o n We d n e s d ay a r r e s t e d Vivekanandan (56) and Kakka @ Karunas (19), both from Muthialpet, on the charge of kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder under various sections of IPC, Pocso and SC/ST Act. Investigation is on to find out if more people were involved in the crime, home minister A Namassivayam told reporters at a press meet. continued on p5 No tiger safari in Jim Corbett’s core areas, says SC S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Wednesday banned tiger safaris in the core areas of Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand. However, those in the peripheral and buf fer zones can be permitted, said a bench headed by Justice B R Gavai. The bench also rapped former Uttarakhand forest minister Harak Singh Rawat and exdivisional forest officer Kishan Chand for allowing felling of trees and construction in Corbett, adding that it was aghast at the audacity of the duo in throw- Jim Corbett National Park ing all statutory provisions into the dustbin. “This shows how a nexus between a politician and a forest officer has resulted in causing heavy damage to the environment for some political and commercial gain,” said the bench, also comprising judges P K Mishra and Sandeep Mehta. Rawat was the forest minister in the BJP government in 2021. He was expelled by the saffron party ahead of the 2022 state assembly polls, following which he joined the Congress. The apex court pronounced the judgment after hearing a petition filed by environment activist and lawyer Gaurav Bansal challenging the Uttarakhand government’s proposal to have a tiger safari on the lines of a specialised zoo with caged animals at the national park. The court said the illegal felling of trees cannot be ignored. The bench directed the CBI, which is probing the case, to submit a detailed status report to it within three months, whereas the state government was told to initiate disciplinary proceedings against errant officials. The court said the government must estimate the cost of damage to ecology and recover it from the guilty. It ordered the constitution of a committee to quantify costs of restoration. Pakhrau SC said existing safaris and the one being built at Pakhrau won’t be disturbed. On the safari at Pakhrau, it directed state govt to relocate or establish a rescue centre in the vicinity Finally, CBI gets custody of Shahjahan Sheikh The big Pranab mondal/Suchitra Kalyan Mohanty @ Kolkata/New Delhi 1 Marrying skill with relevance and endurance R Ashwin came into national reckoning with his exploits in the shortest format. But he has continuously evolved and has grown into one of the greatest red-ball cricketers this country has produced 2 First from Tamil Nadu Thirteen Indians have gone on to play 100 Tests or more but the off-spinner will be the first from the Tamil Nadu to reach the milestone. He spoke about what it meant on Tuesday 3 Unassailable lead for India About the series itself, the hosts have already sealed it 3-1 after winning a hattrick of matches starting with Visakhapatnam before wins at Rajkot and Ranchi 4 Milestone match Apart from Ashwin, another, Jonny Bairstow, will also don his 100th Test cap Suspended Trinamool Congress strongman Shahjahan Sheikh was on Wednesday handed over to the CBI by West Bengal’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) after the state did not get any relief from the Supreme Court. He underwent medical tests before the hand over. The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday, had directed the state to transfer a case on the attack on Enforcement Directorate officials at Sandeshkhali to the CBI and hand over custody of Sheikh to the central agency. The West Bengal government had approached a SC bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna to list the matter, but the latter asked the state to mention it before the SC Registrar General, after which the CJI would take the call. But Bengal’s counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi could not mention the matter before the CJI bench as he was hearing a different case. The HC in its order on March 5 directed the CID to hand over Sheikh to the CBI by Tuesday As the CID failed . to do so, the CBI went to HC on Wednesday .
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