Student sexual assault: BJP to take out "justice rally" from Madurai to Chennai, says Annamalai
Chennai (PTI): Stepping up heat on the ruling DMK over the student sexual assault case, the BJP's state unit on Monday announced that the party's women's wing will take out a rally from Madurai to Chennai, seeking justice for the victim.
BJP state president K Annamalai, announcing the protest, alleged the accused belonged to the DMK and there were attempts to "conceal the truth," in the matter.
Condemning this and the atrocity inflicted on the women, the BJP's state Mahila Morcha, under its chief Umarathi Rajan, will take out the "justice rally" from Madurai to Chennai and will set off from the southern city on January 3, he said in a post on 'X.'
"It has been decided, that upon completion of the rally in Chennai, a memorandum will be presented to the Tamil Nadu Governor on demands by the women's wing," Annamalai added.
Madurai is located about 450 km from here.
A 19 year-old student was sexually assaulted inside the campus of Anna University, a premier technical varsity, prompting outrage from opposition parties and the civil society. One person has been arrested in connection with the incident so far and the DMK has denied the accused was a party member.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
