DMK sacks TN Minister Ponmudy from party post following remarks on Shaivism-Vaishnavism
Chennai (PTI): Senior DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Minister K Ponmudy was on Friday removed from a key party post in the wake of a row over his remarks on Shaivism and Vaishnavism that drew widespread criticism, including from DMK MP Kanimozhi.
DMK President and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin announced that Ponmudy was being "relieved from the party's deputy general secretary post."
Stalin made the announcement in a statement, but did not attribute any reasons for the action.
The move came close on the heels of the minister's apparently distasteful remarks leading to a controversy, with the opposition BJP demanding Ponmudy's sacking from the cabinet.
A video of the minister making the purported remarks in the context of a sex worker has gone viral. There was no immediate response from Ponmudy, the state Forest minister.
"Minister Ponmudy continuing in his post is shameful.... CM Stalin, will you order Ponmudy's arrest," Narayanan Thirupathy, Vice-President of the BJP's TN unit said in a social media post.
He has maligned the women of Tamil Nadu with his comments, the BJP leader alleged.
Kanimozhi also hit out at her party colleague.
She said, "The recent speech of minister Ponmudy is not acceptable." "For whatever reason he had spoken, such vulgar words are condemnable," she said in a post on X.
Thirupathy welcomed Kanimozhi criticising Ponmudy.
Ponmudy had earlier courted controversy, linking north Indians with selling pani puri.
Taking a dig at those who insist jobs will be available for those who learn Hindi, he had wondered who were selling pani puri in the city (Coimbatore) now, an obvious reference to the predominantly Hindi-speaking vendors involved in the trade.
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Trump pauses Project Freedom, claims great progress for final agreement with Iran
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump has suspended “Project Freedom,” to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming progress in negotiations with Iran toward an agreement to end the war.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said, “Great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran.”
“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump said.
Project Freedom was launched on Monday to escort ships, stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, out to safety. Trump had announced the operation on Sunday and the US Central Command began implementing it the next day.
However, the Project led to friction in the vicinity of the narrow seaway, a key route for transporting one-fifth of the global oil supplies, with the UAE claiming that its ships were attacked by Iran. The US also claimed to have destroyed several Iranian small boats.
Trump’s statement on Truth Social came hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, had concluded as its objectives have been achieved.
"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What @POTUS would prefer is a deal... that is, so far, not the route that Iran has chosen," Rubio told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.
On Project Freedom, Rubio said the goal was to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries who were trapped inside the Persian Gulf and left for dead by the Iranian regime.
"This is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation, and what that means is very simple: there’s no shooting unless we're shot at first. We’re not attacking them, but if they're attacking us or they’re attacking a ship, you need to respond to that," Rubio said.
