TN CM Stalin confers state communal harmony award on fact-checker Mohammed Zubair
Chennai (PTI): Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday presented the state government's award for promotion of communal harmony to fact-checker Mohammed Zubair "in recognition of his contribution in prevention of violence" by debunking claims in social media that migrant workers were under attack in Tamil Nadu.
Co-founder of AltNews, Zubair was presented the award by Stalin at the 75th Republic Day celebrations here. The government said in March 2023, claims were made in social media that "migrant workers were being attacked in Tamil Nadu."
After verifying the authenticity of the video clips that made such claims, Zubair made it amply clear in AltNews that such claims were false and such attacks did not take place in Tamil Nadu at all.
"Thus, he stopped the spread of rumours against Tamil Nadu and acted to prevent violence caused by caste, religion, race and language," in the state, the government said in the citation.
"In appreciation of the services rendered by him in maintenance of communal harmony, Thiru Mohammed Zubair is presented with the Kottai Ameer Communal Harmony Award for the year 2024."
Further, the government said that he has been "rendering various services to promote communal harmony."
The Tamil Nadu government instituted the Kottai Ameer Communal Harmony Award in the year 2000 for nurturing communal harmony.
It is being given to a person belonging to the state in recognition of outstanding services in building harmony. The award carries a medal, a cash component of Rs 25,000 and a certificate honouring the services. The government said Zubair is a resident of Denkanikottai taluka of Krishnagiri district.
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Trump says he ‘hasn’t even thought about’ continuing Iran ceasefire
Washington: US President Donald Trump has said he has not yet considered whether he would continue the ceasefire involving Iran, while also claiming the United States holds the advantage in negotiations.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said he was prepared to make a deal with “whoever is running the show” in Iran.
“They are fighting with each other, there’s tremendous infighting. They’re probably fighting for leadership in many cases. I think they’re fighting not to be leader because we knocked out two levels of leaders,” he said.
Trump added, “When they want they can call me. We have all the cards, we’ve won everything.”
Referring to ongoing negotiations, he said, “They gave us a paper that should’ve been better. And, interestingly, immediately when I cancelled it [envoy trip to Pakistan], within 10 minutes we got a new paper that was much better.”
“We talked about they will not have a nuclear weapon, very simple … They offered a lot, but not enough,” he added.
When asked whether he would continue the ceasefire, Trump replied, “I haven’t even thought about it.”
The remarks come as uncertainty remains over the future of the temporary truce and broader negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
