Harsimrat seeks PM's intervention on Chandigarh's cadre issue
Chandigarh, Oct 3 : Union Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the issue of changes being made to the 60:40 ratio of drawing staff and officers for Chandigarh, from Punjab and Haryana respectively.
Urging the Prime Minister to put an end to the violations by successive governments of the commitments and decisions regarding the administrative staff of Chandigarh being drawn from Punjab and Haryana on a 60:40 ratio, pending its transfer to Punjab, Harsimrat on Wednesday handed over a letter to the Prime Minister on behalf of the SAD.
The letter specifically flagged the issue of merger of the post of the DSP (deputy superintendent of police) with the UT (union territory) cadre and requested the Prime Minister to get this undone, a SAD spokesman said here.
It also sought a review and revocation of all other acts in violation of decisions and assurances on the appointment of officers and officials in Chandigarh, the spokesman said.
"The PM expressed surprise over the merger with UT cadre of posts meant for Punjab and assured her that necessary steps in this regard would be expeditiously taken. Badal expressed satisfaction regarding the very positive and helpful response of the Prime Minister on this issue," the spokesman added.
SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal also expressed his strong resentment over the dilution of Punjab's rights in the UT of Chandigarh by successive Congress governments.
"There is no such thing as UT cadre in Chandigarh. This is an artificial and fabricated bureaucratic manipulation and it flies in the face of the fact that Chandigarh belongs to Punjab and is being administered on its behalf through the 60:40 formula, pending its transfer (to Punjab)," he said in a statement here.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
