Centre's responsibility to provide security to people in hit list of Gauri murder accused
Siddharth Varadarajan responds to reports on SIT chargesheet
New Delhi: The security of all the 26 people named in the hit-list of the accused arrested in the Gauri Lankesh murder case is the responsibility of the Central Government, senior journalist and the Editor of thewire.in Siddharth Varadarajan told Vartha Bharati.
He was responding to the reports that the charge sheet filed by the Karnataka SIT in Gauri Lankesh murder case has mentioned that the hit list of the accused had his name along with 26 others including journalists and thinkers.
"I have known it for some time as the Delhi Police Special Cell had offered me security, which I had denied since they did not share a proper threat assessment with me," Varadarajan said.
"The police have a responsibility to act against fanatical groups like these, which put out hit lists. The security of all the 26 people on their list is the responsibility of the Central Government, the various state governments and their law enforcement and intelligence agencies. There has been little information or threat assessment sharing by the officers of the Special Cell and my local police station that can allow someone like me to take a decision on what the next course of action should be, " the senior journalist added.
When asked if he will take security, Varadarajan replied: "The police asked whether I would like a PSO, but I said the offer, in the absence of proper background information, is not something I can evaluate and accept".
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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.
