Wrong to divide Gods into castes: UP minister hits out at CM Adityanath
Muzaffarnagar (UP), Dec 3: Taking strong objection to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath's "Lord Hanuman is Dalit" remark, state minister Om Prakash Rajbhar said it was wrong to divide Gods into castes.
Addressing a public meeting in Shamli district on Sunday, the backward classes welfare minister criticised his own government for starting a controversy with such statements.
It is wrong to divide Gods into castes and due to this controversy, Dalit community is demanding to takeover Hanuman temples, he said.
While addressing a rally in Rajasthan's Alwar district last week, Adityanath had said, "Hanuman was a forest dweller, deprived and a Dalit. 'Bajrang Bali' worked to unite all Indian communities, from north to south and east to west".
Reacting to the remarks, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar had Sunday said members of the community should take over all Hanuman temples in the country and appoint Dalits as priests there.
Rajbhar also hit out at the state government for not providing 27 per cent reservation to the Kashyap community.
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Mexico's Congress approves higher tariffs on goods from India, China and non-FTA nations
Washington (PTI): Mexico's Congress has approved a bill that seeks to impose higher tariffs on imports from India, China, Brazil and several other countries with which the North American nation doesn't have free trade agreements.
The levies, which is set to take effect on January 1, 2026, was passed by Mexico's Senate on Wednesday after the lower house approved it.
The development comes months after US President Donald Trump imposed a steep 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods entering American markets, including 25 per cent for Delhi's purchases of Russian oil, in August.
The bill, submitted to Congress by President Claudia Sheinbaum in September, proposes modifications to 1,463 tariff categories (or products) covering more than a dozen sectors, including auto parts, light vehicles, plastic, toys, textiles, furniture, footwear, clothing, aluminium and glass, according to the Mexico News Daily.
The proposed tariffs range from 5 per cent to 50 per cent.
Among the other countries that will be affected by the proposed higher tariffs are India, China, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, the daily said.
China will be the most affected country.
The paper said that the government believes that the proposed tariffs would generate additional revenue of USD 3.8 billion per year.
The Mexican government is aiming to reduce reliance on imports from Asian countries, especially China, it added.
The proposal to increase tariffs on China and other countries with which Mexico doesn't have free trade agreements represents “an alignment with US trade policy,” Horacio Saavedra, a Mexican diplomat, was quoted as saying by the news outlet La Silla Rota.
“The [tariff] measure responds to the shared concern of Mexico and the US about practices that have affected national industries, especially textiles, clothing and certain manufacturing sectors,” Saavedra said.
India was Mexico's 9th largest trading partner in 2023, with a trade of USD 10.58 billion. The bilateral trade in 2023 consisted of Indian imports of USD 2.54 billion and exports of USD 8.03 billion to Mexico.
In the trade basket from the Indian side, the most important items of export are automobiles and auto parts, pharmaceuticals, engineering goods and chemical products.
From the Mexican side, the most important item is crude oil. Other products of export to India are gold and related jewellery, chemical compounds and telephone machinery.
