Koyambedu Police arrested an auto driver for assaulting a traffic police constable who was on duty. 

S. Robert Anthony, 42, a head constable attached to Koyambedu Traffic Police Station was on duty at Chinmaya Nagar A Road Junction on Thursday. While he was regulating the traffic, an auto which was driven in rash manner sped after hitting him and causing danger to others. The alert constable detained the auto after chasing. The auto driver abused and assaulted the constable for stopping him. Based on the complaint from the constable, police arrested the auto driver who has been identified as B.Anbu, 23 of Nerkundram. The auto driver has a theft case pending against him.

Selaiyur Police arrested a 28-year-old man who is a digital graphic artist for snatching a gold chain from a woman.    

On December 14 evening, R. Sowrnam, 60, was walking at Maruthi Nagar Main Road, Madambakkam. An unknown person came on a bike wearing a helmet and snatched 7. 5 sovereigns of gold chain and fled the scene. On her complaint, a special team of police led by Assistant Commissioner of Police, Selaiyur scrutinised all CCTV footage and arrested the accused who has been identified as S. Shanmuga Anandan, 32, of Ganapathy puram, Chromepet on Saturday. 

Investigation revealed accused Shanmuga Anandan was a B.Sc., (Computer Science) degree holder working for a private digital graphic company at Vadapalani earning around Rs.32,000 per month. He borrowed huge amounts of money from loan apps and credit cards. In order to settle debts, he started snatching, said police. 

Police also said he watched a lot of movies and YouTube videos before starting snatching. First He had  stolen a two wheeler from Ambattur one week before and used this vehicle for snatching. With the help of CCTV Cameras. Selaiyur Police zeroed in on the accused and arrested him.

An advanced centre for asthma care was inagurated by J. Radhakrishnan, Additional Chief Secretary to the Government, Co-operation, Food and Consumer Protection Department, at Gleneagles Hospital, Chennai, on Saturday.

The facility provides comprehensive care for patients suffering from severe asthma. It will have a multi-disciplinary approach involving pulmonologists, allergists and respiratory therapists. Personalised treatment plans incorporating medication, biologics, lifestyle modifications and patient education are the key features of the centre, the release said.

Nageshwar Rao, chief executive officer of the hospital and Suresh Sagadevan, clinical lead consultant and Interventional Pulmonologist at the hospital were present.

TMC President G.K. Vasan.
| Photo Credit: R. Ragu

Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) president G.K. Vasan on Saturday released three legal books written by the party’s State General Secretary Rajam M. P. Nathan. Retired Madras High Court judge P. Jyothimani,  Crescent Institute of Science and Technology Registrar Dr. N. Raja Hussain, C.Chockalingam, Professor and Dean, Crescent Law School received the first copy of the books. In the evening, Mr. Vasan participated in Christmas celebration event organised by party and distributed welfare kits.

Smoke rises over the northern Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from near Sderot in southern Israel, December 18, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli strikes on Monday (December 16, 2024) across the territory killed at least 12 people, the majority displaced Palestinians taking shelter in a house in the north.

More than 14 months into the Israel-Hamas war, the violence raged on even as the United States expressed “cautious optimism” about the prospects of reaching a ceasefire in Gaza.

Also Read | U.N. General Assembly demands ceasefire in Gaza, backs UNRWA

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 10 Palestinians were killed when an Israeli strike at dawn hit a house in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahia, where several displaced families had sought refuge.

Later on Wednesday, the director of Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia said that “gunfire and tank shells” caused a fire in the intensive care unit, with some patients suffering burns.

Hospital director Hossam Abu Safia told AFP that staff had to quickly move all patients out of the intensive care unit.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident.

Elsewhere in northern Gaza, Bassal said a child was killed and several others wounded in a strike that hit a house in Jabalia, where Israeli forces have focused their operations in recent months.

Overnight, a tent in an Israeli-designated safe zone in the southern Gaza Strip was hit, killing one Palestinian, according to the civil defence spokesman.

Parties to long-stalled ceasefire talks said a deal could be secured soon to halt the fighting and release hostages held in Gaza.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Tuesday that “cautious optimism is a fair way to characterise it, though very much tempered by realism”.

Hamas said the current talks were “serious and positive”, while Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz described the two sides as closer to a deal than ever before.

Also Read | Israel Minister says to maintain Gaza ‘security control’ after war

The war was sparked by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 45,059 people, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024,Russian Chief of General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov speaks during a briefing for military attachés of foreign countries in Moscow, Russia.
| Photo Credit: AP

Russia now views arms control over the vast nuclear arsenals that were built up during the Cold War to be a thing of the past due to the lack of trust between Moscow and the West, Russia’s top general said on Wednesday (DEcember 18, 2024).

Russia and the United States, by far the biggest nuclear powers, have both expressed regret about the disintegration of the tangle of arms control treaties which sought to slow the arms race and reduce the risk of nuclear war.

Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov accused the United States of stoking conflicts across the world and sinking key Cold War arms control treaties. He said Russia, in response, would develop ties with China, India, Iran, North Korea and Venezuela.

“On the whole, the topic of arms control remains in the past, since a return to a minimum level of trust is impossible today due to the double standards of the West,” Gerasimov was quoted as saying by the Defence Ministry.

“Without trust, it is impossible to create an effective mechanism for mutual control,” he said. “Many countries have begun to think about adequate response measures.”

The United States, which casts Russia and China as the biggest nation-state threats to the West, blames Russia for the collapse of agreements such as the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

The United States formally withdrew from the INF Treaty in 2019, citing Russian violations which Moscow denied. The United State withdrew from the ABM treaty in 2002.

President Vladimir Putin in 2023 suspended Russian participation in the New START treaty that limits both sides’ strategic nuclear weapons, blaming U.S. support for Ukraine. However, Moscow has kept to the warhead, missile and bomber limits imposed by the agreement — as has the United States.

Gerasimov said that the deployment of U.S. missiles in Europe and Asia was stoking “a strategic offensive arms race”, with a build-up of U.S. forces in the Philippines of particular concern to Russia.

He said Russia had seen increased activity by the U.S.-led NATO military alliance near Russia’s borders. After Ukraine struck Russian territory last month with long-range missiles supplied by the United States, the U.S. had become a direct participant in the conflict in Ukraine, the general added.

The family members of Nagore E. M. Hanifa on Saturday met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin at the Secretariat and thanked him for naming the Street in which Hanifa’s residence is located in Nagore and also a Park after the late singer. In a social media post, Mr. Stalin said the announcement is made to honour Hanifa on his 100th birth anniversary. “On Hanifa’s centenary year, it is our duty to hail his life and service,” Mr. Stalin said.

India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi before their scheduled meeting in Beijing on Wednesday (December 18, 2024).
| Photo Credit: PTI

India and China “positively affirmed” the outcome of their disengagement agreement at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), as National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Wednesday for the first boundary talks between the Special Representatives (SR) since 2019.

During the talks, Mr. Doval and Mr. Wang said that it was important to “draw from the lessons” of the four-year long military standoff at the LAC, in order to maintain peace and tranquillity at the boundary. They also discussed other ties that were derailed due to the frictions at the boundary, providing “positive directions” for cross-border exchanges, including the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage from India to Tibet, data sharing on trans-border rivers, and border trade. 

A statement issued by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Mr. Doval and Mr. Wang had held “substantive discussions” during the Special Representatives dialogue and reached a “six-point consensus”, that would see efforts to maintain peace at the borders and develop bilateral relations. While the Ministry of External Affairs did not refer to a “six-point” consensus, it reiterated most of the same points on promoting exchanges.

“The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to continue seeking a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable package solution to the boundary issue in accordance with the political guidelines agreed upon by the special representatives of the two countries on resolving the boundary issue in 2005,” the Chinese MFA statement, one of two issued about the SR meeting, said.

Significantly, the SRs did not refer to the resumption of direct flights and the restoration of journalist exchanges, which had both been discussed when Mr. Wang met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in Rio de Janeiro last month. However, after a meeting between Mr. Doval and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng in Beijing, an official readout stressed the need to restore exchanges in “economic, cultural and trade” areas.

Maintaining peace

“This was the first meeting of the SRs since frictions had emerged in the Western Sector of the India-China border areas in 2020. The SRs positively affirmed the implementation of the latest disengagement agreement of October 2024, resulting in patrolling and grazing in relevant areas,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement issued after the meeting, referring to the disengagement verification process in Depsang and Demchok in eastern Ladakh.

“Drawing on the learnings from the events of 2020, they discussed various measures to maintain peace and tranquillity on the border and advance effective border management,” the MEA statement said, “underlining the importance” of peace and tranquillity at the LAC so that issues on the border do not hold back the “normal development of bilateral relations”.

Seeking boundary resolution

The resumption of the SRs process — started in 2003 to work on finding a satisfactory resolution to the decades-long India-China boundary dispute — marks a major step towards the resumption of diplomatic mechanisms that have been paused for the past few years. Mr. Doval had last met with Mr. Wang in Delhi in December 2019, just four months before the Chinese army amassed troops and transgressed along the LAC, leading to skirmishes with the Indian Army. This eventually led to the deadly Galwan clashes, the first time there had been casualties between the two armies in more than four decades.

After the October 21 agreement signalled an agreement to disengage at the last of seven friction points along the LAC, officials said that they would need to work next on de-escalation and de-induction of troops. The agreement had paved the way for the first formal talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had hailed the détente between Delhi and Beijing.

Mr. Doval and Mr. Wang, who had also met earlier this year in Moscow, were mandated to hold the SR meeting “at an early date” so as to “oversee the management of peace and tranquillity in border areas and to explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question,” the statement said. Mr. Doval also invited Mr. Wang to visit New Delhi for the next round of SR talks.

‘Restore political trust’

Mr. Doval, who arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, also called on Chinese Vice President Han Zheng. According to a readout quoted by official agencies, Mr. Han said that as “ancient civilisations and emerging global powers”, India and China’s ties hold global influence and strategic significance. Both sides should “restore political trust and promote collaboration in economic, trade, and cultural areas, thus ensuring stable development in their bilateral relations,” he said.

According to the readout, Mr. Doval had responded, saying that the resumption of SR talks after a five-year hiatus was significant, and that India is committed “to strengthening strategic communication with China” and injecting new momentum into the relationship. The MEA, however, did not issue a readout on the NSA’s talks with the Chinese Vice President.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s military chief Abu Hassan al-Hamwi is pictured during an interview in the Syrian western port city of Latakia, on December 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

The military chief of Syria’s victorious Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham said on Tuesday (December 17, 2024) it would be “the first” to dissolve its armed wing and integrate into the armed forces.

“In any state, all military units must be integrated into this institution,” Murhaf Abu Qasra, known by his nom de guerre Abu Hassan al-Hamawi, said in an interview with AFP, adding that “we will be, God willing, among the first to take the initiative [to dissolve our armed wing]”.

Also read | Syria’s new rulers step up engagement with the world

He added that Kurdish-held areas of Syria would be integrated under the country’s new leadership, adding that the group rejects federalism and that “Syria will not be divided”.

“The Kurdish people are one of the components of the Syrian people… Syria will not be divided and there will be no federal entities,” he said.

A U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led administration controls swathes of north and northeastern Syria, and has recently been battling Turkish-backed groups which have captured several Kurdish towns.

Abu Qasra also called on the international community to “find a solution” to repeated Israeli strikes and an “incursion” into Syrian territory.

“We view the Israeli strikes on military sites and the incursion into southern Syria as injust… we call on the international community to find a solution to this matter,” he said.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on Syrian military assets in what it says is a bid to prevent them falling into hostile hands.

It has also sent troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights.

Abu Qasra also called on Western governments to lift the “terrorist” designation from HTS and its leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, now using his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa.

“We call on the United States and all countries to lift this designation… on his person and the whole group,” he said, describing it as “unjust” and saying that the group “will ultimately be integrated into state institutions”.

The radical Sunni Islamist group has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Western governments including the United States and Britain.

It has recently sought to moderate its rhetoric and assure the international community that religious and other minorities will be protected.

The proposed GST could make homeownership more expensive for middle-class families, undermining the government’s vision of inclusive housing, say the CREDAI Visakhapatnam chapter office-bearers
| Photo Credit: File photo: K.R. DEEPAK

The Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) has expressed deep concerns over the government’s proposal to impose an 18% Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Floor Space Index (FSI) and additional FSI premiums. This move, slated for discussion at the upcoming GST Council meeting, is feared to significantly impact affordable housing and drive up property costs.

In a letter addressed to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and key officials, including Sanjay Kumar Agarwal (Chairman of CBIC), Shashank Priya (Member, GST & Legal), and Vivek Ranjan (Member, Tax Policy), CREDAI, highlighted the potential cascading economic consequences of the proposed tax.

CREDAI Visakhapatnam chapter office-bearers, including chairman K.S.R.K. Raju, president V. Dharmender and secretary V Sreenu, voiced their concerns, highlighting the dual burden on developers and buyers due to the inability to claim Input Tax Credit (ITC) on construction materials and GST paid on FSI premiums, which has resulted in increased costs.

The proposed GST on FSI premiums, they warned, could further escalate property prices by 7-10%, jeopardising affordable housing projects. Moreover, the broader implications for the sector and homebuyers were highlighted.

“The proposed GST could make homeownership more expensive for middle-class families, undermining the government’s vision of inclusive housing,” they cautioned, adding that it could potentially slow down the real estate sector, a major contributor to India’s GDP and employment.

To mitigate the potential negative impact, the CREDAI has suggested several measures, including reclassifying FSI premiums as government-granted instruments rather than commercial services, enabling developers to claim Input Tax Credit (ITC) on GST paid for construction materials and FSI premiums, ensuring future GST clarifications are applied prospectively to avoid retrospective taxation, and exempting affordable housing projects under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) from the GST to enhance housing affordability.

Boman Irani, National President of CREDAI, also urged the government to reconsider the proposal. “Housing development should not be burdened with additional taxes, especially in the absence of ITC,” he emphasised.

As the GST Council prepares to deliberate, the real estate industry is closely monitoring the situation. The outcome of this decision will significantly impact the future of housing in India, determining whether affordable housing remains accessible to millions or becomes a distant dream, he added.