Did Not Permit Research By Chinese Vessel In Our Waters: Maldives Minister

Emphasising that "peace and security" of the Indian Ocean is important for countries in the neighbourhood including India, Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer on Thursday said that his government has "not permitted the Chinese vessel" for research purposes in the Maldivian waters.

The statement by the Maldivian Foreign Minister came in the wake of the Chinese marine research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 3 returning to Maldivian waters, marking its second visit to the archipelago nation within two months.

"The peace and security of the Indian Ocean is important for both India and Maldives and Sri Lanka and the rest of the countries that we have in the neighbourhood. So, we will continue to work together as I said earlier," he said.

Elaborating on the port call for Chinese vessels, he said, "Our government issued personal rotation and friendly portable permits, and diplomatic clearances came from the Chinese side, which is very common in Maldives."

"So that's how it has happened we as a peaceful country, welcome those vessels which come for peaceful purposes. But they didn't come for research in the Maldivian waters, we have not permitted the Chinese vessel for research in the Maldivian waters," Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer said while maintaining that research vessels are not welcome in the Maldivian waters.

On April 27, Chinese marine research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 3 returned to Maldivian waters, marking its second visit to the archipelago nation within two months after Pro-China Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu's ruling People's National Congress (PNC) won the Parliamentary elections, as reported by Adhadhu news on Friday.

It is pertinent to note that Defence Minister Ghassan Maumoon last month told the Maldivian Parliament that the Chinese vessel would not conduct any research despite sailing inside and near Maldivian waters. 

"There was no permission given to conduct any research in the Maldives territory. After docking in Male' and buying food, they did a crew change. People who came on an airplane went board the boat and those on the boat left via the airplane. That was the permission that was given," Adhadhu quoted Mr Maumoon as saying on March 25.

Relations between India and the Maldives have been strained since President Muizzu took office in November, shifting the government's focus towards China.

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Tamil Nadu Man Crashes His New Car Into Temple Pillar Minutes After 'Puja'

A man unintentionally crashed his newly purchased car into a temple pillar in Tamil Nadu's Cuddalore after a blessing ceremony. A video of the incident has now surfaced on social media. Notably, the owner of the car, identified as Sudhakar recently bought a new car and decided to take part in a customary 'puja' at a nearby temple. After the traditional rituals were completed, Sudhakar, who is an experienced driver, started the car to mark his first drive.

However, he lost control and accidentally pressed the accelerator instead of the brake and collided with a pillar-like structure within the temple premises. Another person who was talking to Sudhakar through the window was seen clinging to the car, while a third man was seen running after the vehicle. 

What happened inside the temple has not been captured on camera, but it has been said that the car hit a structure and stopped. The man did not sustain any injury in the accident and escaped unharmed, but his brand-new vehicle suffered some minor damage. 

''A man inadvertently crashed his newly purchased car into a pillar-like structure after a blessing ceremony at a temple in the #Srimushnam area of #Cuddalore district of #TamilNadu,'' the caption of the video shared on X reads.

Watch the video here:

A man inadvertently crashed his newly purchased car into a pillar-like structure after a blessing ceremony at a temple in the #Srimushnam area of #Cuddalore district of #TamilNadu. pic.twitter.com/omC6ppCR8h

— Hate Detector 🔍 (@HateDetectors) May 8, 2024

The video of the incident is now going viral on social media and garnering mixed reactions. While some expressed concern for the driver, some were amused by the embarrassing turn of events. 

One user wrote, ''The driver was excited for off-roading.''

Another commented, ''He risked his life to try to stop his newly bought car. Emotions..''

A third wrote, ''Vehicle take heartiest blessings Frome God.'' A fourth added, ''Insurance claim on 1st day of purchase lol.''

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100-Year-Old World War II Veteran To Marry Fiance, 96, In Normandy

Americans Harold Terens and Jeanne Swerlin promise their courtship is "better than Romeo and Juliet": He is 100, she's 96, and they marry next month in France, where the groom-to-be served during World War II.

US Air Force veteran Terens will be honored on June 6 at a commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, the historic Allied operation that changed the course of the war.

Two days later Harold and Jeanne will exchange vows in Carentan-les-Marais, close to the beaches where thousands of soldiers waded ashore -- and many died -- that day in 1944. The town's mayor will preside over the ceremony.

"It's a love story like you've never heard before," Terens assures AFP.

During an interview at Swerlin's home in Boca Raton, Florida, they exchange glances, hold hands and smooch like teenagers.

"He's an unbelievable guy, I love everything about him," Swerlin says of her fiance. "He's handsome -- and he's a good kisser."

The youthful centenarian is also cheerful, witty, and gifted with a prodigious and vivid memory, recalling dates and locations and events without hesitation -- a living history book of sorts.

Shortly after Terens turned 18, Japan bombed the US Navy base at Pearl Harbor. He, like many young American men, was keen to enlist.

By age 20 he was an expert in Morse code and aboard a ship bound for England, where he was assigned to a squadron of four P-47 Thunderbolt fighters. Terens was responsible for their ground-to-air communication.

"We were losing the war by losing a lot of planes and a lot of pilots... These pilots became friends and they got killed," he laments. "They were all young kids."

His company lost half of its 60 planes during the Normandy operation. Soon after, Terens volunteered to travel to that region of northern France to help transport German prisoners of war and liberated Allied troops to England.

- Secret mission -

One day Terens received an envelope with instructions not to open it until he reached a certain destination. Thus began a remarkable journey that took him to Soviet Ukraine via Casablanca, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Cairo, Baghdad and Tehran.

When he finally arrived in Poltava, a city east of Kyiv, a Russian officer informed him he was part of a secret mission. US B-17 aircraft were taking off from England bound for Romania, where they would bomb Axis oil fields controlled by Nazi Germany.

Terens was part of the resupply team in Ukraine that provided the Flying Fortresses with fuel and ordnance.

The operation lasted 24 hours until the Germans discovered the Allied base in Ukraine and attacked it.

Terens says he escaped but was left in no-man's land. He contracted dysentery, and only survived thanks to the help of a local farming family.

Returning to England, he cheated death once more. When a pub proprietor refused to serve him a drink because she was about to close, he shrugged and left. He had barely walked two blocks when a German rocket destroyed the establishment.

'Luckiest guy in the world'

After the war he returned stateside and married Thelma, his wife of 70 years with whom he raised three children.

Terens worked for a British multinational, and when he and Thelma retired, they settled in Florida.

Her death in 2018 sank Terens, and he endured "three years of feeling sorry for myself and mourning my wife," he recalls.

But life offered him a fresh start. In 2021 a friend introduced him to Jeanne Swerlin, a charismatic woman who had also been widowed.

Sparks did not fly. On their first meeting Terens could barely look at Swerlin.

But persistence paid off. A second date changed everything, and they haven't been apart since.

"She lights up my life, she makes everything beautiful," he says. "She makes life worth living."

Terens, wearing a World War II cap with "100 Year Old Vet" embroidered on the side, is over the moon about returning to France, where President Emmanuel Macron bestowed on him the nation's highest distinction, the Legion of Honor, in 2019.

He is also thrilled, of course, about getting married. Surrounded by family and friends, December lovebirds Jeanne and Harold will say "I do" at a ceremony in which a Terens' granddaughter will sing "I Will Always Love You" as a great-grand-daughter scatters flower petals on the ground.

At 100, this decorated military veteran acknowledges his good fortune.

"I got it all," he says. "I'm probably the luckiest guy in the world."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Onam Sadya At This Michelin Star Dubai Restaurant Shocks Internet

Onam Sadya has gained popularity as a culinary ensemble that is a hallmark of the Onam festival. It has a photogenic appeal and is served during various religious ceremonies and wedding celebrations. What was once essentially a restaurant phenomenon in South Indian cities like Chennai and Bengaluru is now gradually becoming a global phenomenon.

Usually, the Kerala Sadya is an elaborate meal with at least 20 different dishes and is almost always a vegetarian affair served for lunch. Now, a restaurant has created their version of Onam Sadya and it has shocked many food enthusiasts. A video of the same was shared by an Instagram account Food Porn and shows "a celebration of flavours".

The short clip showcases each component of the dish served by different servers at the restaurant. The reworked dish includes papadam, cream rice, mango pickle, payasam and grilled pineapple served with tomato broth tempered in southern spices. Heena, the host at Tresind Studio, presents the dish, which she describes as a combination of cuisine and art, with exquisite flair. Every component, ranging from the seasoned stone garnish to the marinated pineapple, has been thoughtfully chosen to showcase an array of flavours, according to her.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Foodporn ™ (@foodporn)

"This is the viral dish you may have seen on your feed lately called the "onam sadya" from @tresindstudio in Dubai. It is a performance of food and art, so we thought we'd go and experience it for ourselves. The dish is a celebration of flavors, and is served by each member of the restaurant as follows: grilled pineapple marinated in Indian spices, cream of rice, payasam (condensed milk), mango pickle, banana vinegar, cuddapah almonds, second press of coconut ice cream, grated sugar spiced stone (taken directly from the pot plant sitting on the table!), mela blossom flower, papadam, tomato broth tempered in southern spices"

The Instagram account said, "Tresind Studio is one of the best restaurants we've ever been to, and this was one of the standout dishes." Notably, the restaurant has not mentioned the price of the dish available on their website menu. However, many on the internet are criticising the restaurant for the small portions and for changing the authenticity of the special dish. 

"I'm from where this onam sadhya originated and idk wt* this is," said a user.

Another added, "As a professional onam celebrator from the official onam land, ithenth myr THIS IS NOT ONAM SADHYA."

A person wrote, "As a malayalee - this makes me cry- but not tears of joy"

"The absolute atrocity and insult that this is to onam sadya cannot be articulated politely. On top of all that, "Cuddapah almonds" or any almonds for that matter has never ever made an appearance in the history of sadya," commented a user.

"Cut it into bite size pieces.. the whole thing is a bite size piece," added a person.

"If you really want to know how an Onam sadya looks like just search online you'll find. This dish has nothing to do with onam sadya except for the pappadam maybe," wrote an Instafram user.

Another user said, "Y'all should stop doing extravagant gourmet shit to meals that are meant to celebrate plentifulness and harmony among common folk."

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TikTok Sues To Block US Law Seeking Sale Or Ban Of App

TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance sued in U.S. federal court on Tuesday seeking to block a law signed by President Joe Biden that would force the divestiture of the short video app used by 170 million Americans or ban its use.

The companies filed their lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, arguing that the law violates the U.S. Constitution on a number of grounds including running afoul of First Amendment free speech protections. The law, signed by Biden on April 24, gives ByteDance until Jan. 19 to sell TikTok or face a ban.

"For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban," the companies said in the lawsuit.

The White House and U.S. Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The lawsuit said the divestiture "is simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally. ... There is no question: the Act (law) will force a shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025, silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere."

The lawsuit is the latest move by TikTok to keep ahead of efforts to shut it down in the United States as companies such as Snap and Meta look to capitalize on TikTok's political uncertainty to take away advertising dollars from their rival.

Driven by worries among U.S. lawmakers that China could access data on Americans or spy on them with the app, the measure was passed overwhelmingly in Congress just weeks after being introduced. TikTok has denied that it has or ever would share U.S. user data, accusing American lawmakers in the lawsuit of advancing "speculative" concerns

The law prohibits app stores from offering TikTok and bars internet hosting services from supporting TikTok unless ByteDance divests TikTok by Jan. 19.

The suit said the Chinese government "has made clear that it would not permit a divestment of the recommendation engine that is a key to the success of TikTok in the United States." The companies asked the D.C. Circuit to block U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland from enforcing the law and says "prospective injunctive relief" is warranted.

TikTok has spent $2 billion to implement measures to protect the data of U.S. users and made additional commitments in a 90-page draft National Security Agreement developed through negotiations with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), according to the lawsuit.

That pact included TikTok agreeing to a "shut-down option" that would give the U.S. government the authority to suspend TikTok in the United States if it violates some obligations, according to the suit.

In August 2022, according to the lawsuit, CFIUS stopped engaging in meaningful discussions about the agreement, and in March 2023 CFIUS "insisted that ByteDance would be required to divest the U.S. TikTok business." CFIUS is an interagency committee, chaired by the U.S. Treasury Department, that reviews foreign investments in American businesses and real estate that implicate national security concerns.

Biden could extend the Jan. 19 deadline by three months if he determines ByteDance is making progress.

In 2020, then-President Donald Trump was blocked by the courts in his bid to ban TikTok and Chinese-owned WeChat, a unit of Tencent, in the United States. Trump, the Republican candidate challenging the Democrat Biden in the Nov. 5 U.S. election, has since reversed course, saying he does not support a ban but that security concerns need to be addressed.

Many experts have questioned whether any potential buyer possesses the financial resources to buy TikTok and if China and U.S. government agencies would approve a sale.

To move the TikTok source code to the United States "would take years for an entirely new set of engineers to gain sufficient familiarity," according to the lawsuit.

The four-year battle over TikTok is a significant front in the ongoing conflict over the internet and technology between the United States and China. In April, Apple said China had ordered it to remove Meta Platforms' WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China over Chinese national security concerns.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Karnataka JDS MLA HD Revanna Rushed To Hospital With "Uneasiness"

JDS leader and Karnataka MLA HD Revanna - the son of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda - was rushed to a hospital after he complained of uneasiness. He was taken to Victoria Hospital, a state-run hospital in Bengaluru, this evening.

The doctors checked him and sent him back with officials of the Special Investigation Team, or SIT, to its headquarters.

Mr Revanna is currently in the custody of the SIT for allegedly kidnapping a woman, who used to work as a help at his house earlier, on April 29. The woman was raped allegedly by his son and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, 33, who has been suspended by the JDS after the news of his alleged sex crimes broke.

The JDS leader was arrested after the kidnapped woman's son, 20, filed a complaint, claiming that Mr Revanna's close aide Sathish Babanna came to their home on April 29 and took his mother away on a two-wheeler, saying that the MLA wanted to see her.

The complainant said that Mr Babanna threatened the family with arrest if his mother "opened her mouth before the police".

Later, he found out from a friend and a relative that his mother is among the women whose videos were in the pen drive and that it showed her being tied up and raped allegedly by Prajwal Revanna.

As he feared for his mother's safety, the police arrested Sathish Babanna and rescued the woman from a farmhouse.

An FIR was subsequently filed based on the son's complaint.

The SIT is also probing allegations of sexual abuse against Mr Revanna's son Prajwal after a pen drive with a huge cache of explicit videos allegedly showing Prajwal Revanna sexually abusing several women surfaced and were widely shared.

"There is no evidence about the May 2 complaint. It's a big political conspiracy... A conspiracy was hatched against me," Mr Revanna told reporters after his arrest.

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जोधपुर के अस्पताल से गुड न्यूज, महिला ने चार मिनट में दिया चार बच्चों को जन्म

OMG : जोधपुर के उम्मेद अस्पताल में महिला ने एक के बाद एक चार बच्चों को जन्म दिया. इनमें से दो लड़के और दो लड़किया हैं जो पूरी तरह से स्वस्थ बताए जा रहे हैं. महिला का नाम तुलचा कंवर है जो जैसलमेर जिले की रहने वाली है. महिला फरवरी से उम्मेद अस्पताल के चिकित्सकों की टीम से ट्रीटमेंट करवा रही है. ऑपरेशन से महिला की डिलीवरी हुई उसने एक एक मिनट के अंतर से चार बच्चों को जन्म दिया.

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