Trump vows to annex Greenland again during meeting with NATO chief: Media

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Washington, March 14 (IANS) US President Donald Trump said that he believes the US would annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office, US news outlets reported.

Trump expressed confidence the US would annex the large island, even suggesting the head of the NATO alliance could be a key player in facilitating the acquisition, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the Hill reported.

“I think it will happen,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during the meeting, said the report.

In response, Rutte said that any discussion about Trump’s attempts to acquire Greenland is outside of his purview and he doesn’t want to drag NATO in that, the report stated.

“A boat landed there 200 years ago or something. They say they have rights to it,” Trump said in the Oval Office, adding that “I don’t know if that’s true. I don’t think it is, actually,” according to the report.

Trump noted that the United States already has a military presence in Greenland and, “Maybe you’ll see more and more soldiers going there,” the report added.

Since early this year, Trump has repeatedly stated his desire to obtain Greenland, even suggesting the possibility of using force.

Acknowledging the uncertainty sparked by Trump’s moves, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen reaffirmed Denmark’s position earlier this month, emphasising that Greenland’s future is solely for its people to decide.

Greenland’s opposition Demokraatit (Democrats) party won Tuesday’s parliamentary election, according to preliminary data released by the Central Election Committee on Wednesday. The party favors a gradual move toward independence from Denmark and has criticized Trump’s threat to annex Greenland.

Greenland, the world’s largest island with a population of around 60,000, was a Danish colony until 1953, when it became an integral part of Denmark with Greenlanders given Danish citizenship. In 1979, Greenland achieved home rule, gaining greater self-governance while Denmark retained authority over its foreign and defense policy.

–IANS

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Prez Murmu leads nation in paying tributes to Guru Ravidas

New Delhi, Feb 12 (IANS) President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday extended her greetings to the nation on the occasion of Guru Ravidas Jayanti, urging people to embrace his teachings of equality and social justice.

Guru Ravidas, a revered saint of the Bhakti movement in the 15th and 16th centuries, is known for his powerful message of unity, devotion, and service to humanity.

Taking to X, President Murmu wrote, “On the auspicious occasion of Guru Ravidas Jayanti, I extend my best wishes to all the countrymen. Saint Ravidas made service to humanity his goal. He remained dedicated to eradicating discrimination on the basis of religion and caste and bringing unity in society.”

“Let us adopt the teachings of Guru Ravidas ji and continue to contribute towards building a prosperous and developed nation,” she added.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah also paid homage, posting on X, “Tribute to the great social reformer and poet, Sant Shiromani Ravidas ji on his birth anniversary. Pujya Ravidas Ji gave the message of social unity and brotherhood through his poems and hymns in the Bhakti movement. His teachings, dedicated to the upliftment of the oppressed and deprived classes, are exemplary for all.”

BJP National President J.P. Nadda also took to social media and posted, “I pay my heartfelt tributes to Sant Shiromani Guru Ravidas Ji on his birth anniversary, who considered karma as supreme and showed the path of equality in society for the upliftment of all. His teachings, giving the message of social harmony, are still exemplary for unity, goodwill, and character building.”

In observance of the occasion, several states have declared a public holiday. Punjab, Haryana, and Uttarakhand have announced state-wide holidays, while the Delhi government has also declared a public holiday for government and public-sector employees.

In Punjab and Haryana, government offices and schools in cities such as Chandigarh, Mohali, Gurugram, and Faridabad will remain closed.

In Uttarakhand, a holiday was declared on Wednesday for all state government institutions except the secretariat and treasury. The state will also organise cleanliness drives and decorate statues of Guru Ravidas in his honour.

A notification issued by the Delhi government confirmed a holiday for all government offices, autonomous bodies, and public sector undertakings, allowing residents of the capital to celebrate the birth anniversary of the revered saint.

–IANS

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World can expect another zoonotic pandemic: Ex-WHO Director

New Delhi, Dec 15 (IANS) The world can expect another pandemic any day, due to virus spillover from animals, said Mario C.B. Raviglione, former Director of the Global Tuberculosis (TB) Programme at the World Health Organization (WHO) on Sunday.

Speaking exclusively to IANS, Raviglione said that a highly interconnected world is the perfect way for the spread of another pandemic, like COVID-19.

“Everyone is expecting another pandemic. This may happen any day because we live in a very interconnected world,” said Raviglione, Full Professor of Global Health at the University of Milan, Italy.

“Italy was the first country that was hit in the Western world by Covid. And that is obviously linked to the rapid transportation means that we have nowadays. So in an interconnected world, in a global village, apart from some countries, they are trying their best to rebuild barriers. We know that they exist, unfortunately.

The Professor noted that some countries are trying their best to rebuild barriers by means of conflicts, but we all are “interconnected”.

“It is such that, any, particularly respiratory type of disease, viruses, as we have seen, can spread very, very quickly,” he said.

He explained that the majority of newly emerging diseases are viral, and they are emerging mostly from the animal world. That means they are zoonosis, like Covid.

In the recent past, the world has seen COVID-19, Ebola, chikungunya, West Nile fever, the most recent mPox, and H5N1 influenza — all related to the animal kingdom in one way or another.

Despite the emerging threats, the preparedness by countries is extremely low, and this will have several implications, Raviglione lamented.

“You need to invest. And governments are not particularly keen to invest in something for preparation, for preparedness. They like to invest more because it’s more visible. If I have a disease, then I’m going to massively mobilise resources to treat the disease. But it will then be too late to prevent it. So, the issue of preparedness is fundamental,” the expert said.

He suggested preparedness hubs to counter and detect new threats in the early phase, citing the example of the Covid pandemic, where world countries were not prepared, and how vaccine inequality led to the loss of so many lives, particularly in the low-income countries.

“Preparedness implies that you need to have the support of laboratories, the support of pharma and biochemical, or the biochemical sector to rapidly develop the test, not just in Europe or in North America, but also in India, also in other countries,” Raviglione said.

He urged that the BRICS countries should have this kind of mechanism in place in such a way that if there is a need for a vaccine, then certain conditions can be applied regardless of the patent.

(Rachel V Thomas can be contacted at rachel.t@ians.in)

–IANS

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Delhi BJP video mocks Kejriwal’s shifting stances

New Delhi, Dec 31 (IANS) Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva on Tuesday unveiled a video poster prepared by the party’s social media department, showcasing Arvind Kejriwal’s nine changing faces and exposing the former Chief Minister’s alleged opportunistic ideology.

The video, conceptualised by Rohit Upadhyay of the BJP social media team, exposes Kejriwal and raises awareness among the public, said Sachdeva.

Delhi BJO Media Head Praveen Shankar Kapoor compared Kejriwal’s constantly shifting persona to the film ‘Naya Din Nai Raat’, in which actor Sanjeev Kumar portrays multiple roles to suit various situations.

Sachdeva highlighted how the video exposes Kejriwal’s opportunistic stance on religion, revealing his fake attempts to glorify Hinduism during elections.

The Delhi BJP President accused Kejriwal of hypocrisy, stating, “A person who questions the existence of Lord Ram can never be a true proponent of Hindu nationalism. He represents lies, deceit, and manipulation.”

While bidding farewell to 2024, Sachdeva stated that Delhiites too have decided to oust an opportunistic ‘electoral Hindu’ from the power corridor of Delhi.

Playing nine video clips of Kejriwal, the BJP demonstrated instances where he insulted Lord Ram, desecrated the Swastika, mocked deities, and disrespected Lord Krishna’s Sudarshan. The two-and-a-half-minute video displays the vile mindset of Kejriwal and his team.

As elections draw closer, Kejriwal suddenly remembers temple priests, said Sachdeva, adding, “But Delhi residents understand that Kejriwal represents lies.”

Comparing Kejriwal’s behaviour to a scene in the film ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’, Sachdeva said, “In the movie, one character runs from water. Similarly, mention water in front of Kejriwal, and he shirks moral responsibilities, as he remembers how 21,000 people died from drinking contaminated water in 2023-24, along with 62 deaths due to waterlogging.”

The BJP President further stated, “Kejriwal has repeatedly dishonoured the Hindu community, glorified anti-national elements, and is not only an enemy of Sanatan Dharma but also of the nation’s security. Expecting Delhi’s prosperity under him is futile.”

Referring to Kejriwal’s announced visit to Connaught Place Hanuman Mandir which didn’t happen, Sachdeva claimed that upon learning of priests’ protests there, Kejriwal discreetly went to another Hanuman temple, which he had previously ignored.

–IANS

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