
IUML leader Khader Mohideen chosen for Thagaisal Thamizhar Award
Since its inception, the award has been presented to veteran Communist leaders N. Sankaraiah and R. Nallakannu, Dravidar Kazhagam leader K. Veeramani, and veteran Congress leader Kumari Ananthan. A meeting chaired by Mr. Stalin at the Secretariat on Friday selected Mr. Mohideen as the recipient for this year.
Mr. Mohideen, a senior political leader, who had a long association with late DMK leader and former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, was also the editor of Manisudar, an official release said. The IUML leader has a deep understanding of Indian politics and worked for communal harmony. The award would honour his efforts, it added.
In 2021, the State government instituted the Thagaisal Thamizhar (distinguished Tamil) Award to honour eminent personalities who have contributed a great deal to the welfare of Tamil Nadu and the development of the Tamil community.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Economic Times
12 minutes ago
- Economic Times
‘No trade deal under pressure of deadline': Piyush Goyal
Reuters India's trade minister Piyush Goyal Days ahead of the US' July 9 deadline for reciprocal tariffs, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said India does not enter into trade agreements based on deadlines but on mutual benefits and national interest. 'FTAs (free trade agreements) are possible only when both sides get benefits. It should be a win-win agreement. India never negotiates trade deals based on deadlines. Our focus is always on fairness and the country's benefit,' Goyal told media persons on the sidelines of an event, a day after Indian trade negotiators returned from an eight-day visit to the US to close a trade pact before July 9. The minister ruled out him visiting the US in the near term. The Indian negotiating team returned from Washington after hectic parleys with their US counterparts. 'India Always Ready to Do Deals' 'India's national interest should always be supreme… keeping that in mind, if a good deal happens then India is always ready to do deals with developed countries,' Goyal said. 'Jab deal achchhi ban jaaye, puri tarah se pakk jaaye tab usko sweekar karenge (When a good deal is done and ready, then we will accept it),' he emphasised. Asked whether he was hopeful of a trade deal with the US, Goyal said, 'I have told you many times that India negotiates FTAs on its own terms'. He added that trade discussions are on with the European Union and different countries—New Zealand, Oman, US, Chile and Peru. US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that his administration would send letters to individual countries which don't have a deal with the US, specifying the tariffs they would now have to pay to export to America. In April, Trump had announced reciprocal tariffs for most of the trading partners based on their trade surpluses with the US, including a 26% levy on India. The Indian government wants the entire 26% levy to be rolled back and is negotiating with the Trump administration. However, the US' demand for market access across sectors, including sensitive agriculture and dairy products, and insistence on genetically modified crops, have been some sticky areas. On the issue of the two sides inking multiple deals on issues as and when they get agreed, an official said that all possibilities are on the table.


Time of India
16 minutes ago
- Time of India
Eat butter in peace, or be toast in war
Ukraine is not a rich country. The average Ukrainian earns the equivalent of $15,885 - PPP terms - in a year, which is 75% more than the average Indian but slightly less than the average Iranian. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now To catch up with neighbours like Romania ($40,304) and Poland ($43,625), Ukraine must spend more on development, but last year it spent a third of its GDP fighting Russia. Where India with a $4tn economy had a $75bn defence budget in 2024, Ukraine spent $65bn on defence from its meagre and stagnant $180bn GDP. Guns Vs Butter That's the guns/butter trade-off of war. You can have more of one only at the cost of the other. As Eisenhower said: "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed..." It was 1953 and, perhaps, Eisenhower remembered how 3mn Indians had starved to death in the Bengal famine a decade earlier. Historians say the calamity wasn't caused by drought but the misplaced priorities of Churchill's wartime cabinet. True, there was a shortage of grain in Bengal in 1943, but London made it worse by continuing to export rice from the province for British troops. The price of grain skyrocketed, and when Indian officials sought an emergency supply of wheat, London declined. Saving Empire became more important than saving people. People suffer It doesn't matter who imposes war on whom - whether Russia invades Ukraine or Afghanistan erupts in civil war - non-combatants pay a high price. A UN Women research paper shows how the Afghan govt spent 37% of its budget on defence and policing in 2019, as against 6% on health. In Mali, another war-torn country, defence expenditure in 2017 was five times higher than the outlay for social programmes. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Contrast that with Kiel Institute's data for G7 nations. Over a 90-year period, from 1872 to 1962, their military expenditure exceeded social programmes, dipping below 20% of their budget only once, immediately after WW-1. But today, these nations spend less than 10% of their budget on defence, as against more than 40% on social expenditure. Under pressure from Trump, Nato members have pledged to raise defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, but don't count on it. No winners War can spur the economy - as it's done in Russia - by increasing demand for killing machines, but data shows a dollar spent on the military produces fewer jobs than a dollar spent on infrastructure, health, education, etc. The Vietnam war may have been good for US defence contractors, but it hurt ordinary Americans by starting an inflation spiral that lasted till the 80s. Likewise, the post-9/11 American wars diverted money away from infrastructure and the social sector, and have run up an $8tn bill. So, guns or butter? Sometimes, countries - like Ukraine - don't have a choice, but when they do - like Russia - they should pick butter, and a loaf of Borodinsky.


Time of India
16 minutes ago
- Time of India
‘No trade deal under pressure of deadline': Piyush Goyal
Days ahead of the US' July 9 deadline for reciprocal tariffs, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said India does not enter into trade agreements based on deadlines but on mutual benefits and national interest. 'FTAs ( free trade agreements ) are possible only when both sides get benefits. It should be a win-win agreement. India never negotiates trade deals based on deadlines. Our focus is always on fairness and the country's benefit,' Goyal told media persons on the sidelines of an event, a day after Indian trade negotiators returned from an eight-day visit to the US to close a trade pact before July 9. The minister ruled out him visiting the US in the near term. The Indian negotiating team returned from Washington after hectic parleys with their US counterparts. 'India Always Ready to Do Deals' 'India's national interest should always be supreme… keeping that in mind, if a good deal happens then India is always ready to do deals with developed countries,' Goyal said. 'Jab deal achchhi ban jaaye, puri tarah se pakk jaaye tab usko sweekar karenge (When a good deal is done and ready, then we will accept it),' he emphasised. Asked whether he was hopeful of a trade deal with the US, Goyal said, 'I have told you many times that India negotiates FTAs on its own terms'. He added that trade discussions are on with the European Union and different countries—New Zealand, Oman, US, Chile and Peru. US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that his administration would send letters to individual countries which don't have a deal with the US, specifying the tariffs they would now have to pay to export to America. In April, Trump had announced reciprocal tariffs for most of the trading partners based on their trade surpluses with the US, including a 26% levy on India. The Indian government wants the entire 26% levy to be rolled back and is negotiating with the Trump administration. However, the US' demand for market access across sectors, including sensitive agriculture and dairy products, and insistence on genetically modified crops, have been some sticky areas. On the issue of the two sides inking multiple deals on issues as and when they get agreed, an official said that all possibilities are on the table.