Month: May 2022

Punjab Excise Department busted a liquor smuggling module and arrested four members of the gang, said an official release on Saturday.

The gang was allegedly involved in filling smuggled cheap liquor from Chandigarh into expensive imported scotch brands. Four members of the gang were arrested with fake liquor.
Excise Commissioner Varun Roojam reiterated that the Punjab Government has zero-tolerance policy as far as the smuggling of liquor or any illegal activity relating to Excise is concerned. He said that action would be taken as per law against the accused.

Joint Excise Commissioner Naresh Dubey informed that secret information was received that an organized gang is involved in smuggling cheap liquor from Chandigarh into Punjab and further fill it in bottles of expensive scotch brands. With the coordinated efforts of the Special Operation Group (SOG) of the Excise Department and Fatehgarh Sahib district police intelligence inputs were gathered.

The team got a tip that the accused Kundan Visht, a resident of Village Kajhedi, Chandigarh will be supplying the fake scotch liquor along with his gang members. In order to catch the accused red-handed, teams of special operations group of Excise and Police swung into action and special nakabandi was done.

Two cars were intercepted on naka near Khamano and four members of the gang Kundan Visht, Harshwardan, resident of Ambala, Pardeep Singh, resident of Jeend, Haryana and Jasmin Kaur, a resident of Sangrur were arrested from the spot. The team also found fake liquor consignment.

During interrogation, the arrested persons revealed that they smuggle cheap liquor from Chandigarh and fill it in expensive scotch empty bottles at their rented residence.

The special operations group team then raided the rented residence of Pardeep Singh and Jasmin Kaur in Madanpur, Mohali and recovered stock of illegal liquor.

During the investigation, the accused also admitted that they buy empty bottles of scotch brands from different scrap dealers of Mohali and Ludhiana who are also involved in this racket. The police teams are in pursuit of these dealers and their premises are being raided to arrest them.

An FIR has been registered at Khamano police station against the four under the relevant section of the Punjab Excise Act and sections 420 and 120-B of IPC. (ANI)

At least 37 people were killed and about 5,000 others displaced in northeastern Brazil due to heavy rains, authorities said on Saturday.

Recife City, the capital of northeastern Pernambuco State, is the most affected by the rains, where 35 people died and about 1,000 others fled their homes, according to the local Civil Defense.
In Alagoas state, two people were killed in the rains, and more than 4,000 residents evacuated.

Meanwhile, secondary disasters triggered by heavy rainfall also caused casualties. On Saturday, 20 people were killed in a landslide in Recife, while six others died in another landslide in the nearby city of Camaragibe.

According to the Pernambuco Water and Climate Agency, Recife recorded 150 mm of precipitation on Saturday, while Camaragibe registered 129 mm. (ANI/Xinhua)

Veteran playback singer Edava Basheer has passed away.

The unfortunate incident happened after Edava Basheer collapsed on stage while performing at the golden jubilee celebrations of the Blue Diamond’s orchestra in Alappuzha, Kerala on Saturday night.
Though he was immediately taken to a nearby hospital his life could not be saved.

Fans have expressed grief after learning about the shocking news.

“Can’t believe it. So sad,” a social media user tweeted.

“May his soul rest in peace,” another one wrote on Instagram.

Edava Basheer was 78. (ANI)

Just before the finale match between Gujrat Titans and Rajasthan Royals on Sunday evening, a star-studded closing ceremony will take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Several Bollywood celebrities including singers AR Rahman, Neeti Mohan and Ranveer Singh are expected to make the evening memorable with their power-packed performances.
In fact, Neeti treated fans by sharing a BTS video from her rehearsals with none other than music maestro AR Rahman. https://www.instagram.com/p/CeG-_dxqVhH/embed

In the video, she is seen rehearsing with Rahman and the team at the stadium.

“excitement level  #IPLFinal #GTvsRR #tataipl

Stoked to be performing with @arrahman sir and gang,” Neeti captioned the post.

The closing ceremony will start at 6:25 PM IST. Big dignitaries like the Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are also expected to be present for the final at Ahmedabad. (ANI)

The Indian Railways, which is on the path of development, is now moving towards showcasing a classic example of an engineering marvel with the newly proposed Pamban Bridge.
Celebrated as one of the most iconic structures built in the erstwhile era, the great Pamban cantilever bridge connects the town of Mandapam in mainland India with Pamban Island, and Rameswaram.

The new bridge will have 100 spans of 18.3 m and one navigational span of 63 m. It will be 3.0 metres higher than the existing bridge with navigational air clearance of 22.0 metres above sea level.

Talking to ANI, the General Manager of Southern Railway said, “The old Pamban bridge was commissioned on February 24, 1914. So, almost 108 years passed, and now the time has come to move forward with new technologies. The estimated cost of the new bridge is Rs 250 crore and the target is to complete it this year only.”

Giving information about this bridge, the Divisional Engineer and Incharge of Pamban Bridge, Hridayesh Kumar said, “The existing bridge structure has a total length of 2,058 metres comprising 146 spans of steel girders. There are 145 spans of 12.20 m and one navigational span of 61.0 m. The navigational span is also known as Scherzer rolling lift span after the name of railroad engineer William Scherzer who invented it.”

“The vertical clearance of only 1.5 m is available between the high tide level and the bottom of the girder resulting in the splashing of seawater on the girders. In comparison, the new bridge will have 100 spans of 18.3 m and one navigational span of 63 m. It will be 3.0 m higher than the existing bridge with navigational air clearance of 22.0m above sea level,” he further added.

Mentioning the technology for the operation of the new bridge for ships movement, Kumar said, “Because of vertical lift, the full horizontal width of 63 m will be available for navigation. Also, the entire bridge including the navigational span will be designed keeping in mind the Railways plan of electrification and maintaining the speed of the trains at 80 km per hour.”

“In comparison to existing manual operation and control, the new bridge will have electro-mechanical controlled systems which will be interlocked with train control systems. Due to the heavy flow of water, it is also proposed to deploy cutting-edge technologies like stainless steel reinforcement, composite sleepers, and a long-life painting system in the construction of the new bridge,” Kumar added.

It is notable that the Great Pamban Bridge attracts thousands of tourists from all over the world. Offering a visual feast to the onlookers, the Scherzer rolling spans beautifully expand and allow cruisers and ships to pass through. The bridge transports scores of pilgrims visiting the famed Ramanathaswamy Temple. (ANI)

A twin-engine aircraft carrying 22 people including 3 crew members went missing in the mountainous district of Mustang on Sunday morning, officials confirmed.

The aircraft bearing call-sign 9 NAET had flown from Pokhara to Jomsom at 9:55 AM and went out of contact after reaching the Lete area of Mustang.
Tara Air’s 9 NAET twin-engine aircraft carrying 19 passengers, flying from Pokhara to Jomsom at 9:55am, has lost contact, said the Airport authorities.

As per the State TV, the missing aircraft was hosting 4 Indians among others.

“The aircraft was seen over the sky of Jomsom in Mustang and then had diverted to Mt. Dhaulagiri after which it hadn’t come into contact,” Chief District Officer Netra Prasad Sharma confirmed ANI over the phone.

As per the police officials, the aircraft has been suspected to have crashed in the “Titi” area of Lete in Mustang District.

“Locals from Titi have called and informed us that they have heard an unusual sound as if there was some bang. We are deploying a helicopter to the area for the search operation,” Ram Kumar Dani, DSP of District Police Office, Mustang told ANI.

The Home Ministry has deployed two private helicopters from Mustang and Pokhara for the search for missing aircraft. Nepal Army chopper is also being prepared to be deployed for the search, said Phadindra Mani Pokharel, spokesperson at Home Ministry told ANI over the phone.

Mustang is one of the mountainous and fifth-largest districts of the Himalayan nation which hosts the pilgrimage of Muktinath Temple. The district, also known as “Land beyond the Himalayas”, is located in the Kali Gandaki valley of the Himalayan region of Western Nepal.

Mustang (from the Tibetan Muntan meaning “fertile plain”) the traditional region is largely dry and arid. The world’s deepest gorge that goes down three miles vertical between Dhaulagiri and Annapurna mountains runs through this district. (ANI)

In a major step to bring more transparency to the public delivery system, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday directed the authorities to promote digitization through e-office in official functioning and reduce the burden of document management.

According to an official spokesperson, the state government was constantly working to promote digitalization aimed to bring public services at the doorsteps of people and curtail down the traditional file system, Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said.

He stated that this move will ensure the delivery of services in real-time besides bringing more transparency to official working.

The Chief Minister also launched 122 online services through 526 ‘Sewa Kendras’ across the state, CMO said.

These services are related to departments of agriculture, local government, technical education, medical education and Research, services like fertilizer and pesticides license of the agriculture department, duplicate certificates from technical education board/PTU, bed and breakfast homestay scheme, farm tourism scheme, provisional registration, permanent registration, duplicate registration certificate, foreign registration transfer related to Punjab medical council, NOC for fire safety, title transfer/name change in sewerage connection or water connection related to local government, can now be availed directly through Sewa Kendras expeditiously.

“Earlier, most of these services were provided in time-consuming offline mode and now these services have been fully automated with computerized workflow with online status tracking,” he added.

Mann directed the department of governance reforms to ensure the inclusion of at least 100 more services under the ambit of ‘Sewa Kendras’ and also to make the citizen services applicable on m-Sewa and Punjab government portal so that a citizen can apply for services without even physically visiting the Sewa Kendra, said the spokesperson. (ANI)

After a long gap of more than two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, passenger train services between India and Bangladesh will resume from May 29, informed the officials on Saturday.

The move aims to accommodate the convenience of commuters in both India and Bangladesh.

“For the convenience of commuters of both India and Bangladesh, Kolkata – Dhaka – Kolkata Maitree Express and Kolkata – Khulna – Kolkata Bandhan Express will resume services from May 29,” informed Chief Public Relations Officer, Eastern Railway, Ekalabya Chakraborty.

The officials also informed that Mitali Express, third India- Bangladesh train service is set to start on June 1 from New Jalpaiguri to Dhaka.

The tickets have been booked for these trains and have already sold out. (ANI)

Actor Sara Ali Khan recently shared beautiful pictures from her trip to Istanbul.

On Saturday, Sara took to her Instagram handle and posted a series of pictures from Istanbul. A few glimpses showed her posing for cameras with friends in front of tourist places in Istanbul.

The ‘Atrangi Re’ actor captioned the post, “Bosses by the Bosphorus “.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Sara will be seen sharing screen space with Vikrant Massey in ‘Gaslight’. She has also recently finished shooting for an untitled project next to Vicky Kaushal. (ANI)