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Andamans to host 2nd edition of seafood festival on Jan 15-16

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration will organise the second edition of the ‘Sea Food Festival’ on January 15-16 at the Marina Park here, officials said on Friday.

The festival will be a culinary extravaganza featuring a wide range of seafood delicacies for citizens and tourists, accompanied by music and promotion of local culture.

It will be jointly organised by the department of fisheries in association with the directorate of information, publicity and tourism (IP&T) and with financial support from the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Hyderabad.

"We aim to promote seafood consumption culture and Tuna Cluster Development in the islands. Food lovers, chefs and bloggers from across the world are invited to visit Andaman and be part of this culinary festival," a senior IP&T officer said.

The two-day event will showcase the rich seafood diversity of the islands and highlight fisheries-based livelihoods. It will feature cultural programmes, seafood cooking demonstrations, public competitions, and interactive sessions.

Two Indians living illegally in US arrested for cocaine smuggling

Two Indians, living illegally in the US, have been arrested by federal authorities for smuggling more than 300 pounds of cocaine inside a semi-truck.

Gurpreet Singh, 25, and Jasveer Singh, 30, were arrested by local authorities in Putnam County, Indiana on January 4 for narcotics trafficking.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said this week that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has lodged arrest detainers for them. The agency noted that the two men, who entered the US illegally, were arrested for smuggling more than 300 pounds of cocaine inside a semi-truck in Putnam County, Indiana.

Both individuals were given commercial drivers licences issued by the state of California. Gurpreet Singh had illegally entered the US on March 11, 2023 near Lukeville, Arizona and was released into the country under the Biden administration. He freely admitted to law enforcement that he was a citizen of India and illegally in the US, the DHS said.

Jasveer Singh illegally entered the US on March 21, 2017 near Otay Mesa, California. He was arrested on December 5 last year for receiving stolen property in San Bernardino, California.

Indore collector draws flak for visiting RSS office

The Congress has criticised the collector of Indore for visiting the local office of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, dubbing him a “BJP worker".

Indore, Madhya Pradesh’s commercial capital and the country’s cleanest city for almost a decade now, is in the news for seven deaths due to water contamination in its Bhagirathpura area.

Collector Shivam Verma is “working like a BJP worker”, MP Congress president Jitu Patwari said on Thursday.

Verma, along with Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav, had visited the “Sudarshan” office in Pant Vaidya Colony here on Wednesday night and discussed various issues, including the Bhagirathpura contaminated water tragedy, with RSS Malwa prant pracharak Raj Mohan Singh, claimed Patwari. Pictures and videos of the visit went viral on social media.

“Bhargav took Verma to the RSS office. The collector has shown he is not an administrative officer. He is working as a BJP member. If you go to the offices of political parties while on duty, remember, Congress workers will correct your working style,” Patwari said while addressing his colleagues in Sanwer.

“The collector should be working in his office, meeting with the chief secretary, and discussing matters with ministers and officials. People are dying in Indore, there is contaminated water everywhere, and the level of corruption is unimaginable. However, the collector is not working. He is going to the RSS office to mark his attendance for the BJP,” Patwari alleged.

Puri Jagannath temple authorities face flak for Rs 500 parking fee

The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration’s (SJTA) decision to charge Rs 500 parking fee for four-wheelers at its guest houses for devotees here has triggered strong opposition from tourists, servitors and political leaders.

In a notification, the SJTA said guests staying at its four Bhakta Nivases (guest houses) would have to pay Rs 500, including 18 per cent GST, for parking a four-wheeler for 24 hours.

SJTA Chief Administrator Arabinda Padhee said the decision was aimed at ensuring structured parking management and better organisation of parking spaces, adding that it would improve convenience for visitors.

However, following objections from various quarters, Puri district Collector Dibya Jyoti Parida, who is also the deputy chief administrator of the SJTA, said the administration would reconsider the decision.

"We will reconsider the parking fee. I will get back to you after taking up the matter with the authority," he told reporters on Thursday.

Puri BJD MLA Sunil Kumar Mohanty demanded an immediate rollback, saying hotels in Puri and elsewhere in the country do not charge guests separately for parking. "It must be withdrawn immediately," he said.

Nepal, US agree to check trafficking of cultural property

Nepal and the US on Thursday signed a landmark bilateral Cultural Property Agreement to preserve the Himalayan nation’s rich heritage and prevent the illicit trafficking of cultural property.

The Cultural Property Agreement (CPA) was signed by US Ambassador to Nepal Dean R Thompson and Dr Suresh S Shrestha, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

“The United States, in line with its legislation, will restrict the importation into the US of certain archaeological and ethnological material from Nepal unless accompanied by a valid export certificate issued by the Government of Nepal,” according to a US embassy press release here.

The agreement covers “archaeological material ranging in date from the Paleolithic period (approximately 32,000 BCE) through 1770 CE, and ethnological material ranging from the 13th century through 1950 CE, including religious architectural materials, religious and ceremonial objects, and manuscripts identified in a designated list to be published by the US Government,” it said.

Federal immigration officers shoot and wound two in Oregon

Federal immigration officers shot and wounded two people in a vehicle outside a hospital in Portland, Oregon, a day after an officer shot and killed a driver in Minnesota, authorities said.

The Department of Homeland Security described the vehicle's passenger as “a Venezuelan illegal alien affiliated with the transnational Tren de Aragua prostitution ring” who had been involved in a recent shooting in Portland.

When agents identified themselves to the vehicle occupants on Thursday afternoon, the driver tried to run them over, the department said in a written statement. “Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired a defensive shot,” the statement said. “The driver drove off with the passenger, fleeing the scene.” There was no immediate independent corroboration of those events or of any gang affiliation of the vehicle's occupants.

During prior shootings involving agents involved in President Donald Trump's surge of immigration enforcement in US cities, including Wednesday's shooting by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis, video evidence cast doubt on the administration's initial descriptions of what prompted the shootings.

Man wielding sharp object shot by police in Brooklyn hospital

Police shot a man wielding a sharp object in a hospital in Brooklyn. The incident happened around 5.30 pm on Thursday at the NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, New York City police said.

Officers responded to a report of a man armed with a sharp object inside the facility in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighbourhood. The man, who was not yet been identified, was shot by officers.

The department declined to provide more details, including the type of weapon the man wielded or his condition after the shooting, saying more information will be provided at a news conference later Thursday. Spokespersons for the hospital declined to comment, deferring to police.

Protests erupt in Iran's capital after exiled prince's call

Residents of Iran’s capital shouted slogans from their homes and gathered on the streets on Thursday night following a call by the country’s exiled crown prince for a mass protest, witnesses said, marking a fresh escalation in demonstrations that have spread across the Islamic Republic. Internet access and telephone services were cut shortly after the protests began.

The protest represented the first test of whether the Iranian public could be swayed by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose fatally ill father fled Iran just before the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Demonstrations have included cries in support of the exiled prince, something that could bring a death sentence in the past but now underlines the anger fuelling the protests that began over Iran's ailing economy.

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Russia condemns US seizure of oil tanker, warns of a spike in tensions

Russia has strongly condemned the US seizure of an oil tanker, heralding a new chill in relations between Moscow and Washington that could spread to other areas and affect President Donald Trump's efforts to persuade Russia to end its nearly four-year war in Ukraine.

The seizure Wednesday of the Russian-flagged tanker in the North Atlantic "can only lead to a further escalation of military and political tensions in the Euro-Atlantic region, as well as a visible lowering of the threshold for the use of force' against peaceful shipping,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hasn't yet commented on the seizure of the tanker and has remained silent about the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, which his diplomats have denounced as a blatant act of aggression.

But while the Russian president has avoided any criticism of Trump, the seizure of the tanker by the US military represents a new challenge for the Kremlin.

Hawkish commentators in Moscow criticised the government for failing to mount a quick response and argued that Russia should deploy its naval assets to protect ships of the shadow fleet.

Ukraine's Western allies long have promised to tighten sanctions on the shadow fleet of tankers that Russia has used to carry its oil to global customers, and many observers in Moscow warned that the US action could set a precedent for other nations.

Denmark, Greenland envoys meet White House officials

Denmark and Greenland's envoys to Washington have begun a vigorous effort to urge US lawmakers as well as key Trump administration officials to step back from President Donald Trump's call for a “takeover” of the strategic Arctic island.

Denmark's ambassador, Jesper Møller Sørensen, and Jacob Isbosethsen, Greenland's chief representative to Washington, met on Thursday with White House National Security Council officials to discuss a renewed push by Trump to acquire Greenland, perhaps by military force, according to Danish government officials who were not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment about the meeting.The envoys have also held a series of meetings this week with American lawmakers as they look to enlist help in persuading Trump to back off his threat.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to meet next week with Danish officials.

Trump, in a New York Times interview published Thursday, said he has to possess the entirety of Greenland instead of just exercising a long-standing treaty that gives the United States wide latitude to use Greenland for military posts.

“I think that ownership gives you a thing that you can't do with, you're talking about a lease or a treaty. Ownership gives you things and elements that you can't get from just signing a document,” Trump told the newspaper.

The US is party to a 1951 treaty that gives it broad rights to set up military bases there with the consent of Denmark and Greenland.