Keeping in view growing threat of radicalisation taking place on social media, the Punjab Police intends to increase its presence on such media.

The Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, Suresh Arora on Thursday said the state police intends to have its own Facebook, Twitter and Youtube accounts to interact directly with the citizens, give timely responses to queries, provide a complaint redressal mechanism, and showcase the positive work done by the police. These accounts are all set to be launched this month.

Giving details of the achievements of 2017 and plans for 2018, the DGP said peace, communal harmony and law and order were successfully maintained after the conviction of DeraSachaSauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on August 25 in Panchkula.

He said during the year, Punjab Police busted eight terrorist modules with the arrest of 47 persons and seizure of 43 weapons, including automatic weapons. Nearly 21 foreign handlers involved in providing logistical and financial support to these terrorist modules have also been identified, he said.

The DGP said these modules were mainly being operationalised, networked and financed by operatives based in Europe, North America and Middle East, and were aimed at targeted killings of members of organisations associated with the minority community, in order to spread communal disharmony and revive terrorism in Punjab.

Revealing the comparative figures relating to heinous crimes in 2016 and 2017, the DGP said murders came down to 656 from 771, attempt to murder to 795 from 862, kidnapping/abduction to 1462 from 1591, robbery to 116 from 147, and dacoity to 26 from 43.

As far as the cases under The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, registered FIRs had more than doubled to 12,309 from 5,906 in 2016, while recovery of heroine had increased to 186.865 kilogram (kg) from 139.596 kg. Recoveries of Poppy Husk (43,734.5 kg against 33,189 kg in 2016) and Opium (447.56 kg against 354.68 kg in 2016) also showed a significant increase.
Arora said 149 snatched vehicles, 183 firearms and Rs 1.5 Crore cash were recovered from organized criminal gangs. A mobile application having dossiers of more than 80,000 active criminals with artificial intelligence and face detection system had been operationalised, he said, adding that court permissions had been obtained for conducting 159 trials through video-conferencing in organized crime cases.

Auto major Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) has reported an 8 percent increase in total sales at 39,200 units in December.

It had sold 36,464 units in the same month previous year, M&M said in a statement. In the domestic market, sales were up 7 percent to 36,979 units last month compared to 34,411 units in December 2016.

Exports also grew 8 percent to 2,221 units against 2,053 units in the year-ago month. Sales of passenger vehicles, including Scorpio, XUV500, Xylo, Bolero and Verito, were down 7 percent to 15,543 units compared to 16,799 units in December 2016.

Commercial vehicle sales were up 24 percent at 17,542 units in December 2017 against 14,154 units in the year-ago period, M&M said.

M&M President Automotive Sector Rajan Wadhera said: “Our commercial vehicles growth for December has been encouraging at 24 percent and we are particularly buoyed by our ongoing strong performance in the MHCV segment which indicates a vibrancy in the economy.”

Global automotive trends such as electric vehicles and shared mobility will be key indicators for 2018 and at Mahindra, we would continue to be a key and innovative player, he added.

Recently, the company announced its partnership with Uber to explore deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) on the cab aggregator’s platform in several cities across India.

Mahindra’s electric vehicles on the Uber platform will include the e2oPlus hatch and the eVerito sedan. As part of this collaboration, both the companies will also explore deployment of Mahindra electric vehicles in other cities.

(Written with inputs from PTI)

Bhakra Dam has been awarded as “Best Maintained Project (Functional for more than 50 years)” by the Central Board of Irrigation and Power (CBIP).

Based on recommendations of the high level jury, Bhakra Dam was selected for the award due to its robust health, ensured by detailed documented maintenance schedules, round the clock vigil and by using the latest technology and material for its upkeep and repairs under the dynamic leadership of chairman, Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), DK Sharma.

“Best Maintained Project (Functional for more than 50 years) presented to Bhakra Beas Management Board for Bhakra Dam for excellent maintenance of Dam and related Water Conductor System to ensure reliable supply of water and electricity to the beneficiary by maintaining 100 per cent availability,” the citation reads.

The BBMB chairman, Sharma, has also been given a national level award for “CBIP Special Recognition Award for Exceptional Leadership and Contribution to the Indian water and power sectors”.

Both these awards were received by the chairman Sharma, from the Union minister of state for water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation, Satya Pal Singh, on 3 January, 2018 in the award ceremony held at New Delhi.

Bhakra Dam is the iconic multipurpose project of India was dedicated to the nation on 22 October, 1963. This dam is continuously supplying around 16,000 Million Cubic Meter of water and 6,500 Million Units of energy annually to its partner states for meeting their irrigation, power and drinking water requirements for more than 54 years. Two power houses of Bhakra Dam on left and right banks of the river contributes 1,379 mega watt (MW) of power in the Northern Grid besides playing an important role of supplying “Black Start Power” in the event of Grid Collapse, the spokesperson said.

Punjab government intends to make all cities in the state open defecation free (ODF) by June 2018. As of now 46 urban local bodies have been declared ODF till 31st December, 2017 and 100 more cities would be ODF by 31st March, 2018 and all the cities would be ridden of the menace by 30th June, the local government minister, Navjot Singh Sidhu said on Wednesday.

The minister said e-governance project aimed at providing better facilities to the people living the urban centres would be kickstarted in April, 2018 and would come to fruition in December, 2018.
The work related to the passing of online maps would be started in this month itself and would be completed by September, 2018.

Sidhusaid the department has decided to go in for the forensic audit in order to unearth the corrupt practices during the previous eras besides instilling a sense of accountability in the urban local bodies.

In the first phase, the audit would be carried out in the big corporation cities of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Ludhiana and their Improvement Trusts besides 3 Municipalities of Kharar, Zirakpur and Rajpura and completed by September, 2018.

The minister said that as a firm step towards women empowerment 50 percent reservation was granted to women in all the municipal corporations, municipal councils and the panchayats.
This reservation was implemented in the recently concluded elections to the three corporations and 29 municipalities.

Regarding the Bus Rapid Transport System project, the minister said that Rs 495 Crore have been released for the project in Amritsar and 3 corridors within the radius of 31 KM would come up this year.

Sidhu said Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar are covered under smart city and Union government has sanctioned Rs 350 Crore for these cities in which the Punjab component would be Rs 50 crore.

He also said that a detailed programme has been chalked out to provide clean drinking water to the urban population and providing canal water which would be given to the corporation cities of Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Patiala with Rs 1708 Crore, Rs 2874Crore, Rs 2000 Crore and Rs 7171 Crore earmarked respectively.

Of Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs) in Punjab, 64 of the kind were closed in the state of which 40 would be operationalised soon and the farming community would be provided water for the irrigational purposes.

Manchester United have been handed a double injury boost ahead of their FA Cup clash with Derby County on Friday as Jose Mourinho revealed that both Marouane Fellaini and Romelu Lukaku are available for selection.

“Romelu is back, Romelu is back,” Jose told MUTV on Thursday on the topic of star striker Romelu Lukaku’s availability.

Don’t miss: Romelu Lukaku fit to play, confirms Jose Mourinho

Lukaku had been involved in a sickening, albeit accidental clash of heads with Southampton defender Wesley Hoedt early on in their Premier League clash on Saturday and had to be stretchered off with oxygen support.

“As I said it was not a concussion, it was a precaution, a protection for him. He wanted to play against Everton, but this time he is back,” the Portuguese added.

The United manager had positive updates on Marouane Fellaini (knee), Michael Carrick (heart problems) and Antonio Valencia (hamstring) as well.

“From the injured players, Fellaini is back,” Jose stated at the press conference ahead of Friday’s FA Cup clash with Derby County as he continued, “And Michael Carrick is back to training, not to competition, but is back to training with the team.”

Must read: Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho responds to speculation around his future

“Antonio Valencia will be back to the team next week, so he is not playing tomorrow but will be back to the team next week. The situation is improving for us.”

Sergio Romero’s future at United has been the subject of speculation with the Argentine shot-stopper unhappy at his lack of playing-time this season, with the FIFA World Cup just six months away and Mourinho stated he would be starting the South American in goal ahead of David de Gea.

Also read: 5 players Manchester United could lose in January

“And Romero’s going to be the Argentina goalkeeper in the World Cup in a few months, so for all what Romero means to us, Romero plays and I am going to play what I consider to be a very strong team,” Mourinho declared.

In a significant pre-Budget exercise, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to interact with the country’s top economists, policy planners and senior ministers of his cabinet on 10 January to hammer out the modalities and thrust of his budget proposals​ for 2018-19.

The exercise assumes significance as it will probably be the last general budget of the present BJP-led NDA government ahead of the crucial 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Experts said for PM Modi and the BJP it would be a litmus test to try and strike a balance between populist politics and their much publicised politics of development.

The 10 January meeting is expected to enable PM Modi take stock of the state of the economy in the light of his ‘historic’ demonetisation and GST initiatives and its impact on the economy.

Apart from the Prime Minister, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, over 25 economists, CEO and vice chairman of NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant and Rajiv Kumar respectively, chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister Bibek Debroy, and other members of the Council are expected to attend the meeting.

The PM Modi is also expected to be apprised of the achievements of the NITI Aayog by Kant and Kumar. A similar exercise was carried out by the Central government in December 2017. That meeting had also dwelt on the impact of demonetisation on the economy.

Iran has accused the US of “grotesque” interference in its internal affairs in a letter to the UN.

Tehran said US President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in “numerous absurd tweets, (had) incited Iranians to engage in disruptive acts” which violated international law, CNN reported.

Twenty-one people died in six days of protests sparked by Iran’s economic problems, which spanned several cities.

On Thursday, the state media focused on pro-government rallies after a second night without reports of major protests.

The unrest was initially over price rises and corruption but the focus quickly turned to the remote elite and particularly Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The protests are the largest since the disputed 2009 presidential election. Millions took to the streets that time against the election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Since the protests broke out, Trump has endorsed them, culminating on Wednesday with the suggestion that the US could offer “great support” to protesters.

In his letter, Iranian UN envoy Gholamali Khoshroo said the US had a track record of intervening in Iranian affairs.

However, he added, the current administration had “crossed every limit in flouting rules and principles of international law governing the civilized conduct of international relations”.

The letter also pointed to a US State Department official’s statement earlier this week that Washington was communicating with anti-government protesters in Iran through its Facebook and Twitter pages in Farsi, and was encouraging them to rally.

The Iranian UN envoy said that the US had actually insulted Iranians by banning them from entering the country (under Trump’s travel ban) and with the US President’s refusal to certify an internationally agreed deal to limit Tehran’s nuclear programme.

The Russian Foreign Ministry echoed the concerns, urging the US not to interfere in Iran’s “domestic issues”, Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency reported.

The anti-government protests, the most powerful challenge to the regime in years, appeared to have fizzled, following a claim by Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Ali Jafari that the unrest was officially over.

The Iranian government had restricted the use of social-media apps Telegram and Instagram to quell the unrest. It has said those restrictions will be lifted on Friday, and there were signs that it had begun easing some of them.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday warned the founder of an ashram, where girls and women were allegedly being kept in illegal confinement in the name of religious preaching, that it will issue a warrant against him if he doesn’t appear before it.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar also said it will direct the CBI to register kidnapping cases against Virendra Dev Dixit, the founder of the Rohini-based ashram Adhyatmik Vishwa Vidyalaya, if the girls rescued from there are found to be minors.

“Contain yourself (referring to Dixit) within the four corners of the law. Don’t resort to misuse of law. We will direct the CBI to register kidnapping cases if the children are found to be minor,” said the court.

The bench said the conduct of Dixit was “extremely suspicious” and asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to give a report on his whereabouts within two weeks.

The court said: “We can’t believe in 21st Century, you (Dixit) will keep some human beings in such an inhuman condition…”

The committee appointed by the court to inspect the ashram said that Dixit and other ashram members were making the girls housed there lodge false complaints against their family members.

These complaints appear to have been lodged to dissuade the family members from pursuing cases against the ashram and Dixit, said the court.

Deepak Anthony D’Silva, a close aide of Dixit, appeared before the court and said that he has no clue about the present location of the Ashram’s founder. Earlier, when the bench sought whereabouts of Dixit, his counsel had told the court that he would get D’Silva before the court.

The CBI told the court that on Wednesday it has registered three cases against Dixit for allegedly keeping several women and minor girls hostage at his ashram here.

The court also asked the committee to file its response in the case before February 5, the next date of the hearing.

Earlier, the high court had transferred the case from the police to the CBI and asked the agency to forthwith set up a special investigation team to probe various FIRs of girls and women being allegedly lured into the ashram on the pretext of spiritual guidance but then being raped.

The committee had earlier told the court that the girls and women were kept in the ashram in “unhygienic and animal-like conditions with no privacy even for bathing”.

The court’s order came on a plea filed by NGO Foundation for Social Empowerment.

Himachal Pradesh Health Minister Vipin Parmar and state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Satpal Singh Satti on Thursday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Health minister JP Nadda for sanctioning a sum of Rs 1,351 Crore for setting up All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bilaspur.

Getting a prestigious institute like AIIMS is a big achievement for which the people of the state and they are thankful to PM, who has already laid the foundation stone of the institute in Bilaspur district, they said.

They said AIIMS would prove to be a boon for quality health services within the state as people of the state so far have to visit Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh or even New Delhi for serious diseases.

The 750-bed AIIMS will have a medical college with an intake capacity of 100 seats and a nursing college with 60 seats. The AIIMS will have specialty and super specialty departments including trauma centres. There would also be an AYUSH department for treatment in traditional system of medicine. He added that efforts would be made to complete the construction work of AIIMS in 30 months.

The state government would accord priority for strengthening the health institutes by expanding the health infrastructure and filling up vacant posts of doctors. The state government has already taken a decision to fill up 100 posts of doctors, they said.

Delhi Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam on Thursday said the BJP and its leaders were behind the riots in Bhima-Koregaon of Pune.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers, led by the minister, also protested outside Maharashtra Sadan here and raised slogans against the BJP and its leaders.

The riots followed violence in Bhima-Koregaon of Pune on Monday during the 200th anniversary celebrations of the Anglo-Maratha War of 1818.

Hundreds of thousands of Dalits had assembled at Sanaswadi village in Maharashtra when stone-pelting, allegedly by some rightwing groups carrying saffron flags, started.

In the ensuing violence, more than 30 vehicles were torched or damaged and a young man was killed. The violence then spread out to Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra.

Speaking to reporters, the minister said that this was not the first time that the BJP and its workers were attacking Dalits and they had earlier attacked Dalits in Gujarat.

“This was done at the behest of the regional BJP-led government as they have an anti-Dalit mindset,” Gautam said.

The minister urged the government to punish the guilty as soon as possible.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj held a meeting with Thailand Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai and discussed a range of bilateral issues on Thursday.

In a tweet, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said: “Keeping up with the growing momentum of bilateral relationship, Sushma Swaraj discussed issues of connectivity, security and cultural cooperation with Pramudwinai”.

Keeping up with the growing momentum of bilateral relationship, EAM @SushmaSwaraj discussed issues of connectivity, security and cultural cooperation with Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Foreign Minister of Thailand. #ActEastPolicy. pic.x.com/QmQIjdO5u0

— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 4, 2018

Earlier in the day, Sushma Swaraj arrived in Thailand on the first leg of a three-nation tour that will also take her to Indonesia and Singapore.

Warm welcome for EAM @SushmaSwaraj in Thailand – our geographic, historical and cultural neighbour! #ActEastPolicy. pic.x.com/UHDPvFV5Wj

— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 4, 2018

During her two-day visit to Thailand, Sushma Swaraj will also hold delegation-level talks with Pramudwinai.

According to the External Affairs Ministry, all aspects of bilateral relations will be discussed with particular focus on political, defence and economic ties and on further enhancing India’s engagement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries.

Thailand will take over from Vietnam the role of coordinator country for India-Asean relations from the middle of this year.

Sushma Swaraj will also share with her interlocutors information about the upcoming Asean-India Commemorative Summit that marks 25 years since the establishment of Dialogue Partnership between India and the regional bloc.

In a unique first, the leaders of the Asean countries are expected to attend this year’s Republic Day celebrations collectively as chief guests.

(With agency inputs)

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) on Thursday approached Vice Chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar with a memorandum signed by more than 2,000 students denouncing the decision making attendance compulsory in classes.

A mass delegation led by the union demonstrated outside the office of Vice Chancellor, who, however, could not receive the memo as he was away, said the students, citing the Chief Proctor.

The students refused to give the memorandum to the Chief Proctor and insisting on meeting the VC, for which they secured an appointment on Monday.

JNUSU President Geeta Kumari told IANS that the move to make attendance compulsory during lectures was a “diktat” and was never passed through the statutory bodies.

“They are lying that the decision was passed by the 144 Academic Council meeting on December 1. It did not. Now a committee has been formed to finalise the decision by the administration. We do not know when it will submit its report,” she said.

Attendance has never been mandatory for students during lectures and even now the administration hasn’t clarified how much attendance is required to be qualified to sit in exams, she said.

In a circular dated December 21, the Jawaharlal Nehru University administration informed the students of attendance being made compulsory from the upcoming winter session, saying the decision was taken as per a resolution passed in the 144th Academic Council meeting held on December 1.

Geeta Kumari said that they have secured signatures of over 2,000 students against the move despite many being away during semester break, and the number will only increase by Monday.

India have been one of the stronger teams through the history of ICC U19 Cricket World Cups, with three titles and two runner-up finishes. They were also the only unbeaten team going into the final of the 2016 edition in Bangladesh, but a strong bowling performance by the Windies denied them a fourth title.

India are a strong side this time too with seven of their players having the experience of first-class cricket. Opener Prithvi Shaw, who once made 546 in an inter-school match in Mumbai in 2013 and has already knocked up five first-class centuries, is their high-profile captain.

The side completed a clean sweep in both the 50-over and four-day formats in England recently but could not make it to the knockout stages of the Asia Cup in Malaysia which was won by Afghanistan. The squad had a camp in Bengaluru under the watchful eyes of coach Rahul Dravid, where they played three practice matches against the batch of 2016.

Australia did not participate in the previous edition in Bangladesh because of security concerns, but, like India, are one of the high-profile teams. They have also won the title three times and were triumphant on both the occasions when the tournament was held in New Zealand – in 2002 and 2010.

Ryan Harris-coached Australia’s preparations for the upcoming tournament included a five-match one-day series against Sri Lanka at home, which they won 4-1 in April.

Austin Waugh, the son of Steve Waugh, is one of the players to have garnered a lot of attention. The team also includes Will Sutherland, the son of James Sutherland – the chief executive of Cricket Australia. Jason Sangha, the captain, recently became the youngest Australian to score a first-class century against England.

Zimbabwe were one of the crowd favourites in Bangladesh two years ago and defeated South Africa in the Plate semifinals. As a part of their preparations for the World Cup, Zimbabwe have toured Malaysia, South Africa, Namibia, Australia and India. At home, they beat Kenya 4-0 in a 50-over series.

Captain Liam Roche, who has already played first-class cricket, scored an unbeaten 108 in one of the matches. Before that, he had made two half-centuries against the Windies in a series that Zimbabwe lost. The squad also played practice matches against a senior franchise team. After a long camp at home, the squad travelled to New Zealand in early December to have a month’s time to acclimatise.

Papua New Guinea have qualified for their eighth World Cup after remaining undefeated in the East Asia Pacific Qualifier 2017 in Samoa. They needed to beat Samoa in the final match, and the eight-wicket win was achieved without much difficulty. PNG had lost out to Fiji in the qualification race for the previous edition. PNG’s last appearance in the World Cup came in 2014 in the United Arab Emirates.

Squads:

Australia – Jason Sangha (captain); Xavier Bartlett; Max Bryant; Jack Edwards; Zak Evans; Jarrod Freeman; Ryan Hadley; Baxter Holt (wicketkeeper); Nathan McSweeney; Jonathan Merlo; Lloyd Pope; Jason Ralston; Will Sutherland; Param Uppal and Austin Waugh. Ryan Harris (coach)

India – Prithvi Shaw (captain); Shubman Gill; Manjot Kalra; Himanshu Rana; Abhishek Sharma; Riyan Parag; Aryan Juyal (wicketkeeper); Harvik Desai; Shivam Mavi; Kamlesh Nagarkoti; Ishan Porel; Arshdeep Singh; Anukul Roy; Shiva Singh and Pankaj Yadav. Rahul Dravid (coach)

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho on Thursday put paid to the rumours that have been swirling regarding his impending exit from the Premier League club, as the Portuguese insisted he not only wants to see out his three-year contract, but stay beyond it if possible.

“I am going to leave when the club wants me to leave because I have no intention to leave at all,” Mourinho declared at the start of his press conference ahead of United’s FA Cup third round tie with Derby County.

“My intention is to stay and to work and to improve and to bring the club to where the club belongs. I want to stay. I don’t see any reason not to stay,” the two-time UEFA Champions League winner added.

Don’t miss: Romelu Lukaku fit to play, confirms Jose Mourinho

The self-styled Special One’s future had been the subject of intense media speculation with the January transfer window’s opening, as the Portuguese was reportedly at loggerheads with the club’s management over their refusal to sanction a £40 million purchase of Tottenham Hotspur left-back Danny Rose.

Since taking over at United in 2016, Mourinho’s tenure has been generally seen as a success as he won the UEFA Europa League and EFL Cup in his first season with the Red Devils but their travails this season, especially in the Premier League, have seen his methods come under criticism.

For despite spending sums similar to derby rivals Manchester City, the Red Devils trail the Sky Blues by a massive 15 points at the Premier League summit and Mourinho had said the club needed to spend much more if they were expected to compete with Pep Guardiola’s side.

The above statement had worried United fans and sparked a wild frenzy for Mourinho’s three-year cycle (he usually spends no more than three years at a single club) has already been well-documented.

“Yes, I see myself. It’s just a question of the club, the owners, the board, Mr Woodward, if they are all happy with my contribution and want me to stay beyond the end of this contract. But yes, I want to stay,” Mourinho emphatically stated on the topic of extending his contract.

“The worst thing somebody can do to me is to put one inch of doubt in my professionalism, in my dedication to my club, to my job, to my players, to every detail related to my job. My commitment with the club is total and I want to stay.”

Mourinho’s subdued demeanour on the sidelines had not gone unnoticed and he was asked whether he had lost some of his desire, to which he responded: “Because I don’t behave like a clown on the touchline, it means that I lost my passion? I prefer to behave the way I am doing it. I don’t think you have to behave like a crazy guy on the touchline to have that passion. It’s the way a person is dedicated to his work, not what you do in front of the cameras.”

The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Himachal Pradesh on Thursday adopted a single line resolution authorising Congress President Rahul Gandhi to decide the leader.

The Congress MLAs, including former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh met here and unanimously decided to leave the choice of leader to the party high command.

After this, central observer, Balsaheb Thorat and party incharge of Himachal, All India Congress Committee (AICC) Secretary Sushil Shinde met the MLAs individually to discuss the matter. The two are likely to give their feedback to the high command in Delhi.

“The final decision would be taken by the high command in a day or two,” said state Congress General Secretary, Naresh Chauhan.

Sources said if Virbhadra Singh is not the CLP leader this time, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also projecting a younger leadership to rule the state—the names of four-time MLA in a row, Mukesh Agnihotri and state Congress President, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu are doing the rounds for the CLP leadership.

Party sources said the name of former minister, Ram Lal Thakur has also cropped up, if any elder is given a chance.

PVC-based plastic will be banned from May 30 and no plastic packaging will be allowed in the state from December, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Thursday.

Addressing a public function here, he also said that littering would be made a punishable offence in Goa.

“When I talk of plastic ban, I am talking about PVC based plastic. And from December 19, plastic packing will be banned. Let us make Goa free of plastic. This is a biggest problem anyone can face, whether it is animals or trees,” he said, adding that if Goa is to be made plastic-free then, then it would need a crackdown on conventional plastic too and that the state government would be willing to spend a lot of money towards the cause.

Parrikar also said that both tourists and locals, needed to be deterred from littering and that the government was working towards making it a punishable offence.

“We are planning to punish those who litter. Littering wil not be permitted. You can enjoy Goa, but please do not litter it. This message will go to locals as well as tourists too. Let me assure that Goa will be free of any crime for tourists,” he said.

Late singer John Lennon’s motorcycle will be auctioned at the National Motorcycle Museum in England in March.

The Honda Monkey-Trail Bike XUC 91H motobike that was once owned by the late Beatles legend is up for 30,000 pounds at an auction slated to take place on March 4, reports express.co.uk.

Lennon passed away aged 40 in 1980 after being shot and killed in the archway of his Manhattan apartment building.

The bike was sold to Henry Graham by Lennon after he moved out of his Surrey home in 1971.

Graham then sold the vehicle on to John Harington, the current vendor, who has kept the bike for the past 47 years, and has displayed it at various events and shows.