India

Kolkata, March 16 (IANS) The Kolkata Police said on Saturday that the officers of its Anti-Rowdy Section (ARS) have arrested three persons and recovered cash worth Rs 54 lakh from them following night-long operations at two business hubs in the city hours before announcement of the Lok Sabha elections.

A senior official said that on late Friday night, the ARS police officers raided a particular residence at the business hub of Posta in central Kolkata and seized an amount of Rs 24 lakh from two persons.

The police officers questioned the two accused persons about the source of funds and when they were unable to give any satisfactory answer they were arrested.

Similarly, the city police official said an amount of Rs 30 lakh was recovered from another person at a residential flat under Bowbazar police station in central Kolkata early Saturday morning.

The accused person also could not give any satisfactory answer either on the source of the funds or the purpose for which he was carrying it. Therefore, he was also arrested.

The police have started a detailed investigation about the sources of the funds and the purpose for which the three arrested persons were carrying them before the Lok Sabha polls.

--IANS

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Longwood (Florida), March 16 (IANS) Diksha Dagar got off to a modest start with a 3-over 74 in the opening round of the 2024 IOA Golf Classic on the Epson Tour. Diksha had just one birdie against four bogeys and was lying T-86 at the Par-71 Alaqua Country Club. It is a three-round 54-hole event.

Diksha, using her time in between her other international engagements on the Ladies European Tour, where she has had two Top-10 finishes recently, stayed on Florida after playing the Aramco Team Series last week.

Diksha, a multiple winner on her domestic Tour, the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour, and a two-time champion on the LET, will be playing at least two events right and probably a few more later in the season.

Cydney Clanton, a three-time Epson Tour champion, navigated the course with the best in round rolling in five birdies and an eagle on her way to a 6-under 66. The round was bogey-free till she missed green and failed to hole a testy par putt.

Lindsey McCurdy, Dewi Weber and Jessica Peng with rounds of 66 each will be starting their second rounds one shot behind Clanton.

The tight, tree-lined course was challenging but does offer birdie opportunities as it showed on the first day. The first round was suspended due to darkness but the start of the second round will not be affected.

--IANS

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Ponte Vedra (US), March 16 (IANS) Indian-American Sahith Theegala dropped one bogey against six birdies to card a 5-under 67 as he jumped up to 7-under and to Tied-10th, up from over T-37 at The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

Theegala, who has come close to picking a win this season, is seven shots behind the leader, Wyndham Clark, the reigning US Open champion. Clark shot identical 65-65 to be 14-under and four ahead of Xander Schauffele (69) and Canadian Nick Taylor at 10-under at PGA TOUR’s flagship event.

England’s Matt Fitzpatrick and American Maverick McNealy share fourth place at 9-under while defending champion Scottie Scheffler, Canadian Corey Conners and course-record holder Tom Hoge are six shots off the pace at 8-under.

Scheffler had a scare in the morning when he needed ongoing physiotherapy treatment on a neck complaint during his round. Yet, the world No. 1 managed to post 69.

Chinese Taipei’s C.T. Pan feeling sore in his left wrist is making a bold run at The Players Championship. The one-time PGA Tour winner made a huge par save on his last hole at The Stadium Course to post a 4-under 68 for tied 10th place on 7-under.

Asia’s challenge was also being carried by Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama who fought back from a slow start for the second straight day and signed for a successive 69 to sit on 6-under in the US$25 million showpiece.

Korea’s Si Woo Kim, the 2017 Players champion, will enter the weekend on 3-under after a 71 while compatriot Sungjae Im shot a 72 to lie on 2-under.

World No. 5 Clark is one of the hottest golfers after winning three times in the span of 10 months, including February’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. With a second successive 65 at TPC Sawgrass, he became the first player in The Players history to open with two consecutive rounds of 65 or better.

Rory McIlroy hit his third water ball of the tournament at the par-4 12th hole and signed for a 1-over 73 and is now 6-under par going into the weekend, eight shots behind leader Clark.

Will Zalatoris (71-74) and Justin Thomas (73-75) missed the cut and were the biggest names to make an early exit.

Also heading home early are PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Eric Cole (72-74), Farmers Insurance Open champion Matthieu Pavon (70-77) and The American Express champion Nick Dunlap (77-70).

Korea’s Byeong-Hun An, who entered the week ranked fifth in the FedExCup, shot 69-80 for a double-digit swing between the first and Michael Kim shot 68-80 to miss the cut.

Past Players champions Webb Simpson (2018) and Matt Kuchar (2012) also missed the cut.

Justin Rose was on the cut line when he came to the 17th and then hit two shots into the water and had a quadruple-bogey 7 to miss the cut.

Ryan Fox also missed the cut a day after making Players history.

On Thursday he became the first player in Players history to make consecutive eagles – an eagle and an ace. He shot 69-76.

The second round was suspended due to darkness with two players left to complete the round and will resume on Saturday.

--IANS

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Chennai, March 16 (IANS) Protests are being carried out in Puducherry and Tamil Nadu on Saturday over arrest of fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy.

At least 12 fishermen from Puducherry and three from Tamil Nadu were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy personnel along with their costly mechanised boats on Friday.

Antony John and R. Selvam, leaders of the Fishermen association of Tamil Nadu, told IANS that the fishers were protesting at Myladuthurai and Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu.

Another group of fishermen is protesting at Puducherry, the association's leaders said.

Of the three fishermen arrested from Tamil Nadu, two are from Nagapattinam and one from Myladuthurai.

The fishermen are blocking the road at Nagaattinam while a demonstration is being carried out at Myladuthurai against the arrests.

Fishermen are shouting slogans at Puducherry main road against the arrests and impounding of boats.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M. K. Stalin has written to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar seeking his intervention for release of the fishermen.

In 2024 itself, Sri Lankan Navy has arrested 125 fishermen from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on charges of crossing International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and poaching in Sri Lankan waters.

Six costly mechanised boats were impounded by the Lankan Navy.

While some of the arrested fishermen were released, their mechanised boats are still in custody of Sri Lankan authorities.

--IANS

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Jammu, March 16 (IANS) The Army, on Friday, arrested one suspicious person near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district.

“The person was nabbed in Nowshera sector of the LoC, late Friday night,” officials said.

“He is shifted to a nearby army camp where questioning is going on,” he added.

There was no official word on whether any weapon was recovered from the possession of the nabbed person.

--IANS

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Kolkata, March 16 (IANS) Sheikh Alamgir, the younger brother of the suspended Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan, the accused mastermind behind the January 5 attack on ED and CAPF personnel at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas District, is being grilled by the CBI.

Sheikh Alamgir arrived at the Nizam Palace office of the CBI in central Kolkata on Saturday morning along with a few other associates of the suspended leader, to face interrogation by the central agency sleuths in the matter.

On March 13, the CBI issued a notice to Sheikh Alamgir asking him to be present at its Nizam Palace office on March 14, but he did not turn up on that date.

However, ending speculation on whether he would appear to face the CBI’s interrogation, he reached the Nizam Palace office at around 11.45 am on Saturday.

He was accompanied by some other close associates of Sheikh Shahjahan, who had also been summoned by the CBI for interrogation in connection with the attack on ED and CAPF sleuths.

Meanwhile, the ED on Saturday issued a notice to Sheikh Alamgir for interrogation in connection with the multi-crore ration distribution case in West Bengal.

The ED sleuths have also issued a similar notice to Sheikh Siraz, another brother of Sheikh Shahjahan, who is currently in the custody of the CBI.

Both Alamgir and Siraz have been asked to be present at the ED’s office at the Central Government Office (CGO) complex at Salt Lake.

In the latest raids at multiple locations at Sandeshkhali the ED had secured crucial clues linking two aspects of the PDS case to Alamgir. They are, the investment of the scam proceeds in the fish export business owned by his brother Shahjahan, and the subsequent diversion of the funds abroad using the hawala route.

According to sources, since Alamgir played an important role in day-to-day operations of the fish export business, his interrogation has become imperative.

--IANS

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Chennai, Mar 16 (IANS) With the Election Commission of India set to announce the 2024 poll dates today, political parties will soon announce the list of candidates from Tamil Nadu.

However, regarding the Thoothukudi seat, the INDIA bloc, headed by DMK, is to retain its representative Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, daughter of iconic DMK leader and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Late M. Karunanidhi, and sister of present Chief Minister M. K. Stalin.

Kanimozhi is well accepted across the constituency and has the advantage DMK enjoys in the state.

The port city of Thoothukudi, however, elected both AIADMK and DMK from this constituency.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Kanimozhi had won the Thoothukudi seat with a margin of 3,47,209 votes, defeating her nearest opponent, Tamilisai Soundararajan of NDA. While Kanimozhi polled, 5,63,143 votes, Tamilisai could garner only 2, 5,934 votes.

The Thoothukudi Lok Sabha constituency comprises Vilathikulam, Thoothukudi, Tiruchendur, Srivaikuntam, Ottapidaram and Kovilpatti assembly segments.

Of these six assembly constituencies, five are with INDIA bloc and one seat, Kovilpatti, is won by AIADMK's Kadambur S.Raju. This shows that the DMK-led INDIA bloc is strong in Thoothukudi Lok Sabha constituency.

In 2019, Kanimozhi had defeated Tamilisai of BJP who contested as a joint NDA candidate supported by AIADMK, BJP and PMK. However, with NDA now split with AIADMK and BJP not seeing eye to eye, and PMK undecided on the alliance, Kanimozhi seems to be in a pivotal position in this high profile constituency without a significant opposition.

--IANS

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Mumbai, March 16 (IANS) Actress Deepika Singh has shared that even after her busy schedule, she continues to pursue her passion for dance, honing her skills, and spending time with her child, which helps her find balance and stay true to herself.

Deepika is currently playing Mangal in the show 'Mangal Lakshmi', which is a story of two sisters striving to uphold each other's dignity in their relationships.

In the current storyline, Mangal is juggling between portraying a loving mother, a supportive wife, and an ideal daughter-in-law.

Similarly, in her real life, Deepika, who is best known for her work in 'Diya Aur Baati Hum', is juggling between her motherhood days, acting, and professional dance.

Talking about the same, Deepika shared: "Balancing motherhood, acting, and dance is certainly a challenge, but it's also incredibly rewarding for me. Each role brings its own set of joys and responsibilities, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to pursue my passion while being there for my child. I believe hard work is the key to success."

The actress said the love she receives from her family is the key strength that helps her to balance these diverse roles and manage everything at the same time.

"When I go home after a late shift and hug my child, it’s the best feeling for me. My child enjoys co curriculars and hence he has willingly asked to join classes which keep him busy. Being a mother and an artist at the same time has helped me grow both personally and professionally," she added.

In the current episodes, Lakshmi almost catches Adit (Naman Shaw) at Saumya's (Jia Mustafa) house, but he narrowly escapes. However, Mangal sustains an injury due to Adit's actions and is rushed to the hospital by Lakshmi (Sanika Amit) and Kartik (Shubham Dipta).

Meanwhile, Mangal, is preparing for her new house Griha Pravesh in full swing. Later, Adit invites his colleagues to the house for the Griha Pravesh puja.

'Mangal Lakshmi' airs on Colors.

--IANS

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Los Angeles, March 16 (IANS) Nothing can stop Hollywood royalty Tom Cruise if he has set his mind to filming some of the most nerve-racking stunts.

The Hollywood star is using helicopters to ensure that the latest 'Mission: Impossible' film isn't disrupted by roadworks, reports ‘Female First UK’.

Tom has found an innovative way of ensuring that the cast and crew of 'Mission: Impossible 8' have been able to get to and from work, amid road works on the M25 in south-east England. The M25 road encircles most of Greater London.

A source told The Sun newspaper: "The M25 closure is a headache for most people but not for Tom. He is so keen to keep 'Mission: Impossible 8' in production that he’s got helicopters on standby in London to fly his crew over to Longcross. It sounds excessive but delaying work on the film is a bigger problem and Tom is such a professional - he’d move heaven and earth to keep the show on the road.”

The source further mentioned, quoted by ‘Female First UK’, “Staff on the movie or stars who are needed for filming have been told if they can’t get to Longcross because of the M25 closures they’ll be flown in by chopper. It’s a feat that is just like a scene out of one of Tom’s films.”

Last year, Hayley Atwell admitted to feeling inspired by Tom.

The 41-year-old actress has worked with Tom, 61, on the 'Mission: Impossible' franchise, and Hayley confessed to being wowed by his work ethic, describing her co-star as "deeply inspiring".

The actress told 'ET Canada': "He’s a one-man studio.”

“There is nothing this man doesn’t know about movie-making and the cinematic experience for the audience,” she added.

--IANS

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Mumbai, March 16 (IANS) Director-choreographer Farah Khan recently hosted a bash for the British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran ahead of his concert in Mumbai.

The party was attended by many A-listers along with Farah’s kids, who she said missed the earlier party that she hosted for the ‘Perfect’ singer back in 2017.

On Saturday, the ‘Main Hoon Na’ director took to her Instagram, and shared then and now pictures of Ed Sheeran with her kids, who now seem all grown up.

The first picture is of the singer meeting her kids last night, and the second picture is from 2017 when the kids weren’t allowed to attend the bash given that it was for the grown ups.

However, Farah shared with her followers that Ed Sheeran put up the sweetest gesture for her kids as he went to their room and clicked a picture with them back in 2017 as the party was out of bounds for the young ones.

The director-choreographer wrote in the caption: “Last time I had a party for Ed Shereen, the kids were not allowed up on their own terrace, as they were too small for a grown up party... so @teddysphotos very sweetly went to their bedroom to click pics with them. This party I threw... guess who were the 1st ones there! Time FLIESSSSSS (sic).”

Farah is married to film editor Shirish Kunder, who worked with her on ‘Main Hoon Na’.

Earlier, actress Huma Qureshi also shared the pictures from last night’s party on her Instagram.

The actress said that Ed Sheeran told her that he absolutely loves the 2012 gangster-drama film ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’.

Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran’s +-=÷x Tour, organised by BookMyShow Live, will be held at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse in Mumbai on March 16.

--IANS

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