Setting a goal to surpass the targeted growth in the collection of state excise by the end of the current financial year 2024-25, the West Bengal government is mulling the possibility of increasing the prices of different liquor and beer brands.

Sources in the state excise directorate said that the new prices will be announced after evaluating the expressions of interest (EOI) to evaluate the existing cost of production of liquor and beer brands.

The last time, when the state government went for a hike in liquor and beer prices was in February 2023 and before that also the EOIs were sought from the liquor manufacturers to evaluate the production cost.

“On the basis of the EOI evaluations, the final per-bottle price and the state excise to be imposed on it are determined. This year the process of seeking EOIs from the liquor manufacturers and evaluating the same has already started and the final reflection of that evaluation report on the prices of liquor and beer brands would be felt soon,” he said.

Sources said that in the case of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL), the per-bottle price might increase in the range between Rs 5 and Rs 100 for 750 ML bottles. In the case of country spirit, the per-bottle- price might increase by Rs 5 for a 600 ml bottle. Beer might be costly from Rs 20 to Rs 30 per bottle.

Insiders from the state excise directorate said that the interim rise in the prices of liquor and beer bottles is aimed at surpassing the targeted collection in state excise as set in the budget estimates for 2024-25.

As per the budget documents for 2024, the targeted state excise collection in the estimates for the same fiscal has been set at Rs 21,846.36 crore, as against the figure of Rs 18,851.06 crore as per the revised estimate figures for 2023-24.

Sources said that the internal target for state excise collection by March 31, 2025, is now being set at Rs 25,000 crore. AGENCIES

  A total of 1,284 inmates at Makala Central Prison in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), will be granted conditional release to ease the prison’s overcrowding, DRC State Minister for Justice Constant Mutamba announced.

The inmates will be released in groups of about 400 per week, said Mutamba, who approved the release of the first 421 inmates on Saturday from the country’s largest prison, located in the DRC’s capital Kinshasa, Xinhua news agency reported.

A decongestion commission was set up to examine the cases of prisoners eligible for conditional release. The prisoners, who were arrested for embezzlement of public funds, will not qualify, said the minister.

The first 421 prisoners released had served at least three-quarters of their sentence and were deemed to behave well during their incarceration.

The release is part of a series of measures, aimed at improving detention conditions, and reforming the DRC’s prison system.

“We have taken the step of rehabilitating all the toilets in all the pavilions and rehabilitating the health centre,” he noted.

“We are looking into drastically decongesting and rehabilitating the prison from top to bottom. We have identified a new site to build a modern prison.”

Built for 1,500 prisoners in 1957, Makala Central Prison now holds around 15,000 prisoners in cells, according to local media. AGENCIES

 At least 11 people were injured after a leisure fishing boat in Tottori Prefecture in Japan hit the breakwater on Sunday, local media reported.

The boat, Daini Ai Maru, was cruising off the coast of Sakaiminato city when it hit the breakwater some 500 meters away from a quay at about 6:00 a.m. local time, said a report by public broadcaster NHK, citing the Japan Coast Guard, Xinhua news agency reported.

All 11 crew members and passengers were brought to a hospital. One man in his 40s and another in his 60s were said to have bumped their heads hard and were seriously injured, according to the report.

Coast Guard officials confirmed that the left side of the boat’s bow is damaged.

Elsewhere, about 6 km northeast of the site, near a cape in Matsue city, another leisure fishing boat struck rocks at around 1:00 a.m. local time, injuring five people, according to NHK. AGENCIES

 At least 11 people were killed after a rain-triggered landslide hit China’s Hunan province, the provincial emergency command centre said on Sunday.

The landslide, which hit Yuelin Village in the city of Hengyang at approximately 8 a.m. Sunday, washed away part of a residential house, causing 18 people to be buried, Xinhua news agency reported.

As of 11.30 a.m. Sunday, rescuers had found 17 people, among whom 11 were dead and six others injured.

The injured have been taken to hospital for treatment.

Over 240 rescuers have been dispatched and rescue efforts are continuing. AGENCIES

 Twelve people were killed in a terrorist attack in the National Park in north Benin, the park management informed.

A total of 12 people were killed by a group of unidentified armed individuals near the Mekrou River in the park, according to a statement issued by African Parks, a non-profit group that manages the park, Xinhua news agency reported.

Among those killed were five African Parks rangers and seven members of the Beninese armed forces, it said.

The attack took place on Friday night.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

Investigations are underway and further details are awaited. AGENCIES

Myanmar police have seized 12,800 kg of controlled chemicals ammonium nitrate in Shan state of eastern Myanmar, according to the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Sunday.

Acting on a tip-off, the country’s anti-narcotics police searched a 12-wheeler vehicle in Tachileik township of Shan state on Thursday and confiscated the chemicals, Xinhua news agency reported.

The seized drugs had a street value of 256 million kyats (about $120,000), the CCDAC said.

Three suspects involved in the case have been charged under the related law, and further investigation is underway, it said. AGENCIES

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has reshuffled his cabinet, with the ministers for home affairs and immigration both reassigned.

Albanese on Sunday announced his first reshuffle of ministry and cabinet since the governing Labor Party won power in 2022, coming into the lead-up to the next general election, which must be held by May 2025, Xinhua news agency reported.

Under the changes, Clare O’Neil and Andrew Giles have been moved out from their respective positions as the Minister for Home Affairs and Cyber Security, and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. O’Neil will become the Minister for Housing and Homelessness, and Giles the Minister for Skills and Training.

Tony Burke will take over the portfolios of home affairs, cyber security, immigration and multicultural affairs on top of his existing position as the Minister for Arts.

“Good governments aim high, they work out of a drawer on a diversity of talent, and that certainly is what drives me, and that’s what drives the changes I’m announcing today,” Albanese told reporters in Canberra.

“I would expect that this is the team that I will take to the election when it is held sometime in the future.”

The overhaul was triggered after government ministers Linda Burney and Brendan O’Connor announced they will retire from politics at the next election.

Northern Territory (NT) Senator Malarndirri McCarthy will take over from Burney as the Minister for Indigenous Australians.

Senator Murray Watt will take over Burke’s former portfolio of employment and workplace relations while his previous position as the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry will be filled by Julie Collins.

Pat Conroy has been elevated to the cabinet in his roles as the Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery, and Minister for International Development and the Pacific. AGENCIES

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Tokyo on Sunday ahead of the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting.

EAM Jaishankar and US Secretary Blinken hold talks in Tokyo

“Great to catch up with Antony Blinken in Tokyo today. Our bilateral agenda progresses steadily. Also had a wide ranging discussion on regional and global issues,” the EAM posted on X after the meeting.

“Look forward to attending the Quad FMM tomorrow,” he added.

Just before arriving in Tokyo, both Blinken and EAM Jaishankar were in Laos for the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ meetings.

The foreign ministers of the four Quad countries — India, the US, Japan and Australia — will hold their eighth meeting in Tokyo on July 29 to review and build on continuing initiatives and announce deliverable outcomes.

“The foreign ministers meeting will be an opportunity for the Quad partners to reaffirm our commitment to delivering concrete benefits to the Indo Pacific region,” said Camille Dawson, Deputy Assistant Secretary for State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the US State Department, earlier this week.

“Quad partners are deeply invested in the success of the people of the region and that is reflected in the initiative that the quad is promoting by listening to the priorities our regional partners and harnessing the considerable resources of our four countries,” she said.

The Quad is a diplomatic partnership between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States committed to supporting an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific that is inclusive and resilient. AGENCIES

 External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar began his Japan visit by unveiling a bust of Mahatma Gandhi in Tokyo’s Edogawa, on Sunday.

“Bapu’s achievements continue to inspire us to this day and his message of peace and non-violence is timeless. His principles are even more relevant today when the world sees so much conflict, tension and polarization,” the EAM said at the unveiling ceremony.

Edogawa Mayor Takeshi Saito, Japan’s Parliamentary Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Masahiro Komura, Member of Parliament Hideo Onishi and several members of the Indian community also attended the event.

“Happy to learn from the Mayor that the park, close to the heart of Indian community in Tokyo, would also be soon named as the Gandhi Park,” said Jaishankar.

“I was told this is a place, somebody called it Little India, I hope it becomes bigger, but this is a place where the Indian community in Tokyo lives and gathers in large numbers. And I cannot think of a more appropriate occasion and a better way of strengthening bonds between India and Japan than by this event,” he added.

The EAM is in Tokyo to attend the eighth meeting of the Quad foreign ministers on Monday where the grouping – comprising of India, Japan, Australia and the United States – will review and build on continuing initiatives and announce deliverable outcomes. AGENCIES

Japan’s Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiro Komura said on Sunday that the statue of Mahatma Gandhi installed in Nishikasai will become a familiar symbol of Japan-India friendship and exchanges to the local people.

Koumura attended the unveiling ceremony of a bust of Mahatma Gandhi by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held in the Edogawa Ward of Nishikasai in Tokyo on Sunday.

The ceremony was hosted by the Embassy of India in Tokyo and the Edogawa Ward. Along with the Japanese Minister and EAM Jaishankar, India’s Ambassador to Japan Sibi George and Edogawa Ward Mayor Saito Takeshi also attended the event.

In his speech at the ceremony, Komura stated that India is Japan’s “Special Strategic Global Partner” that shares fundamental values and strategic interests with Japan, and that the area of people-to-people exchanges in the relationship between the two countries has great potential for future development.

At the event, EAM Jaishankar spotlighted that “Bapu’s achievements” continue to inspire everyone to this day and his message of peace and non-violence remains timeless.

“His principles are even more relevant today when the world sees so much conflict, tension and polarization,” the EAM said at the unveiling ceremony.

The EAM is in Tokyo to attend the eighth meeting of the Quad foreign ministers on Monday where the grouping – comprising India, Japan, Australia and the United States – will review and build on continuing initiatives and announce deliverable outcomes. AGENCIES