At least 16 people were killed and 40 others injured after a fuel tanker exploded in Haiti, regional civil protection authorities said.

Initial reports reveal that the explosion occurred on Saturday when people were attempting to illegally collect fuel from the tanker following an accident in the Calbassier area of the Nippes department.

Many of the injured, who were taken to a local hospital for treatment, were in critical condition, said officials, Xinhua news agency reported.

Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille said on social media that civil protection and public health teams are assisting the victims.

“I am very sorry for the explosion of the gas tank truck that happened miraculously today. I talk to the concerned local authorities in #Nip and mobilise the responsible civil protection #DGPC , public health, social affairs to save the lives of the seriously injured. More than 15 dead, and 40 serious burns according to provisional figures #DGPC at noon,” Conille said in a post on X.

“The government stands in solidarity with all the victims and their families and is planning evacuation by helicopter,” he added.

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At least three people have been confirmed dead and three others were injured in a road accident in east Afghanistan’s Wardak province on Sunday morning, a local police official reported.

The mishap occurred on the outskirts of Maidan Shar City, the capital of the province, along the highway linking the capital Kabul with the southern Kandahar province, said Mohammad Yosuf Asrar, spokesman for the provincial police.

According to Asrar, the injured are now under treatment in the provincial hospital of Wardak, but their conditions were reported as critical.

The victims of the road accident, including two women, are members of the same family, Xinhua news agency reported.

Some 2,000 people lost their lives and about 6,000 others were injured in 4,270 road accidents in Afghanistan over the past 12 months.

Road accidents due to reckless driving on congested roads and lack of traffic signs on dilapidated highways are a leading cause of deaths in the war-ravaged country.

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On the eve of Chandigarh Golf League Season 3, 2024, Swinging Samurai, a prestigious team playing in the league, introduced its team members to the media. The co-owners of the team, BS Gill, Manish Goyal, Shaleen Kapur & Amit Sood; team members; coach Manjit Kochar along-with Ranjan Tarafdar, Chief Operating Officer(COO), SBP Group and Sunil Bakshi, Chief Experience Officer(CXO), SBP Group launched the team’s logo at a press meet held at S Lounge, Sec 26 here. It was also announced that the real estate giant SBP Group will be the official flagship sponsor of the team. BS Gill, a co-owner of the Swinging Samurai Golf Team; the team’s senior players Lt Gen T S Gill (Retd) and Lt Gen G S Sangha addressed the media. They were joined by Ranjan Tarafdar, COO of SBP Group and Sunil Bakshi, CXO SBP Group. BS Gill, who is also captaining the Swinging Samurai Golf Team, expressed his excitement about the upcoming season and said, “The league will feature 378 players over 30 days, with 21 teams competing in a series of challenging matches. The collaboration between the Swinging Samurai Golf Team and SBP Group is set to enhance the league’s profile and contribute to its continued success.”
Ranjan Tarafdar, COO of SBP Group, said, “We are proud to support the Swinging Samurai Golf Team in this league. Sports is close to our heart; we are building pioneering sports centred residential complexes so that people can fulfil their dream of living an active life and children can look at becoming champions. We are coming up with SBP Olympia spread across 9 acres at Peer Muchalla where at the core of development will be all outdoor sports like tennis, swimming, badminton, squash, cycling, basketball, cricket etc. and indoor games like table tennis, carrom, chess etc.”

Ranjan explained that the group has realised that post COVID physical fitness and an active lifestyle has become a top priority, so an ‘emphasis on sports in SBP projects’ has become a cornerstone of our corporate vision. “In line with this, SBP is planning to build a Sports City in Dera Bassi on land spread over 43 acres. The mega scale sports oriented residential development will have a fully loaded stadium size ground that will offer infrastructure to play sports like cricket, and football, hockey, baseball etc. An Olympic size pool is also envisaged. What’s more, SBP is also in the process of setting up a 100 acres’ sports city in Ludhiana,” said Ranjan.

Sunil Bakshi, CXO SBP group, on this occasion showed confidence and said, “With the best wishes of the entire SBP group I am sure that our team will give a sterling performance and will win the trophy.”

Lt. Gen G S Sangha said, “It is a matter of pride that we have launched our logo today. Swinging Samurai is all set for giving a sterling performance this season.”

Lt. Gen T S Gill said, “I feel that apart from a keen sense of competition the league aims to promote golfing talent and build a sense of community among the Chandigarh Golf Club’s extensive membership, which exceeds 5,000 individuals.”

B S Gill added, “We are thrilled to participate in Season 3 of the Chandigarh Golf League. I am sure the league will showcase exceptional golfing talent.”

Meanwhile names of team members were also announced at the press meet. Under Handicap (0-9) the team will have BS Gill (Captain), SK Sharma, Deshvir S. Attariwala & Rajinder Singh Pammy. Under Handicap (10-16) team members will be Col AD Singh, Col Ajay Kaila, Jaipal Hundal, Gp Capt Deepak Ahluwalia, Jazzy Sihota, Jagmohan Singh, BPS Brar, Harman Grewal, Gen GS Sangha, Gen TS Gill, Brig HS Gill, Col Mohan S Ghuman & Col Nirpinder S Bains. In the ladies’ category Jyoti Gosal shall represent the Swinging Samurai team.

Season 3 of the Chandigarh Golf League is set to take place from September 12 to October 12, 2024, and promises to be an exhilarating event. The competition will see the winning team receiving Rs 8 lakh and the runner-up securing Rs 4 lakh, in addition to various other prizes.

Chandigarh:

Advocates Lakhwinder Singh Sidhu and Dr Rohit Shekhar Sharma on Tuesday said that ‘FREE LAW AID’ was launched to provide service to victims of road accidents, cyber crime, immigration frauds and Police Negligence, in particular. Sharma said that Free Law Aid aims to extend free legal help to the sufferers especially the Elderly, Women and Children and bringing justice to them. It will take up and fight their cases and render them free legal help. “We are looking for lawyers based at various Cities of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, who are willing to serve humanity and help the under privileged victims people by taking up and fighting their cases free of cost”, said Sidhu. “We are striving to make an all composite ecosystem comprising of legal, medical, financial and social aid to victims. Volunteers and Donors are welcome to join this noble crusade,” said Dr Sharma.

What could have been an addition to the long list of blind Hit and Run cases in Punjab, was turned into a ‘catching the criminal after a wild goose chase’ case by a brave High Court Lawyer.

On the night of August 21, 2024 Dr Rohit Shekhar Sharma, Advocate, Punjab and Haryana High Court was returning from Amritsar to Chandigarh. On the same road, his car was overtaken by a rashly driven Zimindara Travels private passenger bus coming from Jammu and heading to Chandigarh. Such was the recklessness of the Bus driver that the lawyer was left aghast. After a few minutes of driving further, on crossing Phagwara and close to Behram at around 8.30 pm, he saw a lot of people gathered around a motorcyclist, Balbir Kumar, 22, a trainee motor mechanic who had met an accident with the same Bus. The lawyer stopped promptly to help the victim and take him to some nearby hospital, but he had already passed away being severely crushed by the Bus. Rather than stopping and taking the victim to some hospital or informing the Police about the incident, the negligent Driver Braham Dutt chose to hit and run from the spot. The lawyer immediately dialled 112, the Distress number and got the incident reported with the telephone operator at the Police Control Room. He requested the 112 PCR operator to stop the Bus and apprehend the Driver since it was feared that he might hit and kill other motorists or people coming his way. But, to the Lawyer’s utter dismay and disappointment, the Operator told him that their duty was just to take information and pass on to the respective Police Station and and expressed her inability to do anything further. The Lawyer was given other numbers of Police Officers who were supposed to stop the Bus and catch the fleeing Driver, but nobody answered his repeated calls. The helpless Lawyer kept on following the Bus and making umpteen calls to the Police Help line 112 but no help came. Everyone from the Police Control Room answering his calls just tried to hush away the matter on one pretext or another, The Bus Driver, on learning that he was being followed, took the Bus to several villages and internal roads to get rid of the chasing Lawyer. But the Lawyer kept on following the Bus and sharing its live location and photographs with Police. However, all the SOS cries by the Lawyer and more than his 40 Calls could not wake up Punjab Police from their slumber and no Policeman or Police Vehicle was even seen on a 125 kms stretch from Behram to Mohali and span of more than two hours. The Lawyer got perturbed at the Police inaction and told the Police Control Room Operators that he will hold them accountable for their inaction at the High Court and will get them suspended. On hearing this, the Police came into some action and finally the Bus was apprehended when it entered Mohali. PCR Incharge of Mohali Mr Ajay Pathak didi a commendable job and formed a human chain to stop the Bus, A case was registered against the Bus Driver at Behram Police Station and he was taken there. Next day, he was let off by the Police. Now, he is back on the wheels of the same bus driving on the same route, as if nothing has happened.

‘Nirbhaya’ the shocking gangrape and murder which shook up the nation also occurred in a moving Bus, but in that case nobody noticed and complained about the Bus. On the contrary, here the cold blooded murder of an innocent young boy by a reckless and negligent Driver who committed the crime of crushing him to death and Hit and Run was reported within a few minutes and then consistently through 40 Calls and over a period of two hours, but to no avail.

In a border State like Punjab, where terrorists are spotted every now and then and smuggledArms, drugs and fake currency surface everyday, where rapes occur in broad daylight, the common man is given aconsilience that the Government and Police are here to protect you 24 x 7 and help is just a 112 dial away. Its just a farce and political gimmick to befool the people of the State and nothing else. The number 112 does not lead to any help or action by the Police or Government.

The SSPs and concerned Police Officers of District Nawanshahr and Ropar should be held accountable for Police inaction and legal action should taken against them. The Chief Minister of Punjab Mr Bhagwant Mann, the Transport Minister of Punjab Mr Laljit Singh Bhullar and the DGP of Punjab Mr Gaurav Yadavshould wake up and take stringent action against Killer buses plying on Punjab roads and ensure that the Drivers plying these buses have proper licences and non-challan history.

We strongly plead that the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act 106 be implemented in its true letter and spirit,wherein heavy fine and stringent punishment upto 10 years for people accused of Hit and Run cases is provisioned.

 One-third of Australian school students are not meeting basic literacy and numeracy expectations, national standardised testing has found.

The federal government released on Wednesday the results of the 2024 National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy tests, revealing that one in three students failed to meet baseline standards for reading and mathematics, Xinhua news agency reported.

Almost 1.3 million students in years three, five, seven and nine at more than 9,400 primary and secondary schools sat the annual test and were graded as either exceeding expectations, meeting expectations, developing, or in need of additional support, with the latter two representing a failure to meet baseline standards.

Ten per cent of students were identified as needing additional support to progress satisfactorily and 23 per cent were found to be developing. The testing found significant gaps in results between different student demographics.

Across every year group, female students outperformed their male counterparts in literacy while males generally performed better in numeracy testing.

In literacy and numeracy, one-third of Indigenous students were graded as in need of additional support compared to 8.6 per cent of non-Indigenous students in literacy and 7.7 per cent in numeracy.

Twenty-four per cent of students from very remote schools either exceeded or met literacy expectations compared to 70.7 per cent of students from major city schools.

Students with parents working in skilled professions consistently outperformed their counterparts with parents in unskilled professions.

Responding to the results, Education Minister Jason Clare said that they show serious reform is needed to build a better and fairer school education system.

“Your chances in life shouldn’t depend on your parents’ pay packet or the colour of your skin, but these results again show that’s still the case,” he said in a statement.

Clare is currently in negotiations with his state and territory counterparts over a new funding deal for public schools.

In July, he issued an ultimatum to state and territory education ministers giving them until September to sign on to a new agreement that would link 16 billion Australian dollars ($10.6 billion) in funding for schools over 10 years to reforms aimed at lifting students’ performance. AGENCIES

Pakistan’s Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem, who is enjoying a grand welcome on his home coming, has entered into a controversy after he met an individual with links to the banned outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

In a viral video on social media, Arshad Nadeem, the star javelin thrower who claimed gold at the Paris Olympics, was seen sharing pleasant moments with Haris Dar, a member of Milli Muslim League (MML), the political face of Jamat-ud-Dawa (JUD) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Pakistan..

Haris Dar was seen sitting with Arshad Nadeem at his hometown in Mian Channu in Pakistan’s Punjab province. Local sources said that Haris Dar is a known political figure in the area and that he had come to congratulate Arshad Nadeem on his achievement.

However, the visuals of Haris Dar sitting next to Arshad Nadeem have sparked a serious controversy across the social media with concerns and questions being raised over the presence of proscribed groups and designated individuals under different political covers.

It is pertinent to note that Haris Dar’s name is also in the US’ Treasury Department’s list of proscribed persons under the title ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorists’.

His name was enlisted by the United States in 2018 for his active role in the banned outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has been on United Nations’ identified list of terrorist organisations, making Haris Dar even more controversial.

After the Pakistan government opted to take action against Hafiz Saeed and all of the affiliate organisations operating out of Pakistan, a new political party, Milli Muslim League (MML), was formed to provide political cover, shelter and presence to many operatives of JUD.

The MML was founded in 2017 and had even contested the 2018 elections, followed by the 2024 polls.

Haris Dar now serves as the Joint Secretary of MML and has been an active member of the party.

MML is a political branch of JUD and LeT’s founder and mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Hafiz Saeed.

“Haris Dar may have been allegedly linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba. But today, he is a political representative of a political party — Milli Muslim League (MML) — who had come to congratulate Arshad Nadeem. Milli Muslim League is a registered political party in Pakistan and like all others who are visiting Arshad Nadeem, members of MML have all the right to do the same,” said political analyst Adnan Shaukat. AGENCIES