Australian woman hospitalised after needle found in strawberry
Canberra: After last year’s devastating “needle contamination scare”, a new case emerged on Monday where a woman in Melbourne was hospitalised after consuming a strawberry with a needle in it.
The victim’s father said that his 30-year-old step-daughter had to be taken to the hospital after eating the strawberry, Xinhua news agency reported.
“She bit right into it and a big needle was sticking out of it – pretty much the whole length of the strawberry. She was very shocked and very taken aback by it.
“We’ve taken her to the emergency room where they’ve done X-rays and confirmed that it’s not metal but there is something else lodged in her throat and moving downwards.”
With over 200 incidents at the end of 2018, the Australian strawberry sector was hit hard by the scandal.
Estimated to have cost the industry around A$12 million after a massive nationwide product recall, this harvesting season strawberry growers were hoping for a return to normality given that the alleged perpetrator, a 50-year-old disgruntled fruit packaging worker, was apprehended and charged with the crime. (IANS)
Singapore sentences Indian for bribing airport staff
Singapore: A Singapore court on Monday sentenced an Indian national to eight weeks in jail for bribing a Changi Airport check-in worker so that the latter would under-report the weight of travellers’ bags on Tigerair flights.
Gopal Krishna Raju, who was a manager in a food-processing firm, ran a side business in which gold was transported from Singapore to Chennai before the valuables were sold in India, The Straits Times reported.
Raju had asked airport check-in worker Patel Hiteshkumar Chandubhai to under-report the weight of bags belonging to passengers who were transporting the gold on Gopal’s behalf.
Patel was then rewarded for his help.
In sentencing Gopal, District Judge John Ng noted that the offence had taken place over 10 months and stressed that it is important to protect Changi Airport’s reputation.
Gopal pleaded guilty last week to a corruption charge. He had committed the offence on at least 10 occasions between January and October 2016. (IANS)
China’s first visa centre in Lahore
Lahore: Chinese authorities on Monday opened Beijing’s the first visa application service centre in Lahore.
Yao Jing, the Chinese Ambassador to Islamabad, inaugurated the centre. Others who attended the ceremony included the Chinese Lahore Consul General Long Dingbin, Deputy Consul General Peng Zhengwu and officials from the Punjab government.
Speaking to Geo News, Peng called the visa centre a landmark step.
“Earlier residents of Lahore had to travel to Islamabad to apply for a visa to China,” he said, adding, “This new place will provide enormous relief to businessmen and visitors. Lahore is an important city and the new hub of economic activity in Punjab.”
The Lahore centre will handle ordinary visa applications to China, Hong Kong and Macao.
However, the final approval will still be granted by the Chinese embassy in Islamabad.
The Lahore office will only collect the required documents and forward the requests.
Approximately 4,000 applications are processed by China’s embassy in Islamabad per month. (IANS)