IndiGo flight makes emergency landing after bomb threat note found
Lucknow, Jan 18: An IndiGo flight from Delhi to Bagdogra in West Bengal carrying 222 passengers made an emergency landing at the Lucknow airport on Sunday due to a security scare after a handwritten note on a tissue paper that read “Plane mein bomb” (bomb on the plane) was found in the aircraft, police said. No suspicious item was detected during a security sweep of the plane, carried out by the bomb disposal squad and other agencies after all passengers, including eight infants, and seven crew members were safely evacuated and the aircraft was taken to the isolation bay this morning, they said. All passengers of IndiGo flight 6E 6650 re-boarded the aircraft and it left for its scheduled destination at 4.40 pm after the completion of mandatory security checks and prescribed protocols, officials said. (PTI)
Stalin announces TN govt literary award for 7 non Hindi languages
Chennai, Jan 18: Chief Minister M K Stalin on Sunday announced annual literary awards in 7 languages including Tamil, Bengali and Marathi and slammed the Centre for alleged political intervention in Sahitya Akademi awards. The award, under the auspices of the Tamil Nadu government, will carry Rs 5 lakh cash prize, he said, adding it is named as “Semmozhi Illakiya Virudhu (Classical Language Literary Award).” In the first phase, awards will be for the best works in the languages of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Odiya, Bengali and Marathi. In his address at the valedictory event of the Chennai International Book Fair (CIBF-2026), the chief minister said the Sahitya Akademi awards announcement had been cancelled recently and it was discomfiting. It was due to the intervention of the Union Culture Ministry, he alleged. Underlining what he called the uncertainty over the awards, he said “political interventions, even in art and literary awards is dangerous.” (PTI)
Delhi Police busts inter-state vehicle theft syndicate
New Delhi, Jan 18: Delhi Police has dismantled an inter-state motor vehicle theft syndicate with the arrest of three alleged members and recovery of 16 high-end stolen vehicles, an official said on Sunday. The case originated from the theft of an SUV (Hyundai Creta) from Delhi’s Pitampura on August 5. A breakthrough came on December 24 when a team received information about a person from Jalandhar (Punjab) who allegedly received stolen vehicles, police said. On December 25, a team conducted a raid in Jalandhar and apprehended Damandeep Singh alias Lucky (42), who was allegedly running a second-hand car sale and purchase business. During the search of his premises, four Kia Seltos vehicles were allegedly recovered and later confirmed to have been stolen from Delhi. Subsequent investigation revealed that Singh was allegedly the mastermind of a well-organised inter-state syndicate involved in vehicle theft, forgery and resale. The gang procured stolen vehicles as well as loan-default vehicles from Delhi and the National Capital Region and transported them to Punjab. (PTI)
