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The Star
18 hours ago
- Politics
- The Star
Public transportation will be better by the end of 2025, says Marcos
This file photo taken on October 2022 shows long lines of commuters forming at the Ortigas Station of MRT 3 while the signaling system glitch was being fixed. - Courtesy of Cha Padilla via PDI/ANN MANILA: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told Filipino commuters that they can expect improved public transportation in late 2025. He said this is due to the scheduled completion of some phases of the government's big-ticket infrastructure projects in the transportation sector. In Part 3 of the BBM Podcast: Episode 2, uploaded on his social media accounts on Friday (June 20), Marcos was asked when commuters can expect relief from the daily ordeal of public commuting. He responded by expressing sympathy for their struggles, saying that he, along with his friends and family, had also experienced firsthand the inconvenience of the country's public transport system. 'I've felt that. One time, we rode the MRT, and once you get inside, if your hand ends up here, you won't be able to move it anymore,' he recalled, gesturing how cramped it is inside the trains. 'I was talking with the passengers. One of them said, 'Sir, it's really like this every day.' I know—it's extremely hot and very crowded,' he said. The Marcos administration is implementing some measures meant to benefit commuters. These projects include the '1 plus 3 promo' in the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 and Light Rail Transit Lines 1 and 2 every Sunday, as well as a 50 per cent fare discount for students. Marcos emphasised that the government is also focused on long-term solutions through major infrastructure projects, including the Metro Manila Subway and MRT-7. 'We will start to see the completion of some of the phases by late this year, next year,' Marcos said. The MRT Line 7 is expected to begin trial runs by the end of the year, according to its operator, San Miguel Corporation. Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon said last Tuesday that they are making progress in securing the right-of-way to be able to push through with the construction of the Metro Manila Subway Project. He had also revealed plans to build another station of the LRT 1 in Bacoor to cater to more passengers as the government seeks to extend the railway to Cavite by 2030. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
Straits Times
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Straits Times
Forum: Traffic Police licenses and regulates driving instructors
We refer to Mr Ethan Tan's Forum letter, 'Raise standards for private driving instructors' (June 11). The Traffic Police (TP) licenses and regulates driving instructors in Singapore, including private driving instructors (PDIs). Since 1987, TP has ceased issuing new PDI licences. As at June 1, there remain 254 licensed PDIs in Singapore. We agree with Mr Tan that driving is a serious responsibility. PDIs are subjected to annual licence renewal, for which they are required to have no more than 12 demerit points and pass a medical check-up. Data on the passing rate of learners under each PDI is available on the Singapore Police Force's website, to help prospective learners make informed decisions. Learners are encouraged to examine these statistics, among other factors, when choosing a driving school or PDI. Members of the public may submit feedback about PDIs via TP reviews all such feedback it receives, and takes appropriate action if necessary. Lin Zhihao Superintendent of Police Assistant Director (Media Relations Division) Public Affairs Department Singapore Police Force More on this Topic Forum: What readers are saying Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Hindu
05-06-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Planting of saplings, awareness drive mark World Environment Day in Tiruchi
Planting of tree saplings, awareness drives, and administration of pledge to protect the environment marked the World Environment Day here on Thursday. The day was celebrated at Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) Tiruchi complex, with the inauguration of a mass plantation drive by S. Prabhakar, executive director, and senior management officials inside the factory premises. Addressing the gathering, Mr. Prabhakar said that conserving the environment and making this world a better place for future generations required continuous efforts and urged everyone to continuously observe a plastic-free lifestyle by using alternative eco-friendly materials. Various awareness programmes, rallies and competitions for employees, township residents and campus schoolchildren were held, according to an official statement. Volunteers of the Thanneer organisation planted saplings of native tree varieties in the city to mark the day. An awareness programme was organised at the Corporation Elementary School at Edamalaipattipudur. Native tree saplings such as navel, neem, mango, and magizham were planted at Ambedkar Hall in Ponmalai and at the school campus. K. C. Neelamegam of Thanneer and others distributed saplings and cloth bags and took a pledge. An awareness programme was organised by the non-profit organisation VOICE Trust in which around 180 students of the Government Higher Secondary School at Lalgudi participated. T. Krishnan, Forest Ranger Officer from M.R. Palayam extension insisted upon taking cloth bags and vessels for purchases in the shop and in the market to end plastic pollution. Tree saplings and cloth bags were distributed to the students to promote awareness. People's Development Initiatives (PDI), supported by the Azim Premji Foundation, organised a plantation drive at Jailpettai tenements. Youth, women, and officials from the Jail Pettai Area Residents' Welfare Association conducted a cleanliness drive to remove accumulated garbage from the area. Around 35 diverse tree saplings, including neem, peru nelli, iyal vaagai, pungai and vilvam, were planted. I. Ambalavanan, Director, PDI, and Ponnusamy, President of the welfare association, took part. In the central districts, Collectors and senior officials inaugurated tree sapling planting drives and other programmes to mark the occasion.
Daily Mirror
02-06-2025
- Daily Mirror
Neighbours gobsmacked by 'second life' of frail OAP who loves bowls and fishing
William 'Billy Boy' Eastment was intercepted at Santiago Airport allegedly with £200,000 worth of meth and his neighbours in in Milborne Port, Somerset, are shocked by the accusations Neighbours of the pensioner accused by Chilean authorities of being an international drug smuggler say they were 'gobsmacked' by his alleged second life. William 'Billy Boy' Eastment faces dying behind prison bars if found guilty after the 79-year-old was intercepted at Santiago Airport allegedly with £200,000 worth of the class A drug after arriving on a flight from Cancun, Mexico, on May 18. The arrest on suspicion that he is an international drug trafficker is a world away from the quiet, bowl-playing OAP his neighbours know in Milborne Port, Somerset. So too is his semi-detached housing association bungalow on a quiet cul-de-sac, which he has now swapped for a notorious South American prison cell. One neighbour recalled seeing the pensioner just days before his arrest. 'If you're looking for Bill, he's not there,' he said. 'I saw him two weekends ago, and he said he was going away. He mentioned Mexico, which I think he said he was thinking of moving to. He said he had missed his flight, so he was going to have to get a later one. A mate was going to pick him up to take him to the airport, and that was the end of the discussion.' The neighbour said he hadn't seen Eastment since. 'I don't know what day he left, but he must have gone in the week. I know he loves his bowls, and he fishes a bit too. What on Earth is someone like that doing mixed up in drugs? He certainly hasn't got a lot of money as far as you can tell. He's just a simple pensioner, I thought, and he's hardly living the high life here.' Chilean police say Eastment is now behind bars in Santiago 1 Penitentiary, where he awaits trial. The pensioner lives in a humble set of bungalows, which are provided for the elderly and offer social activities such as coffee mornings and Tai Chi. The arrest has shocked those who know him for his love of crown greens and fondness for fishing. The retired heavy goods and bus fitter is now at the centre of an international drug trafficking investigation involving law enforcement in Chile, Mexico, the US, Brazil and the UK. However, his ex-partner claims she knew a darker side to the ageing pensioner. 'He was always shouting and swearing at me,' she said. She said she hasn't spoken to Eastment since 2017. The former partner added: 'People around here won't know him very well because they knew he was trouble. He had a hell of a temper and was always falling out with people. So neighbours would nod and say hello, but otherwise didn't get involved.' But police in Chile say they believe the frail OAP was acting as a drug mule on behalf of a criminal gang, lured into transporting a suitcase stuffed with methamphetamine under the promise of an enormous cash prize. Sergio Paredes, head of the Anti-Narcotics Division of the Chilean PDI police at Arturo Merino Benitez Airport, revealed Eastment had told officers he had been promised a staggering $5 million (£3.7 million) in exchange for delivering the case. 'The elderly British man we arrested claimed he had no idea his suitcase contained drugs when he was intercepted after picking it up from the luggage carousel and trying to enter our country with it,' said Mr Paredes. 'We interviewed him in English because he didn't speak a word of Spanish and he alleged he had been deceived. He said he had received the suitcase from some Mexicans at the airport in Cancun before he boarded his flight and he claimed he had been promised a prize of $5 million for delivering the suitcase to its final destination. 'He was even carrying a rudimentary certificate alluding to the prize. He told us he was going to spend the night in Santiago and fly to Australia the next day, but he didn't have a hotel or flight booking. Apart from the two or three bits of information he offered us about the supposed prize money and his accommodation and travel plans, he didn't say much. 'We believe he was a drug mule in the pay of a criminal gang and he's now in prison on remand while we work on gathering evidence against him and the criminal organisation that sent him ahead of probable charges and a trial.' Eastment's mobile phone is now being examined by investigators, who believe he may have had contact with suspected traffickers in Brazil and the United States. 'We've got court authorisation to look at his mobile and we'll be working with police forces in those countries and the UK through our liaison officers to try to help build up a watertight case against this gentleman and identify the people we believe sent him to Chile,' said Mr Paredes. Sources say Eastment is being held away from hardened criminals and is instead housed with other remand prisoners, many of whom are accused of non-violent crimes. A judge has ruled that he can be held for up to 120 days, giving Chilean authorities nearly four months to gather evidence and formally charge him. While Eastment could face up to 15 years in jail if convicted, legal sources in Chile say a sentence closer to five years is more likely, particularly if he cooperates with prosecutors as part of a plea deal. Mr Paredes said the use of an elderly suspect was unusual, but not unprecedented. He said: 'This case has its peculiarities - a frail-looking, elderly person being caught with a large amount of methamphetamine who had recently been operated on and still had scars from that medical intervention and looked like a typical grandad if I'm going to be honest. 'But we've seen everything here at this airport, and we know the criminal gangs are increasingly using mules they think will be less likely to attract attention. We've caught people in wheelchairs trying to leave Chile through this airport with drugs attached to their bodies. I always say anyone could be a potential drug smuggler. That's the philosophy we work off here.' He added that the suitcase was packed to capacity. 'The false bottom in the British pensioner's suitcase, where the drugs had been hidden, was filled full. It couldn't have held any more methamphetamine. We believe he was going to receive further instructions on what to do with the suitcase and the drugs once he got through immigration and left the airport. 'What we have gathered so far is information pointing to him being directed from Brazil and the United States because off his own back he showed us his mobile with conversations with prefixes from those countries. We are already talking to colleagues in the UK about this man and the ongoing investigation here. International police cooperation is always very important in cases like these, and that's why we'll be talking also to the Drug Enforcement Administration in the United States as well.' Rodrigo Diaz, a Chilean customs official, said Eastment's luggage was flagged during routine scanning procedures. 'We check every piece of luggage checked in with an X-ray scanner and we also use specialist sniffer dogs and specialists who look for certain types of suspicious behaviour from travellers,' he said. 'The scanner picked up something suspicious before this British OAP's luggage reached the carousel. We'd marked the suitcase using a technology that meant lights flashed when he came through an arch in the customs filter on his way out of the airport, and then proceeded to check it in the pensioner's presence. Initially, nothing was discovered after he took his clothes and other belongings from the suitcase. But the packets containing the amphetamine were found once a secret compartment in the case was broken open, which was what the X-Ray scanner had detected as suspicious.' Eastment's arrest is the latest in a series of similar recent apprehensions around the world involving British nationals, although most have been far younger than the man held in Chile. Last week, it emerged that a British couple aged 33 and 34 had been held at Valencia airport after police allegedly discovered 33 kilos of cannabis in their luggage. The pair claimed they were tourists coming from Thailand after they were intercepted as they got off a flight from France. A 23-year-old British woman in Ghana was arrested two weeks ago after being accused of attempting to bring up to 18kg of cannabis into the UK on a May 18 British Airways flight to Gatwick. Bella May Culley, 18, sparked a massive international search operation in early May after she was reported missing while she was believed to be holidaying in Thailand. However, it was later revealed that the teen, from Billingham, County Durham, had been arrested 4,000 miles away on drug offences in Georgia, allegedly carrying 30 pounds (14kg) of cannabis into the ex-Soviet nation. More recently, 21-year-old Charlotte Lee May, from Coulsdon, south London, was arrested in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, after police discovered 46 kg of 'Kush' - a synthetic strain of cannabis - in her suitcase. The former flight attendant, facing up to 25 years in prison if convicted, is claiming she had 'no idea' about the drugs worth up to £1.2 million and insisting they must have been planted in her luggage without her knowledge.
Mint
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Hindu community protests ‘illegal occupation' of historic temple land in Pakistan's Hyderabad city
Pakistan: Hindu community members in Pakistan's Sindh province staged a protest on Sunday against the illegal occupation of six acres of land belonging to a historic temple in the nation's Hyderabad city. Protesters demanded urgent action against the builders, who are reportedly from the Kashkheli community. They also alleged that the builders also blocked the access points to the Shiv temple, making it difficult for the community to hold its weekly prayer, reported PTI. The protesters, including women and children, came out on the call of the Pakistan Dalit Ittehad (Pakistan Dravid Alliance), an organisation which advocates for the welfare and rights of the Hindu community, mentioned the PTI report. 'These people have already started illegal construction on the land belonging to the Shiv Temple Shivala in Musa Khatian,' Hindu community leader Seetal Meghwar told reporters. Shiva Kaachi, head of the PDI, expressed frustration over the authorities' inaction despite written complaints to the police and district administration. 'Despite submitting written complaints to the police and district administration, no legal action has been taken. Due to the political influence of the land grabbers, the police are unwilling to remove the encroachments,' PTI quoted Shiva Kaachi as saying. The PDI head warned that if the situation remains unresolved, the next phase of protests would move to Hyderabad city in Pakistan, and the community would also seek legal redress through the courts. The demonstration was held in Tando Jam town, located in the Musa Khatiyan district, about 185 kilometers from Karachi. Another leader, Ram Sundar, highlighted the spiritual importance of the land, which also includes a cremation ground. 'The temple is sacred for us and these builders have started construction on the land surrounding the temple including a cremation ground for the community,' Ram Sundar said. The protest concluded with a sit-in at various locations in the town and a final demonstration in front of the Tando Jam Press Club.
