Sri Lankan batting great Kumar Sangakkara has said he is currently in self-quarantine, following his government''s guidelines for those recently returning from Europe, which has now become the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The authorities are concerned over people returning from the most-affected COVID-19 countries in Europe not registering with the police and practising isolation.
"I have no symptoms or anything like that, but I'm following government guidelines," Sangakkara told News First.
"I arrived from London over a week ago and the first thing was there was a news bulletin saying that anyone who had travelled from within March 1 to 15 should register themselves with the police and undergo self quarantine. I registered myself with the police."
The former captain said this even as the government confirmed there have been at least three cases of recent returnees attempting to hide the novel coronavirus symptoms from authorities.
Both Sangakkara and his former teammate Mahela Jayawardene have been active on social media, urging Sri Lankans to avoid panic and to exercise proper social distancing, as the country went into curfew on Friday evening.
Sri Lanka has so far reported more than 80 active COVID-19 positive cases in the country.
Across the world, the number of infected has crossed three 300,000 with a death toll of more than 14,000 people.
Meanwhile, former Australia pacer Jason Gillespie has also gone into a two-week isolation after returning from the United Kingdom.
Gillespie, who is the head coach at Sussex, had been in Cape Town with the team for a pre-season tour, which was cut short as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
Smoke billows from a burning market area at Guimara in Khagrachari district of Bangladesh on September 28, 2025, after it was set ablaze during a clash between Hill and Bengali residents over the alleged rape of a female student. (Photo: Getty Images)
AT LEAST three people were killed and dozens injured on Sunday in clashes in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of southeastern Bangladesh after protests over the alleged gang rape of a schoolgirl.
Violence spread from Khagrachhari town to Guimara despite restrictions and the deployment of security forces.
Police confirmed the deaths but did not disclose the identities of the victims. Witnesses reported homes and businesses were set ablaze during the clashes between Indigenous groups and Bengali settlers.
The home ministry said 13 army personnel and three policemen were among the injured.
Protesters alleged that the army fired on demonstrators, while the military denied responsibility and blamed the United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF), a rebel faction, for the violence. The interior ministry said weapons were being smuggled into the region from outside the country.
The unrest adds to political tensions as interim leader Muhammad Yunus prepares for elections in February, the first since Sheikh Hasina’s government was ousted in 2024.
Key takeaways:
Three deaths and dozens injured: Clashes broke out in Khagrachhari district following protests over the alleged rape of a schoolgirl. The violence spread to Guimara, 36 km away, despite the deployment of army, police and Border Guard Bangladesh personnel.
Victims not identified: Police confirmed three fatalities, but doctors at Khagrachhari Sadar Hospital did not clarify whether the dead were Indigenous people or Bengalis.
Rape case triggered unrest: The alleged gang rape took place on September 23. A Bengali teenager has been arrested with army assistance and is being held on six-day remand for questioning.
Blame and counter-blame: Protesters accused the army of opening fire on demonstrators. The army denied this and instead accused the UPDF rebel faction of instigating the clashes and firing shots.
Government response: Interior ministry chief Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said arms were entering the region from abroad. The home ministry pledged legal action against those responsible and urged residents to remain calm.
Background of unrest: The Chittagong Hill Tracts saw a decades-long insurgency that ended with the 1997 peace accord. Rebel groups like the UPDF rejected the deal and continue to demand autonomy, contributing to sporadic violence in the region.
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The lost ‘Punjabi Disco’ record that quietly changed UK British Asian club culture is finally back
A ground-breaking 1982 album combined Punjabi folk with electronic disco.
It was made to break down gender segregation at British Asian weddings.
Only 500 copies were ever pressed before it vanished into obscurity.
The original master tapes were rescued just before they turned to dust.
Its 2025 reissue finally gives a lost classic its proper moment.
Imagine a sound so ahead of its time it simply disappeared. Raw synths and a woman singing Punjabi like she was calling people to the floor. There’s anger in the story. Pride too. Mohinder Kaur Bhamra made something that did not fit then. Now it is back. Punjabi Disco was always meant to pull people into one room. To stop the quiet rules that kept women in a corner. It was a record born in West London that dared to smash traditions together, creating a revolutionary beat to get everyone dancing. Now, this lost chapter of British music is finally being heard, and it changes the story of our dance floors.
The lost ‘Punjabi Disco’ record that quietly changed UK British Asian club culture is finally back Instagram/naya.beat/mohinder.kaurbhamra
How did Punjabi Disco try to change society?
For the British Asian community in the early 1980s, racism was a constant pressure. Inside, the community held itself together, but with strict rules. At Punjabi weddings in the UK, men and women were often kept separate. The dance floor was a male space and Mohinder Kaur Bhamra had had enough. She started using her voice, her authority, to call the women in. "I felt it wasn’t fair," she said. Her son, Kuljit Bhamra, watched this and saw the power of music as a tool. He soaked up the disco energy from clubs and decided to build a new sound specifically for these new, mixed dance floors. The music was the engine for a quiet social revolution.
The lost \u2018Punjabi Disco\u2019 record that quietly changed UK British Asian club culture is finally back Instagram/naya.beat/mohinder.kaurbhamra
The basement sessions that built a new sound
Let’s get this straight. Kuljit Bhamra was not in a fancy studio. He was a 22-year-old with a head full of ideas, working out of his basement. His tools? A Roland SH-1000, one of the first synthesizers you could buy, and a clunky CR-8000 drum machine played by his 11-year-old brother, Ambi.
They brought in bassist Trevor Michael Georges and recorded at a small studio owned by Roxy Music’s bass player. But the heart of it was that basement. Kuljit took his mother Mohinder’s powerful voice trained in Punjabi folk, and wove it through these gritty, electronic rhythms.
Why did this revolutionary Punjabi Disco album vanish?
Punjabi Disco is a nine-track record made in London in 1982 by Mohinder Kaur Bhamra with production by her son Kuljit. It combined Punjabi folk singing with early synths and drum machines, a sound that prefigures later British Asian electronic music. Here is where the story turns sour. After being promised a deal, the Bhamras found a cassette in a Southall shop called Punjabi Disco but with a different singer. Someone had stolen their idea. Devastated, they managed a tiny release of just 500 copies. With no real marketing, Kuljit took to his bike, dropping off copies at local corner shops himself.
It was a hopeless task. The record sank without a trace. Mohinder went back to singing at weddings. Kuljit moved on, later becoming a legendary Bhangra producer. The album’s scarcity gave it myth status until recent rediscovery.
What does the 2025 reissue of Punjabi Disco mean now?
This is where the ghost gets a second chance. DJ Raghav Mani, who calls the album "the holy grail," spent three years tracking down the original master tapes. They were found and digitised just before they decayed forever. It is like connecting a 40-year-old vision to today’s dance culture. For Mohinder, now 89, it is a moment of quiet pride for what her family created. The beat, it turns out, was always there. We just had to find it.
The record arrives on 31 October 2025 as a remastered 2xLP and across streaming services. The reissue includes a roaring lost track, Dohai Ni Dohai, that never got released, plus remixes and covers by Peaking Lights, Baalti, Psychemagik, Mystic Jungle, and others. Naya Beat has pre-orders and single previews available now. The reissue lets club producers and listeners meet the original grooves head-on.
Why Punjabi Disco matters for British Asian culture today
This is not just a curious relic. It is proof of something often forgotten: experimentation and social change were happening in community halls long before the mainstream noticed. Mohinder actively invited women onto the main floor at family events and Kuljit scored music for that moment. That social aim, to make the dance floor mixed, is as important as the sound. The reissue, in fact, restores a piece of social history that shows how music shaped how a community moved and mixed.
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This move is intended to speed up immigration procedures at airports and reduce delays.
FROM October 1, India will offer foreign nationals the option to use digital e-arrival cards instead of filling physical disembarkation cards when entering the country.
The e-arrival cards will ask for details such as passport number, nationality, purpose of visit, address in India and contact information; no documents need to be uploaded.
Indian nationals and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) card holders will not need to fill the e-arrival cards, reported The Times of India.
This move is intended to speed up immigration procedures at airports and reduce delays. It will operate alongside the existing Fast Track Immigration – Trusted Traveller Programme (FTI-TTP), which is available to Indian citizens and OCI holders.
The FTI-TTP was launched in 2024 and has been extended to 13 airports, with plans to include the upcoming Navi Mumbai and Greater Noida airports.
A government statement released on September 11 noted: “Travellers now experience no long queues or manual checking, receiving immigration clearance in just 30 seconds without delays. About 3 lakh travellers have registered on (FTI-TTP) portal, of which 2.65 lakh have utilised it during travel.”
The digital arrival card option and expansion of the fast-track service are part of efforts led by the Union Home Ministry, under Home Minister Amit Shah, to harness technology to speed up immigration processes.
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'Ramayana' producer Namit Malhotra reveals epic film’s budget seems to appear out of nowhere
Namit Malhotra says the movie's money situation is a complete mystery, even to him.
He's somehow shot most of the first film without taking out any bank loans.
Getting Hans Zimmer for the music is a major coup for Indian cinema.
Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi, and Yash lead the cast in this two-part epic.
Malhotra believes the project has single-handedly revitalised his entire company.
The producer behind the most ambitious film India has ever seen, Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana, has made a startling confession about its mind-boggling finances. Namit Malhotra, whose company DNEG has multiple Oscars, openly admits he cannot trace the source of the project's rumoured £377 million (₹4,000 crore) budget. He revealed that even the lead actors were initially sceptical, questioning if he truly had the funds to realise his grand vision for the Indian epic.
'Ramayana' producer Namit Malhotra reveals epic film’s budget seems to appear out of nowhere Getty Images/ Instagram Screengrab/iamnamitmalhotra
How is Ramayana being funded without a clear budget?
It sounds like something from a fantasy, but the man bankrolling this cinematic mammoth claims the money just materialises. Malhotra insists he's shot the entire first part without once taking out a loan, a claim that makes you wonder what's really going on behind the scenes. These days, he's practically stopped looking at the budget spreadsheets altogether. His entire focus has narrowed down to one simple, brutal goal: making sure the final product doesn't have a single corner cut, no matter what the final number on the invoice says.
Forget what you’ve seen before. Malhotra isn’t shy about stating this Ramayana is a tougher technical challenge than any of his Oscar-winning Hollywood projects, including Dune and Inception. He's put everything into it. The musical score is a major collaboration between AR Rahman and the great Hans Zimmer, being Zimmer's debut into Indian cinema. The epic brings together Indian cinema’s biggest stars with Ranbir Kapoor playing Lord Ram, Sai Pallavi as Sita, and Yash as Ravana.
When is the Ramayana release and what is the ultimate goal?
The plan is to drop part one in cinemas for Diwali 2026, with the sequel following exactly a year later. But the release is just the endgame. Malhotra’s real ambition is to flip the script on how Indian films perform worldwide. He points out that Hollywood now earns up to 80% of its revenue from overseas markets. He’s convinced that with the right quality, Indian cinema can achieve the same inverse. Ramayana, he says, has injected new life into his entire business, a phenomenon he can’t quite explain but is happily riding out.
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Reeves said that while no companies had signed up yet, several business organisations support the initiative.
CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves will offer guaranteed paid work placements to young people who have been unemployed or out of education for 18 months, with those refusing the offer facing possible loss of benefits.
She is expected to outline the plan in her speech to Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, promising "nothing less than the abolition of long-term youth unemployment."
Reeves told the BBC that while no companies had signed up yet, several business organisations support the initiative. The scheme builds on a “youth guarantee” announced last November, which promised 18 to 21-year-olds access to apprenticeships, training, education opportunities, or help finding a job.
Under the new plan, every young person on Universal Credit for 18 months without "earning or learning" will be offered a paid placement. Those who decline without a reasonable excuse could face sanctions such as losing benefits.
The placements aim to help young people develop skills for full-time employment. Around one in eight 16 to 24-year-olds, roughly 948,000 people, are currently not in education, employment, or training.
The scheme will involve private companies, with government subsidies to cover some wages. Costs will be met from existing budgets outlined in this year’s spending review, with full details in the November Budget.
Reeves said, "We're not immune to any of those things," referring to global economic pressures. She also pledged to fund a library in every primary school in England.
The Federation of Small Businesses welcomed the announcement. Policy chair Tina McKenzie said, "Reprioritising spending from employment programmes which aren't working to this type of scheme is exactly the way to get much-needed bang for taxpayer cash."