Gas leak after blast in ONGC well in Gujarat, several villages affected

by Argus News

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Gas leaked after a major blast in an ONGC gas well near Kasalpura village of Gujarat's Mehsana district early on Friday.

Mehsana, Sep 30: Gas leaked after a major blast in an ONGC gas well near Kasalpura village of Gujarat's Mehsana district early on Friday, affecting residents of 10-12 villages within a 2 km radius, officials said.

The ONGC team was working to plug the gas leak.

Becharaji MLA Bharatji Thakor told the local media that the blast occurred around 1 a.m. and people upto 4 km radius heard the sound, and the escaping gas spread upto 2 k, area and affecting local villages. ONGC teams have started working on the leak, but are yet not able to plug it.

Kasalpur village sarpanch Kanti Chavda said that the ONGC was informed about the blast soon after it occurred and gas escaped at a pressure.

Doctors of the primary health centre are treating villagers complaining of being affected and an ambulance is kept on standby.

Gujarat - Mehsana - gas leak from ONGC gas well, it has affected villagers of at least 10 to 12 villages. (IANS)

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UP: Train Passengers Stranded As Loco Pilots Walk Off

by Utkalika Mohanty

Lucknow, Nov 30: Hundreds of passengers aboard the Barauni-Lucknow Express were left stranded at Burhwal railway station in Barabanki due to the departure of the train’s loco pilots, one of whom said that his duty hours were over, while the other claimed uneasiness before switching off their duties.

This incident on Wednesday reportedly kept North Eastern Railway (NER) officials on their toes for several hours as they grappled with the challenge of securing another loco pilot to continue the journey to its destination in Lucknow.

Confirming the incident, the NER said in a statement: “Upon reaching Burhwal station, the loco pilot of Train Number 15203 expressed discomfort with proceeding further. In consideration of ensuring safe and secure train operations, arrangements were promptly made for another loco pilot to take over, allowing the train to continue its journey to Lucknow in a safe and secure manner.”

A video has also surfaced, featuring an official believed to be the station master, who is heard informing passengers that the loco pilot had declined to continue, but another loco pilot was en route, and normal services would resume shortly.

The official mentioned that the train had arrived at the station around 1 p.m., and due to the unanticipated situation, passengers became agitated, highlighting the railway’s apparent lack of preparedness.

This led authorities to expedite the deployment of an alternate loco pilot.

Railway officials explained that the loco pilot’s duty hours were completed due to delays in the train schedule.

Consequently, the loco pilot brought in from Gorakhpur stopped the train midway to rest.

A senior official revealed that the train arrived at Burhwal railway station about six to seven hours behind schedule, resulting in the completion of the loco pilot’s duty hours.

Subsequently, the loco pilot disembarked from the train after completing his duty.

The train remained halted at Burhwal railway station for approximately two hours until a second loco pilot from the Amrapali train arrived.

(IANS)

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1 In 2 Indians Seek Deepfakes To Be Removed In 24 Hrs From Social Media

by Utkalika Mohanty

New Delhi, Nov 30: Nearly one in three (30 per cent) Indians say they are watching a lot of videos they later find to be fake, with more than one in two residents seeking social media platforms to be mandated to remove deepfake videos within 24 hours, a new survey showed on Thursday.

In the recent weeks, multiple Indian actors have featured in deepfake short videos circulating on various social media platforms.

According to the survey by social community platform LocalCircles, 43 per cent of Indians surveyed watch three or more short videos on average each day.

Thirty per cent of them say they later find 25 per cent or more videos they watched to be fake

About 56 per cent respondents say a deepfake video circulating on a social media platform should be removed within 24 hours of complaint submission, the findings showed.

Many deepfakes have been found in circulation in election-bound states also, leading the government to take serious note of the rising trend of deepfakes, particularly in the light of the popularity of short videos.

Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, has said the government will assist citizens in filing FIR against social media platforms for violation of IT rules in case they are aggrieved from objectionable content like deepfakes.

The minister said the government will come up with new regulations soon to tackle deepfakes. In the meanwhile, the government has mandated that social media companies must promptly and diligently identify misleading and deepfake videos.

According to the survey, very few people know or bother to check the authenticity of a video they watch forwarded to them on social media platforms.

As part of the community discussions, people have expressed the extremely poor responsiveness that platforms have to user complaints when their social media account gets hacked.

People have written that even after a formal police complaint, it has taken 7-10 days for deactivation and without one many are waiting to hear from platforms even after three weeks.

“Not just actors, politicians, celebrities, etc., but anybody can become the target of deepfake videos as new tools emerge globally every month enabling users to create a deepfake video,” the survey noted.

(IANS)

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Fraudster With Two Wives, Nine Kids, Six Girlfriends Arrested In Lucknow

by Manisha Das

Lucknow, Nov 30: Ajeet Maurya, a social media influencer with two wives, nine children and six girlfriends, was arrested in Lucknow for running fake ponzi- like schemes, circulating fake Indian currency notes, duping people with insurance schemes and several other cases.

Maurya (41) was arrested by the Sarojini Nagar police on Wednesday while he was dining with his wife at a hotel and planning for a flight to an overseas trip for the New Year celebrations.

A class 6 dropout, Maurya told the police that he took to crime as he had to feed two wives, nine children and six girlfriends.

He makes reels on social media sites.

Police got on the conman after an FIR was filed by Dharmendra Kumar, in which he alleged that he was duped of Rs 3 lakhs in the name of doubling the amount by a group of people.

SHO Sarojininagar, Shailendra Giri said that it all started after Maurya, who used to make false Plaster of Paris ceilings in Mumbai, stopped getting work.

“In Mumbai he had married Sangeeta, 40, in 2000 and had seven children with her. He lost his job by 2010 and returned to his village in Gonda, but found no lucrative job,” said the police.

Thereafter, he took to crime and his first case of theft and trespassing was registered in Gonda in 2016.

Since then, Mauryat has not looked back.

“Two years later he came in touch with one Sushila ,30, and took to new means of fraud. He started circulation of fake currency notes and floating ponzi like schemes,” a senior crime branch personnel added.

The two soon connived with some others and floated an outfit. In 2019, Ajeet married Sushila.

They started living a life of luxury.

Sushila gave birth to two children, the police said.

During the probe, cops also found that Maurya had built two houses, one in which Sangeeta lives and another for Sushila and her children, while he himself lives in a rented accommodation.