Chandigarh: The Punjab government on Saturday announced the setting up of a state culture commission to highlight the state's rich culture and also to curb the growing tendency of vulgar songs.

Cultural Affairs Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu announced the setting up the Punjab Sabhyacharak (Culture) Commission here.

Punjab Sahitya Akademi chairman and famous writer Surjit Pattar will finalise the members of the commission, which will be headed by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh while Sidhu will be its Vice Chairman.

Pattar said that the commission has been set up to save the history and culture of Punjab.Though it will highlight the history and culture of Punjab, its focus will also be to check vulgarity in Punjabi songs.

In recent years, there has been a growing trend in Punjabi songs that glorified crime and criminals, gun culture, violence, abusive language and sexuality.

The commission will be empowered to recommend registration of a police complaint in case it finds vulgar content in songs.

Sidhu told media here on Saturday that the commission would give its first report within a fortnight.

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Tehran: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who was considered a potential successor to the supreme leader, died in a helicopter crash in northern Iran, state media reported on Monday. He was 63.

The tragic incident occurred amidst heightened tensions in the Middle East, particularly due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Last month, under the directive of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Raisi had overseen an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel, further escalating regional unrest.

Social media buzzed with speculation following the news of the crash. On the microblogging platform ‘X’, the hashtag #Mossad trended as netizens speculated that the Israeli intelligence agency was behind the mishap. One user commented, “It’s never an accident,” reflecting widespread suspicions.

President Raisi was returning from a ceremony to open a dam on Iran’s border with Azerbaijan when the helicopter crashed. He had been in Azerbaijan earlier on May 19 to inaugurate the dam alongside Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. Raisi’s death was confirmed in a statement by Vice President Mohsen Mansouri and on state television, according to Reuters.

The helicopter crash follows recent escalations in the region. Iran had launched a deluge of drones and missiles on Israel in response to a suspected Israeli strike that killed top Iranian officials in Syria, deepening the conflict between the two countries.