Gold biscuits seized in Manipur, two arrested
Imphal, June 26: Gold bicuits, valued at Rs 3 crore, were seized in two separate incidents in border area of Manipur on Tuesday and two smugglers arrested, officials said.
In the first incident, 40 gold biscuits, weighing 6.64 kg and valued at Rs 2 crore, were seized near border town Moreh and the smuggler arrested, a Customs Department official said.
Assistant Commissioner, Customs, R.K. Dorendrajit said that they had received intelligence inputs about the movements of some smugglers and laid traps at Khudengthabi near Moreh.
The smuggler, identified as Mohammad Askar, 40, a resident of Mayang Imphal Begoon in Imphal West district, was found to have concealed the contraband gold in his mini truck which was coming from Moreh to Imphal bringing some legally permitted items.
Dorendrajit also said that his division has seized 26.5 kg of contraband gold, worth Rs 8.32 crore, from January this year.
In the second incident, troopers of 12 Assam Rifles manning the check point at Khudengthabi arrested another gold smuggler, identified as Mohammad Jallanuddin of Lilong in Thoubal district, who was transporting 3.316 kg of gold inside the fuel tank of a van.
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Ukrainian president welcomes Russian overtures, but says ceasefire must come before peace talks
Kyiv, May 11 (AP): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday welcomed Russia's offer for direct peace talks, but insisted there must be a full, temporary ceasefire in place before negotiations can start.
Zelenskyy, writing on X, called Russian President Vladimir Putin's counter-offer to start talks without a ceasefire a “positive sign”, and said “the entire world has been waiting for this for a very long time".
He added, however, that "the very first step in truly ending any war is a ceasefire”.
Meanwhile, Russia resumed mass drone attacks in Ukraine early on Sunday, after its self-declared 3-day pause expired.
Russia launched 108 attack drones and simulator drones from six different directions, Ukraine's Air Force said on Sunday. It said 60 drones were shot down and another 41 simulator drones failed to reach targets due to Ukrainian countermeasures.
The Ukrainian president appeared to insist on his proposal to start a 30-day unconditional ceasefire on Monday. “There is no point in continuing the killing even for a single day. We expect Russia to confirm a ceasefire — full, lasting, and reliable — starting tomorrow, May 12th, and Ukraine is ready to meet,” Zelenskyy said.
Putin in remarks to the media overnight effectively rejected that ceasefire offer and proposed restarting direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday instead “without preconditions”. He said a ceasefire might be agreed on during the negotiations.
Putin's counteroffer came after leaders from four major European countries threatened to ratchet up pressure on Moscow if it does not accept an unconditional 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine that they offered on Saturday in a strong show of unity with Kyiv.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in comments aired by Russian state TV on Sunday, called Putin's proposal “very serious” and said it “confirms a real intention for find a peaceful solution”.
“The goals of the talks are clear: to eliminate the root causes of the conflict. And also to ensure the interests of the Russian Federation,” Peskov said.
It is a positive sign that the Russians have finally begun to consider ending the war. The entire world has been waiting for this for a very long time. And the very first step in truly ending any war is a ceasefire.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 11, 2025
There is no point in continuing the killing even for a single…
