Australian woman fined for stealing Chanel perfume from airport duty-free store after two years
Singapore: A 35-year-old Australian national, Raj Varsha, was fined $750 by a Singapore court on April 11 after pleading guilty to stealing a bottle of Chanel perfume valued at nearly $250 from a duty-free store at Changi Airport in March 2023.
According to court proceedings, the incident occurred at around 4:10 a.m. on March 22, 2023, when Varsha entered The Shilla Duty Free store located in the Terminal 1 departure transit area.
State Prosecuting Officer Zakir Hussain informed the court that Varsha had concealed the perfume bottle in her bag and exited the store without making payment.
Security personnel, upon noticing the missing item, alerted store employees. CCTV footage confirmed the theft, after which the store supervisor notified the Airport Police Division. Varsha departed for Thailand with her family at approximately 9:10 a.m. on the same day.
She was detained on March 31, 2025, upon re-entering Singapore. During investigations, Varsha admitted to the theft and stated that she had given the stolen item to her mother as a gift.
In court, Varsha, who did not have legal representation, expressed remorse and apologized for her actions. She told District Judge A. Sangeetha that she accepted full responsibility and had no prior legal infractions. Full restitution for the stolen item has since been made to the store.
Under Singapore law, theft is punishable by imprisonment for up to three years, a fine, or both.
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Andhra to be developed as knowledge, creator economy hub: CM Naidu
New Delhi/Amaravati (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said the state is taking steps to transform itself into a knowledge and creator economy hub with a strong focus on artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
He noted that Andhra Pradesh has abundant tech-driven youth and the government is formulating plans to train them in futuristic technologies with support from global technology firms.
"Our goal is to transform Andhra Pradesh into a knowledge hub by focusing on AI, quantum computing, data centres, drone cities and space cities. The youth will remain our biggest asset over the next 25 years, and we seek global partnerships to scale up the creator economy," said Naidu during his interactions at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi.
Naidu, who participated in the summit in the national capital, also held meetings with several global technology leaders and industrialists to explore collaborations in artificial intelligence, clean energy and innovation ecosystems.
He met Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Autodesk AI Head Mike Haley, Aramco India Director Abdul Rehman AiThukair, LEGO Education Vice President Tom Hall, Aadhaar Founder and CTO Srikanth Nadhamuni, Khosla Ventures Managing Partner Vinod Khosla and others at the AP Pavilion.
The chief minister also held discussions with Saudi Aramco representatives on clean energy projects, including solar initiatives, and invited the company to expand operations in Andhra Pradesh, stating that the state is highly suitable for green energy production.
He sought support from NVIDIA Vice President Callista Redmond for establishing AI Living Labs and proposed partnerships through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub to promote youth innovation, including collaborations with IIT Tirupati and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati under the Andhra Pradesh Future Innovation and Research for Science and Technology (AP FIRST) initiative.
Naidu urged Autodesk leadership to support the development of Global Capability Centres in design engineering and requested the establishment of an Innovation Academy in Amaravati aligned with quantum technology, besides proposing AI and robotics learning labs in partnership with LEGO Education.
He also discussed AI-driven smart governance solutions with Quantela Inc Chairman Sridhar Gadhi, while World Bank Group Digital AI Regional Director Mahesh Uttamchandani met Naidu on the sidelines of the summit.
Following the meetings, Naidu visited various exhibition stalls at the summit, including those of NVIDIA, Tata, Intel and Microsoft, and reviewed AI applications across agriculture, healthcare and industry.
