Month: May 2022

As many as 25 out of the 27 retrieved bodies from the site of a fire incident that took place in a four-story building near Mundka metro station in New Delhi have not yet been identified, according to a police official.
The National Disaster Response Force reached the spot and began the search and rescue operation last night soon after the fire incident.

“Rescue mission is on. NDRF is checking if there are more bodies, 27 bodies have been recovered so far, but 25 of them haven’t been identified. The forensic team will check DNA samples while 27-28 missing complaints have been registered,” said DCP Outer District, Sameer Sharma.

Meanwhile, the ongoing search operation that began on Friday night is likely to be completed soon, according to an NDRF official.

“The search operation is going on continuously. We have found small parts of bodies on the second floor. I think the search operation would be complete in 3-4 hours,” said Vikash Saini, Assistant Commandant, NDRF.

Aiming to give “correct information” to those whose family members are missing or injured and admitted to the hospital, a help desk was set up at Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital.

According to the notice by the District Magistrate (West) office, the people can ascertain about the missing persons or inform the desk about such persons on the helpline number 011-25195529, 011-25100093.

A WhatsApp number has also been rolled out for the purpose which, according to the notice, is +91 7982661695.

A massive fire had broken out on Friday evening that left 27 people dead and 12 injured in the tragic incident.

However, the blaze was brought under control, informed the fire officials.

A total of 50 people have been rescued so far, according to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer District) Sameer Sharma. (ANI)

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will hold a meeting today with the party’s General Secretaries, state in-charges, Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs and Congress Legislative Party leaders at around 10 am.

The meeting takes place on the second day of the ongoing 3-day Chintan Shivir here in Udaipur.
On the first day of the Shivir, party interim president Sonia Gandhi addressed the leaders who were invited to the event and also hit out at the ruling BJP at the Centre.

On the agenda of the party are discussions on ‘communal polarization’, farmers’ issues, and strengthening the party for the upcoming elections. (ANI)

Hours after the Delhi fire tragedy came under control, the police said the commercial building that caught fire near Mundka metro station on Friday evening did not have fire NOC while also informing that the building owner is absconding.

The police official said that the building owner has been identified as Manish Lakra.
“The building did not have a fire NOC. The owner of the building has been identified as Manish Lakra who lived on the top floor. Lakra is currently absconding, teams are on the job and he will be nabbed soon,” DCP Sameer Sharma (Outer District) told reporters.

As many as 27 people died in the fire accident so far and 12 persons are injured, police said.

“A total of 27 people have died and 12 are injured. We’ll take the help of the forensic team to identify the bodies. FIR has been registered. We’ve detained company owners. There are chances that more bodies may be recovered as the rescue operation is yet to be completed,” he added.

Meanwhile, the divisional officer of the fire department also informed that there was only one staircase due to which, people could not move out of the building.

“There was only one staircase and because of that people could not go out. The building did not have proper NOC (from the fire department),” said Satpal Bhardwaj, Divisional Officer, Fire Department.

On preliminary enquiry, it was found that it is a four-story commercial building generally used for providing office space for companies, the police said.

The fire broke on the 1st floor of the building which is an office of CCTV cameras and router manufacturing company. The owners of the company are in police custody. (ANI)

The death toll in a massive fire that broke out in a building near Delhi’s Mundka metro station today rose to 26.

According to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer District) Sameer Sharma, 50 people were rescued so far and the rescue operation is underway.
“As many as 26 bodies recovered in the fire at the three-storey commercial building which broke out this evening near Delhi’s Mundka metro station,” Sunil Choudhary, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Delhi Fire Service told media persons.

Earlier in the day, on preliminary enquiry, it was found that it is a three-story commercial building generally used for providing office space for companies, the police said.

The fire broke on the 1st floor of the building which is an office of a CCTV cameras and router manufacturing company. The owner of the company is in police custody.

“Efforts are being made to control the situation,” the police said.

Further details are awaited. (ANI)

Amid Sri Lanka’s devastating economic crisis, India in another initiative to extend support will be supplying 65,000 metric tons of urea to the island nation.

Reportedly, the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India, Milinda Moragoda, held a meeting with the Secretary in the Department of Fertilizers of India Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi on Thursday where the issue was discussed, reported Daily Mirror.
“High Commissioner Milinda Moragoda met with the Secretary to the Department of Fertilizers of India Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi and thanked him for India’s decision to supply 65,000 MT of urea required for the current Yala cultivation season in Sri Lanka,” said the High Commission of Sri Lanka in a message.

In the meeting, both Moragoda and Kumar Chaturvedi discussed possible ways and measures to ensure that chemical fertilizers from India to Sri Lanka are supplied continuously under the existing Credit Line and beyond, reported Daily Mirror.

Further, despite an export ban of urea fertilizer from India, the Indian government, at the request of the Sri Lankan government, has agreed to provide 65,000 metric tons of Urea to the crisis-ridden island country under the existing USD 1 billion Indian line of credit.

Earlier, the Sri Lankan government as a part of its plan to transit toward organic agriculture had banned the import of chemical fertilizers the previous year. However, the sudden economic crisis mixed with the inadequate supply of organic fertilizers heavily impacted the agricultural output reported Daily Mirror.

Notably, this was the reason for the Sri Lankan government to revoke the ban on several key crops, reported the Daily Mirror.

Moreover, India has promised to provide over USD 3 billion to the debt-ridden island country in loans, credit swaps, and also credit lines since the beginning of the year. India has also expressed its desire to work with the new Sri Lankan government.

Meanwhile, Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed the Sri Lankan Prime Minister for a record sixth term. He has given his assurance to the people of Sri Lanka that he will ensure the supply of petrol, diesel, and electricity to the island country.

Currently, Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence with food and fuel shortages, soaring prices, and power cuts affecting a large number of the citizens. (ANI)

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Centre, Jammu and Kashmir administration, and Election Commission of India (ECI) on a plea challenging the government’s decision to constitute the delimitation commission for redrawing the assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in the Union Territory.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MM Sundresh sought responses from the Centre, Election Commission of India and the Union Territory within six weeks.

The apex court posted the matter for further hearing on August 30.

The order of the apex court came on two Srinagar residents Haji Abdul Gani Khan and Dr. Mohammad Ayub Mattoo saying that contrary to the scheme of the Constitution, this delimitation exercise was carried out and alteration of boundaries and inclusion of extended areas could not be done.

The bench asked the counsel of petitioners why have they not challenged the formation of the commission itself and do they challenge the abrogation of Article 370 also.

The counsel who was making objectionable submissions, was told by the bench to choose his words properly and said that “Kashmir was always part of India and just a special provision was removed”.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that delimitation can be conducted only by the Election Commission of India and not the delimitation commission.

The challenge is about the delimitation pursuant to the notifications of March 6, 2020, and March 3, 2021.

The plea sought declaration that the increase in the number of seats from 107 to 114 (including 24 seats in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) in Jammu and Kashmir is ultra vires the Constitutional Provisions such as Articles 81, 82, 170, 330, and 332 and Statutory Provisions, particularly under Section 63 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.

It said that while Article 170 of the Constitution of India provides that the next delimitation in the country will be taken up after 2026 then why has the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir been singled out.

The plea said that the last Delimitation Commission was set up on July 12, 2002, in the exercise of powers conferred by Section 3 of the Delimitation Act, 2002, after the 2001 Census to carry out the exercise throughout the country and the commission had issued guidelines and methodology for the Delimitation of Assembly and Parliamentary Constituencies vide letter dated July 5, 2004, along with the Constitutional and Legal Provisions.

It sought to declare the notification dated March 6, 2020, constituting the delimitation commission to take up delimitation in the UT of J&K and states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Nagaland by the Centre and consequential omission of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland from the process of delimitation vide., notification dated March 3, 2021, and conducting delimitation only for Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is unconstitutional as it amounts to classification and violates Article 14. (ANI)

The death toll in a massive fire that broke out in a building near Delhi’s Mundka metro station today rose to 26.

According to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer District) Sameer Sharma, 50 people were rescued so far and the rescue operation is underway.

“As many as 26 bodies recovered in the fire at the three-storey commercial building which broke out this evening near Delhi’s Mundka metro station,” Sunil Choudhary, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Delhi Fire Service told media persons.

Earlier in the day, on preliminary enquiry, it was found that it is a three-story commercial building generally used for providing office space for companies, the police said.

The fire broke on the 1st floor of the building which is an office of a CCTV cameras and router manufacturing company. The owner of the company is in police custody.

“Efforts are being made to control the situation,” the police said.

Further details are awaited. (ANI)

Congress has put a rider on ‘one family, one ticket’ proposal mooted by a panel set up for the Udaipur Chintan Shivir and has said that the formula will not be applied if the second member from a family is actively working for the party for at least five years.

The party’s view was articulated by party general secretary Ajay Maken, who is a member of the coordination panel on ‘organisation’ that had made the ‘one family, one ticket’ suggestion.

He said that the one family, one ticket formula will not be applied if “two persons are from the same family and the second member is actively working for the party for five years”. Maken said such members can be considered for tickets and can contest polls.

The ‘organisation’ panel has made several suggestions including fixing tenures of AICC office-bearers. The clarification on ‘one family, one ticket’ suggestion clears the way for leaders who could have been left out of the race for party tickets.

From Gandhi Family, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who had stayed behind the curtains before joining politics, was appointed party general secretary in 2018 and will be completing six years in her new role when general elections are held in 2024.

The three-day Navsankalp Shivir started in Rajasthan’s Udaipur on Friday. Six committees have been set up and 430 leaders will deliberate the party’s strategy to tackle emerging challenges. (ANI)

The Taliban has implemented a gender segregation plan in the western Herat province, a media report said on Friday.

Men are not permitted to dine with family members in family restaurants, Khaam Press reported citing sources in Herat province.
According to the Afghan news agency, the rule of the Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice applies “even if they are husband and wife.”

An Afghan woman revealed the manager of a Herat restaurant told her to sit separately from her husband.

Riazullah Seerat, a Taliban official at the Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, said that the ministry has issued a directive requiring Herat’s public parks to be gender-segregated, with men and women authorized to attend only on separate days.

“We told women to go to parks on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday,” he continued. “The other days are set aside for males to visit for leisure and exercise.”

Back in March, the Taliban had issued a similar order, banning men and women from going to amusement parks on the same day.

Earlier today, the foreign ministers of western countries in a joint statement expressed disappointment about escalating restrictions imposed by the Taliban that impact the human rights of Afghan women.

“All Afghans should be able to enjoy their fundamental human rights. These rights are indivisible and inalienable, expressed in international human rights law, and endorsed by all members of the United Nations,” the statement read. (ANI)