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23 killed after explosion at firecracker factory in Punjab's Gurdaspur

Agencies
September 5, 2019

Batala, Sept 5: Sahib Singh of Jangla village who suffered injuries in the Batala firecracker factory blast in Punjab's Gurdaspur district said he was fortunate enough to survive the tragedy, which claimed 23 lives and left 27 injured on Wednesday evening.

"It (blast) was so powerful that I fell unconscious for a long time," said Singh, who had gone to the factory to buy firecrackers for the 532nd marriage anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, popularly known as "Babe Da Viah" which falls on September 5.

Similarly, Rajpal Khokkar of Batala, was among the few who escaped death. He was returning from nearby Gurdwara Singh Sabha when the incident took place.

"When I heard the loud sound of the blast, I fell down. When I gained consciousness, I found myself in hospital," he said. While Sukhdev Singh survived the tragedy, two others accompanying him died. He said his car was also damaged.

Eyewitness Sukhraj Singh said the impact of the blast was such that a car parked near the factory fell into a drain. Nearby buildings were damaged and their roofs caved in. Locals said the explosion was heard even a few kilometres away.

Batala Senior Medical Officer Sanjiv Bhalla said most victims sustained head and leg injuries.

Adequate arrangements had been made for the treatment of the injured, he said, adding that all doctors and the nursing staff had been called for the emergency situation.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said rescue operations were underway with the District Collector and the Senior Superintendent of Police heading the relief efforts.

"Deeply anguished to learn of the loss of lives due to the blast in the firecracker factory in Batala. Rescue operations are underway with the DC & SSP heading the relief efforts," he tweeted.

The chief minister also launched a magisterial inquiry into the explosion.

Gurdaspur MP Sunny Deol too expressed grief over the incident. "Saddened to hear about the news of blast in Batala factory. NDRF teams and local administration have been rushed for rescue operation," Deol said in his tweet.

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force or NDRF and the State Disaster Response Force or SDRF were aiding rescue operations. Senior police and district administration were also present at the spot.

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coastaldigest.com news network
August 8,2020

Kozhikode, Aug 8: A tailwind or crosswind could be the reason for the Air India Express flight mishap at Kozhikode international airport in Kerala, according to some aviation experts. 

Team of DGCA and AIE already reached the spot. With the death of the captain and co-pilot in the mishap, the investigation would be focusing mainly on the voice recorders and other technical aspects.

It is learnt that the ill-fated aircraft, IX 1344 with 190 onboard including crew, was initially planning to land on runway-28 of the airport. But later the pilot opted runway-10 which is toward the other direction. Pilots would be taking the decisions on the basis of inputs from ATC.

The questions now doing the rounds are what made the pilot opt runway-10 and whether the tabletop runway lacked adequate safety parameters.

An aviation expert, who didn't want to be quoted, said that Capt Deepak Sathe, who was commandeering the aircraft, was a well-experienced pilot and was also familiar with the terrains. Hence the chances of any error from his part was very unlikely. Hence a fair in-depth probe was required to find the exact cause.

Though the Kozhikode airport has an Instrument Landing System, it was of category-I for which pilot's visibility is very crucial toward a touchdown. Since it is a tabletop airport and rough weather prevailing in the region, the chances of tailwind was also high, said sources.

There had been safety concerns about the airport over quite some time. In 2011 aviation safety consultant captain Mohan Ranganathan reportedly gave a report citing the safety issues, especially the buffer zones at the end of the runway.

However, an AAI officer said that rectification steps were already done by last year by widening the Runway End Safety Area (RESA) from 90 metre to 240 metre. However, the length of the runway had to be reduced to 2,700 metre from 2,850. The AAI was also constantly pressing for increasing the runway length to 3,150 metres. But that was getting delayed due to land acquisition issues pending with the state government.

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News Network
February 3,2020

New Delhi, Feb 3: The Allahabad High Court on Monday granted bail to former BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand in the alleged rape case of a law student. He was arrested in September last year after the 23-year-old woman accused him of sexual harassment and blackmail.

The woman was a student of the Chinmayanand-controlled SS Law College in Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Chinmayanand is facing charges under Sections 376C (sexual intercourse by a person or persons taking advantage of their official position), 354 D (stalking), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The case is being investigated by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed on the directions of the Supreme Court.

The case came to light after the woman posted a video on August 23 last year on social media alleging that “a senior leader of the saint community” was harassing and threatening to kill her. The law student went missing a day later, after which her father lodged a complaint, accusing Chinmayanand of harassing his daughter.

Chinmayanand was expelled from the BJP after his arrest.

The SIT had, on November 6, submitted chargesheet in the case.

In a parallel case, the woman was charged with trying to extort money from Chinmayanad. The Allahabad High Court granted her bail in that case in December last year.

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News Network
January 2,2020

New Delhi, Jan 2: Thirteen firefighters were among the 14 people injured when a battery factory collapsed in northwest Delhi's Peera Garhi following an explosion due to a fire that broke out early on Thursday morning, officials said.

A fire brigade personnel still remained trapped under the debris of the building in Udyog Nagar area, an official said.

A large portion of the two-storey building collapsed following an explosion when firefighters were dousing the blaze, the official said, adding that fire department had received a call at 4.23am.

Plumes of smoke billowed out from the building as the fire brigade personnel battled to contain the blaze. An eyewitness said several explosions were heard as the blaze gutted down the building.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and civil authorities rushed to the spot to control the situation, an official said, adding that 35 fire tenders were at the spot.

The injured, including a security guard of the factory, were rushed to nearby hospitals, a police officer said.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he was monitoring the situation.

"V sad to hear this. Am closely monitoring the situation. Fire personnel trying their best. Praying for the safety of those trapped," Kejriwal tweeted.

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