Eight killed in explosion in cracker factory
MAHARAJGANJ (UP):Eight members of a family were killed and as many injured in an explosion in a cracker shop in Paniyara area here on Tuesday, police said.”The incident took place at the cracker shop of Mazhar, killing him and seven of his family members,” Superintendent of Police V K Shekhar said.Eight others were also injured in the explosion and were admitted to a hospital, he said.Their condition is reported to be stable, the SP said.The roof and wall of the house collapsed due to the explosion, he said.Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav expressed grief over the tragedy and blamed the Uttar Pradesh government for the incident. (PTI)
27 die in Himachal bus accident
SHIMLA: At least 27 people were killed when a bus fell into a 1,000 foot deep gorge in Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur district, officials said on Tuesday.The accident happened Monday near Danoh, 150 km from here. As many as 25 people were injured. A bus carrying passengers from Bilaspur to Bandla had broken down. Another bus that was coming on the same route stopped to pick up the passengers of the bus.”Because of the darkness, the bus driver couldn’t see the edge of the road. While the passengers were getting on to the bus it rolled down the hill and fell into a 1,000-foot deep gorge,” Deputy Commissioner Ritesh Chauhan said.Superintendent of Police Santosh Patial said most of the victims died on the spot.The rescue operation was still on, he added.The government has ordered an inquiry. (IANS)
Telangana employees call off 42-day-old strike
HYDERABAD: Government employees in Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh on Monday night called off their 42-day-long strike for a separate Telangana state. Leaders of Telangana Employees Joint Action Committee (TEJAC) decided to call off the strike following talks with chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy.Over 400,000 employees, who were on strike since September 13 as part of a people’s strike to demand the creation of a Telangana state, will return to work from Tuesday. The chief minister agreed to all nine demands of the employees. The government and TEJAC leaders signed an agreement after several rounds of talks during the day.The government agreed to treat the strike period as special leave and to pay the salaries by approaching the high court to seek exemption from “no work no pay” rule as a special case.It also accepted the TEJAC’s demand to withdraw cases booked against striking employees and reinstate those removed from service.(IANS)
Trustee of Kiran Bedi’s NGO quits
NEW DELHI: Already in the thick of controversies, Team Anna member Kiran Bedi on Tuesday faced problems from within when one of the founder members of her NGO managing her trips quit the trust claiming his reputation has been tarnished. Anil Bal, proprietor of Flywell Travel and a trustee of India Vision Foundation run by Bedi, said the activist’s defence on overcharging her hosts has conveyed the wrong impression among public that he was responsible for inflated invoices after issuing cheaper tickets.”In view of what has happened which unnecessarily tarnished my reputation I have decided to resign as trustee of IVF with immediate effect and have also requested IVF to engage another travel agent for their travel needs.”Amount to the credit of IVF as on date in our records is being refunded to IVF by crossed cheque to close the account with us,” Bal said in a statement here. (PTI)
Four attacks injure four in Kashmir
SRINAGAR:Four security personnel were injured Tuesday in four attacks by separatist guerrillas in a sudden spurt in violence in Jammu and Kashmir.Militants targeted the state police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Srinagar and south Kashmir’s Anantnag town and Shopian district, police said. A grenade was hurled at a CRPF camp adjacent to the city centre Lal Chowk, injuring head constable Surinder Singh and constables Manoj Kumar and Manoranjan.Within a short while, another grenade attack took place on a police picket in Batmaloo area barely one kilometre away.”The grenade exploded without causing any damage,” an officer added. Guerrillas carried out a hit-and-run attack in Anantnag town in the evening. A police constable was shot and injured near a taxi stand. He was shifted to Srinagar. In the fourth incident in Shopian, a grenade was lobbed at a CRPF picket outside the State Bank of India branch in Zanipora area but it did not explode.(IANS)