Eight killed in building collapse in Thane
THANE: Eight persons, mostly women, were killed and many others injured when a four-storey building housing nearly a hundred families collapsed at Bhiwandi town here. The building at the Gautam Compound Navi Basti, which collapsed last night, was originally a two storey structure and the other two floors were possibly illegally constructed, police said. While six women were killed and 20 injured last night, two persons, including a five-year old girl, succumbed to injuries today, they said.Safia M Ansari (5) and Sagar S Gadal (19), who were severely injured in the incident, died while undergoing treatment, police said, adding the owner of the building Nasir Sayeed has been arrested. The other injured are undergoing treatment at Thane civil hospital and MGM hospital in Bhiwandi. Those killed Tuesday were identified as Mashid Hakim Shaikh (23), Sahana Jaffar Shaikh (18), Mehbooba Shaikh (45), Sufali Shaikh (80), Safia Illias Shaikh (30) and Kalina Shaikh (22). Further investigations are on. (PTI)
All-party meet on Kashmir report in November
JAMMU:The home ministry is likely to convene an all-party meet next month to discuss the interlocutors’ report over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, informed sources said Wednesday.Journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, academic Radha Kumar and former information commissioner M.M. Ansari submitted the report Oct 12. Its contents have not been made public yet. As the separatists did not engage with the interlocutors, national and state political parties would deliberate on the proposals submitted by the mainstream parties, the sources said.(IANS)
TC workers beat up police, take away accused
CANNING (WB): Trinamool Congress workers allegedly attacked a police team on Wednesday injuring three of them in South 24-Parganas district, officials said. A police team had gone to Materdighi Kaslibari village to arrest Kutubuddin, wanted in connection with several incidents of violence, they said, adding TC workers allegedly attacked the team with iron rods and took away Kutubuddin with them. Constable Subrata Mukherjee was seriously injured and rushed to hospital, while two others received minor injuries, they said. No arrest has been made so far. (PTI)
Infant deaths in Bengal hospital again
KOLKATA: Infant deaths returned to haunt B C Roy Children’s Hospital here with six children dying since Tuesday.Hospital sources, however, put the blame on delayed admission of the children who were already in a very critical condition. In June this year, 18 babies had died over two days in the hospital, prompting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to order an inquiry into the deaths. There was tension in the hospital premises this morning when family members of a six-month-old boy Abir Mondal from Kaikhali in South 24-Parganas district, who died this morning, staged a protest in front of the hospital and blocked the road. “Some outsiders, who are not known to the affected families, tried to foment trouble in the hospital premises, but normalcy was restored soon,” hospital authorities said. However, police said that no official complaint has been lodged against hospital authorities and the demonstration was withrawn shortly after it intervened. (PTI)
Fisherman dies in crocodile attack
KENDRAPARA (Orissa): In a fresh incident of man-crocodile conflict, an estuarine crocodile killed a fisherman on Wednesday in a hamlet near the Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary, sparking off tension in the far-flung area. The victim was identified as Sunakar Majhi (40), a local fisherman. Forest and revenue officials flanked by policemen have rushed to the village, about 75 km from here, as the people are agitated over the frequent attack on humans. “An adult crocodile pounced on Majhi while he was fishing in Baitarani river near Raghudevipur village, a peripheral village of the sanctuary. Locals have retrieved the body. Officials have rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation,” said Manoj Kumar Mahapatra, divisional forest officer at Rajnagar mangrove (wildlife) forest division. The incident occurred outside the wildlife sanctuary limits but the deceased fisherman’s family would be covered under compensation, he said. (PTI)
FB annoyed on booklet with Netaji’s date of death, to agitate
KOLKATA:The party founded by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, All India Forward Bloc, on Wednesday took umbrage at the Lok Sabha publishing a booklet mentioning his death as August 18, 1945, and said it would launch an agitation against this next month. “We want amendment of a booklet published by the Lok Sabha Secretariat which mentions the day of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s death as August 18, 1945. It is part of a conspiracy,” AIFB state General Secretary Ashok Ghosh told reporters here. “It’s a deliberate attempt to bury the truth about Netaji’s disappearance. It is a strategy to establish the unconfirmed story of the death of Netaji in the plane crash at Taihuku on August 18, 1945,” Ghosh said. The party, an ally of the Left Front, would resort to a ‘jail bharo’ on November 18, preceded by countrywide citizens’conventions, he said. Party workers would hold a dharna in Delhi on November 25 and submit a memorandum to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar. The support of all Members of Parliament would be sought for removal of the date of death of Netaji from the booklet, Ghosh said and demanded the acceptance of Manoj Mukherjee Commission report that he did not die in a plane crash.(PTI)
Villagers observe ‘Black Diwali’
LUCKNOW: Residents in various villages of Uttar Pradesh?s Hardoi district observed a ?Black Diwali? Wednesday to protest against the central government’s proposal to lower the below poverty line cap. Under the banner of Asha Parivar, a group focused on empowerment of the poor, and other groups, people in six villages did not celebrate the festival of lights. They alleged that the well-off sections were benefitting from the economic policies of the government. (IANS)