One labourer dies as boiler bursts in shoe factory
Kanpur: A 35-year-old labourer was killed and five others were injured when boiler burst at a shoe factory in Dadanagar Industrial Area here, police said here Monday. The incident occurred during last night at the shoe factory when the boiler exploded due to high pressure and led to fire in the area, a police spokesperson said. About 70 labourers were working in the factory in the night shift when the explosion occurred. While most of them managed to escape, six sustained serious injuries, he said. They were rushed to Medical College Hospital where Sangram Singh succumbed to his injures, the spokesperson said. The condition of other five was stated to be critical. Three fire tenders were pressed into service and they doused the flames after one and half hours, police said. The matter is being investigated by police and fire department, the spokesperson said. (PTI)
Ex-MLA on hunger-strike demanding liquor ban in ICU
Jaipur: The condition of former Janata Dal MLA Gurcharan Chabbra, who was on a fast unto death demanding prohibition of liquor and strengthening of Lokayukta in Rajasthan, has deteriorated and he is admitted in the ICU. “Chabbra’s blood pressure has come down and he is in critical state,” a doctor at SMS hospital said. Health Minister Rajendra Rathore visited the hospital to see Chabbra on Monday. The septuagenarian had begun his fast unto death for the fourth time on October 2 and was admitted to the hospital on October 6. He was discharged in a few days but was re-admitted to SMS hospital here on October 17. “Chabbra’s condition has deteriorated and he is unconscious,” said Sawai Singh, core committee member of Lok Sangharsh Morcha of which Chabbra is a member. Singh said the state government had given a written assurance last year to look into his demand but nothing has been done until now. “He was asking the government to implement its own commitment which it had given in writing when Chabbra sat on a similar fast in May 2014,” Singh said. He also said the organisation wants the government to take step for fulfilling his demands. (PTI)
Punjab farmers set to resume their protests from Nov 4-6
Moga: Several farmers’ unions, including Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta) and farm labourers, on Monday announced that they will resume their agitation from November 4 to 6 in support of their demands, including compensation for crop damage. Rallies and dharnas would be staged in front of district administrative complexes in Amritsar and Moga from November 4 to 6, BKU (Ekta) general secretaries Joginder Singh and Sukhdev Singh said here. The two leaders held a meeting with the activists of eight farmers’ unions, they said. They alleged that the Punjab Government is not serious regarding farmers; demands for which their organizations had launched seven-day ‘Rail Roko stir earlier. The leaders declared that if state government failed to concede to their demands, the farmers’ union would hold an urgent meeting on November 7 to chalk out next line of action. They said that farmers were demanding Rs 40,000 per acre compensation for damage caused to cotton crop due to the white fly pest attack. Other demands include Rs 20,000 compensation to farm labourers, Rs 5 lakh compensation to the families of farmers who committed suicide and clearance of sugar mills due, they said. (PTI)
Kin of 39-yr-old get nearly Rs 40 lakh compensation
New Delhi: Family members of a 39-year-old man, who was killed after being hit by a rashly-driven tractor, have been awarded compensation of nearly Rs 40 lakh by a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) here. The tribunal directed National Insurance Company Ltd, insurer of the offending vehicle, to pay Rs 39,81,068 to the family members of Hari Dutt Sharma, a Delhi resident, who was on a motorcycle when the tractor hit him in 2011. The MACT, while deciding the petition in the favour of victim’s family members, relied on the testimony of an eyewitness and documents on record, including FIR, charge sheet and post mortem report. The tribunal also noted that the driver of the tractor did not step into the witness box to state how the accident had occurred or say anything in his defence. According to the petition, filed by Sharma’s wife and five other family members, on the evening of August 21, 2011 when Sharma was returning home on his bike, the rashly driven tractor trolley hit and ran over him near Shiv Vihar in east Delhi. Sharma was taken to GTB hospital where he died during treatment, it said. In their written statements, the driver and owner had denied the rash and negligent aspect and also termed the contents of the petition as false. The proceedings against the owner of the tractor were abated as he died during pendency of the matter. (PTI)
