Six women drown in Maha river
Gadchiroli (Maharashtra), Jan 23: In a major tragedy, six women farm labourers were missing and feared drowned and one was rescued when a boat in which they were sailing suddenly capsized in the Wainganga River in Chamorshi on the Gadchiroli-Chandrapur district border in Maharashtra on Tuesday, officials said. The incident occurred around 11 a.m. when the seven women from Ganapur village of Gadchiroli took their routine boat ride to the chilli farms on the opposite shore falling in Chandrapur district. According to the District Disaster Management Officer Nilesh Teltumbade, the boat suddenly overturned throwing the women and boatman into the waters, running more than 8 feet deep in some sections. The identity of the women victims is awaited and a district official said that the tragedy will be probed to ascertain the causes, tentatively believed to be strong underwater currents that may have sent the boat out of control and capsized it. (IANS)
Clashes erupt in Pune FTII
Pune (Maharashtra), Jan 23: A few people were injured after a clash erupted between some students of the Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and members of certain Right-wing groups here on Tuesday, after a banner was put up proclaiming, ‘Remember Babri, Death of Constitution.’ The banner, referring to the disputed mosque’s demolition at Ayodhya in 1992, was allegedly put up by FTII-Students Association (FTII-SA), leading to bouts of anxiety on the campus at around 2 pm on Tuesday. Taking strong objection to the banner, some Right-wingers barged into the campus raising slogans, yanked it off and set it on fire, leading to skirmishes between them and some students. A team from the Deccan Gymkhana Police Station rushed to the campus and promptly brought the matter under control, though tensions continued to simmer in the vicinity. The incident, in which an undisclosed number of students and activists are reportedly injured, came a day after the consecration of the Lord Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22. The Deputy Commissioner of Police (I), SS Gill, told mediapersons that the police were taking action against all those involved in the fracas. Meanwhile, a strong posse of police personnel has been deployed outsice the FTII campus. (IANS)