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New Delhi, Sept 17 (ANI): A major fire broke out in the Electronic Niketan building in the CGO complex on Lodhi road on Thursday morning.
However, no report of any casualties was reported.
The blaze broke out in the first floor at around 3:45 a.m.
According to fire brigade officials, fire tenders extinguished the flames after battling it for about four hours.
It seems that the fire was caused by a short circuit. (ANI)
Guwahati, Sep 16 (ANI): Over 170 guerillas of the Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel) (DHDJ) or Black Widow have commenced surrendering their weapons from Wednesday.
Earlier on Sunday, nearly 193 rebels of the DHDJ had surrendered their weapons well ahead of the deadline given by Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram.
Chidambaram had asked the banned ultras to surrender weapons before September 15.
The DHD (J) is responsible for creating terror in the North Cachar Hill District of Assam for last six years, during which over 300 people have been killed.
Among those who surrendered arms were Daniel Dimasa, Daku Dimasa, David Dimasa and Nalo Dimasa who were considered as hardcore militants.
According to the new rules for facilitating peace talks with the militant organization, an outfit has to first abjure violence by depositing weapons and stay away from extortion by moving to designated camps. Only its top leadership will be allowed to sit for talks.
Defence spokesman, Col.R Kalia, said those who have deposited weapons have been kept in two temporary camps at Kapuchera and Jatinga under heavy escort by troops of the Red Shield Division of the Army.
A formal surrender ceremony would be held at Haflong later in the month in the presence of the State Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, sources said.
The breakaway group of the DHD (J) led by James Dimasa are still undecided on joining the peace process.
According to Additional Director General (Special Branch) Khagen Sarmah, all the cadres of the outfit are expected to surrender their weapons in the next couple of days.
The government has adopted a multi-dimensional strategy in North Cachar Hills with strong deployment of security forces.
The brigade headquarters of the Army at Haflong has coordinating all the efforts.
Till now 373 insurgents have come over-ground depositing 136 weapons including AK series weapons, M16 rifles, INSAS rifles, rocket launchers, grenades and wireless sets, sources said. (ANI)
Peshawar, Aug.29 (ANI): The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for Thursday’s suicide attack in which 22 security personnel were killed and 20 others were injured in Torkham area of Khyber Agency, saying it was their ‘first revenge’ for the death of their leader Baitullah Mehsud.
“We claim responsibility for the blast. This is our first response since the death of our chief Baitullah Mehsud. We will continue similar attacks in the future also,” TTP spokesman Azam Tariq told a foreign news agency over phone from an undisclosed location.
Tariq said all those who were killed in the attack were supporters of US policies, The Dawn reports.
On Thursday, a group called ‘Dr Abdullah Azzam Brigade’ had claimed the responsibility for the strike.
Meanwhile, all 22 Khasadar Force personnel, who were killed in the attack, were cremated in Brag and Karamna villages of Bazaar-Zakakhel late on Friday. (ANI)
London, Aug. 9 (ANI): A British soldier, from the 2nd Battalion the Mercian Regiment, was killed by an explosion in Helmand Province of Afghanistan, taking the death toll in Afghanistan since 2001 to 196.
According to reports, the soldier was on foot patrol at the time, and was killed by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).
“Each and every loss that we sustain in Helmand sends reverberations throughout the brigade. Today, we mourn the loss of a soldier who died working to make Afghanistan a better place. He was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice, displaying bravery that was second to none,” The Telegraph quoted Lieutenant Colonel Mark Wenham, spokesman for Task Force Helmand, as saying.
“Our thoughts are with his family and we offer them our deepest and heartfelt condolences at this tragic time,” he added.
Already five British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan this month, it follows the record 22 fatalities in July.
The death comes two days after three Paras, Corporal Kevin Mulligan, Lance Corporal Dale Hopkins and Private Kyle Adams, were killed in southern Afghanistan.
The three were working with special forces at the time, and were carrying out a routine security patrol with Afghan forces.
A fourth member of the patrol injured in Thursday’s blast remained in a critical condition. (ANI)
Jabalpur, Aug.8 (ANI): A major fire at a cotton godown on Saturday evening gutted property worth millions of rupees in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur city. No casualty was reported in the incident.
The incident occurred at about 5.00 p.m in Basti Hanumatal, a crowded residential colony here.
Ten fire tenders were pressed into service to curb the fire. But the fire fighters had a hard time managing through narrow lanes to reach the cotton godown due to it being in a crowded place.
“After battling for almost two hours, we were able to control the fire and will be able to completely douse it in another half-an-hour,” Usman Khan, a fire official said.
Officials said the losses could run into millions of rupees.
“Losses can be estimated of around five million rupees…the accident took place in a residential area and moreover there were not enough equipment to douse the fire, and that was why the fire was raging. The fire had largely spread when the fire brigade reached,” added Khan.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known. By Rakesh Mishra (ANI)
Poonch, July 9 (ANI): A fire broke out at the Tetrinote and Chakkan-Da-Bagh checkposts on the India-Pakistan border in Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday evening.
Fanned by winds and dry grass, the blazing flames spread across three hectares of forest area, destroying flora and fauna. It took fire fighters six hours to bring the blaze under control.
Forest department, fire brigade and army personnel teamed up to douse the fire.
Extinguishing the fire became extremely dangerous and risky as there were instances of minefields exploding while coming in contact with the wildfire.
“The fire started 20 metres inside the Line of Control on the Pakistani side,” said Shyam Lal, a fire service official.
This was the 10th instance of a forest fire in the district.
An FIR has been lodged in the forest office of Poonch for further investigations. (ANI)
Kabul, July 2 (ANI): Almost 4,000 United States Marines, backed by helicopter gun ships, are attempting to regain control of the volatile Helmand River valley in southwestern Afghanistan, which currently is occupied by the Taliban.
The valley is known for its poppy harvests and opium smuggling.
According to a New York Times report, the Marine Expeditionary Brigade is leading the operation, which has been described as the first major push in southern Afghanistan by the newly bolstered American force.
Helmand is one of the deadliest provinces in Afghanistan, where Taliban fighters have practiced sleek, hit-and-run guerrilla warfare against the British forces based there.
US Marine sources said “Operation Khanjar”, will include more troops and resources than ever before, as well as a commitment by the troops to live and patrol near population centers to ensure that residents are protected.
More than 600 Afghan soldiers and police officers are also involved.
The Marines will be pushing into areas where NATO and Afghan troops have not previously established a permanent presence. As part of the counterinsurgency strategy, the troops will meet with local leaders, help determine their needs and take a variety of actions to make towns and villages more secure. (ANI)
Queensland, June 29(ANI): In an analysis done by a leading Australian newspaper, it has formulated a plan which has suggested different methods to the Australian squad for winning the historic Ashes series this year.
The Courier-Mail in its analysis titled “ABC of how Australia can win the Ashes”, bewares the English side of its plan.
It has ‘A for Alderman’, where it gives advice to fast bowler Ben Hilfenhaus to emulate Alderman’s methods of bowling impeccably aimed away swingers and off-cutters.
It has warned the Australians to keep the modern day Ian Botham (B), Andrew Flintoff, in his shell if they have to triumph and said that Flintoff’s ageing body would crack under pressure.
C has been referred as Sydney’s King’s Cross, England captain Andrew Strauss first met his wife Ruth in a nightclub in that area. The plan states that it might be used during an on-field niggle against the player.
The plan has “F for a flying start”, where it asks the Australians to get a flying start, and said that they should stop England from getting a flying start if they have to in the series.
Plan states “L for Lord’s”, where Australia has always tasted success and has luxurious memories. The venue for the second test in the series is a ground where Australia has not lost since 1934.
“T for tail-enders” highlights the manner in which in the recent past players likes Mitchell Johnson have regularly wagged in order to provide stability to the team. It is a point that the English squad lacks.
Y has been gives as Yobbos, referring to 7000 yellow T-shirt Australian brigade that is expected arrive in England for the Ashes. Seen as a support to the team hopes are high that they would give a tough time to the Barmy Army.
Z is for the ranking, which they hope that they would not give to Australia’s spin bowling battery at the end of the tour, (ANI)
Mumbai, June 27 (ANI): Six fire tenders and eight water tankers were rushed to the Taj Mahal hotel on Saturday after a minor fire broke out in the basement area of the hotel.
The incident, which took place due to short-circuit, however, did not involve any casualty and the fire was soon brought under control.
“Fire down at the basement near the main locker room, has been put out under control, there was lot of smoke nobody injured, nobody hurt. We are just clearing out the whole thing. By evening we should be back in operations,” Krishnakant, vice chairman, Taj Hotel told media.
Fire officials said the fire was because of the short circuit detected near the staff locker room.
“The fire was there in the basement, mainly in the cable shaft, the cable caught fire so there was lot of smoke. We went inside and the fire is now totally under control,” said Uday Tatkare, deputy chief officer of Fire Brigade department.
The same hotel bore the brunt of the militant attack on November 26, 2008. (ANI)
Melbourne, June 23 (ANI): No matter how independent they think they are, but Generation Y brigade still look for advice of their parents, according to a research by the Australian Institute of Family Studies.
The study, which is a part of the Australian Temperament Project, gives a rare insight into the relationship between parents and their adult children.
The Australian Temperament Project has been following the life of nearly 2000 Australians since they were born in 1983.
Diana Smart, institute general manager of research, said that not much research had been done about how the role of parents evolved as their children reached their early adult years.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty about what parents are meant to do once their children reach those early adult years,” the Courier Mail quoted Smart as saying.
She added: “Where it is different these days is that many young people are still living at home, where 30 or 40 years ago at this age of 23 to 24, most young people were married and even parents.”
The study also found that the parents have no inclination how much their adult children still value their input.
While 88 per cent of young adults said they still counted on their parents for advice and emotional support, only 70 per cent of parents thought of themselves as still helping in that role.
The study found that 94 per cent of young people said that their relationship with their parents was important to them, and 84 per cent said their parents played a major role in their lives.
Smart said that the study showed parents underestimated just how much support their children felt they provided.
The research has been published in the journal Family Matters. (ANI)
Agra (Uttar Pradesh), June 20(ANI): A massive fire engulfed a firecracker godown in Jatni Bagh commercial complex of Agra in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.
The fire engulfed several shops in the complex and gutted some of them, causing panic amongst the people.
The fire, which broke out around midnight in the godown owned by Manoj Jain, was eventually brought under control at six in the morning.
Initial reports suggest an electrical short circuit.
“We received information at around midnight that some fire flames and bursting of firecrackers were noticed in Jatni Bagh commercial complex. Immediately, fire brigade tenders were rushed to the spot,” said Badri Prasad Singh, DIG of Agra Range.
“We tried to douse the fire but the fire kept on spreading since the godown consisted of a good lot of firecrackers. The fire also reached the neighbouring plastic shop. As a precautionary measure we asked help from the army. Their fire brigade vehicles had also reached the spot,” he added.
The inferno has reportedly caused damage to property and goods worth nearly Rs 15 lakh. (ANI)
Lalgarh (West Bengal) June 20(ANI): Security forces tasted the success in “Operation Lalgarh” by re capturing Lalgarh Police station amidst stiff gun battle and land mine blasts by the Maoist ultras in West Midnapore district of West Bengal.
The security men celebrated as the police station fell in their way, which was out of bound for nearly six months after an attempt on life of the Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and two other union ministers in last November.
DIG of Midnapore Pravin Kumar said it would take another 48 hours to complete the operation, as the entire area has to be searched to make it clear from the Maoist activists.
Around 50 villages in and around Lalgarh were controlled and declared as “free zone” by the Maoist guerrillas.
The paramilitary forces, which started their march from the Bhimpur, base camp entered Lalgarh through the Jhitkar forests, which was believed to be the stronghold of red brigade.
According to the Superintendet of Police Humanyun Kabir, security men came under heavy firing from Maoists at the between Pingboni-Sarenga, the forces were obstructed by a human wall created by women in Pingboni.
Men from CRPF, BSF, State Armed Police, Eastern Frontier Rifles and the Kolkata Police besides the elite anti naxal force COBRA were involved in the operation.
Ousting the Naxals from the area was not an easy task for the forces as Maoists blocked roads and using land mines blew up the bridges.
In an immediate reaction Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said he will give a serious thought to ban the Maoist organisations from his state. (ANI)
Kotkapura (Punjab), May 24 (ANI): A major fire destroyed a power sub-station at Kotkapura near Faridkot on Saturday. Although the inferno caused enormous damage, there have been no casualties reported.
The fire broke out at around 6′o clock in the evening reportedly by a short circuit at the 132 KV power grid sub-station and gutted around 8,000 old and new transformers, power cables and property worth millions of rupees.
More than seven fire brigade tenders including a couple from the military were rushed to the spot.
Since the power service station is close to a residential area, authorities asked the residents to vacate immediately.
Meanwhile, the district administration is taking stock of the situation to investigate the cause of the devastating fire. (ANI)
Srinagar, May 22 (ANI): A massive fire has engulfed a large forest area in Rajouri District of Jammu, causing damage to the region’s ecology and rendering many homeless.
The fire, which has been raging for past two days, has not only destroyed large number of trees but is also posing a serious security concern for the nomadic tribes living near the forest.
Forest officials cited prolonged dry spell as the main reason for such incidents.
“We have had a dry season for past two, two-and-half months. Due to the dryness, the needles of the pine trees, growing in the forest become dry. These needles are resinous and hence highly inflammable. When they fall on ground, they catch fire easily due to even slight carelessness,” said S.L. Kaul, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Rajouri.
The major sufferers in the incident have been the Bakkarwals, a nomadic tribe who lost their houses and other belongings.
“My house being near to the forest also caught fire. I lost all my belongings, utensils, clothes, and all other articles. People were saved but we lost all our belongings,” said Husson Din, a victim.
Despite their best efforts, the fire brigade has not been able to control the fire from spreading further.
Unavailability of water is a major handicap in controlling the fire.
“We informed the authorities and one guard came to take a look but he could not do much. Then the fire officials came and they have succeeded in controlling it a bit, but there have been massive losses due to the fire,” said Mazir, a local resident.
The fire has also led to a rise in the temperature of the region around the forest cover. (ANI)
Gwalior, May 18 (ANI): Goods worth millions of rupees were destroyed as massive fire burnt down a godown of power transformers, on the outskirts of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh.
In the middle of the night, the godown caught fire and the blazes became quite fierce.
According to the fire brigade officials, the inferno spread due to lack of safety and preventive setups in the godown.
As the fire spreads, students from the nearby hostel of the Maharana Pratap College of Technology became panicky and vacated their hostel rooms along with their belongings.
They blamed the fire officials for being late in reaching the spot.
However, the officials of the fire brigade denied the accusations.
“The accusation on us regarding our late arrival is absolutely incorrect. Our fire brigade arrived and then unlocked the doors towards the godown. No one from the power transmission department informed us. They didn’t even have any safety arrangements. They have such a huge godown; security arrangements should have been there. When we arrived, we woke up the watchman and then opened the doors to control the fire,” said Devendra Sharma, officer of the Gwalior fire brigade.
Scores of fire tenders from the Air Force base at Maharajpur, the Border Security Force, and Municipal Corporation were rushed to the spot to control the fire.
Once the fire is completely extinguished, further investigations into the incident will ascertain the exact cause and overall losses and other damages. (ANI)
New Delhi, May 13 (ANI): Fire broke out at the official residence of Union Steel, Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Wednesday.
Although none was injured in the mishap that broke out at his Janpath residence in New Delhi, several household items including cupboards, antique statues, furniture items including sofa sets and chairs were destroyed in fire.
“At around 11.30 a.m, people started shouting about the fire. My servants rushed to me and asked me to get out from the house. My security personnel and locals from nearby quarters rushed in and tried to douse the fire…then the water tenders of fire brigade arrived and brought the fire under control,” said Paswan.
Paswan was watching television with his wife and family members when he was informed about the mishap by some people living in the nearby quarters.
“Outsiders informed us of the fire, our main concern was to save lives of our family members. There was a lot of chaos as the fire was massive. Even our hands were not clearly visible. You can just make out the extent of loss incurred in this mishap,” said Chirag Paswan, son of Ram Vilas Paswan.
The fire reportedly broke out from an air conditioner installed in the drawing room.
Two fire brigades managed the fire within half-an-hour. (ANI)
Etawah (UP), May 8 (ANI): Eight villages in Uttar Pradesh boycotted the fourth phase of general elections on Thursday to protest against the lack of irrigation facilities.
Villagers expressed resentment over lack of water supply in their locality.
“Why should we vote? What’s the use? Why should we waste our time? We won’t vote. The entire village has decided not to vote. When there is no one to listen us, there is no point in voting,” said Jamuna Prasad, a villager.
Besides lack of irrigation facilities, the roads too were in a bad shape.
“For the last 20 years there is no water facility here for irrigation. During elections every leader promises to solve our problem but after winning no one comes here. There is no water in ponds. If a fire breaks out in this village, no one can rescue this village, as fire brigade will take time to reach here due to bad roads. Even we have complained to district magistrate but no one listens,” said Satyanarayen Singh, another villager.
A total of 85 parliamentary constituencies went to polls on Thursday in the fourth round while polling for the fifth phase is scheduled to be held on May 13.
The first, second and third phases of polling were held on April 16, 23 and0 respectively.
Counting for the elections held will be held on May 16. (ANI)
Gurgaon, May 6 (ANI): A Major fire on Wednesday destroyed property worth millions at a plastic factory in Gurgaon, but there were no casualties.
The fire broke out in the morning hours at city’s Bhurji Super-Tek Industries Limited, a company engaged in the production of injection moulds and moulding of plasting parts such as TV cabinets, AC cabinets, etc.
Fifteen fire brigade vans were rushed from nearby towns to douse the flames.
“We are trying our best to control this fire, we have deployed all our fire-brigades in this operation. Around 15 fire brigades are deployed to douse this fire,” said Rajeev Sharma, Municipal Commissioner of Gurgaon.
No casualty has been reported so far.
District administration is taking stock of the situation to investigate the cause of the devastating fire.
The number of fire incidents rise in summers, when day temperatures soar above 40 degrees Celsius. (ANI)
London, April 24 (IANS) Thousands of Gurkha soldiers who fought for Britain were told by the British government Friday they do not have an automatic right to settle down in the country.
The British home ministry said some 10,000 Gurkha ex-soldiers and their families would be allowed in as a result of new regulations announced Friday, but campaigners for Gurkhas said the new rules would help fewer than 100 men.
Gurkhas are campaigning for the government to allow in all ex-soldiers who have fought for Britain, but the new rules say Gurkhas would be allowed to settle down only if they had close family in Britain, served 20 years, or been wounded in battle or decorated.
The regulations were rejected as a ‘sham’ by campaigners.
‘They have set criteria that are unattainable. They require a Gurkha to serve for 20 years – but a rifleman is only permitted to serve for 15 years. It’s a sham and an absolute disgrace,’ said David Enright, a solicitor acting on behalf of the Gurkhas.
According to current rules, only those Gurkhas who left the British Army after 1997, when Hong Kong was handed back to China, have the automatic right to settle down in Britain.
Gurkhas were stationed in large numbers in Hong Kong to protect the territory.
Last year, a High Court judge ruled that the policy excluding older veterans was unlawful and in need of urgent review.
Indian-born actress Joanna Lumley, who is a campaigner for Gurkha rights, said: ‘The Gurkhas cannot meet these new criteria. It makes me ashamed of our government. We will fight on. We don’t stop. This has been a setback but that is all.’
There are currently around 3,500 serving Gurkhas. More than 200,000 fought during the First and Second World Wars, with between 45,000 and 50,000 giving their lives, according to Lumley.
Two winners of the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest gallantry award, joined the campaigners Friday to voice their shock at the government decision.
Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said the changes will benefit around 4,300 more Gurkhas out of a total of 36,000 who retired before 1997.
He argued that granting automatic rights of settlement to all Gurkha ex-servicemen could mean allowing in 100,000 people, but Lumley disputed the figures saying: ‘We’re talking about seven to eight thousand men.’
The Gurkha brigade was formed following the partition of India in 1947 but Nepali Gurkha soldiers have been part of the British Army for almost 200 years.
Karnal (Haryana), Apr 30 (ANI): A major fire broke in the godown of a ghee (clarified butter) plant at the industrial town of Karnal in Haryana on Thursday.
This mishap took place at Ruchi Soybean Industry’s plant around 6:00 a.m. and it was detected to have spread from the ghee godown.
Ghee worth thousands of rupees of clarified butter had been stored in the godown, which was completely destroyed.
“Three vehicles of fire brigade came and they tried their best to bring the blaze under control. But the fire keeps spreading because of the ghee in the plastic bags kept at the back,” said Chandra Prakash Kataria, an eye witness.
Rajiv Wadhwa, owner of the plant said that a couple of fire-tenders had been pressed into service to douse the blaze after a gap of 45 minutes.
“I saw smoke coming out from the godown. After 45 minutes, two vehicles of fire brigade reached here and after a while, their water was finished. Since the roof was broken, the fire further increased,” said Wadhwa. It took four hours to bring the fire under control.
However, no causalities have been reported so far. (ANI)
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