A week after the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber, Rahul Gandhi resumed his attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a stinging tweet.

“The brave are martyred. Their families struggle. Forty jawans give their lives but are denied the status of “Shaheed (martyr)”. While this man has never given and only taken. He’s gifted 30,000 crore of their money and will live happily ever after. Welcome to Modi’s NEW INDIA,” tweeted the Congress president, sharing the media story on the Supreme Court ordering industrialist Anil Ambani to repay dues to Ericsson or face jail.

After the terror attack, Rahul Gandhi, in a press conference along with former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, had said that he and his party would support the government and not get into any other discussion for the next few days.

“I will support the government and jawans in this difficult time,” said Rahul Gandhi, refusing to respond to questions on political controversies.

But after a week’s hiatus, both the Congress and its chief have picked up from where they left. The renewed attacks signal a change in stance after BJP leaders including party president Amit Shah took digs at the Congress after the Pulwama attack.

Amit Shah said at a rally in Assam that the soldiers’ sacrifice “will not go waste as it is a BJP government in power, not Congress”.

Rahul Gandhi’s tweet today refers to his often-repeated allegation that the government and PM Modi settled for an overpriced deal for 36 Rafale jets from France’s Dassault to help Anil Ambani’s inexperienced defence firm bag an offset contract.

The government, Anil Ambani and Dassault all have denied the allegations.

Agencies

A fire broke out in the City Centre Mall in Mangaluru at around 11:35 am on Thursday morning. Thick plumes of smoke were seen coming from one of the upper floors of the mall which prompted fire officials from nearby fire stations to reach the spot and extinguish the fire.  According to the Fire Department, no casualties have been reported. The fire has been put out, said officials. 

“We received a call around 11.40 am and 20 officials from Kadri and Pandeshwar stations with fire engines rushed to the spot. The fire had broken out in the food court, in one of the chimneys which had blockages due to carbon accumulation and oil. The fire was put out by the mall management but the smoke created panic. We took an hour to clear the smoke with the smoke exhauster and also created cross ventilation by breaking the glass windows. By 12.30 pm smoke was almost cleared,” T N Shivashankara, Chief Fire Officer (Mangalore).

The mall was opened in 2010 and has four floors. However, at the time of its inauguration, reports suggested that it had been opened without clearance, particularly an occupancy certificate (OC). An OC is issued only after a no-objection certificate (NOC) is furnished by the fire department.   

“The mall was opened without an occupancy certificate and for many years it has operated without an OC. We followed up with the then DC and ministers because this was a disaster waiting to happen,” said activist Vidya Dinker. She added that the multiplex on the fourth floor of the building received a fire department clearance, however, the building itself did not receive the required clearances. 

Responding to the question of whether the mall was opened without a no-objection certificate from the fire department, Shivashankara said, “I yet have to study the file. During my visit, I have found that all the necessary precautions to control fire as well as fire alarms, water system were present at the mall. However, I need to inspect the file to check in case there are violations and then decide on the action to be taken.”

The mall was built at a cost of Rs 115 crore and was opened to the public in an event attended by several politicians, reported The Hindu. The Citizens Forum for Mangaluru Development, an NGO based in Mangaluru, had also written to then Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar in 2012 pointing out the fact that the building was allowed to be opened despite lack of clearances and had also accused the district administration of “favouring, parroting and pushing through” the clearances for the building despite proof of the lack of safety of the building.

Agencies

In a scathing attack on the Congress after its leader Veerappa Moily accused Indian Air Force chief BS Dhanoa of “lying” on the Rafale deal, the BJP Thursday said it “totally exposes” the opposition party feeling “shattered” by the ongoing probe into the VVIP chopper contract.

In Hyderabad, Moily on Thursday had accused Dhanoa of “lying”, a day after the latter called the Rafale deal a “game changer” and the Supreme Court verdict on it a “very fine” judgment. 

“Comments of a senior leader like Moily totally exposes the Congress as he calls the IAF chief names. It shows its desperation is complete and it is totally shattered by the speed of inquiry that the government is doing against corruption,” Union Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters.

He was apparently referring to the CBI probe into the purchase of VVIP choppers from AgustaWestland when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power. 

Moily had also demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologise for having sacrificed the security of the nation by entering into the deal. He said the IAF chief along with the head of Dassault Aviation, the manufacturers of Rafale fighter jets, had visited public sector HAL’s Bengaluru headquarters days before the Paris agreement and found it a “competent body with necessary expertise”.

“Today, to say it is fine (the SC judgement)…I think that IAF chief is not fine….He is not fine, he is lying. He is suppressing the truth. He is a party to suppressing the truth,” Moily told reporters here.

Later, talking to a TV news channel, Moily said, “Apology has to be given by Narendra Modi for having sacrificed the security of the nation, having sacrificed the exchequer.” He said Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who has been assailing the prime minister over the deal, need not apologise for the “bold stand” he has taken on the “scam of the century”. Instead, Gandhi should be appreciated, he said.

The BJP has been demanding an apology from Gandhi for attacking Modi over the Rafale deal even after the Supreme Court’s verdict which found no wrongdoing in it.

“Even the words expressed by the Supreme Court you have heard is based on falsehood and web of lies made by the government of India,” he said.
Moily said Modi gave a “certificate of incompetency” to HAL.

Dhanoa had on Wednesday hailed the SC order and deprecated attempts at politicising defence purchases, suggesting that this had earlier led to the delay in the Army acquiring the Bofors gun. “I am not going to comment on the judgment but the Supreme Court has given a very fine judgment. It has also said that this plane is badly needed,” he had told reporters in Jodhpur. 

Agencies

Nasheman News : Seventy people, including four children and five women were confirmed dead on Thursday while 56 were reported injured in a massive blaze in the Bangladesh capital that engulfed several multi-storey buildings in the Chawkbazar area of the old city.

The fire began in one building from a reported transformer blast, before spreading to at least seven-eight other buildings. Police said Bangladesh Air Force helicopters had to be used to douse the flames, Dhaka Tribune said. 

According to the Fire Service Control Room, 37 units from 31 stations worked for five hours to douse the blaze that started at 10.35 pm in a chemical unit in the Haji Wahed Mansion at Nanda Kumar Lane in Chawkbazar’s Churihatta. 

Muradul Islam, officer-in-charge (investigation) of Chawkbazar police station, said 67 bodies have been kept at the morgue. Of which, 58 are men; five women and the rest of them are children. He said so far, they have been able to identify only 19 victims. 

The injured were being treated at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) and Mitford Hospital. 

Earlier, Dhaka Fire Service Control room official Mizanur confirmed the death of 70 people to the newspaper. 

While visiting the spot, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told the media that the fire has been brought under control completely. Road, Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader also visited the spot in the morning.

According to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) registrar a total of 56 people were treated at the hospital. 

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) officials said the fire spread rapidly due to the multiple chemical godowns that were situated in the area. 

The devastation was so huge that the mansion housing a warehouse of plastic products appeared to have tilted around 1.45 a.m., the media report said. 

A Fire Service Control Room official Mahfuz Riben confirmed: “We have so far recovered all 69 bodies.” An hour later one more body was recovered.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police said the blaze spread rapidly due to multiple chemical godowns situated in the area. Fire Service Deputy Director Dilip Kumar Ghosh confirmed that the fire was finally doused completely around 3 a.m.

The death toll in the devastating inferno will rise, warned fire officials, who have been working throughout the night to douse the devastating blaze that first broke out in a three-storey building situated at the intersection of roads leading to Rahmatganj, Churihatta and Chawkbazar areas.

Numerous people, including women and children, were also injured and admitted to nearby hospitals, including Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) and Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital (Mitford Hospital).

“Our priority right now is to douse the fire completely and tend to the wounded,” Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sayeed Khokon said.

Khokon and MP Haji M. Salim who had rushed to the spot, however, did not respond to questions about the warehouses in the buildings in Old Dhaka where chemicals are kept in unsafe conditions.

Wednesday night’s fire reminded many Old Dhaka residents of the Nimtoli fire tragedy that took place barely one kilometre from the spot on June 3, 2010 and killed at least 124 people.

In the last nine years though there has been little progress made in addressing the issues that led to the Nimtoli fire, or many smaller subsequent fires that took place, the media report added.