Mamata condoles Bangladesh fire tragedy

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.

 Nasheman News : Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath here on Wednesday said despite the states finances not being in good shape, his government would fulfil its promise of loan waiver for farmers.

Taking part in a discussion on farmers’ issues in the Assembly, Nath said loans of 25 lakh farmers would be waived by March 5. He underlined that the state’s financial situation was not good but the government was committed to fulfilling the promise made to farmers. 

Responding to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s question why enough amount was not allocated for loan waiver in the state budget, Nath said it would be clear on March 5 how loans would be waived. 

The Congress has promised to waive up to Rs 2 lakh loans of 55 lakh farmers in Madhya Pradesh. The government has sought applications from the needy farmers in this regard.

Nasheman News :‘Namumkin ab mumkin hai’ (Impossible is possible now) will be the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) major poll campaign tagline for the 2019 general elections. The BJP is seeking a second term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The message through the slogan is clear. The things that looked impossible during the 10-year UPA rule have been made possible in the five-year regime of Modi. At the campaign, the party would list the government’s achievements, like 10 per cent reservation for poor in general categories, affordable medicine scheme and low-cost insurance plans.

A website, “http://www.narendramodi.live”, dedicated to providing videos of the Prime Minister’s speeches at election rallies and official visits, on Wednesday posted four scuh videos with the tagline “Namumkin ab mumkin hai”.

These videos show how the Modi government has turned impossible things, like providing affordable medicine and quality healthcare, safety net through insurance at low premium, ensuring a facilitating environment for entrepreneurs and reservation on the economic grounds, have become possible.

In one such video, an elderly man claims reservations on economic grounds is impossible in India. Responding to it, a youth says, “Namumkin ab mumkin hai”. It has been done now.

In another video, a woman tells her husband he was being misled by someone that an accidental death or disability insurance cover worth Rs 2 lakh for an annual premium of Rs 12 only can be availed. “In Rs 12 you can’t even buy handkerchief and you are talking about insurance,” the wife says.

The husband responds, “Yes, it is possible”, referring to the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and the Atal Pension Yojana (APY).

The video also talks about an assured monthly pension of Rs 3,000 for informal sector workers under the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhan (PMSYM) scheme.

Besides this, the BJP is already running a media campaign with slogan “Abki Baar, Phir Modi Sarkar (This time, again Modi government)”. In 2014, BJP’s “Abki Baar Modi Sarkar” campaign slogan had caught the imagination of common voters.

“Abki Baar Modi Sarkar” slogan was created by Ajay Singh, Spicejet promoter and once the OSD of late Pramod Mahajan. The BJP is also running different campaigns with slogans “Saaf Niyat, Sahi Vikaas”, “Kaho dil se NaMo phir se” and several others.

Nasheman News :  West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said the BJP is trying to “divide India” in the wake of Pulwama terror attack while she and other parties in the opposition alliance are fighting to keep the nation united.

Criticising incidents of violence against the Kashmiris in different parts of the country, Banerjee said action should be taken against the terrorists responsible for the attack in the Valley, but blaming an entire community or a state is not correct.

Banerjee also took a swipe at Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy for tweeting that he was “inclined to agree” to the appeal made by retired colonel of Indian Army to “boycott everything that is Kashmiri”.

Referring to a Kashmiri doctor in Kolkata, who was threatened by a group of people to leave the city a day after the Pulwama attack, Banerjee said her government has taken strong action against the offenders and provided adequate security to the Kashmiris residing here.

“In Kolkata only one incident happened. But we have taken strong action. We have provided all the security. The Kashmiris are all safe here. They are happy to stay here because it is a peaceful place,” she said.

She also revealed that the city police has been asked to take stringent action against the “BJP hooligans” who attacked city-based civil activists for taking out an anti-war rally on Wednesday.