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New Delhi, Jul 5 (PTI) "Bhaiya ab saans phool raha. Kuch karo...(Brother I am short of breath now. Do something)," that was the last message Kumar Dhirender Pratap managed to sent his elder brother -- a desperate cry for help from inside a smoke-filled elevator. Barely 48-hours after returning to Delhi to restart his UPSC preparations, the 25-year-old aspirant from Banaras found himself trapped in a lift at Vishal Mega Mart in Karol Bagh, as fire raged through the building. He had come back with hopes of a fresh start but instead, he died gasping for breath, waiting for help that came too late. His elder brother, Virendra Vikram said that Dhirender had recently appeared for the UPSC prelims and returned to the city after a break at home. He was staying in a rented accommodation in Karol Bagh. "I received a message from my brother at 6.51 pm saying he was stuck in the lift and could not breathe. He was asking me to do something, to help him. I immediately called the police, but nothing happened for hours" Virendra told PTI. At the time, Dhirender had messaged him, "Bhaiya, hum lift mein hoon. Phas gaye hain. Karol Bagh Mega Mart (Brother, I am stuck inside the lift in Karol Bagh Mega Mart)." His final message read, "Ab saans phool raha. Kuchh karo (I am short of breath now. Do something)." "He had come back just two days ago and was trying to settle in again and get back to studying. Everything he did was for his future and now he is gone. I do not know what to do," Virendra said, crying and struggling to catch his breath. Police had said the fire was reported at 6.44 pm from the second floor of the four-storey Vishal Mega Mart building located on Padam Singh Road. The outlet sells grocery and fabric items, and the blaze was largely confined to the second floor. Virendra said his family had no idea Dhirender had gone to the mall. "He never visited Vishal Mega Mart. We do not know why he went there. We were all in Banaras," he added. "Just imagine, if he hadn't sent those texts, we would not even have known where he was -- that he was stuck and dying in that lift," he said. "There were no fire alarms, no fire exits, nothing. And when the fire started, the mall cut the lift's power, trapping him inside with no way out," Virendra alleged. He claimed that he called the PCR upon receiving his brother's messages but help did not arrive in time. "The police responded only around 9 pm. Until then, we had no update and I was completely helpless. I kept hoping someone would get there in time," he said. Dhirender's body was recovered during a joint rescue operation conducted by the police, fire department, and disaster response team. "Imagine how painful dying due to suffocation must be. My brother, who was my everything died with smoke burning his insides," Virendra said. He said that their mother is still in Banaras and thinks that Dhirender is injured. "We have not told her yet, she will not be able to bear it." "When I saw my brother's body, there was blood coming from his nose. It was clear he had suffered. That moment broke something in me," he added. A total of 13 fire tenders and nearly 90 fire fighters were pressed into service for the rescue operation. Fire officials said the building's lack of ventilation prolonged the firefighting effort. While the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, officials suspect it was triggered by a short circuit. PTI SGV SSJ MHS OZ OZ
New Delhi, Jun 26 (PTI) One of the four charred bodies recovered after a massive fire engulfed a multi-storey manufacturing unit in Delhi's Rithala area has been identified, while DNA sampling is underway to ascertain the identities of the remaining three, police said on Thursday. The fire broke out on the evening of June 24 at Rana Complex, Gate No. 2, Rithala, where multiple small-scale manufacturing units operated across four floors of the building. The blaze left four persons dead and three others injured, a senior police officer said. The body of one victim, Dalip Singh, was identified ...Read More >
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], June 27 (ANI): A female student was allegedly gang-raped inside a law college in Kolkata's Kasba on Wednesday evening. The police have arrested all three accused within 24 hours. The three accused, named as Monojit Mishra (31), Zaib Ahmed (19), and Pramit Mukhopadhyay (20), were former students or staff members of the same law college. Also Read | Student Gang-Raped at South Kolkata Law College: Police Arrest 3 Youths for Sexually Assaulting Young Woman Inside Law College. According to the police, the accused named in the FIR will be produced before the A.C.J. ...Read More >
Guwahati, Jun 8 (PTI) Eminent personalities and residents of the capital city of Assam on Sunday slammed the BJP-led government for cutting dozens of trees on the pretext of translocating a few of them for construction of a flyover in the heart of Guwahati. Students of Cotton University took out a march from their campus to Ambari area in protest of felling of the trees, but they were stopped by police. The government is constructing a four-lane 5.05 km long flyover, the longest in the city, from Dighalipukhuri tank to Noonmati at a cost of Rs 852.68 crore. It is scheduled to become operatio ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jun 28 (PTI) Panasonic is exiting from the refrigerator and washing machine segments in India, as part of global restructuring of business by the Japanese appliances and consumer electronics major. Both the refrigerator and washing machine segments were a loss-making businesses for Panasonic in India, where it was struggling to make a space in the market. Also Read | Bodoland Lottery Result Today, June 28, 2025: Assam State Lottery Sambad Saturday Lucky Draw Results Declared, Check Winners List With Ticket Numbers. According to GFK numbers, Panasonic has a very low market share i ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: The government on Saturday extended the term of the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Ravi Agrawal by one year, an official notification said.The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the re-appointment of Agrawal, an IRS officer of the 1988 batch, as CBDT chairman for one year from July 1 this year to June 30, 2026, on contract basis.Agrawal took over as the CBDT chairman from Nitin Gupta in June 2024 after Gupta's extended tenure ended. Agrawal has been a member of CBDT. He was member administration and had served as DG investigation in Delhi. The gover ...Read More >
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A massive fire broke out in a private factory in the Bairagarh around 8 pm on Monday night, causing panic in the area. The fire broke out in a factory named Sign Vishwas Industries located in village Bhainsakhedi, where disposable boxes are made from aluminium. No casualty was reported in the incident Bairagarh ACP Aditya Singh said that this factory is located behind the Campion School. As soon as the information about the fire was received, the fire department was alerted and four fire tenders were sent to the spot. Of these, three vehicles were continuously engage ...Read More >
Hyderabad: A devastating explosion at a chemical manufacturing unit in Pashamylaram industrial area in Sangareddy district, claimed 15 lives and left 34 workers injured. The tragic incident occurred on Monday at Sigachi Industries Pvt Ltd which manufactures microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) powder used in pharmaceutical, food and other industries. Eyewitnesses said there was a loud explosion, shaking nearby areas and sending thick black smoke into the sky. The factory was soon engulfed in flames, triggering panic among employees and nearby residents. The incident occurred around 9 am on Monday ...Read More >
Srinagar: Before towering cranes and cutting-edge engineering transformed the Himalayan landscape, the monumental dream of connecting "Kashmir to Kanyakumari" by rail began with the plodding footsteps of humble mules. This extraordinary backstory underpins the official realization of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL), inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 6, 2025, a project crowned by the awe-inspiring Chenab Bridge. According to Afcons Infrastructure Limited, the company behind the Chenab Bridge, the earliest and most formidable hurdle wasn't just the design of ...Read More >
Mumbai, Jun 28 (PTI) Following the backlash after featuring footwear strongly resembling Kolhapuri chappals, Italian fashion house Prada has acknowledged that it was inspired by the Indian handcrafted footwear. "We acknowledge that the sandals featured in the recent Prada Men's 2026 Fashion Show are inspired by traditional Indian handcrafted footwear, with a centuries-old heritage. "We deeply recognize the cultural significance of such Indian craftsmanship," said Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada Group Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, in a letter to Lalit Gandhi, president of Maharashtra Chamb ...Read More >
Shimla: Heavy rains lashed Himachal Pradesh on Sunday, triggering landslides and flash floods and blocking more than 100 roads, even as the weather department issued a red alert.A landslide at Chakki Mod near Parwanoo blocked the Chandigarh-Shimla highway for hours, resulting in a massive traffic jam Sunday morning. The local administration had to divert traffic through the Jangeshu link road until the landslide debris was cleared at Chakki Mod.The traffic was first restored one-way and later two-way, but the traffic jam continued on both sides of the highway throughout the day due to slow veh ...Read More >
Hyderabad: A reactor blast at a chemical unit in Hyderabad led to a massive fire accident. It claimed several lives and left over 20 workers injured. The explosion occurred at Seegachi Chemicals which is located in the Pasamailaram industrial zone in Patancheru area. After the blast, multiple fire engines and ambulances were deployed for rescue operations. Witnesses reported seeing thick plumes of smoke billowing from the chemical plant. Authorities fear the death toll might rise as search efforts continue in the gutted facility. Initial reports suspect multiple fatalities. In the fire ac ...Read More >
New Delhi: Six people, including a three-year-old child, were injured in five separate fire incidents reported across the city on Thursday.According to Delhi Fire Services (DFS), a fire was reported on Pankha Road in west Delhi's Janakpuri around 5.30am, in which two buses and a car were gutted. Two fire tenders were sent to the site. No casualties were reported. At 9.35am, a fire broke out in a house in southeast Delhi's New Friends Colony. According to police, a resident called workers to clean a sofa set in her home when a fire broke out. "It appears the thinner caught fire during the clean ...Read More >
Mumbai: Uddhav and Raj Thackeray will hold a joint protest march of their parties in the city on July 5 against what they allege is imposition of Hindi in the state's schools from Class 1 through the new three-language policy. This will be the first time they will come together on a political platform after Raj Thackeray's decision to quit Shiv Sena to form MNS nearly two decades ago.There has been speculation of a reunion of the estranged cousins for the coming civic polls, and the protest march is being seen as the first step in that direction, reports Chaitanya Marpakwar.Uddhav and Raj had ...Read More >
VIJAYAWADA: The State government on Friday accorded approvals to a slew of industries. Among those are Krishnapatnam Power Corporation Limited (KPCL), which is set to establish a 350 MW Solar and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Thamminapatnam and Mommidi villages of SPSR Nellore district with a Rs 1,225 crore investment, creating 575 jobs. Furthermore, the government also waived off a Rs 54 crore extension of time fee, contingent on project completion within two years as per the Andhra Pradesh Integrated Clean Energy Policy-2024. The government also allocated 22.80 acres at MPSEZ in N ...Read More >
Bengaluru, June 29 (PTI) An unidentified woman's body, allegedly stuffed into a sack and dumped in a garbage truck, was found, police said on Sunday. The body was discovered under the Chennammanakere Achukattu Police Station limits. The deceased is believed to be between 30 and 35 years old. Police said the body was tied up and stuffed into a sack, likely dumped in the garbage truck sometime between Saturday night and early Sunday. Based on nearby CCTV footage, police suspect the body may have been transported to the spot in an auto-rickshaw. A resident, who came to dispose of garbage, gre ...Read More >
Sangareddy (Telangana) [India], June 30 (ANI): At least 8 people were killed and 26 injured following the explosion at a chemical factory in Pasamailaram Phase 1 area of Telangana's Sangareddy district on Monday, as the rescue operation is in progress, a police official said. V Satyanaryana, Inspector General, Multi Zone II, said, "There was a blast at Sigachi Pharma, a chemical production factory in Pasamailaram. The incident occurred around 8:15-9:35 am, and the police were informed within 10 minutes. We reached the spot within 20 minutes. NDRF, SDF, and other rescue teams, along with 10 fi ...Read More >
MADURAI: Likening the custodial murder of Ajith Kumar in Tiruppuvanam to an 'organised crime by police where the state kills its own citizens,' Madras high court lambasted the Tamil Nadu police and said the action against the perpetrators should be more stringent than in normal murder cases.A division bench of Justice S M Subramaniam and Justice A D Maria Clete pointed to 44 external injuries on the person of Ajith Kumar and said no part of the body was spared by the delinquent cops. "Even an ordinary murderer would not have inflicted such kind of injuries," the bench said on Tuesday.The natur ...Read More >
A private school in Rohini, Delhi, received a bomb threat via email on Friday, just a day after a blast in Prashant Vihar. The school promptly alerted the police, and a team from the Delhi Fire Services, along with the bomb disposal and dog squads, conducted a thorough search of the premises. No suspicious items were found, and the threat was declared a hoax. Despite this, the police have registered the statement from the school authorities and are investigating the matter. The swift response ensured the safety of students and staff. ...Read More >
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A massive fire broke out at a paper roll manufacturing unit, Shri Ji Packaging Berol Laboratory, located in a industrial area near Ashoka Garden area of the capital city, around 7 PM on Sunday evening. Thick plumes of smoke were visible from over a kilometer away, triggering panic among nearby residents. According to Ashoka Garden Police, the administration has taken swift action to bring the blaze under control. A total of 15 to 20 police and fire brigade vehicles arrived at the scene, and efforts to extinguish the fire are ongoing. As of now, the fire has not been ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jun 30 (PTI) Hyderabad-based textiles manufacturer Filatex Fashions on Monday said its revenue rose by 7 per cent to Rs 191.65 crore in 2024-25 on the back of export orders. The textile and fashion manufacturing company's total income increased to Rs 191.65 crore in FY25 from Rs 179.02 crore in FY24, marking a 7 per cent growth, a statement said. Filatex Fashions said its mining subsidiary, Filatex Mines and Minerals, in the last fiscal secured its first major export order worth USD 35 million (Rs 293 crore) from Bloomflora Ventures Ltd for the supply of 2,97,388 metric tonnes of ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jun 30 (PTI) India has hardened its position on issues related to agriculture as negotiations with the US team in Washington have entered a crucial stage, an official said on Monday. The official also said that the stay of the Indian team, headed by special secretary in the department of commerce Rajesh Agrawal, is expected to be extended further. The team is in Washington for negotiations on an interim trade agreement with the US. Both sides are rushing to close a deal ahead of the July 9 deadline for the full implementation of a 26 per cent reciprocal tariff which has been suspe ...Read More >
Thiruvananthapuram: Ravada A Chandrasekhar took charge as the new State Police Chief on Tuesday. He succeeds Shaik Darvesh Saheb, who retired on June 30. His tenure will run until July 1, 2027. A 1991-batch IPS officer currently serving as Special Director with the Intelligence Bureau, Chandrasekhar is on central deputation. He was selected over Nitin Agarwal, who topped the official list of probables. The appointment order, issued by Kerala Chief Secretary Dr A Jayathilak on behalf of the Governor, was released soon after a cabinet meeting held on Monday. Hailing from Andhra Pradesh's Godav ...Read More >
Chennai, Dec 3 (PTI) Danfoss, a leader in heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and compressors has set a target to progressively ramp up local manufacturing capabilities over the next five years, supporting the Centre's Make in India campaign, the company said on Tuesday. Danfoss India, a subsidiary of Denmark-based Danfoss, earlier this year committed to a Rs 500 crore investment aimed at developing local manufacturing for HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air-conditioning), and refrigeration compressors and controls. As the country's heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeratio ...Read More >
Sangareddy (Telangana), Jun 30 (PTI) Eight people were killed and 26 others injured in an explosion triggered by a suspected chemical reaction in a pharma plant in this district on Monday, officials said. The explosion took place at a reactor in the plant of Sigachi pharma company in the Pashamylaram industrial estate due to the suspected chemical reaction where fire also broke out. Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the deaths. Inspector General of Police (Multizone) V Satyanarayana said: "Six bodies have been recovered from the accident site and two people died while undergoing treatme ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jul 1 (PTI) The Indian Navy contained a fire on board a Palau-flagged tanker in the North Arabian Sea and ensured safety of 14 of the vessel's Indian crew members. The Navy swung into action and launched the fire-fighting operation after receiving a distress call from the vessel on Sunday. The vessel reported a major fire in its engine room while operating approximately 80 nautical miles east of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). "The Indian Navy undertook a high-risk fire fighting and rescue operation on-board Palau-flagged tanker MT Yi Cheng 6 on June 29 in the North A ...Read More >
Chennai, Dec 3 (PTI) Danfoss, a leader in heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and compressors has set a target to progressively ramp up local manufacturing capabilities over the next five years, supporting the Centre's Make in India campaign, the company said on Tuesday. Danfoss India, a subsidiary of Denmark-based Danfoss, earlier this year committed to a Rs 500 crore investment aimed at developing local manufacturing for HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air-conditioning), and refrigeration compressors and controls. Also Read | What Is 'Tankhah', Religious Punishment Given to Sukhbir Sing ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], December 10 (ANI): Delhi Chief Minister Atishi on Tuesday raised concerns about the Rajouri Garden based Jungle Jamboree restaurant's safety record after a fire broke out on Monday spreading to the coaching centre above it. The Delhi CM visited the fire incident site of Rajouri Garden and took stock of the situation saying that the fire NOC of the restaurant had been cancelled by the Fire Department, and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had also ordered its closure. Despite this, the restaurant was still operating, prompting an investigation by the Delhi Police. Pr ...Read More >
New Delhi: A minor fire broke out at the Revenue Building in central Delhi's ITO area on Friday morning.According to Delhi Fire Services (DFS), the call was received at 9.57 am, after which a team of 36 firefighters and seven fire tenders were immediately sent. The fire was located on the second floor, in room number 238, and was brought under control swiftly."The fire started in an air conditioning unit, likely due to a short circuit, and spread to some nearby wiring. It was initially doused by staff using extinguishers, and our team handled the remaining fire and cooling operations," said a ...Read More >
Mumbai, Jun 8 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Sunday said his party is ready to come together with anyone who will work to protect the interests of Maharashtra and Marathi manoos, his statement coming amid the rapprochement buzz between the Uddhav Thackeray-led party and Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Talking to reporters here, Thackeray accused the BJP of "swallowing" Mumbai and Maharashtra. He said injustice is being meted out to Maharashtra by the BJP. "We have been saying this consistently. We are ready to work with anyone, any party that is ready to ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jun 26 (PTI) Indian team, headed by chief negotiator Rajesh Agarwal, has reached Washington for the next round of trade talks with his US counterparts, an official said on Thursday. The visit is important as both the countries are engaged in negotiations for an interim trade deal and are trying to finalise the pact before July 9, though there are challenges in areas like agriculture and dairy. "The Indian team is in Washington for two-day trade talks," the official said. Agrawal is special secretary in the department of commerce. The high tariffs, announced by the US on April 2, ...Read More >