An explosion occurred at an illegal firecracker factory in the Banmore police station area, Morena district of Madhya Pradesh on Thursday, an official said.
Inspector General (IG) Chambal range Rajesh Chawla confirmed the news. He told to media that three persons had died, seven sustained injuries in the incident. A few people were suspected to be buried under the debris of the factory; Chawla added.
On getting the information about the incident, the police and the administrative officials reached the spot along with JCB, and the rescue operation was underway, IG Chawla said.
Firecrackers for Diwali were being made in the factory.
Steel prices fell about 40 per cent to Rs 57,000 a tonne in the domestic market over the last six months on subdued export orders in the wake of the 15 per cent export levy, according to SteelMint.
In early 2022, the prices of hot rolled coil (HRC) started showing an upward trend. It had become a matter of concern for the user industries as movements in steel prices have a direct impact on industries like real estate and housing, infrastructure and construction, automobile and consumer goods.
The steel prices in the domestic market peaked at Rs 78,800 per tonne in April. After 18 per cent GST levy, the price was about Rs 93,000 per tonne, the research firm said.
The prices started to fall from April-end and came down to Rs 60,200 per tonne towards the end of June, according to SteelMint data. It continued to fall in July and August and came down to Rs 57,000 per tonne by mid-September. SteelMint cited “government tax on steel products, subdued overseas demand and high inflation and energy costs” as the reasons for the fall in steel prices.
All prices are excluding 18 per cent GST. On the outlook, it said domestic HRC prices to remain range-bound in the next quarter.
As steel exports are likely to remain less than usual and inventory pressure is likely to sustain, mills are unlikely to increase the prices over the next two months. On May 21, the government hiked the duty on exports of iron ore by up to 50 per cent and a few steel intermediaries to 15 per cent. It also waived customs duty on the import of some raw materials, including coking coal and ferronickel, used by the steel industry. The move was aimed at increasing the availability of these raw materials for domestic manufacturers.
Uttar Pradesh will begin teaching medical and engineering courses in Hindi as well, Chief Minister Yogi Adiyanath has said.
Yogi tweeted, “Some books of medical and engineering courses have been translated into Hindi. The students will be able to study those subjects in Hindi from the coming year.”
The announcement has been made days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched India’s first Hindi version of MBBS textbook in Bhopal on Sunday (October 16).
While addressing the event in Bhopal on Sunday, the Home Minister said, “Today is a very important day for the education sector of India. Whenever history will be written in the coming days, this day will be written in golden letters”
“Through the New Education Policy, PM Modi has given more emphasis to the mother tongue of students. This is a historic decision. Now under Modi ji you can avail higher education in any language as per your comfort,” Shah said.
Madhya Pradesh is the country’s first state to start the MBBS course in the Hindi language. Initially, three subjects have been selected to be studied in Hindi which includes Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry.
A team of 97 experts have been working on the preparation of books for the last 232 days at Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal. They have been translating the books from English to Hindi.
Madhya Pradesh Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang on Sunday said that the move will bring a big change in the advancement of education in Hindi medium.
The experts further said the new edition of Medical Biochemistry contains the application of some new chapters which include Sodium, Potassium, Water Homeostasis, Biochemistry Techniques, Radiation, Radioisotopes and Environmental Pollutants and Toxins.
Besides, several new line diagrams, tables and text boxes have been added to make information more memorable. Similarly, in the Anatomy edition, new chapters of surface anatomy have been added in both the abdomen and lower limb sections. New line diagrams, CT and MRI diagram tables and flow charts are added to increase the retention of knowledge.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Bihar Lalan Paswan courted controversy by making bizarre statements about Hindu deities.
Paswan’s statement sparked an outrage. People held a protest at Shermari Bazar in Bhagalpur and burnt the effigy of the BJP MLA.
Paswan, who is an MLA from Pirpainti Assembly constituency in Bhagalpur district raised questions on Hindu beliefs and argued with evidence to prove his stance.
He further raised questions on Lakshmi Puja on Diwali.
Paswan said, “If we get wealth only by worshipping Goddess Lakshmi, then there would have been no billionaires and trillionaires among Muslims. Muslims do not worship Goddess Lakshmi, are they not rich? Muslims do not worship Goddess Saraswati. Are there no scholars among Muslims? Do not they become IAS or IPS?” The BJP leader said everything is people’s belief. He said the affair of “Atma and Paramatma” is just people’s belief. He said, “If you believe then it is a goddess and if not then it is just a stone idol. It is up to us whether we believe in Gods and Goddesses or not. We have to think on a scientific basis to reach a logical conclusion. If you stop believing, then your intellectual capacity will increase.” “It is believed that Bajrangbali is a deity with power and bestows strength. Muslims or Christians do not worship Bajrangbali. Are they not powerful? The day you stop believing, all these things will end,” added Paswan. Earlier, Paswan came to light when he allegedly leaked a personal conversation with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Yadav
Anti Encroachment, Jammu and Kashmir | Image: ANI/Representative
An anti-encroachment drive was conducted on Thursday by the Revenue Department in Jammu, officials said.
The drive was held near the Office of Divisional Commissioners.
Further information is awaited. Previously, this year in February, an anti-encroachment drive was conducted by the enforcement team of Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) in the areas of Rehari and Sarwal of the city.
The drive was held on February 9 after receiving several complaints from locals of the twin localities about road and lanes encroached by the shopkeepers and residents causing hurdles in the smooth flow of traffic and pedestrians
Equity benchmark indices began the trade on a bearish note on Thursday halting their four-day rally following weak global market trends and continuous foreign fund outflow.
The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 315.91 points to 58,791.28 in early trade.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty fell 90.2 points to 17,422.05. From the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC and Maruti were the biggest laggards in early trade.
Nestle, Reliance Industries, ITC and Hindustan Unilever were among the winners. Among other Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading lower. Wall Street ended in negative territory on Wednesday. The BSE benchmark climbed 146.59 points or 0.25 per cent to settle at 59,107.19 on Wednesday.
The Nifty advanced 25.30 points or 0.14 per cent to end at 17,512.25. International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.17 per cent lower at USD 92.25 per barrel. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 453.91 crore, as per exchange data.
As many as 69 new cases of coronavirus have been detected in Maharashtra’s Thane district, taking its infection count to 7,46,128, a health official said on Thursday.
These new cases were reported on Wednesday, the official said, adding that there are currently 500 active COVID-19 cases in Thane, which is a part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
The death toll in Thane remained unchanged at 11,962. The recovery count has reached 7,34,355, he added.
The giant dome of the Jakarta Islamic Centre Grand Mosque in Indonesia collapsed on Wednesday after a major fire broke out.
Dramatic social media footage showed the moment the mosque’s dome collapsed, however, officials said that there were no casualties, reported Gulf Today.
The dome was destroyed by a fire during its renovation.
Firefighters were alerted about the blaze shortly after 3 pm local time, with at least ten fire engines being dispatched to the scene, Indonesia media reported.
Video footage showed flames and smoke billowing from the mosque’s dome just before it collapsed. The cause of the fire is not yet known.
Media reports suggest that the Islamic Centre was undergoing renovations at the time. No one was injured in the fire or the ensuing collapse.
Local media added that police are investigating the cause of the fire and have questioned contractors working in the building, reported Gulf Today. Apart from the mosque, the Islamic Centre complex also houses educational, commercial and research facilities.
Video footage showed flames and smoke billowing from the mosque’s dome just before it collapsed. The cause of the fire is not yet known. Media reports suggest that the Islamic Centre was undergoing renovations at the time. No one was injured in the fire or the ensuing collapse. Local media added that police are investigating the cause of the fire and have questioned contractors working in the building, reported Gulf Today. Apart from the mosque, the Islamic Centre complex also houses educational, commercial and research facilities.
The mosque’s dome last caught fire during renovations almost exactly 20 years ago, with the October 2002 blaze taking five hours to extinguish, reported Gulf Today.
Assam government, Home guards | Image: Representative
The Assam government has raised the daily duty allowances for home guards from earlier Rs 300-315 per day per head to Rs 767 ahead of Diwali.
This decision will benefit as many as 24,000 home guards jawans, with each jawan’s monthly remuneration shall now stand at around Rs 23,010.
There are two categories of home guards — basic trained home guards and advanced trained home guards.
“As per notification no. HMB. 150/2015/299, issued by the Home and Political Department, the increased duty allowances rate will be applicable from today onwards,” a statement from Chief Minister’s Office said on Wednesday. It is worth mentioning that a raise in the daily duty allowances has been a long-standing demand of the State’s home guards — a key arm of Assam Police as they play a crucial role in maintaining law and order.
“The Chief Minister stated that today’s decision would be to step towards uplift of all sections of society. He further stated that the increase in monthly duty allowances would act as a motivation to the jawans to work with greater dedication and motivation,” the CMO statement said.
Ahead of Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) elections scheduled for October 20, former BCCI president Sharad Pawar shared space with political rivals Devendra Fadanvis of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and said that though they all differ politically, but they have same thoughts when it comes to sports.
The panel of Sharad Pawar and Ashish Shelar had a meeting with Chief Minister Shinde and Deputy CM Fadanvis where they put forth demands for the growth and development of MCA.
Sharad Pawar said during the meeting, “Everyone wants to know what is happening in tomorrow’s MCA election. We have different political mindsets but we have the same thoughts for sports. When I was the BCCI president, Narendra Modi used to come for meetings when he was the president of the Gujarat Cricket Association, and current Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur and Rajeev Shukla (current BCCI vice president) used to come from Himachal. They came because we have the same passion for sports.”
Ashish Shelar, who has recently been appointed as BCCI Treasurer said that political parties will not enter MCA for their political agenda but rather for the development of cricket. Deputy CM Fadanvis said to the panel during the event, “Pawar ji is our relative. We assure everyone that we will work on your ideas and provide money to MCA for development and growth. I am handling the finance ministry and Shelar is handling MCA financial department. So I assure that there will be no shortage of funds for MCA.”
CM Shinde that today his government stands together with Pawar. “I assure you that we will work together for MCA’s growth and development.” Former Indian player Sandeep Patil has expressed his intentions to contest the MCA elections. But current MCA vice-president Amol Kale could also throw his hat in the ring.
Polls for five office bearers posts, nine councillors for the apex council and two representatives for the general council of T20 will be held on October 20. Polls for the five posts of office bearers, 9 councillors of the apex council, and two representatives for the general council of T-20, Mumbai, are scheduled to be held on October 20. Millind Narvekar and NCP leader Jitendra Awhad are among the ones contesting the election. Millind is close to former CM and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackrey while Awhad is also a close aide of Pawar in NCP.
