LIVE updates: 16 killed, 36 injured in fire in Tamil Nadu cracker factory

Fire in the factory broke out when some chemicals were being mixed to produce firecrackers. Stay tuned for Latest LIVE news

11:57 PM

No reports of damage in Punjab due to earthquake: CM

11:56 PM

Strong tremors felt in Punjab following 6.3 magnitude quake in Tajikistan

11:03 PM

Earthquake of magnitude 6.3 on the Richter scale hits Tajikistan

An earthquake of magnitude 6.3 on the Richter scale hit Tajikistan at 10:31pm today: National Centre for Seismology, according to ANI

10:50 PM

Earthquake of magnitude 6.1 jolts Amritsar

An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 on the Richter scale hit Amritsar, Punjab at 10:34pm today: National Centre for Seismology, according to ANI

10:40 PM

Earthquake tremors felt in Delhi and Jammu

10:39 PM

Uttarakhand disaster: 'Temporary lake' triggers concern, rescue workers battle odds

Experts were trying Friday to determine if a temporary lake formed upstream by an avalanche could breach its banks and threaten the rescue work at the sludge-choked Tapovan tunnel, where 25-30 people are feared trapped, according to PTI.

The confirmed death toll in Sunday's flash flood in the Alaknanda river system in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district climbed to 38 after the recovery of two more bodies and 166 people still remain missing.

10:29 PM

Tamil Nadu fire: Death toll rises to 16, 33 people hospitalised

Death toll rises to 16 in the fire at a firecracker factory in Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu. 33 people admitted at the hospital, according to ANI.

10:00 PM

Punjab's people should give AAP chance to implement Delhi's Arvind Kejriwal model: Sisodia

Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday urged the people of Punjab to give his party a chance to form the next government in the state for implementation of welfare schemes like that in Delhi, according to a PTI copy. Arvind Kejriwal's government in Delhi has done such welfare works for the people which the Congress and the BJP never imagined, he told reporters here.

Sisosia said the people in Delhi have been provided better health facilities in government hospitals and better education in government schools compared to private facilities. Free electricity and water have been provided round the clock in Delhi, he said. The Delhi deputy chief minister appealed to the people of Punjab to give a chance to the Aam Aadmi Party once so that the Delhi model would be implemented in the state. As per PTI, Sisodia said "Two types of politics are going on. One is of the Congress, BJP and the Akalis which are running their businesses and filling their coffers with the tax money paid by the people.

"On the other hand, there is the politics of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, who is spending tax money paid by people for the development of the people. An example of this can be seen in Delhi where hospitals and schools were built with new technologies and facilities, with the tax money of the people," he said.

9:15 PM

Protesters won't return home till agreement is reached: Rakesh Tikait

BKU leader Rakesh Tikait on Friday revealed plans by farmer leaders to hold meetings in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state Gujarat and said protesters in Delhi will not return home until the Centre reaches an agreement with them, according to PTI. It was not immediately clear if the remark made at a "mahapanchayat" here was a climb down from Tikait's earlier assertion that there will be no ghar wapsi unless the laws are withdrawn. The government has been telling farmer unions to consider an option other than the complete repeal of the laws.

As per PTI, he said the government will have to talk with the farmer unions' committee spearheading the agitation against the laws. This agitation will continue until the Government of India talks to the committee and arrives at an agreement. Till that time, farmers will not return home, he said addressing a mahapanchayat organised by the Dalal Khap 84 near the Tikri border. He also claimed the agitation is spread across the country and not limited to Punjab, Haryana or Uttar Pradesh as being projected by some.

More mahapanchayats will be held in coming days, he said, adding that they will go to Gujarat as well. Tikait alleged that farmers from Gujarat were being pressured not to lend support to the agitation.

8:57 PM

Tourist bus fell off a hill in Visakhapatnam, four feared dead

Andhra Pradesh: At least four people feared dead after a tourist bus fell off a hill in Ananthagiri, Visakhapatnam. The tourists were coming from Hyderabad, Telangana. Rescue operations underway: ANI

8:46 PM

Control room has been set up at Uttarakhand Police Headquarters

8:25 PM

UK economy shrinks 9.9% amid pandemic, biggest annual decline on record

Britain's economy suffered its biggest decline on record last year as the coronavirus pandemic closed shops and restaurants and and devastated the travel industry.

 

But even as the Office for National Statistics said Friday that gross domestic product shrank 9.9 per cent in 2020, there were signs of a rebound. The economy expanded 1 per cent in the fourth quarter, a second consecutive quarter of growth.

 

Andy Haldane, chief economist for the Bank of England, said the rapid vaccination of people across the UK would ease COVID-19 restrictions and unleash an economic recovery. READ ON...

7:56 PM

Tamil Nadu fire: CM announces 300,000 each for kin of deceased, 100,000 each to injured

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday announced ex-gratia amounts of Rs 3 lakhs each to the kin of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh each to the critically injured in the fire in a firecracker's factory in Virudhunagar.

 

"I'm deeply in grief after hearing that 11 persons working in a firework industry died after a mishap and 36 injured. I deeply extend my condolences to the next of kin," Palaniswami said.

 

He added, "I allocate financial assistance of 3 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and 1 lakh to the severely injured." The CM further instructed the district authorities and the medical experts to give the best treatment to the injured and asked the local administration to ensure that families of the deceased and the injured are informed.

7:41 PM

Uttarakhand flood: Lake formed due to blocking of stream joining Rishi Ganga, says report

The debris brought by the avalanche in Uttarakhand earlier this week has blocked a stream that joins the Rishi Ganga river forming a temporary lake which if breached can cause further damage in the valley, said a report by the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology. According to its director Kalachand Sain, a team of scientists from the institute conducted an aerial survey of the upper reaches of the Rishi Ganga just a day after the Sunday avalanche and spotted the new glacial lake there.

 

The team took some photographs of the lake taken from a helicopter. It seems that the recent avalanche has led to its formation in the higher stretches of the Rishi Ganga's catchment area, he said.

 

"Our scientists are examining the size of the lake, its periphery and the volume of water it contains to ascertain how big and immediate the danger from it is," Sain told PTI.

7:25 PM

Uttarakhand flood: NTPC sets up medical team at Tapovan site

State-run power giant NTPC on Friday said it has set up a medical team of doctors and para-medical staff and started medical camps for general public at Tapovan which was ravaged by a flash flood last Sunday.

 

"NTPC Tapovan team has brought in an experienced team of doctors, para-medical staff and has started medical camps for the general public at Tapovan. "Medical consultations along with medicines for the needy has proved to be of great help for the people of the surrounding areas devastated by the disaster," an NTPC statement said.

 

This initiative in the backdrop of all odds culminating out of the disaster that struck Tapovan in Uttarakhand on Sunday has found many takers amongst the affected lot, it added.

7:02 PM

Budget provides strong stimulus for long term sustainable growth: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the Budget is aimed at making India self-reliant and provides strong stimulus for medium to long term sustainable high growth. While replying to the discussion on the Budget 2021-22, the minister also attacked former finance minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram for suspecting the Budget numbers. She, however did not mention his name, PTI reported.

 

Stressing that the Budget is for Aatmanirbhar Bharat, she said, "attempt made in this Budget is to provide strong stimulus and provide such a stimulus which can bring in that kind of a multiplier effect...".

 

"We are also looking at medium to long-term sustainable growth which will keep India in that kind of growth trajectory which will maintain us as one of the fastest growing economies in the world," she said.

6:28 PM

Death toll rises to 11 in fire at a firecracker factory in Tamil Nadu; 36 injured

6:21 PM

11 killed in fire in Tamil Nadu cracker factory

Eleven people were killed and at least 12 others injured in a huge fire that broke out at a firecracker factory in Tamil Nadu's Virudhunagar district on Friday, police said. The death toll is likely to go up as the condition of some of the injured admitted to Sivakasi government hospital is stated to be critical, PTI reported on Friday.

 

Police said the fire in the factory in Achankulam near Sattur in Virudhunagar broke out when some chemicals were being mixed to produce firecrackers. Four cracker making sheds were destroyed.

 

Ten firefighting vehicles rushed to the spot from various surrounding locations like Sattur, Sivakasi and Vembakottai to douse the flames, while officials from police, revenue and other departments also reached there for rescue and relief works. Chief Minister E K Palaniswami expressed grief over the death of 11 persons in the fire. He announced Rs 3 lakh each as solatium to kin of the bereaved families.

6:15 PM

CPI inflation eases to 4.06% in Jan; industry output grows 1% in Dec

Economic data released on Friday showed that Indian economy is finally emerging from the long shadow of coronavirus pandemic with inflation further cooling and industry output showing a rebound.

 

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew 1% for December 2020, showed the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Friday.

 

The factory output in the country had contracted 1.9% in November and grew 0.4% in December 2019. According to the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data, the manufacturing sector output grew by 1.6% in December 2020. READ ON...

6:12 PM

Retail inflation eases to 4.06% in January 2021 from 4.59% in Dec 2020: Govt data

Retail inflation eases to 4.06 per cent in January 2021 from 4.59 per cent in Dec 2020: Govt data

6:11 PM

Bharatiya Kisan Union says deadlock over farm laws can be resolved if govt shuns its “stubborn” attitude

Bharatiya Kisan Union says deadlock over farm laws can be resolved if government shuns its “stubborn” attitude and does not play with honour of farmers

6:03 PM

Will march nation-wide, go to Gujarat and set it free: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait

5:49 PM

Six workers die in explosion at private fireworks factory in Tamil Nadu

At least six workers of a private fireworks factory near Sattur in this district were killed in an explosion at the unit on Friday, police said.

 

The incident happened while some chemicals were being mixed to produce fireworks, police said. Ten fire fighting units from various locations have been rushed to the spot to douse the fire in the factory at Acchankulam village. Initial reports quoting fire service personnel said about 10 people were injured in the explosion.

5:16 PM

Uttarakhand flash floods: Two more bodies recovered; death toll 38

Two more bodies were recovered from the flash flood-hit areas of Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Friday, taking the toll in the calamity to 38, as rescue teams battled on against the odds for the sixth consecutive day to get to 25-35 people trapped in a sludge-choked tunnel, a PTI report said on Friday.

 

One body was recovered from the rubble at the demolished Rishi Ganga Hydel Project in Raini and the other from Maithana, district administration officials here said.

 

A separate team of rescuers was formed under the supervision of the executive engineer of the Rural Works Department to expedite the search operation taking the help of locals and old photographs of the demolished Rishi Ganga hydel project. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel using excavators and JCBs are dredging through the muck to locate the missing.

5:13 PM

'Ghar Wapsi' only after Farm Laws are repealed: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait

5:06 PM

ICICI Videocon loan case: Chanda Kochhar granted bail by court

A court here on Friday granted bail to former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar with a rider that she cannot leave the country with its permission. Kochhar on Friday appeared before the Special PMLA court in connection with the ICICI-Videocon loan case here and applied for a bail through her lawyer Vijay Agarwal. The court granted her bail on a bond of Rs 5 lakh.

 

Agarwal told IANS, "There is no material with the ED against her. Technically speaking she cannot be accused in that case." "Moreover she is a woman and has cooperated during investigation, so she is covered by the provision under section 45 of the PMLA," he added.

 

The case pertains to alleged irregularities in sanctioning six loans worth Rs 1,875 crore to Videocon Industries Ltd, Videocon International Electronics Ltd and four other companies associated with the Videocon group between June 2009 and October 2011.

4:32 PM

SC-appointed committee holds consultations with 12 farmer unions on farm laws

Supreme Court-appointed committee holds consultations with 12 farmer unions and peasants from eight states, including West Bengal, on the Centre’s controversial agri laws: Press Trust of India.

4:31 PM

Indian Army uses trolley to connect villages cut off after glacier burst in Chamoli

4:26 PM

Six workers killed in explosion at private fireworks factory in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu

Six workers killed in explosion at private fireworks factory near Sattur in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu: Police

4:15 PM

Normal life partially affected in 12-hour Bengal bandh called by Left Front

Normal life in West Bengal was partially affected on Friday due to the 12-hour state-wide bandh called by the Left Front in protest against police action on its activists during their march towards state secretariat Nabanna.

 

Schools in the state are scheduled to reopen during the day for students of classes 9-12 after a gap of 11 months. They were shut in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

 

Left cadre blocked railway tracks and roads in Malda, Barddhaman, Raiganj, Asansol, Dankuni and parts of Kolkata, North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts during the bandh that began at 6 am. Protestors burnt tyres at some places, and offered roses to policemen in other areas.