1. After Surat Fire, Over 9,000 Buildings Found Unsafe
As many as 9,395 buildings across Gujarat, including schools, coaching centres, malls, restaurants and hotels, were found lacking in fire safety regulations during a mass inspection that was launched two days ago following the blaze that killed 22 children in Surat, according to the state chief secretary.
Gujarat Chief Secretary Jagdip Narayan Singh said officials in 162 municipalities across the state have inspected 9,962 buildings and found that 9,395 of them lacked fire-safety features.
“A total of 713 teams comprising 2,055 officials have been carrying out inspections across Gujarat … Show cause notices have been sent to the owners of these buildings, giving them three days to take all necessary steps or face closure of their property,” said Singh.
(Source: Indian Express)
2. Surat Fire: Presence of Inflammable Material Hampered Rescue Op
Presence of inflammable materials, including flex and tyres, and fire tenders stationed away from the spot contributed to the blaze at a commercial complex in Surat and hampered the fire fighting operation, Gujarat Chief Secretary J N Singh said on Sunday, 26 May.
Twenty-two students, including 18 girls, of an art and craft coaching institute died in the devastating fire that engulfed the four-storeyed Takshashila Arcade in Sarthana area of Surat on Friday, 24 May.
Preliminary probe revealed that use of highly inflammable materials and tyres, which doubled up as chairs in the coaching class, caused the fire to spread rapidly, Singh said.
"The fire spread very quickly because highly inflammable materials, such as flex, were used... The ceiling (of the coaching institute) was just five feet high. Since one cannot sit on a chair in such a room, the owner used tyres instead of chairs for the students," the chief secretary told reporters here.
(Source: Times of India)
3. 'Next 5 Years, Chance for India to Regain Global Standing’: Modi
In the light of the Surat fire tragedy that killed 22 students, celebrations were toned down as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah arrived in Ahmedabad on Sunday, 26 May, to thank the people of Gujarat for the party’s massive Lok Sabha polls win.
Modi paid tributes to the dead students, saying he was in two minds over attending the felicitatation and that he finally decided to do so as it was “my duty to pay obeisance to the land which cultivated me”.
The former BJP state headquarters is located at J P Chowk in Khanpur, and it was from here that Modi addressed a crowd. J P Chowk itself is named so in memory of Jayaprakash Narayan, who had organised a public meeting here during the Emergency.
(Source: Indian Express)
4. Attack Bid on Hardik Patel at Surat Fire Site
Congress leader Hardik Patel, who was the face of the 2015 Patidar agitation, has been the target of a physical attack again. He was on Sunday, 26 May, visiting Takshashila Complex where a fire on Friday killed 22 students, when the attempted attack took place.
Hardik had come to Surat for the first time on Sunday after joining the Congress party before the Lok Sabha polls. Accompanied by Leader of Opposition of Surat Municipal Corporation Pappan Togadiya, and Congress councillors Vijay Pansurya and Dinesh Kachhafiya, Hardik arrived at site of the burnt out commercial building at Sarthana.
Surat Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) co-convenors Dharmik Malaviya, Nikhil Savani and other members were also present. At the time, a youth identified as Ruchit Desai belonging to the Patidar community, and who was earlier with the Surat PAAS, came close to Hardik and tried to attack him.
Dharmik and Nikhil immediately caught hold of Ruchit. Police present at the site of the fire also acted quickly, taking Ruchit away from the spot.
(Source: Indian Express)
5. Despite Dalit Uprising in State, BSP Scores Lowest in Last Three LS Polls
Despite Gujarat witnessing Dalit uprising post Una atrocity case in 2016, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which sees the community as its core constituents, has seen its vote share go down to 0.86 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, lowest in the last three Parliamentary polls in the state. However, the party leaders in the state blame the “Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs)” and “the BJP and RSS” for the debacle.
The BSP had contested 25 out of 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The party was not in fray for Surat Parliamentary constituency as papers of the BSP candidate had been rejected during scrutiny.
But, the BSP’s vote share of only 0.86 per cent in the state is even lower than 0.94 per cent votes, the party had garnered in the 2014 Parliamentary elections.
(Source: Indian Express)
6. Two Dupe Firm of Rs 54 Lakh With Petro Card
An employee of a company, along with a former employee of a petrol pump, cheated the firm of Rs 58 lakh by withdrawing money from the petro card given to them for official use. The money was withdrawn from June 2015 to February 2019.
According to a complaint registered with the Sola High Court police station by one Anil Dobariya, 40, area sales manager of Writers Safeguard Company, one of their field employees, Sushil Kumar Jha, misused his position to gain cash through the petro cards.
Dobariya in his complaint said that the company is in the business of refilling the ATMs of various banks with money. A bevvy of vehicles are used for this purpose and the field department keeps a record of the number of kilometres that each vehicle covers and it's fuel expenses.
(Source: DNA Ahmedabad)
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