2 dead, more than 300 injured in Dahi Handi festivities in Mumbai, Thane
Mumbai (PTI): Two people have died and more than 300 sustained injuries during the 'Dahi Handi' festival in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane city that drew large crowds of people, civic officials said on Sunday.
Of the 318 persons injured in Mumbai, only 24, including a nine-year-old boy, have been hospitalised while the rest were discharged after treatment on Saturday, they said.
The festival, celebrated to mark the birth of Lord Krishna, saw troupes of young men and women forming human pyramids to break dahi handis (pots of curd) suspended in the air with ropes.
According to officials, the highest number of 135 people were injured during the festivities in the island city, followed by 111 and 72 in the western and eastern suburbs, respectively.
Two of the injured persons, including a nine-year-old boy, are in a critical condition, they said.
The boy, identified as Aryan Yadav, a resident of Tanaji Nagar, was injured during celebrations at a chawl and is undergoing treatment at a civic-run hospital in Kandivali, while Shreyas Chalke (23) has been admitted to government-run GT Hospital.
Among the casualties, a 32-year-old man, identified as Jagmohan Shivkiran Chaudhari, fell to his death while tying a 'dahi handi' in Mankhurd in the northeastern part of the metropolis, and a 14-year-old boy was declared dead at a hospital in Ghatkopar on Saturday night.
"Chaudhari was tying the handi to a rope from the first-floor window grille of his house in Maharashtra Nagar when he fell. He was taken to the civic-run Shatabdi Govandi Hospital, where he was declared brought dead," an official said.
Rohan Mohan Malvi, who was part of the Gaondevi Govinda Pathak, fell unconscious while sitting in a tempo at Adarsh Nagar in the Andheri area. He did not take part in the pyramid formation since he recently suffered a bout of jaundice.
In the neighbouring Thane city, 22 participants were injured while attempting human pyramids, local civic body's disaster management cell chief Yasin Tadvi said.
Of them, 17 were admitted to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa, including some who suffered head injuries, shoulder dislocations, waist and chest injuries, he said.
An 18-year-old participant, who suffered a head injury, was referred to the state-run J J Hospital in Mumbai for advanced care. Some of the others injured were children in the age group of 5 to 10 years, the official said.
Another five persons were admitted to the District Government Hospital in Thane, with injuries ranging from hand fractures to back pain and abrasions, Tadvi said.
The festivities drew large crowds at multiple mandals in Thane, where actors Govinda, Chunky Pandey and Sunil Shetty joined the celebrations.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
