Bill Gates visits Bhubaneswar slum, interacts with residents
Bhubaneswar (PTI): Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Wednesday morning visited a slum in Bhubaneswar and interacted with the people who live there.
He visited the Biju Adarsh Colony in the Maa Mangla Basti along with state government officials.
Besides enquiring about the well-being of the residents of the slum, Gates also interacted with members of women's self-help groups (SHGs) that work there.
State Development Commissioner Anu Garg said, "We have shown him that the slum dwellers have got land rights, tap water connections, toilets and power supply. He expressed happiness over the transformation of the slum area into a model colony."
State Urban Development Secretary G Mathi Vathanan said that Gates spoke to the beneficiaries of different welfare schemes of the government.
A resident of the colony said that the philanthropist interacted with them and asked about the changes in their lifestyle as a result of the schemes.
"He asked about how we were living earlier and our present status," she said.
Gates, who arrived here on Tuesday, is scheduled to meet Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik later in the day.
Different departments of the state government work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
VIDEO | Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates (@BillGates) visits Maa Mangla Basti in Odisha's Bhubaneswar. pic.twitter.com/SIUc6Walal
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Nine dead as fire breaks out in residential building in east Delhi
New Delhi (PTI): A fire broke out in a residential building in east Delhi's Vivek Vihar early Sunday, leaving nine people belonging to two families dead, including a toddler, officials said.
The incident was reported around 3.48 am at a four-storey building in Vivek Vihar Phase-I, following which police, fire and disaster management teams rushed to the spot.
According to the police, the blaze engulfed flats on the second, third and fourth floors of the building, prompting a large-scale rescue operation.The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) said nine charred bodies were recovered from different floors.
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"One body was recovered from the first floor, five from the second floor and three from the staircase which was found locked," the DFS officer said.
Those found dead on the second floor have been identified as Arvind Jain (60), his wife Anita Jain (58), son Nishant Jain (35), daughter-in-law Anchal Jain (33) and grandchild Akash Jain.
On the third floor, three members of a family were found dead. They were identified as Nitin Jain (50), wife Shailey Jain (48) and son Samyak Jain (25).
On the first floor a woman identified as Shikha Jain (45) was found dead while her husband Naveen Jain (48) sustained injuries.
A senior police officer said, "Around 10 to 15 people were rescued from the premises during the firefighting operation. Two of them, who sustained minor injuries, were shifted to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital."
A total of 12 fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames, while teams from the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), traffic police and local police assisted in the rescue and evacuation efforts.
Police said the fire was brought under control after several hours. Efforts are underway to determine the cause of the fire, police said.
Further investigation and proceedings are underway.
