Will protect minorities, their properties in Bengal: Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata(PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said Muslims were aggrieved because of the enactment of the Waqf (Amendment) Act and assured the minority community members that she would protect them and their properties in the state.
Addressing a programme of the Jain community here, Banerjee asserted that she will not allow "any divide and rule policy" to persist in the state.
"I know you are aggrieved because of the enactment of the Waqf Act. Have faith, nothing will happen in Bengal by which one can divide and rule. You send out a message that all have to stay together," she said.
Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, appealed to the people not to pay heed to those who provoke them to launch a political movement.
Apparently referring to the violence over the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in Murshidabad district on Tuesday, she said, "See the situation in the bordering areas of Bangladesh. This (Waqf Bill) should have not been passed now. We have 33 per cent of minorities in Bengal. What will I do with them?"
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on April 3, and by the Rajya Sabha in the early hours of the next day after marathon debates in both Houses of Parliament.
President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Bill on April 5.
"History says that Bengal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India all were together. Partition took place later. And those are living here, it's our job to give them protection," she said.
Banerjee said that if people are together, they can conquer the world.
"Some people will provoke you to assemble and launch a movement. I will appeal to all of you not to do it. Please remember when Didi (Banerjee) is here, she will protect you and your property. Let us have trust in each other," the chief minister said.
At the Jain community programme, Banerjee said she visits places of all religions and will continue to do so.
"Even if you shoot me dead, you will not be able to separate me from (that) unity. Every religion, caste, creed... all of them pray for humanity and we love them," she said.
Banerjee said she goes to Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Jain and Buddhist temples, gurudwara, church and Guru Ravidas temple.
"In Rajasthan, I visited Ajmer Sharif as well as Brahma Temple in Pushkar," she said.
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Spanish distributor says restoring power after huge outage could take 6-10 hours, Portugal also hit
Barcelona, Apr 28 (AP): Spanish power distributor Red Eléctrica said that restoring power to large parts of the country after a massive and unprecedented outage Monday that also hit Portugal could take 6-10 hours.
The company declined to speculate on the causes of the blackout. The Portuguese National Cybersecurity Center issued a statement saying there was no sign the outage was due to a cyberattack.
Eduardo Prieto, head of operations at Red Electrica, told journalists it was unprecedented, calling the event “exceptional and extraordinary.”
The outage hit across Spain and Portugal, including their capitals, knocking out subway networks, phone lines, traffic lights and ATM machines.
Authorities said the cause was not immediately known, though one Portuguese official said the problem appeared to be with the electricity distribution network in Spain.
The Portuguese Cabinet convened an emergency meeting at the prime minister's residence, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited power distributor Red Eléctrica to follow efforts at restoring grid operations.
The countries have a combined population of over 50 million people. It was not immediately clear how many were affected. It is rare to have such a widespread outage across the Iberian Peninsula.
A couple of hours later, Spain's electricity network operator said it was recovering power in the north and south of the peninsula, which would help to progressively restore the electricity supply nationwide.
Portugal's government said the outage appeared to stem from problems outside the country, an official told national news agency Lusa.
“It looks like it was a problem with the distribution network, apparently in Spain. It's still being ascertained,” Cabinet Minister Leitão Amaro was quoted as saying.
Portuguese distributor E-Redes said the outage was due to “a problem with the European electricity system,” according to Portuguese newspaper Expresso. The company said it was compelled to cut power in specific areas to stabilise the network, according to Expresso.
Spain's public broadcaster RTVE said a major power outage hit several regions of the country just after midday local time, leaving its newsroom, Spain's parliament in Madrid and subway stations across the country in the dark.
A graph on Spain's electricity network website showing demand across the country indicated a steep drop around 12.15 pm from 27,500MW to near 15,000MW.
Video aired on Spanish television showed people evacuating metro stations in Madrid and empty stations with trains stopped in Barcelona.
Play at the Madrid Open tennis tournament was suspended. Three matches were underway when power went down.
Spain's traffic department asked citizens to avoid using their cars as much as possible due to the power outage, which has affected traffic lights and electrical road signage.
In Terrassa, an industrial town 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Barcelona, stores selling generators were out of stock after people lined up to buy them.
Portugal's E-Redes said parts of France also were affected.
In a country of some 10.6 million people, the outage hit the capital, Lisbon, and surrounding areas, as well as northern and southern parts. Portuguese police placed more officers on duty to direct traffic and cope with increased requests for help, including from people trapped in elevators.
Portuguese hospitals and other emergency services switched to generators. Gas stations stopped working and trains stopped running.
Portugal's National Authority for Emergencies and Civil Protection said backup power systems were operating.
Several Lisbon subway cars were evacuated, reports said. Also in Portugal, courts stopped work and ATMs and electronic payment systems were affected. Traffic lights in Lisbon stopped working.
It was not possible to make calls on mobile phone networks, though some apps were working.
