1 dead, 31 injured in cosmetic factory fire in Himachal's Baddi
Shimla/Chandigarh, Feb 2: A woman was brought dead to PGIMER here on Friday evening and 31 others were injured after a fire broke out in a factory in the Baddi industrial area of Himachal Pradesh's Solan district in the afternoon, officials said.
The Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) here issued a statement giving status of the victims of the Baddi factory fire admitted in PGIMER.
"In the evening hours of February 2, five patients reported to the Advanced Trauma Centre, PGIMER. These patients have been reported to be victims of the fire incident in the Baddi factory. Out of five patients, one victim has been reported brought dead," it said.
"The four namely Charan Singh (22), Prem Kumari (27), Aarti (25) and Geeta (25), all residents of Baddi in the Solan district, have suffered spine/head injuries along with minor burns. All these patients are stable and required work up and treatment is being provided," PGIMER's medical superintendent and official spokesperson Vipin Koushal said, as per the PGIMER statement.
More than 50 people were in the factory when the fire broke out, said Solan Deputy Commissioner Manmohan Sharma.
"People jumped from the first and the second floor of the building to save their lives and sustained multiple injuries on hands, legs and even spine," he said while talking to reporters at the spot, and added that the reason behind the fire is yet to be ascertained and a forensic team is on the job.
"Some ran away to their homes and their names are being verified while several others are still missing and attempts are being made to trace them," said Sharma.
Thick smoke oozing from the cosmetic material hindered the fire-fighting operations, and workers climbed on top of the building for safety, eyewitnesses said.
The fire tenders, which fought the fire for several hours, had a hard time dousing the flames as inflammable substances used for manufacturing of perfumes and other cosmetics were also catching fire.
The devastating fire broke out at NR Aroma around 2:45 pm on Friday.
#WATCH | 41 people including 19 injured people were rescued after a fire broke out in a perfume factory in the Baddi area of Solan district today; Teams of NDRF and Fire Department engaged in the operation to rescue affected persons and douse fire#HimachalPradesh pic.twitter.com/A1l6ypP5HI
— ANI (@ANI) February 2, 2024
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BJP slams Cong over internal quota for SCs, alleges injustice done to several communities
Bengaluru (PTI): The BJP in Karnataka on Saturday attacked the Congress government over its decision on internal reservation for Scheduled Castes, alleging injustice to several communities and questioning the intent behind the revised quota formula.
Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra and BJP MP Govind Karjol criticised the government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, accusing it of delay, dilution of quota, and lack of commitment to social justice.
The Cabinet on Friday cleared a revised internal reservation formula for Scheduled Castes within the overall 15 per cent quota, paving the way for long-pending government recruitment.
The Cabinet approved 5.25 per cent reservation each for the "right-hand groups" and "left-hand groups", and about 4.5 per cent for other Scheduled Castes, including nomadic communities.
"The Congress government in Karnataka, led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has committed a historic betrayal and stabbed the Scheduled Castes in the back," Vijayendra said.
In a post on 'X', the Shikaripura MLA alleged that the government had delayed the distribution of reservation among Scheduled Castes for nearly two-and-a-half years despite a Supreme Court order, before classifying them into A, B and C categories in a Cabinet decision.
He said the previous BJP government had increased reservation from 15 per cent to 17 per cent, but the present dispensation had reduced allocations.
"The quota for Category 'A' has been reduced from 6 per cent to 5.25 per cent and for Category 'B' from 5.5 per cent to 5.25 per cent, thereby causing grave injustice," he said, adding that allocations meant for several communities had been merged into Category 'C' and reduced to 4.5 per cent.
"Instead of the justifiable 5.5 per cent, the quota has been reduced to 4.5 per cent- amounting to a betrayal of these communities as well," he said.
He further claimed that despite there being no stay order, the state government had filed an affidavit agreeing to reduce reservation from 17 per cent to 15 per cent.
"As a result, the Scheduled Caste reservation has been brought down from 17 per cent to 15 per cent," he said.
Alleging inaction on employment, Vijayendra said the government had wasted two-and-a-half years of valuable time in the name of internal reservation despite lakhs of vacancies, and termed the recent recruitment assurance as misleading.
He added that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar will pay a price for the alleged injustice.
Meanwhile, addressing a press conference at the BJP state office, Karjol questioned the internal reservation mechanism adopted by the Cabinet.
The former Deputy Chief Minister said the Justice H N Nagamohan Das committee had recommended 17 per cent internal reservation and the government had reduced it to 15 per cent.
He questioned whether repeated assertions on social justice and equitable distribution were mere rhetoric, and accused the chief minister of misleading the public to retain power.
Terming the decision "arbitrary justice", Karjol said, "There were the Sadashivayya report, the Justice H N Nagamohan Das report, and even the Cabinet sub-committee report under former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. There was also a Supreme Court order. Ignoring all of these, the government has delivered arbitrary justice."
He maintained that the previous BJP government had increased reservation scientifically to 17 per cent based on a report by then Law Minister J C Madhuswamy, and alleged that, despite promises made in 2013 and after returning to power in 2023, Siddaramaiah had failed to implement internal reservation.
Accusing the chief minister of attempting to create divisions among SC sub-castes and pushing the issue into courts, Karjol urged him to stop this deception.
