Andhra Dy CM Pawan Kalyan’s son injured in Singapore school fire that kills 10-year-old girl
Singapore/Vijayawada, Apr 8 (PTI): A 10-year-old girl died and 20 others, including Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan’s son, were injured after a fire broke out in a Singapore building on Tuesday, authorities said.
The blaze erupted at a three-storey shophouse on River Valley Road, near Singapore's Central Business District (CBD), housing several businesses, including a cooking school, a theatre group and a robotics institute for children.
Kalyan’s younger son, Mark Shankar, sustained injuries in the fire at the school, his Jana Sena Party said in a statement released in Vijayawada.
The incident caused burns to Mark’s hands and legs, while smoke inhalation also affected his lungs and he is currently receiving treatment in a hospital there, the Party said.
The Party, in a Facebook post, said Kalyan would travel to Singapore after completing his earlier commitments.
Channel News Asia quoted Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, who confirmed the fatality of the 10-year-old girl in the fire at the shophouse on the outskirts of the CBD.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), in a Facebook post, said at least 20 people, including 15 children, have been taken to hospitals.
Videos shared on social media showed black smoke billowing from the building and children perched on a third-floor ledge. Several bystanders, including construction workers, were seen climbing the scaffolding to rescue the stranded people.
Rescue ladders and a combined platform ladder were deployed to rescue the rest of the stranded people on the ledge, while firefighters proceeded to extinguish the blaze on the second and third floors of the building.
Police and SCDF personnel evacuated around 80 people from the building and nearby premises and as many as 20 persons were taken to hospital.
“Our immediate priority is to provide urgent medical care to these patients and to lend support to the caregivers,” Associate Professor Sashikumar Ganapathy, head and senior consultant at the Department of Emergency Medicine at the K K Women's and Children's Hospital, said.
The cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained and an investigation is underway, the SCDF said.
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Gehlot changes profile pic to 'Save Aravalli', asks Centre to reconsider definition
Jaipur (PTI): Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Thursday urged the Centre to reconsider its definition of the Aravallis, warning that any damage to the mountain range posed a serious threat to the ecological future of north India.
Gehlot, a former Rajasthan chief minister, changed his social media profile picture in support of the nationwide 'SaveAravalli' campaign amid growing debate over mining and environmental safeguards in the Aravalli Range.
It was his symbolic protest against the new interpretation under which hills lower than 100 metres are no longer being recognised as part of the Aravalli system, he said.
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"The Aravalli cannot be judged by tape measures or height alone. It must be assessed by its ecological importance," Gehlot said, adding that the revised definition raised "a big question" over the future of north India.
Appealing to the Centre and the Supreme Court, Gehlot said the issue must be reconsidered in the interest of future generations and environmental security. He also urged citizens to participate in the campaign by changing their display pictures online to draw attention to the issue.
He said the Aravalli range functioned as a natural green wall against the expansion of the Thar desert and extreme heatwaves, protecting Delhi, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. Opening up smaller hills and so-called gap areas for mining would allow desertification to advance rapidly, he warned.
Gehlot also flagged concerns over air pollution, saying the hills and forests of the Aravallis acted as the "lungs" of the National Capital Region by checking dust storms and absorbing pollutants.
"When pollution levels are so alarming even with the Aravalli standing, one can imagine how disastrous the situation will be without it," he said.
Highlighting the water crisis, the former chief minister said the rocky terrain of the Aravallis played a crucial role in groundwater recharge by channelising rainwater underground.
"If the hills are destroyed, drinking water shortages will intensify, wildlife will disappear and the entire ecology will be pushed into danger," he said.
Gehlot argued that, from a scientific perspective, the Aravallis was a continuous chain and that even smaller hillocks were as vital as higher peaks.
