A fire official says an eight-storey commercial building near Bangladesh’s capital has collapsed, killing three people and possibly trapping many more.
According to fire official Md Jibon the building housing shops, a bank and a garment factory collapsed early Wednesday. He says three bodies have been recovered and many are feared to have been trapped.
Association of Bharathanatyam Artistes of India (ABHAI) will launch its Tiruchi Chapter shortly. The organisation, founded in 1987, seeks to bring together all Bharatanatyam dancers, teachers, accompanying musicians, technicians, writers, costume designers, make-up artistes, and rasikas, under a common forum to promote cooperation and better understanding among the fraternity.
The welfare association tries to extend assistance to member artistes, especially the needy, the retired, and the persons with disabilities. It conducts monthly workshops and summer workshops, besides regular seminars. The association is reaching out to smaller cities to enable students and teachers to provide exposure.
The Tiruchi chapter would be inaugurated on Sunday by Prema Nandakumar, writer and critic. Chithra Visweshwaran, president, ABHAI, will conduct the inaugural workshop, according to a release. For details, call 9443259747 (Vrinda Ramanan).
Irked by the indifference on the part of the management of Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) to their indefinite strike which entered 15th day on Monday, daily wage employees and manpower agency workers of the tourism corporation resorted to ‘bhikshatana’ (seeking alms).
The 70-odd protestors left their strike camp and came out on to the main road, along with their families holding placards. They walked till the busy Kummaripalem Centre, stopped every passer-by and narrating their financial woes.
They said the meagre wages they were paid by the APTDC was far from adequate. When they insisted on a hike, the corporation officials showed them the door. The workers said since they had no means of livelihood, thanks to the APTDC apathy, they had landed on the footpath, and now had to resort to beggary to feed their family members.
As part of their action plan to stage novel protests until the management conceded their long-pending protests, the workers plan to don a new avatar on Tuesday tucking a flower in their ear and holding a begging bowl in their hand. “Tomorrow, it will be ‘Chevilo puvvu, chetilo chippa’. We are determined to continue the agitation until our fair demands are fulfilled. The management cannot gag us by arm-twisting tactics,” said State CITU leader Subhash Chandra Bose.
The corporation, meanwhile, issued termination orders to 580 protesting workers across the State.
Representatives of the protesting workers held a roundtable conference with leaders of various other unions on Sunday seeking their support for their cause.
“Leaders of various unions have promised to support us in our fight. If our demands are not conceded, we’ll be forced to intensify the stir by involving others also,” warned Mr. Bose.
A new subway built at a cost of Rs. 40 lakh connecting platform one, two, and three at Thanjavur Railway Junction will be thrown open for public use in the first week of May.
“All work has been completed in the subway except some lighting arrangements at the entrance and approach roads."
“Once they are completed, the subway may be thrown open to the public in first week of May,” sources in the Southern Railway said.
The subway will help passengers — particularly elderly and children — reach platform one, two, and three, and from these platforms to get out of the station easily.
About 30 express trains and 25 passenger trains pass through Thanjavur and passenger traffic has seen tremendous increase. At present, people use the footbridge to reach platforms. They cross the railway lines. The subway will prevent crossing of the lines and help people reach safely the platforms.
There will be three entry and exit points in the subway. “One more subway will be constructed connecting platform three, four, and five in the course of time,” sources added. Platform one and two, which were not in use after gauge conversion, have been improved and now put to use with broad gauge lines.
“Now goods trains are operated on platform one and two. After completion of water pipelines, passenger trains will be operated from June on these platforms,” said the sources. At present, passenger trains are operated on platform 3, 4, and 5. Southern Railway has plans to beautify the entrance to the station in a traditional way in tune with the heritage status of the town. People have been eagerly awaiting introduction of an express train from Thanjavur to Chennai as announced in the recent railway budget.
Coming up to the halfway stage of the season, it is not hard to tell the IPL’s better teams from the worse. If Royal Challengers Bangalore remains, emphatically, one of the contenders for the main prize, Pune Warriors India finds itself sinking with the backmarkers.
The contrast between the sides, separated by a chasm of six points as they prepare to meet at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday, could not have been greater.
For RCB, this has been a largely satisfactory campaign despite a couple of blips. Unbeaten in five matches at home, this fixture is an opportunity to reinforce its position before hitting the road for the next 20 days or so.
Saturday’s win over Rajasthan Royals held none of the nerve-shredding tension of the previous games — something Virat Kohli drew relief from. The captain will also have been pleased with Saurabh Tiwary and Tillakaratne Dilshan, both of whom did alright after their long breaks.
PWI looked broken after Monday’s defeat at Mohali, Allan Donald slumped forward in his seat as Luke Wright’s delivery sailed back over the ropes. Wright had been one of the team’s successes earlier that night, his cameo with the bat swinging the balance. Yuvraj Singh did well on his return while Ajantha Mendis started with a wicket before tailing off.
PWI could be tempted to deploy the Sri Lankan against Chris Gayle on Tuesday nonetheless. Benching regular captain Angelo Mathews was a bold move and looked better for the team. Aaron Finch, who stood in, has unquestionably been PWI’s best batsman. One worry for both teams could be the rain; it drizzled late in the evening on Monday and more is forecast for Tuesday.
A large number of Muslims from across the district participated in the special prayers for rainfall – Namaz-e-Istisqa – held at the Tennur Uzhavar Santhai ground in the city on Sunday morning.
The prayer was organised by the Tiruchi and Karur district Jamathul Ulama Sabai.
The prayer was also to seek God's pardon for the sins committed knowingly or unknowingly by the people.
Mufti A. Mohammad Roohul Haq Rashadi Kazimi, principal, JAU Arabic College, and president of the Jamathul Ulama Sabai, led the prayers. Later addressing the congregation, he said that in the fight with nature there is only one way out. That is to bend down before the almighty.
Seeking pardon
Offering special prayers to seek the pardon of Allah to overcome natural calamities such as drought was based on the principles and teachings of Prophet Muhammad.
The prayer was traditionally offered by the Prophet during times of drought. “Muslims are following in the footsteps of Prophet Muhammad, who would pray for rain in Makkah, whenever there was a delay in the onset of rainy season.”
Mufti Roohul Haq said that the State is witnessing its worst drought in many decades, which has hit people across society.
The Jamathul Ulama had also organised similar prayers during drought conditions in different parts of the State in the past.
At the end, a special dua was recited for rainfall, religious harmony, and national integration.
Moulvi S. Mohammad Meeran Misbahi, secretary of the Sabai, Moulvi K.A. Mohammad Hussain, treasurer, and members of various political and Muslim organisations participated.
