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The Hindu
9 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Age is only a number, says Ramadoss; hints at resolution of conflict with son
Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder S. Ramadoss on Sunday (June 8, 2025) said, 'Age is only a number', reeling out names of popular 'older' politicians such as former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed, suggesting he still has enough fight in him in politics. However, he appeared optimistic about giving 'good news' about the resolution of his conflict with his son Anbumani Ramadoss, which threatens to split the party. Also read: Anbumani not to react to Ramadoss' accusations, plans three-day meet with PMK functionaries Interacting with journalists in Chennai, Dr. Ramadoss confirmed he did meet with RSS ideologue and Thuglak editor S. Gurumurthy again in Chennai (following an earlier meeting in his native town), but refused to reveal whether discussions with him and with Dr. Anbumani, were fruitful. PMK's party constitution Sources in the party said Dr. Ramadoss is seeking larger share of the powers to operate while asking Dr. Anbumani to continue as the 'working president'. Dr. Anbumani has reportedly agreed to allow his father to take the lead in deciding the electoral alliance and negotiating the seats while he wished to remaining as the party's 'president', a post to which he was earlier anointed unanimously. Also read: Making Anbumani a Cabinet Minister was my mistake: PMK founder Ramadoss 'Dr. Ayya (Ramadoss) wants powers to sign Form A and Form B too, which would give him powers over selection of candidates and make appointments. But, Dr. Anbumani wants to be allowed to continue as president and make appointments within the party,' said a senior leader. In the party's bylaws, Rule 13 states that party founder should be invited and his guidance is necessary to call for the general council and executive council meetings. However, Rule 15 explicitly states the party president, appointed by the general council, will head the party's political committee, executive council, general council, and state conference and has the powers to control the party's funds, properties owned by the party and its bank accounts. Rule 12 states that the general council will consist of district presidents, district secretaries, treasurer, vice-president, deputy secretary and area secretaries at the Union, Town Panchayats, municipal corporations and corporations along with representatives from linguistic, religious, and caste-based minorities. The executive council will consist of party president, general secretary, treasurer, organisation secretary, deputy general secretaries, vice-presidents, headquarters secretaries, disciplinary action committee members, property protection group and district presidents and secretaries make up the party's executive council. A senior leader says while it is true that general council has to be held in the presence of the party founder and its affairs conducted under his guidance, it is not binding on the general council to accept his guidance or decisions. 'The president continues to have the powers to appoint office bearers, which makes up the general council. Ultimately, the general council can reject his guidance. This is perhaps why Doctor Ayya began removing and re-appointing district president, secretaries and other office bearers. But, I don't think he (Dr. Ramadoss) has the powers to do it,' he added.
Hindustan Times
01-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Fire-fighting system was not working: Fire brigade
MUMBAI: The Link Square shopping complex that went up in flames in Bandra on Tuesday was a tinder box waiting to be lit. This damning preliminary finding comes from the Mumbai Fire Brigade a day after 72 fire fighters took 12 hours to contain the raging blaze and 22 hours to extinguish it. 'The fire-fighting system wasn't working, including the sprinklers,' chief fire officer, Ravi Ambulgekar, told HT on Wednesday. An assistant divisional fire officer, who was at the site on Tuesday, added that the system was not working even though the shopping complex regularly submitted Form B, which shows evidence of a working system. 'It is possible it was a manual system, which would have to be operated from the basement, but that wasn't accessible. The fire alarm kept ringing till 3pm on Tuesday,' he said. The fire is believed to have started in the basement, a large area occupied by popular electronics store Croma. It started in the wee hours on Tuesday, and escalated from a Level 1 fire to a Level 3 fire in just 40 minutes, and then to a Level 4 fire in just over two hours (Each level denotes the severity of a fire and the number of fire tenders that needs to be deployed). The Link Square shopping complex, on Linking Road, housed 220 shops that sold all kinds of merchandise, ranging from clothes to accessories and electronics. There were also restaurants on the third floor. The fire brigade says hordes of combustible material in the building fueled the fire's ferocity. The intense heat and smoke in a contained space with poor ventilation made fighting the fire a tough challenge. It was also one reason it took so long to bring under control, said a fire officer present at the site. The officer reasoned that the fire was already raging in the basement when it came to the attention of the security guard sleeping on the first floor after his shift ended at midnight. It was the security guard, Babulal Paswan, who made the first call to the fire brigade at 4:11am. When fire officers arrived, the blaze had already spread across the basement. 'I smelt the smoke,' said Paswan, 'so I went down to check it but I could only catch glimpses of the fire behind the shutters. Smoke was all around, but there was no way for us security guards to use the extinguishers as we didn't have the keys. So, we called the fire brigade.' The flames spread rapidly through the three-storey building, leaping from the roof. A senior fire officer at the site said the stench of smoke was perceptible around 1km away, at the Khar Telephone Exchange. At 6:25am, it was declared a Level 4 fire. 'To start with, the topmost basement floor (where Croma was located) was aflame, which made the top floors like lava,' said the assistant divisional fire officer. 'The heat and smoke were so intense, there was little room for the fire fighters – as many as 73 of them – to make much of a difference. The fire had by then reached all three top floors, fuelled by poor ventilation in a building encased in glass and filled with combustible material. We had to break the glass to allow the smoke to get out. The heat and smoke threatened to blind us each time we went too close, almost trapping a few of the fire officers,' he said. The fire fighters focused on containing the blaze from all four sides. To venture closer, they deployed a fire robot to shoot water at the burning building. The fire was finally extinguished by 1:41am on Wednesday but cooling operations continued all through the day. The fire brigade has launched an inquiry into the cause of the blaze and the irregularities in the building's fire-fighting system. The Mumbai Fire Brigade handed over the site to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday evening. The BMC and the police will take the next steps. 'We have parked two fire engines at the site on standby since there is a huge pile of combustible material there. We are still investigating the cause of the fire and will have a report in two to three days,' said Ravindra Ambulgekar, chief fire officer.
Express Tribune
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
ECP disqualifies 24 former lawmakers over failure to file asset declarations
Listen to article The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has disqualified 24 former members of the National and Provincial Assemblies for failing to submit their asset and liability declarations for the fiscal year 2022-2023, Express News reported on Wednesday. According to an official statement released by the ECP spokesperson, the disqualified individuals include 10 former members of the National Assembly, seven former members of the Sindh Assembly, and seven former members of the Balochistan Assembly. The disqualified lawmakers will remain ineligible to contest general, by-elections, and Senate elections until they submit the required Form B detailing their assets and liabilities for the relevant fiscal year, it added. From the now-dissolved National Assembly, the ECP disqualified Khurram Dastgir Khan, Mohsin Nawaz Ranjha, and Muhammad Adil, along with Rana Muhammad Ishaq Khan, Kamaluddin, and Ismatullah. Other disqualified former MNAs include Samina Matloob, Naseeba, Shamim Ara Panhwar, and Rubina Irfan. In Sindh, former provincial lawmakers Adeel Ahmed and Hizbullah Bhugio have been disqualified, along with Arsalan Taj Hussain, Arif Mustafa Jatoi, and Imran Ali Shah. Ali Ghulam and Tahira were also named among the disqualified. From Balochistan, the ECP disqualified former assembly members Mir Sikandar Ali, Mir Muhammad Akbar, Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind, Abdul Rasheed, Abdul Waheed Siddiqui, Mir Jamal, and Bibi Shaheena. The ECP reiterated that the disqualifications will remain in effect until the concerned individuals comply with the legal requirement to submit their annual declarations.
Express Tribune
26-03-2025
- Express Tribune
Traumatising ordeal of woman impregnated by father
Some crimes are too disturbing, too sickening, and too sinister to be believable. One such crime involving interfamilial sex abuse came to light last week when a man was convicted of raping and impregnating his biological daughter by a local court in Karachi. The additional district and sessions judge for District Central sentenced the evil father, Shahid, to 32 years in jail and imposed a fine of Rs200,00 on him for raping, impregnating his daughter and then threatening her to hush up his dark crime. In the verdict, the judge ruled that the victim had unequivocally identified her father, Shahid, as the perpetrator during her testimony. Moreover, the DNA test conclusively proved Shahid is the biological father of a baby born to his daughter. According to Prosecutor Hina Naz, the abuse began in 2020 when Shahid sexually assaulted his daughter who lived with her six siblings at the family home. The victim informed her mother about the incident, but she didn't do anything. Emboldened by inaction, Shahid sexually assaulted his daughter multiple times until she became pregnant. A few months later, the victim gave birth to a child. When she revealed to her mother that the baby's father was Shahid, her mother broke a glass and attacker him - and that was it. Four months after delivering the baby, the victim befriended a man named Waris on Facebook and told him her traumatising ordeal. Waris married the victim in May 2021 and then the couple filed lawsuit against Shahid. Subsequently, an FIR was registered against Shahid at New Karachi police station. The prosecution informed the court that in May 2020, when the victim's mother was ill and had been hospitalised, her father had threatened to kill her late at night and repeatedly raped her. "Shahid raped her multiple times, which resulted in her pregnancy," the prosecution stated. Judicial documents state that the victim's mother "asked her to undergo an abortion, but she refused." In January 2021, the victims, then seven months pregnant, gave birth to a child. At the time of delivery, "when the doctors asked her mother for the father's name, she provided the name of a boy with whom marriage talks were ongoing." The prosecution told the court that the victim's father had threatened Waris Junaid, warning that he would kill him if he revealed anything about the matter. Junaid told BBC Urdu that when he went to the victim's house to propose marriage, her parents refused. After this, he moved the victim to the home of a friend's sister. He said that upon this, the victim's parents agreed to the marriage within two days. "There were difficulties in performing the court marriage because my wife did not have any documents - Form B, ID card, or anything else made yet," he recalled. "My parents stepped forward and firmly stated that the boy and girl were ready. If they created obstacles now, they would take legal action and contact police. After that, they were forced to arrange the marriage, and I brought my wife home," Waris Junaid further recalled. He said that his wife deeply hates her father. "During the case, her mother repeatedly asked her to withdraw the complaint, but she refused to compromise. And since she didn't back down, I fully supported her," he added. Inspector Aziz Memon, the investigation officer (IO) of the case, said it was an extremely painful matter. "All evidence and testimonies were gathered right at the beginning of the case to ensure the criminal could not escape punishment," IO Memon stated. "However, arresting the accused was challenging. He didn't use mobile phones or other means of communication. We had to conduct raids for several nights to finally apprehend him." Prosecutor Hina Naz said that no lawyer was initially willing to defend the accused, forcing the court to appoint one. "But once the lawyer learned the facts, he too withdrew from the case." She added that the case lasted three years, during which the accused was provided with another lawyer. The couple have entrusted the child to a trust to secure a better future for him. "After much deliberation, we handed over my wife's son - whose biological father I am not, as proven in court - to a trust. We both visit him occasionally, but my wife only watches him from a distance," Junaid told BBC.
