LIVE updates: 16 killed, 36 injured in fire in Tamil Nadu cracker factory

Fire in the factory broke out when some chemicals were being mixed to produce firecrackers. Stay tuned for Latest LIVE news

7:02 PM

Budget provides strong stimulus for long term sustainable growth: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the Budget is aimed at making India self-reliant and provides strong stimulus for medium to long term sustainable high growth. While replying to the discussion on the Budget 2021-22, the minister also attacked former finance minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram for suspecting the Budget numbers. She, however did not mention his name, PTI reported.

 

Stressing that the Budget is for Aatmanirbhar Bharat, she said, "attempt made in this Budget is to provide strong stimulus and provide such a stimulus which can bring in that kind of a multiplier effect...".

 

"We are also looking at medium to long-term sustainable growth which will keep India in that kind of growth trajectory which will maintain us as one of the fastest growing economies in the world," she said.

6:28 PM

Death toll rises to 11 in fire at a firecracker factory in Tamil Nadu; 36 injured

6:21 PM

11 killed in fire in Tamil Nadu cracker factory

Eleven people were killed and at least 12 others injured in a huge fire that broke out at a firecracker factory in Tamil Nadu's Virudhunagar district on Friday, police said. The death toll is likely to go up as the condition of some of the injured admitted to Sivakasi government hospital is stated to be critical, PTI reported on Friday.

 

Police said the fire in the factory in Achankulam near Sattur in Virudhunagar broke out when some chemicals were being mixed to produce firecrackers. Four cracker making sheds were destroyed.

 

Ten firefighting vehicles rushed to the spot from various surrounding locations like Sattur, Sivakasi and Vembakottai to douse the flames, while officials from police, revenue and other departments also reached there for rescue and relief works. Chief Minister E K Palaniswami expressed grief over the death of 11 persons in the fire. He announced Rs 3 lakh each as solatium to kin of the bereaved families.

6:15 PM

CPI inflation eases to 4.06% in Jan; industry output grows 1% in Dec

Economic data released on Friday showed that Indian economy is finally emerging from the long shadow of coronavirus pandemic with inflation further cooling and industry output showing a rebound.

 

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew 1% for December 2020, showed the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Friday.

 

The factory output in the country had contracted 1.9% in November and grew 0.4% in December 2019. According to the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data, the manufacturing sector output grew by 1.6% in December 2020. READ ON...

6:12 PM

Retail inflation eases to 4.06% in January 2021 from 4.59% in Dec 2020: Govt data

Retail inflation eases to 4.06 per cent in January 2021 from 4.59 per cent in Dec 2020: Govt data

6:11 PM

Bharatiya Kisan Union says deadlock over farm laws can be resolved if govt shuns its “stubborn” attitude

Bharatiya Kisan Union says deadlock over farm laws can be resolved if government shuns its “stubborn” attitude and does not play with honour of farmers

6:03 PM

Will march nation-wide, go to Gujarat and set it free: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait

5:49 PM

Six workers die in explosion at private fireworks factory in Tamil Nadu

At least six workers of a private fireworks factory near Sattur in this district were killed in an explosion at the unit on Friday, police said.

 

The incident happened while some chemicals were being mixed to produce fireworks, police said. Ten fire fighting units from various locations have been rushed to the spot to douse the fire in the factory at Acchankulam village. Initial reports quoting fire service personnel said about 10 people were injured in the explosion.

5:16 PM

Uttarakhand flash floods: Two more bodies recovered; death toll 38

Two more bodies were recovered from the flash flood-hit areas of Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Friday, taking the toll in the calamity to 38, as rescue teams battled on against the odds for the sixth consecutive day to get to 25-35 people trapped in a sludge-choked tunnel, a PTI report said on Friday.

 

One body was recovered from the rubble at the demolished Rishi Ganga Hydel Project in Raini and the other from Maithana, district administration officials here said.

 

A separate team of rescuers was formed under the supervision of the executive engineer of the Rural Works Department to expedite the search operation taking the help of locals and old photographs of the demolished Rishi Ganga hydel project. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel using excavators and JCBs are dredging through the muck to locate the missing.

5:13 PM

'Ghar Wapsi' only after Farm Laws are repealed: BKU leader Rakesh Tikait

5:06 PM

ICICI Videocon loan case: Chanda Kochhar granted bail by court

A court here on Friday granted bail to former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar with a rider that she cannot leave the country with its permission. Kochhar on Friday appeared before the Special PMLA court in connection with the ICICI-Videocon loan case here and applied for a bail through her lawyer Vijay Agarwal. The court granted her bail on a bond of Rs 5 lakh.

 

Agarwal told IANS, "There is no material with the ED against her. Technically speaking she cannot be accused in that case." "Moreover she is a woman and has cooperated during investigation, so she is covered by the provision under section 45 of the PMLA," he added.

 

The case pertains to alleged irregularities in sanctioning six loans worth Rs 1,875 crore to Videocon Industries Ltd, Videocon International Electronics Ltd and four other companies associated with the Videocon group between June 2009 and October 2011.

4:32 PM

SC-appointed committee holds consultations with 12 farmer unions on farm laws

Supreme Court-appointed committee holds consultations with 12 farmer unions and peasants from eight states, including West Bengal, on the Centre’s controversial agri laws: Press Trust of India.

4:31 PM

Indian Army uses trolley to connect villages cut off after glacier burst in Chamoli

4:26 PM

Six workers killed in explosion at private fireworks factory in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu

Six workers killed in explosion at private fireworks factory near Sattur in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu: Police

4:15 PM

Normal life partially affected in 12-hour Bengal bandh called by Left Front

Normal life in West Bengal was partially affected on Friday due to the 12-hour state-wide bandh called by the Left Front in protest against police action on its activists during their march towards state secretariat Nabanna.

 

Schools in the state are scheduled to reopen during the day for students of classes 9-12 after a gap of 11 months. They were shut in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

 

Left cadre blocked railway tracks and roads in Malda, Barddhaman, Raiganj, Asansol, Dankuni and parts of Kolkata, North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts during the bandh that began at 6 am. Protestors burnt tyres at some places, and offered roses to policemen in other areas.