Cylinder blast: Over 50 trapped in collapsed factory building in Lahore

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LAHORE: More than 50 people, including women and children, were trapped on Monday in a collapsed building of a factory at Multan Road due to a cylinder blast inside it, TrendPK reports Monday.

Rescue teams managed to retrieve 10 people, including four women and a child in injured condition as the building completely caved in.

Two dead bodies were also pulled out of the pharmaceutical factory’s 3-story building.

“Some 17 women and 47 male workers were present inside the factory when blast tool place,” a rescue official told TrendPK, whereas DCO Lahore Ahad Chima say it may take time to remove the entire debris and recover the trapped people.

Initial reports said roof of the factory building was collapsed following a powerful cylinder blast, trapping at least 50 workers, including women and children.

Relief operations by 1122 Rescue teams and areas people are currently underway at the site to retrieve dead bodies and those injured. Cranes and other heavy machinery were called to remove the rubble.

The Monday’s blast also wounded few people.

Rescue teams said those pulled out alive from the debris were shifted to Jinnah and Sheikh Zayed hospitals, more than 15 kms from the incident site, in critical state. TrendPK

Magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes off Philippines

SINGAPORE: A 6.8 magnitude earthquake, at a depth at 29 miles, struck off the Philippines Monday, northeast of Dumaguete, Negros island, at 0349 GMT, the US Geological Survey reported.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that based on all available data a Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected. AGENCIES

Oil sheds 30 cents towards $114

SINGAPORE: Brent crude slipped towards $114 on Monday, weighed down by a stronger U.S. dollar and the risk that a sovereign debt default by Greece could tip the euro zone in to a demand-sapping recession.

However, losses were limited by escalating tension between Iran and the West, which threatens to disrupt supplies from the world’s fifth-largest crude oil exporter.

Front-month Brent crude fell 30 cents to $114.28 a barrel by 0317 GMT, snapping four straight days of gains. Brent rose 2.8 percent last week to settle near a three-month peak on Friday, after a positive U.S. jobs report fueled hopes of stronger demand in the top petroleum-consuming nation.

U.S. crude was down 59 cents at $97.24 a barrel, after posting a loss of 1.73 percent last week.

“There’s still not much confidence over the euro zone economies, and that is limiting upside from strong U.S. data and the tensions in Iran,” said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity derivatives manager with Newedge Brokerage in Tokyo.

Coalition parties in Greece, which is at the centre of Europe’s two-year old debt crisis, must tell the European Union by Monday whether they accept the painful terms of a new bailout deal worth 130 billion euros in order to avoid a disorderly default.

The greenback strengthened against a basket of currencies after the euro softened ahead of the Greek deadline, making dollar-denominated commodities like oil more expensive when purchased in other currencies.

“One of the key risks in the European situation is the possibility that Greece will not achieve agreement to the austerity measures being required of them,” said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst with CMC Markets in Sydney.

IRAN SUPPORTS
Oil prices remain supported by growing tensions in the oil-producing region of the Middle East, as Iran continued to threaten military action in its increasingly volatile stand-off with world powers over its nuclear ambitions.

Iran’s deputy Revolutionary Guards commander said on Sunday Tehran will target any country used as a launchpad for attacks against its soil, days after the country’s supreme clerical leader threatened reprisals for the West’s new ban on Iranian oil exports. AGENCIES

New Zealand set Zimbabwe 372 to win 2nd ODI

WHANGAREI: A powerful 146 off 134 balls by opener Rob Nicol led a New Zealand batting onslaught which produced 372 for six in the second one-day international against Zimbabwe in Whangarei Monday.

Nicol, who lasted until the 48th innings, produced the fifth highest New Zealand one-day innings as he clouted the cream of the Zimbabwe bowlers around the ground in an innings which produced 10 fours and six sixes.

After rain delayed the start of play from 35 minutes, New Zealand made a cautious start, surviving two maiden overs before Nicol started the scoring with an unorthodox slog which resulted in a top edge over slips for four.

But his innings, his second century in only his fifth ODI, was near chanceless after that, as he stood in a 131-run partnership with Martin Guptill (77) for the first wicket.

Nicol was prepared to let Guptill lead the way and also propped up his end as the hard-charging Jacob Oram (59) and Brendon McCullum (20) came and went at the other end.

But when New Zealand were four down for 261 with nine overs remaining, Nicol let rip, racing from 94 to 146 over the following eight overs before he was caught at deep midwicket by Shingi Masakadza off Prosper Utseya.

Utseya was the most successful of the Zimbabwe bowlers, taking three for 71 off his 10 overs in an innings where the tourists were made to pay dearly for fielding lapses.

Their woes began when Oram, on 45, skied the ball towards mid-off where Elton Chigumbura was slow to react and his desperate dive was too short and too late.

Oram added another 14 before Hamilton Masakadza dismissed him two overs later, ending a whirlwind innings in which the big New Zealander scored 59 off 28 deliveries.

Hamilton Masakadza also had McCullum dropped by Kyle Jarvis on four and the New Zealand skipper went on to make 20, while Tom Latham was given a life on 14 by Stuart Matsikenyeri and was eventually dismissed for 48.

New Zealand won the first match in the series in Dunedin on Friday by 90 runs with the third and final game in Napier on Thursday.

Top military leaders in meeting

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RAWALPINDI: The Corps Commanders Conference is in progress at military’s headquarters to discuss the overall security situation and professional affairs, TrendPK reports Monday.

Being held under Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at General Headquarters here, the top military leadership will bring especially Pak-Afghan border situation into discussion.

The military leadership will also give thought to strategy for the ongoing anti-terrorism campaign.

Various national and regional issues will also be brought into focus in the meeting. Different aspects of cooperation with NATO, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) put forward by Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) are also on table of discussion.

The security situation at eastern borders is also being mulled over. TrendPK

Altaf demands judicial inquiry into Lahore factory collapse

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LONDON: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Chief Altaf Hussain Monday expressed grief over the sad incident involving collapse of a factory building as a result of boiler blast.

Voicing sorrow over the mishap which killed two people and injured many others, Altaf Hussain, in a statement issued from London, demanded judicial inquiry into the incident.

The MQM chief urged the party activists to partake in the relief efforts, adding it is criminal to establish a medicine factory in the residential areas.

The owners of the factory should be brought to book at the earliest, he demanded. TrendPK

Scandal blow puts Manmohan Singh govt in danger

NEW DELHI: There is no clamor for an early general election in India, but the latest blow dealt to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over a massive corruption scandal raises the risk that his wounded government could fall well before its mandate runs out in 2014.

Singh is unlikely to quit following last week’s Supreme Court order for 122 telecoms licenses to be revoked, a deeply embarrassing ruling that accused the government of “virtually gifting away an important national asset at throwaway prices.”

According to Sanjaya Baru, a former media adviser to the 79-year-old prime minister, Singh has seriously considered stepping down at times during the turbulence of the past 12 months but has plodded on out of loyalty to the ruling Congress party.

Few really know the prime minister’s mind. Indeed Singh’s public silence on many matters is the butt of internet jokes, one of which has his frustrated dentist telling him: “You can open your mouth now, I’m your dentist.”

Even if Singh did go, he has several ambitious colleagues who could step in to lead Congress into the next elections, hoping that they can shake off the unpopularity that has closed in on the party since it won a second five-year term in 2009.

There was some rare relief for the government on Saturday, when a court cleared Singh’s interior minister of signing off on the sale of the mobile network licenses, which may have cost the public exchequer up to $36 billion in lost revenues.

Buoyed by this ruling — which kept the blame for short-changing the nation from spreading across Singh’s cabinet — the Congress party is most likely to try to limp on, just as it did through 2011.

Last year it survived the detention of a minister over the telecoms scandal, country-wide protests over corruption, flip-flopping by fickle regional parties in its coalition, and dismay over a policy paralysis as economic growth was skidding. It even blundered into an embarrassing legal face-off with the country’s army chief over his date of birth and retirement.

The question now is whether it can ride out 2012 too.

“BETS ARE ON”

Two looming events could decide that: the first is a month-long election in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh that gets under way this week, and the second is the budget session of parliament in March.

“Ever since the (telecoms) scandal blew sky high in October 2010 … the regime in Delhi has acquired the traits of a rubber band that stretches and shows great elasticity but is yet to snap,” the current affairs weekly Outlook said in a cover story.

“Everyone’s waiting and bets are now on as to whether this government will survive the budget session,” it said. “The Manmohan regime may be too much of a liability for regional parties (in the coalition) to carry the burden for much longer.”

Congress is expected to fare better in the Uttar Pradesh poll than last time, when it won a mere 22 of the state assembly’s 403 seats, in part thanks to the tireless campaigning of Rahul Gandhi, scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has ruled India for most of its six decades of independence.

But if there is only a modest improvement in its seat tally, Congress will be further weakened.

This may encourage the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to go on the offensive. Coalition partners that Congress relies on for a parliamentary majority could also be tempted to desert it during the budget session in March.

If the government fails to win enough support in parliament for its 2012/13 Finance Bill in mid-March, then, under the constitution, it must resign, which could trigger a mid-term election.

“How many members of parliament want an election now? There’s no mood for it. The BJP doesn’t want one because they are not sure that they can come to power,” said one political insider, who asked not to be named. “But accidents can happen.”

One coalition partner that could be tempted by an early election is Mamata Banerjee, a firebrand who leads the Trinamool Congress party. Congress relies on the 19 parliament seats that Banerjee’s West Bengal-based party brings to the ruling coalition, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), but at times Banerjee has seemed to be its fiercest opponent and there is a risk that she could pull her support from the government.

If that were to happen, Congress may turn to the Samajwadi Party, which is expected to emerge first or second in the Uttar Pradesh election, to join and rescue its coalition.

Many in Congress see 41-year-old Rahul Gandhi as the answer to the party’s troubles. If he delivers a strong result in the Uttar Pradesh election, pressure could mount on him to take the reins of the party sooner than his current long-game plan.

“If Congress does remarkably well in Uttar Pradesh, if he can claim there’s a Rahul wave, many would say that this is one way of liberating themselves from this (telecoms) controversy,” the insider said. “The argument would be: here’s a young man bringing votes back to the party and now it’s time to give the younger generation a chance.”

New Zealand beat Zimbabwe by 141 runs in 2nd ODI

WHANGAREI: Rob Nicol stroked his second one-day international century in anchoring New Zealand to a series-winning 141-run victory over Zimbabwe at Cobham Oval in Whangarei on Monday.

Nicol began slowly but accelerated towards the end of his 134-ball innings, which included 10 boundaries and six sixes, one of which sailed out of the ground, before he was dismissed for 146 in the 49th over.

His innings was the fifth-highest one-day score by a New Zealand player.

Nicol, who made a five-ball duck in the first match in Dunedin on Friday, also scored 108 not out on debut in Zimbabwe last year.

The visitors never threatened New Zealand’s 372 for six after they slumped to 17 for three following the dismissal of the side’s best batsman and captain Brendan Taylor for four.

Wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu (50) and Elton Chigumbura (63) provided some middle-order resistance however, with an 80-run partnership.

Jacob Oram, who had blasted 59 runs off 28 balls in New Zealand’s innings, finished with three for 29.

New Zealand had begun slowly with Zimbabwe restricting them to 10-0 off the first five overs before Martin Guptill (77) upped the rate and looked set for a century before he was caught in the deep as he and Nicol posted 131 for the first wicket.

Oram was promoted to number three to act as a pinch hitter and he belted five boundaries and four sixes in his short stay, as the hosts accelerated through their middle overs.

Nicol then combined with teenager Tom Latham (48) for a 92-run partnership in 47 balls at the death before he was caught in the deep in the penultimate over. Prosper Utseya finished with three for 71.

New Zealand won the first match of the three-game series by 90 runs and the final game is on Thursday in Napier before the two teams play two Twenty20 internationals.

Two more fall prey to deadly drugs, toll mounts to

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LAHORE: Two more cardiac patients on Monday died of the deadly drug reaction caused by substandard medicines, taking the overall death toll to 141 in more than a month, TrendPK reports.

The women victims – Rehana, 59 and Bilqis Bibi, 75 – were admitted in Services Hospital of Lahore.

The drug reaction started last months when cardiac patients were administered fake medicines in the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) as investigation teams have not so far determined any responsible of the loss of lives.

On the other hand, Young Doctors Association and PIC administration have locked horns over appointment of a new Medical Superintendent in the hospital, amid reports that record of the adulterated drugs provide by the PIC have been vanished. TrendPK

India govt faces yoga protest crackdown outcry

NEW DEHLI: India’s government faced new protests on Monday after it ordered police to crush a peaceful anti-corruption demonstration at the weekend led by a famous yoga guru.

The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), emboldened by an opportunity to revive its flagging fortunes, started a demonstration attended by its leading figures amid an outcry over the raid on Sunday morning.

Local television channels broadcast new footage of police using batons on supporters of television yoga star Swami Baba Ramdev, who was on hunger strike with thousands of followers in New Delhi to protest against corruption.

“Our agitation against the crackdown on Baba Ramdev’s supporters will continue until the government admits their mistake. They will have to pay for this,” BJP president Nitin Gadkari told reporters in the capital on Monday.

Other hardline Hindu nationalist groups also rounded on the government, saying the crackdown on Ramdev, a devout Hindu and spiritual leader, was an insult to the religion.

“By insulting Baba Ramdev they have insulted all the Hindu gurus and saints,” the hardline Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) said in statement on Sunday.

Anger about corruption is high in India after a series of scandals involving the government and the ruling Congress party, notably a $39-billion telecom scam that saw a minister arrested.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had initially attempted to negotiate with the eccentric saffron-robed Ramdev, with a succession of ministers sent to talk with him about his proposals to end corruption.

Some commentators said the sudden adoption of hardline tactics could give the guru’s movement oxygen amid signs the political opposition and other civil society activists were coalescing behind him.

“The operation was successful, but it extracted a political price,” The Economic Times said in a report on Monday.

Political analyst Ashis Nandy was quoted by The Times of India as saying that the government “panicked unnecessarily.”

“The protest would have fizzled out,” he said.

Ramdev, who flew back to his ashram in the northern town of Haridwar, resumed his hunger strike on Monday and vowed to build his campaign into a national movement to challenge the government.

“People from all walks of life are disgusted, they are hating the federal government,” he said in an address to his followers. AGENCIES

“All the political parties, representatives from the civil society are supporting us, they are giving us strength at every level,” he said, adding “the government is trying to terrorise us but their tactics will not work.”

At least 71 people were injured in the police raid on Ramdev’s camp on Sunday, with one man suffering a fractured skull while a woman sustained serious spinal injuries that are likely to leave her paralysed, a medical source told AFP.

India’s Supreme Court also weighed in on Monday, asking the police and home ministry to explain their decisions over the weekend.

Ramdev’s main request is that Singh’s administration forcibly repatriate so-called “black money”, cash in foreign bank accounts suspected of being used for bribes or other illegal transactions.

The bearded yoga teacher and healer also wants the death penalty for corrupt officials and has called for large-denomination notes to be withdrawn because they are used in illicit transactions.

Police said he did not have permission to hold such a large protest in New Delhi numbering at least 50,000 people, while the government accused him of reneging on a deal to call off his demonstration.

Using the platform of his daily appearances on the country’s top religious channel Aastha TV, Ramdev has increasingly entered politics, challenging the government on corruption, gay sex and modern medicine.

His current campaign is against corruption, but also rails against Indians sending their children overseas for education, foreign technology, Western medicine, industrially produced food and the use of English in India.

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