Textile mill fire destroys property worth Rs 125 crore
Property worth around `125 crore was gutted in a major fire at the New Bhopal Textile Mills of National Textile Corporation in the city’s Chandbad area on Sunday. The blaze, suspected to have been caused by an electrical short circuit at 2 am, could be put out only by 4 pm.
Fire tenders from the adjoining Vidisha and Raisen districts as well as Army personnel had to be pressed into service for extinguishing it. The blaze reduced to ashes the mill’s new unit, which was commissioned in 2013. Around 380 workers were present in the factory when the fire began, but only one of them sustained major burns.
Depressed doctor shoots himself
A 60-year-old doctor working for the state government was found dead inside the bathroom of his residence in the posh Koh-e-Fiza locality of Bhopal, along with the single-barrel licensed gun with which he allegedly shot himself on Monday. Though no suicide note was found, doctor K K Unya, who is posted in Narsinghgarh, in Rajgarh district, is believed to have resorted to the extreme step due to acute depression. He lost his only son in an accident five years ago, while his daughter, who holds a postgraduate degree, is afflicted by polio since birth and is jobless. Recently, the doctor was diagnosed with throat cancer, owing to which he had become more depressed.
Sloth bear injures seven
Residents of Bhanpur and Karond areas on the Bhopal-Vidisha Road are having sleepless nights after a Sunday morning attack by a sloth bear in the Shabri Nagar and Russali Kheri localities. The bear entered the Indian Institute of Soil Science campus in Nabi Bagh by jumping over the boundary wall. On spotting it, some guards in the campus tried to capture the animal, but it attacked and injured a driver on the campus before going towards Shabri Nagar after injuring another youth. The bear then attacked at least five more people. A forest department team failed to track down the bear.
Governor skips BU convocation
State Governor Anandiben Patel, who has been in the news for proactively travelling across the state and taking stock of the ground realities in different spheres of life, did not attend the Barkatullah University’s annual convocation on Saturday, reportedly due to ill health. The ethnic dress code stipulated for the gathering was initially the talking point on the occasion, but the governor’s absence subsequently became the point of discussion among those present. After Raj Bhawan informed the varsity administration about Patel skipping the ceremony, the special chair kept for the governor was removed from the stage minutes before the ceremony began.
Teachers tonsure heads
More than 3,000 guest teachers in government schools tonsured their heads and used their blood to light earthen lamps during a day-long protest in support of their demands at Ambedkar Park last Saturday. Their protest, however, was belittled by BJP vice president and Rajya Sabha member Prabhat Jha, who reportedly told journalists, “These people deliberately get tonsured as they know that the hair will grow back in a few days.”
