2012

 

 

 

2012 Holidays in India

Jan 26

Republic Day

Feb 5

Milad Un Nabi (Shia) Birthday Of The Prophet Muhammad

Feb 20

Maha Shivaratri

Mar 8

Holi

Apr 5

Mahavir Jayanti

Apr 6

Good Friday

May 06

Budha Purnima

Aug 10

Janamashtami (Vaisnava)

Aug 15

Independence Day

Aug 20

Idu'l Fitr (End Of Ramazan)

Oct 2

Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday

Oct 24

Dussehra (Vijay Dashmi)

Oct 27

Idu'l Zuha/Bakrid

Nov 13

Diwali (Deepavali)

Nov 25

Al-hijra / Muharram

Nov 28

Guru Nanak's Birthday

Dec 25

Christmas Day

LOKPALL BILL PASSES IN LOKSABHA:27/12/2011

JAGO BANGLA NEWS :LATEST EDITION

Rajdharmo

Bish mod kando in w.b:Spurious liquor tragedy toll rises to 167

Spurious liquor tragedy toll rises to 170+

 

The inexorable death procession in the spurious liquor tragedy at South 24 Parganas Sangrampur area continued for the third day as the toll mounts to 170+as  more casualties were reported from three hospitals. Till now twelve people responsible have been arrested and they revealed the name of a local criminal Khora Badshah the main mastermind behind illegal country liquor business in the area. Further the entire investigation has been handed over to CID under the instruction of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and a massive search operation has been launched by Police to find the main mastermind Khora Badshah. Police have started the investigation as the forensic team have reached the spot and has collected samples. Police are conducting thorough raids on various local country liquor shops in the area and destroying them. Narcotic department too joined hand with the police to hunt down all illegal country liquor shops and manufacturing centers in the area and till now they have destroyed 15500 liters of liquor in the area.

South 24 Parganas District Magistrate R S Nigam told media that the toll may rise further as condition of several 150 other patients undergoing treatment in different hospital including Bankur, SSKM and Diamond Harbour hospitals was stated to be critical.  Most of the victims hails from ten villages in the Sangrampur- Mograhat area of South 24 Parganas were mainly daily labourers, rickshaw pullers, masons, and hawkers. The brew turned toxic after being bridle with some chemical, which the traders allegedly used to make the liquor stronger. As per the latest report total of 60 people are still undergoing treatment at Diamond Harbour hospital and total of 114 people alone died in Diamond Harbour hospital where as 54 people were taken away by their relatives after signing a relief bond and 111 patients are shifted to Kolkata’s Bankur hospital. 141 postmortem being completed till now and the remaining 24 are in process and the report suggest that the deaths caused due to the use of methyl alcohol and forbic acid which led to respiratory and cardiac failure. 

Use of harmful chemicals in the liquor tragedy-Forensic Team

Group of six member forensic team who reached the spot has collected samples from the liquors seized from the area. After the preliminary investigation the forensic team has revealed that Methyl Alcohol and Forbic acid has been used in the liquor. Experts opine that too much use of methyl alcohol and Forbic acid can prove dangerous for humans and may cause blindness. Forensic experts are suspecting that apart from Methyl Alcohol a series of harmful chemical and pesticides might have been used in the liquor to make it stronger. In this case experts think too much use of these chemicals has turned fatal and caused so many deaths. Since investigation is still on therefore details will be available only after the completion of the investigation by the forensic team.

Breaking News:Today

hang them-public demand in bengal....

AMRI-DHAKURIA:Fire toll reaches 89, owners of Kolkata's AMRI hospital held; licence cancelled

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Fire toll reaches 89, owners of Kolkata's AMRI hospital held; licence cancelled

In the worst fire tragedy in any hospital in India, 89 patients and staffers were killed in Kolkata's well-known AMRI Hospital when a terrible blaze engulfed its annexe building early on Friday, trapping dozens of helpless patients while doctors and others fled to safety. (In pics: Fire engulfs Kolkata hospital)
The pre-dawn fire broke out at 3.30 a.m., catching many in their sleep. While most nurses, doctors and other staffers were able to get away, many critically ill patients suffocated to death in their hospital beds.
The dead included a patient from neighbouring Bangladesh.
The tragedy unfolded over many hours. Some were suffocated, some were too infirm to escape the toxic fumes. The lucky few were brought down the side of the four-storey glass facade building using ropes and ladders, even as thousands watched in horror.
The fire brigade, many alleged, came over two hours late. The fire brigade blamed it on narrow roads leading to the hospital.
By late evening, authorities put the death toll at 88, almost all of them patients. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ordered the arrest of six hospital directors.
"The hospital staff initially prevented the fire fighters from entering the building," said Banerjee, a shocking admission that only added fuel to the helpless anger of the families of the dead and injured.
The injured were rushed to several hospitals in the city. The bodies, most of them bearing signs of suffocation, piled up at the SSKM Hospital.
PM expresses grief
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led the nation in expressing grief over the tragedy. He announced Rs.200,000 as compensation to families of each of those killed.
Till late in the evening, rescuers were trying to drill holes in the wall and smash the glass-panes in a last ditch effort to look for survivors and bodies, and extinguish still smouldering fires.
Co-founded by the Emami & Shrachi Groups along with the West Bengal government in 1996, the hospital. once rated as amongst India's best, is located in the fairly upscale Dhakuria neighbourhood.
High profile industrialists - Emami Group Chairman R.S. Goenka and Shrachi Group's R.S. Todi - and four other directors of the hospital were arrested. The hospital's licence was cancelled.
It was a sorry saga of bureaucratic and government inefficiency, leading to the second major fire in Kolkata in 20 months - after the March 23, 2010 blaze at the British-era Stephen Court in the heart of the bustling Park Street claimed 43 lives.
Relatives angry
The fire brigade was initially ill-equipped - coming without masks and with only rickety manual lifts - to deal with the horrific disaster.
Anguished relatives and rescuers also complained that the fire erupted in the basement packed with combustible material, including oxygen cylinders and chemicals.
No wonder, the hospital, which prides itself on its super specialty facilities and attracts many foreigners, quickly turned into a death trap, with the sealed windows and glass.
"The victims mostly got suffocated from the fumes," Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim said.
"The father of one of my friends was admitted in one of the upper floors. When he heard I am at the spot he called up his son and told him to ask me to rescue him. I could not do anything. I saw his burnt body."
At the time of the fire, there were 160 patients, including around 40-50 in the ICU.
The hospital has two other blocks in the complex.
Through the morning, patients blackened by soot, some dead and others barely alive, were brought out while relatives and locals vented their ire at the state and hospital administration.
"The administration is hopeless, useless," shouted Pradeep Sarkar. His father-in-law had been admitted there Thursday night with a heart ailment.
He said the sky lift came only around 7 a.m.
"They (firemen) came with manual ladders. Had the sky lift come earlier, many people could have been saved," said Sarkar.
Banerjee rushed to the spot, but only stoked the rage of the people.
"Because Mamata is here, the ambulances cannot go towards the annexe building. Please ask her to shift to another road," screamed a relative.
Hospital officials said they had all fire-fighting equipment in place and did not know what had gone wrong.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/kolkata-hospital-amri-fire/1/163418.html

dhakuria AMRI:9/12/11

Kolkata: The death toll from the AMRI hospital has risen to 73, a figure that includes 3 hospital employees. The hospital first said that 70 percent of its patients had been rescued, but it transpires that 70 of its 160 patients have been killed in the incident. There is also worry that SSKM hospital which is receiving the bodies of those who were killed in the fire, may run out of space in its morgue.
Meanwhile Bangla television channel 24 ghonta, reports that most people have died from suffocation not burns. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has cancelled the hospital’s licence as a law and order decision. It’s unclear if this incident would affect other AMRIs. She also called for the arrest of the owner of AMRI hospital, but he has gone missing.
The Vice President of AMRI Satyabrata Upadhyay, has said it will offer Rs 5 lakh as compensation for families of the dead. However victims are demanding further justice.
Bangla television channel Star Ananda said 65 bodies have been recovered from the AMRI hospital fire in Kolkata. Meanwhile there are scenes of grief outside the SSKM hospital, where 41 bodies have been brought. Banerjee has said that if needed, she is willing to provide government employment to relatives of those who were killed in the fire.
As the news of the death toll began sinking in, there was a flurry of response. Congress President Sonia Gandhi expressed her sadness, while Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah tweeted, “Every time I see incidents like ”#AMRI” I’m convinced we really are a 3rd world nation with delusions of greatness.”
West Bengal’s Fire Minister Javed Khan earlier said that rescue operations at AMRI hospital had been completed. However the fire in the basement, where it originated is still not under control.

Local TV channels said 65 bodies have been recovered from the AMRI hospital fire in Kolkata. Bikas Das/AP

Meanwhile, crowds of people have gathered outside SSKM hospital where a large number of dead and injured from the AMRI hospital fire have been taken.
The fire brigade said it will file an FIR against AMRI as it was unable to provide them with a blueprint of the building plan, effectively hampering rescue operations. Fire department officials have said that hospital authorities were unable to even tell them where the emergency exits and stairs were. The hospital has also been accused of violating safety norms and using the basement as a godown. The fire started in the basement at around 3.30am. A number of fire fighters are also reportedly suffering from smoke inhalation.
AMRI hospital has said that there was no delay on their part in calling the fire brigade and that the fire was quickly brought under control, but thick smoke hampered rescue operations. However patients family members have disagreed.
All post mortems are scheduled to take place at SSKM. However it is feared that many more patients, doctors and nurses, including those in the intensive care units are still trapped inside the upper floors of the hospital. Bangla channels have reported that 12 patients transferred to other hospitals have died and that bodies have been found on the roof of the hospital as well. The fire brigade has said that although the fire was in the basement, the central AC system carried the smoke all through the building, causing asphyxiation.

Earlier angry relatives of patients threw stones and smashed panes at the hospital registry, as they were being given no information about patients conditions and whereabouts. Police had to lathi charge a group of people throwing bricks. The hospital admitted that it was unprepared and said that they do not have a helpline set up for the families of patients who may have been injured or killed in a fire that broke out in its premises early this morning. Meanwhile West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who is at the site, has called for a camp to be set up to give information on the patients.
Banerjee has also called on Kolkatta’s SSKM hospital has to open an emergency unit to accommodate patients. All hospitals in Kolkata have been told that they have to admit any patient from AMRI. The West Bengal opposition leader has also arrived at AMRI.
Officials have said that patients who were on ventilators pose the greatest problems in terms of transferring them to other hospitals.
Fire Services Minister Javed Khan said the fire was now under control, but had not been extinguished yet. The hospital also did not have proper fire-fighting equipment, he said.
Some bodies were found in departments that firemen were able to access, he said.
The fire which was suspected to have originated in the electrical department in the basement of the centrally air-conditioned building swiftly spread, with the third floor and above being affected the most, fire brigade sources said.
The fire brigade dispatched 25 fire engines, which took time to reach the smoke-engulfed building because of narrow approach roads, Hakim said.
Firemen using ladders smashed window panes to release smoke and rescue patients trapped inside the ICU, ICCU, ITU and Critical Care units. The main power supply was also cut.