Lucknow: A man who allegedly brandished a pistol and threatened a mobile shop owner during a late-night altercation in the Hazratganj area was arrested on Thursday following protests by traders.A video of the incident went viral, showing the accused, Vivek Singh, pointing a pistol at the shop owner at Shriram Tower on Wednesday night. According…
Lucknow: Owners of buildings exempt from fire no objection certificates (NOCs) must now certify compliance with over 40 fire and electrical safety norms before getting building plans approved, under Lucknow Development Authority rules. Failure can lead to sealing, demolition or criminal action.The decision was announced at a joint LDA-fire department workshop at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan…
Lucknow: On the third day of its probe into the Aliganj fire tragedy that killed 15 people, a two-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) returned to the gutted building to re-examine the site, verify technical evidence and speak with local residents.The SIT is headed by additional chief secretary, tourism and culture, Amrit Abhijat and includes ADG…
Lucknow: Even as four accused in the Aliganj fire tragedy remain in judicial custody, the building’s co-owner Surendra Pratap Shukla continues to evade arrest, prompting police to announce a cash reward of Rs 50,000 for information leading to his capture.The reward comes amid mounting questions over the pace of investigation into one of Lucknow’s deadliest…
Lucknow: Days after the devastating Aliganj inferno that claimed 15 lives, survivors have alleged that the tragedy could have been prevented had the building owners acted on repeated warnings about serious fire safety violations.Employees who escaped the deadly blaze told TOI that they had, on several occasions, raised concerns with the building management over the…
Lucknow: Aliganj fire victim, Jayant Gupta (26) is responding to treatment at the Trauma Centre of King George’s Medical University and is recovering, but he has yet to regain sensation in the lower part of his body. He had sustained spinal injury when he fell from the second floor of the building in an attempt…
Lucknow: Nearly 24 years after he began his political journey as a ‘BJP karyakarta’, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh’s younger son, Neeraj Singh, has received his first major organisational recognition within the party. The 46-year-old was on Thursday appointed as a vice-president of the UP BJP, a move that is being viewed as a significant…
Lucknow: Among the newly appointed UP BJP office-bearers, the elevation of Pooja Pal stands out for its political complexity. A rebel Samajwadi Party MLA, Pal has been named as one of the 19 state vice-presidents of the UP BJP unit.While she has been accommodated in a senior organisational post in the BJP, official records of…
Lucknow: With supply concerns triggered by the West Asia crisis now easing, the Centre has decided to restore commercial LPG supplies to normal levels, ending the restrictions imposed to ensure uninterrupted domestic cooking gas availability.In a communication to all state and union territory chief secretaries, petroleum secretary Neeraj Mittal said the govt has removed all…
Lucknow: Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) on Thursday sealed 55 establishments and issued notices to 78 commercial building owners for violating building and fire safety norms, officials said. This was the second day of the enforcement drive launched after the Aliganj fire incident.Fire and LDA teams, which found lapses in fire safety systems and emergency evacuation…
