ASSAMESE SINGER ZUBEEN GARG DIES IN SINGAPORE
Reported by Shubhra Chakraborty
The funeral of famous Indian singer, “THE VOICE OF ASSAM” Zubeen Garg was held today in Guwahati, Assam. He passed away on September 19 in an accident. This tragic accident happened while scuba diving. This famous singer died at the age of 52. He had gone to Singapore to attend the ‘Northeast Festival’. He was scheduled to perform on September 20 and September 21. The singer was rescued from the sea and taken to the hospital, but was declared dead. This tragic accident occurred at around 1:30 pm local time on Friday. The organizers of the event informed that the singer started having breathing problems while scuba diving. The artist was declared dead at around 2:30 pm when he was admitted to the ICU. According to sources, although he was rushed to the hospital, it was not possible to save him. The news of the sudden death of the singer has shocked the entertainment world and the general public of Assam. When Zubeen’s mortal remains were brought to Guwahati, the procession of people accompanying Zubeen’s body took the fourth place in the world. The first place was taken by the procession of people accompanying Michael Jackson’s body. Zubeen’s death is mysterious. Although the cause of his death was reported from Singapore, a re-mortem of Zubeen’s body was conducted on the orders of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has entrusted the investigation of this case to the CBI.
This great musician was born on November 18, 1972. His career began in 1992. He has sung in forty languages and dialects including Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, and English. The number of songs he has sung is over 32 thousand. A multi-talented man , over twenty awards winner Zubeen was a singer, songwriter, composer, music director, music producer, lyricist, multi-instrumentalist, actor , film director, film producer, screenwriter, poet. He was against class or caste division in the society. He said, “I have no religion, I have no caste, I am a human being. This is my identity.” The country saw Zubeen’s unrecognizable face during the Covid pandemic. The singer lived in a two-story house in Guwahati. During the Covid pandemic, he opened the doors of his house to the affected people. He was always a protester against the wrongdoers, be it the common man or the government of the country.
The funeral of Zubeen Garg was held today. The last bed was made of sandalwood. The childless singer’s younger sister Pami Barthakur applied fire to the mouth of Zubeen’s deadbody during funeral pyre. His wife Garima Saikia Garg did not leave her beloved husband’s side even for a moment during his last journey. This great singer left behind his father, wife, a sister, four cute beautiful dogs (they are Zubeen and Garima’s beloved children) and countless fans
Milestone schollin Dhaka still crying, 171 hospitalized and more 22 dead
Apur Royr: More then 22 people, including children, were dead and about 170 people were injured after a Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) training aircraft burst into flames after crashing into the primary school building inside the Milestone College campus at Diabari in the capital’s Uttara Bangladesh this afternoon in 21st July. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the F-7 BGI training aircraft crashed after it took off from BAF Base Bir Uttom AK Khandker at 1:06pm.
Soon after, the fighter jet faced a technical malfunction and went down. Soon after, personnel from the Bangladesh Army, Fire Service and Civil Defence, police, and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) rushed to the scene and started working jointly to rescue the victims and douse the flames. Firefighters reached the scene at around 1:22pm — four to five minutes after the plane crashed between 1:10pm and 1:15pm. Dozens of injured people were rushed to different nearby hospitals and to Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), and the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery (NIBPS), where they are receiving treatment. Those admitted to NIBPS include victims with burn injuries ranging from 5% to 100%. Eight of them are in critical condition. 7 bodies unidentified, DNA test to confirm identities . At a media briefing around 8pm, Sayedur Rahman, special assistant to the chief adviser, said seven bodies remain unidentified, and DNA samples will be collected to confirm their identities. “Three burn victims have died at the burn institute, and the confirmed death toll currently stands at 17 but the number may vary,” he said. However, he mentioned that there are slight inconsistencies in the reported number of deaths. Sayedur said 88 people have been admitted to seven hospitals following the devastating plane crash. Of them, he said 25 are in critical condition, primarily being treated at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery and the Combined Military Hospital (CMH). He stated that nine patients are in intensive care units (ICUs), and starting tomorrow, blood donations will be collected to support ongoing treatment. He added that more than 100 children were burnt in the incident. “While a few have returned home after treatment, most remain hospitalised.”Dabirul also stated that of more then 22 confirmed dead, most are children. He added, “Based on our current assessment, we have the capacity to provide necessary treatment within the country. If needed, patients will be sent abroad for further care.” Eight injured people are admitted at the Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Hospital, 70 at NIBPS, three at DMCH, 17 at CMH, one at Kurmitola General Hospital, 11 at Lubana General Hospital and Cardiac Centre, 60 at Uttara Adhunik Hospital, and one at Uttara Crescent Hospital, according to an ISPR statement issued at 5:25pm. Also, witnesses said, there are two dead bodies at NIBPS, one at DMCH, 12 at CMH, two at Kurmitola General Hospital, two at Lubana General Hospital and Cardiac Centre, and one at Uttara Adhunik Hospital. Briefing reporters at the crash site amid the rescue operation, Fire Service Director General Brig Gen Md Jahed Kamal said that they have recovered 19 bodies from the school compound so far, and the salvage efforts are still ongoing. Witness managed to bail out when the plane went down. With critical injuries, he was taken to the CMH, where he passed away while undergoing treatment. According to the Fire Service, nine firefighting units from Uttara, Tongi, Pallabi, Kurmitola, Mirpur, and Purbachal fire stations brought the fire under control at around 2:45pm, while six ambulances transported victims to the hospitals. Fire Service DG Jahed Kamal said, “The fire has been fully extinguished, and a crane has been brought in to remove the rear section of the aircraft from the wreckage.” Some of the injured with burns onto rickshaws and vans. Their clothes were ripped apart, torn, and some even were walking towards rescue vehicles with burn injuries on their bodies. Further details regarding all the deceased from the authorities concerned are yet to be available. Fire Service DG Jahed said, “We have not yet been able to identify the deceased individuals. The investigation is ongoing.” Abid , a first-year arts student of Milestone College, saw the fighter jet first hit Building No 7, which houses classes of the college students. “Then it crashed into the primary school building, around 100-150 meters away from us. “The pilot ejected from the plane with a parachute and got down while the primary school building caught fire,” he told TBS. The building on which the aircraft crashed hosted classes for children from playgroup to grades 1-8 and a canteen, according to students. Talking to The Walington a witness said,, a cleaner at a nearby Dhaka Metro Rail station who witnessed the incident, said, “I saw two aircraft flying. One flew away, but the other looked like it was in trouble. “It tried to turn to line up with the [Dhaka airport] runway, but while turning at a low altitude, it hit a 10-12-storey building on the Milestone College campus and then crashed into the two-storey primary school building.” A firefighter, currently involved in the rescue operations, told TBS that many students sustained burn injuries — from minor to critical — after the aircraft crashed and caused the fire.
290 air passengers died in India
Sunanda Chakrabarty, Joynul Asif: Near about 290 people have died after a plane bound for London crashed into a residential area shortly after taking off from an airport in India’s western city of Ahmedabad. The place showed thick black smoke rising up into the sky after the Air India plane crashed, with part of the aircraft pictured resting on top of a building. Other images showed scorched trees and a fire-blackened building with first responders hosing down the area. Among those killed were passengers on the flight, including some minors, local residents, and people who were inside the BJ Medical College and Hospital hostel when the plane crashed into it, a senior doctor at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, where a majority of the dead and injured people were taken.
Air India said that 242 people were on board the plane, 169 of them Indian nationals and 53 British nationals. There were also seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national, the airline added in a statement. It confirmed there had been a single survivor among those on board, a British national. The Hindustan Times named the survivor as a British national, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, and said he was receiving treatment. What appears to be a copy of the flight manifest, shared by news agency IANS, lists Vishwash Kumar Ramesh as having been assigned seat 11A. A senior police officer told reporters that the plane had hit a doctors’ hostel belonging to the BJ Medical College and Hospital. At least three medical students died, Swapnil Bhalodia of the Indian Medical Association Medical Students Network in Gujarat said. Between 50 and 60 medical students have been admitted to local hospitals, according to the Federation of All India Medical Association. The statement said two or three students are in intensive care. The flight, AI171, was bound for London’s Gatwick Airport, where it was due to land at 6.25 p.m. local time (1.25 p.m. ET). A reception center has been set up at the airport to provide information and support to relatives of victims. One video captured the moment the aircraft, gaining altitude after just taking off, suddenly began to descend in mid air, before crashing down in a huge plume of fire and smoke. The plane made a Mayday call to Air Traffic Control shortly after takeoff, according to India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). “But thereafter no response was given by the aircraft to the calls made by ATC. Aircraft immediately after departure from Runway 23, fell on ground outside the airport perimeter. Heavy black smoke was seen coming from the accident site,” the statement said. According to the DCGA statement, the flight departed at 1.39 p.m. local time (4.09 a.m. ET). The aircraft’s signal was lost less than a minute after takeoff, at an altitude of 625 feet, according to FlightRadar24 data. The plane then started to descend with a vertical speed of -475 feet per minute, the data showed. Hence, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the scenes as “devastating,” and said he is “being kept updated as the situation develops.” He added that his “thoughts are with the passengers and their families at this deeply distressing time.” Meanwhile British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told the UK House of Commons: “This morning, we know that British nationals were on board. And Mr. Speaker, I can confirm that the (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) is working urgently with local authorities to support British nationals and their families, and has stood up a crisis team in both Delhi and in London.” The UK’s King Charles said he and Queen Camilla are “desperately shocked” by the “terrible events” in Ahmedabad. He also paid tribute to the “heroic efforts” of the emergency services and all those “providing help and support at this most heartbreaking and traumatic time.” The UK and India have strong cultural and historic ties and a complicated history dating back to Britain’s colonial era.
Humanitarian Aid Deliveries in Gaza
Willow Lama, Phoebe Dell: Israel resumed its military offensive in Gaza on 18 March, collapsing a two-month ceasefire. It said it wanted to put pressure on Hamas to release its hostages. Fifty are still in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
Israel also imposed a total blockade on humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza at the start of March, which it partially eased after 11 weeks following pressure from US allies and warnings from global experts that half a million people were facing starvation.
At the same time, Israel and the US backed the establishment of a new aid distribution mechanism run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is intended to bypass the UN as the main supplier of aid to Palestinians. They said the GHF’s system would prevent aid being stolen by Hamas, which the group denies doing.
In Israel, the military announced that seven of its soldiers had been killed in combat in southern Gaza on Tuesday – the deadliest such incident since the ceasefire collapsed.
Spokesman Brig Gen Effie Defrin said an explosive device was attached to an armoured vehicle in the Khan Younis area, and that the blast caused the vehicle to catch fire. Helicopters and rescue forces made several unsuccessful attempts to rescue them, he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was “a difficult day for the people of Israel”. The deaths renewed pressure on Netanyahu to agree a ceasefire, with the leader of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish party in his governing coalition saying Israel should end the war and bring home all the hostages. “I don’t understand what we’re fighting for and for what purpose… when soldiers are being killed all the time?” Moshe Gafni of United Torah Judaism told the Israeli parliament. The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
Israeli attacks have killed at least 78 people in the Gaza Strip since dawn, including 14 Palestinians who were waiting near aid distribution centres, medical sources told Al Jazeera, even as United States President Donald Trump said “great progress” was being made to bring an end to the war.
Sources at al-Awda and Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospitals in Gaza told Al Jazeera that at least nine Palestinians were killed and several others injured by Israeli fire early on Wednesday while waiting for aid near the Netzarim Junction in central Gaza.The deaths are the latest in a wave of violence near aid distribution points established late last month by the controversial Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which critics have slammed as “human slaughterhouses” and “death traps”.The GHF has come under fierce criticism from aid agencies and the United Nations, which says the group is not able to meet the population’s needs and turns food into a weapon for Israel to carry out its military operations. Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said aid distribution centres run by GHF are typically established very close to where Israeli forces are stationed, with their tanks, armoured vehicles and surrounding snipers. “So when large crowds gather, they are vulnerable to Israeli fire,” he said.“Disturbingly, people are given just 20-minute windows at the aid centres to get their hands on whatever is available, such as food parcels. Once that 20-minute period ends, shooting often starts.
people gripped by panic and fear
Arpita : “I’ll never fly Air India again” was a common refrain heard among people gripped by panic and fear last week. While Air India, and particularly the Dreamliners it flew, have a strong safety record, this knee-jerk reaction was to be expected, say experts, when a crash on this scale happens. This loss of passenger confidence could derail the turnaround efforts that were already under way.
A spate of other reported incidents this month – including engines developing suspected technical snags and a hoax bomb threat aboard a plane carrying 156 passengers from Phuket to Delhi – could worsen matters.
“There will definitely be a short-term impact where people may be wary of flying Air India. The disaster was very tragic, many lives have been lost and the event will stay in people’s memories for long,” said Jitendra Bhargava, a former executive director with the airline.
“We are already hearing of cancelled bookings,” Shukor Yusof, founder and analyst at Singapore-based Endau Analytics, told the BBC.
“Air India was a difficult flag carrier to turn around, to begin with, bogged down by legacy and financial issues. There will be a need to pause as they grapple with the aftermath of the tragedy and this [the turnaround] will likely take more time than management had envisaged.”
A lot of resources will now have to be redirected to non-operational issues dealing with the crash, such as insurance, legal and reputation damage in the coming weeks, months and even years, says Mr Yusof.
Drawing parallels with the unprecedented twin tragedies that Malaysia Airlines suffered in 2014, he said it took a full decade for the airline to turn a profit after those crashes.
Air India will require time to “heal” too, he said, whereas the advantage of the exceptional growth in air travel in India “may now go to its rivals”.
The strain on operations is already beginning to show. Air India has said it is cancelling international services on its wide body aircraft by 15% until mid-July amid enhanced safety inspections and rising airspace restrictions.
Bhumjaithai, the second-largest party in Paetongtarn’sruling coalition, quit the alliance on Wednesday, dealing a major blow toher party’s position in parliament.
Her coalition now holds a slim majority – which will be lost if more of its partners decide to leave. Two other coalition partners will meet later on Thursday to discuss the situation.
PM’s apparent deference to Hun
Roselin: Critics took issue with the PM’s apparent deference to Hun Sen when she addressed him as “uncle” and promised to “take care” of his needs.They also accused her of undermining the country’s politically influential army. She had told Hun Sen in the call that a Thai military commander handling the most recent flare-up of border tensions “just wanted to look cool and said things that are not useful”.The Shinawatras’ friendship with Cambodia’s Hun family goes back decades. Hun Sen and Paetongtarn’s father, former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, consider each other “godbrothers”.The Thai leader defended the call as a “negotiation technique” but opposition figures have called on her to resign.Hun Sen said he had shared the audio clip with 80 politicians and one of them leaked it. He later shared the entire 17-minute recording on his Facebook page.
Paetongtarn is just 10 months into the job. She took over as prime minister last August, after her predecessor Sretta Thavisin was removed by the country’s constitutional court for violating a rule on cabinet appointments.
She is the daughter of Thaksin Shinawatra, the deposed former PM who returned to Thailand last August after 15 years in exile. She is also the youngest prime minister in Thailand’s history, and only the second woman – the first was her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra.
It also said the leak “will severely affect ongoing efforts for both sides to resolve the problem in good faith”.
Paetongtarn has said that she would no longer engage in private talks with the Cambodian leader.
Tensions at the border ramped up in May after a Cambodian soldier was killed in a clash. This plunged bilateral ties to their lowest in more than a decade.
Cambodia has banned imports from Thailand, ranging from fruit and vegetables to electricity and internet. It also banned Thai dramas from TV and cinemas as a result of the border dispute.
Both countries have imposed border restrictions on each other.
The dispute between them dates back to more than a century, when the borders were drawn after the French occupation of Cambodia.