Jaipur, Dec 24: The death toll in the LPG tanker blast in Jaipur has risen to 15, with two more persons succumbing to their injuries at Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital on Tuesday.

Dr Rakesh Jain, a plastic surgeon at SMS Hospital, said the death toll now stands at 15. The two deceased were identified as Naresh Babu from Etah (Uttar Pradesh) and Yusuf from Nuh (Haryana).

Four patients, who are critically injured, are on ventilators, while 20 individuals are still under treatment. Additionally, five patients have been discharged from the hospital, with three discharged on Monday and two on Tuesday, Dr Jain said.

The tragic accident occurred on the Jaipur-Ajmer highway at around 5.45 a.m. on December 20 near Bhankrota, close to Delhi Public School on Ajmer Road, in Jaipur.

Among the 15 deceased is a former IAS officer Karni Singh, who was reportedly coming from his farmhouse when he was trapped in the fire and burnt to death. His DNA samples were tested with his daughter which confirmed his death, said officials.

The driver of the LPG tanker, Jaiveer Singh from Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), has provided the police with details of the incident.

According to him, the collision with another truck caused the gas nozzle to break, leading to a loud noise and the leakage of gas.

He reported that as soon as the gas leaked, fireballs were seen erupting and spreading across. “I grabbed my mobile and ran towards Ajmer, about 200 meters ahead, when the tanker exploded, causing fireballs to scatter across the road,” he said.

Singh was alone in the vehicle during the accident. After the incident, he stopped near the ring road, called the tanker’s owner, Anil Kumar, to inform him, and then switched off his mobile. The police have also called Anil Kumar, a resident of Delhi, to the station for further questioning.

New Delhi: The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting on ‘One Nation, One Election’ will be held on January 8, next year.

Congress leader Salman Khurshid said on Tuesday that it is not an easy task to conduct a ‘One Nation One Election’ and that the Joint Parliamentary Committee will discuss all issues.

“It is not an easy task. When the parliamentary committee sits, all the issues will be placed before it and will be discussed.”

‘One Nation, One Election’ Sees Strong Opposition From Left Parties

Left parties have strongly opposed the ‘One Nation, One Election’ move of the government, for which two bills have been introduced in Lok Sabha, and said it is a direct assault on the federal structure and the rights of state legislatures.

Leaders of the Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, Revolutionary Socialist Party and All India Forward Bloc met in the national capital on Sunday and discussed the current political situation.

“The proposed amendments to the Constitution are a direct assault on the federal structure and the rights of State legislatures and the people who elect them. It is a recipe for centralization and truncating the will of the people by arbitrary reduction of the five-year term of legislatures” the Left parties said in a joint statement.

About The ‘One Nation, One Election’ Bill

The bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha, proposes simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies across India. It has been sent to the Joint Parliamentary Committee to have a deep discussion on the bill.

The 31-member Joint Parliamentary Committee to examine the ‘One Nation, One Election’ Bill comprises 21 members from Lok Sabha including Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Manish Tewari, NCP’s Supriya Sule, TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee and BJP’s PP Chaudhary, Bansuri Swaraj and Anurag Singh Thakur.

Ten members from Rajya Sabha are also included in the panel.

Opposition members have opposed the amendments, and have argued that the proposed change could disproportionately benefit the ruling party, giving it undue influence over the electoral process in states, and undermining the autonomy of regional parties.

Kolkata, Dec 24: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday held that it will not act on the petition for a fresh probe in the ghastly rape and murder of a woman junior doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in August this year unless certain things in the matter are clarified.

As the petition for a fresh probe, filed by the parents of the victim, came up for hearing at the single-judge bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh, he observed that first there is a need for clarification on whether the ongoing probe in the matter by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the matter is monitored by the Supreme Court or not.

The next date of hearing has been scheduled for January 15 next year and by then the petitioners will have to get clarifications either from the apex court or from any division bench of the Calcutta High Court in the matter.

“There is no problem in hearing the matter. But a clarification is required whether the probe is court-monitored or not,” Justice Ghosh observed.

On Tuesday, the CBI counsel informed Justice Ghosh’s bench that the probe in the matter by the central agency is being monitored by the apex court of the country. However, the counsel for the petitioners refuted that claim by the CBI counsel.

Thereafter Justice Ghosh asked for the clarifications on this claim and counter-claim either from the Supreme Court or a division bench of Calcutta High Court before further hearing in the matter.

Reacting to the observation of the court on Tuesday, the victim’s father told media persons that he would go as far as possible to get justice for his daughter.

“There might be some delay in the process. But we will be waiting with patience. My only aim is to secure justice for my daughter in whatever way possible,” he said.

On December 19, the victim’s parents approached Justice Ghosh’s bench seeking court direction for a fresh probe in the matter. The victim’s parents have claimed that they do not have any faith in the course of the current investigation by the central agency in the matter and hence they want a fresh investigation from the beginning in the matter.

Since the time a special court in Kolkata last week granted default bail to two individuals accused of tampering with the evidence since the CBI was unable to file a supplementary charge sheet against them within 90 days from the day of their arrest, the victim’s parents, as well as the representatives of the state’s medical fraternity, had been accusing the CBI of gross incompetence in the matter.

Those two accused persons were the former principal of R.G. Kar Sandip Ghosh and the former SHO of Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondal. Ghosh is still behind bars because of the pending parallel probe by the CBI against him in the case of financial irregularities at R.G. Kar, while Mondal is already out on bail.

The CBI so far has filed only one charge sheet in the case where civic volunteer Sanjay Roy had been identified as the “sole prime accused” in the rape and murder.

Recently, the victim’s parents have also changed their counsel representing them at the Supreme Court.