LAHORE, June 28:

The death toll today rose to165 in Pakistan's oil tanker fire,one of the deadliest accidents inthe country, as five more critical-ly burnt persons including thedriver of the vehicle succumbedin Punjab province.

Driver Gul Muhammadcould not record his statement ashe had received 90 per cent burninjuries, a Punjab governmentspokesman said.

"The death toll in Bahwalpuroil tanker tragedy has risen to165. The driver of the tanker alsosuccumbed to his injuries," hesaid.

So far, 125 people have beenlaid to rest after establishingtheir identity through DNA test,he said, adding that the identifi-cation of others was underway.

On Sunday, a day before Eid,the oil tanker which was headedfor Lahore overturned on thenational highway at theAhmedpur Sharqia area of theBahawalpur district, some 400km from Lahore, after one of itstyres burst and the driver lostcontrol over it.

Some 151 people lost theirlives while collecting spilt fuelas the oil tanker caught fire andexploded. Over 140 others suf-fered injuries in one of the dead-

liest accidents in the country.Video images of the people

gathered to collect petrol fromthe overturned oil tankeremerged showing young and oldpeople filling their bikes with thespilled oil and collecting it inbottles and cans.

The leaking fuel was evenflowing along the highway in thefields. A number of people wereseen sitting near the fields col-lecting fuel in cans and bottles.Suddenly, the tanker explodedand within seconds the fireerupted giving no chance to thepeople present there to leave theplace.

According to a preliminaryreport, the tragedy might havebeen averted had the motorwaypolice reached there on time andcordoned off the area.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifsaid "illiteracy and poverty" is areason behind this incident.

More than 40 injured are stillbattling for their lives in burncentres of Multan and Lahore.

The preliminary report alsosaid: "The fire broke out aftersomeone lit a cigarette amongthe victims and threw its butt".

A video before the incidentalso emerged on social mediashowing that a man was smokinga cigarette and he inadvertentlythrew its butt. (PTI)

THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2017 (PAGE 12) DAILY EXCELSIOR, JAMMU

Rains lash many parts of country,landslide strands 400 in HP

NEW DELHI, June 28:

Many states received rainstoday with persistent downpourstriggering a landslide inHimachal Pradesh that leftaround 400 people strandedwhile five persons were killed ina lightning strike in MadhyaPradesh.

In Assam, over one lakh peo-ple in Lakhimpur, Jorhat,Karimganj, Karbi Anglong,Cachar, Golaghat, Sivasagar andSonitpur districts were affectedby floods.

The four major rivers of thestate are still flowing above thedanger level and nearly 1.13hectare of agricultural land, withstanding crops, has been sub-merged in flood water.

In Himachal Pradesh, around400 persons were stranded forseveral hours after the Manali-Leh National Highway wasabout 50 km ahead of Keylong,due to landslide triggered byheavy rains in the state.

Teams of the Border RoadsOrganisation and Lahaul andSpiti district administrationrushed to the spot and the block-ade was cleared this afternoonafter about 10 hours.

Rains lashed the nationalcapital bringing much needed

respite from sultry weather con-ditions experienced over the lastfew days.

The Safdarjung observatory,recording of which is consideredofficial for the city, received 15.6mm rains till the evening whileareas under Palam, Lodhi Road,Ridge and Ayanagar recorded 5.8mm, 16 mm, 1.2 mm and 0.7 mmrainfall.

The maximum temperaturesettled at 35 degrees Celsiuswhile the humidity level oscillat-ed between 100 and 65 per cent.

The southwest monsoonadvanced over parts of Rajasthanwhere many places were lashedby rains since yesterday.

Light to heavy rainfall wasrecorded in most places of eastRajasthan and at a few places inthe western parts of the state.

Talera in Bundi recorded 9cm rains while Nathdwara inRajsamand recorded 8 cm rain-fall till this morning. Due to therains, the mercury dipped byseveral notches and Jaisalmerwas the hottest with 36 degreesCelsius followed by 34.4 degreesCelsius each in Kota andBarmer.

The monsoon is likely to hitPunjab and Haryana by Fridayeven as widespread rains lashedboth the states.

Karnal in Haryana, receivedheavy rainfall of 140.4 mm andthe maximum temperature set-tled close to 25 degrees Celsius.Ambala received light rains and

the maximum temperaturedropped by nine notches againstnormal to settle at 27.8 degreesCelsius.

In Punjab's Amritsar, themaximum temperature droppedby 11 notches and settled at 27degrees Celsius after beinglashed by showers.

Una in Himachal Pradeshrecorded a high of 28.6 degreesCelsius followed byDharamshala 27 degrees Celsius,which received 65 mm of rainssince yesterday, Sundernagar25.6 degrees Celsius and Kangra24.8 degrees Celsius.

Light to moderate rain low-ered the temperature much to thecomfort of the people of Bihar.Patna recorded maximum tem-perature of 35.8 degrees Celsius.

Gaya registered the highestmaximum temperature in thestate at 38.2 degrees Celsiuswhile Bhagalpur and Purnearecorded maximums of 36.6degrees Celsius and 35 degreesCelsius respectively.

In Madhya Pradesh, light-ning strike killed a woman andfour girls at Bharothi village ofDindori district when they werereturning after bathing in a river.

Intermittent rains continuedfor the fourth consecutive day inMumbai and its suburbs, disrupt-ing local train services. Heavyrains are likely to continue tillFriday in the entire northKonkan region, includingMumbai. (PTI)

Centre taking steps to improvequality of ITIs: Rudy

RAIPUR, June 28:

Union Minister Rajiv PratapRudy today said the Centre istaking various measures toimprove quality of the IndustrialTraining Institutes (ITIs).

"The Union minister of statefor Skill Development said theCentre has decided to do brand-ing of ITIs to promote it amongyouth in terms of skill develop-ment," an official release said.

Rudy was addressing areview meeting of the state SkillDevelopment department here inpresence of Chief MinisterRaman Singh.

There are about 13,000 ITIsin the entire country and out ofwhich 3,000 are government-run.

Efforts are being made thatthese institutes would set abenchmark in terms of quality innear future. Online examinationsare being held and the results aredeclared instantly, he said.

Rudy lauded the steps takenfor skills development of youthin the state.

Chhattisgarh is the first statein the country to have provided'skill development' as a right forthe age-group of 14 years-45years in the year 2013.

The state government hadallocated Rs 400 crore funds forSkills Development training pro-grammes in 2015-2016, headded.

Rudy has given his consent toset up ITIs in four places namely

Manora, Dhuldhula (Jashpur dis-trict), Batoli (Surguja) andOrchha (Narayanpur) of the state,it said.

During the meeting, officialsinformed that youth are beingtrained in vocational courses in27 livelihood colleges of thestate.

One lakh youth had beentrained in various vocations inthe year 2016-2017 while a total3.57 lakh youth had been impart-ed training trained in variouscourses under the scheme so farin the state.

Around 1,781 widows anddestitute women and 71 trans-genders had been provided withvocational training in varioustrades, the statement said. (PTI)

Mukesh Ambani draws salary of Rs 15 cr for 9th year in a row

NEW DELHI, June 28:

Reliance Industries bossMukesh Ambani kept his annualsalary capped at Rs 15 crore forthe ninth year in a row and did nottake any stock option even as theremuneration of most executivedirectors on the board rose.

Ambani, the richest Indian, haskept salary, perquisites andallowances and commission at Rs15 crore since 2008-09, forgoingalmost Rs 24 crore per annum.

“The chairman and managingdirector’s compensation has beenset at Rs 15 crore as against Rs38.75 crore as approved, reflectinghis desire to continue to set a per-sonal example for moderation inmanagerial compensation levels,”RIL said in its annual report for2016-17.

His remuneration for 2016-17included Rs 4.16 crore as salaryand another Rs 60 lakh by way ofperquisites and allowances. He gotretirement benefits of Rs 71 lakhand Rs 9.53 crore as commissionon profit.

The base salary, allowances,retirement benefits and commis-

sion on profit are the same as whathe got in 2015-16.

Ambani voluntarily capped hiscompensation at Rs 15 crore inOctober 2009 amid a debate overright-sizing of CEO salaries.

The salary cap continued evenas all other executive directors sawtheir remunerations go up.

Ambani’s cousins Nikhil RMeswani and Hital R Meswanisaw their compensation rise to Rs16.58 crore each. They had earnedRs 14.42 crore and Rs 14.41 crore,respectively, in the previous year.In 2014-15, they had got Rs 12.03crore each.

Also, one of his key execu-tives, Executive Director P M SPrasad saw his remuneration go upto Rs 7.87 crore in 2016-17, fromRs 7.23 crore in 2015-16 and Rs6.03 crore in 2014-15.

Refinery chief Pawan KumarKapil, however, saw his compen-sation drop to Rs 2.54 crore, fromRs 2.94 crore in 2015 -16. He hadearned Rs 2.41 crore in 2014-15.

RIL’s non-executive directors,including Nita Ambani, also gotRs 1.2 crore each as commission,besides sitting fees. (PTI)

Death toll rises to 165 inPakistan oil tanker fire

Kovind to meet SAD-BJP MLAs,MPs in Panchkula today

CHANDIGARH, June 28:

NDA presidential nomineeRam Nath Kovind will meetMLAs and MPs of theHaryana and Punjab BJP andthose of its ally SAD as part ofhis campaign for the July 17election.

Kovind will arrive inChandigarh tomorrow morn-ing, Punjab BJP Secretary,Vineet Joshi said today.

He said Kovind will hold atwo-hour meeting with the leg-islators and parliamentariansat Panchkula, Haryana.

The SAD-BJP coalition has18 MLAs (15 SAD, 3 BJP) inthe 117 member PunjabAssembly while the rulingCongress has 77. The AAP has20 legislators and AAP's allyLok Insaaf Party has two.

Among the Lok Sabhamembers in Punjab, the rulingCongress has four, the SAD hasthree, the BJP had 2 MPs butrecently Gurdaspur MP VinodKhanna passed away. The AAPhas four, out of which two havebeen suspended by the party.

In the Rajya Sabha, SADhas 3, BJP 1 and Congress has3 members.

In the 90-member HaryanaAssembly, the ruling BJPenjoys a majority with 47MLAs and the support of five

Independents. The Congresshas 17 MLAs.

The SAD has a lone legis-lator in Haryana Assemblywhile the INLD, which is theprincipal opposition party, has19.

According to state unitchief of INLD, Ashok Arora,the party will take a decisiontomorrow on whom to extendsupport to in the presidentialelection.

The party, at a meetingheld here recently, had left itto party president and formerchief minister Om PrakashChautala on whether to extendsupport to Kovind or opposi-tion candidate Meira Kumar.

Among the Lok Sabha MPsin Haryana, the ruling BJP hasseven members, the INLD twoand Congress has one whilethe BJP has only one memberamong the five Rajya SabhaMPs. Media baron SubhashChandra was last year electedwith the BJP's support.

The Congress has twoRajya Sabha members and theINLD has one in Haryana.

External Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj, HaryanaChief Minister Manohar LalKhattar and BJP's general sec-retary Anil Jain will be amongthe leaders who will be withKovind. (PTI)

Swaraj assures help to Indianwoman jailed in Riyadh

NEW DELHI, June 28:

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today assured help toan Indian woman from Telangana, who is lodged in a jail in Riyadh.

"We will provide Fahimunnisa Begum legal aid and all assis-tance," she said on Twitter.

Swaraj's assurance came after the woman's husband requestedthe minister to ensure her release.

The reason for her arrest was not known.Responding to a request of another person, Swaraj said the

Indian Embassy in Bahrain will look into the reported drowning ofan Indian there.

Kabees Abdul Jaleel, 32, had reportedly drowned in a swimmingpool in Bahrain.

Swaraj was approached by the person on Twitter who said thedeceased was his relation.

He said they did not know what happened to Jaleel and request-ed Swaraj to take appropriate action. (PTI)