Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday asked the opponents of Land Boundary Agreement in India to give up their opposition to the historic measure, saying settling the vexed issue would be a “win-win” situation for both the countries. The issue of the agreement, which is stuck because of stiff opposition by some Indian political parties, was discussed when she met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on Saturday. When asked about the issue, Ms Hasina told PTI, “People of India, all the political parties should take some positive steps, what we expect from them.” The Indian government has mooted a bill to ratify the agreement under which the two countries will exchange territories but the proposed legislation could not be passed during the last session of Parliament as some political parties strongly opposed it. “They (political parties of India) should solve (the issue). That will bring the two countries closer. Because we know there is nothing to lose, nothing to gain,” the Bangladesh PM said. Asked whether she had got such an assurance from Dr Singh and the Indian government, Ms Hasina said, “Not only from the government but Opposition and others also, that they will consider it.”
*** Rescue ops over, toll rises to 61 AGE CORRESPONDENT MUMBAI, SEPT. 29
The rescue operation of the Babu Genu building, which collapsed on Friday morning, finally ended on Sunday at around 6 am after exactly 72 hours. The collapse left 61 people dead, of which seven were extricated dead and the rest died in hospital, and as many as 30 remain admitted in the state-run J.J. Hospital in Byculla. Eight victims were treated and discharged. “We had deployed about 150 men divided into four teams, which worked in shifts round the clock for 72 hours non-stop,” said Alok Awasthy, commandant, National Disaster Response Force. Describing the collapse and difficulties faced in the rescue operation, Mr Awasthy added, “It was a ‘pancake collapse’. The kind of collapse in which the primary structural element fails, resulting in the failure of adjoining structural elements, which in turn causes further structural failure. The only difficulty we faced was the restriction of movement. It was a very congested area, and the rains in the later part of the day also caused some amount of trouble.” Doctors said that most of the injured have suffered from blunt trauma, and will need to remain hospitalised for a few days. A 32-year-old woman has suffered vascular injury.
