News Wrap: Parliament gets rough; Fire rages in Sivakasi

- Between Parliament adjournment and a scuffle between SP’s Naresh Aggarwal and BSP’s Avtar Singh, the government tabled a bill to allow reservation in promotions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in government jobs and said it had played its role. But the Samajwadi Party is opposed to the promotion quota bill. Also, the BSP blamed both UPA and NDA for the delay in passing the bill.

We have a video in the bulletin.

- Around 50 people, mostly factory workers, died of burns and shrapnel injuries after a huge fire led to blasts inside a firecracker unit at Sivakasi in Tamilnadu. The accident occurred around 1pm at Om Shakti Factory when 300 people were inside the unit. The fire is under control but with more than 150 people trapped inside the factory when the fire broke out, the death toll is bound to climb, as many of those injured were rescued in critical condition.

We have a CNN-IBN report in the bulletin.

- BJP leader Sushma Swaraj promised a separate state within three months if her party was voted to power. Addressing protesters in New Delhi, Swaraj said the UPA government made the announcement two years ago about the formation of Telengana, but it did not honour its promise.

- In business: public sector bank SBI today announced reduction in interest rates on fixed deposits by 0.5 percent for most of the maturity periods, a move likely to be followed by other lenders. However, for deposits between 241 days and one year, the downward revision is one percent. The new rate would be 6.5 percent as against 7.5 percent.

- Paralympics silver medallist Girisha Nagarajegowda will be rewarded Rs 10 lakh for his exploits in London. In football, despite India slipping to 169th in the FIFA rankings, AIFF President Praful Patel is hoping the country qualify for World Cup 2022 in Qatar. And good news for motorsport buffs… Lewis Hamilton will be in Mumbai on 16th September and will whizz through Marine Drive in a one-of-a-kind experience. Be there!

- Finally, Apple Inc invited reporters to a news conference next week in San Francisco with a message that suggests that it will reveal the iPhone 5, as expected. The email invitation shows a big “12,” for 12 September, casting a shadow in the shape of a “5.”