Table of Contents
The Hindu Editorial Analysis
We understand the significance of reading The Hindu newspaper for enhancing reading skills, improving comprehension of passages, staying informed about current events, enhancing essay writing, and more, especially for banking aspirants who need to focus on editorials for vocabulary building. This article will explore today’s editorial points, along with practice questions and key vocabulary.
Bihar Gears Up for Two-Phase Election Battle
- Bihar Assembly elections will be held in two phases for all 243 seats — 121 seats will vote on November 6 and 122 seats on November 11, while counting of votes will happen on November 14.
- By-elections will also be held on November 11 in Budgam, Nagrota, Anta, Ghatsila (ST), Jubilee Hills, Tarn Taran, Dampa (ST), and Nuapada, with counting on November 14.
- Bihar has 203 general, 2 Scheduled Tribe, and 38 Scheduled Caste seats, with a total of 7.43 crore registered voters, including 1,725 transgender voters.
- Out of all voters, 3.92 crore are men, 3.5 crore are women, 14.01 lakh are first-time voters, and 1.63 crore are in the 20–29 age group.
- There are 4.04 lakh voters above 85 years old, around 14,000 voters over 100 years old, 1.63 lakh service voters, and 7.2 lakh voters with disabilities in the state.
- The official notification for the first phase of elections will be released on October 10, and nominations will close on October 17. For the second phase, the notification will be issued on October 13, and nominations will close on October 20.
- The final voter lists have already been given to political parties. Voters can still ask to fix mistakes or add missing names up to ten days before the last date for filing nominations.
- Bihar will have 90,712 polling stations — 13,911 in cities and 76,801 in villages — with about 818 voters per station on average.
- Out of these polling stations, 292 will be managed by persons with disabilities, 1,044 by women, and 38 by youth, and webcasting will be used for the first time.
- Police on horseback will patrol 250 “diara” (river island) polling stations, while boats will be used for patrolling at 197 river-based locations.
- Each seat will have one general observer from outside Bihar, along with 38 police observers and 67 expenditure observers to keep an eye on the election process.
- Around 8.5 lakh officials will handle the elections, including 4.53 lakh polling staff, 2.5 lakh police personnel, 90,712 anganwadi workers, and other helpers.
- There will also be 17,800 micro observers for polling, 4,800 for counting, 28,300 counting officials, and 9,600 sector officers posted across the state.
- A special voter list update drive took place from June 24 to July 25, with the draft list shared with political parties on August 1.
- Voters, parties, and Booth Level Agents were allowed to raise claims or objections, and the final voter list was officially published on September 30.
- During the update, around 69 lakh names were deleted because of deaths, unverified citizenship, duplicate entries, or people moving permanently to other states — ensuring a cleaner voter list.
- Electoral Registration Officers handled these changes locally. Anyone unhappy with deletions can still appeal to the District Magistrate or the Chief Electoral Officer.
- Postal ballots must now be counted before the last two rounds of EVM/VVPAT counting. This change was made after political parties asked for more transparency.
- If there is any difference between the VVPAT slips and the EVM vote count (as shown in Form 17C), or if mock poll data is still stored, the VVPAT slips will be counted mandatorily.
- Among the 17 new steps introduced by the Election Commission are mobile phone deposit counters at polling booths and ECINet, a digital system that shows real-time voter turnout updates.
Massive Fire in Jaipur Government Hospital ICU; Six Dead
- Six patients — two women and four men — died in a major fire at the Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital trauma centre ICU late Sunday night.
- The victims, who were in the neurosurgery ICU, died from burns and suffocation after a short circuit likely caused the fire in the storage area.
- The SMS Hospital, the biggest government hospital in Rajasthan, saw this terrible incident, after which the State government started a high-level inquiry.
- The government removed trauma centre in-charge Dr. Anurag Dhakad, Superintendent Sushil Bhati, and suspended Executive Engineer Mukesh Singhal for negligence.
- The contract of S.K. Electric Company, responsible for fire safety, has been cancelled, and the government has ordered an FIR to be filed against the firm.
- The deceased were identified as Pintu Gujjar (25) from Sikar; Dilip (40) and Bahadur (40) from Jaipur; and Shri Nath (54), Rukmani Kaur (55), and Kusuma (54) from Bharatpur.
- The fire started on the second floor of the trauma centre building opposite the main hospital on Tonk Road, spreading thick smoke quickly through the structure.
- At the time, 11 patients were in the neurosurgery ICU and 14 in another ICU. Staff managed to shift all patients from the second ICU safely.
- Panic broke out as the smoke spread through the trauma centre, and doctors, nurses, and families tried to wheel patients out amid chaos and confusion.
- Firefighters reached the hospital quickly, broke a window to enter, and managed to control the fire after about two hours, though heavy smoke made rescue work difficult.
- On Monday, relatives of the victims protested outside the hospital, blaming the administration and government for poor safety measures and lack of firefighting tools.
- Dashrath Gujjar, brother of victim Pintu, said staff ignored warnings about smoke for nearly 20 minutes before running away when the fire spread.
- The sons of Rukmani Kaur, Sheru and Joginder Singh, said sparks were seen around 11:15 p.m., but staff didn’t act in time, and their mother couldn’t be saved.
- They said smoke and melting plaster forced everyone out, and hospital staff stopped families from entering, which delayed rescue and made things worse.
- A six-member investigation team, led by Medical Education Commissioner Iqbal Khan, has been formed, while forensic experts collected evidence from the site.
- The bodies of the deceased will be given to their families after post-mortem examinations are completed as per rules.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma expressed grief and condolences over the tragic fire.
- Chief Minister Sharma visited the trauma centre himself and ordered officials to provide all help and compensation to the affected families immediately.
Bengal Flood Toll Rises to 28; CM Calls It a “Man-Made Disaster”
- The number of deaths in the North Bengal floods has gone up to 28, after five more deaths were reported in Nagrakata, Jalpaiguri. Heavy rain and landslides caused major damage.
- Around 500 tourists stranded in the Darjeeling hills were rescued by police and taken to Siliguri, while others trapped in Dooars areas were also safely evacuated.
- The worst-hit areas are Mirik, Sukhiapokhri, Jorebunglow, and Nagrakata, where roads vanished, bridges collapsed, and villages were buried under mud after nonstop rainfall.
- Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called the floods “man-made,” blaming the Central government, saying Bengal gets extra water from neighbouring states, which causes repeated floods.
- She said North Bengal was flooded by water coming from Bhutan and Sikkim after 300 mm of rain in 12 hours, which made the situation worse.
- Banerjee added that water from Bhutan entered through the Sankosh River, while the Teesta River overflowed from Sikkim, flooding many parts of North Bengal.
- She said an Indo-Bhutan River Commission should be formed to manage water flow, warning that without it, North Bengal will face floods again and again.
- The Chief Minister also blamed the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) for releasing water suddenly, saying the Centre failed to manage flood control and river dredging.
- She questioned the use of dams, saying that uncontrolled water release makes them pointless and leaves Bengal suffering the damage.
- Mamata Banerjee announced ₹5 lakh compensation for each victim’s family and visited North Bengal with Chief Secretary Manoj Pant to check rescue operations.
- She will visit Mirik on Tuesday and promised to build a temporary bridge over the Balasan River within 20 days, after the Dudiya bridge collapsed.
Important Questions
- How many micro observers will be deployed for polling across Bihar during the two-phase election?
- What purpose does the ECINet digital system serve during the Bihar Assembly elections?
- Who headed the six-member investigation team formed after the fire at Sawai Man Singh Hospital trauma centre in Jaipur?
- Which officials, including hospital superintendents and engineers, were suspended following the fire at the SMS Hospital trauma centre?
- What reasons did Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee give for calling the North Bengal floods “man-made”?
- Which rivers were identified as sources of excess water leading to the North Bengal floods?
Important Vocabulary
- Webcasting – Live streaming of an event through the internet.
- Diara – River island areas formed by sediment deposits in rivers.
- Mandatorily – Compulsorily; required by law or rules.
- Transparency – The quality of being open and easy to understand or verify.
- Trauma centre – A specialized hospital unit for treating severe injuries.
- Suffocation – Death or injury caused by lack of air or oxygen.
- Negligence – Failure to take proper care, resulting in harm or damage.
- Forensic – Related to scientific methods used to investigate crimes.
- Landslides – Sudden downward movement of rock or earth on a slope.
- Catastrophic – Involving or causing sudden great damage or suffering.
- Compensation – Money given to make up for loss, injury, or suffering.
- Dredging – Removing mud or sediment from riverbeds to maintain water flow.
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