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CAT holds RCB ‘prima facie responsible’ for stampede
The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has found Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) “prima facie responsible” for the stampede that occurred on June 4 outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium during the team’s IPL victory celebrations. The tragedy resulted in the death of 11 people and left several others injured.
The Tribunal was hearing a petition filed by Additional Commissioner of Police Vikash Kumar Vikash, who had been suspended in the aftermath of the incident. In its ruling, the CAT absolved the police and pointed to RCB’s lack of coordination as a key factor behind the chaos.
“Prima facie it appears that the RCB is responsible for the gathering of about three to five lakh people. The RCB did not take the appropriate permission or consent from the Police. Suddenly, they posted on social media platforms and as a result of aforesaid information the public were gathered,” noted the Tribunal.
It further observed that the police had not been given adequate notice or time to make the necessary security arrangements. “It cannot expected from the Police that within a short time of about 12 hours the Police will make all arrangements required in the Police Act or in the other rules. Police personnel are also human beings…To control the aforesaid type of gathering and for making the proper arrangements sufficient time should be given to the Police.”
The Tribunal also highlighted the lack of formal communication from the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA). “But neither the information was given to the Police for making the arrangements nor the permission was applied or granted by the Police. The KSCA submitted a letter which also did not contain any request for granting the permission or for making the arrangements. The letter shows only the information regarding the intention. Therefore, it was not expected from the Police that upon the basis of a letter submitted before the Station In-charge of one Police Station, the Police will make all arrangements all of a sudden.”
RCB had clinched their maiden IPL title on June 3, defeating Punjab Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The following day, massive crowds gathered near Vidhana Soudha and the M Chinnaswamy Stadium to witness the team’s victory parade, which spiraled into a deadly stampede.
In response to the tragedy, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had ordered the arrest of officials from RCB, DNA Networks, and the KSCA, while also suspending several senior police officers, including Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda, Additional Commissioner (West) Vikash Kumar Vikash, DCP (Central) Shekhar H Tekkannavar, and officials from the Cubbon Park Police Station.
Following the incident, KSCA secretary A Shankar and treasurer ES Jairam stepped down from their posts, accepting moral responsibility.
Vijayakanth Viyaskanth broke the stand with Parvez’s wicket and triggered another collapse. Bangladesh went from 50/5 to 72/8 in the space of 18 deliveries, the chase now well beyond their reach. Sri Lanka’s bowling quartet of Ratnayake (2-18), Nuwan Thushara (2-18), Vijayakanth Viyaskanth (2-26), Wanuja Sahan (2-17) did all of the damage as Bangladesh were bowled out for 102 – 63 short of their target.
Scores:
Sri Lanka 165/9 in 20 overs [Sahan Arachchige 33, Ashen Bandara 18, Thjarindu Rathnayake 65; Mahedi Hasan 2-19, Al Islam 1-18, Rishad Hossain 1-46, Saif Hasan 2-28, Mustafizur Rahman 2-43] beat Bangladesh 102/10 in 17.3 overs [Parvez Hossain Emon 20, Towhid Hridoy 11, Yasir Ali 21, Rishad Hossain 10, Nasum Ahmed 26; Nuwan Thushara 2-18, Tharindu Rathnayake 2-18, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 2-26, SahanArachchige 1-09, Wanuja Sahan 2-17, Dushan Hemantha 1-11] by 63 runs.
[Cricbuzz]
The G7 has agreed to release 100 million barrels of oil and diesel in a bid to ease supply pressures that have caused prices to skyrocket.
The group of advanced economies, including the US, said the move would include a “substantial release” of diesel in the coming days.
President Donald Trump had threatned to ban diesel exports in a move which would have eased pressure on prices for US consumers ahead of November’s midterm elections, but pushed up prices elsewhere.
In a joint statement, the G7 said member countries had now agreed to “refrain from export restrictions on energy and energy products” on one another.
The G7 includes the US, UK, Canada, Japan, Germany, Italy and France, with the EU also represented at its meetings.
Trump had warned he would ban diesel exports from the US if European countries did not agree to put more of their own stocks onto the market.
On Friday, he said on social media: “Europe has just agreed to release a massive amount of their heavily stocked Diesel Oil. The process will begin immediately.”
His Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had argued US farmers, truckers, and businesses “should not be left carrying the burden” as prices soar.
Diesel is used heavily by the haulage industry and in agriculture, meaning rises in the cost of the fuel feed through into essentials such as food.
But, following a meeting of G7 leaders, French President Emmanuel Macron said the bloc had agreed to release reserves of “up to 100 million barrels” within four months under the coordination of the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The UK was represented at the meeting by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, who said the measures would “stabilise energy supplies, build resilience in supply chains and shield households and businesses from price shocks”.
Macron said the coordinated action would “bring down the prices of petroleum products, particularly diesel”. Highlighting the agreement not to pursue export bans, Macron said “President Trump, in particular, was very clear on this point”.
Speaking at the White House, Trump later said an export ban on diesel was “never really on the table”.
In the joint statement, G7 leaders said: “We will implement our commitments with a coordinated release through the IEA of 100 million barrels to begin immediately over four months, including a frontloaded substantial diesel release within the first 20 days by G7 members and partners.”
It is not yet clear which partner countries will release stocks, nor how quickly.
The 100 million barrels will comprise a mix of diesel and crude oil. The price of global benchmark Brent crude oil briefly dropped below $100 a barrel, but rose back to around $102 by Friday evening. Before the US and Israel invaded Iran, it was trading at around $73.
Matt Smith, director of commodities research at Kpler, said oil had risen again due to renewed strikes between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in Yemen.
“Oil prices were selling off strongly due to the announcement of strategic stock releases in Europe, but they reversed course on rumours of Saudi Arabia planning an offensive into Yemen as it looks to re-establish a safe path via Bab-Al Mandeb,” he said.
European countries had pushed back against US threats to turn off American diesel, against a backdrop of the US-led war in the Middle East and reduced supplies from Russia and China.
The G7 leaders said they will also coordinate maintenance schedules to avoid multiple refineries being shut down at the same time, while encouraging countries with the capacity to do so to ramp up refining of diesel in particular.
Avoiding a ban on US diesel exports will offer significant relief to countries which are reliant on imports of the fuel, including the UK, where prices at the pump topped £2 a litre for the first time on Friday.
Over half of the UK’s diesel is imported, with 31% of those imports coming from the US.
(BBC)
Th European Union “fully rejects” a US demand to release emergency diesel stocks as the fuel’s price soars in America and elsewhere amid the war with Iran.
The EU “fully rejects” the threat made by the US to ban diesel exports if Europe does not release more of its fuel stocks, according to European Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen.
“A ban would not be beneficial to anyone. It would undermine our trust in the United States as a reliable partner,” she said, adding that the next EU’s Oil Coordination Group meeting is scheduled for October 15, but could be brought forward if needed.
On Thursday, President Trump said the US could ask European countries to release diesel reserves to rein in rising diesel prices due to the war on Iran.
His comments came after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged Europe to “immediately” tap its reserves.
[Aljazeera]
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