Governor of the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan, Mohammad Ashouri Taziani, refuted on Tuesday the hypothesis that an act of sabotage was behind a deadly blast at Shahid Rajaee Port in southern Iran. 

He made the remarks while elaborating on the likely causes of the explosion that occurred on Saturday and its subsequent fire, in which at least 70 people were killed and over 1,200 others injured, the official news agency IRNA reported.

Ahsouri Taziani said some foreign media raised the speculation that the incident had probably been the result of an act of sabotage, but preliminary investigations showed that the sabotage hypothesis failed to be of “sufficient strength.”

He added that according to a statement by the provincial crisis management headquarters, a failure to properly observe safety and passive defense measures had been among the main causes of the incident.

On Monday, Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni identified “certain negligence” as one of the reasons behind the deadly explosion, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the fire at Shahid Rajaee Port has been completely contained, while the rescue and relief operations were still ongoing, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported citing the provincial governor.

On Monday, Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni identified “certain negligence” as one of the reasons behind the deadly explosion in the provincial capital Bandar Abbas, where this port, the country’s largest maritime hub, is located.

He made the remarks in an interview with state-run IRIB TV, elaborating on the ongoing investigations to determine the cause of the incident.

Momeni said that during an earlier meeting held in Bandar Abbas to discuss the explosion’s cause, several individuals whose negligence had been confirmed were summoned. He noted that a failure to observe safety regulations and passive defence measures properly contributed to the disaster, urging the relevant authorities and investigative committee to accelerate efforts to determine the full cause accurately.

Following the deadly blast, Hossein Sajedinia, head of Iran’s National Disaster Management Organisation, told the IRIB on Sunday that some of the containers at the port contained flammable materials, such as pitch, and some others carried chemicals.

Despite the incident, the port’s wharfs have resumed operations and cargo handling, according to the official news agency IRNA.

NEW DELHI: As the country seethes to avenge the killing of 26 civilians by Pakistan-backed terrorists in Kashmir’s Pahalgam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday dropped a big hint on the government’s preparedness to thwart terrorism and its backers.
Addressing the YUGM Conclave, PM Modi said: “We have set a time frame of the next 25 years for the goal of a developed India. We have limited time; the goals are big. I am not saying this for the present situation. That is why it is important that the journey of our idea from prototype to product is also completed in the shortest possible time. When we reduce the distance from lab to market, the results of research start reaching people faster. This also motivates the research.”

The remark comes at a time of heightened tension between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack.
On Sunday, PM Modi, during the 121st episode of his monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat,’ paid tribute to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack, condemning the loss of lives and reiterating India’s resolute commitment to fighting terrorism.
“Once again, I assure the victims’ families that they will get justice. The conspirators and perpetrators of this attack will face the harshest response,” PM Modi said.
Earlier, in Bihar’s Madhubani, PM Modi issued a stern warning to terrorists, pledging to “identify, track, and punish” those responsible for the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.
Addressing his first public gathering since the attack, PM Modi expressed the nation’s grief and assured decisive action against the perpetrators.
“Today, on the soil of Bihar, I say to the whole world, India will identify, trace and punish every terrorist and their backers. We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth. India’s spirit will never be broken by terrorism,” Prime Minister said.
“Terrorism will not go unpunished. Every effort will be made to make sure that justice is done. The entire nation is one in this resolve. Everyone who believes in humanity is with us. I thank the people of various countries and their leaders who have stood with us,” he added.

Leaders of Andhra Pradesh Teachers Federation (APTF) are gearing up for protests in a phased manner from May 5, against certain policies, including the proposed school restructuring programme, which they feel would be detrimental to the interest of the school education sector. The federation leaders plan to stage protests at old taluka headquarters on May 5, dharna at district headquarters on May 9 and a State-level dharna in Vijayawada on May 14.

The previous government introduced incoherent policies that led to chaos in the school education sector. The current TDP-led coalition government had promised to clear the chaos and come up with coherent policies, but instead, this government is adding to the confusion, said federation’s State president Ch. Manjula and general secretary K. Bhanumurthy.

They said the previous government proposed to merge Classes 3 to 5 in the High Schools, but the current regime proposes to merge even Classes 1 and 2 also, which is unacceptable. They said the federation was also opposed to the variation in allocation of teacher-student ratio in each school individually.

The leaders said the present system of primary schools (Classes 1 to 5) and High Schools (Classes 6-10 or 12) in every village should be continued and instead favoured integration of pre-primary education with primary schools. They said schools that include Classes 6 and 7 should have four School Assistant posts and those with Classes 6,7 and 8, should be allocated six School Assistant posts as per GO. 55.

Every primary school should have at least two Secondary Grade Teacher (SGT) posts regardless of the student strength and a uniform teacher-student ratio should be maintained across the State, they demanded, adding that additional section should be created in high schools where the number of students exceed 45 per section.

They said the department should implement teacher promotions based on the State-wide seniority lists and the existing State and Subordinate Service Rules and implement Telugu as the medium of instruction as recommended by the National Education Policy (NEP)- 2020.

Their other demands immediate implementation of the 12^th Pay Revision Commission (PRC), release of the three pending DA instalments and clearance of dues related to the 11^th PRC and other pending financial arrears.