Photo: (ANI)

A 40-person cluster bus carrying fire on Thursday morning in Jagatpuri, East Delhi, was the scene of a terrifying tragedy. The police said that everyone was thankfully safely evacuated and that they suspect the fire may have started as a result of an air conditioning system short circuit.

The police control room received an emergency call about the fire around 9:48 AM. When officers arrived, they found a blue cluster bus from route 340, which operates between Central Secretariat and Seemapuri, parked by the roadside.

“A biker noticed flames coming from the fully air-conditioned CNG bus and quickly alerted the driver. The driver then pulled over, ensuring all passengers exited safely before the fire engulfed the entire bus,” explained a senior police officer.

As soon as firemen arrived, three fire tenders were on the scene to douse the flames. A representative for the fire department stated that early findings suggest that the bus’s air conditioning system short circuit was most likely the cause of the fire.

The bus has been in service for four years and was operated by DIMTS, a partner agency of the Delhi government. Minister of Transportation for Delhi, Kailash Gahlot, pledged a comprehensive inquiry and acknowledged the incident’s gravity.

“It’s concerning that a relatively new bus caught fire. This could be linked to maintenance issues or failure to replace a faulty part. While the Delhi government isn’t directly involved in the day-to-day maintenance of these buses, we will hold those responsible accountable for any negligence,” Gahlot stated.

 

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Photo: TOI

SEBI Takes Action Against Questionable Loans, pointing On Anil Ambani and Reliance Home Finance.

Anil Ambani and Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL) have been severely punished by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for authorizing dubious loans to parties associated with the firm without doing adequate due diligence. SEBI has slapped Ambani with a big fine of Rs 25 crore and barred him from the securities market for five years. RHFL and some of its top executives are also getting penalized.

Investigative Findings: Ambani’s Involvement and Loan Irregularities

The investigation says Ambani was behind a scam where Reliance Home Finance gave loans to his associates, labeling them as working capital loans during the 2018–2019 fiscal year. These loans, totaling Rs 8,470 crore, didn’t go through proper checks.

The SEBI order noted that funds structured as General Purpose Working Capital (GPC) loans were transferred to entities linked to the Reliance ADA Group. The manner in which these loans were disbursed was described as abrupt and highly irregular. Moreover, there was evidence that senior officials actively pushed for these loans, showed little interest in recovering the amounts, and that Ambani was directly involved in approving them.

SEBI’s findings pointed to a pattern indicating that these loans were intended for Ambani’s benefit, either directly or indirectly.

Independent Reports Back SEBI’s Findings

Reports from Price Waterhouse & Co., RHFL’s statutory auditor, and Grant Thornton, a forensic auditor hired by Bank of Baroda, RHFL’s primary lender, corroborated SEBI’s findings. Price Waterhouse outlined issues that prompted it to stop auditing RHFL, pointing to the company’s other procedural failings as well as a dearth of meaningful answers to its questions. Due to its position, the company even received threats of legal action.

Grant Thornton’s report found similar discrepancies and pointed out suspicious reclassifications of borrower entities from related to non-related parties just before loan disbursements. Eight entities, which initially appeared to be related to the Reliance group, were shown as unrelated shortly before receiving loans totaling Rs 1,323.43 crore.

Broader Penalties

SEBI’s order impacts 28 individuals and entities, including RHFL, Anil Ambani, several Reliance ADA group companies, and other key management personnel. RHFL has been prohibited from participating in the securities market for six months, while Ambani and 26 others face a five-year ban.

RHFL faces fines of Rs 5 lakh, Anil Ambani faces fines of Rs 25 crore, Amit Bapna, the CFO of RHFL, faces fines of Rs 27 crore, and CEO Ravindra Sudhalkar faces fines of Rs 26 crore. All companies involved in this notice face fines of Rs 25 crore each.

This major regulatory action makes it very evident that SEBI is committed to upholding accountability and transparency in the securities industry and makes it very apparent that corporate malfeasance will not be accepted.

The bus lost control and crashed into multiple vehicles near Bengaluru’s Hebbal bypass, CCTV footage shows that the bus driver had difficulty navigating through the dense traffic, which resulted in five two-wheelers and four autos getting into several collisions. As the bus proceeded to crash into cars and finally stopped after crashing into one and pulling it several meters, the situation became more and more heated.

Given the seriousness of the situation, the bus conductor can be seen frantically pleading with the driver to stop the vehicle. The severely disrupted and damaged bus served as a warning about the perils of poor traffic management and defective vehicle control.

The collision resulted in injuries to two individuals. One of the injured was brought to the hospital so they could receive more care. The accident has sparked worries about traffic safety and the requirement for improved traffic management strategies to avoid similar risky circumstances in the future. In order to determine what went wrong and to stop such occurrences from happening in the future, authorities are looking into the collision.

 

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