Reuters
 — 

The death toll from the explosion and fire at Sigachi Industries’ SIGC.NS chemical factory in southern India has risen to at least 39, officials said on Tuesday, forcing the supplier of pharma products to shut operations for 90 days.

The government of Telangana state, where the facility is located, has formed a five-member committee to probe the incident, the cause of which is yet to be disclosed by the company.

The explosion on Monday also injured 34, according to officials.

“We are still clearing the debris,” GV Narayana Rao, director of the Telangana fire disaster response service, told Reuters, adding that the building had completely collapsed.

“Once we are all done with the clearing, only then we will be able to assess if any other body is still remaining under the debris or if it is all clear,” Rao said.

Police officials said more than 140 people were working in the plant when the incident occurred. Twenty-five of the deceased were yet to be identified, district administrative official P. Pravinya said.

“I came out (of the plant) to use the restroom and heard a loud blast. It sounded like a bomb blast. I came out and saw fire. A part of the fire also spread towards me. I jumped the wall and escaped,” Chandan Gound, 32, who has been working at the factory for six months, told Reuters by phone.

“Many of them (those inside) managed to escape, but a large number were trapped and could not come out,” Gound added.

Sigachi, which makes microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), caters to clients in the pharma, food, cosmetic and specialty chemicals sectors in countries ranging from the US to Australia.

MCC’s compressibility, binding properties, and ability to boost drug release make it a vital ingredient in pharmaceutical manufacturing. It is also used to prevent the formation of lumps in food products, to maintain texture of cosmetic products, and as a fat substitute in low-calorie foods.

Sigachi’s Telangana plant contributes a little over a fourth of its total capacity of 21,700 million metric tons per annum.

Its shares dropped about 8% on Tuesday and were headed for their sharpest two-day drop on record.

Sigachi halted operations at the plant for 90 days from Monday citing damage to equipment and structures. The plant is fully insured and the company is initiating claims.

In a separate incident on Tuesday, five people were killed and four others injured in a massive fire at a crackers factory in the Sivakasi manufacturing cluster in the southern Tamil Nadu state, a fire department official said. The incident is the latest in a series of fire accidents in the area.

CNN
 — 

Thailand’s embattled prime minister was suspended from duty Tuesday and could face dismissal pending an ethics probe over a leaked phone call she had with Cambodia’s powerful former leader.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 38, has only held the premiership for 10 months after replacing her predecessor, who was removed from office. Her suspension brings fresh uncertainty to the Southeast Asian kingdom, which has been roiled by years of political turbulence and leadership shake-ups.

Thailand’s Constitutional Court accepted a petition brought by a group of 36 senators who accused Paetongtarn of violating the constitution for breaching ethical standards in the leaked call, which was confirmed as authentic by both sides.

The court voted to suspend Paetongtarn from her prime ministerial duties until it reaches a verdict in the ethics case. Paetongtarn will remain in the Cabinet as culture minister following a reshuffle.

Paetongtarn has faced increasing calls to resign, with anti-government protesters taking to the streets of the capital Bangkok on Saturday, after the leaked call with Cambodia’s Hun Sen over an escalating border dispute sparked widespread anger in the country.

The scandal prompted the Bhumjaithai party, a major partner of the prime minister’s government, to withdraw from the coalition last week, dealing a major blow to her Pheu Thai party’s ability to hold power. Paetongtarn is also contending with plummeting approvals ratings and faces a no-confidence vote in parliament.

In the leaked call, which took place on June 15, Paetongtarn could be heard calling former Cambodian strongman Hun Sen “uncle” and appeared to criticize her own army’s actions after border clashes led to the death of a Cambodian soldier last month.

The Thai prime minister could be heard telling Hun Sen that she was under domestic pressure and urged him not to listen to the “opposite side,” in which she referred to an outspoken Thai army commander in Thailand’s northeast.

She also added that if Hun Sen “wants anything, he can just tell me, and I will take care of it.”

Her comments in the leaked audio struck a nerve in Thailand, and opponents accused her of compromising the country’s national interests.

Following the ruling, Paetongtarn said she accepts the court’s decision and that her intention “was truly to act for the good of the country.”

“I want to make it clear that my intentions were more than 100% sincere — I acted for the country, to protect our sovereignty, to safeguard the lives of our soldiers, and to preserve peace in our nation,” she said in a press conference Tuesday.

“I also want to apologize to all my fellow Thais who may feel uneasy or upset about this matter,” she added.

Thailand and Cambodia have had a complicated relationship of both cooperation and rivalry in recent decades. The two countries share a 508-mile (817-kilometer) land border – largely mapped by the French while they occupied Cambodia – that has periodically seen military clashes and been the source of political tensions.

In the wake of the scandal, Paetongtarn tried to downplay her remarks to Hun Sen, saying at a press conference she was trying to diffuse tensions between the two neighbors and the “private” call “shouldn’t have been made public.”

The prime minister said she was using a “negotiation tactic” and her comments were “not a statement of allegiance.”

Paetongtarn became prime minister last year after the Constitutional Court ruled that her predecessor Srettha Thavisin had breached ethics rules and voted to dismiss him as prime minister.

The same court also dissolved the country’s popular progressive Move Forward Party, which won the most seats in the 2023 election, and banned its leaders from politics for 10 years.

CNN
 — 

Here is a look at the life of his Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, Buddhist spiritual leader of the people of Tibet.

Birth date: July 6, 1935

Birth place: Taktser, Amdo, Eastern Tibet

Birth name: Lhamo Dhondup

Father: Choekyong Tsering

Mother: Dekyi Tsering

Education: Geshe Lharampa Degree (Doctorate of Buddhist Philosophy), 1959

The Dalai Lamas are considered the manifestations of the Bodhisattva (Buddha) of Compassion, who chose to reincarnate to serve the people.

This Dalai Lama, the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatsois, is the 74th manifestation of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, the enlightened Buddha of compassion.

Tibetans normally refer to His Holiness as Yeshe Norbu, the Wishfulfilling Gem, or simply Kundun – The Presence.

Has traveled to numerous countries with a message of religious and cultural tolerance and peace.

Awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.

1938 – Is taken from his family in Taktser to the Kumbum monastery after a delegation of monks looking for the new Dalai Lama find him.

February 22, 1940 – Enthronement ceremony takes place in Lhasa, Tibet. His birth name is forfeited and he assumes the name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso.

November 8, 1950 – Chinese soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army invade Tibet at Lhasa.

November 17, 1950 – The Dalai Lama assumes full political power as Tibetan Head of State and Government ahead of schedule. Investiture is moved up from his 18th birthday as a result of China’s invasion of Tibet.

1954-1959 – Participates in unsuccessful peace talks in Beijing with Chinese leaders including Mao Tse-Tung, Chou En-lai and Deng Xiaoping. In 1959, the talks end when the Chinese army forces 80,000 Tibetan refugees into exile.

March 17, 1959 – Goes into exile; leaves Lhasa for India dressed as a soldier.

April 21, 1959 – Officially takes up residence in exile in Mussoorie, India.

1960 – Dharamsala, India, becomes home to the Dalai Lama and headquarters of the government-in-exile of Tibet.

1963 – Enacts a new Tibetan democratic constitution based on Buddhist principles and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

September 30, 1973 – Meets with Pope Paul VI at the Vatican, the first ever meeting of a pope and a spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists.

May 1977 – The Chinese government makes the Dalai Lama a conditional offer, the opportunity to return to Tibet after acceptance of Chinese rule over Tibet. The offer is rejected.

August 3, 1979 – Arrives in the United States for a 49-day tour.

February 2, 1986 – Meets with Pope John Paul II in New Delhi.

September 1987 – Attends the Congressional Human rights Caucus in Washington, DC, and proposes a Five Point Peace Plan for Tibet’s future.

1989 – Wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his dedication to the nonviolent liberation of Tibet.

April 16, 1991 – White House meeting with US President George H. W. Bush, the first ever between the spiritual leader and a president of the United States.

May 6, 1993 – Meets with US President Bill Clinton and US Vice President Al Gore at the White House.

September 1995 – Tours the United States urging government involvement with talks with China over Tibetan autonomy.

March 27, 1997 – Meets with President Lee Teng-hui of Taiwan in Taipei.

December 25, 1997 – Disney, through Touchstone Pictures, releases the biopic “Kundun,” directed by Martin Scorsese.

November 10, 1998 – Requests assistance in opening official negotiations with China regarding the future of Tibet at a meeting of senior government officials in Washington, DC, that includes Clinton. The Dalai Lama says that the distrust between himself and China is too great to re-open the talks.

May 2001 – Meets with US President George W. Bush, Congressional leaders and US Secretary of State Colin Powell, among others in Washington, DC.

2002 – Speaks out against China, stating that China should embrace democracy if the country is to be a major world power in the coming years. He also criticizes the United States-led war on terrorism, saying that the use of force to override terrorists overlooks the underlying problems that lead to terrorism.

September 2003 – Begins a 16-day tour of the United States in San Francisco. Other cities he visits include New York; Boston; Washington, DC; and Bloomington, Indiana, meeting again with Bush and Powell.

September 19-22, 2004 – Tours South Florida and gives a series of public and private lectures on peace and religious and cultural harmony. Lecture sites include University of Miami and Florida International University.

November 8, 2005 – Meets with Bush and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington, DC.

September 11, 2006 – Receives honorary Canadian citizenship in a ceremony at Vancouver’s GM Place Stadium.

February 5, 2007 – The Dalai Lama is named a presidential distinguished professor at Emory University in Atlanta.

June 22, 2007 – Appears in the documentary, “Ten Questions for the Dalai Lama,” a 2001 interview done in India that shows some of the life and teachings of the Dalai Lama.

October 9-31, 2007 – Visits North America. While in Washington, DC, he is awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by Bush. He later visits Emory University in Atlanta for a conference and installation as a presidential distinguished professor.

January 2008 – Calls for peaceful protests during the upcoming Beijing Olympics, to highlight the plight of Tibet.

March 18, 2008 – States during an interview that he would step down as leader of Tibetan exiles if violence in Tibet were to get out of control.

April 13, 2008 – Arrives in the US for a 10-day tour that makes stops in Seattle, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Hamilton, New York.

April 21, 2008 – The Dalai Lama is made an “honorary citizen” of Paris, over the objections of French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s political party.

May 23, 2008 – Meets with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London.

June 12, 2008 – Urges his supporters not to cause trouble when the Olympic torch passes through Tibet; he also reiterates a general plea for his supporters not to target the torch or the Olympic games.

October 6, 2009 – US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi awards the inaugural Lantos Human Rights Prize to the Dalai Lama, honoring his commitment to ending global injustices.

February 18, 2010 – Meets with US President Barack Obama at the White House.

March 10, 2011 – Announces plans to devolve political power to an elected leader of the Tibetan exile movement.

May 29, 2011 – Approves amendments to the exiled constitution, formally removing his political and administrative responsibilities.

July 16, 2011 – Meets with Obama at the White House.

May 14, 2012 – Accepts the Templeton Prize, an award worth £1.1 million ($1.77 million) that honors “outstanding individuals who have devoted their talents to expanding our vision of human purpose and ultimate reality.”

February 21, 2014 – Meets with Obama at the White House.

September 7, 2014 – The German newspaper Die Welt publishes an interview with the Dalai Lama in which he suggests ending the tradition of choosing a spiritual leader for the Tibetan people. The article sparks discussions about whether the Dalai Lama was declaring that he will not be reincarnated. He later clarifies his comments during an interview with the BBC, saying that it is “up to the Tibetan people” whether another Dalai Lama will arise after his death.

May 6, 2016 – The New York Times reports the launch of the Atlas of Emotions, a project commissioned by the Dalai Lama. Created by psychologist Paul Ekman for $750,000, it is reportedly a “map of emotions” that aims to help people find inner peace.

June 15, 2016 – Meets with Obama at the White House, his fourth meeting with the US president.

December 14, 2017 – Announces the release of the Dalai Lama app.

March 22, 2018 – Sonam Dagpo, spokesperson for the Central Tibetan Administration announces that the “His Holiness is invited to different countries but he has cut down public engagements because of age. He is exhausted after teaching for a long period of time. Therefore a few commitments have been canceled.”

April 9, 2019 – Aides announce that the Dalai Lama has been hospitalized with a chest infection, but is in stable condition. He is discharged two days later.

July 6, 2020 – Coinciding with his 85th birthday, the Dalai Lama releases an album of teaching and mantras accompanied by music titled “Inner World.”

April 10, 2023 – Apologizes after a video emerged showing the Dalai Lama kissing a boy on the lips and then asking him to “suck my tongue” at an event in northern India.

June 3, 2024 – According to a statement from the Dalai Lama’s office, the Dalai Lama will visit the US for medical treatment for his knee.

June 12, 2024 – The US House of Representatives passes a bill urging China to improve dialogue with the Dalai Lama.

March 11, 2025 – The Dalai Lama’s book “Voice for the Voiceless” is published.