Overview
- Twenty-five people were killed and six injured in the Birch by Romeo Lane blaze in Arpora, with police arresting four club managers and issuing warrants for the owners under culpable homicide and negligence charges.
- Goa’s chief minister cited electric pyrotechnics as the preliminary trigger and officials reported most deaths from smoke inhalation, while investigators probe missing fire alarms, crowding and permit compliance.
- The state suspended three officials linked to past permissions, ordered sector-wide safety audits within a week and formed a special committee, as compensation was announced by Goa (₹5 lakh for each deceased, ₹50,000 for the injured) and the PMO (₹2 lakh and ₹50,000).
- Post-mortems and identification continue with several bodies handed to families, including repatriations to Jharkhand, and a performer’s account described panic after sudden ignition and a narrow escape.
- Separately in Lok Sabha, the Prime Minister led a ‘Vande Mataram’ anniversary debate accusing Congress of diminishing the song in 1937, drawing rebuttals from opposition leaders including Congress, Akhilesh Yadav and Mamata Banerjee, with related discussions scheduled in both Houses.