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Wither railway security: 4 train accidents within 12 hours on Friday left 7 dead

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The past year has seen a sharp increase in train derailments and accidents; a majority of them have been reported from Uttar Pradesh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have hastily replaced Suresh Prabhu with his close confidante, Piyush Goyal, as the Union railway minister in September this year following two major rail derailments that rocked India in quick succession, yet the change of guard has done little to prevent more tragedies from hitting Indian railway- the world’s largest railway network.

Between Thursday evening and Friday – in a span of just 12 hours – four train accidents left seven people dead and injured at least 11 others. Three of these accidents were reported from Uttar Pradesh – the state which has accounted for the maximum number of train derailment incidents this year – while one was reported from Odisha. There were two derailments, including the much publicised incident of the Vasco Da Gama Express near Manikpur station in Uttar Pradesh’s Chitrakoot district that killed three people early Friday morning, one incident of an engine decoupling from the wagon and a train hitting a car at an unmanned crossing.

The spate of accidents began at 7.19 pm on Thursday when a local train hit a Bolero vehicle at an unmanned crossing near Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, killing four people and injuring as many. The vehicle, packed with people belonging to a marriage party, was hit at Matha Bhusunda village under the Musafirkhana police station.

Then, at 4.18 am, 13 coaches of the Vasco Da Gama-Patna Express derailed near Manikpur in Uttar Pradesh, killing three people, including a six-year-old boy and his father, and injuring nine other passengers. The Patna-bound passenger train, which derailed soon after leaving the Manikpur Railway Station in Chitrakoot district, was moving slowly as a result of which casualties were less, officials said.

Then, less than two hours after the Manikpur derailment, a Paradeep-Cuttack goods train jumped the rails between Goraknath and Raghunathpur in Odisha at 5.55 am. While no deaths were reported, the down line was disrupted tillSaturday.

In the fourth incident, the engine of Jammu-Patna Archana Express separated from the train near Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. This happened twice. The engine first decoupled at around 2.35 am and was re-coupled within an hour following which railway personnel gave the train clearance for its onward journey at around 3.17 am. However, the engine and the first coach (same as earlier) separated again at around 5.25 am and were reattached at 6.05 am.

“After re-examination by staff and senior officials it was decided that the train should be given a new locomotive to ensure that such problem does not happen again,” a spokesperson for North Central Railway told news agency PTI. The train finally left at 7.25 am after security clearances were received. The official said some mail express trains and goods trains were delayed due to the incident.

The year 2017 has witnessed a series of train derailments, mostly having occurred in Uttar Pradesh, although in most cases incidents of passenger deaths were not reported.

On August 19, the derailment of the Utkal Express near Muzaffarnagar in UP had claimed 22 lives and left over 150 injured while over 100 people were injured when the Kaifiyat Express derailed in Auraiya district on August 23.

The two train tragedies had paved the exit of then Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu who Prime Minister Narendra Modi replaced with Piyush Goyal during a reshuffle of his council of ministers on September 3.

However, a mere change of guard in the railway top brass has not prevented rail derailments from continuing unabated at a time when the Prime Minister and the BJP are busy trying to showcase the proposed Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project in poll-bound Gujarat.

Under Goyal’s watch as railway minister, this is possibly the fourth derailment – the first in which passenger deaths have been reported. On September 7, the Ranchi-Delhi Rajdhani Express had derailed near Minto Bridge in New Delhi while seven coaches of the Shaktipunj Express had derailed in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district. No casualties were reported in either of these mishaps that happened within hours of each other. On September 14, hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project, one coach of the Jammu-New Delhi Rajdhani Express had derailed at the New Delhi railway station.

In November last year, the Indore-Patna Express had derailed in Pokhrayan near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, killing over 150 people.

-With inputs from PTI[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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3 dead, 9 hospitalised after gas leak at fertiliser plant in Maharashtra

According to police, the explosion released toxic chemical fumes.

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Three individuals, including two women, lost their lives and nine others were hospitalised following a gas leak caused by an explosion in a reactor at a fertiliser plant in Maharashtra’s Sangli district, an official said on Friday.

The incident occurred at approximately 6:30 PM on Thursday at the Myanmar Chemical Company, located in Shalgaon MIDC within Kadegaon tehsil.

Sangli Superintendent of Police Sandip Ghuge stated that the gas is suspected to be ammonia.

According to police, the explosion released toxic chemical fumes. “Approximately 12 people in the facility were affected and subsequently taken to the hospital. Tragically, two female workers and a security guard have died, while nine others are currently receiving treatment,” stated Sangram Shewale, Senior Inspector at Kadegaon police station.

Seven of the injured individuals have been admitted to Sahyadri Hospital in Karad, with five of them in critical condition in the ICU.

The deceased women have been identified as Suchita Uthale (50) from Yetgaon in Sangli district and Neelam Rethrekar (26) from Masur in Satara district, PTI reported.

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Ahead of Delhi Elections, Arvind Kejriwal launches Revdi Par Charcha campaign to seek feedback on freebies

Arvind Kejriwal said 65,000 meetings will be held across Delhi at micro levels by the AAP leaders and workers.

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Ahead of Delhi Elections, Arvind Kejriwal launches Revdi Par Charcha campaign to seek feedback on freebies

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday launched a campaign with a tagline Revdi Par Charcha to seek public feedback on freebies. The campaign comes ahead of the assembly elections, which is scheduled to be held in February.

Former Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal launched the campaign with his colleagues at the party office, saying while the opposition calls freebies as revdi, the party calls it services. This campaign will start on November 25 and will continue for 15 days until December 10, discussing the issues with common man.

Notably, the opposition has been targeting the AAP for providing free electricity, water and free public buses for women among other facilities. However, AAP feels freebies help citizens live a life of dignity.

Gopal Rai, AAP’s Delhi unit chief, said that so far, politicians used to enjoy the facilities, while citizens paid taxes. He continued that Arvind Kejriwal’s government decided that the people should also get the facilities like the politicians, adding the BJP called their attempt revdis. He said that AAP is launching the ‘Revdi Par Charcha’ campaign to discuss with the people in the city if the government should provide the facilities or not.

Launching the campaign, Arvind Kejriwal said 65,000 meetings will be held across Delhi at micro levels by the AAP leaders and workers. He said that AAP has six revdis for the people of Delhi. Mentioning that the Prime Minister and BJP have said several times that Kejriwal is providing freebies to the people that should be stopped, the former Chief Minister said that now people will now tell them if they want these six freebies.  He further concluded that if the BJP is elected here, they will stop these services immediately.

While listing the six services, the AAP national convenor said that Delhi is getting free electricity round the clock. He added that there was a time when Delhi used to see power cuts for 8-10 hours, but AAP ensured that the situation changed. He also noted that his party is providing free water, free pilgrimage to senior citizens, free bus rides to women, free world-class education and free medicine and treatments. Additionally, the pamphlet launched by Arvind Kejriwal also listed that soon the women in Delhi will get Rs 1,000 per month as well, later termed as the seventh revdi by the former Chief Minister.

Reports said that the paper will be circulated across the national capital. The paper also reads that if the reader feels they are getting huge water bills, they should not pay it. It mentioned that AAP will waive all water bills once Arvind Kejriwal is re-elected.

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Rahul Gandhi says air pollution in North India a national emergency, tourism declining, global reputation crumbling

“We need a collective national response, not political blame games,” the Congress leader said on his X handle.

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Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the air pollution in North India is a national emergency that needs a collective national response and not a political blame game. The Congress leader added that due to air pollution tourism is declining and “our global reputation is crumbling”.

It is a public health crisis that is stealing children’s future and suffocating the elderly, Gandhi said, adding an environmental and economic disaster that is ruining countless lives.

“As Parliament meets in a few days, MPs will all be reminded of the crisis by our irritated eyes and sore throats. It is our responsibility to come together and discuss how India can end this crisis once and for all,” the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha said.

The former Congress chief said the poorest “among us suffer the most”, unable to escape the toxic air surrounding them. Families are gasping for clean air, children are falling sick, and millions of lives are being cut short, he added.

The Rae Bareli MP noted that the pollution cloud covers hundreds of kilometres. He said cleaning it up will require major changes and decisive action from governments, companies, experts, and citizens.

“We need a collective national response, not political blame games,” the Congress leader said on his X handle.

Gandhi also shared a video on a social media platform where he discussed the capital’s air pollution with environmentalist expert Vimalendu Jha. In the video, the Congress leader said he has been facing eye-burning and breathing issues and how the last week in Delhi has been terrible.

He said, “I tell my mother to leave town this month.” Jha explains to Gandhi that the sources of air pollution in Delhi are episodic and perennial. Episodic sources are firecrackers and stubble burning, which affect the month of November. “Vehicular contributes 50 per cent of Delhi’s pollution and construction-related roadside dust is another 30 per cent,” Jha said.

The Air Quality Index in Delhi has been severe since November 16, making it five consecutive days till Wednesday. On November 15, the average AQI was 396 (very poor).

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