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Two dead, 12 injured in stampede at Bengal railway foot-overbridge

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Only four days after the Amritsar train tragedy, two people were killed and a dozen others, including two children, were injured in a stampede at a railway foot-overbridge at Santragachhi station in Howrah on Tuesday, police said.

At least 59 people were killed when a train crushed them as they were watching Dusshera celebrations in Punjab’s Amritsar on Friday.

“Two people were killed and 12 others injured in the incident. Two persons are critical, and one of them is in in the ICU, and we are shifting the other one to the SSKM hospital,” said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who rushed to the spot as also the Howrah General Hospital where the injured were being treated.

She said the other injured people were stable.

The railways claimed that the tragedy happened around 6 pm due to overcrowding on the foot-overbridge as four trains had just left the station and four others were about to leave.

“Presence of passengers of eight trains at a time resulted in heavy rush at the foot overbridge,” a South Eastern Railway release said.

Earlier, a railway spokesperson told IANS the commuters hurriedly tried to cross the foot-overbridge between two platforms following an announcement of two trains coming simultaneously on two adjacent tracks.

Banerjee claimed arrival of an express train was also announced.

The railways have decided to hold a detailed inquiry to find out whether there was some lapse on its part and to prevent a recurrence, a senior official said.

The railways would provide Rs 5 lakh to the families of the deceased, Rs 1 lakh for the seriously injured and Rs 50 thousand for those with minor injuries.

Banerjee also announced there would be an administrative probe, and said her government would give a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the nearest kin of the deceased, and Rs 1 lakh to each of the seriously injured.

She alleged the announcement regarding change of platforms for arriving trains was announced at the last minutes.

“The incident happened in the premises of Indian Railways. They will be able to say why they made public announcements of so many trains simultaneously.”

Banerjee alleged there was lack of coordination on the part of railway, compromising the security of innocent people.

“Security of people should not be compromised, and railway should take proper care of the people. Railway is the lifeline of the country, it should not be derailed,” she said.

One of the survivors, who had jumped from the overbridge to the platform and escaped with a leg injury, said after the overbridge got overcrowded, police and civic volunteers prevented people from getting down to platform number two. “This caused the incident”.

Sharing her ordeal, an injured victim said: “I couldn’t move and hurt my feet. Police tried to control the crowd but it was unmanageable.”

“It is very difficult for the daily passengers. Whenever a train comes, the footbridge becomes overcrowded and today there was a stampede,” a passenger said.

IANS

Goyal announces Rs 5 lakh compensation for Howrah stampede victims

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Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh to those injured in a stampede at a railway foot overbridge at Santragachhi station in Howrah.

Goyal in a statement said, “Railways would give ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of every deceased, Rs 1 lakh would be given to the grievously injured and Rs 50,000 to those who suffered simple injuries.”

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who visited the hospital where the injured were being treated, earlier announced a compensation of Rs five lakh each to the families of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh each to the injured.

At least two people died and over dozen others injured including two children on Tuesday evening in a stampede at Satrangachhi station.

Railway Ministry spokeserson Smita Vats said, “The incident happened around 6 p.m. at a foot overbridge due to over crowding.”

She said that the incident happened due to arrival of three trains in a short interval of time.

The stampede occurred around 6 p.m. when the passengers hurriedly tried to cross the foot overbridge between two platforms following an announcement of three trains coming simultaneously on two adjacent tracks.

The mishap occurred just four days after 59 people were killed when a train crushed them as they stood on rail tracks watching Ravana effigies go up in flames during Dussehra celebrations in Amritsar.

IANS

CBI director asked to go on leave, moves SC

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In a post-midnight drama, the Centre on Wednesday virtually sacked CBI Director Alok Verma in the midst of the war at the agency’s top, a decision that came under all-round fire from the opposition who termed it “the last nail in the independence” of the organisation. Verma moved the Supreme Court, which will hear his plea on Friday.

Verma who has two more months as the Central Bureau of Investigation chief and cannot be removed formally. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), which took the decision on Verma, also asked Joint Director M. Nageshwar Rao to “look after the duties and functions of the CBI Director”.

An official order said the arrangement would continue “during the period of the subsistence of the aforesaid interim measure”, as the rift between Verma and CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana escalated over bribery allegations.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will hear Verma’s plea challenging the Centre’s order asking him to proceed on leave on October 26.

“The Modi government buries the last nail into the independence of CBI. Systematic dismantling and denigrating of CBI is now complete. Once a premier investigating agency, PM ensures that CBI’s integrity, credibility and reliability is buried and dead.

“PM Modi seeks to achieve surreptitiously and clandestinely what he can’t do directly to sack the CBI Director. Habitual and perpetual misuse of CBI by Modi government and BJP to tamper fair investigation of serious criminal cases is the reason for this unfathomable mess,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said in a series of tweets.

The Prime Minister has demonstrated “the true colour of his infamous Modi Made Gujarat Model by this cloak-and-dagger mugging of the CBI, the Congress said. Surjewala asked whether the CBI director was “sacked” for his keenness to probe the layers of “corruption in Rafale Scam”.

“Isn’t the rest a shoddy cover up? Let PM answer!” he tweeted.

Aam Aadmi Party supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said: “What are the reasons for sending CBI director on leave? Under which law did the Modi government get the authority to initiate action against the chief of an investigating agency appointed as per the Lokpal Act? What is the Modi government trying to hide?”

“The illegal removal of CBI chief by the Modi government to protect their own handpicked officer, against whom serious charges of corruption are being investigated, points to attempts at a serious cover-up to protect his direct links to the BJP’s top political leadership,” Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury said.

“To ensure that the CBI is not a caged parrot, Supreme Court had granted protection to the Chief from government’s whims and fancies by giving him a two-year tenure. What is Modi government trying to hide by its panic move? #BJPCorruption,” the Left leader added.

The decision came after Asthana was divested of all supervisory charges on Tuesday. The government appeared to be peeved over the war at the top in the country’s premiere probe agency and took the action as he could not be sacked straight away.

Verma was appointed as CBI Director for two years and his tenure ends in December.

The CBI on Tuesday also suspended its Deputy Superintendent of Police Devender Kumar, who was arrested on Monday on the charge of falsification of records while probing allegations against meat exporter Moin Qureshi. It also added five new sections into the existing bribery FIR lodged against its Special Director.

Kumar is an Investigating Officer in a case against Qureshi, who is facing multiple cases of money laundering and corruption. A trial court on Tuesday sent Kumar to CBI custody for seven days.

Asthana, a 1984 batch Indian Police Service officer of the Gujarat cadre, is accused of accepting a bribe of Rs 2 crore from a Hyderabad-based businessman Sathish Babu Sana who was under probe in the Qureshi case in order to “wreck” the investigation.

The case was being examined by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Asthana. The CBI has said that there was “no change in responsibilities” of the the second-in-command so far.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on Wednesday said Verma’s plea would be taken up on October 26 after his counsel pressed for an urgent hearing on the midnight order issued against the central probe agency’s chief following an escalation of rift between the top officials at the organisation over bribery charges.

Kerala MLAs’ Rs 80 cr apartment rebuilding comes under fire

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As Kerala continues to seek funds to rebuild the state in the aftermath of the worst disaster it faced in a century, a proposed Rs 80 crore apartment complex for state legislators, has come under fire.

The proposed plan is to demolish an old building in the Legislators Complex located in the heart of the capital city and build a multi-storeyed housing complex in its place.

Senior Congress leader and former Kerala Speaker V.M.Sudheeran said while there was no doubt that legislators should get facilities to improve their efficiency, the timing of going ahead with the multi crore project was “shocking”.

“At the state’s worst ever crisis, after the floods brought in untold miseries and sufferings, the entire efforts and funds should be diverted to rebuild our state, as thousands of people are suffering.

“I will not say this project should be shelved, but it should not happen now,” Sudheeran told the media here.

According to estimates the floods that ravaged the state has caused a destruction of over Rs 40,000 crore and the Pinarayi Vijayan government has given a clarion call to all to contribute one month’s salary for rebuilding operations.

This apartment rebuilding proposal was mooted during the previous Oommen Chandy government, and the Vijayan government has taken it forward.

Academic and former chairman of the Kerala State Finance Commission B.A. Prakash told the media when the state was reeling for want of funds it was not right for an elected government to go ahead with this project at this time.

“In the larger interest of the state, especially when the urgency is to rebuild the state in the aftermath of the floods, the legislators can wait for some time,” said Prakash.

Following the media taking it up, Kerala Assembly Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan has asked the concerned authorities to go slow with the project.

Facebook introduces simplified version of Messenger

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In a move to declutter Messenger, Facebook has started rolling out a new version of the text and video chap app — Messenger 4 that brings down the number of tabs from nine to three.

“Messenger 4 will gradually roll out globally over the coming weeks,” Stan Chudnovsky, Vice President of Messenger, said in a statement on Tuesday.

The “Chats” tab includes the conversations — both one-to-one and groups. Messenger 4 will have visual communication features like camera at the top so that users can easily capture and share selfies.

Tapping into Messenger 4’s “People” tab will help its 1.3 billion monthly users find friends, catch up on people’s Stories, and see everyone who is active at that time.

Then it has the “Discover” tab, where one can connect with businesses to get the latest deals, play games, book their next vacation, follow the news and more.

“Messenger 4 has another way to personalise your conversations with a small but delightful update to chat customisations called colour gradients. With this feature, you can now use multiple colours to customise your chat bubbles in conversations,” Chudnovsky said.

To help users get used to changes, Facebook said it would roll out Messenger 4 in phases.

“We have a handful of new features we’re planning to introduce in the near future, like Dark Mode, a re-skinned interface that cuts down on the glare from your phone,” Chudnovsky said

IANS

Class 4 Telangana student killed in fight with senior

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A Class 4 student died in a fight with a Class 10 student at a hostel in Telangana’s Khammam district, police said on Wednesday.

Nine-year-old D. Joseph was found dead with bleeding injuries on Tuesday evening at the government-run tribal welfare residential school in Khammam town, about 200 km from here.

Preliminary investigations by the police revealed that the boy died during a fight with the senior student, aged 15.

The accused allegedly hit Joseph with a trunk box on his head and other body parts, resulting in his spot death.

Since the residential school runs classes up to fourth, the accused was studying in a private school but was staying at the same premises.

Both the students said to have went around the town on a bicycle since morning.

On their return to the hostel, they had a fight over some issue. The elder one thrashed the younger severely causing him to bleed to death.

The hostel warden or any staff member was said to have not been around when the incident happened. Alerted about the body of a student lying in the hostel, the warden called the police.

The incident triggered tension in the area as the relatives of the deceased and leaders of students’ groups ransacked the premises. They demanded action against the hostel warden for his negligence and justice for the deceased’s family.

Police shifted Joseph’s body for autopsy and launched an investigation.

IANS

Rs 140 cr theft reported in UP

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A theft of Rs 140 crore worth of gold and jewels has been reported to a Kanpur police station by a Uttar Pradesh jeweller, police said on Wednesday.

The complaint was registered by a jeweller who has a shop on Birhana Road. The shop was closed down five years back following a dispute between business partners.

Superintendent of Police (East) Raj Kumar Agarwal said a probe is on.

The police said they were checking CCTV footage of the shops and business establishments around the jewellery store.

The shop where the alleged theft was reported was an equal partner shop that was closed on May 30, 2013 after the dispute, an official said.

A court here had sometime back ordered the shop to be opened by the police in presence of both partners.

However, the alleged theft took place just before it could be reopened.

In the police complaint, it has been alleged that 10,000 carats of diamonds, 500 kg of silver, 100 kg gold, and jewels worth 5,000 carat and some important business related documents.

Markets open on high note

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The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) on Wednesday opened on a positive note during the morning session of the trade.

The Sensex of the BSE opened at 34,203.70 points, touched a high of 34.300.97 and a low of 34,164.60 after closing on Tuesday at 33,847.23 points.

The Sensex is trading at 34,213.15 points up by 365.92 points or 1.08 per cent.

On the other hand, the broader 50-scrip Nifty at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) opened at 10,278.15 points after closing at 10,16.80 points on Tuesday.

The Nifty is trading at 10,272.20 points in the morning.

Pakistan arrests 16 Indian fishermen

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The Pakistani authorities detained 16 Indian fishermen on Tuesday for alleged violation of the country’s maritime boundary, security officials said.

The Maritime Security Agency (MSA) said that three boats of the fishermen were also seized during the operation in open sea for violating the Pakistan’s coastal territory.

The arrested fishermen were handed over to police for legal proceedings, Xinhua reported.

Pakistan and India routinely arrest fishermen on charges of entering each other’s waters as the maritime boundaries between the two countries were poorly defined and many fishing boats lack technologies on locating their precise places.

I am puzzled by US’ unprovoked moves: Putin

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The President of Russia met on Tuesday with the United States’ national security advisor on the second day of the latter’s visit to Moscow and told him that his government was puzzled by the US’ moves such as withdrawing from a Cold War-era nuclear arms control pact, which he said were hard to describe as friendly.

NSA John Bolton was on a two-day visit to meet with Russian authorities after President Donald Trump announced the US was unilaterally pulling out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty signed in 1987 by then-President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, Efe reported.

Vladimir Putin spoke first at the meeting with Bolton and said he would like to discuss various arms control issues, including Trump’s intention to pull the US out of the INF.

“In all honesty, we are puzzled to see the United States’ unprovoked moves that are hard to call friendly,” Putin said.

Putin also alluded to the US coat of arms showing a bald eagle holding a bundle of 13 arrows in one talon and an olive branch with 13 olives in the other and playfully asked Bolton if the eagle had “eaten all the olives”.

“I hope to bring some answers to you, but I haven’t brought any olives,” Bolton replied.

Earlier in the day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had told reporters that there were currently no prospects for a new deal to replace the INF and stressed the “dangerous position” of giving up the INF treaty without an alternative in sight.

Bolton, on the other hand, underlined the importance of maintaining a dialogue open between Washington and Moscow regardless of current differences.

IANS

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