Six persons died on Wednesday after nine coaches and the engine of an express train heading to New Delhi from Malda town in West Bengal derailed here in Uttar Pradesh, a railway official said.

Two passengers trapped in the bogies were feared dead, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Anand Kumar said. Heavy duty gas cutters were being used to extricate the bodies and all those still trapped in the damaged coaches.

The senior Railway Ministry official earlier told IANS that five coaches and the engine of the New Farakka Express derailed near Harchandpur in Rae Bareli around 6.05 a.m.

He later put the toll at six and added that four more coaches had derailed. More than 60 people have been inured and rushed the district hospital in Rae Bareli.

The death toll was expected to rise as several have been critically injured.

Rescue operations were being handled by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams from Allahabad and Varanasi, who were rushed to the scene of the accident, the official added. An NDRF team from Lucknow was expected shortly.

At least 13 trains have been diverted or short terminated following the accident.

Addition Chief Secretary (Information) Avaneesh Awasthi said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was apprised of the situation. He has spoken to the district officials and senior police officers.

The authorities have been directed to ensure prompt relief and rescue operations.

Chairman of the Railway Board Ashwani Lohani would be visiting the accident site.

According to the passengers, the train derailed after a loud noise. People from nearby villages were first responders on the accident site.

IANS

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday asked the security agencies to adopt new technology and seek global coordination to ensure safety of the nation’s aviation industry.

He warned that terrorists were resorting to innovative methods and looking to hit the global civil aviation industry.

He mentioned the incident of 2009 “underwear bomber” who tried to blow up Amsterdam-Detroit flight. He added that the security of 40 small airports and heliports in India must be ensured.

“I advise all stakeholders in the aviation sector, especially the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and the CISF, to use new technology and ensure a judicious blend of trained human resources and modern security infrastructure,” the Minister said here at a two-day International Aviation Security Seminar.

Referring to threats to the aviation sector, Singh said, “Civil aviation security continues to be an extremely challenging task, as the sector remains an important target for terror outfits. The terrorists always look for opportunities where they can draw the maximum attention and media coverage.”

Advocating global best practices in the aviation security, the Minister said that India should “adhere to stricter implementation of internationally-agreed guidelines and norms”.

He said that introduction of updated, advanced technology in all airport processes would enhance security capabilities. “The governments and aviation agencies have to increasingly think about newer methods to tackle conventional and unconventional threats.”

“The Brussels and Istanbul airport attacks (in 2016) have shown the vulnerability of airports, and they highlight new threats to aviation facilities. There have been several terror attacks on the aviation sector, the most devastating being the September 2001 attack (in the US) that shocked the world…”, he said.

India has witnessed a massive expansion in the aviation sector, Singh said, adding that “we have been constantly upgrading our security strategies and ensured their alignment with the changing threat perception.”

IANS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday unveiled a statue of popular farmer leader from the Jat community Sir Chhotu Ram in Haryana’s Rohtak district.

The 64-foot statue of Sir Chhotu Ram, a well-known leader of the pre-independence era, has been put up in Sampla town, around 65 km from Delhi.

The function was attended by Haryana Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya, Himachal Pradesh Governor Acharya Devvrat and Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik, besides Union Minister Piyush Goyal and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

Union Minister for Steel Birender Singh, who is also a Jat leader from Haryana and grandson of Sir Chhotu Ram, was also present.

Modi also visited a museum dedicated to Chhotu Ram. It houses items and collection of pictures related to the peasant leader.

IANS

By : PRAMESH S JAIN

Two big fish of Government in ACB Net,ACB raids KIADB, BDA officials,Rs 5 crore cash, 4 kg gold seized in raid on officials:

A first big raid by ACB sleuths after it established by Karnataka state government.

In its first of its kind a major haul, by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) after it started by the government the raided premises linked to two officials in Bengaluru.T.R.Swamy,Chief Development Officer, Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) and N.G. Gowdaiah, Engineer Officer–5, Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and recovered Rs.4.52 crore and Rs.75 lakh cash, respectively from their residences.

The raids, conducted by eight teams, began at 6 am at eight locations in Bengaluru and two in Tumakuru district. Swamy’s flat on the 15th floor of Mantri Greens complex in Malleswaram, Gowdaiah’s residence in Basaveshwaranagar, their offices and houses of their relatives were raided in Bengaluru and Tumakuru district.

A total of eight locations in Bengaluru and two locations in neighbouring Tumakuru district were raided by eight separate teams.The raids were in connection of top bosses of the Bangalore Development Authority and Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board.

The accused officials are NG Gowdaiah, Engineer Officer-5, BDA and TR Swamy, Chief Development Officer, KIADB, the ACB said in a release.

Accused official NG Gowdaiah was under the scanner of Karnataka Lokayukta he was arrested on corruption charges.The raid took place 3 years back.

Reports says the Unaccounted wealth, including Rs 5.27 crore in cash and 4.6 kg of gold with demonetised currency notes with foreign currency and costly watches,were seized from the houses of two state government officials here Friday in raids, the Anti Corruption Bureau said.

Based on inputs,IGP,ACB,Chandrashekar and SP,ACB, Ramnivas Sepat and their eight teams carried out a raid simultaneously at eight properties of an engineer of Bengaluru Development Authority N G Gowdaiah and a top official of the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board T R Swamy.

The raid on Gowdaiah’s house yielded documents relating to the purchase of two houses, eight plots,14 apartments and Rs 30 lakh as bank deposits,it said in a release.

In addition to this, three kg of gold, 10 kg of silver, three cars, three bikes, Rs 75 lakh in cash and Rs 4.5 kg of gold ornaments were seized, the release said.

The raid on Swamy’s residence revealed papers relating to purchase of eight houses in the name of his family members and close relatives,10 plots and a 10-acre farmland.

The ACB seized 1.6 kg gold and three cars from his residence.

The raids witnessed high drama as T.R. Swamy reportedly refused to open the door of his flat on the 14th floor of a high-rise apartment complex in Malleswaram.Our sleuths were made to wait for about 45 minutes.Sensing trouble, they had positioned themselves on the ground floor facing the window of his flat. Officials recovered bags someone threw out of the flat. The bags had wads of cash and some documents, said M.Chandra Sekhar, IGP, ACB.

ACB sleuths said they raided KIADB’s Chief Development Officer TR Swamy’s 15th floor apartment in Mantri Greens complex in Malleshwaram and BDA chief engineer Gowdaiah’s residence in Basaveshwaranagar.The other locations included houses owned by relatives of both the officers.

An ACB source told media persons that We have unearthed lakhs of unaccounted cash.TR Swamy was trying to get rid of the unaccounted cash when the ACB team went to raid his apartment. He was throwing a bag out the window when the officials broke the door and entered the apartment in Mantri Greens. One bag had fallen on a ground floor which we recovered.

Reacting to Friday’s raids,Minister for IT, BT and Biotechnology KJ George told media persons ,The ACB officers are doing their job.They will take action once the probe is complete.Let them do their job. Yes, the officers are from my department, but they were in that department even before I became the minister. The ACB will take action if necessary.”

Recently, three officials of the Revenue Department were booked by the ACB. The ACB reports directly to the CM’s office and came into existence at the time of former CM Siddaramaiah’s tenure at the expense of the Karnataka Lokayukta’s independent investigative powers.

On March 9, ACB had raided 36 properties, including offices of nine government officials in Bengaluru, Kolar, Ramanagara, Hassan, Chikkamagaluru and Udupi.

At that time, other than cash, investigators also discovered property documents relating to disproportionate assets.

Reportedly, P Vijaykumar, assistant engineer, rural drinking water subdivision in Koppal, had flushed down Rs 5 lakh in cash keeping the officials waiting at the door.

In March alone, the ACB registered 34 cases of corruption under Prevention of Corruption Act.

Under attack over its decision to hold by-elections in three Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka with only months to go for general elections, the Election Commission on Tuesday defended itself saying vacancies in Shimoga, Mandya and Bellary (ST) seats occurred more than one year ahead of the end of the tenure of the House.

In a press release, the Commission referred to news reports that while it had announced by-elections in Karnataka, it had not done so for the five Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh.

The statement said vacancies from Bellary (ST), Shimoga and Mandya occurred between May 18 and 21 whereas vacancies from the five parliamentary constituencies from Andhra Pradesh occurred on June 20.

Section 151A of the Representation of the People Act mandates the Election Commission to fill the casual vacancies in Parliament and Assemblies through by-elections within six months from the date of the vacancy, provided the remainder of the term of a member in relation to a vacancy is one year or more.

The term of the 16th Lok Sabha is up to June 3, 2019. As the vacancies from Karnataka have occurred more than one year before the expiration of the term of House, the by-elections are required to be held within six months.

In the case of vacancies from Andhra Pradesh, there was no need to hold by-elections as the remaining term of the Lok Sabha was less than one year from the date of occurrence of vacancies: June 20.

Former Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and a Congress leader in Karnataka have questioned the need for the Lok Sabha by-elections with only a few months to go for the general elections.

IANS

CPI-M legislator Mukesh, a popular Malayalam actor, was on Tuesday accused by a woman of harassment. He has denied the allegation.

The woman revealed her experience on Twitter, claiming she was 20 years old and was quiz directing “Koteeswaran” when host Mukesh Kumar telephoned her room multiple times and then had her room changed besides his own.

She said her then boss, Derek O’Brien, spoke to her for an hour and got her out on the next flight. “19 years on, thank you Derek,” read the tweet.

When a Twitter user asked her if the person was actor-politician Mukesh, she confirmed it was him.

Mukesh, who won the 2016 Assembly elections for the first time on CPI-M ticket, has said he does not remember such a woman and denied the allegation.

“Maybe this could be a conspiracy against me to see I resign as MLA,” said Mukesh.

Kollam district Congress President M. Bindukrishna has demanded Mukesh’s resignation from the Assembly.

CPI-M State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the matter must be examined according to the law while P.K. Sreemathy, the Kannur CPI-M Lok Sabha member, said she will react once she finds out more details.

IANS

Declaring that the Congress will form the next government in Rajasthan, party President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not waived a single penny of farmers’ loans.

Addressing a rally in Dholpur, the home turf of BJP Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, he said Modi did not utter a word on farmers’ loans.

“A month before the elections, Raje said she will give free electricity to the farmers. I want to ask her what was she doing since the past four-and-a-half years,” Gandhi said.

“Your Prime Minister has not waived even a single penny of the farmers’ loans. When the opposition demands he waive off the loans, he does not utter a word.”

He also attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government over the Rafale deal saying Modi gave the contract to a private company and not to a state-run entity “which generate jobs for thousands of engineers”.

He also declared that the Congress was going to form the new government in the state as its cadres were working hard and together to win.

“The Congress is going to form a government here — a government which will be of the poor, farmers, small businessmen, youths and party workers.

“Last time, I know the ministers did not pay much attention to the demands raised by the workers but I will assure you this time the doors of the Chief Minister and Ministers will be open for both the general public and the party workers. The party is working hard and together to win,” he added.

Assembly elections in Rajasthan will take place in a single phase on December 7.

The term of the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly is set to expire on January 20, 2019.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi Tuesday said demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax, which he referred to as Gabbar Singh Tax, had destroyed India’s economy.

Addressing a rally in Dholpur’s Mania area, Gandhi said the prime minister had declared during elections that he wanted to be a ‘chowkidar’ but never clarified who he wanted to guard. The Congress president alleged that he benefited 15-20 industrialists of the country instead of farmers.

According to Gandhi, the former UPA government led by his party had waived farmers’ loans worth Rs. 70,000 crore. But bad debt worth Rs. 3.5 lakh crore was written off by the present government and the prime minister did not help farmers with even a one rupee waiver, he alleged.

Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to the state, named several industrialists, including Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Lalit Modi and Anil Ambani, and said the PM benefited them but did not take care of farmers and youths.

Gandhi claimed the government had destroyed the country’s economy with decisions like demonetisation and GST. Modi, he said, benefited his industrialist friend in Rafale deal and did not speak a single word when he raised the matter in Parliament.

The Congress president said the Centre and state governments worked against people, small scale business, farmers, women and youths.

The former UPA government introduced several schemes and programmes for the poor, including MGNREGA. Moreover, the former Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan had brought free medicines schemes but the BJP governments had weakened them and worked against the people, Gandhi said.

The Congress chief, who is holding a 150 km road show in eastern Rajasthan, will visit Bikaner Wednesday. Elections in Rajasthan will be held on December 7.

PTI

Six employees were killed and 14 others injured Tuesday in a blast at the Bhilai Steel Plant of state-owned SAIL in Chhattisgarh’s Durg district, police said.

The explosion took place around 11 am in a gas pipeline connected to the coke oven section of the plant in Bhilai town, located around 30 km away from the capital, Inspector General of Police (Durg Range) G P Singh told PTI.

“At least six people were burnt to death while 14 others received injuries and most of them were said to be in a serious condition,” he said. As per preliminary information, over 24 employees were working at the spot when the accident occurred, he said.

Police personnel and a rescue team rushed to the spot, he said, adding that all the victims were being taken to a local hospital. Rescue operation was still underway at the plant, operated by the state-run Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in June dedicated the modernised and expanded Bhilai Steel Plant to the nation.

As per SAIL’s website, the Bhilai Steel Plant is India’s sole producer and supplier of world class rails for the Indian Railways, including 260 metre long rails, and a major producer of a large variety of wide and heavy steel plates and structural steel.

With an annual production capacity of 3.153 MT of saleable steel, the plant also specialises in other products such as wire rods and merchant products.