India’s Worst Train Accident in 20 Years: Privileging Vanity over Safety

Enable GingerCannot connect to Ginger Check your internet connectionor reload the browserDisable in this text fieldRephraseRephrase current sentenceEdit in Ginger×THE three-train accident involving the Shalimar Coromandel Express, Yashwantpur Howrah Superfast Express and a goods train, is India's biggest train accident in the last 20 years. Confirmed deaths – as of June 7, 2023 – are 288 persons.The accident occurred near Balasore – Bahanaga Bazar Station – when the Coromandel Express from Howrah going towards Chennai crashed into a goods train.

Lessons of the Balasore Train Tragedy

THE horrific train crash on June 2 in Balasore district, Odisha has left the country, indeed the world, shocked. 288 persons were killed and over 1100 injured as one speeding train took a wrong line, crashed into a stationary goods train loaded with iron ore and derailed, causing some coaches of a third speeding train also to derail. Both trains were packed, among others, with migrant workers and families mainly travelling between West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.

The War in Ukraine is between NATO and Russia

IN the first half of this year, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has travelled to eleven countries, twice to two of them (France and the United Kingdom). Last year, in 2022, Zelensky only went to three countries (Germany, Poland, and the United States). This year’s trips began with a visit to the United Kingdom, where Zelensky addressed the UK’s parliament and visited Ukrainian troops who are training at Lulworth Camp in Dorset. After that, Zelensky went to several European capitals to seek weapons and political support against Russia.

Increasing Violence on Women in Tripura

THE All India Democratic Women’s Association, in a statement issued on June 5, has strongly condemned increasing instances of rape, gang rape and other kinds of violence on women in the BJP-ruled state of Tripura. It notes with concern that the Tripura state committee of AIDWA has recorded at least 12 instances of such violence in the period between April 15 and June 1, 2023 alone. More than half of the victims in these incidents were minor and young girls, two of them were tribal women and one a disabled woman.

Let Them Eat Fortified Rice...

THE 75th year of independence heard the announcement, from the ramparts of Red Fort, that poor Indian people were to be given rice fortified with iron and vitamins through the public distribution system (PDS), the school midday meals scheme and other government programmes. The ostensible reason for this declaration made in 2021, was the reduction of malnutrition and anaemia in the population out there.

US-China: Jaw-Jaw or Thaw-Thaw?

THE risk of conflict in the Western Pacific is growing as both China and America, along with their allies, raise the military stakes with the goal of outsmarting each other. Both Washington and Beijing are trying hard to keep their nerve while preparing for war. President Xi Jinping warned Chinese national security officials last week that they should prepare for the "worst-case" scenario and "stormy seas.”Last month, a Chinese naval vessel came within 150 yards of a US missile destroyer traversing the Taiwan Strait with a Canadian warship.

Kerala: K-FON Provides Free Internet to Economically Backward Families

The publicly owned K-FON was conceived to provide a free internet connection to 20 lakh BPL families to end the digital divide and ensure access to the internetEIGHT tribal families in the Panthalakudu Colony in Kaniyambetta village panchayat in Wayanad district have a high-speed internet connection at their homes. Around 2,000 families have the free connection, while 17,000 government offices are now connected to the facility.

Foodgrain Production Rising, But Procurement, PDS in Doldrums

It seems the government is moving toward diluting the subsidised foodgrain distribution.LAST week, the agriculture ministry announced that India is likely to achieve yet another record food grain harvest of 3,305 lakh tonnes (LT) in the current agricultural year. Nearly 150 LT more wheat and rice will be produced this year compared with last year.

RMT Expresses Condolences over India Railway Tragedy

National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers (RMT) has issued the following statement on June 3HUNDREDS of people have been killed in India following a massive train crash after the Coromandel Express, which runs from Kolkata in West Bengal to Chennai in Tamil Nadu, derailed at 80mph.Over 300 are reported dead with 900 injured with the casualty list expected to rise in the coming hours and days.RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “The thoughts of everyone within the RMT are with Indian railway workers, passengers and their bereaved families following this awful trage

Gruesome Train Accident Deep Grief at the Loss of Lives

Enable GingerCPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on June 3THE Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) expresses its deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their dear ones in this worst rail accident in recent times.

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