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Showing posts with label India News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label India News. Show all posts

7 Elephants Killed by Goods Train Accident in West Bengal

Category: , , , By News Updates
Train Accident News Updates! In a tragic accident, seven elephants were killed when a goods train hit a herd of about 15 as it was crossing railway tracks in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district.

Five elephants died on the spot, two later. The incident took place at around 11 pm on Wednesday night. The elephants were crossing from the Moraghat to the Reti Bandapani forest via an often used corridor when the train rammed into them.

"One of the elephants got stuck in the cow catcher in front of the train and it was dragged by more than 200 metres along the railway track and I've been told that many of the fishplates and couplings of the track got severely damaged. So you can imagine what was the impact," said AK Raha the Principal conservator of forests, West Bengal.

Among the dead were three female elephants, one male, one juvenile and two calves.

The Forest Department has filed an FIR against the railways alleging the train was running at about 70 km per hour. But the Railways refuse to take the blame.

"We told them two days ago there was a big elephant herd roaming about in the area but they did nothing about it. They should have realized the elephants may come this way," said Sachidanand Singh the District Railways Manager of Alipurduar Northeast Frontier Railways.

Such accidents have been spiraling in the area since 2003 when rail tracks were upgraded from meter gauge to broad gauge and more goods trains diverted on this route. Though, the Forest department wants a speed limit of 20 to 40 km per hour for trains but that hasn't happened.

"We have been told by the DRM in the past that we cannot do it on our own. The instruction for speed limit should come from the Railways board. These are policy decisions. Unless they receive the orders, they cannot do it," added A K Raha.

With no solution available for the problem, elephant herds roaming the area remain vulnerable.

 

Fire destroys bus depot in Kolkata

Category: , By News Updater
Kolkata: Kolkata continued to play with fire when the record room of the West Bengal government-run Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC) was destroyed in a blaze on Sunday. A state minister later called it a case of sabotage.

"At a time when the government is trying to revive the loss-making transport corporation, comes this fire. This is a clear case of sabotage. During the previous regime, a huge amount of money had been siphoned off from the CSTC, and to prevent this scam from getting known, this blaze has occurred," said Transport Minister Madan Mitra.

The minister has also announced setting up of a three-member probe team to look into the matter.

"The record room is just beside the CITU (Centre of Indian Trade Unions) office and the day we were to make a surprise visit here comes this fire. A three-member team has been ordered to probe the matter and submit its report within 72 hours," added Mr Mitra.

He also said that no union office will be allowed within the vicinity of a transport corporation office or depot.

The fire which broke out at the CSTC depot in Belghoria in the north of the city was doused after an hour. Four fire tenders were pressed into service. No injury has been reported. A large portion of the record room was damaged. The CITU office was also partially burnt.

Sunday's incident is the latest in Kolkata. On March 21, a blaze broke out at the emergency department of the SSKM Hospital - the largest state-run referral hospital in West Bengal.

Kolkata has also witnessed two big fire tragedies in the past two years. Ninety-four people died when a fire broke out at the AMRI Hospital in the city Dec 9, 2011. On March 23, 2010, a fire broke out at the 150-year-old Stephens Court building, in which 24 people were killed -- another 13 yet remain untraced.
 

Black money funds political parties: Rahul Bajaj

Category: , , By Echo
"Where does the political party gets its funds from? Come on, I've been in Parliament for four years. Its not cheques, its not by small members. All money comes in through black money. Black money doesn't come from heaven," Bajaj Auto Chairman said addressing a CII conference here.

However, he maintained that the Bajaj family does not fund parties in cash and pays only through cheques to ensure accountability.

He further hinted that promoters of companies also indulge in diverting some of the company's money illegally turning it into black money in the economy.

"Corporates do take it out from the company. Most of us know some of the ways of taking that money out ... taking out black money from a company is cheating minority shareholders," he said.

Bajaj's comments come even as a debate rages nationally over black money of Indians stashed in Swiss Bank accounts, with demands being made to get the money--quantum of which is unknown but speculated to be huge--back to India.

Bajaj said principles of corporate governance cannot help if the top management of a company, including its promoters, chairmen and CEOs, is corrupt and further expressed regret that nobody likes to talk about this facet.

The ex-president of industry body CII also made public his reservations clear about the role of industry associations, naming CII and FICCI. He said they take no action against its members indulging in corruption and do not even censure the wrongdoers.

However, he also spoke against the prevailing "presumption" in Government to see every promoter as a "crook" and asked for better legislative systems to boost the economic climate.

"One bad egg should not mean that you shackle the entire corporate sector. The 95 per cent who do business well should not suffer," he said, pointing out to the Satyam case involving R Raju and the company's external auditors PricewaterHouse Coopers.

"Raju shamed us, PwC shamed the auditing fraternity. That (PwC's misdoings) was either corruption or downright incompetence," he added.

On independent directors, he said, many-a-time, they are cronies appointed by the promoters themselves. Independent directors should decide whether "to be led or to lead", he said.
 

US welcomes India's role in Asia Pacific region

Category: , , By Echo
The US welcomes India's greater involvement in East Asia and is committed to working with New Delhi as it increases ties with US allies in Southeast Asia and Japan, a senior US official has said.
"Ultimately, we think that India's role in the Asian-Pacific region stands to be one of the most important new developments over the course of the next decade," Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Kurt Campbell told reporters on Wednesday.
Offering to help India and China improve their relations, he said: "We also, frankly, support an improvement in dialogue between India and China, and we would seek to take steps to facilitate that as we move forward." Back in November 2009, India had expressed deep concern over a joint statement issued after President Barack Obama's China visit acknowledging Beijing's role in South Asia. Among other things, it "welcomed all efforts conducive to peace, stability and development in South Asia".



It also supported "the improvement and growth of relations between India and Pakistan" and expressed readiness "to strengthen communication, dialogue and cooperation on issues related to South Asia and work together to promote peace, stability and development in that region". However, after Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington last month, the joint statement made no reference to South Asia apparently in response to New Delhi's sensitivities.
Downplaying the absence of a reference to Beijing's role in South Asia in the latest US-China joint statement, Washington said it did not necessarily reflect a change in policy.Though the joint statement issued here after Obama's talks with Hu made no direct reference to South Asia it clearly stated, "The presidents further reaffirmed their commitment to the November 2009 US - China Joint Statement."