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Railway Minister Piyush Goyal orders inquiry into Kushinagar train-school van accident

Agencies
April 26, 2018

New Delhi, Apr 26: Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday ordered an inquiry into the Kushinagar train-school van accident and announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the kin of the deceased.

The minister also said that the Railways will provide an ex gratia amount of Rs 1 lakh for those with serious injuries and Rs 50,000 for those simple injuries.

Thirteen children were killed and eight others injured when a train rammed into their school van at an unmanned railway crossing in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar area, around 50 km from Gorakhpur, this morning.

In a statement, Goyal said he was deeply anguished and pained by the loss of lives of young school children at an unmanned level crossing (UMLC) in Kushinagar.

“My thoughts are with families of the deceased and I pray for the early recovery of the injured. Ministry of Railways will provide an ex gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh for kin of the deceased, Rs 1 lakh for those with serious injuries and Rs 50,000 for those with simple injuries,” the railway minister said in the statement.

He said that he has ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident, adding “We stand committed to take all possible steps to avoid such accidents in future”.

Talking to reporters here, Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani said there was a rail mitra (rail volunteer) at the spot, who tried to stop the school van, but the driver did not stop, adding that this is the first accident at an unmanned level crossing this year.

Lohani said there are currently 3,479 unmanned level crossings on broad gauge of Indian Railways.

The railway board chairman also said that a total of 109 accidents have taken place at unmanned level crossings in the country since 2014-15 and asserted that railways aim to eliminate unmanned level crossings by March 2020.

In the accident, the children, students of Divine Public School, were killed on the spot when the Thawe-Kapatanganj passenger train crashed into the van at the unmanned crossing gate at Behpurva, said Railways spokesman Ved Prakash.

The train was on way to Gorakhpur from Siwan. There were at least 25 passengers, including children who were below the age of 10, in the van, the official said.

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News Network
January 15,2020

Jammu, Jan 15: Fresh landslides kept the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway shut for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, leaving over 5000 vehicles stranded.

"There were four fresh landslides in Digdol and Panthiyal belts on the highway in Ramban district. The traffic on the highway remained closed for the third day today", a police officer told PTI.

On Monday, heavy rains triggered shooting of stones in Moumpassi, Digdole and Panthiyal areas, forcing a suspension of the traffic, the official said.

Snowfall in Kashmir side of the highway, including Jawahar Tunnel, since Sunday has resulted in blockade of the highway.

"No fresh traffic was allowed from Nagrota in Jammu for Kashmir", he said.

As a result of the blockade of the highway, over 5000 vehicles remained stranded at various places en route from Lakhanpur in Kathua district to Banihal belt of Ramban district and also on the Kashmir side.

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News Network
February 26,2020

Feb 26: In his first reaction to incidents of violence in Delhi which have left at least 20 people dead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday appealed for peace and brotherhood, and said he has held an extensive review of the prevailing situation in various parts of the national capital.

He also said it was important that calm and normalcy was restored at the earliest.

“Had an extensive review on the situation prevailing in various parts of Delhi. Police and other agencies are working on the ground to ensure peace and normalcy,” Modi tweeted.

Stressing that peace and harmony are “central to our ethos”, Modi said, “I appeal to my sisters and brothers of Delhi to maintain peace and brotherhood at all times.”

At least 20 people have been killed since Sunday in communal violence in Northeast Delhi, triggered after clashes between pro and anti-CAA protestors over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: The Centre has written to all states and Union Territories stating that smartphones and tablet devices should be allowed for hospitalised Covid-19 patients so that they can interact with family and friends through video conferencing, which would provide them psychological support.

Though mobile phones are allowed in hospital wards, the missive was issued following some representation from the kin of patients alleging otherwise.

Director-General of Health Services (DGHS) in the Health Ministry Dr Rajiv Garg in the letter to the principal secretaries of health and medical education of states and Union territories said appropriate protocols for disinfecting devices and allotting timeslots can be developed by the hospital concerned to facilitate contact between patients and their family.

He underlined that administrative and medical teams should be responsive to the psychological needs of patients admitted in Covid-19 wards and ICUs of various hospitals.

"Social connection can calm down patients and also reinforce the psychological support given by the treating team. Please instruct all concerned that they should allow smartphones and tablet devices in patient areas so that the patient can video conference with their family and friends," stated the letter issued on July 29.

"Though mobile phones are allowed in the wards to enable a patient stay in touch with his or her family, we received representations from the patient families from some states stating mobile phones are not being allowed by hospital administrations because of which they were not being able to stay in contact with the patient," said Dr Garg.

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