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By Sunish
No commentsS.No.PC-VI/260 | RBE No.72 / 2011 |
No.PC-V/2008/A/O/3(OTA) | New Delhi, dated 20/05/2011 |
9:09 AMc.sunishBy SunishNo comments9:42 PMc.sunishNo comments11:28 AMc.sunishBy SunishNo comments8:35 AMc.sunishBy SunishNo commentsRailways hit by two stone pelting incidents
Thursday, May 5, 2011, 3:00 IST
By DNA Correspondent | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA
Two commuters were injured in separate incidents of stone pelting on suburban railway tracks, at Byculla and Wadala, on Tuesday night. Both were admitted to Sion Hospital by the railway police. While one of them was discharged after first aid, the other is under going treatment.
Navanath Karale, 39, who works as a driver, said, “After dropping my boss at his Colaba residence, I came to Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) and boarded a Thane-bound slow local at around 9.13pm to go to my home at Ghatkopar. There was rush in the second-class compartment, and hence I was standing near the door. When the train was passing between Byculla and Chinchpokli, a boy standing near the tracks flung a stone at me which hit my chin. Some co-commuters helped me alight at Dadar and informed the railway police. They rushed me to Sion Hospital where I was administrated four stitches before being allowed to go home.”
The police have registered a case under section 152 (maliciously hurting or attempting to hurt person/s traveling in trains) of the Indian Railway Act, but not arrests have been made so far.
The other victim, Satish Tari, 30, a resident of Kharghar in Navi Mumbai, boarded a Panvel-bound local at CST at around 9.12pm.
He was standing near the door in the second class compartment when the train was between Wadala and GTB Nagar railway stations. An unidentified boy flung a stone towards the commuters, which hit him below the right eye. He alighted at GTB Nagar railway station where the railway policemen rushed him to Sion Hospital. He is undergoing surgery.
“We have registered a case and a manhunt has been launch8:26 AMc.sunishBy SunishNo comments
Many accidents due to non-observance of operating manuals: Yechury
Students of Arunachal Pradesh light candles to pay tribute to Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu in Guwahati on Wednesday. — Photo: PTI
A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture has expressed concern over instances of take off and landing of helicopters in low visibility, bad weather and even during nights, saying these were serious breaches of aviation security norms.
In its 168 {+t} {+h} and 169 {+t} {+h} reports presented to Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Hamid Ansari on Wednesday, the 30-member committee with CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury as its chairman, said that technicians, including pilots, were often put under pressure to ignore minor deficiencies and undertake helicopter sorties.
“It happens mainly in the case of chartered helicopters and those under the State governments flying VIPs. Such violations of rules have led to fatal accidents, losing several precious lives,” the report said.
Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Yechury said lack of proper maintenance and non-observance of operating manuals, mechanical failures and lack of needed instruments had been found as the causes of such helicopter accidents.
Expressing shock over the death of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Khandu Dorjee in a Pawan Hans chopper crash near Tawang, Mr. Yechury said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. Rajshekhar Reddy and Lok Sabha Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi had also lost their lives in helicopter crashes.
He favoured a penal provision against those putting pressure on pilots to fly helicopters without proper clearances. “Conversely, strictest actions should be taken against those pilots/technicians who violate these requirements even under some kind of duress,'' he said.
Mr. Yechury said the committee was surprised to note that around 120 aircraft, which might include helicopters, were not capable of operating in hilly terrains as they lacked the necessary instruments.
The committee has recommended that the government address the issue of shortage of helicopter pilots on priority since the industry was gaining momentum rapidly. The committee felt that the government should appoint a panel of experts to review the present system of examination and procedures for giving licences to pilots. It noted that for monitoring proficiency of pilots operating over 250 helicopters, the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was having just four helicopter inspectors on secondment basis from the industry.
Referring to the DGCA – Issues and Challenges, the committee noted that a large number of positions were lying vacant in the DGCA for years due to a prolonged procedure or non-availability of suitable candidates.
The committee has recommended creation of an independent authority for accident investigation on an urgent basis, as this would instil confidence among the travelling public. While pitching for strengthening of the DGCA by giving it more financial and administrative autonomy, the committee felt that the entire licensing system of the DGCA should be streamlined and made transparent by making it available in the public domain.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article1992222.ece
8:25 AMc.sunishBy SunishNo comments
With the last phase of the Assembly polls in West Bengal scheduled for May 10, the government is all set to hike the price of petrol and diesel. Indications are that a marginal hike in the price of domestic LPG too is likely to set off the massive losses being incurred by oil marketing companies (OMCs).
With huge mounting losses, due to sale of petroleum products at subsidised rates, the heads of OMCs are waiting for the Assembly elections to be over to allow them to go ahead with the petrol price hike. Petrol was de-controlled in June last year.
With diesel still under government control, a meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has been reportedly convened for May 11 to consider a hike in diesel prices. “We have been pressing for a hike in petrol prices and want the government to revise diesel prices for the last two months. But the government has not given the go-ahead in view of the sensitivity of the situation as Assembly elections were on. Hopefully, we will get a positive response after the polls are over to hike prices,” an OMC official said.
It is leant that the OMCs are demanding that the price of diesel be hiked at least by Rs. 5 per litre and that of petrol by Rs. 3 per litre. The EGoM will debate the issue of mounting losses of the OMCs, which are likely to touch Rs. 180,000 crore in 2011-12.
The State-owned Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited are now losing Rs. 16.17 a litre on diesel. The companies have been restrained from raising the prices of petrol in view of the elections.
Besides petrol and diesel, the three State oil firms lose Rs. 29.69 a litre on kerosene and Rs. 329.73 per 14.2 kg domestic LPG cylinder. “Losses on petrol are not included in the under-recovery figures for 2011-12 as it is a decontrolled commodity,” a Petroleum Ministry official said. The basket of crude oil India buys had averaged $83.57 per barrel in 2008-09 and calculations for the current fiscal have been done at the prevailing rates of around $110 a barrel.
8:24 AMc.sunishBy SunishNo comments
Two persons were killed and 12 others injured when the jeep in which they were travelling was hit by Janmabhoomi Express, at Rallavagu Thanda level crossing in the district on Wednesday.
The dead included a B.Tech student and a girl.The condition of two among the injured is said to be serious.
As many as 14 were in the jeep when the train from Secunderabad bound for Guntur hit the vehicle at around 9.30 a.m.
The bodies were brought to the Government Hospital at Miryalaguda while the two grievously injured were being rushed to Osmania General Hospital in Hyderabad.
The victims, who belong to Vinukonda in Guntur district, are said to be relatives of Member of Legislative Council and Congress Whip Bharati Ragya Naik.
7:10 PMc.sunishBy SunishNo commentsBolangir, Orissa:
At least 26 people were injured, some of them seriously, when Koraput-Rourkela Express collided with a goods train at Sikir railway station in Orissa's Bolangir district early on Wednesday, police said.
The accident occurred as the goods train was moving out of Sikir and the express train was entering the station on the same track, Bolangir Superintendent of Police Ajay Kumar Sarangi said.
The trains collided head on causing injuries to at least 26 persons, he said.
The injured were admitted to hospital at Titlagarh where the condition of some passengers was stated to be serious, Sarangi said, adding a relief train was rushed to the accident site from Titlagarh.
The 18108 Koraput-Rourkela Express had stopped Titlagarh station a few minutes before the accident and it did not have a scheduled stop at Sikir.
Senior railway officials rushed to the site and efforts were on to ascertain the cause of the collision, which occurred shortly after 12.30 am, railway sources said.
Train services were affected on the track following the accident and efforts were on to restore normal traffic, they said.
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