Rush Hour: 4 die after falling off Mumbai local train, Assam to push back more ‘foreigners', & more
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Four persons died after falling off a suburban train near Mumbra in Maharashtra's Thane district. Thirteen others have been injured, of which two passengers are reported to be seriously hurt, according to a surgeon at the district hospital.
The incident took place on fast train tracks between Mumbra and Diva.
A spokesperson for the Central Railways said that the accident was suspected to have taken place as passengers travelling on footboards in trains in opposite directions 'got entangled'.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the Railways have initiated an inquiry into the cause of the accident.
About 37.62 lakh passengers travelled on Mumbai suburban trains operated by the Central Railway in 2023-'24, while 27.24 passengers travelled on trains operated by the Western Railway. Last year, Mumbai's suburban train network recorded 2,468 deaths, or more than six fatalities every day. Read on.
The Assam government has pushed back 303 'foreigners' and will continue to do so under the 1950 Immigrants Expulsion from Assam Act, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said. The Bharatiya Janata Party leader further claimed that another 35 will be expelled once floodwaters recede.
'The Supreme Court clearly said the illegal expulsion act is valid and if the government wishes, they can expel the foreigners without going to Foreigners Tribunals,' Sarma added.
The chief minister's remarks in the Assembly came two days after he claimed that persons declared foreigners were being 'pushed back' to Bangladesh under a legal framework.
The Supreme Court, while hearing the challenges to Section 6A of the 1955 Citizenship Act, had said that 'there is no legal requirement for the Assam government to always approach the judiciary in order to identify foreigners', Sarma had said on Saturday. Read on.
An additional superintendent of police was killed after an improvised explosive device allegedly planted by suspected Maoists went off in Sukma district. Two police officers were also injured in the explosion.
The incident took place on the Konta-Aerobora road near Dronda village when Konta Additional Superintendent of Police Akash Rao Girepunje, Sub Divisional Officer of Police Bhanupratap Chandrakar and Station House Officer Sonal Gwala were patrolling the area by foot.
During the patrol, Girepunje accidentally stepped on the explosive device, which triggered the blast.
The officers were patrolling the area ahead of a country-wide strike called for on Tuesday by the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said that Maoists were committing 'such cowardly acts' as they were frustrated by the continuous success of security forces against Left-wing extremism. Read on.
A collective of 114 scientists, researchers and practitioners has called for suspending all construction and related activities on the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project in Arunachal Pradesh. They argued that resistance to the project by local communities reflected a grounded understanding of its 'ecological, cultural, and socio-political risks'.
The collective said that in the past, displacement often led to long-term socio-economic disruption, and compensation mechanisms rarely accounted for aspects such as land-based identity and customary rights. They noted that the site of the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project fell in Seismic Zone V, which the highest risk category for earthquakes as per the Bureau of Indian Standards.
The Siang river flows into Arunachal Pradesh from Tibet, and is the main tributary of the Brahmaputra. The river is the site of the proposed 11,000 MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, touted to be India's largest dam. .
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