Category: BHUBANESWAR

Nearly 18 hours after the massive train tragedy in Odisha's Balasore district, restoration work has begun at the accident site, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday.

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday morning visited the accident site and announced a detailed high-level inquiry will be conducted and an independent inquiry by the rail safety commissioner.

After technical team of the Railways suggested that was not possible to remove the coaches through cranes, the bogeys are cut down to remove the trapped passengers, he said, adding, that it will take another two to three hours to complete the rescue operation.

As news of the accident that occurred in Friday evening spread, the youths lined up throughout the night at the Balasore district headquarters hospitals in Balasore and Bhadrak to donate blood.

The death toll in the tragic train derailment in Odisha's Balasore district has increased to 233, with at least more than 900 people injured, the state's Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena confirmed on Saturday.

Railways Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw, who said that he is rushing to the spot, announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the next of the kin of the dead, Rs 2 lakh for seriously injured and Rs 50,000 for minor injuries.

In a major accident, several coaches of the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel express train derailed near Bahanaga railway station in Odisha's Balasore district on Friday evening and several passengers are trapped, and feared dead.

According to the results announced by the Election Commission, BJD got 1,07,198 votes while the BJP polled 58,477 votes. Congress nominee Tarun Pandey lost his deposits with only 4,496 votes.

"I am delighted that Nitish Ji is here in Bhubaneswar. We are old friends and colleagues. We have served together under the Vajpayee government. We were discussing allocation of land in Puri for tourists from Bihar," he said.

"A state of curfew under Section 144 (1) CrPC is hereby declared wherein no individual or group of people are to exit their houses so as to ensure peace and tranquillity," reads the order.

A court in Odisha on Friday rejected the state crime branch's plea to examine the mental condition of Gopal Das, an accused in the minister Naba Das murder case, at Nimhans in Bengaluru.

The Odisha Assembly 'gherao' protest by the BJP's youth wing, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) on Tuesday turned violent when police prevented them from marching towards the Assembly.

To ensure transparency in the investigation, Patnaik said on request of his government, the Orissa High Court has nominated one retired judge Justice J.P. Das to monitor the investigation of this case.

The budget session of the Odisha Assembly started on a stormy note on Tuesday with Opposition BJP and Congress creating a ruckus over minister Naba Das's murder and staged a walkout during the Governor's address.

The Odisha Crime Branch which is investigating the murder of state minister Naba Das, said on Monday that it wants to conduct a comprehensive psychological evaluation of accused Gopal Krishna Das at the Nimhans in Bengaluru.

Odisha Health Minister Naba Kishore Das, who was shot and critically injured when a police officer opened fire at him in the state's Jharsuguda district on Sunday, succumbed to his injuries at a hospital here, officials said.

Odisha of late has been receiving international attention -- although for unfortunate reasons -- after three Russian nationals including a millionaire lawmaker Pavel Antov have died under mysterious circumstances in the state in the last fortnight.