QBullet: Elphinstone Stampede Kills 22; Rajnath on Border Dispute
Read The Quint’s compilation of all the top stories in national dailies across the country.
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1. Mumbai: Railway Commute a Death Sentence
Hit by several terror attacks over the past 25 years and a series of other tragedies, Mumbai, it is said, is ready for just about anything. Yet nothing had really prepared the city for Friday morning as the metaphorical crush hour turned into a cruelly literal one.
In the first stampede of tragic proportions on the city's suburban railway network, 22 commuters were crushed to death and at least 35 injured on the narrow, rickety and overcrowded Elphinstone Road-Parel station foot overbridge at 10:25am.
No other stampede on any suburban city railway network anywhere in India has claimed so many lives.
The stampede was "prima facie" triggered, according to Western Railway, by panic after rumours that the bridge was collapsing. A "tremendous push towards the exit" caused the crush, officials said.
Source: The Times of India
2. Last Year, Railways Told MP Sachin Tendulkar “New Overbridge Provision Has Been Sanctioned”
In August last year, the Ministry of Railways assured a Rajya Sabha MP from Mumbai that the provision of five new foot overbridges (FOBs) in the city, including at the Elphinstone Road station, had been “sanctioned in 2016-17”. The MP was Sachin Tendulkar.
However, the government’s assurance remained on paper. And on Friday, 22 people were killed in a stampede on the existing foot over bridge at Elphinstone Road.
It’s not just Tendulkar. Last year, following repeated requests from Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant, the then Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had sanctioned work for an upgrade at the Elphinstone Road station under Passenger Amenities for Rs 11.86 crore.
Source: The Indian Express
3. Mumbai Stampede: She Had Just Resumed Work After 2nd Child, Took Train to Avoid Rain
Teresa Fernandes (38) lived near Dadar, and preferred the road to trains to go to her office in Lower Parel. However, the mother of two boys — one 9 months and the other 8 years old, took the train on Friday because of the rains.
Her husband, Richard, rushed to Elphinstone Road station when he heard about the stampede, but couldn't find her. Soon, someone from KEM Hospital called and asked him to come over immediately. Teresa was among the 22 dead.
A colleague said Teresa had rejoined only recently after maternity leave. "She had just started leaving her baby home. It is such a tragedy for all of us," he said.
Source: The Times of India
4. Govt Extends Deadline to Sell Pre-GST Goods to 31 December
The government on Friday allowed businesses and traders to sell their stock pre-dating 1 July, when the goods and service tax (GST) was implemented, until 31 December with stickers showing the revised price, taking into account the tax changes.
The relief comes after manufacturers, traders and the industry sought more time to exhaust their pre-GST stock, said a statement from the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution.
The earlier deadline announced on 7 July by consumer affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan was to expire on 30 September.
Source: Hindustan Times
5. India-China Disputes Will be Resolved With Time: Rajnath
Home minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said India and China needed to have a "structural dialogue" to deal with situations like Doklam.
After interacting with ITBP jawans at Mana, the last village before the Mana Pass close to the India-China border, Singh said there was a difference of perception between the two countries about the border and it would be resolved with time.
"We don't need to get into confrontation with China at the border and such disputes will be sorted out with a positive approach," he said.
India and China were recently embroiled in a two-month standoff in Doklam on the India-China-Bhutan trijunction.
Source: The Times of India
6. Pakistan’s Claim on Swapping Kulbhushan Jadhav Another Imaginary Lie: India
India on Friday cited the Afghanistan NSA’s statement saying there was no proposal to swap Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav for a terrorist, and asserted that it was another addition to Islamabad’s “imaginary lies”.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif had earlier suggested that he received a proposal to swap Jadhav with a terrorist, lodged in an Afghan jail, during his meeting with an NSA. However, Asif did not identify the NSA or the terrorist.
Contradicting Asif’s claim, the office of Afghan National Security Adviser Mohammad Haneef Atmar issued a statement saying there was no mention or reference of India or an Indian citizen during his meeting with the Pakistani foreign minister in New York on 21 September.
Source: The Indian Express
7. Centre Asks States For Feedback on Cattle Ban Order
Four months after its plan of notifying a ban on sale of cattle for slaughter in animal markets met with opposition from several states, the Centre has decided to try a different approach — it is now asking states to write back, articulating their opinion.
In a letter this month to chief secretaries of all states, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has sought comments and feedback on its 23 May notification on the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017 that imposed a ban on cattle trade in markets for slaughter.
The letter consulting the states is a reminder — the previous one was sent soon after the Supreme Court stayed the ban. While some states had replied with their inputs, the Centre wrote again, reminding others to respond. Consultations were also conducted with animal rights activists and traders.
Source: The Indian Express
Also Read: Decoded: Cattle Market Rules, ‘Beef Ban’
8. AAP Threatens to Launch Protests Over Increase in Delhi Metro Fares
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided to agitate against Delhi Metro authorities if they go ahead with a plan to hike commuter fares in the national capital.
Gopal Rai, the Delhi unit convenor of AAP, on Friday said the party was univocally opposed to hikes in public transport fare. “We will launch a protest campaign if the DMRC (Delhi Metro Rail Corporation) remains adamant on its plan to increase Metro fares. A delegation of party MLAs will meet the DMRC chief on Monday, and ask him to reconsider the decision,” he told reporters at a press conference.
Rai also expressed surprise at the manner in which the DMRC decided to increase commuter fares twice in 2017, after refraining from taking any such step in the last eight years.
Source: Hindustan Times
9. What Use Is GST to Govt if It’s a Pain For People: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan
Maintaining that demonetisation and “ill-planned implementation” of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime have led to a “nationwide economic crisis”, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Friday said “what use is GST to the government if it is a pain for the people”.
Vijayan made these remarks during an interaction with editors of The Indian Express Group.
“The crisis created by the currency ban is severe. The government resorted to aggravating the crisis despite warnings. GST was implemented without necessary preparation, contributing to the economic crisis. The GST cannot be called a good idea. It has already taken away the right of the states to collect tax. Kerala has implemented GST, expecting that there will not be problems by adopting it. However, the state has always been opposed to the idea of GST… what use is GST to the government if it is a pain for the people?” he said.
Source: The Indian Express