A potential disaster was averted as a conspiracy to derail the Prayagraj-Bhiwani Kalindi Express in Uttar Pradesh was uncovered on Monday, police said. A train collided with an LPG gas cylinder placed on the tracks near a crossing in Kanpur’s Muderi village Sunday morning. The quick response of the loco pilot, who immediately applied emergency brakes, prevented what could have been a catastrophic accident.

According to the police, the incident occurred around 8:20 am as the Kalindi Express made its regular journey towards Bhiwani in Haryana. While passing through Shivrajpur, the loco pilot spotted an LPG gas cylinder lying on the railway tracks. Acting swiftly, the pilot slammed the emergency brakes, but the train hit the cylinder, which was thrown clear of the tracks due to the impact. No passengers were harmed, and the train came to a halt shortly after the collision.

The train remained stationary for about 20 minutes at the site as the loco pilot reported the incident to the Railway Protection Force (RPF). The express later made another stop at Bilhaur station for a preliminary investigation before continuing its journey.

Alongside the damaged LPG cylinder, the RPF and Uttar Pradesh Police recovered a bottle filled with petrol, matchboxes, and other suspicious items, including a bag. The bottle appeared to be fashioned into a makeshift petrol bomb.

A forensic investigation has been launched, said Kanpur Commissioner of Police Harish Chandra, adding that railways and law enforcement agencies have intensified security measures on critical railway routes. The RPF, in collaboration with the UP Police Dog Squad, is conducting a thorough investigation, scouring the area for further clues. Additional security forces have been deployed along the Anwarganj-Kasganj railway route.
 

Love, respect and humility are missing in Indian politics, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said in his address to the Indian American community in Texas, where he also criticised the RSS for believing that India is “one idea”.

Mr Gandhi made the remarks on Sunday in Dallas during his first interaction with Indian expatriates after becoming Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha this summer.

“RSS believes that India is one idea. We believe that India is a multiplicity of ideas,” he said.

“Very much like the United States, we believe everybody should be allowed to participate. We believe that everybody should be allowed to dream, (and) everybody should be given space, regardless of their caste, language, religion, tradition, history,” he said.

“This is the fight. The fight crystallised in the election when millions of people in India clearly understood that the Prime Minister of India was attacking the Constitution of India. Because what I am saying to you is the union of states, respect to languages, respect to religions, respect to traditions, respect to caste. This is all in the Constitution,” Mr Gandhi added.

In his address, Mr Gandhi said his role was to inject values of love, respect and humility into Indian politics.

“I think what is missing in our political systems and across parties is love, respect and humility. Love to all human beings, not necessarily only people of one religion, one community, one caste, one State, or to those who speak one language,” he said.

“Respect to everybody who is trying to build an India, not just the most powerful, but the weakest and humility, not in others, but in oneself. I think that is how I see my own,” he added.

Making an indirect reference to the Lok Sabha results in which the BJP failed to get a majority on its own, Mr Gandhi said, “The people were saying the BJP is attacking our tradition, attacking our language, etc. What they understood was that anybody who is attacking the Constitution of India is also attacking our religious tradition.”

“We saw that immediately, within minutes of the election result, nobody in India was scared of the BJP, of the Prime Minister. These are huge achievements. These are huge achievements of the people of India who realised democracy, of the people of India who realised that we are not going to accept an attack on our Constitution. We’re not going to accept an attack on our religion. We’re not going to accept an attack on our States,” he said.

Asserting that the US needs India and vice versa, Mr Gandhi said the Indian expatriates are a “bridge” between the two nations.

“In my view, you should travel freely between these two homes. You should bring the idea of India to the United States and the ideas of the United States to India,” Mr Gandhi said in his remarks.

“You have a very important role because the relationship between these two unions is going to determine the future of both” the countries, he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Acute malnutrition, which has ravaged Afghanistan for decades, has reached an unprecedented level. 

​Acute malnutrition, which has ravaged Afghanistan for decades, has reached an unprecedented level.