Indian officials exchange blame for train plowing into festival crowd

21 Sept 04:16 Key points summarised by AI

A train tragically plowed into a large crowd gathered on railway tracks in Amritsar, India, to celebrate the annual Dusshera festival, resulting in scores of fatalities.
Indian railway officials and local community leaders are engaged in a blame game; railways assert they were not informed about the event, while locals contend the railways should have been aware and slowed trains.
Witnesses and local leaders point to the darkness, exploding firecrackers masking the train's approach, and a delayed start to the festival as contributing factors to the disaster.
The incident underscores long-standing criticisms regarding India's state railways' safety record and historical underinvestment in critical safety infrastructure.

Uthenthawai students and alumni declare truce with Pathumwan rivals

Yesterday 20:34 Key points summarised by AI

Uthenthawai students and alumni have pledged to cease violent clashes with Pathumwan Institute rivals, coinciding with their campus's reopening after a 90-day closure.
The Minister of Higher Education is mediating the long-running conflict, while the campus closure has significantly disrupted in-person classes and laboratory work for over 1,000 students.
Uthenthawai resists relocation from its current site, citing a historical land grant from King Rama VI, despite Chulalongkorn University's plans to reclaim the land for an educational hub.
Concerns are mounting over the legality of the campus closure, its detrimental impact on uninvolved students, and the potential commercial development of the land, which critics argue contradicts the late King Rama VI's intentions.