MONDAY 05 JUNE 2023 Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC www.thestatesman.com KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR CONGRESS SEEKS ‘ACCOUNTABILITY FROM TOP TO BOTTOM’ DELHI’S OPTIONS P6 WEATHER PARTLY CLOUDY SKY. POSSIBILITY OF VERY LIGHT RAIN/DRIZZLE. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 35 AND 24 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 87 % TEMPERATURE Max: 33.7 °C (-6) SUN RISES 05:23 hrs MOON RISES 20:55 hrs P5 The fact that a CBI probe is being ordered points at a suspected criminal angle ‘Kavach would not have helped prevent tragedy’ Min: 23.8 °C (-3) SUN SETS 19:16 hrs MOON SETS 07:07hrs STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 4 JUNE THUMBNAILS Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan meets injured people at District Headquarters Hospital in Bhadrak on Sunday. ANI STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE BHUBANESWAR, 4 JUNE Monsoon misses onset date in Kerala, IMD says conditions becoming favourable: The monsoon missed its onset date in Kerala on Sunday with the India Meteorological Department anticipating a further delay of three to four days. The southwest monsoon normally sets in over Kerala on 1 June with a standard deviation of about seven days. In mid May, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said it might arrive in Kerala by 4 June. P4 Railways recommend CBI probe into Balasore mishap Min. 52% An under-construction Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge collapses in Bihar’s Bhagalpur on Sunday. The moment when the bridge collapsed in the Ganga River was caught on video by locals.  ANI ‘NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT’ NAIDU-SHAH MEETING SPARKS BUZZ IN ANDHRA POLITICS ailway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Sunday here that the Railway Board has recommended a CBI probe into the ghastly train accident at Bahanaga in Balasore district on Friday which claimed 275 lives. The very fact that a CBI probe is being ordered points at a suspected criminal angle or, in other words, sabotage. Talking to media persons, the Railway Minister said the cause of the accident had been revealed by R the preliminary report of Commissioner Rai Safety. He did not elaborate but indicated that there was a human element involved as there was a change in the electronic interlocking that led the Coromandel Express to hit the goods train which was stationary on a loop line. The Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Health Minister Manshuk Mandaviya, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and senior railway officers were closeted here today. In fact, the Railway Minister reached here, announced the recom- The Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, which met with the disastrous accident at Bahanaga Bazar station near Balasore on 2 June, was authorised to move at a speed of 130 kmph on the main line, but was moving on the loop line instead. The anti-collision device or Kavach technology which is regarded as the armour of the railway system, works in situations of Signal Passed at Danger. But in Friday’s incident, the signal was main- ly given for the ‘Main’ line. The superfast train was moving at a high speed that was applicable for the main line and not a loop line where the speed is restricted to as low as 15kmph. This mismatch of speed on a loop line, according to some ex-railway employees, which is not only meant for slower speed but is also shorter in length, was one of the major factors that resulted in one of the worst train accidents in decades. Rail Board member Jaya Varma Sinha today in New Delhi confirmed that even if the Kavach technology was in place, it would not have helped in averting the major accident. The Railway minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, today confirmed that the accident took place because of a change in electronic interlocking. mendation for a CBI probe and spoke about restoration work being expedited (by Wednesday the main line will be operational), and rushed back to Balasore. Reliable sources said the investigations as of now had revealed that Coromondal Express (whose driver is injured but stable) had been given the green signal on the main line. It was speeding at 128kmph, but inexplicably a change in the interlocking system done at the point machine took the train to a loop line and it hit the stationary iron ore loaded goods train. Due to the load, the goods train was not impacted while the bogies of the Coromandel Express were damaged and scattered across the other line where the Yashwantpur- Howrah was speeding, said the sources. Such change of the interlocking system does not take place, said the sources indicating that someone may have done it at the switch point. Asked who could have done it, the sources , said it is for the probe to identify. The sources said even the driver of the Coromondal Express confirmed that he was given a green signal on the main line. Earlier, the Odisha government revised the death toll in the tragedy to 275. Double counting led to the earlier figure of 288, said Odisha chief secretary PK Jena. P12 Three member-panel to probe Manipur violence STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI/IMPHAL, 4 JUNE The Centre on Sunday constituted a three-member Commission of Inquiry headed by former Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court, Justice Ajai Lamba, to probe the recent incidents of violence in Manipur. Former IAS officer Himanshu Shekhar Das and former IPS officer Aloka Prabhakar are the two other members of the Commission. The Commission will make inquiry with respect to the causes and spread of the violence, which took place in Manipur, and whether there were any lapses on the part of any of the responsible authorities or individuals, it said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had visited the state of Manipur during 29 May1 June and after taking stock of the situation had announced the appointment of Commission of Inquiry.The Commission will submit its report to the Central Government as soon as possible but not later than six months from the date of its first sitting. The headquarters of the Commission will be at Imphal, the statement added. The Union Home Minister on Sunday appealed to the people of Manipur to lift the blockades at the ImphalDimapur, National Highway-2 so that basic food items and other necessary A protest rally organised by Manipur Co-Ordinating Committee (Delhi) at Jantar Mantar on Sunday.  SUBRATA DUTTA items can reach the people in the strife-hit state. In New Delhi, members of the Meitei Manipuri community living in the national capital gathered in large numbers at Jantar Mantar to stage a peaceful protest demanding steps to bring back normality in the state. Meanwhile, sitting Congress MLA and former Minister K. Ranjit Singh's house at Serou was burnt down yesterday by Kuki militants who swooped down from the neighbouring hills accompanied by hundreds of Kuki villagers. MLA Ranjit had lamented the failure of the state forces to provide protection to him as well as the other villagers of his area. The villagers have asked for only the police and the BSF as they do not trust the Assam Rifles. Heavy firing ensued and the Kuki militants are said to have been repelled back to the adjoining ridge lines.The exchange of fire continued today.