The week in 5 charts | Odisha train accident, U.S. debt ceiling, Telangana Formation Day, and more

Here are five charts that will help you understand some of the key stories from last week

(1) Death toll in Odisha train accident rises to 288

The toll in the Friday evening train accident at Bahanaga Bazar railway station of Odisha’s Balasore district rose sharply to 288 on Saturday, while 1,091 injured persons have been provided medical assistance. Of the injured, 56 were stated to be grievously wounded.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik visited the spot to take stock of the accident — dubbed as one of the most tragic accidents in the country.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw who reviewed the restoration work at the Balasore triple train collision site on Sunday, said that the accident that claimed the lives of 288 passengers happened due to a change in electronic interlocking. Ashwini Vaishnaw while speaking to ANI said that the commissioner of railway safety has investigated the matter and identified the cause of the incident and the people responsible for it.

In Frames | A glimpse of the triple train tragedy in Odisha’s Balasore district

Indian Railways earlier issued a statement as to how the accident took place. The ‘up train’ 12841 Coromandel Express (Shalimar-Madras), passing through the Up Main line, met with an accident and rammed into the stationary goods train in the Up Loop Line at Bahanaga Bazar station.

The train was passing through the station at full speed as Bahanaga Bazar was not one of its stops. The impact was such that its 21 coaches went off the rails; three of its coaches infringed upon the other line — the Down Main line. Simultaneously, ‘down train’ 12864 Yeshwantpur-Howrah Express, passing through Bahanaga Bazar station on the Down Main line, collided with the stray coaches and had its two rearmost coaches derail.

The sound of the collision was so loud that it drew people from villages nearby. Local residents turned into volunteers and broke down the windows to rescue the victims.

Seven units of the National Disaster Response Force, five units of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and 24 fire services units were immediately pressed into service. However, the magnitude of the accident was so high that disaster response personnel aided by local people took the whole of Friday night and Saturday morning to pull out the bodies from the wreckage. In what proved to be a daunting task, more than 100 medical teams with paramedical staff and 200 ambulances were mobilised to the accident site.

A number of global leaders — including the Chinese President and Premier, the President of France, and the Prime Ministers of Japan and the United Kingdom — have expressed their condolences regarding the rail accident in Odisha that has left more than 280 people dead. In a message on social media, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also expressed their condolences.

Odisha observed Saturday as a day of mourning for the lives lost in the accident. As many as 33 trains were cancelled and 36 were diverted through other routes. Odisha CM Patnaik on Sunday announced an ex-gratia of ₹5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased in the train derailment in Balasore from CM’s Relief Fund.

(2) Army foils infiltration bid, arrests three terrorists

On Wednesday, three terrorists were arrested by the Army in an infiltration bid at the Line of Control in the Pir Panjal valley’s Poonch district. After tracking the movement at about 1:30 a.m., an ambush of the Army was fired upon and in the firefight, some terrorists were injured. One Indian Army soldier, injured in the ensuing firing, was safely evacuated.

The seizure made from the arrested persons included an AK assault rifle, two pistols, six grenades, a 10 kg IED which was planted inside a pressure cooker and 20 packets of suspected heroin worth over ₹100 crore. In Rajouri, an unidentified militant was killed in the Army’s anti-militancy operation on Saturday, June 2. Part of the Pir Panjal Valley too, Rajouri has already witnessed encounters this year which has led to the death of 10 soldiers, seven civilians, and one militant. An Army spokesman said a joint operation of the Army in coordination with the J&K Police was launched following suspicious movement in the forest area of Dassal Gujran, near Rajouri.

Below, the charts show the number of infiltrations that were recorded since 2001. The second chart also shows the number of deaths due to militancy or terror-related activities and operations that have occurred in Jammu & Kashmir since 2000.

(3) U.S. House and Senate pass debt ceiling compromise bill

The U.S. House and Senate both voted in support of a compromise bill that adopts spending cuts instead of raising the U.S. debt ceiling. This bipartisan show of support is a rarity in divided Washington.

Now, the bill goes to President Biden’s desk for final approval, saving the country from its first-ever default. The bill suspends the debt ceiling till 2025, allowing the government to borrow more money to continue paying off its debts ($31.4 trillion).

Over the past few months, the U.S. has been under the spotlight for its debt ceiling problem. The debt ceiling is the maximum amount of money the U.S. government can borrow to pay off its debts. Beyond this ceiling, the government cannot borrow, which would lead to a default on its debts. Such a thing has never happened. If it did, it would send rippling shockwaves through stock markets, investor confidence would plummet, weaken the dollar’s position as reserve currency, and job losses would mount.

This table shows the White House’s projections if a default happened.

In this situation, the bill’s passage through Congress staves off default. Overall, the 99-page bill restricts spending for the next two years and changes some policies, including imposing new work requirements for older Americans receiving food aid and greenlighting an Appalachian natural gas pipeline that many Democrats oppose. The agreement imposes an automatic overall 1% cut to spending programs if Congress fails to approve its annual spending bills — a measure designed to pressure lawmakers of both parties to reach consensus before the end of the fiscal year in September.

(4) Telangana Formation Day

Telangana was formed out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014. Its long journey to Statehood began in 1952 and culminated on June 2, 2014, when K. Chandrasekhar Rao took oath as the first Chief Minister of the new State. With the State stepping into the 10th year, The Hindu explores the trials and triumphs along the way.

Nearly a decade after Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh, the situation has a ring of surprise. The human development indices for the new State present a different picture from the time it was created. Gone are the gloomy predictions about the fate of the new State. Instead, we have a confident State that is green throughout the year with every household in the remotest corner getting potable water at home.

(5) India’s imports from China rise 4.6%

India’s imports of Chinese goods have continued to rise in 2023, growing 4.6% in the first four months of the year to cross $37.86 billion.

Two-way trade climbed 4.5% from the year-earlier period to reach $44.34 billion at the end of April, data from China’s General Administration of Customs showed. India’s exports to China rose by 3.7% but still accounted for a smaller share of the bilateral trade. In 2022, bilateral trade with China reached a record $135.98 billion, driven by a 21% rise in imports into India. The trade deficit crossed $100 billion for the first time last year.

In recent years, India’s biggest imports from China have included active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), chemicals, electrical and mechanical machinery, auto components, and medical supplies. Analysts said the continuing increase in imports of Chinese goods presented a mixed picture, highlighting a rise in demand for intermediates required by Indian industry, as well as continued reliance on sourcing from China, a matter of concern for New Delhi amid frayed political ties.