90 sheep, 8 vultures die after being hit by trains in UP's Balrampur
Balrampur (UP), Dec 26: In a bizarre accident, 90 sheep were run over by a train on the Gorakhpur-Gonda route here, an official said on Monday. A second train then ran over eight vultures feeding on the carcasses.
The incident occurred on Sunday when Vishanpur Kodar village resident Prabhu Ram, who had gone to graze his sheep, was attacked by a pack of dogs.
Ram herded the sheep towards the Saryu Canal railway bridge over the Bhabhar drain when a train travelling to Lucknow from Gorakhpur ran over the animals, the official said.
Ram managed to save his life by jumping into the canal.
Nand Kumar Pandey, the head of Motinagar village where the incident occurred, said several vultures flew down and were feeding on the sheep carcass when another train from Gorakhpur and ran over eight of them.
Following the accident, local MLA SP Yadav visited the village and demanded Rs 40 lakh compensation for the sheep owner. He said a demand had been made to the rail minister and the state government to provide the compensation.
However, the compensation amount demanded is several times the value of sheep in the open market.
Tulsipur Sub Divisional Magistrate Manglesh Dubey said on Monday that a report on the accident would be sent to the district administration and the Railways for appropriate action.
He said instructions had been issued to remove the remains of the sheep and the vultures to check the spread of diseases.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
