Saturday Night Train Collision Caused by Communication Error

• Collision Course. Railways officials believe that the Saturday night collision between a Virar-bound local and a Churchgate-bound train near Andheri station that injured at least eight people, was caused by a communication gap. The motorman in the Virar-bound local believed the signal was double-yellow indicating the path was clear when in fact the stationmaster had turned it red to stop the train. The stationmaster, who did not communicate this to the motorman, is said to have given the go-ahead to the Churchgate-bound train to switch tracks, leading the two vehicles to ram into each other. [The Times of India]

• Taliban Thanks. In an unusual display of admiration, the Taliban has called “India is a significant country in the region” for sending US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta “empty handed towards Kabul” after he visited New Delhi in an effort to get India to have greater military involvement in Afghanistan. “Some reliable media sources said that the Indian authorities did not pay heed to demands and showed their reservations, because the Indians know or they should know that the Americans are grinding their own axe,” said the statement released by the militant group. [The Indian Express]

• Greek Relief. Stock markets across Asia, including those in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Japan, rose after a coalition of pro-bailout parties narrowly won the Greece elections. The result is said to have eased fears of an imminent Greek exit from the Euro, which could have been “potentially catastrophic” for the global economy. [NDTV]