By April Lanux

At least seven Nepalis were killed in the Jalgaon train accident in Maharashtra, India on Wednesday evening.

Five among seven Nepalis killed are from Sudurpaschim Province—four from Achham and one from Kailali. The names and addresses of two other Nepalis killed are yet to be ascertained.

Indian media reports said that at least 12 people died and 15 others injured after some passengers of the Pushpak Express—which was bound for Mumbai from Lucknow—jumped off the train after an alarm chain-pulling incident. They were then run over by the Karnataka Express on an adjacent track in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district on Wednesday evening.

Earlier, media reports had put the death toll at 13, but on Thursday, Indian officials revised it down to 12 after it was confirmed that a head and a torso, initially thought to belong to different individuals, were from the same person.

Nandaram BK, his wife Maisara BK and their son Himu BK of ward 4 of Panchadewal Binayak Municipality, and Jayakala Kami of ward 4 of Kamal Bazar Municipality in Achham have been confirmed dead in the tragic train accident.

According to Lalita Malati Singh, a Nepali student currently studying journalism in India, who was present at the accident site, Radheshyam Bhai and Lachchhiram Kanu Pasawan from Nepal also died in the accident. Three Nepalis are being treated at a local hospital, she added.

Jayakala, aged 60, left for Maharashtra on Sunday after her sons and daughters-in-law in Mumbai called her for treatment. Nandaram was her distant relative. She decided to go to India with him to meet her family members and get treatment there. Four of her five sons are working in different places in India.

Jayakala, who had been suffering from chronic stomach ailments, had been unable to get proper treatment due to the family’s poor finances. She left for India after her son called her for a family gathering as well as medical treatment. But Jayakala, Nandaram, his wife and son were killed on the way.

“I arrived at the accident site on Thursday. The family members received the body. We plan to perform the funeral rites at Bhiwandi, Maharashtra, tomorrow [Friday]," said Raju Bishwakarma, Jayakala's son-in-law who also works in India.

Meanwhile, the Railway Board (of India) has released IRs150,000 in immediate aid to the families of each deceased person. Similarly, Maharashtra government announced financial assistance of IRs500,000 to each bereaved family.

Nepal’s Sudurpaschim Province is directly impacted whenever there are major accidents in India as thousands of Nepalis from the nine districts of the province go there for work, often for seasonal employment. Lack of jobs and other income generating activities force hordes of Nepali people to leave their homeland.

The 2021 census by the National Statistics Office shows that Sudurpaschim Province has the lowest labour force participation rate (27.3 percent) in the province-wise labour market index, which is 20 percent less than the ranking of Bagmati province (47.1), the province with the highest rate. The employment participation rate based on the population, at 24.1 percent, is also the lowest in Sudurpaschim.

For generations, these underprivileged people have relied on Indian towns and cities to earn livelihoods for their families, often at the cost of their social wellbeing.

As many as 16 Nepalis died after a landslide washed away three hotels in Gaurikund, a pilgrimage site that serves as a basecamp for a trek to Kedarnath, a venerated Hindu temple in Uttarakhand state, in August 2023. Indian authorities had retrieved 12 bodies but could not locate the remaining four buried under the debris.

Badrinath, Kedarnath and Rudraprayag—highly revered places for Hindus—are also key labour destinations for many Nepali workers, mainly from Sudurpaschim and Karnali provinces. Nepalis want to work in these areas as they can make good money in a relatively short time.

In May last year, two Nepalis were killed in an incident triggered by cooking gas leakage in the Indian metropolis of Bangalore. Three others were injured. Madan Bohara of Bajhang in Sudurpaschim, his wife Premjala, and their three children had sustained burn injuries in the tragic incident. Bohara’s four-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter died in the course of treatment.

By Richard Thompson

Air travel has certainly changed over time, and what once was an occasion that mandated dressing smartly has become considerably more casual.

Recently, Spirit Airlines issued a new dress code for its customers, after several news-making instances regarding customers being removed from flights due to their attire.

Now, customers on Spirit Airlines are subject to be removed from its flights if they are "barefoot or inadequately clothed (i.e., see-through clothing; not adequately covered; exposed breasts, buttocks, or other private parts), or whose clothing or article, including body art, is lewd, obscene, or offensive in nature."

Here are some other rules that airlines have regarding clothing. Do any of these surprise you?

1. Hawaiian Airlines

Passengers on Hawaiian Airlines are prohibited from wearing bathing suits, and "clothing must cover the upper part of the torso," says its Contract of Carriage.

Shorts are fine, but "speedos and bikini bottoms are not allowed," said Hawaiian Airlines. And bare feet are not okay either.

"In all cases, clothing must not be lewd, obscene, or patently offensive to others," said Hawaiian Airlines.

2. Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines passengers cannot wear clothes that are "lewd, obscene, or patently offensive," and passengers must wear shoes.

3. United Airlines

Similarly to Southwest, passengers on United have a pretty loose dress code. United Airlines' contract of carriage specifies that passengers must be "properly clothed."

Clothing cannot be "lewd, obscene or offensive," as well, and passengers have to wear shoes.

4. American Airlines

American Airlines' code of carriage does not specify what is not allowed, but says that passengers have to "Dress appropriately; bare feet or offensive clothing aren’t allowed."

5. Delta Air Lines

Delta's code of carriage does not have a specific dress code, but states that passengers can be removed when their "conduct, attire, hygiene or odor creates an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance to other passengers."

6. Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways has a dress code for its business class and above passengers, says its website.

"Depending on your destination, there are different rules and regulations regarding the type of clothing you should wear. The dress code is designed to ensure passengers' comfort and safety while traveling, so it is important to understand the rules before departing," said Qatar Airways.

This dress code prohibits shorts, sportswear, and "overly revealing clothing," and business class passengers should be dressed "smart casual."

"Passengers should pay attention to the dress code when traveling in business class, as it will ensure their comfort and respect for other passengers," said Qatar Airways.