Railway Minister joked, broke into poetry and even lost her cool during her 90-minute budget speech.
In Jammu & Kashmir, the minister proposed to set up a bridge factory.
While a host of pro-public announcements made by her in the last Railway Budget (2010-11) have been implemented, Indian Railways' finances have gone from bad to worse.
The forthcoming Railway Budget is, perhaps, going to be the toughest one for Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Political repercussions are not the only reason why the Trinamool Congress chief would leave the sensitive issue of fares untouched before the West Bengal assembly elections in April.
It is a Budget 'high on promises but low on design,' the agency said.
The government's top leadership was happy with Prabhu's Budget.
Finance Minister P T R Palanivel Thiagarajan has proclaimed his determination to set Tamil Nadu's fiscal house in order in five years, and Friday will show how he plans to go about it when he rises to present the Stalin government's maiden budget, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Stocks might hit new highs even before B-Day.
The railway minister's indifference to her portfolio, the hesitation to install anti-collision devices that cost Rs 250,000 per km and the debate over the efficiency of home-grown technology are leading to more accidents.
Rarely do the orders of the Central Administrative Tribunal go beyond redressing the grievances brought before it by employees of the government or other state-controlled organisations.
UPA managers say cooling of tempers, passage of Budget are bigger priorities.
Presenting the Railway Budget for 2010-11 in Parliament, the minister said there are 14 lakh (1.4 million) employees of Indian Railways -- from officers to gangmen and the scheme will benefit all of them.
Presenting the Railway Budget for 2010-11 in Parliament, she said the stations are Ambala Cantt., Bholpur, Ernakulum, Gorakhpur, Jammu, Jhansi, Kharagpur, Kota, Surat and Thane.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to present a populist Railway Budget on February 24, leaving passenger fares untouched but rationalising the freight rates keeping the essential commodities aside.
Stating that the Budget is passenger friendly, Mamata Banerjee said the annual plan for 2011-12 is Rs 57,630 crore.
The Nifty shut shop at 5303, up 40 points.
The Railway Budget also proposes to increase the facility for press correspondents whereby now they will be entitled to avail 50 per cent concession with family twice a year.
Presenting her third budget in UPA-II in the Lok Sabha, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee announced a slew ofconcessions including reducing the eligibility age of senior women citizens from 60 to 58 years.
E-Samiksha can be used for monitoring the infra target.
As per existing provisions, senior citizens aged 60 years and above are eligible for concession in the basic fares of Mail and Express trains, and all inclusive fares of Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Jan Shatabdi trains.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on Wednesday described the railway budget as 'disappointing' and said the ministry's attempt to attract private firms to fund the rail projects is like 'chasing a dream'.
Rediff.com brings to you Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's Budget Speech Live from Parliament at 11.00 a.m. on February 26.
Rail stocks on Thursday fell by up to 8.6 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) as cautious investors offloaded shares ahead of the Railway Budget, 2011-2012 to be presented on Friday.
Presenting the Railway Budget 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha on Friday, she announced the launching of special recruitment drive to wipe out backlog in filling up the vacancies of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
These stations will have dormitories especially for lady passengers, will be equipped wih better signage among other facilities. The Indian Railways have already identified 309 stations for the scheme.
All the Indian Railways' zones have been instructed to ensure availability of Janata Khana. A comprehensive policy, including strict monitoring mechanisms, would be developed soon for achieving these objectives.
It was the humble 'jhola' rather than the traditional leather briefcase Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee preferred to bring her budget papers to Parliament on Friday.
Three new non-stop Duronto trains will be launched on Wednesday, the last day of the current financial year. They are the New Delhi-Bhubaneswar, New Delhi-Howrah, and Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Jammu Tawi Duronto expresses.
'I could have joined the BJP in 2014, the doors were open.' 'I stayed on with the TMC, a party I was involved with since its very inception.' 'But today enough is enough.'
There were no proposals for additional resource mobilisation in her budget. But she has been helped by an all-time high annual Plan allocation of Rs 41,426 crore (Rs 414.26 billion) for 2010-11, up Rs 1,142 crore (Rs 11.42 billion) from 2009-10.
The Minister of Railways Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced her ministry will follow a twin strategy of adopting the highest level of technology and pressing into force well-trained manpower, as emphasised in Vision 2020 for safety and security.
As part its efforts to get more freight from highways and address shortage of wagons, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday proposed to introduce a modified wagon investment scheme for high-capacity general and special purpose wagons.
Opposition parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India, on Wednesday slammed the Rail Budget terming it a mockery while the Congress said the budget is futuristic and reflects the concerns of the 'aam admi'.
Construction of more underpasses besides road overbridges, dedicated passenger corridors are also on the anvil, the railway minister said.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday asked for allocation of sufficient funds for the ongoing projects and introduction of new trains in the state.
In its forthcoming Budget, Railways also propose to launch more passenger services and speed up existing trains.
The Union Minister of Railways, Lalu Prasad while presenting the Interim Railway Budget 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha on Friday, announced the introduction of 43 new trains which include four Garib Raths.
"Yes, it is almost that," senior CPI-M leader Basudeb Acharia told reporters when asked whether the Budget was the Trinamool Congress' manifesto for the Assembly polls. However, Acharia and CPI national secretary D Raja welcomed several 'positive' features like no raise in passenger fares or freight charges and the concessions given to various sections of people.
The Minister of Railways, Mamata Banerjee on Friday announced several concessions for the students in the Railway Budget for 2009-10.
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