Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal may have been quick to deny any role in Railway Board bribery scandal and ask for a thorough CBI probe. But his image as an honest man, whose integrity could not be challenged, has been demolished. Anita Katyal reports
Distancing himself from his nephew, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday night in a case of bribery for allegedly fixing a top level position in the railway board, Railway Minister K Bansal on Saturday said he had no business links with him and denied any wrongdoing.
"Here is an opportunity to look at it from a different perspective. It is an out of the box situation. It maybe a first of its kind situation.
The semi-high speed Train 18, which has been recently rechristened Vande Bharat Express, can run up to a maximum speed of 160 kmph and has travel classes like Shatabdi trains but with better facilities. It aims to provide a totally new travel experience to passengers.
Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable Chetansinh Chaudhary, who shot dead his senior and three passengers on board a moving train last month, has been dismissed from service, an official said on Thursday.
The Railways ordered an inquiry, on Friday, into the train derailment near Jaipur that left six persons dead. Commissioner of Railway Safety, Western Circle, Prashant Kumar is inquiring into the mishap, railway sources said.
The number of passengers were 8,421 million in 2012-13 which was reduced to 8,397 million in 2013-14.
A relative decline was observed since Saturday night in the number of people from northeast heading for their home states in wake of the recent attacks in Pune, official sources said.
Her statement also mentioned that the accused had a "blood clot" in the brain and was taking medicines for the same.
Dismissed RPF constable Chetansinh Chaudhary, accused of killing his senior colleague and three passengers on a moving train, appears to have harboured "anger and grudge" towards a particular community and showed no remorse for the crime committed, the police said in its response to his bail.
If the concerns over risking political capital are overcome, the long-term gains for the Indian economy will be immense, asserts A K Bhattacharya.
Prabhu said he was 'extremely pained by the unfortunate accidents, injuries to passengers and loss of precious lives'.
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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.
Indian Railways on Tuesday entered into a joint venture agreement with the NTPC for setting up 1000 MW captive power plant at Nabinagar in Bihar, a move that can help the exchequer save Rs 400-600 crore (Rs 4-6 billion) annually on power purchase from state electricity boards.
The function to launch the project was attended by Director General of the Railway Health Services, V K Ramteke, General Manager of Northern Railways Shri Prakash, Chief Medical Director of Northern Railway R N Tripathi and members of Railway Unions.
The victory gave the defending champions a berth in the last eight of the Bombay Gold Cup hockey tournament.
'We hope there shall be more focus on existing projects and their completion rather than new projects.' 'Any new project announcements should be largely for decongesting the existing lines rather than new lines.'
After its forays into e-ticketing and hospitality, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation has tied up with travel major Cox & Kings for offering tour packages
Weeks after a Nicaragua-bound plane carrying Indians was grounded in France and later sent back to India, the Gujarat police have booked 14 agents on the charge of human trafficking for trying to send more than 60 persons from Gujarat to the US illegally via Mexico border, a senior official said.
Robots are now being used increasingly in the integrated-shell assembly line and robotic bogie-fabrication line. The unit may soon see its phase-II expansion, which will increase its capacity to 2,000 coaches.
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Karnataka batter Devdutt Padikkal on Friday expressed his delight after smashing his third century of the ongoing Ranji Trophy season, saying he was always confident of making a strong back after going through a lean patch in the last season.
Pressure mounted for the removal of Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Thursday as more instances of impropriety tumbled out amidst talk of a reshuffle of the Union cabinet in which beleagured Law Minister Ashwani Kumar may be shifted to a different portfolio.
Bharatiya Janata Party youth activists, including women, and police clashed outside Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's residence in New Delhi on Monday during a protest demanding his resignation following the arrest of his nephew on the charge of accepting bribe to fix plum position in the railway board.
The Railway Board post of member electrical, which has drawn interest after allegations that suspended member Manesh Kumar had paid a hefty bribe for it, is much coveted due to the big-ticket projects handled by it, including the Rs 2500-crore train collision avoidance system.
The Railways Minister arrived in New Delhi on Thursday morning for a meeting with Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other members of Parliament to discuss ways for expansion of railway facilities in MP.
As the 'Delhi Chalo' agitation of farmers entered the third day on Thursday, two key border points between Delhi and Haryana remained closed for traffic, while security personnel in anti-riot gear conducted drills and mock exercises to ensure their fool-proof preparation.
Inviting private sector for the development of railway infrastructure, the Indian Railways on Wednesday said the ambitious target of laying 1000 km of track per year would be financed through its internal resources.
Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Monday ordered a high-level inquiry into the stampede at the Allahabad Junction which claimed 36 lives, announced compensation for the victims and blamed the tragedy on tardy crowd management by the local administration.
In an unpopular decision, railway passenger fare was on Friday increased by 14.2 per cent in all classes while freight charge was hiked by 6.5 per cent with effect from Friday.
Sources said the duo attackers -- Rohit Rathore of Jaipur and Nitin Fauji of Haryana's Mahendragarh -- had planned to flee the country and had been allegedly promised Rs 50,000 each to kill Gogamedi.
The state government had earlier proposed to construct a mega power plant in Singur with Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, but BHEL had expressed its inability for the same. Though the Singur site was with the Tatas, its group chairman Ratan Tata had earlier said he did not want to sit on the land and could give it back if the company was compensated for the investment it had made.
A decision on Law Minister Ashwani Kumar's continuance in the Union cabinet will depend on the view taken by the Supreme Court on Wednesday when it examines the Central Bureau of Investigation affidavit on the coal blocks allocation report, the Congress said.
Railway Minister P K Bansal's continuance in the Union Cabinet hung in balance on Saturday night as the Congress and the government received a fresh battering in the wake of the arrest of his nephew on the charge of accepting bribe to fix plum position in the Railway Board.
In a sensational case of alleged bribery of Rs.90 lakh for fixing a top level position in the government, Railway Minister P K Bansal's nephew was arrested on Friday by the Central Bureau of Investigation which also held a member of the railway board.
Despite Dharavi being located in the Mumbai North Central constituency and Mahalaxmi Racecourse in South Mumbai, the issues have caught the attention of all parties and their candidates.
The probe report has estimated the cost of damage due to the accident at more than Rs 52 crore.
The MoU was signed in presence of visiting French Minister of State for Transport Dominique Bussereau, Minister of State for Railways Naranbhai Rathwa, Chairman and Managing Director SNCF International (French Railways) Jean-Pierre Lubinox and Railway Board Chairman K C Jena. The agreement will be valid for a period of three years and it will enable mutually beneficial cooperation between the two railways, Jena said.
Railways initiate project for ad revenues of Rs 4,000 cr.
