The Rs 10,807-crore (Rs 108.07 billion) budget for implementation of Sixth Pay Commission recommendations and to fund various ongoing projects was passed by a voice vote. Some members were not satisfied with the budget. The BJD members walked out alleging that Orissa had been ignored.
Struggling to make ends meet, the railways have demanded a doubling of gross budgetary support from the government.
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.
The 7th Pay Commission recommendations are a major challenge for the Railways.
According to the latest Budget papers, the staff strength of central ministries and departments is estimated to rise by 276,796 to 3.44 million at the end of FY23, it would be up by 109,266 to 3.55 million in March 2024.
India is only on the starting block.
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Friday left freight rates unchanged in his interim budget to keep traffic from shifting to road transport that has become cheaper following cut in diesel prices.
A senior railway official said, "It (white paper) isalmost ready and final touches are being given to it."
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her third Budget on February 1.
The Lok Sabha will apply guillotine on discussions on demands for grants by the third week so as to complete the entire budgetary process in Parliament by July 27.
India's cargo trains run at 19-30 km an hour, they run at 120 km in China - and the difference is only growing.
Noting that the new trains will connect the culture of Telangana and AP, Modi said Vande Bharat symbolises new India's resolution and capabilities.
'You can never bring about a change if you only bring in outsiders. Consultants will never feel what changes are necessary and where,' says Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.
A new scheme -- 'Izzat' was unveiled on Friday by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee for the workers in the unorganised sector who can now travel upto 100 kms with a monthly season ticket of Rs 25.
Industry players believe the new DFI model will be initially risk capital, which will then be used to mobilise additional resources from development agencies such as World Bank.
Stepped up public expenditure must be accompanied by focused policies, advises Vinayak Chatterjee.
Nineteen people have been killed in rain-related incidents in Uttar Pradesh in the past 24 hours, the state relief commissioner's office said Monday evening.
Let's take a look at some of the fastest trains in the world.
The NSE Nifty ended at 2,948, up 55 points. The market breadth was fairly positive - out of 2,528 stocks traded, 1,455 advanced and 970 declined on Friday.
Finance Minister Pranab mukherjee presents his 7th Budget.
Presenting his fifth Rail Budget in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Railways Minister Lalu Prasad said that the Railways had set up new profit records in 2007-08 attaining a profit of Rs 25,000 crore.
Despite public-private partnership projects announced in several rail budgets, the investment since 2000 has been merely Rs 3,000 crore.
Raiwalys in existential crisis but no stock market route: Prabhu.
Offering a bonanza for train travellers, Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal announced that the Indian Railways will start new trains.
The reassessed Plan size for the railways in 2012-13 has already shrunk to Rs 56,950 crore (Rs 569.5 billion) from Rs 60,100 crore (Rs 601 billion) after the first quarter.
Government has been trying to get rid of the impression that it is caught in "policy paralysis".
The Budget sets out a comprehensive vision.
Ritu Beri said the look of the uniform will be an ode to India and her exoticism
"The Rail Budget is likely to be presented on July 8. The ministry is preparing a status report to be presented before the Railway Minister. The report is to be submitted in a day or two and after that the budget outline will be drawn by the minister," a senior ministry official said.
Railways internal resources generation has been reduced due to various factors, including cost escalation and pay commission load.
'No Budget has so far has addressed the issue of the government's abysmal productivity of capital spending, improving which will be the big game changer. 'But, the government's tight lock on businesses, banks, education, and even essential services like transportation and large parts of infrastructure and healthcare is destroying capital year after year,' points out Debashis Basu.
The minister outlined proposals on cleanliness.
Railway Board chairman SS Khurana, in an interaction with the media after the Interim Rail Budget, said the railways would lose Rs 700 crore (Rs 7 billion) annually following the fare cut. He also pointed out that the ministry would continue to optimise freight earning through its dynamic pricing policy.
Soon after Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram presented the Union Budget 2013 in Parliament, Trinamool Congress leader and former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi joined us for the Budget chat.
Total subsidy bill could come down to around Rs 2 trillion.
'Making the railways better is a different type of a challenge.'
With Mamata Banerjee leaving passenger fares untouched and announcing a slew of concessions for technicians of regional film industry, cancer patients and press correspondents, railways' earnings from passenger operations may be strained further.
The welfare of the common man continues to be the top priority. The minister has reduced fares for the fourth successive year.
Ram Narayan Sahu (Samajwadi Party) complained during a discussion on the Railway Budget that he did not get a glass for drinking water even in a first class coach.
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