Those travelling in AC coaches of trains will now have to shell out more from Wednesday , with the government deciding to impose 'Krishi Kalyan' cess of 0.5 per cent on service tax.
The Commonwealth Express comprising 11 coaches will leave for Amritsar to coincide with the arrival of Queen's Baton in the country from Pakistan on June 25.
In a stunning revelation, an officer of the Central Bureau of Investigation has alleged that his superior officer, a deputy inspector general, had tried tipping off former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla about raids being launched against him and others in connection with a jobs and transfer scam in the railway ministry.
Moving ahead with the economic reforms, the Cabinet tonight cleared the long-delayed proposal for raising FDI limit in defence to 49 per cent and fully opened up the railway infrastructure segment, like high-speed trains, for foreign investment.
In the Railways, people in various categories including senior citizens, patients, eminent artists and sportspersons are eligible for availing concessional fare facilities
In a bid to woo foreign investors, the Indian Railways is planning to organise road shows in select countries showcasing opportunities for investment in the rail sector.
The Government of India has decided to launch a massive rural public works scheme, 'Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan', to "empower and provide livelihood opportunities to the returnee migrant workers and rural citizens". Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch this scheme on June 20 through video conference in the presence of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi.
India has logged 5,335 fresh coronavirus cases, the highest in 195 days, while the active cases have increased to 25,587, according to Union health ministry data updated on Thursday.
The batch of five experts will also play a role as interpreters between India and China sides during border personnel meetings, sources said.
The earthquake damaged houses, roads, as well as other infrastructures, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted eyewitnesses from the area as saying.
Talking to reporters at the accident site, he said the issue is of electric point machine, a vital device for railway signalling, and electronic interlocking.
"Call it a craze, fever or national interest but HSR is our window to the outside world."
If the concerns over risking political capital are overcome, the long-term gains for the Indian economy will be immense, asserts A K Bhattacharya.
A fracture in the rail line was responsible for the Howrah-Kalka Mail accident that claimed 70 lives last month, the preliminary report submitted to Railway Ministry, claimed.
The railways is firming up plans to set up a traction motor factory in Vidisha and a wagon workshop in Visakhapatnam with an aim of stepping up its manufacturing activities in line with the 'Make in India' campaign.
The railway ministry is planning to launch 15 more Duronto Expresses in the coming budget, as the end-to-end non-stop train has caught the fancy of passengers.
Every class of passenger travel, except three-tier AC, loses money.
After the controversy surrounding the National Counter Terrorism Centre, Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa have trained their guns on the central government again by opposing a proposed amendment to the Railway Protection Force. They have joined Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in asking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to instruct the railway ministry not to proceed with the move.
The system will give a boost to regional trade and business.
"Railways has received a request from the government of West Bengal to set up a coach factory in Singur," Banerjee said while presenting the rail budget for 2010-11 in Parliament.
Aiming at connecting Patna with high speed train, the Railways will undertake a pre-feasibility study of Delhi-Patna rail route, which would be conducted by a British firm.
The Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday ruled out retrenchment of employees in railways and nationalised banks.
Manoj Sinha, earlier minister of state for railways, will be tasked to conduct the auction and deal with issues like net neutrality.
It will be mandatory for sleeper-class train passengers to carry identity proof from December 1, this year as Railways firmed up steps to prevent misuse of tickets by touts and facilitate hassle-free travel by bonafide people.
Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) and Oriental Consultancy along with Parsons Brinkhoff India has bagged the contract to conduct the pre-feasibility study on the proposed 664 km long Hyderabad-Vijaywada-Chennai route for running the high speed train, a senior Railway Ministry official said.
Presenting the Railway Budget on Friday in the Parliament, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee proposed an outlay of Rs 40,745 crore for 2009-2010, which is 2,840 crore more than the allocation proposed in the interim budget.
New Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Sunday said his priority will be to improve the financial health of the national transporter and make it a preferred mode of journey in the country.
Against the backdrop of recent suicides and fratricides by jawans and stand-offs between them and officers, Defence Minister A K Antony on Thursday asked the armed forces to adopt a liberal approach to jawans' pleas for leave and respond promptly.
Three passengers were killed and over 15 injured when a passenger train derailed near Belgaum in Karnataka on Monday evening due to flash floods which washed out tracks, railways said, District Collector Anvu Kumar said.
Railways initiate project for ad revenues of Rs 4,000 cr.
Railway passengers would soon have access to movies, television content, music videos and audio tracks as RailTel and media group Eros International have come together for providing entertainment services to travellers.
Overall, the railways intend to build 66 MFCs at a cost of Rs 8 crore (Rs 80 million) each. MFCs would provide rail users with facilities like shopping, food stalls and restaurants, book stalls, telephone booths, medicine and variety stores, budget hotels and underground parking.
After bumbling for years since 2014, the Modi government seems to believe that massive government expenditure will lead us to prosperity supported by 'seat-of-the-pants' decision-making, observes Debashis Basu.
Despite the hope that lessons will be learnt, the next accident invariably shows that nothing has been learnt -- or if learnt, they have been ignored, observes Prosenjit Datta.
The MCA has written letters to various ministries following a request by the Satyam board that public sector undertakings should not insist on the financial statements and other information like details of turnover from the company while seeking bids.
Central Bureau of Investigation has said that the Central agency is likely to question former Bihar chief minister and Union Railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in connection with the land-for-job case.
In a written reply to the House, Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said the recommendations are presently under examination by the ministry.
