An unholy row has broken out in the Parliament House between the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance and its most critical alliance partner, the Trinamool Congress, over a room for the new Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi.
The Trinamool Congress expects the Congress leadership to keep its "word" on removal of Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi even as he asserted that Railways is nobody's fiefdom.
Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, against whom a non-bailable arrest warrant has been issued by a court at Behrampore, on Saturday accused the Trinamool Congress of pursuing vindictive politics.
The incident had happened in Bihar when the Howrah-New Jalpaiguri semi-high-speed train was passing through that state on January 3.
A decision on the fate of Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi is expected "any moment", Trinamool leader Sudip Bandopadhyay on Friday said.
For the past one-and-a-half months, railway minister Mamata Banerjee has stopped her informal interactions with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee after a sharp exchange on telephone over a municipal election issue.
Announcing the resignation of Dinesh Trivedi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he regretted the departure of the railway minister who had presented a budget which promised the "vision" outlined by his predecessor Mamata Banerjee.
The list, which is a mix of seasoned political players and greenhorns, has 17 women candidates, five more than the last elections, constituting roughly 41 per cent of the candidates.
The Opposition on Wednesday slammed the Railway Budget saying it will promote regional imbalance and criticised its use to promote political ends. Initiating the general discussion on the Railway Budget in the Rajya Sabha, Kalraj Mishra (BJP) said Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have been neglected and most of the projects have gone to West Bengal.
The Indian Railway plans to launch 101 new suburban trains in Mumbai. The Railways will also launch 10 more Duranto trains.
A slew of concessions, including for carriage of foodgrains, kerosene and fertiliser, were announced by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Railway Budget 2010-11. Cancer patients travelling for treatment would get 100 per cent concession in third AC and sleeper classes.
As Railway motormen brought Mumbai to a standstill, MPs, including from Congress, on Tuesday paralysed functioning of Parliament over the issue, expressing solidarity with striking employees and targeting Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee for failing to avert the situation.
The Rajya Sabha gave its nod to the Railways for withdrawing additional funds of Rs 1024.61 crore (Rs 10.24 billion) for 2010-11 amidst din.
Trinamool politics set to trump prudence on passenger fares.
'Operation Green Hunt has been a total failure. What have the joint forces achieved? Nothing!' says former Union revenue secretary and Trinamool adviser Debabrata Bandyopadhyay.
Officials in the railway ministry are discussing a proposal by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee to cut the premium on Tatkal (instant) tickets and reduce its booking period to give the railway budget an aam aadmi touch.
'He has always loved to help people. He has donated his blood three times'
Railways minister Mamata Banerjee announced the proposal to construct 6,560 staff quarters during the year 2009-10. A thrust would be given under the Corporate Welfare Plan for improvement of staff quarters and colonies. The Budget also proposes to set up indoor stadia in major railway divisions and zones to promote sports and cultural activities among the railway employees.
Banerjee said on Thursday that her government made arrangements for 105 more trains to bring back people stuck in different parts of the country amid claims by opposition parties that the state was not eager to ferry home stranded labourers and pilgrims.
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.
After a five-day waiting game, Railways Minister Dinesh Tiwari has resigned, according to Trinamool Congress sources. Tiwari met with TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, and expressed his willingness to quit.
Shah said not a single person will lose citizenship as a result of the Citizenship Amendment Act.
The passengers of Howrah bound Kandari Express from Digha that reached its destination on Friday wee hour after several hours of scheduled time, were worried about getting back home. But, none of the 325 passengers could imagine that a pleasant surprise was awaiting them from Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee ahead of the assembly elections in the state.
For the last eight months, the toy train service between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling is partially suspended, following a landslide and the authorities are unsure of when the narrow gauge route would be revived.
A day after proposing fare hike in the rail budget which has threatened his job, a defiant Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi on Thursday said he would repeat the same if asked to present the budget again.
Another woman from Malda district said that her son was killed in the accident.
The Railways on Monday announced that Tatkal reservation on trains will open only two days before the journey, instead of the past practice of when Tatkal tickets were available five days in advance.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Wednesday hit out at the Trinamool Congress blaming it for seeking the stoppage of anti-Maoist operations in West Bengal and providing 'political patronage' to the extremists.
In a move to increase safety measures, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said she plans to increase the number of women commandoes, and women RPF squads, especially in stations where women come in large numbers regularly.
The accident site in West Midnapore, West Bengal, has been strewn with mutilated bodies and belongings of passengers of the ill-fated Gyaneshwari Express.
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.
In a major goof-up, an advertisement inserted in newspapers by the Eastern Railways showed Delhi in Pakistan and Kolkata in the Bay of Bengal.
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.
The country's first point-to-point, non-stop train, Duronto Express was flagged off from Sealdah station on Friday by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee as a 'Durga puja' gift to the people.
The Rail Budget presented by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in Parliament on Wednesday has received mixed reactions from the commuters in Mumbai.
Union Defence Minister A K Antony on Wednesday rejected his cabinet colleague and Union Railway minister Mamata Banerjee's demand for deployment of army in Maoist-affected areas of West Bengal, saying use of armed forces for internal security was the 'last resort.'
With his claims of Railway turnaround coming under scanner, former railway minister Lalu Prasad on Friday rejected the charge of juggling profit figures, insisting that he had nothing to fear despite the white paper promised by his successor Mamata Banerjee.
Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi has not resigned, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha on Thursday
The derailment of the Lokmanya Tilak Gyaneshwari Super Deluxe Express in West Midnapore district, which left at least 75 passengers dead on Friday, threw up a number of contradictions on what caused the mishap. Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, who flew to the accident spot in a helicopter, said the derailment was caused by a bomb blast and indicated that Maoists were behind it.
Rediff.com brings to you Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's Budget Speech Live from Parliament at 11.00 a.m. on February 26.
