India Inc on Friday said the hike in railway passenger and freight fares will help in resource mobilisation, hoping that the higher fares will lead to better quality and safety of services offered by the Indian Railways, while asking the government to allow FDI in Railways.
Out of the 932 trains which have been operated so far, 215 are in transit while 717 have terminated at various stations. Sixty-seven more are in the pipeline, an official said.
Travel agents in the IRCTC service have been accused of blocking tickets to sell them at a premium.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
In addition, both will offer services jointly, subject to financial viability.
Here's the full text of President's Ram Nath Kovind's address to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament on the first of Budget Session 2022.
Expressing commitment to augment the country's infrastructure, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday proposed to significantly enhance capital expenditure to Rs 5.54 lakh crore in the next fiscal, besides creating institutional structures and giving a big thrust to monetizing assets to achieve the goals of the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP). Sitharaman said NIP, that was launched in December 2019 with 6,835 projects, has now been expanded to 7,400 projects and around 217 projects worth Rs 1.10 lakh crore under some key infrastructure ministries have been completed. "For 2021-22, I propose a sharp increase in capital expenditure and thus have provided Rs 5.54 lakh crores which is 34.5% more than the BE of 2020-21," the finance minister said.
Modi government's story of five years with regard to equity allocation for PSUs shows that it may have allowed a large part of its resources to be wasted. This is also a worrying reflection of the government's inability to take hard decisions - whether they pertain to privatisation or forcing weak public-sector banks to wind down their operations, says A K Bhattacharya.
According to industry figures, the pre-Covid demand for liquid medical oxygen (LMO) before the pandemic was 700 tonnes per day across the country. Now, with the second wave, the demand has gone up more than seven times, reports Jyoti Mukul.
Envisioning and implementing a Railway innovation programme needs attitude training and skill impartation, says R Gopalakrishnan.
Southern Railway however clarified that the issue was the result of a particular user selecting Hindi as the preferred language while registering in the IRCTC website. 'Language is an option in e-ticketing,' a Southern Railway release said.
About Rs 4,257 crore worth of bids have been received so far and the Centre hopes that retail investors - those investing up to Rs 2 lakh - will place bids worth at least Rs 750 crore.
Since it began commercial operations from October six for six days a week, the train has maintained a tight schedule.
Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh is India's most tourist friendly railway station. It has an executive lounge, gaming zone, shower facilities, frequently cleaned platforms and effective solid waste management techniques.
The Budget for 2018-19 has at least five takeaways that are yet to receive adequate attention, says A K Bhattacharya.
A Japanese delegation will soon visit India to study the opportunities
From 5G to Tesla to Covid vaccine, 10 things will shape India's future.
During his talks with the chief ministers, Shah sought to know the areas of concern of the states and the sectors they want to open up further from June 1, the official said.
The bomb attack on West Bengal minister Jakir Hossain snowballed into a political controversy with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleging that it was a preplanned conspiracy as certain people were 'pressuring' him to switch over to another party, while opposition parties demanded National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the issue.
Pachauri was admitted to Escorts Heart Institute in the national capital where he underwent open heart surgery and was put on life support on Tuesday, sources said.
Only registered IRCTC users can use these services as of now. Currently, Indian railways don't allow Mobile ticket booking between 8 am to 12 pm.
The 27-year-old former deputy chief minister of Bihar appeared before the agency after evading three notices for questioning in connection with the case, CBI sources said.
Will Indian democracy benefit from the potential that Shashi Tharoor stores in his mind, spirit and intellect? Or will it be the saga of another leader who promised much but delivered too little, asks Dr Sudhir Bisht.
Of the thousands of railway bridges in India, 36,470 are more than 100 years old, and 6,680 are more than 140 years old! But of these, only 21 rank on the Heritage Directorate of the Indian Railways because for them heritage isn't necessarily a function of age, says Bibek Debroy.
Mr Prabhu has set the railways on a course of investing big .
Govt's e-commerce portal asks sellers to specify country origin of products. Now, the commerce & industry ministry has mandated that the Government e-Marketplace, which has seen Rs 55,048 crore worth of transactions till now, adopt this approach in the interest of creating an 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'.
Ferrying migrant workers back to their states would be the largest special service by any railway network in the world in one go. Here's how the transporter manages it.
Former minister for Railways Dinesh Trivedi speaks exclusively to rediff.com on a day when the Railway Budget will be presented in Parliament.
Terming investment in infrastructure "quintessential" to boost growth, the Economic Survey on Friday said post unlocking of the economy, infra sectors are poised for growth and construction of roads is expected to return to the high pace attained before COVID-19. The infrastructure sector will be the key to overall economic growth and macroeconomic stability, the Survey said emphasising that the year after the crisis (2021-22) will require sustained and calibrated measures to facilitate the process of economic recovery and enable the economy to get back on its long-term growth trajectory. "Basic infrastructure facilities in the country provide the foundation of growth. In the absence of adequate infrastructure, the economy operates at a suboptimal level and remains distant from its potential and frontier growth trajectory.
Special Judge Arun Bharadwaj granted relief to Prasad after he was produced before the court through video conference from a Ranchi jail, where he is lodged in another case, as he was unable to come due to health reasons.
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The estimated market borrowing by these two companies during current fiscal were pegged at Rs 13,800 crore (Rs 138 billion) from markets, as per the interim Railway Budget for 2014-15 tabled in February.
In a historic move, the Indian Railways and the Ministry of Health has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to build hospitals and OPDs at railway stations and on Railway land.
Analysts attribute the surge to a host of factors, particularly the interest shown by the retail investors in these two market segments.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said Budget-making was guided by the Prime Minister's words of the government being there to protect the interests of the common man.
'The core sectors have not done very well in the past one year.'
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
London Games silver medallist Sushil Kumar is hoping to produce more Olympic medal winners at the newly-inaugurated Indian Railway Wrestling Academy.
While this benefit of easing fuel cost should have been passed on to consumers through the review of FAC due this month, the Railways does not intend to revise freight and passenger fares until the next Budget to be presented in February.
Electronic devices installed along tracks provide train signals to a computer fitted in the locomotive. If a driver goes over the designated speed, a dashboard in front of him gives a red alert sign at first. Even after this, if the train continues its journey, the train's brake is automatically applied.
Railway traffic has dropped 32 per cent to 99.86 mt between April 1 and May 14, compared to the same time last year, while its revenue, too, dipped 41 per cent to Rs 9,094.38 crore.
