'Look at the response of the railway minister to the question why he was still in Delhi after the fire on Tamil Nadu Express. He said, I don't live in Chennai. This response was at 3 pm, and the accident happened early in the morning. There are at least four flights in the morning from Delhi and he was so callous in his response,' consumer rights activist S Pushpavanam tells Shobha Warrier
The Centre could further moderate its divestment target for 2024-25 (FY25), as it does not expect large receipts from asset sales - except some ongoing strategic ones, including IDBI Bank, which could spill over into next financial year. Also, it may drastically reduce its FY24 divestment target of Rs 51,000 crore. "We are still evaluating the Budget estimates for FY25. "New big-ticket asset sales are unlikely.
'The nearby civilians helped us a lot in providing food, water and first aid.'
The WWF had earlier asked for halting movement of night trains in the New Jalpaiguri-Alipurduar section passing through wildlife sanctuaries and National Parks and restricting their speed.
Gitanjali Datta of Maniabanda in Cuttack district had claimed that her husband Bijay Datta had died in the accident on June 2 and had even identified a body as her husband's.
The Dravida Munettra Kazhagam is hopeful of getting the railway portfolio in the next reshuffle, say our sources in Delhi. Buzz is that the DMK had specifically asked for railways even in 2004, which did not happen.
Modi, sources said, noted that some opposition members had described the voting in Rajya Sabha as a semi-final before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as he exuded confidence about the BJP's prospects in the national elections.
Ranajit Giri, Biprada Bag, Asha Behera and Ashok Bera, all residents of Bahanaga Bazaar station area in Balasore district where the crash took place, were among the first to rescue the injured.
The train crash on Friday, involving the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train, is one of the deadliest such accidents since independence.
In another tweet, Gandhi also expressed concern over frequent emergency landings of flights due to one snag or another at a time when domestic air fares have almost doubled.
Five railway employees, including the station master of Bahanaga Bazar, are being investigated in connection with the three-train accident in Odisha's Balasore district that claimed 288 lives, official sources said on Monday.
'These are people whom very few give importance and they were doing a mammoth job for the nation.'
Suresh Prabhu said Central and the state government will collaborate to implement big projects.
While the corporate sector has benefited from massive capital expenditure, leading to sky-rocketing stock prices, investors would do well to keep an eye on the macroeconomic picture and government finances, not just corporate profits, for signs of trouble, alerts Debashis Basu.
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.
The railways initially called a team from the Unique Identification Authority of India to the site to take thumbprints of the dead to ascertain their identity.
Both were rescued from the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express that derailed near Bahanaga Bazar Station on June 2 that had claimed 275 lives and left around 1,200 injured.
'Inter-ministerial coordination, information on the proposed PSUs, and due diligence are taking longer than expected to conclude the process.'
The incident occurred on the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express train in which two months ago a man had set fire to his co-passengers, which resulted in three deaths including a toddler, leading to speculation that it might be a case of sabotage and connected to the earlier one.
AISA general secretary and Bihar MLA Sandeep Saurav along with others in a press statement said that the committee formed by the ministry is a "conspiracy" to postpone the matter till the elections in Uttar Pradesh.
The Centre has taken a major step towards increasing efficiency in decision-making by empowering joint secretaries to report to secretaries directly, officials said on Wednesday.
The suburban network, called Mumbai's lifeline, use to ferry over 70 lakh commuters daily before the coronavirus outbreak.
It has also formed a committee which will examine the grievances of those who have passed the exams under different railway recruitment boards and those who have failed.
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.
Focuses on meeting non-traction demand through renewables.
'We don't know how and why this happened as the route interlock signal works fine millions of times every day across India.'
Balasore district hospital looked like a war zone with the injured lying on stretchers in the corridor and rooms bursting at its seams with extra beds propped up.
The train crash happened near the Bahanaga Baazar station in Balasore district, about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar, around 7 pm on Friday, prompting the Railway Ministry to order a probe.
The Indian Railways has decided to not cancel any more passenger trains to accommodate more freight traffic for coal transport. It will also gradually restore the ones it cancelled recently. The national transporter is of the view that coal supply is now reaching normative levels and does not need any more special measures. "Early data suggests that coal supply has stepped up since the passenger trains were cancelled.
Railway officials also indicated that possible 'sabotage' and tampering with the electronic interlocking system, which detects the presence of trains, led to the Friday accident.
The past appears to have interrupted the future of the New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS). With two protected heritage buildings sitting in the way of the plan to redevelop the railway station, officials in the know say the project may end up back on the drawing board since the National Monuments Authority (NMA), the body tasked with the protection and preservation of monuments and sites, is yet to give its approval. "A nod from NMA is awaited before going into the next phase of bids for the redevelopment of the New Delhi Railway Station," a senior official of the Ministry of Railways told Business Standard. While the Railways ministry is hopeful of getting approvals from the NMA before the end of the current financial year, there is no clarity on this yet.
While the SECR has cancelled 22 mail or express trains and 12 passenger trains, the Northern Railways has cancelled four mail or express trains, and as many passenger services.
Dearness Allowance for central government employees has been hiked to 31 per cent of the basic pay from 28 per cent with effect from July 1, 2021, the Finance Ministry said. In an office memorandum, the Department of Expenditure, under the Finance Ministry, said the term 'basic pay' means the pay drawn as per the 7th pay commission matrix and does not include any other type of pay like special pay, etc. "....the Dearness Allowance payable to central government employees shall be enhanced from the existing rate of 28 per cent to 31 per cent of the basic pay with effect from July 1, 2021," said the office memorandum dated October 25.
Sule, citing Railway Ministry documents, said the largest number of Shramik Special trains -- 1033 -- were operated from Gujarat, followed by Maharashtra (817) and Punjab (429).
According to an official statement, in a letter to Goyal, Pawar said that the migrant workers, stranded in different parts of Maharashtra, may step out in big numbers to return to their states when the train services resume after the lockdown is lifted. This can lead to law and order problem (with workers coming out in big numbers), he added. To avoid this, the railway ministry should run special trains, he demanded.
This alternative is being planned as the existing projects continue to be delayed due to land acquisition troubles. The ministry is thinking of adding new track lines to its existing eastern and western DFCs passing major areas in the proposed stretches, senior officials said.
The change in leadership at the railway ministry comes at a time when the national transporter is grappling with low passenger earnings even as it is trying to increase freight loading and open up its doors to private investment. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw took charge from Piyush Goyal who got the railway portfolio in 2017 after Prime Minister Narendra Modii dropped Suresh Prabhu from the Union Cabinet. Completing freight corridors, negotiating land for the bullet train, and speeding up monetisation plans would be some of the major focus areas for Vaishnaw.
Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra state governments had earlier approached the Railways Ministry to explore whether liquid medical oxygen tankers could be moved by the rail network, they said.
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The second wave of the coronavirus has put huge pressure on the country's health system, with hospitals facing shortage of oxygen, medicines and equipment to treat COVID-19 patients, besides beds.
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