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Chandigarh: Bharti Airtel has tied up with Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to offer railway bookings through Airtel Money in Upper North comprising Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. "Our integration with IRCTC for reserved ticketing is a step to empower our customers specifically beyond the urban footprint with the convenience of booking tickets without the need of holding a bank account or an Internet connection," Airtel CEO-Upper North Sarang Kanade said in a release here. IRCTC mobile bookings through airtel Money service works across all mobile devices, does not involve any data or SMS charges. It uses a simple USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) technology that prompts users with interactive and guided menu options towards booking tickets, he said.

Airtel has tied up with IRCTC to offer railway bookings through Airtel Money in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and J&K. Through this service, customers can not only make ticket bookings but also search for stations, trains, availability, PNR enquiry, cancellation etc, he added.

इलाहाबाद : ज्यादा दिन दूर नहीं जब इलाहाबाद-वाराणसी के बीच बिजली की ट्रेन दौड़ना शुरू कर देगी। रेल विद्युतीकरण संगठन इस कार्य को तेजी से पूरा करने में लगा हुआ है। अभी तक वाराणसी से इलाहाबाद जंक्शन तक खंभों में बिजली के तार खींचे जा चुके हैं। हालांकि कुछ स्थानों पर अभी थोड़ा-थोड़ा कार्य बाकी है। यह दिसंबर तक पूरा कर लिया जाएगा। सीआरएस निरीक्षण के बाद अगले वर्ष मार्च महीने तक इलेक्ट्रिक ट्रेन इस रूट पर दौड़ने लगेगी।
मुगलसराय को वाराणसी के साथ लखनऊ को जोड़ने की लगभग पूरी हो चुकी है। अब रेल विद्युतीकरण संगठन का पूरा ध्यान ऊंचाहार-वाराणसी एवं इलाहाबाद-वाराणसी परियोजना को पूरा करने पर है। इसमें ऊंचाहार से वाराणसी और फाफामऊ से इलाहाबाद जंक्शन तक खंभे लगाने एवं तार खींचे जाने का कार्य पूरा हो चुका है। कुछ स्थानों पर गड़बड़ी के कारण थोड़ा-थोड़ा कार्य बाकी है। इसे भी दिसंबर माह तक पूरा कर लिए जाने की योजना है। रेलमार्ग के अगल-बगल बिजली के तार पर आ रही पेड़ों की टहनियां काटी जा रही हैं। सूत्रों की माने तो यह कार्य दिसंबर माह तक पूरा कर लिए जाने की उम्मीद है। इसके बाद सीआरएस निरीक्षण कराया जाएगा। निरीक्षण में सबकुछ ठीक ठाक मिलने के बाद मार्च माह में इस रेल खंड को बिजली की ट्रेनों के लिए शुरू कर दिया जाएगा।

Nearly three weeks after a 34-year-old woman passenger of the Puducherry-Mumbai Dadar Chalukya Express was relieved of a 4.5 sovereign gold chain, the Jolarpet Government Railway Police nabbed the thief on Saturday and recovered the jewel from him.Police said Ranga, a resident of Kolar Gold Field in Karnataka, was a habitual offender and was involved in several chain snatching cases in moving trains.On Saturday, when the Coimbatore-Chennai Central Intercity Express stopped at Jolarpet junction around 11.30 am, the Jolarpet Railway Police spotted him inside the train. On suspicion, they picked him up for inquiry.During inquiry, Ranga confessed that he had snatched the 4.5 sovereign gold chain, worth around 1 lakh, from the woman passenger of the Chalukya Express on June 22, and alighted from the train.He said he had boarded the train when it was moving at a speed of about 5 kmph between Parsampettai Railway Gate and Jolarpet Railway Station and alighted from the train, said the police.

The police officer said the chain would be handed over to the owner through the court. Police registered a case against Ranga and remanded him in the Vellore Central Prison for Men.

The victim, R Sivagami, was travelling with husband and their child. They were travelling in berths close to the door on S2 coach of the train. The incident had occurred between 2.45 am and 2.50 am on July 22.

Kalka–Howrah Mail and Lalgarh–Guwahati Avadh Assam Express trains will be regulated at Old Delhi station till clearance.

Train movement will remain suspended temporarily between Old Delhi and Shahdara stations due to Independence Day celebrations at Red Fort on August 15.As a result, some trains will be regulated, rescheduled and cancelled on that day, said a senior Northern Railway official.The train movement between the two stations will remain suspended from 6.45am to 8.30am, the official said.While Azamgarh-Delhi Kaifiyat Express and Khurja–Old Delhi Shakurbasti train will be regulated at Sahibabad, Pratapgarh–Old Delhi Padmavat Express train will be regulated at Shahadra.Kalka–Howrah Mail and Lalgarh–Guwahati Avadh Assam Express trains will be regulated at Old Delhi station till clearance.The Dehradun–Sarai Rohilla Mussoorie Express train will be diverted towards Sahibabad-Tilak Bridge-New Delhi-Sarai Rohilla.

The Sonepat-Old Delhi-Sahibabad train will be diverted to Subzi Mandi-New Delhi-Tilak Bridge route.

Departure of some trains are being rescheduled due to the restriction on train movement in the morning hour.

Shamli–Old Delhi passenger train will depart from Shamli at 4.30 AM instead of 3.15 AM.

The Old Delhi–Alipurduar Sikkim Mahananda Express train scheduled to depart at 6.40 AM from Old Delhi will be rescheduled to depart at 8.45 AM after clearance.

The departure of Old Delhi–Kotdwara Garhwal Express train scheduled at 7.20 AM from Old Delhi will be rescheduled to 8.55 AM after clearance.

The Ghaziabad-New Delhi, Old Delhi-Ghaziabad and Delhi- Shamli-Delhi passenger trains will remain cancelled.

Protests continued in the Rayalaseema districts of Kadapa, Chittoor and Anantapur and in the neighbouring Nellore district on Sunday, the day 12 of the agitation, taken up in support of Samaikyandhra.In the temple town of Tirupati, the day witnessed several protests by several organisations in various parts of the town.Following the rail roko call given by Samaikyandhra JAC on Sunday, the special party police and Railway Protection Force (RPF) in large number are deployed at the railway stations in Tirupati and Chittoor.Though hundreds of agitators came to the railway stations to obstruct trains, they beat a hasty retreat after the security personnel explained them about the cases and legal consequences involved, if they disrupt the movement of trains or squat on railway tracks.Tirupati YSRC MLA B Karunakar Reddy, who oragnised a dharna in the town, said that the temple town will not get its share of drinking water once the state is divided.“We are depending on Telugu Ganga for our drinking water needs. But, once the state gets bifurcated there will be no guarantee that we would get Telugu Ganga water as it has to pass several hurdles,’’ he said.Students of Sri Venkateswara University, leaders of Samaikyandhra Parirakshana Samithi, MSOs and other organisations continued their relay hunger protest camps and it became order of the day for several organisations to visit the camps for extending their solidarity.

The Tirupati JAC convener Prof V Srikanth Reddy said that all organisations under the umbrella of the Tirupati JAC protesting for the cause of Samaikyandhra will take up their activities from Monday after offering tributes to the Telugu Talli at Indira Maidan.

“We will begin our activity after singing our state anthem ‘Maa Telugu Talliki Mallepu Danda’ song,’’ he said.

The SVU students organised a human chain with dressed half-naked and the members of Tirupati body builders association showcased their body building talent on the road at Nalugu Kalla Mandapam as part of the protests. Meanwhile, the private schools association decided to reopen schools from Monday.

Heavy police forces were positioned at all the entry points to prevent the agitators from entering railway stations.

The ‘rail roko’ call given by the integrationists to bring pressure on the UPA Government hit the passenger turnout at the railway stations on Sunday. However, no major incidents were reported in view of the agitation.Police made elaborate security arrangements in and around the railway stations to avoid any inconvenience to the passengers.Heavy police forces were positioned at all the entry points to prevent the agitators from entering railway stations.Many passengers cancelled journey, and the platforms wore a desert look. There was no passenger rush in the trains and the South Central Railway provided escort with two parties for all the running trains. Police parties were attached to all the Station Masters. In Guntur, the protestors raised slogans in front of Simhadri Express, while the agitators entered Tenali station and shouted slogans in front of Janmabhoomi Express. The protestors criticised the Congress party for bifurcating the State. Police thwarted the efforts of the agitators to enter the railway stations in Anakapalle, Narsaraopet and Visakhapatnam, said Superintendent of Railway Police Ch. Syam Prasad Rao.“Train services were not affected in Guntur and Tenali stations as some protestors raised slogans in front of the halted trains.

There were no reports of arson and the police have not registered any cases in Vijayawada division”, said Mr. Syam Prasad.

The Railway Protection Force (RPF), Government Railway Police and the central forces would continue in the stations as a precautionary measure, said the police.

Former Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal has been appointed as member of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). He was appointed on August 8 for a period of six years or until he attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier, a notification issued by the Ministry of Personnel said today. The retired Indian Railway Traffic Service officer was chairman of Railway Board for two years from June 30, 2011 to June 30. Mittal has worked in various capacities in the Railways including as General Manager of South Eastern Railway, Additional General Manager, Central Railway, Divisional Railway Manager-Bilaspur, Chief Passenger Transportation Manager, Chief Freight Transportation Manager and Executive Director, Traffic Transportation (Movement) in Railway Board among others. He is the eight member in the Commission. Besides him, Rajni Razdan, Venkatarami Reddy Y, Alka Sirohi, David R Syiemlieh, Manbir Singh, former CBI director Amar Pratap Singh and Former Navy Vice Chief D K Dewan are other members.

The Commission, headed by D P Agrawal, still has two vacancies.

Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge called upon general managers and divisional railway managers of all zonal railways on Monday to ensure zero tolerance to accidents and safety to passengers. "DRMs at the divisional level and GMs at the zonal level shall be responsible for ensuring train safety in their respective areas. Safety should take priority over all other considerations. A policy of 'No loss of life' should be the motto of all railway employees," said Kharge. Kharge further added that a policy of "zero tolerance to accidents" should be adopted at all levels and this has to be achieved through a combination of improved technological aids and high quality training to improve skills of the employees.

Kharge meets GM's, DRM's, emphasises on train safety "Safety culture is essential for any organisation to achieve good safety results. With sustained efforts in the last decade, Railways have reduced the number of mishaps and further effort is required to make Railways free of accidents," the minister said. Observing that most of the fatalities occur in accidents at unmanned level crossings, Kharge said, "Efforts are on to eliminate all unmanned level crossings in the next few years. A strict time frame is to be followed and monitored by all zonal railways." Suggesting over proper rest for train drivers the Railway Minister said "Loco pilots and assistant loco pilots should be monitored and counselled, paying utmost attention to their personal issues including rest, particularly home rest". On the issue of large number of vacancies in safety category, Kharge said, "Filling of vacancies in the safety category posts also should be continuously monitored."  There are about one lakh vacant posts in safety category in railways.

Three of the accused in the Rs. 10-crore railway bribery case in which former railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla was also arrested were on Monday granted bail by a Delhi court.Special CBI judge Swarana Kanta Sharma allowed the pleas of accused Rahul Yadav, Samir Sandhir and Sushil Daga and granted them bail on a personal bond of Rs. five lakh with two sureties each of the like amount despite the CBI opposing it.These three accused, who were presently in judicial custody along with others, were chargesheeted by the CBI which had alleged that Yadav and Sandhir were involved in the arrangement of bribe amount to be delivered to Singla.The agency had said that Daga was associated with the work of arranging, transporting and payment of bribe money for another accused and then member (staff) of railway board Mahesh Kumar's desired posting and he had also contributed about Rs. 4.68 lakh on his part in it.Out of the 10 accused, who were chargesheeted by the CBI, alleged middleman Ajay Garg, who has been accused of being instrumental in fixing the bribe amount for getting a favourable post for Kumar, was granted bail by the court on July 8.Besides Singla, Kumar and Garg, the other accused chargesheeted by the CBI are MD of Bangalore-based GG Tronics India Pvt Ltd Narayan Rao Manjunath, alleged middleman Sandeep Goyal, Rahul Yadav, Samir Sandhir, Sushil Daga, MV Murali Krishan and CV Venugopal.

CBI, in its charge sheet filed on July 2, has alleged that Singla had demanded Rs. 10 crore from Mahesh Kumar for his appointment as member (electrical).

The court on July 12 had dismissed the bail plea of seven accused in the case, saying they can tamper with the evidence or influence witnesses, if released on bail.

CBI had said in the chargesheet it was decided between the accused that Rs. five crore would be paid before the appointment and rest of the money would be paid after the job was done.

The first tranche of Rs. 89.68 lakh was given to Singla who was apprehended while accepting the money, it had said.

All the 10 accused have been chargesheeted for the offence of criminal conspiracy under the IPC and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Former Union railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who resigned from the Union Cabinet in the wake of the scandal, has been named as one of the key witnesses in the case while his nephew Singla has been termed as the "main person" whose influence was to be allegedly used for getting Kumar appointed to the post, seen as "lucrative".

Metro Railway has launched a plan to install 29 escalators at all 23 stations on the route except Noapara in the next two years at a cost of around Rs 22 crore.

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