ProUI

AHMEDABAD: Indians, and especially Gujaratis, have contributed greatly in the development of the East African economy. Much before the British started the Uganda-Kenya railway project in 1896, Gujaratis had started their businesses and to some extent dominated the economy.

The railway project, which ultimately changed the scenario of the region, saw many known Indian faces. The first engine driver that drove the train on the newly-laid track was Merwanji Modi, father of filmmaker Sohrab Modi.

The senior Modi was working with the Imperial British East Africa Company, which founded the railway line. Modi was also the first man to drive the train on Alvar-Ajmer line in 1900.

Like Modi, famous Gandhian and social worker Amrutlal Thakkar, who is known as Thakkarbapa, was also an employee of the railway company. He also started his career as an engineer in the railway project in East Africa.

Historian Makrand Mehta credits Gujaratis' contribution for the success of this project. He describes how A M Jeevanji, a Dawoodi Bohra from Kutch, got labour contract for the project. When the company was not satisfied with skills of native labourers, he hired 350 labourers from Mumbai, who were mainly from Saurashtra, Kutch and south Gujarat. But soon the great famine in India, also known here as Chhapaniyo Dukaal, forced many to join the labour force - 31,983 people migrated to this region and worked in the project. Jeevanji has also been credited with founding the first newspaper in this region-East Africa Standard.

Chandigarh: Congress president Sonia Gandhi will visit the state to launch the Rapid Metro in Gurgaon, inaugurate Shaheed Hasan Mewati Government Medical College in Nalhar and lay the foundation stone of the industrial model township in Roz-ka-Meo.Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had invited the Congress president to visit Gurgaon and Mewat on Gandhi Jayanti, falling on October 2, for the ceremony of the three projects.Though the invitation was being considered actively, the Congress decided to let the "inauspicious" days of the shraadh pass and push the visit and the launch to the Navratras.Though the party's official line is that the Congress president has her schedule full on Gandhi Jayanti, insiders maintain that the inauspicious days were one big reason to adjust the programme by a week or so.Consequently, the state government has been asked to take its pick from a couple of dates already conveyed to it.Insiders said the only choice available is to organise the programme within the first fortnight of October since the party leadership will have its hands full with the elections slated in the five states after that.

Meanwhile, the state Congress which was initially planning to launch its official website on Gandhi Jayanti will also do so on October 6 as per the tentative schedule so far. Sources said party general secretary in-charge Shakeel Ahmed is expected to be in Chandigarh on that day and the party is keen that he launches the website.

Restoration of rail station is a welcome move.Ticket issuing works may be outsourced for all the small stations.

MUMBAI: What's in a name, they say. Well, if the name is Chinglen Sana, it makes a huge difference. The India international scored a brace and shepherded Western Railway to the Mumbai Magicians-Mumbai Hockey Association-conducted Super League title at the Mahindra Stadium on Wednesday.

Western defeated Indian Navy 4-2 to walk home with a glittering trophy and Rs 100,000 cash award. Navy for their part, had to be content with the runner's up trophy and Rs 60,000.

"It made a huge difference today," Western Railway coach Sunil Kumar Singh said about Sana's influence on the game. "He is an international player. His presence not only boosts the confidence of his teammates, but also puts the opposition under pressure. It worked well for us. He also scored a couple of goals," he added.

Speaking about the match, Singh said: "We went all out. All the plans and strategies we had drawn, were implemented to the T. I am really satisfied with today's performance."

Sana, however, chose to play down his performance. "It was a team effort," he said, but admitted that being in the national team helped because he could come up with some vital inputs. "The advantage of being an international is you get to work with the best coaches and support staff. It is a great learning process and I tried to implement what I learnt in the camps. My coach also welcomed my inputs. But other than that, I don't think I made any difference. On the playing field, we played as a unit and won as a team," he said.

Navy coach, P L Murugappan was satisfied with the team's overall performance but felt that his team lacked maturity and that is why they lost in the final.

"The thing is our boys are very young and some of them are playing the Super League for the first time. I guess they lacked the acumen to play in a big match like this. I am sure with time, they will improve a lot. Chinglen (Sana) also was a young and immature lad but because he is playing with senior pros he has improved so much. Clearly, he made a huge difference. I am confident that my boys will be the team to beat once they mature a bit," he said.

Results: Western Railway 4 (Kuldeep Singh 29th min, Chinglen Sana 38th, 48th, Stanli Minz 54th) beat Indian Navy 2 (Faheen Khan 39th, 68th).

Awards: Player of the tournament: Devinder Walmiki (Central Railway) cash award of Rs 7,000; Best goalkeeper: Avdhoot Solankar (Central Railway) Best defender: Kuldeep Singh (WR); Best midfielder: Ksh Wangamba (UBI); Best forward: Usaf ur Rehman (UBI), all received a cash award of Rs 3,000 each.

South Eastern Railway has decided to run 7 pairs of weekly special trains between Santragachi and Rajkot (Gujarat) during the period from October 16 to November 30 during Durga Puja and Diwali Festivals.

          08049/08050 Santragachi-Rajkot Weekly Special (7 pairs), the Weekly Special train leaving Santragachi every Wednesday at 21.25 hrs will reach Rajkot at 16.15 hrs every Friday. In the return direction, the special train leaving Rajkot every Saturday at 09.00 hrs. will arrive Santragachi at 08.05 hrs every Monday.  This special train will run during the period from October 16 to November 30.

          The special train will have stoppages at Kharagpur, Midnapur, Bankura, Adra, Purulia, Chakradharpur, Rourkela, Jharsuguda, Raigarh, Bilaspur, Raipur, Durg, Rajnandgaon, Gondia, Nagpur, Wardha, Badnera, Akola, Malkapur, Bhusaval, Jalgaon, Nandurbar, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad, Viramgam, Surendranagar and Wankaner between Santragachi and Rajkot.

          With these 7 pairs, S E Railway will be running a total of 115 pairs of special trains during Durga Puja and Diwali festivals to clear the huge rush of passengers. The other special trains are Santragachi-Chennai Weekly AC Superfast special (9 pairs), Santragachi-Mumbai Weekly Superfast AC special (8 pairs), Santragachi-Puri (9 pairs), Shalimar-Yesvantpur (8 pairs), Santragachi-Anand Vihar (8 pairs), Santragachi-Kochuveli (9 pairs), Shalimar-Hyderabad (8 pairs) Sealdah-Puri (7 pairs), Tata-Bhagalpur (8 pairs) , Hatia-Yesavantpur (8 pairs), Ranchi-Katihar ( 16 pairs) and Tata-Visakhapatnam (10 pairs) which have  already been announced by South Eastern Railway.

                This apart, S E Railway has also decided to augment a number of important mail/express trains by attaching extra coaches, both AC and Non-AC during the period from 1st October to 10th November, 2013 to clear extra rush of passengers during the festive season. The important trains which will be augmented are Howrah-Digha Tamralipta Express, Howrah-Digha Kandari Express, Howrah-Yesvantpur Duronto Express, Howrah-Mumbai Duronto Express and Howrah-Pune Duronto Express. (EOIC)

GUWAHATI, Sept 25 – The city is likely to get 200 more city buses under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission (JNNURM) with a financial assistance of Rs 52 crore from the Central government.
Disclosing this, sources in the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) told this newspaper that the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) of the Union Urban Development Ministry is evaluating the proposal submitted by the GMDA to the Central government for the purpose.

The Central government is pressing for a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to operate the buses. However, the State is yet to form the SPV.

The city received 182 buses from the Central government under phase-I of the JNNURM and these buses are under the operation of the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC).

But now, the pressure is for placing the JNNURM-scheme buses under the SPV. Normally, the SPV should include the GMDA, the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC), ASTC and the State Government, as has been laid down in the JNNURM guidelines meant for the purpose, sources said.

Of the 200 buses proposed for the city this time, 72 are midi-buses, 28 are separate low-floor buses, 28 are standard air-condition (A/C) buses and 72 are non-A/C standard low-floor buses.

The estimated cost of these buses may undergo some changes due to the lowest price offered in the bidding prices.

The final decision on the buses rests with the CSMC, sources said, adding, for other Assam and NE towns, the Government of India has fixed a target of about 200 buses under the phase-II of the JNNURM during the current fiscal.

The Erode Corporation is looking forward to initiating the much-awaited project linking Brough Road with the Railway Station at the earliest. But the laying of the link road is likely to get delayed as a private institution, on the premises of which the proposed road will pass through, has obtained a stay order against the Local Planning Authority.This is the second time the private institution has obtained the stay order against the Local Planning Authority, after the first stay order was vacated earlier.Thus, land acquisition for laying this link road that will substantially ease the traffic congestion along EVN and Gandhiji roads is yet to begin. The land proposed to be acquired in the private institution accounts for one-third of the overall distance from Brough Road to the railway station. Since, the existing roads within the town are not broad enough in proportion to the traffic density, the Corporation is keen on connecting the 80-feet road in Periyar Nagar with the Brough Road. A bridge across Perumpallam Odai will complete the link.The Local Planning Authority will have to get the second stay order obtained by the private institution vacated. In the meantime, the civic body will be required to carry out acquisition on the other end of the 80-feet road, where a link has to be established with the railway station.

However, the Corporation authorities surmise that implementing the project is only a matter of time. “We are hopeful of initiating the work soon,” said K. Arumugam, Executive Engineer.

Railway employees, under the aegis of East Coast Railway Shramik Union, staged protests against the steps being taken by the government to reduce the ceiling instead of raising the ceiling limit on Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB).A dharna was organised by the employees at the Diesel Loco Shed on Tuesday in this regard. E Co RSU working president (central) D. Shaleel described the move to reduce the ceiling limit on PLB instead of increasing it as a retrograde step. She warned that the union would organise widespread protests against the decision. Branch president B. Suresh Kumar, secretary M. Venu and union leaders B.V. Mahesh, Ch. Eswara Rao and G. Appa Rao were among those who participated.A lunch-hour demo was held at the DRM s Office on Tuesday by the E Co R SU leaders. Assistant general secretary B. Damodara Rao said that the decision to organise protests was taken at the national council meeting held on September 13 in New Delhi. Protests were being organised at all divisional offices, workshops and units. Union leaders Appa Rao, Chella Rao and V. Narasinga Rao were among those who participated.

NEW DELHI: Railways have decided to launch a new air-conditioned train between Amritsar and Lalkuan in Uttarakhand.The new weekly Amritsar-Lalkuan AC Express train will be operational every Wednesday from October 2 in both the directions, said a senior Northern Railway official adding "there was a demand by the local people for the train and it was included in the budget proposal."The AC Express train shall depart from Amritsar at 5.55 AM every Wednesday and reach Lalkuan at 8.50 PM the same day. In the return direction, the train will leave Lalkuan every Wednesday at 11.15 PM to reach Amritsar at 2.45 PM the next day.Consisting of 13 AC III tier coaches and three AC Chair Car coaches, the Amritsar-Lalkuan-Amritsar train will stop at Beas, Jalandhar, Phagwara, Ludhiana, New Morinda, Sahibzada Ajitsingh Nagar, Chandigarh, Ambala Cantonment, Jagadhari, Saharanpur, Roorkee, Laksar, Najibabad, Moradabad and Kashipur stations enroute in both the directions.

MUMBAI: What's in a name, they say. Well, if the name is Chinglen Sana, it makes a huge difference. The India international scored a brace and shepherded Western Railway to the Mumbai Magicians-Mumbai Hockey Association-conducted Super League title at the Mahindra Stadium on Wednesday.

Western defeated Indian Navy 4-2 to walk home with a glittering trophy and Rs 100,000 cash award. Navy for their part, had to be content with the runner's up trophy and Rs 60,000.

"It made a huge difference today," Western Railway coach Sunil Kumar Singh said about Sana's influence on the game. "He is an international player. His presence not only boosts the confidence of his teammates, but also puts the opposition under pressure. It worked well for us. He also scored a couple of goals," he added.

Speaking about the match, Singh said: "We went all out. All the plans and strategies we had drawn, were implemented to the T. I am really satisfied with today's performance."

Sana, however, chose to play down his performance. "It was a team effort," he said, but admitted that being in the national team helped because he could come up with some vital inputs. "The advantage of being an international is you get to work with the best coaches and support staff. It is a great learning process and I tried to implement what I learnt in the camps. My coach also welcomed my inputs. But other than that, I don't think I made any difference. On the playing field, we played as a unit and won as a team," he said.

Navy coach, P L Murugappan was satisfied with the team's overall performance but felt that his team lacked maturity and that is why they lost in the final.

"The thing is our boys are very young and some of them are playing the Super League for the first time. I guess they lacked the acumen to play in a big match like this. I am sure with time, they will improve a lot. Chinglen (Sana) also was a young and immature lad but because he is playing with senior pros he has improved so much. Clearly, he made a huge difference. I am confident that my boys will be the team to beat once they mature a bit," he said.

Results: Western Railway 4 (Kuldeep Singh 29th min, Chinglen Sana 38th, 48th, Stanli Minz 54th) beat Indian Navy 2 (Faheen Khan 39th, 68th).

Awards: Player of the tournament: Devinder Walmiki (Central Railway) cash award of Rs 7,000; Best goalkeeper: Avdhoot Solankar (Central Railway) Best defender: Kuldeep Singh (WR); Best midfielder: Ksh Wangamba (UBI); Best forward: Usaf ur Rehman (UBI), all received a cash award of Rs 3,000 each.