ProUI

मीरजापुर रेलवे स्टेशन पर सोमवार को तीसरे पहर लगभग चार बजे लाल पैंट, सफेद शर्ट पहने व हाथ में बैग लिए तीन संदिग्ध युवकों के दिखने की सूचना पर पुलिस प्रशासन मेला क्षेत्र में सतर्क हो गया। क्राइम ब्रांच टीम के इंसपेक्टर आशुतोष ओझा, केके चौबे के नेतृत्व में फोर्स स्टेशन पर पहुंच गई। मदद के लिए जीआरपी को भी लगाया गया। स्टेशन व आसपास के चप्पे चप्पे की तलाशी ली गई। खुफिया तंत्र को भी सक्रिय कर दिया गया। हालांकि चेकिंग के दौरान किसी संदिग्ध को पकड़ा नहीं जा सका।
जिलाधिकारी अनिल ढींगरा ने बताया कि संदिग्ध की सूचना पर स्टेशन व आसपास के इलाके में पुलिस द्वारा चेकिंग जारी है। प्रशासन सतर्क है। खुफिया अधिकारी व क्राइम ब्रांच द्वारा आने जाने वालों पर नजर रखी जा रही है। यह पूछने पर की क्या अलर्ट घोषित किया गया है, डीएम ने कहा कि सतर्कता बरती जा रही है। दिन-रात चेकिंग चल रही है। सीओ व अपर पुलिस अधीक्षक स्तर के अधिकारी मजिस्ट्रेटों के साथ लगाए गए हैं। वहीं मेला प्रभारी व अपर पुलिस अधीक्षक नगर एके सिंह ने बताया कि संदिग्धों के दिखाई देने की सूचना पर जांच पड़ताल की गई लेकिन कोई मिली नहीं। मेला क्षेत्र में जवानों को अलर्ट कर दिया गया है।
जेल से फरार आतंकी तो नहीं!
मीरजापुर में देखे गए संदिग्धों में से एक की शक्ल एक अक्टूबर को खंडवा जेल से भागे सिमी के छह आतंकियों में से मिलती जुलती थी! खुफिया सूत्रों के मुताबिक बाद में उसकी लोकेशन वाराणसी की ओर जाने वाली एक बस में मिली। इसपर मीरजापुर पुलिस ने कई बसों की जांच कराई लेकिन कामयाबी हाथ नहीं लगी। वाराणसी समेत आसपास के जिलों की पुलिस व खुफिया तंत्र को सतर्क कर दिया गया है। ज्ञात हो कि बीते दिनों खंडवा जेल से सात आतंकी फरार हो गए थे। इनमें से एक को पुलिस ने दबोच लिया था जबकि बाकी छह का अब तक पता नहीं चला।
फेसबुक पर संदिग्ध की फोटो: सोमवार रात वाराणसी पुलिस ने फेसबुक पर खंडवा जेल से फरार मोहम्मद तहसीन अख्तर नामक आतंकी की फोटो अपलोड कर दी। उसपर एनआइए ने दस लाख रुपये का इनाम घोषित किया है। पुलिस ने अपील की है कि कहीं भी इसके दिखाई पड़ने पर तत्काल पुलिस को सूचना दें।

Many passenger trains were either cancelled or short-terminated on Monday

Passengers stranded at the Visakhapatnam Railway Station on Monday as some trains were cancelled due a drop in power generation as a result of the Samaikhyandra agitation. —Photos: C.V.SUBRAHMANYAM
Passengers stranded at the Visakhapatnam Railway Station on Monday as some trains were cancelled due a drop in power generation as a result of the Samaikhyandra agitation. —Photos: C.V.SUBRAHMANYAM
In view of the power crisis the railways have cancelled a number of trains starting from here and passing through on Tuesday, including major trains like Godavari, Ratnachal, Simhadri and Dakshin link, according to a release from the East Coast Railway. A number of express trains, scheduled to leave or passing through Visakhapatnam, have been cancelled on Tuesday also. Visakhapatnam-Hyderabad Godavari Express, Visakhapatnam-Secundera

bad Janmabhoomi Express, Visakhapatnam-Secunderabad Duronto, Visakhapatnam-Vijayawada Ratnachal Express, Visakhapatnam-Tirupathi Tirumala Express, Visakhapatnam-Secunderabad Garib Rath, Visakhapatnam-Nanded Express, Visakhapatnam-Guntur Simhadri Express, Visakhapatnam-Nizamuddin Dakshin Link Express, Koraput –Visakhapatnam Intercity have all been cancelled, according to an official release.

Train no. 18411/18412 Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam-Bhubaneswar Intercity, 17015 Visakha Express and 12898 Bhubaneswar-Puducherry weekly Express and all passengers trains, cancelled on Monday, will remain cancelled on Tuesday also.

Passenger trains cancelled

Meanwhile, many passenger trains were either cancelled or short-terminated on Monday owing to the agitation by the A.P.GENCO and A.P. TRANSCO employees and the high tension power-grids not being attended depriving 25 KV power supply to overhead electric traction, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager of Waltair Division M. Yelevender Yadav said in a statement. Several trains were running late.

The following trains were cancelled:

Train No.18412 Visakhapatnam-Bhubaneswar Intercity express; 67292 Visakhapatnam-Vizianagaram MEMU; 18512 Visakhapatnam-Koraput Intercity express; 58504 Visakhapatnam-Rayagada passenger; 78532 Visakhapatnam-Palasa passenger; 58530 Visakhapatnam-Durg passenger; 58528 Visakhapatnam-Raipur; 67295 Rajahmundry-Visakhapatn

am; 57225 Vijayawada-Visakhapatnam; 67296 Visakhapatnam-Rajahmundry; 57230 Visakhapatnam-Machilipatnam and 57256 Visakhapatnam-Kakinada were cancelled.

Train no.18411 Bhubaneshwar-Visakhapatnam intercity express was short-terminated at Sompeta and no.58417 Puri-Gunupur passenger was short-terminated at Rambha.

VARANASI: Booking a confirmed reservation ticket for the upcoming Dussehra and Diwali holidays is getting difficult because of long waiting list in the Delhi and Mumbai bound trains. No seats are available in many trains from November 1 to November 6.

"I have to reach my home in Varanasi for Diwali and I am trying to book a ticket from New Delhi to Varanasi for November 1, however, most of the trains on the railways website are showing regret status," said Vikas, an engineer who works in Noida. Chandra Prakash Singh, another native of Varanasi working in Delhi, is finding it hard to book a ticket to Varanasi.

"My ticket which was booked in Shiv Ganga about a month ago has a waiting list of 430, for several days. As the rush is heavy, there are fewer chances of its confirmation and I have decided to embark on a 'break journey'. I will take a second class ticket upto Lucknow and take another train to reach Varanasi. This is the only solution for me," he informed.

Several students studying in different colleges in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) are facing the same problem. "Booking a tatkal ticket is out of question. So I will take a general ticket and get accommodated with my friends who have confirmed tickets. This is the only way to reach home on the festival," said Sumit Singh, studying in Ghaziabad. Many people are also trying to get the reservation done upto Azamgarh, Allahabad, Sultanpur and other nearby cities.

Cantonment railway station manager AK Pandey said rush is heavy in all the Delhi bound trains. The seat availability is regretted on November 1 and November 2 and November 5 and November 6 for Diwali and Chhath.

During this period, waiting list of approximately 400 to 450 is seen in all Delhi and Mumbai bound trains. Licchavi Express is showing waiting list of around 459 in sleeper and 140 in AC three tier. Mumbai-bound Mahanagri Express, Lokmanya Tilak Terminal Express and Kamayani Express have a waiting list of over 560, 430 and 340 respectively.

The worst hit are the Delhi-bound trains as no seats are available in Shiv Ganga Express, Lichhivi Express, Poorva Express, Swatantrata Senani Express and Sadbhawana Express.

The situation is little better during Durga Puja and Dussehra holidays as the waiting list is around 50 to 60.

Pandey said that six festival special trains connecting major north Indian cities to Varanasi are running from October 2. Four trains would originate from Varanasi. These is one Delhi-Varanasi special, two trains on Varanasi-Chandigarh route and one weekly train on Varanasi-Guwahati route. The train on Varanasi-Guwahati route will be running every Sunday.

Besides, two more festival special trains would be connecting Varanasi Cantonment Railway Station. These would operate on Howarh-Jammu Tavi route and Patna-Delhi route. There are no special trains on Mumbai-Varanasi route.

There is a Puja special weekly train (train number 15101/15102) between Chhapra and Anand Vihar from October 6 to November 18. The train would run s

E. Sreedharan, popularly known as Metro Man, will be in city on October 25. He will participate in a discussion on an alternative public transport system best suited for Coimbatore, at the Chamber of Commerce. The city now largely depends on bus services.Though the Coimbatore Corporation Council had proposed a Mass Rapid Transit System, consultants had declared it technically not feasible in Coimbatore. The suggestions on introducing a circular rail system, or a Bus Rapid Transit System, or a monorail too are yet to get concrete shape. R. Raveendran of Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore said that when it came to an alternative the public transportation system, Coimbatore always “missed the bus.”

MDMK

Coimbatore Corporation, Local Planning Authority, and Public Works Department officials should make use of metro railway consultant E. Sreedharan’s visit to Coimbatore to renew efforts to bring metro railway project to the city. Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s youth wing secretary V. Easwaran said here that the officials should meet Mr. Sreedharan for the purpose. Of the Tier-II cities the Union Government selected for implementing the project, Coimbatore was lagging behind. The Centre had said that if the State Government forwarded the project, it would approve the same and provide finance.

The State Government did not respond.

Even Kochi in Kerala has started the work. Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Pune, and Ludhiana had completed the project report. Indore, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Surat, Kanpur, Patna, Nagpur, and Jaipur have started preparing the project report.

Mr. Easwaran said that the State Government must recommend the project immediately because it would take eight years for completing the project. By then the population would have increased and so would have the number of vehicles.

The government must not go in for monorail project just because the DMK government had proposed the metro railway project. The government must go in for a feasibility study so that it could decide which one to choose.

Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Kumari Selja on Monday accused the Congress’s Haryana unit of not just working against her interests, but also of seeking to intimidate her. “I have been in politics for 25 years; I first became a Central Minister in 1992,” Ms. Selja said, “but I have never faced such personal animus from within the party as I am now.”The Minister’s comment came a day after an unknown miscreant flung a sharp-edged stone through the window of a new train — the Kalka-Sainagar Shirdi superfast express — she had inaugurated, as it runs through her parliamentary constituency, Ambala. She was injured on her upper arm and shoulder. If it had been a few inches higher, says a shaken Ms. Selja, “it could have been much worse.”The Minister, after flagging off the train at Kalka on Sunday, was travelling in a general compartment all the way up to Chandigarh, waving through a barred window at those on platforms at different stations. Several railway officials were with her. As dusk fell, it was suggested to her that she move to a seat by an unbarred window. She initially demurred as it was dark by then, but when pressed, she changed her seat. Somewhere between Kalka and Chandimandir at Manakpur village, a large stone thrown by a miscreant came through the window and hit her hard. The shocked Minister jumped up. An FIR was lodged later at night, and enquiries are on.

This incident assumes significance as it comes against the backdrop of heightened dissidence in the Haryana unit of the Congress, with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his backers ranged on one side and senior Central leaders from the State like Ms. Selja and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Birender Singh, on the other. Another leader, Rao Inderjit Singh, it may be recalled, recently quit the Congress, citing his unhappiness with Mr. Hooda, and demanded an inquiry into the land deals in Haryana by Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra.

Indeed, Mr. Hooda has often hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons — in reports relating to the Vadra land deals, and not taking a sufficiently strong stand against honour killings.

In June this year, Congress sources recalled, Mr. Birender Singh, then general secretary — and a grandson of the legendary Jat leader Sir Chotu Ram — was told he would be inducted into the Union Cabinet. But hours before the swearing-in ceremony, he was informed there had been a change of plan: and as compensation — as part of a party reshuffle he had given up his general secretaryship — he was made a CWC member. If the party leadership had intended to elevate Mr. Birender Singh to pacify the anti-Hooda camp, his non-induction in the Union Cabinet was seen as a victory for the Hooda faction.

More recently, during the recent Parliament session, as part of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s exercise of having regular meetings with members of the State units, there was one with the Haryana unit. At that meeting, there were some complaints about the Chief Minister: Mr. Gandhi, according to those who were present, said he did not wish to hear any complaints about the State government.

Ms. Selja, 51, a four-time MP from Haryana, who has been a Central Minister from 1992-96, and again from 2004 onwards, is the most senior leader from the State in the Central government and is not accusing Mr. Hooda directly. But given the Minister’s usual low-key style, the fact that she has gone public about the attack on her and talked about the “personal animus” against her from within her own party, would suggest that there is trouble brewing in the Haryana unit.

“I have never faced such personal animus from within the party as I am now”

New Delhi: The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has returned Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge’s recommendation of appointing South Western Railway general manager A.K. Mittal as chairman of the Railway Board, according to highly placed sources.

The post has been lying vacant for over three months now, and under the additional charge of Member, Mechanical, Arunendra Kumar.

The sources said the PMO returned the proposal with a request to change the norms for the selection of chairman. This was apparently done after one of the affected candidates made a representation.

Some railway officers, however, questioned the move to change the norms after vacancy was caused. They argued criteria could be revised prior to the vacancy.

Norms could be changed prospectively only, the officers claimed. The present requirement for the post is one should have served as a zonal general manager with two-year residual service.

The CVC has so far cleared four names, of which Mr. Mittal has two years of service to go.

The other names cleared are that of Kolkata Metro general manager Radhey Shyam, Northern Railway general manager V.K. Gupta and Mr. Arunendra Kumar, whose residual tenure is only 18 months and, hence, does not automatically qualify for the post.

Mr. Mittal’s name has been opposed on the ground that he belongs to the stores officers’ cadre and not fit for the post.

Railway officers, however, countered this, saying the post of chairman was open to all cadres and not to any specific group of officers.

Should he succeed, Mr. Mittal would be the first stores officer to become the chairman.

Rail passengers will have to pay more for tickets from Monday with Railways implementing the biannual Fuel Adjustment Component (FAC)-linked revision in passenger fare and freight tariff....

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Inadequate power supply to traction lines under the jurisdiction of the South Central Railway has hit movement of trains....

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New Delhi: The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has returned Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge’s recommendation of appointing South Western Railway general manager A.K. Mittal as chairman of the Railway Board, according to highly placed sources.

The post has been lying vacant for over three months now, and under the additional charge of Member, Mechanical, Arunendra Kumar.

The sources said the PMO returned the proposal with a request to change the norms for the selection of chairman. This was apparently done after one of the affected candidates made a representation.

Some railway officers, however, questioned the move to change the norms after vacancy was caused. They argued criteria could be revised prior to the vacancy.

Norms could be changed prospectively only, the officers claimed. The present requirement for the post is one should have served as a zonal general manager with two-year residual service.

The CVC has so far cleared four names, of which Mr. Mittal has two years of service to go.

The other names cleared are that of Kolkata Metro general manager Radhey Shyam, Northern Railway general manager V.K. Gupta and Mr. Arunendra Kumar, whose residual tenure is only 18 months and, hence, does not automatically qualify for the post.

Mr. Mittal’s name has been opposed on the ground that he belongs to the stores officers’ cadre and not fit for the post.

Railway officers, however, countered this, saying the post of chairman was open to all cadres and not to any specific group of officers.

Should he succeed, Mr. Mittal would be the first stores officer to become the chairman.

Rail passengers will have to pay more for tickets from Monday with Railways implementing the biannual Fuel Adjustment Component (FAC)-linked revision in passenger fare and freight tariff....

SEE MORE ...