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  Indian Railways News  / Govt ties up with IRCTC for pilgrimage scheme

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the State Government and the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) for the Mukhyamantri Teerth-Darshan Yojna here on Wednesday. The scheme is the first of its kind in the country for helping senior citizens undertake pilgrimage trips.

The MoU was signed by Principal Secretary, Revenue, Religious Trusts and Endowments, Basant Pratap Singh, on behalf of the State Government and IRCTC's General Manager Virendra Singh in the presence of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Describing it as historic, Chouhan said that religion was the soul of this country. As many as 60,000 senior citizens would be sent on pilgrimage trips this year, he said.

Under the scheme, places of pilgrimage of all religions have been identified for senior citizens above 60 years of age. The responsibility of Teerth-Yatra has been entrusted to the Railways. Under the MoU signed today, arrangements for pilgrims’ journey, food, insurance, medical treatment, guide, etc will be made.

Chouhan also said that mass campaign for freeing the state's lifeline, Narmada river of pollution would be launched from the next Dev Uthhani Gyaras. The campaign would begin from the river’s originating point at Amarkantak and Narmada river would be freed of pollution all along its course up to Gulf of Khambat.

The first train under Madhya Pradesh’s unique Mukhyamantri Teerth-Yatra Yojna would leave for Rameshwaram from Habibganj Railway Station on September 3. Senior citizens from districts of Bhopal and Narmadapuram divisions, including Hoshangabad, Rajgarh, Vidisha, Raisen, Sehore, Betul and Harda districts would be included for the trip.

The selected centres of pilgrimage under the scheme include Badrinath, Kedarnath, Jagannath Puri, Dwarkapuri, Haridwar, Amarnath, Vaishnodevi, Shirdi, Tirupati, Ajmer Sharif, Kashi (Varanasi), Gaya, Amritsar, Rameshwaram, Sammved-Shikhar, Shravan Belgola and Velangadi Church, Nagapattnam (Tamil Nadu).

  Indian Railways News  / Bhilai steel plant may face closure due to Maoist threats

The iconic Bhilai steel plant in Chhattisgarh, a symbol of India’s industrial prowess, may face closure following threats from Maoists who are against the proposed Rowghat iron ore mine, which will supply raw material once the mining at Dalli-Rajhara stops in the next four to five years.Set up in 1955 with the help of the erstwhile USSR, the steel plant’s secret of success is its proximity to high quality iron ore in Dalli-Rajhara in Chhattisgarh. Due to the fast-depleting resources at the existing mining site, the Government has already given all statutory clearances for mining at Rowghat. But it being a Maoist-dominated area, the Government and its other agencies have developed cold feet.Explaining the difficulties of mining in Rowghat, which is necessary to maintain the iron ore supply to the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) unit, a senior Ministry of Home Affairs official said the Government needed to deal with the villagers and locals as the mines lay in around 2,030 hectares of land in the Kanker and Narayanpur districts of Chhattisgarh. And for transportation of ore, a 90-km-long track had to be laid through Balod-Kanker-Narayanpur-

Kondagaon-Jagdalpur.

“All these areas have strong presence of Maoists and they enjoy the support of villagers. Maoists are strongly opposing mining activities in Rowghat and forcing villagers to oppose the project. Maoists have been threatening violence if the Government moves ahead with the project. We have around five years to get the mines and other logistics support ready or else steel production at Bhilai will be a big challenge,” the official said. Notably, the Bhilai plant is the country’s sole producer of rails and heavy steel plates, besides being the sole supplier of the country’s longest rail tracks of 260 metres.

According to Minister of State of Home Affairs Jitendra Singh, “The mines are located in areas considered the strongholds of the CPI[Maoist]. An attractive compensation package has been put in place for people likely to be affected by this project, but the CPI[Maoist] and its front organisations are vehemently opposing this project.”

“Their [Maoists’] main fear stems from the fact that this area, once opened up for development, will cease to provide them with cadres and hideouts to carry on their so-called ‘protracted peoples war’ against the Indian State… a systematic disinformation campaign has also been launched that this mining activity has corporate linkages, which is completely untrue,” Mr. Singh said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

Security enhancement

Pointing out that due to the threat from Maoists, the project was running behind schedule and the contractors were facing serious danger to their lives, Mr. Singh said the Home Ministry had decided to enhance security for the project by deploying more paramilitary personnel after consultations with the Ministries of Railways and Steel. “We are also trying to create public opinion against the disruptive activities of the CPI [Maoist] and counter their disinformation and propaganda campaign against this project,” he said.

The Minister also pointed out that construction of a railway line and other related activities in the remotely-located mining areas would change the development dynamics of the backward region and generate employment to the local people. “Since this is a public sector project, a number of activities connected with corporate social responsibility are also proposed to be undertaken in this area,” he said.

  Indian Railways News  / रेलगाडियों का विस्तार

रेल राज्य मंत्री श्री के.एच.मुनियप्पा ने आज लोकसभा में एक प्रश्न के लिखित उत्तर में बताया कि 12461/12462 दिल्ली-जोधपुर मंडोर एक्सप्रेस(प्रतिदिन) और 12463/12464 दिल्ली सराय रोहिल्ला-जोधपुर/बीकानेर राजस्थान संपर्क क्रांति एक्सप्रेस (सप्ताह में तीन दिन) को ठहराव देने के साथ-साथ मारवाड़ जंक्शन तक विस्तार करने और गाड़ियों का विलासपुर तक विस्तार करने के लिए अभ्यावेदन प्राप्त हुए हैं। इनमें संसद सदस्यों से प्राप्त अभ्यावेदन भी शामिल हैं, इसकी जांच की गई है परंतु इसे फिलहाल व्यावहारिक नहीं पाया गया। बहरहाल, रेलवे बजट 2012-13 में मारवाड़ और पाली मारवाड़ पर ठहराव सहित जोधपुर तक 15013/15014 काठगोदाम-दिल्ली सराय रोहिल्ला एक्सप्रेस का विस्तार करने तथा बिलासपुर पर ठहराव सहित 14709/14710 बीकानेर-पुरी एक्सप्रेस (साप्ताहिक), 22829/22830 शालीमार-भुज एक्सप्रेस (साप्ताहिक) चलाने की घोषणा की हई है। इसके अलावा, जुलाई 2012 से 22473/22474 बीकानेर-बांद्रा (टी) एक्सप्रेस (साप्ताहिक) मारवाड़ और पाली मारवाड़ स्टेशनों पर ठहरती है और 17007/17008 सिकंदराबाद-दरभंगा एक्सप्रेस(सप्ताह में दो दिन), 22843/22844 बिलासपुर-पटना एक्सप्रेस (साप्ताहिक) तथा 13425/13426 मालदा-सूरत एक्सप्रेस (साप्ताहिक) शुरू की गई है और 18207/18208 दुर्ग-जयपुर एक्सप्रेस का अजमेर तक विस्तार किया गया है, जो बिलासपुर स्टेशन पर ठहरती है। मंत्री महोदय ने सदन को यह भी जानकारी दी कि 22481/22482 जोधपुर-दिल्ली सराय रोहिल्ला एक्सप्रेस (सप्ताह में दो दिन) का विस्तार हरिद्वार तक करने और इसे प्रतिदिन चलाने के लिए अभ्यावेदन प्राप्त हुए हैं जिनमें संसद सदस्यों से प्राप्त अभ्यावेदन भी शामिल हैं, इसकी जांच की गई है परंतु इसे फिलहाल व्यावहारिक नहीं पाया गया।

  Indian Railways News  / SPECIAL TRAINS FROM VELANKANNI TO CHENNAI AND VASCO-DA-GAMA

The following special trains will be run from Velankanni to Chennai and Vasco-da-Gama to clear the extra rush of passengers during Velankanni festival.

1)T.No.06059/06060 Chennai Egmore – Velankanni – Chennai Egmore Specials: T.No.06059 Chennai Egmore – Velankanni Special will leave Chennai Egmore at 22.45 hrs. on 27.8.12 & 3.9.12 and arrive Velankanni at 06.30 hrs. the next day.T.No.06060 Velankanni – Chennai Egmore Special will leave Velankanni at 23.15 hrs. on 28.8.12 & 4.9.12 and arrive Chennai Egmore at 07.20 hrs. the next day.The composition of the trains will be 1 AC 3-tier, 5 Sleeper Class, 6 General Second Class and 2 luggage-cum-brake van coaches. The trains will stop at Tambaram, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Tiruppadiripuliyur, Chidambaram, Sirkazhi, Mayiladuthurai, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam. T.No.06060 will stop at Mambalam also.

2)T.No.06061/06062 Chennai Egmore – Velankanni – Chennai Egmore Specials: T.No.06061 Chennai Egmore – Velankanni Special will leave Chennai Egmore at 22.45 hrs. on 30.8.12 and arrive Velankanni at 06.30 hrs. the next day.T.No.06062 Velankanni – Chennai Egmore Special will leave Velankanni at 23.15 hrs. on 31.8.12 and arrive Chennai Egmore at 07.20 hrs. the next day.The composition of the trains will be 3 AC 2-tier, 3 AC 3-tier, 12 Sleeper Class, 2 General Second Class and 2 luggage-cum-brake van coaches. The trains will stop at Tambaram, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Tiruppadiripuliyur, Chidambaram, Sirkazhi, Mayiladuthurai, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam. T.No.06062 will stop at Mambalam also.

3)T.No.06063/06064 Chennai Egmore – Velankanni – Chennai Egmore Specials: T.No.06063 Chennai Egmore – Velankanni Special will leave Chennai Egmore at 22.45 hrs. on 8.9.12 and arrive Velankanni at 06.30 hrs. the next day.T.No.06064 Velankanni – Chennai Egmore Special will leave Velankanni at 23.15 hrs. on 9.9.12 and arrive Chennai Egmore at 07.20 hrs. the next day.The composition of the trains will be 1 AC 2-tier, 3 AC 3-tier, 11 Sleeper Class, 3 General Second Class and 2 luggage-cum-brake van coaches. The trains will stop at Tambaram, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Tiruppadiripuliyur, Chidambaram, Sirkazhi, Mayiladuthurai, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam. T.No.06064 will stop at Mambalam also.

4)T.No.07315/07316 Vasco-da-Gama – Velankanni – Vasco-da-Gama Specials: T.No.07315 Vasco-da-Gama – Velankanni Special will leave Vasco-da-Gama at 09.00 hrs. on 29.8.12, 2.9.12 & 5.9.12 and arrive Velankanni at 12.25 hrs. the next day.T.No.07316 Velankanni – Vasco-da-Gama Special will leave Velankanni at 14.25 hrs. on 30.8.12, 3.9.12 & 9.9.12 and arrive Vasco-da-Gama at 19.50 hrs. the next day.The composition of the trains will be 1 AC 2-tier, 1 AC 3-tier, 8 Sleeper Class, 6 General Second Class and 2 luggage-cum-brake van coaches.The trains will stop at Madgaon, Kulem, Castle Rock, Londa, Dharwad, Hubli, Haveri, Davengere, Birur, Arsikere, Tumkur, Yesvantpur, Krishnarajapuram, Bangarapet, Salem, Erode, Karur, Tiruchchirappalli, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur and Nagapattinam.

Advance reservation for the above trains are open.

  Indian Railways News  / Railways to set up four bio-diesel plants

NEW DELHI: Railways have decided to set up four plants, the first two of which will come up in Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh, for production of bio-diesel.The first two plants, having production capacity of 30 tonnes of bio-diesel per day, are being set up at Tondiarpet and Raipur at an estimated cost of Rs 29.99 crore and Rs 29.98 crore, respectively.The locations for the remaining two plants are under finalisation, Minister of State for Railways K H Muniyappa said in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.Solar photo-voltaic (PV) modules and windmill power plants are generally set up based on the availability of adequate sunlight, required speed of wind, techno-commercial considerations and availability of fund, he said.Raipur and Tondiarpet bio-diesel plants are expected to be commissioned by 2013. Solar PV modules and windmill power plants are likely to be operational within next two-three years subject to availability of funds, the Minister said.