News
- Passenger fares and freight rates remain unchanged in
interim rail budget; 72 new trains introduced.
- Unprecedented unruly scenes witnessed in Parliament.
- Delhi Anti Corruption Branch files FIR against Veerappa
Moily, Murli Deora and Mukesh Ambani for manipulating gas prices.
- Industrial production contracts by 0.6 per cent in
December; Manufacturing sector output declines by 1.6 per cent; Retail
inflation falls to 24 month low of 8.79 per cent.
- Centre approves subsidy of 3,333 rupees per ton for raw
sugar exports.
- Yuvraj Singh fetches astonishing bid of 14 crore rupees in
the IPL.
- Karnataka lift Irani Trophy for the fifth time defeating
Rest of India.
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The interim railway budget for 2014-15 was presented by
Railway Minister, Mallikarjun Kharge in Parliament today. Passenger fares and
freight rates were left untouched. 72 new trains including Premium and express
trains, besides more initiatives to ensure safety to eliminate loss of life and
property formed part of the Budget.
Assuring that Railway safety will never be compromised, Mr
Kharge said, several measures have been taken and more are in the pipeline to
further strengthen safety.
Referring to Passenger Friendly initiatives, the Railway
Minister said, passenger escalators are being installed at 61 railway stations.
He said, air-conditioned EMU services will commence in Mumbai area by July this
year. He said, the Independent Rail Tariff Authority, is being set up to advise
the government on fixing fares and freight in a transparent manner.
The Railway Minister in his speech said the Capital of
Arunachal Pradesh will soon be on rail map in this financial year with the
commissioning of Harmuti-Naharlagun new line shortly. He said Meghalaya is also
set to come on the rail map this fiscal as the Dudhnoi-Mehendipathar new line
is set to be completed by next month.
Announcing that the governments of Karnataka, Jharkhand,
Andhra Pradesh and Haryana have agreed to share cost of several rail projects,
the Railway Minister appealed to other States to follow the suit to create rail
infrastructure in their areas.
One of the important highlights of the budget is
that a comprehensive fire and smoke detection system, currently on trial, would
be extended to all passenger trains. The announcement is significant in view of
rising fire incidents on trains. Another announcement relates to starting more
high-speed trains and exploring low-cost option of semi-high speed trains on
select routes. The budget spelt out a series of steps including SMS alerts,
ticketing on mobile phones in the unreserved segment and online booking of
meals for passengers' convenience. The budget also talked about plans to
involve private sector and FDI to garner funds to modernise the largest
transport network in the country. With Sant Bahadur, Shiela, AIR News, Delhi.
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Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge today said, 66 trains
announced in the railway Budget last year will run before March end, except 15
trains, which are facing problems related to land clearances. In an interview
to All India Radio, Mr Kharge said, the railways is duty bound to give more
efficient service to passengers with minimum fares.
We have to consider the health of the railway and
keeping railway alive and more efficiently to run and at the same time we
should give satisfactory service to passengers with minimum fares.
The Railway Minister said, the new mechanism of fare
revision under Rail Tariff Authority will give proper directions to the
Ministry.
The full interview can be heard immediately after this
bulletin in our programme spotlight and news analysis on FM Gold and Rajdhani
channels.
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The Congress has welcomed the rail budget. Party spokesperson, Rajiv Shukla said the
budget has taken care of the passengers' interest on top priority.
It is very fine budget. In this budget passengers
have been taken care of, as there is no fare hike, facilities have been
increased and new railway links have been established. North -East has been
connected extensively through Railways. It is significant thing and very important
too.
Gurudas Dasgupta of CPI in his reaction said though the
budget is good, it has not properly given due concern to the safety and
security of rail passengers.
Some new trains have been given to Bengal.
It is a good thing. There has been no talk of increase in fare, it is also a good thing. But the safety
and security which is most paramount today has not been properly addressed in
the budget.
The BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the whole
country is ignored in this railway budget.
The rail budget has nothing significant in it. Bihar has been ignored earlier, now even the whole
country is ignored. This budget is from the out going government, there were
neither any hopes nor have they come up to expectations.
DMK has welcomed
the budget saying the introduction of eight new trains for Tamil Nadu will
benefit the people of the state.
Expressing happiness on no populist measures being
incorporated in the rail budget, PHD Chamber of Commerce President Sharad
Jaipuria said the focus was rightly on attracting huge investments to upgrade,
modernising and expanding railways.
Assocham President
Rana Kapoor said the increased efforts towards unlocking the value of railway
assets would go a long way in achieving sectoral growth in railways.
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The Telangana issue continued to hit the
proceedings in the two Houses of the Parliament affecting even the presentation
of interim rail budget. Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge was forced to
finish his budget speech in a hurry following unprecedented commotion and
unruly scenes in the Lok Sabha. Even before Kharge commenced his speech,
Members from both Telangana and Seemandhra regions trooped into the well and
raised slogans on the statehood issue.
As the din continued, Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the House for the
day after presentation of rail budget.
In the Rajya Sabha,
the Railway Minister tabled a copy of the budget amid noisy scenes. Earlier
also, the House could not transact any business due to repeated disruptions
mainly on Telangana issue. Release of Tamil fishermen, violence against women
and alleged wrong mentioning of AIADMK members in the House bulletin were also
raised by the agitated members.
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The BJP has reiterated its stand to support the Telangan
Bill in Parliament but said everyone's concern should be addressed. Prime
Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today had a
luncheon meeting with top BJP leaders to discuss the smooth functioning
of Parliament and passage of important
pending legislations, including the Telangana
and anti-graft Bills.
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Delhi Government's Anti Corruption Branch, ACB, has
registered an FIR with respect to alleged irregularities in the pricing of
natural gas from KG basin. This follows the government directing the ACB to
file criminal cases against Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Veerappa Moily,
former Union Minister Murli Deora, DG Hydrocarbons V K Sibal, Reliance
Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and others in this connection.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh
requesting him to put on hold the hike in natural gas price proposed from April
this year till the probe is over. In his letter, the Chief Minister demanded
that oil fields allocated to Reliance Industries be taken back as it failed to
produce targeted quantity, leading to scarcity of gas and forcing the country
to import the natural gas at a high cost.
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Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari today
criticized the Aam Aadmi Party led Delhi Government alleging it is not able to
fulfill any promise it made on the eve of elections. Speaking to media persons
on the sidelines of a function in New
Delhi, he remarked that the Aam Aadmi Party is
indulging in unnecessary criticism against the central ministers as it is
frustrated.
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Remaining in the negative zone for the third month in a
row, the country's industrial production contracted 0.6 per cent in December
2013, mainly due to sluggishness in the manufacturing sector. Industrial output
for the April to December 2013 period has thus contracted 0.1 per cent.
According to government data released today, manufacturing sector output
declined 1.6 per cent in December.
Overall, 8 of the 22 industry groups in the manufacturing
sector have shown de-growth in December.
Retail inflation fell for the second consecutive month and
eased to 24-month low of 8.79 per cent in January mainly due to a drop in food
prices. Inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index for December was 9.87
per cent down from 11.16 per cent in the previous month. This is the lowest
rate of inflation since 7.65 per cent in January 2012.
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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has
approved a subsidy of 3,333 rupees per tonne
for raw sugar exports. Food
Minister K V Thomas said the subsidy will be for the month of February and
March. A decision in this regard was taken at
the CCEA meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in New Delhi this evening.
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The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange gained 85 points--its
best single day gain in three weeks--to close at 20,448, amid rising global
markets, today. The Nifty added 21 points, to 6,084.
Stock markets in Japan,
China, Hong
Kong, South Korea
and Singapore
advanced between 0.2 percent and 1.5 percent.
The rupee strengthened 12 paise,
to a three-week high of 62.10 against the dollar.But gold dropped 50 rupees, to
30,750 rupees per ten grams in Delhi.
Silver fell 190 rupees, to 44,940 rupees per kilo.
And Brent crude oil futures moved higher toward 109
dollars a barrel, while U.S.
crude climbed 62 cents, to 100.56 dollars a barrel.Pradeep Kumar, AIR News.
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In an exciting day of IPL player auctions, Yuvraj Singh
fetched an astonishing and also the highest price of 14 crore rupees paid by Royal Challengers
Bangalore today. England Team discard Kevin Pietersen went for a handsome 9
crore rupees to Delhi Daredevils which also fetched Murli Vijay at 5 crore
rupees. Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson was grabbed by Kings Eleven Punjab
for 6.5 crore rupees. South African all rounder Jacque Kallies went to Kolkata Night Riders for 5.5
crore rupees and Robin Uthapa for 5 crore rupees to the same franchise. West
Indies batmans Dwain Smith was grabbed by Chennai Super Kings for 4.5 crore
rupees, Amit Mishra by Sunrisers Hyderabad for 4.25 crore rupees and Arone
Finch by the same outfit for 4 crore
rupees.
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Karnataka defeated Rest of India by an innings and 222
runs in the Irani Trophy Cricket on the penultimate day at M. Chinnaswamy
stadium in Bangalore
today. Thus, the hosts, who had ended 15 years of drought by winning the Ranji
Trophy by beating Maharashtra last month,
added another feather to their cap by winning the Irani trophy for the fifth
time.
Against a massive 606 in the first Innings by Karnataka,
the visitors led by Harbhajan Singh scored 201 in the First Innings and 183 in
the Second.
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इस कार्यक्रम के तहत लोगों से संवाद करते हुए यतिंद्र सिंह एडवोकेट ने कहा कि कांग्रेस दोगली नीति चलती है एक तरफ केजरीवाल सरकार को समर्थन दे रही है और उसी सरकार की आलोचना कर रही है। कांग्रेस का यही दोगलापन लोगों के सामने लाने के लिए भाजपा कार्यकर्ता डोर-टू-डोर जा रहे हैं। जिला महामंत्री ने कहा कि देश की जनता इतनी भोली नहीं है कि बार बार कांग्रेस के बहकावे में आयेगी। उन्होंने कहा कि इस बार नरेंद्र मोदी प्रधानमंत्री बनेंगे और भाजपा 272 के आंकड़े को पार करके सरकार बनाएगी। सतपाल मेहता ने कहा कि हरियाणा सरकार हर मोर्चे पर विफल है। विकास कार्य ठप हैं। उन्होंने कहा कि बरनाला रोड से लाल बत्ती चौक तक हर समय जाम लगा रहता है। जो सरकार एक अंडर या ओवर ब्रिज नहीं बनवा सकती उसे नंबर 1 सरकार कहलवाने का हक नहीं है। इस अवसर पर नगर उपाध्यक्ष प्रहलाद राय मीणा, नगर महामंत्री राजेश बजाज, नगर उपाध्यक्ष राजेंद्र लोहिया, जगत कक्कड़, दयानंद शर्मा, सुरेश पंवार, पुष्यमित्र, कपिल खेमका, चोपटा मंडल प्रधान रामकुमार कडवासरा, अजय सचदेवा सहित काफी संख्या में भाजपा कार्यकर्ता मौजूद थे।
