Mumbai-Ahmedabad to get first Bullet train: D V Sadananda Gowda

July 8, 2014

Bullet

New Delhi, Jul 8: Railway minister DV Sadananda Gowda presented his maiden budget with a recent sharp increase in fares and freight charges.

"We want to make railways people-friendly," Gowda, who had launched a social media platform on Monday for interactions between railways authorities and "netizens", said before presenting the railway budget.

"Passengers are hoping amenities will improve. We will try to fulfil the demands."

Railways Budget

?Budget Highlights:

• Grateful to honourable PM Narendra Modi ji for having given me this opportunity and for entrusting me with this responsibility

• I can get claps from this house by announcing many new projects but that would be rendering injustice to the struggling organization

• The fare revision was tough but a necessary decision - it will bring Indian Railways an additional revenue of 8,000 crores

Increased Funds to Ensure Passenger Amenities and Cleanliness:

Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom

• It gives me immense pleasure to present my first Railway Budget flooded with suggestion for new trains, new railway lines

• We now target to become the largest freight carrier in the world

• Indian railways carry only 31% of the total freight in the country.

• 5 lakh crore required each year for the next ten years for ongoing projects alone

• 23 paisa lost per passenger per km in 2012-13

• Social obligation of Railways in 2013-14 was Rs. 20,000 crore

• Focus on sanctioning projects rather than completing them

• The more projects we add the thinner we spread our resources

• Indian Railways carries more than the entire population of Australia in a day

• Populist projects and mismanagement have brought Railways to point of funds crunch

• This state of affairs in railways needs immediate course correction

• Gross traffic receipts in 2013-14 was Rs. 1.3 lakh crore, operating ratio was 94 per cent

• Indian Railways spent Rs. 41,000 crore on laying of 3,700 km of new lines in last 10 years

• Need to explore alternative sources of resource mobilisation and not depend on fare hike alone

• Large part of the budget outlay to go to safety projects

• Maximum financial outlays for projects slated for completion in this area itself

• High priority areas - safety, cleanliness, passenger amenities and capacity augmentation

• Future projects to be financed on public-private partnership model

• Plans to attract investment from domestic and foreign players in infrastructure; focus to be on aggressive indigenisation

• FY15 Total Expenditure Pegged At Rs.1.49 lakh crore

• FY15 total receipts pegged at Rs.1.64 lakh crore

• Propose to hike budgetary plan outlay to Rs.47,650 crore

• FY15 passenger fare revenue pegged at Rs.44,600 crore

• Pre-cooked meals by reputed brands, focus on cleanliness and passenger feedback

• Outsource cleaning activities at 50 major stations, separate housekeeping wing for cleanliness and sanitation

• CCTVs to be used for monitoring cleanliness

• RO Drinking water at stations and trains

• Corporates encouraged to adopt stations for better maintenance and upkeep

Safety for Women Passengers:

• 17,000 Railway Protection Force personnel to be available soon

• Introduction of women RPF constables, coaches meant for women to be escorted for greater safety

Bullet train:

• Indian Railways on course to fulfill its long cherished dream. I propose a Bullet train on the Ahmedabad - Mumbai sector

• Higher speed for existing trains will be achieved by upgrading the present networks

Reservation system will be revamped:

• Railways to scale down market borrowings to Rs. 11,790 crore

• Reservation system will be revamped and ticket-booking through mobile phones and post offices popularised

• Wi-fi Services in all A Category stations and trains

• To Have Diamond Quadrilateral Network for High-speed Trains

• Digital Reservation Charts at stations

• Parcel traffic separated to requisite terminals, dedicated trains running on fixed timetable

• New design of parcel vans -- measures taken in order to improve earnings from the parcel system

• Special initiatives via the PPP mode for transport of fruits and vegetables and milk

• Bio-diesel upto 5% to be used in diesel locomotives

• 23 projects underway in North-East. Propose to allocate higher funds than previous year for these projects

• Future e-Ticketing to support 7200 tickets per minute and to allow 1.2 lakh simultaneous users

• Dedicated freight corridor projects will be closely monitored

• Experimental stoppages to be reviewed solely on the basis of feasibility and viability after 3 months

• Government to make e-procurement compulsory for procurements over Rs. 25 lakh

• GIS Mapping and digitisation of Railway Land

• 18 new line surveys, 10 surveys for doubling 3rd and 4th lines and gauge conversion.

• Office-on-Wheels; internet and workstation facilities on select trains.

• Setting up of logistic parks, private freight terminals on PPP model

• Connectivity to ports through PPP, procurement of parcel vans and rakes by private parties for resource augmentation

• Will offer wifi-services in all 'A' category trains and A1 stations.

• To have digital reservation charts at stations.

• Working on making railway offices paperless in five years

• e-Ticketing through mobile phones will be popularized.

* Indian railways to become the largest freight carrier in the world.

* Social obligation of Railways in 2013-14 was Rs 20,000 crore.

* Gross traffic receipts in 2013-14 was Rs 12,35,558 crore; operating ratio was 94 per cent.

* Focus in past has been on sanctioning projects rather than completing them, Railway minister says.

* Indian Railways spent Rs 41,000 crore on laying of 3,700 km of new lines in last 10 years.

* Fare revision will bring in Rs.8,000 crore; need another Rs.9,000 crore for golden quadrilateral project.

* Railways also proposes to set up Food Courts at major stations.

* Need to explore alternative sources of resource mobilisation and not depend on fare hike alone, Railway minister says.

* Spend 94 paisa of every rupee earned, leaving a surplus of only 6 paisa.

* With 12,500 trains, railways move 23 million passengers every day; equivalent to moving Australia's population.

* Separate housekeeping wing at 50 major stations.

* CCTV to monitor cleanliness activities.

* Mechanized laundry will be introduced.

* Dedicated freight corridor on Eastern and Western corridors.

* 5400 unmanned level crossing removed.

* Tourist trains to be introduced to link all major places of tourist interests across the country.

* 4,000 women constables to be recruited to ensure safety of women. 17,000 RPF constables to provide safety to passengers.

* Setting up of Railway University for technical and non-technical study.

* Ultrasonic system to detect problem in track.

* Proposal to start Bullet trains in Mumbai—Ahmedabad route. Speed of important trains will be also raised.

* Diamond Quadrilateral project of high speed trains to connect all major metros.

* E-ticketing system to be improved. Future e-ticketing to support 7200 tickets per minute & to allow 120,000 simultaneous users

* Wifi in A1 and A category stations and in select trains. Internet-based platform and unreserved tickets.

* GIS mapping and digitization of Railway Land. Extension of logistics support to various e-Commerce Companies.

* Bulk of future projects will be financed through PPP mode.

* Facilitate transport of milk through rail. Special milk transportation trains in association with Amul and National Dairy Association Board.

* One ticket to reach from Delhi to Srinagar. Uddhampur to Banihal by bus and Banihal to Srinagar by train.

* Mumbai local to get 860 new, state-of-the art coaches. 64 new EMUs to be introduced.

* Train connectivity to Char Dham.

* Paperless office of Indian railways in 5 years. Digital reservation charts at stations.

* Ready-to-eat meals to be introduced in phased manners.

* 27 Express trains to be introduced.

* 5 Jansadharan , 5 Premium AC trains to be introduced.

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Agencies
August 3,2020

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has given nod to the Serum Institute of India (SII) for conducting phase 2 and 3 human clinical trials of the Oxford University developed Covid-19 vaccine candidate in the country.

Government officials said that the approval for conducting phase 2 and 3 clinical trials by the SII was granted by DCGI Dr V G Somani late Sunday night after a thorough evaluation based on the recommendations of the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on Covid-19.

"The firm has to submit safety data, evaluated by the Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), to the CDSCO before proceeding to phase 3 clinical trials," a senior official said.

"As per the study design, each subject will be administered two doses four weeks apart (first dose on day one and second dose on day 29) following which the safety and immunogenicity will be assessed at predefined intervals," the official said.

As a rapid regulatory response, the expert panel at the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) on Friday, after a detailed deliberation and considering the data generated on the vaccine candidate in phase 1 and 2 of the Oxford University trial, had recommended granting permission for phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the potential vaccine, 'Covishield', on healthy adults in India,  the officials said.

Currently, phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the Oxford vaccine candidate is going on in the United Kingdom, phase 3 clinical trial in Brazil and phase 1 and 2 clinical trials in South Africa.

The officials said that the SII had submitted a revised proposal on Wednesday after the SEC on July 28, following deliberation over its application, had asked it to revise its protocol for the phase 2 and 3 clinical trials besides seeking some additional information.

The panel had also recommended that the clinical trial sites which have been proposed for the study be distributed across India.

According to the revised proposal by the SII, 1,600 people aged above 18 years will participate in the trials across 17 selected sites, including AIIMS-Delhi, B J Medical College in Pune, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS) in Patna, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, AIIMS-Jodhpur, Nehru Hospital in Gorakhpur, Andhra Medical College in Visakhapatnam and JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research in Mysore.

"According to the application, it would conduct an observer-blind, randomised controlled study to determine the safety and immunogenicity of 'Covishield' on healthy Indian adults," the official said.

The SII, which has partnered with AstraZeneca, for manufacturing the Oxford vaccine candidate for Covid-19 had submitted its first application to the DCGI on July 25 seeking permission for conducting the phase 2 and 3 trials of the potential vaccine. 

Initial results of the first two-phases of trials of the vaccine conducted in five trial sites in the UK showed that it has an acceptable safety profile and homologous boosting increased antibody response, sources had said.

To introduce the vaccine, SII, the world's largest vaccine maker by number of doses produced and sold, has signed an agreement to manufacture the potential vaccine developed by the Jenner Institute (Oxford University) in collaboration with British-Swedish pharma company AstraZeneca. 

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Agencies
February 8,2020

New Delhi, Feb 8: A 26-year-old woman sub-inspector (SI) of the Delhi Police was shot dead near Rohini East Metro station on Friday night, officials said.

The SI, Preeti Ahlawat, was posted in Patparganj Industrial Area Police Station, police said.

A call about the incident was received around 9.30 pm, they said, adding she received gunshot wounds on her head.

"We have identified the suspects and CCTV footage of the area has been collected," said SD Mishra, Additional Commissioner of Police (Rohini).

Three empty cartridges were found from the spot, the officer said, adding a case has been registered and a probe is on.

Personal enmity is suspected to be the reason behind the killing, the officer said.

Ahlawat joined the Delhi Police in 2018.

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News Network
March 12,2020

New Delhi, Mar 12: The coronavirus pandemic could deal a crippling blow to the Indian travel and tourism industry, specially with the government suspending all visas, with the economic impact being assessed to run into thousands of crores of rupees. According to industry chamber CII, this is the one of the worst crises ever to hit the Indian tourism industry impacting all its geographical segments - inbound, outbound and domestic, almost all tourism verticals - leisure , adventure, heritage, MICE, cruise, corporate and niche segments.

The whole tourism value chain across hotels, travel agents, tour operations, destinations, restaurants, family entertainment venues and air, land and sea transportation have been hit.

In an impact assessment of the coronavirus pandemic, CII Tourism Committee said inbound foreign tourism of over USD 28 billion in value terms accounts for an average 60-65 per cent between October to March.

"As the news of the virus started picking up from November, the percentage of cancellations started going up in this segment exponentially and is reaching a peak of almost 80 per cent now in March in many Indian locations. The value at risk from this segment will be in multiples of tens of thousands of crores," the CII assessment report said.

With India cancelling all visas, the chamber said the impact "will be worse".

It further said,"The forward bookings for the inbound season of October 2020-March 2021 which should have started picking are all muted. These are showing highly discouraging signs with cancellations of important global travel marts which are marketplaces for contracting for the next season."

It further said there are reports of large scale forward cancellations from NRI segment from developed markets, which account for over 60 per cent during April to September inbound visits.

"Unless the progression of the virus stops, almost the entire value for the remainder of 2020 season is at risk," the report added.

ANAROCK Property Consultants Chairman Anuj Puri said India's hospitality sector will definitely be impacted by the announcement of a global pandemic, and the mounting numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country.

"The cancellation of visas for foreigners as well as the strong advice issued to Indians to refrain from unnecessary travel will have a marked effect. This is the most unsettling healthcare crisis in recent times and hotel bookings will go south," he added.

On Indians being advised to refrain from unnecessary travel, as per the CII report almost 28 million plus Indians are estimated to have travelled outside in 2019 and there were almost 1.8 billion domestic tourist footfalls.

The holiday season of Indians -- those travelling within the country and outside -- is heavy in April-July, October and December.

"The December holiday season of 2019 took an estimated hit of almost 40-50 per cent, the holiday season of April to July 2020 is likely to take a humongous hit which could be as high as 80-100 per cent, unless there is positive news of the progression of virus decreasing," the CII assessment report said.

There are advanced cancellations and highly reduced forward booking pipelines for the holiday season. Only corporates are flying and that too only on highly essential same day travel. Most of the MNCs are advising work from home, stifling travel, it added.

On suspension of visas, MakeMyTrip Group CEO Rajesh Magow told ,"The period between February till the end of March is typically a lean period because of exam season but we are seeing a demand slowdown for the upcoming summer holiday season especially for international travel. The situation remains dynamic making it hard to quantify the actual impact on our business and industry at large."

He further said,"The decision by the government will have an impact on inbound and outbound international travel. So far there are no restrictions or advisories issued for domestic travel."

VFS Global Regional Group COO - South Asia, Middle East and North Africa, Americas Vinay Malhotra said,"While it is too early to comment on the impact of coronavirus on visa application trends, so far, our visa application processes in India continue on schedule as per the mandates of our client governments."

He also said the company is exploring steps to assuage concerns of people about visiting busy public areas due to the nature of the virus by considering discounted rates on courier return services for visa customers who want to avoid returning to the visa centres to pick up their passports.

Besides, he said,"We are also contemplating lower fees for our Visa at your doorstep service, for those customers who are requesting an alternative to visiting the centres to submit visa applications."

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