Let this be final rail fare hike, says Shiv Sena

June 23, 2014

Mumbai, June 23: Reluctantly accepting the steep hike in railway fares and freight rates, the Shiv Sena on Monday urged the government this should be “the final increase”.uddhav thackre

In a sharp editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamana flaying the sudden hike, the party has pointed out that its ally Bharatiya Janata Party has armed the opposition with a weapon.

The steep hike of 14.2 percent in passenger fares has particularly hit the Mumbaikars hard as they will have to shell out more than double for monthly and quarterly season tickets.

The government has said the hike was intended to provide safety, security and comfort to the passengers, but the people and opposition parties are not convinced, the edit said.

“Compared to the railway systems in developed countries in Europe, Russia, the US, ours resembles a khatara gaadi. Our railway stations, railway tracks, signals etc. are in a horrible state. Crowds have increased but new routes have barely been introduced and whatever the British had built, we continue to overload it,” the edit said.

It alleged that in the past 15-20 years, all the Railway Ministers simply looted it. The Congress’s P.K. Bansal’s relative was caught red-handed accepting a bribe, and huge rail works tenders are awarded only for commissions.

“This is the reason accidents keep taking place. People are dying but in every railway budget, the rulers show new dreams to the people. People want all facilities and for this they are ready to shell out money — not for the development of the politicians only... People who feel run over by the latest hike will demand the account now,” the edit added.

The Shiv Sena said that if the same hike had been taken up by the Congress, the opposition would have bombarded it with criticisms and abuses.

Now, the same (opposition) is running the government with full majority and they should introspect on it (the abuses it hurled at the Congress in the past) and should dedicatedly work towards improving the railways.

“In the meantime, the people have condemned the hikes and hope that this will be the final... The people’s expectations must be fulfilled,” the edit said.

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News Network
June 23,2020

New Delhi, Jun 23: With an increase of 14,933 new cases and 312 deaths in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 count reached 4,40,215 on Tuesday.

According to the latest update by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), 14,011 deaths have been recorded due to the infection so far in the country.

The rise in confirmed cases today is lower than the highest spike of 15 thousand plus cases registered on Sunday.

The count includes 1,78,014 active cases, and 2,48,190 cured/discharged/migrated patients.

Maharashtra with 1,35,796 confirmed cases remains the worst-affected by the infection so far in the country. The state's count includes 61,807 active, 67,706 cured, discharged patients while 6,283 deaths have been reported due to the infection so far.

Meanwhile, the national capital's confirmed coronavirus cases reached 62,655.

2,233 deaths have been reported in Delhi due to the infection so far.

Tamil Nadu has reported 62,087 cases so far with toll increased to 794.

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Agencies
June 15,2020

Nuapada, Jun 15: In a shocking incident, a 70-year-old elderly woman had to drag her 100-year-old bedridden mother on a cot to the nearby bank to withdraw pension money of Rs 1,500.

The incident came to light after a video of the woman dragging her bedridden mother on a cot to a bank in Odisha's Nuapada district went viral on social media.

The woman from Bargaon village dragged her mother on the cot after the bank official allegedly asked for physical verification. The incident took place on June 9.

"I went to the bank several times in last three months and requested the bank official to release the pension amount. However, the official informed that they would release the pension if I bring my mother to the branch," said Punjimati Dei.

Bank manager Ajit Pradhan allegedly asked Dei to bring her bedridden mother Labhe Baghel to the bank.

Her mother is an account holder under Jan Dhan Yojana of the Central government.

The Centre had announced Rs 500 monthly assistance for women Jan Dhan bank account holders from April to June in view of the COVID-19 situation.

A district administration official informed that the woman reached the bank with her mother before the manager could visit her home for the verification.

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Agencies
February 6,2020

New Delhi, Feb 6: Unemployment rate in the country as per a new survey was 6.1 per cent in 2017-18, the government informed Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

Minister of State for Labour Santosh Gangwar said the government is conducting a new Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) with new parameters and bigger sample size, and its results cannot be compared with previous surveys in this regard.

"As per the new Periodic Labour Force Survey being conducted by the government, the labour force participation is 36.9 per cent and the rate of unemployment for 2017-18 is 6.1 per cent," he said.

Replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour, the minister said the report of this survey is very different than the surveys conducted in previous years.

This survey is not comparable to previous surveys, he said, adding it was an attempt to provide authentic data with the new survey conducted through the Ministry of Statistics.

"We are focusing on infrastructure development and ease of doing business and India's position in the world has improved. India has improved its position to 63rd rank now in 2019 against 196 in previous years," he said.

"Our government is very conscious of creating employment opportunities and is running such programme which generates employment.

"The way our government is functioning, employment opportunities are being created and the youths are getting jobs also," the minister said.

Gangwar said the government has stopped the previous survey as the sample size was low and an attempt is being made to improve the data by adding various parameters and provide more authentic data.

The minister said it will take time for collection of data as households have to be visited on the ground for authentic data collection in rural areas also.

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