Railway fares to go up by 2% from Monday

October 5, 2013

Railway_faresNew Delhi, Oct 5: Rail travel will become costly from Monday with the cash-strapped railways deciding to increase passenger fares in all mail and express trains by 2% and freight tariff by 1.7% across the board.

The passenger fare hike will be applicable from October 7 and revised freight charges will come into effect from October 10. This is the second increase in passenger fares this year after a 20% hike in January.

After the increase, the AC first class fare of Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani Express will go up by around Rs 80, Delhi-Kolkata fare in the same class will see a similar hike while Delhi-Chennai fare will go up by around Rs 100.

The "aam aadmi" has been spared as the increase will not be applicable on suburban trains and monthly pass holders of general classes.

The decision is expected to fuel inflation further as only last week, railways had imposed busy season charges of 15% on all freight commodities, leading to an increase in the prices of essential commodities.

This fare hike paves the way for railways to routinely revise passenger tariff taking into account the increase in input cost, mainly fuel cost.

Passenger fare was not revised as it was considered "unpopular" by leaders, leading to loss of Rs 25,000 crore a year on account of passenger tariff. "This is a big move in the direction of de-politicization of passenger tariff," an official said.

The revision has come in the form of fuel adjustment component (FAC) which was announced in the last rail budget to make adjustments for spiraling fuel prices. In the budget, it was announced that FAC would be revised every six months.

The state-run transporter has decided to pass the financial burden arising out of increased input cost — additional burden of 7.3% increase in diesel price and about 16% hike in electricity charges — on to customers.

According to estimates, railways will bear a burden of Rs 1,200 crore due to increased energy and input cost in the next six month. The revised passenger fares will get railways an extra revenue of Rs 420 crore in the remaining months of this fiscal and the transporter is expected to earn Rs 790 crore from increased freight tariff. FAC was implemented for the first time in April this year.

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News Network
January 30,2020

Baharampore, Jan 30: Two persons were killed and one was injured in a clash over a protest programme against the CAA and the proposed NRC in West Bengal's Murshidabad district on Wednesday, police said.

The incident occured after an argument broke out between the two sides at Jalangi over a protest programme opposing Citizenship Amendment Act.

According to the police, a scuffle broke out between the local TMC leaders and residents' forum 'Nagarik Mancha', which was observing a shutdown in the area against the amended citizenship act and the proposed country-wide NRC.

The residents' forum was asked to withdraw the shutdown and the situation turned violent as both sides came to blows and hurled bombs at each other. Several two-wheelers and cars were damaged and set on fire during the clash.

Local TMC MP Abu Taher, denied that the party was involved in the clash and alleged that the violence was by Congress and CPI(M) supporters.

"I have requested the police to look into the incident. The culprits should be immediately arrested," he said.

Senior Congress leader and MLA Manoj Chakraborty said that the party was not involved in the incident and demanded judicial inquiry into it.

The injured have been rushed to Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital here, the police said.

The Muslim-majority district had witnessed violence and arson during the anti-CAA protests across the state in December last year.

West Bengal became the fourth state after Left-ruled Kerala, and Punjab and Rajasthan, where the Congress is in power, to have passed a resolution on January 27 against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The state assembly had on September 6, 2019, passed a resolution against NRC.

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Agencies
August 8,2020

Idukki, Aug 8: Nine more bodies have been recovered from the landslide ravaged Pettimudi near Munnar in Idukki on Saturday. With this the death toll in the tragedy reached 26. Around 40 are feared to be still trapped under the debris or washed away.

The rescue operation by NDRF and Fire and Rescue Services that was stopped by Friday evening due to poor light and bad weather resumed by Saturday morning.

Horrifying scene prevailed in the area as relatives of the missing people screamed around in search of their beloved ones. As it is nearly 48 hours since the incident happened, the chances of recovering missing persons alive from the debris is becoming bleak. Three of the bodies recovered on Saturday could not be identified till evening.

Kerala Revenue Minster E Chandrasekharan, who visited the area on Saturday, said that search operation would be carried out until all the missing are recovered.

It was by around 11.30 pm on Thursday that landslide had hit the Nayamakkad estate of Kannan Devan Hills and Plantations. Settlement clusters of plantation workers where 83 persons were staying were reduced to debris as the huge rocks came bulldozing. Five of the residents were reported to be not in the spot while the mishap occured.

Meanwhile, heavy rains led to floods at many parts of the state. Red alert has been issued at Idukki, Malappuram and Wayanad districts for Sunday also. A total of 11,446 persons of 3,530 families were shifted to relief camps across the state, of which major chunk is at Wayanad.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that water level at most dams is increasing swiftly.

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News Network
March 25,2020

Kolkata, Mar 25: Amid the countrywide lockdown in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that all police stations will take responsibility to deliver food at doorsteps under the supervision of District Magistrates and Police Superintendents.
"As we have to ensure that there is no scarcity of food, all Police stations will take responsibility to deliver food at doorsteps and it will be monitored by District Magistrates and Police Superintendents," said Banerjee at a press conference here.
She also said that under the social pension schemes, the pension holders will get their pension of March and April together.
Speaking on local police blocking people involved in essential services, she said, "The Officer-in-charge will have to ensure that the local police know about the rules and exemptions during the lockdown."
"If any police official or an administrative official is found flouting the lockdown norms, then strict action will be taken against them," she added.
The Chief Minister also said, "If somebody needs to help us by giving materials then they need to contact health department official Sanjay Bansal, whose contact number is - 9051022000."
"The government has also launched a State emergency relief fund wherein people can donate. For donation, the account number is 628005501339, IFSC: ICIC0006280 and website: wb.gov.in," she said.
She also said that on March 31 the government will review the situation.
According to a recent update by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, a total of 562 positive cases for coronavirus have been confirmed in the country.

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