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Rail Budget:

February 25, 2016 | Edit

 No hike in passenger, freight fares; Slew of amenities announced; Senior citizens quota up by 50%.
Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu said that core objective is to become an engine of employment generation and economic growth at national level. Minister proposed No changes in passenger fares and freight rates. He said Railway will generate 9 crore man-days employment by 2017-18 and 14 crore man-days by 2018-19.
The minister has announced an increase in seat quota; 50% up for senior citizens. Railways will increase the quota of lower berths for women and senior citizens. 33 per cent sub-quota for women will be provided under all reserved categories.
Over 65,000 additional berths, wi-fi services at 100 stations, improvement in passenger amenities including cleanliness, make rail a safer means of travel specially for women are some of the highlights of this year’s Railway Budget 2016-17.
The other highlights include bringing all major stations of the country under CCTV surveillance in a phased manner, e-ticketing facility to foreign debit and credit cards for foreign tourists and NRIs and making Railways financially self sustainable.
Presenting his second rail budget to Parliament today, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said ‘Reorganise, Restructure and Rejuvenate’ are the three key mantras for his ministry.
Proposing a plan size of one lakh twenty one thousand crore rupees in 2016-17, Mr Prabhu said by 2020, long felt desires of the common man are to be fulfilled. They are reserved accommodation on trains availability on demand, time tabled freight trains and high end technology to improve safety record among others.
Saying cooperation, collaboration, creativity and communication are the hallmarks of Railways decision-making, Mr Prabhu said Antyodaya Express fully unreserved superfast train service for the common man to be operated on dense routes. He said two to four Deen Dayalu coaches in some long distance trains for unreserved travel to enhance carrying capacity. In another milestone for the Railways, the minister said Tejas trains will operate at speeds of 130 kilometre and above.
He said time-tabled freight container, parcel and special commodity trains on a pilot basis and container sector would be opened to all traffic barring coal. The minister proposed to develop Rail side logistics parks and warehousing in PPP mode.
Mr Prabhu said 10 good sheds will be developed in 2016-17. Announcing amidst thumping of desks by the treasury benches , Mr Prabhu said country’s first rail auto hub in Chennai will be inaugurated soon. He also announced to encourage development of cold storage facilities on vacant land near freight terminals.
The minister announced introduction of overnight double decker trains on busiest routes, which has the potential to increase carrying capacity by almost 40 per cent. He said in the next year, 2,800 kilometres Broad Gauge lines will be commissioned.
Giving emphasis on better connectivity to North Eastern States, the minister said Mizoram and Manipur are set to come on the Broad Gauge map of the country soon with commissioning of the kathakal-Bhairabi and Arunachal- Jiribam Gauge conversion projects. He said the decongestion work on the Jalandhar-Jammu line is going on in full swing.
In the line of Prime Minister’s emphasis on Make in India, Mr Prabhu said Railways will be able to finalise the bids for setting up two loco factories at a worth of 40,000 crore rupees. The minister said world’s first Bio Vacuum toilet was developed by the Railways and is being used in Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express.
The minister said rail travel will be more comfortable with installation of 2,500 water vending machines, introduction of 1,780 automatic ticket vending machines and enhancing capacity of e-ticketing system from 2,000 tickets per minute to 7,200 tickets per minute.
For differently abled-people, Mr Prabhu said online booking of wheelchairs and Braille enabled new coaches has already been introduced. Giving top priority to safety, the minister said over 1,000 unmanned level crossings have been eliminated.
He proposed to take up North-South freight corridors connecting Delhi to Chennai, East-West connecting Kharagpur to Mumbai and East Coast freight corridors from Kharagpur to Vijayawada through innovative financing model including public private partnership (PPP).
He said during 2016-17, ports of Nargol and Hazira will be connected by rail. Highlighting social initiatives undertaken by his ministry, Mr Prabhu said there will be a tie up with Health ministry to introduce AYUSH systems in 5 railway hospitals. He said gang men will be intimated about approaching trains with a device called Rakshak.
Announcing several new measures by his ministry, Mr Prabhu said a sum of 50 crore rupees has been set aside for providing innovation grants to employees, startups and small businesses. The minister proposed to reorganise the Railway Board along business lines suitably empowering Railway board chairman. To enable fair pricing of services, promote competition and protect customer interests, Mr Prabhu said a draft bill to set up Rail Development Authority, will be ready after holding extensive consultations with stakeholder.
Mr Prabhu said his ministry is making all out efforts to translate Prime Minister’s vision into reality with the core objective to improve the quality of customer experience, become an engine of employment generation, economic growth at the national level and convert India’s largest institution into a template for transformation. The minister announced setting up a Rail university at Vadodara. He announced to take up on priority the provision of passenger amenities and beautification on stations at pilgrimage centres including Ajmer, Dwarka, Gaya, Puri, Varanasi and Parasnath.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the Rail budget will enhance in rebuilding the nation. Congratulating Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and the entire team behind the Rail Budget, Mr Modi said, along with IT, investment has been given importance. He said, last year’s Rail budget had seen a lot of success and this budget is an effort to further improve on it.
Prime Minister said this is futuristic budget. Starting of Antyodaya express and Dindayal Express reflects government’s commitment towards poors. He said railway Minister has taken significant steps towards more rail connectivity in North-eastern states.
BJP leader and union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy termed it as reformist. Talking to AIR, Mr Rudy said, there was no additional burden on passengers. He said it will fulfill aspirations of common man. Mr Rudy said through the rail budget, the government will make efforts to modernize railways along with best and affordable services to the people. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said the budget is practical realistic and people friendly.
Opposition parties have termed the Rail Budget as disappointing. Congress leader and former Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said the budget did not talk about the safety of passengers. He said the budget does not provide adequate facilities to the passengers.
When asked that the Railway Minister spared people from freight and fare hike, Mr Kharge said the government may have done this keeping in view the upcoming elections for several State Assemblies. CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury told AIR that there is nothing new in the budget and it is not people friendly.
CPI leader D Raja said that there is nothing on expected lines in the budget and gives nothing in terms of passenger safety and civic amenities. TMC leader and former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi also termed it as disappointing.
Mr Trivedi said there is no clarity about allocation of funds in different areas. He said, it did not state about the achievements in terms of set target of pervious year. RJD leader Jaiprakash Narayan Yadav echoed similar views. He alleged the budged has ignored States like Bihar.
BJP President Amit Shah has commended the Rail Budget saying that it is a comprehensive one covering all sections of the society. Briefing media in New Delhi today, Mr Shah said, this passenger friendly and growth oriented budget is another significant milestone in journey of transformation of the Indian Railways. He said, it is a budget for the common man and it is the second budget in a row when fares have not been hiked. He said, Wi-Fi and FM Radio in Train is commendable step. Mr Shah said, special emphasis has been given to senior citizen, women and youth in this rail budget.

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POST RAILWAY BUDGET PRESS CONFERENCE

February 25, 2016 | Edit

POST RAILWAY BUDGET  PRESS CONFERENCE

Dear Sir/Madam,

          You are requested to kindly cover the following event

Event         :         Joint Press Conference by Chairman Railway Board, Shri A. K. Mital  and other Railway Board Members.

Time           :        3:15 PM to 4:00 PM

Date            :        25^th February 2016 (Thursday)

Venue         :        Conference Hall,   2^nd Floor,   Rail Bhawan, New Delhi.
         
          With warm regards,

Yours sincerely,


(Anil Kumar Saxena)

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February 25, 2016 | Edit

Economic Survey 2015-16 as per the following schedule:

February 25, 2016

INVITATION

Dear Sir/Madam,

Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance will address a Press Conference tomorrow, 26^th February, 2016 regarding Economic Survey 2015-16 as per the following schedule:

Date:              26^th February, 2016 (Friday)
Time:             3.00 p.m.
 Venue:          Conference Hall, National Media Centre, 7E, Raisina Road, New Delhi.
                         
You are requested to depute ONLY your PIB Accredited Correspondent/Reporter and Still Photographer/Cameraperson for the coverage of the aforesaid event.

With regards,

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The Naresh Kumar Sagar Daily

February 25, 2016 | Edit

Certain benefits that are currently available for free papers will be moving to the paid service on March 8th. Find out more here. The Naresh Kumar Sagar Daily Published by Naresh Kumar Sagar 25 February 2016 World Sports Business Technology Art & Entertainment Leisure #railbudget2016 #bangladesh Today’s headline Why Maharashtra governor is right in not pardoning Sanjay Dutt www­.hindustantimes­.com – Maharashtra Governor Vidyasagar Rao has done the right thing by rejecting former Supreme Court judge, Justice Markandey Katju’s plea seeking pardon for well-known celebrity actor Sanjay Dutt. Let’s… Advertisement Advertising is hard We do it all day. Let us teach you what we’ve learned. Learn how the experts market their startups. Grab the free ebook. 154 contributors – featured today: Read paper →

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The sagar online media Daily

February 25, 2016 | Edit

The sagar online media Daily Published by Naresh Kumar Sagar 25 February 2016 Business Technology Art & Entertainment Science Environment World #socialmedia #marketing Today’s headline How Businesses Should Deal with Online Reputation Risks www­.virtualsocialmedia­.com – Of course, the significance of online media cannot be just explained. It has broken down cultural and geographic borders. The web is now empowering people to connect in a meaningful manner. In fact… Advertisement Accelerate Mobile App Dev Telerik webinar featuring Forrester, Wednesday, March 9. Join free webinar. 29 contributors – featured today: Read paper →

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Concert by Giuliana Soscia Trio

February 25, 2016 | Edit

In occasione della festa della donna

On the occasion of The International Women’s Day

 

L’ Istituto Italiano di Cultura è lieto di invitare al concerto

The Italian Embassy Cultural Centre is pleased to invite you to the Concert by

 

Giuliana Soscia Trio

 

 

Seating is on First-Come-First-Served basis.

Regards,

Italian Embassy Cultural Centre

50- E, Chandragupta Marg (Entry from Nyaya Marg)
Chanakyapuri, New Delhi – 110 021
Phone: 0091-11-26871901/03/04
Email: iicnewdelhi@esteri.it

www.iicnewdelhi.esteri.it/IIC_Newdelhi

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PALPREET SINGH WINS ACG-NBA JUMP NATIONAL FINALS

February 25, 2016 | Edit

–       NBA Champion Brian Shaw Impressed with the 21-year old from Ludhiana–

–       Palpreet will Attend NBA Development League Tryout in the United States  –

DELHI, Feb. 25, 2016 – The National Basketball Association (NBA) and the ACG Worldwide Group (ACG) today announced Palpreet Singh as the winner of National Finals of ACG-NBA Jump, India’s first national basketball talent search program.  The 21-year old will now attend the NBA Development League (NBA D-League) tryout in the United States in the month of June.  NBA champion Brian Shaw, who was at the camp for two days, was impressed with Palpreet’s work ethic and court skills.

“ACG-NBA Jump has given basketball playing youth in India a pathway to professional ranks.  We are committed to growing the program in the years to come,” said NBA India Managing Director Yannick Colaco.  “While Palpreet Singh has been selected for a national tryout in the NBA D-League, the entire pool will be a part of Elite Talent Club and NBA will monitor their progress on a regular basis.”

“Promotion of sports and youth development has always been a part of ACG’s CSR vision and the successful conclusion of this program is an important milestone towards realization of this vision,” said ACG Director Karan Singh.  “The final pool of players represented the very goal of the program that was to identify and hone the untapped talent pool of basketball in India. We strongly believe that our partnership with NBA to tap this potential and create a solid platform for the aspirants has found the right beginning. We are as excited as the winner and hope that Palpreet Singh makes a long lasting impression in United States for the D-League National Tryout.”

“His feel for the game and understanding, I could tell he grasps it,” said Shaw. “Palpreet Singh, we all thought, was the guy who had the best chance to succeed.”

Palpreet Singh will continue to undergo training with NBA certified coaches in India up until the tryout in June 2016.  Sony SIX, the official broadcaster of the program, will create a feature around ACG-NBA Jump, following the program through its various stages and tracking the winner up until his NBA D-league tryout.

Palpreet was excited with this development. “I am thankful to ACG NBA Jump for this. I will focus on becoming a stronger player now that I am going to compete with some of the best in the world,” said Singh.

The NBA D-League is the NBA’s official minor league, serving to develop players, coaches, and front office executives.  Entering its 15^th season, the NBA D-League features 19 teams in the U.S. and Canada, each of which is singly-affiliated with an NBA parent club.  An all-time high 38% of players on 2014-15 NBA end-of-season rosters boasted NBA D-League experience.

Visit www.acgnbajump.com to learn more about the program.  Fans can follow the NBA on Facebook (facebook.com/NBAIndia) and on Twitter (@NBAIndia) and download the NBA App for the latest news, updates, scores, stats, schedules, videos and more.

Winner’s profile:

Name: Palpreet Singh

Age: 21

From: Muktsar Sahaib, 150 kms from Ludhiana

Favourite Team: LA Clippers

Favourite Player: Blake Griffin

Position: Center

Height: 6.9″

Weight: 115 kgs

Dominate Hand: Right

Palpreet has represented India at SAFF Games, Lusofonia Games and Asian Games. He is the first person from his family and village Muktsar Sahaib to play basketball. He received his initial training at the famous Ludhiana Basketball Academy under the tutelage of coach Dr. S Subramaniam who trained Satnam Singh too.