HYDERABAD: A clean makeover awaits tracks and railways stations in the state as South Central Railway has decided to replace existing excreta disposal systems in trains with environment friendly bio-toilets.This venture was jointly developed by Railway Research Design and Standard Organisation (RDSO) and Defence Research Development Establishment (DRDE).This January SCR installed 48 bio-toilets in two city bound trains.Kacheguda-Bangalore Express and Hussainasagar Hyderabad-Mumbai Express.Satisfied with the function, the authorities are going to fit 200 more bio-toilets in Padmavathi Express, Ajantha Express and all coaches of Hussainsagar Express."Previous improvisations over conventional toilets discharged wastes only when the train achieved 30 km per hour. This allowed stations to remain clean but tracks were getting dirty. We tested bio-toilets and found them satisfactory. So we have decided to replace existing toilets with the newer environment friendly toilets in a phased manner," said SCR chief public relations officer K Sambasiva Rao.
...
Read more...

The bio-toilet consists of six components. Human wastes are digested by bacteria in one component and are reduced to harmless gases and water in the presence of chlorine in another component.
The unit costs Rs 80,000. SCR has already procured 80 of the 200 toilets which will be fitted in the next three months.

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Saturday dismissed the bail plea of an accused in the Rs 10 crore railway bribery case in which ex-Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's nephew was among those arrested. Special CBI Judge Swarana Kanta Sharma rejected the bail plea of Dharmender Kumar after CBI contended that his release could adversely affect probe which was in initial stages. Dharmedra along with co-accused Vivek Kumar had allegedly delivered Rs 90 lakh, part of the Rs 10 crore bribe amount, to Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla in Chandigarh to get a plum post for a Railway Board official. "Arguments heard. Bail application dismissed," the judge said. Senior Public Prosecutor Akshay Gautam, appearing for CBI, opposed the bail plea of Dharmender saying he and co-accused Vivek were well aware of the purpose behind the delivery of money and to whom it was to be given and as such they were...
Read more...

one of the conspirators in the case.Dharmedra along with co-accused Vivek Kumar had allegedly delivered Rs 90 lakh to Bansal\'s nephew Vijay Singla. Considering the "gravity" of the offence, "it would be a travesty of justice to show mercy to them", the counsel for CBI said. "Any leniency shown to them would be misplaced," he added. Gautam also said that the CBI investigation is in its initial stages and a lot of things are yet to be unearthed. "If they are granted bail, it would affect the probe of the agency," the prosecutor said. He also said that the two 'couriers' had gone in two separate cars each with a bag containing Rs 45 lakh and the whole thing was well planned and organised and could not have been done without their knowledge. Dharmendra's counsel said his client had no idea where exactly he had to deliver the money, to whom and for what purpose when he and Vivek had left Delhi for Chandigarh.

Agartala: Due to lack of funds, several national railway projects in southern Assam, Tripura and other northeastern states would be delayed by a year, an official said here Saturday.“Railway officials at a meeting here told Tripura government (officials) that the gauge conversion works, extension of railway lines in southern Assam, Tripura and other northeastern states would be delayed by a year due to scarcity of funds,” a Tripura official told reporters.Quoting the railway officials, he said: “Now the gauge conversion works between Lumding (200 km north of Assam’s main city of Guwahati)-Agartala, Agartala-Sabroom (in southern Tripura) railway extension and other railway projects would be completed in March 2015, instead of March 2014.”The foundation stone for conversion of Lumding-Agartala metre-gauge track to broad-gauge was laid by then prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda in January 1996.The cost of the project has now mounted to Rs.2,800 crore from Rs.648 crore in 1996.
...
Read more...

The broad-gauge railway line from Guwahati passes through Lumding (in Assam’s Nagaon district) which connects Tripura’s capital Agartala and parts of Manipur, Mizoram and southern Assam with the rest of India by a single 109-year-old metre-gauge railway track.
Tripura Transport Minister Manik Dey said the gauge conversion work had started in 1996 beyond Lumding and Prime Minister Manmohan singh had declared it along with other nine projects as a national project many years back but progress of work is very slow due to various problems, including funds crisis and law and order in the region.
A meeting between the Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, North East Frontier Railway (NFR) Lumding Divisional Manager Rakesh Goel and Chief Administrative Officer A.S. Garur was held here Saturday to review the on-going railway projects in the region.
According to the Tripura government official, the NFR officials told the meeting that a two-day meeting of the steering committee of the officials of India and Bangladesh would be held in Dhaka May 21-22 to expedite the work to set up a railway link between Tripura capital Agartala and Bangladesh’s southeastern city of Akhaurah.
India and Bangladesh had signed a memorandum of understanding on Feb 16 in Dhaka to set up the new railway link between the two countries.
At a cost of Rs.271 crore, India will build a 15-km railway track linking Agartala with Akhaura which is an important railway junction connected to the Chittagong international port, resource-rich Sylhet and Dhaka.
Out of the 15-km rail line, 5-km of track falls in the Indian territory and the remaining in Bangladesh.
Tripura chief minister requested the railway officials to accelerate the gauge conversion, new railway line set up works after managing the funds from the central governmen

After conducting a successful trial run of using bio-toilets in 17 coaches of Hyderabad-Mumbai and Kacheguda-Bangalore Express trains, the South Central Railway (SCR) has now decided to install 200 bio-toilets in a few more trains very shortly.Developed by Railway Research and Standard Organisation (RDSO) and Defence Research Development Establishment (DRDE), a bio-toilet, has six compartments and uses Inoculums (bacteria) to decompose night soil.The night soil from commode enters into the bio-tank, where the inoculums are stored and gets decomposed by the bacteria. The decomposed human soil will next enter into chlorine tank and to get purified. Finally, the out put will be water and gas, said SCR spokesperson.Each bio-toilet costs about Rs.80,000 and authorities are planning to install 200 of them in Padmavathi, Ajanta and other trains in a few months, he explained.Maintaining cleanliness at railway stations, especially the tracks at stations is always a task.Conventional toilets in trains discharge...
Read more...

night soil onto the track, causing unhygienic conditions and corrosion to track and coach fittings, he said.But with simple design and easier installation in coaches, these bio-toilets help in ensuring zero discharge of night soil on the tracks.SCR had commenced a trail run of using these bio toilets in Hyderabad-Mumbai and Kacheguda-Bangalore Express trains in January and it was found beneficial, he said.Bio-toilets with provision to replenish inoculums and chlorine are easy to maintain.
However, these toilets would get choked, if passengers dump bottles, plastic carry bags, cups, napkins etc into it via commode. It would choke the toilet, making it un-usable, he added.

The Commissioner for Railway Safety who inspected the newly laid Salem-Karur broad gauge railway track — via Namakkal — a few weeks ago has given the green signal to operate passenger trains. But there is no road leading to the station right now.A road alongside the Namakkal- Senthamangalam State highway is the only road by which on can reach the railway station. Passengers have to take the narrow dirt track that goes below the railway over bridge (below the highway) to reach the station on the other side of the bridge.“Rajya Sabha MP K.P. Ramalingam has threatened to go on hunger strike along with people in front of the Railway Division Office in Salem on June 1 if trains announced for the Salem- Karur route (via Namakkal) are not operated before May 31.It is sad that steps have not been taken to lay a proper road atop the bumpy dirt...
Read more...

track. Delay in laying it will badly affect elderly persons and patients who prefer travelling in trains”, says L. Krishnan (62).Railway and revenue department officials are playing the blame game, accusing each other for the undue delay in laying the road. Railway authorities in Salem claim that the land has not yet been handed over to their department. “Once the land is handed over to us, laying of the road for a stretch of less than 400 metres would be completed in a few days”, an official says.
Handed over
Officials in the office of the Special Tahsildar (for Land Acquisition) for the Salem-Karur Broad Gauge Rail Scheme claim that the land was acquired and handed over to the railway authorities more than two months ago.
“An area of 24.5 hectares acres of land in 32 different pattas was acquired and payment for the same to the tune of Rs. 30,87,201 was distributed to them”, they added.
They said payment for 22 pattas was given to the former land owners through cheques while the payment for the remaining 10 pattas was deposited in the court as they refused to get the cheques. “The last cheque was deposited in court on March 11, 2013, and the land was handed over to the railways on the same day, to start road laying works”, the officials say.

Both entry and exit points of the subway are encroached upon by vendors leaving little space for pedestrians to walk.Wherever traffic is chaotic, pedestrian subways and foot over bridges are a solution. There are, however, times when the most carefully planned subways and foot over bridges are rendered less helpful. The subway near Tambaram Railway Station is one such. Both entry and exit points of the subway are encroached upon by vendors leaving little space for pedestrians to walk. Adding to the pedestrians’ ire is the litter left behind by vendors. Rotten vegetables and fruits mess up the place. With people using it as a public toilet, the space around the subway is also filthy. It is no wonder that pedestrians avoid the subway for these reasons and cross the road.Kannan, a frequent visitor to Tambaram, says he did not know of this subway for a long time. “Whenever I...
Read more...

got down at the Tambaram station, I saw a mini-market, with vendors selling their wares. I didn't notice a subway amidst the crowded market.”

Over 150 workers of Gammon India, engaged in Chennai Metro Rail work, refused to work on Friday, citing salary dues.The workers, an official said, get a salary of around Rs. 8,000-Rs. 10,000, and were yet to receive the salary for April, which should have been paid by May 7.“A few days ago, the workers who are living in a labour colony in Nandambakkam refused to board the employees’ bus demanding the immediate payment of salary. We have assured them that it will be paid on Saturday,” said a Gammon official.The official blamed Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) for a delay in clearing bills. “Only when CMRL clears the bill, we will receive the money to settle the workers’ payments,” he said. He added that such developments have caused minor delays in the project.However, CMRL officials said the bills had been cleared and the Gammon India office in Mumbai had to...
Read more...

approve and release the money.The workers had gone on strike twice earlier, demanding a pay hike and drinking water facility.“The workers are supplied water in tanker lorries every day. Rarely, they face water problems. We are negotiating with them on the pay hike issue,” the official added.The Russian workers, numbering around 100, who are also involved in the project, have not gone on strike so far, the official said.In November, The Hindu had reported that CMRL had issued a show cause notice to Gammon India as there were delays in the work carried out by them. However, Gammon India attributed the delay to the seasonal rains.The company, which is also a contractor for Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), was faced with sanctions following a mishap at a worksite in 2009 when six people were killed. The report of a committee set up by DMRC to probe the incident, indicated deficiencies in the project design. Gammon was then debarred from entering into any new contract for two years, with effect from 2010.In 2011, Gammon India, in a joint venture with OJSC Mosmetrostroy, was awarded a contract of Rs. 1,947 crore by CMRL. It is involved in the construction of seven underground stations from Government Estate to Saidapet, located over a distance of 6.4 km.

Two passenger trains heading in opposite directions collided during rush hour in southwestern Connecticut, injuring 60 people, five of them critically, and closing the key corridor between New York and Boston.A Metro-North train heading from New Haven to New York City derailed around 6:10 p.m. on Friday, hitting the other train in Bridgeport, Connecticut, about 60 miles northeast of New York City on the Long Island Sound, authorities said.That caused some cars on the second train, which was destined for New Haven, to likewise leave the tracks, CNN reported citing a Metro-North spokesperson.Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy told reporters that five people were “critically injured,” one of whom was in “very critical condition.”Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board will head the investigation into the crash, with Mr.Malloy saying that agency’s team should be on site by Saturday morning.“We have no reason to believe that it’s anything but an accident,” the...
Read more...

governor said.Power was shut off along the line and service has been halted -- westbound past Bridgeport, and eastbound beyond South Norwalk -- because of the derailment.Amtrak train service also announced early on Friday night that it had suspended all travel between New York and Boston indefinitely after the crash.
Such travel headaches could persist for weeks, because the two tracks affected by the derailment -- which are both “shot right now” -- may take weeks to repair, CNN quoted Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch as saying.
Because of a bridge replacement project, those two tracks are the only way in and out of New York City by train from that part of Connecticut.
Workers will need to not only remove disabled trains, but also remove the tracks, regrade the rail bed, then lay down the tracks again, according to Mr.Finch.
A passenger in a middle car of the New York-bound train, Chris Martin, recalled to CNN how his car went dark after the crash, then someone over the intercom “called all the doctors up front.”
Brian Alvarez, who saw the wreckage, described the scene as “pretty graphic.”
"I saw this one car and it was completely destroyed, and they were pulling people out of the car,” Alvarez was quoted as saing. ”... They were all bloody.”

As Vijay Singla, 43, self-assuredly sauntered into his mamu's (maternal uncle) posh office on the second floor of Rail Bhavan in Lutyens' Delhi, he was stopped by security personnel on duty. They wanted to see the "pink entry slip" that allows visitors access to the ministerial chambers. As he stood arguing, Pawan Kumar Bansal's OSD (officer on special duty) Vitul Kumar stepped out to impress upon the obstinate policeman that Vijay was related to the minister and so a personal guest. It was mid-November 2012. Bansal had taken over as Union minister of railways on October 28. On May 3, 2013, Vijay would be arrested by CBI for allegedly demanding a bribe from Railway Board member Mahesh Kumar for the lucrative posting of member (electrical). Fingers are being pointed at Bansal and the CBI is investigating exactly where the buck stops.It is clear though that Bansal is quite the 'family...
Read more...

man'. Vitul Kumar, an Uttar Pradesh-cadre IPS officer, is also a relative handpicked to assist him in running the Railways. He is Bansal's elder sister's son-in-law posted with the minister since 2011. Vitul Kumar's older brother Jagdeep Goyal too served as Bansal's OSD in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs in 2009.
The ubiquitous nephew quickly became a not-to-be-messed-with presence in Rail Bhavan, often reasserting his authority by walking in with Vitul Kumar or Bansal's private secretary Rahul Bhandari, a Punjab-cadre IAS officer who has been with the minister since June 2009 when his portfolios became increasingly high-profile. He was minister of state for finance (2006-2009), MoS parliamentary affairs (2008- 2009), minister for water resources (2009-2011), parliamentary affairs minister (2011-2012), minister for science and technology and earth sciences (January 2011-July 2011), water resources minister (July 2011-October 2012) and eventually made his way to the railway ministry (October 2012).
Bansal, senior railway officials say, even allowed Vijay to sit through important meetings in his office. "Singla would sit in the minister's room casually flipping through files as if they were gossip magazines," reveals an officer, admitting he was aghast. On one occasion, Vijay was accompanied by another close relative and a chartered accountant. "The minister never appeared discomfited by their presence in his office," the railway official adds. To everyone else in the railway ministry, it was apparent that the nephew exercised undefined control over the affairs at Rail Bhavan. "It does not seem plausible that Bansal would not have known what was happening right under his nose," says another official.
Back in Bansal's home town and constituency Chandigarh, few are surprised that CBI arrested Vijay on May 3. "What stumps me is that it did not happen earlier," says a senior city Congressman. He cites the fable of 'the king whose very life was vested in a parrot'. "Vijay is that parrot," he insists, recounting how the nephew first took over his uncle's unsuccessful election campaign in 1996 and quickly became the 'main man' in control of all poll finances.
The Congress leader, who has been steadfastly opposed to Bansal, claims that Vijay piggybacked on his uncle's rising political fortunes to forge a rags-to-riches story of his own. "Just 15 years ago, the man used to live in a rented house in Sector 8, Panchkula. Today he has his own little palace not far from Bansal's home in Chandigarh," he says.
A close friend of the Bansal family, devastated by allegations of corruption against the railway minister, also recalls Vijay as "very close and almost like a son to his uncle". Others, including local Congress party loyalists who refuse to believe that Bansal could have any direct connection to the cash-for-jobs scam, also admit that the proximity was evident, but they point to the fact that the minister comes from a very close-knit clan with every one of the 50-odd relatives chipping in during elections.
A CBI official, investigating the railways cash-for-posting scam, however, says that Mahesh Kumar agreed to shell out Rs.10 crore to get the more lucrative post of member (electrical) only because he knew of the Singla connection. That even he had seen Vijay hanging around Bansal and his office. "He was sitting there brokering deals and selling transfers and postings in the Railways," the CBI officer claims.
CBI is now believed to be in possession of evidence that the arrested railway board member Mahesh Kumar actually met Vijay at Bansal's official residence at 6, Ashoka Road in Delhi. On May 9, the agency also sought clarifications from Bhandari on details of his telephone conversations with Vijay and others named in the railway scandal in recent months.
Accurate or not, the official's contention seems to find echoes in Vijay's rapid ascent in the real estate business. His firm Miraj Infra, in which the two other directors are his brother Madan Mohan Singla and nephew Chetan Singla, is building the Acropolis, among Chandigarh's biggest commercial complexes on a highly prized four-acre plot in the city's industrial quarter. "Vijay Singla is clearly on a roll," says Shiromani Akali Dal legislator N.K. Sharma, revealing that Bansal's nephew recently finalised a lease on a plot owned by a panchayat on Chandigarh's southern periphery in Zirakpur with plans to construct a high-end school.
In a related case, the Punjab & Haryana High Court at Chandigarh questioned the transfer of 21.26 acres of panchayat land to an educational trust floated by Bansal's brother-in-law and Vijay's father Mithan Lal Singla. Barely 10km from Chandigarh, the agricultural plot belonging to the Sanauli Village panchayat was handed to the JTL Education Foundation on a 33-year lease at an annual fee of Rs.30,000 per acre. Villagers opposed to the transfer had petitioned the court in 2011 pointing to the ridiculously meager lease amount, which they said was a twentieth of the prevailing rate. While the court halted the transfer, the case, pending for over two years, is expected to come up after the summer break.
Vijay and his family run a host of other companies involved in real estate, steel products and construction, including JTL Infra Limited, Jagan Realtors Private Limited and Chetan Industries.
Bansal's immediate relatives also seem part of the trend that seems to have benefited the family business. Theon Pharmaceuticals, a Nalagarh (Himachal Pradesh) based drugs manufacturing company that has both the minister's sons-Amit and Manish-as directors and his wife Madhu Bansal as a major shareholder, displayed a meteoric rise in profits over a relatively short period of five years. From barely Rs.15 crore in 2008, Theon Pharmaceutical's turnover grew exponentially every year to a whopping Rs.152 crore in 2012, according to the BJP's Satya Pal Jain.
Mahesh kumar (in striped t-shirt) Jain, who is Bansal's chief political rival in Chandigarh and BJP's national legal adviser, has documents to prove how Bansal's relatives floated or acquired several companies including Iva Healthcare and Isis Package. "The CBI must question Bansal on the dubious investments made by his relatives," he says, dismissing the minister's vehement protests a day after CBI arrested Vijay.
Jain alleges that besides conveniently looking the other way on Vijay's activities in and around Rail Bhavan, Bansal also employed his political clout to help Vijay's brother who is involved in road construction and maintenance contracts in Chandigarh. He also charges that the Singla family concern, Chetan Industries, with a registered office in the city, was given the contract to supply the Indian Railways with Rail Neer, the bottled drinking water that used to be supplied aboard passenger trains.
Keen to draw the maximum possible mileage from Bansal's current troubles ahead of the 2014 parliamentary polls, on May 7 Jain produced more documents that allegedly show how Theon Pharma was involved in illegally marketing drug formulations that have not yet been put through the mandatory Phase Three clinical trials. Bansal's wife says the allegations are a conspiracy to defame her husband. "We are not responsible for what he (Vijay Singla) does," Madhu Bansal indignantly stated on May 5 essentially echoing what her husband had already stated. The family even attempted a measure of damage control via social networking: "Satya Pal Jain is talking about my wealth and property, but I wonder how a paper vendor could manage to buy a two kanal house in Chandigarh," Vikram Bansal, who usually handles public relations for his uncle, posted on Facebook.
But there was even more trouble on May 8 when news reports from Chandigarh questioned Manish Bansal's appointment as a senior law officer-additional advocate general-in Haryana while being actively engaged in business ventures. A lawyer with seven years' experience, the minister's son is said to take home a monthly pay cheque of Rs.90,000 even as he remains a director in both Theon Pharma as well as a second family-held firm, Iva Healthcare.
Details have now emerged suggesting that the minister's extended family may have also benefited during Bansal's tenure as junior finance minister from January 2006 to May 2009. In 2007, Canara Bank granted loans adding up to nearly Rs.60 crore to companies held by his wife Madhu, sons Amit and Manish as well as Vijay Singla's family.
The abundant cash apparently began flowing after the family's chartered accountant (ca) Sunil Gupta was appointed to the board of directors of the public sector bank in July 2007, a year after Bansal joined the finance ministry. Theon Pharmaceuticals, which had qualified for a mere Rs.7 crore loan before Gupta's appointment, is said to have been allowed to dramatically enlarge its borrowings in the years that the CA remained in his post. The family accountant's elevation paid even more lucrative dividends for Vijay's Miraj Infra, which was granted a loan of Rs.40 crore in 2008.
Not only has Gupta served as the appointed auditor for nearly a dozen Bansal-Singla companies but his proximity to the Railway Minister's family is also evident from the fact of his presence amid the promoters of Bansi Raunaq Energy Group Limited, otherwise a wholly family held concern owned by Bansal's relatives.
 Gupta however denies that his friendship with the Bansal family had anything to do with his appointment or that it constituted a conflict of interest. Canara Bank chairman and managing director R.K. Dubey too insists that "due diligence was followed" in sanctioning the loans.
CBI investigators are convinced that there is a lot more to the railway bribery scandal than the Rs.90 lakh allegedly handed to Vijay on the night of May 3. Still smarting from the bruising he received from the Supreme Court on his handling of the report on investigations into the Coalgate scam, CBI chief Ranjit Sinha is promising that he "will not spare anyone" in Railgate.
Even more serious is the impact such malfeasance has on passenger safety. Mahesh Kumar, who was posted as member (staff) of the Indian Railway Board, clearly saw his posting as "dry" since he wouldn't be responsible for any significant purchases or doling out big ticket contracts. In place of that, he was interested in the position of member (electrical). With the railway budget pegged at Rs.63,000 crore for the 2013-14, a major chunk of Rs.25,000 crore was at the disposal of member (electrical)-the control of the electrical department, signalling and telecom works, which have a direct bearing on the increasingly technology-reliant train safety.
Officials admit there have been several cases of corruption in the Railways in the past but say that none were so brazen. "No minister in the recent past has so blatantly interfered in the postings at the level of railway members. Money always exchanged hands for the award of contracts but never to get a lucrative posting and that too at such a senior level," says a senior railway official.
For several years now, the Central Vigilance Commission has marked the Railways as the country's most corrupt government organisation. The commission's latest annual report counts 8,805 corruption complaints against railway employees, followed by 8,430 against bank employees and 5,026 against income-tax officials. Ironically, Mahesh Kumar also headed Western Railway's vigilance department as its general manager.
With the Railways placing more orders in a bid to expand, all Railway Board berths appear to have become bigger "money-spinners", railway officials say. The board takes all investment decisions relating to rail budget.
"The bulk of the projects would need a final clearance from the member (electrical) or member (mechanical). With the entry of global players, the terms of a tender could be tailored to suit a particular party though there are adequate checks and balances," says former Railway Board chairman J.P. Batra, though his contention rings somewhat hollow in the light of the current cloud over Rail Bhavan.

NEW DELHI: Delhi government will now charge Delhi Metro up to 30-40 times more for selling its DUSIB land to DMRC for construction of its Phase-III line. In its latest decision, Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board has decided to sell its land to DMRC as per circle rates. The decision has been approved in principle by DUSIB in a meeting on Saturday. The board is chaired by Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit. The decision will also be applicable on the properties sold to Delhi Health Services. The new policy would increase the cost of land in Category A areas 35 to 40 times. For now, DUSIB has decided to implement it in 12 projects of which four projects belong to DMRC. In the first case, a 5,286 sqm land (Category D) in Rajouri Garden, west Delhi, that was earlier available at Rs 2.45 crore will now cost Rs 56.23 crore....
Read more...

Earlier, DUSIB gave its land to DMRC at concessional rates in compliance with GOI orders irrespective of the locality of the plot. A DMRC spokesperson said they are yet to receive the order and hence cannot comment on the matter. Sources in DMRC said that the order, if implemented, will make a major difference to the project cost. "It's basically transfer of government money from one body to another. If they increase the rates so drastically we will be forced to go back to the Centre for funds," a senior DMRC officer said.