Navjot Sidhu stops train to protest freight corridor plan

October 3rd, 2009 AMRITSAR - Amritsar MP and former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu finally returned to his constituency Saturday after staying away for nearly three months. The chirpy Sidhu, who is the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Lok Sabha MP from here, was apologetic to his supporters and the electorate for remaining away from the constituency.

September 21st, 2009 AMRITSAR - A group of local Congress party leaders in Amritsar on Monday lodged an 'online complaint' about the 'missing' BJP leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, who represents their Amritsar constituency in Parliament. Rajkumar Verka, a former Congress MLA, told media persons that he had lodged an online complaint in the Civil Lines police station here for registration of an FIR on behalf of the public of Amritsar, stating Sidhu has gone missing from his LS constituency.

September 21st, 2009 AMRITSAR - Congress activists Monday put up posters claiming that cricketer-turned-politician and Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu was "missing" and also filed a police complaint. Congress leader and former legislator Raj Kumar Verka told IANS that the posters of the 'missing' Sidhu had been put up outside government buildings and other prominent places across this city, 250 km from state capital Chandigarh.

July 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI/AMRITSAR - Speculation was rife Friday that cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu had resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and as MP, apparently peeved over the party promoting his rival. BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley said the matter would be sorted out.

May 17th, 2009 AMRITSAR - Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu's incessant wisecracks on television shows barely made up for his long absences from this constituency, where he was re-elected to the Lok Sabha by a dangerously slender margin. Sidhu, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, managed to retain his seat Saturday by being just 7,332 votes ahead of his nearest rival, Om Prakash Soni of the Congress.

May 16th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retained his Amritsar Lok Sabha seat even as party colleague and actor Vinod Khanna lost from the adjoining Gurdaspur in Punjab Saturday. The chirpy Sidhu, who has been judging TV laughter challenge shows in recent years, was not exactly laughing his way to victory as he managed to win with a margin of just 7,332 votes over his Congress rival Om Prakash Soni.

April 23rd, 2009 AMRITSAR - Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu and sitting MP of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Navjot Singh Sidhu entered the poll fray to seek re-election. Accompanied by the state's deputy chief of the state, Sukhbir Singh Badal,idhu proceeded to the office of the Returning Officer, astride an elephant.

March 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - God helps those who help themselves. And that's what cricketer-turned-MP Navjot Singh Sidhu seems to be doing after suddenly finding that few in his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or its ally Akali Dal are batting for him.

March 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - It is hard to imagine cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu keeping quiet in front of an audience of thousands, as he never fails to make use of his gift of the gab. But the Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Amritsar stunned many when he did not utter a word at a political meet in his constituency.

February 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The construction work on the 1,483-km dedicated freight corridor, Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), will start soon, a union minister said here Tuesday. The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corp (DMICDC), the implementing agency for the project, has appointed consultants for preparing a detailed plan for the project, Minister of State for Industry Ashwani Kumar said in parliament.

February 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Indian Railways will likely get Rs.200 billion (Rs.20,000 crore/$4 billion) from Japan for their rail freight corridor project, Railways Minister Lalu Prasad said here Friday. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will release the funds by the end of 2009, Lalu Prasad told reporters after presenting the interim railway budget.

February 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Following are the highlights of the interim rail budget for next fiscal presented by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad in Lok Sabha Friday: * Two percent reduction in fares for virtually all classes * Feasibility studies progressing well to start 'bullet trains' in India * Plan outlay for 2009-10 kept at Rs.379.05 billion (Rs.37,905 crore) * Railways will create record surplus of Rs.900 billion (Rs.90,000 crore) this fiscal * Rs.700 billion (Rs.70,000 crore) surplus ploughed back to improve efficiency * In past five years, no burden imposed on train passengers * Railways saw 14 percent rise in passenger income * Railways managed 8 percent growth in freight loading in five years * But freight down in current year due to economic downturn * Revised freight earnings for this fiscal to Rs.542.93 billion (Rs.54,293 crore) * Freight loading target retained at 850 million tonnes * Estimated freight earnings for next fiscal pegged at Rs.590.59 billion (Rs.59,059 crore) * Drop in train accidents, railway safety enhanced * Rs.367.73 billion (Rs.36,773 crore) spent this fiscal toward productivity, passenger facilities * Railways to introduce wagons with higher capacity * Railways to spend Rs.230 billion (Rs.23,000 crore) in 2009-10 * Work has started on Delhi-Mumbai dedicated freight corridor * Dedicated freight corridor from Ludhiana to Kolkata to be inaugurated later this month * Kolkata Metro will be expanded * 43 new train services to be started in 2009-10 * Frequencies of 14 trains enhanced * Frequencies of several trains across the country increased to daily service * Extension of 14 trains envisaged * Passenger volume likely to grow by around 7 percent over previous year * Steps to have railway connectivity to Kashmir initiated * Railways have set up four call centres

February 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Following are the highlights of the interim rail budget for next fiscal presented by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad in Lok Sabha Friday: * Two percent reduction in fares for virtually all classes * Feasibility studies progressing well to start 'bullet trains' in India * Railways will create record surplus of Rs.900 billion (Rs.90,000 crore) this fiscal * In past five years, no burden imposed on train passengers * Railways saw 14 percent rise in passenger income * Railways managed 8 percent growth in freight loading in five years * But freight down in current year due to economic downturn * Drop in train accidents, railway safety enhanced * Rs.700 billion (Rs.70,000 crore) surplus ploughed back to improve efficiency * Rs.367.73 billion (Rs.36,773 crore) spent this fiscal toward productivity, passenger facilities * Railways to introduce wagons with higher capacity * Railways to spend Rs.230 billion (Rs.23,000 crore) in 2009-10 * Work has started on Delhi-Mumbai dedicated freight corridor * Dedicated freight corridor from Ludhiana to Kolkata to be inaugurated later this month * Kolkata Metro will be expanded * Frequencies of a host of trains enhanced * Frequencies of several trains across the country increased to daily service * Steps to have railway connectivity to Kashmir initiated * Railways have set up four call centres

January 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Enthused by an exhilarating ride on a Japanese high-speed train last week during his visit to Japan, Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Monday said India would soon have similar bullet trains on selective routes and that his ministry would start scouting for global consultants. 'The day is not far off when the bullet train will run in the country,' Lalu Prasad told reporters here.

January 13th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Cricketer turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu Wednesday objected to the Punjab government because his performance as an MP from Amritsar has been rated as 'poor' by the state's planning department. He called the description 'either a mistake or mischief' to tarnish his image.