Railways expert committee to submit report next week

October 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Indian Railways Wednesday said it would transport for free relief material to flood ravaged places in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The railway minister (Mamata Banerjee) has taken this major humanitarian gesture as a special case with a view to facilitate movement of relief material to flood affected areas for the benefit of millions of people marooned by the recent floods in these two states, the Indian Railways said in a statement.

October 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Private carrier Jet Airways Thursday launched its inaugural Delhi-Hong Kong flight. This is Jet Airways' second service to Hong Kong.

September 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The railways ministry Wednesday said it would not resort to forceful acquisition of land for railway projects, and that it would review its land acquisition policy. "The ministry of railways has decided that there shall not be any forceful acquisition of land for railway projects," the ministry said in a statement.

September 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Railways have identified 64 stations around the country to be developed as "multi-function" stations, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said Monday. "The expert committee on railway land usage, chaired by Dr.

August 20th, 2009 KOLKATA - Rubbishing talk that efforts are on to privatise the Indian Railways, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday said she would be the last person to do so. "In some quarters there is mischievous talk that we are trying to privatise the railways.

August 5th, 2009 KOLKATA - The West Bengal government Wednesday requested Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee to hand over the excess railway land to the state government for developing small and medium-scale industries. "We, on behalf of the department for state cottage and small-scale industries, sent a letter to Mamata Banerjee, requesting her to hand over the excess land of the railways to the state government.

July 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Despite the slowdown that has seen job cuts across sectors, the Indian Railways will fill 1.7 lakh vacant posts after reviewing the recruitment process, Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee said Friday. The Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) will review the hiring process and address regional aspirations and problems witnessed during recruitment in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Assam, Banerjee told the Rajya Sabha.

July 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The railways ministry has asked the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp (IRCTC) to set up budget hotels at all major stations either directly or through the public-private partnership (PPP) route. "IRCTC follows the two packet open competitive bidding system to grant licenses.

July 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley Tuesday criticised Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee for taking the Indian Railways into "non-core areas", and said that will threaten its economical and social viability. "The fundamental principle of any efficient management is to concentrate on core area of competence and ignore all non-essential and non-core activities," Jaitley said while participating in a discussion on the railway budget in the Rajya Sabha.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Indian Railways will deploy women security personnel and increase their number in the proposed commando battalions, Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee said in the railways budget presented in parliament Friday. The women Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel will be deployed to ensure security of women passengers, particularly on routes where a large number of them travel alone regularly, Banerjee said while presenting the budget.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday proposed several steps, including launch of a premium service for container movement with assured transit time, to improve the freight movement on railways. Presenting her ministry's budget for 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha, Banerjee said besides improving the freight movement of its regular cargo like coal, iron ore, cement, fertilisers and food grain, the railways will take measures to increase the share of new items like automobiles and fly ash.

June 28th, 2009 KOLKATA - The high-powered committee set up by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to probe the multi-crore Satyam Computer fraud would submit its report July 9. "We will submit the report to the ministry of corporate affairs on July 9 after we finalise it at the final internal meeting of the committee on July 4 in Agra," ICAI president U.P.

June 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The railways ministry will carry forward the projects taken up by the former minister, Lalu Prasad, including the ambitious bullet train proposal, Minister of State for Railways K.H. Muniyappa said here Monday.

February 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A new book explaining how the second largest railway network in the world is managing disasters - both man-made and natural - was released here Tuesday. Railways Minister Lalu Prasad released the book, titled 'Disaster Management in the Indian Railways', written by Minister of State for Railways R.

January 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Rakesh Kumar Tandon, an Indian Railways Traffic Service (IRTS) officer of the 1978 batch, took over as managing director of the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corp (IRCTC) Wednesday. Prior to this, Tandon was executive director (passenger marketing, and efficiency and research) in the railways ministry.