Ensuring cyber security in day to day operations is one of the priorities for railways which is moving in a big way towards technology driven operations, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said today.

Speaking at a conference attendended by senior rail officials, Mr Prabhu said that as part of modernisation and maintenance of railways, the ministry has lauched several initiatives over the past three years like RailCloud Server and Rail Saarthi App and is working on a enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution.

“When we do everything manually, the challenge is manual error and if we are shifting from manual to technology oriented operations, then the flaws in technology or someone who can potentially hoodwink it is as high and sometimes even dangerous. So cyber security is one of the top priorities,” the minister added.

Computerisation in railways started about three decades ago and major activities like ticketing, freight operations, train operations and asset management now rely heavily on IT systems.

Railways launched RailCloud this month, a virtual server with an inbuilt security system that will enable faster connectivity at a reduced cost.

RailCloud technology enables maximising the usage of available server and storage resulting in accommodation of bigger data and more applications within same server space.

Till now all IT applications had separate servers which increased the cost of operations and purchases.

Cyber Security has now been identified as the focus area by the railways. Auditing of IT Systems by Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) and close coordination with Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) are some of the steps taken by Indian railways.

Considered to be one of the largest government functioning body, Indian Railways, gets a fair share of attention from job aspirants. The recruiting body of Indian Railways, Railway Recruitment Board commonly known as RRB, selects candidates for various Group C and Group D posts. Round the year, RRB recruitment 2017 grabs the attention of every job seeker. As a serious job aspirant, you need to understand the recruitment process and selection procedure involved in RRB recruitment 2017.

RRBs notify job advertisements (and declare the results, as well) on the official websites (region wise web portals), Employment News (job journal of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India). The recruiting body allows a decent time frame for the application submission. While submitting the application, candidates must ensure that it is completely filled failing which there are chances of rejection.

RRBs conduct competitive examinations as a part of the recruitment process; these generally include two phases of written exam, skill test and/ or interview. The question paper comprises of questions related to ‘General Knowledge, General English / General Hindi, General Arithmetic, Analytical and Quantitative Skills and those subjects covered as part of minimum educational/technical qualifications for the post.’ The Board conducts skill test and interview as per the job profile.

Due to large number of aspirants, websites slow down during the recruitment process. Candidates are therefore urged to wait a while and retry for submission. In every case, candidates must ensure that the application is submitted within the deadline along with the documents and the examination/ registration fee.

The biggest online exam ever conducted, RRB NTPC, witnessed overwhelming response from candidates. Online application process for the same had begun in December 2015. Recently the Board had released the transcripts of typing skill test (held on 29 June 2017) online.

In a recent development, government has asked to share the scores obtained by candidates in examinations conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), RRB, and Staff Selection Commission (SSC). This will help private firms hunting for talents and the online scores available will prove to be a selection criterion. However there shall be opt out clause as well, which shall be applicable for the candidates who qualify for the final stage of the examination.

Criminal proceedings against Shah Rukh Khan were stayed by the Gujarat High Court on Thursday, reported news agency PTI. SRK, who was not present in court, was promoting his film Raees on a train journey from Mumbai to New Delhi earlier this year. One person died in the crush on the platform as the train stopped in Vadodara in Gujarat. The Vadodara resident, believed to be a local politician, died of a heart attack after allegedly being caught in the crowd that had gathered to see Shah Rukh Khan. The Gujarat High Court has granted an interim stay after SRK’s lawyer argued that the actor could not be held responsible for the death. The court will next hear the case on September 25.

Shah Rukh Khan took the August Kranti Express from Mumbai to New Delhi on January 23 as publicity for his film Raees, set in Gujarat. The man who died in Vadodara, Fahreed Khan Pathan, had come to the station with his wife and daughter to meet a journalist, who was a relative, travelling as part of the media entourage on the train.

“It is extremely unfortunate that someone has died…my prayers are with his family. We felt bad as our team was going with us and everyone was happy during the entire journey. I hope his soul rests in peace and his family remains well,” Shah Rukh Khan, 51, told reporters after the train pulled into New Delhi.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu ordered an investigation after the death, promising action in case of any lapse on the part of the railway police. The criminal proceedings against Shah Rukh Khan are at the behest of a Vadodara resident named Jitendra Solanki who approached the court after the police refused to let him file a First Information Report or FIR.

Shah Rukh Khan, who played a liquor baron in Raees, is currently on vacation in Los Angeles.

People can soon buy generic drugs at cheaper prices from railway stations, the government informed Parliament today.

The ministry of railways has decided to allow its premises to be used for opening Janaushadhi outlets across the country under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana.

The campaign has been launched by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizers, to provide quality medicines at affordable prices to the masses through special outlets.

“Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizers has, in view of Railways’ pan-India reach, approached ministry of railways for proliferation of such kendras over railway network. The two ministries have, in principle, agreed to set up such kendras at railway premises. Deliberations to work out the modalities between the two ministries are going on,” said Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

At present, 22 exclusive chemist stalls and 15 chemist corners are operational on the Indian Railways network.

Besides, medicines for common ailments and painkillers, which do not normally require doctors’ prescription, are also being sold through existing 339 miscellaneous article stalls at various railway stations.

BJP workers today protested outside Chief Minister Manik Sarkar’s residence in Tripura’s capital Agartala over an indefinite road and railway blockade by the Indigenous People’s Front Tripura or IPFT, an organisation that is seeking a separate state.

Railway Board has devised an innovative Indian Railways Station Redevelopment Program and the plan is to provide various improved world-class amenities to Railway passengers at all the nominated 400 Railway Stations through PPP model by leveraging the real estate available at the railway stations. With an overall size of 1 lakh crore, the program is one of the largest PPP program undertaken in the country. The program will provide approximately 2,200 acres of prime land to the private developers across top 100 cities of the country.

The redeveloped stations will provide amenities and services to the passengers in line with best in class railway stations. The stations will be redeveloped through public-private-partnership (PPP) model without straining Railways’ finances. The redeveloped stations will improve passenger experience by providing amenities like digital signage, escalators / elevators, self ticketing counters, executive lounges, luggage screening machines, walkways, holding areas for passengers, grand and distinctive roofing and flooring, free and paid Wi-Fi etc. The program will benefit more than 100 cities and 16 million passengers per day across the country. Moreover, the commercial development undertaken near the stations will become nerve centers of the city and provide quality retail, commercial and hospitality development.

A committee of eminent experts would be formulated to provide suggestions to Zonal Railways on proposals submitted by bidders in addition to the technical and financial committee recommendations. Commercial potential of this vacant Railway land at/near stations will be leveraged to develop world class stations with no additional funding required from the Railways. The program is expected to generate a surplus in excess of ₹ 10,000 Crore for the Indian Railways which can be invested in other modernization projects. Select high potential stations will be made as iconic stations and will be developed as per highest global standards and design norms.

To maximize commercial potential of the public assets, Indian Railways plans to bid out the projects through a transparent and competitive method. Taking cue from global best practices, Indian Railways has adopted the so called “modified Swiss challenge” methodology for the bidding process.

Indian Railways has reached out to the private developers and investors through road shows in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Abu Dhabi to gauge market interest and receive feedback on the bidding process. Railway Board has also engaged with the zonal railways through multiple workshops to accurately assess land availability.

After the first phase, 100+ stations are expected to be launched in Phase 2 and the remaining A1 and A stations will be launched in Phase 3 of this program.

Railways will provide approximately 140 acres of encroachment free land at these stations to the developers on a 45 year lease. Indian Railways has also appointed nodal officers in each zone to ensure smooth interactions with the developers. The phase is expected to be of approximately ₹ 6000 -9,000 Crore in size. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is the strategic advisor for this program and based on the commercial assessment conducted by them and several rounds of discussions held with the developers and zonal railways, Indian Railways team is confident that the round will generate sufficient market interest.

The World Bank will help draw up a granular makeover blueprint for the Indian Railways, which is investing Rs 5 lakh crore to transform itself from a colonial-era mass transporter into a strategic platform underpinning growth in Asia’s third-biggest economy.

The multilateral lending agency would partner the 164-year-old railroad network, the world’s fourth longest, to help the state transporter with investment and planning, digitisation and technology development, besides establishing a Railway University and the Rail Tariff Authority.

The bank, which has earlier worked with the Railways for financing the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor Project, will provide advisory services and programme management consultancy for this transformation exercise for 2-3 years.

“We needed this arrangement to build our capacity and deliver projects on a mission mode. World Bank’s expertise would be a great gain,” a top rail ministry official said.

Rail minister Suresh Prabhu has drawn up an ambitious plan to transform Railways with an investment of Rs 5 lakh crore in the next four years. For this year, the Railways would spend Rs 1.31 lakh crore to augment capacity.

On the planning front, the World Bank has proposed to set up an organisation for creating detailed forecasting models, traffic optimization and planning.

“Further, an infrastructure plan for the next 10-15 years, after a detailed analysis on freight and passenger growth expected in India, is also envisaged to be created. The bank would be drawing that up as well,” the official said.

In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India programme, the Railways wants to roll out a ‘digital enterprise’ for which the bank will help integrate architecture and database management across its IT applications.

It would be sensible for Railways to tap multilateral funding. Resources should be leveraged from National Investment and Infrastructure Fund. The way ahead is to plan modular projects, which can generate cash reasonably quickly. IR need to keep a close tab on borrowings, given that operating ratio is in high nineties (over 90% of revenue earmarked for routine expenses). So, resource allocation and prioritising expenditure is important. Hence the rationale to access global expertise for programme management and attendant advisory services. It would optimise resource usage.

The issue of getting Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL) its original jurisdiction, up to Mangaluru Junction (Kankanady), gained momentum after the High Court of Karnataka recently ordered issue of notices to the Union government and others in a public interest writ petition.

A Division Bench comprising Raghavendra Chauhan and K.S. Dinesh Kumar passed the order in a review petition filed by Rajeev Gaonkar of Kumta and Hanumanth Kamath of Mangaluru, according to petitioners’ advocate R.G. Kolle. The petitioners have sought to revive an earlier writ petition which was disposed of by the court in 2014 on technical grounds.

While KRCL was created and its jurisdiction was fixed by Parliament, the Railway Board, without any authority of law or parliamentary nod or the approval of the Union Cabinet, unilaterally decided to exclude the 24-km line between Thokur and Mangaluru from its jurisdiction and bring it under Southern Railway’s jurisdiction, the petitioners said. Terming it fraud played on investors of KRCL bonds, the petitioners sought the court’s direction to restore KRCL’s original jurisdiction. The copies of the notice issued by the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka were sent to Railway Board, PMO, Public Sector Enterprises Board, NITI Aayog and Konkan Railway.

Affected finances

The Railway Board’s decision to exclude the 24-km has severely affected KRCL’s financial health, which has been incurring huge losses every year. New Mangalore Port (NMP), a huge revenue generating centre, falls within the excluded portion, from which the Southern Railway is getting huge income at present. Had NMP been under KRCL, the corporation would have repaid all its debts and been in a healthy position to provide a host of passenger amenities, they said. The petitioners pointed out that during the November 16, 1993 public issue of KRCL bonds, the Railway Ministry had clearly stated that KRCL would build and operate a 760-km broadgauge line between Roha (excluding) in Maharashtra and Kankanady (including) in Karnataka.

Earlier, the Railway Board had said that KRCL’s jurisdiction would end near Mangaluru Central Railway Station and in 1993, it had stated that KRCL would built and operate the Mangaluru bypass line, from Netravathi Cabin to Kankanady. Participating State governments and the general public believed in these statements, they said.

Things being so, the Railway Board unilaterally on December 20, 1995 excluded the 24-km stretch from Thokur to Kankanady from KRCL’s jurisdiction and brought it under Southern Railway. Ever since the commissioning of the line in January 1998, the corporation is incurring losses.

The petitioners sought directions to bring the 24-km of excluded line under KRCL, make Mangaluru the corporation’s headquarters and reimburse KRCL Rs. 4,000 crore that it lost to Southern Railway all these years.

BJP workers today protested outside Chief Minister Manik Sarkar’s residence in Tripura’s capital Agartala over an indefinite road and railway blockade by the Indigenous People’s Front Tripura or IPFT, an organisation that is seeking a separate state.
The blockade to demand a separate state by carving out the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council area entered the ninth day today. The prices of essential goods have risen due to the blockade.

“We have surrounded his residence due to his and his government’s failure to withdraw the national highway blockade by the IPFT. Our protest will continue unless the blockade is withdrawn,” Tripura BJP President Biplab Deb said. The chief minister, who also holds the home portfolio, is not paying attention to the problems of the people, Mr Deb said.

“Law and order is a state subject and it is his government’s duty to give relief to the people from inconveniences,” he told reporters. He said BJP leaders will meet Governor Tathagata Roy today and demand President’s rule in the state.

The opposition Congress has called a dawn-to-dusk strike in Tripura tomorrow, alleging the government’s failure to withdraw the blockade called by the IPFT.