Soon after fire broke out in the halted train at Bihar’s Madhubani railway station on Saturday, the Eastern Central Railway (ECR) said that a high-level inquiry into the incident will be conducted.

According to a statement by the ECR, the fire broke out at 9.13 am today and was doused at 9.50 am.

The incident took place in Swatantrata Senani Express that runs from Jaynagar to New Delhi.

It was earlier reported that five coaches caught fire, however, according to the railways, only one coach of the train caught fire.

No person was harmed in any way in this incident, informed the ECR.

As soon as the information was received, senior officials reached the spot. The incident is being investigated by the Government Railway Police/Rail Protection Force. This has been taken very seriously by the Railway Administration and a high-level inquiry will be conducted,” said the statement.

The Railways informed that appropriate steps are being taken to ensure that such incidents do not recur in future.

A total of two people were killed and one was critically injured after being hit by a local train while clicking selfies near a railway bridge over the Cossye river in Midnapore on Saturday.

The injured person was rescued by the Railway Police and was rushed to the hospital.

Railway Senior Section Engineer Biswajit Bala said, “Everyone is forbidden to climb on this part of the railway line. Despite the ban, many people are taking selfies on the train tracks. However, they did not move and ran along the line. So this accident happened.”

An eyewitness said that a group of youth came to the place for a picnic and was taking selfies with their friends on the railway tracks when a local train from Midnapore to Howrah came on that line and hit them. Two of them died on the spot and one person is critically injured and is admitted to the hospital, he added.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has busted another recruitment racket that offered government jobs in exchange for money. This time, officers in the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) are under the scanner for alleged irregularities and corrupt practices during Constable Driver/Tradesman recruitment of the SSB in 2016. At a time when the unemployment rate is at an all-time high in the country, this is the second recruitment racket the central agency has busted recently.

The probe agency had in February last year initiated a preliminary enquiry on the basis of a complaint from SSB against Sarwan Kumar, Inspector General at SSB, SK Sharma, Commandant and other officers of the border guarding force for alleged irregularities and corrupt practices.

As the preliminary enquiry revealed the involvement of Constable Mukesh Kumar Chaodhari, Constable Puran Mal Gurjar, and Anjali Sharma, wife of SSB Commandant Satish Kumar Sharma, along with other unknown public and private persons in the collection of money from candidates for getting them recruited, the agency has charged the accused invoking corruption charges.

The investigation has revealed that during the year 2017, Mukesh Kumar Chaodhari, Constable (Driver), then posted at 38th Bn Tawang, was sent on dak duty at the Force Headquarters of the SSB in New Delhi on the telephonic direction of Sarwan Kumar, the then IG, Tezpur SSB.

Thereafter, Mr Chaodhari remained at the Delhi headquarters from February 10, 2017, to March 23, 2017.

During this period, Mr Chaodhari came in contact with Mr Gurjar and Ms Sharma, and the three along with “other unknown public and private persons got involved in the collection of money from candidates” for getting them recruited in the exam, the CBI alleged.

The enquiry also revealed that during the said period, Mr Chaodhari came in contact with aspiring candidates and their relatives in Rajasthan and demanded ₹ 3 to 4 Lakhs from each candidate for their selection in SSB as Constable (Tradesman) and Constable (Driver).

“He assured these candidates for their selection with the help of his sources in SSB and during the period 2016-2017 Puranmal Gurjar, Constable was passing on telephonic instructions to M K Chaodhari for collection of money from the candidates with specific reference of ‘Madam’. It has also been revealed that the ‘Madam’ referred to is Anjali Sharma w/o Shri S.K. Sharma, Commandant”, the CBI alleged in its FIR.

Mr Gurjar was working as a helper to Ms Sharma at her Gurugram residence.

The examination of SSB for both posts was conducted at various places all over India.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) on Tuesday reported a consolidated net profit of ₹ 208.80 crore in the third quarter (Q3) — ended December 2021 — for the financial year 2021-22, up 167.41 per cent against ₹ 78.08 crore reported in the same period last year.

On a quarterly basis, the catering and tourism arm of Indian Railways’ profit rose 31.68 per cent in Q3 from ₹ 158.57 crore in Q2.

Revenue from operations surged 140.77 per cent to ₹ 540.21 crore in Q3 FY22 as against ₹ 224.37 crore in Q3 FY21.

Total revenue for the quarter under review stood at ₹ 556.51 crore.

Catering business revenue surged to ₹ 104.65 crore, Internet ticketing segment recorded revenue of ₹ 312.86 crore, and Rail Neer revenue rose to ₹ 49.94 crore in Q3 FY22.

IRCTC also declared an interim dividend of ₹ 2 per share on a face value of ₹ 2 each for FY22. It said the dividend will be 100 per cent of the paid-up share capital amounting to ₹ 160 crore.

The record date of the payment has been fixed on February 18.

IRCTC shares settled 0.29 per cent higher at ₹ 838.10 on the BSE index.

NCP MP Supriya Sule on Tuesday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for accusing the opposition of inciting migrants to flee from Mumbai during the COVID-19 lockdown, and claimed more trains were operated from Gujarat than Maharashtra for migrant workers during the pandemic-related curbs.

PM Modi said in the Lok Sabha on Monday that the Congress “crossed all limits” during the COVID-19 pandemic, and accused the party of instigating and scaring innocent labourers into fleeing to their native states from Mumbai.

He was replying to the debate on Motion of Thanks to President Ram Nath Kovind’s address to the joint sitting of Parliament.

The Congress currently shares power with the Shiv Sena and NCP in Maharashtra.

Talking to reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday, Ms Sule said it is painful to see Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeting Maharashtra, that significantly contributed to his party winning 18 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 general elections.

“The Indian Railways’ data reveals that 1,033 trains for migrant workers were run from Gujarat, while 817 Shramik trains were operated from Maharashtra,” she claimed.

Ms Sule also referred to a 2020 social media post of the then railway minister Piyush Goyal, who had targeted Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over the issue of trains for migrant workers.

“Goyal in his Twitter post on May 24, 2020 said that 125 Shramik Special trains were ready to be allotted to Maharashtra for the migrant workers to return home. He had asked the state to give a detailed list of migrant workers within an hour to the Railways,” the Lok Sabha member pointed out.

Ms Sule further said BJP MP Harish Dwivedi last week proudly stated in his speech in the Lok Sabha that the Union government had operated trains for migrant workers to reach their homes safely.

“Then why PM Modi is selectively talking about Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab in his speech?” she asked.

“It was painful for me to see PM Modi insulting Maharashtra when we were expecting him to speak on issues like China, unemployment. He is the prime minister of India and not of a party,” she said.

Railways will develop new products for small farmers and MSMEs, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.

Presenting the Union Budget for 2022-23, she noted that efforts of central and state governments are leading to jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities.

She further said national highways will be extended by 25,000 km during 2022-23, and the PM Gati Shakti for road transport master plan will be finalised in 2022-23.

Railways will develop new products for small farmers and MSMEs, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.

Presenting the Union Budget for 2022-23, she noted that efforts of central and state governments are leading to jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities.

She further said national highways will be extended by 25,000 km during 2022-23, and the PM Gati Shakti for road transport master plan will be finalised in 2022-23.