Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the inauguration of the redeveloped Habibganj railway station in the state capital scheduled to be held on November 15, an official said on Friday.

PM Modi is likely to attend the ceremony and dedicate to the nation this world-class facility, the state public relations department official said.

“It was during a recent meeting in New Delhi, Shivraj Singh Chouhan invited PM Modi for the inauguration of the railway station,” the official said.

Habibganj is said to be the country’s first railway station that has been re-developed through the public-private partnership (PPP) mode by Bansal Pathway, a Bansal Group company, and will handle daily passenger footfall of nearly 35,000 to 40,000.

Union Cabinet on Wednesday informed that it has approved the doubling of the Nimach-Ratlam railway line in Madhya Pradesh during the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur said that the total estimated cost of the project will be ₹ 1,095.88 crore.

“The total length of doubling the line is 132.92 km and the project will be completed in four years. The line capacity utilization of the Nimach-Ratlam section is up to 145.6 per cent with maintenance blocks,” Mr Thakur added further.

The project will increase the capacity of the section, hence, more goods and passenger trains can be introduced to the system. “It will provide easy connectivity as well as boost tourism in the area as many historical sites including Fort of Unchagarh are situated here,” he said.

About 25 trains have been affected due to the Bharat Bandh called by farm unions on Monday, officials said.

“More than 20 locations are being blocked in Delhi, Ambala, and Firozepur divisions. About 25 trains are affected due to this,” a spokesperson for the Northern Railway said.

Officials said the Delhi-Amritsar Shan-e-Punjab, New Delhi-Moga Express, Old Delhi-Payhajot Express, Vande Bharat Express from New Delhi to Katra, and Amritsar Shatabdi are some of the trains that have been affected.

To mark one year since they were passed, farmer organisations have called a Bharat Bandh on Monday against the three contentious farm laws.

About 25 trains have been affected due to the Bharat Bandh called by farm unions on Monday, officials said.

“More than 20 locations are being blocked in Delhi, Ambala, and Firozepur divisions. About 25 trains are affected due to this,” a spokesperson for the Northern Railway said.

Officials said the Delhi-Amritsar Shan-e-Punjab, New Delhi-Moga Express, Old Delhi-Payhajot Express, Vande Bharat Express from New Delhi to Katra, and Amritsar Shatabdi are some of the trains that have been affected.

To mark one year since they were passed, farmer organisations have called a Bharat Bandh on Monday against the three contentious farm laws.

The bandh began at 6 am and will continue till 4 pm. 

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday asserted that reports claiming 148 train passengers recently tested positive for COVID-19 at Madhubani railway station are false.

He said that no fresh case has been detected in the north Bihar district.

“No fresh COVID-19 case has been detected in Madhubani. Recent reports claiming that 148 train passengers coming from various parts of the country tested positive for the infection at the railway station are not true. It was a matter of concern for us. Health officials are looking into it,” the chief minister told reporters.

A senior health official said that rapid antigen detection (RAD) kits falsely reported 76 of the 148 samples collected between September 18 and 20 as positive, triggering fears of a fresh COVID wave.

“The 148 samples were sent for RT-PCR tests, and all the reports returned negative. There is no positive case in Madhubani,” Health Minister Mangal Pandey said.

Health Department sources said that the district administration may order a probe to find out how the RAD kits had given false reports.

In a bid to provide world-class comfort to travelers, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) opened a state of the art executive lounge at New Delhi Railway Station on Thursday, complete with recliners, showers, multi-cuisine buffets, and a business centre.

Located on the first floor of Platform No. 1 of New Delhi Railway Station, the executive lounge aims to mimic the exclusive experience of the train journey.

Open to all passengers, the lounge is equipped with a wide range of services and facilities including train time displays, Wi-Fi, television, beverages and buffets. It also offers recliners, spacious luggage racks, restrooms with shower and change facilities, shoe shiners, newspapers and magazines on display and a fully operational business centre with a computer, printer, Photostat and fax facility for all passengers.

To highlight the luxurious provisions of the lounge, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw posted pictures of the executive space with the hashtag #NayeBharatKaNayaStation.

Separate bath facilities for men and women are also available at an additional charge of ₹ 200 plus taxes, with high-quality toiletries including clean towels, soap, shampoo, shower caps and dental kits.

1 Comments This is the second executive lounge set up by IRCTC at New Delhi Railway Station that is dedicated to providing world-class services to railway passengers. The first executive lounge has already been in operation since 2016 on the ground floor at platform number 16

A man found dead on railway tracks this morning could be the suspect in the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl in Hyderabad last week, the police said today. The police said they have reason to believe the body, found around 130 km from Hyderabad, is that of Pallakonda Raju, who had been missing since the child’s body was found inside his home on Sunday.

“It appears to be suicide,” Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar told NDTV.

The Telangana police shared images of the body on Twitter. Though the body has yet to be identified, the police said he had the same tattoos as the rape-murder suspect.

“We have reasons to think it is the suspect – tattoo marks on hands, name tattooed on his hand, his hair style…A fingerprint analysis will confirm it,” the Hyderabad police chief said.

News of the death comes two days after Telangana Minister Malla Reddy’s comment that the accused “will be killed in an encounter”.

“We will catch the rapist and murderer. There will be an encounter after he is caught,” Mr Reddy had told reporters in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

So far, only circumstantial evidence ties Raju, 30, a neighbour of the child, to the crime. He was allegedly a drunk and was known for “deviant behaviour” but had no criminal record.

The police had released his photo and had announced a reward of ₹ 10 lakh for any information on him.

A railway porter has been arrested for the murder of a 24-year-old kho-kho player in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor district, said police.

Inter-university kho-kho player Babli, a resident of Sarvodaya Colony near the railway station, was murdered on September 10, Superintendent of Police Dharamveer Singh told reporters.

He said the incident took place when Babli was going home while talking to a friend over the phone.

The victim’s friend heard her screams and informed her neighbour. Her neighbour found her body while her mobile phone was missing.

The SP said the location of Babli’s phone was found near Adampur village.

On the basis of physical, electronic and circumstantial evidence, police detained porter Shahzad, alias Khadim, he said, adding that he confessed to his crime during interrogation.

Khadim told the police that he was a drug addict. Khadim said that on September 10, he got drunk and waited for Babli. When she reached there, he dragged her into an empty space between the sleepers but when she resisted and raised an alarm, he strangled her with a rope and a dupatta.

The SP said the police found two shirt buttons and a slipper from the spot. After arresting Khadim, police also recovered his shirt, a slipper and a rope from his residence.

2 Comments He said police have also added the section of attempt to rape in the FIR.

Nine wagons of a goods train have capsized and one derailed between Angul and Talcher Road on Tuesday, informed East Coast Railways in a statement.

Accident Relief Train from both Sambalpur direction and Khurda Road direction had rushed to the spot. There are no casualties reported.

According to the East Coast Railways, the accident happened around 2:35 am and a goods train from Firoz Nagar to Khurda Road left Angul Station at 0215hrs and derailed KMs 167/2 between Angul and Talcher Road (2km from Talcher Road).

Divisional Railway Manager, Khurda Road has rushed to the site and reviewing the restoration and re-railing works.

“Prima facie cause of the derailment is due to bank slip-on box bridge approach due to flash flood. The box girder is intact. The retaining walls on both sides have been damaged. Washout of track on the approach to the bridge on the left side from Angul,” the release said.

Earlier there was a report about a goods train derailed between Angul and Talcher Road single line railway section and train services affected in the Dhenkanal-Sambalpur Rail Section. As a result, some of the trains were cancelled, diverted, short terminated and rescheduled.

In a significant order, the Supreme Court has said that every passenger’s time is “precious” and the Railways is liable to pay the compensation for “delay and late arrival of trains’ unless it proves that the delay was due to the reasons beyond their control.

A bench of Justices M R Shah and Aniruddha Bose refused to allow the appeal of Northern Western Railway against the verdict of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC).

The top consumer panel had confirmed the order of compensation passed by the consumer courts below allowing the complaint of one Sanjay Shukla who along with three others missed the connecting flight to Srinagar in 2016 as the train reached four hours behind the scheduled arrival at Jammu Tawi station. They had boarded the train at Alwar in Rajasthan.

Besides losing the expenses incurred in booking flight tickets, the complainant and others had to take taxi for travelling to Srinagar from Jammu.

The top court upheld the verdict of the NCDRC which had directing the Northern Western Railway to pay ₹ 15,000 for taxi expenses, Rs.10,000 towards booking expenses along with ₹ 5,000 each towards mental agony and litigation expenses.

It did not agree to the contention that late running of train cannot be said to be deficiency in service on Railways’ part and certain rules said that there shall not be any liability to pay compensation for late running of train as there may be number of reasons for such delayed running of trains.