The Uttar Pradesh government has approached the centre for its approval to rename the airports in Bareilly, Kanpur and Agra, a move that comes close on the heels of rechristening the iconic Mughalsarai Railway Station in the state after Deendayal Upadhyay.

Since all the three are defence airports, the state government and the Airports Authority of India are in the process of consultations at various levels to facilitate flyers under the regional connectivity scheme, an official spokesman said today.

According to a proposal from the state civil aviation department, the Bareilly airport is to be named ‘Nath Nagri’, which is believed to be an ancient name of the city for its history of having ardent worshippers of Lord Shiva.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who belongs to the Nath sect, had earlier renamed the civil terminals of the Indian Air Force’s Gorakhpur airport.

The civil terminal of Gorakhpur airport was named after Maha Yogi Gorakhnath, founder of ‘Nath Pant’ (monastic movement). The chief minister is the ‘Mahant’ (priest) of Gorakhnath temple.

Uttar Pradesh Civil Aviation Minister Nand Gopal Nandi said renaming of the three airports was long awaited.

“We have reached out to the centre to get the airports renamed. A meeting with the union ministry of Civil Aviation is expected soon,” he said.

The proposal speaks about Bareilly in great detail. It says that the city is surrounded on all sides by as many as seven Lord Shiva temples–Alakhnath, Trivatinath, Marhinath, Dhopeshwarnath, Vankhandinath, Tapeshwarnath and Pashupatinath.

Kanpur’s Chakeri airport is proposed to be named after freedom fighter Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi. The proposal says that Kanpur was earlier known as Kanha Pur and was founded by Sachendi King Hindu Singh.

Indian Railways division is experimenting with a new upgraded software to prevent theft! The Indian Railways is not only equipping Rajdhani Express trains with CCTV cameras, but is also providing body cameras to RPF (Railway Protection Force) officials on trains and platforms. “There have been cases of theft from Rajdhani trains, so we are equipping coaches of these premium trains with CCTC cameras. As of now 5 coaches already have these CCTV cameras and a requirement for CCTVs for 100 more coaches has already been identified,” a Western Railways official told.

According to the official quoted above, till the time that all coaches get CCTV cameras, RPF will have body cameras for real-time monitoring of the train and stations. RPF personnel on Shatabdi Express trains of the Western Railways are also being given these new-age body cameras. “These body cameras are able to transmit data on a real time basis. This would help prevent incidents of thefts,” the official said.

According to a Mumbai Mirror report, these cameras have an upgraded software. The report stated that earlier, in order to bring transparency in dealings with train passengers, on-duty police officers on Rajdhani Express trains had been provided with body cameras that stored 32 GB footage in inbuilt storage devices. It also mentioned that the footage was reviewed only in critical situations.

The software, which is an e-patrolling mobile application will be set up on the patrol staff’s phones and it will be paired with the body camera. The App will be fed with details such as the police officer’s name, beat, rank as well as assigned patrolling perimeter on the train. Further, the system will record and transmit all the information to the main control room. This will include the number of rounds undertaken by the concerned officer as well as the officer’s current location.

According to Arun Tripathi, Divisional Security Commissioner of Western Railway, Mumbai Central division, the software will provide an extra hand to the security agencies. Also, it will certainly improve the train passengers’ security.

Union Minister of state for Railways Manoj Sinha said that Indian Railways has made historical progress in past four years as many facilities have been introduced for common commuters during this time.

Addressing the gathering in Basti while inaugurating many facilities for passengers at Basti railway station Sinha said that since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge in 2014 he has asked for the betterment of railways frequently.

He said Rs 1100 crore were used for development of railways in 2014 and the amount increased to 7200 crores in this fiscal year.

Sinha claimed that railways has introduced many facilities and upgraded meter gauge into broad gauge introduced electrification and has done doubling of tracks.

Speaking about achievements of Northeast Railways Sinha said that 410 kilometer new tracks were constructed, 576 kilometer tracks were doubled, 293 kilometer lines were turned into broad gauge and 2.156 kilometer lines were electrified in these past four years. Keeping huge population in mind, railways have to expand further, he added.

Union minister said that Indian Railways has to upgrade 600 railway stations as per international norms. He said that 92 over bridges were constructed in Uttar Pradesh in recent years. He said that railway officers were working like Indian army men for the development of the sector.

The Tripura Police Mobile Task Force (MTF) on Thursday arrested 24 Bangladeshi youths from the Agartala Railway Station for intruding into the state without valid passports, an official said.

MTF Superintendent of Police Abhijit Chaudhuri said that all the 24 youths arrived here from different states through trains.

“Documents and identity cards of madrasas of different states along with mobile phones and Indian currencies were found from the intruders. They have no valid passports,” Chaudhuri told IANS.

He said that these youths would be handed over to the Government Railway Police after preliminary interrogation.

Tripura shares an 856 km border with Bangladesh, most of which is fenced except some stretches in the eastern frontier of the mountainous state.

Officials of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) are interrogating 24 Bangladeshi youths arrested in Agartala on Thursday reportedly before they could return to their country, a senior police officer said on Saturday evening.

“A two-member NIA team from Guwahati is interrogating since Friday the 24 Bangladeshi youths lodged in three different police stations in Agartala,” Tripura Police Mobile Task Force (MTF) Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhijit Chaudhuri told IANS here. A local court sent the intruders to seven-day police custody on Friday.

The MTF personnel on Thursday arrested the 24 Bangladeshi youths as they reached the Agartala Railway Station from outside the state. “These youths after entering India illegally, probably through West Bengal borders, mostly stayed in Uttar Pradesh,” the MTF SP said.

“Documents and identity cards of madrasas of different states, along with mobile phones and Indian currencies, were recovered from the intruders. They have no valid passports,” Chaudhuri said. Once the interrogation is over, these youths would be handed over to the Government Railway Police.

The interrogators are yet to disclose whether the Bangladeshi nationals were involved in any crime in India. Tripura shares an 856km border with Bangladesh, most of which is fenced except some stretches in the eastern frontier of the mountainous state.

During the investigations a number of madrasas came under the scanner of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), National Security Guard (NSG), Intelligence Bureau (IB), etc.

The NIA and NSG investigators carried out extensive search at Simulia madrasa under Mongalkote police station in Burdwan and also at Mukimnagar in Murshidabad’s Lalgola. They recovered mobile phones, SIM cards, jehadi literature and cables from the residence Jamat Sheikh, the father-in-law of absconding terrorist Sheikh Yusuf in Nawpara village of Mangalkot.

Yusuf was a teacher at the Simulia madrasa, located 40 km away from the Khagragarh blast site in Burdwan, which was believed to be a training centre for the terrorists. Yusuf is one of the prime suspects in the Burdwan terror network.

Officials investigating the Burdwan blast pointed out that these terror modules recruited youths and women, and set up several illegal madrasas to introduce radical philosophy among the impoverished minority population. For them, the target audience was always easy to penetrate.

Sources said NIA officers seized a large number of books and documents, 12 trunks and a car from a madrasa at Simulia where the Burdwan blast accused were suspected to have been radicalised.

The NSG and NIA officials also recovered a huge cache of sophisticated explosives from other terror hideouts in Burdwan.

The officials also visited the Mukimnagar madrasa in Murshidabad’s Lalgola. They had found another madrasa at Tamilpukur in Burdwan, which was under construction and was built on a huge plot of land financed by Mohammad Yusuf and Sobhan Sheikh, a carpenter.

Sources said the subversive modules, several of whom were members of the Jamaat-ul- Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), became operational in the state since October 2011, as their members had infiltrated into India and have been operating with the help of local support.

These elements also received tactical support for staying close to the political formation (mainly the ruling Trinamool Congress party) in the rural belts and enjoyed several undue benefits as no one could question their identities.

“It is a very sensitive issue. It has got lot of implications. The situation is really complex now as there are several direct and indirect factors involved in it,” said Sandhi Mukherjee, a retired IPS officer.

Investigations revealed that there are some 58 terror modules operating in West Bengal.

The probe also zeroed in on some 180 Bangladeshi nationals operating these modules and working with JMB. As many as six people, including two women, were arrested in connection with the Khagragarh blast in Burdwan while six more people were arrested in Assam.

The incident was being linked to terrorist groups from across the border having connections with al-Qaeda, LeT and HUJI, sources said. However, not everyone is willing to accept that illegal madrasas are breeding grounds of terror networks.

Noor-ul- Rehman Barkati, the Shahi Imam of Tipu Sultan Mosque here, said: “It would not be proper to label all the madrasas as nursery of terror logistics. There are only about 500 madrasas recognised by the state government while over 4,000 such madrasas are still unrecognised.”

He said the entire episode was a political conspiracy to dislodge the ruling Trinamool government.

“Everything is being framed to target the year 2016 so that the Bharatiya Janata Party can gain in the state Assembly elections,” he added.

According to NIA sources, the primary objective of these hubs was to give training to prospective militants in explosive manufacturing and in establishing links with international terror outfits.

The terror groups most of whom are members of the banned Jamaat-ul Mujahideen, a Bangladeshi outfit, have managed to infiltrate and start operations with the help of local support since October 2011, according to the report.

They recruited young men and women and set up several illegal madrasas in order to introduce their radical philosophy among the minority community.

The initial findings indicate that the investigating agency would require more time to unearth the real magnitude of the conspiracy hatched by terrorists in the rural belts of West Bengal.

“The situation is very complex now. There are several direct and indirect factors involved in it.

“These illegal madrasas mushroomed over a period of time as practically there was no monitoring or intelligence mechanism available with the local administration,” informs a senior official of the State police.

“They (people engaged in terror activities) also enjoy local political support and set up these terror cells right under the nose of the administration,” says the official.

“By cozying up to the ruling Trinamool administration, the terror groups successfully avoided any queries pertaining to their identities from law enforcement agencies,” the official alleges.

TERROR ON RENT

According to sources, they were also given a free hand by the local police in whatever they did.

As a result they indiscriminately built up bases, purchased agricultural land to set up illegal madrasas, recruited locals for subversive activities, gave arms training and imparted ideological lessons.

“The terrorist elements successfully spread their networks in the impoverished minority-dominated belts cashing in on factors such as illiteracy and large-scale migration of youths from other parts of the state for jobs,” says another official.

As the NIA and National Security Guard (NSG)-led joint investigation is progressing, two things are gaining prominence: one, the terrorist group used to enjoy indirect support from the ruling Trinamool Congress locally and two, there was a massive failure of the state intelligence machinery which failed to identify the suspected terrorists holed up in the rural outskirts.

The state intelligence agencies also failed to monitor activities carried out at madrasas in the rural pockets of Bengal.

The investigating team has also expanded its search to include other neighbouring madrasas that are allegedly operating illegally.

The team also found another madrasa at Tamilpukur and many other areas which was under construction on a huge plot of land without permission.

The Western Railway (WR) have a mammoth task ahead of them before the monsoon arrives as they will have to clear the illegal slums, structures and the huge garbage thrown in lands belonging to the rail. More than 41 hectares of land belonging to the Western Railway are dotted with encroachments which are the major reasons for water stagnating during heavy rainfall, which leads to train services being halted.

Earlier this April, the WR authorities began demolition work for the encroached land in Dahisar, Malad, Kandivali etc. However, they faced political flak for not giving ample time to illegal residents for the evacuation of the land.

“Unless there is an unified political will, its difficult to remove encroachments from our land. They are the reason behind the garbage being dumped and litter which accumulates on the tracks and chokes the gutters during monsoon,” said a WR official.

There are close to 2000 settlements at selective locations between Churchgate and Virar. Clearing of encroachments from rail land one of the vital issues discussed at the recent meeting between the General Manager of WR, AK Gupta and the BMC Commissioner Ajoy Mehta, informed sources.

Some of the prominent locations identified by the WR authorities are between Grant Road, Charni Road, Mahalaxmi-Lower Parel, Dadar-Elphinstone Road, Mahim-Kings Circle, Mahim-Bandra on both Harbour and Main lines, Andheri-Vile Parle, Goregaon-Malad, Jogeshwari-Goregaon and Borivali-Dahisar. There is a plan to build 17.5 km of concrete wall along the rail land to prevent further encroachments and trespassing.

“According to the plan, we want to build tall cement concrete walls to prevent encroachments. For this purpose, we have also made an arrangement of Rs 4.5 crore. However, all this is futile unless the political parties stop shielding the encroachers,” said a senior WR official on condition of anonymity.

At Bandra East, a whopping 46,220 square metres of railway land is overrun by 3935 shanties. These are removed but they resurface due to political influence.

The WR has identified a humongous 3.50 lakh cubic metre of muck and garbage that gets dumped along the rail tracks. Off these around 1 lakh cubic metre of muck has been removed and efforts are being made to clear it further. Every monsoon, these flow onto the culverts and nullahs and floods the track. The 37 lakh daily commuters of WR have to bear the consequences as the train services comes to a halt.

The WR is in the process of completing cleaning and widening work on 10 culverts. Ravinder Bhakar, Chief PRO, Western Railway said: “First phase of joint inspections are over. We are confident of completing necessary work by the first week of June”.

Amid the delays occurring in the running of trains, Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani today held a video conference with the worst performing zones and conducted a review of their speed restrictions.

The video conference was held with the general managers of eight zonal railways which had reported less than 70 per cent punctuality.

The eight railway zones are East Coast Railway, East Central Railway, Eastern Railway, North Central Railway, North Eastern Railway, Northeast Frontier Railway, Northern Railway, and South East Central Railway.

“The punctuality performance of these zones was discussed in detail for the current year. The CRB said that blocks are to be optimally used. These are needed works, but the zonal railways need to maximise the output,” said an official here.

The Zonal Railways raised the issues of improving the time tables and availability of coaching stock and other issues.

“The CRB ordered to monitor the timing of more than half a dozen trains that are running too late for the last few days,” the official said.

Official figures show that almost 30 per cent of the trains ran late in the financial year 2017-18 — the Indian Railways worst punctuality performance in three years.

From April 2017 to March 2018, the punctuality of mail and express trains was 71.39 per cent, down from 76.69 per cent in the corresponding period of 2016-2017, which is a deterioration of 5.30 per cent.