Railway Budget : Passenger fares and freight rates untouched

Presenting the  Railway Budget, Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge   announced the launch of 17 new premium trains, 39 express trains and ten passenger trains in the coming year and providing rail connectivity to Katra and Vaishnodevi in Jammu and Kashmir, and Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh in the Northeast.

Independent Rail Tariff Authority will be  set up to rationalise fares and there was a proposal to expand dynamic pricing of tickets in line with the airline industry.

Passenger fares and freight rates untouched.

Annual Rail Plan has been pegged at Rs 64,305 crore with a budgetary support of Rs 30,223 crore.

Strict Punishment and fine for spreading hatred against HIV/AIDS affected Persons

 According to a new bill introduced in the Rajya Sabha, Any person found guilty of spreading or propagating hatred against people living with HIV/AIDS will face strict punishment of imprisonment up to two years and a maximum fine of Rs one lakh.

The The Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Prevention and Control) Bill, 2014 was tabled by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad .


The new bill introduced in the Rajya Sabha today seeks to protect rights of persons living with HIV/AIDS and end discrimination against them through stringent penal measures.

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Prevention and Control) Bill, 2014, was tabled in the Upper House amid din by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

The bill provides for protection to those infected by HIV and AIDS from denial of employment and harassment of any kind, besides provision of medical treatment while ensuring confidentiality and privacy while providing HIV and AIDS related services.

The bill also provides protection to such persons from being subjected to an HIV test without their informed consent.

 It also provides for obligation of establishments to provide for safe working environment, safeguard the rights of people infected with HIV/AIDS, particularly women and children, and establish formal mechanisms for redressing grievances and inquiring into complaints.

The Bill seeks to put in place an obmudsman to deal with such complaints both at the state and central level.

India is estimated to have 2.39 million people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV), the third highest after South Africa and Nigeria.

2 more attempts for UPSC's civil services exams

"The central government has approved two additional attempts to all categories of candidates with effect from Civil Services Examination 2014, with consequential age relaxation of maximum age for all categories of candidates, if required," the Ministry of Personnel said in an order on 10-Feb-2014.

The Civil Services Examination (Preliminary), 2014 is tentatively scheduled to be held on 24th August this year.

The Civil Service Examinations is conducted by the UPSC to select Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Foreign Service (IFS) among others.

The examinations are conducted in three stages-- preliminary, mains and interview.

A candidate is permitted a maximum of four attempts for the examination. However, there is no restriction on number of attempts by a candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).

As many as seven attempts are permissible to an aspirant belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBCs), according to a notification issued for Civil Services Examinations, 2013.

A candidate who has attained the age of 21 years but not attained 30 years may apply for the civil services examination, as per eligibility mentioned in the notification.

The upper age limit is relaxable up to a maximum of five years for candidates belonging to SCs or STs categories and up to a maximum of three years for candidates of OBC category among others.

The upper age limit is also relaxable upto a maximum of five years if a candidate had ordinarily been domiciled in Jammu & Kashmir during 1st January 1980 to 31st December 1989.

It can also be relaxed upto a maximum of three years in the case of defence services personnel disabled in operations during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area and released as a consequence thereof.

There is also a relaxation in upper age upto a maximum of 10 years in the case of blind, deaf-mute and orthopaedically handicapped candidates besides other categories, the rules said. 

Information courtesy : http://www.ddinews.gov.in

 

Malala Yousafzai nominated for 'Children's Nobel'

Schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, who survived being shot in the head by the Taliban, was nominated for the World Children's Prize in Sweden today for championing education rights for girls.

Nepali Congress leader Sushil Koirala elected as the Prime Minister of Nepal

Nepali Congress leader Sushil Koirala was 10-Feb-2014 elected Prime Minister of Nepal with the support of the CPN-UML, ending months of political instability following last year's elections.

Koirala, the sole contestant in the premier race, was elected with 405 votes in the 601-member Constituent Assembly.

CBI need for sanction of IB officials in Ishrat case : Attorney General

The Attorney General of India GE Vahanvati has said that the CBI needs the sanction of the government before it prosecutes serving and retired Intelligence Bureau officers charged in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.

The CBI in their supplementary chargesheet filed on Thursday accused former Gujarat IB chief Rajinder Kumar with murder and three serving officers - P Mittal, MK Sinha and Rajiv Wankhede - with conspiracy and illegal confinement in the 2004 killings.

Ishrat Jahan, a 19-year-old college student, was killed by Gujarat police along with three men in June, 2004 in a fake encounter on the allegation that they were on their way to kill state Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

India to procure NASA aircraft for cyclone prediction

India is planning to procure a NASA aircraft equipped with a lab to study wind patterns at high altitude for better prediction of such calamities. India is hit by five cyclones on its eastern coast last year.

India will procure McDonnell Douglas DC-8 aircraft from NASA  and will get by 2015-2016.

This assumes significance as several cyclones, including the powerful Phailin that left a trail of destruction, had hit the country's eastern coast last year.

Indian Meteorological Department chief Laxman Singh Rathore had last month said five cyclones including Phailin and Helen had originated in the Bay of Bengal.

Data gathered by the aircraft and by remote sensing have been used for studies in archaeology, ecology, geography, hydrology, meteorology, oceanography, volcanology, atmospheric chemistry, cryospheric science, soil science and biology.