Railway Budget 2014-2015

D.V. Sadananda Gowda's maiden Railway Budget focussed on unveiling the Modi Government’s plans for a massive facelift of the railways sector over the coming years 

 

Rail Budget Seeks Course Correction, Avoids Populism 

No Increase in Rail Fare 

Stress on Resource Mobilization Through PSU Surplus, FDI and PPP

Bullet Train on Ahmedabad-Mumbai Corridor Proposed, Speed of Trains to be Increased in Nine Sectors

More Thrust on Passenger Amenities, Cleanliness & Efficient Station Management

Multi Pronged Approach for Improving Safety & Security, 4000 Women RPF Constables to be Recruited

Revamping Railway Reservation System into Next Generation e-Ticketing, WI-FI Services in Major Stations & in Select Trains, Mobile based Wakeup Calls for Passengers

58 New Trains Introduced; 11 Existing Trains Extended

Railway University and Innovation Incubation Centre to be Set UP

Top Priority to Transparency,  e-procurement to be made Compulsory in Higher Purchase, Online Registration for Wagons in Next Two Months

Highest Ever Plan Outlay of Rs. 65,445 Crore with Higher Allocation for Safety Measures 

India test-fires advanced version of BrahMos missile

India on 08-07-2014 succcessfully test-fired an advanced version of the 290-km range Brahmos supersonic cruise missile off the coast of Odisha, giving the country the capability to hit enemy targets hidden behind mountains or in a cluster of buildings with "pinpoint accuracy".


The missile travelled its full strike range of 290 kms in about 500 seconds to hit its simulated target in a copybook fashion after being fired from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur-on-sea, around 15 kms from Balasore, said BrahMos chief A Sivathanu Pillai.

Vijay Amrit Raj announces launch of Champions Tennis League

Tennis legend Vijay Amritraj on Monday announced the launch of Champions Tennis League (CTL) in India with an aim of taking the sport to new levels of awareness and popularity in the country.

The CTL will feature six city based teams, who will play 13 matches over a 10-day period from November 17 to 26.

The teams will be structured into two groups, each having three sides each, where they would play each other in a home and away format. The teams topping their respective group will play each other in the grand finale for the prize money of Rs. 1 crore. The runner-up will receive Rs. 50 lakhs.

CTL teams will feature male and female players with international rankings between No. 5 and No. 25.

Each of the six teams will also have an international legend as their playing captain, apart from a noted Indian male tennis player, plus a top ranked junior Indian girl and boy from each city.

The teams will also travel to other cities, bringing excitement and entertainment in a spectacle that has never been seen on this scale in India before, for tennis.

Ashraf Ghani won Afghanistan's presidential election

Former World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani won Afghanistan's presidential election, according to preliminary results released on Monday, with 56.4 percent of the run-off vote to Abdullah Abdullah's 43.5 percent.

Government approved Rs 1,000 as minimum monthly pension

The Central Government has approved minimum monthly pension of Rs 1,000 under Employees Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS-95) run by the retirement body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), Parliament was informed on 07-07-201

The decision of the government would immediately benefit 28 lakh pensioners including 5 lakh widows getting less than Rs 1000 as pension every month. In all, there are 44 lakh pensioners under the EPS-95 scheme.

Men's singles

Main article: 2014 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles

• Novak Djokovic def. Roger Federer, 6–7^(7–9), 6–4, 7–6^(7–4), 5–7, 6–4

Women's singles

Main article: 2014 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Singles

• Petra Kvitová def. Eugenie Bouchard, 6–3, 6–0

Men's doubles

Main article: 2014 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Doubles

• Vasek Pospisil / Jack Sock def. Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan, 7–6^(7–5), 6–7^(3–7), 6–4, 3–6, 7–5

Women's doubles

Main article: 2014 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Doubles

• Sara Errani / Roberta Vinci def. Tímea Babos / Kristina Mladenovic, 6–1, 6–3

Mixed doubles

Main article: 2014 Wimbledon Championships – Mixed Doubles

• Nenad Zimonjić / Samantha Stosur def. Max Mirnyi / Chan Hao-ching, 6–4, 6–2

Information courtesy : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Wimbledon_Championships

Gujarat Gov Kamla Beniwal shifted to Mizoram

Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal was on 06-07-2014 night sent off to Mizoram in a reshuffle of Governors effected by the government.

87-year-old Beniwal, whose tenure ends in November, will take over from Vakkom Purushothaman.

Rajasthan Governor Margaret Alva, who will demit office exactly in a month, will shift to Ahmedabad to take additional charge.

Announcing these changes, a Rashtrapati Bhawan communique said Governor of Gujarat is transferred and appointed as Governor of Mizoram for the remainder of her term vice Vakkom Purushothaman.

Purushothaman is transferred and appointed as Governor of Nagaland for the remainder of his term, it said adding that he would also hold additional charge of the office of Governor of Tripura.

Alva, the Governor of Rajasthan would discharge the functions of Governor of Gujarat, in addition to her own duties, until regular arrangements for the office of the Governor of Gujarat are made.

Earlier there was speculation that new Governors would be appointed before the budget session of Parliament starting Monday in place of those who had quit. Many of them were asked by the new government to put in their papers.

Those who resigned after the government's signals are B L Joshi (Uttar Pradesh), M K Narayanan (West Bengal), Shekhar Dutt (Chhattisgarh), Ashwani Kumar (Nagaland) and B V Wanchoo (Goa). 

Source : http://www.ddinews.gov.in