HOMAGE TO THE MARTYRS OF KARGIL WAR

The Karnataka Land Reforms and Certain Other Law(Amendment) Bill 2014

Land reforms amendment bill 2014

The Karnataka legislative assembly passed a land reforms bill on Friday to make it easier to divert agricultural land for commercial and industrial purposes while also introducing a 10 year deadline for industries to use land awarded to them following conversion of agricultural land.

The Karnataka Land Reforms and Certain Other Law(Amendment) Bill 2014 introduced in the legislative assembly by the revenue minister in the Congress government Srinivas Prasad modified sections of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act 1961 and the Karnataka Land Revenue Act 1964 which mandated two separate permissions for diverting agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes.

The Congress government has now modified section 109 of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act 1961 in such a manner that permission granted to acquire land for non agricultural purposes under the law can also be deemed as a clearance given under section 95 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act 1964.

“Once the permission under section 109 of the Karnataka Land Reform Act, 1961 is taken the permission under section 95 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964 is deemed to have been taken as the procedure under the two enactments is similar but is time consuming as separate permission has to be taken under each enactment which results in undue delay,’’ the government has stated.

If the bill is enacted then industries and organizations will no longer have to stand in line for clearances to use agricultural land for commercial purposes under the Karnataka Land Revenue Act if the government clears the purchase of the agricultural land under the Karnataka Land Reforms Act.

Under the existing system private enterprises need to obtain a separate clearance for usage of agricultural land even if they have already been cleared by the government to purchase the land.

The government also introduced modifications in the land reforms act where private enterprises have to surrender land granted to them at the end of a 10 year period if they fail to utilize the land.

The decision on diverting land lying unused by industries to a government land bank will be taken a high power committee headed by the Chief Secretary under the modified law.

REGISTRATION OF PROPERTIES IN GRAMATHANA OR PANCHAYAT OR VILLAGE LIMITS

THE DEPARTMENT OF STAMPS AND REGISTRATION IN KARNATAKA HAS UPGRADED AND INTEGRATED SOME OF ITS DATA WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS, THAT WILL MAKE THE TRANSACTIONS SAFE AND THE PURCHASE OF THE PROPERTIES WILL BE MADE EASY.

SOME TYPE OF PROPERTIES WITH DISCREPANCIES/FAKE/BOGUS/FABRICATED/ILLEGAL/INVALID/OUTDATED APPROVALS AND KATHAS CANNOT BE REGISTERED AT ALL.

KEMPE GOWDA LAYOUT - ACQUISITION ORDER QUASHED BY HIGH COURT - A NEWS REPORT

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Land-acquisition-for-Kempe-Gowda-Layout-quashed/articleshow/38511628.cms

PERSONALITY - OSCAR WILDE

"Personality is a very mysterious thing. A man cannot always 

be estimated by what he does. He may keep the law, and yet 

be worthless. He may break the law, and yet be fine. He may 

be bad without ever doing anything bad. He may commit a 

sin against society, and yet realise through that sin his true 

perfection."

-- Oscar Wilde

MYSORE - THE EMERGING DESTINATION

WELCOME TO MYSORE!!!!!

The next destination is MYSORE.

Mysore-the capital of the erstwhile Mysore kingdom which was transferred from Srirangapatana to the present city of Mysore after the fall of Tipu Sultan in the 4th Anglo-Mysore war in 1799, one of the British Commissioners noted: “Mysore, the headquarters of the district and the capital of the province, has a population of 73,000 and is, therefore, a considerable place, but is badly situated, and were it not for its being the seat of Sovereign, would soon lose the factitious importance that it now possesses … there are few good houses in the town, the majority being constructed of wattle and mud, while the Raja’s palace within the fort can scarcely be considered worthy of the name.” (T.P. Issar in The Royal City)

But within a span of 60 to 70 years during the regime of the later Wadiyars, notably Chamarajendra Wadiyar IX (1881-94) and Krishnarajendra Wadiyar IV (1902-40), Mysore emerged as a model city. Public buildings such as the Town Hall (1884), Maharaja’s Sanskrit College (1880s), the Oriental Research Institute (1891), Maharaja’s College (1889) and the law courts (1895), apart from palaces such as the Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion (1905), Cheluvamba Vilas (1910), which now houses the Central Food Technology Research Institute, the Amba Vilas Palace (1911-12) and the Lalitha Mahal Palace (1921) came to adorn the city skyline, along with well-planned layouts, enhancing its aesthetic beauty.

The establishment of the University of Mysore in 1916 led to the setting up of many other educational institutions and Mysore’s reputation as a centre for learning grew — more so under the later Wadiyars and their equally far-sighted Diwans; notably Diwan Seshadri Iyer, Sir M. Visvesvaraya and Diwan Mirza Ismail.

But after Independence, when the capital shifted to Bangalore and the democratically elected government replaced the institution of the Maharajas, Mysore’s importance declined. As Bangalore built on its vast industrial base established after Independence and emerged as an international IT hub and the Silicon Valley of India, the glory of Mysore was restricted to how it fared on the tourism front.

But in recent years the spill-over effect of Bangalore has had its impact on Mysore. The saturation of Bangalore, the skyrocketing real estate prices and unbridled growth and chaos have forced the government and even corporates to disperse and expand outside the capital city. And Mysore, with a population of a million-plus, is emerging as a preferred choice with its advantages of proximity to Bangalore, easy pace of life devoid of congestion and pollution and land availability at affordable rates, which translates into reduced operating and overhead costs for industries, cheap labour and a lower attrition rate.

This has attracted new investment from companies such as Infosys, which has developed the world’s largest corporate training centre on its Mysore campus. While investment from other IT or manufacturing majors are slow to come by, the city has spawned many start-ups in the IT and ITES sector, while it is increasingly being recognised as an electronic hardware manufacturing hub.

The software exports from Mysore was estimated at Rs. 2500 crore last fiscal, though it is dwarfed by Bangalore’s exports in excess of Rs. 1,00,000 crore. Mysore’s nearest competitor on the IT front among other Tier 2 cities is Bhubaneshwar with exports amounting to roughly Rs. 1,300 crore during the last financial year. Hence, Mysore is not lagging behind, say stakeholders.

The slow but steady expansion of industry has resulted in a perceptible demographic change in the city’s worker profile. Suresh Kumar Jain, general secretary of the Mysore Industries Association, says the city is attracting a trained and talented workforce, though not on the scale of Bangalore where the pay is higher.

Regional sentiment

But at another level, it has led to tensions at the grassroots level with proliferation of outfits seeking priority for local people in employment. Though on the fringes, those outfits occasionally threaten to disrupt the social harmony for which Mysore is known; the perceived anti-Kannada stance of the director of a leading research institute who was roughed up some time ago is a case in point. Since these outfits claim to espouse the cause of Kannada, politicians prefer not to take them on.

The urbanisation trends in Mysore have been backed by the growth of the service sector and penetration of financial institutions. Major players in real estate development have promoted Mysore as a “second home option”, which has found favour with investors with deep pockets from other cities. As a result, the real estate prices have increased in the past 10 years and are out of bounds of the local people and the salaried middle class. The city’s horizontal sprawl has consumed open spaces and even threatens the Chamundi Hills while commuting distance has increased from the suburbs to the city-centre. This has led to proliferation of apartments and vertical growth in a city which till recently was known for row houses and independent bungalows. The completion of the track doubling work between Mysore and Bangalore and conversion of the road between the two cities into a six-lane highway will reduce the commuting time and hasten the urbanisation process.

Heritage conservation challenges

But amid this churning, Mysore is not only striving to emerge from the shadows of Bangalore on the industrial front but is also seeking to retain its distinct identity as a royal and heritage city. The facets which make Mysore attractive in the first place — well planned layouts, gardens, roads, wide footpaths, over 250 heritage structures and its easy way of life, spanning the tourism and yoga industries — have to be conserved. While people want development, they do not want Mysore to go the Bangalore way.

To preserve Mysore’s reputation as a city with a blend of the traditional and the modern, activists of Mysore are striving to take a leaf out of Bangalore’s experience — of chaotic growth and unbridled urbanisation — and making efforts to stem the rot before it gets out of hand. This perception — to learn from the follies of other cities — is a sentiment being expressed by corporates as well.

The Confederation of Indian Industry, in its road map for Mysore’s industrial development, calls for a balance between preserving Mysore’s heritage value and speeding up the industrial development. This was echoed by key speakers at a seminar on IT and ITES and prospects for Mysore held recently. Kris Gopalakrishnan, immediate past president, CII, and co-founder and non-executive vice-chairman, Infosys Ltd., said people of Mysore should learn from the unplanned growth in other cities and preserve everything that is good about living in Mysore.

R. Chandra Prakash, a retired Professor of Commerce, University of Mysore, who has worked on urban development issues, and Bhamy V. Shenoy, founder of Mysore Grahakara Parishat, a citizens activist group, are crying hoarse on precisely the same issue.

Preserving the core

“We want to preserve and vitalise the core heritage zone of Mysore comprising the Amba Vilas Palace, Jaganmohan Palace, K.R. Circle, Dufferin Clock Tower, Town Hall and Devaraja Market. This calls for notifying heritage regulations and dispersing commercial activity to the periphery while pumping in resources to rejuvenate the core area. Strangely, the Mysore Master Plan 2031 has equated the core heritage zone with the central business district, which will only choke the area with traffic and increase human density leading to urban decay which is already visible,” Mr. Chandra Prakash says.

And with the concept of town planning reduced to approving residential layouts and the emphasis on functionality of buildings without any consideration for aesthetics to blend the present with the past, the city’s landscape is set to alter beyond recognition, compromising on its heritage value.

N.S. Rangaraju, a retired Professor from the Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Mysore, who was also a member of the Heritage Sub-committee, believes that the city’s heritage will decay if the heritage regulations framed by the sub-committee was not notified. “It was submitted to the authorities two years ago and will strengthen conservation efforts as a law will be in place to protect them but the government is going slow on it.”

This is critical as heritage in Mysore is linked to tourism and the city receives 3.5 million visitors every year who keep the wheels of the local economy turning. C.G. Bethsurmath, who is the Commissioner for Archaeology, Museums and Heritage, said these guidelines had been submitted to the government and were in the final stages of getting approval. But besides built heritage, the natural landscapes like the Chamundi Hills and the city’s lakes — Kukkarahalli, Lingambudhi, Karanji and Dalvoy — are bearing the brunt of urbanisation.

Time is fast running out for Mysore to retain its heritage and way of life while on the development curve. The city’s many intellectuals, its innumerable technical and management institutes, software giants and educational institutions, now need to step up as the elected representatives do not see any value in heritage conservation unless it can be monetarily quantified.

Emigration Management Authority - A new bill - A new Authority - A new Restriction - More rules and regulations!!!!

The Emigration Management Bill under consideration contains provisions regarding constitution of Emigration Management Authority. The proposed functions of the Authority are managing and regulating recruitment and enrollment agencies, accreditation of employees, registration of emigrants and obtaining intimation from students going abroad. The Bill is at the stage of inter-ministeral consultations. No time limit can be given. This information was given by Minister of State Overseas Indian Affairs General (Retd.) V.K. Singh in Lok Sabha today.

ILLEGAL LAYOUTS ACROSS THE CITY - A NEWS REPORT

A NEWS REPORT ON ILLEGAL AND UNAUTHORISED LAYOUTS ACROSS THE CITY – MLA`S AT THE LEGISLATURE SESSION TEARS THE GOVERNMENT APART!!!!

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/mlas-concerned-about-proliferation-of-illegal-layouts/article6190694.ece

Are you looking to buy a plot in Bangalore, especially in the outskirts of the city? Then you need to be doubly careful before investing your hard-earned money on the plot as the number of illegal layouts formed on revenue and encroached government lands are on the rise.

The issue figured in the Assembly on Monday as some MLAs from Bangalore expressed concern over the proliferation of unauthorised layouts in the city and demanded that the government put a stop to registration of revenue and unauthorised properties immediately to help the city grow in a planned manner.

Participating in a debate in the Legislative Assembly on the demand for grants for the Revenue Department, BJP MLA S.R. Vishwanath alleged that unauthorised layouts had been formed on 480 acres of land in Bangalore North Additional Taluk alone.

Most of such layouts had been formed on revenue lands or encroached government lands including forestlands, he said.

Those who had bought sites in such layouts were mostly lower middle-class people as the prices of sites were lower, he said. But such layouts were turning out to be nightmares for buyers as they were later discovering contentious issues associated with ownership.

He alleged that various civic authorities were giving their assent to such unauthorised layouts as the developers were ‘greasing the palms’ of key-officials. Another BJP MLA Satish Reddy too expressed similar views and alleged that a large number of illegal layouts had come up in the green belt near the Electronics City in Bangalore.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/mlas-concerned-about-proliferation-of-illegal-layouts/article6190694.ece

RAILWAY BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS ON 08-07-2014

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE RAILWAY BUDGET 2014-15

1. Safety

2. Project Delivery

3. Passenger Amenities/Services

with focus on food services & on cleanliness, sanitation, toilets

4.

Financial Discipline

5. Resource Mobilization

6. IT Initiatives

7. Transparency & System Improvements.

Major Challenges facing the Railway System

_ Vast tracts of hinterland waiting for rail connectivity.

_ Railways expected to earn like a commercial enterprise but serve like a

welfare organization.

_ Railways carry Social Service Obligation of more than Rs 20,000 cr by

carrying services below cost. This is nearly 16.6% of GTR and is almost

half of Railways’ Plan Outlay under budgetary sources.

_ Surplus revenues declining; Hardly any adequate resources for its

development works.

_ Tariff policy adopted lacked rational approach; passenger fares kept lower than costs; loss per passenger kilometer increased from 10 Paise per Km in 2000-01 to 23 Paise in 2012-13.

_ ‘Decade of Golden Dilemma’ – choosing between commercial and social

viability.

_ Share of Railways in freight traffic coming down consistently.

_ Rs 5 lakh crore required for ongoing projects alone.

_ Focus so far in sanctioning more and more projects with inadequate

prioritization rather than completing them; Of the 674 projects worth Rs

1,57,883 cr sanctioned in the last 30 years, only 317 could be completed.

Completing the balance requires Rs 1,82,000 cr.

_ Most of Gross Traffic Receipts is spent on fuel, salary and pension, track

& coach maintenance and on safety works . In the year 2013-14, Gross

Traffic Receipts were ` 1,39,558 crore and total Working Expenses were

` 1,30,321 crore,

_ The surplus, after paying obligatory dividend and lease charges, was

` 11,754 crore in 2007-08 and is estimated to be ` 602 crore in the

current financial year.

Course Correction and Initiatives

_ Works to be re-prioritized with more focus on doubling and tripling to

decongest the over-utilized network.

_ Recent fare and tariff hike to mop additional revenue of about ` 8,000 cr.

_ Alternate resource mobilization need to be explored as enlisted.

o Leveraging Railway PSU Resources by bringing in their investible

surplus funds in infrastructure projects of Railways.

o Domestic investments and FDI in rail infrastructure.

o Pursuing Public Private Partnership.

_ Near Plan-holiday approach.

_ Prioritizing and setting timelines for completion of the ongoing projects.

_ Decision Support System for project implementation.

_ Strategic partnerships and transparency in procurements.

_ Aggressive indigenization of imported products.

_ Developing locomotives, coaches and wagon leasing Market.

Passenger Amenities/Services & Station Management - including

Cleanliness & Catering

_ Provision of foot-over bridges, escalators, lifts, etc. at all major stations

including through PPP route.

_ Provision of sufficient water supply, platform shelters and toilets at

Railway Stations.

_ Battery operated cars for differently-abled and senior citizens at platforms of all major stations.

_ Involvement of individuals, NGOs, Trusts, Charitable Institutions,

Corporates to provide passenger amenities at stations.

_ Provision of workstations in select trains on payment basis.

_ Expanding scope of online booking of train, coaches, berth & chair car.

_ Introduction of parking cum platform combo tickets.

_ E-booking of railway retiring rooms.

_ Introduction of Ready-to-eat meals of reputed brands in a phased manner.

_ Introduction of Quality Assurance Mechanism through Third Party Audit

by NABCB certified agencies.

_ Launching feedback service through IVRS on the quality of food.

_ Setting up of Food Courts at major stations for providing regional cuisine while onboard through emails, SMS and Smart Phones, etc. Pilot project between New Delhi-Amritsar and New Delhi-Jammu Tawi sections.

_ Substantial increase of 40% in budget allocation for cleanliness.

_ Outsourcing of cleaning activities at 50 major stations to professional

agencies.

_ Setting up of separate Housekeeping Wing for maintaining cleanliness

and sanitation at stations.

_ Setting up of Corpus Fund at Stations’ upkeep.

_ Extending use of CCTVs at stations to monitor cleanliness activities.

_ Printing of all India level complaint/helpline number on PRS tickets and

introduction of system of third party inspections.

_ Extension of onboard Housekeeping services to all important trains.

_ Increasing mechanized laundries for quality bedrolls in AC coaches.

_ Introduction of RO drinking water units at Stations and in trains on

experimental basis.

_ Encouraging reputed and willing NGOs, charitable institutions and

Corporate Houses for adopting and maintaining stations.

Measures for improving Safety & Security

_ Provision of ` 1,785 crore for Road-over-bridges and Road-underbridges;

speedy clearances, online design standardization and

decentralised sanctioning powers.

_ Multi-pronged approach to eliminating Unmanned Level Crossings.

_ Advanced technology for rail-flaw detection - Vehicle Borne Ultrasonic

Flaw Detection System to detect rail and weld fractures and pilot trials on

Ultrasonic Broken Rail Detection System (UBRD) at two locations.

_ Safety standards to match international practices. Simulation Center to

study causes of accidents.

_ Pilot project on Automatic door closing in mainline and sub-urban

coaches.

_ 4000 women RPF constables to be recruited in addition to 7000 RPF

constables.

_ RPF escorting teams in trains to be provided mobile phones helping

passengers in contacting them in distress. Coaches for ladies will be

escorted. Care to be taken for ladies travelling alone.

_ Building boundary walls around stations through PPP route to be

explored.

Green Initiatives

_ Harnessing solar energy by utilizing roof top spaces of stations, railway

buildings and land including through PPP mode.

_ Use of bio-diesel up to 5% of total diesel fuel consumption.

_ Increasing bio-toilets in sufficient numbers in trains to mitigate the

problem of direct discharge of human waste on the tracks and platforms.

Rail Tourism

_ Eco-Tourism and Education Tourism in Northeastern States.

_ Special Packaged trains on identified pilgrim circuits like Devi Circuit,

Jyotirling Circuit, Jain Circuit, Christian Circuit, Muslim/Sufi Circuit,

Sikh Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Famous Temple Circuit, etc.

_ Tourist Train from Gadag to Pandarpur via Bagalkot, Bijapur and Solapur

covering the pilgrim and tourist places of Karnataka and Maharashtra.

_ Tourist Train from Rameshwaram covering pilgrim and tourist places like Bengaluru, Chennai, Ayodhya, Varanasi and Haridwar.

_ Special Train featuring life and work of Swami Vivekananda.

IT Initiatives including revamping reservation system

_ Revamping Railway Reservation System into Next Generation e-

Ticketing System.

_ E-ticketing to support 7200 tickets per minutes to allow 1,20,000

simultaneous users.

_ Augmentation of Coin operated Automatic Ticket Vending Machines.

_ Provision of platform tickets and unreserved tickets over internet.

_ Shift towards large scale Integrated computerization of major functions of Indian Railways to take place.

o Paperless offices in Indian Railways in 5 years.

o Wi-fi Services in A1 and A category stations and in select trains.

o Real-time tracking of trains and rolling stock.

o Mobile based Wakeup Call System for passengers.

o Mobile based Destination Arrival Alert.

o Station Navigation Information System.

o Extension of Dual Display Fare Repeaters at all the Ticket

Counters through PPP.

o Digital reservation charts at Stations (Bangalore model).

o Extension of Computerized Parcel Management System.

o Extension of logistics support to various e-commerce Companies

by providing designated pick-up centres at identified Stations.

o Providing education to children of Railway staff at remote

locations through Railtel OFC (optical fibre cable) network.

_ GIS mapping and Digitisation of Railway land.

Staff Welfare

_ Per capita contribution to Staff Benefit Fund increased from ` 500 to

` 800.

_ Special scheme for meritorious wards of railway persons.

_ Hospital Management Information System to integrate all railway health

units and hospital.

_ Provision of air-conditioned loco cabins to be examined.

Training

_ Setting up of Railway University for both technical and non-technical

subjects.

_ Tie up with technical institutions for introducing railway oriented

subjects for graduation and skill development.

_ Short duration courses for ground level officers.

_ Exposure to specialized areas like high-speed, heavy haul operations, etc.,

for all level of staff and officials at institutes in India and abroad.

Speed of Trains

_ Bullet train proposed on identified Mumbai-Ahemdabad sector.

_ Setting up of Diamond Quadrilateral Network of High Speed Rail

connecting major metros and growth centers of the country; ` 100 cr

provided for initiating the project.

_ Increasing of speed of trains to 160-200 kmph in select 9 sectors.

_ All experimental stoppages to lapse after 30.09.2014.

_ Only operational feasibility and commercial justifications for new

stoppages; alternate train connectivity to meet genuine demands.

Resource Augmentation

_ PPP through BOT and Annuity route and identification of 8 to 10 capacity

augmentation projects on congested routes; Zonal Railways to be suitably

empowered to finalize and execute such projects.

_ Facilitating connectivity to new and upcoming ports through PPP.

_ Speedy work on critical coal connectivity lines to bring nearly 100 MT of incremental traffic to Railways and facilitating faster transportation of

coal to power houses.

_ Developing identified stations to international standards with modern

facilities on lines of newly developed airports through PPP mode.

_ Setting up of Logistic Parks to modernize logistics operations; Top

priority to mechanization of loading and unloading.

_ Suitable pricing mechanism to garner additional revenue from empty flow

- Pilot project for automatic rebate to customers offering traffic through

computerized FOIS system.

_ Launching scheme to facilitate procurement of parcel vans or parcel rakes by private parties.

_ New design of parcel vans with better tare to pay load finalized.

_ Setting up of Private Freight Terminal on PPP model to develop network

of freight terminals.

_ Boost to rail movement of fruit and vegetables in partnership with Central Railside Warehousing Corporation at 10 locations.

_ Provision of special milk tanker trains in association with National Dairy

Board and Amul to facilitate transportation of milk through rail.

Other Initiatives

_ Setting up of Project Management Groups consisting of professionals and State Government Officials at Railway Board and Zonal level for

coordinating and expediting project management with respective State

Governments.

_ Establishing Innovations Incubation Centre to harness the ideas generated from staff and converting them into practical solutions.

_ Summer internships for under-graduates of engineering and management studies.

_ Structural Reforms – separation of overlapping roles of policy formulation and implementation.

_ Top priority to transparency in administration and execution of projects.

_ Adopting strategic procurement policies to make procurement process

transparent and most efficient.

_ Status of ongoing projects to be made available online.

_ E-procurement to be made compulsory for procurements worth ` 25 lakhs and more.

_ Launching online registration of demands for wagons in next two months for facilitating online payment of Wagon registration fee.

_ Initiating process for ERR (Electronic Railway Receipt) during the year.

_ Introduction of corrosion-free wagons with low tare weight for movement of salt.

_ Close monitoring of Dedicated Freight Corridor Project Implementation

of Eastern and Western DFCs; Target of nearly 1000 kms of civil

construction contracts.

Metropolitan/Suburban Services

_ Passenger centric focus to urban transport infrastructure by coordinating with other transport Ministries and Urban Bodies.

_ 864 additional state-of-the-art EMUs for Mumbai in two years.

_ Study to explore possibility of enhancing existing IR network of

Bengaluru for meeting better connectivity needs of Bengaluru city with

its suburban areas and hinterland.

_ Byyappanahalli in Bengaluru area to be developed as a coaching terminal.

Financial Performance 2013-14

_ Traffic growth declined and expenditure registered excess in 2013-14 as

compared to Revised Estimates.

_ Originating passengers achieved less by 46 million; and passenger

earnings short by ` 968 cr over Revised Estimates.

_ Gross Traffic Receipts at ` 1,39,558 cr though short of RE by ` 942 cr

grew by 12.8% over the previous year.

_ Ordinary Working Expenses and Pension outgo is higher than the

Revised Estimates.

_ The year ended with a surplus of ` 3,783 cr by registering a shortfall of `

4,160 cr over the revised target.

_ Dividend liability of ` 8,010 cr to government fully discharged.

_ Railways generated internal resources of ` 11,710 cr in 2013-14 for plan

finance.

_ Operating Ratio at 93.5% deteriorated by 2.7% over R.E.

Budget Estimates 2014-15

_ Freight loading of 1101 MT, 51 MT more than 2013-14.

_ Growth in passenger traffic - 2%.

_ Freight Earnings – ` 1,05,770 cr.

_ Passenger Earnings – ` 44,645 cr, after revenue foregone of ` 610 cr on

account of rollback in monthly season ticket fares.

_ Total Receipts - ` 1,64,374 cr; Total Expenditure – ` 1,49,176 cr;

_ Pension estimated at ` 28,850 cr.

_ Dividend payment estimated at ` 9,135 cr.

_ Operating Ratio to be 92.5%, an improvement of 1% over 2013-14.

Annual Plan 2014-15

_ Highest ever plan outlay of ` 65,445 cr.

o Gross Budgetary Support - ` 30,100 cr

o Railway Safety Fund - ` 2,200 cr

o Internal Resources - ` 15,350 cr.

o EBR - Market Borrowing - ` 11,790 cr;

o EBR - PPP - ` 6,005 cr.

_ Plan Outlay under budgetary sources placed at ` 47,650 cr which is higher by ` 9,383 cr over 2013-14 – higher plan outlay goes to safety related works.

_ Full financial outlays to projects targeted for completion during the year.

_ Adequate allocations made for 30 priority works for timely completion.

Projects for Remote Areas, North-East, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana

_ Higher funds for onging 23 projects in Northeast including 11 National

Projects; ` 5,116 cr outlay earmarked for projects of Northeast i.e. 54%

higher than previous year.

_ Udhampur-Katra Rail link dedicated to the Nation; tie up with

Government of J&K for bridging Udhampur-Banihal portion by bus to

help passengers reach Srinagar with single ticket from origin to

destination.

_ Focus on completion of missing link of Banihal to Katra.

_ 29 Projects, costing ` 20,680 cr, currently running in Andhra Pradesh &

Telengana.

_ Setting up of Committee of Railways and officials from Andhra Pradesh

and Telengana on coordination, requirement and issues.

New Surveys

_ 18 new line surveys.

_ 10 surveys for doubling, 3rd and 4th lines and gauge conversion.

Trains

_ 5 new Jansadharan trains to be introduced.

_ 5 Premium and 6 AC trains to be introduced.

_ 27 new Express trains to be introduced.

_ 8 new passenger services, 5 DEMU services and 2 MEMU services to be

introduced and run of 11 trains to be extended.