During the recent floods in Kerala, the Centre has provided urgent aid and relief material in a timely manner and without any reservation to the State. The situation has been regularly monitored by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on daily basis and he visited the State on August 17-18, 2018. On his instructions, the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), under the Chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary, regularly monitored and coordinated rescue and relief operations by holding daily meetings from Aug 16-21, 2018. Senior officers of Defence Services, NDRF, NDMA and Secretaries of Civilian Ministries attended these meetings. Kerala Chief Secretary participated in these discussions through video conference.

Following the decisions taken during these meetings, Centre launched massive rescue and relief operations. In one of the largest rescue operations, 40 helicopters, 31 aircraft, 182 teams for rescue, 18 Medical Teams of Defence forces, 58 teams of NDRF, 7 companies of CAPFs were pressed into service along with over 500 boats and necessary rescue equipments. They successfully saved over 60,000 human lives by rescuing them from marooned areas and shifting them to relief camps. Defence aircrafts and helicopters have made 1,084 sorties of duration 1,168 flying hours and airlifted 1,286 tonne of load and carried 3,332 rescuers. In addition, a number of Navy and Coast Guard ships were pressed into service to carry relief material to Kerala. The search and rescue operations and mobilisation of resources alone would cost the Central Government hundreds of crore of rupees.

Financial Mechanism to meet the rescue and relief expenditure during any notified disaster event is governed by notified guidelines on State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). State Disaster Response Fund has been constituted in each State in which Centre contributes 75% for General Category States and 90% for Special Category States of hilly regions every year as per the award of the successive Finance Commissions.

As per the guidelines, Central Government provides its allocation to SDRF of each State in advance in two installments. In case of any natural calamity, State meets the expenditure of relief and rescue from the SDRF already available at its disposal. In case of any natural calamity beyond the coping capacity of a State, the concerned State Government submits a detailed memorandum indicating the sector-wise details of damages and requirement of funds for relief operations of immediate nature. On receipt of a memorandum, an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) is deputed by the Central Government for on-the-spot assessment of damages and additional requirement of funds. The report of IMCT is considered by the Sub-Committee of National Executive Committee (SC-NEC) headed by the Union Home Secretary in conformity with the norms and then by a High Level Committee (HLC), chaired by the Union Home Minister for approving the quantum of additional assistance from the NDRF.

In the case of recent floods and landslides in Kerala, an interim memorandum was submitted by the State on 21st July, 2018 and immediately an IMCT was constituted, which visited the State on 7th to 12th August, 2018 for on-the-spot assessment of the damages. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju visited Kerala on July 21, 2018 followed by the Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh on 12th August. Since there was a second spell of floods in the State, the State Government has stated that they will submit an additional memorandum on the fresh damages caused by the floods and landslides once rescue efforts are over.

Since submission of additional memorandum by the State will take time, with a view to assist the State in meeting relief and rescue expenditure, the Central Government has released Rs.600 crore in advance pending assessment by IMCT and decision of the High Level Committee. This is in addition to Rs.562.45 crore already made available in SDRF of the State. In addition to the financial support, Centre has made available large quantities of emergency food, water, medicines and other essential supplies, including additional allocation of foodgrains, as requested by the State. In supplying these materials, normal rules and procedure have been set aside in view of emergency nature of the requirement in Kerala. In addition, after the visit of the Prime Minister, a number of measures have been announced from different schemes of Central government such as ex-gratia payments from PM’s National Relief Funds (PMNRF); building of damaged houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY); additional 5.5 Cr. person days under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS); national agencies such as NHAI, NTPC and PGCIL to assist the State in repairing National Highways and restoring power etc.

It is clarified that Rs.600 crore released by Centre is the advance assistance only. Additional funds would be released from NDRF on assessment of the damages as per laid down procedure.

Source: http://pib.nic.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1543750

समस्तीपुर | दरभंगा से नई दिल्ली के बीच चलने वाली बिहार संपर्क क्रांति एक्सप्रेस में गुरुवार से मिथिला पेंटिंग युक्त नौ बोगी जुड़ेगी। इसके लिए मंडल प्रशासन ने तैयारी पूरी कर ली है। दरभंगा में डीआरएम आरके जैन मिथिला पेटिंग युक्त बोगी का लोकार्पण करेंगे। डीआरएम श्री जैन ने बताया कि वह अधिकारियों के साथ उक्त ट्रेन से हाजीपुर तक जाएंगे। जहां पूर्व मध्य रेलवे के जीएम उक्त बोगी का जायजा लेंगे। उन्होंने कहा कि ट्रेन की बोगी को मिथिला पेंटिंग युक्त करने के पीछे मिथिला की संस्कृति को देश स्तर पर विस्तारीकरण देना है। डीआरएम ने बताया कि बिहार संपर्क क्रांति एक्सप्रेस की बोगियों पर मिथिला पेंटिंग की फीडबैक अच्छी मिली तो मिथिलांचल क्षेत्र से खुलने वाली सभी प्रमुख मेल एक्सप्रेस ट्रेनों की बोगियों को मिथिला पेंटिंग से सजायी जाएगी।

Source: https://www.bhaskar.com/union-territory/new-delhi/news/latest-new-delhi-news-030503-2531760.html?sld_seq=1

New Delhi (India), Aug 17 (ANI): The Indian Railways has extended a helping hand to Kerala by supplying bottled water to flood-affected people.
Around 2740 cartons were dispatched from Parassala’s Rail Neer plant earlier today, while six trucks loaded with drinking water have already been pressed into service.
In a similar move, the Southern Railways has dispatched seven BRN Wagons, carrying 2.8 lakh litres of water, from the Erode Junction on Friday afternoon.
Apart from this, the Railway has made necessary arrangements in case of emergency situations in the state. A loading of 10,000 cubic boxes of water bottles is under progress to be sent in the state.
The officials of Kerala State Government directed the Senior Divisional Commercial Manager in Palakkad to coordinate further dispatch of drinking water for those affected.
Kerala has been witnessing acute flood situation since past few days owing to incessant rain. So far, 324 people have lost their lives in the state due to flood, according to a tweet by the Chief Minister Office (CMO) of Kerala.(ANI)

 

Source: https://www.aninews.in/news/national/general-news/railways-rushes-drinking-water-to-kerala201808172013180001/

Indian Railway had earlier introduced latest state of the art integrated track maintenance technology by way of inducting thirteen 09-3X Dynamic Tamping Express machines.  This evening five new machines have been inducted which includes three highly efficient Dynamic Track Temping Machines, one Ballast Cleaning Machine and one Points and Crossings Tamping Machine. These are besides the existing fleet of 883 Track Maintenance Machines over IR already deployed on heavy density routes. Also Coaches have been refurbished indigenously at a cost of Rs. 18 lakh per coach for taking care of the accommodation needs of the staff of the track machines, providing them a comfortable home away from home.

These machines were inaugurated and flagged off by Sh. Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways & Coal, in the presence of Sh. M.K. Gupta, Member Engineering Railway Board, Sh. Vishwesh Chaube, General Manager, Northern Railway, Sh. A.K. Khandelwal, Executive Director Track Machines, Railway Board, Sh. R.N. Singh, Divisional Railway Manager, Delhi Division and other senior officers of the Railway Board and Northern Railway, Today i.e. 26.07.2018 at Safdurjang Railway Station, New Delhi. Sh. Piyush Goyal also released Booklets in English, Hindi & Punjabi for the Achievements and Initiatives undertaken in the past four years by the Ministry of Railways for the State of Delhi NCR.

09-3X-Dynamic Tamping Express: The New 09-3X- Dynamic Tamping Express costing about Rs. 27 Cr each is a latest high output integrated tamping machine having multiple functions, so far being carried out by different machines. It can measure pre & post track geometry, correct the track to required geometry, can tamp three sleepers simultaneously, stabilize and measure post tamping track parameters under load to ensure quality of work done. This eliminates the need for a separate stabilisation machine which reduces operating costs and track possession time. This machine will vibrate & compact the loose stone ballast after tamping for safe movements of trains.

These machines have been manufactured in India under MAKE IN INDIA initiative with imported components. 42 more such machines have been planned to be included in Indian Railway maintenance fleet over next three years. This will further improve the safety, reliability and economy in maintenance of tracks over Indian Railways. This will also eliminate manual measurement of track quality after maintenance.

Ballast Cleaning Machine: Used for screening of Ballast under the sleepers on plain tracks and turnouts for restoring drainage and resilience of track to improve the mobility , safety and passenger comfort. Presently 115 BCM are working on IR and 41 more are planned to be included in the next three year.

Points & Crossing Tamping Machines (UNIMAT-4S):  Tamping Machines for track geometry correction on turnouts on IR. Presently 32 such machines are in service over ir and 62 more are planned to be inducted in the next three years.

Conversion of existing caches to Mobile Workshop cum Rest Van: The Track machines are the lifeline of Railway track maintenance system. These keep on moving from place to place for maintenance of track as per requirement. The staff of track machines also keeps on moving along with their allotted machine. The track machines staff is often required to work continuously for upto three weeks in remote areas.

Mobile workshop cum rest van fulfils the need of their accommodation cum workshop cum office in such a dynamic condition. Initially, a general class coach was provided for this purpose. With time, it was improved / facilitated gradually and now it has evolved from a simple general coach to a home like place where staff can have proper resting and workshop facility. The newly re-furbished coaches are provided with fully furnished modular kitchen, RO water plant, refrigerator, bio-toilet, bathroom with geyser, storage space, office cum living space equipped with state of art inverter based air-conditioner, HD television & satellite TV connection, proper beds, LED lighting, wall fans, desert coolers, generator and inverter for power backup and spare part storage & repair space, so as to provide the track machine staff a home away from home. The cost of modification of each coach is around Rs.18 lakh.

Indian Railway has planned for complete mechanisation of inspection, monitoring, relaying and maintenance of Railway track to switch over to complete mechanised maintenance regime by 2020 on trunk route and 2024 on entire network of Indian Railway.

Backgrounder: When a train moves over a set of parallel rails, it generates enormous forces. More the speed more is the pressure exerted on the tracks. The entire track consisting of rails, sleepers and ballast is a fairly elastic system that deforms and returns to its original position after the train has passed over it. But over time and repeated use, the track progressively moves, causing deviations from the desired vertical and horizontal alignment. For smooth and incident free running of trains, track maintenance has to be done at regular intervals – this includes leveling, lifting, lining and tamping, this ensures the ideal geometry of the track.

Tamping is the process of squeezing and uniformly re-arranging the ballast (rock pebbles) under the sleeper to keep the track in position and provide it with a homogenous ballast bed.  The new 09-3X ‘Dynamic Tamping Express’ is a self propelled, bidirectional single unit high output tamping and stabilizing machine. The machine has the advantage of an integrated stabilisation trailer. This eliminates the need for a separate stabilisation machine which reduces operating costs and track possession. The machine is also equipped with the latest measuring and recording equipment. This means measurement of all necessary track parameters after tamping without an additional measuring run, which further reduces track possession time and costs.

Source: http://www.pib.nic.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1540380

The GST Council in its 28^th meeting held here today under the Chairmanship of Shri Piyush Goyal , Union Minister for Railways , Coal , Finance & Corporate Affairs  took following decisions on GST Rate on Goods .

I. GST rates reduction on 28% items:
A.  28% to 18%

• Paints and varnishes (including enamels and lacquers)
• Glaziers’ putty, grafting putty, resin cements
• Refrigerators, freezers and other refrigerating or freezing equipment including water cooler, milk coolers, refrigerating equipment for leather industry, ice cream freezer etc.
• Washing machines.
• Lithium-ion batteries
• Vacuum cleaners
• Domestic electrical appliances such as food grinders and mixers & food or vegetable juice extractor, shaver, hair clippers etc
• Storage water heaters and immersion heaters, hair dryers,  hand dryers, electric smoothing irons etc
• Televisions upto the size of 68 cm
• Special purpose motor vehicles. e.g., crane lorries, fire fighting vehicle, concrete mixer lorries, spraying lorries
• Works trucks [self-propelled, not fitted with lifting or handling equipment] of the type used in factories, warehouses, dock areas or airports for short transport of goods.
• Trailers and semi-trailers.
• Miscellaneous articles such as scent sprays and similar toilet sprays, powder-puffs and pads for the application of cosmetics or toilet preparations.

B. 28% to 12%

• Fuel Cell Vehicle. Further, Compensation cess shall also be exempted on fuel cell vehicle.

 

II. Refund of accumulated credit on account of inverted duty structure to fabric manufacturers:Fabrics                  attract GST at the rate of 5% subject to the condition that refund of accumulated ITC on account of inversion will not be          allowed. However, considering the difficulty faced by the Fabric sector on account of this condition, the GST Council has        recommended for allowing refund to fabrics on account of inverted duty structure. The refund of accumulated ITC shall          be allowed only with the prospective effect on the purchases made after the notification is issued.

III. GST rates have been recommended to be brought down from,-

1. 18%12%/5% to Nil:

• Stone/Marble/Wood Deities
• Rakhi [other than that of precious or semi-precious material of chapter 71]
• Sanitary Napkins,
• Coir pith compost
• Sal Leaves siali leaves and their products and Sabai Rope
• PhoolBhariJhadoo [Raw material for Jhadoo]
• Khali dona.
• Circulation and commemorative coins, sold by Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd [SPMCIL] to Ministry of Finance.

2. 12% to 5%:

• Knitted cap/topi having retail sale value not exceeding Rs 100
• Phosphoric acid (fertilizer grade only).
• Handloom dari
• Chenille fabrics and other fabrics under heading 5801

3. 18% to 12%:

• Bamboo flooring
• Brass Kerosene Pressure Stove.
• Hand Operated Rubber Roller
• Zip and Slide Fasteners

 

 4. 18% to 5%:

• Ethanol for sale to Oil Marketing Companies for blending with fuel
• Solid bio fuel pellets

 

 IV. Rate change made in respect of footwear

• 5% GST is being extended to footwear having a retail sale price up to Rs. 1000 per pair
• Footwear having a retail sale price exceeding Rs. 1000 per pair will continue to attract 18%

 

 V. GST rates have been recommended to be brought down for specified handicraft items [as per the                      definition of handicraft, as approved by the GST council] from,-

 

     A. 18% to 12%:

• Handbags including pouches and purses; jewellery box
• Wooden frames for painting, photographs, mirrors etc
• Art ware of cork [including articles of sholapith]
• Stone art ware, stone inlay work
• Ornamental framed mirrors
• Glass statues [other than those of crystal]
• Glass art ware [ incl. pots, jars, votive, cask, cake cover, tulip bottle, vase ]
• Art ware of iron
• Art ware of brass, copper/ copper alloys, electro plated with nickel/silver
• Aluminium art ware
• Handcrafted  lamps (including panchloga lamp)
• Worked vegetable or mineral carving, articles thereof, articles of wax, of stearin, of natural gums or natural resins or of modelling pastes etc, (including articles of lac, shellac)
• Ganjifa card

 

     B. 12% to 5%:

• Handmade carpets and other handmade textile floor coverings (including namda/gabba)
• Handmade lace
• Hand-woven tapestries
• Hand-made braids and ornamental trimming in the piece
• Toran

 

     VI. Miscellaneous Change relating to valuation of a supply:

• IGST @5% on Pool Issue Price (PIP) of Urea imported on Govt. account for direct agriculture use, instead of assessable value plus custom duty.
• Exemption from Compensation cess to Coal rejects from washery [arising out of cess paid coal on which ITC has not been taken].

 

      VII. Clarifications/amendments as regards applicability of GST rate in respect of certain goods                                   recommended by GST Council which inter-aliaincludes:

 

1. Milk enriched with vitamins or minerals salt (fortified milk) is classifiable under HS code 0401 as milk and exempt from GST.
2. 5% GST on both treated (modified) tamarind kernel powder and plain (unmodified) tamarind kernel powder.
3. Beet and cane sugar, including refined beet and cane sugar, (falling under heading 1701) attracts 5% GST rate.
4. Water supplied for public purposes (other than in sealed containers) does not attract GST.
5. Marine engine (falling under sub-heading 8408 10 93) attracts 5% GST rate.
6. Kota stone and similar stones [ other than marble and granite] other than polished will attracts 5% GST, while ready to use polished Kota stoneand similar stones will attracts 18%.
7. Certain other miscellaneous clarification as regards classification/rate have been recommended

 

Source:  http://pib.nic.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1539574#.W1NSW2KwCpQ.twitter

 

Indian Railways has improved the on time performance of its trains in July. The punctuality score of the national transporter has increased from low levels of around 60 per cent (between April and June) to 70 per cent in first two weeks of July.

Konkan railway has shown maximum improvement as 94 per cent of the trains are running on time in the zone. North Western Railway and Northern Frontier railway have also posted punctuality figures of around 90 per cent . Out of 17 rail zones across the country, 10 zones have improved their on-time performance to 75 per cent .

Only three rail zones-west central railway, south eastern central railway and northern railway have trains with maximum delay and punctuality scores of 60 per cent and below, the railway ministry said in a statement.

On an average, railways has reported that 70 per cent trains on its network were running on time.

The ministry had earlier said that its punctuality figures were as automatic data loggers were being used for collection of data related to running of trains

 
Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/railways/railways-improves-on-time-performance-of-trains-in-july/articleshow/65009016.cms

After 165 years of its birth, Indian Railways is set to get its first publicly-owned dedicated corridor for freight trains on August 15, when the country will be celebrating its 72nd Independence Day.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to dedicate to the nation a 190-km railway line between Dadri in Uttar Pradesh and Phulera in Rajasthan, which fall under the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor(WDFC).

The Red Fort speech of the PM this year is likely to set the pitch for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, citing the government’s achievements in the four years.

For the railways, that is facing stiff competition from roadways in freight traffic, this can come as a fresh lease of life as the project is finally taking shape even though partially after 12 years of its formation. It was in February 2006 that the Cabinet had given in-principle nod to the project.

“The feeder route at Tundla is already in place and the Ateli-Phulera route will be functional on August 15,” said a government official. The Rs 814-billion-project of Eastern and Western DFCs will cover a total of 3,360 km track, of which around 1,500 km falls in the western region starting from Dadri to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust.

Sources said that the government is likely to highlight this as a major achievement for the elections as it was successful in completing land acquisition and awarding the contracts for the projects. After eight years of its conceptualisation, the Congress government was able to award only 18.45 per cent of the contracts as of March 2014.

While Japan International Cooperation Agency is providing loan of Rs 387.22 billion for the Western India project, the Eastern DFC (Mughalsarai-Allahabad-Kanpur-Khurja-Dadri- & Khurja-Ludhiana) is being funded by the World Bank through a loan of $2.360 billion.

The availability of this loan was also ensured in the last four years. Early this year, the railways had conducted a trial run on the Ateli-Phulera section of the Western DFC at a maximum speed of 100 km per hour. It took less than four hours to complete the journey.

According to its current road map, the railways is planning to commission both the lines by April 2020.

“There will be at least 10 feeder lines in the western corridor only connecting the main line to the supply freight. This is going to reduce the traffic by more than half in these busy routes,” he said.

According to estimates, delay in the projects has led to a cost overrun of 189 per cent from the earlier lined up Rs 281.81 billion in 2008 to Rs 814.59 billion. This includes higher land costs.

This includes Rs 266.74 billion for EDFC and Rs 467.18 billion for WDFC along with a land cost of Rs 80.67 billion.

According to CAG estimates, there was a Rs 44.42 billion increase in land cost by 2014.

 

Source: https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/railways-to-get-first-dedicated-corridor-for-freight-trains-on-august-15-118071601349_1.html

 

 

Indian Railways and MahaMetro (Metro Railway Project Company of Maharashtra) today signed an MoU for linking railway line to Metro coaches on broad gauge network & creating a Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) in Nagpur city. The MoU signing ceremony held in Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s Suresh Bhat Auditorium was witnessed by Union Minister of Railways, Finance, Corporate Affairs, and Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Water Resources, Shri. Nitin Gadkari and Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri. Devendra Fadnavis. Chairman Railway Board Shri Ashwani Lohani and Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development Shri Mishra were also present on this occasion.

Speaking on the occasion Shri Piyush Goyal informed that, the Railway Ministry is also trying to execute a plan for setting up railway line across the national highways. One such proposal is to connect Nagpur –Mumbai Super Express Way (Samriddhi Mahamarg) to Railway line connecting Nagpur-Mumbai. The construction of such a Hi speed Railway Corridor will make it feasible to cover distance between Nagpur & Mumbai in just 5 hours. Indian Railways has also allocated a record sum of 67 thousand crore rupees for development of Sub urban railway network in Mumbai which is used by one third of total Railway passengers in India.

The foundation stone laying ceremony of Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s ‘waste to energy project’ was also performed on this occasion. Foundation stone laying ceremony of project of Mahagenco to carry the coal from cluster of Mines of Western Coalfield Limited through pipe conveyor system was also done.

Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Water Resources, Shri Nitin Gadkari while speaking on rising pollution in metro cities, has advocated for ‘public transport on electricity’ on this occasion. He urged people to use public transport instead of private transport. He informed that the speed of air conditioned metro coaches running on broad gauge line of Railway will be 100 km/hr which is much more than ordinary passenger trains. He informed that this MoU signing will pave the way for towns like Bhandara, Wardha distant from Nagpur to come closer and developed into satellite cities.

Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Devendra Fadnavis said that these three projects will be hailed as innovative steps and will be followed by nation. He informed that, water acquired from Mines and power plants is being used to irrigate over 10 thousands hectare land in Maharashtra. An MoU between VIDC (Vidarbha Irrigation Industrial Corporation) & WCL has been signed for mine water distribution, he informed on this occasion.

On the occasion a booklet titled “New Railways New Maharashtra” on Railway’s development in Maharashtra was also unveiled in this function.

The programme was attended by local public representatives, officials of Maha Metro, NMC, Mahagenco, Indian Railways, officials of district administration and general public in large numbers.

 

Source: http://pib.nic.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1538757

In order to reduce the long pending grievances of taxpayers and to minimise litigations pertaining to tax matters and to facilitate the Ease of Doing Business, Government of India has decided to increase the threshold monetary limits for filing Departmental Appeals at various levels, be it Appellate Tribunals, High Courts and the Supreme Court in the following manner :-

 

Sl. No.	Appeal Fora	Present limit for filing appeal (In Rs.)	Enhanced limit (In Rs.)
1.	ITAT / CESTAT	10 lakhs	20 lakhs
2.	High Courts	20 lakhs	50 lakhs
3.	Supreme Court	25 lakhs	1 Crore

 

This is a major step in the direction of litigation management of both direct and indirect taxes as it will effectively reduce minor litigations and help the Department to focus on high value litigations.

 

In case of CBDT, out of total cases filed by the Department in ITAT, 34% of cases will be withdrawn. In case of High Courts, 48% of cases will be withdrawn and in case of Supreme Court 54% of cases will be withdrawn. The total percentage of reduction of litigation from Department’s side will get reduced by 41%. However, this will not apply in such cases where substantial point of law is involved.

 

Similarly, in case of CBIC, out of total cases filed by the Department in CESTAT, 16% of cases will be withdrawn. In case of High Courts, 22% of cases will be withdrawn and in case of Supreme Court 21% of cases will be withdrawn. The total percentage of reduction of litigation from Department’s side will get reduced by 18%. However, this will not apply in such cases where substantial point of law is involved.

 

This step will also reduce future litigation flow from the Department side.

 

Source: http://www.pib.nic.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1538352