Rly plans to cut APR for booking tickets
New Delhi: Indian Railways has decided to reduce the Advance Reservation Period (ARP) for booking reserved train tickets from existing 120 days to 60 days. The changes come in effect with May 1. However, all the bookings done upto 30.4.2013 under the ARP of 120 days will remain intact. Cancellation of the booking made beyond the ARP of 60 days will, however, be permitted. There will be no change in the case of certain day time express trains like Taj Express, Gomti Express etc. where lower time limits for advance reservations are at present in force. There will also be no change in the case of limit of 360 days for foreign tourists.
Nod for two highway plans in Rajasthan
New Delhi: The Road Transport and Highways Ministry on Thursday approved two highway extension projects in Rajasthan involving investments of `713 crore with assistance from the World Bank under Phase I of National Highway Interconnectivity Improvement Projects (NHIIP). The stretch from lalsot to Karauli on NH-11B (87 km) will be improved at a cost of Rs 310 crore, whereas the stretch from Pratapgarh to Padi on NH-113 (97 km) will be improved at a cost of Rs 403 crore. Both the projects will be implemented by PWD Rajasthan as executing agency of the ministry to be completed by March, 2017.
‘State’s duty to give safety to tourists’
New Delhi: Stressing that law and order are state subjects, Union Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi on Thursday said it is primarily the responsibility of the State Governments for prevention of crime against tourists/foreign tourists. He nevertheless said that his Ministry has asked all the state governments to deploy tourist police for the safety of tourists. Replying to a query in Rajya Sabha, the Minister also said that the foreign tourist arrivals in India during January - March, 2013 have grown by 2.3 per cent compared to the corresponding period of 2012.
Sunil Kumar is new MD of CRIS
New Delhi: Railway Board's Advisor Safety, Sunil Kumar, has taken over as Managing Director of Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS). An officer of the 1976 batch of Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS), Kumar has done his MBA and MA (Political Science) from the University of Allabhabad. Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) was established in the year 1986 by Ministry of Railways with focus to provide consulting and IT services to Indian Railways.
‘Need to strength intelligence set up’
New Delhi: Against the backdrop of Bangalore blast, Centre said it has been advising states on the need to strengthen their intelligence set up but has "not seen much progress" on that front. As many as 16 persons including 11 personnel were injured in a blast outside BJP office on April 17.