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| Railroaded | 10-JUL-09 |
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| When CPI(M) MP Basudeb Acharia rose to speak in the discussion on the Railway Budget in the Lok Sabha, he was attacked by both Trinamool Congress and Congress MPs. When Acharia pointed out that, among the other problems with the Railways, the average speed of freight trains was just 26 kms per hour, Congress MP Adhir Chowdhury asked, “what were you doing during the last five years as the Chairman of Railway Standing Committee?” When Acharia asked for more time to speak, the chief whip of Trinamool Congress told the chairperson of the Lok Sabha, “He has forgotten that his party has just 9 MPs from Bengal. In the Lok Sabha, one gets time according to the strength of his party. |
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| Railway land to be leased to boost PPP: Mamata | 07-JUL-09 |
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| Keen to increase earnings, Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee today said she intends to give a boost to public-private partnership (PPP) and will give Railway land on lease for infrastructure development. |
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| Too good to last | 06-JUL-09 |
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| If Lalu Prasad had a Shakespearean bent, he might have been tempted to recall Mark Anthony’s funeral speech for Julius Caesar (“The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones”) as he listened to his successor present the Railway Budget for 2009-10. Over the course of his five-year term, Mr Prasad received enormous praise for taking the system from virtual bankruptcy to a considerable degree of financial stability. Of course, there were many things remaining as far as investment in capacity and safety was concerned, not to mention the quality of services; but the steady decline in the operating ratio (or, equivalently, increase in operating margins) was on its way to providing the railways the financial cushion to begin addressing these as well. The slowdown during 2008-09 put some hurdles in the way, though. |
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| Pranab gets Mamata's 'good luck' call | 05-JUL-09 |
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| In the Railway Budget, Mamata Banerjee tried to appease the aam aadmi. And after the Budget, she tried to assure Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee that the General Budget that he would present on Monday would also be a “successful budget.” Before leaving for Kolkata on Friday evening, Banerjee called up Mukherjee and said, “Pranab da, don’t worry, your Budget will be very good. It will be very successful. We will be there to support your Budget.” The finance minister had a hearty laugh and said, “Yes, you all should be present in the Lok Sabha on Monday. And please reach Parliament early.” Mukherjee will present the Budget at 11am on Monday. |
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| Sensex rally seen beyond 15,100 | 05-JUL-09 |
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| The market exhibited high level of volatility in intra-day trades during the week. The Sensex, after slipping in first half of the week, recovered towards the end on positive vibes from the Economic Survey and the Railway Budget. |
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| White paper to bring out truth on my performance: Lalu | 04-JUL-09 |
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| Unfazed by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee's declaration of coming out with a white paper on performance of Railways in past five years, her predecessor Lalu Prasad today said he was not worried over the move as it will bring out the "truth". |
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| Rail budget's simple and for common man: CCI | 04-JUL-09 |
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| Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee's Railway Budget is simple, growth oriented and in the interest of the common man, said the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), Jammu. |
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| Tripura Left unhappy over railway budget | 04-JUL-09 |
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| Regretting no money had been allocated for extension of tracks in Tripura in the rail budget, the ruling left front today dubbed the budget of Mamata Banerjee as 'illusory'. |
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| T N Ninan: Not a fast track | 04-JUL-09 |
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| If you want to understand what has been happening to the railways, forget Mamata Banerjee’s railway budget, and look at some long-term trends. The length of the routes on which the railways carry goods and people has remained virtually unchanged since 1980; indeed, the carrying capacity of all railway wagons has come down since then by about 10 per cent; the number of locomotives has come down by 25 per cent; and the number of railway employees has dropped 10 per cent. |
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