eSign Document for Procurement Safe

Learn what it means to eSign a document An eSignature means you can sign your document without printing, scanning, or faxing. Just open the document and drop your signature anywhere. Then, send it back via email to the sender. It is easier, faster, and less expensive than signing with a pen.

An electronic document is any electronic media content (other than computer programs or system files) that are intended to be used in either an electronic form or as printed output. ... However, using electronic documents for final presentation instead of airSlate SignNow has created the problem of multiple incompatible file formats.

Definition of: e-copy. e-copy. (Electronic-copy) A airSlate SignNow document that has been scanned and converted to a computer file, typically Microsoft Word or airSlate SignNow PDF (see doc file and PDF).

Learn what it means to eSign a document An eSignature means you can sign your document without printing, scanning, or faxing. Just open the document and drop your signature anywhere. Then, send it back via email to the sender. It is easier, faster, and less expensive than signing with a pen.

An electronic document is any electronic media content (other than computer programs or system files) that are intended to be used in either an electronic form or as printed output. ... However, using electronic documents for final presentation instead of airSlate SignNow has created the problem of multiple incompatible file formats.

Definition of: e-copy. e-copy. (Electronic-copy) A airSlate SignNow document that has been scanned and converted to a computer file, typically Microsoft Word or airSlate SignNow PDF (see doc file and PDF).

Click here for Digital SignatureTYPES OF DSCBased on the level of validation, DSC is issued in three classes. Class I only validates the email address of the user. You may not be required to provide any documents for this.Such DSCs are used by employers while communicating with employees on email. With a Class II DSC, the certificate may be validated by the signNowing authority or its representative. You will have to provide identity and address proof. These are used for e-filing income tax returns.A Class III DSC is issued directly by the signNowing authority and indicates a higher level of authenticity. To get a Class III DSC, you have to be personally present in front of the signNowing authority, along with identity and address proofs.Such DSCs are used to participate in e-tendering or e-auctions organized by governments or public sector companies. These can also be used for e-filing tax returns.What are different types/classes of Digital Signature Certificate (DSC)?Different classes of DSC are:Class-IClass-IIClass-IIIIncrement in Class is for security reasons and each class of DSC have different usage. Class-I is most basic form digital id and it not used in any of government service.Class-II is most used DSC and it is used for signing documents, filing IT returns, filing MCA forms and GST returns.Class-III is used to tenders and is costly than Class-II DSC.Class of Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) for Income Tax FilingFor filing income tax returns, tax audit reports you need Class-II Digital Signature Certificate (DSC).Income Tax website accepts Class-II DSC and you can buy a valid Class-II certificate to file your IT returns or any other form such as Form 15CA.Class of Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) for GSTYou need Class-II DSC to file GST returns. GST website allows Class-II DSC for registration, returns and authentication.

Click here for Digital Signature CertificateDigital signature certificates or DSC are required for filing income tax returns, company filings, import export clearance and e-tenders.A Digital Signature is the equivalent of a physical signature in electronic format, as it establishes the identity of the sender of an electronic document in the Internet. Digital Signatures are used in India for online transactions such as Income Tax E-Filing, Company or LLP Incorporation, Filing Annual Return, E-Tenders, etc., There are three types of Digital Signatures, Class I, Class II and Class III Digital Signature. Class I type of Digital Signatures are only used for securing email communication. Class II type of Digital Signatures are used for Company or LLP Incorporation, IT Return E-Filing, Obtaining DIN or DPIN, and filing other forms with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Income Tax Department. Class III type Digital Signatures are used mainly for E-Tendering and for participating in E-Auctions. Digital Signatures come in the form of a USB E-Token, wherein the Digital Signature Certificate is stored in a USB Drive and can be accessed through a computer to sign documents electronically.With E-Return filing becoming mandatory for Income Tax Assesses with an income of over Rs.5 lakhs per annum, the requirement and prevalence of Digital Signatures has increased manifold. IndiaFilings can help you obtain your Digital Signature hassle-free online. IndiaFilings is a Registered Partner of SIFY and E-Mudhra.Class II Digital Signatures are used for Income Tax E-Filing, Company or LLP Incorporation, Annual Return Filing, etc., Class II Digital Signatures are required to file documents electronically with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Income Tax Department.Difference between Class 2 and Class 3 Digital Signature CertificatesIn this day and age of technology, physical signatures are increasingly being converted to digital media for security reasons. Digital Signature Certificates, (DSC) are simply the electronic equivalent of physical or paper certificates such as identity proofs, driver�s licenses, passports or PAN cards. These certificates can prove to be helpful for many online transactions that require digital proof of identities and to receive and send information on the web safely.Organizations and firms, today require digital signature certificate to better facilitate communication and transactions between them and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. For companies that have a turnover of more than INR 60 Lakhs have to apply for these certifications mandatorily, and it is considered a legally admissible instrument. Besides, it is always wise to get a digital signature as it offers a high level of security for online transactions by ensuring absolute privacy of the information exchanged. These certificates can also be useful for encrypting information that only the intended recipient can have access to. You can digitally sign information to assure the recipient that it has not been changed in transit, and also verify your identity as the sender of the message.There are two main types of Digital Signature Certificates � Class 2 Certificates and Class 3 Digital Signature Certificate. A Class 2 Digital Signature Certificate is used by individuals and is available for download after verification based on a trusted and pre-verified database. A Class 3 Digital Signature Certificate, on the other hand, is of the highest level as it is issued only after the registrant�s identity verification has been carried out by a Registration Authority.Class 2 Digital Signature Certificates are generally used for filing documents Income Tax, Registrar of Companies and VAT, whereas Class 3 Digital Signature Certificates are needed for e-tendering, which is a procurement process that is conducted online. The aspects where this comes into play include: � Contract download� Evaluation of tenders (May or may not involve e-auctions)� Supplier registration/expression of interest� Submission of bid documentThe Ministry of Company Affairs, Government of India (GoI) has initiated MCA21 program, for easy and secure access to its services in a manner that best suits the businesses and citizens. The MCA21 application is designed to support Class 2 & 3 Digital Signature Certificates (DSC) issued by licensed signNowing Authority under Controller of signNowing Authorities.

Class 2 Digital Signature Certificate can be issued to individual or an authorized individual on the behalf of any organization. Class 2 Digital Signature Certificate is available for download after verification based on a trusted and pre-verified databaseWhereas Class 2B Digital signature certificates are issued to Organization for various purposes. Class 2B digital signatures for organization is personal certificate that provides second highest level of assurance within the RCAI hierarchy setup by CCA (Controller of signNowing Authorities) in India which is mainly used for e tender filing, E Procurement, E Bidding, Bank Auction and Document Signing.

Any industry involving a large amount of paperwork make use electronic signatures. In other words, all industries make use of electronic signatures because all of them have piles of paperwork to handle. Some examples of such industries include financial, life science, healthcare and pharmaceutical industries.Industries such as the pharmaceutical industry, have a number of licenses and other paperwork that they have to handle and keep track of. It can be a tedious task to perform such cumbersome paper processes. Therefore, e-signatures can facilitate an organisation in keeping a track of all this paperwork, by signing electronically.Healthcare industries usually involve time-sensitive documents, which need to be urgently completed. But, it can take days in case of the traditional wet ink paper signatures for the documents to signNow the signer and back, if the parties are geographically scattered. But with electronic signatures, that is not the case. Geographical barriers do not play a role. Documents which earlier needed days to be completed, can now be signed and sent back within minutes, in the click of a button. Furthermore, it takes a long time to bring assets under management. The time taken by the signing process, if wet ink paper signatures are used, may even further delay the process. But by using electronic signatures, the whole process can speed up.Apart from these, there are many paper prone industries which require huge amount of paperwork and with the use of electronic signatures they can make their everyday processes smoother and more efficient.

I rate him 95+ out of 100.INITIATIVES FOR PASSENGERSPassenger Helpline No. 138 and security helpline 182 Indian Railways provided the All India Helpline Number ‘138’ for passengers, as an interface for queries/complaints related to medical emergency, cleanliness, food & catering, coach maintenance, linen etc. A security helpline ‘182’has also been launched to report any unsavory incidents. This service is very important public service and may play an important role in emergencies like crime against women, onboard unlawful activity, train accidents, medical attention required and fire etc. These helpline numbers viz.138&182 and existing 139 are now to be printed on the tickets for the convenience of passengers. Launching of e-catering service in trainsThe Ministry of Railways is providing e-catering service in trains through its PSU, Indian Railways Catering &Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). This is a service where a passenger is able to place an order for a meal, to be served at his seat in the train enroute, through a phone call or an SMS. Presently this service is available in 120 pairs of trains. Go-India Smart cardGo-India’ smart card scheme has been launched on pilot basis on two sectors i.e. New Delhi-Mumbai and New Delhi-Howrah. At present, the Go-India smart card enables passengers to pay for reserved and unreserved tickets. The scheme is intended to reduce the transaction time at the booking counters for the convenience of passengers as it facilitates cashless transaction.Introduction of Next Generation e-ticketing systemNext generation E-ticketing system introduced, which can book 7200 online tickets instead of 2000 tickets per minute and to attend 2,00,000 enquiries instead of 50000 per minute. SMS Alerts to passengersIndian Railways added another milestone by launching yet another innovative scheme called the ‘SMS Gateway’, which will enable passengers to get SMS alerts on the status of reserved tickets. Moreover SMS alerts giving wakeup calls has also been introduced. Mobile security App.for womenMobile app for security of women has been launched in Mumbai suburban trains.This is the first phase and it will be extended in other areas in a phased manner. Yatri Ticket Sewa Kendra schemeA new scheme called the Yatri Ticket Sewa Kendra (YTSK) Scheme has been launched. Under this scheme, agents of Indian Railways can operate ticketing terminals at various locations in the cities and towns for issuing reserved tickets and unreserved tickets. This will offer greater convenience to passengers in getting rail tickets. Adarsh StationThe scheme of Adarsh stations for better amennities has been introduced in the year 2009. Under this scheme, 1052 stations have been selected for development as Adarsh Station upto 2013-14. 108 stations have been developed under the scheme during 2014-15, as such a total of 934 stations have been developed as ‘Adarsh’ station so far. Pilgrim special tourist trainsWith a view to promote rail tourism in the country and to provide reasonably priced tourism package to tourists, especially the pilgrims in the country, India Railways through its PSU IRCTC has launched six pilgrim special tourist train packages in the first phase. The tourist packages are;  Sukhamngalam Yatra,  Dham special with Dakshin Darshan via Lucknow, Dham special with Dakshin Darshan via Jaipur, Shikharji Circuit Yatra, Jyotirling Yatra, and Takht Parikrama. Braille Signages on coachesFor the help of visually impaired passengers, Indian Railways has taken  the initiative of providing Braille signages on coaches. CCTV on coaches In order to improve security measures on trains and especially for women passengers, it has been decided to provide CCTV cameras on coaches especially in ladies compartments in doorway and aisle area without infringing on the privacy. Waiting chairs/benches etc. under MPLAD Scheme Guidelines issue for installations of chairs/benches/overhead sheds at stations under Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme(MPLAD).Comprehensive guidelines have been issued for improvement of passenger amenities at stations through NGOs, Trusts, Corporate etc. R.O. drinking water at stations Provision of Reverse Osmosis (R.O.) drinking water units at selection stations on experimental basis has been planned. To begin with, eight stations namely, Madurai, Gadag, Tirupati, Guwahati Dwarka, H.Nizammudin, Patna  & Bhopal were identified for provision of R.O. drinking water units. While R.O. drinking water units have already been commissioned at Dwarka, Gadag, H.Nizammudin, Katihar (in lieu of Guwahati), Madurai and Tirupati stations R.O. units at Patna & Bhopal are planned to be commissioned shortly.This will help provide safe drinking water to passengers. Seperate Food safety officer in every division With a view to ensure better quality check on the food installations in Railway, it has been decided to appoint one Food Safety Officer in every Division of the Railways. Earlier a Food Safety Officer was entrusted with more than one Division which was causing difficulty in ensuring proper supervision.DIGITAL INDIA INITIATIVE Launching of a ‘Customer Complaint Web Portal’ A ‘Customer Complaint Web Portal and Mobile Application’ (android/windows based mobile App), was launched. One can track the status of the complaints which he or she registered on this portal with the help of mobile App. Feedback can also be given on this portal.  This will help in faster redressal of passenger grievances. ‘Operation Five Minutes’ –Paperless Unreserved TicketingFulfilling yet another commitment of the Railway Budget 2015-16, the Minister of Railways launched Mobile Application for Paperless Unreserved Ticketing on pilot basis on  Egmore –Tambaram Suburban Section of Chennai. This initiative is part of Indian Railways effort to help passengers purchase the unreserved tickets within five minutes under its ‘Operation five minutes programme’. This will allow the passenger to buy a ticket on the move and allow him or her to board the train with the ticket secured on his or her mobile phone, without any need for printing the ticket.‘E-Samiksha’ for Implementation  MonitoringIn yet another milestone initiative for ensuring timely implementation of budget proposals, a special portal called ‘E-Samiksha’, has been launched for monitoring the implementation of budget announcements/commitments .This portal would help to keep an eye on the implementation of budget process. Facility of ‘Wi-Fi’ services on Railway stations Indian Railways is providing the Wi-Fi Broadband Services at several stations which include Bangaluru, Secunderabad, Mumbai CST, Agra, Varanasi, Hawrah, Chennai, Ahmdabad. The Wi-Fi project on Indian Railways is being executed by RailTel, a Public Sector Undertaking of the Ministry of Railways. Wi-Fi facility is available to the users free of cost initially for a period of 30 minutes by registering on the Wi-Fi network through their mobile phones. The facility of Wi-Fi will be extended to other stations in a phased manner. Introduction of e-demand system With the release of this module, customers can sit in the convenience of their homes or offices and register their freight demands. Railways’  Social Media platform To keep pace with the modern means of internet media, Indian Railways launched its three social media platforms namely Facebook, Twitter and You Tube with the URL @railminindia. Railway Budget was for the first time live streamed on social media platforms. Online suggestions and feedback can also be made on these social media platforms. SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT MoU signed for highest ever funding for Railways In a landmark achievement, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of Railways and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) for highest ever funding of Rs. 1.5 lakh crore for Railways. This move will ultimately help railways growth through augmentation of its financial resources. Interim Report of HLRRC submitted to Railway Board Interim Report of High Level Railway Restructuring Committee (HLRCC) headed by Dr. Bibek Debroy has been submitted to the Railway Board.The report has also been put on the Ministry’s website for inviting suggestions and comments. This committee was constituted with an aim to find out ways to mobilise resources for major railway projects and restructuring of railways. Delegating more power to Zonal Railways With an aim to fast track decision making and bring in transparency full powers have been delegated to General Manages and Director Generals as tender authority . All the cases for acceptance of Works and Stores tenders, will now be dealt with and finalized by Zonal Railways and Production Units.Scope of e-tendering is being expanded for increased transparency and procurement. Saving of energy To reduce cost of Electrical energy being used for traction, procurement through open market is being done.Power Purchase Agreement between DVC and North Central railway for supply of 50MW power has already been signed.Saving for the month of March 2015 alone is Rs 10 Crore approx.A web based electrical energy management system called RailSaver has been launched which will help save upto 15% energy by 2020. Logistic Hubs on National Waterways A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWA) and the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) for creation of logistic hubs with rail connectivity at Varanasi and other places on National Waterways. Alternative  Energy Resources Solar Plants of 2 MW at RCF, Raebareli and 1 MW at Katra Railway station have been commissioned.Target of commissioning 6.5 MW Solar Power plants in year 2015-16. A 30 KW Solar Plant has been commissioned at roof top Rail Bhawan at New Delhi. Solar plants at other Railway buildings are proposed to be installed in future. Target for commissioning of 25 MW Wind Energy Plant at Jaisalmer in 2015-16. Ratan Tata as Head of ‘Kayakalp’ Council Taking immediate follow up action in implementing the Budget announcement, Railways constituted the ‘Kayakalp’ Council and appointed Shri Ratan Tata to head this Council. The purpose of the Council is to recommend innovative methods and processes for the improvement, betterment and transformation of the Indian Railways. MOU with National Institute of Design Adding yet another milestone by fulfilling another commitment announced in the Railway Budget 2015-16, the Indian Railway signed an MoU to set up its own Railway Design Centre in the campus of National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmadabad. This will help improve customer’s happiness by way of better designed coaches and providing cost effective solutions to problems faced by passengers during train travel. White paper and vision 2030 documentMinister of Railways released White Paper on Railways in the parliament with a view to understand the challenges that the organization is presently facing. Ministry of Railways is now working on the vision 2030 document on Railways which will contain a blueprint for the future development of the Indian Railways. Task forces and Experts’ committeesSeveral task forces and committees of experts constituted for focussed attention on areas like revenue mobilization through advertising, improving financial health of railways, restructuring delegation of powers, productivity enhancement, etc. The various committees have roped in experts like E Shreedhran, former CAG Vinod Rai, economist Bibek Debroy and noted industrialist Ratan Tata to improve the Railways and bring in innovative ideas and solutions.Better training of Railway PersonnelAcademic Services Agreement has been signed with Beijing Jiao Tong University, China for training of 100 officers of various departments in Heavy Haul Technology. ‘Indian Railways Chair for Sustainable Mobility’ has been set up at TERI University, New Delhi. Modules on gender sensitization of Railway personnel have been introduced in centralized training institutes.Centre for Railway Research set up at Mumbai UniversityRailway Ministry and Mumbai University signed an MoU to set up a Centre for Railway Research (CRR) at University of Mumbai in order to develop a long-term frame work for research collaboration. Leveraging of space for advertisingWith a view to generate additional revenue, RITES,a public sector undertaking of Ministry of Railways prepared a Concept Note, indicating ways and means for leveraging of space in coaches, wagons, trains, railway stations etc. for advertisements, publicity and other purposes. Now, six-member task force headed by Member Traffic Railway Board has been set up to examine and implement this project.INFRASTRUCTURECritical coal connectivity projects fasttracked Transportation of coal is an important activity of Indian Railways and is very crucial for the country’s power supply system. Critical Coal connectivity projects in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa are being fast tracked. MOU has been signed with Ministry of Coal and Government of Odisha. Another MOU with Government of Jharkhand is in the offing. Redevelopment of Railway Stations Railway Ministry has now decided to offer Railway Stations for redevelopment on ‘as is where is’ basis, by inviting open bids from interested parties with their designs and business ideas duly providing for amenities and other requirements of the Railways. The Process for redevelopment of stations, already indentified viz. Anand Vihar, Bijwasan, Chandigarh, Shivaji Nagar & Habibganj by Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Ltd. (IRSDC) is continuing. Progress On Dedicated Freight Corridor Project Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight corridors are being developed for smooth and fast transportation of freight. Loan for Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (Phase 2) for US $ 1100 million approved  by the World Bank on 22.04.14, has been signed on 11th November 2014. Electrification contract for 945 km of Western DFC has been awarded on 18.11.2014. FDI and PPP in RailwaysCabinet approved 100% FDI in identified areas of Railway sector.Ministry of Railways has formulated sectoral guidelines on FDI.Investor’s meet was held to explain FDI to investors.More meets planned in future. High level committee set up to discuss FDI and PPP issues. Ministry of Railways has also issued Model Concession Agreement for Non Governmental Railway model, joint venture model and Built, Operate and Transfer (BOT) model. During the period , approvals were also given for port connectivity PPP projects viz. Roha-Dighi newline and Digni-Jaigarh port newline. In addition in principle approval for two more port connectivity projects viz. Chhara port and Nargol port has been given.New Rail Neer Plant in Mumbai inaugurated A new Rail Neer plant has been set up at Ambernath (Mumbai) by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a Public Sector Undertaking of Ministry of Railways, the production capacity of this plant will be 2 lakh liters per day, This will improve availability of safe Packaged Drinking Water (PDW).  Laying of Opticle Fibre Cable on Railway Network A total number of 1,329 route kilometres OFC has been laid. Cumulatively, 48,179 route kilometers (approx.) OFC has been commissioned over Indian .It will enable high speed internet connectivity and video conferencing facility. New lines and electrificationIn 2014-15, 1983 km of railway lines have been commissioned. This is the highest ever. In 2014-15, 1375 km of railway electrification completed. This is the highest ever. SAFETY Geo-spatial technologies for unmanned level crossings In a signNow move to make Unmanned Level Crossings (UMLCs) safer for road users thereby avoiding accidents thereat, Geo-spatial technologies are proposed to be used with the help of ISRO. Under such technologies which combine Global Positioning System(GPS), Geographic Information System(GIS) and Remote Sensing, an alert message will be flashed automatically in the mobile phones of all the road users carrying GPS enabled mobile phones in the vicinity of an Unmanned Level Crossing, about the approaching train. This will save many lives as many fatal accidents occur at unmanned level crossing. Quick evacuation of injured persons from tracks Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are being put in place regarding quick evacuation of the injured persons from the railway track so that human lives are saved. MoU on construction of ROBs/RUBs In a move to further enhance safety of road users, Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Road Transport & Highways signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on policy related to constructions of Road Over Bridges and Road Under Bridges on National Highway corridors.  MAKE IN INDIA Expansion project of DLW factory The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the commencement of Expansion Project of Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW), a production unit of Indian Railways at Varanasi on some of the features of  the expansion plan are; a new block shop, loco frame shop and loco assembly shop, new plant shop having advanced paint booths, induction of high productivity machines and generation of 250 kw Green Power by roof mounted grid connected solar power plant. The project will herald the ‘Make in India’ campaign in the holy city, Varanasi.Ministry of Railway also successfully floated RFP for state of the Art Electro Loco Factory at Madhepura and Diesel Loco Factory at Marhowra. Again RFP were issued for manufacturing 9000 HP electric locos for western DFC. Locos will be manufactured at Dankuni and Technology will be transferred to CLW, Chittanranjan. New production unitsRail Wheel Plan, Bela commissioned and regular production started.2nd unit for manufacture of LHB coaches fit to run at 160kmph made functional at Integral Coach Factory, Chennai.DEMU factory Haldia commissioned.Mid-life Rehabilitation Workshop for coaches at Jhansi completed.New Loco and New Green Train5500 HP Diesel Locomotive introduced in Indian Railway System which is the highest horse power Diesel Engine.First “Green” DEMU rail introduced on Northern Railway to run between Rewari-Rohtak Section. HIGH SPEED PROJECTS Status of Railways Semi High Speed Projects Indian Railways is working on increasing speed of trains raising it to 160kmph/200 kmph referred as Semi-High speed. It has identified nine corridors for this purpose. Trial run in Delhi-Agra corridor successfully completed for running trains at semi-high speed of 160 km. per hour. The commercial services will be started after obtaining the CRS sanction. The feasibility study for semi high speed on Chennai-Bangaluru-Mysore Corridor is being taken up by Chinese Railways. Feasibility study for New Delhi-Chandigarh Corridor to be undertaken with French Railway. Discussions are on with Germany for undertaking feasibility study of Nagpur-Secunderabad Corridor. 5 other identified corridors under examination for semi high speed trains. Mumbai-Ahemdabad High Speed Bullet train project Ministry of Railways took steps for introduction of High Speed Bullet Trains(300+kmph) in the country on Mumbai-Ahmadabad corridor.  It is part of the Ministry’s ambitious plan to have Diamond Quadrilateral network of High Speed Rail connecting major metros and growth centers of the country. French Railway submitted business model study of this corridor. The interim report of feasibility study being undertaken by Japan has been received and final report is expected in June, 2015. One new route between New Delhi and Chennai has been identified for introducing bullet train and China has been entrusted with the task of undertaking feasibility study of this line. JAMMU & KASHMIR AND NORTH EASTOpening of Lumding-Silchar broad gauge section The much awaited Lumding-Silchar Broad Gauge section (Assam) inaugurated with the running of goods trains. The passenger train services will be started soon on this section. This line will provide seamless BG connectivity to Barak Valley of Assam with the rest of the Country.it Musica Country,Free Country Music WebRadio Online! is a very crucial rail link for the N.E region. First train to Meghalaya In an important event in the history of Railways, one more north-eastern state namely Meghalaya was brought on country’s railway map. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi flagged off the first ever train from Guwahati to Medipathar in Meghalaya to mark this feat. Foundation stone for rail link to Mizoram’s capital To further boost the development of rail link in North Eastern region, the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation for a new rail route from Bhairabi to Sairang in Mizoram. It will take rail connectivity to Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram Katra comes on country’s railway map In another landmark engineering marvel, Indian Railways completed Udhampur-Katra Broad gauge line in the State of Jammu and Kashmir.  Prime Minister dedicated this line to the nation at a programme held at Katra.This line has brought Katra on country’s railway map consequently bringing Jammu & Kashmir Valley nearer to the rest of the nation . Railways help during J&K floodsIndian Railways geared up its machinery to provide all possible help to the travelling public in the wake of unprecedented flood in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Railways arranged transport of relief material free of charge by coaching trains to Jammu Tawi and Udhampur from any station of India. Railways made about 4 lakh Rail Neer drinking water bottles available for flood affected people of J&K.North-eastern tour package for college students An education train ‘Gyanodaya Express’ – a tour package for the students of Delhi University to visit North east states, was flagged off from Delhi . It will help the students to connect with NE region . SWACHH BHARAT ABHIYAANNation wide Action PlanIndian Railways is implementing PMs nationwide campaign of Swachch Bharat Abhiyan in true letter and spirit.Separate Directorate for Environment and Housekeeping created. This Directorate will address all environment and housekeeping related issues over Railways.Detailed action plan on cleanliness prepared has been prepared and an Integrated Policy of cleanliness in Stations, Platforms and Coaches is under formulation.50 major stations outsourced for international level cleanliness. Setting up of mechanised laundries Mechanised laundries at 6 new locations have been set up to improve the quality of linen being supplied to AC class passengers. With this Indian Railway now have 33 such mechanized laundries. Dustbins on all the coaches: Dustbins on trains were hitherto being provided mainly on AC coaches. Now dustbins will be provided in all the coaches including non AC coaches. On Board Housekeeping services scheme: An additional 83 no. of trains have been covered under OBHS scheme taking total coverage to around 500 trains. Under this scheme ,cleanliness is maintained during run of the train. Installation of more Bio-Toilets in coachesMore than 10159 Bio-toilets have been fitted till March, 2015 and target set for 2015-16 is fitment of 17,000 bio-toilets. These toilets use bacterial action to convert human waste into water and gas. HELPING FARMERS AND RURAL PEOPLE First ever Perishable Cargo Centre set up The first ever Perishable Cargo Centre of Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) (a Railway PSU) at Adarsh Nagar station near Azadpur Sabzi Mandi, Delhi, was inaugurated. This perishable cargo centre will help farmers and consumers in a big way and the ripening of fruits and cold storage facilities at this cargo centre will help the farmers get a good price and good market for their product. Skill development activities in railway premises Indian Railways has around 8000 stations and premises of some of the railway stations with very few trains and scanty footfall would be used for skill development activities. It will help rural people substantially.The skill development programme has been emphasized by the Hon’ble Prime Minister for the benefit of the people. Promoting Rural Products Railways will also help in marketing rural products made by self help groups and other such agencies so as to help common rural people. The Konkani-cuisine restaurant “Konkan Swaad Katta’ recently set up at Ratnagiri station in Konkan Railway is a step in this  direction to encourage traditional businesses and local talent as well as  help the financial empowerment of  local people and at the same time passengers getting taste traditional dishes. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION MoU with China in technical cooperation  in RailwaysA Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and an Action Plan were signed between the Government of India and People’s Republic of China in enhancing Technical Cooperation in Railway Sector, at delegation level talks between the two countries on 18th September 2014. The potential cooperation areas mentioned in the MoU are; i) Training in heavy haul freight transportation, ii) Raising of speed of trains on existing routes, iii) Station redevelopment, iv) High speed rail and v) Setting up of Railway University. MoU on cooperation with Republic of Korea Indian Railways and Republic of Korea signed a MoU on Technical Cooperation In the Rail Sector. The MoU would enable technical assistance and cooperation between the Railways of the two countries on areas such as High Speed Rail, Modernisation of Rolling Stock, Railway Operations, Modernisation of Signalling, Construction & Maintenance technologies and in development of Logistics Parks/Terminals. Cooperation with Czech Republic MoU has also been signed with Czech Republic for technical assistance in Railway sector. The potential cooperation areas mentioned in the MoU are Freight operations- Logistics of automotive transport, Passenger operations – raising of speeds upto 200 kmph; Infrastructure building and management – station development and workshop modernization; Information & communication technologies especially for passenger amenities ; Modernisation of rolling stock; Modernisation of signalling & telecom etc. Cooperation with Austria  The 2nd Indo-Austrian Joint Working Group meeting on the Technology  Specific Cooperation  in the field of Railways was organized on 9.9.2014. Cooperation among SAARC nations Ministry of Railways hosted the 5th meeting of the SAARC Inter governmental Group on Transport on 30thSeptember,2014 at Vigyan Bhawan ,New Delhi,The meeting was attended by all the SAARC member countries. Relief during Nepal earthquake During the Nepal earthquake crisis, Railways made available to Nepal about 4 lakh Rail Neer drinking water bottles. Railways also made available to earthquake victims the facility of the Railways hospitals situated in the border towns. Railways also facilitated travel of earthquake victims. IMPROVED PERFORMANCE Increase in Railways’ revenue earnings The total approximate earnings of Indian Railways on originating basis during the financial year 2014-15 (1st April 2014 to 31st March 2015) were Rs. 157880.50 crore compared to Rs. 140761.27 crore during the same period last year, registering an increase of 12.16 per cent. Improved Freight loading Indian Railways carried 1097.57 million tonnes of revenue earning freight traffic during the financial year 2014-15 i.e. from 1st April 2014 to 31st March 2015. The freight carried shows an increase of 44.02 million tonnes over the freight traffic of 1053.55 million tonnes actually carried during the corresponding period last year, registering an increase of 4.18 per cent.MISCELLANEOUS Pathbreaking Railway Budget Railway Budget 2015-16 was completely depoliticized making it a long term perspective document.The thrust areas identified in the budget include Quality of life in journeys, station redevelopment, capacity augmentation, safety, technology upgradation, partnerships for development, improvements to management processes and systems, resource mobilization, human resources, energy and sustainability, transparency and governance initiatives.28 announcements made in the Budget speech already implemented. Railways players bring laurel to the nation Railway sportspersons as a part of Indian contingent at recently concluded Commonwealth Games-2014, (CWG) at Glasgow, Scotland, again brought glory to the nation by bagging 9 medals out of total 64 medals won by India. Renovation of National Rail Museum A big renovation exercise was undertaken in National Railways Museum, Delhi.  Musical Fountain, Toy Train and Renovated Exhibits have been added at the Museum.

Recently I participated in the “Prime Minister’s Silver Cup Essay Writing Competition 2017” which is one of the most prestigious essay writing competitions, being conducted by the SVP National Police Academy, Hyderabad for all the police officers from all departments, of all ages and ranks, across the entire country.The winner of the competition gets a Cash Prize, a Silver Cup and will be felicitated at the IPS Officers’ Passing Out Ceremony which is held at their Graduation Day in Hyderabad.The topic of that competition for this year was “National Security Strategy - From Cold War to Code War”. I shall be writing the essay here which I had submitted to the competition. I would lose the intellectual property rights for this essay to the Academy if I win the competition. If not, I would retain the rights to publish this essay anywhere I like. Since the results would come later this year, so writing it here wont be any problem. :P (Will delete this post, if by mistake, I get a prize :P)Anyways, here is the essay. The answer to this question. The national security strategy for India.“National Security Strategy : From Cold War to Code War”“Conflicting ideals are a virtue; they keep us on our toes, in a constant vigil” – AnonymousEons ago, when the earth was still uninhabited by the intriguing Homo sapiens, there existed a distant relative species of the contemporary cow, called the aurochs. This ancestral relative of the modern cattle was a highly ferocious and territorial animal, much unlike the present docile cow. The aurochs used to rule the lands of mid-Europe for centuries, and domesticating it was an unthinkable thought. But, a few centuries after the arrival of the humans, the ferocity of the aurochs was extinguished, the once undomesticable animal was domesticated, and the private parts of the aurochs were even squeezed by humans to extract nutritious milk. The aurochs was exploited, both physically and mentally, and was slowly transformed into the modern day humble cow. The aurochs, as we know it, is extinct, and now can be found only in the fossilized bones which are preserved in the museums, built by humans. There was no security for the aurochs. There was no strategy for the aurochs to save itself from the wrath of the humans. This is what happens when one does not have a viable security strategy against the threats of nature – Massacre and Extinction.In the last one century, our planet earth has witnessed major in-fighting amongst one of its species, the humans. The human beings have been fighting amongst themselves for millennia, but the last one hundred years had outdone all that. With the Great War of 1914 – 1918, the entire world witnessed enormous destruction, and it was thought that such destruction can never happen again. Then came the next Great War, aptly called the World War II, from 1939 till 1945, which again witnessed unprecedented destruction and loss of life. The dropping of the two nuclear bombs showed the capacity of the human intellect to destroy; to demolish; to devastate.The wreckage created by these two Wars taught a very valuable lesson to the human beings – Do not fight each other. But, this lesson was too short-lived, and we saw the rise of two super-powers, with conflicting ideas, ideals and ideologies, two countries that were competitive enough to start a race. A race to spread their ideology; A race to gain maximum number of members for their bloc; a race to build sophisticated arms; a race to explore space; a technological race; an ideological race; a hegemonic race – A race which paved the path for impending global destruction.For over five decades, the United States of America (USA) led the capitalist ideology bloc against the communist countries group, which was led by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) (Soviet Union) for unopposed global leadership, at the cost of each other. Soon after the famous Cuban crisis of 1962, the rise in the race for accumulation of dangerous arms shocked the entire world, as it shocked these two countries as well. To slow down this race and to ensure a strong control of arms proliferation, the two superpowers started holding bilateral conferences called the SALTs – Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, which paved way to treaties called the STARTs – Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties. Due to this self-realization on their abilities to destroy the world, due to these plans to put aside their ego and come to an agreement, due to these security strategies to avert mutual destruction, the entire planet has been saved. Even though the USSR disintegrated due to its internal crumbling issues later and ensured USA wins the Cold War Race, but these talks and treaties had sound security strategy to avert a full-blown War between the two blocs. This shows the importance of bilateral talks, strategic plans and the importance of peace for our own survival.The same can be said about the history of the security issues of independent India as well. Gifted by a long coastline, a longer land border with a myriad of interesting countries with interesting bilateral relationships, a rising economy, an increasing hegemony in the global international affairs, a nation that is abundant with resources and thrives with a diverse chaotic population which is divided by religion, region, language, caste, class, gender, race and what not, it is a miracle indeed that India still is a functioning vibrant democracy and has not been internally disintegrated or externally destroyed yet.With internal problems ranging from intense home-grown armed naxalism, an ideological and violent Maoism, the divisional insurgent movements in the North-East, an increasing number of cyber threats, a rising crime rate, a constant fear of cross-border religious fundamentalist terrorism, India does face a continuous variety of constant issues, simultaneously, which can be witnessed nowhere else in the world. No other country has such diverse internal cleavages amongst its own populace, no other country faces so many varied security issues at the same time and no other country has survived and thrived in such immense chaos, as does India.The most intense struggle is against our neighbouring brother, Pakistan, with whom we have already indulged in three and a half wars. Tensions seem to be never-ending and any improvements in peace talks are marred with disappointing incidents like the Uri attack or the Pathankot attack, which we retaliate again through surgical strikes and by bringing up the Indus Water Treaty and Balochistan issues. Construction of the Kishenganga, Ratle and Baglihar dams on the cross-border rivers are becoming an issue as well. But, the recent victory of India in the International Court of Justice gives us a moral advantage in the international scenario. To also ensure that a minimum deterrence is established, India came up with the Cold Start doctrine, which aims to destroy all important strategic locations in Pakistan, if instances of unwanted cross-border terrorism occur. Not just cross-border terrorism, but also border demarcation issues through the Sir Creek estuary and the Thalweg doctrine are major impediments in the bilateral relationship with Pakistan. To further establish deterrence, India has the Nuclear Triad - Ability to fire nuclear weapons through land, water and air. And at the same time, to build better friendship, India also undertakes Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) and has the ‘No-First Use’ nuclear attack policy. To analyse all these trends the Central Government had set up a Committee under Madhukar Gupta to understand ways and means of border protection, especially along the Indo-Pakistan border.Whereas, with China it is a totally different issue. With the rise of the Chinese economy, China wants to portray its hegemony in the Asian affairs, at the cost of the rise of India. It wants to coerce India into signing the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative; it wants to weaken India by making her have a trade deficit by dumping lots of Chinese goods into the market; it wants to ensure that India loses all its friends by subtly influencing their neighbours. China has started subverting the entire Pahadi (Northern Mountainous) region of Nepal, and now it has set its eyes on subverting the Madheshi Terai (Southern Plains) region. China is coercing Nepal into making the Government teach Chinese language in the schools and colleges of Nepal. It has also set up branches of the China Study Centre, China Cultural Centre, Buddhist Study Centre and Confucius Centre throughout the cities of Nepal to proliferate and spread the Chinese culture in the daily affairs of Nepal. It is also known that China controls a few-Nepal based newspapers and they get anti-India articles published in these newspapers, which the local Nepali citizens read and unknowingly get influenced by the Chinese propaganda. This subtle subversion is slowly and mildly influencing the entire Nepalese population to become pro-China and anti-India. These kind of mind games need to be countered by similar mind-games from the Indian side as well.The issue with Bangladesh is more complicated, mainly due to the infiltration of unregulated refugees and migrants into the north-eastern states which is changing the racial dynamics of these states, especially Assam. A large migrant Bangladeshi population is creating a Law & Order issue in the Assamese region mainly due to the xenophobia amongst the local populace, and the illegal settlement and citizenship registration of these Bangladeshi immigrants. The Myanmar border is stained with the stronghold of various drug cartels, due to the presence of the famous Golden Triangle, the world’s drug manufacturing horde. This is combined with the internal insurgency issues of the North-Eastern states, the violent Naga ethnic problem and an absence of economic development due to inaccessibility of the seven sister states with mainland India.Afghanistan is a friendly state, but is suffering from its own crumbling internal problems. India has ensured to maintain a cordial relationship with the Government, so that the rise of the Taliban can be monitored. India has helped Afghanistan in constructing the parliament building, dams and other essential infrastructure. India has hosted the Heart of Asia Conference of the Istanbul Process many times to gather international support for the Afghans. Overall, there are no border skirmishes with Afghanistan as India is respected by the people of this country. The same applies to the relationship with Bhutan as well, where mutual respect and understanding is the prevalent predominant norm, as propounded by the I.K. Gujral’s Doctrine of India helping its friendly neighbouring countries unilaterally, without expecting much in return. For every other strained border, including that of Sri Lanka, there are the Armed Forces which take care of the safety and security of the country.The effectiveness of the Armed Forces keeps increasing as the country faces and overcomes many of the violent incidents, which occur on a daily basis, in some or the other part of the country. The Ministry of Defence is in a constant vigil with its constituents, the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Indian Coast Guard ever committed to their duties. The Ministry of Home Affairs is the nodal controlling Ministry to a plethora of organizations including the Intelligence Bureau (IB) which takes care of internal intelligence collection and analyses, Border Security Force (BSF) at the Indo-Pakistan and Indo-Bangladesh border, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to ensure anti-naxal operations, Assam Rifles (AR) at the Indo-Myanmar border, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to give security protection to vital installations and strategic industries, National Security Guard (NSG) to combat against terrorist activities, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) for the Indo-Nepal open border, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) which takes care of the Indo-Chinese border, the Special Protection Group (SPG) gives protection to VIPs such as the Prime Minister, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for investigating corruption charges and complicated cases of national importance, National Investigation Agency (NIA) which focuses on investigating terrorism related incidents and the Indian Police Service (IPS) personnel who head various State Police services. Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), takes care of the external foreign intelligence collection and analyses, reports directly to the Prime Minister’s Office. Each of this organization has a specific task cut-out, which increases its specialization and specificity to handle these security issues with a focussed agenda. On top of these tasks, the Indian Government sometimes takes part in extraordinary exercises such as Operation Sankat Mochan where Indians were airlifted from South Sudan and Operation Raahat where Indians who were stuck in Yemen during their civil war were taken to safety. These new and upcoming challenges need a lot of presence of mind, training and an upgradation in the equipment used by the Armed Forces.Modernization of the Armed Forces has become a top priority for the Central Government after the establishment of the Vijay Kelkar Committee which focussed on the Defence Production and Acquisition of arms & ammunition from various foreign defence industries. As an aftermath to this committee, the Government also set up the Dhirendra Singh Committee for Defence Modernization which included recommendations like transfer of technology to ensure indigenous development and production of defence arms locally. This can be achieved with the help of the many Ordnance Factories established in the country under the overall technical supervision of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO).Based on these recommendations, the Indian Army has recently announced the formation and formal establishment of the Army Design Bureau. It is aimed to act as an interface of the Indian Army that will provide high-tech defence products with the help of the collaboration between academics, various research organisations and the industry. This indigenous method will provide a better understanding of the Army’s requirements and would indigenise procurements and reduce the dependence on the massive imports. This will add an impetus to the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Central Government.Even the Navy is getting an upgrade with the approval of “Project 75”, where a series of advanced Scorpene submarines are being built, along with the induction of new naval attack ships INS Khanderi, INS Kalvari and others to the Indian Navy. In the same way, French Rafale fighter jets are being procured and are being inducted to the Indian Air Force. These will be on the lines of the Russian Sukhoi, which has helped the Air Force in innumerable ways. The Committee set up under the Chairmanship of Naresh Chandra gave its recommendations on the ways and means to ensure effective Defence Management which called for a better collaboration between the various Armed Forces.This enhanced collaboration can already been seen in the annual inter-service military exercise called the Theatre Readiness Operational Exercise (TROPEX) involving the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Coast Guard which is designed to test the inter-operability and combat readiness of these Forces. Not just the TROPEX, but inter-national and inter-country military exercises are being organized annually to ensure inter-operability at a global scale, for example, the annual Malabar Trilateral Exercise between the naval forces of India, Japan and the United States. Even India and China have their own annual joint military exercise called Hand-in-Hand. This ensures an increased cooperation and mutual understanding of various countries, which may subtly increase friendship and strengthen the relationship.Such global initiatives are very common, especially in a post-Cold War era, most of the initiatives try to increase the collaboration between various countries, and many other initiatives try to control and restrict the proliferation of weapons. The Australia Group is one such initiative whose sole purpose is to reduce the usage of Chemical Weapons. The countries of this Group try to stop the trade in Chemical weapons and are pro-active in destroying the storage of chemical weapons in various countries. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which won the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize works to prohibit the proliferation of chemical weapons and aims to destroy any stack held by any country.In the same way, another grouping by the name of Wassenar Agreement was created to monitor the trade and transport in conventional arms and weapons. The Hague Code of Conduct and the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) works to control and monitor the production and trade of ballistic missiles made by the signatory countries. In a similar way, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) restricts the trade of nuclear fissile material in the global scenario. India’s security strategy presently is to become a part of these four Agreements to ensure that it equips itself with the latest technology to ward away and deter any forms of external and internal aggression. The joining of these four groups also would enhance India’s global hegemony which would further enable her to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council later.India has changed its international strategy considerably, from those days of neutrality and non-alignment when it started the Non-Aligned Movement at the Bandung Conference in 1955, to the current bilateral and multilateral agreements being made with all the strategically important countries. The Prime Minister also is exhibiting diminished interest in the outdated NAM principles, as he did not attend the summit this year. We can also see alignment with countries like USA, with the signing of the LEMOA agreement and an increasing procurement of arms from USA instead of Russia. USA also recently announced India as one of its Major Defence Partners for upgrading the bilateral relationship to the next level. India has also started signing important Agreements with conflicting countries like Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iran in these security matters. The careful balancing of the Indian foreign policy juggling between these three triangularly ideologically opposite countries is a modern day wonder indeed.If things seemed complicated in the international scenario, they are no less in the internal scenario as well. The State Police which takes care of the Law & Order situation, reduction of crime rate, management of prisons and other policing is facing a tough situation indeed. With the rising drug related problems, rapes, murders, thefts, corruption, bribery etc., the local citizenry is facing a lot of issues in their day-to-day problems which needs to be solved by their locally available policemen. A Committee was set up under Justice Malimath to suggest recommendations in revamping the Criminal Justice system. It reiterated the need for D. K. Basu Guidelines that are to be followed by the policemen to adhere to the Procedure of Arrest. The revamping of the existing police machinery to suit the needs of the current times is a must. With an enhanced citizen – police interactional interface, what needs is an upgradation in the maintenance of police records. This can be achieved through digitization of court records, police official documents and connecting the internal systems of all the police stations and courts with each other. An online interface and an ability to lodge FIRs online should also be encouraged. Utilizing the internet for establishing e-Governance will help the common man in approaching the police easier. The increase in the usage of internet through smartphones and laptops by today’s India is a testimony for this fact indeed.The increase in the interconnectivity of the entire world due to the explosive proliferation and penetration of the internet in the last two decades has brought a plethora of new security threats that need to be understood and neutralized soon. The Government had set up a Committee under A P Shah to understand the threats of the cyber world and ways to enhance the country’s cyber security. It also set up the Gulshan Rai Committee for Data Privacy which recommended ways to ensure that the data we generate and store is secure and safe. The inventions of new virtual digital crypto-currencies like the Bitcoin have also brought up new challenges in the cyber and financial sectors. The Bitcoins, which are unregulated, have the ability to disrupt the cyber space and disintegrate the financial world.The setting up of the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has been an excellent initiative to tackle the futuristic problems of the contemporary times. Especially at a time when our neighbouring countries are building armies of cyber warfare forces whose sole purpose is to attack the cyber networks of the vital installations of our country. With the help of CERT-In, the Central Government has also brought out initiatives like Cyber Swachata Kendra to help secure the cyberspace which is still at an early nascent stage. Now, the need of the time for the Indian Government is to build an army of IT specialists and cyber analysts who can both defend the country’s cyber infrastructure and if the need be, attack the enemy country’s online vital installations.The country anyways exports coding experts to the developed countries in the pretext of “brain drain”, whereas the Indian Government can hire the same computer specialists for managing her own cyber security. It is said that the Cold War was actually a war between the two blocs’ mathematicians, statisticians and coders whose work was to solve and break codes of the enemy country’s strategies and plans. From that Cold War, to the current Code War, the importance of this intelligentsia cannot be overemphasised. They have been the unsung heroes of those times, and they still will be the true heroes in these times.Along with conventional armies and conventional security strategies, India needs to learn to use unconventional means to win over the unconventional threats that she faces in the contemporary times in order to survive. Our country is a curious case where it has been successful in attracting all sorts of complications including terrorism, insurgency, Maoism, underworld gang wars, smuggling, theft, rapes, crime, border infiltration and every kind of possible issue that can be thought of. Our country has also created a viable organizational capacity to control each one of these intimidating activities.For over seven decades since Independence, the young country has gained experience in tackling each threat with its own focussed strategy, with its own viable plan and with its own appropriate ideation. Learning from the historic tale of the aurochs, in the current cluttered international context, and the more chaotic internal context, India has learnt to take good care of herself. Much unlike the fabled extinct aurochs, to ensure her own survival, India has constantly strived to have a viable National Security Strategy, right from those days of the Cold War, to these times of the Code War.

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Suresh PrabhuAs many as 7,575 children were rescued at railway stations and trains in 2015Source:- http://economictimes.indiatimes.... INITIATIVES FOR PASSENGERSPassenger Helpline No. 138 and security helpline 182 Indian Railways provided the All India Helpline Number ‘138’ for passengers, as an interface for queries/complaints related to medical emergency, cleanliness, food & catering, coach maintenance, linen etc. A security helpline ‘182’has also been launched to report any unsavory incidents. This service is very important public service and may play an important role in emergencies like crime against women, onboard unlawful activity, train accidents, medical attention required and fire etc. These helpline numbers viz.138&182 and existing 139 are now to be printed on the tickets for the convenience of passengers. Launching of e-catering service in trainsThe Ministry of Railways is providing e-catering service in trains through its PSU, Indian Railways Catering &Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). This is a service where a passenger is able to place an order for a meal, to be served at his seat in the train enroute, through a phone call or an SMS. Presently this service is available in 120 pairs of trains. Go-India Smart cardGo-India’ smart card scheme has been launched on pilot basis on two sectors i.e. New Delhi-Mumbai and New Delhi-Howrah. At present, the Go-India smart card enables passengers to pay for reserved and unreserved tickets. The scheme is intended to reduce the transaction time at the booking counters for the convenience of passengers as it facilitates cashless transaction.Introduction of Next Generation e-ticketing systemNext generation E-ticketing system introduced, which can book 7200 online tickets instead of 2000 tickets per minute and to attend 2,00,000 enquiries instead of 50000 per minute. SMS Alerts to passengersIndian Railways added another milestone by launching yet another innovative scheme called the ‘SMS Gateway’, which will enable passengers to get SMS alerts on the status of reserved tickets. Moreover SMS alerts giving wakeup calls has also been introduced. Mobile security App.for womenMobile app for security of women has been launched in Mumbai suburban trains.This is the first phase and it will be extended in other areas in a phased manner. Yatri Ticket Sewa Kendra schemeA new scheme called the Yatri Ticket Sewa Kendra (YTSK) Scheme has been launched. Under this scheme, agents of Indian Railways can operate ticketing terminals at various locations in the cities and towns for issuing reserved tickets and unreserved tickets. This will offer greater convenience to passengers in getting rail tickets. Adarsh StationThe scheme of Adarsh stations for better amennities has been introduced in the year 2009. Under this scheme, 1052 stations have been selected for development as Adarsh Station upto 2013-14. 108 stations have been developed under the scheme during 2014-15, as such a total of 934 stations have been developed as ‘Adarsh’ station so far. Pilgrim special tourist trainsWith a view to promote rail tourism in the country and to provide reasonably priced tourism package to tourists, especially the pilgrims in the country, India Railways through its PSU IRCTC has launched six pilgrim special tourist train packages in the first phase. The tourist packages are;  Sukhamngalam Yatra,  Dham special with Dakshin Darshan via Lucknow, Dham special with Dakshin Darshan via Jaipur, Shikharji Circuit Yatra, Jyotirling Yatra, and Takht Parikrama. Braille Signages on coachesFor the help of visually impaired passengers, Indian Railways has taken  the initiative of providing Braille signages on coaches. CCTV on coaches In order to improve security measures on trains and especially for women passengers, it has been decided to provide CCTV cameras on coaches especially in ladies compartments in doorway and aisle area without infringing on the privacy. Waiting chairs/benches etc. under MPLAD Scheme Guidelines issue for installations of chairs/benches/overhead sheds at stations under Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme(MPLAD).Comprehensive guidelines have been issued for improvement of passenger amenities at stations through NGOs, Trusts, Corporate etc. R.O. drinking water at stations Provision of Reverse Osmosis (R.O.) drinking water units at selection stations on experimental basis has been planned. To begin with, eight stations namely, Madurai, Gadag, Tirupati, Guwahati Dwarka, H.Nizammudin, Patna  & Bhopal were identified for provision of R.O. drinking water units. While R.O. drinking water units have already been commissioned at Dwarka, Gadag, H.Nizammudin, Katihar (in lieu of Guwahati), Madurai and Tirupati stations R.O. units at Patna & Bhopal are planned to be commissioned shortly.This will help provide safe drinking water to passengers. Seperate Food safety officer in every division With a view to ensure better quality check on the food installations in Railway, it has been decided to appoint one Food Safety Officer in every Division of the Railways. Earlier a Food Safety Officer was entrusted with more than one Division which was causing difficulty in ensuring proper supervision.DIGITAL INDIA INITIATIVE Launching of a ‘Customer Complaint Web Portal’ A ‘Customer Complaint Web Portal and Mobile Application’ (android/windows based mobile App), was launched. One can track the status of the complaints which he or she registered on this portal with the help of mobile App. Feedback can also be given on this portal.  This will help in faster redressal of passenger grievances. ‘Operation Five Minutes’ –Paperless Unreserved TicketingFulfilling yet another commitment of the Railway Budget 2015-16, the Minister of Railways launched Mobile Application for Paperless Unreserved Ticketing on pilot basis on  Egmore –Tambaram Suburban Section of Chennai. This initiative is part of Indian Railways effort to help passengers purchase the unreserved tickets within five minutes under its ‘Operation five minutes programme’. This will allow the passenger to buy a ticket on the move and allow him or her to board the train with the ticket secured on his or her mobile phone, without any need for printing the ticket.‘E-Samiksha’ for Implementation  MonitoringIn yet another milestone initiative for ensuring timely implementation of budget proposals, a special portal called ‘E-Samiksha’, has been launched for monitoring the implementation of budget announcements/commitments .This portal would help to keep an eye on the implementation of budget process. Facility of ‘Wi-Fi’ services on Railway stations Indian Railways is providing the Wi-Fi Broadband Services at several stations which include Bangaluru, Secunderabad, Mumbai CST, Agra, Varanasi, Hawrah, Chennai, Ahmdabad. The Wi-Fi project on Indian Railways is being executed by RailTel, a Public Sector Undertaking of the Ministry of Railways. Wi-Fi facility is available to the users free of cost initially for a period of 30 minutes by registering on the Wi-Fi network through their mobile phones. The facility of Wi-Fi will be extended to other stations in a phased manner. Introduction of e-demand system With the release of this module, customers can sit in the convenience of their homes or offices and register their freight demands. Railways’  Social Media platform To keep pace with the modern means of internet media, Indian Railways launched its three social media platforms namely Facebook, Twitter and You Tube with the URL @railminindia. Railway Budget was for the first time live streamed on social media platforms. Online suggestions and feedback can also be made on these social media platforms. SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT MoU signed for highest ever funding for Railways In a landmark achievement, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of Railways and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) for highest ever funding of Rs. 1.5 lakh crore for Railways. This move will ultimately help railways growth through augmentation of its financial resources. Interim Report of HLRRC submitted to Railway Board Interim Report of High Level Railway Restructuring Committee (HLRCC) headed by Dr. Bibek Debroy has been submitted to the Railway Board.The report has also been put on the Ministry’s website for inviting suggestions and comments. This committee was constituted with an aim to find out ways to mobilise resources for major railway projects and restructuring of railways. Delegating more power to Zonal Railways With an aim to fast track decision making and bring in transparency full powers have been delegated to General Manages and Director Generals as tender authority . All the cases for acceptance of Works and Stores tenders, will now be dealt with and finalized by Zonal Railways and Production Units.Scope of e-tendering is being expanded for increased transparency and procurement. Saving of energy To reduce cost of Electrical energy being used for traction, procurement through open market is being done.Power Purchase Agreement between DVC and North Central railway for supply of 50MW power has already been signed.Saving for the month of March 2015 alone is Rs 10 Crore approx.A web based electrical energy management system called RailSaver has been launched which will help save upto 15% energy by 2020. Logistic Hubs on National Waterways A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWA) and the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) for creation of logistic hubs with rail connectivity at Varanasi and other places on National Waterways. Alternative  Energy Resources Solar Plants of 2 MW at RCF, Raebareli and 1 MW at Katra Railway station have been commissioned.Target of commissioning 6.5 MW Solar Power plants in year 2015-16. A 30 KW Solar Plant has been commissioned at roof top Rail Bhawan at New Delhi. Solar plants at other Railway buildings are proposed to be installed in future. Target for commissioning of 25 MW Wind Energy Plant at Jaisalmer in 2015-16. Ratan Tata as Head of ‘Kayakalp’ Council Taking immediate follow up action in implementing the Budget announcement, Railways constituted the ‘Kayakalp’ Council and appointed Shri Ratan Tata to head this Council. The purpose of the Council is to recommend innovative methods and processes for the improvement, betterment and transformation of the Indian Railways. MOU with National Institute of Design Adding yet another milestone by fulfilling another commitment announced in the Railway Budget 2015-16, the Indian Railway signed an MoU to set up its own Railway Design Centre in the campus of National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmadabad. This will help improve customer’s happiness by way of better designed coaches and providing cost effective solutions to problems faced by passengers during train travel. White paper and vision 2030 documentMinister of Railways released White Paper on Railways in the parliament with a view to understand the challenges that the organization is presently facing. Ministry of Railways is now working on the vision 2030 document on Railways which will contain a blueprint for the future development of the Indian Railways. Task forces and Experts’ committeesSeveral task forces and committees of experts constituted for focussed attention on areas like revenue mobilization through advertising, improving financial health of railways, restructuring delegation of powers, productivity enhancement, etc. The various committees have roped in experts like E Shreedhran, former CAG Vinod Rai, economist Bibek Debroy and noted industrialist Ratan Tata to improve the Railways and bring in innovative ideas and solutions.Better training of Railway PersonnelAcademic Services Agreement has been signed with Beijing Jiao Tong University, China for training of 100 officers of various departments in Heavy Haul Technology. ‘Indian Railways Chair for Sustainable Mobility’ has been set up at TERI University, New Delhi. Modules on gender sensitization of Railway personnel have been introduced in centralized training institutes.Centre for Railway Research set up at Mumbai UniversityRailway Ministry and Mumbai University signed an MoU to set up a Centre for Railway Research (CRR) at University of Mumbai in order to develop a long-term frame work for research collaboration. Leveraging of space for advertisingWith a view to generate additional revenue, RITES,a public sector undertaking of Ministry of Railways prepared a Concept Note, indicating ways and means for leveraging of space in coaches, wagons, trains, railway stations etc. for advertisements, publicity and other purposes. Now, six-member task force headed by Member Traffic Railway Board has been set up to examine and implement this project.INFRASTRUCTURECritical coal connectivity projects fasttracked Transportation of coal is an important activity of Indian Railways and is very crucial for the country’s power supply system. Critical Coal connectivity projects in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa are being fast tracked. MOU has been signed with Ministry of Coal and Government of Odisha. Another MOU with Government of Jharkhand is in the offing. Redevelopment of Railway Stations Railway Ministry has now decided to offer Railway Stations for redevelopment on ‘as is where is’ basis, by inviting open bids from interested parties with their designs and business ideas duly providing for amenities and other requirements of the Railways. The Process for redevelopment of stations, already indentified viz. Anand Vihar, Bijwasan, Chandigarh, Shivaji Nagar & Habibganj by Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Ltd. (IRSDC) is continuing. Progress On Dedicated Freight Corridor Project Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight corridors are being developed for smooth and fast transportation of freight. Loan for Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (Phase 2) for US $ 1100 million approved  by the World Bank on 22.04.14, has been signed on 11th November 2014. Electrification contract for 945 km of Western DFC has been awarded on 18.11.2014. FDI and PPP in RailwaysCabinet approved 100% FDI in identified areas of Railway sector.Ministry of Railways has formulated sectoral guidelines on FDI.Investor’s meet was held to explain FDI to investors.More meets planned in future. High level committee set up to discuss FDI and PPP issues. Ministry of Railways has also issued Model Concession Agreement for Non Governmental Railway model, joint venture model and Built, Operate and Transfer (BOT) model. During the period , approvals were also given for port connectivity PPP projects viz. Roha-Dighi newline and Digni-Jaigarh port newline. In addition in principle approval for two more port connectivity projects viz. Chhara port and Nargol port has been given.New Rail Neer Plant in Mumbai inaugurated A new Rail Neer plant has been set up at Ambernath (Mumbai) by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a Public Sector Undertaking of Ministry of Railways, the production capacity of this plant will be 2 lakh liters per day, This will improve availability of safe Packaged Drinking Water (PDW).  Laying of Opticle Fibre Cable on Railway Network A total number of 1,329 route kilometres OFC has been laid. Cumulatively, 48,179 route kilometers (approx.) OFC has been commissioned over Indian .It will enable high speed internet connectivity and video conferencing facility. New lines and electrificationIn 2014-15, 1983 km of railway lines have been commissioned. This is the highest ever. In 2014-15, 1375 km of railway electrification completed. This is the highest ever. SAFETY Geo-spatial technologies for unmanned level crossings In a signNow move to make Unmanned Level Crossings (UMLCs) safer for road users thereby avoiding accidents thereat, Geo-spatial technologies are proposed to be used with the help of ISRO. Under such technologies which combine Global Positioning System(GPS), Geographic Information System(GIS) and Remote Sensing, an alert message will be flashed automatically in the mobile phones of all the road users carrying GPS enabled mobile phones in the vicinity of an Unmanned Level Crossing, about the approaching train. This will save many lives as many fatal accidents occur at unmanned level crossing. Quick evacuation of injured persons from tracks Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are being put in place regarding quick evacuation of the injured persons from the railway track so that human lives are saved. MoU on construction of ROBs/RUBs In a move to further enhance safety of road users, Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Road Transport & Highways signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on policy related to constructions of Road Over Bridges and Road Under Bridges on National Highway corridors.  MAKE IN INDIA Expansion project of DLW factory The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the commencement of Expansion Project of Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW), a production unit of Indian Railways at Varanasi on some of the features of  the expansion plan are; a new block shop, loco frame shop and loco assembly shop, new plant shop having advanced paint booths, induction of high productivity machines and generation of 250 kw Green Power by roof mounted grid connected solar power plant. The project will herald the ‘Make in India’ campaign in the holy city, Varanasi.Ministry of Railway also successfully floated RFP for state of the Art Electro Loco Factory at Madhepura and Diesel Loco Factory at Marhowra. Again RFP were issued for manufacturing 9000 HP electric locos for western DFC. Locos will be manufactured at Dankuni and Technology will be transferred to CLW, Chittanranjan. New production unitsRail Wheel Plan, Bela commissioned and regular production started.2nd unit for manufacture of LHB coaches fit to run at 160kmph made functional at Integral Coach Factory, Chennai.DEMU factory Haldia commissioned.Mid-life Rehabilitation Workshop for coaches at Jhansi completed.New Loco and New Green Train5500 HP Diesel Locomotive introduced in Indian Railway System which is the highest horse power Diesel Engine.First “Green” DEMU rail introduced on Northern Railway to run between Rewari-Rohtak Section. HIGH SPEED PROJECTS Status of Railways Semi High Speed Projects Indian Railways is working on increasing speed of trains raising it to 160kmph/200 kmph referred as Semi-High speed. It has identified nine corridors for this purpose. Trial run in Delhi-Agra corridor successfully completed for running trains at semi-high speed of 160 km. per hour. The commercial services will be started after obtaining the CRS sanction. The feasibility study for semi high speed on Chennai-Bangaluru-Mysore Corridor is being taken up by Chinese Railways. Feasibility study for New Delhi-Chandigarh Corridor to be undertaken with French Railway. Discussions are on with Germany for undertaking feasibility study of Nagpur-Secunderabad Corridor. 5 other identified corridors under examination for semi high speed trains. Mumbai-Ahemdabad High Speed Bullet train project Ministry of Railways took steps for introduction of High Speed Bullet Trains(300+kmph) in the country on Mumbai-Ahmadabad corridor.  It is part of the Ministry’s ambitious plan to have Diamond Quadrilateral network of High Speed Rail connecting major metros and growth centers of the country. French Railway submitted business model study of this corridor. The interim report of feasibility study being undertaken by Japan has been received and final report is expected in June, 2015. One new route between New Delhi and Chennai has been identified for introducing bullet train and China has been entrusted with the task of undertaking feasibility study of this line. JAMMU & KASHMIR AND NORTH EASTOpening of Lumding-Silchar broad gauge section The much awaited Lumding-Silchar Broad Gauge section (Assam) inaugurated with the running of goods trains. The passenger train services will be started soon on this section. This line will provide seamless BG connectivity to Barak Valley of Assam with the rest of the Country.it Musica Country,Free Country Music WebRadio Online! is a very crucial rail link for the N.E region. First train to Meghalaya In an important event in the history of Railways, one more north-eastern state namely Meghalaya was brought on country’s railway map. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi flagged off the first ever train from Guwahati to Medipathar in Meghalaya to mark this feat. Foundation stone for rail link to Mizoram’s capital To further boost the development of rail link in North Eastern region, the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation for a new rail route from Bhairabi to Sairang in Mizoram. It will take rail connectivity to Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram Katra comes on country’s railway map In another landmark engineering marvel, Indian Railways completed Udhampur-Katra Broad gauge line in the State of Jammu and Kashmir.  Prime Minister dedicated this line to the nation at a programme held at Katra.This line has brought Katra on country’s railway map consequently bringing Jammu & Kashmir Valley nearer to the rest of the nation . Railways help during J&K floodsIndian Railways geared up its machinery to provide all possible help to the travelling public in the wake of unprecedented flood in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Railways arranged transport of relief material free of charge by coaching trains to Jammu Tawi and Udhampur from any station of India. Railways made about 4 lakh Rail Neer drinking water bottles available for flood affected people of J&K.North-eastern tour package for college students An education train ‘Gyanodaya Express’ – a tour package for the students of Delhi University to visit North east states, was flagged off from Delhi . It will help the students to connect with NE region . SWACHH BHARAT ABHIYAANNation wide Action PlanIndian Railways is implementing PMs nationwide campaign of Swachch Bharat Abhiyan in true letter and spirit.Separate Directorate for Environment and Housekeeping created. This Directorate will address all environment and housekeeping related issues over Railways.Detailed action plan on cleanliness prepared has been prepared and an Integrated Policy of cleanliness in Stations, Platforms and Coaches is under formulation.50 major stations outsourced for international level cleanliness. Setting up of mechanised laundries Mechanised laundries at 6 new locations have been set up to improve the quality of linen being supplied to AC class passengers. With this Indian Railway now have 33 such mechanized laundries. Dustbins on all the coaches: Dustbins on trains were hitherto being provided mainly on AC coaches. Now dustbins will be provided in all the coaches including non AC coaches. On Board Housekeeping services scheme: An additional 83 no. of trains have been covered under OBHS scheme taking total coverage to around 500 trains. Under this scheme ,cleanliness is maintained during run of the train. Installation of more Bio-Toilets in coachesMore than 10159 Bio-toilets have been fitted till March, 2015 and target set for 2015-16 is fitment of 17,000 bio-toilets. These toilets use bacterial action to convert human waste into water and gas. HELPING FARMERS AND RURAL PEOPLE First ever Perishable Cargo Centre set up The first ever Perishable Cargo Centre of Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) (a Railway PSU) at Adarsh Nagar station near Azadpur Sabzi Mandi, Delhi, was inaugurated. This perishable cargo centre will help farmers and consumers in a big way and the ripening of fruits and cold storage facilities at this cargo centre will help the farmers get a good price and good market for their product. Skill development activities in railway premises Indian Railways has around 8000 stations and premises of some of the railway stations with very few trains and scanty footfall would be used for skill development activities. It will help rural people substantially.The skill development programme has been emphasized by the Hon’ble Prime Minister for the benefit of the people. Promoting Rural Products Railways will also help in marketing rural products made by self help groups and other such agencies so as to help common rural people. The Konkani-cuisine restaurant “Konkan Swaad Katta’ recently set up at Ratnagiri station in Konkan Railway is a step in this  direction to encourage traditional businesses and local talent as well as  help the financial empowerment of  local people and at the same time passengers getting taste traditional dishes. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION MoU with China in technical cooperation  in RailwaysA Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and an Action Plan were signed between the Government of India and People’s Republic of China in enhancing Technical Cooperation in Railway Sector, at delegation level talks between the two countries on 18th September 2014. The potential cooperation areas mentioned in the MoU are; i) Training in heavy haul freight transportation, ii) Raising of speed of trains on existing routes, iii) Station redevelopment, iv) High speed rail and v) Setting up of Railway University. MoU on cooperation with Republic of Korea Indian Railways and Republic of Korea signed a MoU on Technical Cooperation In the Rail Sector. The MoU would enable technical assistance and cooperation between the Railways of the two countries on areas such as High Speed Rail, Modernisation of Rolling Stock, Railway Operations, Modernisation of Signalling, Construction & Maintenance technologies and in development of Logistics Parks/Terminals. Cooperation with Czech Republic MoU has also been signed with Czech Republic for technical assistance in Railway sector. The potential cooperation areas mentioned in the MoU are Freight operations- Logistics of automotive transport, Passenger operations – raising of speeds upto 200 kmph; Infrastructure building and management – station development and workshop modernization; Information & communication technologies especially for passenger amenities ; Modernisation of rolling stock; Modernisation of signalling & telecom etc. Cooperation with Austria  The 2nd Indo-Austrian Joint Working Group meeting on the Technology  Specific Cooperation  in the field of Railways was organized on 9.9.2014. Cooperation among SAARC nations Ministry of Railways hosted the 5th meeting of the SAARC Inter governmental Group on Transport on 30thSeptember,2014 at Vigyan Bhawan ,New Delhi,The meeting was attended by all the SAARC member countries. Relief during Nepal earthquake During the Nepal earthquake crisis, Railways made available to Nepal about 4 lakh Rail Neer drinking water bottles. Railways also made available to earthquake victims the facility of the Railways hospitals situated in the border towns. Railways also facilitated travel of earthquake victims. IMPROVED PERFORMANCE Increase in Railways’ revenue earnings The total approximate earnings of Indian Railways on originating basis during the financial year 2014-15 (1st April 2014 to 31st March 2015) were Rs. 157880.50 crore compared to Rs. 140761.27 crore during the same period last year, registering an increase of 12.16 per cent. Improved Freight loading Indian Railways carried 1097.57 million tonnes of revenue earning freight traffic during the financial year 2014-15 i.e. from 1st April 2014 to 31st March 2015. The freight carried shows an increase of 44.02 million tonnes over the freight traffic of 1053.55 million tonnes actually carried during the corresponding period last year, registering an increase of 4.18 per cent.MISCELLANEOUS Pathbreaking Railway Budget Railway Budget 2015-16 was completely depoliticized making it a long term perspective document.The thrust areas identified in the budget include Quality of life in journeys, station redevelopment, capacity augmentation, safety, technology upgradation, partnerships for development, improvements to management processes and systems, resource mobilization, human resources, energy and sustainability, transparency and governance initiatives.28 announcements made in the Budget speech already implemented. Railways players bring laurel to the nation Railway sportspersons as a part of Indian contingent at recently concluded Commonwealth Games-2014, (CWG) at Glasgow, Scotland, again brought glory to the nation by bagging 9 medals out of total 64 medals won by India. Renovation of National Rail Museum A big renovation exercise was undertaken in National Railways Museum, Delhi.  Musical Fountain, Toy Train and Renovated Exhibits have been added at the Museum.

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