A) Railways to deliver Bags at Home.
Indian Railways developed a unique app to garner Non-Fare revenue called BOW. BOW is basically Bag on Wheels service.
How to avail the ‘Bag On Wheels’ sevice?
Through the BOW app (will be available for Android and iPhone users), railway passengers will apply to transport their goods from their home to the railway station or from the railway station to the home.
Door-to-door service of goods will be provided to the passengers on nominal charges by the firm and their luggage will be transported easily from the passenger’s house to his coach in the train or from his coach to his house.
The work of transporting the passenger’s luggage safely will be carried out by the contractor. according to the booking details of the passenger.
B) Railways’ 50 year legacy of serving food at Parliament ends in November, ITDC to take over
Northern Railway has been providing catering facility in the Parliament house complex since 1968 on ‘no-profit-no-loss’ basis and the loss incurred by the Railway as a result thereof is subsidised to Northern Railway by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats in the ratio of 2:1.
Now this catering facility has been transferred to Government ITDC India Tourism Development Corporation. ITDC is the government’s body that runs the luxury five-star Ashok Group of hotels.
C) Mass Hiring Begins At Railways: 2.4 Crore Applicants For 1.4 Lakh Railway Jobs
The various Vacancies notified recently by Railways are as below:
- 35208 for NTPC (non technical popular categories like guards, office clerks, commercial clerks etc),
- 1663 for Isolated & Ministerial categories (Steno & Teaches etc) and
- 103769 for Level 1 vacancies (track maintainers, pointsman etc).
Against these vacancies, RRBs had received more than 2.40 crore applications.
But, the Computer Based Test (CBT) for filling these vacancies had to be deferred due to the Covid-19 pandemic induced lockdown across the country. As per Railway Board Chairman, These exams have been scheduled to be conducted by 15th December.
D) Indian Railways to supply diesel locomotives to Mozambique Railways
According to the Railway Ministry, soon, Mozambique Railways will get diesel loco sets from Indian Railways’ Rail Wheel Factory (RCF), Bengaluru. The RCF in Bengaluru has paved the way for exports through swift production of as many as 90 wheels and 45 axles, which will be soon assembled at Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) in Varanasi, the Railway Ministry added.
A few months ago, Indian Railways handed over a total of 10 Broad Gauge locomotives to the neighbouring country, Bangladesh. Each of these WDM3D type Broad Gauge locos, designed for a speed of 120 km per hour, has a 3300 HP engine. The residual life of these locomotives is 28 years or more. According to Indian Railways, these locos have the capacity for hauling both passenger trains as well as freight trains. These technologically advanced locos are also equipped with a microprocessor-based control system. According to the national transporter, the ergonomic layout of the driver’s cab offers stress-free driving.
E)Anand Mahindra thanks Indian Railways for transporting Bolero to Bangladesh
Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra has acknowledged the Indian Railways’ efforts for transporting its ‘Made in India’ Bolero pick-up vans to Bangladesh. The Boleros were loaded from Maharashtra’s Navi Mumbai and unloaded at Benapole in Bangladesh.
On similar Lines, Nagpur’s Mahindra Plant transported tractors to Benapole in Bangladesh.
Recently, automobile manufacturers such as Kia Motors, Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai have selected railways for cost-effective, reliable and environmentally friendly ways of transporting vehicles.
F)China to begin construction of Ya’an-Linzhi section of Sichuan-Tibet Railway close to India’s border
China is all set to begin the construction of the strategic Sichuan-Tibet Railway between Ya’an in southwest Sichuan province and Linzhi in Tibet, close to the Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh, the official media reported.
The Sichuan-Tibet Railway starts from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, and travels through Ya’an and enters Tibet via Qamdo, shortening the journey from Chengdu to Lhasa from 48 hours to 13 hours, the report said.
Linzhi, which is also known as Nyingchi, is located close to Arunachal Pradesh border. Linzhi also has an airport, one of the five built by China in the Himalayan region.
The newly-built Ya’an-Linzhi section runs 1,011 kilometres and includes 26 stations. Trains are expected to run at speeds between 120 and 200 km per hour. The Sichuan-Tibet Railway will not only accelerate and enhance the overall economic development of the Tibet region but will play an important role in safeguarding border stability, the daily’s report said
G) Mumbai-Pune-Hyderabad high-speed railway corridor project moves a step forward
The National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) on Tuesday announced that it will prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for the Mumbai-Pune-Hyderabad high-speed railway corridor project. The high-speed rail corridor project is expected to reduce travel time by 50%.
The DPR will include identification of land requirements, number of railway stations, construction of station premises, identifying overhead and underground utilities.
“First tender for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) for Mumbai-Pune-Hyderabad High Speed Rail Corridor (711 km approx.) floated today.” tweeted NHSRCL.
Apart from the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed railway corridor, seven other high-speed corridors will be constructed by NHSRCL. The corridors include Mumbai-Pune-Hyderabad (767km), Delhi-Varanasi (865km), Mumbai-Nagpur (753km), Delhi-Ahmedabad (886km), Chennai- Bengaluru-Mysore (435km), Delhi-Amritsar (459km) and Varanasi-Patna-Howrah (760km)
H) Railways will connect statue of Unity soon
The Kevadiya station of Gujrat is 5 Km from the tallest statue in the world. Railways has decided to provide connectivity till Kevadiya station and the project is scheduled to be completed by dec 2020.
At present, Vadodara, Bharuch and Ankleshwar stations provide rail connectivity to the iconic statue. Railway Board Chairman and CEO, V K Yadav said 100 per cent land has been acquired for the Kevadia Rail Link project. The project envisaged gauge conversion between the Dabhoi-Chandod 18 km route and a new line of 32 km between Chandod and Kevadia.
While track work between Dhaboi to Chandod has been completed, the line between Chandod and Kevadia is expected to be completed by November 15, 2020. The project will be commissioned by December 2020, he said.
Once the project is completed, one can reach the statue from Vadodara in 45 minutes. The 182-metre-tall monument has been built on an islet Sadhu Bet near Sardar Sarovar Dam. It is twice the height of the Statue of Liberty in the US.
I) Indian Railways registers noteworthy freight figures
According to a press release issued by the Railway Ministry, in the month of October 2020, the freight loading of Indian Railways was 108.16 million tonnes which as compared to last year’s loading for the same period (93.75 million tonnes), is 15 per cent higher.
In this time period, an amount of Rs 10,405.12 crores has been earned by Indian Railways from freight loading which is also 9 per cent higher (Rs 868.90 crore) as compared to last year’s earnings for the same period, which was Rs 9,536.22 crores.
Also, according to the national transporter, in a bid to attract new business as well as incentivize other existing clients, the Railway Ministry has held meetings with the top leadership of coal, iron and steel, power, cement, automobiles and logistics service providers.
Moreover, the Business Development Units of Indian Railways at Divisional and Zonal levels are also contributing towards sustainable growth momentum in spite of blocked freight services in the state of Punjab, Indian Railways added.
Question:The Nearest Railway station to Statue of Unity will be
a) Vadodara station
b) Kevadiya station
c) Bharuch
d) Ankleshwar