Power shutdown in VIP areas on October 8 in Srinagar
Srinagar: There will be power shutdown in VIP areas, including high security Gupkar and Cheshmashahi on October 8 for seven hours. According to Power Controller, Power Development Department (PDD), Kashmir, in order to carry out cutting of trees and branches for maintaining smooth power supply to general public, power supply from the 33 KV Cheshmashahi-Shalimar-Harwan and Cheshmashahi-TRC lines shall be affected on October 8 from 1000 hrs to 1700 hrs. Meanwhile, in order to carry out some urgent works and branch cutting, power supply from the 33 KV Nihalpora-Tangmarg lines shall be affected on October 8 from 1000 hrs to 1700 hrs. In another communication from PDD, in order to carry out necessary preventive maintenance of Receiving Station, power supply from the 33 KV Bemina II shall be affected tomorrow from 1000 hrs to 1700 hrs. Meanwhile the 33 KV Shariefabad-HMT lines and 33 KV Shariefabad-Narbal lines shall be affected on October 8 from 1000 hrs to 1700 hrs. (UNI)
Chandrashekhar’s son joins BJP
New Delhi: Former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar’s son Pankaj Singh on Saturday joined the BJP in the presence of party president Rajnath Singh at the party headquarters here. Pankaj Singh had sent overtures to the BJP in the past few months and expressed his wish to join the party. Chandrashekhar’s other son Neeraj Shekhar is a Samajwadi Party Lok Sabha member from Ballia. Rajnath Singh welcomed the Thakur leader from Uttar Pradesh into the BJP fold. BJP UP unit chief Laxmikant Bajpai and national general secretary J P Nadda were also present on the occasion. Party sources said Pankaj Singh is likely to be fielded as a BJP candidate in the Lok Sabha polls due in 2014. BJP is making all efforts to improve its prospects in the politically crucial state of UP that sends 80 MPs to the Lower House. From a high of 58 seats in 1998, BJP’s tally in UP in the general elections came down to nine in the 2009 polls. Chandrashekhar’s party Samajwadi Janata Party is now virtually defunct as both his sons have joined other parties. (PTI)
Agra battles record rain in 12 hours
Agra: The Taj city of Agra was Saturday battling the consequences of a record 142 mm downpour in just 12 hours a day earlier. This year Agra has had 1,003 mm of rain against the annual average of around 675 mm. It took the entire day Friday for shopkeepers and tradres to assess the huge losses as rain water filled their warehouses and entered even some of the glitzy showrooms, all decked up for the festive season. On Saturday, the municipal corporation was still pumping out water from shopping complexes and residential colonies. Some roads collapsed and parts of the underground drains caved in, causing more problems. The blame game continues. “When you illegally construct nursing homes or shopping complexes and fill up ponds to raise structures, what do you expect?” asked Shravan Kumar Singh, an exasperated activist. (IANS)
ER introduces 96 services with 12-coach rakes
Sealdah: The Eastern Railway (ER) has launched a drive to increase the length of 9 car trains to 12 cars in the current financial year. An ER statement issued today said it was running 1,284 local trains (419 local trains on Howrah Division and 865 local trains on Sealdah Division) carrying approximately 30 lakh passengers daily. The suburban traffic on the Railway has been increasing at 4 per cent. With the growing suburban traffic, there has been a regular demand for augmentation of 9 car trains to 12 car trains on both the divisions. In the first six months of the financial year, Eastern Railway had augmented 96 services–64 on Howrah Division and 32 on Sealdah Division–from 9 car to 12 car. With the augmentation, the carrying capacity on each such train has been enhanced by 33 per cent. ER is also trying to increase the length of remaining suburban trains from 9 car to 12 car and the required infrastructural work like extension of platform lines and maintenance line have accordingly been identified and were being carried out to effect the same, the statement added. (UNI)