In a first, Indian Railways sends 100 employees on non-working foreign tour

PTI 

 

Published : Jan 30, 2018, 4:11 pm IST

In a first, 100 non-gazetted workers of South Central Railway flew to Singapore, Malaysia for a 6-day vacation on Jan 28.

 The itinerary covers tourist sites such as Universal Studios, Sentosa and Night Safari in Singapore and includes the Kuala Lumpur City Tour, Petronas Towers, Batu Caves and Genting Highlands in Malaysia. (Photo: AFP)

 

New Delhi: Indian Railways' first non-working foreign tour is under way -- not for senior officers but for gangmen, trackmen and other non-gazetted employees.

In a first for the national transporter, 100 non-gazetted workers of South Central Railway flew to Singapore and Malaysia for a six-day vacation on January 28, said a statement.
While 25 per cent expenditure of the tour is being borne by the employees, 75 per cent is from the Staff Benefit Fund (SBF), M Umashankar Kumar, SCR chief public relations officer, said in a statement.

"The 100 strong group of employees... comprised of Group C and D category employees, with preference given to employees from lower cadres and those nearing retirement. Allocation of number of slots for each Division, Workshop and Headquarters was given on the basis of their sanctioned strength," he said.

Secunderabad-based SCR has taken the lead in "optimising welfare activities for its non-gazetted workforce, by organising the first-of-its-kind ‘Employees Overseas Camp’ on Indian Railways", he said.
The itinerary covers tourist sites such as Universal Studios, Sentosa and Night Safari in Singapore and includes the Kuala Lumpur City Tour, Petronas Towers, Batu Caves and Genting Highlands in Malaysia.

SBF funds are allocated by Railway Board for various welfare activities of non-gazetted employees working in the national transporter.

They are usually used for scholarships for lower grade employees, to benefit the girl child, camps for children and other such socially relevant causes, an official said.

The SCR had sent a proposal for the tour in December last year for its employees.

Less than a month later, the group was on its way to foreign shores.

Supreme Court, high court judges get 200% salary hike 

Ashish Tripathi, DH News Service, New Delhi, Jan 31 2018, 0:52 IST

Supreme Court judges to draw Rs 2.5 lakh



The Chief Justice of India will now get a monthly salary of Rs 2.80 lakh, up from the present Rs 1 lakh.

Supreme Court and high court judges have got a 200% salary hike with the Centre notifying a new law in this regard.

The Chief Justice of India will now get a monthly salary of Rs 2.80 lakh, up from the present Rs 1 lakh.

Similarly, judges of the Supreme Court and chief justices of high courts will draw a monthly salary of Rs 2.50 lakh, up from the current Rs 90,000, according to the Act notified by the law ministry.

The judges of high courts, who get Rs 80,000 per month now, will get Rs 2.25 lakh.

The salary hike, which is in line with the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission for officers of all-India services, will come into force retrospectively from January 1, 2016.

The High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Act, 2018, will also revise the rates of house rent allowance with effect from July 1, 2017, and the rates of sumptuary allowance with effect from September 22, 2017.

As against the approved strength of 31, the Supreme Court today has 25 judges. The 24 high courts have an approved strength of 1,079, but 682 judges are handling work currently. The move will also benefit 2,500 retired judges.

Now, the salary of judges will be at par with those of bureaucrats following the implementation of the recommendations of the 7th pay panel.

Punjab in Perungudi

By Aathira Ayyappan  |  Express News Service  |   Published: 30th January 2018 10:39 PM  |  

Kake Da Punjabi Dhabba,tiranga paneer tikka

CHENNAI: MGR Salai in Perungudi presents two contrasting pictures — one of towering IT companies and the other of dusty, poorly maintained roads along which there are small petti kadais and grocery stores. However, unbeknown to many, this area is also a treasure trove of dhabas serving authentic Punjabi food.
“We started Lucky Da Punjabi Dhabba in 2015. The food is 100% North Indian…the flavours will transport you instantly to the lanes of New Delhi or Punjab,” says Divya Parwani, co-owner, Lucky Da Punjabi Dhabba and Kakke Da Punjabi Dhabba.

As dhaba food is mostly fast food, grilled chicken and paneer varieties are the most popular dishes on the menu and sell like hot cakes. “Our tandoori chicken and chicken tikka are to die for. In vegetarian, you have to try the paneer tikka and sarson ka saag. Our customers keep coming back for these dishes,” she smiles.

Their customers attest to this fact too. Abhijit Dhatir, an IT professional, says, “Being a North Indian, I can say with conviction that it is very difficult to find authentic Punjabi khaana in Chennai. Most small dhabas in the outskirts of the city or on highways do not cater to families…they are only for bachelors. But new-age dhabas such as this are welcoming to all kinds of customers.” Since Perungudi is home to a lot of IT companies, and there is never dearth of customers to these dhabas.
Another crowd puller, according to Divya, is the affordability. “We did not want to make it a fine dining experience. We wanted to serve affordable, tasty, comfort food that you can enjoy with family or friends any day. And the bhangra beats in the background add to the Punjabi feel,” smiles Divya, adding that takers for the lunch thali are more on both weekdays and weekends. The vegetarian thali is priced at Rs 199 and non-vegetarian thali is Rs 209.
The quantity of food is also something to be reckoned with. “Even if you order one portion of a curry along with naan or a paratha, it will be sufficient for two people,” says Dhurba Chhetri, manager, Lucky Da Punjabi Dhabba.

Interestingly, the ambience too contributes to the overall dining experience. Kake Da Punjabi Dhabba, just 500 m away from Lucky, is big on Punjab-style quirky interiors. “We have the front part of a jeep, cycle wheels, colourful kites, etc., on our walls. Even our menu is in the shape of a huge truck…the kind that stereotypical Punjabi truckers go for a jolly ride in any Bollywood movie,” laughs Sahiba Parwani, co-owner, Kake Da Punjabi Dhabba.
Divya, Dev and Sahiba started Kake just three months ago, after the huge success of Lucky. “Lucky was modelled on a small, quaint eatery…like a conventional roadside dhaba in Punjab. But with Kake, we wanted to take the dhaba experience a notch higher,” she adds.
However, it is a misconception among foodies that dhaba food is less about hygiene and more about flavour and taste. Proving these naysayers wrong is Hans Deep Singh, owner, Desi Rasoi’s Pait Pooja, another dhaba in the area. “We focus on home-cooked and hygienic vegetarian food and all our meals are cooked in mineral water only,” he says. “We’ve been doing this for 10 years. We initially started off as a cloud kitchen…only doing take-aways, but as demand for our food increased, we put up a few tables so that customers who want their food piping hot are not disappointed,” he shares. The dhaba is however, still heavily dependent on take-away orders. “This is a IT hub and people love our food; so they order-in most of the time.”

POPULAR DISHES

NON VEG (Rs 200 onwards)
Bhara chicken, Tandoori chicken, Chicken tikka, Chicken rara, Baltiwali meat
VEG (Rs 180 onwards)
Paneer tikka, Special paneer tikka, Special parathas, Aloo takatak

GO slashing scholarship for SC/ST students challenged

By Express News Service  |   Published: 31st January 2018 02:37 AM  |  

Madras High Court (File | EPS)

CHENNAI:An advocate has moved the Madras HC challenging government’s move slashing the scholarship of SC and ST students.The petitioner D Ashok Kumar has sought quashing of the GO dated August 11, 2017, which reduced the scholarships.

The scholarship was meant for students studying even in the management quota of private colleges, if salaries of parents were less than `2 lakh pa. The order limited scholarship to the fee fixed for government quota and not the actual fee to be paid under the management quota. When the plea came up for hearing on Tuesday, the first bench directed the government advocate to get instructions and posted the case to February 2.

PIO doc helps deliver baby at 35,000 feet

New York: An off-duty Indian-origin doctor had an “oh boy” story when he helped deliver a healthy baby boy while on a trans-Atlantic flight from Paris to New York at 35,000 feet, according to media reports.

Dr Sij Hemal, 27 a second year urology resident at Cleveland Clinic’s Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, went into doctor mode when on December 17 Air France flight attendants asked if there were any doctors on the flight. A 41-year-old had gone into labour a week early, local media reported.

Together with Dr Stefanie Ortolan, a paediatrician from France, Hemal delivered baby Jake after 30 minutes of pushing, Hemal said.

“As a urologist, I was excited. I thought it was kidney stones, but later found out that she was 39 weeks pregnant,” he said. Hemal said there was no time to land the plane and the best decision was to deliver the baby in the air. Hemal used a shoestring to tie and cut the umbilical cord for baby Jake. “This has been a team effort and certainly a flight I will never forget,” he said. Although Hemal’s practice area is urology, he delivered seven babies during medical school. “I just tried... to come up with a creative solution,” he said.

Air France gifted a travel voucher and a bottle of champagne to Hemal. PTI

Passports won’t go orange, will still be proof of address

New Delhi: The Modi government has decided to reverse two ill-conceived passport decisions. In a statement on Tuesday, the ministry of external affairs spokesman said the government would not issue orange coloured passports to Indian nationals who needed an emigration clearance certificate. It has also decided not to discontinue printing the last page of the passport, which is used as a valid proof of address.

A few weeks ago, MEA and the ministry of women and child development (WCD) decided that Indians who had not cleared their class 10 exams and needed an emigration clearance check would be issued orange coloured passports, which was instantly criticised as being blatantly discriminatory to certain Indians.

Passports currently are issued in three colours. Government officers have a white passport, diplomats are issued red passports and all other passports are blue. After drawing a lot of flak, the MEA announced on Tuesday it was reversing the decision. The last page of a passport contains the personal particulars of the holder, and is generally regarded as the only identity and address proof of a person that is verified by police, and thereby more secure. TNN

Students with swords attack rivals at rly stn

3 Injured, 1 Held, Hunt On For Others

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai : In a chilling incident, the second of its kind in a little more than two months, a group of swordwielding students from a city college attacked a few students of a ‘rival’ institution at Pattaravakam Railway Station near Ambattur on Tuesday afternoon, leaving three students injured. Government Railway Police (GRP) arrested a Pachaiyappa’s College student and launched a hunt for a few others.

Police, quoting from witness accounts, said the attackers, some of them with their faces masked and each carrying swords at least two-foot long, had turned upon the victims even as the train was between Ambattur and Pattaravakkam stations. As the train rolled on to a platform at Pattaravakkam, the assailants ran after the terrified victims, leaving dozens of commuters cowering in fear.

The injured were identified as Presidency College students Jagadeesan, 18, Dinesh, 19 and Vijay, 18, all residents of Tiruvallur and nearby areas. A GRP officer said, “We received only complaints from Jagadeesan and Dinesh. During inquiries, they said a student named Vijay was also injured in the attack.”

The three injured youths were treated as out-patients at a private hospital in Ambattur Industrial Estate and sent home. “We are questioning them further to know if any other students were also injured in the attack,” another officer said. A case was registered and Mohan Ragupathy, 18, a first year B Sc (zoology) student of Pachaiyappa’s College. A court is to send him to prison on Wednesday.

Chennai Central deputy superintendent of police A Sushil Kumar and GRP inspector of Perambur Pachaimal rushed to Pattaravakkam Railway Station and some railway staff and commuters.

“We are working on detailed plans to put an end to these incidents,” said additional director general of police C Sylendra Babu of the GRP. Several bad elements among students stay calm whenever the police presence is strong and only muster courage to create trouble when there are no law enforcers around, he said.

A similar incident occurred around two months ago, and after the video went viral, the railway police nabbed a few students and let them off after issuing a warning. 



A videograb shows students with swords getting off a train at Pattaravakam Railway Station near Ambattur on Tuesday