The Union Tourism Minister, Subodh Kant Sahai addressing the Cinematic Tourism Conclave.

The conclave was jointly organized by the Department of Tourism, Chandigarh Administration and Northern India Management Association. The conclave was also attended by Tourism Minister of Punjab, alongwith K.K.Sharma Adviser to the Administrator UT Chandigarh, Ram Niwas, Home Secretary UT, Geetika Kalha, Principal Secretary Tourism, Punjab, Dhanpat Singh, Principal Secretary Tourism, Haryana and Managing Directors of State Tourism Corporations of Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana and other prominent personalities of Tourism fraternity and Punjabi Cinema.

Mr Sahai also felicitated the winners of excellence honours in the various spheres of tourism like Innovative Travel Agent , Innovative Tour Operator, Innovative Tourist Transporter, Innovative Restaurant, Innovative Tourism Photographer, Innovative Tourist Shop, Creative Travel Writer, Creative Interior Designer, Creative Cultural Event, Creative Theatre Group, Innovative Cinematic Tourism, Innovative Baker & Confectioner, Innovative Medical Tourism, Innovative Golf Tourism Services, Innovative Hospitality Institute, Innovative Tourism & Aviation Institute.

Applauding the efforts of Chandigarh Administration to promote Chandigarh as a cinematic Tourist destination in the region the Minister also highlighted the importance of inbound tourism to increase the foreign exchange earnings and to have mega Tourism projects under public-private partnership so that holding tourists becomes more important than getting tourists into the country and places like Chandigarh which are known for its architecture tourism world over. He also emphasized the need to organize such regional conclaves in the different zones of the country to synergies the efforts being made by the State Governments and the private players connected with the Film and small screen industry.

The total goods earnings have gone up from Rs. 1577.16 crore during the period from July 11 to 20, 2010 to Rs. 1743.64 crore during July 11 to 20, 2011, showing an increase of 10.56 per cent. The total passenger revenue earnings during the period July 11 to 20, 2011 were Rs. 804.79 crore compared to Rs. 715.44 crore during the same period last year, reflecting an increase of 12.49 per cent. The revenue earning from other coaching amounted to Rs. 68.10 crore during this period compared to Rs. 61.73 crore during the same period last year, showing an increase of 10.32 per cent.

The total approximate number of passengers booked during the period July 11 to 20, 2011 was 231.28 million compared to 221.09 million during the same period last year, showing an increase of 4.61 per cent. In the suburban and non-suburban sectors, the number of passengers booked during July 11 to 20, 2011 was 121.65 million and 109.63 million compared to 116.85 million and 104.24 million during the same period last year, registering an increase of 4.11 per cent and 5.17 per cent respectively.

The top ten States in terms of number of domestic tourist visits (in millions) during 2010 were Andhra Pradesh (155.8), Uttar Pradesh (144.8), Tamil Nadu (111.6), Maharashtra (48.5), Karnataka (38.2), Madhya Pradesh (38.1), Uttarakhand (30.2), Rajasthan (25.5), West Bengal (21.1) and Gujarat (18.9).The contribution of top 10 States was about 85.5% to the total number of domestic tourist visits during 2010. The percentage shares of top 5 States were Andhra Pradesh (21.0%), Uttar Pradesh (19.6%), Tamil Nadu (15.1%), Maharashtra (6.5%) and Karnataka (5.2%) .

The number of foreign tourist visits (FTVs) during the year 2010 was 17.9 million as compared to 14.4 million in 2009 and 2008. This shows an impressive growth of 24.2% over 2009 as compared to a decline of 0.1% in 2009 over 2008.

The top ten States in terms of number of FTVs (in millions) during 2010 were Maharashtra (5.1), Tamil Nadu (2.8), Delhi (1.9), Uttar Pradesh (1.7), Rajasthan (1.3), West Bengal (1.2), Kerala (0.66), Bihar (0.64), Himachal Pradesh (0.45) and Goa (0.44). The contribution of top 10 States was about 90.3% to the total number of FTVs in the country during 2010. The percentage shares of top 5 States were Maharashtra (28.5%), Tamil Nadu (15.7%), Delhi (10.6%), Uttar Pradesh (9.4%) and Rajasthan (7.2%).

The next week is expected to remain near to its normal position on many days of the week. Fairly widespread rainfall may continue over most parts of the country except south interior peninsula where subdued rainfall conditions may prevail.
Current synoptic condition show that the low pressure area lies over north Madhya Pradesh and adjoining south Uttar Pradesh, an upper air cyclonic circulation lies over Chhattisgarh and neighbourhood between 1.5 to 4.5 km above mean sea level. The off shore trough extends from Gujarat coast to Kerala coast and The western disturbance as an upper air cyclonic circulation lies over north Pakistan and adjoining Jammu & Kashmir.

Out of 36 meteorological sub-divisions of the country, rainfall was excess in 05 which were mainly over central India, normal in 10 , deficient in 16 and scanty in 05 sub- divisions during 7 to 13 July. In area – wise distribution, 14% area of the country received excess/normal rainfall. Remaining 59% area received deficient /scanty rainfall.

The cumulative seasonal rainfall for the country as a whole for this month till yesterday has been 24% below the LPA. The rainfall was below normal over all the four homogeneous regions with highest deficiency of 32% over northwest India. Cumulative rainfall during this year’s monsoon has so far 03% below the LPA for the whole country. The cumulative seasonal rainfall continues to remain near normal over all the four homogeneous regions.

Out of 36 meteorological subdivisions, the rainfall has been excess over 06, normal over 22 and deficient in 08 sub-divisions. In area – wise distribution, 81% area of the country received excess/normal rainfall. Remaining 19% area received deficient/scanty rainfall.

The Union Minister for Railways, Dinesh Trivedi holding discussions with the Minister of State for Railways, Bharatsinh Solanki and officials of Railway Board at Rail Bhavan in New Delhi.

Breaking Tourism News…BTN India
On his first visit to Rail Bhawan today after being sworn in as Union Railway Minister on July 12, 2011, Dinesh Trivedi has held discussions with his colleague Minister of State for Railway Bharatsinh Solanki and the officials of the Railway Board.

Later, while interacted with the media persons, Mr Trivedi outlined the focus and priorities set for the growth of the Indian Railways. He said “Indian Railways is one of the best organizations in the World, a lifeline of the country, which has done the nation proud. Considering the constraints under which it has to work, it has rendered phenomenal service to the nation, which is only possible because of the dedication of all the workers and the management.”

1. To improve productivity and efficiency.  To respond to the needs of the 21^st century with associated tools and technologies, to help workers and unions achieve their best.  This will also include Process Reforms.
2.  Passenger – ultimate customer.  Their security, safety, service, comfort and flexibility are of utmost importance.
3. Substantial expansion of the Railways in handling of passengers and freight, to add and to grow in the Indian economy and respond to the needs of business and service sector.
4. Land use through preparing national database of railway owned land, management of the same and potential to create new community assets through PPP.
5. Modernize Railway stations through PPP. To create community space not only for transport but also for education, health, business and entertainment. Provide Wi-fi in Railway stations and trains. Revive Rail-Tel.
6. Modernize Railway factories to increase capacity. Emphasize indigenous design and development, local production to create new jobs.
7. Real-time Track management.
a. Implementation of modern e-signaling systems for train protection, improving track capacity and efficiency.
b. Advanced Anti Collision Devices on trains for averting both head on collisions as well as accidents caused due to track obstruction.
c. Implementation of GPS systems for real tracking of trains, advanced traffic analysis for efficient logistics of passenger and freight trains.
d. Manning/Over-bridge for all the unmanned level crossings.
8. Mobile ticketing, associated mobile commerce and other services for passengers and vendors. Railway Debit Cards to be made available at stations via digital kiosks for the purpose of purchasing items from vendors and can be used to purchase tickets as well.
9. Timely completion of East West Dedicated Freight Corridor.
10. Explore new projects, such as high speed rail to meet growing needs of the Indian Transport sector linking with other transport hubs to create seamless integrated connectivity.

He said that the priority would be given to the timely completion of the projects which have already been initiated and announced in the previous Railway Budgets.

At an impressive programme jointly organized by Eastern Railway and Kolkata Metro Railway yesterday at Kolkata, former Union Railway Minister and presently the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee launched this unique public friendly facility. Minister of State for Railways, Mukul Roy was among those especially present on this occasion.

The e-ticketing module of the Indian Railway Portal is expected be the most sought after facility by the normal passenger. The e-ticketing operations of IRCTC on its website shall also continue in parallel. In the additional facility of e-ticketing provided by Portal, no travel agents have been allowed so that normal passengers can have ease of booking during peak hours.

The Portal will broadly provide e-ticketing on the Internet and mobile phone (booking and cancellation).
Individual users choosing to use the e-ticketing facility shall be required to register for the first time for this purpose after submitting the mandatory details and shall be provided a unique user ID. This registration will be free of charge. Thereafter they can avail the services of booking and cancellation of e-tickets. They can take a printout of the e-ticket which is known as Electronic Reservation Slip (ERS).

Individual users desirous of utilizing the facility of booking e-ticket on mobile phone ( which is being named as m-ticket), having requisite internet facility can do so by downloading the mobile ticketing application on the mobile phone from the IR Portal, using the URL sent in SMS. On completion of booking and payment formalities, a SMS containing the ticket details will be sent to user which is referred to as Mobile Reservation Message (MRM). The cost of MRM from IR Web Portal shall be borne by Indian Railways. Such passengers need not require carrying a print out of the ticket and instead display the SMS (namely MRM). Similarly a Screen-shot of the e-ticket displayed through laptops/palmtops (referred as Virtual Reservation Message – VRM) will also be construed as e-ticket and such passenger also need not take a print out of the e-ticket and instead display the Screen-shot on their laptops/palmtops.

It is mandatory that at least one passenger booked on the e-ticket/m-ticket carry at least one of the eight proofs of identity (in original) : 1) Voter Photo Identity Card, 2) Passport 3) PAN Card 4) Driving License 5) Photo Identity card 6) Student Identity Card 7) Nationalized Bank Passbook with photograph and 8. Credit Cards with photograph.

ERS/MRM/VRM along with any one of the eight prescribed ID proofs in original and the indication of the passenger(s)’ name(s) in the Reservation Chart will entitle the passenger(s) to travel.

ERS/MRM/VRM along with one of the eight prescribed proofs of Identity in original will also authorize the passenger to enter the platform on the day of journey and he/she will not be required to purchase platform ticket. ERS/MRM along with original ID proof will be required to be produced on demand by Ticket Checking Staff on the platform.

The facility of booking e-tickets through IR Web Portal will be available from 00.30 hours to 23.30 hours daily. The booking for a particular train shall be permitted up to the time of preparation of reservation charts.

A maximum of eight PNRs per user ID per month shall be permissible. The passengers can book seats/berths on the e-ticket on the web portal against General quota/Tatkal quota/Ladies quota/Senior Citizen Quota. No concessions, except Senior Citizen concession, will be allowed on e-tickets. No Group Booking shall be permissible on e-ticketing through Indian Railway Web Portal.

The service charges levied by the Railways will be Rs. 5/- per ticket for Sleeper Class (SL) and Second Sitting (2S) classes and Rs. 10/- per ticket for all other Reserved Classes.

Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEE) during the month of June 2011 were Rs. 5440 crore as compared to Rs. 4751 crore in June 2010 and Rs. 3801 crore in June 2009. The growth rate in FEE in Rupee terms in June 2011 over June 2010 was 14.5 % as compared to 25 % in June 2010 over June 2009. FEE from tourism in rupee terms during January-June 2011 were Rs. 35163 crore with a growth of 12.1 %, as compared to the FEE of Rs. 31373 crore with a growth of 27.1 % during January-June 2010 over the corresponding period of 2009. FEE in US$ terms during the month of June 2011 were US$ 1213 million as compared to FEE of US$ 1020 million during the month of June 2010 and US$ 796 million in June 2009. The growth rate in FEE in US$ terms in June 2011 over June 2010 was 18.9 % as compared to the growth of 28.1 % in June 2010 over June 2009. FEE from tourism in terms of US$ during January-June 2011 were US$ 7811 million with a growth of 14.2 %, as compared to US$ 6842 million with a growth of 36.6 % during January-June 2010 over the corresponding period of 2009.

This is the only Handicrafts Museum in the North East which has artifacts from all the North Eastern States including Sikkim. Under the initiative of North East Handloom & Handicrafts Development Corporation (NEHHDC), the Museum has been financed by the Office of the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) and set up in a 10000 Sq.ft. shed. Work on the Museum started in 2009 with the disposal of the old and heavy machinery and major repair works took up almost the entire year. Thereafter the works on the interiors were taken up and it took final shape in 2011. The Museum has a unique collection of basketries some of which are decades old.

The salient features of the Time Table i.e. TAG are as under:
1. Encouraged by the public response over the past few years all the user-friendly features of Trains at a Glance viz. how to read a table, route map, station index, trains between important stations, station code index, Train number index, Train name index, has been retained.
2. Five digit numbering scheme for train services has come into force from December 20, 2010. This has been necessitated as the numbers in four digit numbering scheme got exhausted as also to enable capture of all types of passenger train services viz. Duronto, Rajdhani, Shatabdi, and other Mail/Express services, sub-urban, holiday specials, etc. on Indian Railways. The five-digit train numbering has been accordingly indicated in Trains at a Glance.
3. Colour coding scheme adopted for various categories of trains: (a) Pink for Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, Jan Shatabdi Express, Garib Rath Express and Duronto Express (b) Yellow for Double Decker services and other superfast trains (d) blue/white for other mail/Express trains.
4. New category of services viz. Double Decker services, Rajya Rani services, Vivek Express, Kavi Guru Express have been included.
5. Commercial information of passenger use and interest viz. advance reservation period, reservation through internet, refund rules and rail travel concessions have been suitably updated. New addition to the fare chart is the fare for AC and mixed type of Duronto services.
6. Information regarding Vigilance organization, Public grievance machinery, disaster management and catering services have been incorporated.
7. The Metro Railway, Kolkata has been added in the list of Zonal railways. The website addresses of all Zonal railways have been added this time.

Vinay Mittal, Chairman, Railway Board

Officer of Indian Railway Traffic Service (1975 batch), Mr Mittal has worked in various capacities all over the Indian Railways and has acquired vast and varied experience in the field of Railway Administration in his distinguished career. He has worked as the General Manager of North Western Railway, Addl. General Manager, Central Railway, Divisional Railway Manager-Bilaspur, Chief Passenger Transportation Manager, Chief Freight Transportation Manager, Chief Commercial Manager & Chief Operations Manager of Central Railway and Executive Director, Traffic Transportation (Movement) in Railway Board.

He was a part of the Indian Delegation which visited USA and China in 2005-06 in connection with Wagon/Bogie designs and Freight Operations.

He is credited with huge improvements in freight loading and punctuality performance in Central Railway and North Western Railway.