Railway Budget 2014-15 Highlights

Union Railways Minister Sadananda Gowda presented the Rail Budget in the Parliament 8 July, 2014.

 Here are the highlights:

 ● Grateful to honourable PM Narendra Modi ji for having given me this opportunity and for entrusting me with this responsibility
 ● Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom
 ● It gives me immense pleasure to present my first Railway Budget flooded with suggestion for new trains, new railway lines
 ● We now target to become the largest freight carrier in the world
 ● Indian railways carry only 31% of the total freight in the country. It is a challenge we have to face
 ● 5 lakh crore required each year for the next ten years for ongoing projects alone
 ● 23 paisa lost per passenger per km in 2012-13
 ● Social obligation of Railways in 2013-14 was Rs. 20,000 crore
 ● Focus on sanctioning projects rather than completing them
 ● The more projects we add the thinner we spread our resources
 ● I can get claps from this house by announcing many new projects but that would be rendering injustice to the struggling organization
 ● The fare revision was tough but a necessary decision - it will bring Indian Railways an additional revenue of 8,000 crores
 ● Indian Railways carries more than the entire population of Australia in a day
 ● Populist projects and mismanagement have brought Railways to point of funds crunch
 ● This state of affairs in railways needs immediate course correction
 ● Gross traffic receipts in 2013-14 was Rs. 1.3 lakh crore, operating ratio was 94 per cent
 ● Indian Railways spent Rs. 41,000 crore on laying of 3,700 km of new lines in last 10 years
 ● Need to explore alternative sources of resource mobilisation and not depend on fare hike alone
 ● Large part of the budget outlay to go to safety projects
 ● Maximum financial outlays for projects slated for completion in this area itself
 ● High priority areas - safety, cleanliness, passenger amenities and capacity augmentation
 ● Future projects to be financed on public-private partnership model
 ● Plans to attract investment from domestic and foreign players in infrastructure; focus to be on aggressive indigenisation
 ● FY15 Total Expenditure Pegged At Rs.1.49 lakh crore
 ● FY15 total receipts pegged at Rs.1.64 lakh crore
 ● Propose to hike budgetary plan outlay to Rs.47,650 crore
 ● FY15 passenger fare revenue pegged at Rs.44,600 crore
 ● Pre-cooked meals by reputed brands, focus on cleanliness and passenger feedback
 ● Outsource cleaning activities at 50 major stations, separate housekeeping wing for cleanliness and sanitation
 ● CCTVs to be used for monitoring cleanliness
 ● RO Drinking water at stations and trains
 ● Corporates encouraged to adopt stations for better maintenance and upkeep
 ● 17,000 Railway Protection Force personnel to be available soon
 ● Introduction of women RPF constables, coaches meant for women to be escorted for greater safety

 Bullet train:
 ● Indian Railways on course to fulfill its long cherished dream. I propose a Bullet train on the Ahmedabad - Mumbai sector
 ● Higher speed for existing trains will be achieved by upgrading the present network
 ● 23 projects underway in North-East. Propose to allocate higher funds than previous year for these projects

New Trains and Extended Trains in Rail Budget 2014 

58 new trains, including five new 'Jansadharan' trains and an equal number of premium group of trains have been proposed in the Rail Budget presented by railway minister Sadananda Gowda on 8 July, 2014.

The new trains include six AC Express trains, 27 Express trains, eight passenger trains, two Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) services and 5 Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) services besides extension of 11 existing trains.

Jansadharan Trains
(1) Ahmedabad-Darbhanga Jansadharan Express via Surat
(2) Jaynagar-Mumbai Jansadharan Express
(3) Mumbai-Gorakhpur Jansadharan Express
(4) Saharasa-Anand Vihar Jansadharan Express via Motihari
(5) Saharasa-Amritsar Jansadharan Express

Premium Trains
(1) Mumbai Central-New Delhi Premium AC Express
(2) Shalimar-Chennai Premium AC Express
(3) Secunderabad-- Hazrat Nizamuddin Premium AC Express
(4) Jaipur-Madurai Premium Express
(5) Kamakhya-Bengaluru Premium Express

AC Express Trains
(1) Vijayawada-NewDelhiAPExpress (Daily)
(2) LokmanyaTilak(T)-Lucknow (Weekly)
(3) Nagpur-Pune (Weekly)
(4) Nagpur-Amritsar (Weekly)
(5) Naharlagun-NewDelhi (Weekly)
(6) Nizamuddin-Pune (Weekly)

Express Trains
(1) Ahmedabad-Patna Express (Weekly) via Varanasi
(2) Ahmedabad- Chennai Express (Bi-weekly) via Vasai Road
(3) Bengaluru -Mangalore Express (Daily)
(4) Bengaluru -Shimoga Express (Bi-weekly)
(5) Bandra(T)-Jaipur Express (Weekly) Via Nagda, Kota
(6) Bidar-Mumbai Express (Weekly)
(7) Chhapra-Lucknow Express (Tri-weekly) via Ballia, Ghazipur, Varanasi
(8) Ferozpur-Chandigarh Express (6 days a week)
(9) Guwahati-Naharlagun Intercity Express (Daily)
(10) Guwahati-Murkongselek Intercity Express (Daily)
(11) Gorakhpur-Anand Vihar Express (Weekly)
(12) Hapa-Bilaspur Express (Weekly) via Nagpur
(13) Hazur Saheb Nanded-Bikaner Express (Weekly)
(14) Indore-Jammu Tawi Express (Weekly)
(15) Kamakhya-Katra Express (Weekly) via Darbhanga
(16) Kanpur-Jammu Tawi Express (Bi-weekly)
(17) Lokmanya Tilak(T)-Azamgarh Express (Weekly)
(18) Mumbai_Kazipeth Express (Weekly) via Balharshah
(19) Mumbai-Palitana Express (Weekly)
(20) New Delhi -Bhatinda Shatabdi Express (Bi-weekly)
(21) New Delhi-Varanasi Express (Daily)
(22) Paradeep-Howrah Express (Weekly)
(23) Paradeep-Visakhapatnam Express (Weekly)
(24) Rajkot-Rewa Express (Weekly)
(25) Ramnagar-Agra Express (Weekly)
(26) Tatanagar Baiyyappanahali (Bengaluru) Express (Weekly)
(27) Visakhapatnam-Chennai Express (Weekly)

Passenger Trains 
(1) Bikaner-Rewari Passenger (Daily)
(2) Dharwad-Dandeli Passenger (Daily) via Alnavar
(3) Gorakhpur-Nautanwa Passenger (Daily)
(4) Guwahati-Mendipathar Passenger (Daily)
(5) Hatia-Rourkela Passenger
(6) Byndoor-Kasaragod Passenger (Daily)
(7) Rangapara North-Rangiya Passenger (Daily)
(8) Yesvantpur-Tumkur Passenger(Daily)

MEMU services 
(1) Bengaluru-Ramanagaram 6 days a week (3Pairs)
(2) Palwal-Delhi-Aligarh

DEMU services 
(1) Bengaluru -Neelmangala (Daily)
(2) Chhapra-Manduadih (6days a week) via Ballia
(3) Baramula-Banihal (Daily)
(4) Sambalpur-Rourkela (6 days a week)
(5) Yesvantpur-Hosur (6 days a week)

Extension of Run of Existing Trains 
(1) 22409/22410 Anand Vihar Sasaram Garib Rath Express to Gaya
(2) 12455/12456 Delhi Sarai Rohilla Sriganganagar Express to Bikaner
(3) 15231/15232 Gondia Muzaffarpur Express to Barauni
(4) 12001/12002 New Delhi Bhopal Shatabdi Express to Habibganj
(5) 54602 Ludhiana-Hissar Passenger to Sadulpur
(6) 55007/55008 Sonpur-Kaptanganj Passenger to Gorakhpur
(7) 55072/55073 Gorakhpur-Thawe Passenger to Siwan
(8) 63237/63238 Buxar-Mughalsarai MEMU to Varanasi
(9) 63208/63211 Jhajha-Patna MEMU to Jasidih
(10) 64221/64222 Lucknow Hardoi MEMU to Shahjahanpur
(11) 68002/68007 Howrah-Belda MEMU to Jaleswar

Capitals, Governors and Chief Ministers of Indian States

States	Capitals	Governors	Chief Ministers
(1) Andhra Pradesh	Hyderabad	Mr. E.S.L.Narasimhan	Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu
(2) Arunachal Pradesh	Itanagar	Lieutenant General (Retd) Nirbhay Sharma	Mr. Nabam Tuki
(3) Assam	Dispur	Mr. J. B. Patnaik	Mr. Tarun Gogoi
(4) Bihar	Patna	Mr. D. Y. Patil	Mr. Jitan Ram Manjhi
(5) Chhattisgarh	Raipur	Mr. Ram Naresh Yadav	Dr. Raman Singh
(6) Goa	Panaji	Mr. B.V. Wanchoo	Mr. Manohar Parrikar
(7) Gujarat	Gandhinagar	Ms. Margaret Alva (Additional charge)	Ms. Anandiben Patel
(8) Haryana	Chandigarh	Mr. Jagannath Pahadia	Mr. Bhupinder S. Hooda
(9) Himachal Pradesh	Shimla	Ms. Urmila Singh	Mr. Virbhadra Singh
(10) Jammu and Kashmir	Srinagar (Summer) Jammu (Winter)	Mr. N. N. Vohra	Mr. Omar Abdullah
(11) Jharkhand	Ranchi	Dr. Syed Ahmed	Mr. Hemant Soren
(12) Karnataka	Bengaluru	Mr. K Rosaiah	Mr. K. Siddaramaiah
(13) Kerala	Thiruvananthapuram	Ms. Sheila Dikshit	Shri. Oommen Chandy
(14) Madhya Pradesh	Bhopal	Mr. Ram Naresh Yadav	Mr. Shivraj Singh Chauhan
(15) Maharashtra	Mumbai	Mr. K. Sankaranarayan	Mr. Prithviraj Chavan
(16) Manipur	Imphal	Dr. Ashwani Kumar  (additional charge)	Mr.Okram Ibobi Singh
(17) Meghalaya	Shillong	Dr. K. K. Paul	Mr. Mukul A. Sangma
(18) Mizoram	Aizawl	Dr. Kamla Beniwal	Mr. Lal Thanhawla
(19) Nagaland	Kohima	Mr. Vakkom Purushothaman	Mr. Neiphiu Rio
(20) Odisha	Bhubaneswar	Mr. S.C. Jamir	Mr. Naveen Patnaik
(21) Punjab	Chandigarh	Mr. Shivraj V. Patil	Mr. Parkash Singh Badal
(22) Rajasthan	Jaipur	Ms. Margaret Alva	Smt. Vasundhara Raje
(23) Sikkim	Gangtok	Mr. Shriniwas D. Patil	Mr. Pawan Chamling
(24) Tamil Nadu	Chennai	Mr. K Rosaiah	Ms. J. Jayalalithaa
(25) Tripura	Agartala	Mr. Vakkom Purushothaman (Additional charge)	Mr. Manik Sarkar
(26) Telangana	Hyderabad	Mr. E.S.L.Narasimhan	Mr. K. Chandrasekhar Rao
(27) Uttarakhand	Dehradun	Dr. Aziz Qureshi	Mr. Harish Rawat
(28) Uttar Pradesh	Lucknow	Dr. Aziz Qureshi	Mr. Akhilesh Yadav
(29) West Bengal	Kolkata	Mr. M. K. Narayanan	Ms. Mamata Banerjee

India figured among top 10 markets for Australia - AIBS

India has figured among the top 10 markets for the international business community in Australia’s International Business Survey (AIBS). India has also emerged as the most challenging of the top 10 countries to do business with.

The AIBS found that India ranked as ninth important market currently. The country was also seen as the third important future market. The survey found that the most important market for international business for the participants varied by the industry. For India it is education and training industry stood as the most important market for Australian international business community. On the list of top most important overseas markets in terms of international revenue, India stood at the ninth position, while US and China took the first and second rank respectively. 

On rating the ease of doing business in their most important markets as compared to Australia, only 9 per cent of businesses perceived India as an easier or much easier market than Australia, with 81 per cent regarding it as more or much more difficult.

While strong growth prospects are the most important reason provided for planning on doing business in India in the future, personal contacts/networks do play a secondary role.

AIBS 2014, a comprehensive study of Australian companies involved in international business, was commissioned by Export Council of Australia with the support of Austrade and Export Finance and Insurance Corporation, and conducted by University of Sydney between October and December last year.

The survey captured data from more than 1,600 Australian businesses, reflecting the opinions of a wide range of firms from diverse industries operating in over 120 markets.

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Service Examination 2014

The Union Public Service Commission will hold the Civil Service (Preliminary) Examination, 2014 for recruitment of various post of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS), and certain other Group 'A' and Group 'B' Central Service/ Posts.

1. Indian Administrative Service
2. Indian Foreign Service
3. Indian Police Service
4. Indian P & T Accounts & Finance Service, Group ‘A’
5. Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Group ‘A’
6. Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise), Group ‘A’
7. Indian Defence Accounts Service, Group ‘A’
8. Indian Revenue Service (I.T.), Group ‘A’
9. Indian Ordnance Factories Service, Group ‘A’ (Assistant Works Manager, Administration)
10. Indian Postal Service, Group ‘A’
11. Indian Civil Accounts Service, Group ‘A’
12. Indian Railway Traffic Service, Group ‘A’
13. Indian Railway Accounts Service, Group 'A'
14. Indian Railway Personnel Service, Group ‘A’
15. Post of Assistant Security Commissioner in Railway Protection Force, Group ‘A’
16. Indian Defence Estates Service, Group ‘A’
17. Indian Information Service (Junior Grade), Group ‘A’
18. Indian Trade Service, Group 'A' (Gr. III)
19. Indian Corporate Law Service, Group "A"
20. Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service, Group ‘B’ (Section Officer’s Grade)
21. Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service, Group 'B'
22. Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service, Group 'B'
23. Pondicherry Civil Service, Group 'B'

Qualifications: The candidate must hold a degree of any of Universities incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University under Section-3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, or possess an equivalent qualification.
Age Limit (As on 01/08/2014): 21-32 years
Fee: Rs. 100/- either by remitting the money in any Branch of SBI by Cash, or by using net banking facility of State Bank of India/ State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur/ ate Bank of Hyderabad/ State Bank of Mysore/ State Bank of Patiala/ State Bank of Travancore or by using Visa/ Master Credit/ Debit Card. Female/ SC/ ST/ PH candidates are exempted from payment of fee.
Plan of Examination: The competitive examination comprises two successive stages.

• Civil Services (Preliminary) Examinations (Objective Type) for the selection of candidates for Main Examination; and
• Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various services and posts.

Penalty for Wrong Answers: Candidates should note that there will be penalty (negative marking) for wrong answers marked by a candidate in the Objective Type Question Papers.
How to Apply: Candidates are required to apply Online by using the website: www.upsconline.nic.in.

Important Dates:

• Closing date of online registration 30/06/2014
• Date of written examination 24/08/2014

For more details, please visit:  www.upsc.gov.in/exams/notifications/2014/csp/CSP%202014%20English.pdf

Cabinet Ministers of India 2014

Cabinet Ministers
● Narendra Modi – Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, All important policy issues and all other portfolios not allocated to any Minister 
● Rajnath Singh – Home Affairs 
● Sushma Swaraj – External Affairs, Overseas Indian Affairs 
● Arun Jaitley – Finance, Corporate Affairs, additional charge of Defence 
● M Venkaiah Naidu – Urban Development, Housing, Urban Poverty Alleviation, Parliamentary Affairs 
● Nitin Gadkari – Road Transport and Highways, Shipping 
● DV Sadananda Gowda – Railways 
● Uma Bharati – Water resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation 
● Dr Najma Heptulla – Minority Affairs 
● Gopinath Munde – Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Drinking Water and Sanitation 
● Ramvilas Paswan – Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution 
● Kalraj Mishra – Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises 
● Maneka Gandhi – Women and Child Development 
● Ananthkumar – Chemicals and Fertilizers 
● Ravi Shankar Prasad – Communications and Information Technology Law and Justice 
● Ashok Gajapathi Raju – Civil Aviation 
● Anant Geete – Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises 
● Harsimrat Kaur Badal – Food Processing Industries 
● Narendra Singh Tomar – Mines, Steel, Labour and Employment 
● Jual Oram – Tribal Affairs 
● Radha Mohan Singh – Agriculture 
● Thaawar Chand Gehlot – Social Justice and Empowerment 
● Smriti Irani – Human Resource Development 
● Dr Harsh Vardhan – Health and Family Welfare

Ministers of State (Independent Charge) 
● General VK Singh – Development of North Eastern Region (Independent Charge), External Affairs, Overseas Indian Affairs 
● Inderjit Singh Rao – Planning (Independent Charge), Statistics and Programme Implementation (Independent Charge), Defence 
● Santosh Gangwar – Textiles (Independent Charge), Parliamentary Affairs, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation 
● Shripad Naik – Culture (Independent Charge), Tourism (Independent Charge) 
● Dharmendra Pradhan – Petroleum and Natural Gas (Independent Charge) 
● Sarbananda Sonowal – Skill Development, Entrepreneurship, Youth Affairs and Sports (Independent Charge) 
● Prakash Javadekar – Information and Broadcasting (Independent Charge), Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Independent Charge), Parliamentary Affairs 
● Piyush Goyal – Power (Independent Charge), Coal (Independent Charge), New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge) 
● Dr Jitendra Singh – Science and Technology (Independent Charge), Earth Sciences (Independent Charge), Prime Minister Office, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space 
● Nirmala Sitharaman – Commerce and Industry (Independent Charge), Finance, Corporate Affairs

Ministers of State 
● GM Siddeshwara – Civil Aviation 
● Manoj Sinha – Railways 
● Nihalchand – Chemicals and Fertilizers 
● Upendra Kushwaha – Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Drinking Water and Sanitation 
● Pon Radhakrishnan – Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises 
● Kiren Rijiju – Home Affairs 
● Krishan Pal – Road Transport and Highways, Shipping 
● Dr. Sanjeev Balyan – Agriculture, Food Processing Industries 
● Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava – Tribal Affairs 
● Raosaheb Danve – Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution 
● Vishnu Deo Sai – Mines, Steel, Labour and Employment 
● Sudarshan Bhagat – Social Justice and Empowerment

Forest Department Recruitment Test - 2014 Provisional Keys

Forest Section Officers

General Maths  General Knowledge

Forest Beat Officers

General Maths  General Knowledge

Asst. Beat Officers

General Maths  General Knowledge

Thanadars

General Maths           General Knowledge

Bunglow Watchers

General Maths        General Knowledge

Technical Assistant

General Maths        General Knowledge

General Elections 2014: Lowest ever Number of Independent Candidates Elected

General Elections 2014 has seen the lowest ever number of Independent candidates getting elected. Out of a total of 8251 contestants, 3234 were Independent candidates; out of this, 3 candidates have been elected. In the previous General Elections held in 2009, the total number of Independent candidates was 3831 out of which 9 were elected. The highest ever number of Independents elected is 42 (Second General Elections, 1957); the number of Independent candidates contested was highest at 10635 in 11^th General Elections, held in 1996.

Table 1:  Performance of Independent Candidates in General Elections 1951-52   ̶  2014

General Elections	Year	Total No. of Contestants	Total No. of Independent Candidates	No. of Independent Candidates Elected
First	1951 - '52	1874	533	37
Second	1957	1519	481	42
Third	1962	1985	479	20
Fourth	1967	2369	866	35
Fifth	1971	2784	1134	14
Sixth	1977	2439	1224	9
Seventh	1980	4629	2826	9
Eighth	1984 -'85	5492	3797	5
Ninth	1989	6160	3712	12
Tenth	1991 -'92	8749	5546	5
Eleventh	1996	13952	10635	9
Twelfth	1998	4750	1915	6
Thirteenth	1999	4648	1945	6
Fourteenth	2004	5435	2385	5
Fifteenth	2009	8070	3831	9
Sixteenth	2014	8251	3234	3
Source: Election Commission of India