Bihar nod to preparing DPR for Patna metro rail

Patna: Bihar moved a step closer to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's dream of a Metro train service in Patna with the state cabinet Tuesday approving the proposal to prepare a detailed project report (DPR).

Cabinet Secretary Brajesh Mehrotra told media persons here that state cabinet has selected Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) for the purpose.

"RITES will prepare DPR for the Metro rail in Patna," he said.

Earlier, the state government had said that Metro rail would be a reality in Patna by 2016. The project is set to cover a distance of 40 km and is estimated to cost Rs.8,000 crore.

IANS

New York man, 97, gets diploma eight decades late

Associated Press:

Watertown, New York: It took nearly eight decades, but

Frederick Gray is finally a high school graduate.

The Watertown Daily Times reports that the 97-year-old World War II veteran was presented on Monday with a diploma from Watertown High School during a ceremony at his northern New York home.

Gray was set to graduate in 1934 but dropped out a year early to get a job to help support his family during the Great Depression.

Gray worked in a factory before being drafted into the Army in 1942. He served in the 24th Infantry Division in the Pacific campaign, earning a Bronze Star.

He returned to his job and retired as head of the company's billing department.

Gray says he never expected to get a diploma and is "dumbfounded by the thoughtfulness."

Now, book train tickets through SMS!

New Delhi: Come July and you can book your train ticket by sending an SMS.

Keeping an eye on the growing mobile phone market in India, IRCTC will launch SMS-based ticketing from July 1 and a dedicated number will be announced soon for this.

Describing the step as environment-friendly as no print-out is required, a senior IRCTC official said "mobile- based booking provides the users ease and convenience of booking tickets from anywhere and anytime. There will be no requirement of a printout because the ticketing message will be considered as valid during the journey."

As per the requirement, one has to register the mobile number with IRCTC as well as one's bank. The Bank provides MMID (Mobile Money Identifier) and OTP (one time password) for authorization of payment.

The official said SMS booking is very simple as a passenger ha

s to type the train number, destination, journey date, class and passenger details like name, age and gender on the SMS box.

"The sender will receive transaction ID and then make payment through sending another SMS by typing PAY followed by the transaction ID, MMID as received from the bank and password, said the official adding "with this the passenger's ticket is booked."

The service is available to all mobile subscribers and Rs 3 is being charged per SMS and payment gateway charges are Rs 5 for ticket amount upto Rs 5000 and Rs 10 for more than Rs 5000.

PTI

Pre-monsoon showers bring respite in parts of Rajasthan

Jaipur: Parts of Rajasthan were lashed by pre-monsoon showers on Tuesday, giving relief to people suffering from hot and humid conditions, as Ajmer recorded a maximum rainfall of 50.4 mm.

People in pink city of Jaipur also enjoyed showers as the city witnessed 25.9 mm rainfall this afternoon.

Kota received a maximum rainfall of 2.4 mm.

However, there was no let up in heat wave conditions in rest of the state as Sriganganagar was the hottest with 43 degree Celsius followed by Jaisalmer 41.2, Bikaner 40.6, Churu 39.4, Jodhpur 39, and Jaipur 31.7 deg C.

Showers or squall may hit parts of north-west Rajasthan in the next 24 hours, according to the meteorological department.

PTI

Fund to help Dalit entrepreneurs launched in Mumbai

The nation's first SEBI-registered "social impact fund", the DICCI SME Fund, was launched in Mumbai Thursday. The venture capital fund initiated by the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DICCI) aims to raise Rs 500 crore over 10 years and finance Dalit entrepreneurs to set up business. The fund was launched with an initial contribution of Rs 10 crore by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).

Its motto is, "We will not be job seekers, we will be job givers". It aims to create multiple kinds of social impact -- financial inclusion for SC/ST SMEs (small and medium entreprises) by providing access to equity capital markets, economic empowerment through wealth creation, and job creation for SC/ST youth. Union finance minister Mr P Chidambaram launched the initiative.

He said the fund would go a long way in "creating social equity". Admitting that the non-availability of finance is a problem for small enterprises, he said every bank branch in the country should hand-hold one SC/ST entrepreneur. "(If that happens) We will have one lakh flowers blooming in the country," Chidambaram said. He promised to ask public sector financial institutions, banks as well as LIC to invest in the DICCI SME Fund to meet its corpus requirements.

Source:TNN

Above average rainfall cheers parched state

MUMBAI: The onset of monsoon in the drought-hit state has been impressive. So far, about 60% of the state has received above average rainfall.

Data from the chief minister's office shows that 21 of the 35 districts in the state received more than 100% of the rainfall usual for this time of the year.

These districts include some of the worst-hit by drought, such as Jalna, Aurangabad, Satara and Sangli, where the precipitation recorded was 123%, 138%, 176% and 179% of normal, respectively.

Since June 1, the city suburbs have recorded 301 mm rainfall, which is 166% of the average.

The island city received 213 mm, or 116% of the normal rainfall. Rainfall in neighbouring Thane was 142% of the average. Only three districts, Gondia, Bhandara and Nagpur in Vidarbha region, received rainfall that was below 50% of the average. Eight districts witnessed 50-75% of the average rainfall.

About 93% of the average rainfall was recorded in Beed, which, too, faced ravaging drought conditions over the past months.

The highest deviation was recorded in Dhule, where rainfall was 281% of the normal precipitation, followed by Ahmednagar at 221%, Sangli at 179% and Satara at 176%.

Latest official data shows that water in reservoirs in the state stands at 14% of capacity. Senior state officials said they were hoping the good spell of rain would continue so that water levels in dams rise.

Source: TNN

With good rains, farmers take back their cattle from camps

AURANGABAD: With the on time arrival on monsoon, farmers from the worst drought-hit districts in the Marathwada region have begun taking back their cattle from the camps set up by the state government. As many as 84 cattle camps have been closed down as farmers begin preparations for the kharif season.

Monsoon reached Marathwada on Saturday evening and farmers began taking back their cattle to their farms. Officials said that in coming days more camps are expected to be vacated.

As per the latest figures with the Aurangabad divisional commissionerate, 33 camps in Aurangabad district, eight in Jalna district and 43 in Beed district have been closed down.

Now, 168 camps are still operational, of which 54 are in Aurangabad district, 45 in Jalna district, 40 in Beed district, 28 in Osmanabad district and one in Parbhani district.

The government spent Rs 118 crores on the 252 cattle camps that were set up in five of the eight districts of the Marathwada region. Officials said that 1.10 lakh cattle were being provided shelter and fodder at these camps in the drought-hit areas of the region.

Agriculture experts said that with a good start to the monsoon season, farmers are expecting a good crop this year. They have returned to the fields along with their cattle, especially bullocks, and are using them for ploughing and sowing purposes.

Experts said that during this year's drought, in which there was acute water scarcity, farmers kept their cattle at camps to ensure adequate supply of water. With a good beginning to the monsoon, farmers are confident of finding water in their villages and are taking back their cattle.

Official sources said that the government will not announce closure of the camps as farmers will take back the cattle during the kharif season.