Hyderabad: The South Central Railway (SCR) plans to procure 200 more eco-friendly bio-toilets to provide the facility on more trains in the next few months. The decision was taken after successful trial of 48 bio-toilets fitted to the 17 coaches being run on Hyderabad-Mumbai Hussain Sagar Express and Kacheguda-Bangalore Express.
Bio-toilets were developed jointly by Railway Research and Standard Organisation (RDSO) and Defence Research Development Establishment (DRDE) for use in Indian Railways and are currently under trial in many of the zonal railways.
SCR, which has its headquarters in Hyderabad, took a lead in the trial and provided the facility in two trains.
The conventional toilets in the trains, by allowing human waste to fall on the tracks, cause unhygienic conditions and corrosion to track and coach fittings endangering the safety. Passengers use toilets while trains are at platforms and the track get scattered with human excreta creating unpleasant situation for passengers on the platforms, said a statement from SCR on Friday....
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06:00 AM, May 18, 2013
Rome: In the last weekend of Serie A, AC Milan need to protect a two-point lead over Fiorentina in the race for third place and a final Champions League berth. Milan and Fiorentina both visit relegated squads - Siena and Pescara, respectively. Nearly everything else in the Italian league has been decided, although several big coaching changes could come as soon as the season ends. Juventus clinched its 29th title...
11:05 AM, May 17, 2013
Mumbai: State-owned energy major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on Thursday reclaimed the spot as the country's most-valued company, pushing IT giant TCS to the second slot. At the end of trade, ONGC commanded a market value of Rs 2,89,047 crore. This is about Rs 4,428 crore more than TCS's market cap of Rs 2,84,619 crore. ONGC scrip ended 0.82 per cent higher, while TCS lost 1.02 per cent...
04:53 PM, May 16, 2013
New Delhi: Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland Wednesday backed the team management that had axed four players, including then vice-captain Shane Watson, ahead of the Mohali Test against India in March on ground of breach of discipline. Speaking for the first time on the issue which became a talking point during Australia's disastrous series, Sutherland said he has "in-depth" understanding of what had happened at that time. Coach Mickey Arthur...
05:55 PM, May 15, 2013
New Delhi: Oil Ministry's proposal for an across-the-board near doubling of natural gas prices has been rejected by the Cabinet Secretariat saying a ministerial panel headed by Defence Minister AK Antony did not have powers to do so. The Ministry had sent a draft proposal for the consideration of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) to price all domestically produced natural gas - be of state-run ONGC or private sector...
04:18 PM, May 15, 2013
New York: Karnataka will be re-emerge as an IT superpower and will make India proud, Union Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily has said as he accused the previous BJP govt of damaging the state's image as an investment destination. Moily, who had served as the Chief Minister of Karnataka between 1992 and 1994, was addressing Indian-Americans here through an audio link from New Delhi on Monday. This audio conference, organised by...
02:50 PM, May 14, 2013
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday described as unjust the latest hike in diesel prices as she slammed the Centre with having failed to take steps to control skyrocketing prices and "scams in all departments." This was the fourth time oil companies have effected hike since January 2013 and the measure aimed at mobilising revenue for government would severely affect the poor people, she said in a...
01:48 AM, May 11, 2013
Bangalore: Karnataka may get the name of its new Chief Minister on Friday and the Congress legislature party is meeting on to decide who will lead the government. An AICC observer team led by AK Antony is in Bangalore for the meeting. The Congress leaders are consulting MLAs even as several aspirants throw their hat in the ring. While frontrunner Siddarmaiah has sought an appointment with UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi,...
11:57 AM, May 10, 2013
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea which had challenged the validity of the Cairn-Vedanta deal and said there was nothing malafide in the transaction. The court was hearing a petition challenging the validity of the $8.5 billion Cairn-Vedanta deal and had sought a CBI probe into it. "There were no extraneous considerations involved in the deal and it should not be interfered with by the court....
11:59 AM, May 09, 2013
Having undergone the nightmare of bad governance, non-development and anti-social justice programme, people in Karnataka are looking for a change from the BJP government and the only alternative is Congress, said Congress leader and Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Veerappa Moily. "The Congress will emerge with a clean mandate for five years," he added. ...
11:56 AM, May 05, 2013
New Delhi: Jet fuel prices were on Wednesday cut by 5.3 per cent, the second steep reduction in rates in one month. Aviation Turbine Fuel, or ATF, price at Delhi was cut by Rs 3,545.94 per kilolitre (kl), or 5.35 per cent, to Rs 62,649.95 per kl, according to Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer. The reduction in rate, made possible due to declining international oil prices, came...
09:17 PM, May 01, 2013
New Delhi: In a welcome relief, the petrol price was slashed by Rs 3 on Tuesday evening, effective from midnight. The petrol price was slashed as crude oil became cheaper in international market. Earlier reports had suggested that the petrol prices may be slashed by up to Rs 2 effective from May 1. Following are the revised prices of petrol in four metros, effective from midnight. Delhi Rs 63.09, Kolkata...
07:49 PM, Apr 30, 2013
New Delhi: Five Congress MPs from Telangana on Monday launched a 48-hour protest outside Parliament to press for their separate statehood demand. The move caused a major embarrassment to the Congress as the party is in power in Andhra Pradesh. The MPs, clad in white kurta pyjamas, carried placards which read - "48 hours diksha for achieving Telangana" and "Give Telangana and Save Democracy". The five MPs are Gutha Sukhender...
05:20 PM, Apr 29, 2013
Ghaziabad: A person, arrested in connection with the murder of a CISF constable and his wife, was on Sunday found hanging in the toilet of a police lock-up in Ghaziabad. While a fellow prisoner has alleged that the victim was tortured to death, police ruled out the charges, saying he committed suicide. Victim Vineet Sharma, brother-in-law of the slain constable, was arrested by Indirapuram Police along with one more person...
02:15 AM, Apr 29, 2013
New Delhi: The government plans to provide subsidy to 14 crore LPG subscribers directly in their bank accounts from October 1, using the Aadhaar payment platform. The government, official sources said, has decided to launch "Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for LPG throughout the country tentatively from October 1". "This (transfer of LPG subsidy) would require a much larger number of beneficiaries to be covered for opening of bank accounts and...
12:41 PM, Apr 28, 2013
Mathura: Villagers in Mathura have helped unearth a crude oil racket worth hundred of crores of rupees. Oil was being siphoned off from the main pipeline of Indian Oil Corporation between Salayan in Gujarat and the Mathura refinery. An FIR has been registered against three persons for allegedly pilfering crude oil. A person named Mukesh had taken some land from Dharmendra near the pipeline in the village and used to...
10:53 AM, Apr 13, 2013
Bangalore: Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily on Friday said the Congress would not protect anybody and the law would take its own course on senior party leader Jagdish Tytler in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. "Our heart goes out to the victims. We are not here to protect anybody. The law will take its own course," Moily said, while noting that the Congress leadership had owned up 'moral responsibility' as...
02:40 PM, Apr 12, 2013
Berlin: Notwithstanding severe economic sanctions slapped by the US and UN against Iran, India will continue to buy oil from "vital supplier" Iran, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said on Thursday. "We will continue to buy oil from Iran," Mathai said adding that the recent decline in oil import from Iran was due to logistics and banking problems and not because of any other reason. Mathai, who is part of the...
10:17 PM, Apr 11, 2013
Khamhariya Damuan: A 13-year-old is acting as a catalyst of change not just for his home, but for the entire village community in Uttar Pradesh. Omkar Dubey took up the issue of sanitation forcing his village heads to set up public toilets. More than 70 per cent Indian homes have no access to a toilet. India has more cellphones than toilets. More than half a million children in India die...
10:58 AM, Apr 11, 2013
Panaji: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday alleged irregularities in all irrigation projects in Maharashtra, including the Tillari project bordering the state. "All irrigation projects in Maharashtra are scam. I am saying this on record," he told the State Legislative Assembly, while speaking on demands for grants. "We know about Tillari irrigation project. How much of cement is used and how much is soil cannot be ascertained." Parrikar claimed...
01:48 AM, Apr 10, 2013
