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Time of India
5 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Train to Kashmir: Maharaja Hari Singh's dream turns a reality, ET Infra
Advt Advt A train to the Kashmir valley through the arduous Shivalik and Pir Panjal mountain ranges is more than a century-old ambitious plan that is set to turn into reality on Friday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi flags off a Vande Bharat train from Katra to will also inaugurate the Chenab bridge , which will be the world's highest railway arch bridge."What was once a vision proposed in the 19th century by the Dogra maharajas is now transforming into one of the most significant infrastructure achievements in independent India's history," a senior railway official Singh, grandson of Maharaja Hari Singh and son of former Sadr-e-Riyasat Karan Singh, said he feels proud that the Dogra ruler's plan conceived over 130 years ago has finally materialised."The railway line project to the Kashmir Valley was first envisaged and drawn up during Maharaja Pratap Singh's rule. It is a matter of great pride not only for the people of Jammu & Kashmir but for the entire nation that this dream will be realised by our prime minister," Singh, who has been a legislator in Jammu and Kashmir, told Dogra ruler had commissioned British engineers to survey the rugged terrain for a railway route to Kashmir, an ambitious project that remained unrealised for over a appointed three British engineers to prepare and execute detailed reports. However, two of the three reports prepared in 11 years between 1898 and 1909 were to special documents from the Jammu and Kashmir archives department, the idea of a rail link to Kashmir was first proposed on March 1, 1892 by the Maharaja. Subsequently, in June 1898, British engineering firm S R Scott Stratten and Co was engaged to conduct surveys and execute the first report, submitted by D A Adam, recommended an electric railway between Jammu and Kashmir regions, featuring steam locomotives on a narrow two-feet-six-inch gauge line. This proposal was rejected due to the challenging elevation proposal, submitted in 1902 by W J Weightman, suggested a railway line connecting Kashmir from Abbottabad (now in Pakistan) along the Jhelum river. This, too, was turned third proposal, by Wild Blood, recommended a railway alignment along the Chenab river through the Reasi area. This report was plans for powering electric trains and establishing power stations near Udhampur, Ramsu, and Banihal were also examined but ultimately this, British engineer Col D E Bourel was tasked with submitting a detailed report on local coal reserves. Additionally, a report was commissioned from T D La Touche, the then deputy superintendent of the Geological Survey of India, on the Sangarmarg and Mehowgala coal December 1923, S R Scott Stratten and Co was re-engaged to implement the coal extraction project. However, the death of Maharaja Pratap Singh in 1925 and the growing Indian independence movement led to the project being shelved permanently, the documents idea was revived nearly six decades later, when the then prime minister Indira Gandhi laid the foundation stone for the Jammu-Udhampur-Srinagar railway line in 1983. At the time, the project was estimated to cost Rs 50 crore and was expected to be completed in five years, officials in 13 years, only 11 km of the line could be constructed, which comprised 19 tunnels and 11 bridges - at a cost of Rs 300 crore, they was followed by the broader Udhampur-Katra-Baramulla railway project, estimated at Rs 2,500 crore, which saw its foundation stones laid by prime ministers H D Deve Gowda and I K Gujral in 1996 and 1997 at Udhampur, Qazigund, and began in 1997 but faced repeated delays due to challenging geological, topographical, and weather conditions, significantly inflating the cost to over Rs 43,800 crore as of the strategic importance of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line (USBRL), it was declared a national project in 2002, the officials of the 272 km stretch, 209 km has already been commissioned in phases including Qazigund-Baramulla in 2009, Banihal-Qazigund in 2013, Udhampur-Katra in 2014, and Banihal-Sangaldan in 2023. The final stretch connecting Katra to Sangaldan has completed the link in February 2024, they engineering marvel includes 38 tunnels and 927 bridges along the Kashmir rail project. The highlight is the Chenab bridge, standing 359 metres above the riverbed which is 35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower making it the world's highest railway arch bridge, they said."The Kashmir train project, once just a royal vision, now stands as a symbol of national integration and engineering excellence", an official support construction in the rugged, militancy-affected terrain, more than 215 km of approach roads were built, many in areas previously accessible only by foot or improved infrastructure has transformed the lives of approximately 1.5 lakh people in 70 remote villages such as Dugga, Surukot, Sawalkot, Khari, and Hingni. These areas have seen the emergence of marketplaces, eateries, and repair shops, significantly boosting local livelihoods, the officials said.
Time of India
25-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Geopolitical uncertainties affect job openings in semiconductor design GCCs in FY25: Report
Live Events India's semiconductor design Global Capability Centers (GCCs) witnessed a 15 per cent decline in job openings in 2024-25, mainly due to ongoing geopolitical uncertainties and global supply chain disruptions, according to a report by talent solutions provider Careernet revealed open positions peaked in May 2024 with 3,760 jobs before gradually tapering off to 3,040 by January 2025 and closing the year at 3,181 in March reflects a measured slowdown of nearly 15 per cent year-on-year decline in active roles across India's top 50 semiconductor design this moderation, the overall demand for niche skills in VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration), embedded systems, and RF/analogue design remained resilient, with mid-sized GCCs demonstrating greater hiring agility, it design is a niche area with inherently less headcount compared to other tech functions, so fluctuations in hiring sentiment - especially from two or three major industry players - can significantly influence the overall semiconductor design job market."The semiconductor design GCCs in India have experienced a relatively sluggish trend in new job openings over the past few quarters. This cautious hiring environment is largely driven by ongoing geopolitical uncertainties, global supply chain disruptions, and volatility in valuations within key technology areas, such as artificial intelligence and advanced computing," Careernet CBO Neelabh Shukla told report is based on an analysis of job openings in India's top 50 semiconductor design GCCs in 2023-24 and the report revealed that the intellectual property (IP) design sub-sector focusing on developing specialised chip components and reusable design blocks continued to demonstrate strong demand, with a significant number of open positions."Despite these short-term fluctuations, we remain optimistic about the medium to long-term outlook. Increased global focus on semiconductor supply chain resilience, combined with strategic Indian government initiatives to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing and design capabilities in India, is expected to catalyse a more robust growth trajectory for semiconductor design jobs in the coming years," Shukla added.
India Today
13-05-2025
- Business
- India Today
Delhi Assembly's budget session second phase, scheduled for May 13, called off
The second part of the Delhi Assembly's budget session, scheduled to begin on Tuesday, has been cancelled, the Delhi Legislative Assembly Secretariat said in a session was expected to see the tabling and passage of the Delhi School Education Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees Bill, 2025. The bill aimed to regulate fees charged by private schools in the national capital. "The government has decided to defer the session. New dates will be announced later on," an official said to the news agency first part of the budget session began on March 24. During that sitting, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, who also holds the finance portfolio, presented her maiden unveiled the 2025–26 budget with an outlay of Rs 1 lakh crore, reflecting a 31.5 per cent increase from the previous financial Watch advertisementIN THIS STORY#Delhi
Economic Times
11-05-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Canara Bank deploys employees to garner deposits, mobilises Rs 16,000 cr in 10 weeks
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Faced with challenges on deposit growth, state-owned Canara Bank asked each of its 82,000-strong staff to go out to garner funds, and mobilised Rs 16,700 crore in ten weeks, a top official has said. Amid the system-wide challenges of deposit accretion, the bank's top management gave a call to every employee to garner deposits, and the drive began on January 26 this year."We had given a call to each of the 82,000 staff members to canvas, contacting their relations and whatever there is in their circle. Each one should bring Rs 10 lakh as a deposit either in CASA (current and savings account) or retail term deposit," its managing director and chief executive K Satyanarayana Raju told staff members supported the drive wholeheartedly and are in "sync" with the top leadership, Raju said, underscoring that the management's actions over the last 2-3 years have helped in the drive."In the last 2-3 years, we have taken steps to get benefits to the staff members, bringing transparency in promotions, performance recognition, and transfers, which has gone well. When we gave a call, we explained to them properly and we could convince them about the need of the hour," he said, adding that the trade unions also responded said the drive yielded positive results, and the staff was able to collect Rs 16,700 crore in deposits, split evenly between CASA and term helped reduce the credit deposit ratio to 73 per cent in the March quarter from the 76 per cent levels in December, he said the bank was on the verge of hitting the 80 per cent threshold on the CD ratio front, especially with the high demand for credit in the last quarter, and the urge to do something on this front led it to fall back on the reliance on the bulk deposits has also gone down because of this innovative drive, he said, adding that the share of such high-cost liabilities has decreased to 23 per cent from 25 per cent it clear that this was not a drive aimed at putting up a high number on deposit for the period-end, Raju said the drive has helped the overall business, as there is stickiness in even the CASA has helped the bank connect better with its customer base, and the benefits of the same will accrue in the future, the MD said, adding that the next area of focus will be to garner the monthly recurring deposits.
Time of India
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Haven't slept for 2 days: Border residents in Rajasthan anxious yet confident in Army
Residents in Rajasthan's border areas experienced anxiety due to recent drone attacks from Pakistan, but their confidence in the Indian Armed Forces remains strong. The forces successfully neutralized the drones mid-air, preventing any harm and boosting the morale of the local population. Blackouts and alerts were implemented in multiple cities, and suspicious objects were found following the drone activity. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads A fresh wave of drone attacks by Pakistan last night made residents of border areas in Rajasthan anxious yet their faith in the Indian Armed forces stayed strong as the forces neutralised the drones mid-air, with no harm reported. "The way our forces destroyed the drones mid-air has boosted our confidence that the attacks from Pakistan will not harm us," Jaisalmer resident Jalam Singh told western Rajasthan experienced a complete blackout and sirens were sounded multiple times, particularly in Barmer , to alert first drone attack bid occurred in Jaisalmer's Pokhran on Friday night. Then similar attempts were reported from other areas in Jaisalmer and the Indian air defense system successfully neutralised the drones mid-air, with no harm reported, which has instilled a sense of confidence and reassurance among the local population."We have not slept for two nights," Jalam Singh said as the Friday bid marked the second consecutive night of drone swarm attacks in Jaisalmer, all of which were successfully intercepted and destroyed by Indian family, along with many others in the area, adhered strictly to the blackout guidelines, ensuring that not a single light was visible from any household."It is our duty to follow these guidelines; it's for our safety," Jalam Singh's wife Babita Acharya, an astrologer and another local resident, noted that the situation had drawn comparisons to the restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, where people were confined to their homes."We return home by 5-6 pm and stay inside. Our forces are vigilant and capable of teaching Pakistan a lesson," he Forest Ranger Jaithmal Singh observed that unlike the fear felt during the 1971 war, there is no widespread panic today because of the prompt action by the forces."The prompt and effective action of the air defense system against these attacks is a key reason behind the confidence we feel now. The district administration has done an excellent job in alerting people in advance," he recalled how, during the 1971 war, information was scarce, mainly communicated through radio."There used to be rampant rumours and widespread fear at that time," Jaithmal Singh said."The situation was far more uncertain back then and people were deeply anxious. Today, our forces are highly capable and we have access to real-time information through television and mobile phones. We have been watching TV and getting updates on mobile phones for two days," he following the drone activity last night, suspicious objects were discovered in various locations in Barmer and Jaisalmer on Saturday morning."On Saturday morning, suspicious objects were found in Baytoo and Balotra. Another object was found in Badoda village in Jaisalmer," police drones, launched from Pakistan, were intercepted and destroyed mid-air by India's air defense Friday's attack in Jaisalmer that happened first at around 9 pm, the blackout in Jodhpur -- originally planned to start at midnight -- was brought forward and immediately enforced across the alert extended to Barmer, Sriganganagar, Phalodi and Jodhpur, where similar blackouts were had also launched a swarm drone attack on Jaisalmer the previous strikes were made on airbases in Phalodi, Nal, and Uttarlai on the night of May 7-8, all of which were successfully neutralized before reaching their targets.
