Signalling System enhances safety in train operations. Upgradation and replacement of equipments in use over Indian Railways is a continuous process and is undertaken based on its condition, operational needs and availability of resources.

In order to further improve safety in train operation and generate additional line capacity, modernisation of Signalling System has been taken in hand. Following major steps have been taken, 6084 (96% of total Stations) Stations on Indian Railway have been equipped with modern Electrical/Electronic Signalling Interlocking System up to 29.02.2020.

Electronic Interlocking are being adopted on a large scale to derive benefits of digital technologies in train operation and to enhance safety. So far 1913 stations have been provided with Electronic Interlocking upto 29.02.2020.

Axle Counters for Automatic clearance of Block Section (BPAC) are provided to ensure complete arrival of train without manual intervention before granting line clear to receive next train and to reduce human element. These systems have been provided on 5661 block sections upto 29.02.2020.

In order to increase line capacity to run more trains on existing High Density Routes of Indian Railways, Automatic Block Signaling is a cost effective solution. As on 29.02.2020, Automatic Block Signaling has been provided on 3207 Route km.

Enhancing Safety at Level Crossing Gates has been a major area of concern. Safety gets enhanced by interlocking level crossings with Signals. Indian Railways have provided interlocking with Signals at 11622 Level Crossing Gates to enhance the safety at Level Crossings as on 29.02.2020.

Modernisation of Signalling System is proposed to be taken up on High Density Routes of Indian Railways including Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) and Golden Diagonal (GD) Route. The work includes provision of Modern Train Control System. · As a prelude to modernisation work of signalling system on Indian Railways, four works totaling 640 Route km at total cost of ₹ 1,609 crores have been sanctioned in Supplementary Works Programme 2018-19 in following sections for extensive trials,

Tenders for the works have since been opened and are under evaluation. · Two works of Raising of speed to 160kmph on existing New Delhi – Howrah and New Delhi – Mumbai routes have been sanctioned including modernisation of Signalling and detailed estimates are under preparation.

· An indigenous Automatic Train Protection (ATP) System namely Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), has been developed by Indian Railways in association with Indian manufacturers. The system has been installed on Lingampalli – Vikarabad – Wadi & Vikarabad - Bidar section (250 Route km) of South Central Railway.

Further contract have been awarded for Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) works on additional 1199 Route km on South Central Railway. · Works for implementation of Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) System to improve line capacity and efficient management of train operations from a central location covering large sections, have also been taken up. The CTC at Tundla is operational covering 26 stations and 250 Route Km on Aligarh-Kanpur section.

Works for 12 CTCs have also been sanctioned on 8 Zonal Railways (Eastern Railway, Central Railway, Northern Railway, North Central Railway, South Eastern Railway, South East Central Railway, Southern Railway and Western Railway) covering 1829 Route Km. · Train Management System (TMS) on suburban section in Howrah Division of Eastern Railway has been commissioned on 15.11.2019 duly integrating with Control Office Application (COA) for real time train running information and chartings. It covers 22 stations over 74 Route km.

TMS work on Khurda Road Division of East Coast Railway is in progress. It covers 864 Route km with 104 stations on entire Divisions. A work of provision of TMS for Delhi area has been sanctioned at a cost of Rs 71 CR in the works programme 2019-20.

This press release is based on information given by the Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

Indian Railways is committed to make its railways stations and trains accessible for Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) as part of “Sugamya Bharat Mission” or Accessible India Campaign of Government of India. Improvement/ augmentation of amenities including those for differently abled passengers Divyangjan is a continuous process at Railway stations. Recently in February, 2020 the guidelines for accessibility of Railways have been circulated for implementation over Indian railways.

As per these guidelines, Indian Railways endeavor to provide comprehensive facilities and services to Divyangjan which inter-alia include an easy use of information system, accessible infrastructure, various concession to passengers travelling on Divyangjan concession Tickets, Human Assistance, Wheel Chairs, Signages, etc. Railways also aim to make the railway coaches and stations accessible by retrofitting the existing infrastructure as well as integration of accessibility in new infrastructure for planning at design stage itself.

In order to facilitate easy movement of elderly, sick and differently abled passengers (Divyangjan) and for smooth access to platforms of major railway stations and for ease of movement, lifts are being provided as part of ‘Sugamya Bharat Abhiyaan’. So far, 567 lifts at 243 stations have been provided over Indian Railways.

All commercial frontline staff are given special training on passenger amenities wherein training on special facilities provided for Physically Challenged persons and provision of wheel chair are given. Zonal Railways have been instructed to provide one wheelchair per platform and in case of island platforms, one wheel chair per two platforms at all erstwhile A-1 and A category stations.

Yatri Mitra Sewa has also been introduced at major railway stations for enabling passengers to book wheel chairs services cum porter services free of cost through NGOs, Charitable Trust, PSUs etc under CSR and responsibility of providing this facility has been entrusted with IRCTC. In case of lack of response from NGOs, Charitable Trust, PSUs etc., this service may be arranged on payment basis through a service provider or on it own. Passengers can book cab/coach & porter service online through IRCTC portal www.irctc.co.in. The facility is available at Chandigarh, Gaya, Guntur, Howrah, Jaipur, Lucknow, Lucknow Jn., Madurai, New Delhi, Delhi Jn., Hazrat Nizamuddin, Delhi Safdarjung, Anand Vihar, Delhi Cantt., Delhi Sarai Rohilla, Tirupati and Vijaywada.

Powers have been delegated to DRMs to decide the provision of Battery Operated Vehicles (BOVs) at station on merit – whether free of cost through commercial publicity route or through ‘user pays’ route. At the Divisional level, Chief Travelling Ticket Inspectors/In-charges (CTTI/ICs), Station Managers (SMRs) and concerned Commercial Inspectors are directed to perform duty as a disability Inspector for providing assistance to Persons with Disabilities.

Suspension of seven Cong. MPs revoked Context: The Lok Sabha has passed a resolution revoking the suspension of seven Congress members with immediate effect.

Context: Uttar Pradesh government has challenged in Supreme Court an Allahabad High Court order to the district and police authorities in Lucknow to “forthwith” remove roadside banners displaying the personal details of select persons accused of “vandalism” during the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests in December 2019.

The State has also challenged the jurisdiction of the Allahabad Bench of the High Court to suo motu take cognisance of the banners in Lucknow.

What UP state government says? The State has argued that the HC erred in invoking public interest jurisdiction, saying it was available only to address the problems plaguing the underprivileged lot. The persons whose personal details were displayed on the banners were “capable enough to agitate their grievance, if any, at their own”.

Background: Previously, On March 30, 2019, the Madras High Court had said that the L-G does not have the power to interfere in the day-to-day activities of the union territory. LG also have doesn’t the right to seek any government documents from the Puducherry government.

Observations made by the High Court in its latest order: The role of Puducherry’s Lieutenant Governor and that of an elected government in the Union Territory were intertwined as per law, and therefore they were expected to act in unison and not in division.

In the past judgment on this issues, the single judge had erred in holding that the Puducherry Legislative Assembly enjoys similar powers to that of a State legislature. A government is “a trustee for the little man who should not have a perception that the running of the government is a gigantic conspiracy”.

What are the powers and sources of LG of Puducherry? The Government of Union Territories Act, 1963 provides for a Legislative Assembly of Pondicherry (as Puducherry was then called), with a Council of Ministers to govern the “Union Territory of Pondicherry”.

The same Act says that the UT will be administered by the President of India through an Administrator (LG). Section 44 of the Act, says the Council of Ministers headed by a Chief Minister will “aid and advise the Administrator in the exercise of his functions in relation to matters with respect to which the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory has power to make laws”. The same clause also allows the LG to “act in his discretion” in the matter of lawmaking, even though the Council of Ministers has the task of aiding and advising him.

What happens when there is a difference of opinion? In case of a difference of opinion between the LG and his Ministers on any matter, the Administrator is bound to refer it to the President for a decision and act according to the decision given by the President.

However, the Administrator can also claim that the matter is urgent, and take immediate action as he deems necessary.

When prior sanction of the Administrator is required? Under Section 22 of the Act, prior sanction of the Administrator is required for certain legislative proposals. These include Bills or amendments that the Council of Ministers intends to move in the Legislative Assembly, and which deal with the “constitution and organisation of the court of the Judicial Commissioner”, and “jurisdiction and powers of the court of the Judicial Commissioner with respect to any of the matters in the State List or the Concurrent List”.

It is also obligatory on the part of the UT government to seek the “recommendation” of the LG before moving a Bill or an amendment to provide for “the imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax”, “the amendment of the law with respect to any financial obligations undertaken or to be undertaken”, and anything that has to do with the Consolidated Fund of the UT.

Assent of LG? Once the Assembly has passed a Bill, the LG can either grant or withhold his assent; or reserve it for the consideration of the President. He can also send it back to the Assembly for reconsideration.

Dispute redressal under Consumer Protection Act, 1986: The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 provides for a 3-tier structure of the National and State Commissions and District Forums for speedy resolution of consumer disputes. They are quasi- judicial bodies.

Composition: Each District Forum is headed by a person who is or has been or is eligible to be appointed as a District Judge and each State Commission is headed by a person who is or has been a Judge of High Court.

Ambit: The provisions of this Act cover ‘goods’ as well as ‘services’. The goods are those which are manufactured or produced and sold to consumers through wholesalers and retailers. The services are in the nature of transport, telephone, electricity, housing, banking, insurance, medical treatment, etc.

How Grievance redressal is carried out? A written complaint, can be filed before the District Consumer Forum for pecuniary value of upto Rupees twenty lakh, State Commission for value upto Rupees one crore and the National Commission for value above Rupees one crore, in respect of defects in goods and or deficiency in service.

However, no complaint can be filed for alleged deficiency in any service that is rendered free of charge or under a contract of personal service. The remedy under the Consumer Protection Act is an alternative in addition to that already available to the aggrieved persons/consumers by way of civil suit. In the complaint/appeal/petition submitted under the Act, a consumer is not required to pay any court fees but only a nominal fee.

Appeals: If a consumer is not satisfied by the decision of a District Forum, he can appeal to the State Commission. Against the order of the State Commission a consumer can come to the National Commission.

In order to help achieve the objects of the Consumer Protection Act, the National Commission has also been conferred with the powers of administrative control over all the State Commissions by calling for periodical returns regarding the institution, disposal and pendency of cases.

As per the latest Consumer Protection Act , 2019 dispute redressal Commissions will be set up at District, State and National level, with pecuniary jurisdiction up to Rs one crore, Rs one crore to Rs 10 crore, and above Rs 10 crore, respectively. In case of unfair contracts, the State Commissions will hear complaints where the value is up to Rs 10 crore, and National Commissions will hear complaints above that value. These Commissions can declare unfair terms of such contracts to be null and void.

At present, at least 60 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in India.

What is Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897? It is routinely enforced across the country for dealing with outbreaks of diseases such as swine flu, dengue, and cholera. It was introduced by colonial government to tackle the epidemic of bubonic plague that had spread in the erstwhile Bombay Presidency in the 1890s.

Why was this act criticised? Historians have criticised the Act for its potential for abuse. Using powers conferred by the Act, colonies authorities would search suspected plague cases in homes and among passengers, with forcible segregations, evacuations, and demolitions of infected places.

In 1897, the year the law was enforced, freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak was punished with 18 months’ rigorous imprisonment after his newspapers Kesari and Mahratta admonished imperial authorities for their handling of the plague epidemic.

Provisions of the 1897 Epidemic Diseases Act: It empowers state governments/UTs to take special measures and formulate regulations for containing the outbreak. It also empowers state to prescribe such temporary regulations to be observed by the public or by any person or class of persons as it shall deem necessary to prevent the outbreak of such disease or the spread thereof.

The state may determine in what manner and by whom any expenses incurred (including compensation if any) shall be defrayed. The State Government may take measures and prescribe regulations for the inspection of persons travelling by railway or otherwise, and the segregation, in hospital, temporary accommodation or otherwise, of persons suspected by the inspecting officer of being infected with any such disease.

It also provides penalties for disobeying any regulation or order made under the Act. These are according to section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant). It also gives legal protection to the implementing officers acting under the Act.

Examples of implementation: In 2018, the district collector of Gujarat’s Vadodara issued a notification under the Act declaring the Khedkarmsiya village in Waghodia taluka as cholera-affected after 31 persons complained of symptoms of the disease. In 2015, to deal with malaria and dengue in Chandigarh, the Act was implemented and controlling officers were instructed to ensure the issuance of notices and challans of Rs 500 to offenders.

In 2009, to tackle the swine flu outbreak in Pune, Section 2 powers were used to open screening centres in civic hospitals across the city, and swine flu was declared a notifiable disease.

WHO said it was deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction. Earlier, on January 30 the WHO declared it was a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern”.

What is an outbreak, epidemic and pandemic? An outbreak is understood to be a sudden rise in the cases of a disease in a particular place. An epidemic is a large outbreak among a particular population or region (such as the current situation in China). A pandemic is “the worldwide spread of a new disease”. There is no specific number of countries that a disease must touch for WHO to classify it as a pandemic.

The spread of COVID 19: The novel coronavirus disease that emerged in Wuhan, China, in the final days of last year, is now in at least 47 countries around the world, spanning every continent except Antarctica. More than 82,000 people have been infected, and over 2,800 are dead. Affected countries include Japan, Brazil, Sweden, Canada, Australia, Iran among others.

Previous Pandemics: In June 2009, the WHO declared a global pandemic of novel influenza A (H1N1), commonly known as swine flu. The WHO has abandoned that system of classification now, even though the term pandemic can still be used “colloquially”.

Implications: The WHO continues to advise countries “to enact plans based on national risk assessments of local circumstances, taking into consideration the information provided by WHO’s global assessments”.

About Novel Coronavirus disease: COVID-19 is a respiratory infection. There are many types of coronavirus, some linked to the common cold, but this one is new and was detected toward the end of 2019.

COVID-19 is the official name given to the virus by the World Health Organization. Before WHO officially named the virus, it was also referred to as coronavirus, the novel coronavirus and 2019-nCOV (to indicate the year when the virus was first detected).

Why it is named so? The coronavirus gets its name from the way it looks: It has a core of genetic material covered by an envelope with protein spikes that resemble a crown. In Latin, a crown is a corona. It’s called a novel coronavirus because it’s new and hasn’t been detected in people before.

What are the symptoms? COVID-19 is similar to other respiratory illnesses and symptoms include a fever, dry cough, sore throat and headache. There may also be aches and pains, fatigue and, in some cases, vomiting and diarrhea.

While most cases are mild, some individuals may experience more severe symptoms such as shortness of breath and difficulty breathing, and may experience pneumonia in both lungs. Those with health issues or underlying conditions may also have a harder time recovering. It may take up to 14 days after exposure for symptoms to appear.

How is COVID-19 spread? COVID-19 is transmitted through liquid droplets or particles when a person coughs or sneezes. These droplets, if containing the virus, can infect a person by entering through the eyes, nose or throat. It’s not believed to be airborne and it’s not known to infect via the skin. However, the virus can survive on some surfaces so if a person sneezes into their hand, shakes your hand and your then rub your eye with your hand, transmission is possible through self-inoculation.

COVID-19_symptoms What’s the difference between a cold, a flu and COVID- 19? All three are respiratory illnesses but each is caused by a different virus.

The coldis caused by the rhinovirus, the flu is caused by the influenza virus, and COVID-19 is caused by the novel 2019 coronavirus. All three can lead to pneumonia if complicated by other health issues or underlying conditions.

Implications: This assumes significance as many fund houses stand to lose thousands of crores if the additional tier 1 bonds are completely written off.

Background: Under the Based III framework, banks’ regulatory capital is divided into Tier 1 and Tier 2 capital. Tier 1 capital is subdivided into Common Equity (CET) and Additional Capital (AT1).

What are Additional Tier-1 bonds? They are a type of unsecured, perpetual bonds that banks issue to shore up their core capital base to meet the Basel-III norms.

Key features: These have higher rates than tier II bonds. These bonds have no maturity date. The issuing bank has the option to call back the bonds or repay the principal after a specified period of time. The attraction for investors is higher yield than secured bonds issued by the same entity.

Individual investors too can hold these bonds, but mostly high net worth individuals (HNIs) opt for such higher risk, higher yield investments. Given the higher risk, the rating for these bonds is one to four notches lower than the secured bond series of the same bank. For example, while SBI’s tier II bonds are rated AAA by Crisil, its tier I long-term bonds are rated AA+.

However, it has a two-fold risk: First, the issuing bank has the discretion to skip coupon payment. Under normal circumstances it can pay from profits or revenue reserves in case of losses for the period when the interest needs to be paid. Second, the bank has to maintain a common equity tier I ratio of 5.5%, failing which the bonds can get written down. In some cases there could be a clause to convert into equity as well.

Given these characteristics, AT1 bonds are also referred to as quasi-equity. Differences between Common Equity (CET) and Additional Capital (AT1): Equity and preference capital is classified as CET and perpetual bonds are classified as AT1. Together, CET and AT1 are called Common Equity.

By nature, CET is the equity capital of the bank, where returns are linked to the banks’ performance and therefore the performance of the share price. However, AT1 bonds are in the nature of debt instruments, which carry a fixed coupon payable annually from past or present profits of the bank.

How RBI can take over the regulation of any bank? There is an additional trigger in Indian regulations, called the ‘Point of Non-Viability Trigger’ (PONV). In a situation where a bank faces severe losses leading to erosion of regulatory capital, the RBI can decide if the bank has reached a situation wherein it is no longer viable.

The RBI can then activate a PONV trigger and assume executive powers. By doing so, the RBI can do whatever is required to get the bank on track, including superseding the existing management, forcing the bank to raise additional capital and so on.

However, activating PONV is followed by a write down of the AT1 bonds, as determined by the RBI.

Launched by Indian Space Research Organisation. It is a special programme for School Children, in tune with the Government’s vision “Jai Vigyan, Jai Anusandhan”.

Aim: The Program is primarily aimed at imparting basic knowledge on Space Technology, Space Science and Space Applications to the younger ones with the intent of arousing their interest in the emerging areas of Space activities.

Participants: It is proposed to select 3 students each from each State/ Union Territory to participate in this programme covering CBSE, ICSE and State syllabus.

Eligibility: Those who have just completed 9th standard will be eligible for the online registration. The selection is based on the 8th Standard academic performance and extracurricular activities. Students belonging to the rural area have been given special weightage in the selection criteria. In case there is tie between the selected candidates, the younger candidates will be given priority.

The Supreme Court has reiterated that forcible dispossession of a person of his private property without due process of law is a violation of human rights.

In a recent judgment, the court stressed that right to property is both a human right and a constitutional right — the latter under Article 300A of the Constitution.

Parliament passes amendment allowing Putin to stay in power: Constitutional changes allowing Vladimir Putin to run for President again in 2024 were passed recently in Russia’s lower house of Parliament. New amendments make way for Putin to potentially stay in power until 2036. Putin is currently required by the Constitution to step down in 2024 when his second sequential and fourth presidential term ends. But the amendment would formally reset his presidential term tally to zero.

The “reset to zero” proposal would mean “removing the restriction for any person, any citizen, including the current president, and allowing them to take part in elections in the future, naturally in open and competitive elections”.