IRCTC to slash online booking charges

Tags

Electronic ticket, India, Indian Railway, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, Mamata Banerjee, Minister of Railways (India), New Delhi, Tickets

Image via Wikipedia

Fighting to stay in existence, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) will be slashing charges on booking e-tickets to match the competition its parent body, the Indian Railways, has decided to throw at it by launching a parallel online passenger ticket reservation system.

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee’s budget announcement to allow the Railways to launch a new portal and sell tickets at lower booking charges has made the IRCTC just a tourism promotional venture. It has already been shorn of its food catering business… Read More

 

Thangkabalu hints at DMK, Congress sharing power in State

Tags

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Asia, Consociationalism, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, India, K. V. Thangkabalu, Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K.V. Thangkabalu indicated the possibility of “power sharing” between the two parties after the elections.

Talking to reporters at Sathyamurti Bhavan on Tuesday, he said the Congress–DMK combine has been winning since 2004 Lok Sabha elections and it would emerge victorious, with the support of allies, in this Assembly elections too… Read More

 

Jaswant: is Indian policy drafted in Washington?

Tags

Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Hindu, Jaswant Singh, Lok Sabha, Manmohan Singh, New Delhi, Rajya Sabha

Image via Wikipedia

The Opposition on Tuesday took on the Manmohan Singh government in Parliament and sought a statement from it on the WikiLeaks cables, carried by The Hindu, showing the influence exerted by Washington in shaping New Delhi’s foreign policies.

The issue figured in both Houses of Parliament — with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and others raising it in the Rajya Sabha, and Jaswant Singh (BJP) in the Lok Sabha.. Read More

 

Chacko against “parallel” inquiry into telecom policy matters

Tags

Bharatiya Janata Party, Chairman, Comptroller and Auditor General, Gardens, Hindu, Joint Parliamentary Committee, Murli Manohar Joshi, New Delhi, Public Accounts Committee

P.C. Chacko, Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probing the alleged irregularities in the 2G spectrum and licence allocation, has maintained that a “parallel” inquiry into policy matters by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), headed by Murali Manohar Joshi, “may not be necessary.”

“It is my considered view that the PAC should confine itself to the report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) on the purported financial irregularities in the allotment of telecom licences and leave the matters of the telecom policy to the JPC,” he told The Hindu on Tuesday… Read More

Sonia versus Kalam?

Tags

Afzal Guru, India, Jammu and Kashmir, Kalam, List of diplomatic missions of the United States, New Delhi, Sonia Gandhi, United States Embassy, Washington

Image via Wikipedia

The issue of executing Mohammed Afzal Guru, sentenced to death in the 2001 Parliament attack case, “may bring to light longstanding animosity between President [A.P.J. Abdul] Kalam and Sonia Gandhi,” states a cable sent by the United States Embassy in New Delhi to Washington in 2006. It added that this was so “especially as a member of her own party, [Jammu and Kashmir] Chief Minister [Ghulam Nabi] Azad, has argued on Afzal’s behalf” — a possible reference to news reports that Mr. Azad had pressed for clemency to be granted to the convict… Read More

Somdev sets up clash with Nadal

Tags

ATP World Tour Masters 1000, Belgium, BNP Paribas, Dubai, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Somdev Devvarman, Xavier Malisse

Image via Wikipedia

Indian tennis sensation Somdev Devvarman set up a dream match against world number one Rafael Nadal after his stunning three-set win over Xavier Malisse in the BNP Paribas ATP Masters here.

Somdev shocked Belgium’s Malisse 6-1 3-6 7-6(5) in his third round match in the $3,64,500 hard court tournament.

It will be Somdev’s second big match of his life after playing against multiple Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in Dubai last month… Read More

 

Team to beat is Red Bull: Michael Schumacher

Tags

Australian Grand Prix, Barcelona, Formula One, Mark Webber, Mercedes GP, Michael Schumacher, Red Bull Racing, Sebastian Vettel

Image via Wikipedia

Red Bull are again favourites for the coming Formula One season, seven-time champion Michael Schumacher said on Thursday.

After a third day of testing at Barcelona, following two days in which the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel set the pace, Schumacher said the question now appeared to be who was fastest behind the Red Bulls.  … Read More

Olympic qualifiers main target, not Azlan Shah: Rajpal Singh

Tags

2012 Summer Olympics, Asia, Kuala Lumpur, london olympic 2012, Malaysia, Rajpal Singh, Sport, Sultan Azlan Shah Cup

Image via Wikipedia

The win or loss in Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament will not make much difference as the team is bracing up for the tough challenge ahead — to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics, said Indian captain Rajpal Singh.

A 45-member Indian squad started its preparation for the Azlan Shah Cup to be held in Kuala Lumpur from May 5 under the watchful eyes of national coach Harendra Singh at Major Dhyan Chand national stadium here on Tuesday… Read More

Nilmar double sinks Leverkusen

Tags

Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Germany, Michal Kadlec, Nilmar Honorato da Silva, Portugal, SC Braga, UEFA Europa League, Villarreal CF

Image via Wikipedia

Brazilian striker Nilmar came off the bench to bag two goals including a stoppage-time winner to give the Spanish side Villarreal a 3-2 victory at Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday.

Portugal’s Sporting Braga meanwhile edged five-time European champions Liverpool 1-0 courtesy of an 18{+t}{+h}-minute penalty from Brazilian midfielder Alan… Read More

Bolt to run 100m in Monaco

Tags

2009 World Championships in Athletics, Daegu, Herculis, Monaco, Paris, Relay race, Usain Bolt, World record

Image via Wikipedia

Olympic and world champion Usain Bolt will run the 100 metres at the Herculis Diamond League meeting in Monaco in July.

The world record holder will use the July 22 meeting as one of his main tests ahead of the August 27-September 4 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea. He is already scheduled to run the 200 metres in Paris earlier in the month.

He will be seeking another triple gold at the World Championships in the 100, 200 and sprint relay… Read More