No increase in fares, freight 
Rs 4,411 crore set aside for expansion — 54 new trains announced — 94 stations to be upgraded — New business model on anvil 
New Delhi, February 24
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee today proposed no increase in passenger fares and freight rates while announcing a slew of concessions, including those for carriage of foodgrains, kerosene and fertiliser. 

Mamata Banerjee arrives in Parliament to present the Railway Budget in New Delhi on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal

RAILWAY BUDGET 2010-11
RAILWAY BUDGET AT A GLANCE
Mamata’s vision

Green flag for Qadian-Beas  rail project
Gurdaspur, February 24
Gurdaspur MP had his way today when Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee today agreed to his proposal of laying down the 40-km-long rail line from Qadian to Beas. A visibly elated Bajwa said over phone that the project had been cleared under the Socially Desirable Rail Connectivity Proposals. “A majority of the projects cleared by the Railway Ministry fall under the Economically Viable Proposals.

Not much  for region
New Delhi/ Chandigarh, February 24
The Railway Budget did not hold much for the northern region. As a slew of trains and projects were announced for the eastern part of the country, mainly West Bengal with an eye on the polls in the state, only a couple of new trains were announced for the northern region. The northern region, mainly Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, failed to find much favour with Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Railway Budget.

Some Cheer

Cash Crunch
Badal makes a budget-eve plea for money
Chandigarh, February 24
Punjab wants the Centre to take off from its shoulders the additional financial burden of Rs 1,420 crore the state incurred in honoring its commitment of providing 13 lakh MT of paddy to the Central pool. In his letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Finance Minister, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has asked them to make a budgetary provision for a special onetime grant to offload the extra financial liabilities of the state electricity board.

Indian American’s power(ful) creation
Washington, February 24
An India-born rocket scientist is all set to unveil a natural gas-fuelled cell box that promises to provide abundant, cheap, clean electricity to light up most American households within next 10 years.KR Sridhar, 49, founder of the Silicon Valley clean tech start-up Bloom Energy, will showcase his invention on Wednesday at a press event in San Jose, California, on the campus of eBay, one of Bloom’s first customers.

Trust deficit clouds Indo-Pak talks
New Delhi, February 24
Pessimism was palpable in both Indian and Pakistani camps on the eve of Foreign Secretary-level talks between the two countries with the two sides not hopeful of any breakthrough at the first official dialogue between them after more than 14 months.

Pak admits 26/11 launched from its soil