Tag Archives: Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu

Scheduled to be held from August 8-11, the India International Hospitality Expo 2018 will take place at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida Expressway. This mega show aims at making hospitality industry a catalyst for economic growth. With over 200 exhibitors and over 8,000 visitors, this show is the first chapter of country’s largest and most comprehensive sourcing hub for the hospitality, retail, baking, housekeeping and F&B industry. Hari Dadoo, President, IHE 2018, says, “I was trying for the last few years to create an international platform for hospitality professionals where the manufacturers can showcase whatever they have to offer to this sector. Also, people from across the world are coming to sell their products in India while the manufacturers based in India are not able to do the same in their own country. So, it was a dream for me to give an opportunity to them.” Rakesh Kumar, Chairman, IEML & Executive Director, EPCH, says, “This mega congregation caters to the powerful trio of food products, F&B equipment and décor solutions along with the key decision makers including producers, distributors, marketers, service providers, restaurant and hospitality companies, and the entire gamut, who are shaping the hospitality industry.” The event will also see the inauguration by Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Union Cabinet Minister of Food Processing Industry, interaction of Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation with the industry and a fashion show curated by Sunil Sethi Design Alliance and food menu by Chef Manjit Gill in the Banaras Evening.  

Piyush Goyal has replaced Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu as the Minister of Railways. Goyal was the MoS (I/C) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines in the Government of India. He will reportedly get to manage his power portfolio as well. He is currently a Member of Rajya Sabha and was earlier the National Treasurer of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He headed the BJP’s Information Communication Campaign Committee and oversaw the publicity and advertising campaign of the party including the social media outreach for the Indian General Elections 2014. He is an all-India second rank holder Chartered Accountant and second rank holder in Law in Mumbai University. He was a well-known investment banker and he has advised top corporates on management strategy and growth. He earlier served on the Board of India’s largest commercial bank, the State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda.

In a bid to transform the face of Indian Railways, Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu launched the first Phase of the World’s largest station redevelopment program comprising 23 major railway stations on Indian railways network. Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Krishan Pal Gurjar was present to grace the occasion. Chairman, Railway Board, A.K. Mital, Member Engineering, Railway Board, Aditya Kumar Mittal, Member Traffic, Railway Board, Mohd. Jamshed and other Board Members and other distinguished guests were present to grace the occasion. Prabhu said that the Railways have certain advantages out of which one is holding of land on a large scale. He said that Railway Stations is a place where lots of people wait to board a train and thus Railway Station can be developed into an iconic property.

In view of the recent passenger trains derailments, Railways Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu has directed railway administration to launch a massive safety drive across entire Indian Railways network focusing on the strong measures for preventing derailments. Derailment of trains is one of the major causes of railway accidents constituting on an average 50 per cent of the total railway accidents. The fortnight long safety drive is beginning from September 1, 2016. The Minister reviewed the safety measures with the Railway Board. Zonal Railways and Railway Divisions have been directed to gear up their machinery to carry out this drive effectively. Senior officers including Divisional Railway Managers have been asked to be actively associated with the safety drive. Safety drive will be constantly monitored in the railway board by the safety directorate. Suitable follow up action will be taken on all deficiencies and irregularities noticed during the drive. The corrective measures wherever required should immediately be taken to ensure safety in railway operations. The result and report of the drive will also be used for long term measures. It has been reemphasized that safety in railway operations should continue to be the top most priority at all levels.

Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu has inaugurated Wi-Fi services at eight Mumbai Suburban Railway Stations in Maharashtra viz., Churchgate, Bandra, Bandra Terminus, Dadar Western Railway, Dadar Central Railway, Khar Road, Kalyan and Lokmanya Tilak. The WiFi facility for the visitors and rail users of these eight busy stations of Mumbai Suburban Rail Network has been commissioned by a Railway PSU, RailTel in association with Google for providing high speed state-of-the-art world class internet experience to the commuters. It is being provided at a speed of 1 GBps. A total number of 318 access points, 120 access switches and 30 fibre switches has been installed at these eight stations to provide seamless fast WiFi to the huge number of commuters visiting these stations. In addition to eight stations being launched, RailWire Wi-Fi has been soft launched at eight more stations, Sealdah, Allahabad, Pune, Puri, Tambaram, Chennai Egmore, Hazrat Nizamuddin and Chandigarh. They will be formally launched soon in different parts of the country. During the launch Prabhu said, railway stations are the places where the cross section of the society is available. This initiative is part of bridging the digital divide and providing high speed access network to all rail users. Once implemented this shall be one of the largest public WiFi project in the world. On the occasion of launch, CMD of RailTel said, “Our intent was to fulfill Indian Railway’s vision of providing access to high speed internet to railway passengers through our Optical fiber communication network.”

Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu flagged off five new trains services for Bihar through video conferencing from Rail Bhawan, New Delhi. The latest train to be flagged off is 63213/63214 Patna–Ara MEMU (Daily) train service. The other trains are Danapur-Saharsa ‘Janhit Express’ (Daily, No. 13205/13206), extension of Jaynagar-Saharsa Janki Express Upto Katihar (Daily, Tr. No. 15283/15284), extension of Patna-Murliganj Koshi Express upto Purnea Court (Daily, Tr. No. 18697/18698) and extension of 53581/53582 Jasidih-Chandan Passenger train up to Banka. This is the first passenger train between newly constructed Chandan-Banka line.

Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Minister of Railways, Government of India, flagged off two new trains in the service of the nation through video-conferencing today. The first one is a new Express train viz. 15623/15624 Kamakhya-Bhagat Ki Kothi (Jodhpur) Express(Weekly) and the second one is a new Passenger service viz. 75713/75714 Siliguri-New Coochbehar DEMU (six days a week) on the newly constructed New Coochbehar-Changrabandha section. Manoj Sinha, Minister of State for Railways, Government of India, was also present at the occasion. Prabhu says that this was a long-standing demand of the people of North-Eastern region to provide train services in these areas. He said that the connectivity through DEMU train between New Coochbehar and Changrabandha in West Bengal will benefit all sections of the society including daily-passengers and businessmen. He adds that the other train service i.e. the Kamakhya-Bhagat Ki Kothi Express will not only connect North India from North East India but will also help pilgrims visiting Kamakhya Temple in Assam. This train will reach Bhagat Ki Kothi station by passing seven states of India. Prabhu informs that this is a historic day and Indian Railways will work to the maximum extent possible to provide better rail transportation to the people of India.  

Railway Minister, Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, presented the Railway Budget 2016, and announced that in the next three months, Railways will open the e-ticketing facility to foreign debit/credit cards for foreign tourists and NRIs. In order to ensure hassle free travel for passengers bar coded tickets, scanners and access control on a pilot basis on major stations will be introduced to tackle the menace of ticketless travel. While there will be no hike in passenger fare, the budget entailed many new initiatives for the passengers. Prabhu said that Indian Railways intends to commence sale of tickets through hand held terminals for the benefit of the suburban and short distance travellers. IRCTC will also be extending e-catering services from existing 45 large stations to all 408 ‘A-1’ and ‘A’ class stations. It will also explore the possibility of making mandatory catering services optional in trains. Local cuisine of choice will be made available to passengers. Clean my Coach service on pan India basis is introduced, where a passenger can request cleaning of his/her coach/toilets on demand through SMS. The minister has also set a target of 30000 bio-toilets in the next financial year.

Indian Railways will be partnering with the State Governments for operating tourist circuit trains and explore the possibility of a revenue sharing model, announced Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu while presenting the Railway Budget 2016-17. This year, to spread awareness about our national animal, the tiger, Indian Railways will offer complete packages including train journey, safaris and accommodation to cover the wildlife circuit comprising Kanha, Pench and Bandhavgarh. He also proposed to introduce the Antyodaya Express, a long-distance, fully unreserved, superfast train service, for the common man to be operated on dense routes. He also said that two to four Deen Dayalu coaches will be added in some long distance trains for unreserved travel to enhance the carrying capacity. These coaches will also have facility for portable water and a higher number of mobile charging points.

Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Minister of Railways, Government of India, inaugurated  the renovated National Rail Museum on January 5, 2016, in the presence of the Minister of State for Railways, Manoj Sinha. Launched on the occasion were National Rail Museum website, eBook, a mobile app, as well as a smart card system for the museum ticketing. Prabhu says that the museums are places of knowledge and learning and is meant for all categories of society. He suggests that there should be a small section in the museum which presents future challenges before the railway sector.