-The Economic Times CHENNAI: Scientists of IIT-Kanpur have thrown the kitchen sink at a high-tech solution to a messy problem: How to keep the world's largest railway network clean and prevent corrosion of lines when train toilets unload waste directly on the tracks. Bio-toilets developed by the Indian Railways and Defence Research and Development Organization have earned praise from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but IIT scientists say they are neither environment-friendly nor...

-The Times of India ALLAHABAD: From December 1, for booking a ticket in any reserved class of the train, a passenger will have to produce one of the prescribed proofs of identity failing which the said passenger will be treated as ticketless traveler and will have to pay fine accordingly. This provision will, however, not affect the existing provision of Tatkal scheme where during the journey, the passenger is required to show...

-The Times of India CHANDIGARH: Tired of avoiding a visit to Indian Railways toilets reeking with a nauseating stench? Get ready to excuse yourself into natty and fanciful washrooms fitted with airplane-like vacuum toilets. New railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who hails from Chandigarh -- one of the cleanest cities of India -- has put the new aviation style engineering design for railways on a fast track. "We have identified some 55 cities...

-The Business Standard Clamp down on burning of waste, industrial smoke Come winter, and Delhi is wrapped in a blanket of smog. It isn’t pretty. Also, it poses grave environmental, health and transportation hazards. Winter seems to have come early this year, and so has the smog. The economic costs are considerable: the winter schedule of airlines and Trains invariably goes haywire owing to poor visibility. People breathe in more particulate...

-The Hindu Cyclone ‘Nilam' caused unprecedented damage to Srikakulam district which is still under grip of fear with the heavy inflows to Vamsadhara and Nagavali rivers. Bahuda and Mahendra Tanaya rivers are also in full spate with heavy rains in the catchment area of Odisha. Almost 80, 000 acres of crop got damaged and 43 villages were inundated in the district. The officials of all the mandals have been alerted to...