New trains, business opportunities for J&K: Prabhu

Union Minister for Railways, Suresh Prabhu today said that Indian Railways is taking steps to connect Jammu and Kashmir State with rest of the country through railway line starting from the northern district of Baramulla.

He said in this regard the project which was left in limbo has been fast paced by holding regular periodical meetings about its implementation besides providing the requisite funds for it.

The Union Minister was addressing a meeting here today.

It was attended by the Deputy Chief Minister, Dr. Nirmal Singh, Minister for Industries and Commerce, Chander Praksash Ganga, Minister of State for Information, Priya Sethi, Minister of State for R&B, Sunil Sharma, Minister of State for Finance, Pawan Gupta, Member Parliaments, Jugal Kishore, Shamsheer Singh Manhas, MLAs, Sat Shrma, Rajesh Gupta, MLCs Ashok Khajuria, Surinder Amberdar, S. Charanjeet Singh Khalsa, senior leaders, Ashok Koul, Yudhvir Sethi, Mamta Singh, Sunil Sethi, Farooq Khan and other senior leaders.

Suresh Prabhu said that Indian Railways is also taking steps to connect Jammu and Kashmir State with rest of the country through railway line starting from the northern district of Baramulla and in this regard the project which was left in limbo has been fast paced by holding regular periodical meetings about its implementation besides providing the requisite funds for it.

 “In order to ensure that the handicraft sector which is one of the main pillars of the State’s economy gets the requisite boost, the railways will be contributing its bit by ensuring that it is promoted and propagated through e-retailing so that its market grows across the nation and it would in turn boost the economy of this part of country”, he said.

Referring to the initiatives being undertaken in the Tourism Sector of the State, the Minister said that special tourist trains with open roof tops would be introduced shortly so that the tourist related activities get a boost. He said new and special trains would be run in the Jammu sector which would cater to the huge rush of pilgrims coming from different parts of the country to pay their obeisance at Shri Mata Vaishnu Devi and other holy places in the State.

While responding to the demands of the legislators and party leaders, the Minister said that a new satellite terminal would also be undertaken at Jammu to decongest the existing railway station in Jammu.

He said Government is moving forward on the economic agenda of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and railways has pivotal role in realizing this and major reforms are underway in railway sector, which would contribute in boosting the economic activities, besides also help in increasing the connectivity of the people.

The Railway Minister spoke about the initiatives started by the Prime Minister both within the country and abroad to revive the Indian economy that had witnessed slump during the previous government. He highlighted the positive impact of the Prime Minister’s foreign visits and economic cooperation with world countries in improving FDI across so many sectors in India. He said railways have initiated major reforms keeping in line with the economic agenda of the Prime Minister.

Prabhu said that while at the international level, many developed nations are undergoing economic distress resulting in their recession, “India under the leadership of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has not only withstood the pressure but our country is moving on a positive growth curve and would emerge as a global economic power in near future”, he elaborated.

While referring to the new initiatives undertaken by the Government under the leadership of Prime Minister, the Railway Minister said that the new and innovative initiatives like ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ have a huge potential to transform India and improve the delivery system exponentially besides creating a sense of accountability, transparency and credibility and also involving the people in day-to-day governance.

The Deputy Chief Minister, Dr. Nirmal Singh while speaking on the occasion said that the Central Government has been quite liberal in extending its support to the State by way of several schemes in different sectors. He said that the new railway projects being undertaken in Lakhanpur-Billawar-Bhaderwah and Jammu-Rajouri-Poonch would go a long way in providing the much needed railway connectivity to the people living in these areas and boost trade, commerce and tourism related activities.

The legislators and leaders projected several demands which include construction of a new railway satellite station at Kunjwani, two railways stations at Tikri and Dharam Kund, fast pacing the Jammu-Poonch railway line, science trains for the students, increasing the halting time of trains at the Jammu railway station, undertaking Sadbhavna like programmes for creating perceptional management in youth, separate bogies for females in Banihal-Srinagar and other routes, exploring the provision of starting mono rails in Jammu-Srinagar and declaring the old railway line adjoining the Kala Kendra as a heritage site.

New Year celebrations bring Gulmarg alive

Srinagar, Jan 1

Premier ski resort Gulmarg witnessed good rush of tourists and locals who had turned up the hill resort to celebrate New Year.

The snowcapped bowl of the Gulmarg and mountains surrounding it enthralled visitors where many cultural programs and adventure sports activities were also organized.

Tourism department organized national ice-skating championship and a private company organized music show in the evening.

Almost all the hotels were booked for New Year and Christmas occasion.

Famous Grand Mumtaz Resorts attracted huge crowd on this occasion.

Hotel management also offered gala dinner for in-house guests and other tourists on special rates.

Besides, special discounts on double bed room accommodations for the guests were also offered by this hotel.

Hundreds of tourists joined live music show which started on Thursday evening and when the clock struck 12 O’clock, the resort came alive with fire-cracker show.

General Manager, Grand Mumtaz Resorts Gulmarg Mohsin Bhat said that hotel remained abuzz with the tourists and was fully sold ahead of the New Year festival.

He said that tourist response was satisfactory as compared to the previous years.

 “Not only domestic tourists but also foreigners too had booked the accommodations in advance to celebrate the New Year – 2016 at Grand Mumtaz,” said Mohsin Bhat.

He said besides special offers on room accommodation Grand Mumtaz had also offered special discounts on the dinner to the tourists.

A lucky draw was held at 12 O’clock and winner of the draw was gifted a “one night stay” at hotel Grand Mumtaz Resorts in Pahalgam.

Grand Mumtaz is one of the premium hotels of Mushtaq Group of Hotels offering best services in the industry.

“I enjoyed the New Year celebration fully here in Gulmarg. I also feel elated to have chosen Grand Mumtaz in Gulmarg on this New Year occasion. Kashmir which is known for hospitality was reflected in the services offered by this property,” said a tourist from Mumbia.

Local tourists who had visited to celebrate New Year at Gulmarg expressed their satisfaction over the facilities provided by the hotel.