New Rule For Unreserved Train Tickets From March 1

An unreserved train ticket for travelling upto 199 km distance will no longer be valid after three hours of purchase of the ticket as railways has formulated a new rule to be effective from March 1, Lok Sabha was told on Wednesday.
Unreserved tickets for distances upto 199 km, the journey has to be started from the originating station within three hours of the issue of tickets or upto the departure of first train for the destination whichever is later, Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha said in a written reply.
He said the return journey facility for distance upto 199 km for unreserved tickets has been withdrawn. Sinha said the facility for issuing paperless platform tickets through mobile phones is already available on 29 stations.

Election Laws Amendment Bill Introduced In Lok Sabha

A bill to amend two electoral laws to allow a limited delimitation exercise in West Bengal for granting voting rights to people who became Indian citizens following the exchange of enclaves with Bangladesh was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016, introduced by Law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda, seeks to amend Section 11 of the Delimitation Act, 2002 and Section 9 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
As the term of the 294-member West Bengal Assembly ends on May 29 and elections are likely to be held before that, there is a need for early passage of the bill. Government is hopeful that it would be passed by both the Houses in the next two days without discussion.
At a recent meeting between officials of the Law Ministry and the Election Commission, the poll body made it clear that it was necessary to grant voting rights to these people as the assembly polls in the state were nearing.
Following delimitation, these people will be made voters of assembly and parliamentary constituencies.
Once passed, the proposed Bill will enable the Election Commission to carry out a limited delimitation of assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal following the exchange of 51 Bangladeshi and 111 Indian enclaves in July last year.
The enclaves were exchanged pursuant to the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement and 2011 Protocol and Instruments of Ratification during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bangladesh on June 6-7 last year. Other than the 14,000 people of the 51 enclaves that became part of India, about 921 who came from Bangladesh have also become Indian citizens.
Law Ministry was earlier planning to bring an ordinance to amend the two laws. But the idea was shot down at a meeting of inter-ministerial group chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh a few days back as dates of the Budget session were set to be announced. As per convention, ordinances are avoided when session dates are announced.
The last delimitation exercise in West Bengal was carried out in 2008 and laws needed to be amended for a fresh, but limited delimitation exercise.

Prez To Inaugurate Gender Park

'Gender Park', India's first gender equality convergence center, will be inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee Kerala on February 27. The park is an initiative of the Social Justice Department of the Kerala government to bring together the state, academia and civil society on a common platform to address the gender issues.
"The Centre, the country's first such large-scale initiative, will create an environment to share global knowledge and experiences in reducing gender inequalities," CEO of the park Dr P T M Sunish said in a release.
A dedicated Gender Institute at the park would focus on learning research and capacity development as part of supporting efforts of the central and state governments in ensuring an inclusive society.
It would cover issues pertaining to all three genders in accordance with the 2015 gender and transgender policies of the state government, he said.
Kerala Governor P Sathasivam, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Rebecca Reichmann Tavares, United Nations Representative for women in India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bhutan will take part in the inaugural function.
The President will also inaugurate UL Cyber Park, declare Kerala a digital state,launch the Digital Empowerment Campaign and also declare open "Kanivu" (Compassionate Kerala) scheme, by unveiling commemorative plaques. .