East Coast Railway to run 186 special trains during Rath Yatra

The East Coast Railway has announced 186 special trains between June 25 and July 4 to clear the rush for the annual Jagannath Rath yatra. There will be 36 additional booking counters at the Puri railway station for the occasion. The breakdown is 34 trains on the occasion of Gundicha yatra and sunabesha, while 32 will run on the day of bahuda yatra.
In addition to the above, there will be another 24 booking counters that will operate round the clock at various stations including Bhubaneswar and Cuttack during this period. Four additional enquiry counters will also be set up at Puri railway station along with the existing enquiry counter which will be strategically located for ease of the passengers.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 17 June 2017.

It is also understood that 60 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras would be installed at the Puri railway station to ensure the safety of the passengers apart from two drone cameras to keep tabs on the movement of passengers. There will also be RPF and GRP personnel along with sniffer dogs.
The East Coast Railway will also set up a temporary shed for around 1,000 people with toilet and bathroom facilities near the Puri railway station.


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Basanta Utsav in Visva-Bharati - time limit set for revelers to return to hostels

The Basanta Utsav in Visva-Bharati is a major festival celebrated to welcome spring and the authorities have issued a notification that students must return to their departments or hostels within an hour of the completion of the festivities.
This is issued because there have been complaints lodged by students in the past of teasing. Even after the end of the official song-and-dance programs in the ashram ground, many students continue to hold sessions in smaller groups. In view of the large number of people who come (roughly 1.5 lakh every year) proper care has to be taken. This year, the festival is on March 12.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 8 March 2017.

Apart from the Basanta Utsav program on the dais, thousands of students participate in a procession that starts from the Patha Bhavana campus and ends in front of the main dais. Even after the cultural program of songs and dances, many of the remain on the campus for hours.
In order to keep a check, additional CCTV cameras would be installed to monitor the crowd on the campus. Four temporary watch towers are also being constructed for policemen to keep an eye on the visitors. Students have also welcomed the move of the authorities.


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Khandagiri Mela to start from February 3 on the foothills of Khandagiri

The stage is being set for the annual Magh Saptami Mela, also known as the Khandagiri Mela, from February 3 on the foothills of Khandagiri.
The fair starts on the seventh day of the month of Magh and attracts thousands of visitors from the city, its outskirts and neighboring districts. The venue is the twin hills of Khandagiri and Udayagiri and has been going on for many years.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 18 January 2017.

The civic administration of Bhubaneswar laid emphasis on security and cleanliness and, the fair will be used as a platform to create awareness among people about cleanliness. There will be makeshift toilets in the fair ground and the walls will be painted with messages on hygiene and sanitation. Opera houses will also have to provide toilets for their audience and the layout designs for these will be given by a Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation engineer.
There will also be an information cell at the fair entrance and it will also serve as the grievance redress counter. The fair venue will be under surveillance of CCTV cameras and there will be a map to show detailed exit mechanism to handle emergencies.
In addition, non-standard LPG cylinders will be banned and vendors using sub-standard cylinders will be denied entry.


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World Book Fair in Delhi facing problems of shoplifters

There are bookworms in the ongoing World Book Fair in Delhi but, simultaneously, there are shoplifters due to which many of the book stores are facing the issue of shoplifting. This is the 44th edition of the book fair being held at the Pragati Maidan and it has got more than 2,500 stalls.
Publishing houses which attract maximum number of visitors are targets - publishers like Penguin, Harper Collins are finding it difficult to keep an eye on every person who enter their stalls. AS Penguin has indicated - every day there are more than 25 cases when people were apprehended for shoplifting and, last year they had to face a loss of Rs.5 lakh.
This has been reported in thestatesman.com dated 12 January 2017.

Shoplifting happens every year, especially on weekends and the actual amount of loss of books due to this menace comes to light only when the fair ends and the inventory is taken.
According to the organizers, there are CCTV cameras inside the premise and the ITPO officials are watching the videos. There is also a police van inside the premise where the stall owners can lodge their complaints. But keeping an eye on every individual is not possible.
The book fair started on January 7, will end on January 15, 2017.


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CCTV cameras installed in the College Street Coffee House

Coffee House in College Street in Kolkata is considered by the intellectuals of the city to be the meeting ground of the luminaries of arts, culture and politics. It is in the precincts of this august house that film legends met to discuss their work. And, writers and poets find a ready audience to criticize their work. Now, sixteen CCTV cameras have been installed in the Coffee House for what is described as security reasons.
This has been reported in thehindu.com dated 26 December 2016.

The Coffee House, founded in 1876, is nearly 140 years old and it used to be called Albert Hall. It was the meeting place for collegians of the city, including the lovelorn boys and girls. Education was incomplete unless one had acquired the Coffee House experience.
The usual patrons are college students, retired professors, couples and activists — mostly from city's middle income group. They engage in routine adda or informal chitchat. Hence, the move to install CCTV cameras has irked Kolkata’s civil society. They have staged a protest demonstration in front of Coffee House. They have described the installation of the cameras as an “infringement of individual liberty.”


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West Bengal to tackle rash driving on national and state highways

It took a major road accident to wake up the authorities from slumber with regard rash driving on the highways - both state and national. The accident involved chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee.
He was seriously injured in a road accident in Singur and, as a result, the state government has decided to intensify road safety measures on national and state highways to bring down the road accident rate.
This has been reported in thestatesman.com dated 20 October 2016.

A number of decisions have been taken in the meeting. One of these is that speed radars will be installed on NH 2, NH 6 and state highways to monitor speeds of all vehicles. The state PWD and transport department in collaboration with national highway authority will identify accident-prone areas on the highways and CCTV cameras will be installed to monitor all traffic.
In addition, more checkposts will come up on the highways to check documents of vehicles and vigilance at the check posts will be intensified.
Also, more breath analyzers will be given to district police officers to check whether the drivers are plying vehicles in an inebriated state and adequate lights will be installed at accident prone areas.


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Durga Puja attraction - idol decked in 5-Kg gold ornaments and valued at Rs 2 crores

Gone are the days of pandal created to house the idols of Goddess Durga and her children. The olden day concept has been replaced by theme pujas and organizers break their heads searching for themes that have never been done earlier. The bottom line is to attract people to their pandals and garner footsteps in order to not just prove their existence but, also, their clout.
One of the star attractions this year in Kolkata would, undoubtedly, be a Durga idol decked in decked in 5-Kg gold ornaments and valued at Rs 2 crores.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 5 October 2016.

Durga’s crown for this idol is about 2ft high and those of the others in her retinue about 1.5ft. The idol is housed in a 100ft high replica of the Jagannath temple in Puri. In order to ensure utmost security, the organizers have installed 20 CCTV cameras and deployed over 200 private security guards. In addition, confectioners have been brought from Puri to make the famous khaja to distribute among devotees from Saptami to Dashami. Flags from the Puri temple have also been procured - these will be hoisted on top of the pandal.
Another idol has gold dusted on the idol that is carved out of a sandstone slab weighing 4.5 tonne. There is also a 13 inch gold crown in meenakari work with precious stones encrusting it for the Goddess. The 35ft pandal and decor are made of elaborate sirish wood carvings and visitors are being monitored on 16 CCTV cameras from two control rooms, with 100 private security guards on duty.


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CCTV cameras do not function at Pune international airport

A major security lapse has been reported from Pune International Airport - as many as seven CCTV cameras were on the blink and the matter came to light when a car was stolen from the parking lot. The CISF personnel stationed at the airport were apparently aware about it and had alerted the authorities. The cameras had been on the blink for a month.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 26 September 2016.

CCTV cameras have been installed at airports because these are targets of terrorists and the CCTV camera footage have been critical in identifying and going after the perpetrators. However, the seven unserviceable CCTV cameras positioned at the parking lot, the parking bay outside the arrival and departure gates and also some inside, near the check-in counters is a matter of major security lapse.
A businessman and frequent flier has said that fliers are experience heightened airport security. While taking a flight he was told to remove his shoes for scanning and there were sniffer dogs checking out the baggage. Obviously, CCTV cameras that do not function is a cause for alarm, especially since the airport is a Defence establishment.


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Dance bars in Maharashtra can continue to operate as before

The Supreme Court has ruled that dance bars in Maharashtra will continue to operate under the old terms and conditions that permitted serving of liquor with CCTV cameras at the entrance. The honorable bench did not put on hold the new rules that limited the timings of the dances up to 11.30 p.m., prohibited serving of liquor and installation of CCTV cameras in the dance bar itself. However, the judges said the "persons granted license should be allowed to continue under old terms and conditions".
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 22 September 2016.

The bench took exception to the new rules that prohibits serving of liquor at the dance bars and said that if somebody has a bar license and a dance bar, there cannot be any restriction on serving liquor.
As to installation of CCTV at the entrance, senior counsel appearing for the Maharashtra government said that installing CCTV in dance area was a part of the police power of the state. However, senior counsel appearing for the dance bar owners said that CCTVs had a chilling affect on the people who come to dance bars because people have some right to privacy.


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Cuttack gearing up to ensure safety in and around pandals during the Durga Puja

There are at least 156 puja committees in the city of Cuttack who celebrate Durga Puja in a lavish manner and, in order to ensure safety in and around puja pandals, the police have urged puja committees to install CCTV cameras on the roads near the pandals. The police had, earlier, asked the puja committees to install CCTV cameras at their pandals and have added that CCTVs be positioned on the roads as well.
The police feel that such an action would help keep a tab on mischief-mongers.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 18 September 2016.

In addition, police have urged the puja committee members to keep their immersion procession short so that flow of traffic is not affected and, also, to completely ban use of liquor during the procession. Moreover, police officers have been asked to initiate strict action against those found collecting puja donations forcibly from citizens.
As in previous years, there will be five special police officers(SPOs) appointed for each puja committee. They will assist the police to maintain law and order. The puja committees will have to select five youths, with clean track record, and recommend their names to police. These volunteers will be trained by police to handle security measures and regulate vehicular traffic near their respective mandaps. And, to ensure communal harmony in the city, five puja committees will rope in Muslims as SPOs.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


Some more interesting links -

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