Mangaluru-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express trial run flagged off
Mangaluru: The trial run of the Mangaluru-Madgaon semi-high-speed Vande Bharat Express was flagged off at the Mangaluru central railway station on Tuesday.
The flag-off ceremony was conducted in the presence of Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, local MLAs and railway officials.
The train which departed Mangaluru central at 8.30 am will reach Madgaon at 1.15 pm. On its return, it will leave Madgaon at 1.45 pm and reach Mangaluru at 6.30 pm. The train has stops at Udupi and Karwar.
The regular operations of the Vande Bharat Express will start on December 30.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate the new train along with six other Vande Bharat trains in other states on the day. An official announcement in this regard is awaited, railway sources said.
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Karnataka government employees demand return of Old Pension Scheme
Bengaluru: Government employees in Karnataka have urged the state government to scrap the New Pension Scheme (NPS) and bring back the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), The New Indian Express reported.
The demand was made by the Karnataka State Government Employees’ Association, whose leaders met senior IAS officer Uma Mahadevan on Monday and submitted a memorandum. The association asked the NPS Review Committee, headed by senior IAS officer Anjum Parvez, to recommend the reintroduction of OPS in the state.
Association president C.S. Shadakshari reportedly said the review committee has already visited Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana where NPS was revoked and OPS re-implemented. The committee is yet to submit its report, but has told the government it will do so soon.
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Shadakshari allegedly said NPS has been in force in Karnataka since 2006. He pointed out that West Bengal never adopted the scheme, while Andhra Pradesh and Telangana replaced NPS with a contributory pension model.
States including Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Jharkhand have already scrapped NPS through cabinet decisions or budget announcements.
“Under NPS, 10% of the employees’ basic salary and DA, and 14% contribution from the state is credited to the employees’ fund. It constitutes 24% of the total which is non-withdrawable. This is invested in the share market and the final amount depends on the ups and downs of the market,” TNIE quoted Shadakshar as saying.
As per the report, he said that by limiting its contribution to 14%, the government could save up to ₹1.87 lakh crore annually if all vacancies are filled, strengthening the case for bringing back the old pension system.
