DID YOUR WAITLISTED RAILWAY TICKET CONFIRMED ???

YOUR RAILWAY TICKET WHETHER BOOKED AT WINDOW OR FROM IRCTC, WILL NEVER BE CONFIRMED.
YOUR WAITING BEFORE 60 DAYS WILL REMAIN AS IT IS LIKE THAT EVEN ON THE DATE OF JOURNEY.
WHY
READ THIS ITEM PUBLISHED IN MID-DAY ON 15-10-2012.
THIS IS HORRIBLE
READ....

October 15, 2012,

Mumbai

The 1.35 lakh agents appointed by the IRCTC book tickets in advance and then charge customers large sums; this means that direct bookings rarely get confirmed 

Tired of booking train tickets and not knowing if they are confirmed till the eleventh hour? If your answer is yes, then here’s who you should blame: the growing breed of railway agents in the city, whose numbers have multiplied almost a hundredfold in the past six years.

A query filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by activist Manoranjan Roy has revealed some disturbing numbers, which indicate that agents are monopolising ticket bookings, making direct access almost impossible.

The response reveals that every month, an average of over one crore tickets are being booked by these agents. Between 2006 and 2012, their numbers have shot up from a modest 1,537 to a stupendous 1,35,157 — in the Mumbai division alone. Meanwhile, passengers languish in the waiting list, even if they make bookings three months in advance.
All these agents have been appointed by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).
“It’s the same situation for a majority of passengers. They want to know why their bookings aren’t confirmed, and where the tickets are being tied up,” said Roy. He added that these agents charge huge amounts for confirmed tickets, making the most of the demand that they create by booking most of the tickets.
Roy is of the opinion that railway authorities have been turning a blind eye to the obvious black-marketing of tickets. “There is no vigilance on the agents. The black money taken by the agents from passengers desperate for tickets is not recorded. Though officially IRCTC has written that they don’t pay any commission to the agents authorised by them,” added Roy.
One of the reasons that the railways has suddenly spawned such a large drove of booking agents is the faltering online booking system on the IRCTC website.

We have been getting complaints that the website does not work properly and even after completing all the formalities and providing details like credit card numbers, the tickets don’t get booked. The passenger is left with no option but to approach the agent,” said a Railway official, requesting anonymity.
“No foolproof facilities are available for the aam aadmi. Those who can shell out money have access to special facilities. What about the passenger who can’t afford to book tickets through agents? Why doesn’t the railway do something for the common man?” asked Roy.
Roy also questioned the IRCTC for not doing anything to curb the superfluous numbers of agents, and instead continuing to appoint them.
“Why don’t they stick to online and window booking systems and enforce them strictly?” he said.
Subodh Jain, general manager of Central Railway, said, “The agents are appointed by the IRCTC and they know about the procedures. More people book tickets online these days. So, there are more agents connecting to it.”
Virender Singh, group general manager, IRCTC, said, “We are not controlling agents.” He refused to shed further light on the matter.
Expertspeak
Madhu Kotian, president of the Yatri Pravasi Sangh said, “The agent system should be discontinued by the railways. Nobody is benefiting from this.”
Rajiv Singhal, member, Zonal Railway Users Consultative Committee (ZRUCC), said, “The Railway should think of an alternative to agents. Also, they should decrease the 120 days prior ticket booking system. I don’t think that anybody but the agent benefits from this provision as very few can plan their trip four months in advance.”

Speak
Vipin Mishra, frequently travels to Varanasi
I am with many agents and sometimes I feel I should also become one. I have bought tickets at Rs 800 over the actual price. This is what the agents charge for tickets. This figure increases with demand. The railway authorities should put an end to this system and they will be able to earn more from direct booking.”
Janhavi Shah, final year student
My parents always ask me to book the tickets. It would be convenient if I could book the tickets online. I have even sat waiting for the tatkal quota to open, but as soon as I log in it gets full. The railway authorities should stop giving tickets to agents.”
Renu Shukla, Kandivli resident
Whenever I book tickets through the window or online, they never reach confirmed status. I don’t know why the railway authorities always harasses the common public. I know of many people who have faced problems similar to mine, and don’t have access to agents.

IN SUCH CORRUPT SITUATION WHAT COMMON MAN CAN DO ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

 

CYCLONE DEADLIER THAN KATTRINA STRIKES EASTERN INDIA

This is as per the Time of India report today:

BHUBANESWAR: Strong winds and heavy rains pounded India's eastern coastline on Saturday, as hundreds of thousands of people took shelter from a massive, powerful cyclone expected to reach land in a few hours.
The skies were dark - almost black - at midmorning in Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha and about 60 miles (about 100 kilometres) from the coast. Roaring winds made palm trees sway wildly, and to the south, seawater was pushing inland.
By Friday evening, some six lakh people had been moved to higher ground or shelters in Odisha, which is expected to bear the brunt of the cyclone, said Surya Narayan Patro, the state's top disaster management official.
About 12 hours before Cyclone Phailin's landfall, meteorologists held out hope that the storm might hit while in a temporary weakened state, but no matter what it will be large and deadly.
Ryan Maue, a meteorologist at Weather Bell, a private US weather firm, said even in the best-case scenario there will be a storm surge of 20-30 feet (7-9 meters).
A storm surge - the giant wall of water that that a cyclone blasts ashore - is the big killer in these storms, even more than winds.
The storm already has been large and powerful for nearly 36 hours, he said, and those winds have built up tremendous amount of surge, Maue said.
Satellite images showed the cyclone filling nearly the entire Bay of Bengal, an area larger than France.
A storm this large can't peter out that fast," Maue said. "There's nothing to stop it at this point."
Officials canceled holy day celebrations and stockpiled emergency supplies in coastal Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.
The Indian Meteorological Department warned that Phailin was a "very severe cyclonic storm" that was expected to hit with maximum sustained winds of 210-220 kilometres (130-135 miles) per hour.
However, the US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Hawaii forecast maximum sustained winds of 269 kilometers (167 miles) per hour with gusts up to 315 kilometres (196 miles) per hour.
Indian officials also made less dire predictions about the storm surge, saying only it would be at least 10 feet (3 meters) high.
In Bhubaneswar, government workers and volunteers were putting together hundreds of thousands of food packages to be distributed at relief camps.
The state's top official, chief minister Naveen Patnaik, appealed for people to cooperate with officials as they order people to leave their homes.
"I request everyone to not panic. Please assist the government. Everyone from the village to the state headquarters have been put on alert," he told reporters.
In Paradip, the Odisha port city hammered in a 1999 cyclone, at least seven ships had put to sea to ride out the storm, with other boats shifted to safer parts of the harbor, officials said.
US forecasters repeatedly warned the storm would be immense.
"If it's not a record it's really, really close," University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy told The Associated Press. "You really don't get storms stronger than this anywhere in the world ever. This is the top of the barrel."
To compare to killer US storms, McNoldy said Phailin is near the size of 2005's Hurricane Katrina, which killed 1,200 people and caused devastating flooding in New Orleans, but Phailin also has the wind power of 1992's Hurricane Andrew, which had 165 mph (265 kph) winds at landfall in Miami.
The storm continues on its current path without weakening, it is expected to cause large-scale power and communications outages and shut down road and rail links, officials said. There would also be extensive damage to crops.
Patro said tens of thousands of more people will be moved to safer areas before the cyclone hits.
"No one will be allowed to stay in mud and thatched houses in the coastal areas," he said.
The government also began evacuating 64,000 people from the low-lying areas of three vulnerable districts in neighboring Andhra Pradesh, said state revenue minister N Raghuveera Reddy.