Indian Railways Turnaround

The Indian Railways Turnaround saga has caught the attention of the nation. One of the reasons is possibly the fact that Lalu Prasad Yadav, one of India’s most colourful politicians with the reputation of being a shrewd rustic, is the Railways Minister. He has addressed seminars in Harvard and Wharton speaking about what many consider, and rightly so, a landmark achievement.

In February, when Railway Minister Lalu Prasad presented India’s railway budget for the 2007-08 fiscal, its most striking aspect was the Rs.215 billion ($4.5 billion) surplus he announced for the organisation that employs 1.5 million people and boasts a 63,332-kilometer network that ferries 14 million passengers daily in 9,000 trains (4,000 more for cargo) from 6,947 stations.

See this easily readable report from Arvind Padmanabhan .

Factual details from the Indian Railways standpoint are presented by Mr. Sudhir Kumar, IAS, Officer on Special Duty/Minister for Railways.

KPMG‘s report gives details for those who want an in -depth analysis.

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Last of the Wodehousians?

Wodehouse fans may want to see this about Lord Michael Pratt who died recently.

He has been described as being “one of the last Wodehouseian figures to inhabit London’s clubland”.

Reading about him in The Telegraph – his habit of dropping in for a day and staying for weeks and wearing a monocle- makes me convinced that he showed Duke of Dunstable-like behaviours.

World’s Top Business Hotel

The Leela Palace in Bangalore was rated the favourite business hotel in the world recently. Over 30,000 business travellers across the globe voted based on five parameters: location of the hotel, service offered, comfort, food and beverage, and facilities available.

The survey comes from the leading travel magazine Conde Nast Traveller. The Leela Palace Kempinski at Bangalore, India is followed in this year’s ranking by Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong; Park Hyatt, Tokyo; Island Shangri-la, Hong Kong; Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris; The Peninsula, Hong Kong; Hotel Le Bristol, Paris; Four Seasons Hotel, New York; and The Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Dubai.

The Oberoi, New Delhi is ranked 18th and is the only other Indian hotel on the Conde Nast list, referred by some as the Oscars of the travel industry.

Ganesh Chaturthi & Gowri Puja

We celebrate Gowri Puja today. It is essentially a worship by the married ladies, seeking the Mother’s grace and benedictions for progeny and also for longevity of the husband, usually called mangalya.

Tomorrow we celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi in which we Hindus celebrate the birthday of Lord Ganesha. Ganesh, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati, is widely worshipped as the supreme god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune.

Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the most popular of Hindu festivals. It is the day most sacred to Lord Ganesha. It falls on the 4th day of the bright fortnight of Bhadrapada (August-September). It is observed throughout India, as well as by devoted Hindus in all parts of the world.