NEW PRESS RELEASES FROM HQ

SOUTHERN RAILWAY  PRESS RELEASE PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICE, Chennai - 600 003   No.117/2009-2010                                    Dt.15-09-2010 119TH ZRUCC MEETING HELD AT CHENNAI The 119th Zonal Railway Users' Consultative Committee Meeting of Southern Railway was held at Chennai today (15.09.2010). The meeting was presided by      Shri Deepak Krishan, General Manager, Southern Railway & Chairman of Zonal Railway Users’ Consultative Committee and attended by various heads of departments. MLAs Shri Anathalavattam Anandan & Shri T. Thyagarajan, Senior officials of State Governments, IGs (Railway Police) of Southern states, persons nominated to represent agricultural interest, representatives of Chambers of Commerce, Passenger Associations, Consumer Organisation, members elected from Divisional Railway Users’ Consultative Committees of various divisions of Southern Railway and nominees of Minister of Railways/ Union Ministers under category of ‘Special Interests’ attended the meeting. The Committee selected Shri K.C. Rajagopal to represent the National Railway Users’ Consultative Committee, Shri K.S. Gopalakrishnan to the Suburban Railway Users’s Consultative Committee and Shri P. Abdul Hameed to the One Man Spot Check Committee. The General Manager said that Southern Railway gave importance to cleanliness and with mechanized cleaning methods, station premises, trains & tracks are being cleaned. Southern Railway has also entered into rag picking contract with agencies to collect garbage. The concepts of on board house keeping and clean train stations have also been introduced. The GM informed that the new line work between Namakkal and Salem will be completed in this year and the approval of the Commissioner of Railway Safety is being awaited for the Nagapattinam – Velankanni  line. Regarding security of passengers, surveillance & CCTV cameras and X-ray luggage scanners have been installed at major stations and the integrated security system is also being implemented. The helplines of Govt. Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) are also functioning to redress the grievances of passengers. The GRP and RPF personnel are also escorting trains to ensure the security of passengers. Members evinced keen interest in the deliberations.  Members raised various issues pertaining to the passenger amenities, services and facilities in the meeting.

World Health Day

World Health Day – 7 April 2011

Antimicrobial resistance and its global spread

• We live in an era of medical breakthroughs with new 'wonder drugs' available to treat conditions that a few decades ago, or even a few years ago in the case of HIV/AIDS, would have proved fatal. For World Health Day 2011, WHO will launch a worldwide campaign to safeguard these medicines for future generations. Antimicrobial resistance - the theme of World Health Day 2011 - and its global spread, threatens the continued effectiveness of many medicines used today to treat the sick, while at the same time it risks jeopardizing important advances being made against major infectious killers. 
• To underline this, the WHO public awareness campaign will include a special focus on the HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria pandemics. WHO will call on governments and stakeholders to implement the policies and practices needed to prevent and counter the emergence of highly resistant superbugs, and to also provide appropriate care to those seriously affected by these microbes.

WORLD HEALTH DAY 2010

Urbanization and health

World Health Day 2010 focused on urbanization and 

health. With the campaign "1000 cities - 1000 lives", 

events were organized worldwide calling o cities to 

open up streets for health activities. Stories of urban 

health champions were gathered to illustrate what 

people are doing to improve health in their cities. 

little history about southern railway

Madras Central station in 1868

 Madras Central was built in 1873 at Parktown as a second terminus to decongest the Royapuram harbour station which was being utilised for port movements. Built in the Gothic Revival style, the original station was designed by George Hardinge and consisted of just four platforms. The station was later modified with the addition of the central clock tower and other changes by Robert Fellowes Chisholm ^[3]. The redesign was eventually completed in 1900.

Madras Central gained prominence after the beach line was extended further south in 1907 and Royapuram was no longer a terminus for Madras^[4]. All trains were  then terminated at Madras Central instead and its position was further strengthened after the construction of the headquarters of the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway (erstwhile Madras Railway and now known as the Southern Railway (India)) adjacent to it in 1922.

Due to increasing passenger movement, the main building was extended with the addition of a new building on the western side with a similar architecture to the original.

Capacity at the station was further augmented after construction of the multistoreyed Moore Market Complex as a dedicated terminus for theMadras suburban railway system.

egmore rly stn  1926 The Great Southern of India Railway Company was incorporated in Britain in 1858. The company received a guarantee from the Secretary of State for India for a 5% return on £500,000 which was to be used to construct a railway line from Nagapattinam (formerly Negapatam) to Tiruchirapalli (formerly Trichinopoly), along with several branch lines. The company’s guarantee was given amidst political controversy. Lord Stanley took over from Sir Charles Wood as Secretary of State for India, whereupon he reversed his predecessor’s policy, and starting granting guarantees to the smaller branch line railway companies. The Great Southern of India Railway Company was one of the first companies to benefit. Construction began on the line shortly after the company’s incorporation, and by 1860, the Nagapattinam to Tiruchirapalli line was nearing completion. The Great Southern of India was a small railway in southern India that existed between 1862 till 1872 when it joined forces with the Carnatic Railway to become the South Indian Railway. The original Great Southern lines were all broad gauge, but they were converted to meter gauge in 1872. The Great Southern's line ran from Negapatnam (now Nagapattinam) and Trichnopoly (now Tiruchirappalli)