Host Uganda has beefed up security in and around the capital Kampala where the 2017 World Cross Country athletics championships are slated to be held on March 26.

Dominic Otuchet, President of Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF), on Thursday said that with over 800 visitors coming into the country, they have ensured that security will be very tight and all teams, hotels and the track area will be guarded, reports Xinhua news agency.

"We are not taking any security issues for granted," Otuchet said noting that all teams right from arrival will have a lead security car to the hotels, training sessions and on the day of the race.

On the track at the Kololo Independence ground all is set as teams have started training ahead of the event on Sunday.

"The athletes will enjoy the track because the grass has been well maintained," said Faustino Kiwa, a member of the technical committee of UAF.

Foreign teams have started arriving in the country. Fifty nine countries and regions have entered the event which will have 553 athletes taking part. 

Ethiopia are the defending champions of the senior event, while Kenya dominated the individual event in the last championships held in China.

Indian para athletes did the country proud by claiming 13 medals in the season opening Fazaa International IPC International Athletics Grand Prix at the Dubai Club Stadium here.

The medals include five gold, three of which are won by Sundar Singh Gurjar.

Gurjar added a third gold medal in the Shot Put event T 44- 46 category with a throw of 13.36 mt. Sundar had earlier won gold in the javelin throw and discus throw in his category.

Sundar preparing intensely for World Para Athletic Championship in July in London is presently supported and sponsored by Cairn India.

The women athletes also added to the Indian gold medal tally with a gold-silver finish in the women s wheelchair Shot Put F-55 category. Karamjyoti claimed the gold with 5.76 mt followed by Shatabdti Awasthi claiming the silver a mere 5 centimeters behind.

High Jumpers Sharad Kumar and Girisha H. Nagarajgowda gave India the silver and bronze in the F13/20/42/44 category with leaps of 1.66m and 1.63 m respectively, wherein golden boy Mariyappan Thangavelu and Varun Bhati preferred not to compete.

Karnataka on Friday said there is no question of releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu in line with the Supreme Court's directive as the state itself is facing a shortage of drinking water.

"There is no water for drinking purposes. If we had water we could have released. We have 3-4 tmc ft shortage to provide drinking water to Bengaluru, Mysuru and surrounding villages.

Therefore, there is no question of releasing water," Water Resources Minister M B Patil said.

He was replying to a question on whether the state will release water to Tamil Nadu in the backdrop of the apex court directive.

Patil said the Karnataka government had also mentioned this before the apex court and that the state's legal team was working on the matter.

"There will not be any meeting (with the legal team) per se as of now," he said.

A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra had on March 21 said all interim orders of releasing 2000 cusecs of Cauvery water by Karnataka will continue to be in force till further orders.

The Supreme Court had also said it will commence, on July 11, the final hearing of the appeals filed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala against the 2007 award of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal on sharing of water for 15 consecutive workings days.

Happily married to Mira, and loving his new real life role as a father, actor Shahid Kapoor chose to "get back" when asked about his "secret past" with actress Kareena Kapoor Khan here on Friday.

Shahid was at the India Today Woman Summit and Awards when an audience member was keen to know about his "secret past".

"I have a secret past," Shahid asked, almost puzzled.

"How do you know about it? Were you spying on me? I can't confess to my secret past," he added.

On being prodded with Kareena's name, he said: "How is that secret, madam? It's a world secret."

Later, when Shahid was asked to teach one of his dance steps to the audience, he invited the same lady who wanted him to talk about Kareena.

"The lady who said, Kareena Kapoor, I want her on the stage. See, this is Karma, life gets back. What goes around comes around and it's not just Justin Timberlake who said that… It's true for life," he quipped. 

Shahid and Kareena had one of the most talked about relationships in tinsel town in recent years, and their split courted equal media attention.

Kareena went on to marry actor-producer Saif Ali Khan, and is now a mother to their first child — a son named Taimur.

Shahid went for an arranged marriage with Delhi girl Mira, and they have daughter Misha.

In the midst of the discussion here, when the host said she won't go into his past relationships, he said: "So kind of you. Shaadi ke baad yeh sab mat kiya karo (Don't do all this after marriage)."

He spoke about love and arranged relationships.

Asked if love is a prerequisite for a marriage, Shahid said: "Of course, it is, but in an arranged marriage, it's about companionship and friendship first, and love follows."

Political parties in Haryana, Punjab are once again raising pitch over the contentious Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal water issue.

While immediately after taking oath as Punjab Chief Minister on March 19 Captain Amarinder Singh made it clear that the state has no extra water to share with others, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has announced to lead an all party delegation to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on March 24.

Leaders of all political parties, from Haryana have been invited by the government for a preliminary discussion at Delhi before proceeding to meet the Union Home Minister to take the SYL issue.

However, Khattar's decision of leading all party delegation has kicked political controversy with parties in opposition alleging that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state led by Khattar has failed to fix an appointment with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi while the neighboring Punjab CM succeeded in meeting Modi on Wednesday.

Taking a dig at Khattar government, Haryana's leading opposition party the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) on Thursday said that failing to get time from the Prime Minister, now the Khattar government fix an appointment with the Union Home Minister.

Leader of Opposition and senior INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala said, "From the very beginning INLD is fighting for Haryana's legitimate share from the SYL water while the ruling BJP always says the matter is sub judice, it is sub judice, then why the state government is fixing meeting with the Centre."

Chautala further stated that his party leaders would go to meet Rajnath Singh but not as a part of the delegation.

We would directly go to Rajnath Singh's office and raise the issue, but if nothing happen on this issue in coming days the INLD would go for indefinite agitation at Jantar-Mantar from April 6 until the digging of the SYL canal is accomplished, he added.

On the other hand, Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu refuted the INLD's claims, saying that Union Home Ministry has a vital role to play to accomplish digging of the canal.  

Recently, after joining Captain Amarinder led Congress government in Punjab, as Irrigation and Power Minister Rana Gurjit Singh has also said that their government would save the state's water.

Earlier, a political storm was witnessed in both of the states when the Supreme Court on November 10 last year, held as unconstitutional the 2004 Punjab Termination of Agreements Act passed by the Punjab State Legislative Assembly to terminate the SYL canal water sharing agreement with Haryana.

Morgan Freeman, who was on a working trip to India last year, terms his experience of being in the country "settling". The Oscar-winning screen legend says memories of the time he spent on the Ganges will forever remain with him.

"I was fascinated by India. So going there was a very settling experience. I went there for a spiritual trip more than a sight-seeing trip. So, it was a spiritual experience for me. The time I spent on the Ganges will stay with me forever," Freeman told IANS in an email interview.

The actor, who has featured in cinematic gems like "Street Smart", "Glory", "The Shawshank Redemption", "Seven" and "Bruce Almighty", came to India last year to explore "the story of god" in a documentary series. The 79-year-old is also executive producer of "Madam Secretary" — season three of which airs in India on AXN.

During his tryst with India for "The Story of God", he visited Bodh Gaya and Varanasi — cities which are of religious significance.

Asked what aspect of the country inspired him and would he ever make a film on India, Freeman said he is not sure of the second part as he didn't have much time in hand to explore the country deeply.

The 79-year-old said: "I didn't see enough of the country to make a film on it. I haven't been able to stay for so long to have a judgment on the same. However, we all are looking for great content. So, yes, will I ever make a film in India? Absolutely!"

As for "Madam Secretary", it is a political drama which stars Téa Leoni as Dr Elizabeth McCord, a former CIA analyst who is appointed as the US Secretary of State. The show also focuses on the personal lives of the characters.

Talking about the inspiration behind the show, Freeman said: "After we sat down with the story we realised we had three strong female characters from the State Department. Initially, when we sat down with the story we thought it will be based on Hillary Clinton's life, but later we realised it's a lot more than that. The Secretary of State involves a lot of intricate things."

He got his break through the "Hello, Dolly!" musical in the 1960s. Freeman then entered the world of small screen via the 1971 TV series "The Electric Company". He earned acclamation for films like "Driving Miss Daisy" — which earned him an Oscar nomination. The honour, however, came for "Million Dollar Baby".

Freeman's filmography has varied projects like "Invictus" and commercial entertainers like Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" trilogy, "Deep Impact" and "Olympus Has Fallen".

Freeman feels working for television can turn out to be "pretty difficult".

"There are a lot of challenges when it comes to making shows. It is difficult to come up with the content as there are so many outlets. And they are growing, over the internet. So it's bit of a challenge. You need ideas and you need writers," he said.

After over 30 years in the industry, Freeman has opted for the quieter life of the small town of Clarksdale in the Mississippi Delta region, away from Hollywood.

The actor said he was raised in the Mississippi region, adding that it was "like living near nature".

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday demanded the setting up of anti-Romeo squads in Bihar for women's safety in line with neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

"Bihar government should constitute anti-Romeo squads… to deal with anti-social elements," senior BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi told the media here.

He said the squads should be deployed at schools, colleges, universities and busy markets for the safety of women and girls in the state.

"In view of growing number of cases of crime against women on the streets, the anti-Romeo squads are a must in Bihar," Modi said.

This is the second major demand made by the opposition in Bihar in the last 24 hours.

Leader of Opposition Prem Kumar had on Thursday demanded that illegal slaughter houses flourishing in the state should be closed and sealed in line with Uttar Pradesh.

Newly appointed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath Yogi came out with both directives just after he took charge on March 19.

A group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers have introduced a bill in the senate that would impose tighter sanctions against Iran over its ballistic missile programme.

If approved, the sanctions would affect all people involved in the programme and those with terror links to the Revolutionary Guards, Efe news reported.

The legislation would also require US President Donald Trump to block the property of any person or organisation involved in the supply, sale or transfer of arms and banned goods to or from Iran.

The proposal was introduced on Thursday by 14 senators — seven Republicans and seven Democrats — including chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations Bob Corker.

The proposal was also backed by Republicans such as former presidential hopeful and Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

According to these senators, the resolution does not interfere with the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six countries, including the US.

Tehran claims its ballistic missile programme is for defensive purposes and does not violate the nuclear agreement or the UN resolution 2231, which bans Iran from testing nuclear-capable missiles.

The 2015 nuclear deal lifted international sanctions on Iran in return for Tehran limiting its nuclear capacity and allowing supervision of its nuclear programme.

Last year, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stressed that there was no place for nuclear weapons in his country, but said Iran had the right to strengthen its defences.

In January, Iran tested a mid-range ballistic missile that exploded after traversing around 1,000 km, in a move that led to an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.

Following the incident, the US imposed sanctions on 13 individuals and 12 entities linked to the programme, to which Tehran responded with reciprocal measures.

Even as the Punjab elections are over now and the new Congress government has taken over, the verbal war between Badals and Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Captain Amarinder Singh is still on.

Just after Amarinder indicated towards debt waiver after meeting Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi recently, former Punajb CM Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Badal alleged that the Punjab CM had backtracked on his farm lean waiver promise. Reacting to this on Friday, Captain Amarinder said the Badal father-son duo seem to be suffering from selective 'hearing and amnesia'. In a statement issued here, the CM said the Badals had a propensity for misleading the people with their 'senseless and baseless' statements against their political rivals. He criticised their latest statements contesting government’s commitment to farm debt waiver were not only unfounded, but also contradictory to established facts that were in the public domain.

The CM said his government had initiated a time bound process of waiver of their loans in less than 10 days of taking over the state’s reins. "Our government had initiated a series of people-oriented measures to bring about transparency and governance in the systems, which the Badals had transformed into a den of corruption and mafias," said CM.

Referring to his meeting with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue, the CM pointed out this was not the first time he had met PM to demand waiver of farm loans. He pointed out that he had been part of the delegation led by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi that met the PM before the Assembly elections to seek relief for the distressed farmers in the country. "Badals, with their selective memory, had conveniently forgotten about this fact while accusing him of cheating the farmers on the debt waiver issue", Captain Amarinder added.

The CM also said that while his government was totally committed to fulfill its promise on waiver of all farm loans in Punjab, he would be happy if the central government also concurrently takes urgent steps to alleviate the sufferings of the debt-ridden farmers around the country.

"Our party was cognizant of the plight of farmers in all parts of the country and was striving to resolve their problems with the support of the central government, led by PM. In contrast, the Badals, who were totally unmindful of the problems facing the farmers of their own state, could not possibly be expected to show any concern for farmers in other states", he added.

Former BCCI president Shashank Manohar deferred his decision to quit as the International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman and has agreed to hold the post till the completion of the board's resolution on governance and revenue sharing model.

“ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar has today agreed to defer his recent resignation following an ICC Board resolution to request him to remain in post was passed with overwhelming support earlier this week,” the executive board said in a statement on Friday.

ICC further stated that it asked him to withdraw his resignation or at least defer it until the ongoing process of restructuring the body’s functioning is completed.

The 59-year-old had resigned from the position on March 15, citing “personal reasons”.

Actress Taapsee Pannu, who is all set to showcase her martial arts trick in her upcoming flick Naam Shabana', has taken classes from her co-actor Akshay Kumar.

Akshay, who is known for his exceptional martial arts skills for the last 20 years, has trained Taapsee to perform action stunts in the film. Taapsee has been trained to be the best by the best, as there could have been no better trainer for her in the martial arts discipline than Akshay Kumar. 

According to sources, Taapsee underwent a six-month-long training session at Akshay's own martial arts training centre, where he took personal interest in her progress and supervised her coaching. His black-belt fighters also put in a lot of effort in giving the right training to Taapsee. Akshay Kumar and his team of expercvs have, in fact, been giving martial arts and self defense training to more than 18,000 girls at this facility. 

Taapsee will be seen unleashing her action side in Naam Shabana where she plays the role of an undercover agent.

Shivam Nair directorial, Naam Shabana will see the return of some of the much-loved stars of Baby,' including Akshay Kumar,  Anupam Kher and Danny Denzongpa, and also introduces Manoj Bajpayee and Prithviraj Sukumaran in pivotal roles. 

Naam Shabana directed by Shivam Nair is all set to release on March 31.

The new BJP-led government in Goa on Friday presented its first budget that targeted an economic growth of 11 per cent in 2017-18 and laid special focus on agriculture, social security and education.

Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who also holds the finance portfolio, presented the budget for 2017-18 and proposed additional grant for schools imparting education in Konkani and Marathi.

"I am presenting a revenue surplus budget of Rs 202 crore with an estimated revenue of Rs 10,872 crore and expenditure of Rs 10,670 crore," Parrikar said.

The budget size increased to Rs 16,270 crore from Rs 14,694 crore in FY 2016-17. The Chief Minister said Goa's per capita income stood at Rs 2,71,793, the highest among states.

During the last fiscal, there was a three-fold rise in central funding to Rs 3224.61 crore, which is 22.4 per cent of the net state budget.

He projected an 11 per cent growth in the gross state domestic product (GSDP) during the next fiscal.

The budget assured implementation of the Public Services Act to streamline administration and introduced a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for the government servants.

To curb corruption, Parrikar proposed constituting a special squad in vigilance department to probe graft cases, including those related to disproportionate assets.

Parrikar targeted 6 per cent growth in agriculture and earmarked Rs 172 crore for the sector. He proposed a scheme to promote commercial cultivation of mangoes and said emphasis would be given to horticulture and floriculture.

To boost sugarcane cultivation, the budget proposed Rs 10,000 per hectare subsidy to farmers.

To encourage education in mother tongue, Parrikar allocated Rs 6-crore additional grant for schools imparting education in Konkani and Marathi. Also, 50 more school counsellors will be recruited.

A sum of Rs 50 crore was earmarked to clear backlog of students who did not get laptops under the Cyber Age project, he said, adding 3.6 per cent of the GSDP would be spent on education.

Parrikar announced that financial benefits under flagship programmes like Dayanand Social Security Scheme, Grih Aadhar and Ladli Lakshmi would be linked to inflation. The government would study the impact of these schemes.

The CM proposed Rs 900 crore for social sector, Rs 475 for women and children and Rs 190 crore for tribal welfare.

Allocation for public works department was raised by 40 per cent to Rs 1,900 crore. The government allotted Rs 105 crore for hosting upcoming matches of U-17 FIFA World Cup and 2018 National Games 2018.

Parrikar proposed a ban on sale of plastic bags with thickness of below 40 microns and to provide LPG connection to all families to make Goa kerosene-free.

Farmers in Nepal are set to reap high profits from the high yielding variety of apples imported from Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry at Nauni, Solan district of Himachal Pradesh.

Around 2,000 root stocks of apple plants have been imported by Nepalese farmers, which have the capacity of producing 25 metric tonnes per hectare.

Talking to The Statesman, Head of Fruit Science Department, Nauni Horticulture University, Dr Narender Sharma said few farmers from Nepal have purchased dwarf apple plants.

“These plants are capable of yielding around 25 tonnes of apples per hectare,” Sharma said, adding the plants have been developed at varsity by the scientists.

At present, apple is grown on the 5,063 hectare area with a production of around 43,000 metric tonnes per year and the per hectare production at present stands between 5 to 8 metric tonnes.

It is worthwhile to mention here that apple growing areas in Nepal are situated in remote places in the mid and high mountains.

These areas are not yet accessible to motor roads and essential inputs such as fertilizers, plant protection chemicals and horticulture tools etc are not regularly available.

The varsity under the World Bank-funded Rs 1,160 Crore Horticulture Modernisation Project is importing and developing virus-free plant material that conform to international standards.

In this way, these new varieties of apples could prove beneficial for them as these dwarf varieties are likely to develop less diseases.

The Nepal government introduced apples in Jumla in the 1970s and they too were brought from HP.

Amid lower opening of European markets, Indian bourses gave up some gains and closed Friday’s trading session marginally higher with Bank stocks leading the rally.

The BSE Sensex closed 89 points or 0.30 per cent higher at 29,421 and the NSE Nifty ended 22 points or 0.24 per cent up at 9,108.

In the broader markets, BSE Midcap index slipped 0.1 per cent while BSE Smallcap index jumped 0.4 per cent.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, Bankex index registered the biggest gain with a jump of 1.2 per cent. IT and Teck indices declined 0.8 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively.

Bank of Baroda (up 4.3 per cent), Punjab National Bank (up 4.1 per cent), ICICI Bank (up 2.9 per cent) and SBI (up 2.8 per cent) were the notable gainers in the banking space.

Top gainers in the Sensex-30 pack: ICICI Bank (up 3.3 per cent), SBI (up 2.6 per cent), ITC (up 1 per cent), Reliance Industries (up 0.8 per cent) and Coal India (up 0.8 per cent).

Top losers in the Sensex-30 pack: Infosys (down 1.4 per cent), TCS (down 1.2 per cent), Lupin (down 0.9 per cent), Bajaj Auto (down 0.9 per cent) and ONGC (down 0.8 per cent).

All the Asian markets traded in the positive zone. Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.9 per cent, Singapore’s Straits Times Index jumped 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index increased 0.1 per cent, Korea’s KOSPI jumped slipped 0.2 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite index jumped 0.6 per cent.

European markets were trading with declines, CAC 40, FTSE 100 and DAX indices lost between 0.1-0.3 per cent.

Back home, the Rupee was trading 16 paise higher at 65.41 against the US Dollar.

Under constant pressure from its ally Shiv Sena, the BJP in Maharashtra is mulling the option of a snap poll as many in the party believed the situation was conducive to secure a majority on its own.

A meeting of the state BJP's core committee here last evening dwelt on a set of possible scenarios including the interim polls.

The current assembly has its term till mid-2019.

"The meeting discussed political situation in case Sena is'nt a part of the ruling dispensation," a BJP source said.

The feasibility of going for snap polls was discussed, the source told PTI.

There was unanimity over acting against the Sena's "nuisance", including the negative comments in that party's mouthpiece 'Saamana', the source said.

Its stellar performance in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarkhand assembly polls and the impressive showing in civic polls across Maharashtra have emboldened the BJP in the state.

There was also a discussion on weaning some MLAs away from other parties and getting them re-elected on BJP symbol, the source said.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was among the leaders who attended the meeting, held at the official residence of Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil.

In 2014 assembly polls, the BJP and the Shiv Sena had contested the polls separately. The BJP, which emerged as the single largest party, then formed a minority government with outside support of the NCP.

Within a few months, Sena returned to the saffron alliance but failed to get the plum portfolios it wished for.

Despite being an ally of the BJP in Maharashtra and at the Centre, Sena kept up its stinging attack on the government's policies and even taunted Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Sena-BJP relations took a worse turn in recent civic polls, which they fought separately, taking tenaciously on each other.

The BJP, under the leadership of Fadnavis, shook the Sena citadels including its heartland Mumbai in the civic polls.

However, after the elections, the BJP beat a tactical retreat in Mumbai allowing the Sena nominee to be elected as the Mayor of the metropolis.

The Telangana Government will take steps to get the 2007 Mecca Masjid bomb blast accused Swami Aseemanand's bail "cancelled", the Legislative Assembly was told on Friday.

The MIM (Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen) floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi raised the matter through a Point during Zero Hour in the House.

The court of the Fourth Metropolitan Sessions Judge here yesterday granted bail to Aseemanand and Bharat Mohanlal Rateshwar alias Bharat Bhai, a co-accused in the case.

In his reply, Home Minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy said, "Whatever question raised by the member Akbaruddin Owaisi is a valid question. Definitely, an inquiry will be conducted on how he (Aseemanand) got bail. Efforts will be made to get the bail cancelled. We will ensure justice is done." 

The MIM MLA demanded that the TRS government should "pressurise" the NIA (National Investigation Agency), which is probing the case, to ensure that the bail granted to the right-wing activist, Swami Aseemanand gets cancelled.

"The cases were registered and Hindutva members were arrested after the CBI inquiry. However, Swami Aseemanand was granted bail by a court. I appeal to the government to put pressure on NIA and they should be told that whoever has got bail in the (Mecca Masjid bomb blasts case)…their bails get cancelled," Owaisi said.

Alleging that Aseemanand is a "Deshatgard" (terrorist), Owaisi said that terrorists have no religion.

"Whether it is Osama Bin Laden or Aseemanand, terrorists should be dealt with sternly. I am hopeful that the government will prevail upon and pressurise the NIA to get the bail to Aseemanand cancelled and he, along with others, is sent back to jail," the MLA said.

Swami Aseemanand, whose real name is Naba Kumar Sarkar, was arrested on November 19, 2010, from Haridwar in connection with the blast at the Mecca Masjid here on May 18, 2007, which had killed nine persons.

On March 8 this year, Aseemanand and six others were acquitted in the 2007 Ajmer blast case by a court in Jaipur.

He was then brought from Jaipur and lodged in a prison here.

Owaisi also demanded that the government should make public the Bhaskar Rao Committee Report on the Mecca Masjid blast and subsequent events.

While granting the bail, the court had asked Aseemanand not to leave Hyderabad without court's permission and remain present for the trial when required.

However, whether NIA will challenge the bail or otherwise is not known.

In view of the rising demand, Indian Railway’s Una in Himachal Pradesh, is once again for the second consecutive year, the starting point for a special tourist train under it’s ‘Bharat Dharshan’ itinerary.

The tourist package of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) ‘Gangasagar Puri Darshan Yatra’ NZBD193 is scheduled to start from Una in HP on April 18 and will cover various religious destinations that include Varanasi, Gaya, Gangasagar, Puri, Bhubneshwar, Konark and Jasidih.

Originating and ending at Una, has boarding and de-boarding points at Una, Nangal dam, Anandpur Sahib, Chandigarh, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Panipat, Delhi cantt, Rewari, Jaipaur, Bharatpur, Agra fort, Kanpur, Lucknow.

The journey by sleeper class train is offering the budget-friendly package for pilgrims at a tariff of Rs.10,465 (including service tax) per adult for 12 days and 11 nights.

The special train will have 9 coaches facilitating 70 passengers per coach.

have extended its rail line to Una with a broad gauge line only a few years ago.

IRCTC, Chandigarh chief regional manager Gulshan said, “The package ‘GangaSagar Puri Darshan Yatra’ is part of the railways mass tourism package for the year 2017. This is for the second time we have Una as the origin and ending point, first having been introduced last year. Last year’s tourist circuit ‘7 Jyotirling Yatra’ had different religious sites.”

He further said that the origin point from Una has been selected in view of the growing demand.

IRCTC had introduced such tourism packages since almost a decade which includes train journey, road transportation for site seeing at various locations, accommodation and on-board and off board meals, he added.

This year IRCTC has rolled out 13 special tourist trains under the IRCTC’s Bharat Darshan for various religious and tourist circuits.

‘Bharat Darshan’ Special Tourist Train, of IRCTC is one of the most affordable all inclusive tour package, covering all the important tourist places in the country.

The bookings of the Bharat Darshan Special Tourist Trains have already started and is available on the IRCTC offical website and also can be done through the railways tourist facilitation centre, zonal offices and regional offices across the country, he said.