Railways rakes in Rs 2cr from Train to Shirdi.

May 21, 2009

Central Railways rakes in Rs 2cr from Train to Shirdi.The Times Of India.21 May 2009, 0130 hrs IST, Roana Maria Costa, TNNMUMBAI: There has been a whopping rise of over 30% in the number of devotees visiting the Saibaba temple at Shirdi between 2007 and 2008. Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan officials are confident that the number will go up further because of the Central Railway (CR)

service from Mumbai right up to the pilgrimage

place. Correspondingly, the amount of money flowing into the temple coffers as donation has also grown between 2007 and 2008. This recorded a growth of around 40%-higher than the increase in the number of devotees. In 2007, the trust received Rs 180 crore as donation, but the amount went up to Rs 250 crore in 2008. Even CR has not missed the devotees' largesse. It has raked in at least Rs 2 crore since February, when it started the direct train service to Shirdi. Over 2.1 crore devotees thronged the Shirdi temple for Saibaba's blessings in 2008; the figure was 1.62 crore in 2007, officials said. The CR service seems to have pushed up the numbers even more. "We have noticed a 10% rise over 2008 figures ever since the train service started. But we will have to wait till the end of the year for a proper audit,'' Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan chairman Jayant Sasane said. "The number of devotees is counted based on the amount of

prasad that is distributed. We also know that about 50% of the visitors take the prasad,'' he added.. There has been a 30% rise in the number of devotees every year for the last five years. Of the millions who flock to Shirdi, the highest percentage come from Andhra Pradesh (20%). Gujaratis and north Indians (including Delhi) each make up between 10% and 15% of devotees. People from abroad also flock to the temple; NRIs from the US, Singapore and London number about 2 lakh. It's not only Hindus who visit the holy city. "People of all faiths come to pay homage; Hindus make up about two-thirds of the total figure. Spotting film actors, industrialists, bureaucrats and high court judges is common,'' Sasane said. Devotees are happy with the new train service, but want faster trains. The daily service takes over 12 hours, while the weekend train takes only half that time. Sasane has approached railway officials to cut down the

week-day travel time and improve hygiene and sanitation on trains.Source - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/CR-rakes-in-Rs-2cr-from-train-to-Shirdi/articleshow/4557800.cms***********Indian State plans Airports ExpansionBy Nadia Saleem Staff ReporterPublished: May 20, 2009, 22:39Dubai: Maharashtra Airport Development Company will build seven new airports in India with a government investment of $3 billion (Dh11.03 billion).The airports will connect locations that are over 100 kilometres away from the larger international airports in the country.The seven airports in Maharashtra will include Shirdi, Phaitan, Karad, Solapur, Jalgaon, Gadchiroli and the airport at Nagpur will see an expansion and upgrade of the existing airport by the company.R.C. Sinha, vice-chairman and managing director of MADC and additional chief secretary of the government of Maharashtra told Gulf News that the airports are expected to be operational within four years.The airport

at Shirdi, which will be an international airport, could have see up to 20 aircraft per day in two years from the completion date.The location sees about 8,000 to 10,000 visitors to the shrine everyday. The airport is expected to be operational by early 2011 at the latest. Source - http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Aviation/10315505.html"For News of the Heart, Ask the Face."brEaking nEws - rOhit beHaL

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