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Rahul Gandhi likely to skip Winter Session to continue Bharat Jodo Yatra

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ANI
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Congress Rahul Gandhi Bharat Jodo Yatra Winter Session of Parliament
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Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is likely to skip the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament to continue with his party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, said party General Secretary, incharge of Communications Jairam Ramesh.

The upcoming Winter Session of Parliament is likely to be held from December 7 to December 29, this year.

There will be a total of 17 working days in the upcoming Winter Session. This will be the first session during which Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, will officiate proceedings in the Upper House.

During the Winter Session, the Congress might also select a replacement for the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, a position earlier occupied by the party’s new president Mallikarjun Kharge, who quit at the time of filing nomination for organizational election to adhere to the party policy of ‘one man, one post.

The government will be drawing up a list of Bills to be passed during the upcoming session while the Opposition will demand a discussion on pressing matters.

Jairam Ramesh further said that the Congress supports reservation in education and employment for Economically Backward Class (EWS) in all communities without disturbing the existing reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBC). Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra has reached its 66th day.

Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is at its Maharashtra leg, resumed from the Shevala village of Kalamnuri in Maharashtra’s Hingoli on Saturday.

It is pertinent to mention that the Congress had claimed in its previous statement that the Yatra is the longest march on foot conducted by any Indian politician in Indian history.

Bharat Jodo Yatra is nowadays in Maharashtra after it covered the parts of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

The Yatra is getting support from various political parties and social organizations across the country and the response is increasing day by day.

In Maharashtra too, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiv Sena (Thackeray faction) have also agreed to participate in the yatra, adding to its importance.

Bharat Jodo Yatra, which began on September 7 from Kanyakumari, will cover a further distance of 2,355 km in its 3,570-km march. It will end in Kashmir next year. It is the longest march on foot by any Indian politician in the history of India, the Congress claimed earlier in a statement.

Bharat Jodo Yatra is getting support from various political parties and social organizations across the country and the response is increasing day by day.

Notably, all the party MPs, leaders and workers along with Rahul Gandhi are staying in containers. Sleeping beds, toilets, and ACs are also installed in some of the containers.

The arrangements have been made keeping in view the intense heat and humidity with the change of places. The Congress suffered a debacle in the assembly polls held earlier this year and the Yatra is seen as an attempt to rally the party rank and file for the upcoming electoral battles.

“BJP should make Sukesh Chandrashekhar its national president”, says Delhi CM Kejriwal

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ANI
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Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal Sukesh Chandrasekhar
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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the BJP should make conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar its national president as he was speaking the same language as the saffron party.

During a press conference, he said the BJP had brought Chandrashekhar into its fold as a star campaigner. “The BJP demands my lie-detector test and even Sukesh Chandrshekhar makes the same demand. They speak the same language. He is fully trained to join the BJP now,” Kejriwal said.

The Delhi chief minister went on to add, “I have heard that Modiji’s roadshows are not drawing crowds. They should bring Sukesh Chandrshekhar to those roadshows. He has so many stories of how he cheated people that the crowd will just come to watch and listen to his stories. In fact, he should be made the BJP’s national president.”

Chandrashekhar has written multiple letters to Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, accusing Kejriwal and jailed minister Satyendar Jain of corruption and extortion.

ASEAN, India enhance ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

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ANI
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ASEAN India Summit Comprehensive Strategic Relationship
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ASEAN and India on Saturday established the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership on the occasion of the 19th ASEAN-India Summit to commemorate three decades of dialogue relationship and reaffirmed the importance of maintaining ASEAN Centrality in the evolving regional architecture in the Indo-Pacific.

The joint statement on ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership reaffirmed the importance of maintaining ASEAN Centrality in the evolving regional architecture in the Indo-Pacific and deepening dialogue and coordination through existing ASEAN-led mechanisms.

These mechanisms include the ASEAN – India Summit, the East Asia Summit (EAS), the Post Ministerial Conference with India (PMC+1), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), the Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum (EAMF), and cooperate on initiatives to support and contribute to the ASEAN Integration and Community-building process; Noting that both the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) share relevant fundamental principles in promoting peace and cooperation, the joint statement reaffirmed the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, stability, maritime safety and security, freedom of navigation and overflight in the region, and other lawful uses of the seas.

They also committed to advancing maritime cooperation, including in maritime security, countering piracy and armed robbery against ships, maritime safety, and search and rescue (SAR) operations humanitarian assistance, disaster management, and emergency response and relief.

The summit also agreed to enhance cooperation against terrorism and transnational crimes including international economic crimes and money laundering, cybercrime, drugs and human trafficking, and arms smuggling.

The Summit also agreed to strengthen cooperation on cybersecurity, such as through establishing new dialogue platforms between ASEAN and India and working closely with the ASEAN-Singapore Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence, and the ADMM Cybersecurity and Information Centre of Excellence.

Regarding trade, ASEAN and India agreed to expedite the review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) to make it more user-friendly, simple, and trade facilitative, and work together to forge resilient supply chains, explore cooperation on a Single Window platform to enhance trade facilitation and integration, and promote the development of MSMEs and start-ups, including through business-matching events with the facilitation by the ASEAN-India Business Council (AIBC).

The Summit also highlighted cooperation on the digital economy through a series of regional capacity-building activities in digital transformation, digital trade, digital skills and innovation, as well as Hackathons.

For e-commerce, the Summit decided to explore fintech cooperation including unified and interoperable digital financial systems between ASEAN and India, which would expand opportunities for businesses and e-commerce.

On the issue of connectivity, India and ASEAN enhanced cooperation in transport and connectivity in the land, air and maritime domains, including through the early completion and operationalisation of the India-Myanmar-Thailand (IMT) Trilateral Highway while looking forward to its eastward extension to Lao PDR, Cambodia and Viet Nam, and exploring synergies between the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025, and India’s connectivity initiatives under its Act East Policy in line with the “Connecting the Connectivities” approach, to strengthen regional connectivity; For climate change, the group decided to enhance cooperation in the field of environment, including biodiversity and climate change as well as explore cooperation in the field of energy security, including cooperation on clean, renewable, and low-carbon energy in line with the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation 2021-2025 and India’s renewable energy priorities, as well as other national models and priorities such as bio-circular-green development.

The Summit also discussed Smart Cities and the joint declaration decided to explore cooperation such as city-to-city partnerships between the ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) and Smart City Mission of India by fostering exchanges of best practices and capacity-building to help build cities that are resilient, innovative, well-connected, and technologically advanced.

It further enhanced ASEAN-India cooperation in the space sector including through the establishment of Tracking, Data Reception and Processing Stations in Viet Nam and Indonesia, and encourage cooperation between ASEAN and Indian space industry players, including in new areas of collaboration.

For tourism, the joint declaration added, “Promote the revival of tourism and related industries which have been severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, through effective implementation of the ASEAN-India Tourism Work Plans.”

Gujarat: ATS, GST conducts raids at 150 locations ahead of assembly elections

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ANI
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Gujarat Election ATS Raids
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The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Gujarat on Friday conducted raids at as many as 150 locations in different parts of the state, sources informed.

As per information, the raids were conducted in a joint operation with Gujarat GST at locations in districts like Surat, Ahmedabad, Jamnagar, Bharuch, and Bhavnagar over tax evasion and money trail on international routes.

Earlier on October 22, the Gujarat ATS had exposed this bogus international racket and arrested four persons from the new Naroda area of Ahmedabad for issuing fake passports and visas to Canada aspirants.

This has come when the state has been preparing itself for the upcoming assembly elections, which are slated to be held in two phases on–December 1 and December 5 and their counting will take place on December 8, which coincides with Himachal Pradesh’s result date.

However, voting for 68 constituencies across Himachal is currently underway and will continue till 5 pm. The Assembly elections are scheduled for December 1 and 5 in Gujarat.

In the first round, 89 of the total 182 Assembly seats will go to polls and prominent political parties have declared their candidates for almost all these constituencies. Of the 182 seats in the Legislative Assembly, 89 will go to polls in the first phase and 93 in the second.

Over 4.9 crore electors are eligible to vote in the polls. More than 51,000 polling stations will be set up, including more than 34,000 in rural areas.

The term of the Gujarat Assembly ends on February 18, 2023. The high-stakes poll battle is seeing a contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also seeking to put up a strong contest.

The BJP has been in power in the state — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state — for over two decades. In the last election in 2017, the BJP won 99 seats, while the Congress won 77, winning 49.05 per cent and 42.97 per cent of the votes, respectively.

Over the years, the Congress’ tally reduced to 62, while the BJP’s increased to 111. It is pertinent to mention that in an unprecedented move, nearly 700 companies of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), comprising 70,000 personnel, will be deployed for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls, top government sources said on Friday.

These forces will include over 150 companies each from Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and other CAPFs.

A total of 162 companies, (approximately 16,200 personnel), of the CAPFs have already been deployed and the remaining forces will be deputed by the third week of this month, a source told to media, requesting anonymity.

The decisions have been taken by the Ministry Of Home Affairs (MHA) and an internal circular is expected to be moved very soon directing these CAPFs to deploy their forces, said the source, privy to the development, adding “this is an unprecedented deployment of paramilitary (or CAPFs) forces in Gujarat assembly polls ever so far”.

“The decision to deploy such a huge number of CAPF personnel during Gujarat Assembly elections is to ensure fair and incident-free polls,” said another official.

Andhra Pradesh: PM Modi lays foundation stone of multiple projects worth over Rs 10,500 cr at Visakhapatnam

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ANI
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PM Narendra Modi Visakhapatnam Andhra Pradesh
Image: ANI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday laid the foundation stone of multiple projects worth over Rs 10,500 crore at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy were also present on the occasion.

He laid the foundation stone of the Andhra Pradesh section of the six-lane Greenfield Raipur- Visakhapatnam Economic Corridor. It will be built at a cost of more than Rs 3,750 crore.

“The Economic Corridor will provide faster connectivity between Industrial Nodes of Chhattisgarh and Odisha to Visakhapatnam Port and Chennai – Kolkata National Highway. It will also improve connectivity to tribal and backward areas of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of a dedicated Port Road from Convent Junction to Sheela Nagar Junction in Visakhapatnam. It will ease traffic congestion in Visakhapatnam City by segregating local and port-bound goods traffic.

He also dedicated to the nation, Narasannapeta to Pathapatnam section of NH-326A built at a cost of more than Rs 200 crore as a part of the Srikakulam-Gajapati corridor.

Prime Minister dedicated to the nation, U-field Onshore Deepwater block project of ONGC in Andhra Pradesh, developed at the cost of more than Rs 2,900 crores. It is the deepest gas discovery of the project with a gas production potential of about 3 million metric standard cubic meters per day (MMSCMD).

He will lay the foundation stone of the Srikakulam Angul Natural Gas Pipeline Project of GAIL with capacity of around 6.65 MMSCMD.

“This 745 km long pipeline will be built at a total cost of more than Rs 2650 crores. Being a part of Natural Gas Grid (NGG), the pipeline will create the vital infrastructure to supply Natural Gas to domestic households, industries, commercial units and Automobile sectors in various districts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. The pipeline will supply natural gas to the City Gas Distribution Network in Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts of Andhra Pradesh,” the PMO said.

The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment of Visakhapatnam Railway Station, to be done at a cost of around Rs 450 crores. The redeveloped station would cater to 75,000 passengers per day and will improve the passenger experience by providing modern amenities.

He laid the foundation stone of the modernization and upgradation of Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour. The total cost of the project is around Rs 150 crores. The fishing harbor, after its upgradation and modernization, will double the handling capacity from 150 Tons per day to about 300 Tons per day, provide safe landing and berthing and other modern infrastructure facilities reduce turnaround time in the jetty, reduce wastage and help improve price realization.

Nitin Gadkari announces projects worth Rs 1.6 lakh cr in northeast India

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ANI
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Nitin Gadkari North East India New Projects
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Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has announced sanctioning new projects worth Rs 1.6 lakh crore in the northeast India region.

At the concluding press conference of the review of NH projects in North East Region in Guwahati, Gadkari said these projects include roads, ropeways, RoBs, and major bridges across the River Brahmaputra and other water bodies.

According to a statement from his ministry on Friday, Gadkari said multi-modal logistics parks had been also proposed at Udaipur in Tripura and Silchar in Assam.

Gadkari said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi work to bridge the connectivity gap in the northeast and give momentum to transport infrastructure in the region is underway.

The Minister said around 50 wayside amenities and 50 viewpoints are also being developed. Once completed, they would give a significant boost to the tourism sector and economy in the region, the statement quoted the minister as saying.

Sanjay Raut said “Rahul Gandhi and Aaditya Thackeray are capable young leaders to lead country

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PTI
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Sanjay Raut,Shiv Sena, Congress Rahul Gandhi ,Asditya Thackeray
Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena | Image: Agencies

Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Friday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray are two “prominent young leaders” capable of leading the country.

Thackeray participated in Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra earlier in the day. “Two prominent young leaders, Rahul Gandhi and Aaditya Thackeray, will walk together for Bharat Jodo and this will give rise to new energy. The two young leaders are capable of leading the country,” he said.

Raut, who was released from the jail after getting bail in a money laundering case, said the Shiv Sena was part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

“They (Gandhi and Thackeray) have a lot of energy to work for the state and the country,” he said. Asked about the coming together of Uddhav Thackeray and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi leader Prakash Ambedkar, Raut said a bond existed between their respective grandfathers, and it has now percolated down the generations. “Babasaheb Ambedkar and Prabodhanakar Thackeray participated in the Samayukt Maharashtra movement. Babasaheb Ambedkar had strong views about Marathi pride. “Prabodhankar Thackeray had requested Babasaheb Ambedkar to participate in the Maharashtra movement and he accepted it,” he said. “Ambedkar and Thackeray are two forces and when they come together, you will see the politics of the country changing,” Raut added.

The prevailing atmosphere in the state will make the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray a bigger force, he claimed. “Everyone trusts Uddhav Thackeray.

The bubbles have started bursting, and I can see a Shiv Sena wave and this will have an impact on Maharashtra politics,” he said in a veiled attack on the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Joe Biden and Xi Jinping on G20 Summit meet are not expecting any reactions

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ANI
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Joe Biden, US
Joe Biden, US | Image: ANI

US President Joe Biden will meet China’s President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit coming Monday in Bali, Indonesia and neither side is expecting any coolants to douse the fire of mutual distrust and anger. Rather, cold reactions are expected considering the contentious issues the US is bound to raise — Taiwan, human rights, and North Korea.

Amid renewed talks of a fresh cold war post-pandemic, Biden will come face-to-face with Xi for the first time since he became president. Xi, on his part, will meet Biden after assuming power for the third time at last month’s 20th party congress.

That positive mood of Xi’s is matched by Biden who managed to escape a rout in the US mid-term elections with the Republican Party failing to dominate the elections as expected and giving the Democrats a much-needed reprieve.

Biden flew out of the US on a confident note, hoping to impress upon XI that a long-fasting and refreshed relationship between the two countries is possible only by tackling contentious issues like human rights, democracy, and sovereignty.

The White House spokeswoman, Karine Jean-Pierre, said in a statement even as Biden was reading to fly out, “The leaders will discuss efforts to maintain and deepen lines of communication,” as well as how to “responsibly manage competition and work together where our interests align, especially on transnational challenges”.

According to a US-based publication, Biden and Xi last met in person during the Obama administration, and US ties with China have since slumped to their lowest level in decades, most notably since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s August trip to Taiwan, the self-governed democratic island that Beijing claims as its territory.

Voting polls have started for 68 seats at Himachal Pradesh

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ANI
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Election,Assembly polls,Himachal Pradesh
Election, Assembly polls, Himachal Pradesh | Image: ANI

Polling for 68 Assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh began at 8 am amid tight security arrangements on Saturday.

A total of 55,92,828 electors who will cast their votes till 5 pm today will decide the fate of 412 candidates who are in the fray.

Out of the total number of electorates, 27,37,845 are women, 28,54,945 men and 38 were third-gender. This time, the representation of woman candidates is 24.

The high-voltage campaigning by political parties had ended on November 10, following which it’s up to the electorate of Himachal Pradesh to decide the political fate of the candidates today.

The fight is in between the ruling BJP in the state which is looking to retain power ditching the trend of the alternate party coming to power every five years since 1982, and Congress which is banking on its ’10 guarantees’ that the party listed out in its manifesto to take them home.

Aam Aadmi Party is in line looking to leave a mark in the state and thus contesting on all the 68 seats alone.

The challenge for the ruling BJP will be to buck anti-incumbency and change the trend of the alternate government.

Besides these three parties, parties like Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India (CPI) and Rashtriya Devbhumi Party (RDP) are in the fray.

BJP brought star campaigners like Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party chief Jagat Prakash Nadda and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for the polls.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also campaigned in the hill state.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also hit the ground along with other top leaders of the party including Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel.

According to Election Commission, a total of 7,881 polling stations have been set up for today’s polls.

The Kangra district has a maximum of 1,625 polling stations while the Lahaul-Spiti district has the lowest 92. There are 7,235 polling stations in rural and 646 polling stations in urban areas. Besides, three auxiliary polling stations have also been set up at Sidhbari (Dharamshala), Bara Bhangal (Baijnath) and Dhillon (Kasauli).

Among the key contests include Seraj where Chief Minister Jairam Thakur is contesting against Congress’ Chetram Thakur and AAP candidate Gita Nand Thakur.

Mahinder Rana is the CPI-M candidate. Congress state chief Mukesh Agnihotri who contesting his fifth election from the Haroli assembly segment in the Una district where BJP has fielded Ramkumar and AAP pitted Ravinder Pal Singh Mann.

In Hamirpur, BJP’s Narinder Thakur is the key challenger against Congress’ Pushpendra Verma and AAP’s Shushil Kumar Surroch. Congress fielded Vikramaditya Singh, son of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh from Shimla Rural against BJP’s Ravi Mehta and AAP’s Prem Thakur.

In Mandi, the battle is between BJP candidate Anil Sharma and Congress’ Champa Thakur. AAP fielded Shyam Lal in the seat. The Shimla Urban is among the most talked about seats this time as BJP gave a ticket to Sanjay Sood, who runs a tea shop in the city. Meanwhile, 67 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) comprising 6,700 personnel and 15 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) companies have been deployed for holding free and fair Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh.

Besides this, 50,000 government employees have been put on poll duty. As many as 25,000 police officers are also stationed across the state. Teams from the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) comprising 800 personnel have also been posted.

In 2017, BJP swept the Himachal polls, bagging 44 of the total 68 seats while Congress managed to get just 21 seats.

Central Railway announces 27-hour-long mega block between CSMT and Byculla from 19 to 21 Nov

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ANI
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Central Railway Mumbai Megabook CSMT Byculla
Representative Image: PTI

The Central Railway on Friday said it has planned a 27-hour-long mega block at its main line between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Byculla stations from November 19 to 21.

The mega block is being taken to dismantle a road over bridge (ROB) which connects Muhammad Ali road with P D’melo Road called Carnac bridge.

BMC and police authorities have already closed this bridge for vehicular traffic so the railway is all set to dismantle this bridge the next weekend, the Central Railway said in a statement.

The Central Railway has announced a mega block from November 19 from 11 pm to 2 am on November 21. The statement said 18 pairs of long-distance trains have been cancelled during this mega block and 67 trains are short-terminated at various stations of the Central Railways zone.

In these 27 hours, traffic will be affected for Mumbai local services on Central Railways main line and Harbour line (Harbour Line lies between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Wadala).

Traffic will be closed completely on main line between CSMT and Byculla and on the harbour line, it will be closed between CSMT and Wadala stations, the statement said.

“We are taking this mega block of 27 hours to dismantle the Carnak bridge but we will try to resume services on the mainline and harbour line before the stipulated time. We will try to finish our dismantling work on mainline and resume services by 4 pm on November 20 and we are trying to resume services on harbour line also by 8 pm on November 20 night itself,” Central Railway Chief PRO Shivaji Sutar said.

“But during the mega block period the services will be available at mainline and harbour line on the limited available roots with limited frequency only,” he added.

On November 20 (Sunday), Central Railway would run mainline services between Byculla and Thane, Kalyan and Karjat and on the harbour line, services will be available between Wadala and Panvel and Wadala and Goregaon only with limited frequency.

Central Railway said it had also appealed the commuters to plan their travel in advance to avoid any problems during their journey.

Apart from local train services, a few of the long-distance trains will also be affected during this mega block.

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