Boko Haram fighters clashed with government forces on Sunday in Diffa, the largest city in southwestern Niger, in what the jihadists said was a successful attack on a military camp.   

In efforts to provide assistance to the medical fraternity in fighting the battle against the deadly Coronavirus pandemic, Western Railway has come up with various ingenious equipment, including high-quality PPEs, steel beds for patients, isolation coaches, reusable masks, sanitizers, etc.

Continuing with their efforts, Western Railway's Lower Parel Workshop has now manufactured a booth to collect the swab sample of COVID-19 infected patients. This booth enables doctors and medicos to take the sample/swab without exposing themselves to the affected patient.

According to Ravinder Bhakar - Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, a request to make a kiosk with the concept of distance sample collection had come from Western Railway's Jagjivan Ram Hospital, which is a nominated 172-bed Coronavirus hospital. The work was done on war footing mode right from arranging the material, fabrication, and furnishing and was completed within 6 hours. The design has been developed by two teams of workshop engineers (Carriage Repair and Basic Training Centre), who manufactured this booth with the available material in the workshop.

The booth is very sturdy and robust & completely sealed from the front three sides, to ensure that the frontline medical staff is totally isolated from the patient. The structure of the booth consists of a strong fabricated structure of MS square tubes, covered externally with plywood on all sides, and a rear door. The upper half portion of the front side has been covered with a 6 mm transparent acrylic sheet. All material used for repair of coaches has been used in this fabrication. The front side transparent acrylic sheet has been provided with two holes on which rubber hand gloves have been permanently fitted. The team worked against the clock to make the Sample Collection Booth as fast as they can and on April 28, 2020, the newly manufactured booth has been delivered to Jagjivan Ram Hospital at Mumbai Central.

Although it is a coach repair workshop, in this time of crisis, it has contributed in making many other materials helpful for our frontline warriors, working day in and out in hospitals beside our employees. The manufacturer team was led by Shri Arun Kumar Singh - Dy. Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Workshop, and consisted of his technical experts Shri Prashant Deshmukh, Shri Satish Samrut, Shri Arvind Javadia, Shri Sanjai Bhavsar, Shri Manoj Yadav, Shri Mahesh Bhatia, Shri Pradeep Tamboli, Shri Natrajan and along with 10 other members in the team contributed in this effort.

Western Railway salutes the commitment and dedication of its employees who are constantly working to fight this ongoing battle with the deadly Coronavirus Pandemic despite putting their lives at risk.

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The Western Railway has worked intensively on the 2020 pre-monsoon works for Mumbai suburban railway while maintaining proper protocol of COVID-19.

A glimpse of some activities

Tree Trimming: Trimming of tree branches alongside the tracks is being done which are infringing with overhead wires in order to avoid tripping in monsoon. Till now total 158 trees have been trimmed.

Insulator Cleaning: Cleaning of insulators is a major precaution against flashing of the insulator during man soon showering. The fitting of the bridges were also checked where clearance are critical. This will help to avoid tripping in monsoon. Till now total 1,395 insulators have been cleaned.

Insulator cleaning on the left and checking of bridge fittings on the right

Bird Nest Removal: This is the season of bird breeding. The bird used to make nests in OHE structures. These nests are identified during foot patrolling and live line inspections and such identified bird nests are then removed from structures. Till now total 454 bird nests have been removed.

Bird gel: The non-toxic bird deterrent gel is also applied on overhead structures and cantilevers to prevent birds from landing on overhead structures thus avoiding the nests. During locked down bird gel at total 969 points have been applied.

Bird deterrent gel and applying gel below FOB

Cross over checking: Most of the suburban section is having unregulated overhead wires and due to temperature variation, the overhead wire of cross overs may get disturbed. To overcome this problem, all cross overs were checked hot line by tower wagon and 22 of them adjusted in power blocks.

During the lock down period despite availability of only 10-15% of the regular field staff it has been ensured that important works for monsoon preparation are going on as per target in suburban section of CCG-VR section

Sufficient number of point machines have been readied by signal workshop and kept as spare for replacement in case of monsoon flooding. Vulnerable signal boxes have been raised in flood prone areas. Staff have been continuously imparted training for monsoon drills.

Earth-resistance of Telecom installations of Churchgate-Virar Section are being checked and maintained at the desired level.

Routers, Switches, LAN Extenders, wire connections of UTS & PRS are being checked, cleaned & where there is wiring issue same is being replaced. Earth resistance of these equipment are also checked.

Testing & cleaning of Train Indicators for Suburban as well as Mail/Express trains, Public Address System is also being done.

Various equipment installed in Telecom OFC rooms of Churchgate-Virar section are also being cleaned. Checking & cleaning of different cards of these equipment are also in progress.

Power Plants for various Telecom equipment are also being maintained. Process of taking measurement of battery voltage, Charger voltage, AC supply voltage cleaning the connection terminals, cleaning battery-charger etc are in progress.

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The lockdown has come as a boon to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which has taken the time to repair the damaged but traffic free Western Express Highway. The work is expected to be completed by May 31. Work on the Eastern Express Highway, which will soon begin, is also expected to be completed by May 31. Mumbaikars can then expect pothole-free smooth roads this monsoon.

According to an MMRDA spokesperson, "The completion period for repairing/improvement of WEH is 11 months, but due to the lockdown, we will be able to complete it substantially within a month by May 31. The cost of the work is R47 crore. Work on repairing/ improvement of the bad patches on EEH will start shortly. Possibly from May 11 and the cost for this is about R30 crore and efforts will be made to complete it by May 31. As per the plans, the works have been divided into 4/5 parts to ensure fast completion."

Sources from MMRDA said the idea is to complete the quality work at the earliest so during the monsoon motorists using these highways don't have to face inconvenience.

The WEH is the main highway connecting the Western suburbs to the city bearing 5,000-7,000 (Passenger Car Unit) PCU/hr per direction for most stretches.

MMRDA has also started addressing the problem of traffic jams at junctions on WEH, which were taking place due to uneven roads because of paver blocks. Few months back MMRDA had started removing the paver blocks on the west side of JVLR junction on the WEH, in order to reduce the obstruction in traffic.

MMRDA has also prepared a plan for the facelift of WEH, and so it has appointed global consultants to study its shortcomings and a project estimated at R100 crore has been planned for the same.

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A new project is being launched in Kathmandu that will help shape the future of water resources development in Nepal.

IWMI study calls for investment in the social capital and capabilities of women and marginalized people.

Best Western® Hotels & Resorts announces the opening of the brand new Best Western Premier Northwood Hotel Conference Centre. The newly built hotel opened its doors to guests as a Best Western Premier property offering modern décor, upscale amenities and superior service travelers have come to trust from the Best Western Premier Brand. The property features 98 upscale guest rooms including 29 spacious suites, each boasting contemporary design and equipped with a large flat-screen television, microwave and mini fridge. Whether traveling for business or leisure, guests will enjoy an array of amenities, including an indoor heated pool and state-of-the-art 24-hour fitness center. Travelers can start their day with complimentary hot breakfast and unwind at the on-site, full-service lounge serving up refreshing cocktails and dinner menu. The Best Western Premier Northwood Hotel Conference Centre is also ideal for business travelers with a full-service business center offering complimentary ...

The SureStay Hotel by Best Western North Myrtle Beach is opening its doors in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and inviting travelers to experience one of the newest hotel brands in the industry - the SureStay Hotel Group®. The SureStay by Best Western North Myrtle Beach will provide guests with an experience they can count on and the amenities today's travelers have come to expect. SureStay's service promise reflects the brand and the hotel's commitment to providing quality service and value to its guests. Located at 1591 Highway 17 North in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the hotel features 48 well-appointed guest rooms and 13 suites, each with a large flat-screen television, microwave and mini fridge. The SureStay by Best Western North Myrtle Beach also offers an indoor heated pool, hot tub, fitness center, complimentary breakfast and free wireless internet - providing guests with the superior comfort and utmost value they want out of their stay. The property's location is o...

The SureStay Hotel by Best Western Fairfield Napa Valley has opened its doors in Fairfield, California, and invites travelers to experience one of the newest hotel brands in the industry - the SureStay Hotel Group®. The SureStay Hotel by Best Western Fairfield Napa Valley will provide guests with an experience they can count on and the amenities today's travelers have come to expect. The SureStay service promise reflects the brand and the hotel's commitment to providing quality service and value to its guests. Located at 3331 N. Texas St. in Fairfield, California, the hotel features 100 well-appointed guest rooms, each with a flat-screen television, microwave and mini fridge. The SureStay Hotel by Best Western Fairfield Napa Valley also offers an outdoor pool and hot tub, free parking, complimentary continental breakfast and free wireless internet - providing guests with the superior comfort and utmost value they want out of their stay. The property's location near world-class winerie...

Best Western® Hotels & Resorts announces the opening of the Best Western Plus Champaign/Urbana Inn, located at 516 W. Marketview Drive in Champaign, Illinois. Owned by Vip Patel and Jay Patel, the hotel recently completed a $1.9 million renovation and features 98 guest rooms and six suites. Hotel amenities include a heated indoor pool, fitness center, two different meeting and event spaces, complimentary hot breakfast and free wireless internet. Each newly updated room is equipped with a large flat-screen television, microwave and mini fridge. The hotel offers complimentary faxing, printing and scanning for business and leisure travelers alike. The Best Western Plus Champaign/Urbana Inn offers easy access to Market Place Mall, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Illinois Observatory, the State Farm Center sports and entertainment venue, the Spurlock Museum and Chanute Air Museum, and Crystal Lake Park....

The Regional School of Public Administration (ReSPA) has devoted its 9th Annual Conference to opening direct channels of discussion on experiences, methodologies and innovative practices in the process of optimization of public administration in the Western Balkans.

Imports from Western Sahara in Australia remained unchanged at 0 AUD Million in March from 0 AUD Million in February of 2020. This page includes a chart with historical data for Australia Imports from Western Sahara.

Washington’s stance is alarming US allies when a joint approach is needed

The earthquake - the strongest to ever hit the state - struck at 3.39pm on Sunday off the coast of Broome in the Indian Ocean, according to GeoScience Australia.

A man in his 80s has died of coronavirus in Perth, bringing Australia's death toll to 40. Western Australia recorded seven new deaths on Monday, all linked to cruise ships or overseas travel.

Footage taken the week before Kristoffee Salazar and Romero Pizon were swept off rocks about 260km south of Perth showed them laughing and chatting as they fished on the same outcrop.

It is the second consecutive day that WA has found no new cases of the disease, but residents were warned of a potential spike when hundreds of Australians arrive from overseas.

The 80-year-old Perth woman, whose partner travelled onboard the Costa Victoria, brings WA's total to 550. She is among 16 people in Perth hospitals, four of whom are in intensive care.

The damaging winds along with thunderstorms and small hail are expected to hit areas in south-west Western Australia like Perth, Margaret River and Albany on Tuesday night.

Anutin Charnvirakul's outburst came as Thailand faced steep losses over a drop in visitors from China. The death toll in China from the coronavirus has risen to 811.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT The man, whose nationality is not yet known, was found yesterday afternoon. Shocked locals called police in the crime-ridden Sin City resort.

Desperate motorists beeped at the truck to alert the driver who was forcing the car along the Western Ring Road Freeway in Derrimut, Melbourne on Friday morning.

Melbourne mum Kelly Bubeck was driving to work on the Western Ring Road on Friday when the truck hit her from behind.

The University of Western Australia (UWA) said while under the current plans students will still complete their exams, the move was designed to ease the concerns of students graduating this year.

The coastal area of Makrygialos is one of many areas in mainland Greece where the government is locked in a tug of war with local communities over the housing of migrants.

The Voice Australia coaches may have plenty of star power, but they pale in comparison to superheroes like Thor.

This is not your average spaghetti western thou as women are the lead and men play a supporting role

HENRY DEEDES: General Soleimani's death, Corbyn informed the House, was a classic example of American aggression. Once again, the US was making the wrong calls in the Middle East.

Interventions in small Muslim states over the last twenty years, far from saving the West from the threats from dictators, have left Britain and America more at risk than ever.

Turkey's aggression in northern Syria and the West's unwillingness to repatriate its foreign fighters could lead to a 'spectacular' ISIS attack on Western soil, a top Kurdish general has warned.

Shoppers at Westfield Burwood in Sydney packed into the centre, ignoring social-distancing rules as they did non-essential shoppig.

The report by Israeli cyber-security company Check Point said hackers known as Naikon targeted a worker in the office of the Western Autralian premier.

Victoria Police are investigating following the robbery at AFL star's Easton Wood's Albert Park home sometime between 12am April 14 and 5.30pm April 26.

Sales rise 27.54% to Rs 13.20 crore

The controversy over the Gadgil and Kasturirangan reports on ecological preservation in the Western Ghats has brought about a churn in politics in Kerala. P N Venugopal wonders if this will determine the decisions of the electorate in the Lok Sabha elections.

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Western Ghats

South Western Railway

Ecologically fragile Western Ghats closes door on mining and polluting industries

Western Coalfields

Corridor on Western Railway Tracks

Western Coalfield

Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressway

Western Dedicated Freight Corridor