MUMBAI: Hospitality veteran Rajesh Rana has been appointed director (commercial & marketing) at India Tourism Development Corp (ITDC). The ministry of tourism, in an order dated 10 March 2025, confirmed the appointment committee of the cabinet’s (ACC) nod for his five-year stint—or until further notice. Rana took charge today, 17 March 2025.
A hospitality honcho with 26 years in the trade, Rana brings deep expertise in catering, tourism, marketing and business operations. An alumnus of the Institute of Hotel Management, Lucknow, with an MBA in marketing, he started out as a management trainee with Jaypee Hotels before making his mark at PSU THDC India Ltd.
Rana’s career took off when he joined IRCTC in 2005, where he spent 19 years masterminding hospitality and tourism strategies. He climbed the ladder from deputy general manager to general manager, steering operations across regional, zonal and corporate offices. His knack for product development, marketing and risk management has left a lasting imprint on railway catering and tourism.
Before his ITDC move, Rana served as general manager at IRCTC’s corporate office in New Delhi, also doubling as chief risk officer. With ITDC now in his hands, expect a shake-up in tourism marketing and commercial strategy.
Mumbai: The Association of Physicians of India (API), a professional body of consultant physicians formed in 1944, in a joint effort with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd, a global pharmaceutical company, concluded its unique ‘Acidity-Free Life’ campaign by declaring 9 January as ‘World Acidity Day’, a first-of-its kind day dedicated for awareness on acidity. The day also marks the birth anniversary of Dr Soren Sorensen, a Danish chemist, who introduced the concept of pH as a convenient way of expressing acidity.
The ‘Acidity-Free Life’ campaign commenced in June 2023 with the launch of a logo for ‘World Acidity Day’, selected by 50,000 plus doctors from India. As part of the campaign, API and Dr. Reddy’s partnered with Indian Railways and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and educated over 10 lakh commuters through distribution of physical and digital informational material on the health hazards associated with acidity and ways of managing it. The campaign was concluded with the unveiling of sand art installation of ‘World Acidity Day’ symbol crafted by Padma Shri awardee Sudarsan Pattnaik at Puri beach, on 9 January 2024.
SCB Medical College, Cuttack professor and former HOD, and Indian College of Physicians (API) Vice Dean Dr Jayanta Kumar Panda said: “Acidity is highly prevalent in India, leading to serious health issues. While every one of us has felt the discomfort of acidity in our daily lives, yet it remains a less-discussed topic. Early detection of the problem, controlling the reflux and timely treatment can prevent ulcer, bleed and even cancer. Through our campaign, we are happy to discuss the alarming acidity burden in India and educate people around us on the risk factors associated with acidity and how early diagnosis and treatment will help in averting health issues, by declaring a dedicated day for acidity awareness. We are also happy to partner with Dr. Reddy’s who has a legacy of 32 years in acidity management in India, for the campaign. Starting this year, the ‘World Acidity Day will be commemorated every year on January 9. So, let’s resolve for a healthy lifestyle, early and effective management on this World Acidity day.”
Acidity has become a prevalent health issue due to modern lifestyles and imbalanced diets, leading to various health complications. According to a 2021 survey in India, about 32 percent of adults aged 30 to 44 years old reported having acidity and indigestion problem. Acidity and indigestion were seen to be higher among older adults and seniors.
Mumbai: As 2023 is being celebrated as the International Year of Millets, Godrej Yummiez, a leading brand of frozen ready-to-cook products from Godrej Tyson Foods Ltd (GTFL), and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), collaborated to bring millet patty in passenger trains. Introduced earlier this year, Godrej Yummiez Millet Patty received an overwhelming response from households who appreciated the nutritious and tasty patty variant made from millets like Jowar (Sorgum) and Bajra (Pearl Millet). Taking the success ahead, through the collaboration between Godrej Yummiez and IRCTC, the millet patty is now served during breakfast on Rajdhani and August Kranti trains enroute Mumbai – Delhi – Mumbai.
Godrej Yummiez developed the millet patty as an innovative snack option. The snack is made using individual quick freeze (IQF) technology to help keep it fresh with no preservatives. With high fiber content and vitamins of millet blended with a flavorful mix of herbs and spices, these patties are sure to make snacking tasty as well as nutritious.
Rajdhani and August Kranti trains stand as iconic legacies within the Indian railway network, celebrated for their exceptional service and remarkable food offerings. The partnership between Godrej Yummiez and IRCTC holds the intent to elevate the adoption of millets, promoting their significance even in the most massive railways network. This pioneering collaboration is already underway as a pilot program on Mumbai – Delhi – Mumbai routes of Rajdhani and August Kranti trains. This initiative caters to thousands of passengers traveling between Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Delhi.
Godrej Tyson Foods Ltd CEO Abhay Parnerkar said, “Till recently, the adoption of millets was low due to the perception that they are not tasty and are not easy to cook. This has changed drastically and now every household is embracing the goodness of millets. We supported this adoption by bringing together the nutrition of millets in a ready-to-cook convenient format and launching them in a mass-accepted ‘patty’ variant. Godrej Yummiez Millet Patty is a preservative-free snack that symbolizes our commitment to innovation, nutrition, and convenience.”
He further added, “We are extremely pleased to further extend the delectable Godrej Yummiez millet patty to passengers aboard the Rajdhani and August Kranti trains. IRCTC is the most prestigious entity having one of the biggest catering operations in trains across the country. Our exclusive partnership with IRCTC combines their extensive reach and expertise in railway catering with Godrej Yummiez’ s culinary excellence, resulting in an exceptional food experience of millets.”
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (Western Zone) group general manager Rahul Himalian said, “Being the International Year of Millets, we are constantly evaluating ways to add millets to our food menu merging both nutrition and taste. At IRCTC, we always pledge to provide passengers with quality and tasty food spread. Godrej Yummiez Millet patty on Rajdhani and August Kranti trains taken onboard on a pilot basis reinforces IRCTC’s dedication to offer passengers interesting and delectable millet-based food options. We are proud to introduce this product as a pilot as it supports the vision of mainstreaming millets through IRCTC’s catering operations across the massive Indian railways’ network. We tried and tested the product before serving it to our passengers. We are anticipating positive acceptance of Godrej Yummiez Millet Patty which is a perfect snack that is nutritious and convenient ready-to-cook item.”
Chef Varun Inamdar said, “Millets have always been seen as a bland grain, but that’s starting to change. Even though millets are often overlooked, they are incredibly nutritious and versatile grains that everyone should consume. Millets are a good source of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc. In the past, people may have found cooking millets more cumbersome. But now, there are various convenient ways to cook and consume the super-grain. From millet-based porridge to millet salads, and even baked goods, there are now different ways to enjoy millet which is tasty yet nutritious. One can now even consume millet in the form of patties with Godrej Yummiez Millet Patty. It is a great way to get your daily dose of millets. Moreover, it’s easy, affordable and convenient to store as well.”
Today, the Godrej Yummiez portfolio consists of more than 50 veg and non-veg products. Godrej Yummiez Millet Patty is available in supermarkets and leading e-commerce retail outlets across India at Rs. 180 in packs of 370 grams. Yummiez Millet Patty is made from excellent quality ingredients and is ready to cook. It can be deep-fried, air-fried or shallow-fried and served hot.
MUMBAI: Travel marketplace ixigo has partnered with IRCTC to exclusively power hotel bookings for IRCTC users.
Through this partnership, ixigo’s wide range of accommodation offerings from its domestic and international hotel partners and OTAs will be available on IRCTC’s web and mobile platforms.
Railway travellers can now go to IRCTC hotels and compare budget and luxury hotels across prices, ratings, reviews and amenities through this new hotel search and booking platform. ixigo searches and compares over 40,000 hotels from all leading travel websites and allows travellers to filter by offerings such as ‘pay at hotel’ and ‘free cancellation’.
IRCTC CMD Mahendra Pratap Mall says, “Our partnership with ixigo is a part of our efforts of enhancing service offerings to railway customers. The smart and personalised hotel booking options aggregated from multiple online travel sites will help IRCTC deliver affordable accommodation to users through ixigo’s simple and innovative hotel platform.”
ixigo CEO and co-founder Aloke Bajpai adds, “We are delighted to power hotels for IRCTC and extend our offerings for their large base of rail customers. As a company, we have a decade-long commitment towards understanding the pain points of train travellers and solving them. Through this partnership with IRCTC, ixigo’s hotels meta-search technology will be made available to fulfil the government’s vision of providing more convenience and services to rail travellers.”
IRCTC’s website and app witnesses over seven lakh train bookings a day and through this exclusive partnership with ixigo, it aims to fulfill the hotel booking requirement for thousands of travellers every day. Rail travellers will benefit from exclusive deals and discounts as ixigo will aggregate and compare prices across branded budget hotel aggregators and OTAs on IRCTC.
Launched in 2007, ixigo is India’s leading travel marketplace, with a user base of over 100 million travellers. ixigo allows you to compare and book from 120+ travel suppliers and OTAs across flights, hotels, trains, cabs and destinations.
MUMBAI: The Indian government today unveiled a roadmap for financial year 2017-18 that covers areas from “highways to e-ways” (PM Modi’s words while describing the Union Budget 2017) aimed at “strengthening the hands of the poor”, while looking at further easing doing business by abolishing Foreign Investment Promotion Board and hinting at a new FDI policy. However, for India’s media and entertainment sector, especially the broadcast and cable sector looking to reach the $ 100 million turnover mark, there wasn’t much to cheer about — unless an angel is hiding in the fine prints that are still being deciphered.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley, while announcing the Budget, has brought in macro-level major financial reforms by slashing tax rates for middle level income groups and opening the FDI floodgates in favour of a rural economy.
Jaitley’s budget focused on boosting infrastructure and lifting up rural incomes besides bringing in reforms in the financial sector such as the abolition of the FIPB to enable a new policy for FDI. The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), one of the world’s biggest e-commerce companies, will be now be listed, Jaitley said, aside from sending out an indirect warning to economic offenders such as Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya that for for absconders new legislation would be drafted soon.
But a big thumbs up to the government for allocating Rs. 10,000 crore (Rs 100,000 million) to boost rural fibre optics network to give further leg up to all round digitisation.
While the fine prints are still being read, some highlights are as follows:
# The FIPB will be abolished. Further liberalisation in the FDI policy would be done in the next few days. (Star Den, etc to benefit)
# SANKALP – Rs 4000 crore allotted for market-oriented training. (At least 4 million youth will be provided market-relevant training under Sankalp programme)
# Cashback scheme – Petrol pumps card payments, launch two more schemes for use of BHIM app
# In yet another boost for digitisation, the government has removed service tax on e-tickets .
#IRCTC to be listed.
# The government proposes to create a payment regulatory board at RBI. (The proposal assumes significance as there is currently no regulator for FinTech companies such as Paytm in India.)
# Small and Medium enterprises (MSME) to be encouraged. Income tax reduced to 25% from 30% if turnover is up to Rs 50 crore or Rs 500 million.
# Startups to pay tax on profits for three out of seven years, increased from three out of five years.
# Under Bharat Net, optic fibre cable has been laid out In 1,55,000 km. (Recent spectrum auctions have removed spectrum scarcity.) Bharat Net allocation at Rs 10,000 crore.
MUMBAI: The Indian government today unveiled a roadmap for financial year 2017-18 that covers areas from “highways to e-ways” (PM Modi’s words while describing the Union Budget 2017) aimed at “strengthening the hands of the poor”, while looking at further easing doing business by abolishing Foreign Investment Promotion Board and hinting at a new FDI policy. However, for India’s media and entertainment sector, especially the broadcast and cable sector looking to reach the $ 100 million turnover mark, there wasn’t much to cheer about — unless an angel is hiding in the fine prints that are still being deciphered.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley, while announcing the Budget, has brought in macro-level major financial reforms by slashing tax rates for middle level income groups and opening the FDI floodgates in favour of a rural economy.
Jaitley’s budget focused on boosting infrastructure and lifting up rural incomes besides bringing in reforms in the financial sector such as the abolition of the FIPB to enable a new policy for FDI. The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), one of the world’s biggest e-commerce companies, will be now be listed, Jaitley said, aside from sending out an indirect warning to economic offenders such as Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya that for for absconders new legislation would be drafted soon.
But a big thumbs up to the government for allocating Rs. 10,000 crore (Rs 100,000 million) to boost rural fibre optics network to give further leg up to all round digitisation.
While the fine prints are still being read, some highlights are as follows:
# The FIPB will be abolished. Further liberalisation in the FDI policy would be done in the next few days. (Star Den, etc to benefit)
# SANKALP – Rs 4000 crore allotted for market-oriented training. (At least 4 million youth will be provided market-relevant training under Sankalp programme)
# Cashback scheme – Petrol pumps card payments, launch two more schemes for use of BHIM app
# In yet another boost for digitisation, the government has removed service tax on e-tickets .
#IRCTC to be listed.
# The government proposes to create a payment regulatory board at RBI. (The proposal assumes significance as there is currently no regulator for FinTech companies such as Paytm in India.)
# Small and Medium enterprises (MSME) to be encouraged. Income tax reduced to 25% from 30% if turnover is up to Rs 50 crore or Rs 500 million.
# Startups to pay tax on profits for three out of seven years, increased from three out of five years.
# Under Bharat Net, optic fibre cable has been laid out In 1,55,000 km. (Recent spectrum auctions have removed spectrum scarcity.) Bharat Net allocation at Rs 10,000 crore.
MUMBAI: With 22 March marking World Water Day, iTV Network and Atom Technologies in partnership with AquaKraft Projects Pvt Ltd have initiated a special programme for administering water ATMs and public utility services.
The programme will cover the length and breadth of the country including D, E, and F category railway stations under the CSR programme facilitated by IRCTC and CMAI Association of India. Forty one water ATMs and ten state of the art public utility toilets will be initially inaugurated in the key areas of North Eastern railway district. Similar types of utility stations have already been implemented in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Rajasthan and are currently being implemented in Baramati (Maharashtra) by Aquakraft.
A water ATM works like how an ATM works. A user swipes a prepaid card, following which the water dispenser’s screen flashes the chosen amount for which the user wishes to collect water and deducts the amount from the water ATM prepaid card. Public utility toilets that are connected to the network can also be used with the card.
The major issue in India on water consumption is clean drinking water, health, hygiene and sanitation. To cope with these issues, government has undertaken several initiatives like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Clean Ganga Project to create an enabling environment for innovation and sustainability.
iTV Network founder and promoter Kartikeya Sharma said, “iTV Network has always been at the forefront of using media as a platform for change. Availability of clean drinking water is one of the key challenges today and we at iTVnetwork are happy to work closely with Aqua Kraft to create a revolution in the distribution of clean and safe drinking water.”
Aquakraft chairman and CEO Subramany Kusnur said, “Water management is an important requirement for ecologically sustainable development. Efficient consumption of water is a major issue in today’s society, thus our project has been set up to create products that can help preserve one of our key natural resources and at the same time fulfil the requirements of clean and healthy water to the nation.”
Atom technologies CEO Dewang Neralla added, “We are extremely elated to work with Aquakraft for powering their AquATMs with our prepaid cards. We strongly believe this will benefit the clusters of villages and communities around the stations and will not only provide safe drinking water but also help foster greater financial inclusion through enablement of payments for water as well as other services using the prepaid cards.”
MUMBAI: With 22 March marking World Water Day, iTV Network and Atom Technologies in partnership with AquaKraft Projects Pvt Ltd have initiated a special programme for administering water ATMs and public utility services.
The programme will cover the length and breadth of the country including D, E, and F category railway stations under the CSR programme facilitated by IRCTC and CMAI Association of India. Forty one water ATMs and ten state of the art public utility toilets will be initially inaugurated in the key areas of North Eastern railway district. Similar types of utility stations have already been implemented in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Rajasthan and are currently being implemented in Baramati (Maharashtra) by Aquakraft.
A water ATM works like how an ATM works. A user swipes a prepaid card, following which the water dispenser’s screen flashes the chosen amount for which the user wishes to collect water and deducts the amount from the water ATM prepaid card. Public utility toilets that are connected to the network can also be used with the card.
The major issue in India on water consumption is clean drinking water, health, hygiene and sanitation. To cope with these issues, government has undertaken several initiatives like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Clean Ganga Project to create an enabling environment for innovation and sustainability.
iTV Network founder and promoter Kartikeya Sharma said, “iTV Network has always been at the forefront of using media as a platform for change. Availability of clean drinking water is one of the key challenges today and we at iTVnetwork are happy to work closely with Aqua Kraft to create a revolution in the distribution of clean and safe drinking water.”
Aquakraft chairman and CEO Subramany Kusnur said, “Water management is an important requirement for ecologically sustainable development. Efficient consumption of water is a major issue in today’s society, thus our project has been set up to create products that can help preserve one of our key natural resources and at the same time fulfil the requirements of clean and healthy water to the nation.”
Atom technologies CEO Dewang Neralla added, “We are extremely elated to work with Aquakraft for powering their AquATMs with our prepaid cards. We strongly believe this will benefit the clusters of villages and communities around the stations and will not only provide safe drinking water but also help foster greater financial inclusion through enablement of payments for water as well as other services using the prepaid cards.”
MUMBAI: Aiming to tap newer areas for generating revenue, Railway minister Suresh Prabhu expressed his intention to heavily explore the potential of Indian Railways in generating more advertising revenue, with a target to multiply earnings by almost four times.
While presenting the Railway Budget 2016 – 2017, Prabhu said, “We have vast physical infrastructure that facilitates exploitation through advertising. We intend to give special focus to exploring advertising potential on trains, stations and land adjacent to tracks of big stations.”
“We will use customer interfacing assets to earn advertising revenue. Evolve models for revenue potential in 20 stations over the next three months to target ad revenue and improve earnings from advertising by more than four times than the current ad revenue,” added Prabhu.
To further optimise the service’s potential for advertising revenues, Prabhu also announced the introduction of display screens. “We are soon introducing 20,000 high tech display screens across 2000 stations as rail display network for real time information to passengers and also unlock advertising potential,” Prabhu asserted.
“Railway has typically focused on increasing revenues on tariff hikes,” Prabhu had stated at the beginning of his budget address at the Rajya Sabha.
Stressing the need to increase Indian Railways’ revenue through non-tariff resources and methods at the beginning of his address at the Rajya Sabha, Prabhu also shared his plans to capitalise on the heavy digital traffic on the IRCTC website by engaging in e-commerce activities. “Railway has typically focused on increasing revenues on tariff hikes. IRCTC also has potential to exploit e commerce activities due to the large number of hits,” Prabhu shared.
The minister also announced a special concession for journalists on ticket tariff. “For our journalist friends we will allow e-booking of tickets on concessional passes,” said Prabhu, later adding in jest, “Hoping that they will cover it better.”
MUMBAI: Aiming to tap newer areas for generating revenue, Railway minister Suresh Prabhu expressed his intention to heavily explore the potential of Indian Railways in generating more advertising revenue, with a target to multiply earnings by almost four times.
While presenting the Railway Budget 2016 – 2017, Prabhu said, “We have vast physical infrastructure that facilitates exploitation through advertising. We intend to give special focus to exploring advertising potential on trains, stations and land adjacent to tracks of big stations.”
“We will use customer interfacing assets to earn advertising revenue. Evolve models for revenue potential in 20 stations over the next three months to target ad revenue and improve earnings from advertising by more than four times than the current ad revenue,” added Prabhu.
To further optimise the service’s potential for advertising revenues, Prabhu also announced the introduction of display screens. “We are soon introducing 20,000 high tech display screens across 2000 stations as rail display network for real time information to passengers and also unlock advertising potential,” Prabhu asserted.
“Railway has typically focused on increasing revenues on tariff hikes,” Prabhu had stated at the beginning of his budget address at the Rajya Sabha.
Stressing the need to increase Indian Railways’ revenue through non-tariff resources and methods at the beginning of his address at the Rajya Sabha, Prabhu also shared his plans to capitalise on the heavy digital traffic on the IRCTC website by engaging in e-commerce activities. “Railway has typically focused on increasing revenues on tariff hikes. IRCTC also has potential to exploit e commerce activities due to the large number of hits,” Prabhu shared.
The minister also announced a special concession for journalists on ticket tariff. “For our journalist friends we will allow e-booking of tickets on concessional passes,” said Prabhu, later adding in jest, “Hoping that they will cover it better.”
