Hike cloud on tatkal rates

Chandigarh (PTI): The railway has decided to hike the tatkal charges payable by passengers travelling at short notice from November 14.

A two-month non-peak period (July 15 to September 15) and a 10-month peak period have also been introduced, railway sources said on Thursday.

The two-tier AC peak period charges will be Rs 300 per passenger as against the present Rs 200. The charges for three-tier AC will be doubled to Rs 300 while AC chair car and sleeper class charges have been hiked to Rs 150 each from the present Rs 50 in each class during the peak period.

The non-peak period charges will be Rs 200 in the two-tier and three-tier AC and Rs 75 in AC chair car and sleeper classes.

The tatkal facility of reservation will not be available in first-class- AC and non-AC.

The railway has also decided to stop attaching tatkal coaches in various trains, including the Rajdhani and Shatabdi expresses and introduce tatkal quota in all classes.

Arson by agitating farmers

Jaipur (PTI): Irate farmers on Thursday set on fire a police post and three government offices as their agitation for more water continued for the second day in Sriganganagar district of Rajasthan.

Four persons were killed in police firing on Wednesday, prompting imposition of curfew in many areas. The army staged a flag march in the curfew-bound Rawala and Gadhsana towns. As tension continued, curfew was extended to Anupgarh town.

Farmers set ablaze a police post near Rawala town, the scene of Wednesday?s pitched battle between police and the agitators, said additional director general of police . Jairath.

They also set ablaze a rest house of the irrigation department, an assistant engineer?s office and one executive office near the town, about 500 km from here. No casualty was reported in the incidents as no one was in the police post or the offices.

Bisleri curb stays

Thane (PTI): The Maharashtra food and drug administration (FDA) on Thursday said Parle Bisleri could not restart manufacturing bottled water till a joint inspection is carried out by its officials along with those of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the Bureau of Indian Standards.

Parle Bisleri was ordered to stop manufacturing bottled water as it was not complying with standards.

The company could not resume its activities till the microbial test was completed for the number of days specified, said FDA joint commissioner, Mumbai, H.D. Salunke.

?Naxalites? killed

Mahaboobnagar (PTI): Residents of Tankara village in the district beat to death three persons claiming to be Naxalites on Thursday. A group of seven to eight armed persons posing as Naxalites came to an orchard on the outskirts of the village in Andhra Pradesh and asked a gardener to call a person from the village, probably for extortion, the superintendent of police said. Some villagers went to the site and questioned the group. When a person from the group fired in the air, enraged villagers severely beat up three of them to death.

New army gear

New Delhi (PTI): The army on Thursday announced the introduction of new combat as well as normal olive green uniforms, making them more environment- and user-friendly. ?The new dress would be a woven fabric while the normal olive green uniforms would be made of more breathable and cellular weave fabric,? an army spokesman said. The decision to have new uniforms was taken at the army commanders? conference, which ended on Thursday. Similar changes have been effected in the ceremonial and mess dress, mufti, jersey pullover and inner thermal wear.

Mirage returns

New Delhi (PTI): An IAF Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft, which was damaged during an air show in Mauritius, was flown back home after being repaired. The aircraft, part of a team of six Mirage fighters, was damaged when its undercarriage did not open on landing during the air show.

A Pune-based firm has launched the first indigenous human diploid cell rabies vaccine Rabivax. Compared to other tissue culture vaccines, HDC items offer better protection and high safety standards and no adverse reactions.