Book online, pay less for Australia

New Delhi (PTI): Anticipating a summer rush, Singapore Airlines has slashed fares by 28 per cent to 50 per cent on online booking of tickets from eight Indian cities, including Calcutta, to five key destinations in Australia.

The limited promotional fare will start from Rs 20,000 for a return economy class ticket, for which bookings can only be done through singaporeair.com using credit cards, the airline said in a release on Tuesday.

The offer, called Midnight Escapades, is being made for tickets between Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide in Australia on one hand and Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Amritsar and Ahmedabad on the other. The low fare, however, does not include taxes and surcharges, the release said.

The tickets, valid for travel on the airline’s midnight services from Singapore to Australia, can be booked till May 8 for travel out of India till May 31, it said.

Howrah train hits truck

Raipur: Passengers on the Kurla-Howrah Express had a close shave when the train collided with a dumper near Mandher, about 20 km from here, on Tuesday.

The assistant engine-driver, whose name could not be ascertained, was thrown out of the train by the impact and died on the spot.

The engine driver, B. Surendra, was seriously injured and is in a Raipur hospital. Two passengers suffered minor injuries and were given first-aid. The truck driver jumped out of the vehicle and fled.

The 8029 down Kurla-Howrah Express collided with the truck at an unmanned railway crossing around 9.30 pm, sources said. The truck, which was tangled with the engine, was dragged along for over half a km.

Train traffic on the Mumbai-Howrah section was affected, and the Howrah-bound Geetanjali superfast was stuck in Raipur.

Easy visas

Johannesburg (PTI): South Africa is planning to relax visa norms for skilled Indian workers and is close to signing an agreement with India. It is looking for trained hands in IT, municipal management and education. “We are looking at Indians to meet the shortage,” communications minister Essop Goolam Pahad said.

Easy visas

Johannesburg (PTI): South Africa is planning to relax visa norms for skilled Indian
workers and is close to signing an agreement with India. It is looking for trained hands in IT, municipal management and education.

Acid attack

Jammu (PTI): A youth has allegedly thrown acid on a girl when she spurned his advances in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir. She was admitted to a nearby hospital with serious burns on her face and body, police said.

Man gets death

Neemuch (PTI): A court has sentenced a man to death for killing his wife and five children in Anchalpura in Madhya Pradesh following a land dispute. Jagdish Gayari was angry as his wife refused to sell a piece of land.

Forty-eight people, the largest number since the opening of the Chakan-da-Bagh point in Poonch district in 2005, crossed over to either sides of the LoC through the corridor on Monday.