53-year-old disabled coolie runs 6km to avert major train mishap in Udupi

Bengaluru, Feb 13: UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid quit the Boris Johnson government as part of a cabinet reshuffle unfolding on Thursday and has been replaced by Rishi Sunak, reports said.

Indian-descent Sunak, 39, who is married to Akshata, the daughter of Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy, was Chief Secretary to the Treasury since July 2019.

An analyst with Goldman Sachs before joining politics in 2014, Sunak, whose grandparents were from Punjab and emigrated to the UK from east Africa, is MP from Richmond (Yorkshire). He was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government in the Theresa May government.

Pakistani-descent Javid, who became the first Asian to become a Cabinet Minister when he was made Secretary of State of culture, Media and Sports in the David Cameron government in 2014 after stints as Economic Secretary to the Treasury (2012-13) and Financial Secretary (2013-14), was earlier the Home Secretary in the the Theresa May government.

He had then cleared absconding businessman Vijay Mallya's extradition to India in February last year following the decision by the Westminister Magistrates Court in December 2018.

Javid, who ran for Conservative Party leadership after May quit but lost to Boris Johnson, was made Chancellor by the later. In the reshuffle on Thursday, he was offered to retain his post if he fired all his advisors but declined and quit, the BBC reported.

Kochi, Jan 22: Rail passengers from Kerala are a happy lot as the state’s traditional food items such as appam and eggcurry, puttu and kadala curry have found their way back to the revised menu of the Railways in the wake of protests over reports that they were replaced by north indian delicacies.

The popular Kerala dishes were reinstated to the list following social media backlash over the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation’s reported decision to replace the favorite cuisine of Malayalis from its menu with north Indian dishes such as Kachori and Chole Bhature.

Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden, who had shot off a letter to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal raising the issue of alleged discrimination against Keralites, got an assurance from the IRCTC officials that popular items, including snacks such as unniyappam and sukhiyan will be served through its outlets in the state.

Eden said the IRCTC officials who visited him at his home on Wednesday morning have presented him with the list of delicacies to be served by its local vendors in Kerala. In his letter to the minister, the MP had stated that dishes which are very important to Malayalis for breakfast such as appam, egg curry, porotta, dosa, steam cake (puttu) were excluded along with snacks such as banana fry (pazham pori), kozhukkatta, unniyappam, neyyappam and sukhiyan.  He had also raised the issue of hike in price of food items.

According to him, price of meals has been increased from RS 35 to 70 and that ofsnacks such as vada from Rs 8 to 15.  While the price of vada has not been reduced, the fare of snack meal like parotta, chappathi, idiyappam, appam and puttu with kadala curry or egg curry will be served at Rs 50.  According to IRCTC, a passenger will have to shell out Rs 20 for unniyappam/sukhiyan/neyyappam, 2 numbers each.  Informing Goyal of the changes in menu, he said Malayalis are discriminated in trains and railway refreshment rooms by the food which is the right of every passenger.

He had sought urgent intervention of the Minister and speedy action in the matter.

Bengaluru, Jul 26: Paying tributes to the martyrs of Kargil war on its 21st anniversary, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Sunday said his government always stood by the soldiers and families of those who laid down their lives to protect the borders of the country.

"The government is always committed to the welfare of the soldiers. Karnataka has formed a separate department for the welfare of the soldiers and their families. We always stand with the families of the martyred soldiers," he said. He was addressing soldiers after paying tributes to the martyrs of the Kargil war at an official function organised on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas at the National Military Memorial Park in the city by the Sainik Welfare and Resettlement Department under the state Home Department. 

Yediyurappa described as a symbol of India's valour and sacrifices the Kargil Vijay Diwas, observed to commemorate its victory over Pakistan in the war that ended on July 26, 1999 with recapture of the territory in Kargil. He said the state government has given due compensation to the families of the Kargil martyrs and the soldiers who were injured.

Recalling the conflict, Yediyurappa said Pakistan had set its eyes on grabbing the vast terrains of Kargil and Drass sector in Jammu and Kashmir but the Indian soldiers successfully fought a deadly battle at a height of 17,000 feet where the temperature goes up to minus 30 degrees celsius.

"The sacrifices of our soldiers will remain etched in our memories forever. The tale of the 527 soldiers, who sacrificed their lives to save our country, is a constant source of inspiration for our youth," the Chief Minister said. He also noted Karnataka's contributions to the Indian army and said the state had given two Generals, one Field Marshall, many army officers and innumerable soldiers to protect the country's borders.