Puttu and Kadala back on Indian Railways menu after protests
Kochi: Rail passengers from Kerala are a happy lot as the state's traditionalfood items such as appam, egg curry, 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 in the list following social media backlash over theIndian 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 of 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.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Thane man cheated of Rs 2 lakh in currency exchange fraud
Thane (PTI): A 35-year-old man has allegedly been duped of Rs 2 lakh by three persons in a US dollar exchange fraud in Maharashtra's Navi Mumbai township, police said on Monday.
One of the accused had approached the victim, a resident of Dombivli in Thane district, claiming his relative wanted to exchange some USD notes. On May 12, the accused showed the victim bundles wrapped in a handkerchief that appeared to contain US currency near a hospital in Kalamboli, they said.
Believing the notes to be authentic, the victim handed over Rs 2 lakh in cash, after which the accused fled.
The victim later found that the bundles handed over to him were actually paper rolls and soap bars, with a single dollar note pasted on top to make them appear genuine, according to the police.
Following the victim's complaint, the police registered a case on charges of cheating under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
A probe was underway into the case, the police added.
