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.
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Power tariffs under BESCOM to rise from May 1
Bengaluru (PTI): Power bills for consumers under the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) will go up from May 1, following an order issued by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on Friday.
The hike comes after KERC allowed the BESCOM to recover a revenue deficit of Rs 2,068 crore incurred in 2024-25, from the consumers.
As a result, for every unit of electricity consumed in 2024-25, the customers will be charged an additional 56 paise, it said.
"BESCOM shall calculate, for each of the active consumers of FY2024-25 the amount to be recovered based on their actual energy consumption during FY2024-25. Such amount shall be recovered during FY 2026-27 in equal monthly instalments, to be called as 'FY25 True up Charges', commencing from the first meter reading date falling on or after 1 May 2026 and concluding with the reading date ending on 30 April 2027," the order said.
"It is further ordered that BESCOM shall maintain a separate head of account, allocated for the purpose, to record the adjustment of the said amount to ensure full recovery of the deficit," it added.
Similarly Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) has also recorded a revenue deficit of Rs 121.71 crore and can collect an additional 15 paisa per unit for consumption in 2024-25, official sources said.
