The Railways are introducing Tatkal (Instant) Reservation Scheme in 24 more long distance superfast Mail and Express trains from July 1, 1998. The Tatkal Scheme will be available in Sleeper Class of these trains : 2759/2760 Charminar Express between Hyderabad and Chennai, 7001/7002 Hussainsagar Express between Hyderabad and Mumbai Chatrapati Shivaji Terminal, 7031/7032 Hyderabad-CST Mumbai Express, 2859 Gitanjali Express between Mumbai Chatrapati Shivaji Terminal and Howrah, 3073/3074 Himgiri Express between Howrah and Jammu Tawi, 3045/3046 Saraighat Express between Howrah and Guwahati, 2381/2382, 2303/2304 Poorva Express between Howrah and New Delhi, 1005/ 1006 Vidharba Express between Mumbai Chatrapati Shivaji Terminal and Nagpur, 1019/1020 Konark Express between Mumbai Chatrapati Shivaji Terminal and Bhubaneshwar, 1015/1016 Kushinagar Express between Gorakhpur and Mumbai Chatrapati Shivaji Terminal, 2842 Coromonal Express between Chennai and Howrah, 6669/6670 Yearcaud Express between Chennai and Erode.

    In the Tatkal Reservation System, reservation will be available only at the terminal points only and not in between. The Scheme will be available 24 hours before departure of the trains from 8 a.m. to the next 8 a.m.The premium for Tatkal Reservation in Sleer Class has been fixed at Rs.50/-. There will be a separate Sleeper Class coach in each of these trains.

    So far, Tatkal Reservation Scheme has been introduced in 20 trains. The Scheme first was introduced on December 20, 1997 in 2005/2006 New Delhi- Kalka Shatabdi Express and Kalka-New Delhi Shatabdi Express and 2013/2014 New Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi Express, 2011/2012 New Delhi Chandigarh Shatabdi Express and Chandigarh-New Delhi Shatabdi Express. Subsequently, the Tatkal Reservation System was extended to 2001/2002 Bhopal-New Delhi Shatabdi Express, 2003/2004 Lucknow New Delhi Shatabdi Express, in both directions 2954/2953 August Kranti Rajdhani Express between Hazrat Nizamuddin (New Delhi) and Mumbai Central Terminal, 4645/4646 a Shalimar Express between New Delhi and Jammu Tawi 2915/2916 Ashram Express between Ahemedabad and Delhi, 2841 Coromondal Express between Howrah and Chennai, 2860 Gitanjali Express between Howrah and Mumbai, 4005/4006 Hazrat Nizamuddin-Indore Intercity Express.

    With this, the Ministry has taken a major step to fulfill the Railway Minister Shri Nitish Kumar's pledge to extend Tatkal facilities to all long distance Mail and Express trains. The remaining trains will be covered by and by within the current year. This Scheme has proved very popular with the rail users and there is no room for cornering of reserved tickets by touts in this Scheme.
 
 

*     Nine Indian satellites are now operational and providing vital services to the nation. INSAT - 2 DT, the tenth one has been acquired from ARABSAT organisation.

*     IRS-1D was launched in September, 1997. * IRS-1C launched into its orbit from Russia on December 28, 1995 & IRS-P3 on March 21, 1996, by India's own vehicle PSLV-D3.

*     United Nations Asia Pacific Regional Centre for Space Education was established in India.

*     ASLV-D4 placed 113 kg. SROSS-C2 satellite in a near-earth orbit in 1994. The satellite is providing valuable data for Gammaray asatronomy.

*     ISRO actively studies the earth's atmospheric systems through rockets, balloons and orbiting space systems.

*     The data from IRS satellites is used for soil mapping, grassland mapping, forest survey, land use/land cover mapping etc. and for integrated mission for sustainable developmet.

*     Several States have set up their own Remote Sensing Application Centres to turn the rocky, rain-starved and drought-prone environs into an agricultural oasis.

*     INSAT is being used for improving advance warning system on disasters besides expansion of TV network.

*     Indian Space programme enters world market. * ISRO chair has been created at IIT, Kharagpur for space communication research.

*     India has been elected Chairman of the UN Committee on peaceful uses of outer space.