Vajpayee's death: Railway exams to be held as scheduled

The Indian Railways has announced that the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) exams scheduled for Friday for the post of assistant loco pilots and technicians will go ahead as per schedule across India except for flood-hit Kerala.

The announcement came after a half-day holiday was declared for all central government departments on Friday in the wake of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's death.

"We are announcing that RRB exam will be conducted in all the three shifts on 17.08.18, as scheduled. This is being done through RRB websites. Over and above that individual SMSs are also being sent to about 4.36 lakh candidates scheduled for the exam," Director of Information and Publicity of Indian Railways, Rajesh Bajpai said.

The 93-year-old BJP veteran breathed his last at 5:05 pm on Thursday, here at All India Institutes of Medical Science (AIIMS) following a prolonged illness. Vajpayee, who was the country's 10th Prime Minister, will be laid to rest at the Smriti Sthal on Friday afternoon.

However, Bajpai added it was not possible to conduct the exam in Kerala on Friday due to the devastating situation in the flood-hit state.

"Due to worsening flood situation in Kerala, it is not possible to conduct the exam tomorrow. So exam in Kerala centres is being postponed," he stated.

About 27,000 candidates were scheduled to give exam for the post in Kerala, where the death toll has increased to 94 due to floods.

--ANI