Pune (Maharashtra), Aug 25 : As part of 'Make In India' initiative, Tata Motors on Saturday rolled out the 1500th GS800 Safari Storme (SUV) vehicle specially designed for Indian Army, an official said.

Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre and Tata Motors Vice-President (Defence & Government Business) Vernon Noronha flagged off the vehicles as part of a total 3192-vehicle order to the Army.

The Safari Storme GS800 4X4 is indigenously designed to meet the requirements of the Indian Army with a contemporary, highly reliable and sturdier diesel SUV with robust features and a minimum payload capacity of 800 kg.

The vehicles has undergone a rigorous trial of 15 months in varied terrains across the country, demonstrating its supreme performance, with capability of coping with on-road and off-road terrains.

Offering 60 per cent higher payload, 70 higher power and 200 per cent higher torque, the vehicle has been customized to endure severely rugged conditions ranging from high altitudes drives, snow-bound regions, crossing deserts or marshy lands, said Noronha.

The Safari Storme incorporates other special features like recovery hooks, jerry can and fog lamps to cater to Army requirements during missions, bucket seats and mobile charging point.

The low maintenance vehicle has heating and air-conditioning, demisting, power windows and accommodate six persons comfortably in the cabin.

So far, the past 60 years of its services to the defence sector, Tata Motors has supplied over 150,000 vehicles to the military and security forces, Noronha added.



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Sultanpur (UP) (PTI): An application for obtaining a voice sample of Rahul Gandhi was filed in an MP-MLA court here on Saturday during a hearing in a defamation case against the Congress leader over his alleged objectionable remarks against then BJP president Amit Shah in 2018.

The plaintiff Vijay Mishra's advocate, Santosh Kumar Pandey, said he filed the application requesting that a voice sample of Gandhi be collected and sent to a forensic science laboratory for comparison with a CD that has already been submitted to the court.

Rahul Gandhi's lawyers registered their objections to this demand. The next hearing in the matter is fixed for April 6, Pandey said.

On February 20, Gandhi, the Lok Sabha MP from Raebareli, had appeared before the court and recorded his statement, claiming the case was filed against him due to political vendetta.

He had also told the court that the audio and video evidence submitted by the complainant was incorrect and said he would present his own evidence.

In December 2023, the court issued a warrant against Gandhi after he failed to appear before it. He later surrendered before the court in February 2024 and was granted bail on two surety bonds of Rs 25,000 each.

The hearing was deferred on Friday due to a holiday on Ram Navami.

Pandey said that during the previous hearing, the complainant's side had filed an application seeking verification of audio and video evidence of the alleged statements made by Gandhi by matching them with his original voice.

The case stems from Gandhi's alleged objectionable remarks against Shah during the 2018 Karnataka election campaign. Following the remarks, Vijay Mishra, a resident of Hanumanganj under Kotwali Dehat police station area in Sultanpur, filed the defamation complaint.