India re-elected to International Maritime Organisation Council with highest vote
London (PTI): India has been re-elected to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Council with the highest vote in its category at elections held at its Assembly in London for the 2025-26 biennium.
India's election in Category B on Friday falls under the collection of 10 states with “the largest interest in international seaborne trade,” alongside Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The newly elected Council will meet for its 136th session on December 4 and will elect its Chair and Vice-Chair for the next biennium, the IMO said.
“India re-elected to the IMO Council securing the highest vote in Category B with 154 votes,” the Indian High Commission in London announced following the vote.
“We thank our partners for putting their trust in India, and pledge to continue to work for the global maritime sector,” the mission stated.
The IMO is the premier body that oversees the world's maritime sector, which in turn underpins international trade, transport and all maritime activities.
The Council is the executive organ of IMO and is responsible, under the Assembly, for supervising the work of the organisation.
In July, the Secretary at the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways had launched India’s candidature for re-election as he revealed the ministry’s plans to invest USD 1 trillion in the sector over the next 25 years.
T K Ramachandran invited representatives from around the world to “partner with India in this quest for us to become one of the leading maritime nations in the world.”
“India embraces the philosophy of 'One Earth, One Family, One Future,' and we bring this vision to life through fostering robust and collaborative maritime efforts,” said Ramachandran at the time.
“Under our Vision 2047, we see maritime growth as a corner of global progress, and we deeply value a growing engagement with the IMO and its member states… we have several pillars, including shipbuilding, ship recycling, ship financing, ship ownership and ship flagging, the entire ecosystem,” he said.
The IMO Assembly normally meets once every two years in a regular session. It is responsible for approving the work programme, voting the budget and determining the financial arrangements of the organisation.
It also elects the organisation's 40-Member Council at these meetings for the next two-year period.
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SWR announces special trains for passengers stranded by large-scale IndiGo cancellations
Bengaluru (PTI): The South Western Railway on Saturday announced a series of special trains, in coordination with Central, South Eastern and Southern Railways, to clear stranded passengers following large-scale IndiGo flight cancellations across the country.
The special services will operate between December 6 and 10 on high-demand routes, including Bengaluru–Chennai, Bengaluru–Pune, Yesvantpur–Hazrat Nizamuddin, Shalimar–Yelahanka and Ernakulam–Yelahanka, officials said.
According to an official statement, SWR will run Train No. 06255/06256 between Chennai Egmore and KSR Bengaluru, 06257/06258 between Bengaluru and MGR Chennai Central, 06259/06260 between Yesvantpur and Hazrat Nizamuddin, and 06263/06264 between Bengaluru and Pune.
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Central Railway will operate Train No. 01413/01414 between Pune and Bengaluru, while South Eastern Railway will run Train No. 08073/08074 between Shalimar and Yelahanka. Southern Railway will operate Train No. 06147/06148 between Ernakulam and Yelahanka, the statement said.
Railways has advised passengers to check updated timings on its official channels and arrive early at stations.
For at least five days in a row, IndiGo flight operations have been significantly disrupted, with a large number of cancellations and delays causing hardships to thousands of passengers. In many cases, baggage has been misplaced.
