J'khand's 2nd Vande Bharat Express to be flagged off on Sunday
Ranchi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually flag-off Jharkhand's second Vande Bharat Express between Ranchi and Howrah on Sunday, a railway official said on Friday.
The regular run of the Ranchi-Howrah-Ranchi Vande Bharat Express will commence from September 27, he said.
On the inaugural day, an official function will be organised at Ranchi station at 10.45am. Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan and other dignitaries will be present on the occasion, chief public relation officer (CPRO) of Ranchi railway division under South Eastern Railway Nishant Kumar told PTI.
The first Vande Bharat Express for both Jharkhand and Bihar was launched on June 27.
The first trial run of the Ranchi-Howrah Vande Bharat was successfully conducted by the Ranchi railway division on Thursday. The Express will run six days a week.
According to the official communiqu by the railways on Friday, the train will depart from Ranchi at 5.15am and reach Howrah at 12.20pm. While returning, the train will leave Howrah at 3.45pm and reach Ranchi at 10.50pm.
The train will have stoppages at Muri, Kotshila, Purulia, Chandil, Tatanagar and Kharagpur, it said.
"The indigenously designed train is equipped with state-of-the-art passenger amenities. It will provide more comfort to rail users. The train will be immensely beneficial for students, businessmen, tourists and entrepreneurs. Enhanced connectivity will also provide a boost to socio-economic development in the region," the release said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
