PM Modi flags off nine Vande Bharat trains
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said it was unfortunate that earlier not much attention was given to modernising Indian railways and asserted that his government was working for its transformation.
Modi made the remarks in his address before flagging off nine Vande Bharat trains connecting religious and tourist destinations across 11 states.
The nine trains will provide faster connectivity across 11 states -- Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand and Gujarat.
In his address via video conferencing ahead of the flag off, Modi said the speed and scale of infrastructure development is matching the aspirations of 140 crore Indians.
He said the popularity of Vande Bharat trains is constantly rising and over 1,11,00,000 passengers have already travelled in them.
The prime minister noted that 25 Vande Bharat trains are running and now nine more have been added.
That day is not far when these trains will connect all parts of the country, he said.
"Indian railways is the most trusted co-passenger of India's poor and middle-class people. The number of people who travel in the railways in one day is more than the population of many countries," he said.
"It is unfortunate that not much attention was given to modernise Indian railways. But now our government is working for the transformation of Indian railways," Modi said.
In his remarks, Modi also said that all Indians are proud of new India's accomplishments and the common person's expectations have reached sky high due to the success of Chandrayaan-3.
The success of G20 Summit has given confidence that India has power of democracy, demography, and diversity, he said.
"World has hailed our women-led development and to advance this vision the government brought Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam," he said.
The new Vande Bharat trains flagged off by the PM will run between: Udaipur-Jaipur; Tirunelveli-Madurai-Chennai; Hyderabad-Bengaluru; Vijayawada-Chennai (via Renigunta); Patna-Howrah; Kasaragod-Thiruvananthapuram; Rourkela-Bhubaneswar -Puri; Ranchi-Howrah; and Jamnagar-Ahmedabad.
These trains are a step towards realising the prime minister's vision of improving connectivity across the country and providing world class facilities to rail passengers, according to an official statement.
"The Vande Bharat trains will be the fastest train along the routes of their operation and will help save considerable time of the passengers," it said.
The introduction of these Vande Bharat trains will herald a new standard of rail service in the country, the statement said.
These trains, equipped with world class amenities and advanced safety features, including Kavach technology, will be a key step towards providing modern, speedy and comfortable means of travel to common people, professionals, businessmen, student community and tourists, it added.
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Bomb threat emails received by multiple district collectorates in UP, turn out to be hoax
Lucknow, Apr 15 (PTI): Emails claiming that bombs were planted in four district collectorate offices in Uttar Pradesh triggered a security alert on Tuesday, but nothing suspicious was found after the buildings were evacuated and extensively searched.
Soon after the emails were received by authorities in Firozabad, Aligarh, Barabanki and Chandauli, bomb disposal units, anti-sabotage checking teams, dog squads and local police were swiftly mobilised to the respective collectorate premises. All buildings were evacuated and thoroughly searched, officials said.
Authorities in all four districts said that no explosives or suspicious items were found.
Investigations are on to identify those responsible for sending the hoax emails, they added.
In Aligarh, a senior police officer told reporters, "Soon after the email was received, security forces reached the District Magistrate's office and evacuated the premises. A thorough inspection of the entire complex was conducted. While no suspicious items were found, the inspection is still ongoing as a precaution."
The official added that the threatening email was received on the official email ID of the Aligarh District Magistrate.
In Barabanki, District Magistrate Shashank Tripathi said, "Today, we received a threatening email on the official ID, claiming that explosives like RDX were planted in the collectorate campus.
"Though the information did not initially seem credible, we immediately alerted the Superintendent of Police and called in the bomb disposal squad, which carried out a thorough search. No suspicious object has been found so far. Efforts are underway to trace the source of the email."
Barabanki City Circle Officer Sumit Tripathi said the origin and authenticity of the email remain unclear.
"Investigations are ongoing to determine whether this was a mischief attempt or part of a larger conspiracy," he said.
In Chandauli, District Magistrate Nikhil Tikaram Funde said a person identifying himself as Gopal Swami had sent an email warning of a possible bomb blast at the collectorate, allegedly linked to political issues in Tamil Nadu.
"The sender even listed a Tamil Nadu address. We immediately alerted the Superintendent of Police and launched a complete search of the collectorate premises. Nothing suspicious was found. The email content appeared frivolous and lacked credibility, but we still acted with full caution," the DM said.
In Firozabad, a similar threat was received via email around Tuesday afternoon, stating that explosive material had been placed in the District Magistrate's office.
Superintendent of Police (City) Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "Upon receiving the email, a bomb disposal team, dog squad, local police from Matsena police station, and the SOG team carried out an intensive search of the premises. No explosives were found."
A case has been registered at the cyber police station based on a complaint by the Matsena SHO, and authorities are working to trace the sender of the email.
