PM Modi to visit Kerala on Friday to launch development projects
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kerala on Friday to lay the foundation for an innovation and entrepreneurship hub and flag-off four new train services in the poll-bound state.
He will also launch the PM SVANidhi Credit Card, marking the next phase of financial inclusion for street vendors and inaugurate a modern post office in the state capital.
In a major boost to rail connectivity, Modi will flag off four new train services, including three Amrit Bharat Express trains, enhancing long-distance and regional connectivity between Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, an official statement said.
The new train services will make travel more affordable, safe and time-bound for passengers and provide a strong impetus to tourism, trade, education, employment and cultural exchange across the region.
The PM SVANidhi Credit Card, the UPI-linked, interest-free revolving credit facility, will provide instant liquidity, promote digital transactions, and help beneficiaries build formal credit histories.
Modi will also disburse PM SVANidhi loans to one lakh beneficiaries, including street vendors from Kerala.
In the field of science and innovation, Modi will lay the foundation stone for the CSIR-NIIST Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship Hub in Thiruvananthapuram.
The hub will focus on life sciences and the bio-economy, integrate traditional knowledge systems such as Ayurveda with modern biotechnology, sustainable packaging, and green hydrogen, and promote startup creation, technology transfer, and global collaboration.
It will serve as a platform for converting research into market-ready solutions and enterprises.
Modi will also lay the foundation stone for a state-of-the-art Radiosurgery Centre at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology in Thiruvananthapuram.
The facility will provide highly precise, minimally invasive treatment for complex brain disorders, enhancing regional tertiary healthcare capabilities.
The prime minister will also inaugurate the new Poojappura Head Post Office in Thiruvananthapuram.
This modern, technology-enabled facility will offer a comprehensive range of postal, banking, insurance and digital services, further strengthening citizen-centric service delivery.
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India among those absent at signing ceremony of Trump's 'Board of Peace'
New Delhi (PTI): India was among the countries not present in Davos on Thursday when US President Donald Trump unveiled his "Board of Peace" that seeks to work towards bringing lasting peace to Gaza and possibly resolve global conflicts.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among numerous global leaders that the US President has invited to join the board that was announced under the second phase of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza strip.
France, the United Kingdom, China, Germany and many other leading nations also skipped the signing ceremony for Trump's "Board of Peace".
Trump hosted the ceremony on the margins of annual World Economic Forum in the Swiss mountain resort.
India is yet to take a call on it, people familiar with the matter said when asked about Trump's invite to PM Modi.
New Delhi is considering various aspects as the initiative involves sensitive issues, it is learnt.
India has been pushing for a "two-State solution" to the Palestine question with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security within recognised borders.
The countries that joined the Board of Peace included Argentina Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Egypt, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.
A number of countries including Germany, Italy, Paraguay, Russia, Slovenia, Turkiye, and Ukraine have remained non-committal on the invitation.
Trump's "Board of Peace" is being projected by Washington as a new international body to usher in peace and stability in Gaza and beyond, triggering speculations that it could throw a challenge to the United Nations.
Originally, the new body was to be tasked to oversee governance and coordinate funding for Gaza's redevelopment as the strip was devastated during the two years of Israeli military offensive.
However, the "charter" of the board says it is "an international organisation that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict". It also says durable peace requires pragmatic judgment, common sense solutions, and the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed.
The top level of the board will consist "exclusively" of heads of state under Trump's leadership.
Washington has already announced that the "Board of Peace" will play an essential role in fulfilling Trump's 20-point plan of providing strategic oversight, mobilising international resources, and ensuring accountability as "Gaza transitions from conflict to peace and development".
The 20-point plan includes making Gaza a deradicalised terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbours and that it be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of the strip.
The White House last week announced forming a founding executive board to operationalize the Board of Peace's vision.
The members of the executive committee included US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former British prime minister Tony Blair, US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, businessman and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and World Bank president Ajay Banga.
The other two members of the committee are Marc Rowan, the CEO of New York- headquartered private equity firm Apollo Global Management and Robert Gabriel, a US national security adviser.
The executive board will oversee another administrative group called National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.
