Western Railway drops 'head-foot' massage proposal
Mumbai: Under fire from various quarters, the Western Railway (WR) on Saturday dropped its proposal for providing 'head and foot' massage services to passengers on trains originating from Indore, an official said here.
WR chief spokesperson Ravinder Bhakar said the head and foot massage service was initiated by the Ratlam Division.
"As soon as it came to the notice of the higher authorities, it has been decided to withdraw the proposal of starting massage services on trains," Bhakar said.
There were other suggestions and representations made about necessary passenger amenities which the WR will now consider instead of the massage proposal.
The massage services, touted as "unprecedented" in Indian Railways' history, was announced a week ago and was proposed to be made available for passengers' comforts, on board running trains.
It led to a storm on social media with many supporting and some trolling the proposal, including one who demanded: "How about escort services, gigolos, prostitutes?" and others saying it would dirty with oils the very same trains the railways was trying to maintain clean.
The massage service was to be introduced on 39 trains originating from Indore. With Rs 100 per massage, the WR was eyeing a revenue of around Rs. Two million annually from this service.
Besides, there was another estimated revenue increase of Rs 9 million per annum through additional sale of tickets from around 20,000 masseurs who would be service providers.
Around 3-5 licensed male masseurs, authorized by the railways, with officials identity-cards issued, were to travel on each train daily, offering the massage services during daytime to the passengers.
The massage fee was proposed to be included in the ticket fare, entailing no extra charge for the passengers, except for some specialized services using oils or medicines.
The scheme was part of the railways' scheme whereby zonal and divisional railways were asked to come out with innovative ideas to help generate non-ticket fare revenues.
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Rajnath to top commanders: Outmaneuver adversaries with strategic surprise
Jaipur/New Delhi (PTI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday directed the top military commanders of the three services to integrate an "element of surprise" into modern warfare to outmaneuver India's adversaries and bolster strategic posture.
In his address at the joint commanders conference in Jaipur, Singh also described the Operation Sindoor as a testament to the "swift, precise, and joint response" of the Indian armed forces to safeguard national interests and called upon the military to remain ready to deal with any security challenges.
In their two-day deliberations, the commanders carried out a comprehensive review of the combat preparedness of the military in the wake of the evolving regional security situation.
Operation Sindoor was a demonstration of India's growing capabilities and a symbol of the nation's collective resolve and new military ethos, Singh said, a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
He also unveiled a 'Joint Doctrine for Integrated Communication Architecture' that is aimed at strengthening doctrinal clarity, interoperability and integrated communications across the armed forces in future multidomain operations.
The joint commanders' conference, themed 'Military Capability in New Domains', brought together the top leadership of the defence ministry and the three services to deliberate on emerging security challenges and future readiness.
Comprehensive deliberations were held on future warfare, multidomain operations, technological transformation and joint capability development.
The conference witnessed extensive discussions on cognitive warfare, cyber resilience against evolving quantum and AI-enabled threats, military capability development in emerging domains, indigenous innovation and AI-enabled warfighting concepts.
It was attended by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh and Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh among others.
In his remarks, Singh asked the commanders to remain "future-ready" by learning from the operation as well as the current global security landscape.
He underscored the need to strengthen capabilities in artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, data analytics and secure communication networks to stay prepared in the rapidly evolving geopolitical security scenario. He emphasised that future conflicts will increasingly be shaped by hybrid threats, information dominance and operations conducted simultaneously across cyber, space, electromagnetic and cognitive domains, according to an official readout.
Highlighting the transformative impact of emerging technologies, Singh stressed on the importance of ensuring integrated national preparedness across all spectrums of conflict, it said.
Singh's remarks at the conference came a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
The defence minister appreciated the progress achieved in enhancing jointness, integration and technological adoption across the three services, the readout noted.
Singh said that jointness constitutes a pivotal dimension within the transformative changes sweeping across the global defence sector.
"Future wars will not be won solely through weaponry, but through innovative thinking and enhanced synergy," he said.
The defence minister exhorted the commanders to cultivate the "element of surprise" to remain unpredictable to the nation's adversaries and secure a strategic edge in any given situation.
He, however, urged them to remain vigilant of the element of surprise of the enemy and always stay two steps ahead.
Singh also reiterated the Narendra Modi government's commitment to enhancing the capabilities of the defence forces through state-of-the-art weapons and platforms. He added that special focus is being laid on research in niche domains.
During the conference, he released a documentary film on Operation Sindoor.
The film reaffirms the nation's and defence forces' commitment to operational preparedness and decisive national response capabilities.
Demonstrations of advanced systems and platforms developed for intelligence fusion, operational planning and information management were also showcased during the conference reflecting growing integration of cutting-edge technologies into joint operational structures, according to the defence ministry.
The discussions will contribute significantly towards shaping India's future military transformation and integrated operational preparedness, it said.
