Indian Railways to launch train connectivity from Bengaluru city to Airport: Ashwini Vaishnaw
Bengaluru, Feb 15 (PTI): Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday said that, in addition to road, metro rail, and suburban railway services provided by the state government, his ministry will also introduce a train travel option from Kempegowda International Airport to Bengaluru city.
However, he noted that a few technical challenges need to be addressed before this can be implemented and the Railway team is working on resolving them.
Addressing reporters, he said that people currently have access to Bengaluru airport via Metro Rail, road, and the suburban railway project managed by the Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) (K-RIDE).
K-RIDE, a joint venture between the Centre and the state, is under construction and aims to enhance urban rail connectivity.
“Apart from Metro Rail, road and K-RIDE, we are also creating a railway connectivity option to the airport,” Vaishnaw said.
He recalled that during his last visit, he travelled by train from the airport to the city.
“I realised it was a comfortable 40 to 45-minute ride. However, there were some technical issues, particularly the need to construct a rail flyover. The team has now completed the necessary work and they presented the concept to me today. I will share it with you soon. This will bring significant relief to the people,” the Minister said.
Regarding the suburban railway project, he criticised the state government's execution, stating that it lacked technical expertise, including a full-time Managing Director from the Railway technical cadre.
He emphasised the importance of suburban and metro projects for Bengaluru, a city with a population of 1.5 crore.
“It’s a very large city, and we need to rapidly expand metro and suburban rail networks. The state and Centre must work in a synchronised manner,” he pointed out.
Vaishnaw mentioned that during his visits, he has been reviewing the progress of the K-RIDE suburban railway project in detail.
“Each time, the major challenge has been the lack of technical personnel. I will request the state government to appoint a full-time MD from the Railway technical cadre. Without this, progress will be slow,” he said.
He also expressed disappointment with the project’s execution.
“It is truly concerning that the state government's execution of this project is not meeting public expectations. The people have high hopes, and to fulfill them, we need a strong technical team," he said.
Besides appointing a full-time MD from the railway cadre, he stressed the urgent need for at least 12 to 13 technically qualified personnel in electrical engineering, civil engineering, and signalling.
“We will submit a proposal to the state government. If they agree, we will depute railway officials to K-RIDE to expedite the project,” the Minister said.
According to him, the Centre is providing the necessary funding, so financial constraints should not be an issue.
Another major challenge, he pointed out was the failure of tenders for train sets (rolling stock) three times.
“I conducted a detailed review this morning, and now we are proposing that the Railways will supply trains for the Bengaluru suburban rail project,” Vaishnaw said.
He also expressed dissatisfaction with the way K-RIDE structured tenders for train procurement.
“Railways is a highly technical field. Since K-RIDE is controlled by the state government, they structured the tender as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project, where a private entity would supply the trains and receive payments over several years. This approach does not work in the metro and railway sectors,” he pointed out.
Regarding the circular rail project around Bengaluru, he said the concept has now been finalised.
“Bengaluru is connected to the city by seven railway spokes. About a year and a half ago, we introduced the idea of a circular rail network,” he explained.
The Minister also addressed issues related to metro train manufacturing.
"Although this does not fall under the railway's purview, we will do our best to ensure that the people of Bengaluru get good facilities, which is the priority. We should not get into whether this falls under the state or Centre’s domain," he pointed out.
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Gurugram Police arrest BJP Yuva Morcha member for spreading fake murder story on social media
New Delhi: Gurugram Police have arrested BJP Yuva Morcha member Hariom Mishra, for allegedly spreading a fabricated and communally sensitive story on social media about the murder of a college student in Gurugram.
Mishra who is also known as Shaurya Mishra had shared a collage of four photographs on his X handle earlier this month. He claimed that a 24-year-old college student, identified as Nikita Agarwal, had been murdered by her classmate Arif Khan in Gurugram. In the post, he alleged that the woman was blackmailed, forced into prostitution, gangraped, and eventually killed. He also claimed that Arif dumped her body in a forest. The claims were presented as being based on police sources.
The post went viral and garnering over 1.5 lakh views, and was amplified by several right-wing social media handles across X, Facebook and Instagram. A verification of the claims revealed that no such incident had taken place in Gurugram. A search of credible news reports showed no record of any such murder. The police said this news would have inevitably attracted media attention if it were true.
On December 11, Gurugram Police publicly refuted the claims through their official X handle. They stated that the information which was being circulated was completely false. The police warned that legal action would be taken against those spreading misinformation. Despite the warning, Mishra neither deleted the post nor issued any clarification.
Police in Gurugram confirmed Mishra's arrest on December 16. The police said a FIR was filed after he continued to spread false information about the alleged murder of a Hindu woman by Muslim man. Police said Mishra, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi district, is now being investigated.
Gurugram Police spokesperson Sandeep Singh told The Print that the accused had deliberately misrepresented facts and used objectionable content to spread hatred along religious lines. “Such posts can create serious disturbances in society, and the police take these matters very seriously,” he said.
A reverse image search conducted by fact-checkers at Alt News, revealed that the photographs used in the viral post were unrelated to the claims, while two of the images were traced to a Pinterest account belonging to influencer Maulik Chopra and another image was sourced from an Instagram post by influencer Shivam Thakur featuring a woman named Deepanshi Rawat. The fourth image was found on an unrelated Instagram page. The images depicted different individuals and had no connection to any crime.
Police said they are also investigating Mishra’s motive behind sharing the false and provocative content.
