Paraguay interested in importing Made in India 'Vande Bharat' trains: Ashwini Vaishnaw
03 Jun 2025, 11:35 GMT+10
New Delhi [India], June 3 (ANI): Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw met the president of Paraguay, Santiago Pena and discussed opportunities regarding the growth of Indian railways.During his meeting with Vaishnaw on Monday, Paraguay's president showed interest in importing India's Vande Bharat trains. On the other hand, he also invited India to join the Central Bi-Oceanic Railway Corridor project (connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans). Ashwini Vaishnaw said on social media platform 'X' 'Called on President H.E. Mr. @SantiPenap of Paraguay. Paraguay has expressed keen interest in importing India's Vande Bharat trains and has invited India to join the Central Bi-Oceanic Railway Corridor project (connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans).'
Vande Bharat is a reflection of the Government of India's efforts towards strengthening the 'Make in India' campaign. The first Vande Bharat Express train was flagged off on February 15, 2019, on the New Delhi-Kanpur-Allahabad-Varanasi route.This train has a capability to run up to a maximum speed of 160 kmph and has travel classes like Shatabdi Train but with better facilities.Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, a Railways Production unit, has been the force behind a completely in-house design and manufacture, computer modelling and working with a large number of suppliers for system integration in just 18 months.The objective behind the train is to upgrade maintenance technologies and methodologies and achieve improvement in productivity and performance of all Railway assets and manpower, which inter alia would cover reliability, availability, utilisation and efficiency.The Vande Bharat comes with different features such as intelligent braking system which enables better acceleration and deceleration. All coaches in the train are equipped with automatic doors; a GPS-based audio-visual passenger information system, on-board hotspot Wi-Fi for entertainment purposes, and very comfortable seating. The executive class also has rotating chairs. (ANI)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
33 minutes ago
- Indian Express
UK-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari declared a fugitive economic offender
Accepting an application moved by the Enforcement Directorate, a Delhi Court on Saturday declared UK-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari a fugitive economic offender. With this, the Central agency can confiscate the assets of Bhandari worth crores of rupees. This order comes as a shot in the arm for the ED after a UK court had recently ruled against Bhandari's extradition to India. '…the ED has been able to make out a case under Sections 2(f) and 2(m) of the FEO (Fugitive Economic Offenders) Act…this Court is satisfied that the individual Sh. Sanjay Bhandari, against whom an warrant of arrest i.e. NBW (non bailable warrant) has been issued…has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution…despite knowing the pendency of the NBWs against him,' said Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal in the order. After the Income Tax department raided him in 2016, Bhandari, now 63, fled to London. A year later, the ED filed a criminal case against him under the anti-black money law of 2015. The agency is also probing Bhandari's links with businessman Robert Vadra, the husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. 'Further, this court is satisfied that the total value of the schedule offence is `100 crore or more…,' the court said. The principal allegation against Bhandari was that he owned certain assets worth Rs 100 crores abroad which he did not disclose to the I-T authorities. The ED had argued that Bhandari consistently chose not to return to India. The ED also submitted that the UK court's decision to disallow Bhandari's extradition would not be binding on the proceedings in the Delhi court. Bhandari's legal team, while opposing the ED's move to get him declared a fugitive offender, claimed that its 'client's stay could not be called illegal in the UK as he has a legal right to reside in the UK and the GOI is bound by the judgment of the UK court…. Bhandari is legally living there, and declaring him a 'fugitive' in that scenario is legally wrong'. The court said the 'extradition attempt may have failed, but it will not make the accused an angel or immune to prosecution for the violation of Indian laws'. Bhandari had alleged that he was subjected to undue harassment and pressure from various enforcement agencies to 'compel him to give false statements against the political opponents of the government' and that it was because of this harassment that he was forced to leave India. 'In any case, those who play with fire should be known to be aware of its consequences,' it said. The court held that the undisclosed foreign income or assets of Bhandari were worth Rs 655 crore and the total tax evaded by him, including penalty and interest, was Rs 196 crore. The ED filed its first chargesheet against him in 2020. The ED filed a supplementary chargesheet in the case in 2023, alleging that Bhandari 'acquired' the 12, Bryanston Square house located in London in 2009 and got it renovated 'as per the directions of Robert Vadra and the funds for renovation were provided by Robert Vadra'. Vadra has denied owning any London property directly or indirectly. He has termed these charges a political witch-hunt against him and claimed that he is being 'hounded and harassed' to subserve political ends. With this order, a total of 16 people, including liquor baron Vijay Mallya and diamond trader Nirav Modi, have been declared fugitive economic offenders by different courts. Bhandari's assets worth about Rs 21 crore have been attached by the ED under the PMLA.
India Gazette
an hour ago
- India Gazette
West Central Railway to use mAadhaar app for passenger identity verification
ANI 05 Jul 2025, 20:39 GMT+10 Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], July 5 (ANI): West Central Railway, Bhopal, has introduced a new method for verifying the identity of passengers using the mAadhaar mobile application, as per the latest guidelines issued by the Railway Board, a release said on Saturday. The move aims to curb unauthorised travel and prevent misuse of fake Aadhaar cards or tickets booked under someone else's name. To strengthen the process of identity verification with the help of technology, the mAadhaar app, developed by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), will serve as an effective tool for real-time identity authentication, the release added. The app offers QR code-based identity verification, enabling the authenticity of a passenger's Aadhaar card to be verified quickly and reliably. The app will soon be made available on Handheld Terminals (HHT devices) as well, so that the misuse of reserved tickets and identity cards can be prevented and the real identity of passengers can be ensured. (ANI)
India Gazette
an hour ago
- India Gazette
CAQM holds meeting with Haryana, Punjab on air pollution mitigation actions and strategies
New Delhi [India], July 5 (ANI): In a concerted effort to accelerate coordinated action towards abatement of air pollution in the region, the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) under the Chairmanship of Rajesh Verma, held two significant high-level review meetings on July 3. The senior officials of the Commission, along with the Chief Secretaries and senior officers of the two State Governments, Haryana and Punjab, were present at the meeting. According to the release, the review aimed to strengthen interdepartmental coordination in the two States, as mentioned earlier and evaluate the implementation of key sectoral measures for the abatement of air pollution in the region. During the meeting with the State Government of Haryana, a detailed review was done on critical areas such as preparedness for the elimination of paddy stubble burning in 2025, as per the approved Action Plan; the use of paddy straw based biomass pellets in brick kilns and compliance of prescribed emission norms by thermal power plants, including a review on the progress made in r/o minimum 5 per cent biomass co-firing targets for 2025-26, as stated in the release. Other issues reviewed included road dust mitigation strategies, especially a review of the action plan formulated by the State Government for the redevelopment of identified roads and various directions issued by the Commission to curb vehicular emissions. These included the progress made towards liquidation of End-of-Life (EoL) vehicles and installation of Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) camera systems in accordance with Direction dated April 23; fast-tracking of adoption of cleaner mobility vehicles services by motor vehicle aggregators, delivery service providers and E-Commerce entities; migration of all buses entering into Delhi including those operating under All India Tourist Permit and other service regimes to cleaner modes, besides such buses already covered under Direction Nos. 78 and 81; and enforcement of restrictions on the entry of polluting transport/ commercial goods vehicles into Delhi. The progress in phasing out all diesel-operated auto-rickshaws and transitioning inter-city buses to clean energy was also deliberated upon. On the same day, the Commission conducted another review meeting with the State Government of Punjab. The review revolved around the State's preparations as per the approved plan for elimination of paddy stubble burning and implementation of the plan of action for prevention and control of paddy Stubble Burning in 2025, targeting complete elimination; mandatory use of biomass pellets in brick kilns, and compliance of prescribed emission norms by thermal power plants, including the target for co-firing minimum 5 per cent bio-mass during 2025-26. The meeting also took stock of the implementation of directions related to vehicular pollution, including the migration of inter-city buses to cleaner fuel modes and restrictions on polluting transport/ commercial goods vehicles entering Delhi. The Commission emphasised the need for the proactive and timely implementation of all Statutory Directions to avoid deterioration in air quality in the region during the upcoming winter season. In addition to the review meetings held, the Commission's team also made field visits on July 4 to various projects/ installations related to ex-situ utilisation of paddy stubble, including, e.g. Pelletisation Plant, Compressed Bio-gas (CBG) Plant, Biogas Plant, 2G Ethanol Plant and Industrial Boiler in the States of Punjab and Haryana. These visits provided on-ground insights into technological and operational progress made by both States in strengthening ex-situ management of paddy stubble. The Commission reiterated the importance of enhanced coordination, targeted implementation of the Action Plans, and strict enforcement of the Statutory Directions issued by the Commission. CAQM appreciated the efforts made by both State Governments so far and urged sustained action and a shared commitment from all concerned stakeholders to ensure visible and measurable improvements in air quality in the region, particularly in view of the approaching winter season. (ANI)
