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@Evening: 🚆 No Looking Back For Make-in-India-Backed Indian Railways Coach Production
1. What's new: 📰 Catch-up
The Indian Army has ordered nearly 2,000 UAVs since the start of the Galwan stand-off with China.
NHAI, facing Rs 1.33 crore daily loss due to protesting farmers, approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court to resume toll plaza operations.
A 1,200-year-old sculpture of Lord Vishnu was stolen from an ASI shed in Patna.
How NRIs in these 10 countries can now access UPI.
Vice President Dhankar drops bombshell — Kesavananda Bharti case (basic structure doctrine) set a bad precedent.
2. Tweet for thought: 💪 Rail coach production goes from strength to strength
The Prime Minister lauded the impressive rise of Indian Railways' coach production under the 'Make in India' push.
The Ministry of Railways put out data which spoke to the increase in coach production over the years.
From 3,731 coaches in 2014-15 to 7,151 in 2021-22, the Railways has registered a 91.6 per cent in the last eight years, a period corresponding to Modi government's leadership at the centre.
"The excellent trend," responded the Prime Minister in a tweet, spoke to "the strength and skills of 130 crore Indians" and "the resolve to become Aatmanirbhar."
The Indian Railways has three operational rail coach factories: Integral Coach Factory at Chennai in Tamil Nadu, Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala in Punjab, and Modern Coach Factory at Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh.
A proposal came in recently from the North East Frontier Railway to set up a rail coach factory in Bodoland Territorial Council at Assam.
This would be a first-of-its-kind factory in the East and North East India, and is expected to create jobs in North Bengal and Assam.
The Ministry of Railways is targeting 100 per cent indigenous manufacturing of rail coaches.
3. Word-watching: 📕Your Prime Minister Is Dead by Anuj Dhar
On the death anniversary of former Indian prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, here's a timely book: Your Prime Minister is Dead by Anuj Dhar.
"This day in 1966 Prime Minister #LalBahadurShastri suddenly died in Tashkent. Hours later, KGB arrested his cook on suspicions of poisoning. The matter was hushed up by our government. Hence the continuing burden on our collective consciousness," the author tweeted today.
Shastri was the prime minister between June 1964 and January 1966.
Dhar's book, published by Vitasta in 2019, is considered to be the "first-ever comprehensive study of the enduring Shastri death mystery."
Your Prime Minister is Dead comes in both English and Hindi versions.
For more than a decade, Dhar additionally devoted himself to resolving the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Subhash Chandra Bose.
His 2012 bestselling book India's Biggest Cover-up (Netaji Rahasya Gatha in Hindi) triggered the demand for declassification of the Bose files.
From the Swarajya Archives: The ‘Little Minister of India’, plus Anuj Dhar's writing on Shastri's mysterious death in Swarajya
4. Caught our eye: 🌉 "Final few laps" of India's longest sea bridge
Pictured is the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link in the last stretches of construction, taken by Vishal Bhargava.
The longest sea bridge in the country — 22-km-long, including 16.5 km over the sea and 5.5 km on land — is expected to be ready for operations by the year end.
The sea bridge will reduce travel time between South Mumbai and Navi Mumbai to just 20 minutes from the two hours it takes now.
It will provide direct access to Nhava Sheva Port, Mumbai-Goa Highway, Mumbai-Pune Expressway, and the Navi Mumbai International Airport.
PM Narendra Modi laid the foundation for the project in December 2016. The work began in April 2018.
The project's cost jumped from Rs 4,500 crore in 2005 to Rs 11,000 crore in 2014. Now, it is estimated to be Rs 17,800 crore.
The Japanese International Cooperation Agency is financing 85 per cent of the project. The loan has been offered with a 10-year grace and a 30-year repayment period.
5. Culture cutlet: 🏆Golden Globe for RRR song Naatu Naatu
The song Naatu Naatu in director S S Rajamouli's film RRR won 'best original song' at the Golden Globes 2023.
It's a dance number featuring stars Junior N T R and Ram Charan.
The song was composed by veteran music director M M Keeravani, with lyrics by Kala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj.
No small feat. Naatu Naatu won competing against Taylor Swift’s Carolina from Where the Crawdads Sing, Ciao Papa from Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Lady Gaga’s Hold My Hand from Top Gun: Maverick, and Lift Me Up from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, performed by Rihanna.
It's the first-ever Asian song to win at the Golden Globes.
Though it won for the song, RRR also secured the best non-English-language film nomination.
In this category, it lost out to historical drama Argentina, 1985, with other worthy contenders in Korean romantic mystery film Decision to Leave, German anti-war drama All Quiet on the Western Front, and French-Dutch coming-of-age drama Close.
RRR became the first Indian film in over two decades to be nominated at the Golden Globes.
Reactions to the win.
"SPEECHLESS🙏🏻Music truly knows no boundaries," S S Rajamouli tweeted.
"I've danced to many songs throughout my career but #NaatuNaatu will forever stay close to my heart...," Jr N T R tweeted.
"What a Phenomenal, Historic Achievement !!!!" actor Chiranjeevi said in a tweet.
"A very special accomplishment!... This prestigious honour has made every Indian very proud," Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.
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