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NID student’s cheetah-inspired logo picked for bullet train project

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National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd

Logo was selected from a contest by a three-member screening committee headed by renowned painter and architect Satish Gujral

The logo for India’s ambitious bullet train project has been finalised. A three-member screening committee headed by renowned painter and architect Satish Gujral, which was constituted by the Union railway ministry for the task, has picked a design – the outline of a cheetah in a locomotive engine – crafted by a student of Ahmedabad’s National Institute of Design (NID) as the logo for the proposed high-speed rail network.

A report in The Indian Express quoted a railway official as saying: “The contest received an overwhelming response from across the country. The dates for submitting the applications were between April 19 and May 18, and around 100 entries were received by the committee from various states. The cheetah represents speed, while the red and blue lines symbolise calm and reliability.”

The screening committee, which besides Gujral also included a NITI Aayog member and an official from the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), had shortlisted three entries from the nearly 100 designs that had been received through the contest. The top entry was selected from NID in Ahmedabad, the second from the School of Planning and Architecture in Delhi, and the third from the NID in Bengaluru, The Indian Express report said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone for India’s first high-speed rail network project – connecting Ahmedabad with Mumbai – in Gujarat on September 14.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail or MAHSR is a 508 KM long corridor that will pass through Sabarmati, Anand, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Bilimora, Vapi, Boisar, Virar and Thane. The project is expected to be completed by 2022. The MAHSR project is a joint venture between Indian Railways and Japan’s Shinkansen Technology.

Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad recently put out a study, saying that the bullet train from Mumbai-Ahmedabad can eventually be extended to Jaipur and Delhi. The study said that the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor was a good choice for the first route as it connects the country’s first and seventh most populous cities with significant economic development in the 500 km corridor between them.

Often described as the fastest land animal, with a peak speed of over 112-kmph, the cheetah has been extinct in India since 1951 – a result of heavy poaching, unchecked hunting and loss of its habitat. However, given its impressive speed, it is perhaps the perfect mascot for the ambitious bullet train project, which promises to operate at a peak speed of 350 kmph.

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Rahul Gandhi says air pollution in North India a national emergency, tourism declining, global reputation crumbling

“We need a collective national response, not political blame games,” the Congress leader said on his X handle.

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Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the air pollution in North India is a national emergency that needs a collective national response and not a political blame game. The Congress leader added that due to air pollution tourism is declining and “our global reputation is crumbling”.

It is a public health crisis that is stealing children’s future and suffocating the elderly, Gandhi said, adding an environmental and economic disaster that is ruining countless lives.

“As Parliament meets in a few days, MPs will all be reminded of the crisis by our irritated eyes and sore throats. It is our responsibility to come together and discuss how India can end this crisis once and for all,” the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha said.

The former Congress chief said the poorest “among us suffer the most”, unable to escape the toxic air surrounding them. Families are gasping for clean air, children are falling sick, and millions of lives are being cut short, he added.

The Rae Bareli MP noted that the pollution cloud covers hundreds of kilometres. He said cleaning it up will require major changes and decisive action from governments, companies, experts, and citizens.

“We need a collective national response, not political blame games,” the Congress leader said on his X handle.

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Indian Navy submarine collides with fishing boat near Goa coast, 2 fishermen missing

A spokesperson from the Navy told the media that eleven crew have been rescued so far.

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Indian Navy submarine collides with fishing boat near Goa coast, 2 fishermen missing

Indian Navy officials on Friday said that an Indian fishing vessel with a crew of 13 collided with an Indian Naval submarine near the Goa coast. 

Following the incident, a massive search and rescue operation has been launched by the Indian Navy, which has deployed six ships and aircraft. Reportedly, while 11 crew have been rescued, two are still missing.

The Ministry of Defence issued a statement and said that the vessel, Marthoma, collided with a Scorpene-class submarine about 70 nautical miles off the Goa coast. It added that search and rescue efforts for the remaining two are underway and are being coordinated with Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre Mumbai (MRCC). It further mentioned that additional assets including from the Coast Guard have been diverted to the area to augment the efforts.

The statement said that the cause of the incident is being investigated. Notably, Scorpene-class submarines are a major part of India’s naval power in the Indian Ocean as they can undertake multifarious types of missions, including anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying, and area surveillance.

Reports said that the state-of-the-art technology utilised for the construction of the Scorpene-class submarines has ensured superior stealth features such as advanced acoustic silencing techniques, low radiated noise levels, hydro-dynamically optimized shape and the ability to launch a crippling attack on the enemy using precision-guided weapons. Furthermore, the attack can be launched with both torpedoes and tube-launched anti-ship missiles, whilst underwater or on the surface.

Meanwhile, the Indian Navy in its statement said that 13 crew members were aboard the fishing vessel at the time of the collision. It added that while 11 crew have been rescued so far, two fishermen are still reported missing.

A spokesperson from the Navy told the media that eleven crew have been rescued so far. He stated that search and rescue efforts for the remaining two crew members of Marthoma are in progress and are being coordinated with the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Mumbai. Additional assets including from the Coast Guard have been diverted to the area to augment the efforts, he continued.

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10 Naxalites killed in encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma

The District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) continue their search operation in the area.

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Ten Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security forces in the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Friday.

The confrontation started in the morning within a forest area under the jurisdiction of the Bhejji police station, where a joint operation was being conducted by security personnel as part of an anti-Naxalite initiative, according to Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P. 

This operation was initiated following intelligence regarding the presence of Maoists connected to the Konta and Kistaram area committees, situated in the forested regions around Korajguda, Dantespuram, Nagaram, and Bhandarpadar villages.

So far, the bodies of ten Naxalites have been recovered at the scene. Additionally, a significant cache of weapons was seized, including an INSAS rifle, an AK-47, and a Self Loading Rifle (SLR). 

The District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) continue their search operation in the area. This incident contributes to the year-to-date total of 207 Naxalite fatalities recorded in various clashes across the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, comprising seven districts. 

On Wednesday, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the national capital, North Block. Their discussion focused on developmental progress in Naxal-affected areas of Chhattisgarh and efforts aimed at enhancing peace and stability in these regions. 

The Chief Minister emphasised that both the state government and security forces are diligently working to eradicate Naxal influence in Chhattisgarh, aligning with the Union Home Minister’s commitment to eliminate Naxalism by 2026.

“I met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and updated him about the Naxal activities in Chhattisgarh. Over the past 11 months, close to 200 Naxals have been neutralized, and approximately 600-700 have surrendered. We are making significant strides towards the goal set by the Prime Minister and Home Minister to achieve a Naxal-free India by March 2026,” CM Sai told reporters following the meeting.

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