Kochi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a two-day Kerala visit, flagged off India’s first water metro that connects 10 islands around Kochi through battery-operated electric hybrid boats for seamless connectivity with the city.
“Kochi’s water metro project is a unique project. This is a game-changing transport system because Kochi is surrounded by many islands and out of them 10 islands are very important and thickly populated,” Managing Director, Kochi Metro Rail Limited told ANI ahead of PM Modi’s visit to Loknath Behera.
#Kerala | PM Modi inaugurated Kochi’s water metro. pic.twitter.com/2w2sqOg8fo
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PM Modi flags Off Kerala’s First Vande Bharat Express
PM Modi flagged off Kerala’s first Vande Bharat Express between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod at Thiruvananthapuram Central Station on Tuesday.
According to Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the train will cover 11 districts namely Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod.
#WATCH | Kerala: PM Narendra Modi flags off the Thiruvananthapuram Central-Kasaragod Vande Bharat Express train from Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station pic.twitter.com/hgqAUi305M
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PM Modi also laid the foundation stone of the Digital Science Park in Thiruvananthapuram.
The Digital Science Park is envisaged as a key research facility to develop digital products and services for industry and business units in collaboration with academia, the PMO said.
As a third generation Science Park, the Digital Science Park will house common facilities to support the development of products in the area of Industry 4.0 Technologies like AI, data analytics, cyber security, smart materials etc, said the PMO statement.
The state-of-the-art basic infrastructure will support high-end applied research by industries and the co-development of products in association with the Universities. The initial investment for Phase-1 of the project is around Rs 200 crore while the total project outlay has been estimated at around Rs 1,515 crore.