Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said, the Construction of the 109 km green field Ahmedabad Dholera Expressway will reduce the travel time between Ahmedabad and Dholera by one hour. This highway will provide direct connectivity to Dholera Green Field Airport. He was briefing the media after inspecting the section of the Ahmedabad-Dholera National Highway near Kavitha village today.

He said that this four-lane highway which will be constructed at an estimated cost of 4,000 crore rupees will significantly contribute to the economic and social development of the Dholera region. Apart from Ahmedabad-Dholera, currently, three other expressways are under construction in the state which includes Delhi Mumbai Expressway, Amritsar Jamnagar Expressway, and Tharad Ahmedabad Expressway.

Temperatures in Yakutsk have reportedly fallen down to minus 50 degrees Celsius this week in Yakutsk, the capital city of the Sakha Republic, Russia, which is located about 450 km south of the Arctic Circle. This comes during an an extreme cold wave in the Siberian city which is known as the coldest city on earth.

Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav Iconic Events Week will begin on Tuesday to commemorate 75 years of India’s Independence and the 126th Birth Anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

The events will be organised on the theme of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s life and his contribution to the freedom struggle. During the week-long celebration, various activities will be organised at locations related to Netaji’s life and work in Manipur, Nagaland, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Gujarat, Odisha and West Bengal. Home Minister Amit Shah will attend the culmination event in Port Blair on the 23rd of this month as a Chief Guest.

The 21st Edition of the Bilateral Naval Exercise between India and France- Exercise VARUNA commenced on the Western Seaboard on Monday. The exercise will be conducted till the 20th of this month and will witness advanced air defence exercises, tactical manoeuvres, surface firings, underway replenishment and other maritime operations. The Ministry of Defence in a statement said that this exercise provides an opportunity to learn from each other’s best practices. The exercise facilitates operational-level interaction between the two navies to foster mutual cooperation for good order at sea, underscoring the shared commitment of both nations to security, safety and freedom of the global maritime commons.

While the bilateral exercise between the two navies was initiated in 1993, it was christened as ‘VARUNA’ in 2001 and has become a hallmark of India - France's strategic bilateral relationship.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said, the Government today thinks like a startup, relentlessly focusing on newer and better ideas to improve the efficiency and integrity of systems and processes.

Presenting the National Startup Awards 2022 in New Delhi on Monday, the Minister emphasised on the need for a more robust database on startups to connect them with the Government, industry bodies and the public. Mr. Goyal added that initiatives like Digital India, and broadband connectivity in villages drove the growth of the startup ecosystem, especially in remote parts of the nation.

World's longest River Cruise MV Ganga Vilas is in Patna on its way to Dibrugarh via Bangladesh. Thirty-two tourists from Switzerland are revelling in the beautiful moments of the journey. Tourists are overwhelmed with the hospitality of the people of Bihar.

AIR correspondent reports that tourists of the Cruise will visit different iconic and historical places of Patna today, January 17.

Tourists will visit Takhat Sri Harmandir ji in Patna  Sahib. It is the birth place of Guru Gobind Singh ji  Maharaj who is the 10th and last guru of Sikh. They will also see if you Golghar which is situated in central Patna.  It is made without pillar with a large storage capacity of one lakh 40 thousand tonnes of grain. 

World's longest River Cruise MV Ganga Vilas will reach Patna in the afternoon today. The Cruise on way to Dibrugarh via Bangladesh is in Bihar. AIR Correspondent reports that 32 tourists from Switzerland relishing the Varanasi to Dibrugarh journey and before arriving in Patna the tourists will visit Chirand archaeological site in the Saran district. It is the first known site of the Neolithic age.

The Director of Bihar Tourism Department Yashaspati Mishra told AIR that elaborate arrangements have been made for the tourists. The cruise will be in Bihar till the 22nd January. MV Ganga Vilas was flagged off from Varanasi by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. The Cruise will cover a 3,200 km voyage being pitched as the world's longest. 

The regular services of the 8th Vande Bharat Express train connecting Secunderabad and Visakhapatnam will start from today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had flagged off Vande Bharat express connecting Telangana and Andhra Pradesh yesterday virtually. The inaugural train reached yesterday evening. The train will cover a distance of about 700 km.

The train comprises 14 AC Chair car coaches and two Executive AC Chair car coaches with the capacity of 1128 passengers. The train will have stoppages at Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry and Vijayawada stations in Andhra Pradesh and at Khammam, Warangal and Secunderabad stations in Telangana. People at several places expressed their happiness on the introduction of the Vande Bharat Express. 

Indian Railways will launch its Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train during a special tour between India and Nepal on 17th of next month from New Delhi. The tour Shri Ram-Janaki Yatra: Ayodhya to Janakpur will cover pilgrimage and heritage sites at Ayodhya and Janakpur Dham (Nepal) along with Nandigram, Sitamarhi, Varanasi and Prayagraj. The guests will be travelling around 25 hundred Kilometres during this tour. This will be a seven-day all inclusive tour package at a price range starting from 39 thousand 775 rupees. To make this tour affordable, IRCTC has kept the provision of EMI payment as well.

The Makar Sankranti festival is being observed across the country today. This day is dedicated to Lord Surya. It is the day when Sun travels from Sagittarius to Capricorn. Makar Sankranti is also known as Uttarayan which means that the Sun moves towards the north.

With the onset of Uttarayan, the effect of cold also starts reducing gradually. The festival has different names in different parts of the country. It is celebrated as Pongal in Karnataka, Lohri in Punjab and Uttaryan, Maghi and Khichdi in some other parts of the country.