
Piling work for Fort Station bridge to begin soon in Tiruchy
TIRUCHY: Following the demolition of the 159-year-old British-era bridge near Fort Station, Tiruchy, on May 13, the Southern Railways is preparing to begin the piling work in the upcoming days for a new structure. Officials stated that the project is being fast-tracked as they are aiming to complete the construction before the onset of the monsoon and all efforts are being made to avoid any kind of delays.
The bridge redevelopment is a joint initiative by the state and the Central government. The state government began the construction of approach roads in November 2023 and is nearing completion.
'We have completed 80% of the approach road and related infrastructure works coming under the state government. Our team has communicated this to the railway authorities. They've assured us that they will soon start the construction of the bridge. Apart from this, they also informed us that the construction of a bridge near the Divisional Railway Manager's (DRM) office is also moving along a fast track,' said Minister for Municipal Administration, K N Nehru.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Economic Times
22 minutes ago
- Economic Times
UK to boost 'homegrown talent' in new AI skills drive
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday pledged to boost "homegrown talent for the AI age" by teaming up with tech giants to train 7.5 million workers in artificial intelligence skills. Speaking at the start of London's Tech Week, with a line-up of speakers including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Starmer said: "In this global race, we can be an AI maker and not an AI taker." Starmer was due to have a one-on-one conversation with the chief of the star Silicon Valley semiconductor firm whose chips are critical for artificial intelligence applications and of the event bringing together industry giants, Starmer announced a government-industry partnership to train 7.5 million workers in AI skills, including in using chatbots and large language models to boost firms including Nvidia, Google, Microsoft and Amazon committed to make training materials freely available to businesses over the next five years. Google EMEA region President Debbie Weinstein called it a "crucial initiative" essential for developing AI skills, unlocking AI-powered growth "and cementing the UK's position as an AI leader". In his opening speech, Starmer said Britain must build "the digital infrastructure that we need to make sure AI improves our public services".The UK has a "responsibility" to "harness this unprecedented opportunity and to use it to improve the lives of working people", Starmer added."We are going to build more homes, more labs, more data centres, and we're going to do it much, much more quickly." Economic growth His government has pledged to fire up the UK's flagging economy, including with "pro-growth" AI regulations to attract tech investment and turn Britain into an "AI superpower"."We are putting the power of AI into the hands of the next generation -- so they can shape the future, not be shaped by it," Starmer said in a press release before the British leader unveiled £187 million ($253 million) in funding to help develop tech abilities including training for one million secondary school students, as part of its "TechFirst" called it a "step change in how we train homegrown talent for the AI age".The investment will "embed AI right through our education system", he said, announcing nearly £150 million in undergraduate and PhD research scholarships in AI and also announced a "commitment from Nvidia to partner on a new AI talent pipeline", including through expanding a Nvidia lab in Bristol, southwest UK's AI sector is valued at £72 billion, employing over 64,000 people, and is projected to exceed £800 billion by 2035. It was growing 30 times faster than the rest of the economy, according to government figures from 2023 -- an "incredible" rate, according to speakers at the tech conference include the CEO of Mistral AI, Arthur Mensch, the UK's Science Secretary Peter Kyle and Markus Villig, founder of ride-hailing app Bolt.


Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
PM Modi brushed aside request to stop Sheikh Hasina's political statements, says Yunus
NEW DELHI: Bangladesh interim government chief Muhammad Yunus contended on Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi brushed aside his request to prevent former prime minister Sheikh Hasina from making political statements from Indian soil. Yunus, who was speaking at Chatham House in London, said efforts will continue to seek Hasina's extradition from India so that she can face charges in Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal, which recently indicted her for ordering a police crackdown on protestors last year. There was no immediate response from Indian officials to the remarks made by Yunus during the interactive session at the British think tank. Hasina fled to India last August after her government collapsed in the face of widespread protests by student groups. India has not responded to a request made by Bangladesh's interim government last December to extradite Hasina. Yunus said he sought Modi's help to stop Hasina from making political statements from Indian soil when the two leaders held a bilateral meeting on the margins of a Bimstec Summit in Bangkok in April. 'When I had a chance to talk to Prime Minister Modi, I simply said you want to host her, I cannot force you to abandon that policy. But please help us in making sure she doesn't speak to Bangladeshi people the way she is doing,' Yunus said while responding to a question from the audience. 'She announces on such and such day and at such and such hour she will speak, and the whole of Bangladesh gets very angry,' he added. Asked by the moderator if India was doing what he had asked, Yunus replied: 'No. Modi's answer [and] I quote, he said it is the social media, we cannot control it. What can you say? This is an explosive situation, you can't just walk away by saying this is social media. This is what is still going on.' Yunus said his administration will continue efforts to seek Hasina's extradition following her indictment by Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal. 'This will continue…another stage has come, now there is a case. The International Crimes Tribunal has started the trial process; they sent notices to Hasina for all the crimes she has committed… So, they have to respond to the notices,' he said. 'This is a legal notice, so we have to go to the Interpol and all the other things that happen through that. This is the process that we are following; we want it to be very legal, very proper.' Yunus also spoke about how his desire to build the 'best of relationships with India' is being thwarted by 'fake news in the Indian press'. 'We want to build the best of relationships with India, it's our neighbour. We don't want to have any kind of basic problem with them. But somehow things go wrong every time because of all the fake news coming from the Indian press and many people say it has connections with policy-makers at the top and so on,' he said. 'This is what makes Bangladesh very jittery, very very angry. We try to get over this anger but… the whole barrage of things keep happening in cyberspace, we can't get away from that,' he said. India-Bangladesh relations have been in free-fall since the interim administration led by Yunus assumed office last August. New Delhi has frequently criticised the caretaker government for failing to tackle the repression of Bangladesh's religious minorities and for giving a free hand to radical and extremist forces. Yunus has described the allegations as 'exaggerated'.


Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Govt working on strengthening rural economy: Himachal CM
Himachal chief minister (CM) Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday said that the state government is working with a resolve to make Himachal as a self-reliant and prosperous state, for which various measures have been taken during the last two and half years. He remarked that this dream can only be realised by strengthening the rural economy as around more than 80% population of Himachal is dependent on agriculture and horticulture. Shifting focus to raise the economy of the agrarian community is the top most priority of the state government. The chief minister said: 'Himachal has become the first state in the country to provide minimum support price (MSP) on organic products as produced from natural farming. My government twice enhanced the MSP on procurement of maize, firstly to ₹30 and thereafter to ₹40 per kg and that of wheat from ₹40 to ₹60 per kg . Besides, to increase the production of raw turmeric, my government is providing an MSP of ₹90 per kg.' The state government has introduced maize flour produced through natural farming under the brand name Him- Bhog Him- Makki. More than 4,000 quintals of maize has been procured from as many as 1,590 farmer families practising natural farming across 10 districts of the state, excluding Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur. Sukhu said the state government has made Him-bhog Him-Makki maize flour available through the Public Distribution System (PDS) depots across the state. This flour is also available for sale on HIM-ERA, the government-authorised portal. This initiative aims to make organic maize flour accessible to both urban and rural populations, he said, adding that ₹1.20 crore was directly transferred to farmers bank accounts for the procurement of around 400 metric tonnes of maize. 'When the Congress came to power two and a half years ago, I observed that the farmers used to sell their land under compulsion just to repay the loan amount. We decided to help such farmers through Interest Subvention Scheme, as a one-time settlement especially for those facing land auctions', said the CM.