The first rake of Train-18 or "Vande Bharat Express" was flagged off by PM Modi on Delhi-Varanasi route

A Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha lawmaker today sought to know from the government if production of indigenous 'Train-18' has been stopped. Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in Parliament, Sena's Sanjay Raut said the semi-high speed train, popularly known as Train-18, is considered as a game changer for the Indian Railways and is one of the most successful experiments of Make-In-India.

He said the first rake of Train-18 or "Vande Bharat Express" was flagged off by the Prime Minister on New Delhi-Varanasi route and people are appreciating the train. "Now there are reports that production of Train-18 has been stopped," he said.

The Integral Coach Factory, Chennai manufactures the train.

Mr Raut wondered if there was any conspiracy to derail the production of the train. He also said there are reports that some multinational companies were repeatedly trying to obstruct the tendering process for the train.

According to a railway document, the trial of the second rake of Train 18 would be done on the Delhi-Katra route likely this month.

In his mention, Harnath Singh Yadav of the BJP pointed out difficulties faced by civil aspirants due to wrong translation of questions in Hindi and other Indian languages.

He alleged that the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is using Google to translate questions from English to Hindi and other regional languages.

Another BJP member Swait Malik complained that the Punjab government was not providing the required funds for smart city project in the state. Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar will be developed as smart cities.

Mr Malik said the Centre has provided Rs 1,500 crore for the project, but the state government was not contributing the remaining 50 per cent fund.

He suggested that a parliamentary panel or team of officials should visit the state to take stock of the smart city project.

