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Jammu and Kashmir: World’s highest railway bridge, taller than Eiffel Tower, to open soon

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Taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Jammu and Kashmir will soon get a 1.315-km long bridge built at a dizzying height of 359 metres. The first track mounted vehicle (trolley) run was successfully conducted on Sunday in the presence of Ashwini Vaishanaw, minister of railways

Worlds highest railway bridge over Chenab river in Jammu, almost ready, Track linking activity over the Chenab Bridge has been completed.

Some track and overhead wire-related works remain, which will be likely to complete by end of this year. The bridge is part of Udhampur – Srinagar – Baramulla Rail Link Project (USBRL). Railway minister also travelled on the track mounted trally with railway officials and inspected the iconic bridge  having the height of 359 meters from the bed of river Chenab.

Foundation of hte bridge equal to half of a football field

Vaishnaw said that the decision has been taken to set up Vande Bharat Express train maintenance facility at Badgam in Kashmir Vally and in the first go Vande Bharat Metro will be run between  Jammu-Shringar cities once this important railway link, which will connect Kashmir Vally with railway network, in the rest of the country will be completed 

Vaishnaw said that the iconic bridge having foundation equal to half of the football field is a “subject of pride” and it was “difficult challenge of engineering”, while over 28,000 metric tons of steal used for the bridge structure that is built in highly active seismic zone.

Construction of the bridge started in 2005

According to Northern railway officials, the arch bridge was constructed at a cost of ₹1,486 crores. Construction work of the bridge was started in 2005. Its consumes over 13 million man work hours till the date.

The deck height of the bridge is 359 meters, while the length of it is 1.315 km. The arch bridge has 17 spans and the linear length of main arch span is 460 meters and curvilinear, they said. The codal life of the bridge is 120 years and the bridge can withstand the wind speed of 266 kmph, but the train can cross the bridge at the speed of 100 kmph.

Overarch of the deck completd with golden joint in August 2022

Prior to the construction of the Bridge, 260 meter approach roads and 400 meters long tunnel was built to reach the site. Cable crane was commissioned in 31st August 2013 for erection of steel arch, trestle and piers. Incremental launching over 2.74 degree circular and transition curve of 268 meter length was successfully done for the first time in Indian Railways in November 2017.

The overarch deck of the bridge was completed with a ‘Golden Joint’ in August last year, marking the bridge’s major achievemnet and further making way for the laying of the track. The construction of this highest railway bridge of the world was one of the biggest civil-engineering challenge faced by any railway project in India in the recent past.

National

Market volatility over Greenland issue to continue due to ‘few sticking points’: Report

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New Delhi, Jan 24 : Investors are likely to remain on edge over the proposed US framework on Greenland, and near-term volatility related to this issue can continue, a report has said.

The report from Bank of Baroda said that market participants are awaiting more details that could determine whether negotiations succeed or unravel.

“Going ahead, investors are likely to await more details of the deal, as there are a few sticking points which can derail the negotiations. Hence, some volatility can be expected,” the report said.

Several analysts expect the arrangement to resemble an update of the existing security agreement between the US and Denmark, which was signed in 1951, the report noted.

Further negotiations will follow in due course which will cover areas such as US military presence in Greenland, as well as use of its mineral resources and sovereignty, said Aditi Gupta, Economist, Bank of Baroda.

US President Donald Trump has framed Washington’s interest in Greenland as driven by national security concerns, but the island’s largely unexplored mineral wealth including oil, gas and rare earth elements is of interest to US, the report said.

“The announcement of a framework deal between the US and NATO has helped to soothe investors’ nerves, however the details of the deal are still fuzzy,” it added.

Geo-political tensions escalated and markets went into turmoil after the US President intensified rhetoric to annex Greenland and threatened economic measures against European countries that oppose US plans. In response, several European nations, including France, Germany, Sweden amongst others increased military deployment in Greenland, further escalating tensions.

Trump had announced a 10 per cent additional tariff on goods from the UK, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, Netherlands and Finland from February 1, 2026. The rate was expected to increase to 25 per cent by June 1, 2026.

Later, he backed off from his threat of imposing tariffs on European countries along the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.

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Crime

Two Held With ₹68 Lakh Cash Near India-Myanmar Border In Mizoram; Heroin Worth ₹78 Lakh Seized

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Aizawl: Two persons were arrested with Rs 68 lakh in cash near the India-Myanmar border in east Mizoram’s Champhai district, officials said on Thursday.

Acting on a tip-off, the Assam Rifles intercepted a vehicle at Zote village on August 11, they said.

Upon thorough checking, Rs 60 lakh in cash was recovered from two persons in the vehicle.

The duo, identified as Joseph Lalthansanga and Vanlalruati, could not state any proper reason why they were carrying such a huge amount of cash. They were subsequently handed over to the police for legal action, officials said.

In another operation, the Assam Rifles recovered 94.6 gram of heroin, worth Rs 78 lakh, from the village on Wednesday.

The drugs were handed over to the Excise and Narcotics Department, officials said.

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National

India’s AI Tech Spending Projected To Reach Rs. 92 Thousand Crore By 2028: Report

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India’s AI technology spending is projected to grow at an annualised rate of 38 per cent from 2023 to reach $10.4 billion (approximately Rs. 92 thousand crore) in 2028, a report said on Thursday.

Around 40 per cent of organisations in India have already implemented agentic AI, and close to 50 per cent are planning to use the technology within the next 12 months, IDC InfoBrief and UiPath said in a joint report.

In 2025, AI investments are focused on building the foundational infrastructure required to power transformative, high-value use cases.

According to the report, the adoption is surging, fueled by a tech-savvy workforce, expanding digital infrastructure, and government-backed initiatives.

Organisations’ spending on enterprise automation, multilingual AI models, and agentic deployments is driving this momentum further.

The benefits are already visible, as 80 per cent of Indian companies say agentic AI boosts productivity, while 73 per cent say it improves decision-making, the report said.

According to the report, agentic AI is gaining strong traction across the manufacturing, retail and wholesale, healthcare, and life sciences industries, which heavily rely on data and repetitive decision-making cycles.

“Agentic automation is rapidly redefining business operations across India. While enterprises in this region are embracing the full potential of AI agents to streamline workflows and autonomously execute complex business processes, trust and security remain barriers to widespread implementation,” said DebDeep Sengupta, Area Vice President, South Asia, UiPath.

Our agentic automation platform directly addresses these challenges, breaking down barriers to enterprise AI adoption by enhancing security and compliance, improving accuracy and reliability for agentic outcomes, Sengupta added.

About 69 per cent of Indian organisations are using agentic AI to enhance productivity, 59 per cent to drive personalised customer engagement, while 57 per cent apply it to risk and fraud detection, highlighting how agentic AI is being applied across front and back-office functions, the report highlighted.

“Becoming an AI-fueled business is no longer an option in today’s unpredictable climate. For many organisations, it’s fast becoming a strategic necessity,” said Deepika Giri, Associate Vice President, IDC Asia/Pacific.

Across the region, organisations are embracing agentic AI and agentic automation at scale, Giri added.

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