Ashwini Vaishnaw, the newly appointed Minister of Information and Broadcasting (I&B), commenced his duties on Tuesday, marking the beginning of a new chapter in India's media landscape.

In a significant move under the 'KNOW BJP initiative,' Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President JP Nadda, along with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, chaired a meeting at the party headquarters. They engaged with representatives of eighteen political parties from ten countries, marking an intriguing international exchange.

Western Railway is gearing up to enhance travel convenience for passengers celebrating the festival of Holi by operating four pairs of special trains to various destinations, according to an official statement.

The Indian Railways has partnered with Ramakrishna Forgings Ltd to establish a manufacturing facility for forged wheels in Gummidipoondi, Tamil Nadu, with an initial investment of Rs 650 crore. The plant is expected to have a production capacity of 2.5 lakh wheels, out of which 80,000 will be utilized domestically, and the remaining 1.70 lakh wheels will be exported.

Vaishnaw highlighted the importance of this move, stating, "The next on our agenda, which we will look in the third term of the Modi government, is making AI chipsets." He emphasized that AI chipsets, which encompass graphics processing units (GPUs) and other computing hardware, are vital for the development of AI models, as they require large-scale computing capabilities beyond the capacity of central processing units (CPUs).

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw launched NITI Aayog's digital public infrastructure platform 'NITI For States' and inaugurated the 'Viksit Bharat Strategy Room' on Thursday. The platform aims to enhance policy and governance by providing robust knowledge and insights to government officials across various sectors.

The controversy arose when Google removed several Indian apps for failing to adhere to its in-app payment guidelines, drawing strong objections from the Indian government, which deemed the removal as 'unacceptable.' Responding to the government's stance, Google initiated steps to restore some apps that agreed to comply with its payment guidelines.

With Beijing's recent lockdowns disrupting global chip supply chains, India's proposition as a democratic and reliable semiconductor manufacturing destination has gained considerable traction. Minister Vaishnaw remarked that the perception among global players has shifted from "when should we go to India" to "how soon do we go to India," indicating a paradigm shift in investment sentiment towards the country.

The Indian Railways, once hailed as the lifeline of the nation, is now facing intense scrutiny and criticism from political leaders, especially Rahul Gandhi and Congress leaders, who have accused the Modi government of gross mismanagement and neglect in its railway policies.

India is poised to enter the high-stakes arena of semiconductor manufacturing within the next five years, leveraging its unparalleled design capabilities and lucrative incentives worth USD 10 billion.

Minister Vaishnaw emphasised the crucial role of the startup ecosystem in the Indian economy and expressed the government's commitment to protecting them from the whims of "any big tech." 

The Indian Railways is gearing up for a revolution in train travel with the ambitious plan to manufacture over 1,000 new-generation Amrit Bharat trains in the coming years.