On November 2, 2020, India’s first solar energy-driven miniature train was virtually inaugurated at the Veli Tourist Village in Kerala by state’s Chief Minister (CM) Pinarayi Vijayan. Developed with an outlay of Rs 10 crore, this train is a part of Rs 60 crore projects undertaken to make facilities of the Veli tourist village at par with international standards.
- Modelled after the vintage steam locomotive, it covers a distance of 2.5 km with three-bogie train and can carry 45 passengers.
- Apart from this, he also dedicated Rs 5 crore Urban Park and Rs 2.5 crore swimming pool at the Veli tourist village which is located on the outskirts of the capital Thiruvananthapuram where the Veli lake meets the Arabian sea.
Key Points:
–It features a fully- equipped rail system, including a tunnel, traditional style station and a ticket office.
–The surplus energy generated by the rail system will be routed to the Kerala State Electricity Board Limited (KSEBL) grid.
–A tourist facilitation centre, convention centre, and art cafe will also be opened at the tourist village soon.
–Notably, the state government had allotted around Rs 120 crore for tourism sector in one year alone.
Recent Related News:
i.In 2019, the Central government approved the setting up four medical device parks in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala to provide world-class products at affordable prices for treatment. In this regard, on September 24, 2020, Pinarayi Vijayan laid the foundation stone for one of the first medical devices parks in the country, “MedSpark” at Life Science Park, Thonnakkal, Thiruvananthapuram.
ii.In accordance with the report on “Household Social Consumption: Education in India as part of 75th round of National Sample Survey(NSS) – from July 2017 to June 2018′′ conducted by National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), Kerala again emerged as the most literate state in the country with 96.2% literacy followed by Delhi (88.7%), Uttarakhand ( 87.6%), Himachal Pradesh (86.6%) and Assam (85.9%).
About Kerala:
Governor– Arif Mohammad Khan
National Parks- Eravikulam National Park, Silent Valley National Park, Pampadum Shola National Park, Mathikettan Shola National Park, and Anamudi Shola National Park
