With free entry for all for the first time in its history, the New Delhi World Book Fair will open here at Bharat Mandapam on January 10 with “Indian Military History: Valour and Wisdom @75” as its central theme, the National Book Trust announced on Thursday.

The 53rd edition of the “world’s largest B2C book fair” will be inaugurated by Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan with dignitaries from the guest of honour country Qatar and the focus country Spain.

The nine-day book fair will bring together over 1,000 publishers from more than 35 countries, host about 600 literary activities with nearly 1000 speakers and is expected to “attract over two million visitors”.

The highlight of this year’s book fair will be the theme pavilion titled “Indian Military History: Valour and Wisdom @75”, honouring the courage, sacrifice and nation-building role of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force since Independence.

“We are using this particular theme to salute our armed forces. We are focusing on the significant contributions of the Indian armed forces Army, Navy, and Air Force to nation building, defence, unity and progress. It has a very dedicated pavilion and literary events to showcase this particular theme, and I’m sure you all will get enriched from the material which we are displaying,” Milind Sudhakar Marathe, chairman NBT, said at a press conference.

He added that in continuation of NBT’s commitment of making “books and knowledge more open and accessible to all”, the book fair will have free entry for all visitors for the first time in its history.

“For the first time in the history of NBT, we are making entry to the fair absolutely free so that we can accommodate the maximum number of people from Delhi and around. So, this is for the first time it’s happening, and it shows the commitment of NBT to make books reading accessible for all,” Marathe said.

The theme pavilion, which will feature more than 500 books, curated exhibits, posters, documentaries and installations, is inspired by Indian Military Academy , Dehradun.

Some key features at the theme pavilion include replicas of the Arjun Tank, INS Vikrant, and LCA Tejas, tributes to 21 Param Vir Chakra awardees and sessions on major wars and military operation from Budgaon 1947 to Operation Sindoor.

The fair will also feature exhibitions on 150 years of Vande Mataram and the life of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Apart from the participation of Qatar as the guest of honour country and Spain as the focus country, the book fair will host publishers, authors, and cultural institutions from more than 35 nations, including Russia, Japan, Poland, France, Abu Dhabi, Iran, Kazakhstan, Hungary, and Chile.

The international pavilion will host book launches, multilingual poetry evenings, cultural showcases, children’s literature sessions, and discussions on themes of AI, gaming, migration, and heritage.

Another important addition to this year’s book fair will be the participation of 10 international book fair directors, including the Leipzig Book Fair, Bologna Children’s Book Fair, Seoul International Book Fair, Tuyap Fairs and Exhibitions from Turkiye, Frankfurter Buchmesse, Book World Prague from Czech Republic, and the Gothenburg Book Fair from Sweden.

he fair will host authors, speakers, and public figures, including Piyush Mishra, Smriti Irani, Hema Malini, Kailash Satyarthi, Ricky Kej, Jaya Kishori, Durjoy Dutta, Shalini Passi, and Shubhanshu Shukla.

In the evenings, the fair will witness cultural performances by Manganiyar artistes of Rajasthan, poets of the Rekhta Foundation, and the official bands of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force.

In the children’s pavilion, the book fair will host storytelling, theatre, quizzes, art and craft, vedic maths, book designing workshops, and child author interactions.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

Vessel built by Goa Shipyard boosts coast guard roles in pollution response surveillance rescue and maritime safety with long endurance and aviation support.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Monday commissioned the Indian Coast Guard’s (ICG) first indigenously designed and built pollution-control vessel, Samudra Pratap, in Goa.

The 114.5m vessel, built by the Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL), will serve as a critical platform for enforcing marine pollution-control regulations, maritime law enforcement, search and rescue operations, and safeguarding India’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

The 4,200-tonne vessel boasts of a speed of more than 22 knots and an endurance of 6,000 nautical miles.

“With over 60 per cent indigenous content, the ICG’s Samudra Pratap is India’s first indigenously designed pollution-control vessel and the largest ship in the ICG fleet,” the defence ministry said in a statement.

The vessel will enhance the ICG’s operational capability in pollution control, fire-fighting, maritime safety and environmental protection. It will also strengthen its ability to conduct extended surveillance and response missions across India’s vast maritime zones, the ministry said.

Rajnath said the vessel had been specially designed for pollution control, but its role was not limited to this.

“As multiple capabilities have been integrated into a single platform, the ship will prove to be effective in coastal patrol, and strengthen maritime safety. It is a product of the modern approach adopted by the GSL to enhance flexibility and readiness to deal with present-day maritime challenges,” the defence minister said.

The ship, Rajnath said, is equipped with advanced pollution detection systems, dedicated pollution response boats and modern firefighting capabilities. It also features a helicopter hangar and aviation support facilities, which can significantly increase its reach and effectiveness.

“Due to these capabilities, the vessel will be able to operate stably even in rough sea conditions, providing a huge advantage in real-life operations,” he said.

For the first time, the ICG’s ship will have two women officers.

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

Defence Acquisition Council clears the planned procurement proposals worth Rs 79,000 crore, including Long Range Guided Rockets-120.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Monday (December 29, 2025) successfully conducted the maiden flight test of the Pinaka Long Range Guided Rocket (LRGR–120) at the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur. 

Earlier in the day, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, cleared the planned procurement proposals worth ₹79,000 crore, including Long Range Guided Rockets-120. Later in the evening, the DRDO successfully conducted the maiden flight test of the LRGR.

The Defence Ministry said that the test marked a major milestone in India’s indigenous rocket artillery programme.

The LRGR–120 was flight-tested for its maximum range of 120 km, during which it demonstrated all planned in-flight manoeuvres and achieved a direct hit on the designated target with textbook precision. All range instruments deployed at ITR tracked the rocket throughout its entire trajectory, validating its performance parameters.

The long-range guided rocket has been designed by the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), in association with the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL), with support from the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) and Research Centre Imarat (RCI). The flight trial was coordinated by the Integrated Test Range and the Proof & Experimental Establishment (P&EE), the Ministry sources said.

The LRGR was launched from the in-service Pinaka launcher, demonstrating the system’s versatility and its ability to fire multiple variants of Pinaka rockets with different ranges from the same launcher.

Congratulating DRDO on the successful test, the Defence Minister said the design and development of long-range guided rockets would significantly enhance the operational capabilities of the Armed Forces, describing it as a “game changer.”

Defence R&D secretary and DRDO chairman Dr Samir V. Kamat, who witnessed the trial, also congratulated the teams involved for successfully meeting all mission objectives.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

The Agriculture Minister also hits out at Congress labelling it as a ‘factory of lies’ for its campain against the new rural jobs Act.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan called the Congress a “factory of lies” and said that the Opposition party was spreading misinformation about the recently passed Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill.

He said Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was not present in the House when the Bill was taken up for debate and the Opposition did not want to listen to the details of the Bill.

Viksit Bharat vs. MGNREGA

“The Congress has announced an MGNREGA Bachao Sangram. It is actually a ‘save corruption’ campaign. MGNREGA had become synonymous with corruption,” the Minister said.

He said that social audits by gram sabhas have come up with more than 10.51 lakh complaints. “The same work was repeated, work was done by machines, money was siphoned off in the name of cleaning canals and roads, 30% workers were above the age of 60,” he said.

Mr. Chouhan said the new Bill had more scope than MGNREGA and was a better scheme. He said an amount of more than ₹8.48 lakh crore has been allocated to the scheme by the government, while the UPA had spent just over ₹2 lakh crore on it.

Govt unveils 184 new seed varieties

The Minister was speaking at an event in which the Central government unveiled 184 high-yielding and climate-resilient seed varieties of 25 crops that will help farmers increase productivity, reduce costs, and cope with climate change, soil salinity, drought, and other biotic and abiotic stresses.

The new varieties – developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), various universities, and private entities – include 122 cereals, six pulses, 13 oilseeds, 11 fodder crops, six sugarcane varieties, 24 cotton (including 22 BT cotton), and one each of jute and tobacco, the government said.

‘India now world’s largest rice producer’

Mr. Chouhan said the country has become the world’s largest rice producer, surpassing China. “India’s rice production has reached 150.18 million tonnes, compared to China’s 145.28 million tonnes, ensuring national food security and strengthening India’s role as a global food supplier,” he said, adding that the new seed varieties will boost crop production and enhance income of farmers.

Mr. Chouhan said that since 2014, the Narendra Modi government has approved 3,236 high-yielding varieties of seeds as compared to 3,969 varieties notified between 1969 and 2014.

ICAR director general M.L. Jat highlighted the importance of breeding programmes focused on acid soils, organic and natural farming systems, and regenerative agriculture. Union Agriculture Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi said the National Seeds Corporation played a significant role in seed multiplication, which has contributed to enhanced agricultural productivity and achieved a turnover of ₹200 crore.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

Delhi showcase features 349 funerary gems from a Uttar Pradesh stupa highlighting colonial era loss and the legal diplomatic push to reclaim sacred Buddhist heritage.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated the first exhibition in India of the Piprahwa funerary gems linked to the Buddha, which were acquired by the Godrej Industries from its British owners in July after the Centre stalled their auction by Sotheby’s Hong Kong.

“The lesson is that slavery is not only political and economic; slavery also destroys our heritage. The same thing happened with the sacred relics of Lord Buddha. They were taken from India during the period of colonial rule, and for nearly 125 years, they remained outside the country,” Modi said.

“For the descendants of those who took them from India, these were merely inanimate antique pieces. Therefore, they attempted to auction these sacred relics on the international market. But for India, these relics are a part of our revered deity, an integral part of our civilisation. Therefore, India decided that we would not allow their public auction,” he added.

Modi expressed his gratitude to the Godrej Group, which helped in the return of the relics “to the land of Lord Buddha’s work, his place of contemplation, his Mahabodhi land, and his Mahaparinirvana land”.

The Grand International Exposition — The Light and the Lotus: Relics of the Awakened One in South Delhi’s Rai Pithora Cultural Complex showcases 349 gems that were originally interred in a stupa in Uttar Pradesh’s Piprahwa.

The exhibits also include relics from the 1898 Kapilavastu excavation, the 1972 excavations, reliquaries and jewelled treasures from the Indian Museum, and the monolithic stone coffer in which the gems and reliquaries were originally found.

“The Piprahwa relics, comprising bone fragments of the historical Buddha, along with soapstone and crystal caskets, a sandstone coffer, and offerings such as gold ornaments and gemstones, were excavated in 1898 by William Claxton Peppé. An inscription in Brahmi script on one of the caskets confirms these as relics of the Buddha, deposited by the Sakya clan,” the culture ministry said.

“The majority of these relics were transferred to the Indian Museum, Calcutta, in 1899 and are classified as ‘AA’ antiquities under Indian law, prohibiting their removal or sale. A portion of the bone relics was gifted to the King of Siam, while a selection of funerary gems retained by W.C. Peppé’s great-grandson, Chris Peppé, was listed for auction,” it added.

The retrieval of these gems was the result of a three-month-long legal and diplomatic effort by India that began with stalling the auction at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong on May 7.

Since their return to India, they have been exhibited in Vietnam. Other relics of the Buddha from Piprahwa in the National Museum were also exhibited in Russia.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated the first exhibition in India of the Piprahwa funerary gems linked to the Buddha, which were acquired by the Godrej Industries from its British owners in July after the Centre stalled their auction by Sotheby’s Hong Kong.

“The lesson is that slavery is not only political and economic; slavery also destroys our heritage. The same thing happened with the sacred relics of Lord Buddha. They were taken from India during the period of colonial rule, and for nearly 125 years, they remained outside the country,” Modi said.

“For the descendants of those who took them from India, these were merely inanimate antique pieces. Therefore, they attempted to auction these sacred relics on the international market. But for India, these relics are a part of our revered deity, an integral part of our civilisation. Therefore, India decided that we would not allow their public auction,” he added.

Modi expressed his gratitude to the Godrej Group, which helped in the return of the relics “to the land of Lord Buddha’s work, his place of contemplation, his Mahabodhi land, and his Mahaparinirvana land”.

The Grand International Exposition — The Light and the Lotus: Relics of the Awakened One in South Delhi’s Rai Pithora Cultural Complex showcases 349 gems that were originally interred in a stupa in Uttar Pradesh’s Piprahwa.

The exhibits also include relics from the 1898 Kapilavastu excavation, the 1972 excavations, reliquaries and jewelled treasures from the Indian Museum, and the monolithic stone coffer in which the gems and reliquaries were originally found.

“The Piprahwa relics, comprising bone fragments of the historical Buddha, along with soapstone and crystal caskets, a sandstone coffer, and offerings such as gold ornaments and gemstones, were excavated in 1898 by William Claxton Peppé. An inscription in Brahmi script on one of the caskets confirms these as relics of the Buddha, deposited by the Sakya clan,” the culture ministry said.

“The majority of these relics were transferred to the Indian Museum, Calcutta, in 1899 and are classified as ‘AA’ antiquities under Indian law, prohibiting their removal or sale. A portion of the bone relics was gifted to the King of Siam, while a selection of funerary gems retained by W.C. Peppé’s great-grandson, Chris Peppé, was listed for auction,” it added.

The retrieval of these gems was the result of a three-month-long legal and diplomatic effort by India that began with stalling the auction at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong on May 7.

Since their return to India, they have been exhibited in Vietnam. Other relics of the Buddha from Piprahwa in the National Museum were also exhibited in Russia.

“In Vietnam, the public sentiment was so strong that the exhibition period had to be extended. In nine cities there, nearly 17.5 million people paid homage to the Buddha relics…. In the Kalmykia region of Russia, more than 1,50,000 devotees visited the sacred relics in just one week. This is more than half of the population there,” Modi said.

Stressing his personal attachment to Buddhism, Modi said he considered himself fortunate because Buddha had a “very deep place in my life”. “Vadnagar, where I was born, was a major centre of Buddhist learning. Sarnath, the land where Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon, is now my karmabhoomi (field of action in his constituency of Varanasi).” Listing the Buddhist temples he has visited, Modi said: “Wherever I went — China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia — I carried saplings of the Bodhi tree with me.”

A culture ministry official told The Telegraph that the exhibition was expected to continue till June.

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

Shimla, Himachal Pradesh’s traditional shawl industry on Saturday made its way into the Guinness Book of World Records for displaying more than 4,000 hand-woven pieces under one roof at the MSME Fest here, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said.

Inaugurating the three-day micro, small, medium enterprises Fest at the Ridge here, Sukhu said the achievement has brought global recognition to the state’s handloom products.

He said self-help groups and other entrepreneurs from different districts created the shawls, all of which were handcrafted in Khadi, with each exhibit carrying handloom certifications and GI tagging.

“These are products of traditional weavers from almost every district, including Kullu, Kinnaur, Chamba, Kangra, and Sirmaur, known for carrying a legacy of intricate patterns and multiple colours and have existed for hundreds of years and in Kinnaur, the weavers take seven to eight months or even a year to create one shawl,” Sukhu said.

He said representatives of reputed national and international companies visiting the state during the fest would provide opportunities to artisans, weavers and small entrepreneurs to directly showcase and market their products to global buyers.

Festival coordinator Anjana Thakur told PTI that the hand-made shawls were brought from all across the state and displayed under one roof.

In Kinnaur, the weavers take seven to eight months or even a year to create one shawl. The highest-priced shawl from Kinnaur showcased at the festival is worth ₹1.75 lakh, Thakur said.

The entire Kullu district and the remote interior mountain pockets of Mandi are popular hubs of the weaving industry, with women being the biggest stakeholders.

Traditionally, during winters when Kullu, Kinnaur, Mandi, and Lahaul-Spiti used to be snowbound and cut off from the rest of the country, families would devote their time to weaving on looms to make “patti” from natural wool with white, grey and black colours for clothing, shawls, and coats for personal use.

Kullu shawls have held a GI tag since 2004, helping traditional weavers protect the authenticity of the craft and link it to its region.

The chief minister said the event will set a new direction for MSMEs in Himachal Pradesh. He noted that in the last three years, the state government held meetings with investors in major industrial hubs such as Dubai, Japan and Mumbai, resulting in the signing of Memorandums of Understanding worth ₹5,000 crore.

He said 683 industrial projects worth ₹14,000 crore have been approved, which are expected to generate employment opportunities for around 32,000 people.

With a view to strengthening the MSMEs in rural areas, proposals worth ₹1,642 crore have been submitted to the central government, out of which ₹109.34 crore has been approved so far, and 107 start-ups have been launched in the State during the past three years, he said in a statement.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

Held in Chennai, RNGSS 2025 honoured Dr Chandrashekhara Kambara for Lifetime Achievement, Sudeep Chakravarti for Non-Fiction, Subi Taba for Fiction and Neha Dixit for Best Debut.

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu has long been a land of powerful orators such as “Kalaignar” M Karunanidhi and CN Annadurai, but Ramnath Goenka demonstrated the strength of silence by publishing a blank editorial during the Emergency, Vice President of India CP Radhakrishnan said on Friday.

He was speaking at The New Indian Express’ Ramnath Goenka Sahithya Samman (RNGSS) awars for 2025 which honoured four writers across the Lifetime Achievement, Fiction, Non-Fiction and Debut categories at an event here on Friday.

The Vice President also recounted how a news report published in Dinamani, the Tamil daily of The New Indian Express Group, was not merely a newspaper to be read. “It has saved many lives. I am one of them,” he remarked.

Elaborating, Radhakrishnan recalled that during his student days Dinamani used to publish a news report that made him enter politics and eventually become the Vice President. The report, which described a Jana Sangh protest outside the Turkish consulate in Delhi against banning of books written by former President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, including The Hindu View of Life, moved him deeply as no other parties protested it. The episode prompted him to search for Jana Sangh, the predecessor of Bharatiya Janata Party, and join it and that led him to his present role as Vice President, he said.

“I am standing before you today as Vice President because of that,” he noted.

Addressing the gathering, Manoj Kumar Sonthalia , Chairman and Managing Director of The New Indian Express Group, said the award was a tribute to writers who wield the pen with courage, imagination and integrity.

The RNGSS ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award was conferred on Dr Chandrashekhara Kambara, one of India’s most revered literary figures.

A Kannada writer, thinker, playwright, folklorist and theatre activist, Kambara’s work has drawn deeply from folk traditions and oral histories to bridge the classical and the contemporary. Over decades, his writing, scholarship and cultural leadership have expanded the horizons of Kannada literature and Indian theatre, giving enduring form to voices and ethical questions often left outside the written canon.

The RNGSS ‘Best Non-Fiction’ award went to Sudeep Chakravarti for Fallen City: A Double Murder, Political Insanity, and Delhi’s Descent from Grace.

The book combines forensic reporting with moral urgency to examine the corrosion of civic institutions and the erosion of public reason in the national capital, using a chilling crime as its lens. Written with intellectual rigour and restraint, it avoids sensationalism, positioning non-fiction as both documentation and warning.

Subi Taba won the RNGSS ‘Best Fiction’ award for Tales from the Dawn-Lit Mountains: Stories from Arunachal Pradesh, a collection rooted in oral traditions and shaped by contemporary literary sensibility.

Through spare, evocative prose, the book explores memory, belonging, loss and resilience, giving voice to communities and landscapes rarely represented in Indian literature.

The RNGSS ‘Best Debut’ award was presented to Neha Dixit for The Many Lives of Syeda X: The Story of an Unknown Indian.

Through the life of an unnamed woman, the book traces the intersecting forces of gender, poverty and institutional power in contemporary India. Written with restraint, empathy and investigative clarity, it restores dignity to a life rendered invisible by neglect and silence.

The awards marked a homecoming for the the RNGSS , which was conceived by Ramnath Goenka, the doyen of the Indian print industry and the visionary behind The New Indian Express (TNIE) Group.

In the 1930s, Goenka imagined not only a fearless newspaper rooted in Chennai, but also an award that would celebrate timeless literature while offering a platform to young writers experimenting with new ideas, styles and narratives.

Announced at the Odisha Literary Festival in 2023 and launched in Delhi in 2024, the third edition of the RNGSS was hosted at the TNIE’s headquarters in Chennai. This year, Manoj Kumar Sonthalia, Chairman and Managing Director of the TNIE Group, proposed combining Debut Fiction and Non-Fiction into a single Debut category, while retaining separate Fiction and Non-Fiction awards for established writers.

The longlisting process began in July, with submissions from senior editors across TNIE centres in New Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Odisha, alongside recommendations from publishers. Books released between July 2024 and June 2025 were eligible.

The winners were finalised at a jury meeting in Delhi in October after extensive discussion. The jury was chaired by author and former diplomat Pavan Varma, with author Githa Hariharan and economist Sanjeev Sanyal as external members.

The shortlisted works ranged from studies of lesser-known public figures and the Partition to urban narratives and true crime, reflecting Indian authors writing about the country, its borderlands and its cities with critical engagement and social conscience. To the organisers, all the shortlisted books were winners.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

Indigenously built rake clears key safety and performance tests on Kota-Nagda section.

Indian Railways on Wednesday (December 31, 2025) announced the successful completion of the final high-speed trial of the indigenously designed and manufactured Vande Bharat Sleeper Train.

The trial was conducted on the Kota-Nagda section, during which the train achieved a top speed of 180 kmph, according to an official statement.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also shared a video of the trial run on social media platform X.

The trial involved a comprehensive assessment of ride stability, oscillation, vibration behaviour, braking performance, emergency braking systems and other critical safety parameters.

“The train’s performance at high speed was found to be fully satisfactory, and the trial was declared successful by the Commissioner of Railway Safety,” the statement said.

The 16-coach Vande Bharat Sleeper rake used in the trial has been designed for long-distance travel and is equipped with modern passenger amenities.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

Featuring enhanced comfort and set to enter service in January, the airline’s fleet now exceeds 100, expanding connectivity across India and beyond.

Air India Express welcomed its 51st B737-8, which is its first line-fit aircraft, at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. Configured and designed to Air India Express specifications by Boeing, the aircraft features a cabin designed to enhance comfort, space and convenience.

According to a release, the aircraft, flown directly from Boeing’s facility in Seattle, marks an important milestone in the airline’s fleet modernisation programme and is scheduled to enter service in January.

The line-fit aircraft incorporates a comprehensive set of enhancements consistent with the new branding. The cabin features ergonomically designed seats with comfortable cushioning, generous legroom, and a fast-charging power outlet in each seat, said the release. It also has onboard ovens for hot ‘Gourmair’ meals, larger overhead bins for cabin baggage, a quieter cabin environment and Boeing’s Sky Interior with soothing mood lighting, creating a modern and welcoming cabin environment.

As per the release, this is the 51st Boeing 737-8 aircraft inducted by Air India Express since its transition to the Tata group, further strengthening its position as the country’s largest Boeing operator. The airline now operates a fleet of over 100 aircraft. In 2025, the airline has also inducted four A321neos, four A320neos and three A320ceos, underscoring the scale and pace of its expansion, said the release.

Commenting on the induction of the airline’s first line-fit aircraft, Aloke Singh, Managing Director, Air India Express, said, “We are proud to welcome our 51st Boeing B737-8, the first of the fully customised line-fit aircraft, marking a significant step in Air India Express’ fleet modernisation journey. Two-thirds of the airline fleet now comprises modern B737-8s and A320/321Neo aircraft, offering better fuel efficiency and superior on-board comfort. On the back of this rapid fleet growth, we have expanded our network to 60 destinations, adding 12 destinations in 2025 alone. As India’s aviation market continues to evolve, Air India Express is emerging as a strong connector of New India, enhancing connectivity to/from tier-2 and tier-3 cities with a network footprint spanning India, the Middle East, South East Asia and South Asia.”

The airline has also commenced a programme to retrofit new seats on its existing Boeing 737-8 aircraft already in service to offer consistency across the fleet. As part of this initiative, 50 Boeing 737-8 aircraft will be upgraded to a standardised 189-seat configuration, with two aircraft having already completed the retrofit.

Alongside its fleet and product transformation, the airline has unveiled its new brand campaign, ‘Xplore More, Xpress More’, reflecting the transformative power of travel and the meaningful connections it enables. Air India Express also continues to celebrate India’s artistic and cultural diversity through its Tales of India initiative, which showcases over 50 indigenous art forms from 25 states through distinctive aircraft tail arts inspired by regional crafts and traditions such as Zardozi and Banarasi embroidery, Ikat and Paisley motifs, and the elegant Kasavu and Paithani weaves, among others.

Air India Express is a Tata Enterprise, operating over 500 daily flights that connect 45 domestic and 16 international destinations. The airline has a fleet of over 100 Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 aeroplanes. As India’s most vibrant and inclusive airline, Air India Express embodies the spirit and confidence of India – warm, expressive, and proudly authentic. Encouraging travellers to ‘Xplore More, Xpress More’, the airline transforms flying into an experience that is personal and memorable.

With thoughtfully curated touches – from ‘Gourmair’ hot meals, comfortable seats, and refreshed interiors to exclusive loyalty benefits and seamless digital journeys – Air India Express blends smart technology with heartfelt Indian hospitality, helping guests travel their way and feel at home wherever they go.

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)