Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday that Prime Minister visualises Railways as a lifeline to achieve the goal of making India a $5 trillion economy.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/amit-shah-flagged-off-vande-bharat-express-between-new-delhi-katra-253394">Flagging off Vande Bharat Express train</a> from here, Shah said modernisation of railways was taking place at a fast pace under the leadership of Prime Minister and various initiatives such as gauge conversion and laying of tracks was taking place at twice the speed compared to the UPA government.

He congratulated Railway Minister Piyush Goyal over the speed at which the Railways have adopted <a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/finance-minister-nirmala-sitharamans-announcement-to-boost-make-in-india-250764">'Make in India'</a>&nbsp;initiative of the Prime Minister.

Noting that Mahatma Gandhi had used the Railways to give the country freedom, he said the Prime Minister has taken inspiration from Bapu and wants to make Railways a "lifeline" in the target of making India a five trillion dollar economy.

The minister said that 'Vande Bharat'&nbsp;was a hallmark of the success of 'Make in India'&nbsp;and the potential that it holds in giving a boost to the economy.

"The <a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/india-gets-its-fastest-train-vande-bharat-express-197645">Railways</a> should keep increasing its passenger and freight traffic. Railways must keep a fast-paced development and achieve Prime Minister's vision of US $ 5 trillion economy&nbsp;in the same way as Railways played a major role in the success of Bapu's freedom struggle," he said.

Shah said it was an incident in a railway coach in South Africa that shaped Gandhi's transformation into a leader of the freedom movement.

He said it was during a train journey that he decided against wearing full clothes seeing the poverty of countrymen.

Shah said Modi has given a big gift to Jammu and Kashmir in the form of Vande Bharat Express and it was also a gift during Navratri.

"For the development of Jammu and Kashmir, religious tourism will play a big part, there cannot be any village in India where people do not want to go to Mata Vaishno Devi temple and this will help in the development of the region," Shah said.

He said the first Vande Bharat Express train between Delhi and Varanasi started on February 17.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi put forth his dream of a high-speed train network across India to the Railways and it is working hard to achieve that," he said.

The first commercial run of Vande Bharat will start from October 5 and the bookings have started on the IRCTC website.

The minimum fare for travelling between New Delhi (NDLS) to Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra (SVDK) will be Rs 1,630 and the maximum will be Rs 3,015.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday that Prime Minister visualises Railways as a lifeline to achieve the goal of making India a $5 trillion economy. Flagging off Vande Bharat Express train from here, Shah said modernisation of railways was taking place at a fast pace under the leadership of Prime Minister and various initiatives such as gauge conversion and laying of tracks was taking place at twice the speed compared to the UPA government.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday that Prime Minister visualises Railways as a lifeline to achieve the goal of making India a $5 trillion economy. Flagging off Vande Bharat Express train from here, Shah said modernisation of railways was taking place at a fast pace under the leadership of Prime Minister and various initiatives such as gauge conversion and laying of tracks was taking place at twice the speed compared to the UPA government. He congratulated Railway Minister Piyush Goyal over the speed at which the Railways have adopted 'Make in India' initiative of the Prime Minister. Noting that Mahatma Gandhi had used the Railways to give the country freedom, he said the Prime Minister has taken inspiration from Bapu and wants to make Railways a "lifeline" in the target of making India a five trillion dollar economy. The minister said that 'Vande Bharat' was a hallmark of the success of 'Make in India' and the potential that it holds in giving a boost to the economy. "The Railways should keep increasing its passenger and freight traffic. Railways must keep a fast-paced development and achieve Prime Minister's vision of US $ 5 trillion economy in the same way as Railways played a major role in the success of Bapu's freedom struggle," he said. Shah said it was an incident in a railway coach in South Africa that shaped Gandhi's transformation into a leader of the freedom movement. He said it was during a train journey that he decided against wearing full clothes seeing the poverty of countrymen. Shah said Modi has given a big gift to Jammu and Kashmir in the form of Vande Bharat Express and it was also a gift during Navratri. "For the development of Jammu and Kashmir, religious tourism will play a big part, there cannot be any village in India where people do not want to go to Mata Vaishno Devi temple and this will help in the development of the region," Shah said. He said the first Vande Bharat Express train between Delhi and Varanasi started on February 17. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi put forth his dream of a high-speed train network across India to the Railways and it is working hard to achieve that," he said. The first commercial run of Vande Bharat will start from October 5 and the bookings have started on the IRCTC website. The minimum fare for travelling between New Delhi (NDLS) to Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra (SVDK) will be Rs 1,630 and the maximum will be Rs 3,015.

Railways vital to achieve PM Modi's vision of $5 trillion economy: Amit Shah

National carrier Air India is all set to mark 'Celebrating India'&nbsp;theme on World Tourism Day and in this respect, the Air India Boeing B-777 aircraft is being decorated with pictures of historical monuments, nature and wildlife.

The aircraft is being decorated at the AI Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) in Nagpur.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/independence-day-speech-2019-nation-celebrates-73rd-independence-day-today-pm-to-unfurl-tricolour-at-red-fort-shortly-243045">Independence Day speech</a> had said, "There is a "huge" scope to improve our tourism and India has so much to offer. I know people travel to different countries for holidays, but can we think of visiting at least 15 tourist destinations in India before 2022, when we mark 75 years of freedom."

After Prime Minister Modi's appeal, Air India took the decision to decorate its Boeing B777 aircraft to promote India's tourist destination.

The aircraft is decorated with pictures of Taj Mahal, Qutub Minar, Konark Temple, Golden Temple and Statue of Unity.

Air India is going to start a flight from Amritsar-Delhi-Toronto on the World Tourism Day on September 27.

Aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri earlier tweeted: "Delighted to announce the commencement of a thrice-weekly Air India flight between Sri Amritsar Sahib and Canada. The Amritsar-Delhi-Toronto flight will commence on the occasion of World Tourism Day on September 27, 2019."

"Our Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani have given the task to decorate the aircraft with world heritage photos before going to Toronto. We started the work and today the aircraft is ready for use as per our CMD direction. Before decorating the aircraft we had taken prior clearance from Aviation watchdog Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)," Vaibhav Simpy, Senior Engineer, Air India MRO and Nodal officer of the aircraft told ANI.

National carrier Air India is all set to mark 'Celebrating India' theme on World Tourism Day and in this respect, the Air India Boeing B-777 aircraft is being decorated with pictures of historical monuments, nature and wildlife.

National carrier Air India is all set to mark 'Celebrating India' theme on World Tourism Day and in this respect, the Air India Boeing B-777 aircraft is being decorated with pictures of historical monuments, nature and wildlife. The aircraft is being decorated at the AI Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) in Nagpur. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech had said, "There is a "huge" scope to improve our tourism and India has so much to offer. I know people travel to different countries for holidays, but can we think of visiting at least 15 tourist destinations in India before 2022, when we mark 75 years of freedom." After Prime Minister Modi's appeal, Air India took the decision to decorate its Boeing B777 aircraft to promote India's tourist destination. The aircraft is decorated with pictures of Taj Mahal, Qutub Minar, Konark Temple, Golden Temple and Statue of Unity. Air India is going to start a flight from Amritsar-Delhi-Toronto on the World Tourism Day on September 27. Aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri earlier tweeted: "Delighted to announce the commencement of a thrice-weekly Air India flight between Sri Amritsar Sahib and Canada. The Amritsar-Delhi-Toronto flight will commence on the occasion of World Tourism Day on September 27, 2019." "Our Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani have given the task to decorate the aircraft with world heritage photos before going to Toronto. We started the work and today the aircraft is ready for use as per our CMD direction. Before decorating the aircraft we had taken prior clearance from Aviation watchdog Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)," Vaibhav Simpy, Senior Engineer, Air India MRO and Nodal officer of the aircraft told ANI.

Ahead of World Tourism Day, Air India implements PM Modi's vision

Meet Akiane Kramarik.&nbsp;

Now 23, Ms. Kramarik was a child prodigy from Illinois, U.S. who had finished painting Jesus when she was all of 8. The portrait of Jesus famous as &quot;Prince of Peace&quot; went on to establish her as a wonder child. Mind you, she had no formal training. All she had was her &lsquo;visions&rsquo;.&nbsp;

Hers is a story that bewilders and fascinates many. Ms. Kramarik was 5 years old when on a rainy spring day, she had mysteriously disappeared. Her parents were frantic, of course,&nbsp;and pleaded to all to find their missing child. Police were called, her photograph distributed in the community, the search party was formed, all cars moving in and out of her hometown were checked. But they found nothing. You might wonder what is so mysterious about a 5-year-old who probably must have playfully wandered off into the woods chasing a rabbit. So, this is what is strange. Ms. Kramarik says during this entire period when people were trying to locate her, she was always around them, just invisible.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
&ldquo;I was able to see the exact number of search and rescue people, and all the vehicles and families looking for me from above, and that I was seeing everything in detail on many dimensions at the same time&rdquo;, Ms. Kramarik tells me in response to the interview questions that she so graciously agreed to answer.

Her visionary experiences began right after this incident of her mysterious disappearance. Though her early life was spent sans any religious influence, she suddenly started to talk about god.

&lsquo;Prince of Peace&rsquo;, the painting that propelled her into the limelight, was born of these very visions.

&ldquo;My visions were intense and vivid when I was a child, but I did not have either patience or ability to paint them. At eight there was a transformation in my perspective of life. My visions returned, and so did my passion for art. Jesus to me was a symbol of hope. The film &lsquo;Painting the Impossible&rsquo; describes the details of the story&rdquo;, she explains.

Did these visions scare her? After all, she was really little when she began experiencing them.&nbsp;

&ldquo;Most of them inspired me and grounded me, but there were a few that shocked me&rdquo;. She shared her visions with her mother who at first thought they were just dreams. Only later when Ms. Kramarik&rsquo;s vocabulary improved and she could explain her visions better, did her mother realise&nbsp;that her daughter&rsquo;s visions were beyond mere night dreams. &ldquo;Nobody else apart from my mother understood what was happening &ldquo;, she recalls.

Thus, began her journey and today she has 300 paintings to her credit. She admits her &ldquo;method of painting is quite complex&mdash;there are hundreds of layers that are created in order to evoke different emotions in my art.&rdquo;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/jesus-20180308083430.jpg" />
<div class="media-description">
&#39;Jesus&#39; is one of her most favourite and emotional pieces. (Others)
</div>
&times;</div>

Some of her creations hold a special place in her heart. &quot; &#39;Sixteen lives in the wind&#39; and &#39;Jesus&#39; were the most emotional pieces.&quot; She painted &lsquo;Sixteen lives in the wind&rsquo; for almost a year in three continents and describes the experience as &ldquo;intense artistic journey&rdquo;. &#39;Sixteen Lives in the Wind&#39; went on to sell for $180,000 USD, her most expensive painting till date.&nbsp;

Her other favourites include &#39;Jesus&#39;, &#39;Lillies of the Valley&#39;, &#39;The Dreamer&#39;, &nbsp;&#39;Jesus&#39;, &#39;Metamorphosis&#39;, &#39;Immortal&#39;, &#39;Today&#39;.&nbsp;

She likes to paint when the world sleeps, between 3 am to 7 am. &ldquo;I feel the most inspired and focused that time&rdquo;, she notes. She has just signed and finished her latest painting &#39;The Dreamer&#39;. &#39;Coincidentally, this is about India&#39;, she tells me.&nbsp; 
 
&nbsp;Another of her great works, &#39;Enlightenment&#39; is about a Hindu monk who traveled&nbsp;the world to meet her.

Ms. Kramarik feels &ldquo;there is a deep connection in my life with India.&rdquo; &ldquo;I speak Lithuanian, the closest language to Sanskrit. There is a profound link between our cultures, and I believe it is no coincidence that God has created unique circumstances for me to paint about India&#39;s culture.&rdquo;&nbsp;

&ldquo;India has not only a market for art. India is art&rdquo;, she feels. Her great liking for India resonates in her words. &ldquo;Its history and its people, its dreams and its spirituality, its ambitions and its astounding innovations and breakthroughs in every aspect of life are one of a kind. There is no country like India, and it will never be&rdquo;, she goes on to say.

&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/sydney%20harbor-20180308084311.jpg" />
<div class="media-description">
Akiane Kramarik enjoying her vacation in Sydney. (Others)
</div>
&times;</div>

What inspires this young mind, what motivates her and keeps her going, I am curious. &ldquo;My inspiration has been and still is life itself. Visible and invisible life. Busy and serene life. My guidance has been my God, and my family&rdquo;, she explains. She has lived in 15 different countries and has drawn from her experiences in creating her art. &ldquo;Every city and village, every hut and palace, every forest and sea, every peasant and government leader I met is today in my paintings. Literally, under layers of paint,&rdquo; she says.

Ms. Kramarik&rsquo;s faith and beliefs were moulded by direct visions and experiences of Jesus, heaven, and angels that began at a tender age four. At 23, she remains an ardent follower of those beliefs. She is young, talented, famous and yet simple and grounded. She says she is thankful to her parents who kept on reminding her that &ldquo;purity and humbleness were the most significant foundation&rdquo; for her growth as an artist. For all her success, she is painfully media shy. &ldquo;I did not like any attention from media. And our lifestyle in the family did not promote pretentiousness and vanity&rdquo;, she adds. The only reason she managed to be at ease at &lsquo;The Oprah Winfrey Show&rsquo; was that she did not know how empowering and famous Oprah really was.&nbsp;

It was this interview that declared her arrival to the world. &ldquo;The interview caused a domino effect, and hundreds of journalists from around the world wanted to know more about my story and my art since&rdquo;, she mentions. 
&nbsp; 
What does a woman with such intense thoughts do when she is not creating art? Ms. Kramarik helps her family out with farm work when she is not painting. She also cooks, rides her bicycle around or simply observes people during her free hours. If this does not reflect the simplicity of her life, I don&rsquo;t know what else does.

&ldquo;I practice being one with God. One with the Truth and one with peace and love. God is part of everything we do. It is inseparable from life. I am conscious of divine presence every moment. It is a gift that keeps on growing and multiplying&rdquo;, her words underlines her sentiment.

Through her art, she wants to bring hope and peace to humanity. She had once said, &ldquo;If I have been gifted by God, and I have been, it is for one reason only, to help others.&rdquo; She is involved with several charities and wishes to donate her all free time to humanitarian and educational causes. She is a believer, a woman who answered her calling and mastered the courage to respond to her visions even though she knew people might not always understand things she had to say.

She believes in the power of the womankind. &ldquo;They are the present and the future&rdquo;, she emphasises. Women will go on to build a new future, she believes. A future &ldquo;vastly different from today&rdquo;. She talks about how and why women should support and encourage each other.

&ldquo;By supporting arts and healthy families which helped civilisations hold together for thousands of years we will make a happier woman, a happier wife, a happier mother, and a happier citizen of the society. In turn, we will make more giving communities, and more peaceful countries&rdquo;, she mentions in her parting notes. 
&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp;

Akiane Kramarik, now 23, was a child prodigy who had finished painting Jesus when she was all of 8 without formal training. All she had was her visions.

Meet Akiane Kramarik. Now 23, Ms. Kramarik was a child prodigy from Illinois, U.S. who had finished painting Jesus when she was all of 8. The portrait of Jesus famous as "Prince of Peace" went on to establish her as a wonder child. Mind you, she had no formal training. All she had was her ‘visions’. Hers is a story that bewilders and fascinates many. Ms. Kramarik was 5 years old when on a rainy spring day, she had mysteriously disappeared. Her parents were frantic, of course, and pleaded to all to find their missing child. Police were called, her photograph distributed in the community, the search party was formed, all cars moving in and out of her hometown were checked. But they found nothing. You might wonder what is so mysterious about a 5-year-old who probably must have playfully wandered off into the woods chasing a rabbit. So, this is what is strange. Ms. Kramarik says during this entire period when people were trying to locate her, she was always around them, just invisible. “I was able to see the exact number of search and rescue people, and all the vehicles and families looking for me from above, and that I was seeing everything in detail on many dimensions at the same time”, Ms. Kramarik tells me in response to the interview questions that she so graciously agreed to answer. Her visionary experiences began right after this incident of her mysterious disappearance. Though her early life was spent sans any religious influence, she suddenly started to talk about god. ‘Prince of Peace’, the painting that propelled her into the limelight, was born of these very visions. “My visions were intense and vivid when I was a child, but I did not have either patience or ability to paint them. At eight there was a transformation in my perspective of life. My visions returned, and so did my passion for art. Jesus to me was a symbol of hope. The film ‘Painting the Impossible’ describes the details of the story”, she explains. Did these visions scare her? After all, she was really little when she began experiencing them. “Most of them inspired me and grounded me, but there were a few that shocked me”. She shared her visions with her mother who at first thought they were just dreams. Only later when Ms. Kramarik’s vocabulary improved and she could explain her visions better, did her mother realise that her daughter’s visions were beyond mere night dreams. “Nobody else apart from my mother understood what was happening “, she recalls. Thus, began her journey and today she has 300 paintings to her credit. She admits her “method of painting is quite complex—there are hundreds of layers that are created in order to evoke different emotions in my art.” 'Jesus' is one of her most favourite and emotional pieces. (Others) × Some of her creations hold a special place in her heart. " 'Sixteen lives in the wind' and 'Jesus' were the most emotional pieces." She painted ‘Sixteen lives in the wind’ for almost a year in three continents and describes the experience as “intense artistic journey”. 'Sixteen Lives in the Wind' went on to sell for $180,000 USD, her most expensive painting till date. Her other favourites include 'Jesus', 'Lillies of the Valley', 'The Dreamer', 'Jesus', 'Metamorphosis', 'Immortal', 'Today'. She likes to paint when the world sleeps, between 3 am to 7 am. “I feel the most inspired and focused that time”, she notes. She has just signed and finished her latest painting 'The Dreamer'. 'Coincidentally, this is about India', she tells me. Another of her great works, 'Enlightenment' is about a Hindu monk who traveled the world to meet her. Ms. Kramarik feels “there is a deep connection in my life with India.” “I speak Lithuanian, the closest language to Sanskrit. There is a profound link between our cultures, and I believe it is no coincidence that God has created unique circumstances for me to paint about India's culture.” “India has not only a market for art. India is art”, she feels. Her great liking for India resonates in her words. “Its history and its people, its dreams and its spirituality, its ambitions and its astounding innovations and breakthroughs in every aspect of life are one of a kind. There is no country like India, and it will never be”, she goes on to say. Akiane Kramarik enjoying her vacation in Sydney. (Others) × What inspires this young mind, what motivates her and keeps her going, I am curious. “My inspiration has been and still is life itself. Visible and invisible life. Busy and serene life. My guidance has been my God, and my family”, she explains. She has lived in 15 different countries and has drawn from her experiences in creating her art. “Every city and village, every hut and palace, every forest and sea, every peasant and government leader I met is today in my paintings. Literally, under layers of paint,” she says. Ms. Kramarik’s faith and beliefs were moulded by direct visions and experiences of Jesus, heaven, and angels that began at a tender age four. At 23, she remains an ardent follower of those beliefs. She is young, talented, famous and yet simple and grounded. She says she is thankful to her parents who kept on reminding her that “purity and humbleness were the most significant foundation” for her growth as an artist. For all her success, she is painfully media shy. “I did not like any attention from media. And our lifestyle in the family did not promote pretentiousness and vanity”, she adds. The only reason she managed to be at ease at ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ was that she did not know how empowering and famous Oprah really was. It was this interview that declared her arrival to the world. “The interview caused a domino effect, and hundreds of journalists from around the world wanted to know more about my story and my art since”, she mentions. What does a woman with such intense thoughts do when she is not creating art? Ms. Kramarik helps her family out with farm work when she is not painting. She also cooks, rides her bicycle around or simply observes people during her free hours. If this does not reflect the simplicity of her life, I don’t know what else does. “I practice being one with God. One with the Truth and one with peace and love. God is part of everything we do. It is inseparable from life. I am conscious of divine presence every moment. It is a gift that keeps on growing and multiplying”, her words underlines her sentiment. Through her art, she wants to bring hope and peace to humanity. She had once said, “If I have been gifted by God, and I have been, it is for one reason only, to help others.” She is involved with several charities and wishes to donate her all free time to humanitarian and educational causes. She is a believer, a woman who answered her calling and mastered the courage to respond to her visions even though she knew people might not always understand things she had to say. She believes in the power of the womankind. “They are the present and the future”, she emphasises. Women will go on to build a new future, she believes. A future “vastly different from today”. She talks about how and why women should support and encourage each other. “By supporting arts and healthy families which helped civilisations hold together for thousands of years we will make a happier woman, a happier wife, a happier mother, and a happier citizen of the society. In turn, we will make more giving communities, and more peaceful countries”, she mentions in her parting notes. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Opinion: Akiane Kramarik, the woman artist whom God taught to paint

visions

Visions, News on Visions, stories on Visions, articles on Visions, Visions stories at Wion, Visions news, Visions latest news