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CLARIN

Good News Finally For Brazil: New Train On Time For Rio Olympics

New VLT Network
New VLT Network
Graciela Gioberchio

RIO DE JANEIRO — Authorities in Rio de Janeiro have inaugurated the first part of a light city railway designed to ferry about hundreds of thousands of visitors and sports players arriving in the Brazilian city for the Olympic games due to start in August.

The new VLT network, a multinational project involving firms like France's Alstom and Argentina's Benito Roggio, will connect major tourist attractions including the beaches at Copacabana, the airport and the main train station.

Working around the clock, the light rail is expected to carry up to 190,000 people a day and hopes to add another 200,000 passengers by 2036. The project was conceived in 2010 when the city began thinking of ways to boost public transport, reduce pollution and cut personal car use. City officials wanted an option that was comfortable, quiet, punctual and environment-friendly.

The railway's first line operated without passengers last May in order to gradually integrate it with traffic. Roggio, which has 15 engineers involved in the project, told Clarín that the trains use the latest fuel technology. The rail has replaced all masts and overhead cables with a system of batteries fed through the ground at various points on the tracks.

The finished system will have six lines — yellow, blue, red, green, lilac and orange — and will serve 42 stations.

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Society

Tales From A Blushing Nation: Exploring India's 'Issues' With Love And Sex

Why is it that this nation of a billion-plus has such problems with intimacy and romance?

Photo of Indian romance statues

Indian romance statues

Sreemanti Sengupta

KOLKATA — To a foreigner, India may seem to be a country obsessed with romance. What with the booming Bollywood film industry which tirelessly churns out tales of love and glory clothed in brilliant dance and action sequences, a history etched with ideal romantics like Laila-Majnu or the fact that the Taj Mahal has immortalised the love between king Shahjahan and queen Mumtaz.

It is difficult to fathom how this country with a billion-plus population routinely gets red in the face at the slightest hint or mention of sex.

It therefore may have come as a shock to many when the ‘couple-friendly’ hospitality brand OYO announced that they are “extremely humbled to share that we observed a record 90.57% increase in Valentine’s Day bookings across India.”

What does that say about India’s romantic culture?

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