PM Modi in Gorakhpur for Gita Press event, Vande Bharat flag-off

Gorakhpur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday reached Gorakhpur to attend the closing ceremony of the centenary celebrations of Gita Press and flag off Vande Bharat trains.

Upon his arrival, Modi was welcomed by Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

At Gita Press, the world's largest publisher of Hindu religious textbooks, the prime minister will release the chitramaya Shiva Purana granth and also visit the Leela Chitra temple there.

Gita Press was recently conferred with the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 by a jury headed by PM Modi. The prize is an annual award instituted by the central government in 1995 and it carries a prize money of Rs 1 crore, a citation, plaque and a traditional handicraft or handloom item.

Gita Press has refused to accept the prize money, saying it will only accept the citations.

PM Modi will also flag off the North Eastern Railway's first semi high-speed Gorakhpur-Lucknow Vande Bharat train and the Jodhpur-Sabarmati Vande Bharat Express.