Modi opens Arvind Limited's Varanasi garment unit and watches the Air Force's 'Wings over Ganges' display

The figures reported for the facility differ. Another outlet gave its cost as about Rs 150 crore and said that more than 300 women had been recruited and were being trained. These numbers come from single reports and have not been checked against an official statement. The 1,000-job figure is a target for the unit, while the 300 refers to the women taken on so far, so the two are not necessarily in conflict.

At the factory, Modi met the women who work there, saw how garments are made and asked them about their experience. The visit reflects a push by the government to bring large textile and apparel companies to Uttar Pradesh, as an addition to the handloom and carpet industries of the region that have long made Varanasi known for textiles.

Arvind Limited is a textile and apparel company based in Ahmedabad, and the Varanasi unit is a sign of a large manufacturer taking its production to a region that has had less of it. Garment factories rely heavily on women workers, and the promise of about 1,000 jobs for women is a main point of the project.

The textile trade is not new to Varanasi. The city is known across the world for Banarasi silk, and a modern garment factory sits beside a craft that has long supported weavers and traders. The factory offers steady wages and a fixed schedule, which many women find easier to combine with family duties than the piece-rate work of a home loom, though it is a different kind of employment.

The Air Force display

The aerial display, titled 'Wings over Ganges', was held at Namo Ghat on the river bank to mark the Air Force Day. The Indian Air Force was founded in 1932, and this year's anniversary was the 94th. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended along with the Prime Minister.

The aircraft taking part included the indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft, the Prachand light combat helicopter, the Su-30MKI and Rafale fighters, and transport aircraft. Aircraft from the Indian Army and the Indian Navy joined in as well, in a show of how the three services work together. The Air Force's Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team and Sarang Helicopter Display Team were also part of the programme. The display ran over more than one day, and Sunday was the final day.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reviewed the arrangements the day before. He asked officials to give equal weight to public convenience and security and to keep the main roads and venues clean. Thousands of residents and party workers lined the streets to greet the Prime Minister, according to one report that described a roadshow before the display.

Air Force Day is usually marked at an air base, and the choice of a river ghat in a city of pilgrims is unusual. It lets a large crowd see the aircraft close to the city, and it ties the armed forces to a place that carries a strong religious and cultural meaning. For the government, it is also a showcase for the indigenous aircraft, and the Tejas and the Prachand were placed in front of a big audience.

For the city, the day was a mix of industry and spectacle: a factory that promises jobs for women, and a display that will be remembered mostly for what people saw in the sky. The test of the first will be how many jobs are created and kept in the next year. The second has already served its purpose, which was to give a large crowd a view of the Air Force in action, and the pictures of the jets over the Ganga ghats will be used for months.