The miraculous life-story of Mr. Rakesh Jain, founder Prag Group of Industries, was vivaciously chronicled in a book titled, “Thy Life’s a Miracle, RJ: The Harvester of Opportunities”, written by Chander Mahadev and published by Zorba Books, Gurgaon.

Synopsis:

Rakesh Jain, aka RJ, is a successful self-made entrepreneur from Lucknow who dabbled in many business ideas but didn’t blink whenever he hit a roadblock or even when he hit rock bottom. An intuitive and brave hearted risk-taker, he was helped along by people in seemingly miraculous ways and finally set up the Prag Group of Companies making quality engineering products for the Indian Railways.

Over time, he ended up being a brilliant Relationship Jockey (RJ) who conquered great heights in the face of adversities. Armed with a smile, a business plan and shoals of positive energy he tempted fate with childlike innocence only to be showered with miracles.

The chapters throw up mind-boggling questions like:

• Do miracles really happen?
• If they do, why do they happen to a man deeply involved in the world of business and enterprise?
• Does a human being need to be the perfect receptacle for miracles to play out in daily life?

RJ’s thrilling and dramatic life story throws up philosophical possibilities as to what construes a miracle? Can RJ’s miracles be replicated by young entrepreneurs trying to make a mark with their start-ups?

At IREE [International Railway Equipment Exhibition] 2019, Prag showcased their range of bespoke HVAC Heating Ventilation, & Air Conditioning] Systems including the first ever Driver Cab AC for Mumbai EMUs and the first- ever split-type AC for onboard applications that was designed for retrofitment onto diesel-electric locomotives.

With heat exchanger design and thermal management as a core strength, Prag has introduced several technological breakthroughs in the rail HVAC segment in the past few years including the design, development, and supply of passenger coach HVAC for the prestigious Vande Bharat Express.

ECOSAFE – India’s First Virtual Reality Driver Training Simulator, designed especially for Train-18 / Vande Bharat Express by REDS SA, Poland in collaboration with Prag Polymers, India, was successfully commissioned at the Integral Coach Factory Design & Development Centre in Chennai. The Simulator not only acquaints loco pilots with the cockpit and operations of the new trainset, it also measures driving efficiency by providing energy-consumption based scoring results as well as helps improve emergency response time by simulating unfavourable weather conditions and incidents and measuring driver response.

In addition to a realistic driving experience with a full-scale driver cab and actual driver’s desk with all switches and controls, the simulator provides added realism by using Virtual Reality as the primary mode of operation. Additionally, a desktop display mode duplicatesthe ongoing VR simulation. The software allows multiple training scenarios over one VR World (route) in one train (in multiple configurations). The simulator was inaugurated December 18^th, 2018, in the presence of senior railway officers and staff members of ICF.

Prag participated in IRCE 2018 [International Rail Coach Expo 2018], May 17^th – 19^th, 2018 in Chennai, exhibiting a range of new products including three types of automatic door systems that have been rated as best suited to the Indian market, keeping in mind the current needs and safety requirements.The door systems on display were imported from their technology partner, M/s Pars Komponenty, Czech Republic

Systems displayed:

• An Electrical Fully-Automatic Interior Sliding Door System that Pars has already supplied to ICF, Chennai for the Train 18 project.
• Electrical Automatic Sliding Single-Leaf Plug-Door System for trains
• Electrical Automatic Sliding Double-Leaf Door System for EMUs and Metros.

The advantage of all displayed door systems is their competitive price in the Indian market, world-class quality and low maintenance costs.

Driven by our focus on Make-In-India and in line with our constant our endeavor to contribute towards technological upgradation and modernization of the Indian Railways, we are happy to announce our partnership and long-term cooperation with Pars Komponenty s. r. o., Studénka – a Czech engineering and technology company with a manufacturing tradition of 115 years in development and production of mass transit components.

Pars has extensive experience in manufacture of Automatic Plug Doors, Electric Sliding Doors, Swinging Doors for drivers and inter-vehicle wing doors in addition to tilting and fixed windows for subways and suburban trains offering high-technology products for the most demanding railway applications. Pars boasts of a client list that includes the likes of Skoda Transportation, Bombardier, Alstom, Siemens, and Stadler Rail.

During 2017 Trako Fair in Gdańsk, Poland, Pars & Prag jointly signed a long-term strategic cooperation agreement for development and introduction of Automatic Sliding and Plug Doors in the Indian Railways. The product design will be developed by Pars in accordance with IR requirements and the serial production will be realized at Prag’s manufacturing facility in India under the technology and guidance of Pars Komponenty, providing the internationally established Pars technology at indigenous manufacturing cost to the final customer.Prag collaboration with Pars Komponenty Studénka