Women empowerment, developed nation by 2047: Key takeaways from Modi’s speech on 76th Independence Day

From spelling out key pledges for Indian citizensto women empowerment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered his ninth Independence Day speech from the ramparts of Red Fort in Delhi on Monday morning.

The prime minister hoisted the national flag before paying tributes to those who fought for India's freedom and pledged to fulfill the wishes of the country’s founding fathers—to make India a developed nation when it celebrates its 100th year of independence in 2047.

Here are some key takeaways from PM Modi’s speech

• Developed nation: "India must become a developed nation in 25 years. I urge youth to dedicate the next 25 years of their lives for the nation's development; we will work towards the development of the entire humanity."
• Fulfill dream of forefathers: In his address, PM Modi called upon the people to move forward with five pledges to fulfill the dreams of freedom fighters by 2047.
• Five pledges: The five pledges for 2047 are -- having developed India, removing any sign of servility, pride in heritage, unity and fulfilling our duties, PM Modi said.
• India is the mother of democracy:India has seen a lot of ups and downs in the last 75 years. There have been sorrows as well as achievements in these years. We faced natural calamities, wars and other problems. But unity in diversity became our guiding power, he said.
• India overcame many hurdles:The PM said that India kept growing despite several hurdles on its path of growth. "India has seen a lot of ups and downs in the past 75 years of Independence. We had to face natural calamities, wars, terrorism, and other problems. But unity in diversity became our guiding power."
• Paying respects to our heritage: He said that Indian citizensshould be proud of their heritage. "When we are connected to our roots, only then can we fly high; when we fly high, we will provide solutions to the entire world," the PM said.
• Women empowerment:He said that unity has to reflect even inside the home. "Son and daughters have to be treated the same unless we think of gender equality," he said. Making a pitch for women's empowerment, he said that we must respect women to develop as a country."

• Fight against corruption and nepotism:Prime Minister Modi said the two big challenges before the country are corruption and nepotism, asserting that the nation has to fight against these together.“We need to give opportunities to those who are talented and will work for the progress of the nation. Talent will be the basis of New India,” he said.

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