Tripura Police have arrested two Myanmar nationals for not having proper Indian documents.

KR Deb, officer-in-charge, Battala police outpost said, "They are unable to tell how they came here but they have IDs showing their Myanmar nationality."

Both the arrested persons will be produced before the court as they do not have documents to be in India, Deb added.&nbsp;

Tripura Police have arrested two Myanmar nationals for not having proper Indian documents. KR Deb, officer-in-charge, Battala police outpost said, "They are unable to tell how they came here but they have IDs showing their Myanmar nationality.

Tripura Police have arrested two Myanmar nationals for not having proper Indian documents. KR Deb, officer-in-charge, Battala police outpost said, "They are unable to tell how they came here but they have IDs showing their Myanmar nationality." Both the arrested persons will be produced before the court as they do not have documents to be in India, Deb added.

Tripura police arrest two Myanmar nationals without proper documents

At the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/narendra-modi-amit-shah-attend-bharatiya-janata-party-parliamentary-party-meet-236320">Bharatiya Janata Party`s parliamentary party meeting</a> on Tuesday, <a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions/narendra-modi-20-would-propel-affordable-housing-in-india-224832">Prime Minister Narendra Modi </a>asked parliamentarians to work towards ensuring that government schemes reach people.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi said, "PM has reiterated that attendance is compulsory in the house and there is no exception to this. He has asked them to ensure that the government schemes reach people."&nbsp;

"Aspirational districts in the entire country are competing with each other over different yardsticks and the data is updated every day on websites. Each district is being monitored for implementation of government schemes and MPs have to get involved with officials to take all these schemes to people," Joshi said.

PM also reiterated his advice to BJP MPs to maintain compulsory attendance in parliament while setting-up a target of TB-free India by 2025.

"The world has kept a target of 2030 to eradicate the disease of TB. However, Prime Minister has kept a target of 2025 for a TB free India. He has directed all parliamentarians to work in this direction", Joshi said.

Joshi told reporters that PM Modi has urged BJP MPs to work on humanitarian causes apart from their parliamentary duties.

"He told members to work on humanitarian causes. He took the example of the disease of leprosy. Quoting Mahatma Gandhi the PM said that Bapu had said that he will only come to put a lock on leprosy hospital and not to inaugurate it. He believed that leprosy disease should be eradicated", said Joshi.&nbsp; 
Later replying to a question, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister also expressed his displeasure over the ongoing Karnataka political situation.

"I want to express discontent over the attitude of the Karnataka speaker. We expected that he will work impartially. Despite MLAs resigning in person, the speaker is talking about conducting an enquiry. These delay tactics are not good for the post of the speaker", Joshi told media persons.

BJP parliamentary party meeting was held at Parliament Library Building with senior leaders of the party being in attendance. On July 14, BJP had issued a notice to its Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs informing them about today`s meeting and asked them to ensure attendance. (ANI)&nbsp;

At the Bharatiya Janata Party`s parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked parliamentarians to work towards ensuring that government schemes reach people.

At the Bharatiya Janata Party`s parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked parliamentarians to work towards ensuring that government schemes reach people. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi said, "PM has reiterated that attendance is compulsory in the house and there is no exception to this. He has asked them to ensure that the government schemes reach people." "Aspirational districts in the entire country are competing with each other over different yardsticks and the data is updated every day on websites. Each district is being monitored for implementation of government schemes and MPs have to get involved with officials to take all these schemes to people," Joshi said. PM also reiterated his advice to BJP MPs to maintain compulsory attendance in parliament while setting-up a target of TB-free India by 2025. "The world has kept a target of 2030 to eradicate the disease of TB. However, Prime Minister has kept a target of 2025 for a TB free India. He has directed all parliamentarians to work in this direction", Joshi said. Joshi told reporters that PM Modi has urged BJP MPs to work on humanitarian causes apart from their parliamentary duties. "He told members to work on humanitarian causes. He took the example of the disease of leprosy. Quoting Mahatma Gandhi the PM said that Bapu had said that he will only come to put a lock on leprosy hospital and not to inaugurate it. He believed that leprosy disease should be eradicated", said Joshi. Later replying to a question, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister also expressed his displeasure over the ongoing Karnataka political situation. "I want to express discontent over the attitude of the Karnataka speaker. We expected that he will work impartially. Despite MLAs resigning in person, the speaker is talking about conducting an enquiry. These delay tactics are not good for the post of the speaker", Joshi told media persons. BJP parliamentary party meeting was held at Parliament Library Building with senior leaders of the party being in attendance. On July 14, BJP had issued a notice to its Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs informing them about today`s meeting and asked them to ensure attendance. (ANI)

PM Narendra Modi  asks parliamentarians to ensure better reach of govt schemes

Bharatiya Janata Party`s parliamentary party meeting commenced at Parliament Library Building here on Tuesday with <a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions/narendra-modi-20-would-propel-affordable-housing-in-india-224832">Prime Minister Narendra Modi</a>, Home Minister <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/home-minister-amit-shah-emerges-as-clear-no-2-224821">Amit Shah </a>and other senior leaders of the party in attendance.&nbsp;

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar, and Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan were among the early leaders to arrive for the meeting.&nbsp;

On July 14, BJP had issued a notice to its Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs informing them about today's meeting and asked them to ensure attendance.&nbsp;

The meeting comes ahead of the beginning of the day`s proceeding in the ongoing Monsoon Session of the Parliament.

Bharatiya Janata Party`s parliamentary party meeting commenced at Parliament Library Building here on Tuesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and other senior leaders of the party in attendance.

Bharatiya Janata Party`s parliamentary party meeting commenced at Parliament Library Building here on Tuesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and other senior leaders of the party in attendance. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar, and Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan were among the early leaders to arrive for the meeting. On July 14, BJP had issued a notice to its Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs informing them about today's meeting and asked them to ensure attendance. The meeting comes ahead of the beginning of the day`s proceeding in the ongoing Monsoon Session of the Parliament.

PM Narendra Modi, Amit Shah attend Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentary party meet

A team of Delhi Police`s Special Cell arrested a <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/pakistan-court-sentences-three-jaish-e-mohammed-activists-for-terror-funding-223365">Jaish-e-Mohammed</a> terrorist from Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar on Tuesday.

The police had announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh on information leading to the arrest of Jaish terrorist Basir Ahmad.&nbsp;

In April, the Delhi Police Special Cell had arrested a JeM terrorist from Srinagar identified as Faiyaz Ahmed Lone.

On March 22, Delhi Police had arrested Sajjad Khan, an alleged associate of Pulwama terror attack mastermind Mudassir Ahmed Khan.&nbsp;

He was arrested from the Red Fort area and was later to handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA)

A team of Delhi Police`s Special Cell arrested a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist from Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar on Tuesday. The police had announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh on information leading to the arrest of Jaish terrorist Basir Ahmad.

A team of Delhi Police`s Special Cell arrested a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist from Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar on Tuesday. The police had announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh on information leading to the arrest of Jaish terrorist Basir Ahmad. In April, the Delhi Police Special Cell had arrested a JeM terrorist from Srinagar identified as Faiyaz Ahmed Lone. On March 22, Delhi Police had arrested Sajjad Khan, an alleged associate of Pulwama terror attack mastermind Mudassir Ahmed Khan. He was arrested from the Red Fort area and was later to handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA)

Delhi Police Special Cell arrests Jaish-e-Mohammed  terrorist from Srinagar

Pakistan’s desperation to engage India in talks is palpable. It is not just geo-strategic compulsions prompting its leadership to restart diplomatic parleys, but that country’s collapsing economy that has triggered this response. &nbsp;&nbsp;

In Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on the sidelines of the SCO summit, Pakistan had tried to use Chinese President Xi Jinping to persuade India for holding bilateral talks but Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not budge from the official Indian position of not holding talks until Pakistan dismantles its terrorist infrastructure.

Already, tottering under unprecedented economic crisis, Pakistan cannot afford international sanctions against it. FATF has kept it on its watch list and any terrorist action will weaken its case.&nbsp;

The IAF strike on the Balakot terrorist training camp represents a paradigm shift in the Indian policy of dealing with Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.&nbsp;

Since the creation of Pakistan, that country has been trying to snatch Jammu and Kashmir by all means possible. It sent its armed forces personnel in the garb of tribals in 1947, repeated the act code-named Operation Gibraltar in 1965 followed by a full-fledged war. However, with 1971’s decisive defeat and dismemberment, it changed its policy towards India. Pakistan devised a two-pronged strategy to implement its agenda of breaking India.&nbsp;

Its infamous spy agency ISI started training and arming terrorist outfits to foment trouble in Punjab and Jammu &amp; Kashmir in particular and other states in general.&nbsp;

Simultaneously, it created a nuclear bogey to threaten India. Any talk of a befitting response to Pakistani terrorist activities was met with the Generals and their puppet civilian rulers saying that the nuclear arsenal has not been kept for use in Shab-e-Baraat!&nbsp;

Unfortunately, India’s erstwhile political leadership could not adequately counter Pakistan’s hollow threats. Today, Pakistan masterminding terrorist strikes on Indian soil, using threats of using nuclear blackmail, has changed forever.&nbsp;

When the IAF crossed the LoC and bombed Balakot’s terrorist hub, the message had been delivered loud and clear: the days when the blood of Indian patriots were spilled every now and then, was over; henceforth the response will be befitting.&nbsp;

PM Narendra Modi, in unambiguous terms, told Pakistan that India’s nuclear weapons have not been kept to be used as crackers on Diwali! In all practical terms, the Rubicon had been crossed.&nbsp;

Pakistan is not likely to roll back its terrorist grooming programme. From the Pakistani perspective, covert warfare is the best tool to deal with India.

On a cost-benefit analysis, creating and maintaining jihadis and ultras come at almost no cost. It just needs to provide political support and rest everything is taken care of by the groups themselves.

Ideological training is provided in the religious seminaries or tanzeems, which are funded by raising donations from the public. Billions of Pakistani rupees are raised by these tanzeems and the funds are channelised for training camps and to buy arms.

Finding fidayeen volunteers in Jammu &amp; Kashmir is going to be increasingly difficult for Pakistan’s ISI because of the Modi government’s no-nonsense Kashmir policy.

Saraiki-speaking southern areas of Pakistani Punjab, namely Multan and Jhang are flush with seminaries, which are imparting religious training to indoctrinate the youth. &nbsp;

These areas, historically, have been ideal hunting ground for jihadi tanzeems. Unless there is a conscientious check on them, thoughts of reining in terrorist outfits, are a pipedream.&nbsp;

Steps taken by the Pakistani government to show that it is winding up its terrorist infrastructure are cosmetic. The country is in dire economic straits and needs IMF funds. Naturally, it has to portray its clean image to the world.&nbsp;

Given Pakistan’s strategic over-reliance on jihadi terrorism, India should continue with its policy of no-talks until tangible results of winding up of terror infrastructure are visible.&nbsp;

Indian diplomats have left no stone unturned, in the past few years, to internationally isolate Pakistan on the terror front. Today, any talks, however small, will negate diplomatic benefits.

Pakistan has always tried to discuss only Kashmir, whenever bilateral talks have taken place between the two countries in the past. When Jammu &amp; Kashmir is an integral part of this country, what is there to discuss?

If Kashmir is ever discussed in the future - only after Pakistan’s sincerity towards winding up its terrorist agenda is visible - India should only discuss the issue of getting back its territories under Pakistan’s illegal occupation, which have been handed over to China, like Gilgit, Hunza and Baltistan, through which runs the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. 
 
&nbsp;

(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-don-t-talk-to-pakistan-until-it-dismantles-terror-facilities-2772031">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)&nbsp;

Pakistan’s desperation to engage India in talks is palpable. It is not just geo-strategic compulsions prompting its leadership to restart diplomatic parleys, but that country’s collapsing economy that has triggered this response.

Pakistan’s desperation to engage India in talks is palpable. It is not just geo-strategic compulsions prompting its leadership to restart diplomatic parleys, but that country’s collapsing economy that has triggered this response. In Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on the sidelines of the SCO summit, Pakistan had tried to use Chinese President Xi Jinping to persuade India for holding bilateral talks but Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not budge from the official Indian position of not holding talks until Pakistan dismantles its terrorist infrastructure. Already, tottering under unprecedented economic crisis, Pakistan cannot afford international sanctions against it. FATF has kept it on its watch list and any terrorist action will weaken its case. The IAF strike on the Balakot terrorist training camp represents a paradigm shift in the Indian policy of dealing with Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Since the creation of Pakistan, that country has been trying to snatch Jammu and Kashmir by all means possible. It sent its armed forces personnel in the garb of tribals in 1947, repeated the act code-named Operation Gibraltar in 1965 followed by a full-fledged war. However, with 1971’s decisive defeat and dismemberment, it changed its policy towards India. Pakistan devised a two-pronged strategy to implement its agenda of breaking India. Its infamous spy agency ISI started training and arming terrorist outfits to foment trouble in Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir in particular and other states in general. Simultaneously, it created a nuclear bogey to threaten India. Any talk of a befitting response to Pakistani terrorist activities was met with the Generals and their puppet civilian rulers saying that the nuclear arsenal has not been kept for use in Shab-e-Baraat! Unfortunately, India’s erstwhile political leadership could not adequately counter Pakistan’s hollow threats. Today, Pakistan masterminding terrorist strikes on Indian soil, using threats of using nuclear blackmail, has changed forever. When the IAF crossed the LoC and bombed Balakot’s terrorist hub, the message had been delivered loud and clear: the days when the blood of Indian patriots were spilled every now and then, was over; henceforth the response will be befitting. PM Narendra Modi, in unambiguous terms, told Pakistan that India’s nuclear weapons have not been kept to be used as crackers on Diwali! In all practical terms, the Rubicon had been crossed. Pakistan is not likely to roll back its terrorist grooming programme. From the Pakistani perspective, covert warfare is the best tool to deal with India. On a cost-benefit analysis, creating and maintaining jihadis and ultras come at almost no cost. It just needs to provide political support and rest everything is taken care of by the groups themselves. Ideological training is provided in the religious seminaries or tanzeems, which are funded by raising donations from the public. Billions of Pakistani rupees are raised by these tanzeems and the funds are channelised for training camps and to buy arms. Finding fidayeen volunteers in Jammu & Kashmir is going to be increasingly difficult for Pakistan’s ISI because of the Modi government’s no-nonsense Kashmir policy. Saraiki-speaking southern areas of Pakistani Punjab, namely Multan and Jhang are flush with seminaries, which are imparting religious training to indoctrinate the youth. These areas, historically, have been ideal hunting ground for jihadi tanzeems. Unless there is a conscientious check on them, thoughts of reining in terrorist outfits, are a pipedream. Steps taken by the Pakistani government to show that it is winding up its terrorist infrastructure are cosmetic. The country is in dire economic straits and needs IMF funds. Naturally, it has to portray its clean image to the world. Given Pakistan’s strategic over-reliance on jihadi terrorism, India should continue with its policy of no-talks until tangible results of winding up of terror infrastructure are visible. Indian diplomats have left no stone unturned, in the past few years, to internationally isolate Pakistan on the terror front. Today, any talks, however small, will negate diplomatic benefits. Pakistan has always tried to discuss only Kashmir, whenever bilateral talks have taken place between the two countries in the past. When Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of this country, what is there to discuss? If Kashmir is ever discussed in the future - only after Pakistan’s sincerity towards winding up its terrorist agenda is visible - India should only discuss the issue of getting back its territories under Pakistan’s illegal occupation, which have been handed over to China, like Gilgit, Hunza and Baltistan, through which runs the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Don’t talk to Pakistan until it dismantles terror facilities

The flood situation in Assam has worsened with loss of at least 11 lives and affecting over 26 lakh others across 28 districts.

State government officials said 3,181 villages were under water and 87,607 hectares of crop areas had been damaged. Floods have also affected over 10 lakh animals. Many animals at Kaziranga National Park have been moved to the highlands.

Authorities are running 327 relief camps and distribution centres in 24 districts, where 16,596 people are taking shelter at present.&nbsp;

Government has pressed the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) into the relief and rescue operations to help the stranded people across the state. Army has also been called in to assist the civil administration.&nbsp;

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and took stock of the flood situation in the state.

The Prime Minister has assured all the assistance to the state government to deal with the crisis.

Meanwhile, Assam Congress MPs protested on Monday in front of the Gandhi statue in Parliament over the flood situation in Assam and demanded that it be declared a national problem by the Centre.&nbsp;

Ripun Bora, President of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, said, "We have staged this demonstration today to bring to the notice of the entire country as well as to the BJP government towards the floods in Assam."&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

The flood situation in Assam has worsened with loss of at least 11 lives and affecting over 26 lakh others across 28 districts. State government officials said 3,181 villages were under water and 87,607 hectares of crop areas had been damaged.

The flood situation in Assam has worsened with loss of at least 11 lives and affecting over 26 lakh others across 28 districts. State government officials said 3,181 villages were under water and 87,607 hectares of crop areas had been damaged. Floods have also affected over 10 lakh animals. Many animals at Kaziranga National Park have been moved to the highlands. Authorities are running 327 relief camps and distribution centres in 24 districts, where 16,596 people are taking shelter at present. Government has pressed the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) into the relief and rescue operations to help the stranded people across the state. Army has also been called in to assist the civil administration. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and took stock of the flood situation in the state. The Prime Minister has assured all the assistance to the state government to deal with the crisis. Meanwhile, Assam Congress MPs protested on Monday in front of the Gandhi statue in Parliament over the flood situation in Assam and demanded that it be declared a national problem by the Centre. Ripun Bora, President of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, said, "We have staged this demonstration today to bring to the notice of the entire country as well as to the BJP government towards the floods in Assam." (With inputs from agencies)

PM Narendra Modi takes stock of flood situation, assures all assistance to Assam government

The Allahabad Bank on Saturday became the second Indian state-owned bank to report a major alleged fraud by bankrupt steelmaker Bhushan Power &amp; Steel Ltd this month, adding to concerns about a banking industry burdened with bad debts.

Allahabad Bank said in a statement that it had told the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that it had identified a fraud worth $259 million in Bhushan's accounts.

On July 6, state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) said it had reported an alleged fraud of $554.6 million in the steelmaker's accounts.

"It has been observed that the company has misappropriated bank funds, manipulated books of accounts to raise funds from consortium lender banks," Allahabad Bank said in its statement, adding that it had made provisions of about $131 million against the bank's exposure.

Bhushan Power &amp; Steel, one of India's most indebted companies, was among the first 12 companies referred by the RBI to a bankruptcy court for a debt resolution process under India's new insolvency law.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government introduced new bankruptcy resolution rules in 2016 to help with faster resolution of bad loans, but litigation has tied down some big restructuring deals.

To revive the banking sector the Indian government has injected about $36 billion of taxpayers' money into the banks in the past five years and initiated an asset quality review by the central bank.

Only about 5% of the stressed assets of banks have so far been dealt with through the bankruptcy process.

Bhushan Power &amp; Steel could not be immediately reached for comment on the latest allegation.

The Allahabad Bank on Saturday became the second Indian state-owned bank to report a major alleged fraud by bankrupt steelmaker Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd this month, adding to concerns about a banking industry burdened with bad debts.

The Allahabad Bank on Saturday became the second Indian state-owned bank to report a major alleged fraud by bankrupt steelmaker Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd this month, adding to concerns about a banking industry burdened with bad debts. Allahabad Bank said in a statement that it had told the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that it had identified a fraud worth $259 million in Bhushan's accounts. On July 6, state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) said it had reported an alleged fraud of $554.6 million in the steelmaker's accounts. "It has been observed that the company has misappropriated bank funds, manipulated books of accounts to raise funds from consortium lender banks," Allahabad Bank said in its statement, adding that it had made provisions of about $131 million against the bank's exposure. Bhushan Power & Steel, one of India's most indebted companies, was among the first 12 companies referred by the RBI to a bankruptcy court for a debt resolution process under India's new insolvency law. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government introduced new bankruptcy resolution rules in 2016 to help with faster resolution of bad loans, but litigation has tied down some big restructuring deals. To revive the banking sector the Indian government has injected about $36 billion of taxpayers' money into the banks in the past five years and initiated an asset quality review by the central bank. Only about 5% of the stressed assets of banks have so far been dealt with through the bankruptcy process. Bhushan Power & Steel could not be immediately reached for comment on the latest allegation.

Allahabad Bank reports $259 million alleged fraud by Bhushan Power & Steel

India will step up the international space race on Monday when it launches a <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/countdown-begins-for-launch-of-chandrayaan-ii-tomorrow-235687">low-cost mission</a> to become only the fourth country to land a probe on the Moon.

The Chandrayaan-2&nbsp;is set to blast off at 2:51 am on July 15 in Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota.

Chandrayaan-2, which has home-grown technology, will explore the far sight of South Pole of Moon where no mission has ever set foot.

It will be the first Indian expedition to attempt a soft landing on the lunar surface. This mission will make India the fourth country after the US, Russia and China to carry out a soft landing on Moon.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/live-chandrayaan-2-indias-second-lunar-exploration-mission-235637">Live: Chandrayaan-2 — India's second lunar exploration mission</a>

India's second moon mission is also grabbing attention from western media and scientific journals. They also hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a US based newspaper said that India's space program&nbsp;gained "new prominence" under the leader.

"Although India’s space program began as early as the 1960s, it has gained new prominence under Prime Minister Narendra Modi...PM Modi has promoted the space program as a symbol of the country’s rising stature internationally and a bulwark of its defence capabilities," the Washington Post stated in its report.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/chandrayaan-2-isro-gears-up-to-launch-second-sojourn-to-the-moon-235692">In pics: Chandrayaan-2 — ISRO gears up to launch second sojourn to the moon</a>

"The success of the mission is going to boost national morale and contribute to [India’s] scientific endeavours in ways ranging from academic research to national security. The mission is completely indigenous, with heavy participation from the private sector and academia, involving young scientists from across the country—a reflection of India’s rising scientific temper," America's Scientific American reported in its story.

"The mission will also serve as a proof of principle, demonstrating that India possesses the technical prowess not only to land on the moon but also to remotely operate a robotic rover there," the report added.

The Guardian newspaper reporting the same stated, "At 2.51am on Monday 15 July, engineers at India’s national spaceport at Sriharikota will blast their Chandrayaan-2 probe into orbit around the Earth. It will be the most ambitious space mission the nation has attempted."

Watch: A brief history of every moon mission in the history of space exploration

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Another US-based Newspaper The New York Times said "For India, reaching the moon would highlight its technological advances" in its report.

(With inputs from agencies) 
&nbsp;

India will step up the international space race on Monday when it launches a low-cost mission to become only the fourth country to land a probe on the Moon. The Chandrayaan-2 is set to blast off at 2:51 am on July 15 in Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota.

India will step up the international space race on Monday when it launches a low-cost mission to become only the fourth country to land a probe on the Moon. The Chandrayaan-2 is set to blast off at 2:51 am on July 15 in Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota. Chandrayaan-2, which has home-grown technology, will explore the far sight of South Pole of Moon where no mission has ever set foot. It will be the first Indian expedition to attempt a soft landing on the lunar surface. This mission will make India the fourth country after the US, Russia and China to carry out a soft landing on Moon. Live: Chandrayaan-2 — India's second lunar exploration mission India's second moon mission is also grabbing attention from western media and scientific journals. They also hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a US based newspaper said that India's space program gained "new prominence" under the leader. "Although India’s space program began as early as the 1960s, it has gained new prominence under Prime Minister Narendra Modi...PM Modi has promoted the space program as a symbol of the country’s rising stature internationally and a bulwark of its defence capabilities," the Washington Post stated in its report. In pics: Chandrayaan-2 — ISRO gears up to launch second sojourn to the moon "The success of the mission is going to boost national morale and contribute to [India’s] scientific endeavours in ways ranging from academic research to national security. The mission is completely indigenous, with heavy participation from the private sector and academia, involving young scientists from across the country—a reflection of India’s rising scientific temper," America's Scientific American reported in its story. "The mission will also serve as a proof of principle, demonstrating that India possesses the technical prowess not only to land on the moon but also to remotely operate a robotic rover there," the report added. The Guardian newspaper reporting the same stated, "At 2.51am on Monday 15 July, engineers at India’s national spaceport at Sriharikota will blast their Chandrayaan-2 probe into orbit around the Earth. It will be the most ambitious space mission the nation has attempted." Watch: A brief history of every moon mission in the history of space exploration × Another US-based Newspaper The New York Times said "For India, reaching the moon would highlight its technological advances" in its report. (With inputs from agencies)

Foreign media reacts to Chandrayaan-2; says 'space program gained new prominence under PM Narendra Modi'

<a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/india-news/railways-needs-investment-of-rs-50-lakh-crore-by-2030-to-make-it-worlds-best-piyush-goyal-233681&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwi49du-lrHjAhVMpY8KHRJPC_cQFjAGegQIABAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PRa79er7RsPwzDDwByBm6">Railway</a> Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said there is "no question and no meaning" of privatising Railways, but the public-private partnership will be encouraged and there will be corporatisation of some units.

Replying to the debate on the demands for grants of his ministry, in which 99 members participated, Goyal outlined the plans of the government to boost safety and technology and said its performance has been far better compared to that of the UPA government.&nbsp;

He made a veiled attack on UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi over her opposition to the corporatisation of the Modern Coach Factory in Rae Bareli and credited <a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/india-news/pm-modi-asks-mps-to-take-150-kilometres-march-on-gandhi-jayanti-234213&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjihtD0lrHjAhULUI8KHbPYDVk4ChAWMAN6BAgOEAI&amp;usg=AOvVaw2mq2heMNuhNTqHeRsM11JO">Prime Minister Narendra Modi</a> for its turnaround.

The Minister also accused the UPA government of "inaction" following the July 2006 train blasts and said if the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in power, terrorists would have gotten a befitting reply.

The House passed the demands for grants for railways (2019-20) after cut motions of the opposition were rejected by a voice vote.

Amid desk thumping by MPs of the treasury benches, Goyal said demands raised by members had been compiled overnight over 74 pages and he will individually write to the members.

He said capital expenditure of Railways had increased 2.5 times during the Modi government, adding that the current government had done away with the practice of a separate railway budget as they were mostly "political budgets.

"Slamming the UPA government, Goyal said the work for Dedicated Freight Corridor started in 2007, but not one kilometre of track linking had been done till 2014.&nbsp;

The NDA government completed 1900 kilometres of track linking in five years, he claimed.

The Railway Minister said track kilometre grew slowly in 64 years, while in the past five years it grew by 7,000 kilometres.&nbsp;

He also said railway stations were cleaner and train punctuality improved, as had the safety record of trains.

Goyal accused the <a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/india-news/congress-leaders-stage-protest-over-political-crisis-in-karnataka-and-goa-sonia-gandhi-meets-party-mps-234887&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjtr9OMl7HjAhXJL48KHeTlC90QFjAAegQIBRAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw2f5YP5GuPo2VEaiA-DDPZt">Congress party</a> of shedding "crocodile tears" over the corporatisation of some units, saying the Modi government was carrying forward a process that had been initiated earlier.&nbsp;

"Sometimes it is said we are going to privatise the railways.&nbsp;

We have spoken loudly so many times that nobody can privatise railways.

There is no meaning, no question of privatising railways," he said.

He said allegations about privatisation had been replied earlier and repeating them will not change the truth.&nbsp;

"The truth is that if you want to increase the facilities of railways, spread them to all parts of the country, we need big investments," he said.

Goyal said passengers want a comfortable journey and the capacity of railways to carry goods should increase.

"The government has decided that in the future it will encourage more public-private partnerships.&nbsp;

To increase route length, to bring foreign investment, we will corporatise some units.&nbsp;

You started it, we will complete the work you left half-finished. Why are you shedding crocodile tears that there is corporatisation?&nbsp;

We have been elected to complete the tasks you did not do," he said.

He said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed an investment of Rs 50 lakh crore in railways and related areas in the next ten-twelve years and has laid a roadmap of how the railways will move forward.&nbsp;

Her budget speech, he said, reflected the "new thinking and new direction" in which the government will work.

He said not a single coach was produced at coach factory in Rae Bareli, the constituency of Sonia Gandhi, during the rule of Congress-led government.&nbsp;

The coach factory produced 1425 coaches in 2018-19 against its capacity of 1,000 due to Modi`s directions and the target was to make it the biggest coach factory in the world which produced 5,000 coaches annually, he added.

Sonia Gandhi had earlier this month opposed corporatisation of Modern Coach Factory and said it was the first step towards privatisation.

Replying to queries, he said some projects in West Bengal were pending for years as the land had not been made available by the state government.&nbsp;

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said there is "no question and no meaning" of privatising Railways, but the public-private partnership will be encouraged and there will be corporatisation of some units.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said there is "no question and no meaning" of privatising Railways, but the public-private partnership will be encouraged and there will be corporatisation of some units. Replying to the debate on the demands for grants of his ministry, in which 99 members participated, Goyal outlined the plans of the government to boost safety and technology and said its performance has been far better compared to that of the UPA government. He made a veiled attack on UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi over her opposition to the corporatisation of the Modern Coach Factory in Rae Bareli and credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for its turnaround. The Minister also accused the UPA government of "inaction" following the July 2006 train blasts and said if the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in power, terrorists would have gotten a befitting reply. The House passed the demands for grants for railways (2019-20) after cut motions of the opposition were rejected by a voice vote. Amid desk thumping by MPs of the treasury benches, Goyal said demands raised by members had been compiled overnight over 74 pages and he will individually write to the members. He said capital expenditure of Railways had increased 2.5 times during the Modi government, adding that the current government had done away with the practice of a separate railway budget as they were mostly "political budgets. "Slamming the UPA government, Goyal said the work for Dedicated Freight Corridor started in 2007, but not one kilometre of track linking had been done till 2014. The NDA government completed 1900 kilometres of track linking in five years, he claimed. The Railway Minister said track kilometre grew slowly in 64 years, while in the past five years it grew by 7,000 kilometres. He also said railway stations were cleaner and train punctuality improved, as had the safety record of trains. Goyal accused the Congress party of shedding "crocodile tears" over the corporatisation of some units, saying the Modi government was carrying forward a process that had been initiated earlier. "Sometimes it is said we are going to privatise the railways. We have spoken loudly so many times that nobody can privatise railways. There is no meaning, no question of privatising railways," he said. He said allegations about privatisation had been replied earlier and repeating them will not change the truth. "The truth is that if you want to increase the facilities of railways, spread them to all parts of the country, we need big investments," he said. Goyal said passengers want a comfortable journey and the capacity of railways to carry goods should increase. "The government has decided that in the future it will encourage more public-private partnerships. To increase route length, to bring foreign investment, we will corporatise some units. You started it, we will complete the work you left half-finished. Why are you shedding crocodile tears that there is corporatisation? We have been elected to complete the tasks you did not do," he said. He said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed an investment of Rs 50 lakh crore in railways and related areas in the next ten-twelve years and has laid a roadmap of how the railways will move forward. Her budget speech, he said, reflected the "new thinking and new direction" in which the government will work. He said not a single coach was produced at coach factory in Rae Bareli, the constituency of Sonia Gandhi, during the rule of Congress-led government. The coach factory produced 1425 coaches in 2018-19 against its capacity of 1,000 due to Modi`s directions and the target was to make it the biggest coach factory in the world which produced 5,000 coaches annually, he added. Sonia Gandhi had earlier this month opposed corporatisation of Modern Coach Factory and said it was the first step towards privatisation. Replying to queries, he said some projects in West Bengal were pending for years as the land had not been made available by the state government.

Railways Minister Piyush Goyal says no privatisation of Railways, targets Congress

It is writing on the wall. The defeat of the Congress is like the tip of an iceberg. Instead of regrouping and putting heads together, the entire opposition remains disorganised. The only glue which binds the Opposition together is BJP.

Today, it is easy to blame BJP for breaking MLAs, destroying governments, but the fact remains that Congress does not provide any ideological reason for the representatives to stay put in their respective camps. Trouble is bigger for the Congress as it has not been able to put its own house in order. There exists vacuum at the top and no senior Congress leader at the Centre has shown the courage to bell the cat. Punjab’s chief minister Amarinder Singh is the sole politician to have written an editorial on this issue and put his views in public.

Rest have chosen to address the issue in political mumbo jumbo. Congress government is on verge of collapse in Karnataka and 10 MLAs have joined BJP in Goa. The shift represents hollowing out of the ideological axis of all the regional parties including that of the Congress.

Fact is that Congress has nothing to offer to the public except 'Gandhis', which as a brand has been defeated in the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections making the party even more vulnerable.&nbsp;

What is different today from yesteryears is that parties opposed to Congress in the first 50 years also had a different ideological axis. They were either rooted in socialist ideology or made ingress into the Congress vote through hard identity politics at the state level.&nbsp;

Today, identity politics at the level of caste has been decimated by BJP. Its ideological axis revolves around nationalism and Hindutva. The Opposition, on the other hand, has neither shown intellectual resilience nor political astuteness in dealing with such a narrative.

All regional parties, including Congress, have no ideological glue to bind workers and leaders together at the time of political crisis. 
&nbsp; 
Meanwhile, the regional parties are either tied to a dynasty or strong regional issue which is divorced from a larger world view. For example, Jagan Mohan Reddy has inherited Congress in Andhra Pradesh because local Congress politicians felt cheated by the Congress high command. TRS victory was based on the creation of Telangana and massive subsidy scheme. Mamata’s 'Ma Maati Manush' feels old and BJD is on brink of imitating AIADMK in Odisha as it has no succession plan in place. 
&nbsp; 
Congress continues to procrastinate and has failed to come up with a succession plan. Earlier, even when Opposition was crushed and defeated by Congress, senior opposition leaders like Ram Manohar Lohia, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Namboodiripad, RK Hegde, Charan Singh, Jai Prakash Narayan, Chandrashekhar, Somnath Chatterjee, LK Advani, Rajmata Scindia, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and many others could grab the attention of the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his government. They could capture space in national media. None of that exists today.

Imagine, Bharatiya Jan Sangh dissolved itself and became part of Janata Party in 1977 but the experiment failed. It rebooted itself as BJP in 1980. By 1990 it had 89 seats in Lok Sabha and senior leadership at the state level. The Opposition has none today. If it wants to be a force against BJP, then it will need to articulate as to what does it stand for and what are its cherished ideological principles. Crass opportunism will not work this time around.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

&nbsp;

It is writing on the wall. The defeat of the Congress is like the tip of an iceberg. Instead of regrouping and putting heads together, the entire opposition remains disorganised.

It is writing on the wall. The defeat of the Congress is like the tip of an iceberg. Instead of regrouping and putting heads together, the entire opposition remains disorganised. The only glue which binds the Opposition together is BJP. Today, it is easy to blame BJP for breaking MLAs, destroying governments, but the fact remains that Congress does not provide any ideological reason for the representatives to stay put in their respective camps. Trouble is bigger for the Congress as it has not been able to put its own house in order. There exists vacuum at the top and no senior Congress leader at the Centre has shown the courage to bell the cat. Punjab’s chief minister Amarinder Singh is the sole politician to have written an editorial on this issue and put his views in public. Rest have chosen to address the issue in political mumbo jumbo. Congress government is on verge of collapse in Karnataka and 10 MLAs have joined BJP in Goa. The shift represents hollowing out of the ideological axis of all the regional parties including that of the Congress. Fact is that Congress has nothing to offer to the public except 'Gandhis', which as a brand has been defeated in the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections making the party even more vulnerable. What is different today from yesteryears is that parties opposed to Congress in the first 50 years also had a different ideological axis. They were either rooted in socialist ideology or made ingress into the Congress vote through hard identity politics at the state level. Today, identity politics at the level of caste has been decimated by BJP. Its ideological axis revolves around nationalism and Hindutva. The Opposition, on the other hand, has neither shown intellectual resilience nor political astuteness in dealing with such a narrative. All regional parties, including Congress, have no ideological glue to bind workers and leaders together at the time of political crisis. Meanwhile, the regional parties are either tied to a dynasty or strong regional issue which is divorced from a larger world view. For example, Jagan Mohan Reddy has inherited Congress in Andhra Pradesh because local Congress politicians felt cheated by the Congress high command. TRS victory was based on the creation of Telangana and massive subsidy scheme. Mamata’s 'Ma Maati Manush' feels old and BJD is on brink of imitating AIADMK in Odisha as it has no succession plan in place. Congress continues to procrastinate and has failed to come up with a succession plan. Earlier, even when Opposition was crushed and defeated by Congress, senior opposition leaders like Ram Manohar Lohia, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Namboodiripad, RK Hegde, Charan Singh, Jai Prakash Narayan, Chandrashekhar, Somnath Chatterjee, LK Advani, Rajmata Scindia, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and many others could grab the attention of the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his government. They could capture space in national media. None of that exists today. Imagine, Bharatiya Jan Sangh dissolved itself and became part of Janata Party in 1977 but the experiment failed. It rebooted itself as BJP in 1980. By 1990 it had 89 seats in Lok Sabha and senior leadership at the state level. The Opposition has none today. If it wants to be a force against BJP, then it will need to articulate as to what does it stand for and what are its cherished ideological principles. Crass opportunism will not work this time around. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

BJP is the only glue which binds 'disorganised' Opposition together

A US delegation is in New Delhi to hammer out differences over <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/amid-escalating-trade-tensions-us-india-begin-talks-235230">India's new investment rules</a> for the e-commerce which has considerably grown in size in last one decade. The bone of contention is a rule put in place by Prime Minister Narendra Modi just before the Lok Sabha elections.

The new rules barred companies from selling products via firms in which they have an equity interest and also from making deals with sellers to sell exclusively on their platform.

It was done to protect India's small trader community which forms the political backbone of BJP. Small traders in India had been complaining to the government for a long time that they are steadily losing their business to foreign e-commerce giants. While the new rule helped the Indian business, it was not taken kindly by the US e-commerce giants.

It is learnt that Walmart told the US government privately in January that India's new investment rules for e-commerce were regressive and have the potential to hurt trade ties. Walmart had invested US $16 billion in Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart, its biggest acquisition ever globally.

India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the government was committed to protecting small traders, but open to ironing out policy-related issues. Goyal said on Twitter on Wednesday that he met Walmart international CEO Judith MC Kenna and discussed ways of boosting sales of Indian made products.

Walmart told the United States trade representative in January that its unit Flipkart, as well as Amazon, had opened many new distribution centres over the past three years in India, creating thousands of jobs and benefitting the customers.

The US delegation will return on Friday after concluding talks with the Indian government.

A US delegation is in New Delhi to hammer out differences over India's new investment rules for the e-commerce which has considerably grown in size in last one decade.

A US delegation is in New Delhi to hammer out differences over India's new investment rules for the e-commerce which has considerably grown in size in last one decade. The bone of contention is a rule put in place by Prime Minister Narendra Modi just before the Lok Sabha elections. The new rules barred companies from selling products via firms in which they have an equity interest and also from making deals with sellers to sell exclusively on their platform. It was done to protect India's small trader community which forms the political backbone of BJP. Small traders in India had been complaining to the government for a long time that they are steadily losing their business to foreign e-commerce giants. While the new rule helped the Indian business, it was not taken kindly by the US e-commerce giants. It is learnt that Walmart told the US government privately in January that India's new investment rules for e-commerce were regressive and have the potential to hurt trade ties. Walmart had invested US $16 billion in Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart, its biggest acquisition ever globally. India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the government was committed to protecting small traders, but open to ironing out policy-related issues. Goyal said on Twitter on Wednesday that he met Walmart international CEO Judith MC Kenna and discussed ways of boosting sales of Indian made products. Walmart told the United States trade representative in January that its unit Flipkart, as well as Amazon, had opened many new distribution centres over the past three years in India, creating thousands of jobs and benefitting the customers. The US delegation will return on Friday after concluding talks with the Indian government.

US delegation to discuss India's new e-commerce rules during trade talks

Rebalancing is the new mantra of statecraft and reset is the new form of global rapprochement. 
 
Therefore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for as many as 20 meetings, including nine bilaterals and eight pull-aside engagements, with his global counterparts. On the sidelines of the G20 summit at Osaka, Japan, were varied groupings: Russia-India-China, Japan-US-India and Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa. It offered, once again, good optics for the creation of a multilateral system of partnerships with various countries and international organisations.

All great powers realise that the era of super-power domination is over, and with the emergence of new power centres like China, India and Japan, new rules of the game and new terms of engagement need to be chalked out. Forums like G20 are critical for constructing a multi-polar and democratic order, which would guarantee each country — large or small — peace, security, justice and development in order to address challenges like climate change, corruption, pollution, terrorism, technology sharing and data flow management, among others.

In the wake of the financial woes of the West and its increasingly protectionist tendencies of late — Brexit in the UK and the triumphalism of Donald Trump — one can notice a common trend that arises out of part distrust and part national interest. No more prominent example of global rebalancing may be cited than China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) against the backdrop of the US’s ‘Pivot to Asia’ that Beijing intuitively believes to be especially devised to contain its rise.

How is the rebalancing working out? US allies in Asia, connected to and militarily aligned with the pivot, are absolutely okay with engaging economically with China, a phenomenon that seeks to strike a balance between the regional and global geo-economic and geostrategic priorities. The hegemonic struggle between the US and China to stake control over Asia and the world notwithstanding, nations are trying hard to hold on to their values and diplomats are honing their skills on economic statecraft.

Is rebalancing, then, the other name of strategic promiscuity? In a way, it is. Because being close to another country does not necessarily mean hostilities against a third country. Rebalancing, therefore, is more akin to focusing on areas of respective and mutual convergence. That’s where it syncs with national interest. While the reasons for US foreign policy to focus on Brazil, India, Indonesia and Turkey is ascribed to their fluid and open approach to the international order than those of China or Russia, the real factor could be to reduce China’s global clout by fostering partnerships with existing and rising great powers.

Russia, in turn, has been trying to counterbalance the USA’s global leadership by cooperating with China on issues relating to state sovereignty, strengthening the UN Security Council, and pitching for a multi-polar world order wherein no single state assumes a paramount position vis-à-vis the others in world affairs. Despite paeans sung on the merits of multilateralism, it is natural that a leader in power would pursue policy based on his/her perception of national interest. 
 
Napoleon justified his campaign against Russia, and later his act to launch the desperate battle at Waterloo, on the plea that he was acting in the interest of France; Hitler was said to be acting in Germany’s national interest on grounds of which he justified his expansionist policies, including annexation of Austria and the breakup of Czechoslovakia (1938). British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain justified his act of currying favour with Hitler and Mussolini on the pretext that such appeasement was in Britain’s national interest. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently justified demonetisation as a move taken in “national interest” and not for “political gains”, arguing that it was a step to fight black money.

It is par for the course, then, that during a recent extensive bilateral meeting in New Delhi, India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar reconfirmed to his American counterpart, Mike Pompeo, about the Indian imperative to act in its national interest and nurture the time-tested, history-honoured relationships with many countries, including Russia and Iran. India is also engaging more actively with Japan, while taking care not to antagonise China, which is another deft exercise of rebalancing. 
 
(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-rebalancing-is-trademark-in-a-multi-polar-diplomatic-world-2770634">original article)</a>

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Rebalancing is the new mantra of statecraft and reset is the new form of global rapprochement. Therefore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for as many as 20 meetings, including nine bilaterals and eight pull-aside engagements, with his global counterparts.

Rebalancing is the new mantra of statecraft and reset is the new form of global rapprochement. Therefore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for as many as 20 meetings, including nine bilaterals and eight pull-aside engagements, with his global counterparts. On the sidelines of the G20 summit at Osaka, Japan, were varied groupings: Russia-India-China, Japan-US-India and Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa. It offered, once again, good optics for the creation of a multilateral system of partnerships with various countries and international organisations. All great powers realise that the era of super-power domination is over, and with the emergence of new power centres like China, India and Japan, new rules of the game and new terms of engagement need to be chalked out. Forums like G20 are critical for constructing a multi-polar and democratic order, which would guarantee each country — large or small — peace, security, justice and development in order to address challenges like climate change, corruption, pollution, terrorism, technology sharing and data flow management, among others. In the wake of the financial woes of the West and its increasingly protectionist tendencies of late — Brexit in the UK and the triumphalism of Donald Trump — one can notice a common trend that arises out of part distrust and part national interest. No more prominent example of global rebalancing may be cited than China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) against the backdrop of the US’s ‘Pivot to Asia’ that Beijing intuitively believes to be especially devised to contain its rise. How is the rebalancing working out? US allies in Asia, connected to and militarily aligned with the pivot, are absolutely okay with engaging economically with China, a phenomenon that seeks to strike a balance between the regional and global geo-economic and geostrategic priorities. The hegemonic struggle between the US and China to stake control over Asia and the world notwithstanding, nations are trying hard to hold on to their values and diplomats are honing their skills on economic statecraft. Is rebalancing, then, the other name of strategic promiscuity? In a way, it is. Because being close to another country does not necessarily mean hostilities against a third country. Rebalancing, therefore, is more akin to focusing on areas of respective and mutual convergence. That’s where it syncs with national interest. While the reasons for US foreign policy to focus on Brazil, India, Indonesia and Turkey is ascribed to their fluid and open approach to the international order than those of China or Russia, the real factor could be to reduce China’s global clout by fostering partnerships with existing and rising great powers. Russia, in turn, has been trying to counterbalance the USA’s global leadership by cooperating with China on issues relating to state sovereignty, strengthening the UN Security Council, and pitching for a multi-polar world order wherein no single state assumes a paramount position vis-à-vis the others in world affairs. Despite paeans sung on the merits of multilateralism, it is natural that a leader in power would pursue policy based on his/her perception of national interest. Napoleon justified his campaign against Russia, and later his act to launch the desperate battle at Waterloo, on the plea that he was acting in the interest of France; Hitler was said to be acting in Germany’s national interest on grounds of which he justified his expansionist policies, including annexation of Austria and the breakup of Czechoslovakia (1938). British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain justified his act of currying favour with Hitler and Mussolini on the pretext that such appeasement was in Britain’s national interest. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently justified demonetisation as a move taken in “national interest” and not for “political gains”, arguing that it was a step to fight black money. It is par for the course, then, that during a recent extensive bilateral meeting in New Delhi, India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar reconfirmed to his American counterpart, Mike Pompeo, about the Indian imperative to act in its national interest and nurture the time-tested, history-honoured relationships with many countries, including Russia and Iran. India is also engaging more actively with Japan, while taking care not to antagonise China, which is another deft exercise of rebalancing. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Rebalancing is trademark in a multi-polar diplomatic world

Indian cricket fans were feeling pain rather than anger on Thursday as they tried to come to terms with their team's shocking World Cup semi-final<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/new-zealand-stun-india-by-18-runs-to-reach-world-cup-final-234755"> defeat to New Zealand</a>.

Cricket is like a religion in India, where players can enjoy godlike status when they win but see their effigies burnt and houses pelted with stones when they lose.

While Virat Kohli's men had been favourites to go all the way at the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/world-cup-umpiring-error-haunts-india-as-ms-dhoni-lost-his-wicket-on-no-ball-234892">World Cup</a>, their exit did not spark a furious response for fans back home who had been captivated by their run to the last four as the tournament's top team.

Their efforts lauded on social media, the team were also congratulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said he was proud of the way they played during their run at the World Cup, which also saw them wrest the world No. 1 ranking from England.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
A disappointing result, but good to see <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TeamIndia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TeamIndia</a>’s fighting spirit till the very end. 
 
India batted, bowled, fielded well throughout the tournament, of which we are very proud. 
 
Wins and losses are a part of life. Best wishes to the team for their future endeavours. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/INDvsNZ?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#INDvsNZ</a>
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1148959096831217665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2019</a></blockquote>
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"A disappointing result, but good to see #TeamIndia's fighting spirit till the very end," Modi tweeted after India's 18-run loss in Manchester. India batted, bowled, fielded well throughout the tournament, of which we are very proud. Wins and losses are a part of life. Best wishes to the team for their future endeavours."

In his post-match news conference, a glum captain Kohli said it was heart-breaking that his team&nbsp;had to exit the showpiece due to some ordinary cricket in a <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/forty-five-minutes-of-bad-cricket-put-us-out-says-kohli-after-indias-shock-exit-234767">45-minute spell</a>.

That sentiment was mirrored by many back home too.

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Nothing ti say 😭😭<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WC2019?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WC2019</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TeamIndia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TeamIndia</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DhoniForever?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DhoniForever</a> <a href="https://t.co/E84MNI0BPN">pic.twitter.com/E84MNI0BPN</a>
— 🇮🇳 Srishti Sinha (@Srish_Tweet_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Srish_Tweet_/status/1149207550505525249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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It matters how you fight and you fought brilliantly throughout the tournament. We are proud of you <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TeamIndia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TeamIndia</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CWC19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CWC19</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/INDvNZL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#INDvNZL</a> <a href="https://t.co/hrKmlwriER">pic.twitter.com/hrKmlwriER</a>
— Sharwanand (@ActorSharwanand) <a href="https://twitter.com/ActorSharwanand/status/1149193574002507776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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No team would hv fought back from 5 for 3..We did..history always remembers the true fighters.. <a href="https://twitter.com/imjadeja?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@imjadeja</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/msdhoni?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@msdhoni</a> we are proud of u both and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TeamIndia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TeamIndia</a> 👍 Personally became a big fan of <a href="https://twitter.com/ImRo45?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ImRo45</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Jaspritbumrah93?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Jaspritbumrah93</a> .. Well done captain fearless <a href="https://twitter.com/imVkohli?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@imVkohli</a> 👏👏👍😊
— Sivakarthikeyan (@Siva_Kartikeyan) <a href="https://twitter.com/Siva_Kartikeyan/status/1149145756684546048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Indian media and fans were also united in their praise for Ravindra Jadeja, whose all-round brilliance in just his second match of the tournament was not enough to lift India to Sunday's final at Lord's.

Indian cricket fans were feeling pain rather than anger on Thursday as they tried to come to terms with their team's shocking World Cup semi-final defeat to New Zealand.

Indian cricket fans were feeling pain rather than anger on Thursday as they tried to come to terms with their team's shocking World Cup semi-final defeat to New Zealand. Cricket is like a religion in India, where players can enjoy godlike status when they win but see their effigies burnt and houses pelted with stones when they lose. While Virat Kohli's men had been favourites to go all the way at the World Cup, their exit did not spark a furious response for fans back home who had been captivated by their run to the last four as the tournament's top team. Their efforts lauded on social media, the team were also congratulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said he was proud of the way they played during their run at the World Cup, which also saw them wrest the world No. 1 ranking from England. A disappointing result, but good to see #TeamIndia’s fighting spirit till the very end. India batted, bowled, fielded well throughout the tournament, of which we are very proud. Wins and losses are a part of life. Best wishes to the team for their future endeavours. #INDvsNZ — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 10, 2019 × "A disappointing result, but good to see #TeamIndia's fighting spirit till the very end," Modi tweeted after India's 18-run loss in Manchester. India batted, bowled, fielded well throughout the tournament, of which we are very proud. Wins and losses are a part of life. Best wishes to the team for their future endeavours." In his post-match news conference, a glum captain Kohli said it was heart-breaking that his team had to exit the showpiece due to some ordinary cricket in a 45-minute spell. That sentiment was mirrored by many back home too. Nothing ti say 😭😭#WC2019 #TeamIndia #DhoniForever pic.twitter.com/E84MNI0BPN — 🇮🇳 Srishti Sinha (@Srish_Tweet_) July 11, 2019 × It matters how you fight and you fought brilliantly throughout the tournament. We are proud of you #TeamIndia. #CWC19#INDvNZL pic.twitter.com/hrKmlwriER — Sharwanand (@ActorSharwanand) July 11, 2019 × No team would hv fought back from 5 for 3..We did..history always remembers the true fighters.. @imjadeja and @msdhoni we are proud of u both and #TeamIndia 👍 Personally became a big fan of @ImRo45 and @Jaspritbumrah93 .. Well done captain fearless @imVkohli 👏👏👍😊 — Sivakarthikeyan (@Siva_Kartikeyan) July 11, 2019 × Indian media and fans were also united in their praise for Ravindra Jadeja, whose all-round brilliance in just his second match of the tournament was not enough to lift India to Sunday's final at Lord's.

Heartbroken fans still proud of Virat Kohli led-Indian team after World Cup exit

Hundreds of miles from their homes, a group of labourers are toiling in a cold Indian Himalayan desert to repair some of the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/tour-de-impossible-pakistan-hosts-worlds-toughest-cycle-race-233719">world's highest roads</a>.&nbsp;

Stationed near Chang La pass which is perched at a height of 5,360 metres (17,590 feet), the 13 men, whose home is the low-lying eastern state of Jharkhand, have little experience of cold climes.

They have been hired for four months in the Tangtse district of Ladakh, where blizzards can rage throughout the year, to ensure that the key tourist route to the picturesque Nubra Valley and Pangong lake is in good condition.

Their back-breaking stint will fetch them 40,000 rupees ($572) each a considerable sum in a country where more than 21 per cent of the 1.3 billion population lived on less than two dollars a day in 2011.

"There is not much work there (back home). I don't find any work difficult," said Sunil Tutu, 30.

They toil six days a week, using only their bare hands, shovels and old sacks to move rocks and sand, with the help of local Ladakhi workers, some of them women.&nbsp;

Sundays are the only days they can do their laundry as well as bathe and shave.

Each morning the group hops on a truck to reach the work site after a breakfast of tea and bread. They return to their basic housing tents after sunset and have a meal of rice and lentils.

The tents do not have electricity and workers rely on kerosene stoves to cook and heat up the icy water. But they are undaunted.

"If given a chance I will come back here again," said Sushil Tutu, 35. "I like road work.... I like it anywhere."

Another worker Rajshekhar, 33, said the inhospitable conditions helped him save more for the future.

"Back home we are unable to save money, we eat and drink and the money gets over. The work is good (here), I like the snow and the mountains. I don't like the cold though."

Migration for work is common in rural India. According to the non-government Aajeevika Bureau agency, millions work in hazardous conditions with little legal or social protection.

India's unemployment rate has been worsening. In 2017-2018 it was 6.1 per cent, the worst since the 1970s, posing a major challenge for newly re-elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Hundreds of miles from their homes, a group of labourers are toiling in a cold Indian Himalayan desert to repair some of the world's highest roads. Stationed near Chang La pass which is perched at a height of 5,360 metres (17,590 feet), the 13 men, whose home is the low-lying eastern state of Jharkhand, have little experience of cold climes.

Hundreds of miles from their homes, a group of labourers are toiling in a cold Indian Himalayan desert to repair some of the world's highest roads. Stationed near Chang La pass which is perched at a height of 5,360 metres (17,590 feet), the 13 men, whose home is the low-lying eastern state of Jharkhand, have little experience of cold climes. They have been hired for four months in the Tangtse district of Ladakh, where blizzards can rage throughout the year, to ensure that the key tourist route to the picturesque Nubra Valley and Pangong lake is in good condition. Their back-breaking stint will fetch them 40,000 rupees ($572) each a considerable sum in a country where more than 21 per cent of the 1.3 billion population lived on less than two dollars a day in 2011. "There is not much work there (back home). I don't find any work difficult," said Sunil Tutu, 30. They toil six days a week, using only their bare hands, shovels and old sacks to move rocks and sand, with the help of local Ladakhi workers, some of them women. Sundays are the only days they can do their laundry as well as bathe and shave. Each morning the group hops on a truck to reach the work site after a breakfast of tea and bread. They return to their basic housing tents after sunset and have a meal of rice and lentils. The tents do not have electricity and workers rely on kerosene stoves to cook and heat up the icy water. But they are undaunted. "If given a chance I will come back here again," said Sushil Tutu, 35. "I like road work.... I like it anywhere." Another worker Rajshekhar, 33, said the inhospitable conditions helped him save more for the future. "Back home we are unable to save money, we eat and drink and the money gets over. The work is good (here), I like the snow and the mountains. I don't like the cold though." Migration for work is common in rural India. According to the non-government Aajeevika Bureau agency, millions work in hazardous conditions with little legal or social protection. India's unemployment rate has been worsening. In 2017-2018 it was 6.1 per cent, the worst since the 1970s, posing a major challenge for newly re-elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Indian workers toil at one of world's highest roads

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan here on Tuesday and discussed ways to improve economic and cultural relations between the two countries.

"Had a great meeting with UAE's Foreign Minister, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. We talked at length about further improving economic and cultural relations between India and UAE," the Prime Minister tweeted.

On Monday, the visiting minister had held talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

The two sides had discussed bilateral issues related to trade and investment, defence and security, energy security, counter-terrorism and people to people contacts.

They had also shared perspectives on the regional situation.

Sheikh Abdullah had arrived here on a three-day bilateral visit on Sunday evening.

The visit is aimed at providing the two sides with an opportunity to explore new areas of cooperation to further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership, according to a Ministry of External Affairs statement.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan here on Tuesday and discussed ways to improve economic and cultural relations between the two countries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan here on Tuesday and discussed ways to improve economic and cultural relations between the two countries. "Had a great meeting with UAE's Foreign Minister, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. We talked at length about further improving economic and cultural relations between India and UAE," the Prime Minister tweeted. On Monday, the visiting minister had held talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. The two sides had discussed bilateral issues related to trade and investment, defence and security, energy security, counter-terrorism and people to people contacts. They had also shared perspectives on the regional situation. Sheikh Abdullah had arrived here on a three-day bilateral visit on Sunday evening. The visit is aimed at providing the two sides with an opportunity to explore new areas of cooperation to further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership, according to a Ministry of External Affairs statement.

PM Narendra Modi discusses economic, cultural ties with UAE foreign minister

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday conducted searches at 110 locations across 19 states in connection with corruption, criminal misconduct and arms smuggling cases.

The probe agency has filed 30 separate cases, said agency officials.

According to officials, the raids were carried out in various cities including, Delhi, Bharatpur, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Jammu, Srinagar, Pune, Goa, Jaipur, Kanpur, Raipur, Hyderabad, Madurai, Kolkata, Rourkela, Ranchi, Bokaro. 
 
This is second massive search operation by the agency in a week. Last week, the CBI had carried out searches at over 50 places in 14 states in connection with bank frauds.

(With inputs from agencies) 
&nbsp;

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday conducted searches at 110 locations across 19 states in connection with corruption, criminal misconduct and arms smuggling cases.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday conducted searches at 110 locations across 19 states in connection with corruption, criminal misconduct and arms smuggling cases. The probe agency has filed 30 separate cases, said agency officials. According to officials, the raids were carried out in various cities including, Delhi, Bharatpur, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Jammu, Srinagar, Pune, Goa, Jaipur, Kanpur, Raipur, Hyderabad, Madurai, Kolkata, Rourkela, Ranchi, Bokaro. This is second massive search operation by the agency in a week. Last week, the CBI had carried out searches at over 50 places in 14 states in connection with bank frauds. (With inputs from agencies)

In a nationwide crackdown, CBI searches 110 locations across 19 states

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has apparently not been invited by Russia for the Eastern Economic Forum which will happen in the port city of Vladivostok, the Russian Foreign Ministry clarified in a statement.

The statement came after Pakistani media reported last week that an invite was extended by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Pakistan Prime Minister during the Shanghai cooperation organization summit in Bishkek last month.

Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement said,"We drew attention to the publications in a number of South Asian media that the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Imran Khan was invited to the events of the Eastern Economic Forum (WEF-5) in Vladivostok (September 4-6, this year) as the guest of honour...".

Explaining, "We expect that the President of Mongolia H Battulga, the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of Malaysia M Mohammad and the Prime Minister of Japan S Abe will arrive" in Vladivostok.

Overall 3 Prime Ministers and one President will be attending the forum.&nbsp;

The forum meeting that began in 2015 aims to garner investment in Russia's far east region.

PM Modi will be going for the forum meeting as a special guest. Russian President Vladimir Putin had extended the invite during a telephonic conversation on January 1 and reiterated the invite during a conversation in February.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has apparently not been invited by Russia for the Eastern Economic Forum which will happen in the port city of Vladivostok, the Russian Foreign Ministry clarified in a statement.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has apparently not been invited by Russia for the Eastern Economic Forum which will happen in the port city of Vladivostok, the Russian Foreign Ministry clarified in a statement. The statement came after Pakistani media reported last week that an invite was extended by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Pakistan Prime Minister during the Shanghai cooperation organization summit in Bishkek last month. Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement said,"We drew attention to the publications in a number of South Asian media that the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Imran Khan was invited to the events of the Eastern Economic Forum (WEF-5) in Vladivostok (September 4-6, this year) as the guest of honour...". Explaining, "We expect that the President of Mongolia H Battulga, the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of Malaysia M Mohammad and the Prime Minister of Japan S Abe will arrive" in Vladivostok. Overall 3 Prime Ministers and one President will be attending the forum. The forum meeting that began in 2015 aims to garner investment in Russia's far east region. PM Modi will be going for the forum meeting as a special guest. Russian President Vladimir Putin had extended the invite during a telephonic conversation on January 1 and reiterated the invite during a conversation in February.

Pakistan PM Imran Khan not invited at Eastern Economic Forum, clarifies Russia

Newly appointed Pakistan High Commissioner to India, Mueenul Haq, will not take part in the second meeting on the operationalisation of the Kartarpur Corridor scheduled to be held on July 14 on the Pakistan side of the border.

"Mueenul Haq will join office in the last week of this month. He will not be participating in the talks on the Kartarpur Corridor on July 14," diplomatic sources in New Delhi told ANI.

Haq succeeds Sohail Mehmood.

The sources said that the Deputy High Commissioner of Pakistan will be present in the meeting along with his country's team.

The second round of talks on the corridor was announced after the re-election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The first round was held on March 14 on the Indian side of the Attari-Wagah border.

Pakistan is all set to give a presentation on the latest development on the Kartarpur corridor, the sources said.

The Indian side has expressed concern since Pakistan has announced that only 700 Indian devotees could visit Kartarpur Sahib for commemorating Gurpurab -- the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Govind Singh-- after paying the visa fee.

Earlier, the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee had written a letter to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan seeking an increase in the number of devotees to 5000 in a day and allowing them without a visa.

Asked about Modi and Khan jointly inaugurating the corridor before Gurpurab, the sources said, "It is speculation which is in Pakistan. There has been no discussion on it yet."&nbsp;

Newly appointed Pakistan High Commissioner to India, Mueenul Haq, will not take part in the second meeting on the operationalisation of the Kartarpur Corridor scheduled to be held on July 14 on the Pakistan side of the border.

Newly appointed Pakistan High Commissioner to India, Mueenul Haq, will not take part in the second meeting on the operationalisation of the Kartarpur Corridor scheduled to be held on July 14 on the Pakistan side of the border. "Mueenul Haq will join office in the last week of this month. He will not be participating in the talks on the Kartarpur Corridor on July 14," diplomatic sources in New Delhi told ANI. Haq succeeds Sohail Mehmood. The sources said that the Deputy High Commissioner of Pakistan will be present in the meeting along with his country's team. The second round of talks on the corridor was announced after the re-election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The first round was held on March 14 on the Indian side of the Attari-Wagah border. Pakistan is all set to give a presentation on the latest development on the Kartarpur corridor, the sources said. The Indian side has expressed concern since Pakistan has announced that only 700 Indian devotees could visit Kartarpur Sahib for commemorating Gurpurab -- the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Govind Singh-- after paying the visa fee. Earlier, the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee had written a letter to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan seeking an increase in the number of devotees to 5000 in a day and allowing them without a visa. Asked about Modi and Khan jointly inaugurating the corridor before Gurpurab, the sources said, "It is speculation which is in Pakistan. There has been no discussion on it yet."

New Pakistan High Commissioner to India will not attend July 14 Kartarpur talks: Report

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Russia in September this year, a report said on Saturday.

The visit comes after an invitation was extended to Khan by Russia President Vladimir Putin during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Kyrgyzstan earlier this month.

"Would be delighted if you would come to the Multilateral conference in Russia", Putin had said to Khan during lunch, as the conference was concluding.

The report says, Imran Khan happily accepted the invitation and will visit Russia to attend Eastern Economic Forum as a special guest. The summit will take place in Vladivostok city from September 4 to 6.&nbsp;

The invite is being seen as a new chapter in Pakistan-Russia diplomatic relations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already been invited for the EEF meet in Vladivostok. Russian President Vladimir Putin had extended the invite during his conversation with PM Modi on January 1 and reiterated his invited in February again.&nbsp;

During the SCO summit, the Imran Khan&nbsp;and Putin engaged in an informal conversation on many occasions. Both leaders were&nbsp;also seen standing next to each other during the photo sessions.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, in June following the SCO summit, in an interview with Russian government-owned news agency Sputnik, Imran Khan had said that he hopes to come to Russia for an official visit. He had also said that "it was important that the two countries move closer."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also expected to attend the Eastern Economic Forum. If PM Modi attends the meeting then it will be the second time both leaders, PM Modi and his Pakistani counterpart will be under the same roof since the Pulwama terror attack.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Russia in September this year, a report said on Saturday. The visit comes after an invitation was extended to Khan by Russia President Vladimir Putin during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Kyrgyzstan earlier this month.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Russia in September this year, a report said on Saturday. The visit comes after an invitation was extended to Khan by Russia President Vladimir Putin during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Kyrgyzstan earlier this month. "Would be delighted if you would come to the Multilateral conference in Russia", Putin had said to Khan during lunch, as the conference was concluding. The report says, Imran Khan happily accepted the invitation and will visit Russia to attend Eastern Economic Forum as a special guest. The summit will take place in Vladivostok city from September 4 to 6. The invite is being seen as a new chapter in Pakistan-Russia diplomatic relations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already been invited for the EEF meet in Vladivostok. Russian President Vladimir Putin had extended the invite during his conversation with PM Modi on January 1 and reiterated his invited in February again. During the SCO summit, the Imran Khan and Putin engaged in an informal conversation on many occasions. Both leaders were also seen standing next to each other during the photo sessions. Meanwhile, in June following the SCO summit, in an interview with Russian government-owned news agency Sputnik, Imran Khan had said that he hopes to come to Russia for an official visit. He had also said that "it was important that the two countries move closer." Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also expected to attend the Eastern Economic Forum. If PM Modi attends the meeting then it will be the second time both leaders, PM Modi and his Pakistani counterpart will be under the same roof since the Pulwama terror attack.

Pakistan PM Imran Khan to visit Russia in September; will attend Eastern Economic Forum as special guest

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that those who are casting doubt over the target of making India a five trillion dollars economy were professional pessimists and asserted that the goal was achievable.

"We are very confident about achieving the goal of 5 trillion dollar economy in the next five years but there are some who are casting doubts over the competence of Indians. They ask what the need for it is and why it is being done. We can call such people professional pessimists," he said.

Prime Minister Modi, who was addressing BJP workers after launching the party's membership campaign at an event here, talked at length about the first Budget of his second tenure that was presented in the Lok Sabha on Friday by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

He also released a toll-free mobile number 8980808080 for the membership drive and launched a tree plantation drive.

The launch of the BJP's membership drive coincides with the birth anniversary of Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee.

Modi said that these "professional pessimists" keep grumbling about things but do not do anything to change them.

"They have mastery in turning solutions into a problem. The country needs to be vigilant of these pessimists," he said.

The Prime Minister, however, said that he welcomed positive criticism of his ideas, schemes, and plans to execute them.

"The opinion of critics and analysts are important for us. But saying that something cannot be done or achieved is not good," he said.

He said that the new opportunities for development and dreams of New India are deeply linked to the 5-trillion dollar economy.

"It is about doubling the Indian economy in the next five years. The target looks difficult but can be achieved with a firm determination," he said."What does 5 trillion dollars economy mean? You all must know and tell people about it because there are some people who doubt on our will. They say we cannot achieve this target," added Modi.

Talking about the role of farmers and traders in realising the dream grand target, Prime Minister Modi said, "The Union Budget includes measures which will facilitate agriculture exports as well greater social security for small traders and firms through pensions and other benefits."

The Prime Minister also read out a poem to enthuse BJP workers to work hard and spread awareness about the government's ambitious plan.

He cited the example of "bigger the cake, bigger the share" to highlight the benefits of a bigger economy to uplift the lives of the citizens.

"If a family's income is high, its members'&nbsp;income will also be high. If we look at the history of developed nations, they did not have a high per capita income earlier. But these countries witnessed a period when their per capita income jumped, leapfrogging them into the club of developed nations. India can also do it, especially when it is the youngest nation of the world," he said.

The Prime Minister said that his government has made provisions in the budget to make farming profitable and turn farmers into exporters.

"We have taken many decisions to ensure additional income for farmers. We look at farmers as potential exporters. The Budget has focused on making an environment to export farm products. We are trying to develop a cluster so that all government departments can make export easier," he said.

Modi also emphasised the role of a blue economy, a reference to resources available in the sea, and said the government has taken several initiatives in food processing and water security for the sustainable economic progress of the country.

Highlighting his government's scheme to provide housing for every citizen, Prime Minister Modi said that Rs 100 lakh crore would be invested in infrastructure development.

"Our government is focusing on the export of defence and electronic equipment," he added.

Backing the move to encourage adoption of electric vehicles as a clear mobility medium, he claimed that India can save over Rs 5 lakh crore by reducing petroleum imports bill per year.

"The establishment of an electronic fundraising platform has been announced in the Budget on the lines of the Stock Exchange. NGOs can list themselves on it and raise fund as per their needs," he said.

Prime Minister Modi urged BJP workers to reach out to every section of the society and enrol them as the party members.BJP Working President J P Nadda, who also spoke on the occasion, gave credit to grassroots party workers, PM Modi's leadership and party president Amit Shah's strategy to defy anti-incumbency factor and retained power with a bigger mandate in the General Elections.

Nadda also urged BJP workers to work religiously to strengthen the party at the booth level. 
&nbsp;

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that those who are casting doubt over the target of making India a five trillion dollars economy were professional pessimists and asserted that the goal was achievable.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that those who are casting doubt over the target of making India a five trillion dollars economy were professional pessimists and asserted that the goal was achievable. "We are very confident about achieving the goal of 5 trillion dollar economy in the next five years but there are some who are casting doubts over the competence of Indians. They ask what the need for it is and why it is being done. We can call such people professional pessimists," he said. Prime Minister Modi, who was addressing BJP workers after launching the party's membership campaign at an event here, talked at length about the first Budget of his second tenure that was presented in the Lok Sabha on Friday by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. He also released a toll-free mobile number 8980808080 for the membership drive and launched a tree plantation drive. The launch of the BJP's membership drive coincides with the birth anniversary of Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee. Modi said that these "professional pessimists" keep grumbling about things but do not do anything to change them. "They have mastery in turning solutions into a problem. The country needs to be vigilant of these pessimists," he said. The Prime Minister, however, said that he welcomed positive criticism of his ideas, schemes, and plans to execute them. "The opinion of critics and analysts are important for us. But saying that something cannot be done or achieved is not good," he said. He said that the new opportunities for development and dreams of New India are deeply linked to the 5-trillion dollar economy. "It is about doubling the Indian economy in the next five years. The target looks difficult but can be achieved with a firm determination," he said."What does 5 trillion dollars economy mean? You all must know and tell people about it because there are some people who doubt on our will. They say we cannot achieve this target," added Modi. Talking about the role of farmers and traders in realising the dream grand target, Prime Minister Modi said, "The Union Budget includes measures which will facilitate agriculture exports as well greater social security for small traders and firms through pensions and other benefits." The Prime Minister also read out a poem to enthuse BJP workers to work hard and spread awareness about the government's ambitious plan. He cited the example of "bigger the cake, bigger the share" to highlight the benefits of a bigger economy to uplift the lives of the citizens. "If a family's income is high, its members' income will also be high. If we look at the history of developed nations, they did not have a high per capita income earlier. But these countries witnessed a period when their per capita income jumped, leapfrogging them into the club of developed nations. India can also do it, especially when it is the youngest nation of the world," he said. The Prime Minister said that his government has made provisions in the budget to make farming profitable and turn farmers into exporters. "We have taken many decisions to ensure additional income for farmers. We look at farmers as potential exporters. The Budget has focused on making an environment to export farm products. We are trying to develop a cluster so that all government departments can make export easier," he said. Modi also emphasised the role of a blue economy, a reference to resources available in the sea, and said the government has taken several initiatives in food processing and water security for the sustainable economic progress of the country. Highlighting his government's scheme to provide housing for every citizen, Prime Minister Modi said that Rs 100 lakh crore would be invested in infrastructure development. "Our government is focusing on the export of defence and electronic equipment," he added. Backing the move to encourage adoption of electric vehicles as a clear mobility medium, he claimed that India can save over Rs 5 lakh crore by reducing petroleum imports bill per year. "The establishment of an electronic fundraising platform has been announced in the Budget on the lines of the Stock Exchange. NGOs can list themselves on it and raise fund as per their needs," he said. Prime Minister Modi urged BJP workers to reach out to every section of the society and enrol them as the party members.BJP Working President J P Nadda, who also spoke on the occasion, gave credit to grassroots party workers, PM Modi's leadership and party president Amit Shah's strategy to defy anti-incumbency factor and retained power with a bigger mandate in the General Elections. Nadda also urged BJP workers to work religiously to strengthen the party at the booth level.

Those casting doubt on 5 trillion dollars economy target are professional pessimists: PM Narendra Modi

Rahul Gandhi was on Saturday granted bail by a Patna court in connection with a defamation case filed by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi over his 'all thieves have Modi surname'&nbsp;remark.

Gandhi was released on Rs 10,000 surety amount by Patna court.

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Gandhi said, "Those who stand against the ideology of RSS and Narendra Modi, they face attacks and court cases. My fight is to save the Constitution and stand with poor, farmers and labours of India, that is why I am here today. I will stand with the voice of India which was being suppressed."

Sushil Modi had filed a case before the court in April this year, taking exception to a sarcastic remark made by Gandhi at an election rally in Karnataka's Kolar district that all thieves had the surname Modi.

Here, Gandhi was indirectly referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, bank-fraud accused Nirav Modi and former Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi.

Meanwhile, the Gandhi scion publically announced his resignation from the post of Congress president in a four-page letter posted on Twitter on July 03.&nbsp;

Rahul Gandhi was on Saturday granted bail by a Patna court in connection with a defamation case filed by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi over his 'all thieves have Modi surname' remark.

Rahul Gandhi was on Saturday granted bail by a Patna court in connection with a defamation case filed by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi over his 'all thieves have Modi surname' remark. Gandhi was released on Rs 10,000 surety amount by Patna court. Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Gandhi said, "Those who stand against the ideology of RSS and Narendra Modi, they face attacks and court cases. My fight is to save the Constitution and stand with poor, farmers and labours of India, that is why I am here today. I will stand with the voice of India which was being suppressed." Sushil Modi had filed a case before the court in April this year, taking exception to a sarcastic remark made by Gandhi at an election rally in Karnataka's Kolar district that all thieves had the surname Modi. Here, Gandhi was indirectly referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, bank-fraud accused Nirav Modi and former Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi. Meanwhile, the Gandhi scion publically announced his resignation from the post of Congress president in a four-page letter posted on Twitter on July 03.

Rahul Gandhi gets bail in defamation case filed by Sushil Modi

BJP Working President JP Nadda on Saturday commended the digital push given by party president Amit Shah for making BJP the world's largest party.

"Amit Shah had launched the membership drive through digital medium around five years back in August 2014. BJP became the biggest party in the world by adding several members to its ranks in the preceding years. The party has become stronger in 8, 63, 971 booths in the country after the digital membership drive was given a push five years back," Nadda said while addressing a gathering here.

Nadda further affirmed that it is the party's good fortune that the membership drive is kickstarting from Varanasi which is Prime Minister Narendra Madi's constituency.

"This is a matter of joy for us that the BJP membership drive will start from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'karmabhoomi'&nbsp;which is Varanasi in some time from now. This is a matter of fortune that one of the world's most popular leaders is going to kickstart this campaign," said Nadda.

"The organisation is at the root of Prime Minister Modi's conscience. People who have been associated with BJP from before the year 2000, have in some way or the other worked in tandem with the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Modi. He has moulded many workers of the party," he added.

Nadda said that Prime Minister Modi has always been associated with organisational work at the grassroots level.

"When Prime Minister Modi was offered the chief ministerial berth in Gujarat, at that time also he was working in the Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh for mobilising the party," Nadda said.

"We will employ both online and offline ways to add more members to our party. The Prime Minister has asked all BJP members to start afforestation drive. We affirm that we will be committed to pushing forward this agenda of our leader," he added.&nbsp;

BJP Working President JP Nadda on Saturday commended the digital push given by party president Amit Shah for making BJP the world's largest party. "Amit Shah had launched the membership drive through digital medium around five years back in August 2014.

BJP Working President JP Nadda on Saturday commended the digital push given by party president Amit Shah for making BJP the world's largest party. "Amit Shah had launched the membership drive through digital medium around five years back in August 2014. BJP became the biggest party in the world by adding several members to its ranks in the preceding years. The party has become stronger in 8, 63, 971 booths in the country after the digital membership drive was given a push five years back," Nadda said while addressing a gathering here. Nadda further affirmed that it is the party's good fortune that the membership drive is kickstarting from Varanasi which is Prime Minister Narendra Madi's constituency. "This is a matter of joy for us that the BJP membership drive will start from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'karmabhoomi' which is Varanasi in some time from now. This is a matter of fortune that one of the world's most popular leaders is going to kickstart this campaign," said Nadda. "The organisation is at the root of Prime Minister Modi's conscience. People who have been associated with BJP from before the year 2000, have in some way or the other worked in tandem with the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Modi. He has moulded many workers of the party," he added. Nadda said that Prime Minister Modi has always been associated with organisational work at the grassroots level. "When Prime Minister Modi was offered the chief ministerial berth in Gujarat, at that time also he was working in the Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh for mobilising the party," Nadda said. "We will employ both online and offline ways to add more members to our party. The Prime Minister has asked all BJP members to start afforestation drive. We affirm that we will be committed to pushing forward this agenda of our leader," he added.

Amit Shah's push for digital membership made BJP world's largest party: JP Nadda

PM Modi on Saturday kicked-off BJP's Membership Drive in his <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/pm-modi-arrives-in-varanasi-to-launch-bjps-membership-drive-inaugurates-statue-of-former-pm-lal-bahadur-shastri-233485">Parliamentary constituency Varanasi</a>. Shortly after reaching the city, the prime minister in his address praised centre's $5 trillion economy growth goal and said that the 'New India' is yearning to run on the path of growth.&nbsp;

In his address, the prime minister urged people to stop the wastage of water and conserve it.&nbsp;

"More than the availability of water, the wastage and careless use of water are bigger problems. So be it use in homes or for irrigation, we have to stop the wastage of water," he said.&nbsp;

"In the budget, we gave direction to achieve the goal of $5 trillion economy and decisions related to it were announced. We have presented the confidence that we have stepped in the field with a vision of coming 10 years. We will become a $5 trillion economy in the next 5 years," the prime minister said.&nbsp;

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PM Modi in Varanasi: In budget, we gave direction to achieve goal of $5 trillion economy &amp; decisions related to it were announced. We have presented the confidence that we have stepped in the field with a vision of coming 10 yrs. We will become a $5 trillion economy in next 5 yrs <a href="https://t.co/Vo69Icx1jH">pic.twitter.com/Vo69Icx1jH</a>
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANINewsUP/status/1147400786432921601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Earlier in the day, PM Modi was welcomed and greeted by BJP working president JP Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and party state chief MN Pandey at Varanasi airport.

He inaugurated a statue of former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri at Varanasi airport and launched a tree plantation drive.&nbsp;

Later in the day, PM Modi will visit the Virtual Museum at Man Mahal.&nbsp;

"Situated near the iconic Dashashwamedh Ghat, this is a cultural landmark of the city. It showcases aspects of our great cultural heritage," PM had tweeted.&nbsp;

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I look forward to being in Varanasi tomorrow, where I will take part in various programmes. 
 
The first programme is the unveiling of the great Lal Bahadur Shastri Ji’s statue at the airport. 
 
This will be followed by the programme marking the launch of a tree-plantation drive.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1147136039141564419?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2019</a></blockquote>
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PM Modi, on Friday, took to Twitter and posted about his visit to Varanasi today. The prime minister is set to take part in "various programmes" today.

"The first programme is the unveiling of the great Lal Bahadur Shastri Ji’s statue at the airport. This will be followed by the programme marking the launch of a tree-plantation drive," his tweet read.&nbsp;

Watch:&nbsp;PM Modi calls it the budget for New India

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/budget-2019-pm-modi-calls-it-the-budget-for-new-india-233360/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

"This drive will further connect people from all walks of life with the BJP family. It will strengthen our party," he tweeted.&nbsp;

PM Modi on Saturday kicked-off BJP's Membership Drive in his Parliamentary constituency Varanasi. Shortly after reaching the city, the prime minister in his address praised centre's $5 trillion economy growth goal and said that the 'New India' is yearning to run on the path of growth.

PM Modi on Saturday kicked-off BJP's Membership Drive in his Parliamentary constituency Varanasi. Shortly after reaching the city, the prime minister in his address praised centre's $5 trillion economy growth goal and said that the 'New India' is yearning to run on the path of growth. In his address, the prime minister urged people to stop the wastage of water and conserve it. "More than the availability of water, the wastage and careless use of water are bigger problems. So be it use in homes or for irrigation, we have to stop the wastage of water," he said. "In the budget, we gave direction to achieve the goal of $5 trillion economy and decisions related to it were announced. We have presented the confidence that we have stepped in the field with a vision of coming 10 years. We will become a $5 trillion economy in the next 5 years," the prime minister said. PM Modi in Varanasi: In budget, we gave direction to achieve goal of $5 trillion economy & decisions related to it were announced. We have presented the confidence that we have stepped in the field with a vision of coming 10 yrs. We will become a $5 trillion economy in next 5 yrs pic.twitter.com/Vo69Icx1jH — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 6, 2019 × Earlier in the day, PM Modi was welcomed and greeted by BJP working president JP Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and party state chief MN Pandey at Varanasi airport. He inaugurated a statue of former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri at Varanasi airport and launched a tree plantation drive. Later in the day, PM Modi will visit the Virtual Museum at Man Mahal. "Situated near the iconic Dashashwamedh Ghat, this is a cultural landmark of the city. It showcases aspects of our great cultural heritage," PM had tweeted. I look forward to being in Varanasi tomorrow, where I will take part in various programmes. The first programme is the unveiling of the great Lal Bahadur Shastri Ji’s statue at the airport. This will be followed by the programme marking the launch of a tree-plantation drive. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 5, 2019 × PM Modi, on Friday, took to Twitter and posted about his visit to Varanasi today. The prime minister is set to take part in "various programmes" today. "The first programme is the unveiling of the great Lal Bahadur Shastri Ji’s statue at the airport. This will be followed by the programme marking the launch of a tree-plantation drive," his tweet read. Watch: PM Modi calls it the budget for New India "This drive will further connect people from all walks of life with the BJP family. It will strengthen our party," he tweeted.

'New India' is ready to run on path of growth: PM Modi in Varanasi 

Finance Minister <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/from-invoking-divinity-to-pure-poetry-sitharaman-sprinkles-budget-speech-with-couplets-and-quotes-233272">Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled India's Budget</a> for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020, to Parliament on Friday, with that she also gave the longest speech in the budget history by speaking for two hours and seventeen&nbsp;minutes.

The record was previously held by former finance minister Jaswant Singh who took two hours and thirteen minutes to present his budget in 2003.

The longest speech in terms of words, the record is held by former finance minister Manmohan Singh whose speech comprised 18,650 words during his tenure in 1991.

Sitharaman's predecessor, &nbsp;Arun Jaitley holds the record for the second-longest speech, comprising 18,604 words, delivered last year. He is also credited with delivering the second, third and fourth longest budget speeches in 2014, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

The shortest speech comprising 800 words was given by HM Patel in 1977 while delivering the interim Budget.

Country's first full-time woman finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman today announced a slew of measures in the Budget to boost the economy. The budget proposals were welcomed with frequent thumping of desks by the treasury benches with Prime Minister Narendra Modi too joining the members.

She also won hearts while delivering her maiden speech as she quoted multiple proverbs and couplets in Hindi, Urdu and Tamil languages.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled India's Budget for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020, to Parliament on Friday, with that she also gave the longest speech in the budget history by speaking for two hours and seventeen minutes.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled India's Budget for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020, to Parliament on Friday, with that she also gave the longest speech in the budget history by speaking for two hours and seventeen minutes. The record was previously held by former finance minister Jaswant Singh who took two hours and thirteen minutes to present his budget in 2003. The longest speech in terms of words, the record is held by former finance minister Manmohan Singh whose speech comprised 18,650 words during his tenure in 1991. Sitharaman's predecessor, Arun Jaitley holds the record for the second-longest speech, comprising 18,604 words, delivered last year. He is also credited with delivering the second, third and fourth longest budget speeches in 2014, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The shortest speech comprising 800 words was given by HM Patel in 1977 while delivering the interim Budget. Country's first full-time woman finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman today announced a slew of measures in the Budget to boost the economy. The budget proposals were welcomed with frequent thumping of desks by the treasury benches with Prime Minister Narendra Modi too joining the members. She also won hearts while delivering her maiden speech as she quoted multiple proverbs and couplets in Hindi, Urdu and Tamil languages.

Nirmala Sitharaman delivers longest ever Budget speech of 2 hours 17 minutes

Mauritius, Nepal and Maldives have seen the maximum increase in funds by the Indian government as country's Finance Minister <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/budget-2019-nirmala-sitharaman-to-launch-study-in-india-initiative-to-encourage-foreign-students-233240">Nirmala Sitharaman</a> presented the budget for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020, to Parliament.&nbsp;

The Budget, <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/union-budget-2019-this-budget-gives-hope-to-country-shows-we-are-on-right-track-pm-modi-233239">first under the second term of Modi government</a> saw budget estimates for the Maldives being increased to Rs 576 crores, from earlier Rs 440 crores in the financial year 2018-2019. The new amount of Rs 576 crores is divided into Rs 400 crores of the grant being provided by India and Rs 176 crores of loan.&nbsp;

India has increased its support to the Indian Ocean island country under the present Ibrahim Mohamed Solih government. India is also planning to build a cricket stadium in the country soon.

Mauritius saw an increase of Rs 440 crores in grant, with this, it will be getting Rs 1100 crores. Last year the number was at Rs 660 crores.

Nepal saw an increase in the grant at Rs 1050 crores in the current financial year from Rs 750 cr, which is an increase of 28.5%.&nbsp;

Bhutan that has seen progressive Indian support saw Rs 2801.79 crores being granted which includes Rs 666 crores loan. An overall increase of Rs 291.79 crores year on year.

Indian grant to Afghanistan for FY 2019-2020 stands at Rs 400 crores, Seychelles at Rs 100 crores, Bangladesh at Rs 175 crores, Sri Lanka at Rs 250 crores, Mongolia at Rs 5 crores.

New Delhi backed Chabahar port was given a grant at 45 crores for FY2019-2020, last financial year it got Rs 150 crores.

Among the international organisations, SAARC and BIMSTEC both got Rs 8 crores, Commonwealth Secretariat got Rs 10 crore while the United Nation got Rs 275 crores. 
&nbsp;

Mauritius, Nepal and Maldives have seen the maximum increase in funds by the Indian government as country's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020, to Parliament.

Mauritius, Nepal and Maldives have seen the maximum increase in funds by the Indian government as country's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020, to Parliament. The Budget, first under the second term of Modi government saw budget estimates for the Maldives being increased to Rs 576 crores, from earlier Rs 440 crores in the financial year 2018-2019. The new amount of Rs 576 crores is divided into Rs 400 crores of the grant being provided by India and Rs 176 crores of loan. India has increased its support to the Indian Ocean island country under the present Ibrahim Mohamed Solih government. India is also planning to build a cricket stadium in the country soon. Mauritius saw an increase of Rs 440 crores in grant, with this, it will be getting Rs 1100 crores. Last year the number was at Rs 660 crores. Nepal saw an increase in the grant at Rs 1050 crores in the current financial year from Rs 750 cr, which is an increase of 28.5%. Bhutan that has seen progressive Indian support saw Rs 2801.79 crores being granted which includes Rs 666 crores loan. An overall increase of Rs 291.79 crores year on year. Indian grant to Afghanistan for FY 2019-2020 stands at Rs 400 crores, Seychelles at Rs 100 crores, Bangladesh at Rs 175 crores, Sri Lanka at Rs 250 crores, Mongolia at Rs 5 crores. New Delhi backed Chabahar port was given a grant at 45 crores for FY2019-2020, last financial year it got Rs 150 crores. Among the international organisations, SAARC and BIMSTEC both got Rs 8 crores, Commonwealth Secretariat got Rs 10 crore while the United Nation got Rs 275 crores.

Budget 2019: Mauritius, Maldives, Nepal see increase in Indian support

With most minds focused on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s maiden Union Budget on July 5, it’s important to step back and review the Narendra Modi government’s policy priorities in its second term. &nbsp;

Modi spent much of his first term getting to grips with Delhi’s Byzantine politics. His welfare schemes have been successful and contributed significantly to the BJP’s landslide victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. &nbsp;

The mainstreaming of Hindutva by conflating it with nationalism (though the two are quite distinct) has given the BJP and its NDA allies a vice-like grip on around 45 per cent of the electorate. &nbsp;

The ground outreach of BJP and RSS cadre — right down to the booth level — promises to increase the party’s membership from 110 million today to 150 million by the 2024 Lok Sabha election. That’s nearly 25 per cent of all voters (610 million) who exercised their franchise in the 2019 general election. &nbsp;&nbsp;

If all of this points to a continuing BJP electoral juggernaut, the disarray within the Opposition further strengthens the prospect of BJP domination. Along with that domination comes the deification of Modi himself, the most powerful Indian mass leader since Indira Gandhi — without her dynastic lineage. &nbsp;

But just as the Congress’ sycophantic president Dev Kant Barooah declared in 1974 that “India is Indira and Indira is India”, the last thing a modern democracy needs is a replay of such sycophancy with the slogan “India is Modi and Modi is India.” Fortunately, Modi himself is shrewd enough to recognise the inherent dangers of such unbridled hero worship. He has the detachment of a monk though even monks can fall prey to relentless flattery.&nbsp;

Modi left home in 1967 at the age of 17. He wandered in the Himalayas for two years before returning home. Overjoyed to see him, his mother asked him to unpack his few belongings and settle down back home. A 19-year-old Modi sought her and his father Damodardas’ blessings before telling them that he had come home not to stay, but to pack his remaining personal effects and join the RSS for life. His parents could do nothing to change his mind.

It was 1969. For the next 18 years, Modi washed the clothes of RSS pracharaks, cleaned toilets and did other menial work. In 1987, the RSS sent him to join the BJP. Within 14 years, he was chief minister of Gujarat and 13 years later, prime minister. &nbsp;&nbsp;

It is important to understand this background to analyse what makes Modi tick, which economic and foreign policies he is likely to follow in his second term, and how his prime ministership will evolve over the next five years. &nbsp;

Modi’s conduct in Parliament since the Budget session began has been instructive. He has adopted a more conciliatory posture to the bedraggled Opposition. And yet, the Congress with its 52 MPs should be under no delusion that the Prime Minister has suddenly discovered a softer side to his political persona. Quite the contrary. Modi’s style is to often lull an opponent into a false sense of security before striking back hard. &nbsp;

The Congress, meanwhile, is repeating the mistakes that have haunted it for years: not trusting senior non-Gandhi Congress leaders enough to give them key positions in the party. In 2014, it appointed the nondescript Mallikarjun Kharge as leader of the party in the Lok Sabha. He posed no future threat to the Gandhis and owed his position to that singular quality of facelessness. &nbsp;

The Congress’ choice of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury as its leader in the current Lok Sabha follows the same pattern: promote a leader who poses no future threat to the party’s Gandhi dynasty. Had a Shashi Tharoor or Manish Tewari been chosen, their articulate performance would have made even the Congress faithful think: Well, there are competent alternative leaders beyond the Gandhi family after all. Such subversive thinking frightens the Gandhis, which is why a Tharoor or a Tewari is kept firmly in his place as a cheerleader of Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, never an alternative leader of the Congress. And knowing their place in the Congress’ hierarchy, the Tharoors and Tewaris to their everlasting discredit fall obediently into place. &nbsp;

Modi though has other things to worry about than the dysfunctional Congress. The economy needs revival, jobs need to be created, over-regulation must be curbed and security challenges met. &nbsp;

A key task for Modi will be to rebuild trust in institutions and make good his 2014 pledge of minimum government, maximum governance. Far more lateral talent needs to be inducted into the government. Ministers must be encouraged to speak up on the progress of their departments. The impression that this is a two-man Modi-Shah government is not healthy for a democracy. &nbsp;

Modi himself recently declared that India needs a strong Opposition. Without one, democracy atrophies. And that poses a challenge for all, including the BJP. Anti-incumbency in 2024 will be stronger than most imagine. The idea that Modi will be Prime Minister for 15 years does Modi more harm than good. In politics, goodwill is a precious commodity. But like all commodities, its value can fall as rapidly as it rises. That is a lesson a teenage Modi absorbed while wandering in the Himalayas. It is unlikely he has forgotten it.

(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-beware-of-modi-is-india-trap-2767874">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

With most minds focused on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s maiden Union Budget on July 5, it’s important to step back and review the Narendra Modi government’s policy priorities in its second term.

With most minds focused on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s maiden Union Budget on July 5, it’s important to step back and review the Narendra Modi government’s policy priorities in its second term. Modi spent much of his first term getting to grips with Delhi’s Byzantine politics. His welfare schemes have been successful and contributed significantly to the BJP’s landslide victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The mainstreaming of Hindutva by conflating it with nationalism (though the two are quite distinct) has given the BJP and its NDA allies a vice-like grip on around 45 per cent of the electorate. The ground outreach of BJP and RSS cadre — right down to the booth level — promises to increase the party’s membership from 110 million today to 150 million by the 2024 Lok Sabha election. That’s nearly 25 per cent of all voters (610 million) who exercised their franchise in the 2019 general election. If all of this points to a continuing BJP electoral juggernaut, the disarray within the Opposition further strengthens the prospect of BJP domination. Along with that domination comes the deification of Modi himself, the most powerful Indian mass leader since Indira Gandhi — without her dynastic lineage. But just as the Congress’ sycophantic president Dev Kant Barooah declared in 1974 that “India is Indira and Indira is India”, the last thing a modern democracy needs is a replay of such sycophancy with the slogan “India is Modi and Modi is India.” Fortunately, Modi himself is shrewd enough to recognise the inherent dangers of such unbridled hero worship. He has the detachment of a monk though even monks can fall prey to relentless flattery. Modi left home in 1967 at the age of 17. He wandered in the Himalayas for two years before returning home. Overjoyed to see him, his mother asked him to unpack his few belongings and settle down back home. A 19-year-old Modi sought her and his father Damodardas’ blessings before telling them that he had come home not to stay, but to pack his remaining personal effects and join the RSS for life. His parents could do nothing to change his mind. It was 1969. For the next 18 years, Modi washed the clothes of RSS pracharaks, cleaned toilets and did other menial work. In 1987, the RSS sent him to join the BJP. Within 14 years, he was chief minister of Gujarat and 13 years later, prime minister. It is important to understand this background to analyse what makes Modi tick, which economic and foreign policies he is likely to follow in his second term, and how his prime ministership will evolve over the next five years. Modi’s conduct in Parliament since the Budget session began has been instructive. He has adopted a more conciliatory posture to the bedraggled Opposition. And yet, the Congress with its 52 MPs should be under no delusion that the Prime Minister has suddenly discovered a softer side to his political persona. Quite the contrary. Modi’s style is to often lull an opponent into a false sense of security before striking back hard. The Congress, meanwhile, is repeating the mistakes that have haunted it for years: not trusting senior non-Gandhi Congress leaders enough to give them key positions in the party. In 2014, it appointed the nondescript Mallikarjun Kharge as leader of the party in the Lok Sabha. He posed no future threat to the Gandhis and owed his position to that singular quality of facelessness. The Congress’ choice of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury as its leader in the current Lok Sabha follows the same pattern: promote a leader who poses no future threat to the party’s Gandhi dynasty. Had a Shashi Tharoor or Manish Tewari been chosen, their articulate performance would have made even the Congress faithful think: Well, there are competent alternative leaders beyond the Gandhi family after all. Such subversive thinking frightens the Gandhis, which is why a Tharoor or a Tewari is kept firmly in his place as a cheerleader of Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, never an alternative leader of the Congress. And knowing their place in the Congress’ hierarchy, the Tharoors and Tewaris to their everlasting discredit fall obediently into place. Modi though has other things to worry about than the dysfunctional Congress. The economy needs revival, jobs need to be created, over-regulation must be curbed and security challenges met. A key task for Modi will be to rebuild trust in institutions and make good his 2014 pledge of minimum government, maximum governance. Far more lateral talent needs to be inducted into the government. Ministers must be encouraged to speak up on the progress of their departments. The impression that this is a two-man Modi-Shah government is not healthy for a democracy. Modi himself recently declared that India needs a strong Opposition. Without one, democracy atrophies. And that poses a challenge for all, including the BJP. Anti-incumbency in 2024 will be stronger than most imagine. The idea that Modi will be Prime Minister for 15 years does Modi more harm than good. In politics, goodwill is a precious commodity. But like all commodities, its value can fall as rapidly as it rises. That is a lesson a teenage Modi absorbed while wandering in the Himalayas. It is unlikely he has forgotten it. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

How Narendra Modi's prime ministership will evolve over the next five years

Preparations are underway in full swing for <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/aam-aadmi-party-has-become-a-laughing-stock-jp-nadda-231468">JP Nadda</a>`s first visit to Lucknow on Friday as BJP`s working president.

Nadda was named the Working President of the party on June 17 after BJP chief Amit Shah was appointed as the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-general-elections-2019/lok-sabha-election-result-2019-bjp-leaders-react-to-landslide-win-of-pm-narendra-modi-220885">Union Home Minister</a>.

Since this is Nadda's maiden visit to the city, BJP leader Vidyasagar Sonkar has made a road map for his welcome in a meeting held here.

Nadda is visiting Lucknow to review preparations for the bypolls in 12 Assembly seats in the state.

He is also speculated to discuss the extension of the State Cabinet and the new BJP Chief in the state after Mahendra Nath Pandey was elevated to the post of Union Minister.

Nadda will also review preparations ahead of the membership drive which will be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 6 from the latter's parliamentary constituency Varanasi.

While addressing the meeting, Sonkar stated that the BJP got historic success in the Lok Sabha elections despite big promises made by the grand alliance of SP and BSP.

"Nadda is coming to Lucknow for the first time since becoming the working president. All the party workers need to take responsibility now onwards," he added.&nbsp;

Preparations are underway in full swing for JP Nadda`s first visit to Lucknow on Friday as BJP`s working president. Nadda was named the Working President of the party on June 17 after BJP chief Amit Shah was appointed as the Union Home Minister.

Preparations are underway in full swing for JP Nadda`s first visit to Lucknow on Friday as BJP`s working president. Nadda was named the Working President of the party on June 17 after BJP chief Amit Shah was appointed as the Union Home Minister. Since this is Nadda's maiden visit to the city, BJP leader Vidyasagar Sonkar has made a road map for his welcome in a meeting held here. Nadda is visiting Lucknow to review preparations for the bypolls in 12 Assembly seats in the state. He is also speculated to discuss the extension of the State Cabinet and the new BJP Chief in the state after Mahendra Nath Pandey was elevated to the post of Union Minister. Nadda will also review preparations ahead of the membership drive which will be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 6 from the latter's parliamentary constituency Varanasi. While addressing the meeting, Sonkar stated that the BJP got historic success in the Lok Sabha elections despite big promises made by the grand alliance of SP and BSP. "Nadda is coming to Lucknow for the first time since becoming the working president. All the party workers need to take responsibility now onwards," he added.

Lucknow: Stage set for JP Nadda's maiden visit as Bharatiya Janata Party working president

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-general-elections-2019/narendra-modi-takes-oath-as-prime-minister-for-second-time-222847">Prime Minister Narendra Modi</a> on Monday constituted a high-powered committee of chief ministers for the transformation of agriculture and raising farmers` income.

The nine-member committee, headed by Maharashtra Chief Minister <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/maharashtra-chief-minister-devendra-fadnavis-to-discuss-state-cabinet-expansion-with-uddhav-thackeray-227250">Devendra Fadnavis</a>, will suggest policy measures, attract investments and raise growth in food processing.

Chief Ministers of Karnataka, Haryana, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Union Agriculture, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand will be the members of the committee.&nbsp;

The committee will discuss the measures for the transformation of agriculture and raising farmers' income. Modalities for adoption and time-bound implementation of agriculture sector reforms will be suggested by the committee. The committee will submit its report in two months.&nbsp;

The panel will examine various provisions of the Essential Commodity Act (ECA), to attract private investments in agricultural marketing and infrastructure.

It will also suggest a mechanism for linking of market reforms with e-NAM, GRAM and other relevant Centrally Sponsored Schemes.&nbsp;

The committee will further suggest policy measures to boost agricultural export, raise growth in food processing and attract investments in modern market infrastructure, value chains and logistics, besides making other key suggestions.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday constituted a high-powered committee of chief ministers for the transformation of agriculture and raising farmers` income.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday constituted a high-powered committee of chief ministers for the transformation of agriculture and raising farmers` income. The nine-member committee, headed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, will suggest policy measures, attract investments and raise growth in food processing. Chief Ministers of Karnataka, Haryana, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Union Agriculture, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand will be the members of the committee. The committee will discuss the measures for the transformation of agriculture and raising farmers' income. Modalities for adoption and time-bound implementation of agriculture sector reforms will be suggested by the committee. The committee will submit its report in two months. The panel will examine various provisions of the Essential Commodity Act (ECA), to attract private investments in agricultural marketing and infrastructure. It will also suggest a mechanism for linking of market reforms with e-NAM, GRAM and other relevant Centrally Sponsored Schemes. The committee will further suggest policy measures to boost agricultural export, raise growth in food processing and attract investments in modern market infrastructure, value chains and logistics, besides making other key suggestions.

Government sets up high-powered committee of chief ministers to 'transform Indian agriculture'

BJP MLA from Ganj Basoda, Leena Jain on Monday approached the police stating that she has received a letter in which a person threatened to blow up Union Home Minister Amit Shah as well as her, police said.

"Personal Assistant of MLA, Satish Srivastava presented a letter to us. He said that the letter was sent at his office via post. The letter has threatened to blow up the railway station, hospital, police station, the MLA and the Union Home Minister," Town Inspector, Ganj Basoda Prakash Sharma told reporters here.

"We have informed the senior officials and the security has been tightened in the area. Bomb disposal squad has also been called," he said.

Jain told the police that she received a letter at her office on Monday."I have received the letter around 2:30 pm at my office. In the letter, someone has threatened to blow up Home Minister Amit Shah, Ganj Basoda railway station, police station and Rajiv Gandhi hospital were threatened to blow up," she said.

BJP MLA from Ganj Basoda, Leena Jain on Monday approached the police stating that she has received a letter in which a person threatened to blow up Union Home Minister Amit Shah as well as her, police said.

BJP MLA from Ganj Basoda, Leena Jain on Monday approached the police stating that she has received a letter in which a person threatened to blow up Union Home Minister Amit Shah as well as her, police said. "Personal Assistant of MLA, Satish Srivastava presented a letter to us. He said that the letter was sent at his office via post. The letter has threatened to blow up the railway station, hospital, police station, the MLA and the Union Home Minister," Town Inspector, Ganj Basoda Prakash Sharma told reporters here. "We have informed the senior officials and the security has been tightened in the area. Bomb disposal squad has also been called," he said. Jain told the police that she received a letter at her office on Monday."I have received the letter around 2:30 pm at my office. In the letter, someone has threatened to blow up Home Minister Amit Shah, Ganj Basoda railway station, police station and Rajiv Gandhi hospital were threatened to blow up," she said.

Madhya Pradesh: Bharatiya Janta Party MLA Leena Jain receives threat letter to blow up Amit Shah

The latest NITI Aayog’s State Health Index and the last few weeks have signalled a crisis in India’s healthcare sector that saw some exceptional developments in Modi 1.0.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first regime made healthcare a subtle mascot, instrumental in securing a historic second mandate.&nbsp;

In his second innings, Modi 2.0 should be able to turn on the governance lens on healthcare and capitalise on increasing the penetration of health by making the ecosystem tech-enabled, patient-friendly and systematically robust, both at the central and the state level.&nbsp;

The renewed focus on medical devices as a sunshine sector through the National Medical Devices Promotion Council has realised the huge potential of this industry, which now needs to be taken forward to make India among the top devices manufacturing hub globally and end import dependence.

It will help in adopting a prudent approach to pricing and encouraging domestic players to make quality healthcare affordable and accessible.&nbsp;

A long-term window is now available to complete the tasks Modi 1.0 set out to do five years ago. All eyes will now be on Ayushman Bharat, the trump card, which played an important part in influencing voters that targets 500 million people, comprising 40% of the poorest.&nbsp;

Despite some teething problems, this huge initiative launched last year as one of the world’s biggest publicly funded healthcare programmes has benefitted over 25 lakh people so far.

Challenges such as making the scheme financially viable, fraud-free, ensuring timely payment for the empanelled hospitals out of which nearly 50% are private, and covering their marginal cost, are aspects that need to be addressed more minutely now.

Provisioning of telemedicine and diagnostic laboratory facilities at 1,50,000 health and wellness centres (HWCs) that were planned to be set up by 2022, need to be put in place along with AYUSH setups as an added service.

NITI Aayog estimates that nearly 2,500 more hospitals will be constructed in various parts of the country in the next five years.&nbsp;

Linking primary centres with the hospitalisation plan, a sophisticated IT system that has a strong anti-fraud approach and can keep cost under control and provide better purchasing policies for medical supplies and drugs, will help.

Add to it, increased focus on providing preventive health services by the easy availability of nurses, pharmacists and other paramedical personnel in these centres, along with an equal ratio of MBBS and post-graduate medical seats to fulfil healthcare basics, is now priority to meet the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and Universal Health Coverage.&nbsp;

The newly-formed National Medical Devices Promotion Council and revisiting “Make in India” amidst the current US-India trade-war will be extremely crucial for Modi 2.0, especially when India has immense potential to become self-reliant and emerge as a rewarding hub for low-cost manufacturing, reduce import dependency in this sector while creating employment and growth.

In this direction, strengthening regulatory systems for pharmaceutical products, an essential-devices list and a separate pricing policy for medical devices are need of the hour.&nbsp;

The government’s first Union Budget of 2019, to be presented in a few days, must rise by 25-30%, as compared to the previous Budget.

In addition, states have to be stimulated to increase their health budgets simultaneously, and steadily increase their public health spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2025 every year.

The major areas of emphasis have to health financing, health workforce and strengthening the National Health Policy 2017, a well-drafted document that needs to be revisited since it had a variety of disease-control measures targeted to tackle wide-ranging health challenges.

India’s health indicators have lagged behind peers and neighbours despite accelerated economic growth. The gaps are still wide despite some impressive health gains in Prime Minister Modi’s first term.&nbsp;

With the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, the agenda for health system transformation needs to accelerate and Modi 2.0 has to show that political will is even more important than professional skill for addressing India’s health issues.

Much can be achieved over the next five years for the Prime Minister to proudly proclaim from the Red Fort that India’s progress in health matches its economic development.

(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-modi-20-needs-to-fulfil-promise-held-out-by-ayushman-bharat-2766774">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

The latest NITI Aayog’s State Health Index and the last few weeks have signalled a crisis in India’s healthcare sector that saw some exceptional developments in Modi 1.

The latest NITI Aayog’s State Health Index and the last few weeks have signalled a crisis in India’s healthcare sector that saw some exceptional developments in Modi 1.0. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first regime made healthcare a subtle mascot, instrumental in securing a historic second mandate. In his second innings, Modi 2.0 should be able to turn on the governance lens on healthcare and capitalise on increasing the penetration of health by making the ecosystem tech-enabled, patient-friendly and systematically robust, both at the central and the state level. The renewed focus on medical devices as a sunshine sector through the National Medical Devices Promotion Council has realised the huge potential of this industry, which now needs to be taken forward to make India among the top devices manufacturing hub globally and end import dependence. It will help in adopting a prudent approach to pricing and encouraging domestic players to make quality healthcare affordable and accessible. A long-term window is now available to complete the tasks Modi 1.0 set out to do five years ago. All eyes will now be on Ayushman Bharat, the trump card, which played an important part in influencing voters that targets 500 million people, comprising 40% of the poorest. Despite some teething problems, this huge initiative launched last year as one of the world’s biggest publicly funded healthcare programmes has benefitted over 25 lakh people so far. Challenges such as making the scheme financially viable, fraud-free, ensuring timely payment for the empanelled hospitals out of which nearly 50% are private, and covering their marginal cost, are aspects that need to be addressed more minutely now. Provisioning of telemedicine and diagnostic laboratory facilities at 1,50,000 health and wellness centres (HWCs) that were planned to be set up by 2022, need to be put in place along with AYUSH setups as an added service. NITI Aayog estimates that nearly 2,500 more hospitals will be constructed in various parts of the country in the next five years. Linking primary centres with the hospitalisation plan, a sophisticated IT system that has a strong anti-fraud approach and can keep cost under control and provide better purchasing policies for medical supplies and drugs, will help. Add to it, increased focus on providing preventive health services by the easy availability of nurses, pharmacists and other paramedical personnel in these centres, along with an equal ratio of MBBS and post-graduate medical seats to fulfil healthcare basics, is now priority to meet the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and Universal Health Coverage. The newly-formed National Medical Devices Promotion Council and revisiting “Make in India” amidst the current US-India trade-war will be extremely crucial for Modi 2.0, especially when India has immense potential to become self-reliant and emerge as a rewarding hub for low-cost manufacturing, reduce import dependency in this sector while creating employment and growth. In this direction, strengthening regulatory systems for pharmaceutical products, an essential-devices list and a separate pricing policy for medical devices are need of the hour. The government’s first Union Budget of 2019, to be presented in a few days, must rise by 25-30%, as compared to the previous Budget. In addition, states have to be stimulated to increase their health budgets simultaneously, and steadily increase their public health spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2025 every year. The major areas of emphasis have to health financing, health workforce and strengthening the National Health Policy 2017, a well-drafted document that needs to be revisited since it had a variety of disease-control measures targeted to tackle wide-ranging health challenges. India’s health indicators have lagged behind peers and neighbours despite accelerated economic growth. The gaps are still wide despite some impressive health gains in Prime Minister Modi’s first term. With the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, the agenda for health system transformation needs to accelerate and Modi 2.0 has to show that political will is even more important than professional skill for addressing India’s health issues. Much can be achieved over the next five years for the Prime Minister to proudly proclaim from the Red Fort that India’s progress in health matches its economic development. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Agenda for health system transformation needs to accelerate

Actor Aamir Khan is all praises for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan, an initiative to make water conservation and promotion of irrigation efficiency a mass movement.

The actor took to Twitter to share a heartfelt note, referring to the latest scheme as an "extremely important step." 
 
"Narendra Modi Sir, the initiative taken up by you of making water the fundamental and primary issue for all of us is an extremely important step. Our wholehearted support is with you. JalShaktiAbhyan," he wrote.

This came after Prime Minister Modi appreciated the actor for his video raising awareness towards sustainability, water conservation and how the latest scheme will help common people and the government in saving water. 
 
"Extremely valid points by aamir_khan on the need to conserve water and create awareness at the grassroots level. JanShakti4JalShakti," tweeted PM Modi.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Extremely valid points by <a href="https://twitter.com/aamir_khan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@aamir_khan</a> on the need to conserve water and create awareness at the grassroots level. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JanShakti4JalShakti?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JanShakti4JalShakti</a> <a href="https://t.co/Fs3Zd2AVYo">https://t.co/Fs3Zd2AVYo</a>
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1145686588975771648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2019</a></blockquote>
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This isn`t the first time that an actor has made an effort to garner people`s attention towards current environmental issues.On Sunday, Salman Khan gave a subtle yet impactful message on single-use plastic.&nbsp; 
 
The actor posted a video where he can be seen offering water to a monkey, whom he calls his `Bajrangi Bhaijaan`, in a plastic bottle. 
 
The monkey, however, refuses. Khan then offers water in a glass and `Bajrangi Bhaijaan` is quick to accept it."Hamara bajrangi bhaijaan plastic ki bottle se paani nahi peeta (Our Bajrangi Bhaijaan does not drink water from a plastic bottle)," Salman captioned the video. 
 
While the video was shared on a lighter note, hidden in it is a message to stop using plastic bottles. 
 
Earlier this week, Hollywood actor and <a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/hollywood-star-leonardo-dicaprio-expresses-concern-over-water-crisis-in-indian-state-230654">environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio</a> shared a post on his Instagram account highlighting the difficulty faced by citizens of Chennai because of water scarcity.&nbsp; 
 
The actor cited a BBC news story along with a picture of several women drawing water from a well and said; "Only rain can save Chennai from this situation." 
 
A well completely empty and a city without water. The southern Indian city of Chennai is in crisis after the four main water reservoirs ran completely dry. The acute water shortage has forced the city to scramble for urgent solutions and residents have to stand in line for hours to get water from government tanks." 
 
"As the water levels depleted, hotels and restaurants started to shut down temporarily, and the air con was turned off in the city`s metro. Officials in the city continue to try and find alternative sources of water - but the community continues to pray for rain. Tap the link in our bio to read more about Chennai`s water crisis," he added. 
 
Tamil Nadu has been reeling under acute water crisis for the past several months as Chennai`s Porur Lake, one of the main sources of water reached its lowest level. Scorching heat and a delayed monsoon has further exacerbated the situation. 
 
The new Jal Shakti Ministry has been created with an aim to address water woes in the country."Keeping in mind the importance of water we have created Jal Shakti Ministry.&nbsp; 
 
It is made to take decisions on all water-related issues which will now be taken at a fast pace," Modi had said in his first radio address after assuming office.&nbsp;

Actor Aamir Khan is all praises for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan, an initiative to make water conservation and promotion of irrigation efficiency a mass movement.

Actor Aamir Khan is all praises for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan, an initiative to make water conservation and promotion of irrigation efficiency a mass movement. The actor took to Twitter to share a heartfelt note, referring to the latest scheme as an "extremely important step." "Narendra Modi Sir, the initiative taken up by you of making water the fundamental and primary issue for all of us is an extremely important step. Our wholehearted support is with you. JalShaktiAbhyan," he wrote. This came after Prime Minister Modi appreciated the actor for his video raising awareness towards sustainability, water conservation and how the latest scheme will help common people and the government in saving water. "Extremely valid points by aamir_khan on the need to conserve water and create awareness at the grassroots level. JanShakti4JalShakti," tweeted PM Modi. Extremely valid points by @aamir_khan on the need to conserve water and create awareness at the grassroots level. #JanShakti4JalShakti https://t.co/Fs3Zd2AVYo — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 1, 2019 × This isn`t the first time that an actor has made an effort to garner people`s attention towards current environmental issues.On Sunday, Salman Khan gave a subtle yet impactful message on single-use plastic. The actor posted a video where he can be seen offering water to a monkey, whom he calls his `Bajrangi Bhaijaan`, in a plastic bottle. The monkey, however, refuses. Khan then offers water in a glass and `Bajrangi Bhaijaan` is quick to accept it."Hamara bajrangi bhaijaan plastic ki bottle se paani nahi peeta (Our Bajrangi Bhaijaan does not drink water from a plastic bottle)," Salman captioned the video. While the video was shared on a lighter note, hidden in it is a message to stop using plastic bottles. Earlier this week, Hollywood actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio shared a post on his Instagram account highlighting the difficulty faced by citizens of Chennai because of water scarcity. The actor cited a BBC news story along with a picture of several women drawing water from a well and said; "Only rain can save Chennai from this situation." A well completely empty and a city without water. The southern Indian city of Chennai is in crisis after the four main water reservoirs ran completely dry. The acute water shortage has forced the city to scramble for urgent solutions and residents have to stand in line for hours to get water from government tanks." "As the water levels depleted, hotels and restaurants started to shut down temporarily, and the air con was turned off in the city`s metro. Officials in the city continue to try and find alternative sources of water - but the community continues to pray for rain. Tap the link in our bio to read more about Chennai`s water crisis," he added. Tamil Nadu has been reeling under acute water crisis for the past several months as Chennai`s Porur Lake, one of the main sources of water reached its lowest level. Scorching heat and a delayed monsoon has further exacerbated the situation. The new Jal Shakti Ministry has been created with an aim to address water woes in the country."Keeping in mind the importance of water we have created Jal Shakti Ministry. It is made to take decisions on all water-related issues which will now be taken at a fast pace," Modi had said in his first radio address after assuming office.

Aamir Khan is all praises for PM Modi for Jal Shakti initiative

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