<p>Apparently, it&rsquo;s quite unnatural for Bangladesh and India not to be close allies, especially with India&#39;s involvement in Bangladesh&#39;s War of Independence of 1971. And then, of course, there are the unique cultural similarities and geographical realities with regards to common Ganges-Bramhaputra plain that runs through both the countries. Despite the overt Hasina-Modi bonhomie, the political reality is, however, very different. Bangladesh&#39;s relations with India can best be described as a loose friendship with hidden mutual mistrust and suspicion.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The lack of trust between the two countries&nbsp;comes forth more in the context of Bangladesh-Myanmar tussle on persecution and expulsion of &nbsp;Rohingyas from Arakan.&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>The tensed Bangladesh &ndash;India relationship stems from a variety of issues, such as &lsquo;equitable sharing of all common river water, terrorist camps and migration.</h5>
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<p>The prime deficiency of India&rsquo;s South Asia policy has been its obsession with Pakistan. Only recently a separate desk has been introduced for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal in the Ministry of External Affairs at the South Block of Raisina Hills in New Delhi. Pakistan became important for its nuisance value while India failed to see the constructive value of the rest, especially Bangladesh which is already the 31st largest economy in the world with more than 6 per cent average economic growth in the last couple of decades. Courtesy the economic growth, the western world has come to view Bangladesh as one of the &lsquo;Next Eleven&rsquo;. Bangladesh has come to develop relations with the west, Japan, Middle-East and China and derived great economic benefits out of those relations.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The tensed Bangladesh &ndash;India relationship stems from a variety of issues, such as &lsquo;equitable sharing of all common river water, terrorist camps and migration. Since 1996 gradual progress has been achieved by Bangladesh and India to address some of these issues. Bangladesh has destroyed the dens the Indian rebels made along Bangladesh -<br />
India borders and proactively searched and sealed all channels of logistics and arms supply to these rebels. Bangladeshi intelligence agencies are also blocking ISI or its proxies&rsquo; probable operations against India from Bangladeshi soil. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Geo-politically, in South Asia and beyond, there are several areas where an alliance between the India and Bangladesh could have brought good mutual dividend and uphold some great IR principles. One such area is Pakistan&rsquo;s export of terrorism and Islamic radicalism. Both India and Bangladesh are affected by that. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Myanmar on the other hand hardly has any principled position. It is buying good numbers of multi-role fighter aircraft&nbsp;from Pakistan, the regional hub of Islamic terrorism, giving a boost to Pakistani military industry and technology. These are made through the collaboration between Pakistan and China, Myanmar&rsquo;s closest ally and India&rsquo;s geo-strategic nemesis. In this context, it&rsquo;s difficult to make sense as to why&nbsp;India is siding with Myanmar in its dissension with Bangladesh on an acute humanitarian crisis like Rohingya.&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>It&rsquo;s difficult to make sense as to why&nbsp;India is siding with Myanmar in its dissension with Bangladesh on an acute humanitarian crisis like Rohingya.&nbsp;</h5>
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<p>Apart from the principle and propriety angle, India hardly gains anything from Myanmar. India can&rsquo;t match the kind of investment China made in Myanmar.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A further irony is, lacs of &nbsp;Indians were expelled from Myanmar like the Rohingyas in the fifties and sixties. The remaining ones and later migrant Indian in Myanmar are still abused in that country with racial slur &#39;Kala&rsquo;. The Myanmar Indians falls in the same absurd 1982 citizenship law as Rohingyas. Myanmar is always likely to be on China&#39;s side despite India&rsquo;s disgraceful pampering.&nbsp;</p>

<p>On the other hand, India has much to lose not by standing by Bangladesh&rsquo;s side at the time of its need both in comparative and absolute terms. &nbsp;Bangladesh might again lean more towards the Islamic bondage rather than the subcontinental one. If Islamic solidarity is revived on this issue, India&rsquo;s massive stake in the Middle East might even be harmed for its direct or indirect support in Rohingya genocide and expulsion.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It seems&nbsp;some of PM Modi&rsquo;s strategic advisors have gone bonkers with anti-Muslim preoccupation and very weak Rohingya terrorism stories. Because of them, soon India might find herself on the wrong side of geopolitics and history. Bangladesh did a balancing act between concerns of India and interest of China by postponing China&rsquo;s proposal for a Sri Lanka and Pakistan like the development of a deep sea port in Sonadia of Chittagong. Now, it&rsquo;s a payback time for India and an opportunity for it to befriend Bangladesh for the long term by strongly being by the latter&rsquo;s side in this crisis.&nbsp;</p>

<p>If India is strongly by the side of Bangladesh now, much of the remaining &nbsp;Indo-Bangla mistrust in the relationship will be gone, and Bangladeshi people, as well as the political forces, will appreciate the value of India&rsquo;s friendship immensely. It will bring a defining shift in Bangladesh-India relation for a very long term. &nbsp;The question is whether PM Modi is ready for an in-depth strategic re-assessment and would his policy strategists allow him to do that?</p>


India?s massive stake in the Middle East and South Asia might be harmed for its direct or indirect support in Rohingya genocide and expulsion.

Apparently, it’s quite unnatural for Bangladesh and India not to be close allies, especially with India's involvement in Bangladesh's War of Independence of 1971. And then, of course, there are the unique cultural similarities and geographical realities with regards to common Ganges-Bramhaputra plain that runs through both the countries. Despite the overt Hasina-Modi bonhomie, the political reality is, however, very different. Bangladesh's relations with India can best be described as a loose friendship with hidden mutual mistrust and suspicion. The lack of trust between the two countries comes forth more in the context of Bangladesh-Myanmar tussle on persecution and expulsion of Rohingyas from Arakan. The tensed Bangladesh –India relationship stems from a variety of issues, such as ‘equitable sharing of all common river water, terrorist camps and migration. × The prime deficiency of India’s South Asia policy has been its obsession with Pakistan. Only recently a separate desk has been introduced for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal in the Ministry of External Affairs at the South Block of Raisina Hills in New Delhi. Pakistan became important for its nuisance value while India failed to see the constructive value of the rest, especially Bangladesh which is already the 31st largest economy in the world with more than 6 per cent average economic growth in the last couple of decades. Courtesy the economic growth, the western world has come to view Bangladesh as one of the ‘Next Eleven’. Bangladesh has come to develop relations with the west, Japan, Middle-East and China and derived great economic benefits out of those relations. The tensed Bangladesh –India relationship stems from a variety of issues, such as ‘equitable sharing of all common river water, terrorist camps and migration. Since 1996 gradual progress has been achieved by Bangladesh and India to address some of these issues. Bangladesh has destroyed the dens the Indian rebels made along Bangladesh - India borders and proactively searched and sealed all channels of logistics and arms supply to these rebels. Bangladeshi intelligence agencies are also blocking ISI or its proxies’ probable operations against India from Bangladeshi soil. Geo-politically, in South Asia and beyond, there are several areas where an alliance between the India and Bangladesh could have brought good mutual dividend and uphold some great IR principles. One such area is Pakistan’s export of terrorism and Islamic radicalism. Both India and Bangladesh are affected by that. Myanmar on the other hand hardly has any principled position. It is buying good numbers of multi-role fighter aircraft from Pakistan, the regional hub of Islamic terrorism, giving a boost to Pakistani military industry and technology. These are made through the collaboration between Pakistan and China, Myanmar’s closest ally and India’s geo-strategic nemesis. In this context, it’s difficult to make sense as to why India is siding with Myanmar in its dissension with Bangladesh on an acute humanitarian crisis like Rohingya. It’s difficult to make sense as to why India is siding with Myanmar in its dissension with Bangladesh on an acute humanitarian crisis like Rohingya. × Apart from the principle and propriety angle, India hardly gains anything from Myanmar. India can’t match the kind of investment China made in Myanmar. A further irony is, lacs of Indians were expelled from Myanmar like the Rohingyas in the fifties and sixties. The remaining ones and later migrant Indian in Myanmar are still abused in that country with racial slur 'Kala’. The Myanmar Indians falls in the same absurd 1982 citizenship law as Rohingyas. Myanmar is always likely to be on China's side despite India’s disgraceful pampering. On the other hand, India has much to lose not by standing by Bangladesh’s side at the time of its need both in comparative and absolute terms. Bangladesh might again lean more towards the Islamic bondage rather than the subcontinental one. If Islamic solidarity is revived on this issue, India’s massive stake in the Middle East might even be harmed for its direct or indirect support in Rohingya genocide and expulsion. It seems some of PM Modi’s strategic advisors have gone bonkers with anti-Muslim preoccupation and very weak Rohingya terrorism stories. Because of them, soon India might find herself on the wrong side of geopolitics and history. Bangladesh did a balancing act between concerns of India and interest of China by postponing China’s proposal for a Sri Lanka and Pakistan like the development of a deep sea port in Sonadia of Chittagong. Now, it’s a payback time for India and an opportunity for it to befriend Bangladesh for the long term by strongly being by the latter’s side in this crisis. If India is strongly by the side of Bangladesh now, much of the remaining Indo-Bangla mistrust in the relationship will be gone, and Bangladeshi people, as well as the political forces, will appreciate the value of India’s friendship immensely. It will bring a defining shift in Bangladesh-India relation for a very long term. The question is whether PM Modi is ready for an in-depth strategic re-assessment and would his policy strategists allow him to do that?

Rohingya: Why India should side with Bangladesh and not Myanmar

<p>Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat&#39;s Kevadia on his 67th birthday today.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="und"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FLASH?src=hash">#FLASH</a> Gujarat: PM Narendra Modi inaugurates <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SardarSarovarDam?src=hash">#SardarSarovarDam</a> <a href="https://t.co/K2GMfkvrYA">pic.twitter.com/K2GMfkvrYA</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/909280703350575105">September 17, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>While&nbsp;addressing a public rally at Dabhoi, near Ahmedabad, PM Modi said the project faced many hurdles. He called the dam&nbsp;&quot;engineering miracle&quot; which many people had &quot;conspired to stop&quot;.</p>

<p>&nbsp;&quot;Sardar Sarovar will become a symbol of India&#39;s new and emerging power and propel growth in the region ... the project is an engineering miracle,&quot; PM Modi said.</p>

<p>He said that when the World Bank refused to fund the project, it was the temples of Gujarat which came forward to give money.</p>

<p>&quot;A massive misinformation campaign was launched against the project. The World Bank which had earlier agreed to fund the project, refused to give loan for it raising environmental concerns. But, with or without the World Bank, we completed the massive project on our own,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>The prime minister said the dam would benefit not only the farmers of Gujarat but also &quot;change the fate&quot; of farmers of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.<br />
<br />
The project began in 1961 when its foundation stone was laid by India&#39;s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Gujarat: Visuals from <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SardarSarovarDam?src=hash">#SardarSarovarDam</a> in Kevadia. PM Modi will be inaugurating the dam shortly. <a href="https://t.co/ikXBJpewh8">pic.twitter.com/ikXBJpewh8</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/909276899347533824">September 17, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
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<p>The height of the dam has been raised to 138.68 metres from the existing 121.92 metres and its storage capacity was increased to 4.73 million acre-feet of water.</p>

<p>PM Modi also remembered India&#39;s first deputy prime minister Sardar Vallabhai Patel and father of the Indian Constitution Dr Ambedkar &quot;who as Minister gave great importance to irrigation and waterways.&quot;</p>

<p>The Indian prime minister dedicated the Statue of Liberty to Sardar Patel and said it would be a tribute to the leader from Gujarat who &quot;did not get the credit he deserved after independence, for whatever reasons.&quot;&nbsp;</p>

<p>He said the statue, which faces the Narmada Dam and is surrounded by an artificial lake &quot;will draw tourists from all over.&quot;</p>

<p>The 597 feet Statue of Unity in height, &nbsp;is located, 3.2 km on the river island called Sadhu Bet.</p>

<p>The event was attended by Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani and BJP president Amit Shah along with Union surface transport, shipping and water resources minister, Nitin Gadkari.</p>

<p>The Congress party has raised questions about who will benefit from the dam.</p>

<p>Speaking to ANI, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said: &quot;I want to ask as to who will get benefited from this dam? Will it benefit the small farmers who are not getting irrigation; will it benefit the villagers whose homes have been taken away because of its construction? Will there be proper relief and rehabilitation? Will the small industries, which are crumbling under demonetisation will they get benefits of the electricity. Or, will the only big companies which are close to the ruling party will get? I think time will tell and we will keep a close and watchful eye.&quot;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


The dam's height was raised to 138.68 metres from the existing 121.92 metres

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat's Kevadia on his 67th birthday today. #FLASH Gujarat: PM Narendra Modi inaugurates #SardarSarovarDam pic.twitter.com/K2GMfkvrYA — ANI (@ANI) September 17, 2017 × While addressing a public rally at Dabhoi, near Ahmedabad, PM Modi said the project faced many hurdles. He called the dam "engineering miracle" which many people had "conspired to stop". "Sardar Sarovar will become a symbol of India's new and emerging power and propel growth in the region ... the project is an engineering miracle," PM Modi said. He said that when the World Bank refused to fund the project, it was the temples of Gujarat which came forward to give money. "A massive misinformation campaign was launched against the project. The World Bank which had earlier agreed to fund the project, refused to give loan for it raising environmental concerns. But, with or without the World Bank, we completed the massive project on our own," he said. The prime minister said the dam would benefit not only the farmers of Gujarat but also "change the fate" of farmers of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The project began in 1961 when its foundation stone was laid by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Gujarat: Visuals from #SardarSarovarDam in Kevadia. PM Modi will be inaugurating the dam shortly. pic.twitter.com/ikXBJpewh8 — ANI (@ANI) September 17, 2017 × The height of the dam has been raised to 138.68 metres from the existing 121.92 metres and its storage capacity was increased to 4.73 million acre-feet of water. PM Modi also remembered India's first deputy prime minister Sardar Vallabhai Patel and father of the Indian Constitution Dr Ambedkar "who as Minister gave great importance to irrigation and waterways." The Indian prime minister dedicated the Statue of Liberty to Sardar Patel and said it would be a tribute to the leader from Gujarat who "did not get the credit he deserved after independence, for whatever reasons." He said the statue, which faces the Narmada Dam and is surrounded by an artificial lake "will draw tourists from all over." The 597 feet Statue of Unity in height, is located, 3.2 km on the river island called Sadhu Bet. The event was attended by Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani and BJP president Amit Shah along with Union surface transport, shipping and water resources minister, Nitin Gadkari. The Congress party has raised questions about who will benefit from the dam. Speaking to ANI, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said: "I want to ask as to who will get benefited from this dam? Will it benefit the small farmers who are not getting irrigation; will it benefit the villagers whose homes have been taken away because of its construction? Will there be proper relief and rehabilitation? Will the small industries, which are crumbling under demonetisation will they get benefits of the electricity. Or, will the only big companies which are close to the ruling party will get? I think time will tell and we will keep a close and watchful eye."

Sardar Sarovar Dam an 'engineering miracle', World Bank refused to fund: PM Modi after inauguration

<p>Prime Minister Narendra turned 67 today (September 17) and the chief of his Bharatiya Janata Party Amit Shah said &quot;sewa&quot; or &quot;service&quot; was the best way to celebrate the birthday of &quot;pradhan (head) sewak&quot;.&nbsp;</p>

<p>PM Modi inaugurated the Sardar Sarovar project at Kevadia in Gujarat.</p>

<p>BJP leaders and ministers participated in cleanliness and other campaigns across Delhi.</p>

<p>The BJP president recalled his decades-long association with the prime minister, and said Narendra Modi had never celebrated his birthday.&nbsp;</p>

<p>He said that he first met Modi as a young BJP worker and neither of them was drawn to power as the saffron party then was far from the force it later became. What mattered, he said, was that they devoted every moment of their time for India&#39;s welfare.</p>

<p>&quot;We will continue to serve the nation and support him (Modi) as he takes India to new heights of success and glory,&quot; Shah said citing the Mudra scheme, Jan Dhan accounts, surgical strikes and demonetisation to underline Modi&#39;s resolve and commitment to the country&#39;s welfare.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In a blog, Amit Shah heaped praise on the Indian PM and said he had achieved the economic integration of India -- through initiatives like demonetisation, the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax and the Jan Dhan Yojana -- after Sardar Vallabhai Patel and BR Ambedkar achieved the country&#39;s territorial and social unification.</p>

<p>&quot;India remembers Sardar Patel for the territorial integration of our nation and we recall the role of Babasaheb Ambedkar in our social integration. Through initiatives starting from the Jan Dhan Yojana to the GST, Narendra Bhai has set the ball rolling for the economic integration of India,&quot; Shah said in a blog.</p>

<p>Amit Shah said, honest taxpayers, a majority of whom belonged to the middle class, felt valued following crackdowns against black money and corruption through various measures, including demonetisation and the benami law.</p>

<p>The BJP chief also said PM Modi&#39;s life was a &quot;personification of the spirit of India&quot; in many ways and claimed his sensitivity towards the aspirations of the poor had led to &quot;historic poverty alleviation initiatives taking shape at a scale unheard of in the history&quot; of India.</p>

<p>Modi&#39;s heart, he said, &quot;beats for the poor, downtrodden, marginalised and the farmers of India&quot;, adding that the PM&#39;s deep concern for their welfare had motivated him to immerse himself in nation building from a very young age.</p>

<p>Targeting the prime minister&#39;s critics, he said Modi had ruffled several feathers by his actions against the corrupt and status quo -- &quot;after all, years of the privilege of a select few are now over and the poor are now getting their due&quot;.</p>

<p>&quot;India First is a belief that Narendra Bhai has lived at every point of his life,&quot; Amit Shah wrote.</p>

<p>People saw Modi as a compassionate leader, he said.</p>

<p>&quot;They see him as their own, a person working round the clock for their and the nation&#39;s welfare, without any self-interest. His popularity has transcended all boundaries,&quot; the BJP chief said.</p>

<p><br />
&nbsp;</p>


BJP president Amit Shah recalled his decades-long association with the prime minister, and said Narendra Modi had never celebrated his birthday

Prime Minister Narendra turned 67 today (September 17) and the chief of his Bharatiya Janata Party Amit Shah said "sewa" or "service" was the best way to celebrate the birthday of "pradhan (head) sewak". PM Modi inaugurated the Sardar Sarovar project at Kevadia in Gujarat. BJP leaders and ministers participated in cleanliness and other campaigns across Delhi. The BJP president recalled his decades-long association with the prime minister, and said Narendra Modi had never celebrated his birthday. He said that he first met Modi as a young BJP worker and neither of them was drawn to power as the saffron party then was far from the force it later became. What mattered, he said, was that they devoted every moment of their time for India's welfare. "We will continue to serve the nation and support him (Modi) as he takes India to new heights of success and glory," Shah said citing the Mudra scheme, Jan Dhan accounts, surgical strikes and demonetisation to underline Modi's resolve and commitment to the country's welfare. In a blog, Amit Shah heaped praise on the Indian PM and said he had achieved the economic integration of India -- through initiatives like demonetisation, the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax and the Jan Dhan Yojana -- after Sardar Vallabhai Patel and BR Ambedkar achieved the country's territorial and social unification. "India remembers Sardar Patel for the territorial integration of our nation and we recall the role of Babasaheb Ambedkar in our social integration. Through initiatives starting from the Jan Dhan Yojana to the GST, Narendra Bhai has set the ball rolling for the economic integration of India," Shah said in a blog. Amit Shah said, honest taxpayers, a majority of whom belonged to the middle class, felt valued following crackdowns against black money and corruption through various measures, including demonetisation and the benami law. The BJP chief also said PM Modi's life was a "personification of the spirit of India" in many ways and claimed his sensitivity towards the aspirations of the poor had led to "historic poverty alleviation initiatives taking shape at a scale unheard of in the history" of India. Modi's heart, he said, "beats for the poor, downtrodden, marginalised and the farmers of India", adding that the PM's deep concern for their welfare had motivated him to immerse himself in nation building from a very young age. Targeting the prime minister's critics, he said Modi had ruffled several feathers by his actions against the corrupt and status quo -- "after all, years of the privilege of a select few are now over and the poor are now getting their due". "India First is a belief that Narendra Bhai has lived at every point of his life," Amit Shah wrote. People saw Modi as a compassionate leader, he said. "They see him as their own, a person working round the clock for their and the nation's welfare, without any self-interest. His popularity has transcended all boundaries," the BJP chief said.

What PM Modi's oldest associate said on his 67th birthday

<p>Prime Minister Shinzo Abe today acknowledged <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/india-us-japan-set-for-malabar-naval-drill-in-bay-of-bengal-china-deploys-surveillance-ship-17774">India and Japan&#39;s military cooperation citing the Malabar</a> military exercise undertaken by the two countries including the US in July.</p>

<p>PM Abe in the joint statement said: &quot;It (joint naval exercise in Malabar) will further deepen cooperation between India, Japan, and the US.&quot;&nbsp;</p>

<p>He further added that &quot;India, Japan, and the US conducted joint maritime exercise Malabar for the first time, based on strong ties of trust between PM Modi and President Trump&quot;.&nbsp;</p>

<p>PM Modi<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/watch-ahmedabad-to-mumbai-bullet-train-route-20170"> </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/watch-ahmedabad-to-mumbai-bullet-train-route-20170">emphasised</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/watch-ahmedabad-to-mumbai-bullet-train-route-20170"> on employing Japanese technology </a>to help India grow economically. &nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;I urge Japanese business community to open a maximum number of Japanese restaurant chains in India,&quot; Modi said.<br />
<br />
Here is a look at the two countries and their military and economic alliance.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
<strong>Indian and Japan: Military ties</strong><br />
<br />
The two nations have a history of close military ties. They have a&nbsp;common motive of maintaining security in sea-lanes in the Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean region.</p>

<p>The two countries often hold cumulated military exercises and co-operate on technology.&nbsp;India and Japan concluded a security pact in 2008.</p>

<p>Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who is frequently termed as an &quot;Indophile&quot; is taking closer security cooperation measures with India, in response to the rising tensions in territorial disputes with Japan&#39;s neighbour North Korea.</p>

<p>In July 2017, the Indian Navy took part in a week-long military drill&nbsp;with the Japanese and US navies called the Malabar naval exercise, realigning their common vision on the Indo-Pacific maritime security apparatus.</p>

<p>The move&nbsp;came amid&nbsp;the standoff between India-China over the Doklam issue&nbsp;and Japan&#39;s growing anxiety over North Korea&#39;s missile tests.</p>

<p>Indo-Japan ties turned into a &quot;substantial&quot;&nbsp;friendship on July 20 last year&nbsp;with the signing&nbsp;of the India-Japan civil nuclear agreement. The pact was signed in 2016&nbsp;during PM Modi&#39;s three-day visit to Japan.</p>

<p>This was the first time that Japan had signed a&nbsp;deal with a non-signatory of Non-Proliferation Treaty.</p>

<p><strong>Indian and Japan: Economic ties</strong></p>

<p>The agreement between India and Japan to build a bullet train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai using Japan&#39;s Shinkansen technology was signed in December 2015.</p>

<p>The two nations are also working on Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC), which was unveiled on May 23, 2017.&nbsp;Japan also&nbsp;provided assistance and know-how for the first phase of Delhi Metro.</p>

<p>The Japanese are also involved in other mega infrastructure projects, such as the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor started a decade ago.&nbsp;Over the last fifteen&nbsp;years, investments from Japan have played a symbolic part in India&rsquo;s progress.</p>

<p>Over a span of seventeen years, beginning 2000, Japan has invested more than $25 billion across various sectors in India.&nbsp;Japan is among the top four largest investors in India, and investment from Japan increased substantially during 2016-17.</p>

<p>Japan invested 4.7 billion in 2016, which is 80 per cent higher than 2015-2016.</p>

<p>In fact, Japan has promised to invest roughly $35 billion for the period between 2014-19 to boost India&rsquo;s manufacturing and infrastructure sectors.</p>

<p><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oRe_4gOM8dk" width="560"></iframe><br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


The Japanese government even specially employed Mizuho Financial Group for discovering investment opportunities in India

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe today acknowledged India and Japan's military cooperation citing the Malabar military exercise undertaken by the two countries including the US in July. PM Abe in the joint statement said: "It (joint naval exercise in Malabar) will further deepen cooperation between India, Japan, and the US." He further added that "India, Japan, and the US conducted joint maritime exercise Malabar for the first time, based on strong ties of trust between PM Modi and President Trump". PM Modi emphasised on employing Japanese technology to help India grow economically. "I urge Japanese business community to open a maximum number of Japanese restaurant chains in India," Modi said. Here is a look at the two countries and their military and economic alliance. Indian and Japan: Military ties The two nations have a history of close military ties. They have a common motive of maintaining security in sea-lanes in the Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean region. The two countries often hold cumulated military exercises and co-operate on technology. India and Japan concluded a security pact in 2008. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who is frequently termed as an "Indophile" is taking closer security cooperation measures with India, in response to the rising tensions in territorial disputes with Japan's neighbour North Korea. In July 2017, the Indian Navy took part in a week-long military drill with the Japanese and US navies called the Malabar naval exercise, realigning their common vision on the Indo-Pacific maritime security apparatus. The move came amid the standoff between India-China over the Doklam issue and Japan's growing anxiety over North Korea's missile tests. Indo-Japan ties turned into a "substantial" friendship on July 20 last year with the signing of the India-Japan civil nuclear agreement. The pact was signed in 2016 during PM Modi's three-day visit to Japan. This was the first time that Japan had signed a deal with a non-signatory of Non-Proliferation Treaty. Indian and Japan: Economic ties The agreement between India and Japan to build a bullet train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai using Japan's Shinkansen technology was signed in December 2015. The two nations are also working on Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC), which was unveiled on May 23, 2017. Japan also provided assistance and know-how for the first phase of Delhi Metro. The Japanese are also involved in other mega infrastructure projects, such as the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor started a decade ago. Over the last fifteen years, investments from Japan have played a symbolic part in India’s progress. Over a span of seventeen years, beginning 2000, Japan has invested more than $25 billion across various sectors in India. Japan is among the top four largest investors in India, and investment from Japan increased substantially during 2016-17. Japan invested 4.7 billion in 2016, which is 80 per cent higher than 2015-2016. In fact, Japan has promised to invest roughly $35 billion for the period between 2014-19 to boost India’s manufacturing and infrastructure sectors.

Joint naval exercise in Malabar will further deepen cooperation between India, Japan & US: PM Abe

<p>Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has finally accepted that he is the scion of a dynasty and so be it. The comment has come at a time when Congress is fighting the battle of its life in India where it seems to be losing state after state, barring exceptions like Punjab. Earlier all the attempts by the Congress were to project the young Gandhi like a natural successor who is liked by the workers.</p>

<p>&nbsp;This could not materalise because victory eluded the Congress party in Uttar Pradesh where Rahul Gandhi pegged his political gravitas thrice.</p>

<p>But the catch is that there is a difference between economic inheritance and control of political parties by a single family. In every society, children inherit the afterglow of successful careers of their parents. It either comes in the form of recognition or mutual obligation as they are known in the social circle. The above form of inheritance is natural.</p>

<p>The control of a political party by one family continuously for 40 years is an altogether another form of dynastic politics. In no way, it can be justified by saying that India works like this. Mr Gandhi can&#39;t partake goodness of modern education and while disavow its responsibility and duty. Today, you cannot be a democrat and dynast at the same time. It is a contradiction in term. It is not only a betrayal of one&rsquo;s own education but to state it as a done thing is to compromise the lofty ideals of the republic which is about democracy and equality. Rahul Gandhi said that Congress is about a conversation but is it possible to have a conversation in the Congress where one can talk about a non-Gandhi running the Congress Party.</p>

<p>&nbsp;Today Congress is a cabal of multiple dynasties ranging from the centre to local levels all of whom owe their position to the Gandhis. One can even compare it with kingship which is sustained by like-minded clans and supported through stable succession at all levels.</p>

<p>&nbsp;Political dynasties kill democracy in political parties. They represent an abnormality in Indian political system. Rahul Gandhi&rsquo;s statement may set him free him from the dynasty debate but the truth is that he has reached the top, not because of his own fitness but because he is the son of the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The only silver lining for Rahul Gandhi is that he has started to position himself in direct contrast to Modi which was earlier missing.&nbsp;</p>

<p>From now Rahul will be judged by what he does, and not on the basis of how he has come to occupy the throne. This may sound dismissive but the fact is by stating his intention to run the system, he has set aside all apprehensions within the party. He needs acceptability and legitimacy from the public and to get it,&nbsp; he will have to work towards it.</p>


From now Rahul will be judged by what he does, and not on the basis of how he has come to occupy the throne.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has finally accepted that he is the scion of a dynasty and so be it. The comment has come at a time when Congress is fighting the battle of its life in India where it seems to be losing state after state, barring exceptions like Punjab. Earlier all the attempts by the Congress were to project the young Gandhi like a natural successor who is liked by the workers. This could not materalise because victory eluded the Congress party in Uttar Pradesh where Rahul Gandhi pegged his political gravitas thrice. But the catch is that there is a difference between economic inheritance and control of political parties by a single family. In every society, children inherit the afterglow of successful careers of their parents. It either comes in the form of recognition or mutual obligation as they are known in the social circle. The above form of inheritance is natural. The control of a political party by one family continuously for 40 years is an altogether another form of dynastic politics. In no way, it can be justified by saying that India works like this. Mr Gandhi can't partake goodness of modern education and while disavow its responsibility and duty. Today, you cannot be a democrat and dynast at the same time. It is a contradiction in term. It is not only a betrayal of one’s own education but to state it as a done thing is to compromise the lofty ideals of the republic which is about democracy and equality. Rahul Gandhi said that Congress is about a conversation but is it possible to have a conversation in the Congress where one can talk about a non-Gandhi running the Congress Party. Today Congress is a cabal of multiple dynasties ranging from the centre to local levels all of whom owe their position to the Gandhis. One can even compare it with kingship which is sustained by like-minded clans and supported through stable succession at all levels. Political dynasties kill democracy in political parties. They represent an abnormality in Indian political system. Rahul Gandhi’s statement may set him free him from the dynasty debate but the truth is that he has reached the top, not because of his own fitness but because he is the son of the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The only silver lining for Rahul Gandhi is that he has started to position himself in direct contrast to Modi which was earlier missing. From now Rahul will be judged by what he does, and not on the basis of how he has come to occupy the throne. This may sound dismissive but the fact is by stating his intention to run the system, he has set aside all apprehensions within the party. He needs acceptability and legitimacy from the public and to get it, he will have to work towards it.

To politically succeed, Rahul Gandhi needs to prove himself beyond dynasty politics

<p>The revamp of Prime Minister Narendra Modi&#39;s council of ministers has four former bureaucrats who took oath as ministers in a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.</p>

<p>The four bureaucrats are former home secretary R K Singh, Delhi&#39;s demolition man Alphons Kannanthanam who is known for removing encroachments during his stint as the Delhi Development Commissioner, former Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh and former diplomat Hardeep Puri who was India&#39;s permanent representative to the United Nations.</p>

<p>Nine new faces have&nbsp;been inducted in the council of ministers today along with four ministers who have been elevated to the Cabinet rank.</p>

<p>The reshuffle was on the cards as the Prime Minister wants his ministers to deliver on government&#39;s policies and schemes geared towards the building of a &quot;New India&quot;.</p>

<p>The allocation of portfolios is not clear as of now.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Three vacancies had come up in the Union council of ministers after M Venkaiah Naidu&#39;s elevation as the Vice-President of India, Manohar Parrikar&#39;s election as chief minister of Goa, and the death of Anil Dave.</p>

<p>Six ministers resigned from the council of ministers to make way for the new inductees.</p>

<p>Those who resigned are Kalraj Mishra, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Bandaru Dattatreya, Faggan Singh Kulaste, Sanjiv Balyan and Mahendra Nath Pandey.</p>


The reshuffle comes in the final leg of Narendra Modi government's tenure

The revamp of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers has four former bureaucrats who took oath as ministers in a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The four bureaucrats are former home secretary R K Singh, Delhi's demolition man Alphons Kannanthanam who is known for removing encroachments during his stint as the Delhi Development Commissioner, former Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh and former diplomat Hardeep Puri who was India's permanent representative to the United Nations. Nine new faces have been inducted in the council of ministers today along with four ministers who have been elevated to the Cabinet rank. The reshuffle was on the cards as the Prime Minister wants his ministers to deliver on government's policies and schemes geared towards the building of a "New India". The allocation of portfolios is not clear as of now. Three vacancies had come up in the Union council of ministers after M Venkaiah Naidu's elevation as the Vice-President of India, Manohar Parrikar's election as chief minister of Goa, and the death of Anil Dave. Six ministers resigned from the council of ministers to make way for the new inductees. Those who resigned are Kalraj Mishra, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Bandaru Dattatreya, Faggan Singh Kulaste, Sanjiv Balyan and Mahendra Nath Pandey.

4 former bureaucrats among nine new faces inducted in PM Modi's council of ministers

<p><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/rajiv-pratap-rudy-resigns-from-cabinet-ahead-of-expected-reshuffle-19737">After resigning from the post of&nbsp;</a><a href="http://aninews.in/keysearch/keyword-search/union-minister-of-state-skill-development-and-entrepreneurship.html">Union Minister of State Skill Development and Entrepreneurship</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/rajiv-pratap-rudy-resigns-from-cabinet-ahead-of-expected-reshuffle-19737">&nbsp;yesterday,&nbsp;</a><a href="http://aninews.in/keysearch/keyword-search/rajiv-pratap-rudy.html">Rajiv Pratap Rudy</a>&nbsp;on Friday said that his resignation from the post was the party&#39;s decision and further refuted any strategy behind it.</p>

<p>&quot;This is a decision by the Prime Minister, the government and the party and we are the soldiers of the party. There is no strategy behind this. I am thankful that I got the opportunity to work for the party and will continue to do this. It is their prerogative,&quot; he told the media.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/cabinet-reshuffle-to-take-place-on-sunday-morning-19759">Rudy is expected to be given organisational work.</a></p>

<p>Few other leaders also resigned last evening, hinting towards a mega cabinet reshuffle, ahead of the 2019 general elections when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek a second term, to be held before&nbsp;<a href="http://aninews.in/keysearch/keyword-search/prime-minister-narendra-modi.html">Prime Minister Narendra Modi</a>&nbsp;begins his visit to&nbsp;<a href="http://aninews.in/keysearch/keyword-search/china.html">China</a>&nbsp;to attend the&nbsp;<a href="http://aninews.in/keysearch/keyword-search/brics-summit.html">BRICS summit</a>&nbsp;on Sunday.</p>

<p>The other ministers who have resigned are&nbsp;<a href="http://aninews.in/keysearch/keyword-search/uma-bharti.html">Uma Bharti</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://aninews.in/keysearch/keyword-search/agriculture-minister-radha-mohan-singh.html">Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh</a>,<a href="http://aninews.in/keysearch/keyword-search/ministers-of-state-for-agriculture-and-food-processing-sanjeev.html">Ministers of state for agriculture and food processing Sanjeev&nbsp;</a>Balyan and Minister Giriraj Singh, and Minister of state for Health Faggan Singh Kulaste.</p>


Union Minister of State Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy resigned yesterday saying it as party's decision

After resigning from the post of Union Minister of State Skill Development and Entrepreneurship yesterday, Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Friday said that his resignation from the post was the party's decision and further refuted any strategy behind it. "This is a decision by the Prime Minister, the government and the party and we are the soldiers of the party. There is no strategy behind this. I am thankful that I got the opportunity to work for the party and will continue to do this. It is their prerogative," he told the media. Rudy is expected to be given organisational work. Few other leaders also resigned last evening, hinting towards a mega cabinet reshuffle, ahead of the 2019 general elections when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek a second term, to be held before Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins his visit to China to attend the BRICS summit on Sunday. The other ministers who have resigned are Uma Bharti, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh,Ministers of state for agriculture and food processing Sanjeev Balyan and Minister Giriraj Singh, and Minister of state for Health Faggan Singh Kulaste.

Rajiv Pratap Rudy says his resignation was Centre's 'decision, prerogative'

<p>The ambitious river linking project that has been hanging in the balance for few decades&nbsp;is set to begin in a couple of weeks, Reuters&nbsp;reported today.</p>

<p>The project, which was aggressively pushed by the previous NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, is expected to offer a solution to ecological disasters like floods and droughts which have caused massive damage in India over the years.<a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/assam-floods-death-toll-climbs-to-59-over-1-million-affected-17993">&nbsp;India is currently grappling with disastrous floods</a> in the eastern state of Bihar and Assam.</p>

<p>The Ken-Betwa linking project which will connect two major rivers in north-central India is a top priority for the Narendra Modi-led government, junior water resource minister Sanjeev Balyan said.</p>

<p>&quot;We have got clearances in record time, with the last round of clearances coming in only this year. We have got clearances in record time, with the last round of clearances coming in only this year,&quot; Balyan said.</p>

<p>But the project has seen resistance from environmentalists and social activists. The interlinking of the two rivers could submerge a portion of the Panna Tiger Reserve, environmentalists say.</p>

<p>A Reuters report stated that the government has obtained half-a-dozen clearances including from the forest and environment.</p>

<p>The report quoted sources as saying that the Union Cabinet will give its go-ahead in a couple of weeks after which the Prime Minister will flag off the project.</p>

<p>The Narendra Modi-led government is betting big on the viability of the project to serve as a permanent solution to India&#39;s flood woes.</p>

<p>Experts believe interlinking of rivers could be&nbsp;a boon for the farmers as it will cut down their dependence on rains for irrigation.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


The Ken-Betwa river linking project is one of the top priorities of the Modi-led administration, junior water resources minister said

The ambitious river linking project that has been hanging in the balance for few decades is set to begin in a couple of weeks, Reuters reported today. The project, which was aggressively pushed by the previous NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, is expected to offer a solution to ecological disasters like floods and droughts which have caused massive damage in India over the years. India is currently grappling with disastrous floods in the eastern state of Bihar and Assam. The Ken-Betwa linking project which will connect two major rivers in north-central India is a top priority for the Narendra Modi-led government, junior water resource minister Sanjeev Balyan said. "We have got clearances in record time, with the last round of clearances coming in only this year. We have got clearances in record time, with the last round of clearances coming in only this year," Balyan said. But the project has seen resistance from environmentalists and social activists. The interlinking of the two rivers could submerge a portion of the Panna Tiger Reserve, environmentalists say. A Reuters report stated that the government has obtained half-a-dozen clearances including from the forest and environment. The report quoted sources as saying that the Union Cabinet will give its go-ahead in a couple of weeks after which the Prime Minister will flag off the project. The Narendra Modi-led government is betting big on the viability of the project to serve as a permanent solution to India's flood woes. Experts believe interlinking of rivers could be a boon for the farmers as it will cut down their dependence on rains for irrigation.

Ken-Betwa project set to take off after PM Modi bats for river linking in India

<p>Seventy six fishermen in captivity were <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/sri-lankan-navy-apprehends-nine-indian-fishermen-18692" target="_blank">released by the Sri Lankan government</a> as a goodwill gesture.</p>

<p>Tamil Nadu chief minister Edapady K Palanisamy, in a letter, urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the matter.</p>

<p>He sought the release of 64 fishermen from Tamil Nadu lodged inside Sri Lankan jail.</p>

<p>On August 23, 12 Indian fishermen were sent to remand till August 23 by a Sri Lankan court.</p>

<p>Earlier, on August 10, 12 Indian fishermen were caught near Punkudi island. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>(With inputs from ANI)</p>


Tamil Nadu chief minister had sought PM Modi's intervention in the matter

Seventy six fishermen in captivity were released by the Sri Lankan government as a goodwill gesture. Tamil Nadu chief minister Edapady K Palanisamy, in a letter, urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the matter. He sought the release of 64 fishermen from Tamil Nadu lodged inside Sri Lankan jail. On August 23, 12 Indian fishermen were sent to remand till August 23 by a Sri Lankan court. Earlier, on August 10, 12 Indian fishermen were caught near Punkudi island. (With inputs from ANI)

Sri Lanka releases 76 Indian fishermen as goodwill gesture

<p>India and Nepal today signed multiple agreements following delegation level talks between the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba.</p>

<p>The two countries inked pacts in different spheres including education, health, culture, prevention illicit trafficking in Narcotic drugs among others.</p>

<p>Deuba hailed the Neighbourhood First policy of the Indian Prime Minister.</p>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I appreciate PM Modi&#39;s &#39;Neighbourhood First&#39; policy and approach of &#39;Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas&#39;: Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba <a href="https://t.co/S3hOfIIrM5">pic.twitter.com/S3hOfIIrM5</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/900638335474872322">August 24, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
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<p>Earlier, the Nepalese Prime Minister, who is on afive-day visit to India, met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/nepal-pm-deuba-to-pm-modi-support-nepal-more-for-development-plans-19429" target="_blank">sought India&#39;s support for Nepal for development plans</a>.</p>

<p>Deuba said that India and Nepal share&nbsp;histrical ties and his visit is aimed at enhancing the partnership among the two neighbours.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;India has played an important part in our development efforts and we request Prime Minister Modi to support us more for development plans and first to build trust and understanding to expand our relations,&quot; Deuba said.</p>

<p>He also met the external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.</p>

<p>(With inputs from ANI)</p>

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The Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba sought India's help for development plans in Nepal

India and Nepal today signed multiple agreements following delegation level talks between the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba. The two countries inked pacts in different spheres including education, health, culture, prevention illicit trafficking in Narcotic drugs among others. Deuba hailed the Neighbourhood First policy of the Indian Prime Minister. I appreciate PM Modi's 'Neighbourhood First' policy and approach of 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas': Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba pic.twitter.com/S3hOfIIrM5 — ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2017 × Earlier, the Nepalese Prime Minister, who is on afive-day visit to India, met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought India's support for Nepal for development plans. Deuba said that India and Nepal share histrical ties and his visit is aimed at enhancing the partnership among the two neighbours. "India has played an important part in our development efforts and we request Prime Minister Modi to support us more for development plans and first to build trust and understanding to expand our relations," Deuba said. He also met the external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. (With inputs from ANI)

India and Nepal hold delegation level talks, sign multiple pacts

<p>Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Thursday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to &quot;support Nepal more&quot; for development plans and to build more trust and understanding to expand the relations between two nations.</p>

<p>Deuba said Nepal has historical relations with India and his visit is to enhance the partnership for the overall development of Nepal and consolidate the relations between the two countries.</p>

<p>&quot;India has played an important part in our development efforts and we request Prime Minister Modi to support us more for development plans and first to build trust and understanding to expand our relations,&quot; Deuba said even as he was accorded a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here today.</p>

<p>Prime Minister Deuba, earlier on Wednesday, said that in his talks with his Indian counterpart, he emphasised on the development agenda, adding the goal is to look forward to the future rather than the past.</p>

<p>&quot;Our aim is to advance our goals, greater prosperity and build strong social ties. Nepal is truly open for business. With rise of India and China as the global economic powers with all major growth powers in Asia, within a few hours of flying distance from Kathmandu, Nepal can be a new melting pot for tourists, traders and investors. My goal is to look for the future than the past. My talks with Prime Minister Modi emphasised on development agenda that is defined by collaboration of our societies,&quot; Deuba said, while addressing a joint business meeting.</p>

<p>In a special warm gesture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi received his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba at his residence, in an unscheduled meeting Wednesday afternoon.</p>

<p>The brief meeting took place a day ahead of delegation-level talks between the two sides.</p>

<p>Prime Minister Modi, after the brief meeting, tweeted, &quot;Happy to welcome Rt Hon Shri Sher Bahadur Deuba ji, PM of close &amp; friendly neighbour Nepal. Look forward to more extensive talks tomorrow.&quot;</p>

<p>Nepal Prime Minister Deuba, who is on a five-day state visit to India, landed in New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon.</p>

<p>External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj received him at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.</p>

<p>The Nepal Prime Minister attended a programme in the Nepali Embassy where he addressed the Nepali community in India and business event organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).</p>


Prime Minister Deuba, earlier on Wednesday, said that in his talks with his Indian counterpart, he emphasised on the development agenda, adding the goal is to look forward to the future rather than the past

Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Thursday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "support Nepal more" for development plans and to build more trust and understanding to expand the relations between two nations. Deuba said Nepal has historical relations with India and his visit is to enhance the partnership for the overall development of Nepal and consolidate the relations between the two countries. "India has played an important part in our development efforts and we request Prime Minister Modi to support us more for development plans and first to build trust and understanding to expand our relations," Deuba said even as he was accorded a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here today. Prime Minister Deuba, earlier on Wednesday, said that in his talks with his Indian counterpart, he emphasised on the development agenda, adding the goal is to look forward to the future rather than the past. "Our aim is to advance our goals, greater prosperity and build strong social ties. Nepal is truly open for business. With rise of India and China as the global economic powers with all major growth powers in Asia, within a few hours of flying distance from Kathmandu, Nepal can be a new melting pot for tourists, traders and investors. My goal is to look for the future than the past. My talks with Prime Minister Modi emphasised on development agenda that is defined by collaboration of our societies," Deuba said, while addressing a joint business meeting. In a special warm gesture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi received his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba at his residence, in an unscheduled meeting Wednesday afternoon. The brief meeting took place a day ahead of delegation-level talks between the two sides. Prime Minister Modi, after the brief meeting, tweeted, "Happy to welcome Rt Hon Shri Sher Bahadur Deuba ji, PM of close & friendly neighbour Nepal. Look forward to more extensive talks tomorrow." Nepal Prime Minister Deuba, who is on a five-day state visit to India, landed in New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj received him at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. The Nepal Prime Minister attended a programme in the Nepali Embassy where he addressed the Nepali community in India and business event organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

Nepal PM Deuba to PM Modi: 'Support Nepal more' for development plans

<p>India&#39;s human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar, in this exclusive conversation with WION&#39;s Kartikeya Sharma, highlights the crying need for reforms in government schools. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Q: How come universities and institutes of higher education have become hotspots for ideological battleground rather than centres of research?<br />
&nbsp;<br />
A: I don&rsquo;t agree. There are 800 universities and they are doing research&nbsp;and even the so-called battleground JNU has achieved the Visitor&#39;s Award and a national ranking because of their core research in biotechnology.&nbsp;We want to preserve their autonomy and make them independent. We are not interfering. In JNU, there were two to three&nbsp;aberrations. The world over one guide takes two to three&nbsp;students. We allowed eight students per guide, but in JNU you can find one guide with 30 to 40 students. We have corrected it.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
We are recruiting professors under the SC/ST (reservation for scheduled caste and scheduled tribes) and even under Divyang category (disabled category)&nbsp;which remained vacant for decades. There is no ideological background in policy, but students have their opinion, and that&rsquo;s what I call democracy.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
In central institutions, we are teaching at Rupees 15 per month whereas the cost is Rupees 20,000 per month. So, people studying in JNU or in any other part of the country are indebted to the people of the country and this is the message I&rsquo;m trying to spread.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Q: Many would say that student politics has heated up as Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP, students group aligned to BJP)&nbsp; has become more aggressive reflecting the strength of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) across the country?<br />
&nbsp;<br />
A: I&rsquo;m also a product of student agitation. Till student agitation does not destroy the whole academic session, it&#39;s okay. I want to involve students and they too have to work within the framework of law.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Q: Where is the balance between student politics and research in Indian universities as electoral politics exerts its pressure on the system?<br />
&nbsp;<br />
A: We have come of age. It is not 1970. There were demonstrations and the academic calendar was disturbed during that decade. Today we lack in innovation and in its absence, we will not be able to attain sustainable prosperity. Therefore, we have come up with research parks, innovation hubs and even start-ups from hostel rooms. &nbsp;Six hundred startups have started from hostels. We have organised&nbsp;&quot;Smart India hackathon&quot;. We came out with 200 good solutions. The campus atmosphere is getting better and we believe in the autonomy of the universities. We will ensure that the regulators&#39;&nbsp;role is reduced. We must learn to fund and forget. Accountability will come from CAG audits. We are also giving graded autonomy to top 20 per cent of the universities.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Q: How did you hit upon the idea of institutions of excellence?<br />
&nbsp;<br />
A: To be frank, this was Prime Minister Modi&rsquo;s idea for educational reform in the country. Universities abroad flourish because boards decide and the government gives grant and doesn&rsquo;t interfere. I want to bring in this culture. We are teaching our officers not to behave like demigods. We will achieve good international ranking in next 10 years.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Q: But who will monitor the progress of the work once funds have been made available?<br />
&nbsp;<br />
A: I will. Annual reports will be submitted and Parliamentary review will exist but day-to-day administrative control will not exist. Boards will take the final call. I want to trust teachers and students. Prime Minister will also meet 200 students who have organised young start-ups.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Q: How are you trying to broad base higher education. Our higher education is IIM and IIT focused? We don&rsquo;t have job oriented higher education.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
A: Indian Institute of Education of Science and Research was a good initiative by the previous government and we are trying to take it forward. Technology cannot be the answer to every problem. Pure science research is also very important to us.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Q: India produces BAs and MAs in thousands without jobs in the market. What are you doing to correct this system?<br />
&nbsp;<br />
A: You have touched the core of the problem. In the three years courses, universities aren&rsquo;t changing the curriculum. I have asked them to come up with an updated curriculum. Universities are free to have a curriculum and that is the sluggishness which I want to do away with.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Q: What makes you so confident that you have set a target for 100 percent literacy in next 5 years?<br />
&nbsp;<br />
A: Literacy is a basic empowerment and I have worked in this field. During independence 18 percent of the people were literate and now 80 percent of the people are literate. We have to achieve the last mile. Today every household has a student going to school. A student from 6th to 10th will teach their parents. I have done this myself by conducting literacy classes in villages 55 years back. My mother used to take me to the villages to teach people. She was a primary school teacher so I know the process.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Q: Why was a special provision for Tamil Nadu made on NEET?<br />
&nbsp;<br />
A: Actually, it is a court mandated system and our job is to conduct examination and from the next year there will be one paper. I have discussed this matter with stakeholders but since the matter is in an advanced stage in the court, let court take a call.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Q: India has multiple boards for school children. What are you doing to standardize the quality of curriculum in the boards so that students don&rsquo;t suffer?<br />
&nbsp;<br />
A: Now, all boards are meeting frequently and they have also decided not to indulge in moderation. I agree with this step. A student shouldn&rsquo;t get marks which falsely inflate&nbsp;the ego and parents shouldn&rsquo;t get the impression that his or her child is a super kid. Inflation of marks creates an unrealistic picture. All boards have come together as I want them to meet frequently. There will be some variation as our country is big and diverse and boards will have to reflect that diversity.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Q: There are some permanent controversies around HRD ministries. Do you feel certain icons need to be rehabilitated in the school text books?<br />
&nbsp;<br />
A: We have not changed anything in last three years. All we have done is to invite comments from the teachers if there is something wrong in the book. I received thousands of such suggestions and valid ones have been accepted.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Q: What sort of suggestions did you receive?</p>

<p>A: There were factual corrections to be made. Some texts showed thousand and 500-rupee notes but today design has changed.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Q: Why did &quot;Sankalp se Siddhi&quot;&nbsp;hit a road block in West Bengal?<br />
&nbsp;<br />
A: Let me tell you that they clarified that they wanted to celebrate the Independence Day in their own way. Ultimately, you will say Jai Hind. You will salute the National Flag and sing &quot;Jan man gan&quot;. It is a small issue and all the states are my partners so I&rsquo;m not going to address this issue via media.</p>

<p>Q: Is it because of the feeling that BJP appropriates the idea of nationalism?<br />
&nbsp;<br />
A: Everyone can take lead. Education should not be a political agenda as what I do is national agenda. What has the Prime Minister said? Terror free, communal free India, dirt free India etc. This has to be a common agenda and distinction needs to be made between national and political agenda.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Q: Brain drain is much talked about phenomena. What are you doing to stop it?<br />
&nbsp;<br />
A: We have started the process to stop it. You will find bubbles of enthusiasm in IITs and IIMs. Budgetary support is 200 crores but by leveraging 18,000 crores from the market making it 20,000 crore which will be used in creating research infrastructure. Three billion dollars in 3 years. Under a new programme 78 professors came from abroad which helped us a lot. We will grant rupees one lakh per month to best of the best student. We want the students to innovate here. We will create the right environment to innovate it in India.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Q: But what about another India which is rural India where students don&rsquo;t have toilets and figuratively one teacher ends up teaching the whole school?<br />
&nbsp;<br />
A: This is my first concern - &quot;Sabko Shiksha Achhi Shiksha&quot;. We will improve the quality of the government schools. We are also getting success because of the partnership with the state. We are&nbsp;organising brain storming and all experiments to be done because we have come out with learning outcomes which is measurable. Student&#39;s competence will be mapped and publicized in the school. Every parent will be told as to what a child must attain. There will be a handbook of learning outcomes which will be taught to all the teachers throughout the country so it becomes the accountability of the school teacher and students.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Q: What about the incentive for the teacher?</p>

<p>A: We are giving training to eleven lakh untrained teachers. In next two years, quality education would be imparted to untrained teachers so that quality improves. We are also changing &quot;The Right to Education&quot;&nbsp;and no detention policy. Many states want detentions to happen in 5th and 8th and we are allowing it. The bill is already before the Parliament and we are giving that right to the state so those who want to change can change. With all these changes, we are improving the quality of government schools and making them accountable and once they improve there will be a healthy competition.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Q: It was said that you were shifted to HRD to deliver PM&rsquo;s mandate because you delivered PM&rsquo;s mandate in environment ministry. So, what was the challenge when you took charge&nbsp;of the HRD ministry?<br />
&nbsp;<br />
A: Education is always a challenge and a process in continuation. When Smriti Irani was there she started many initiatives. We took them to logical&nbsp;their end. We too have started many initiatives. It is a process in continuity.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Q: Many would say that you capped controversies?</p>

<p>A: I believe in dialogue and I don&rsquo;t think that there should be any place for controversy when we can achieve goals through consensus. I&rsquo;m partnering with all the states on various issues related with education. I believe in taking states on board and believe in work as Team India.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Q: What is one thing you would like to do before Lok Sabha election if you retain this ministry?<br />
&nbsp;<br />
A: The biggest challenge is to improve government schooling quality, to give a boost to research and innovation efforts and providing autonomy for higher institutes in the country. We will have graded autonomy and offer complete reforms on all aspects of education sectors. This is my dream.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Q: How do you respond to the &quot;anti national vs national debate&quot;&nbsp;which took place on Indian campuses last year?<br />
&nbsp;<br />
A: &nbsp;I always think that there are periods when controversies emerge but then there are ways to deal with it and I&rsquo;m happy that now all of them are talking to each other. I want a&nbsp;dialogue with everybody. To the JNU students, I said why are you demonstrating? Come and talk to me. I will solve the problem. This is my approach.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


'I want to take everybody along. I even told kids from JNU 'Why are you demonstrating? Come and talk to me. I will solve the problem',' the minister said

India's human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar, in this exclusive conversation with WION's Kartikeya Sharma, highlights the crying need for reforms in government schools. Q: How come universities and institutes of higher education have become hotspots for ideological battleground rather than centres of research? A: I don’t agree. There are 800 universities and they are doing research and even the so-called battleground JNU has achieved the Visitor's Award and a national ranking because of their core research in biotechnology. We want to preserve their autonomy and make them independent. We are not interfering. In JNU, there were two to three aberrations. The world over one guide takes two to three students. We allowed eight students per guide, but in JNU you can find one guide with 30 to 40 students. We have corrected it. We are recruiting professors under the SC/ST (reservation for scheduled caste and scheduled tribes) and even under Divyang category (disabled category) which remained vacant for decades. There is no ideological background in policy, but students have their opinion, and that’s what I call democracy. In central institutions, we are teaching at Rupees 15 per month whereas the cost is Rupees 20,000 per month. So, people studying in JNU or in any other part of the country are indebted to the people of the country and this is the message I’m trying to spread. Q: Many would say that student politics has heated up as Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP, students group aligned to BJP) has become more aggressive reflecting the strength of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) across the country? A: I’m also a product of student agitation. Till student agitation does not destroy the whole academic session, it's okay. I want to involve students and they too have to work within the framework of law. Q: Where is the balance between student politics and research in Indian universities as electoral politics exerts its pressure on the system? A: We have come of age. It is not 1970. There were demonstrations and the academic calendar was disturbed during that decade. Today we lack in innovation and in its absence, we will not be able to attain sustainable prosperity. Therefore, we have come up with research parks, innovation hubs and even start-ups from hostel rooms. Six hundred startups have started from hostels. We have organised "Smart India hackathon". We came out with 200 good solutions. The campus atmosphere is getting better and we believe in the autonomy of the universities. We will ensure that the regulators' role is reduced. We must learn to fund and forget. Accountability will come from CAG audits. We are also giving graded autonomy to top 20 per cent of the universities. Q: How did you hit upon the idea of institutions of excellence? A: To be frank, this was Prime Minister Modi’s idea for educational reform in the country. Universities abroad flourish because boards decide and the government gives grant and doesn’t interfere. I want to bring in this culture. We are teaching our officers not to behave like demigods. We will achieve good international ranking in next 10 years. Q: But who will monitor the progress of the work once funds have been made available? A: I will. Annual reports will be submitted and Parliamentary review will exist but day-to-day administrative control will not exist. Boards will take the final call. I want to trust teachers and students. Prime Minister will also meet 200 students who have organised young start-ups. Q: How are you trying to broad base higher education. Our higher education is IIM and IIT focused? We don’t have job oriented higher education. A: Indian Institute of Education of Science and Research was a good initiative by the previous government and we are trying to take it forward. Technology cannot be the answer to every problem. Pure science research is also very important to us. Q: India produces BAs and MAs in thousands without jobs in the market. What are you doing to correct this system? A: You have touched the core of the problem. In the three years courses, universities aren’t changing the curriculum. I have asked them to come up with an updated curriculum. Universities are free to have a curriculum and that is the sluggishness which I want to do away with. Q: What makes you so confident that you have set a target for 100 percent literacy in next 5 years? A: Literacy is a basic empowerment and I have worked in this field. During independence 18 percent of the people were literate and now 80 percent of the people are literate. We have to achieve the last mile. Today every household has a student going to school. A student from 6th to 10th will teach their parents. I have done this myself by conducting literacy classes in villages 55 years back. My mother used to take me to the villages to teach people. She was a primary school teacher so I know the process. Q: Why was a special provision for Tamil Nadu made on NEET? A: Actually, it is a court mandated system and our job is to conduct examination and from the next year there will be one paper. I have discussed this matter with stakeholders but since the matter is in an advanced stage in the court, let court take a call. Q: India has multiple boards for school children. What are you doing to standardize the quality of curriculum in the boards so that students don’t suffer? A: Now, all boards are meeting frequently and they have also decided not to indulge in moderation. I agree with this step. A student shouldn’t get marks which falsely inflate the ego and parents shouldn’t get the impression that his or her child is a super kid. Inflation of marks creates an unrealistic picture. All boards have come together as I want them to meet frequently. There will be some variation as our country is big and diverse and boards will have to reflect that diversity. Q: There are some permanent controversies around HRD ministries. Do you feel certain icons need to be rehabilitated in the school text books? A: We have not changed anything in last three years. All we have done is to invite comments from the teachers if there is something wrong in the book. I received thousands of such suggestions and valid ones have been accepted. Q: What sort of suggestions did you receive? A: There were factual corrections to be made. Some texts showed thousand and 500-rupee notes but today design has changed. Q: Why did "Sankalp se Siddhi" hit a road block in West Bengal? A: Let me tell you that they clarified that they wanted to celebrate the Independence Day in their own way. Ultimately, you will say Jai Hind. You will salute the National Flag and sing "Jan man gan". It is a small issue and all the states are my partners so I’m not going to address this issue via media. Q: Is it because of the feeling that BJP appropriates the idea of nationalism? A: Everyone can take lead. Education should not be a political agenda as what I do is national agenda. What has the Prime Minister said? Terror free, communal free India, dirt free India etc. This has to be a common agenda and distinction needs to be made between national and political agenda. Q: Brain drain is much talked about phenomena. What are you doing to stop it? A: We have started the process to stop it. You will find bubbles of enthusiasm in IITs and IIMs. Budgetary support is 200 crores but by leveraging 18,000 crores from the market making it 20,000 crore which will be used in creating research infrastructure. Three billion dollars in 3 years. Under a new programme 78 professors came from abroad which helped us a lot. We will grant rupees one lakh per month to best of the best student. We want the students to innovate here. We will create the right environment to innovate it in India. Q: But what about another India which is rural India where students don’t have toilets and figuratively one teacher ends up teaching the whole school? A: This is my first concern - "Sabko Shiksha Achhi Shiksha". We will improve the quality of the government schools. We are also getting success because of the partnership with the state. We are organising brain storming and all experiments to be done because we have come out with learning outcomes which is measurable. Student's competence will be mapped and publicized in the school. Every parent will be told as to what a child must attain. There will be a handbook of learning outcomes which will be taught to all the teachers throughout the country so it becomes the accountability of the school teacher and students. Q: What about the incentive for the teacher? A: We are giving training to eleven lakh untrained teachers. In next two years, quality education would be imparted to untrained teachers so that quality improves. We are also changing "The Right to Education" and no detention policy. Many states want detentions to happen in 5th and 8th and we are allowing it. The bill is already before the Parliament and we are giving that right to the state so those who want to change can change. With all these changes, we are improving the quality of government schools and making them accountable and once they improve there will be a healthy competition. Q: It was said that you were shifted to HRD to deliver PM’s mandate because you delivered PM’s mandate in environment ministry. So, what was the challenge when you took charge of the HRD ministry? A: Education is always a challenge and a process in continuation. When Smriti Irani was there she started many initiatives. We took them to logical their end. We too have started many initiatives. It is a process in continuity. Q: Many would say that you capped controversies? A: I believe in dialogue and I don’t think that there should be any place for controversy when we can achieve goals through consensus. I’m partnering with all the states on various issues related with education. I believe in taking states on board and believe in work as Team India. Q: What is one thing you would like to do before Lok Sabha election if you retain this ministry? A: The biggest challenge is to improve government schooling quality, to give a boost to research and innovation efforts and providing autonomy for higher institutes in the country. We will have graded autonomy and offer complete reforms on all aspects of education sectors. This is my dream. Q: How do you respond to the "anti national vs national debate" which took place on Indian campuses last year? A: I always think that there are periods when controversies emerge but then there are ways to deal with it and I’m happy that now all of them are talking to each other. I want a dialogue with everybody. To the JNU students, I said why are you demonstrating? Come and talk to me. I will solve the problem. This is my approach.

We are not interfering in universities: HRD minister Prakash Javadekar to WION

<p>Terming corruption, poverty and illiteracy as the greatest challenges, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called for special initiatives to end all such ills in the next five years with the pledge of &#39;Karenge Aur Kar Ke Rahenge&#39; (We will do and surely do).<br />
<br />
Addressing the Lok Sabha on the 75th anniversary of the Quit India movement, the Prime Minister said from 2017 to 2022 when India turns 75, there is a need to create the same spirit that existed between 1942 and 1947.<br />
<br />
He said the menace of corruption has adversely impacted the development journey of the country and has eaten the polity from the inside.<br />
<br />
Corruption, poverty, illiteracy, and malnutrition are the greatest challenges that India now needs to overcome and a common resolve is needed for this, he said, adding &quot;We need to bring a positive change in this regard.&quot;<br />
<br />
&quot;In 1942, the clarion call was &#39;Karenge Ya Marenge&#39; (Do or Die) - today it is &#39;Karenge Aur Kar Ke Rahenge.&#39; The next five years should also be about &#39;Sankalp Se Siddhi&#39;, a resolve which will lead us to accomplishment,&quot; Modi said.<br />
<br />
He said in the next five years till 2022, India must try to bring positive changes so that it can become inspiration for many other nations.<br />
<br />
India&#39;s freedom from colonial rule was not only about India, but a defining moment in ending colonialism in other parts of the world too, the Prime Minister said.<br />
<br />
He said from 1857 to 1942, the move towards freedom was incremental, but the years from 1942 to 1947, were transformative and delivered on the objective.<br />
<br />
&quot;In 1942, conditions internationally became favourable for India to get independence. Today again, the global conditions are favourable for India,&quot; he said.<br />
<br />
He urged the MPs to rise above differences and join in a common effort to create an India of the dreams of the freedom fighters in the next five years, from 2017 to 2022.<br />
<br />
The Prime Minister specially remembered the role of women during the freedom struggle, saying they can add immense strength to the common objectives even today.<br />
<br />
He said the Indian freedom struggle witnessed participation from a wide range of individuals over several years, specially after 1942 responding to the Mahatma Gandhi&#39;s clarion call of &#39;Do or Die&#39;.<br />
<br />
Modi recalled that even as many senior leaders like Mahatma Gandhi were jailed at the beginning of the Quit India movement, a new generation of leaders emerged to fill the vacuum and take the movement forward.<br />
<br />
&quot;The Quit India movement marked the rise of a new leadership. They supported Mahatma Gandhi during the movement,&quot; he said.<br />
<br />
Modi said the recollection of movements such as the Quit India was a source of inspiration and the current generation has a responsibility of passing on the legacy of such movements to the future generations.<br />
<br />
&quot;We remember the Quit India movement. Remembering such movements gives us strength as a nation,&quot; he said.<br />
<br />
During his nearly 30 minutes meeting, he remembered the role played by different leaders in different period of times which include Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Jai Prakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, Chandrashekar Azad and Raju Guru.<br />
<br />
He said during the Quit India movement, all parts of the country, all communities, farmers, labourers, teachers and others came together with the thought of &quot;now or never&quot;.<br />
<br />
Modi said Gandhi had said that he would not be satisfied unless the country gets full freedom but never left the path of non-violence.<br />
<br />
He also referred to the enactment of the GST Act saying the way the political parties and state governments had extended support to the legislation, a similar approach would be taken by all concerned to resolve the problems of the country.<br />
<br />
The Prime Minister said the freedom struggle went through several phases and recalled various leaders and movements that emerged at various points since 1857.<br />
<br />
He said the Quit India movement that began in 1942, was a decisive movement and from political leaders to the common man, everyone was imbued with the spirit of &quot;Do or Die&quot;.<br />
<br />
&quot;Five years was all it took to achieve the objective of independence, once the entire country shared this common resolve,&quot; he said.<br />
<br />
Speaking about rights and duties, Modi said while people are well aware of their rights, they cannot forget their duties, and these too, must become the way of life.</p>

<p>He said colonialism began in India and ended here too with India gaining independence. This was soon followed by the fall of colonialism across Asia and Africa.<br />
<br />
The Prime Minister concluded with the resolve to overcome corruption, giving the poor their rights, giving the youth self-employment, ending malnutrition, the barriers towards women empowerment and illiteracy.<br />
<br />
&quot;We all will together to eliminate corruption and we will do it; We all together will empower the poor with their rights and we will do it; We all will together ensure employment to the youths and we will do it;<br />
<br />
&quot;We all will together eliminate malnutrition and we will do it; We will all together eliminate all hurdles for women empowerment and we will do it; We will all together end illiteracy and we will do it,&quot; the Prime Minister said.<br />
&nbsp;</p>


Addressing the Lok Sabha on the 75th anniversary of the Quit India movement, the Prime Minister said from 2017 to 2022 when India turns 75, there is a need to create the same spirit that existed between 1942 and 1947

Terming corruption, poverty and illiteracy as the greatest challenges, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called for special initiatives to end all such ills in the next five years with the pledge of 'Karenge Aur Kar Ke Rahenge' (We will do and surely do). Addressing the Lok Sabha on the 75th anniversary of the Quit India movement, the Prime Minister said from 2017 to 2022 when India turns 75, there is a need to create the same spirit that existed between 1942 and 1947. He said the menace of corruption has adversely impacted the development journey of the country and has eaten the polity from the inside. Corruption, poverty, illiteracy, and malnutrition are the greatest challenges that India now needs to overcome and a common resolve is needed for this, he said, adding "We need to bring a positive change in this regard." "In 1942, the clarion call was 'Karenge Ya Marenge' (Do or Die) - today it is 'Karenge Aur Kar Ke Rahenge.' The next five years should also be about 'Sankalp Se Siddhi', a resolve which will lead us to accomplishment," Modi said. He said in the next five years till 2022, India must try to bring positive changes so that it can become inspiration for many other nations. India's freedom from colonial rule was not only about India, but a defining moment in ending colonialism in other parts of the world too, the Prime Minister said. He said from 1857 to 1942, the move towards freedom was incremental, but the years from 1942 to 1947, were transformative and delivered on the objective. "In 1942, conditions internationally became favourable for India to get independence. Today again, the global conditions are favourable for India," he said. He urged the MPs to rise above differences and join in a common effort to create an India of the dreams of the freedom fighters in the next five years, from 2017 to 2022. The Prime Minister specially remembered the role of women during the freedom struggle, saying they can add immense strength to the common objectives even today. He said the Indian freedom struggle witnessed participation from a wide range of individuals over several years, specially after 1942 responding to the Mahatma Gandhi's clarion call of 'Do or Die'. Modi recalled that even as many senior leaders like Mahatma Gandhi were jailed at the beginning of the Quit India movement, a new generation of leaders emerged to fill the vacuum and take the movement forward. "The Quit India movement marked the rise of a new leadership. They supported Mahatma Gandhi during the movement," he said. Modi said the recollection of movements such as the Quit India was a source of inspiration and the current generation has a responsibility of passing on the legacy of such movements to the future generations. "We remember the Quit India movement. Remembering such movements gives us strength as a nation," he said. During his nearly 30 minutes meeting, he remembered the role played by different leaders in different period of times which include Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Jai Prakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, Chandrashekar Azad and Raju Guru. He said during the Quit India movement, all parts of the country, all communities, farmers, labourers, teachers and others came together with the thought of "now or never". Modi said Gandhi had said that he would not be satisfied unless the country gets full freedom but never left the path of non-violence. He also referred to the enactment of the GST Act saying the way the political parties and state governments had extended support to the legislation, a similar approach would be taken by all concerned to resolve the problems of the country. The Prime Minister said the freedom struggle went through several phases and recalled various leaders and movements that emerged at various points since 1857. He said the Quit India movement that began in 1942, was a decisive movement and from political leaders to the common man, everyone was imbued with the spirit of "Do or Die". "Five years was all it took to achieve the objective of independence, once the entire country shared this common resolve," he said. Speaking about rights and duties, Modi said while people are well aware of their rights, they cannot forget their duties, and these too, must become the way of life. He said colonialism began in India and ended here too with India gaining independence. This was soon followed by the fall of colonialism across Asia and Africa. The Prime Minister concluded with the resolve to overcome corruption, giving the poor their rights, giving the youth self-employment, ending malnutrition, the barriers towards women empowerment and illiteracy. "We all will together to eliminate corruption and we will do it; We all together will empower the poor with their rights and we will do it; We all will together ensure employment to the youths and we will do it; "We all will together eliminate malnutrition and we will do it; We will all together eliminate all hurdles for women empowerment and we will do it; We will all together end illiteracy and we will do it," the Prime Minister said.

Quit India movement marked the rise of new leadership: PM Modi

<p>The Congress is facing an &quot;existential crisis&quot;, senior party leader Jairam Ramesh today said and pitched for &quot;a collective effort&quot; by party leaders to &quot;overcome&quot; the challenges it faced from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.</p>

<p>Ramesh also said that business as usual approach will not work against Modi and Shah and advocated for a flexibility in approach to make Congress relevant.</p>

<p>&quot;Yes, the Congress party is facing a very serious crisis,&quot; Ramesh told PTI in an interview.</p>

<p>He said the Congress had faced &quot;electoral crisis&quot; from 1996 to 2004 when it was out of power. The party had also faced &quot;electoral crisis&quot; in 1977 when it lost the elections held soon after the emergency.</p>

<p>&quot;But today, I would say that the Congress is facing an existential crisis. It is not an electoral crisis. The party really is in deep crisis,&quot; he said, when asked whether the threat of &quot;poaching&quot; of MLAs posed by the BJP in Gujarat had forced the party to transport its MLAs to Karnataka to ensure party leader Ahmed Patel&#39;s victory in the Rajya Sabha polls.</p>

<p>He, however, justified the Gujarat Congress&#39;s decision to send 44 of its MLAs to a resort in party-ruled Karnataka on July 29 to fend off the alleged &quot;poaching&quot; attempts by BJP, saying the saffron party had also &quot;transported&quot; MLAs in the past.</p>

<p>He said it was wrong for the Congress party to think that anti-incumbency will work automatically against the Modi-led government in the states being ruled by the BJP in the elections.</p>

<p>&quot;We have to understand we are up against Mr Modi, Mr Shah. And they think differently, they act differently, and if we are not flexible in our approach, we will become irrelevant, frankly,&quot; the Congress leader said.</p>

<p>He said the Congress party must also recognise that India has changed. &quot;Old slogans don&#39;t work, old formulas don&#39;t work, old mantras don&#39;t work. India has changed, the Congress party has to change,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>The former union minister hoped that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi would end the uncertainty over his taking over as the Congress president to make the party ready for crucial electoral battles in key states in 2018 and the Lok Sabha polls scheduled a year later.</p>

<p>&quot;I think in all probability, Rahul Gandhi will take charge (as Congress president) before the end of 2017,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>The senior leader lamented that he had been proved wrong in the past about his prediction about Rahul&#39;s assuming charge of the top party job.</p>

<p>&quot;I thought it will happen in 2015, it didn&#39;t happen. I thought it will happen in 2016, it didn&#39;t happen. So I am the wrong person to ask this question. I feel that it may happen before the end of 2017,&quot; Ramesh said.</p>

<p>He said he had &quot;no&quot; indication about the appointment of Rahul Gandhi as Congress president.</p>

<p>&quot;I have only expectation. That&#39;s all. In 2018 and 2019 you will be busy with elections. State elections, national elections...And this type of thing ...Uncertainty is not good,&quot; and urged the Gandhi scion to &quot;finish it off.&quot;</p>

<p>Asked if there is anyone in the Congress party to give a strong challenge to Modi in 2019 elections, Ramesh said, &quot;I have always maintained that it is the collective strength of the Congress that will overcome Mr Modi not some individual magic wand&quot;.</p>

<p>&quot;It has to be a collective effort,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>Ramesh took potshots at party leaders who still behave as if the party is still in power.</p>

<p>&quot;The sultanate has gone, but we behave as if we are sultans still. We have to completely redo the way of thinking, the way of acting, the way of projecting, the way of communicating.&quot;</p>

<p>&quot;I think there is a lot of goodwill for the Congress, a lot of support for the Congress but people want to see a new Congress. They don&#39;t want to see old mantras, old slogans. We must recognise this is a big challenge. Huge challenge for us,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>He said Nitish Kumar&#39;s return to the Indian fold was a big setback for anti-BJP coalition in the country, describing it as a &quot;completely betrayal of the mandate&quot; given to the Mahagathbandhan by the people of Bihar.</p>

<p>Ramesh, who shares a personal rapport with Kumar, said, &quot;personally, I was aghast, astonished, deeply disappointed, but we have to move on and we don&#39;t have time.&quot;</p>

<p>Ramesh, representing Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha, expressed hope that the &quot;revival&quot; of Congress will happen in Karnataka next year as it had happened 40 years ago in 1978 in Chikmagalur Lok Sabha seat in the state which gave political rebirth to Indira Gandhi who faced defeat in Rae Bareli in the elections held after the Emergency.&nbsp;</p>


Ramesh also said that business as usual approach will not work against Modi and Shah

The Congress is facing an "existential crisis", senior party leader Jairam Ramesh today said and pitched for "a collective effort" by party leaders to "overcome" the challenges it faced from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. Ramesh also said that business as usual approach will not work against Modi and Shah and advocated for a flexibility in approach to make Congress relevant. "Yes, the Congress party is facing a very serious crisis," Ramesh told PTI in an interview. He said the Congress had faced "electoral crisis" from 1996 to 2004 when it was out of power. The party had also faced "electoral crisis" in 1977 when it lost the elections held soon after the emergency. "But today, I would say that the Congress is facing an existential crisis. It is not an electoral crisis. The party really is in deep crisis," he said, when asked whether the threat of "poaching" of MLAs posed by the BJP in Gujarat had forced the party to transport its MLAs to Karnataka to ensure party leader Ahmed Patel's victory in the Rajya Sabha polls. He, however, justified the Gujarat Congress's decision to send 44 of its MLAs to a resort in party-ruled Karnataka on July 29 to fend off the alleged "poaching" attempts by BJP, saying the saffron party had also "transported" MLAs in the past. He said it was wrong for the Congress party to think that anti-incumbency will work automatically against the Modi-led government in the states being ruled by the BJP in the elections. "We have to understand we are up against Mr Modi, Mr Shah. And they think differently, they act differently, and if we are not flexible in our approach, we will become irrelevant, frankly," the Congress leader said. He said the Congress party must also recognise that India has changed. "Old slogans don't work, old formulas don't work, old mantras don't work. India has changed, the Congress party has to change," he said. The former union minister hoped that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi would end the uncertainty over his taking over as the Congress president to make the party ready for crucial electoral battles in key states in 2018 and the Lok Sabha polls scheduled a year later. "I think in all probability, Rahul Gandhi will take charge (as Congress president) before the end of 2017," he said. The senior leader lamented that he had been proved wrong in the past about his prediction about Rahul's assuming charge of the top party job. "I thought it will happen in 2015, it didn't happen. I thought it will happen in 2016, it didn't happen. So I am the wrong person to ask this question. I feel that it may happen before the end of 2017," Ramesh said. He said he had "no" indication about the appointment of Rahul Gandhi as Congress president. "I have only expectation. That's all. In 2018 and 2019 you will be busy with elections. State elections, national elections...And this type of thing ...Uncertainty is not good," and urged the Gandhi scion to "finish it off." Asked if there is anyone in the Congress party to give a strong challenge to Modi in 2019 elections, Ramesh said, "I have always maintained that it is the collective strength of the Congress that will overcome Mr Modi not some individual magic wand". "It has to be a collective effort," he said. Ramesh took potshots at party leaders who still behave as if the party is still in power. "The sultanate has gone, but we behave as if we are sultans still. We have to completely redo the way of thinking, the way of acting, the way of projecting, the way of communicating." "I think there is a lot of goodwill for the Congress, a lot of support for the Congress but people want to see a new Congress. They don't want to see old mantras, old slogans. We must recognise this is a big challenge. Huge challenge for us," he said. He said Nitish Kumar's return to the Indian fold was a big setback for anti-BJP coalition in the country, describing it as a "completely betrayal of the mandate" given to the Mahagathbandhan by the people of Bihar. Ramesh, who shares a personal rapport with Kumar, said, "personally, I was aghast, astonished, deeply disappointed, but we have to move on and we don't have time." Ramesh, representing Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha, expressed hope that the "revival" of Congress will happen in Karnataka next year as it had happened 40 years ago in 1978 in Chikmagalur Lok Sabha seat in the state which gave political rebirth to Indira Gandhi who faced defeat in Rae Bareli in the elections held after the Emergency.

'The sultanate has gone, but we behave as if we are sultans still': Jairam Ramesh on Congress party

<p>United States has reaffirmed its support for India&#39;s permanent seat at the UN Security Council.</p>

<p>State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, said, &quot;I believe US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is going to raise the issue at the United Nations.&quot;</p>

<p>During Prime Minister Modi&#39;s visit to United States in June, President Trump reaffirmed the support of the United States for India&#39;s permanent membership on a reformed UN Security Council and in other multilateral institutions like the Nuclear Suppliers Group.</p>

<p>&quot;As global non-proliferation partners, the United States expressed strong support for India&#39;s early membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), the Wassenaar Arrangement, and the Australia Group,&quot; the India-U.S. joint statement said.</p>

<p>India has been asking for a reform of the United Nations Security Council and a membership at the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group.</p>


During Prime Minister Modi's visit to US in June, President Trump reaffirmed the US support for India's permanent membership on a reformed UNSC

United States has reaffirmed its support for India's permanent seat at the UN Security Council. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, said, "I believe US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is going to raise the issue at the United Nations." During Prime Minister Modi's visit to United States in June, President Trump reaffirmed the support of the United States for India's permanent membership on a reformed UN Security Council and in other multilateral institutions like the Nuclear Suppliers Group. "As global non-proliferation partners, the United States expressed strong support for India's early membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), the Wassenaar Arrangement, and the Australia Group," the India-U.S. joint statement said. India has been asking for a reform of the United Nations Security Council and a membership at the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group.

US reaffirms support for India's UN Security Council bid

<p>Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Assam today&nbsp;to review the flood situation in the state.&nbsp;</p>

<p>After reviewing the situation, an assistance of Rs 2,000 crore was announced for flood-hit Northeastern states. Assam will get an additional Rs 250 crore for flood relief.</p>

<p>Another Rs 100 crore was announced for high power study on the Brahmaputra as a permanent solution to the flooding.</p>

<p>An ex-gratia assistance of Rs&nbsp;2 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased, and Rs&nbsp;50,000 to each of those seriously injured due to the floods, has been sanctioned under the Prime Minister&#39;s National Relief Fund (PMNRF).</p>

<p>Seventy-nine people have died in the floods in Assam so far.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Modi&#39;s visit comes in the midst of criticism by opposition parties and organisations in the northeastern state that despite the severe floods, he was yet to visit the state. The floods have affected more than 25 lakh people across 29 districts.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Modi&nbsp;conducted two meetings at the administrative staff college in Guwahati.</p>

<p>The first meeting was between him and Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and other senior&nbsp;officials of the state.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Guwahati: PM Modi at Assam administrative staff college,flood review meeting with officials and ministers underway <a href="https://t.co/uoudM8iPhv">pic.twitter.com/uoudM8iPhv</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/892267396739682304">August 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Guwahati: PM Modi held meeting with Manipur CM N Biren Singh over flood situation in the state <a href="https://t.co/0jDBssXGWV">pic.twitter.com/0jDBssXGWV</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/892297488807280640">August 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Guwahati: PM Modi held flood review meeting with Nagaland CM TR Zeliang &amp; other officials; MoS PMO Jitendra Singh also present <a href="https://t.co/lEv2qggwQH">pic.twitter.com/lEv2qggwQH</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/892296916561575937">August 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Guwahati: PM Narendra Modi holds flood review meeting with officials of Arunachal Pradesh <a href="https://t.co/4gTmtNnJQj">pic.twitter.com/4gTmtNnJQj</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/892280104650285057">August 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<p>&nbsp;</p>

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Narendra Modi arrived in Assam today?to review the flood situation in Assam

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Assam today to review the flood situation in the state. After reviewing the situation, an assistance of Rs 2,000 crore was announced for flood-hit Northeastern states. Assam will get an additional Rs 250 crore for flood relief. Another Rs 100 crore was announced for high power study on the Brahmaputra as a permanent solution to the flooding. An ex-gratia assistance of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased, and Rs 50,000 to each of those seriously injured due to the floods, has been sanctioned under the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF). Seventy-nine people have died in the floods in Assam so far. Modi's visit comes in the midst of criticism by opposition parties and organisations in the northeastern state that despite the severe floods, he was yet to visit the state. The floods have affected more than 25 lakh people across 29 districts. Modi conducted two meetings at the administrative staff college in Guwahati. The first meeting was between him and Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and other senior officials of the state. Guwahati: PM Modi at Assam administrative staff college,flood review meeting with officials and ministers underway pic.twitter.com/uoudM8iPhv — ANI (@ANI_news) August 1, 2017 × Guwahati: PM Modi held meeting with Manipur CM N Biren Singh over flood situation in the state pic.twitter.com/0jDBssXGWV — ANI (@ANI_news) August 1, 2017 × Guwahati: PM Modi held flood review meeting with Nagaland CM TR Zeliang & other officials; MoS PMO Jitendra Singh also present pic.twitter.com/lEv2qggwQH — ANI (@ANI_news) August 1, 2017 × Guwahati: PM Narendra Modi holds flood review meeting with officials of Arunachal Pradesh pic.twitter.com/4gTmtNnJQj — ANI (@ANI_news) August 1, 2017 ×

Northeast floods: PM Modi announces assistance of Rs 2,000 crore

<p>The JD(U)&#39;s Sharad Yadav has said he does not agree Nitish Kumar&#39;s decision to leave the mahagatbandhan&nbsp;-- the JD(U)-RJD-Congress alliance that was ruling the state -- and join hands with the BJP.</p>

<p>&quot;I don&#39;t agree with the decision in Bihar. It&#39;s unfortunate,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>&quot;The mandate by the people was not for this,&quot; he added. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had unexpectedly &quot;resigned&quot;&nbsp;as chief minister last week, only to be sworn in again as chief minister the following morning; this time with support from the BJP.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I don&#39;t agree with the decision in Bihar, its unfortunate.The mandate by the people was not for this: Sharad Yadav,JDU <a href="https://t.co/RZDKlpKn2p">pic.twitter.com/RZDKlpKn2p</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/891893392736624640">July 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="hi">Janta se karar todna sabse badi cheez hai, logon ne mahagatbandhan ko vote diya tha:Sharad Yadav <a href="https://t.co/y5t0iRcvuV">pic.twitter.com/y5t0iRcvuV</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/891926847453188097">July 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Sharad Yadav is not interested in Bihar&#39;s politics. He is simply restless: Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy <a href="https://t.co/7LFgK5F9ja">pic.twitter.com/7LFgK5F9ja</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/891927311016120320">July 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Yadav earlier hit out at the Centre on Sunday saying that neither had the government been able to get back black money from abroad -- one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi&#39;s poll promises -- nor had anyone named in the Panama Papers been caught.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;Neither black money slashed abroad returned, one of d main slogans of d ruling party nor anyone caught out of those named in Panama papers,&quot; he tweeted on Sunday.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Neither black money slashed abroad returned, one of d main slogans of d ruling party nor anyone caught out of those named in Panama papers.</p>
&mdash; SHARAD YADAV (@SharadYadavMP) <a href="https://twitter.com/SharadYadavMP/status/891503285147803648">July 30, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Yadav&#39;s barbs came a little after Lalu Prasad spoke with him, appealing to him &quot;to take command of this fight&quot;.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I talked to Sharad Yadav over phone. I appeal to him that come &amp;go to every corner of country, take command of this fight: Lalu Prasad Yadav <a href="https://t.co/waErUnIKN8">pic.twitter.com/waErUnIKN8</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/891315180436561920">July 29, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>The BJP responded to Yadav, with party leader&nbsp;Ashwani Choubey telling ANI, &quot;We admire Sharad Yadav and he has worked with the NDA Government as well. As a fellow politico, I will suggest Yadav to not lose hopes in Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he will bring back the black money from abroad as well as clear the corruption from the entire nation,&quot; BJP leader .</p>

<p>&quot;Now Bihar will flourish under the guidance of our Prime Minister,&quot; he added, saying the BJP had taken an oath to make Bihar corruption-free.</p>

<p>&quot;Sharad Yadav should think for a while before blaming the Prime Minister. Promises made by Prime Minister Modi will get fulfilled,&quot; he said.</p>


'The mandate by the people was not for this,' Yadav added

The JD(U)'s Sharad Yadav has said he does not agree Nitish Kumar's decision to leave the mahagatbandhan -- the JD(U)-RJD-Congress alliance that was ruling the state -- and join hands with the BJP. "I don't agree with the decision in Bihar. It's unfortunate," he said. "The mandate by the people was not for this," he added. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had unexpectedly "resigned" as chief minister last week, only to be sworn in again as chief minister the following morning; this time with support from the BJP. I don't agree with the decision in Bihar, its unfortunate.The mandate by the people was not for this: Sharad Yadav,JDU pic.twitter.com/RZDKlpKn2p — ANI (@ANI_news) July 31, 2017 × Janta se karar todna sabse badi cheez hai, logon ne mahagatbandhan ko vote diya tha:Sharad Yadav pic.twitter.com/y5t0iRcvuV — ANI (@ANI_news) July 31, 2017 × Sharad Yadav is not interested in Bihar's politics. He is simply restless: Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy pic.twitter.com/7LFgK5F9ja — ANI (@ANI_news) July 31, 2017 × Yadav earlier hit out at the Centre on Sunday saying that neither had the government been able to get back black money from abroad -- one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's poll promises -- nor had anyone named in the Panama Papers been caught. "Neither black money slashed abroad returned, one of d main slogans of d ruling party nor anyone caught out of those named in Panama papers," he tweeted on Sunday. Neither black money slashed abroad returned, one of d main slogans of d ruling party nor anyone caught out of those named in Panama papers. — SHARAD YADAV (@SharadYadavMP) July 30, 2017 × Yadav's barbs came a little after Lalu Prasad spoke with him, appealing to him "to take command of this fight". I talked to Sharad Yadav over phone. I appeal to him that come &go to every corner of country, take command of this fight: Lalu Prasad Yadav pic.twitter.com/waErUnIKN8 — ANI (@ANI_news) July 29, 2017 × The BJP responded to Yadav, with party leader Ashwani Choubey telling ANI, "We admire Sharad Yadav and he has worked with the NDA Government as well. As a fellow politico, I will suggest Yadav to not lose hopes in Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he will bring back the black money from abroad as well as clear the corruption from the entire nation," BJP leader . "Now Bihar will flourish under the guidance of our Prime Minister," he added, saying the BJP had taken an oath to make Bihar corruption-free. "Sharad Yadav should think for a while before blaming the Prime Minister. Promises made by Prime Minister Modi will get fulfilled," he said.

JD(U)'s Sharad Yadav: 'Don't agree with the decision in Bihar'

<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people on Sunday to make communalism, casteism, poverty, corruption, and terrorism &quot;quit India&quot;.</p>

<p>Modi was speaking on his monthly radio programme &quot;Mann ki Baat&quot;. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;We have to come together and resolve to let filth quit India, poverty quit India, corruption quit India, terrorism quit India, casteism quit India and communalism quit India,&quot; he said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The deadline he gave for ridding India of the aforementioned ills was 2022 -- India&#39;s 75th year of independence.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;Just like five years between 1942 and 1947 became the decisive period, I can see another five-year period from 2017 to 2022 to make a resolve to end the problems of our nation,&quot; he said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>He also referred to Mahatma Gandhi&rsquo;s call of &ldquo;do or die&rdquo;. (The Quit India Movement, calling for the British to leave India, had also been launched by Gandhi in 1942.)&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;The need for today is not &#39;do or die&#39;, instead it is to resolve, to come together, persevere, and work relentlessly with our utmost strength towards the making of a new India,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


He said we should also rid the country of casteism, poverty, corruption, and terrorism

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people on Sunday to make communalism, casteism, poverty, corruption, and terrorism "quit India". Modi was speaking on his monthly radio programme "Mann ki Baat". "We have to come together and resolve to let filth quit India, poverty quit India, corruption quit India, terrorism quit India, casteism quit India and communalism quit India," he said. The deadline he gave for ridding India of the aforementioned ills was 2022 -- India's 75th year of independence. "Just like five years between 1942 and 1947 became the decisive period, I can see another five-year period from 2017 to 2022 to make a resolve to end the problems of our nation," he said. He also referred to Mahatma Gandhi’s call of “do or die”. (The Quit India Movement, calling for the British to leave India, had also been launched by Gandhi in 1942.) "The need for today is not 'do or die', instead it is to resolve, to come together, persevere, and work relentlessly with our utmost strength towards the making of a new India,” he said.

Make communalism quit India: PM Modi

<p>On 8th November 2016, when the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes, the whole country was put in a state of shock. The move which caused great inconvenience to more than a billion citizens of the country was, however, hailed as a crusade against the black economy. The supporters of demonetisation argued that it would significantly impact the amount of fake currency in circulation within India. But if it actually stopped the circulation of counterfeit currency remains a question.</p>

<p>According to the recent figures, which the government presented in the Lok Sabha, a counterfeit currency of more than INR 93 million was seized in the period following demonetisation over the period between 1st January 2017 to 30th June 2017. In the period of 9 months before demonetisation, from 1st January 2016 to 30th September 2016, the counterfeit currency of around similar value was seized.</p>

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<p>Fake money seized before and after demonetisation (WION)</p>
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<p>Which fake currency is being seized the most?</p>

<p>Fake notes of all denominations were seized post-demonetisation, including Rs. 2000 notes. Around 11,000 fake notes of Rs. 2000 were seized in the first six months of 2017, amounting to more than Rs. 22 million. It is surprising that so many thousands of 2000 bills got seized, particularly because it was stated that the new currency is so meticulously printed that it could not be faked. Apart from the 500 notes, around 42,000 counterfeit currency of Rs. 500 were taken into custody. On account of all these seizures, 145 people were accused.</p>

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<p>Fake notes post demonetisation (WION)</p>
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<p>Which are the top States of Seizure?</p>

<p>In the post-demonetisation phase, 5 states in India have been the prime source of all these seizures. Of the total value of counterfeit currency seized from all over India, more than 96 per cent came from these states. Moreover, Delhi has been the hub of the seizures in the country where counterfeit notes of more than Rs 62 million were taken into custody in the first 6 months of 2017. Gujarat stood second on the list with seizures worth Rs. 15.61 million in 2017.</p>

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<p>States with maximum amount seized (WION)</p>
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<p>Counterfeit currency which managed to enter Banking Channels:</p>

<p>The most alarming fact is, where the value of counterfeit currency seized is so large, fake notes of much higher value are being circulated through the banking channels. As per data provided by Reserve Bank of India, in the first six months of 2016, Rs 150 million of fake currency went through the banking system of the country. The circulation has been on a rise since 2013, and there was an increase of 16 per cent in 2015 as compared to 2013. Though the data for the post-demonetisation period was unavailable, the seizure data is enough to indicate that there would have been no significant fall in circulation of counterfeit currency in the banking channels. Thus, the concerned government agencies need to put in an extra effort to ensure that demonetisation is successfully putting an end to the circulation of fake notes in India.</p>

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In the first six months of 2016, Rs 150 million of fake currency went through the banking system of the country, says RBI

On 8th November 2016, when the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes, the whole country was put in a state of shock. The move which caused great inconvenience to more than a billion citizens of the country was, however, hailed as a crusade against the black economy. The supporters of demonetisation argued that it would significantly impact the amount of fake currency in circulation within India. But if it actually stopped the circulation of counterfeit currency remains a question. According to the recent figures, which the government presented in the Lok Sabha, a counterfeit currency of more than INR 93 million was seized in the period following demonetisation over the period between 1st January 2017 to 30th June 2017. In the period of 9 months before demonetisation, from 1st January 2016 to 30th September 2016, the counterfeit currency of around similar value was seized. Fake money seized before and after demonetisation (WION) × Which fake currency is being seized the most? Fake notes of all denominations were seized post-demonetisation, including Rs. 2000 notes. Around 11,000 fake notes of Rs. 2000 were seized in the first six months of 2017, amounting to more than Rs. 22 million. It is surprising that so many thousands of 2000 bills got seized, particularly because it was stated that the new currency is so meticulously printed that it could not be faked. Apart from the 500 notes, around 42,000 counterfeit currency of Rs. 500 were taken into custody. On account of all these seizures, 145 people were accused. Fake notes post demonetisation (WION) × Which are the top States of Seizure? In the post-demonetisation phase, 5 states in India have been the prime source of all these seizures. Of the total value of counterfeit currency seized from all over India, more than 96 per cent came from these states. Moreover, Delhi has been the hub of the seizures in the country where counterfeit notes of more than Rs 62 million were taken into custody in the first 6 months of 2017. Gujarat stood second on the list with seizures worth Rs. 15.61 million in 2017. States with maximum amount seized (WION) × Counterfeit currency which managed to enter Banking Channels: The most alarming fact is, where the value of counterfeit currency seized is so large, fake notes of much higher value are being circulated through the banking channels. As per data provided by Reserve Bank of India, in the first six months of 2016, Rs 150 million of fake currency went through the banking system of the country. The circulation has been on a rise since 2013, and there was an increase of 16 per cent in 2015 as compared to 2013. Though the data for the post-demonetisation period was unavailable, the seizure data is enough to indicate that there would have been no significant fall in circulation of counterfeit currency in the banking channels. Thus, the concerned government agencies need to put in an extra effort to ensure that demonetisation is successfully putting an end to the circulation of fake notes in India.

Indian banks are being used to circulate fake notes in the country

<p>India&#39;s newly elected President Ram Nath Kovind, in his first address after the election results were announced, said that he will work towards the betterment of the marginalised sections of society.</p>

<p>&quot;Thoughts of serving my country have brought me this far. My job will be to uphold and protect the Constitution,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>He also said that his election is a message for those who work with honesty.</p>

<p>&quot;My elevation to the highest office is a message for the people who do their work with honest. I will represent the working class and poor sections of the society. This is the novelty of Indian democracy that today I am elected the President of the country,&quot; he added.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="hi">Ye zimmedari diya jana desh ke har aise vyakti ke liye sandesh hai jo imaandari ke sath kartavyon ka nirvahan karta hai: President Elect <a href="https://t.co/1su6rJe1a3">pic.twitter.com/1su6rJe1a3</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/887998066116018176">July 20, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p><a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/ndas-ram-nath-kovind-set-to-be-indias-next-president-18120">Ram Nath Kovind won the presidential election</a> getting 65.65 per cent votes.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;Kovind secured 2930 votes with a value of 7,02,044.&nbsp;<a href="http://aninews.in/keysearch/keyword-search/meira-kumar.html">Meira Kumar</a>&nbsp;got 1,844 votes with the value of 3,67,314, and 77 votes were invalid,&quot; said Anoop Mishra, the returning officer for the Presidential election 2017.</p>

<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the President-elect Ram Nath Kovind and congratulated him on his victory.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="und">Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulates President elect <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RamNathKovind?src=hash">#RamNathKovind</a> in Delhi <a href="https://t.co/0Ukdkj0kR3">pic.twitter.com/0Ukdkj0kR3</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/888010738748473345">July 20, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Opposition candidate Meira Kumar congratulated Kovind on his victory.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I congratulate Sh. Ram Nath Kovindji for becoming the President of India. 1/2</p>
&mdash; Meira Kumar (@meira_kumar) <a href="https://twitter.com/meira_kumar/status/887995895827935233">July 20, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">My best wishes are with Sh. Kovindji as it has fallen upon him to uphold the Constitution in letter &amp; spirit in these challenging times. 2/2</p>
&mdash; Meira Kumar (@meira_kumar) <a href="https://twitter.com/meira_kumar/status/887996095560798208">July 20, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>

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President-elect Ram Nath Kovind won the elections getting 65.65% votes

India's newly elected President Ram Nath Kovind, in his first address after the election results were announced, said that he will work towards the betterment of the marginalised sections of society. "Thoughts of serving my country have brought me this far. My job will be to uphold and protect the Constitution," he said. He also said that his election is a message for those who work with honesty. "My elevation to the highest office is a message for the people who do their work with honest. I will represent the working class and poor sections of the society. This is the novelty of Indian democracy that today I am elected the President of the country," he added. Ye zimmedari diya jana desh ke har aise vyakti ke liye sandesh hai jo imaandari ke sath kartavyon ka nirvahan karta hai: President Elect pic.twitter.com/1su6rJe1a3 — ANI (@ANI_news) July 20, 2017 × Ram Nath Kovind won the presidential election getting 65.65 per cent votes. "Kovind secured 2930 votes with a value of 7,02,044. Meira Kumar got 1,844 votes with the value of 3,67,314, and 77 votes were invalid," said Anoop Mishra, the returning officer for the Presidential election 2017. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the President-elect Ram Nath Kovind and congratulated him on his victory. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulates President elect #RamNathKovind in Delhi pic.twitter.com/0Ukdkj0kR3 — ANI (@ANI_news) July 20, 2017 × Opposition candidate Meira Kumar congratulated Kovind on his victory. I congratulate Sh. Ram Nath Kovindji for becoming the President of India. 1/2 — Meira Kumar (@meira_kumar) July 20, 2017 × My best wishes are with Sh. Kovindji as it has fallen upon him to uphold the Constitution in letter & spirit in these challenging times. 2/2 — Meira Kumar (@meira_kumar) July 20, 2017 ×

My election is a message to those who work with honesty: President-elect Ram Nath Kovind

<p>Rajya Sabha witnessed an uproar after Samajwadi Party&#39;s Naresh Agrawal made controversial remarks over Hindu gods, PTI reported.</p>

<p>Taking strong objection to his comments, the Treasury benches demanded an apology from him.</p>

<p>Later, he withdrew his comments but SP&#39;s Ramgopal Yadav said that there is no question of apologising.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Earlier, Rajya Sabha witnessed acrimonious scenes over the issue of lynchings in the name of cow protection.</p>

<p>The Opposition came down heavily on the treasury benches for not doing enough to stop lynchings.</p>

<p>Congress party leader and Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said that this is a fight to save humanity while raising the issue of lynchings in various states.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Congress&#39; Ghulam Nabi Azad raises issue of mob lynchings in different states <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RajyaSabha?src=hash">#RajyaSabha</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Monsoonsession?src=hash">#Monsoonsession</a> <a href="https://t.co/Pn4c0CSiuj">pic.twitter.com/Pn4c0CSiuj</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/887597386935058432">July 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Samajwadi Party leaders stormed the well of the House questioning the government over the steps it had taken to stop the lynchings, PTI reported.</p>

<p>This led to the House getting adjourned for 10 minutes.</p>

<p>Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, the junior home minister, while responding to Congress&#39; Digvijay Singh on whether the government is bringing a special law to deal with such cases, said that the there is no need to bring any changes to the existing laws.</p>

<p>He added that the centre had already issued advisories to states to register FIRs in such cases and book the culprits under existing laws.</p>

<p>The junior home minister further added that the Prime Minister had also spoken out against the issue of lynchings in the name of cow protection.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">PM stated cow vigilantes shouldn&#39;t take law in their hands, MHA issued advisory. Dragging BJP into this not right: MoS Home H. Ahir in RS <a href="https://t.co/sHwy3cWmJe">pic.twitter.com/sHwy3cWmJe</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/887562426920468480">July 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>He rejected Samajwadi Party&#39;s Naresh Agrawal&#39;s charge that BJP men are behind the lynchings, PTI said.</p>

<p>&quot;It is not correct that BJP people are involved in this,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>The minister said that the NCRB started recording data on lynchings since 2014. He cited the NCRB data to show that there were more incidents of lynchings in the years 2014, 2015 and 2016 in non-BJP ruled states.</p>

<p>The minister said that all states have acted against those behind such incidents and have sent information to Centre except West Bengal.</p>

<p>&quot;In Haryana, four people have been arrested, while three have been held in West Bengal, 30 persons in Jharkhand and four have been held in Maharashtra,&quot; he said, adding all states have acted and no culprits are roaming free, PTI reported.</p>

<p>&quot;If anyone is not arrested, we will ask the states to take action...The Centre is not running away from fulfilling its duty and have asked states to send complete reports,&quot; Ahir said.<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
SP&#39;s Naresh Agrawal had asked the government if it was aware of the number of incidents of lynchings by cow vigilantes.</p>

<p>The junior home minister responded saying that police and public order are state subjects and the state governments are competent to deal with such issues under the provisions of law. He also added that the NCRB does not maintain data on lynchings in the name of cow vigilantism.</p>

<p>Dissatisfied with the Centre&#39;s response the SP members resorted to sloganeering in the well of the House which led to the adjournment.&nbsp;</p>


The House witnessed acrimonious scenes as the Opposition targeted the government over the lynchings in the name of cow protection

Rajya Sabha witnessed an uproar after Samajwadi Party's Naresh Agrawal made controversial remarks over Hindu gods, PTI reported. Taking strong objection to his comments, the Treasury benches demanded an apology from him. Later, he withdrew his comments but SP's Ramgopal Yadav said that there is no question of apologising. Earlier, Rajya Sabha witnessed acrimonious scenes over the issue of lynchings in the name of cow protection. The Opposition came down heavily on the treasury benches for not doing enough to stop lynchings. Congress party leader and Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said that this is a fight to save humanity while raising the issue of lynchings in various states. Congress' Ghulam Nabi Azad raises issue of mob lynchings in different states #RajyaSabha #Monsoonsession pic.twitter.com/Pn4c0CSiuj — ANI (@ANI_news) July 19, 2017 × Samajwadi Party leaders stormed the well of the House questioning the government over the steps it had taken to stop the lynchings, PTI reported. This led to the House getting adjourned for 10 minutes. Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, the junior home minister, while responding to Congress' Digvijay Singh on whether the government is bringing a special law to deal with such cases, said that the there is no need to bring any changes to the existing laws. He added that the centre had already issued advisories to states to register FIRs in such cases and book the culprits under existing laws. The junior home minister further added that the Prime Minister had also spoken out against the issue of lynchings in the name of cow protection. PM stated cow vigilantes shouldn't take law in their hands, MHA issued advisory. Dragging BJP into this not right: MoS Home H. Ahir in RS pic.twitter.com/sHwy3cWmJe — ANI (@ANI_news) July 19, 2017 × He rejected Samajwadi Party's Naresh Agrawal's charge that BJP men are behind the lynchings, PTI said. "It is not correct that BJP people are involved in this," he said. The minister said that the NCRB started recording data on lynchings since 2014. He cited the NCRB data to show that there were more incidents of lynchings in the years 2014, 2015 and 2016 in non-BJP ruled states. The minister said that all states have acted against those behind such incidents and have sent information to Centre except West Bengal. "In Haryana, four people have been arrested, while three have been held in West Bengal, 30 persons in Jharkhand and four have been held in Maharashtra," he said, adding all states have acted and no culprits are roaming free, PTI reported. "If anyone is not arrested, we will ask the states to take action...The Centre is not running away from fulfilling its duty and have asked states to send complete reports," Ahir said. SP's Naresh Agrawal had asked the government if it was aware of the number of incidents of lynchings by cow vigilantes. The junior home minister responded saying that police and public order are state subjects and the state governments are competent to deal with such issues under the provisions of law. He also added that the NCRB does not maintain data on lynchings in the name of cow vigilantism. Dissatisfied with the Centre's response the SP members resorted to sloganeering in the well of the House which led to the adjournment.

Uproar in Rajya Sabha over SP member's remark over Hindu gods

<p>Information and Broadcasting minister Venkaiah Naidu was today picked as BJP-led NDA&#39;s Vice-Presidential candidate.</p>

<p>Naidu was picked in a meeting of the BJP parliamentary board attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president AMit Shah.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="et"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FLASH?src=hash">#FLASH</a>: Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu named NDA&#39;s Vice Presidential candidate <a href="https://t.co/n8QfoYfZYV">pic.twitter.com/n8QfoYfZYV</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/886951374188982272">July 17, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Venkaiah Naidu will be contesting against Gopalkrishna Gandhi who was jointly picked up by the opposition comprising 18 parties.</p>

<p>The Vice Presidential polls will be held on August 5 after the incumbent Hamid Ansari&#39;s term gets over. Ansari served as Vice President for two terms.</p>

<p>BJP is keen on having a Vice President from southern India where it wants to expand its footprint. Venkaiah Naidu comes from the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh. He has also served as the BJP president.</p>

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Venkaiah Naidu will contest again Gopalkrishna Gandhi who was jointly picked up by the opposition

Information and Broadcasting minister Venkaiah Naidu was today picked as BJP-led NDA's Vice-Presidential candidate. Naidu was picked in a meeting of the BJP parliamentary board attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president AMit Shah. #FLASH: Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu named NDA's Vice Presidential candidate pic.twitter.com/n8QfoYfZYV — ANI (@ANI_news) July 17, 2017 × Venkaiah Naidu will be contesting against Gopalkrishna Gandhi who was jointly picked up by the opposition comprising 18 parties. The Vice Presidential polls will be held on August 5 after the incumbent Hamid Ansari's term gets over. Ansari served as Vice President for two terms. BJP is keen on having a Vice President from southern India where it wants to expand its footprint. Venkaiah Naidu comes from the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh. He has also served as the BJP president.

Venkaiah Naidu picked as NDA's vice-presidential candidate

<p>&nbsp;A day after the Mumbai Police filed a First Information Report (FIR) against comedy collective All India Bakchod (AIB) co-founder Tanmay Bhat for posting a meme showing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi using the Snapchat dog-face-filter, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O&#39; Brien posted pictures using the same filter.</p>

<p>Tharoor was apparently prodded by the Twitterati to defend the AIB&#39;s freedom of expression, after which the Thiruvananthapuram MP took the controversy to another level.</p>

<p>The Congress leader took to his Twitter to post a picture of his &#39;dog-filter&#39;ed face with the caption: &quot;Attn all trolls: I took the #DogFilter challenge! @AllIndiaBakchod.&quot;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Attn all trolls: I took the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DogFilter?src=hash">#DogFilter</a> challenge! <a href="https://twitter.com/AllIndiaBakchod">@AllIndiaBakchod</a> <a href="https://t.co/0lmClCS7CF">pic.twitter.com/0lmClCS7CF</a></p>
&mdash; Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShashiTharoor/status/886236850607669248">July 15, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">What a good idea . Giving it a thought. Should I ? Should I not ! Hmmm On it</p>
&mdash; Derek O&#39;Brien (@quizderek) <a href="https://twitter.com/quizderek/status/886080309611057153">July 15, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>The Mumbai Police Cyber Cell on Friday filed an FIR against Bhat for &quot;making fun of&quot;&nbsp;nation&#39;s Prime Minister Modi. Tanmay&#39;s tweet had a &#39;dog-filter&#39;ed photo of the Prime Minister with the caption #Wanderlust, adding &quot;Dog filter is lyf.&quot; [sic]</p>

<p>The plethora of fans of the Prime Minister took offence, and in return, the AIB&nbsp;faced their wrath.</p>

<p>One of the Twitterati, Reetesh Maheshwari, tagged the Mumbai Police and said that strict action should be taken against the organisation for such a &quot;disrespectful&quot;&nbsp;joke against the Prime Minister.&nbsp;</p>


The Mumbai Police Cyber Cell on Friday filed an FIR against comedian Tanmay Bhat for 'making fun of' Indian Prime Minister Modi

A day after the Mumbai Police filed a First Information Report (FIR) against comedy collective All India Bakchod (AIB) co-founder Tanmay Bhat for posting a meme showing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi using the Snapchat dog-face-filter, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O' Brien posted pictures using the same filter. Tharoor was apparently prodded by the Twitterati to defend the AIB's freedom of expression, after which the Thiruvananthapuram MP took the controversy to another level. The Congress leader took to his Twitter to post a picture of his 'dog-filter'ed face with the caption: "Attn all trolls: I took the #DogFilter challenge! @AllIndiaBakchod." Attn all trolls: I took the #DogFilter challenge! @AllIndiaBakchod pic.twitter.com/0lmClCS7CF — Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) July 15, 2017 × What a good idea . Giving it a thought. Should I ? Should I not ! Hmmm On it — Derek O'Brien (@quizderek) July 15, 2017 × The Mumbai Police Cyber Cell on Friday filed an FIR against Bhat for "making fun of" nation's Prime Minister Modi. Tanmay's tweet had a 'dog-filter'ed photo of the Prime Minister with the caption #Wanderlust, adding "Dog filter is lyf." [sic] The plethora of fans of the Prime Minister took offence, and in return, the AIB faced their wrath. One of the Twitterati, Reetesh Maheshwari, tagged the Mumbai Police and said that strict action should be taken against the organisation for such a "disrespectful" joke against the Prime Minister.

Derek O'Brien, Shashi Tharoor troll trolls with Snapchat filter after AIB controversy

<p>The G-20 (Group of 20)&nbsp;is an international forum which was formed with the purpose of establishing international cooperation on global economic and financial&nbsp;issues. The forum plays an important role in decision making on issues of international relevance.</p>

<p>G20 countries account for three-quarters of global trade. The G-20 countries produce more than&nbsp;80 per cent of the global economic&nbsp;output.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Around two-third&nbsp;of the global population lives in G-20 member countries.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The G-20 started in 1999 as a meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis that sent shockwaves through the global economic community.</p>

<p>In 2008, the first G-20 Leaders&rsquo; Summit was held, and the group played a key role in responding to the global financial crisis that rattled world markets causing massive financial instabilty and leading to the collapse of financial institutions.&nbsp;Its decisive and coordinated actions boosted consumer and business confidence and supported the global&nbsp;economic recovery.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>How it works</strong><br />
Each year in December&nbsp;a different G-20 member country assumes presidency of the forum. To ensure continuity, the presidency is supported by a &ldquo;troika&rdquo; (Trio) made up of the current, immediate past and next host countries. Being an informal group, the group has no permanent secretariat.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The G-20 president is responsible for bringing together the G-20 agenda in consultation with other members and in response to developments in the global economy. The summit and the preparatory processes &ndash; often including more than 60 ministerial and working group meetings per year &ndash; are coordinated by the respective host country.</p>

<p><strong>Members of G20</strong><br />
The twenty members of the forum are :</p>

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			<td>
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				<li>Argentina</li>
				<li>Australia</li>
				<li>Brazil</li>
				<li>Canada</li>
				<li>China</li>
				<li>France</li>
				<li>Germany</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>India</li>
				<li>Indonesia</li>
				<li>Italy</li>
				<li>Japan</li>
				<li>Republic of Korea</li>
				<li>Mexico</li>
				<li>Russia</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
			<td>
			<ul>
				<li>Saudi Arabia</li>
				<li>South Africa</li>
				<li>Turkey</li>
				<li>The United Kingdom</li>
				<li>The united States</li>
				<li>The European Union</li>
			</ul>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p><br />
&nbsp;</p>

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<p>The map displays the member countries, which represent two-thirds of the world population (Image source: g20.org) (Others)</p>
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<p>At the invitation of each Presidency, international organisations also regularly attend the G20 meetings. These organisations include the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Financial Stability Board (FSB), the World Bank (WB), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations (UN). The German G20 Presidency has also invited the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2017.</p>

<p>Spain attends the G-20 Summits as a permanent guest. The Presidency can also invite representatives of regional organisations and guests to the G-20 Summit.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>India and G20</strong></p>

<p>India has enacted a number of legislations and taken steps to tackle issues like black money, terror financing and food security which can be traced back to G-20. &nbsp;</p>

<p>For instance, India enacted the&nbsp;National Food Security Act with the objective to provide food and nutritional security by ensuring access to adequate quantity of food at affordable prices to people.&nbsp;</p>

<p>India stands to gain from G-20 knowledge sharing and best practices of improving food security without increasing water consumption to unsustainable levels. The same can then also form part of implementation under the National Water Policy of India.</p>

<p>G-20 has emerged as an important forum where global leaders come together to discuss issues of international significance. At a time, when countries like US are turning inwards and showing signs of protectionism, forums like G-20 have assumed all the more importance to steer the global economic community.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


G20 is an international informal forum where India has made the mark of an emerging economy which aspires to take the world along with it towards development

The G-20 (Group of 20) is an international forum which was formed with the purpose of establishing international cooperation on global economic and financial issues. The forum plays an important role in decision making on issues of international relevance. G20 countries account for three-quarters of global trade. The G-20 countries produce more than 80 per cent of the global economic output. Around two-third of the global population lives in G-20 member countries. The G-20 started in 1999 as a meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis that sent shockwaves through the global economic community. In 2008, the first G-20 Leaders’ Summit was held, and the group played a key role in responding to the global financial crisis that rattled world markets causing massive financial instabilty and leading to the collapse of financial institutions. Its decisive and coordinated actions boosted consumer and business confidence and supported the global economic recovery. How it works Each year in December a different G-20 member country assumes presidency of the forum. To ensure continuity, the presidency is supported by a “troika” (Trio) made up of the current, immediate past and next host countries. Being an informal group, the group has no permanent secretariat. The G-20 president is responsible for bringing together the G-20 agenda in consultation with other members and in response to developments in the global economy. The summit and the preparatory processes – often including more than 60 ministerial and working group meetings per year – are coordinated by the respective host country. Members of G20 The twenty members of the forum are : Argentina Australia Brazil Canada China France Germany India Indonesia Italy Japan Republic of Korea Mexico Russia Saudi Arabia South Africa Turkey The United Kingdom The united States The European Union The map displays the member countries, which represent two-thirds of the world population (Image source: g20.org) (Others) × At the invitation of each Presidency, international organisations also regularly attend the G20 meetings. These organisations include the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Financial Stability Board (FSB), the World Bank (WB), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations (UN). The German G20 Presidency has also invited the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2017. Spain attends the G-20 Summits as a permanent guest. The Presidency can also invite representatives of regional organisations and guests to the G-20 Summit. India and G20 India has enacted a number of legislations and taken steps to tackle issues like black money, terror financing and food security which can be traced back to G-20. For instance, India enacted the National Food Security Act with the objective to provide food and nutritional security by ensuring access to adequate quantity of food at affordable prices to people. India stands to gain from G-20 knowledge sharing and best practices of improving food security without increasing water consumption to unsustainable levels. The same can then also form part of implementation under the National Water Policy of India. G-20 has emerged as an important forum where global leaders come together to discuss issues of international significance. At a time, when countries like US are turning inwards and showing signs of protectionism, forums like G-20 have assumed all the more importance to steer the global economic community.

All you need to know about G-20

<p>In yet another incident of mob violence six people were thrashed Saturday by a mob for allegedly carrying buffalo calves in Delhi&#39;s Baba Haridas Nagar.</p>

<p>According to ANI, a mob vandalised six vehicles carrying buffalo calves and assaulted three drivers.</p>

<p>One of the drivers, Ali Jaan, has been admitted to the hospital with severe injuries while others were discharged from the hospital.</p>

<p>An FIR has been lodged against the attackers.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi had strongly rebuked those who kill people in the name of cow protection in a speech on June 29.</p>

<p>His criticism came in the wake of increasing incidents of mob violence in the name of cow protection.</p>

<p>The Prime Minister had delivered a similar message last year also but it did not seem to have any impact on the number of incidents of mob violence related to beef.</p>


Prime Minister Narendra Modi had strongly rebuked those who kill people in the name of cow protection in a speech on June 29

In yet another incident of mob violence six people were thrashed Saturday by a mob for allegedly carrying buffalo calves in Delhi's Baba Haridas Nagar. According to ANI, a mob vandalised six vehicles carrying buffalo calves and assaulted three drivers. One of the drivers, Ali Jaan, has been admitted to the hospital with severe injuries while others were discharged from the hospital. An FIR has been lodged against the attackers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had strongly rebuked those who kill people in the name of cow protection in a speech on June 29. His criticism came in the wake of increasing incidents of mob violence in the name of cow protection. The Prime Minister had delivered a similar message last year also but it did not seem to have any impact on the number of incidents of mob violence related to beef.

Mob assaults six people for carrying buffalo calves in Delhi

<p>What do olive, mango and pomegranate orchards have to do with Prime Minister Narendra Modi&rsquo;s ongoing visit to Israel? A lot it seems.&nbsp;</p>

<p>These food items are fast emerging as important planks of diplomatic relationship between India and Israel. With India suffering from acute farm crisis, and farmers committing suicide as there is not enough return from the market, the country desperately needs a second Green Revolution, which needs to be very different from the first Green Revolution of the 1960s. While the latter helped to boost up yield of foodcrops, the next one needs to concentrate on better utilisation of &nbsp;scarce resources. And that is where Israel can be of help to India.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In his current trip to Israel, PM Modi has signed a MoU with Israel to undertake a 3-year long programme of agricultural development, stretching over the period from 2018 to 2020, to introduce &ldquo;smart&rdquo; technologies and practices to boost income and condition of farmers in the country.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Decades back, it was the golden wheat fields of the US which fired the imagination of the agricultural scientists to introduce high-yielding varieties Mexican seeds among Indian farmers. Roughly forty-years later, the flowering tomato and olive plants of Tel-Aviv farms are capturing the Indian imagination again. From a cereal-centric poor man&rsquo;s diet, which is rich only in carbs, India is ready to shift to more vitamins. It is the sign of rising opulence of the Indian middle-class.</p>

<p><b>Moving beyond the Green Revolution</b></p>

<p>Agricultural technology, or more specifically food production technology, has always been a crucial geopolitical tool. In the heydays of Cold War politics, helping India to grow more rice and wheat became an important aspect of America&rsquo;s anti-communism drive. With millions going hungry in India, the US feared that it is creating the ideal breeding ground for communism in rural India. So, while the US send in shiploads of wheat aid to India as part of the PL-480 programme, it initiated through the Rockefeller Foundation scientists working in India a plan to revolutionise Indian foodgrain production. The culmination of the whole effort was the Green Revolution of the late 1960s.&nbsp;</p>

<p>While the Green Revolution ensured that there is enough cereals for the Indian masses, the resource-intensive nature of the farming system opened up a pandora&rsquo;s box of trouble. Critics soon started pointing out that the huge amount of fertilisers and round-the-year irrigation needed to grow the crop is a drain on the small farmers of India who are the numerical majority. Environmentally speak, the criticism ran that the Green Revolution technology is harming the soil, depleting the groundwater resources and chemically polluting the air.&nbsp;</p>

<p>By the 1980s, the fertiliser and irrigation-induced high yield witnessed in the Indian farming sector reached a plateau. The hope of pumping in more inputs to raise the output proved to be unsustainable in the long run. Now, with increasing number of farmers committing suicide over the input costs and diminishing return from the market, Israel&rsquo;s role in finding a solution in India&rsquo;s farming problems is gaining increasing significance in the bilateral relationship.&nbsp;</p>

<p><b>Olive trees in the desert</b></p>

<p>In the arid deserts of Rajasthan where farmers are struggling to meet ends, millions of olive trees have been imported in the recent past to transform the landscape. With affluent middle-class Indians fast taking to cooking and using olive oil in food, India needs to produce more olive. As of 2013, the country had been importing 11,158 tons of olive oil with Spain providing more than 50 per cent of this demand. Such has been the rate of profit from this growing oil market, which is both domestic and international, that the Spanish olive oil companies have started a campaign called, &ldquo;Join the olive oil revolution&rdquo;.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Instead of allowing the foreign companies to ride the high crest of this wave, Indian and Israeli governments signed a three-year plan on agriculture that would introduce several crops associated with the Middle East and Mediterranean to India. So, olive was followed by pomegranates, dates and other citrus fruits. As did veggies, such as tomato, brinjal, seedless cucumbers and coloured capsicum.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Much of the farming success of Israel is being attributed to the drip irrigation technology which the country has perfected. An arid land with very little fresh water resources, Israel had no option but to make better use of available water, even dirty and salinated water. Israel is land scarce too, a constraint which the country have been struggling to overcome through vertical farming. Both these agricultural innovations have great use in India, as the farmers are hard pressed to make maximum use of groundwater resources and shrinking acreages.</p>

<p><b>The diplomacy of &ldquo;Green&rdquo; technologies</b></p>

<p>MASHAV- Israel&rsquo;s Agency for International Development Cooperation under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has tied up with the Ministry of Agriculture of India since 2008 to introduce 28 Centers of Excellence whose two primary goals would be to develop a sustainable agricultural production technology for India and diversify the food basket of Indians. Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat and Bihar are the states where the centers are operating to best of their potential.</p>

<p>Mashav, for instance, reports 20,000 farmers visit the center at Haryana every year where vegetable production has gone up by 5 to 10 times. While production has gone up, the expenses incurred on pesticides and fertilizers have significantly gone down from INR 45 to 10 thousands and 25 to 12 thousands respectively.</p>

<p>So, drip irrigation and orchard management have become as crucial as buying fighter jets and sharing space technology between the two countries. With India and Israel bonding over agricultural know-how, the bilateral relations are entering a new constructive phase, involving the masses and civilian experts. This is a far cry from the militaristic posturing of the two countries where the sole goal is to collaborate over defense matters, incurring humungous expenses and working in total secrecy. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Experts urge that for India, it will be diplomatically prudent to keep discussing and gaining from these soft diplomatic manoeuvres. The two countries, particularly India, should not confine their diplomatic narratives around defense strategies. In order to build a healthy, long-term and mutually beneficial economic front for both states, it is imperative that the two countries find areas that are of mutual interests beyond the highly-charged arena of anti-terrorism.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In the murky waters of international diplomacy, alliances suffer through duress as political agendas of government change. The Palestine&nbsp;cause, for instance, will continue to be a thorny issue in India-Israel bilateral relation. The present Indian government may have put the Palestine issue in the back burner but future governments may not. Especially because the Congress-led governments in the past had been particularly sympathetic of the Palestine cause. Even PM Vajpayee of Narendra Modi&#39;s party followed the Congress&#39;s set path when it was in power. Under the circumstance, it is prudent to keep other avenues of dialogue and cooperation open, even if the two countries may not always agree on how Israel deals with the Palestinian people and their aspiration of freedom from &quot;Israeli occupation&quot;.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


What do olive, mango and pomegranate orchards have to do with Prime Minister Narendra Modi?s ongoing visit to Israel? A lot it seems.

What do olive, mango and pomegranate orchards have to do with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ongoing visit to Israel? A lot it seems. These food items are fast emerging as important planks of diplomatic relationship between India and Israel. With India suffering from acute farm crisis, and farmers committing suicide as there is not enough return from the market, the country desperately needs a second Green Revolution, which needs to be very different from the first Green Revolution of the 1960s. While the latter helped to boost up yield of foodcrops, the next one needs to concentrate on better utilisation of scarce resources. And that is where Israel can be of help to India. In his current trip to Israel, PM Modi has signed a MoU with Israel to undertake a 3-year long programme of agricultural development, stretching over the period from 2018 to 2020, to introduce “smart” technologies and practices to boost income and condition of farmers in the country. Decades back, it was the golden wheat fields of the US which fired the imagination of the agricultural scientists to introduce high-yielding varieties Mexican seeds among Indian farmers. Roughly forty-years later, the flowering tomato and olive plants of Tel-Aviv farms are capturing the Indian imagination again. From a cereal-centric poor man’s diet, which is rich only in carbs, India is ready to shift to more vitamins. It is the sign of rising opulence of the Indian middle-class. Moving beyond the Green Revolution Agricultural technology, or more specifically food production technology, has always been a crucial geopolitical tool. In the heydays of Cold War politics, helping India to grow more rice and wheat became an important aspect of America’s anti-communism drive. With millions going hungry in India, the US feared that it is creating the ideal breeding ground for communism in rural India. So, while the US send in shiploads of wheat aid to India as part of the PL-480 programme, it initiated through the Rockefeller Foundation scientists working in India a plan to revolutionise Indian foodgrain production. The culmination of the whole effort was the Green Revolution of the late 1960s. While the Green Revolution ensured that there is enough cereals for the Indian masses, the resource-intensive nature of the farming system opened up a pandora’s box of trouble. Critics soon started pointing out that the huge amount of fertilisers and round-the-year irrigation needed to grow the crop is a drain on the small farmers of India who are the numerical majority. Environmentally speak, the criticism ran that the Green Revolution technology is harming the soil, depleting the groundwater resources and chemically polluting the air. By the 1980s, the fertiliser and irrigation-induced high yield witnessed in the Indian farming sector reached a plateau. The hope of pumping in more inputs to raise the output proved to be unsustainable in the long run. Now, with increasing number of farmers committing suicide over the input costs and diminishing return from the market, Israel’s role in finding a solution in India’s farming problems is gaining increasing significance in the bilateral relationship. Olive trees in the desert In the arid deserts of Rajasthan where farmers are struggling to meet ends, millions of olive trees have been imported in the recent past to transform the landscape. With affluent middle-class Indians fast taking to cooking and using olive oil in food, India needs to produce more olive. As of 2013, the country had been importing 11,158 tons of olive oil with Spain providing more than 50 per cent of this demand. Such has been the rate of profit from this growing oil market, which is both domestic and international, that the Spanish olive oil companies have started a campaign called, “Join the olive oil revolution”. Instead of allowing the foreign companies to ride the high crest of this wave, Indian and Israeli governments signed a three-year plan on agriculture that would introduce several crops associated with the Middle East and Mediterranean to India. So, olive was followed by pomegranates, dates and other citrus fruits. As did veggies, such as tomato, brinjal, seedless cucumbers and coloured capsicum. Much of the farming success of Israel is being attributed to the drip irrigation technology which the country has perfected. An arid land with very little fresh water resources, Israel had no option but to make better use of available water, even dirty and salinated water. Israel is land scarce too, a constraint which the country have been struggling to overcome through vertical farming. Both these agricultural innovations have great use in India, as the farmers are hard pressed to make maximum use of groundwater resources and shrinking acreages. The diplomacy of “Green” technologies MASHAV- Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has tied up with the Ministry of Agriculture of India since 2008 to introduce 28 Centers of Excellence whose two primary goals would be to develop a sustainable agricultural production technology for India and diversify the food basket of Indians. Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat and Bihar are the states where the centers are operating to best of their potential. Mashav, for instance, reports 20,000 farmers visit the center at Haryana every year where vegetable production has gone up by 5 to 10 times. While production has gone up, the expenses incurred on pesticides and fertilizers have significantly gone down from INR 45 to 10 thousands and 25 to 12 thousands respectively. So, drip irrigation and orchard management have become as crucial as buying fighter jets and sharing space technology between the two countries. With India and Israel bonding over agricultural know-how, the bilateral relations are entering a new constructive phase, involving the masses and civilian experts. This is a far cry from the militaristic posturing of the two countries where the sole goal is to collaborate over defense matters, incurring humungous expenses and working in total secrecy. Experts urge that for India, it will be diplomatically prudent to keep discussing and gaining from these soft diplomatic manoeuvres. The two countries, particularly India, should not confine their diplomatic narratives around defense strategies. In order to build a healthy, long-term and mutually beneficial economic front for both states, it is imperative that the two countries find areas that are of mutual interests beyond the highly-charged arena of anti-terrorism. In the murky waters of international diplomacy, alliances suffer through duress as political agendas of government change. The Palestine cause, for instance, will continue to be a thorny issue in India-Israel bilateral relation. The present Indian government may have put the Palestine issue in the back burner but future governments may not. Especially because the Congress-led governments in the past had been particularly sympathetic of the Palestine cause. Even PM Vajpayee of Narendra Modi's party followed the Congress's set path when it was in power. Under the circumstance, it is prudent to keep other avenues of dialogue and cooperation open, even if the two countries may not always agree on how Israel deals with the Palestinian people and their aspiration of freedom from "Israeli occupation".

Will PM Modi?s Israel visit bring the second Green Revolution to India?

<p>The strategic partnerships in water and agriculture that India has entered into with Israel are aimed at doubling farmer incomes, Indian foreign secretary S Jaishankar said on Wednesday.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Modi government aims to double farmer incomes by 2022. And that, said Jaishankar, can only happen with technological advancement.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Jaishankar was speaking at a media briefing after the joint statement by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;We have announced strategic partnership in water and agriculture and we really think that it has major potential. The key point here that there is a declared goal by the government of doubling farmer incomes by 2022 and that`s only possible through technological advancement,&quot; Jaishankar said at the media briefing.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Israel has made majore advances in both water and agriculture -- a result of the terrain its farmers have had to work with.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Some of those technologies are already in use in India.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A number of Indian farms use Israeli-developed drip-irrigation systems.&nbsp;</p>

<p>But India will need many more of those, especially in areas that are rain- rather than irrigation-fed.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Sixty seven per cent of India is rain-fed.&nbsp;</p>

<p>India should also be able to make good use of the advances Israel has made in agriculture.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


The Modi government aims to double farmer incomes by 2022

The strategic partnerships in water and agriculture that India has entered into with Israel are aimed at doubling farmer incomes, Indian foreign secretary S Jaishankar said on Wednesday. The Modi government aims to double farmer incomes by 2022. And that, said Jaishankar, can only happen with technological advancement. Jaishankar was speaking at a media briefing after the joint statement by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "We have announced strategic partnership in water and agriculture and we really think that it has major potential. The key point here that there is a declared goal by the government of doubling farmer incomes by 2022 and that`s only possible through technological advancement," Jaishankar said at the media briefing. Israel has made majore advances in both water and agriculture -- a result of the terrain its farmers have had to work with. Some of those technologies are already in use in India. A number of Indian farms use Israeli-developed drip-irrigation systems. But India will need many more of those, especially in areas that are rain- rather than irrigation-fed. Sixty seven per cent of India is rain-fed. India should also be able to make good use of the advances Israel has made in agriculture.

Strategic partnership in agriculture with Israel aimed at doubling farmer incomes: Jaishankar

<p>Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met on Wednesday with &quot;Baby&quot; Moshe in Jerusalem.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Moshe had lost his parents in the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai. He was two years of age at the time.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Moshe had been saved by his Indian nanny Sandra Samuel.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Moshe is now 11 years old.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Modi met Moshe, his nanny -- who both live in Israel now -- and his grandparents at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Modi offered Moshe a long-term visa, saying he could come visit any time he liked.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was accompanying Modi at the time, said to Moshe that he should accompany him when he visits India.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Prime Minister Modi had earlier invited Prime Minister Netanyahu to India. Netanyahu had accepted.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;I hope I will be able to visit Mumbai and when I get older, I live there... Dear Mr Modi I love you and the people in India,&quot; Moshe had said to Modi.&nbsp;</p>


'I hope I will be able to visit Mumbai and when I get older, I live there... Dear Mr Modi I love you and the people in India,' Moshe said.?

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met on Wednesday with "Baby" Moshe in Jerusalem. Moshe had lost his parents in the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai. He was two years of age at the time. Moshe had been saved by his Indian nanny Sandra Samuel. Moshe is now 11 years old. Modi met Moshe, his nanny -- who both live in Israel now -- and his grandparents at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. Modi offered Moshe a long-term visa, saying he could come visit any time he liked. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was accompanying Modi at the time, said to Moshe that he should accompany him when he visits India. Prime Minister Modi had earlier invited Prime Minister Netanyahu to India. Netanyahu had accepted. "I hope I will be able to visit Mumbai and when I get older, I live there... Dear Mr Modi I love you and the people in India," Moshe had said to Modi.

Moshe says he hopes he can live in India when he gets older

<p>By Deepali Mittal</p>

<p>Reena Pushkarna, the celebrity chef who has introduced Indian food to Israel by opening a chain called Tandoori, has been tasked with cooking for the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi during his visit to&nbsp;Israel.</p>

<p>Exclusive footage inside the kitchen&nbsp;of Reena Pushkarna reveals what is on the menu for the&nbsp;prime minister.</p>

<p>He was introduced to her ginger tea, aka&nbsp;adrak ki chai, yesterday, July 4th, and Pushkarna prepared her special cup of tea for him today too.&nbsp;&quot;We have to have fresh ginger (adrak) all the time,&quot;&nbsp;she said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Pushkarna selected all the vegetables for Modi&#39;s lunch today herself, saying she always gets fresh food to maintain hygiene and nutritional value of the food.</p>

<p>Pushkarna was born in New Delhi in 1958 to a Sikh father and Jewish mother. She married&nbsp;Vinod Pushkarna, a graduate of the Merchant Marine Officers Training Ship in Bombay Harbour. Vinod served as a seaman for nine years before he and Reena decided to settle down in Israel.</p>

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<p>She went on to say that PM Modi is a man of simple tastes who is satisfied with khichdi and adrak ki chaai (WION)</p>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>


The celebrity was born in New Delhi to a Sikh father and Jewish mother.

By Deepali Mittal Reena Pushkarna, the celebrity chef who has introduced Indian food to Israel by opening a chain called Tandoori, has been tasked with cooking for the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Israel. Exclusive footage inside the kitchen of Reena Pushkarna reveals what is on the menu for the prime minister. He was introduced to her ginger tea, aka adrak ki chai, yesterday, July 4th, and Pushkarna prepared her special cup of tea for him today too. "We have to have fresh ginger (adrak) all the time," she said. Pushkarna selected all the vegetables for Modi's lunch today herself, saying she always gets fresh food to maintain hygiene and nutritional value of the food. Pushkarna was born in New Delhi in 1958 to a Sikh father and Jewish mother. She married Vinod Pushkarna, a graduate of the Merchant Marine Officers Training Ship in Bombay Harbour. Vinod served as a seaman for nine years before he and Reena decided to settle down in Israel. She went on to say that PM Modi is a man of simple tastes who is satisfied with khichdi and adrak ki chaai (WION) ×

Reena Pushkarna: The chef cooking for Modi in Israel

<p>India and Israel signed seven agreements on Wednesday after talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The agreements are on water conservation, agriculture, innovation, and space.&nbsp;</p>

<p>There were no agreements on defence.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IndiaIsraelFriendship?src=hash">#IndiaIsraelFriendship</a>: Exploring New Realms of Cooperation - the two leaders witnessed the exchange of 7 agreements across sectors <a href="https://t.co/CrJDXascUd">pic.twitter.com/CrJDXascUd</a></p>
&mdash; Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) <a href="https://twitter.com/MEAIndia/status/882566014088642560">July 5, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>&quot;Israel is among the leading nations in the field of innovation, water and agriculture,&quot; said PM Modi at the joint statement the two leaders made.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The two countries also agreed to work together on combating terror.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;We are being challenged by forces of terror. We have agreed to cooperate in this area,&quot; said PM Netanyahu</p>

<p>&quot;India has suffered first-hand the violence and hatred spread by terror, so has Israel,&quot; said PM Modi</p>

<p>&quot;The bonhomie that has been a feature of this visit continued.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;This is a marriage made in heaven but we are implementing it here on earth,&quot; said PM Netanyahu &nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;This is a deeply moving moment for me. We are making history,&quot; he added.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Modi took on the tone of a global statesman.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;Our talks focused on not just areas of bilateral opportunities but also how our cooperation can help cause of global peace and stability,&quot; Modi said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>At a ministry of external affairs media briefing after the joint statement, Indian foreign secretary S Jaishankar said Israel -- with its expertise in water management, agriculture, and innovation -- was the perfect country for India to partner with.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Israelis, he said, were not only very good at developing new products but also at taking them to market.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Explaining the lack of defence deals -- India is one of the largest buyers of defence equipment from Israel -- Jaishankar said many of those are signed between companies, rather than between countries.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


India and Israel signed seven agreements on Wednesday after talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu. The agreements are on water conservation, agriculture, innovation, and space. There were no agreements on defence. #IndiaIsraelFriendship: Exploring New Realms of Cooperation - the two leaders witnessed the exchange of 7 agreements across sectors pic.twitter.com/CrJDXascUd — Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) July 5, 2017 × "Israel is among the leading nations in the field of innovation, water and agriculture," said PM Modi at the joint statement the two leaders made. The two countries also agreed to work together on combating terror. "We are being challenged by forces of terror. We have agreed to cooperate in this area," said PM Netanyahu "India has suffered first-hand the violence and hatred spread by terror, so has Israel," said PM Modi "The bonhomie that has been a feature of this visit continued. "This is a marriage made in heaven but we are implementing it here on earth," said PM Netanyahu "This is a deeply moving moment for me. We are making history," he added. Modi took on the tone of a global statesman. "Our talks focused on not just areas of bilateral opportunities but also how our cooperation can help cause of global peace and stability," Modi said. At a ministry of external affairs media briefing after the joint statement, Indian foreign secretary S Jaishankar said Israel -- with its expertise in water management, agriculture, and innovation -- was the perfect country for India to partner with. The Israelis, he said, were not only very good at developing new products but also at taking them to market. Explaining the lack of defence deals -- India is one of the largest buyers of defence equipment from Israel -- Jaishankar said many of those are signed between companies, rather than between countries.

India & Israel sign 7 agreements on water, agriculture & innovation, none on defence

<p>No Indian Prime Minister has ever visited Israel, but that is about to change when Narendra Modi touches down in Israel July 4.</p>

<p>For two days Modi will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss &quot;all matters of mutual interest&quot;, according to a <a href="http://www.mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/28566/Visit_of_Prime_Minister_to_Israel_July_46_2017" target="_blank">press release</a> from India&#39;s Minister of External Affairs released on June 28.</p>

<p>The itinerary also includes meetings with members of Israel&#39;s Indian community in Tel Aviv, and a stop in a Haifa cemetry to honour Indian soldiers interred on the grounds.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Military, business&nbsp;ties</strong></p>

<p>This april, Israel signed a deal to supply Israel with&nbsp;air and missile defense system&nbsp;worth&nbsp;$2 billion, in what Israel called the &quot;largest defense contract deal&quot; in its history, <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/29/asia/india-modi-israel/index.html" target="_blank">CNN </a>reports.</p>

<p>&quot;As India seeks to modernize and grow its defense capabilities, it could find an able ally in Israel. The two countries see themselves as bulwarks of democracy in a region rife with illiberal leaders,&quot; said the CNN New Delhi Bureau Chief, Ravi Agrawal.</p>

<p>Under Modi&#39;s &quot;Make in India&quot; program, the PM is looking for foreign companies to set up factories in India, and this trip will likely be a chance for Modi to encourage Israeli businesses to do the same, CNN adds.</p>

<p>Watch WION discuss India-Israel trade relations with the head of Israel&#39;s&nbsp;Chamber of Commerce, in this TV&nbsp;interview conducted in Tel Aviv, Israel.&nbsp;</p>

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<p>Head of India-Israel Chamber of Commerce speaks to WION (WION)</p>
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<p>In advance of this week&#39;s&nbsp;meeting, Israelis welcomed the Indian Prime Minister in <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/watch-israelis-learn-hindi-to-welcome-indian-pm-modi-to-the-country-17506" target="_blank">Hindi</a>.</p>

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PM Modi is likely going to try to attract Israeli business to set up production in Israel under his 'Make in India' program

No Indian Prime Minister has ever visited Israel, but that is about to change when Narendra Modi touches down in Israel July 4. For two days Modi will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss "all matters of mutual interest", according to a press release from India's Minister of External Affairs released on June 28. The itinerary also includes meetings with members of Israel's Indian community in Tel Aviv, and a stop in a Haifa cemetry to honour Indian soldiers interred on the grounds. Military, business ties This april, Israel signed a deal to supply Israel with air and missile defense system worth $2 billion, in what Israel called the "largest defense contract deal" in its history, CNN reports. "As India seeks to modernize and grow its defense capabilities, it could find an able ally in Israel. The two countries see themselves as bulwarks of democracy in a region rife with illiberal leaders," said the CNN New Delhi Bureau Chief, Ravi Agrawal. Under Modi's "Make in India" program, the PM is looking for foreign companies to set up factories in India, and this trip will likely be a chance for Modi to encourage Israeli businesses to do the same, CNN adds. Watch WION discuss India-Israel trade relations with the head of Israel's Chamber of Commerce, in this TV interview conducted in Tel Aviv, Israel. Head of India-Israel Chamber of Commerce speaks to WION (WION) × In advance of this week's meeting, Israelis welcomed the Indian Prime Minister in Hindi.

Modi set to become first Indian PM to visit Israel with his trip this week

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