Tag Archives: pm modi

60 Killed, 100 Injured in Moscow Terror Attack on Mall, India Condemns

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended solidarity with Russia and condemned the terrorist attack that claimed over 60 lives and injured several others. “We strongly condemn the heinous terrorist attack in Moscow. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims. India stands in solidarity with the government and the people of the Russian Federation in this hour of grief,” PM Modi stated in a post on social media.

The attack unfolded at a concert hall in Moscow on Friday, where terrorists opened fire on the crowd, resulting in more than 60 fatalities and over 100 injuries. The assailants also set fire to the venue in a brazen act of violence.

ISIS has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack which saw the gunmen storming the Crocus City Hall in Moscow at around 8 p.m. (local time) at a concert of rock band Piknik that was about to begin.

The attackers, who had not attempted to take hostages or make any statements but shot people indiscriminately, have barricaded themselves inside the burning building. The toll is expected to go up, the Investigative Committee of Russia (ICR) was quoted by the media as saying.

The United States said it had warned earlier in March about a possible terrorist attack targeting “large gatherings” in Moscow, the White House said Friday, hours after the attack. “Earlier this month, the US government had information about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow — potentially targeting large gatherings, to include concerts” and Washington “shared this information with Russian authorities,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said.

Watson said the administration of US President Joe Biden was complying with a long-standing “duty to warn” policy, in which the United States alerts nations or groups when it receives intelligence of specific threats to kidnap or kill multiple victims.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, “The Russian Foreign Ministry is receiving phone calls with condolences from ordinary citizens from all around the globe following the horrible tragedy at the Krokus City Hall venue in Moscow. They are expressing the strongest condemnation of this bloody terrorist attack, transpiring right before the eyes of the entire world.”

 

 

China raises again its claim over Arunachal Pradesh

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Despite India’s stand, Chinese Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesperson for the Chinese Defence Ministry, reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh is their territory, aimed at keeping the issue burning as ever.

Zhang’s comments came in response to India’s recent reinforcement of military infrastructure in Arunachal Pradesh, specifically through the construction of the Sela Tunnel, aimed at improving connectivity and troop movement in the strategically significant area.

China consistently maintained that Indian leaders’ visits to Arunachal Pradesh, which it refers to as South Tibet,  undermine its territorial claims. However, India firmly rejected China’s assertions, maintaining Arunachal Pradesh’s integral status within the nation and disregarding China’s attempts to rename the region.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh, where he inaugurated the Sela Tunnel, drew criticism from China. Zhang criticized Modi’s visit, stating that it hinders efforts to ease border tensions and disrupts peace in the region. He urged India to refrain from actions complicating the border issue and emphasized China’s commitment to safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

China’s response followed a diplomatic protest lodged earlier against India by the Chinese Foreign Ministry over Modi’s visit.

India, in turn, firmly rejected China’s objection, reaffirming Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reiterated India’s stance, emphasizing that objections to Indian leaders’ visits or developmental projects in Arunachal Pradesh lack rationale and do not change the factual status of the state.

Rahul Gandhi denies ‘Shakti’ he referred to was ‘Shakti Mata’; Offers elaborate explanation

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Amid attacks over his ‘Shakti’ remarks, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said that the statement had been taken out of context and blamed the “lies-manufacturing machinery” of the BJP for creating a needless controversy over his statement.

While addressing a large gathering on the culmination of the Congress’ Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Mumbai on Sunday, Rahul Gandhi said, “There is a word ‘shakti’ (might) in Hindi. We are fighting against the ‘shakti’ (might of the state). The question is, what is that ‘shakti’ and what does it entail for us?”

He took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that the latter twists his remarks if he doesn’t like them but the fact is that he spoke the plain truth though it left the ruling party offended and the BJP, which has “begun a smear campaign” against him.

Taking to X, Rahul Gandhi posted an explanation of what he meant by taking on the ‘shakti’, which the BJP equated with the revered and venerated figure in Hinduism. “The ‘shakti’ which we are fighting is deeply enmeshed in system, the PM is just a mask of it,” he wrote on X.

“It is the ‘shakti (might)’ that has destroyed constitutional bodies like the Election Commission, made agencies like the CBI, ED a puppet and taken the whole constitutional set-up for a ride,” MP Rahul Gandhi explained.

“It’s because of this ‘shakti’ that poor and marginalised farmers are being driven to more pitiable situations, while big corporates are getting bank waivers of hundreds to thousands of crores,” he explained.

He further said that the media had stopped reporting facts and was saluting this ‘shakti.’ He made it clear that his assertions and fight against this ‘undeclared power’ is not about any religion but it is against corruption and fake narratives.

 

 

PM Narendra Modi meets King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

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The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has met the King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck in New Delhi today.

Both the dignitaries have discussed the various ideas to further strengthen the close and unique India-Bhutan friendship. Shri Modi has also conveyed his appreciation for the guiding vision provided by successive Druk Gyalpos in shaping  relations between India and Bhutan.”

In a tweet, the Prime Minister said;

“Had a warm meeting with His Majesty the King of Bhutan. Discussed various ideas to further strengthen the close and unique India-Bhutan friendship. Conveyed my appreciation for the guiding vision provided by successive Druk Gyalpos in shaping our relations.”

PM meets King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

 

 

IMF Conference: Modi Ponders India’s Future and Asia’s 21st Century

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Addressing the IMF conference in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Asian people save more traditionally compared to other parts of the world and the future of world economy belongs to them as they have surplus to invest in rejuvenating the global economy, though IMF quotas do not reflect the global economic realities.
Change in quotas is an issue of fairness and legitimacy and is essential for poor nations to respect the legitimacy of such institutions, he saaid welcoming IMF decision to finalize the next round of quota changes by October 2017.

Recalling India’s representative to the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, which gave birth to the IMF, he said India’s delegate Mr. R.K. Shanmukham Chetty, who later became independent India’s first Finance Minister, paved the way for India’s contribution to world institutions and India has kept its contribution high by becoming a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank.

The PM has also announced a new partnership with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, India and the IMF to set up the South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Centre to provide training to government and public sector employees as a part of capacity building process in the region.

The Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi addressing at MOF-IMF Conference on “Advancing Asia: Investing for the Future”, in New Delhi on March 12, 2016.(PIB Photo)

“Many knowledgeable people have said that the twenty first century is, and will be, the Asian Century,” he said citing figures that three out of every five people in the world live in Asia and its share in global output and trade is now close to one-third. Its share in global foreign direct investment is about 40%, he noted.

Stressing the theme of the conference which is ‘Investing for the Future’, he said, “Asians tend to save to buy a house, rather than borrow to buy a house.”

Pointing out another unique feature of Asia which is its large number of women leaders, he said India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, Myanmar, and Philippines have had women as national leaders. “Today, four large states of India – West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan – are headed by democratically elected women. The Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament in India is also a woman,” he said.

Despite a second successive year of weak rainfall, India has increased its growth rate to 7.6 per cent, the highest among major economies in the world, he said.

He pondered on some positive policies of India:

 We undertook a highly successful financial inclusion programme, bringing over two hundred million unbanked people into the banking system within a span of a few months.

* Thanks to our financial inclusion programme, we now have the world’s largest and most successful programme of direct benefit transfers, in cooking gas. We plan to extend it to other sectors such as food, kerosene, and fertilizers. This has improved targeting and the quality of public expenditure.

* We have opened up nearly all sectors of our economy to FDI.

* India achieved the highest ever rank in the World Bank Doing Business indicators in 2015.

* India reached an all-time high in many physical indicators in 2015, including

* The production of coal, electricity, urea, fertilizer and motor vehicles;

* Cargo handled at major ports and the fastest turnaround time in ports;

* Award of new highway kilometers;

* Software export;

* Entrepreneurship is booming.

“India is now fourth in the world in the number of technical start-ups, after USA, Britain and Israel. The Economist magazine has called India the new frontier for E-Commerce… We aim to double farmer incomes by:

• increasing irrigation,

• better water management,

• creating rural assets

• boosting productivity,

• improving marketing,

• reducing margins of middlemen and

• avoiding income shocks.”

“My dream is of a Transformed India. I lay this dream alongside our common dream of an Advanced Asia – an Asia where more than half of the global population can live with happiness and fulfillment. Our joint heritage and mutual respect, our common goals and similar policies, can and must create sustainable growth and shared prosperity,” he said.