Karnataka on state formation day PM Modi greets.

                 

                    New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated today greeted the people ofKarnataka on their state formation day or Kannada Rajyotsava.

Prime Minister Modi said "Greetings to people of Karnataka on Kannada

Rajyotsava. May Karnataka scale new heights of progress in the years to come,".

On this day in 1956, the Kannada speaking regions came together to form thestate of Karnataka. Every year the day is celebrated by organising literary and cultural fest.

 Those who contributed for the enrichment of Kannada language and culture are honoured by the Chief Minister.The state government earlier on Sunday had issued a notification changing anglicised names of 12 cities including Bangalore, Mysore, Belgaum and Mangalore. These cities will hereafter be known as Bengaluru, Mysuru, Belagavi and Mangaluru.

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Gandhi and Patel shared an unbreakable bond

       New Delhi, Oct. 31: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday credited India's first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for uniting the nation into one, and pointed out that without him, Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi seemed incomplete.
       Sardar Patel joined Mahatma Gandhi and integrated farmers in the freedom struggle. Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel...their bond remained unbreakable. Mahatma Gandhi seemed incomplete without Sardar Patel. Theirs was a unique partnership that bolstered fight for independence," said Prime Minister Modi at Vijay Chowk here.
          Patel's contribution in converting over 500 princely states into one nation can never be forgotten.
The British wanted to divide the country, but Sardar Patel, using his diplomatic and political skills, united India. Through his skill, vision and Rashtra Bhakti, Sardar Patel integrated the nation. We can never forget his contribution.

         Prime Minister Modi also drew parallels between Patel and Chanakya. Centuries ago, Chanakya was known to have united various kingdoms. After Chanakya, it was Sardar Patel.
          Highlighting the role that history plays in any nation, he said, "A country that forgets its history, can't ever make history. We should not ever forget that we should not drag our legacy into ideology   He also reminded the countrymen about India's legacy of Unity in Diversity and asked people to rise above differences.
           Our culture and legacy is of 'Unity in Diversity'. Let us rise over differences of creed, community and language. Remembering former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her death anniversary which coincided on the same day, he pointed that it was on the same day the nation losther.
           Later on, he flagged off a "Run for Unity" from Vijay Chowk after addressing participants of the run and administering a unity pledge. Several Union Minister among others were present on the occasion and joined him. The 139th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel today is being celebrated as 'Rashtriya Ekta Diwas' or National Unity Day across the nation.

PM Modi praises media's role in 'Clean India' mission.

         New Delhi, Oct. 25 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who interacted with the media for the first time since assuming office in May, lauded their contribution to his government's 'Clean India' mission, and said they have converted their pens into brooms for a noble cause.
          I believe there are several columnists who have been writing for several years, but are now writing on cleanliness for the first time. I believe it is a great service to the nation.You have converted your pens into brooms, which is a big thing," Prime Minister Modi told media persons at a 'Diwali Milan' function at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters here.
          I want to express my gratitude to the media and congratulate them for their extensive coverage of cleanliness campaign in India. For the past month, I have been reading so many articles on cleanliness. It is being discussed in the electronic media as well as the social media," he added.

          The Prime Minister also said that he wanted to further improve his relations with the media. I'm trying to find ways to improve my relations with the media. I am looking for ways to spend time with you all. There are many things that we get to know when we interact directly. Not only information, even vision is exchanged, and that is very important, because you scrutinize everything with your eyes and then write about it.
          Prime Minister Modi also recalled the time when he used to wait for media persons to arrive and put out chairs for them. There was a time when I used to wait for media persons to arrive and put chairs for you, those were different days. We used to interact openly and I had friendly relations with you all. I gained its advantage in Gujarat.  more >>

PM Modi govt. will have 'positive impact'

       New Delhi, Oct.21 (ANI): Afghanistan Interior Minister Mohammad Omar Daudzai on Tuesday called India an 'all weather' and 'time tested' friend and said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government will have a positive impact on India and Afghanistan relations.
         India is our all weather friend and a time tested friend. The friendship between the two countries will continue and the new Indian government will have a positive impact on the relationship between the two countries,  Daudzai said during an interaction with the media.
         Daudzai also said that the relationship between the two countries extends to his country's security needs. On the security front, Afghanistan relies on India for training and equipments.
         Daudzai also said the US troops in Afghanistan have helped defend the democracy of his nation, adding that this year's presidential elections were testament to that fact.

         American forces have been in Afghanistan for the past 13 years and they have invested generously to rebuild the Afghan forces and to defend democracy. This year, for the first time in Afghanistan's history, we have witnessed a successful transition of political authority from one elected president to another in a most peaceful and dignified manner."
         The Afghan security forces this year proved their capacity by securing the two rounds of elections, proving sceptics wrong.  more >>

Make in India' selling well.

            Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' campaign is emerging as a fad among young consumers and several online and offline retailers have started promoting indigenous products and brands to cash in on the trend.
           People aged between 16 and 35 are all asking for Make in India themed merchandise," said Gautam Jatia, CEO at Emami Frank Ross that runs Starmark, a Kolkata-based large-format leisure retail chain. "We have asked our suppliers to work on the theme and come up new stocks on this line. The products shall hit the stores very soon." E- commerce company Shopclueshas already launched a 'Make in India' section on its
website promoting indigenous products and manufacturers, while another online retailer, Happily Unmarried, which specialises in unique funky apparels and accessories, plans to launch a 'Make in India' merchandise line of collection.

          Customised printing company Printvenue said it has received a lot of requests for Make in Indiacaptioned products and it has already made a couple of design templates for mobile screens and laptop sleeves.
          We are getting a lot of requests for Make in India-captioned products and so we have made 2-3 design templates,  said Saurabh Kochhar, co-founder and managing director at Printvenue.com. While some retailers are selling apparels, accessories, home ware and other products with the 'Make in India' official logo of a lion printed on them, the government wants individuals and merchants to take prior permission before using the logo.
          We want everyone to use the logo but there has to be a quality to it. The logo can't be distorted on the will and desire of companies or individuals. We are being strict about it so that the logo doesn't lose its character, said Atul Chaturvedi, joint secretary at the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). DIPP is yet to register the logo and get a copyright.
          A top official said DIPP also plans to launch its own line of retail products around the Make in India theme, which is at a nascent stage. Shopclues, which promotes Indian products and brands such as Bombay Dyeing, Nayasa, Micromax, Airtel, Lotus and Himalaya at the 'Make in India' section of its portal, will soon introduce merchandise with 'Make in India' tagline, said Radhika Ghai Aggarwal, co-founder and chief marketing officer at Shopclues.
         The 'Make in India' initiative aims to support local manufacturers, craftsmen, small and medium enterprises and sellers hailing from tier-II and -III towns in the country," she said. Rajat Tuli, co-founder of Happily Unmarried, said the site was flooded with queries for 'Make in India' merchandise within days of the campaign's announcement. more. >>

Modi's BJP makes big gains in state polls

                   DELHI  - Prime minister Narendra Modi Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party

(BJP) has made big gains in the Maharashtra and Haryana state elections, results showed

on Sunday, an endorsement likely to encourage him to step up the pace of economic

reforms.

                  The BJP was set to win 122 of 288 seats in Maharashtra. This more than doubles

 its seat count in the state, which is home to the financial hub of Mumbai, but falls short of

an outright majority.

                  The BJP won 47 of 90 seats in Haryana, which borders the capital, New Delhi -

enough to rule alone.

                  State elections determine seat shares in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of

parliament, where the BJP and its allies lack a majority.

                  The BJP hopes for gains in a clutch of state polls between now and 2017 to get

towards the majority it needs to pass most legislation without help from the opposition.

                  The 64-year-old Modi, a gifted stump orator, hit the campaign trail hard. He will be

able to reap capital from the victories even though the BJP did not achieve its ambition of

winning enough seats to rule Maharashtra alone.

                 "There is still a Modi wave that is like a tsunami" BJP president and Modi

campaign manager Amit Shah told reporters after most of the seats had been declared.

                  "Today’s results give a seal of approval to the Modi government over the past

four months, and prove that our countryfolk recognise Modi as an undisputed leader of

India."

                  Though the results represent major gains for the party since the last state

elections, the BJP's share of the vote in both Haryana and Maharashtra was just down from

the May 2014 general election, when it won the first outright majority in 30 years.

                  Both states, which voted on Wednesday, were formerly bastions of the Congress

party that has long dominated Indian politics. As in the general election, Congress was

decimated, and risks sliding into oblivion under mother-son duo Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.

                 "Today is likely to be both a BJP win and a funeral of a 150-year-old party," said

investment manager and columnist Surjit Bhalla, referring to the organisation founded in

1885 and led by the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty for four generations.

REFORM BOOST

                 Modi has already seized on exit polls giving the BJP a clear lead to shake up his

economic team, replacing the top civil servant at the finance ministry and hiring U.S.-based

  economic Arvind Subramanian as his chief economic adviser.

                 His government on Saturday scrapped diesel price controls and raised the cost of

 natural gas, giving market forces greater sway as it seeks to attract energy investment,

boost competition and cut subsidy costs.

                 Senior government officials say Modi may soon beef up the cabinet he formed at

 the end of May to ease pressure on heavyweights like Arun Jaitley, who holds both the

finance and defence portfolios.

                 Jaitley, recovering from a stomach operation, has his work cut out drafting an

annual budget to encourage business investment and revive Asia's third largest economy

from a prolonged slowdown by February.    more. >>