Narendra Modi
PM Hasina accorded warm reception by Modi at Delhi’s Rashtrapati Bhavan
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, currently in New Delhi on a four-day official visit to India, was accorded a warm ceremonial reception by her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan.
On her arrival at the presidential palace around 9:15 am (local time), the Bangladesh prime minister was received by Modi.
A horse mounted team of the president’s bodyguards escorted her motorcade from the Rashtrapati Bhavan gate to the forecourt.
Also read: PM Hasina gets red carpet welcome on arrival in New Delhi
Later, Hasina was given a guard of honour by a smartly turned out contingent drawn from three services of the Indian Armed Forces. The national anthems of two countries were played at the time. PM Hasina then inspected the guard and received salute.
Then the Indian prime minister introduced his cabinet colleagues to Sheikh Hasina at the presentation line. The Bangladesh prime minister also introduced her entourage members to Modi.
Bangladesh’s Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, Railways Minister M Nurul Islam Sujan, PM’s Economic Affairs Adviser Dr Mashiur Rahman, Private Industries and Investment Adviser Salman Fazlur Rahman, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam, State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak, State Minister for Water Resources Zaheed Farooque and other members of her entourage were present.
Also read: PM takes in sights and sounds of Old Delhi's Nizamuddin on day 1
Modi congratulates next British PM Liz Truss
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated Liz Truss after she was named Britain's next Premier.
"Congratulations @trussliz for being chosen to be the next PM of the UK," Modi tweeted, an hour after Truss triumphed Indian-origin Rishi Sunak in the internal leadership race of Britain's ruling Conservative Party.
"Confident that under your leadership, the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership will be further strengthened. Wish you the very best for your new role and responsibilities," the Prime Minister wrote.
Also read: PM Hasina greets new UK Tory leader Lizz Truss
Truss will be the third woman to occupy the highest executive post in the UK after Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May.
"We need to show that we will deliver over the next two years. I will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy," Truss said, after she was declared the winner.
Also read: Liz Truss: UK's incoming PM who models herself on Iron Lady Thatcher
"I will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people's energy bills, but also dealing with the long-term issues we have on energy supply," she added.
Hasina, Modi likely to inaugurate Maitree Power Project in Sept 1st week
The 1320mw Maitree Super Thermal Power Station is expected to be inaugurated during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s three-day visit to India in the first week of September.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina together with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi will jointly inaugurate the power plant, reports The Hindustan Times on Sunday.
While PM Hasina is expected to visit India any time between September 5 and 7 and stay for two to three days, the visit has been accorded utmost importance by the Modi government as Dhaka happens to be one of India’s closest allies.
Read: 12th bi-annual CSO meeting: Foreign secretary highlights implementation of IORDA-DDI
Considered to be Bangladesh’s largest power plant, the coal-fired station is being set up by Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company Limited, a 50:50 joint venture between India’s NTPC and Bangladesh Power Development Board. The project is worth US$ 1.5 billion.
Meanwhile, trial runs between Kolkata-Chattogram-Mongla ports for India Bangladesh trade will begin posting a new chapter in the bilateral ties.
The first vessel from Kolkata is expected to reach Mongla, on Pashur River, on August 5 carrying 16 tons of iron pipes in a container with destination Meghalaya using the Tamabil-Dwaki border points and 8.5 tons of pre-foam in another container for Assam using the Birbirbazaar-Srimantpur border points.
This exercise will create cheaper and alternative routes for India to reach its North-East region while at the same time carrying export-import containers for Bangladesh.
Indian Prez, PM greet people on Eid
Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have greeted people on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.
"On the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr, I extend my best wishes and greetings to all the fellow citizens, especially our Muslim brothers and sisters," the President said in his message.
"On the auspicious occasion of Eid, let us resolve to rededicate ourselves to the service of humanity and to improve the lives of the poor and needy," he added.
Modi, who's currently on a three-nation tour of Europe, also took to Twitter to convey his greetings to citizens on Eid.
Also Read: Indian PM gets second dose of Covid vaccine
"Best wishes on Eid-ul-Fitr. May this auspicious occasion enhance the spirit of togetherness and brotherhood in our society. May everyone be blessed with good health and prosperity,” the PM tweeted.
Though Hindus make up nearly 80% of India's 1.30 billion population, Muslims comprise roughly 15%.
Riding on 'Brand Modi', BJP wins big in India state elections
Bucking anti-incumbency and proving critics wrong, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday scripted history by retaining power in four of the five Indian states that went to polls last month.
The BJP not only swept back to victory with a thumping majority in India's largest and politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, seen as a referendum on PM Modi halfway through his second term in power, but also won Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.
The fifth state -- Punjab in northern India -- however went to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by former civil servant-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal, that unseated the country's main opposition Congress by a huge margin. AAP currently governs Delhi.
In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP, led by monk-turned-politician Yogi Adityanath, came back to power for the second consecutive five-year term, bucking anti-incumbency and staving off a massive challenge from the state's main opposition Samajwadi Party.
Also read: Modi's BJP all set to retain India's largest state of Uttar Pradesh
The BJP safely crossed the 250 mark in the 403-member assembly, as per latest results and trends published by India's Election Commission. The Samajwadi Party, led by its young leader and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, came a distant second.
Uttar Pradesh voted in seven phases --February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, and March 3 and 7 -- adhering to all Covid-safety protocols.
While the opposition parties harped on issues like rising joblessness, high inflation and the BJP's Hindutva politics, the BJP highlighted law-and-order problems during the Samajwadi Party rule. The party's poll campaign was spearheaded by Modi.
Uttar Pradesh is crucial for the saffron outfit as it's said that the road to Delhi passes through Lucknow, its capital, and the party that wins the state stands a fair chance of forming the next federal government. The general elections in India are due in 2024.
Also read: Veteran politician Sharad Pawar ruling BJP's choice for next Indian President?
Learning from Covid, Modi govt plans big AI push for disease surveillance across India
After two years of fighting the Covid pandemic, the Narendra Modi government is betting big on artificial intelligence (AI) to help it keep track of disease outbreaks across India.
A tool currently being developed by a private company along with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) will scan all media reports related to health, to create a database of outbreaks of 33 diseases — some with the potential to become epidemics — that are monitored under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), reports ThePrint.
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the private company for developing two tools initially — one to track disease outbreaks, and another to develop an AI-based system to interpret X-ray reports based on an India-specific database. The starting database will be of 1,20,000 X-ray images, but more will be added as the tool progresses.
Read: Ukraine seeks Indian intervention in ending Russian offensive
“We plan to use artificial intelligence in a big way in public health. This is the first step towards that. We have told the company that they can do the project as part of their corporate social responsibility, but the intellectual property rights for whatever they develop will be with the government,” a senior health ministry official told ThePrint.
“Currently, we scan the media for outbreak reports ,but that is done manually once a day and largely limited to English and Hindi media. But the AI tool will also scan vernacular media. The data will be shared with IDSP state units which can then send personnel on the ground for assessment. This will ensure that the response time is reduced,” the official explained.
The IDSP comprises a Central Surveillance Unit (CSU), State Surveillance Units (SSU) in all state/UT headquarters and District Surveillance Units (DSU) in all districts in the country. The purpose of the IDSP is “to strengthen/maintain decentralised laboratory-based IT-enabled disease surveillance systems for epidemic-prone diseases to monitor disease trends, and to detect and respond to outbreaks in early rising phase through trained Rapid Response Team”. It tracks 33 diseases that are now being fed into the AI tool.
A tool for closer scrutiny
A rudimentary version of the media-scanning AI tool, a demonstration of which was seen by ThePrint, has data not just on Covid outbreaks across the country but also on road accidents, burn injuries and oral cancer, none of which have epidemic potential in the usual sense of the term.
One of the officials of the company — which has started work in a room in Nirman Bhawan, where the health ministry is housed — explained that this is because, in the initial stage, the tool is collating all health-related news.
Read: India to have 1 billion smartphone users by 2026: Deloitte
“We have also fed some keywords that can be associated with these 33 diseases into the system. This is because an outbreak may present as something else initially and the disease may actually be identified at a later stage,” the health ministry official quoted above said.
“For example, if you look at the IDSP alerts now, there is a report of a hooch tragedy. That is because this could be associated with viral hepatitis and not hooch, which is subject to investigation,” the official added.
NCDC old-timers said when the IDSP was set up in 2004, one of the goals was real-time disease surveillance, but as the reach of the media has increased, reports from the ground have become an important part of surveillance.
Covid showed the need for closer scrutiny than just manual scanning of some newspapers and channels, they pointed out.
India-specific X-ray tool
The private company is also working with doctors at AIIMS to develop another tool that will interpret X-ray reports.
“Currently, all such tools that are available are based on databases from the US or UK. We wanted something that is specific to India,” the senior health ministry official said.
The tool is being developed to initially look at 14 parameters in a chest X-ray, such as infiltration, emphysema, nodule, pneumonia and masses. At this stage, the diagnosis by the tool is being cross-checked by a radiologist and additional changes are being made in the tool to make it more accurate.
“As the database becomes bigger, the tool will become more efficient, but the way we have designed it, it will always be used with human intervention,” the official said.
Hasina mourns Lata Mangeshkar’s sad demise
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday conveyed her profound condolences to the government and the people of India over the sad passing away of Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar.In a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she mentioned that the people of Bangladesh mourn in solidarity with the people of India in this hour of grief.
Also read: Lata Mangeshkar admitted to Breach Candy Hospital in MumbaiLata Mangeshkar, a cultural icon and a legend, was one of the most accomplished artists of all time, Hasina said, adding, “With her most extraordinary melodious voice, she sang innumerous songs in different languages, including Bangla, and touched the hearts of millions in our region and beyond. Her Bangla songs are now an integral part of the treasure trove of Bangla culture.”She recalled Lata Mangeshkar with deep respect and gratitude for her role in the Liberation War of Bangladesh. “Along with her fellow Indian artistes, contributed immensely towards promoting the cause of Bangladesh among the people of India.”
Also read: Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar hospitalised with CovidHasina offered her prayers for the eternal peace of the departed soul of Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar and expressed deep sympathy for the bereaved family members and millions of her fans across the world so that they have the fortitude to bear with such an irreparable loss.
World needs New Delhi at the table permanently: India
India's performance as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council indicates that the world needs India to be at the horseshoe table permanently, the country's envoy to the United Nations TS Tirumurti has said.
"India took its place in the Security Council for the eighth time as an elected member - The highlight of our presence in the Security Council so far has been our presidency in August," Mr Tirumurti, who is India's Permanent Representative to the UN, said in a video, reports NDTV.
India's Permanent Mission to the UN posted the special video highlighting the several achievements by India as its first year in the UN Security Council draws to a close.
Read: 90 pc of adult population in India vaccinated against COVID-19 with first dose: Union Health Ministry
The video chronicles India's journey as a non-permanent UNSC member in 2021 including its Presidency of the 15-nation Council in August, on combatting terrorism, UN peacekeeping, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Africa, Middle East and Climate action.
"Our performance again indicates that the world needs India to be at the horseshoe table permanently," Mr Tirumurti said, as he underscored the need for New Delhi to have a seat at the UN Security Council as a permanent veto-welding member.
Narendra Modi also became the first Indian Prime Minister to preside over a UN Security Council Open Debate as he chaired the high-level session on 'Enhancing Maritime Security - A Case for International Cooperation' on August 9.
For the first time, the Security Council adopted a presidential statement on maritime security. The visit of the Indian Prime Minister to the United Nations and to address the UN General Assembly was "certainly a high point this year", he said.
It was during India's August presidency of the Council that the situation in Afghanistan rapidly deteriorated, requiring the Security Council to act without any delay, Mr Tirumurti said, adding that Resolution 2593 on Afghanistan was adopted under India's presidency, which demands assurances that Afghan soil will not be used for terrorism against other countries and that the authorities in Kabul will act against all terrorists, including those designated by the 1267 Sanctions Committee.
Significantly, India firmly opposed the attempt by countries to bring the issue of climate change into the Security Council. Mr Tirumurti had said at the Council meeting earlier this month that "India is second to none when it comes to climate action and climate justice. But the Security Council is not the place to discuss either issue. In fact, the attempt to do so appears to be motivated by a desire to evade responsibility in the appropriate forum."
At the flag installation ceremony in the beginning of the year for the incoming UNSC members, Mr Tirumurti had highlighted that India comes into the Security Council "as a largest democracy, representing 1/6 of humanity and a very strong commitment to reformed multilateralism, rule of law, a fair and equitable international system and to peace, security and development."
Mr Tirumurti said in the video that India has been consistent in its support for transition to democracy, whether in Myanmar or in Africa and on issues affecting the developing world, India has been a strong voice to protect their interests.
"Our steadfast commitment to safeguarding the interests of the developing world is reflected in our performance," he said.
Further, given its predominant role in UN peacekeeping, India gave UN peacekeeping a strong focus in the last one year, including during its August Presidency.
During a meeting in August, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said that peacekeeping continues to play a crucial role in India's vision of ensuring international peace and security and providing greater clarity, direction and professionalism in UN peacekeeping operations is at the heart of the vision.
Read: Indian Centre Allows Export Of 7 Crore Covovax Doses To Three Foreign Countries
After nearly five decades, India piloted a resolution on 'Protecting the Protectors', calling for accountability for crimes against peacekeepers. India also gifted 200,000 COVID vaccines to cover every peacekeeper in every peacekeeping mission throughout the world.
Jaishankar had also chaired a briefing on ISIL Daesh during India's presidency and New Delhi helped shape the Global Counterterrorism Strategy in the UN General Assembly.
During the year, India also sought to bring the necessary balance to the debates relating to Africa, Mr Tirumurti said adding that India made its views clear on the issue of burdening African countries with unrealistic benchmarks on their sanctions regime and called for greater commitment from the international community to assist Africa fight terrorism.
India chaired the Taliban Sanctions Committee and the Libya Sanctions Committee this year and will chair the Counter-terrorism Committee next year. In a historic decision, the UN General Assembly granted observer status to the International Solar Alliance.
Modi lays foundation stone for Asia's largest airport near Delhi
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday laid the foundation stone for what has been heralded as Asia's largest airport -- Noida International Airport, barely 80kms from the national capital.
Technically located in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Bugh Nagar district bordering Delhi, the greenfield airport will be the second international airport to come up in the National Capital Region, after Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in Delhi. To be developed in four phases, the airport is slated to begin flight operations in three years.
"Noida International Airport will be a great model from the point of view of connectivity. Passengers will be able to use taxis, metro, rail to access Yamuna Expressway, Noida, Greater Noida, UP, Delhi and Haryana," Modi said, addressing a massive gathering at the airport site in the Jewar area of Gautam Bugh Nagar.
"The airport will also have direct connectivity to the Delhi freight corridor. It will be a logistics gateway for northern India and an image of the National Gati Shakti Master Master Plan. This airport will change people's lives in the region," the Prime Minister added.
Zurich AG, the company that operates Switzerland's Zurich International Airport, has been awarded the concessionaire contract to develop and operate Noida International Airport. Once operational in the first phase by 2024 with one runway, the airport would cater to 1.2 crore passengers a year. By 2040, it would be able to handle 7 crore passengers.
"25th November is a major day for India's and Uttar Pradesh's strides in infra creation. This project will significantly boost commerce, connectivity and tourism," Modi tweeted before the foundation stone laying ceremony, his first public event since he announced the scrapping of the three contentious farm laws.
The airport, however, has been mired in a land acquisition controversy. Some farmers have been camping in makeshift tents, barely 800kms from the airport site, claiming that they are yet to get adequate compensation from the Uttar Pradesh government for their agricultural and residential land acquired for the ambitious project.
However, according to experts, the gala foundation stone laying ceremony is nothing but an attempt to showcase the development agenda of Modi's nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh before the assembly polls.
"It is said that the road to Delhi passes through Uttar Pradesh. And the party that wins the majority of seats in assembly polls in the northern state stands a fair chance to form the federal government. The general elections are due in 2024," said Prof RK Sinha, a retired Delhi University professor.
Hasina greets Modi as India administers 1 bn Covid jabs
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday congratulated her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on achieving the historic milestone of administering ‘One Billion’ Covid-19 vaccine doses on October 21, 2021 by his government.
In a message to Modi, Hasina called this as a remarkable success achieved in dealing with the challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic has inflicted on humankind.
Read:Vested quarters out there to tarnish Bangladesh’s image: Hasina
Hasina said that it will be a major step towards the path of recovery and normalcy for India and the region.
She also informed Modi that her government has also been carrying out a mass vaccination programme in Bangladesh as over 60 million people have been vaccinated using jabs collected from multiple sources.
She reiterated India has been an important source of Covid-19 vaccines for Bangladesh from the very beginning of the vaccination programme and conveyed thanks to the government of India for resuming the export of AstraZeneca Covishield vaccines hoping that this would continue uninterrupted in the days to come.
Read: India hits 1 billion Covid vaccination milestone
She expressed her firm belief to continue working together more closely with India to save the people of this region from the scourge of the Covid-19 pandemic and counter the multifarious adverse fallouts of this pandemic.