Economy rejuvenated, trust in govt restored, claims Modi

May 26, 2015

New Delhi, May 26: Completing one year in office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today enlisted the work done by his government, ranging from rejuvenating the economy to initiatives for the poor, and said this is just the beginning in the endeavour to transform the quality of life of people.

Economy rejuvenatedIn an open letter to the people, he said, "we have been able to restore trust in the government", ensure a "corruption-free" rule and made state governments equal partners in the quest for national development, building the spirit of Team India.

Modi said he had devoted every element of his "body and spirit" in fulfilling with fullest sincerity and honesty the responsibility and honour entrusted by people a year ago in him of serving them as "pradhan sevak" (prime worker).

"We assumed office at a time when confidence in India story was waning. Unabated corruption and indecisiveness had paralysed the government. People had been left helpless against ever-climbing inflation and economic insecurity.

"Urgent and decisive action was needed," Modi said.

While presenting the report-card of one year in office, he said his government systematically went about addressing these challenges.

Runaway prices were immediately brought under control.

The languishing economy was rejuvenated, building on stable and policy-driven proactive governance, the Prime Minister said.

He said discretionary allotment of the country's precious natural resources to a chosen few was replaced with transparent auction and firm steps were taken against black money, from setting up an SIT and passing a stringent black money law, to generating international consensus against the same.

Uncompromising adherence to the principle of purity, in action as well as intent, ensured a corruption-free government, he said.

Significant changes have been brought about in the work culture, nurturing a combination of empathy as well as professionalism, systems as well as breaking of silos, Modi said.

Modi said state governments have been made equal partners in the quest for national development, building the spirit of Team India.

Most importantly, "we have been able to restore trust in the government".

The Prime Minister also said that his government is dedicated to the poor, marginalised and those left behind as it is guided by the principle of Antyodaya .

"We are working towards empowering them to become our soldiers in the war against poverty," he said.

Modi said numerous measures and schemes have been initiated from making school toilets to setting up IITs, IIMs and AIIMS, from providing vaccination cover to children to initiating a people-driven Swacch Bharat mission, from ensuring a minimum pension to labourers to providing social security to the common man, from enhancing support to farmers hit by natural calamities to defending their interests at WTO.

He also mentioned other initiatives like empowering one and all with the rule on self-attestation to delivering subsidies directly to people's banks, from universalising the banking system to funding the unfunded small businesses, from irrigating fields to rejuvenating "Ma Ganga".

Modi listed efforts towards 24x7 power, connecting the nation through road and rail, building homes for the homeless, setting up smart cities, connecting the North East and prioritising development of eastern India.

"Friends, this is just the beginning.

"Our objective is to transform quality of life, infrastructure and services. Together we shall build the India of your dreams and that of our freedom fighters.

"In this, I seek your blessings and continued support," he concluded.

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Agencies
July 23,2020

Expressing concern over the ban imposed on TikTok by the government of India, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly called the development in the south Asian country “worrisome”.

TikTok was amongst the 59 Chinese apps that were banned in India but why it hogs the maximum limelight because TikTok had the second-largest user base in India with over 200 million users.

As per The Verge writer Casey Newton, Zuckerberg was worried about TikTok’s India ban. Although it soon cashed into the opportunity and released a TikTok clone “Reels”, the government’s reason behind banning the app in India wasn’t received well by Mark Zuckerberg. 

He had said that if India can ban a platform with over 200 million users in India without citing concrete reasons, it can also ban Facebook if something goes amiss on the security and privacy front.

Why Mark finds it particularly worrisome because Facebook is already involved in a lot tussle with the governments across the world involving national security concerns. 

“Facebook already faces fights around the world from governments on both the left and the right related to issues that fit under the broad umbrella of national security: election interference, influence campaigns, hate speech, and even just plain-old democratic speech. Zuckerberg knows that the leap from banning TikTok on national security grounds to banning Facebook on national security grounds is more of a short hop,” the report by Casey read.

Facebook till now has not faced any kind of issue in India but considering the debacle with the other governments, it is not entirely wrong to worry about its future in India if any national security issue arises. Back in 2016, Facebook’s Free Basics service, which means a free but restricted internet service, was banned in India by the telecom regulators. 

The TRAI had said that the Free Basic services were banned in India because it violated the principles of net neutrality. With Free Basics services, Facebook had planned to bring more unconnected users online. But since 2016, there has been no major tussle between the Indian government and Zuckerberg due to national security issues.

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News Network
January 15,2020

Jan 15: Amazon.com Inc Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos is facing a bitter welcome during his India visit this week as the country’s antitrust regulator initiated a formal investigation just hours before his arrival and trader bodies comprising millions of infuriated small store owners announced demonstrations.

Bezos is in New Delhi for the Smbhav summit, an Amazon India event for small and medium businesses. The billionaire is scheduled to conduct a fireside chat with Amazon India chief Amit Agarwal, anchoring an event that also features Infosys Ltd. co-founder Narayana Murthy and retail billionaire Kishore Biyani, who recently sold a stake in his retail group to Amazon. Ahead of the event, Bezos paid his respects at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial, wearing a white tunic and a rust-colored Indian vest.

The small businesses that Amazon’s CEO is hoping to endear himself to, however, are organizing in opposition. The Confederation of All India Traders announced that members of its affiliate bodies across the country would stage sit-ins and public rallies in 300 cities to raise a war cry against the world’s largest online retailer. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, the confederation’s Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal alleged that Amazon, much like Walmart Inc.-owned Flipkart, was an “economic terrorist” who engaged in predatory pricing that deprived the government of tax revenue and “compelled the closure of thousands of small traders.”

India’s e-commerce market is projected to grow to $150 billion by 2022, according to a 2018 report by software industry group Nasscom and consulting firm PwC India. Competition for this rapidly expanding sector is intensifying as Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, prepares to go live with JioMart, an online shopping platform challenging Amazon and Walmart directly. The latter’s Flipkart Online Services Pvt is also delving deeper into the countryside in its pursuit for more customers. Amazon, for its part, opened a huge office complex in the southern city of Hyderabad in September, underscoring its commitment to the country.

The Competition Commission of India said it would probe the deep discounts, preferential listings and exclusionary tactics that Amazon and Flipkart are alleged to have used as anti-competitive levers. India’s trade bodies have long argued that both retail giants were flouting rules by promoting sales and discounts through their favoured sellers, many of whom they have preexisting commercial arrangements. The regulator has ordered for the investigation to be completed within two months.

Bezos last visited India in 2014 under starkly different circumstances. During that trip, the Amazon founder wore local festive garb, rode atop a festooned truck for a photo opp and presented Amazon’s Indian unit with a giant check for $2 billion. Since then, Amazon has pledged a further $3.5 billion to expand in the country.

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News Network
June 18,2020

New Delhi, Jun 18: Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday removed Sanjay Jha as a party spokesperson, days after he wrote a newspaper article criticising the party. She also approved the appointment of Abhishek Dutt and Sadhna Bharti as national media panelists for the Congress.

"Congress president has also approved that Sanjay Jha be dropped as AICC spokesperson with immediate effect," the party said in an official statement.

In the article published a few days ago, Mr Jha had said, "The Congress has demonstrated extraordinary lassitude, and its lackadaisical attitude towards its own political obsolescence is baffling..."

"I would like to call a spade a spade here and a shovel: there has been no serious effort to get the party up and running with any sense of urgency," he had said in the article in a national newspaper.

"There are many in the party who cannot comprehend this perceptible listlessness. For someone like me, for instance, permanently wedded to Gandhian philosophy and Nehruvian outlook that defines the Congress, it is dismaying to see its painful disintegration," he had said.

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