The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressed the inaugural session of the Global Buddhist Summit at Hotel Ashok in New Delhi today. The Prime Minister walked through the photo exhibition and offered flowers to the Buddha statue. He also offered monk robes (Chivar Dana) to nineteen eminent monks.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister welcomed everyone from different corners of the world to the inaugural session of the Global Buddhist Summit. He underlined that ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ i.e. guests are equivalent to God, is a tradition of this land of Buddha and the presence of so many personalities who have lived through Buddha’s ideals makes us feel the experience of Buddha being present himself around us. “Buddha is beyond the individual, it is a perception”, the Prime Minister said. The Prime Minister said that Buddha is a sensation that transcends the individual, he is a thought that transcends form and Buddha is a consciousness beyond manifestation. “This Buddha consciousness is eternal”, he said. He said the presence of so many people from diverse areas represents the expansion of Buddha that binds humanity in a single thread. He also underlined the strength of the collective will and resolution of crores of followers of Lord Buddha globally to make for the welfare of the world. Noting the occasion, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that the inaugural Global Buddhist Summit will create an effective platform for the efforts of all nations and thanked the Ministry of Culture and International Buddhist Confederation for this momentous event.

The Prime Minister highlighted his personal connection with Buddhism as Vadnagar from where he hails has been a major Buddhist center, Hiuen Tsang had visited Vadnagar. Shri Modi also mentioned Kashi in the context of Sarnath, deepening the connection with Buddhist heritage.

Noting that the Global Buddhist Summit is taking place during India’s 75th year of Independence when the nation is celebrating Azaadi Ka Amrit Kaal, the Prime Minister underlined that India has a major goal for its future and new resolutions for the global good. He emphasized that the inspiration behind India achieving the recent global landmarks in various sectors is Lord Buddha himself.

Remembering the Buddhist path of theory, practice and realization, the Prime Minister elaborated on India’s adoption of all three points in its journey in the last 9 years. Shri Modi said that India has worked with dedication for the propagation of Lord Buddha’s teaching with a sense of dedication. He talked about the development of Buddhist circuits in India and Nepal, the renovation of Sarnath and Kushinagar, Kushinagar International Airport, and India International Center of Buddhist  Heritage and Culture at Lumbini in collaboration with the IBC.

The Prime Minister credited the teachings of Lord Buddha for an inherent empathy in India for the issues of humanity. He mentioned peace missions and India’s whole-hearted efforts in rescue work for disasters like the earthquake in Turkiye. “This emotion of 140 crore Indians is being seen, understood and accepted by the world”, he said. Platforms like IBC, he continued, are giving the opportunity to like-minded and like-hearted countries to spread Buddha Dhamma and peace.

The Prime Minister said, “The journey from the problem to arriving at the solution is the actual journey of Buddha.” Throwing light on Lord Buddha’s journey, the Prime Minister reiterated that he left his life of castles and kingdoms because he realized the pain in the lives of others. He emphasized the only way to achieve the goal of a prosperous world is when one gives away the idea of self and narrow-mindedness and realizes the totality of the Buddha Mantra of adopting the idea of the world. He stressed that a better and stable world can be achieved only if we consider the nations dealing with a scarcity of resources. “It is the need of the hour that the priority of every person and nation should be the interest of the world along with the interest of the country”, the Prime Minister remarked.

The Prime Minister said that the current time is the most challenging time of this century as there is war, economic instability, terrorism and religious fanaticism, and the challenge of climate change with species disappearing and glaciers melting. He said amidst all this there are people who believe in Buddha and the welfare of all creatures. “This hope, this faith is the biggest strength of this earth. When this hope gets united, the Buddha’s Dhamma will become the world’s belief and Buddha’s realization will become the belief of humanity.

Shri Modi underscored the relevance of Buddha’s teaching by saying that all the problems of modern times lend themselves to solutions through the ancient teachings of the Lord. Lord Buddha, the Prime Minister said, preached abandoning war, defeat and victory for eternal peace. He said enmity can never be countered with enmity and happiness lies in unity. Similarly, Lord Buddha’s teaching that one should first look at the conduct of the self before preaching to others can address the menace of imposing one’s own views on others so prevalent in today’s world. The Prime Minister came back to his favourite Buddha teaching अप्प दीपो भवः, be your own light to elaborate the eternal relevance of the Lord’s teachings. He remembered telling the United Nations a few years ago that ‘we are the country that has given the world Buddh, not Yudh (war)’.

The Prime Minister said “The path of Buddha is the path of the future and the path of sustainability. Had the world followed Buddha’s teachings, it would not have faced the problem of climate change.” This problem arose, the Prime Minister explained, as nations stopped thinking about others and coming generations. This mistake accumulated to catastrophic proportions. Buddha preached good conduct without any consideration of personal gain as such behavior leads to overall good.

The Prime  Minister highlighted how each person is affecting the earth in one way or the other, be it with lifestyle, eating or traveling habits and pointed out that everyone can contribute towards fighting climate change. Throwing light on Lifestyle For Environment or Mission LiFE, an initiative by India influenced by the inspirations of Buddha the Prime Minister said that if people become aware and change their lifestyle, then this huge problem of climate change can also be tackled. “Mission LiFE is influenced by the inspirations of Buddha and it furthers Buddha’s thoughts”, Shri Modi remarked.

Concluding the address, the Prime Minister stressed the need to come out of the definitions of materialism and selfishness and imbibe the feeling of ‘Bhavatu Sab Mangalan’ i.e. Buddha should not only be made a symbol but also a reflection. He remarked that this resolution will be fulfilled only when we remember the words of the Buddha of not turning back and always moving forward. The Prime Minister expressed confidence that resolutions will become successful with everyone coming together.

Union Minister for Culture, Shri G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister for Law and Justice, Shri Kiren Rijiju, Union Ministers of State for Culture, Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal and Smt Meenakshi Lekhi, and Secretary General of International Buddhist Confederation, Dr Dhammapiya were present on occasion.

Background 

The two-day Summit is being hosted by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with International Buddhist Confederation on 20-21 April. The theme of the Global Buddhist Summit is “Responses to Contemporary Challenges: Philosophy to Praxis”.

The Summit is an effort towards engaging the global Buddhist Dhamma leadership and scholars on matters of Buddhist and universal concerns, and to come up with policy inputs to address them collectively. The discussion at the Summit explored how the Buddha Dhamma’s  fundamental values can provide inspiration and guidance in contemporary settings.

The Summit witnessed the participation of eminent scholars, Sangha leaders and Dharma practitioners from all over the world, who will discuss pressing global issues and look for answers in the Buddha Dhamma based on universal values. The discussions were held under four themes: Buddha Dhamma and Peace; Buddha Dhamma: Environmental Crisis, Health and Sustainability; Preservation of Nalanda Buddhist Tradition; Buddha Dhamma Pilgrimage, Living Heritage and Buddha Relics: a resilient foundation to India’s centuries-old cultural links to countries in South, South-East and East Asia.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had a telephone conversation today with H.E. Ms. Mette Frederiksen, Prime Minister of Denmark.

PM congratulated PM Frederiksen on her appointment as the Prime Minister of Denmark for a second term.

The two leaders reviewed the progress of the India-Denmark Green Strategic Partnership. They expressed satisfaction at the recent high-level exchanges and the growing cooperation.

PM briefed PM Frederiksen on India’s ongoing Presidency of the G20 and its key priorities. PM Frederiksen appreciated India’s initiatives and conveyed Denmark’s full support to them.

The two leaders agreed to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India-Denmark relations next year in 2024 in a befitting manner and to explore areas to diversify their relations further.

To realize Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of a peaceful and prosperous North East, a historic agreement to settle the long-pending border dispute between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh was signed in the presence of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah, in New Delhi today. This important agreement was signed by the Chief Ministers of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh as part of another important step of the Modi government to establish complete peace in the Northeast. Union Law Minister Shri Kiren Rijiju, Union Home Secretary and senior officials from the Center and both the States were also present on the occasion.

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah said that today we all have witnessed a historic moment in the Northeast and India with over 700-kilometre long border dispute between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, pending since decades being completely resolved. He said that the report of the Local Commission on this dispute kept circling around for decades, which has now been accepted by both the states. Shri Shah said that today’s agreement will prove to be a milestone in the direction of realizing Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s dream of a developed, peaceful and conflict-free Northeast.

Shri Amit Shah said that since 2018, the Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has signed several accords including BRU, NLFT, Karbi Anglong, tribal peace accord to establish peace and end violence in the Northeast. He said that as a result of these agreements, peace has started prevailing in the entire North East and so far more than 8000 armed youth have shunned violence and joined the mainstream. Shri Shah said that compared to 2014, there has been a 67 percent reduction in incidents of violence, 60 percent reduction in the number of deaths of security forces and 83 percent reduction in the number of civilian deaths in the North East, which is a big achievement of the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He said that the Modi government has withdrawn AFSPA from many places in the Northeast. 70% police stations in Assam, 15 police stations in 6 districts in Manipur, all but 3 districts in Arunachal Pradesh, 7 districts in Nagaland, and entire Tripura and Meghalaya are now free from AFSPA.

Union Home Minister said that due to the efforts of the Modi government, all-round development is visible in the entire Northeast today and this entire region is on the path of progress. He said that Prime Minister Modi himself has visited this region more than 50 times and has always promoted its language, culture, literature, costumes and food. He said that by witnessing the local Bihu dance during Bihu festival in Assam recently, which created a world record, Prime Minister Modi made it world famous. Congratulating the people of both the states on behalf of the Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, Shri Shah said that today’s agreement will prove to be auspicious for both the states and the northeast and will open new avenues of development.

Shri Amit Shah appreciated the efforts of Chief Minister of Assam, Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma and Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Shri Pema Khandu in resolving this long pending border dispute. He said that both the states formed a regional committee to settle the dispute, talked to the common people and worked to include everyone in this effort.

Today’s agreement between the two states will end the dispute relating to 123 villages along the border has been done keeping in view the historical perspective, demographic profile, administrative convenience, proximity to the border and the aspirations of the residents. Under the agreement, both the state governments have agreed that this agreement will be final with regards to these 123 disputed villages and neither of the States will make any new claim related to any area or village in future. After the agreement, a detailed survey will be carried out by the Survey of India in the presence of representatives of both the state governments to determine the boundaries of both the states.

The Government of India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has always been acting as a facilitator for amicable settlement of inter-state border disputes with the active cooperation of the concerned State Governments. With the efforts of the Modi government, today’s important agreement between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh is a successful example of cooperative federalism and will provide a roadmap for resolving border disputes between other states

The provisional payroll data of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) released today highlights that EPFO has added 13.96 lakh net members in the month of February, 2023.

Out of 13.96 lakh members added during the month, around 7.38 lakh new members have come under ambit of EPFO for the first time. Among the newly joined members, highest enrolment is registered in the age-group of 18-21 years with 2.17 lakh members, followed by the age-group of 22-25 years with 1.91 lakh members. The age-group of 18-25 years constitutes 55.37% of total new members during the month. This indicates that majority of the members joining organised sector workforce of the country are first-time job seekers.

The data also highlights that approximately 10.15 lakh members re-joined EPFO membership which rose by 8.59% as compared to last year. These members switched their jobs and re-joined the establishments covered under EPFO and opted to transfer their accumulations instead of applying for final settlement thus, extending their social security protection.

Gender-wise analysis of payroll data reflects that enrolment of net female members has been 2.78 lakh in February, 2023, which is around 19.93% of the net member addition for the month. Of these, 1.89 lakh female members are the new joinees. This is around 25.65% addition of all the new joinees. In terms of female participation, the net female member addition and new female member addition has registered highest proportion in the last four months. This indicates a growing trend of women participation in the organised workforce.

State-wise payroll figures highlight that month-on-month growing trend in net member addition is reflected in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal etc. In terms of net member addition, top 5 states are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Delhi. These states together constitute 58.62% of net member addition during the month. Of all the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 20.90% of net members followed by the state of Tamil Nadu with 11.92% during the month.

The classification of industry-wise payroll data indicates that ‘Expert Services’ (consisting of manpower suppliers, normal contractors, security services, miscellaneous activities etc.) constitutes 41.17% of total member addition during the month. Comparing industry-wise data with that of previous month, higher enrolments have been noticed in industries namely, ‘leather products’, ‘garment-making’, ‘establishments engaged in rendering courier services’, ‘fish processing and non-veg food preservation’ etc.

The payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise, as updating employee record is a continuous process. The previous data hence gets updated every month. From the month of April-2018, EPFO has been releasing payroll data covering the period September, 2017 onwards. In monthly payroll data, the count of members joining EPFO for the first time through Aadhaar validated Universal Account Number (UAN), existing members exiting from coverage of EPFO and those who exited but re-joining as members, is taken to arrive at net monthly payroll.

EPFO is a social security organization responsible for providing social security benefits in the form of Provident, Pension and Insurance Funds to the organised workforce of the country covered under the provisions of Employees’ Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that focus of the Government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is on capacity building of officers still having 25 years of service. These officers are the ones who have the opportunity to devote the next 25 years with full energy and capability to the making of India at 2047, he said.

Addressing the inaugural session of 16th Civil Services Day at Vigyan Bhawan here, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the officers who are in the age group of 30s should be our main focus for capacity building as they have another 25 years to put in, before India celebrates its 100 years of independence and they are the ones blessed with the privilege to be the architects of India at 2047. Our responsibility today will be to contribute to the capacity building of this group of officers, he said. If we are able to do that effectively, we will be doing justice to India at 2047, he added.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that the 16^th Civil Services Day events commencing today reflect the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined by him from the ramparts of Red Fort in his Independence Day address when he gave a clarion call as the nation stepped into “Amrit Kaal”.

The theme for the 2-day Civil Services Day 2023 is titled “Viksit Bharat: Empowering Citizens and Reaching the Last Mile”. The saturation approach envisaged in implementation of Priority Programs in the Amrit Kaal period can only be achieved when the Nation’s civil service pursues this objective with a seriousness of purpose, steely determination and a deep sense of commitment to the national cause, said the Minister.

Quoting Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s address to the very first group of civil servants in 1948 that “Your predecessors were brought up in the traditions in which they … kept themselves aloof from the common run of the people. It will be your bounden duty to treat the common men in India as your own”, the Minister said that much has changed with the passage of time.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that soon after this government came to power, the Prime Minister gave us the mantra ‘Maximum governance, Minimum Government’. In a simple sentence, it means a Government which is a facilitator, not an intimidator. When we talk of a government like this it means increased transparency, increased accountability and most of all increased citizen participation, he added.

The Minister said that Citizen participation has already happened and one of the most striking examples of it is the SVAMITVA scheme. It is a reformative step towards establishment of clear ownership of property in rural inhabited (Abadi) areas, by mapping of land parcels using drone technology and providing ‘Record of Rights’ to village household owners with issuance of legal ownership cards (Property cards/Title deeds) to the property owners. Another hallmark is the grievance redressal. One of the benchmarks of transparency and accountability is the grievance redressal mechanism, said Dr Jitendra Singh. When we introduced CPGRAMS, in 2014 we just had about 2 lakh grievances being filed across the country every year, today we have about 20 lakhs, 10 times more. This is the result of increased trust of people in grievance redressal. We were prompt, worked very hard and we ensured 95-100% disposal every week. Now we have institutionalised a mechanism wherein after the redressal of complaint, one of our officers calls up the complainant to find out the level of satisfaction, he added.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that similarly, Mission Karmayogi is also a pathbreaking reform because if you want to have last mile delivery, you have to be competent for that. So Mission Karmayogi is one of the novel experiments whereby any officer taking up new assignment, would be able to build inherent capacity within themselves for the new assignment. Overnight you can prepare for the next assignment. We have used technology and transparency to bring out the efficiency of the officer. The credit goes entirely to Prime Minister Modi, he said.

The Minister said that the Aspirational district was another experiment of similar nature where the government decided the indices on a scientific basis. We have a dashboard which is updated real time and there is constant competition happening and it’s absolutely objective. Moreover good governance indices up to the district level have already been initiated starting with J&K and Uttar Pradesh, so that they also have the same scientific parameter to access themselves, within themselves and also vis-à-vis others. Additionally, the Assistant Secretaries stint of 3 months have been introduced for the first time before you go to the respective cadre. Thus you have an opportunity to know the priority of central govt and to cultivate mentors. Most of these reforms brought in by Prime Minister Modi is also initiating a new form of political culture, he said.

Dr Jitendra Singh complimented the DARPG team for the successful Swachhata 2.0 campaign. For the first time, the realisation dawned in the society that Swachhata could also fetch you money. The Swachhata Campaign was conducted in 1.01 lac office sites, 89.85 lac square feet of space was freed and Rs. 370.83 crores revenue earned from disposal of office scrap including the electronic scrap.

Moreover, Dr Jitendra Singh said, when covid struck, the work in this Ministry did not get affected even for a single day, rather the output sometimes was even more. In CIC, in one single month of June 2020 when India was facing the height of the pandemic, the disposal of RTI applications was higher than the corresponding month of June 2019 in the non-covid times due to prompt online functioning, he said.

Talking about digital transformation, the Minister said that e-Office version 7.0 has been adopted in all 75 Ministries/ Departments of Central Secretariat by end February 2023. This is a commendable achievement that 89.6 percent of all files are processed as e-files in the Central Secretariat.

Dr Jitendra Singh also mentioned that the Prime Minister Modi is a man of several innovations in governance and the Chintan Shivir laid down a futuristic model of governance representing far-reaching administrative reforms in the Amrit Kaal period. The Chintan Shivir represents an administrative best practice where de-siloization and free exchange of views has been possible. Team building exercises breaking vertical silos conceptualised in Chintan Shivir with an average duration of 48 – 72 hours. The Minister urged each of the Ministries to conduct Chintan Shivir to transform institutional dynamics suited to 21st century governance models.

The Minister said that the Prime Minister Modi would be addressing the nation on Civil Services Day, April 21 2023 and conferring the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration. The Prime Minister has devoted considerable time and energy to personally restructure the scheme to ensure that high meritocracy is rewarded, evaluation processes are robust and participation is inclusive. 15 Awardees from 2520 nominations would be receiving the awards tomorrow. The Minister congratulated all the awardees. He further said that he is pleased to note that the overall efforts and nominations received are commendable, with 97% of districts registering for the PM Awards for Excellence in 2022.

Dr Jitendra Singh concluded by appreciating the efforts of DARPG in ensuring a fair and transparent selection process for the awards. It is essential for civil servants to embrace innovation and technology to improve public service delivery and governance. The rigorous evaluation process involves multiple rounds of scrutiny, including on-site visits to the nominated organisations. After the evaluation process, a shortlist of candidates is sent to the Prime Minister’s Office for final selection, he added.

The Vice-President of India, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar unveiled an e-book on ‘National Good Governance Webinar Series’ during the event. He also inaugurated an exhibition on ‘Good Governance Practices in India- Awarded Initiatives’. Shri Rajiv Gauba, Cabinet Secretary, Shri Sunil Kumar Gupta, Secretary to the Vice-President of India, Shri V. Srinivas, Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances and other senior officers of the Government of India were also present in large numbers on the occasion.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has met Apple’s CEO Tim Cook today.

In response to a tweet by Apple’s CEO Tim Cook, the Prime Minister said;

“An absolute delight to meet you, @tim_cook! Glad to exchange views on diverse topics and highlight the tech-powered transformations taking place in India.”

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah attended the first National Conference of Heads of Anti-Narcotics Task Force of States and Union Territories, as the Chief Guest, in New Delhi today. Shri Amit Shah also released the Annual Report (Special Edition), 2022 and Drug Free India, National Resolution Booklet of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). Shri Shah also launched a mobile app and web portal – ‘Map Drugs’ which will help in identifying and destruction of illegal farming in the country. Union Home Minister virtually inaugurated the office complex of NCB, Indore Regional Unit. On this occasion Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Dr. Virendra Kumar, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Nityanand Rai, Union Home Secretary, and Director General of NCB, Shri S.N. Pradhan, were present along with other dignitaries.

In his address, Shri Amit Shah said that under the guidance of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, we are committed to build a drug-free India by 2047. He said that the vision of drug-free India is important for the future generations, and at this crucial stage in the fight against drugs, if we move forward with determination, collective efforts, “Team India” and “Whole of Government Approach”, then our victory is certain.

Union Home Minister said that today an app to identify illegal farming has been launched, the annual report of NCB has been released and the regional office of NCB in Indore has also been inaugurated. He said that all these steps would provide impetus to our fight against the narcotics. Shri Shah said that the young generations are the foundation for the development of our country, but narcotics is ruining these young generations, thereby weakening the foundation of country’s development, and on such weak foundations a strong country cannot be built. He said that apart from ruining the youth of the country, smuggling of narcotics also affect the country’s economy. Smuggling of narcotics not only impacts the economy of the country, but also compromises the national security and borders through narco- terror.

Shri Amit Shah said that while many countries across the globe have failed in the battle against narcotics, India is at a stage where we can win against this fight by moving forward with the determination of 130-crore people. He said that there can be three reasons for failure against this fight: It must be understood that it is not just the fight of the government, but of the people, that it is not the fight of any one department, but everyone has to fight it together with equal intensity. There should not be any mistake in the approach and our goal should be clear that one who consumes drugs is a victim and one who deals in drugs is a criminal, and they need to be dealt with firmly. Shri Shah said that we will definitely win if we work on it. He said, the Ministry of Home Affairs under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has devised a 3-point strategy -strengthening of institutional structure, coordination among all narco-agencies and comprehensive public awareness campaign. Shri Shah said that we should move forward with Team India and Whole of Government Approach. He said that one should rise above party politics and political ideology in this fight against the narcotics. He said that this battle has to be fought rising above party politics and political ideology. He said that with zero tolerance approach all state governments should move forward to achieve the goal of drug -free India.

The Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that the outcomes of the fight against drugs in the last three years have been encouraging. Shri Shah informed that while only about 1,257 cases were registered between the years 2006-2013, the number has increased by 181 percent to 3,544 between 2014-2022. During the same period, the total number of arrests increased by almost 300 percent to 5,408 as against 1,363 arrests. During 2006-2013, 1.52 lakh kilograms of drugs were seized which doubled to 3.73 lakh kilogram between the years 2014-2022. Drugs worth Rs. 768 crore were seized between 2006-2013, which has increased by more than 25 times to Rs. 22,000 crore between 2014-2022.

Shri Amit Shah said that we have to move forward with ‘Bottom to Top’ and ‘Top to Bottom’ approach to destroy the entire network of narcotics. He said that in a few selected interstate and international cases these approaches should be developed by giving them to NCB for proper investigation. He emphasised that the main objective of the Anti-Narcotics Task Force and this conference is ‘Solution Oriented Thinking’. He added that the Government of India has also constituted a Joint Coordination Committee to take all stakeholders together in the fight against drugs. Shri Shah said that all the states must make full use of the NCORD and NIDAN portals created by the NCB.

Union Home Minister said that we have two important weapons in the fight against drugs – PITNDPS and confiscation of property. He said that ruthless action should be taken against the drug dealers only then this fight will gain momentum. Shri Shah said that the states should work in coordination with the central agencies to curb the use of dark net and cryptocurrency. Along with this, all the states should also work together with the National Forensic Science University to use modern technologies like block chain analysis, map intelligence and digital forensics. He said that if we work well along with these techniques, we will find ourselves two steps ahead in this fight.

Shri Amit Shah said that unless drugs are destroyed through proper process, there will be chances of rotation of drugs due to corruption. He asked all the agencies that drugs destruction should be held in public, which would also help us in creating social awareness. Shri Shah said that all the States should work along with the State High Courts to set up NDPS and Fast Track Courts, which would result in speedy disposal of cases. He said that the central funds available for police modernization and upgradation of Forensic Science Laboratories (FSLs) should also be used for narco related FSL upgradation. He said that cases related to investigation of the commercial affairs of NDPS should be referred to ED and other agencies. Shri Shah said that our emphasis should be on dismantling the entire network. Apart from this, we also have to associate ourselves with rehabilitation and public awareness campaign, which will benefit us a lot.

The Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Minister said that the first priority should be given to narcotics among the facilities provided by the Government of India under the Police Technology Mission. He said that meetings of all four level of NCORD, two at the central and two at the state, should be held regularly. He said that district level NCORD meeting is the most important. Shri Shah said that every state should equally make efforts to have district level NCORD meetings. He said that if all the information is uploaded on the centralized NCORD portal, it will help everyone in the form of Knowledge Management System. He said that our investigation must reach the international drug trafficking network and it is the responsibility of all the chiefs of Anti-Narcotics Task Forces to destroy all linkages of network in any part of the country. He said that the drug network chart of the district and the state must be made, so that we would get information about the spread of the problem and the focus of our fight. Shri Shah said that to convert the system into success, we have to connect our sensitivity with it. He said that there should be very good coordination between the central agencies, the coastal states and the local population to stop drug smuggling through the sea route.

Shri Amit Shah said that the fight against drugs is certainly difficult but we all have to resolve and move forward to achieve Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s goal of a drug-free India by 2047.

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh held a telephonic conversation with Canadian Minister of National Defence Ms Anita Anand on April 19, 2023. The conversation was warm and cordial. Both Ministers discussed ways to develop bilateral defence relations, which shall be reflective of their democratic ethos and a shared interest in the peace and security of the Indo-Pacific.

Ms Anita Anand briefed the Raksha Mantri about Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and the importance attached to enhancing engagement with India. Shri Rajnath Singh welcomed increased Canadian naval presence in the Indo-Pacific. Both Ministers discussed potential areas of defence cooperation – from UN peacekeeping training to defence industrial cooperation.

The Raksha Mantri highlighted that India is an attractive defence manufacturing destination with competitive land and labour costs and two defence industrial corridors. He invited Canadian defence companies to invest in India and carry out co-production. They would also find value in integrating Indian defence companies in their global supply chains.

Both Ministers agreed to work on taking the defence relationship to next level and make defence an important pillar of India-Canada bilateral relationship.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh today said that Youth at 2023 will define India at 2047.

Speaking as chief guest at the Youth 20 Consultation on Peace-building and Reconciliation: Ushering in an Era of No War at the University of Jammu, Dr Jitendra Singh said three generations have passed since Independence and there was no dearth of talent or capabilities but the favourable milieu was lacking which has now been made available by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. So this is a great opportunity but at the same time also a challenge and privilege because the same youth will be deciding the face of India@2047. Those who are thirty today will be the prime citizens, he said.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that 2023 is a very important year for the country as India is holding the G20 presidency. In this auspicious year, one can reasonably say that Prime Minister Modi has given a model of governance which is sustainable, which defies the principle of diminishing returns and which grows stronger with each new challenge. Therefore the point to ponder in the context of today’s meeting is what is the inter-relationship between the Modi governance of 2023 and the youth of 2023.

The Minister said that just after forming the Government in May 2014, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had said that this Government will be dedicated towards the upliftment of the poor, empowerment of women and the betterment of the youth. Before 2014, the environment in the country was one of desperation and hopelessness. He added that on the evening of 26^th May 2014 when Narendra Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister, I said this is the beginning of the journey from pessimism to optimism. So when the Prime Minister said that his government would give high priority to youth, many people treated it with cynicism. But today when you look back, as the government is completing 9 years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, you can reasonably say with evidence that Modi has walked the talk and also led his team to walk the talk.

The Minister recalled that soon after the Government came to power in May 2014, within two to three months, the practice of getting certificates attested by gazetted officers was done away with. Thereafter within a year, Prime Minister spoke from the ramparts of Red Fort about the abolition of interview in job recruitment so that a level playing field could be provided. In pension, face recognition technology was introduced so that the elderly citizens did not have to go through the tedious process of getting a life certificate. Most of the functioning was converted online and in order to bring in transparency, accountability and citizen participation, the human interface was reduced to the bare minimum. This highlights the fact that now there is a government that is ready to trust the youth of this country.

Talking about grievance redressal, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that the grievance redressal mechanism was shifted to CPGRAMS as a result of which about 20 lakh grievances are received every year in comparison to just 2 lakhs every year before this government came in because this government followed a policy of time bound redressal and gained the confidence of the people.

It was Prime Minister Modi, said Dr Jitendra Singh, who had, a few months ago, promised the nation that he would soon provide 10 lakh government jobs for the youth. Once again, the Minister said, it is evident that Prime Minister Modi does what he says and he has the capacity to make everything “Mumkin” (possible).

Dr Jitendra Singh said, right from the beginning, Prime Minister Modi has given highest priority to the issues and concerns related to youth. He said, Prime Minister has constantly sought to create new avenues and opportunities for livelihood, government jobs and income for the youth.

Dr Jitendra Singh referred to the India’s Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, which the Modi government amended after 30 years in 2018 to introduce a number of new provisions including criminalising the act of giving bribe also in addition to taking bribe and at the same time putting in place an effective deterrence for such actions by individuals as well as corporate entities.

Dr Jitendra Singh recalled that it was Prime Minister Modi who, in his Independence Day address of 2015, gave a call for “StartUp India StandUp India”, which soon turned into a countrywide movement. The result of this is that now the number of StartUps in India has gone up from 300 to 400 in 2014 to more than 75,000 today and India ranks third in the world in StartUp ecosystem, he added. Moreover the number of Biotech StartUps in the country has increased from 50 to over 5,000 in the last 8 years, because of the support and enabling milieu provided by Prime Minister NarendraModi ever since he took over in 2014. It is expected to cross the figure of 10,000 by 2025. Bio economy before 2014 was just $10 billion, today it is $80 billion and the target is $100 billion by 2025, he added.

The Minister said that Himalayan states including Uttarakhand have become the fountainhead for aromatic start-ups. Moreover he said that “Purple Revolution” or Aroma Mission is Jammu & Kashmir’s contribution to “StartUps India. Pertinent to mention that Aroma Mission is attracting StartUps and agriculturists from across the country. More than 44,000 persons have been trained and several crores of farmers’ revenue generated.

Similarly Dr. Jitendra Singh said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the highest priority to the growth and development of the North Eastern region and it was a path-breaking decision under his leadership to exempt home grown bamboo from the purview of the 100 year old Indian Forest Act. This helped in bringing ease of doing business in the bamboo sector for the young entrepreneurs, he said. Earlier governments never cared to explore India’s vast ocean resources and it is for the first time, after Shri Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister that there is a serious effort to explore and harness the ocean resources and give priority to the Blue Economy of India

In the field of conventional education, at the start of 2014, there were 725 universities and now 300 more have been added in the past 9 years at the rate of 1 new university every week. The Minister said that 145 medical colleges were opened in the country between 2004 and 2014. More than 260 medical colleges have been opened during 2014 to 2022 at the rate of 1 college of medicine per day and at the rate of 2 degree colleges per day so that every youth get accessibility to education. He/she should not be deprived of receiving education simply because it’s not available, he added.

The Minister recalled that recently Central University of Jammu has opened North India’s first teaching department of space. Saying that one of the objectives of NEP-2020 is de-linking degree from education, Dr.Jitendra Singh said that linking degrees with education has taken a heavy toll on our education system and society as well. One of the fall-outs has been an increasing number of educated unemployed.

Dr Jitendra Singh mentioned that we are already a part of the global world whether we like it or not. And therefore if we have to live up to global benchmarks, we have to prepare ourselves for global challenges and we have to also address the global concerns be it climate change, clean energy etc. Prime Minister Modi, in his Independence day speech, had introduced us to the potential of green hydrogen as a fuel. India in the near future will be one of the major exporters of green hydrogen.

The Minister said that Youth20 is one of the eight official engagement groups under the G20 umbrella. It is an attempt to create a connecting point between G20 governments and their local youth. The Y20 India Summit in 2023 will exemplify India’s youth-centric efforts and provide an opportunity to showcase its values and policy measures to the youth across the globe.

The Minister concluded by saying that because of all this, the onus lies on the youth of today, those who are in their thirties and who are going to be the prime citizens in 2047. How best they can use this opportunity depends on them. He said he hoped that the youth at that time will be able to say that “I’m the architect of India@100” and therefore we of the earlier generation have the responsibility to induce that capacity building of the youth of today, he concluded.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari addressed ‘INTERALPIN 2023 Fair’, the Leading International Trade Fair for Alpine Technologies at Innsbruck, Austria today. The fair brings together key industry players, service providers, and decision-makers from the Cable Car industry.

Shri Gadkari said under “Parvatmala Pariyojana”, the Government of India plans to develop 250+ projects with a Ropeway length of 1,200+ km over 5 years. He said our focus is on PPP under Hybrid Annuity Model with 60% contribution support by Government of India. He said we are promoting the manufacturing of ropeway components under the “Make in India” initiative.

Shri Gadkari said we encourage the Austrian & European industries to participate in enhancement of existing ropeway standards to ensure sustainable and safer transport and to be a part of this transformational journey as we take Indian infrastructure to greater heights.

Shri Gadkari also visited exhibits of world’s leading manufacturers of ropeway systems offering high-tech solutions, innovative design, top quality, and functionality, thus paving the way for convenient and environmentally friendly ropeway passenger transport.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has lauded the setting up of PM Mitra Mega Textiles Park across Lucknow and Hardoi districts in Uttar Pradesh.

Sharing a tweet by Union Minister for Commerce and Industry and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal about the inauguration of PM Mitra Mega Textiles Park in Uttar Pradesh today, the Prime Minister in a series of tweets said;

“Uttar Pradesh has rich tradition of textiles, a big market and consumer base. It is home to hardworking weavers and a skilled workforce. The setting up of the PM Mitra Mega Textiles Park across Lucknow and Hardoi districts will greatly benefit UP.”

“उत्तर प्रदेश के मेरे सभी भाइयों और बहनों के लिए आज एक बहुत अहम दिन है। लखनऊ और हरदोई में PM MITRA पार्क का शुभारंभ होने जा रहा है। इस अवसर पर आप सभी को मेरी बहुत-बहुत शुभकामनाएं।”

“1000 एकड़ से ज्यादा में फैले ये PM MITRA पार्क स्थानीय अर्थव्यवस्था को गति देने के साथ ही रोजगार के अनेक नए अवसर लाने वाले हैं। देश के टेक्सटाइल सेक्टर को भी इनसे नई मजबूती मिलने वाली है।”

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah presided over a ‘Chintan Shivir’ of senior officers of Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi today.  The objective of the Chintan Shivir was to review the work of the Ministry and to evolve action plan to implement Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s “Vision 2047”. The discussions were held in two sessions.

The Chintan Shivir commenced with an in-depth review of the status of compliance of the instructions given by the Home Minister during an earlier discussion held with the officers of the Ministry. Home Minister also reviewed the functioning of MHA dashboard, Government Land Information System (GLIS), Budget Utilization, E-Office and Special Recruitment Drive etc. He also reviewed the work of various Divisions on their priorities and deliverables in the coming years, position on AatmaNirbhar Bharat, various Budget announcements and important pending issues.

In his remarks, the Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah emphasised on developing ecosystem for cybercrime management, modernization of police forces, increased use of IT in criminal justice system, land border management and coastal security issues etc. Shri Shah said that enhanced use of Artificial Intelligence should be made to utilise the CCTNS database for critical analysis of crimes, thus, making cities safer for women, children and vulnerable sections.

Shri Amit Shah stressed on the need to fast-track the recruitment process and said that anticipating the future vacancies recruitment should be initiated well in advance. He said that meetings of Departmental Promotion Committees (DPC) should be held regularly so that employees get timely promotions. He also emphasised on taking various welfare measures for CAPF personnel like creating healthcare facilities, improving housing satisfaction ratio amongst others. Home Minister also emphasised on importance of training and said that regular training should be conducted by all wings of the MHA.

Union Home Minister suggested that MHA officials should make field visits to monitor development schemes. He also directed to fast-track construction of fencing and roads in border areas.

Home Minister emphasised the importance of sensitivity and the need to develop a personal touch by all senior officials. He offered valuable insights on the way forward for the Ministry and exuded confidence that the discussions held at the Chintan Shivir will help in better planning and coordination in these areas. He asked all senior officers that they should collectively work with full dedication. Shri Amit Shah lauded the efforts of the Ministry of Home Affairs and stressed the need to make constant endeavour to achieve the goal of making a safe and secure India.