PM Modi hoists Tricolour at Red Fort, says India must dream big to build Viksit Bharat by 2047

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

New Delhi, Aug 15 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hoisted the National Flag and addressed the nation from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort in the national Capital as India celebrated its 80th Independence Day.

The unfurling of the Tricolour was followed by a 21-gun salute, while a ceremonial showering of flowers from a helicopter also took place as part of the Independence Day celebrations.

Beginning his address, PM Modi invoked the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ and the Tricolour while paying tribute to the freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for India’s independence.

“Today, every heartbeat is echoing with Vande Mataram; today, there is ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’. My best wishes to all of you on Independence Day. The nation today remembers those great sons who sacrificed for independence, carrying only one aim, freedom, and dedicating their lives to it. I pay my heartfelt tribute to Pujya Bapu and every other freedom fighter.”

Highlighting the significance of this year’s celebrations, PM Modi said ‘Vande Mataram’ was echoing from the Red Fort for the first time since Independence, coinciding with the commemoration of 150 years of the national song.

“It is a historic day today. After Independence, on August 15, for the first time, Vande Mataram is echoing from the Red Fort. As we celebrate 150 years of Vande Mataram today, no other day could be more appropriate for this.”

The Prime Minister also expressed solidarity with people affected by floods in parts of the country in recent days and offered condolences to the families of those who lost their lives.

“In the last few days, there has been devastation because of floods in some parts of our nation. Our condolences are with the victims’ families, and I want to give you the assurance and confidence that the whole nation stands with all those who are affected.”

Emphasising the importance of ambition, capability and determination in a nation’s development, PM Modi said India must not limit itself to small dreams and should instead set bigger goals to accelerate its progress.

“Any nation becomes great when it progresses on the strength of its capabilities and goals. We do not need to have small dreams; we should dream big. Big dreams increase the pace of progress. When the resolve is firm, possibilities find their own way. Our resolve should also be high, because when we take a pledge, the height of our dreams also rises.”

PM Modi said India has set an ambitious national goal of becoming a developed country by 2047, when the nation completes 100 years of Independence.

“India has dreamed a big dream, to touch new heights. The dream is that when we complete 100 years of Independence, we will make Viksit Bharat in 2047, with the contribution, efforts and participation of 140 crore people of our nation.”

The Prime Minister also stressed that the scale of a nation’s ambitions influences how it is perceived globally.

“It changes the way the world sees us when we dream big.”

PM Modi’s address from the Red Fort marked his 13th consecutive Independence Day address from the historic monument, setting a new record among non-Congress prime ministers for consecutive Independence Day addresses from the Red Fort.

This year’s celebrations are centred on the 150th anniversary of ‘Vande Mataram’ and the role of Yuva Shakti in helping India realise the vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047.

–IANS

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Govt fully committed to protect Aravallis, unlike extensive illegal mining in Cong era: Bhupender Yadav (IANS Interview)

New Delhi, Dec 23 (IANS) Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav has said that the government is fully committed to protecting the Aravalli range and will not allow illegal mining under any circumstances, asserting that recent rumours about dilution of safeguards are misleading and politically motivated.

In an interview with IANS, Minister Yadav said the Supreme Court has clearly backed the government’s approach, emphasising scientific and sustainable management of the Aravallis while strictly curbing illegal mining.

Here is the full interview:

IANS: Saving the Aravallis is no longer limited to just the Aravalli region; the issue is being discussed across the country. What would you like to say on this?

Bhupender Yadav: The government is fully committed to saving the Aravallis. All necessary steps will be taken to protect them. The Supreme Court has also delivered its judgment. For mining purposes, a definition of the Aravalli and Aravalli hills has been laid down. The biggest issue in defining mining is stopping illegal mining. Until a scientific management plan is prepared, no new mining will be permitted. The responsibility for preparing this plan has been entrusted to ICFRE. So, the government is fully committed, and we are actively involved in this process.

IANS: Has the Supreme Court given any kind of relaxation for mining in the Aravallis?

Bhupender Yadav: The Supreme Court has not granted any relaxation. It has said two things. First, it has recognised the Ministry’s Green Aravalli Project. Second, it has assigned responsibility to our ICFRE institution that no new mining will be allowed until a comprehensive plan is prepared. Under this plan, the Aravalli hills and the Aravalli range will be identified, their eco-sensitivity will be assessed, and only then can mining be considered. This decision has been made to stop illegal mining and to introduce sustainable mining through a proper plan.

IANS: Is mining being allowed for the first time up to 100-metre-high hills in the Aravallis?

Bhupender Yadav: This is not about allowing mining up to 100 metres. The issue is the identification of the Aravalli hills. It is not measured by height alone but from the ground level. If hills are 200 metres high, the 500-metre area between them will also be considered part of the Aravalli range. Protected areas will remain fully protected, and nearly 90 per cent of the Aravalli area will remain outside mining zones.

IANS: Will this be defined from the top or from the bottom?

Bhupender Yadav: It will be defined from the lowest ground level upwards, based on the geological structure of the district.

IANS: What has been the Supreme Court’s position? Is this new from the Congress era?

Bhupender Yadav: To stop illegal mining, the Supreme Court formed a joint committee with FSI, the Geological Survey of India and the CEC. This committee submitted its report to the Supreme Court.

IANS: What was the situation of mining in the Aravallis during the Congress period?

Bhupender Yadav: There was extensive illegal mining, which is why people approached the court. This petition also dates back to that period. Now, with the Supreme Court’s decision, sustainable, scientific, eco-friendly and limited measures will be implemented to protect the Aravallis.

IANS: In 2018, the Supreme Court said 31 hills had completely vanished due to mining. What is your response?

Bhupender Yadav: That is precisely why a management plan will be prepared for every district.

IANS: There are claims that Chittorgarh and Madhopur are being excluded from the new management plan. How true is this?

Bhupender Yadav: All parts of the Aravallis will be included. No area is being excluded.

IANS: You have said rumours are being spread on the Aravallis issue. Is there any foreign funding or NGOs behind this?

Bhupender Yadav: Those who want to lie will do so by choice. But they are not succeeding. The public now knows the truth.

IANS: Is this similar to the kind of opposition seen during the Narmada issue in Gujarat?

Bhupender Yadav: This is a lie born out of the Congress party’s political frustration. People have understood the reality.

IANS: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh once blamed NGOs and foreign agencies for protests against the Kudankulam plant. Is opposition to the Aravallis based on similar grounds?

Bhupender Yadav: Political opponents of the Aravallis are trying to create confusion. Their attempts have completely failed.

–IANS

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Bengal PDS case: Court permits ED to collect handwriting specimens of former minister

Kolkata, April 21 (IANS) A special court in Kolkata, on Monday, permitted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to collect the handwriting specimens of the former West Bengal food and supplies minister Jyotipriya Mallick in connection with the multi-crore ration distribution irregularities case in the state.

After being in judicial custody for almost two years following his arrest by ED officials in the ration distribution case, Mallick was recently released on bail. When he was hospitalised once during his judicial custody days, he tried to send a letter to his daughter, which was prevented by central armed police forces (CAPF) personnel who were on duty at the hospital to guard Mallick at that time.

The letter, according to ED, contained certain crucial instructions about the finances of Mallick. Now, ED officials doubt that Mallick might deny that the letter was written by him.

So the central agency officials approached the court for permission to collect the handwriting specimens of the former minister so that they could be matched with the handwriting in that letter. Finally, on Monday, the officials got the permission of the court to collect the handwriting specimens of Mallick.

In 2023, the CAPF personnel prevented the reported attempts by the former minister to send the letter to his daughter. The CAPF personnel seized that letter and handed it over to the ED officials.

At that time, questions were raised on how Mallick, as an under-trial prisoner, managed to access paper and pen to write the letter without the permission of the competent authorities.

An ED insider said that immediately after the incident, the investigating officials interrogated Mallick, and during the questioning, he admitted writing the letter. However, the ED officials suspected that he might deny the same in due course, and hence they had insisted on getting the handwriting specimens of Mallick to match them with the handwriting in the letter.

–IANS

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‘ED notice to CM Vijayan and others politically motivated’: Ex-Kerala Finance Minister

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 1 (IANS) Former Kerala Finance Minister Dr T.M. Thomas Isaac has alleged that the Enforcement Directorate’s latest notice in the Masala Bond case is a politically orchestrated move timed to influence upcoming local body elections in the state.

Issac has been served a notice by the ED along with CM Pinarayi Viajayn, and others.

Economics professor Issac is a four-time former legislator of the CPI(M) and was the State Finance Minister during 2006-11 and 2016-21. It was during the second term of his Ministership that the Masala Bonds were issued.

Isaac suffered a jolt in 2021 when he was not fielded by the party to contest the Assembly polls.

He termed the ED proceedings as a “staged performance” that resurfaces every election season, accusing the agency of acting as a campaign tool for the BJP.

Hours after the news surfaced on Monday that the ED’s adjudication notice regarding the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB)’s Masala Bond issuance, Isaac said the agency has revived the case repeatedly — during the 2020 local elections, the 2021 Assembly polls, and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections — and now again ahead of local body polls.

“The ED is campaigning for the BJP and the Congress-led UDF in the name of investigation,” he alleged.

He recalled that the ED’s initial argument was that KIIFB lacked permission to float Masala Bonds.

However, Isaac noted that all procedures were approved by the RBI and transparently executed.

Despite that, he received a summons not for KIIFB-related documents but for personal and family bank account details and records from companies he was associated with.

Questioning the intent behind this, he approached the High Court, after which the scope of document requests was narrowed.

Isaac said the ED continues “futile fishing expeditions”, driven by political masters in Delhi.

He claimed that the investigators assumed misappropriation given the large financial transactions involved.

“They completed the probe without summoning me, but still filed a complaint before the adjudicating authority,” he said.

He clarified that the latest allegation is that over Rs 2,600 crore raised through Masala Bonds was wrongly used to acquire land.

Calling the claim baseless, Isaac asserted: “No land was purchased. It was only land acquisition, which is permitted. RBI had already amended the earlier restriction against using funds for purchasing land.”

He accused the ED of sending notices to the Chief Minister as well to create controversy.

Calling the notice “prima facie unsustainable,” he said the agency was serving the BJP’s political interests, and criticised the UDF for echoing such claims instead of rejecting them.

Isaac concluded that the ED’s actions were “a political performance, not a legal investigation”.

Reacting to it, State CPI(M) secretary and MLA M.V. Govindan said he was surprised that the ED did not send this notice before, as that’s the norm.

“Now it has come as the ED has a habit of engaging in this type of act whenever there is an election in the state. This is nothing but a notice to the entire Kerala, as it was using the KIIFB funds, around Rs one lakh crore worth of development was done all across Kerala,” said Govindan.

–IANS

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