Gujrat CM #Modi to address India Today Conclave 2013 on 16th March 2013

Shri Modi to address India Today Conclave 2013 on 16th March 2013 at 8 PM

At 8 PM on the evening of Saturday 16^th March 2013 Shri Narendra Modi will address the India Today Conclave 2013. Shri Modi will speak on ‘The NaMo Mantra’ and the talk will be followed by an interactive question and answer session with the audience.

Shri Modi is one of the most anticipated speakers at the Conclave. Both mainstream and social media are eagerly awaiting Shri Modi’s talk at the campaign.

You can watch Shri Modi’s speech LIVE on the website. You can also follow @narendramodi_in for real time Tweets of  Shri Modi’s speech.

#Modi’s 3D speeches in Guinness Book of World Records

The 3D broadcasts of the speeches of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi during the 2012 Assembly elections have entered the Guinness Book of World Records, he stated on Friday. ‘Gujarat election campaign 2012 becomes even more memorable with the 3D interaction creating a Guinness World,’ Modi said on Twitter.

The Guinness World Record for most simultaneous shows of ‘the Pepper’s Ghost Illusion’ (a technology) is now held by Raj Kasu Reddy and Mani Shankar of NChant 3D, which telecast, live, a 55-minute speech by Modi to 53 locations across Gujarat on 10 December, 2012, Modi said on his blog.

NChant 3d used 3D ‘holographic projection technology’ for this purpose. This technology is popular in Europe.

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• ‘India first’ is my definition of secularism, Narendra Modi tells NRIs (ktrmurali.wordpress.com)

‘India first’ is my definition of secularism, Narendra Modi tells NRIs

Denied a visa to visit US, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Sunday took to video conferencing to address Indian-American community, saying his idea of secularism is “India first”.

Modi, who often faced questions over the killing of Muslims in the post-Godhra riots in 2002, did not refer to the controversial issue in his nearly an hour-long speech in Hindi.

“My definition of secularism is simple: ‘India first’. Whatever you do, wherever you work, India should be the top priority for all its citizens,” he said.

“Country is above all religions and ideologies,” he argued and asked people to follow the same.

“I agree friends that as an Indian, as a citizen who loves India, you will also agree with my definition…We might do any work or take any decision, India should be supreme,” he said.

“Nothing less than India’s wellbeing should be our goal. And if this happens, secularism will automatically run in our blood,” the Gujarat Chief Minister said.

Modi was denied US visa on the issue of human rights violation.

Last week, the Wharton India Economic Forum cancelled Modi’s keynote address to the prestigious annual event because of opposition from a section of professors and students of the University of Pennsylvania.

But, Modi did not touch upon the controversial Wharton issue. The event organised by the Overseas Friends of BJP was planned much in advance of the Wharton controversy.

Several hundred people gathered at two places – Edison in New Jersey and Chicago – to listen to Modi’s speech.

In his address, Modi emphasised on skilled development of the youth – who now constitute 65 per cent of the total population of the country — and asked the diaspora to help in holistic development of India – tourism being one of them.

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• Modi Effect: Wharton Loses Main Sponsor Gautam Adani (ktrmurali.wordpress.com)

Modi Effect: Wharton Loses Main Sponsor Gautam Adani

Following the cancellation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi‘s keynote address at the Wharton India Economic Forum, it transpires that main sponsor Gautam Adani, chairman of Gujarat-headquartered Adani group, opted out of the event some time ago.

“Mr Adani had conveyed his inability to join Wharton India Economic Forum long back as he has other pressing commitments,” a group spokesperson said.
“Our participation at the event is just by way of sponsorship,” he said.
The prestigious Wharton School cancelled the keynote address of Gujarat Chief Minister following uproar from a section of university professors and students.Organisers of the annual Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) confirmed that it was the petition that was basically instrumental in reversing their decision on Modi.

“Only one petition to our knowledge,” Tanmay Mishra, on behalf of the WIEF said.
“Mr Modi’s office was informed before the press statement,” he said in response to another question.

“Our team felt that the potential polarising reactions from sub-segments of the alumni base, student body, and our supporters, might put Modi in a compromising position, which we would like to avoid at all costs, especially in the spirit of our conference’s purpose,” the WIEF organising committee said in a statement.

Asserting that it stands by its decision to invite Modi, the organising committee said it believes that this course of action would be the most appropriate in light of the reactions of the multiple stakeholders involved.

“Therefore, we as a team, would like to apologise for being a catalyst that may have put Mr Modi and the Wharton School administration in an difficult position,” the statement said.

Arguing that they do not endorse any political views and do not support any specific ideology, the statement said their goal as a team is only to stimulate valuable dialogue on India‘s growth story, and to act as a forum where students and audiences interact with influential leaders from across India.

The Forum, an annual India-centric conference, is hosted by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Modi had been invited to deliver the keynote address at the Forum to be held in Philadelphia on March 22-23 via video-conference, and Adani group was the platinum sponsor of the event.
Post 2002 Godhra riots, Gujarat CM has been denied U.S. visa, but recently U.S.-India Business Council had participated in the state’s biennial event Vibrant Gujarat Summit-2013 in January.
Earlier in the day, former Union Minister and Shiv Sena leader Suresh Prabhu had said he was calling off his visit to Wharton in protest against cancellation of Modi’s address.

The student organising body was extremely impressed with Modi’s credentials, governance ideologies, and leadership, which was the primary reason for his invitation, the statement said.

“However, as a responsible student body within the University of Pennsylvania, we must consider the impact on multiple stakeholders in our ecosystem,” the organising committee explained.
“Mr Modi’s keynote address at Wharton India Economic Forum has been cancelled,” the Wharton India Economic Forum said in a statement, which was welcomed by the organisers of the petition campaign.”I think one of the things that concerns us and continues to be is an attempt by a number of folks from his (Modi’s) camp as well as some camps in the business community trying to differentiate and distinguish between his economic policies versus his human rights records,” Toorjo Ghosh, assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, one of the three professors, said.

“We believe that the two are absolutely connected and that is the reason why Gujarat has developed in a way it has,” he said.

Ghosh, who besides his teaching, works among the poor and slums in India.
Having got what he wanted, Ghosh said he and his team would continue to “expose” Modi.
“I think it is important to keep talking about what development is. The model that Narendra Modi has put forward is seriously flawed and is based on some extremely egregious flouting of human rights. That is his economic model,” Ghosh said.

“Gujarat has some of the worst human development index report. We need to unpack this rhetoric what development is. We will continue to do that,” he added.
The anti-Modi petition said that it was incomprehensible to the signatories that this was the man who the Wharton India Economic Forum wished to celebrate as an exemplar of economic and social development.
“We find it astonishing that any academic and student body at the University of Pennsylvania can endorse ideas about economic development that are based on the systematic oppression of minority populations, whether in India or elsewhere,” the petition said.
“Mr Modi still does not have a U.S. visa to enter the U.S., but Wharton plans to present him on Skype to the audience. Recently there have been efforts to whitewash Modi’s grim record and to grant him international respectability. Wharton’s invitation lends itself to doing just that,” the signatories of the petition argued.
“We urge the Wharton India Economic Forum to revoke their invitation to Narendra Modi. If it does not do not do so, we pledge to protest against his presence – virtual, as it will be – given that he remains ineligible for a U.S. visa, in a variety of ways, including at the meeting of the Forum,” the signatories said in the petition.
“We will also do all that we can to continue to educate our community about the incalculable and continuing harm done by Modi’s brand of politics to the secular values enshrined in India’s constitution,” they said.

BJP blames UPA policies for poor economic growth

Accusing the government of flip-flops, indecision and mis-governance, the BJP today said its policy paralysis and corruption have affected the country’s growth rate and left its economy in a mess.

Slamming the government for its “failure” to control price rise and inflation, it also demanded an “immediate” roll back of hike in all administrative prices of diesel, gas, petrol, rail and other services “as the common man is reeling under unprecedented economic burden.”

Targeting the government on the issue of corruption, it said, the VVIP helicopter scam and the Farm Loan Waiver scam are the latest additions in this government’s “unending list of corruption.”

“It is fascinating to note that Italy, which was to benefit from the helicopter deal, went after the bribe givers immediately when they got the wind of corruption, while India, the sufferer of this scam is not ready to trace the bribe takers. Mystery still shrouds over the mention of the recipients as ‘the family’,” the BJP Economic Resolution passed at its National Council meeting here said.

It said while the government has ordered a CBI probe, it is not ready to have it monitored by the court.

“It has neither registered FIR nor issued Letters Rogatory (LR). It is offering JPC knowing full well that it cannot investigate and come to conclusion. This fuels speculation that the government is more interested in ensuring a white wash to protect the bribe receivers rather than unearth the truth and punish the guilty,” it said.

It said the biggest failure of the UPA government is its inability to tame inflation and bring down the prices.

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, while seconding the Economic Resolution, said India will scrap FDI in multi-brand retail policy when BJP-led NDA comes to power.

“Unfortunately, inflation is not the result of any natural disaster but is purely a gift of this government. Bad food stock management and distribution anomalies triggered the inflationary pressure in the first place,” the resolution said.

When the country is required to stock only 30 million tonne of food grains in the godowns, the UPA has stocked a huge quantity of more than 70 million tonne of food grains thereby creating shortages in the market and fuelling prices, the opposition party said.

Drawing comparison of the economic situation of the country between now and the NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the resolution maintained that the BJP-led government inherited a lowly growth rate of 4% in 1998, but due to its commitment to make India an economic superpower, it had put the economy on a fast growth trajectory.

“As a result of the visionary leadership of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, India for the first time in decades witnessed 8.25% growth rate in 2004 when the BJP led NDA government demitted office.”

It said the NDA government had put in place the historic economic legislation – the Fiscal Responsibility and Budgetary Management (FRBM) Act which sought to rein in the fiscal deficit below 3%.

“Ironically, under the Congress leadership, it is the central government that has shown scant commitment towards this resolve while the state governments are instead broadly adhering to the FRBM targets which is reflected in their financial numbers,” the resolution said.

It alleged that inflation and corruption have become the “hallmarks” of the UPA government.

“The country also has to suffer the ignominy of experiencing economic downslide under the leadership of an economist Prime Minister under whom every economic macro-parameter has steadily declined…The BJP holds the Congress led UPA government guilty of non performance, policy paralysis and lack of direction,” the resolution said.

-PTI

10 punch lines from #NaMo’s speech at SRCC

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday pitched the state’s model of growth and governance. Modi said that vote bank politics has spoilt the country and emphasised the need for good governance to make India globally competitive.

According to Modi all three major sectors of the economy viz., agriculture, industry and services should be given equal importance for development. This, he said, helps in overall development.

Here is a look at ten choicest punch-lines from his speech:

Nation of Mouse charmers

Mouse charmers: The youth of the nation has its finger on the mouse of computers and is changing the world. India’s journey has gone from snake charmers to mouse charmers!

Ignoring protests outside, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today used a college platform to project himself nationally saying his focus was on development politics and not that of vote-bank, which he said has “ruined” the nation.

India has a huge growth opportunity

“The ambassador of a nation asked me what major challenges India faces and I said the biggest one is that how we use opportunity. When asked what the opportunity was, I said the youth. Europe buddha ho chuka hai, China budha ho chuka hai.”

According to Modi India has a huge growth opportunity in the form of youth.

“Our country is not poor. We have vast resources, see eastern India is full of them. But we are unable to use that. We are unable to utilise the opportunity,” Modi said.

P2G2: Pro-people, good governance

“We need P2G2. Pro-People Good governance“: Pitching for the role of ‘good governance’, Modi said that the people of the country have sunk into an overwhelming state of pessimism.

“Even after six decades of freedom, the nation awaits good governance,” Modi said.

Speaking in Hindi on ‘Emerging business models in the global scenario’, Modi said the nation can progress by following ‘Gujarat model’ based on P2G2 (Pro-people good governance) principle.

Youth: New-age power

Youth ‘new-age power’, not ‘new-age voter’ alone. Youth have changed the way India is perceived today. Modi stressed the role of youth in the development of the nation.

His extempore speech was telecast live by news channels. “I am Chief Minister for a fourth term and based on my experience, with the same law, same Constitution, same rules and regulations, same officers, same people, same files, we can move forward. We can do a lot. I am confident that we can change things,” he said.

The glass is always full!

“I believe that the glass is full. One half with water and the other half with air.” There is despondency all over country but I am confident we can change the situation.

Picking up a glass of water, he said an optimist would say the glass is half full, while a pessimist would say it is half empty.

“I have a third point of view. For me the glass is always full — half with water and half with air. We can turn over the situation,” he said.

Milk in Delhi is from Gujarat

There must be no one in the audience who has chai without doodh from Gujarat in it. All the milk in Delhi is from Gujarat. Milk in Singapore is from Gujarat, Okra in Europe is from Gujarat.

Stating that the state’s agricultural sector has exhibited growth, Modi said, “If you go to Afghanistan, the people there have tomatoes that come from Gujarat.” Further talking about the development of the state, Modi said that the milk in Singapore and the ‘bhindi’ in Europe come from Gujarat.

Minimum government, maximum governance

Minimum government, maximum governance – this is my philosophy.

“This nation is being ruined by vote bank politics. This nation requires development politics. If we switch to politics of development, we will soon be in a position to bring about lasting change and progress,” Modi said.

“People feel nothing would change here. All are thieves, everything they do is waste. People consider it a curse to be born in India. They want to leave the country soon after completing their studies,” Modi said delivering the Shri Ram Memorial Oration.

Why not export teachers?

A businessman who goes abroad only captures dollars but a teacher influences a whole generation, said Modi while emphasising the need for education and promoting teaching as a vocation.

“We have created a university for teachers. I say we have so much youth and export so much, why not export teachers?”

Citing Gujarat’s mantra of success that can be emulated by the country for speedy progress, he said the focus should be on the manufacturing sector by making zero-defect products with good packaging.

Re-invent Made in India

Why shouldn’t we make the ‘Made in India’ tag a statement of quality for our manufactured products?,” he questioned.

Modi said there is a need to build the ‘Made in India’ brand. He drew a parallel between the credibility of a ‘Made in Japan’ tag and expressed the wish to have India reach such a level some day.

“The whole world says 21st century is India’s century. Some say it is Asia’s century, while some also say it is China’s century. I am confident that 21st century can be India’s century as knowledge is supreme,” he said.

Delhi’s Metro, Gujarat’s Coach!

Some years ago I launched a product which is now a part of Delhi. I launched a coach of the Delhi Metro! In Delhi all the metro coaches are coming from Gujarat.

Touting the recent ‘Vibrant Gujarat Summit’ which accepted the global relevance of Gujarat with the presence of 121 nations there, Modi said, “When the world sees this, they infuse confidence that we can do.”

PTI

Pakistan to grant MFN status to India

Pakistan is likely to grant Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India next month, Minister of State for Commerce Abbas Khan Afridi told the Senate in Islamabad. Afridi’s statement rebuffed media reports that the government may delay awarding MFN status to India as the government was facing pressure from various stakeholders, particularly from industrialists associated with the textile industry in Pakistan. Religious extremist groups and a section of the conservative media have also opposed the move, reports the Tribune.

Islamabad has already missed a December 31 deadline to give MFN status to New Delhi as well as to end a negative list regime and trade.

Responding to a question posed by Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) Senator Najma Hameed, Afridi informed the lawmakers that the government is committed to implementing its decision by next month.

“We want this credit (of granting MFN status to India). We are heading towards the final stage now,” said Afridi. He, however, explained that “The MFN status will be awarded to India by prioritising state interests, taking all stakeholders on board in Pakistan.”

Senator Hameed had sought the progress made to grant MFN status to India as well as the benefits that Pakistan wanted to achieve after awarding this new status to India. Federal Minister for Commerce Makhdoom Amin Fahim informed the House that positive progress has been made on the issue.

Fahim also clarified that after awarding this status to India, New Delhi will have no excuse against promoting business in the region. New Delhi has been accusing Pakistan that it’s not fulfilling the criteria set by World Trade Organisation (WTO).

“At various multilateral economic forums, India would not be able to use the argument of Pakistan being non-compliant to World Trade Organisation agreements in terms of holding back MFN status from WTO member state,” he said. The policy of new visa regime between the two nations has already been implemented with three agreements signed in September last year for countering the non-tariff barrier issues being faced by Pakistani exporters.

Modi’s victory speech — I will visit Delhi on Dec 27

Narendra Modi is currently giving his victory speech in Ahmedabad.

Thursday, Dec 20, 2012 17:47 IST

• “The results of the Gujarat elections have proven that the citizens of this country know very well what is right and what is wrong.”
• “Keeping the future in mind, the voter decides. The results have shown how mature the voters of Gujarat have become. They have risen over greed and castism and relegion based politics.”
• If Gujarat prospers, so will I.
• The political pundits of the country must understand that Gujarat has seen and experienced caste differences well.

• There was a tradition that govt’s would come and go every five years.
• Nothing good would happen for the people
• The responsibility of the government increases when they come to power after completing their term
• The whole country is talking about Narendra Modi always.
• But if you want to talk about anybody today, it should be of  my 6 crore Gujaratis who are the real heroes today
• We have set an example in the country

• The results show that if the voters see good governance and development, they vote for the government
• I would like to convey this message to the whole country through Gujarat’s voters that the country should have good governance and development. The national leaders should understand that the citizens what these and not divide and rule politics

• I thank the citizens for giving me strength to take the right decisions for them
• I have tried to not make any individual comments on anyone through this entire election process. I have tried to respect everyone
• There are no enemies in democracy, there are only competitors
• Elections are a game and I have won it fair and square
• I apologies to my 6 crore Gujarati brothers and sisters if I made any mistake in this process

• People thought when I came to power the second time, I would lay back and relax
• But don’t you dare think like that about me. My next five years are dedicated to the citizens of this sate
• I promise to fight for the state
• You made me win by electing BJP, but I have something to ask from you. You have given me power, but you must give me your blessings so that I do not make any mistakes in future either
• For me, the citizens are ‘God‘ and if God gives me blessings, there will be no chances of making any mistake

• This victory is for my 6 crore Gujaratis
• This victory is for the citizens across the country who have suffered

• I want to take Gujarat a lot further
• I want to take to that place where development itself knocks at the door of the state

• I wonder what state the opposition will be tonight
• They must not be able to digest this defeat
• God knows if they will be able to sleep or not
• Please pray for their peace of mind, because I doubt they have any
• You have to agree, winning is winning and BJP has won

• The blessings I got from my sisters and mothers in Gujarat have been my biggest strength. The youngsters were the rock for my campaign helping to execute it in the state. The figures that have come in have a very big margin and the good wishes of my well-wishers can be seen in it. These are new political trends
• Respect all those who have decided to give the country a new direction. These polls show a new trend of the people’s faith and my confidence in myself are the two pillars that helped me win and which will help me to lead the state in the coming 5 years that will bring a change in Gujarat
• I will work for the betterment of the people

• I invite the citizens of the country to come to Gujarat and look for employment, medical surgeries, etc
• We are ready to serve you
• We are team BJP, team Gujarat that is ready to serve you. I am just a small part of this team

• I want to stand on the faith you have shown me
• I want to do something that will justify the faith you have in me
• I hope to visit Delhi one day… And the crowd breaks out shouting slogans “PM, PM” indicating their will to see him being elected as the prime minister
• I earn my daily bread. I choose to serve the 6 crore Gujaratis and in this way serve my Mother India. What I do is serve my country with the work I do for the citizens of Gujarat.

U.S. Congressman Campaigns for Modi’s U.S. Visa

UPA Govt is ‘Cheating’ Youths by False Job Promises: Modi

 

Gujarat govt refutes Arvind Kejriwal’s charges

The Gujarat government today refuted Aam Admi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal‘s charge that it favoured certain industrial groups in the state.

“The charges levelled by Kejriwal are baseless and aimed at maligning the reputation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi,” government spokesperson and Minister of State for Energy, Saurabh Patel said.

“The charge that the state government favoured Adani group while purchasing power is not true. Power was purchased from the Adani Group after inviting bids and Adani was the lowest bidder,” Patel said.

Regarding the land given to the Adanis, Patel said, “the government has not given any farm land to Adanis. The land which was given in Kutch was wasteland. The charge that the land was given at Re 1 is false as it was given on a lease for 30 years on BOT basis and every year the state government gets rent on it”.

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal had alleged in New Delhi that Modi favoured Gujarat-based business house Adani Group on power purchase and land allotment besides giving gas fields worth Rs 20,000 crore to private companies for “free”.

On the gas deal with a foreign firm GeoGlobal Resourcing, Patel said, “GSPC (Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation) had informed the Director General, Hydrocarbons in 2010 that the deal with GeoGlobal was cancelled and they did not have 10 per cent participating interest anymore in the oil exploration of the Krishna Godavari Basin Deendayal Block.”

“As there was no commercial production so far from KG-OSN-2001/3 gas block, there was no question of giving any benefits to that company,” Patel said.

About allotment of plots to MPs and MLAs in Gandhinagar, Patel said, “the policy of allotment of plots to MPs and MLAs was initiated by the earlier Congress governments and it was discontinued by the Modi government five years back.”

Kejriwal takes on Modi, says Gujarat gas deal bigger than 2G scam

Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday came out with another expose, targeting Gujarat chief Minister Narendra Modi over irregularities in the Gujarat gas deal.

According to Tehelka reports it is alleged that a stake worth Rs 20,000 crore was given away to GeoGlobal Resources at negligible rates in Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation‘s gas exploration project in the KG Basin.

“There was no bidding. What was the selection process for these two companies?” Kejriwal asked.

He stressed on the fact that this scam is even bigger than the colossal 2G scam.

“We demand an investigation… This scam is bigger than the 2G scam,” he said.

He alleged that this scam was engineered by BJP- Congress nexus 10% stake of such a major project was given away in gratis.

Kejriwal’s attack on Modi gains relevance as it may show us a flip side to the credible model of development that Modi is associated with and it may also affect his chances as a prospective PM candidate.