“The poor are at the bottom of the pyramid of development and we have to strengthen the base of the pyramid”.
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The programme of the visit, which is the first visit of an Indian PM since Indira Gandhi visited to the UAE in 1981, involves a series of meetings with the country’s top leaders. Each of the 125,000 bank branches must assist one Dalit or one tribal entrepreneur and one woman entrepreneur.
Modi praised the economic success of the UAE and described the country as a “valued partner” and India’s “third-largest trading partner”, adding it employs over 2.5 million Indians.
“It the duty of the government to inform its citizens and the prime minister did the right thing by sharing updates”, Kohli said.
Aware that an upset in the forthcoming polls could add to his woes, the Prime Minister made a special mention in his speech of Bihar, West Bengal and Assam, where the BJP is trying to make inroads.
The issue of ISIS threat is likely to be part of talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE leadership which considers the terror group as a major threat. “I will deliver on my promise of a corruption-free India”.
Modi, in his second Independence Day address, focused largely on the issue of corruption and asserted that the steps taken by his government over the last 15 months to deal with the “termite” had started yielding results.
Modi pointed out that there was no allegation of corruption against his government. Financial inclusion had received a big boost with the opening of 17 crore bank accounts through the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.
Modi also promised dignity of labour and announced that Rs 6000 crore will be spent on welfare of mine-bearing areas, mostly inhabited by tribals. “This is Team India, a team of 125 crore Indians”.
He went as far as to liken the country’s federal corruption problem like a house infested with termites, and was quoted as saying that if Indians really wanted change that they had to take wide measures to wipe out the greed that’s been eating away at the country’s stability.
Narendra Modi’s visit to the UAE, the first to the West Asian nation by an Indian Prime Minister in 34 years, is a trip with as much a domestic constituency in mind as it is with bilateral relations.
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The prime minister also said that coal block auction had been undertaken by the government to fetch the national exchequer Rs. “We have accepted OROP and the modalities are being worked out”. “I am hopeful of a good decision, the nitty gritty of implementation is being discussed”, he said.
