INDIA SUMMARIZED

New Delhi:  The Narendra Modi government is set to launch its first major initiative to fulfil its election promise of sending back illegal Bangladeshi migrants. The issue was repeatedly flagged by Mr Modi during his election rallies in West Bengal and other states. For the first time in 50 years, a mammoth exercise will be undertaken to identify all illegal Bangladeshi migrants settled in Assam after 1971. The National Register of Citizens (NRC), 1951, in Assam will be the benchmark and will be updated with the 1971 electoral rolls. Incidentally, the exercise was abandoned by the UPA government in 2010 even before it could be rolled out after it developed cold feet fearing a communal backlash.

The burden on state exchequer is likely to go down at least by Rs125 crore in next five years as prime minister Narendra Modi kept his cabinet small. Modi selected just 45 council of ministers, while the UPA-II government had 70 ministers, which they attributed to 'coalition compulsions.' The conservative estimate of the salaries of the personal staff, their perks and allowances of each cabinet minister is around Rs one crore every year. This estimate excludes foreign travels made by the ministers during their tenure. Interestingly, the last government in the general budget 2013-14 has earmarked Rs270.05 crore for the tour expenses of Union ministers. The difference of 25 ministers would immediately relieve at least 375 government officials, employed as personal staff of these ministers. The estimated amount of money saved by each minister would be around rs one crore every year and thus 25 ministers would save Rs 25 crore every year compounding to Rs125 crore in five...

Narendra Modi is indeed India’s man of the moment. From being a tea vendor at a bus terminal in Ahmedabad to an established politician, today he is the 15th Prime Minister of India. There are many things fascinating about Narendra Modi. On this historic moment when a common like Modi bagged the country’s top post, let us have a look at the lesser-known facts about the man of the moment, Narendra Modi, as compiled by IndiaTV . Humble beginning:  Narendra Modi was born in an economically backward family of grocers in Vadnagar, Gujarat. Since his childhood, he wanted to become a sanyasi. In fact, he was always interested about Sadhus, different forms of worship and meditation. After completing his school, he ran away from home and visited many places including Ramakrishna Ashram of Belur in West Bengal. Finally, he reached Himalayas and stayed with unknown but yogic Sadhus for months. After returning from Himalayas, Modi ran a tea stall with his brother at the State Transport Office ...

BANGALORE: Amidst hectic discussions on formation of the new government and indications that Narendra Modi would have “small and compact” Cabinets, the newly appointed Prime Minister begins his first day in office with an announcement of the cabinet portfolios and a series of bilateral meetings with South Asian leaders. Modi, as the head of Council of Ministers, under his charge has personnel, public grievances and pensions, department of atomic energy, department of space, all important policy issues and all other portfolios not allocated to any minister. So, let us have a look at the names of Modi’s Council of Ministers, as listed by Yahoo. Rajnath Singh:  BJP President Rajnath Singh is the Home Minister. He took oath immediately after Modi. Singh is likely to hand over the party baton to someone competent. Rajnath Singh, a former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh entered politics in 1974 and soon became Secretary of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Mirzaur. In 1975, he became District Presi...

BANGALORE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has indeed given a big thumb up to female leaders in his administration and thus kept his promise of women empowerment. While women may account just 11 per cent of all Lower House members, they have indeed fared better when it came to representation in the Cabinet—a welcome change from the previous governments. Taking this occasion, let us have a look at the 7 women Cabinet Ministers in the newly formed government, as listed by Yahoo. Sushma Swaraj:   A seasoned politician Sushma Swaraj became India’s first woman External Affairs Minister. Apart from having the distinction of becoming the youngest cabinet minister in Haryana government at the age of 25, Swaraj has also many other firsts, such as being the first woman Chief Minister of Delhi and woman spokesperson for any political party in the country. Besides MEA, She has also been given the charge of Overseas Indian Affairs. Swaraj is assuming the charge of the Foreign Ministry, one of the...

A day after taking oath as the 15th prime minister of the country on Monday, Narendra Modi took charge of his office Tuesday  morning.   5:50 pm:  Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Tuesday that top diplomats from Pakistan and India would meet soon to advance peace talks that have moved fitfully because of political tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals. Sharif was in New Delhi for Monday's inauguration of India's new prime minister, Narendra Modi, with whom he had a "warm and cordial" bilateral meeting, he said. "We agreed that our meeting in New Delhi should be a historic opportunity for both our countries," he told reporters. "This provides us the opportunity of meeting the hopes and aspirations of our peoples that we will succeed in turning a new page in our relations." "We also agreed that the two foreign secretaries would be meeting soon to review and carry forward our bilateral agenda in the spirit of our meeting today...

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal has agreed to furnish a personal bail bond of Rs 10,000 to seek his release from Tihar jail in the Nitin Gadkari defamation case after the Delhi High Court suggested him to do so. A division bench of Justice Kailash Gambhir and Justice Sunita Gupta allowed senior advocate Shanti Bhushan and advocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for Kejriwal to meet him in Tihar Jail and seek his instruction on the issue of filing personal bond. The bench also asked Kejriwal not to make it as an issue of "prestige" and opined that he should first seek bail. "Why are you taking (it) as a prestige? Don't make it a question of prestige. File your personal bond, seek his (Kejriwal) release today(May 26). We can direct it now. You take instructions from him," the court said and posted the matter post lunch for May 27. Kejriwal on May 26 moved a habeas corpus petition for his immediate release, saying he has been "illegally" se...

Islamabad, May 17 (IANS) Pakistan should not show "rage where it may not be due" while dealing with a new Narendra Modi-led government in India, a leading Pakistani newspaper said Saturday. "Modi's rise to such power, decisive and non-controversial, will have a global impact but our region will have to deal with this new leader in our best national interest," The News said in an editorial. It said Pakistan should not succumb to pressure or compromise its interests but also not show "rage where it may not be due". The daily said that Modi's election campaign "was a red alert for Pakistan". But it said that as he neared the election victory, he softened the rhetoric "and was much more politically correct". It said Modi's last comment about Pakistan was: "We will deal with it as they deal with us, as we cannot change our neighbours." The editorial said: "That may be a welcome change but Pakistan will ...

Madrid, May 19 (IANS/EFE) Undoubtedly, Narendra Modi is the man of the moment. Celebrated writer on Hindu nationalism Eva Borreguero in her article titled "The death of a dynasty, the birth of a leader" in the leading Spanish newspaper El Pais, writes that Narendra Modi's victory has been significant in many ways. Most prominently, it has "radically changed the political arena historically dominated by the Gandhi dynasty", that started with Jawaharlal Nehru and is currently represented by his great grandson, Rahul Gandhi, she writes. The expert points out how this election campaign has seen Gandhi pale into insignificance against "the charismatic figure of the nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party leader who has to his credit the successful transformation of the Indian state of Gujarat" but who also bears the cross of the anti-Muslim riots of 2002 in the state. Borreguero, a professor of political science in the Complutense University of Madrid,...

 What these persistent myths say about what we feel about our place in the world. Surely you’ve heard how the Taj Mahal was really built on top of a Hindu temple called the ‘Tejo Mahalaya ’ ? Or that 36 percent of the scientists in NASA are really Indian? And has India never really invaded another country in 10,000 years? I have heard these ‘truths’ half my life. Especially since I began using the Internet. But have you ever tried to verify any of these facts? If you have, that makes you a skeptical patriot, like me. So is any Indian who listens to the received wisdom from anyone – parents, family, school, social or political leaders – but also demands, “show me the data”. I think it ’ s good for a country to have lots of young people who are skeptical (not cynical), and this election season is the perfect time to ask such  questions. I examine a handful of these ‘India facts’ in my book,  The Sceptical Patriot: Exploring the Truths Behind the Zero and other Gl...