oppn parties What Prime Minister Modi Wants From the People

News Snippets

  • Supreme Court questions the continuing relevance of two-child norms. The Court observed that falling fertility rates have weakened the population-control rationale behind laws disqualifying people with more than two children from contesting local body elections. It referred the issue to a larger Bench for consideration
  • Supreme Court declines to shift Tirupati laddu case outside Andhra Pradesh. The Court rejected a plea seeking transfer of the trial, despite arguments that political statements by Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister could affect the fairness of proceedings
  • Supreme Court transfers Azam Khan's fresh ED bail plea to Allahabad High Court. The apex court declined to consider the Samajwadi Party leader's bail request in a fresh Enforcement Directorate case and directed that it be listed before a division Bench of the High Court on November 16
  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
  • Uttar Pradesh voter rolls show a 2.4-crore discrepancy. A difference of approximately 2.4 crore names has been reported between the state's panchayat and rural Assembly voter lists. The Election Commission has ordered the two sets of rolls to be matched
  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
  • Sensex and Nifty post their strongest single-day gains in months. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty 50 climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to 24,536.60. Financial and automobile stocks led the rally, supported by falling crude prices and renewed foreign investor buying
  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
  • Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympics badminton final. The 15-year-old defeated Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final, assuring India of a medal and becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the girls' singles final at the Youth Olympics
  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
Stock markets on fire due to US results, Sensex gains 2008 points to reach its highest level in 8 months
oppn parties
What Prime Minister Modi Wants From the People

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2020-04-14 18:08:39

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

Prime Minister Modi, in his address to the nation today, thanked the citizens for their resolve in following the lockdown rules despite several hardships and applauded the "corona warriors", the frontline health, sanitation, security and police personnel who untiring efforts are leading the fight against COVID-19. Extending the lockdown until May 3, he stressed that though India was much better placed than many other countries, the fight was by no means over. He asked the citizens to show the same resolve and discipline for the next 19 days.

In his address, the Prime Minister said that he wanted the people to do certain specific things to benefit themselves, their families and the community. He said that people should:-

1.       Take extra care of the elderly, especially if they have a history of previous ailments. He asked people to keep them safe at all costs.

2.       Follow lockdown rules and practice social distancing religiously while wearing home-made masks if they go out to buy essentials.

3.       Follow the guidelines issued by the Ayush ministry to increase their immunity.

4.       Download the Arogya Setu app.

5.       Help the poor as much as possible, especially by looking after their food needs.

6.       Show compassion for employees and colleagues by ensuring that no one is fired.

7.       Honour our doctors, nurses, other health workers, sanitation workers, police personnel and other frontline workers and respect the work they are doing to save our lives.

Modi put things in perspective and informed the people that while India was doing well, there was no laxity on the part of the government and the medical infrastructure was being ramped up on a daily basis to cater to any exigency. He assured the country that there was no shortage of essential items and the supply chain bottlenecks had by and large been cleared. Keeping in tune with his last slogan of "jaan bhi, jahan bhi" (coined by him during the video conference with chief ministers of several states a few days ago) the Prime Minister said that there will be some relaxation in places where the situation shows improvement after April 20. But the underlying message was clear - the fight against coronavirus was going to be tough and lengthy and the citizens would have to bear hardships for many more days.