COUNTRY SADDENED BY INSULT TO TRICOLOUR ON 26 JANUARY: PM MODI

A dressing the nation on Mann Ki Baat on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned the tractor rally protest and the vandalism at the Red Fort which took place on the Republic Day. He said, “The country was saddened to see the National Flag being insulted.” In his first radio broadcast of 2021, PM Modi also said that his government was “committed to modernising agriculture and the efforts of the government will continue in that direction in the future as well”.

Stating how the first month of the year has passed by swiftly, the Prime Minister highlighted the major events that took place in January, including the approval of two Covid-19 vaccines, the beginning of the world’s largest nationwide inoculation drive, the celebration of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary and the 72nd Republic Day celebrations.

While recounting the developments in January, he also mentioned India’s remarkable comeback in the four-match Test series in Australia. The Prime Minister also spoke about the country’s fight against Covid-19 and how the ‘Made in India’ vaccine has not only made India self-reliant (aatmanirbhar) but also become a moment of self-pride (aatma-gaurav). He said, “Many people on the ManoApp have said that many of their foreign friends message them to thank India for sending vaccines.

These days, I too receive similar messages from the presidents and prime ministers of different countries of the world.” Asserting that the beginning of 2021 marks the competition of almost a year of

India’s battle against the pandemic, PM Narendra Modi said that just as India’s fight against Covid became an example, its nationwide vaccination programme too is turning out to be exemplary for the world. “It is a matter of pride for India that it is vaccinating its citizens faster than anywhere else in the world. In just 15 days, over 30 lakh corona warriors have been vaccinated, whereas advanced countries like the US took 18 days to do the same and Britain took 36 days,” he added. 

Noting that the country is approaching its 75th year of Independence, the Prime Minister urged people, especially young people, to write about freedom fighters and the incidents associated with their struggle. “Write books about the saga of valour during the period of the freedom struggle in your area. Now, as India will celebrate 75 years of her freedom, your writings will be the best tribute to those heroes of our freedom. An initiative has been taken for young writers for the purpose of India Seventy-Five. This will encourage young writers from all states and of all languages,” he said.

Informing about the tradition of conferring the Padma honour on unsung heroes, that was started a few years ago, the Prime Minister said, “I urge all of you to know more about these people and their contribution,” recalling several individuals who continue to make immense contributions to society as individuals.

PM Modi also said that his monthly broadcast is an opportunity to learn many new things and mentioned a vegetable market in Bowenpally in Hyderabad which was generating electricity from vegetable waste, a gram panchayat in Panchkula , Haryana which used waste water to irrigate fields, the people of Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh making Mon Shugu, a form of eco-friendly paper, a young woman entrepreneur growing strawberries in the Bundelkhand region, women in Jabalpur successfully running a rice mill after taking over the reins, and the all-women crew of Air India commandeering the longest flight from San Francisco to Bengaluru.