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Hindustan Times
2 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
PM Narendra Modi says economy strong, seeks self-reliance in tech
India is the world's fastest-growing major economy and is rapidly moving towards becoming a global leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Bengaluru on Saturday, days after US President Donald Trump described the country's economy as 'dead' amid escalating trade tensions between the two nations. PM Narendra Modi with Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, deputy CM DK Shivakumar, and Union minister Manohar Lal during a Metro ride in Bengaluru on Sunday. (ANI) Addressing a public gathering after inaugurating the 19-kilometre Yellow Line of the Bengaluru Metro, Modi said India was on track to become one of the world's top three economies as he credited the country's economic momentum to the central government's 'reform, perform, transform' approach. 'India is currently the fastest-growing major economy in the world. In the past eleven years, India's economy has risen from the 10th position to the top five globally and is rapidly progressing towards becoming one of the top three economies,' he said. The PM's endorsement of the country's economic growth came after Trump, on July 30, announced 25% punitive tariffs on Indian goods entering America for purchasing Russian oil. A day later he again targeted India, saying, 'I don't care what India does with Russia… They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care.' On August 6, he signed an executive order imposing an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods. India has called the American actions 'unfair, unjustified and unreasonable' and said it will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests. In his address, Modi also called for the country to accelerate its self-reliance in the technology sector as he pressed for a stronger 'Tech Atmanirbhar Bharat'. 'Indian tech companies have made their mark on the global stage. They have built software and products for the world. The time has come to give greater priority to the needs of India. We must move forward in manufacturing new products,' he said. The statement was in line with his August 2 remarks in which he called on citizens to adopt the spirit of 'swadeshi' and support locally made products, stressing that true service to the nation lies in promoting indigenous goods amid global economic uncertainties. The additional 25% tariffs, due to take effect on August 27, will put Indian exporters at a significant disadvantage compared to their rivals in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam – which face tariffs of between 19% and 20%. In his speech, Modi said that the country's rapid pace of development was linked to its economic growth as he focused on the rise of the country's exports. 'Before 2014, India's total export was $468 billion, but today it is $824 billion. We used to import mobile phones but now we are among the top five exporters of mobile handsets. Our electronic export before 2014 was $6 billion, which has gone up to $38 billion dollars,' Modi said. He added: 'These achievements give strength to our concept of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India). We will march together and build a developed India.' Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, Union ministers Manohar Lal Khattar and Ashwini Vaishnaw were also present on the occasion. During his visit, the PM also laid the foundation stone for the Bangalore Metro Phase-3 project and flagged off three Vande Bharat Express trains as he underscored the country's growing infrastructure footprint across sectors by highlighting the increase in the number of metro rail services, railway lines, airports, AIIMS and IITs. This was the first time Modi visited Bengaluru since Operation Sindoor, India's military action against terror hubs in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) in retaliation to April's Pahalgam attack, in which 26 civilians were killed. Modi credited the success of the operation to indigenous defence technologies. 'A key factor in the operation's success was 'Make in India' in defence, which had immense contribution from the youth of Karnataka and Bengaluru,' he said. I congratulate the youth of this state,' he said, adding that Pakistan, which 'came to defend the terrorists', was forced 'to its knees' within hours. Praising the city's global standing, he called Bengaluru 'a city that has become a symbol of the rise of the new India… A city that has put India's flag on the global IT map. If there is anything behind Bangalore's success story, it is the hard work and talent of its people.' Siddaramaiah, who spoke before Modisaid the state has been spending more than the Centre on Bengaluru's metro network, even though the project is meant to be jointly funded. 'Works for the Bengaluru Metro started in 2005 when Dr Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister, and the agreement was to take up works in a 50:50 fund ratio. However, the state's contribution to building the metro is high,' he said, urging the Centre to match Karnataka's funding model with that of Maharashtra and Gujarat. In response, Modi called for cooperation over political rivalry. 'Whether it is the central government or the state government, all are committed to serving the people,' he said.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Protest will pressurise Centre for statehood restoration: Khera
Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera on Sunday joined the J&K Congress hunger strike in Srinagar and said that the protest was aimed to build pressure on the central government for restoration of statehood. Congress leader Pawan Khera during a chain hunger strike called by the party's Jammu and Kashmir unit, in Srinagar, on Sunday. (PTI) Khera, who is chairman of Congress's media & publicity department, said that they didn't trust the promises made by central leadership. 'We believe in the power of people. We believe in our party's history and its power. Even the British had come under pressure from our party. And in front of the people's power, kings and dictators come crashing down to the ground. This protest will obviously create pressure and they will have to return this right of the 1.4 crore people of Jammu and Kashmir,' he said. As part of its series of protests which started last month on July 19, J&K Congress started a hunger strike from Saturday till August 20 seeking the restoration of statehood. On the launch of the hunger strike, J&K Congress president Tariq Hamid Karra said that this strike was aimed to push the government to listen to the wishes of 1.4 crore people of J&K. 'August 9 coincides with Quit India Movement, which had started in 1942 in the AICC session of Maharashtra on the call of Gandhi ji and keeping that in mind, we have started a hunger strike which will be observed across J&K in all districts till August 20. It is being done so that the emotions and desires of 1.4 crore people of J&K reach this blind and deaf government,' Karra said. On July 17, Lok Sabha leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had written to PM Modi to introduce a bill in the ongoing monsoon session to restore J&K's statehood. The J&K Congress then started its protest campaign on July 19 followed by a demonstration on the first day of the monsoon session in Delhi. On August 5, the party observed a 'black day' in protest against the revocation of J&K's statehood. Khera said that RSS would even consider the protests for freedom from the British futile when people were fighting the British. He said that when the statehood was revoked 5-6 years ago many promises were made. 'We were promised that terrorism will be eradicated, some 5 years ago. Many promises were made on demonetisation. Don't trust their promises. The rulers sitting in Delhi don't know how to run the government. They only know word play. Everyday there is new drama and new 'mann ki baat'. The Prime Minister doesn't know how to run the government,' he said. On why their alliance partner National Conference didn't join the protest, Khera said: 'It is our party's program. It is in our manifesto and we are fulfilling that. And whoever wants to join, the doors are open.' He said that the elected government of the union territory doesn't have enough powers. 'This is an incomplete government. It doesn't have powers. More powers are with LG. In a UT system, there are many compulsions. Efforts are more, compulsions are more, one's hands and feet are tied and still one has to move forward,' he said.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Calcutta HC has highest backlog of cases pending for 50+ years
NEW DELHI: In a ranking that it can do without, Calcutta high court (HC) has topped the list of HCs having huge backlogs of cases pending for disposal for over five decades. The HC, one of the three first set up by the British, has 2,185 such cases yet to be disposed of, which is 94% of the total 2,329 cases pending for over 50 years across all HCs. And since last year, Calcutta HC has added 140 more to its docket. According to the pendency statistics released by Union law ministry on Thursday, there are 22,829 cases pending for 40-50 years at 25 HCs across country, another 63,239 for 30-40 years, over 3.4 lakh for 20-30 years and 11.5 lakh for 10-20 years. The oldest case in a high court is pending for 74 years, since 1951. Only eight HCs besides Calcutta have pendency of cases for over five decades - 56 in Madras HC, 46 in Patna HC, 17 in Allahabad HC, nine in Telangana HC, eight in Orissa HC, four in Madhya Pradesh HC, and two each in Bombay and Punjab & Haryana HCs. In comparison, the district judiciary has done better with only 1,113 cases pending for five decades, of which 39% are only from Bengal. The data was released by law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in response to a question in Rajya Sabha on Thursday. The total pendency of cases which are more than 10 years old is at 15,77,191. In response to another question on pendency of cases, Meghwal said several factors lead to long pendency, including "complexity of the facts involved, nature of evidence, cooperation of stakeholders, viz. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like If you have a mouse, play this game for 1 minute Navy Quest Undo bar, investigation agencies, witnesses and litigants, besides the availability of physical infrastructure, supporting court staff and proper application of rules and procedures to monitor, track and bunch hearing of cases". He highlighted that pendency of cases and vacancy for judges in HCs are not necessarily directly related - as of Aug 1, against the sanctioned strength of 1,122 judges in HCs, the working strength was at 778, with 344 vacancies. "Against these vacancies, 138 proposals for appointment of judges are at various stages of processing between govt and SC Collegium," Meghwal said. Govt has not yet received any recommendation against 206 vacancies, he added. This seems to have escaped the attention of the higher judiciary, notwithstanding SC issuing from time to time directives to all HCs to ensure that pendency of all cases over 10 years old is cleared on priority basis. As reported by TOI, govt had set up National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms in Aug 2011 with the objective of improving legal access by reducing delays and arrears in the system and enhancing accountability through structural changes and by setting performance standards and capacities. Separate arrears committees have also been set up at all 25 HCs to clear cases pending for more than five years. Similar committees are functional at district courts.
