Deepak Dwivedi
Good governance has been Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constant refrain and it came to the spotlight once again in an interaction he had with the UP Council of Ministers, in Lucknow last week. Our Cover Story is about the PM’s decision to take stock of the work done by Team Yogi in the first few weeks of the BJP-led Government’s second consecutive term in UP and discuss the future roadmap for good governance. The Prime Minister asked the UP ministers to review implementation of their decisions periodically and spend the maximum time in their areas to ensure that benefits of the Government’s development schemes reach common people. Imparting lessons of good governance to the BJPruled state governments, reviewing their work and making course corrections has been the hallmark of the Modi Model and it was in full display at the UP brainstorming session. A supporting story attempts to decode the Modi model of governance, which is the envy of every politician, not just in India but also abroad.
The Centrespread zooms in on the Akshaya Patra Foundation, which is the implementing partner of the Government’s flagship School Feeding Programme (SFP), the mid-day meal scheme. The Foundation reaches out to over 1.8 million children of more than 20,000 schools every school day with freshly cooked and nutritious lunch, thus supporting their health and education. Besides, the Foundation also implements the Government’s Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) feeding programme aimed at providing nutritional support to children and women in various locations. Our story details Akshaya Patra’s state-of-the-art kitchens, how it enhanced its execution capabilities for humanitarian efforts during disasters and also explains how through its multifaceted endeavours, the Foundation has been contributing to the nation’s pursuit of various SDGs.
South Korea, whose relations with India have made great strides in recent years and become truly multidimensional, is the focus-country in this week’s Globetrotting. Besides the historical connections between the two countries, our story talks of how after the opening of India’s economy in 1991, top Korean companies across the spectrum have seized the opportunity and about Indian corporations’ massive investments in South Korea. Not surprisingly, IndiaSouth Korea bilateral trade has crossed around $21 billion. A related story deals with the possibility of Quad expansion, which is being speculated in diplomatic circles following the new South Korean President’s expression of willingness to join the grouping of four countries.
Prime Minister Modi’s announcement that India is targeting the rollout of 6G telecom network by the end of the decade made big news and we cover it in this week’s issue. The PM exuded confidence that the 5G technology, which Indian companies are gearing up to launch over the next few months, will bring positive change in governance, ease-of-living and ease-ofdoing business.
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