Deepak Dwivedi
A feat worth emulating for the global development community, India took a giant step by localizing its SDG execution plans; and that makes our Cover Story of the week. In a significant move, the Union Cabinet gave its nod to the extension of the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, a Centrally-sponsored scheme to assist rural India in meeting key targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with a financial outlay of ₹5,911 crores. Besides highlighting the key role that states and UTs play in contributing to the country’s journey towards attaining the SDGs, our story elaborates on the developmental and social inclusion schemes of the Modi Government which are being successfully implemented at the village and block levels. A related report focuses on the Aspirational Districts Programme.
The Centerspread is another world-first initiative by India – the Prime Minister of the country taking up the responsibility of addressing exam-related anxieties of schoolchildren. ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’, helmed by PM Modi for the last five years, is a unique program conducted with a view to transforming the period of examination into a festival. Our story traces the origins of this path-breaking idea, besides focusing on the contours and the impact of this program on various stakeholders. A related report is about ‘Exam Warriors’, a book written by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Two important foreign dignitaries – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Mauritius PM Pravind Jugnauth – were touring India this week and we cover both the visits. While the highlights of Jugnauth’s visit form part of our country profile feature on Globetrotting, the British PM’s India program has been summed up in one of the news pages. India achieved a global distinction with the setting up of the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM), at Jamnagar in Gujarat. PM Modi, in the presence of Mauritius PM and WHO Director-General, laid the foundation stone of GCTM, which will be the first and only global outpost center for traditional medicine across the world. We cover the event prominently.
Besides, we have incorporated two events that witnessed highly inspirational messages from the PM. While conferring Awards for Excellence in Public Administration 2021 on Civil Services Day, the Prime Minister exhorted the civil servants that “your India@100 vision should have your district at the top.” We devote one full page to this annual event. On the occasion of the 400th birth anniversary of the ninth Sikh Guru, Modi became the first PM to address the nation from Red Fort post-sunset. His address at this historic event sent an unambiguous message that his Government identifies itself with the Sikh tradition of service to the people irrespective of caste and creed. We carry the report.
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