Staying away from announcing any fresh schemes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi focused on the big picture and articulated his vision of India’s future in his Independence Day address this year. By spelling out Panch Pran, a fivepledge development strategy for the next 25 years of India, he unwittingly brought the spotlight on the pathetic state of the Opposition in the country.
Shorn of any vision and having no meaningful agenda to offer to people, the perpetually-squabbling opposition parties are busy adding to their list of PM-hopefuls. This stark contrast between the ruling party led by PM Modi, who has shown long-term vision and proven leadership qualities, and a rudderless and directionless Opposition is the focus of our Cover Page stories this week. Detailing PM Modi’s vision of a developed India by 2047, our report also dwells on the key takeaways from his speech and analyses their significance in the landmark year of India’s independence. A supporting story on the Rising India page explains how PM Modi made a paradigm shift in his speech this year and successfully used his political capital to push various messages.
Apart from the Cover Page story on a clueless and quibbling Opposition, we have two other reports on the subject in an inside page. While the first deals with the constant decline of the Grand Old Party, the other is about the growing irrelevance of regional parties in the country.
India’s year-long presidency of G20, which begins in December this year, is the subject-matter of the Centrespread. Haling the big opportunity that it is, our report focuses on the plethora of challenges that India will have to handle. Like all other developing countries, India will have to deal with the developed world’s pressure, says our report, adding that it will have to find ways to bring both western democratic nations and authoritarian regimes to the table. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will need to steer India’s G20 presidency through a world plagued by differences. The report then elaborates on key challenges, including Russia-Ukraine conflict, global economic crisis and China problem, and also deals with the way ahead.
Brazil, which takes over the G20 presidency after the end of India’s term, is our Globetrotting destination this week. The Latin American nation has linkages of almost 700 years with India, says our report.
Between the 16th and 18th centuries, Brazil and Goa, both outposts of the Portuguese imperialist empire, had bilateral exchanges that are reflected in food and dressing as well as local traditions. With Latin American countries in general and Brazil, in particular, India enjoys a strong and positive image.
From the influence of Mahatma Gandhi, yoga, Ayurveda, Indian street carnivals, cinema and more, there is much happening in Brazil, according to our report. It also quotes data to stress how Brazil is one of the most important trading partners of India in the entire Latin America and Caribbean region.
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