India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, accepted the award on behalf of PM Modi from the US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien at the White House.

“The President of the United States of America conferred the highest decoration, The Legion of Merit, Degree Chief Commander, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 21 December 2020. The award is in recognition of the Prime Minister’s steadfast leadership and vision for India’s emergence as a global power, and exemplary contribution made by him for the advancement of the IndiaUnited States strategic partnership and promoting global peace and prosperity,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement

The award was also presented to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

The Legion of Merit, instituted in 1942 by former U.S President Franklin D. Roosevelt, is awarded to members of the U.S. armed forces and also members of foreign (i.e., non-U.S.) armed forces and sometimes heads of state or government.

The award is presented to foreign recipients in four categories: Chief Commander, Commander, Officer and Legionnaire. Other Indians who have won the award include Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa who received the Legion of Merit (Degree: Chief Commander) in 1949 from then U.S. President Harry S. Truman.

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Terrorism is the biggest problem facing the world today. We have to ensure that countries that support and assist the terrorists are also blamed, and this problem is tackled in an organised manner,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his speech.

He also emphasised on reform of institutions like IMF, WTO, WHO to gain credibility.

The purpose of the Russian BRICS chairmanship in 2020, as it is for multifaceted cooperation between the BRICS countries, is to contribute to raising living standards and quality of life of our people, a Russian statement said.

“Despite the current global situation due to the spread of the coronavirus infection, the activities under the Russian BRICS Chairmanship in 2020 are carried out in a consistent manner. Since January 2020 more than 60 events have been organised, including via video-conferencing,” said Anton Kobyakov, Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation.

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Set up in 2014, V-Dem is an independent research institute based at the University of Gothenburg, and has published a data-heavy worldwide democracy report each year since 2017. As the name suggests, these reports look at the status of democracies in countries around the world. The institute calls itself the world’s largest data collection project on democracy.

The 2020 report titled ‘Autocratisation Surges – Resistance Grows’, begins with figures that point to the fact that globally, the spirit of democracy is on the decline.

For the first time since 2001, autocracies are in the majority and comprise 92 countries that are home to 54% of the global population, said the report.

It says that major G20 nations and all regions of the world are now part of the “third wave of autocratisation” which is affecting major economies with sizeable populations, like India, Brazil, the US and Turkey. “India has continued on a path of steep decline, to the extent it has almost lost its status as a democracy,” the preface to the report mentions.

India, the report finds, is the largest country verging towards a system of autocracy in terms of population.

Attacks on freedom of expression and media freedom are now affecting 31 countries. Two years ago it was just 19 countries. Moreover, academic freedom has registered an average decline of 13% in autocratising (including India) countries over the last 10 years. The right to peaceful assembly and protest has declined by 14% on average in such countries.

According to the report the first step of autocratisation involve eliminating media freedom and curtailing civil society.

The report cites “…the dive in press freedom along with increasing repression of civil society in India associated with the current Hindu-nationalist regime of Prime Minister Narendra Modi” to illustrate this.

India is not on the top 10 regressing countries according and is still considered as an electoral democracy. But the report warns that the signs of deterioration are evident.

This is not the first time India’s democracy has been under scrutiny by an international watch dog. Earlier in the 2019 Democracy index released this January, India slipped to the 51st position , and was categorised under flawed democracies .

Flawed democracy is defined as countries that hold free and fair elections and where basic civil liberties are respected, but have significantly weak governance, an underdeveloped political culture and low levels of political participation. The report was prepared by the intelligence unit of The Economist Group.

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This is PM Modi’s first visit to Gujarat since the coronavirus outbreak.

#WATCH: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at Ahmedabad. He is on a 2-day visit to Gujarat. pic.twitter.com/oYOlDie8w5

— ANI (@ANI) October 30, 2020

PM Modi is now visiting the family of former Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel in Gandhinagar. The 92-year-old BJP stalwart died in Ahmedabad on Thursday morning due to prolonged illness.

It is also expected that the PM would meet his nonagenarian mother Hiraba, who lives on the outskirts of Gandhinagar city with Modi’s younger brother Pankaj Modi.

The PM would then reach Kevadiya in Narmada district to inaugurate various tourism projects near the Statue of Unity, a monument dedicated to Sardar Patel.

On Saturday, he would inaugurate a seaplane service connecting Kevadiya with Ahmedabad.

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“India’s GDP is expected to contract by 9.6% in the fiscal year that started in March,” the World Bank said on Thursday. Regional growth is projected to rebound to 4.5% in 2021, it said.

The Washington-based global lender, in its latest South Asia Economic Focus report ahead of the annual meeting of the World bank and International Monetary Fund, forecasts a sharper than expected economic slump across the region, with regional growth expected to contract by 7.7 per cent in 2020, after topping six per cent annually in the past five years.

World Bank said that India is facing an exceptional situation since the spread of the coronavirus and containment measures have severely disrupted supply and demand conditions in India.

There was a 25% decline in GDP in the second quarter of the year, which is the first quarter of the current fiscal year in India.

“The situation is much worse in India than we have ever seen before,” Hans Timmer, World Bank Chief Economist for South Asia told reporters during a conference call.

Factoring in population growth, however, income-per-capita in the region will remain 6 per cent below 2019 estimates, indicating that the expected rebound will not offset the lasting economic damage caused by the pandemic, it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown from March 25 to contain the spread of Covid-19, which brought as much as 70% of economic activity, investment, exports, and discretionary consumption to a standstill. Only essential goods and services such as agriculture, mining, utility services, some financial and IT services and public services were allowed to operate.

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That China’s assurances in reconciliation talks are just nonsense is a fact that has already been established. China’s statement that India is responsible for all issues after the mutual understanding in the talks indicates that it will not back down from continuing the provocation. It is time for our rulers to realise that there is a need for a fundamental change in India’s policy towards China.

Prime Minister NarendraModi has spent a major part of his time in developing foreign policy since the NDA government came to power. Modi has made more trips abroad than any other Prime Minister in recent times. These trips paved the way for Modi to be a continued presence in foreign media in the end. Modi is also the most-visited Indian Prime Minister in China, which is currently violating the border.

Since coming to power in 2014, NarendraModi has met Chinese President Xi Jinping 18 times. The two leaders held several discussions and statements made during the meetings suggest that Modi thought that Xi Jinping was his friend. Modi thought that this friendship alone is enough to build good relations with China. After the meeting with Xi in China in October 2019, Modi said that the talks between the two leaders would take the relationship between India and China to a new level and that the people of both countries and the world would benefit from it. Less than a year after that meeting, China began a military operation on the border.

China continues to provoke India despite reconciliation talks after the killing of 20 Indian soldiers. Modi’s attempt to “elevate” India-China relations to a new level by spending a lot of money from the public treasury and the time of diplomats has failed miserably. Relations between India and China are reaching a “new level” where people in both countries view each other with hostility. The reality is that the last six years of efforts to develop foreign policy have not been to India’s advantage.

India’s relations with China and all its neighbours have never been so bad as in recent times. A foreign policy based on not trusting its neighbours can only serve to destabilsze the country’s borders. At a time when the economy is collapsing, border conflicts will be even more detrimental to the country. What our ruler needs to show at this time is the maturity to make thoughtful and rational decisions in foreign policy.

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Compared to the first quarter of the previous year, the GDP has declined by 23.9 per cent. The last financial year has seen a slowdown in growth. With the advent ofCOVID, growth had disappeared and the recession had started.

Even before the corona attack, our economy was in a weak state. Due to the lock-down following COVID, economic activity fell sharply and the economy was hit harder. The country experienced a bigger economic downturn in the first quarter than predicted by various studies. Only the agricultural sector has seen growth. The economy is becoming more dependent on agricultural activities than usual. The good monsoon has paved the way for the growth in the agriculture sector.

According to SBI, the country’s largest bank, the country is expected to experience a 10.9 per cent recession in the current fiscal. The report predicts a slowdown in the July-September quarter.

The central government needs to address this issue by recognising the reasons why the economy has been weaker than expected despite the expected slowdown. Even before COVID, the state of the economy was bad. We have been facing a situation where the economy has been struggling for a few years now due to the ban on notes and the shortcomings in the implementation of the GST. Last year saw the highest unemployment rate in the last 45 years. The corona came like thunder out of the clear blue sky at a time when the labour market and the small business community were in crisis. Prolonging the lockdown has exacerbated fundamental financial problems.

The endless opportunities for small businesses that are unique to India are disappearing. Cosmetic interventions are not enough at a time when wartime solutions need to be found to revive the economy. Interventions are urgently necessary to move the market, which has lost grounds due to the repercussions and lockdowns created by COVID-19.

The Prime Minister’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ announced in May was claimed to be a package of 10 per cent of GDP. But the new expenditure from the government for this package is only Rs.1.5 lakh crore. Even when corporate tax cuts were made last year, the government spent Rs.1.45 lakh crore. That’s about the same amount as government spending on the ‘self-sufficient’ package. That is, only 1-1.2 per cent of GDP. With such a plan, the current severe economic downturn cannot be eliminated. We can only recover from the recession if the government initiates a strong package with a long-term vision.

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RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were among those who attended the event at the site where a large number of devout Hindus believe Lord Ram was born.

The guest list, including religious leaders, who was part of the movement that started in the 1980s, was restricted to 175 in view of the COVID-19 crisis. The seating arrangements were made in accordance with covid protocols.

As a priest chanted Sanskrit ‘shlokas’ and the ground-breaking ceremony got under way under a giant marquee decorated in shades of reds and yellows, Modi and the other dignitaries, all in masks, maintained social distancing and sat a safe distance away from each other.

The Prime Minister laid down a silver brick to mark the foundation ceremony of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech said that the wait of centuries has ended. The construction of the Ram temple, he said, is an instrument to unite the country. The Ram temple construction will lift the economy of the entire region, he said. The prime minister unveiled a plaque and released a commemorative postal stamp.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi through Twitter said Lord Ram is a manifestation of the best human qualities.

In a tweet, Rahul Gandhi wrote in Hindi, he said, “Lord Ram is the manifestation of the best human qualities. They are the core of humanity in the depths of our mind.”

“Ram is love. It can never appear in disgust; Ram is compassion. It can never appear cruel; Ram is justice. It can never appear in injustice,” Rahul Gandhi wrote on Twitter.

मर्यादा पुरुषोत्तम भगवान राम सर्वोत्तम मानवीय गुणों का स्वरूप हैं। वे हमारे मन की गहराइयों में बसी मानवता की मूल भावना हैं।

राम प्रेम हैं
वे कभी घृणा में प्रकट नहीं हो सकते

राम करुणा हैं
वे कभी क्रूरता में प्रकट नहीं हो सकते

राम न्याय हैं
वे कभी अन्याय में प्रकट नहीं हो सकते।

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 5, 2020

Ahead of the ceremony, Ayodhya has been decked up and painted in yellow- an auspicious colour of knowledge and learning. In the eve of the ceremony, all local temples started a continuous Akhand Ramayan recitation with temples and homes being lit as in Diwali. The same will continue August 5 night.

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The virtual summit is being hosted by the US-India Business Council (USIBC). This year marks the 45th anniversary of the formation of the Council.

The summit will feature high-level presence from Indian and US government policymakers, state-level officials, and thought leaders from business and society. The discussions will focus on areas including India-US cooperation and future of the relation between the two countries in a post pandemic world.

Other key speakers at the Summit include Minister of External Affairs Dr. S Jaishankar, U.S. Secretary of State Mr. Mike Pompeo, Senator of Virginia and co-chair of Senate India Caucus Mr. Mark Warner, Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Ms. Nikki Haley, among others. The Summit will witness discussions on areas including India-US cooperation and future of the relation between the two counties in a post pandemic world.

USIBC hosted over 400 attendees over two days for its India Ideas Summit in Washington last year. Over 50 prominent speakers, 10 panels focused on trade and connectivity between the United States and India, across the Indo-Pacific.

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PM Modi joined Twitter in January 2009 when he was serving as the Gujarat Chief Minister. PM Modi uses the platform to engage with the public and most recently he is seen using the platform informing people about the steps the government is taking to control the spread of the COVID-19.

On March 2 , Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter and said in one of his cryptic tweets that he is thinking of quitting his social media accounts. But in a surprising move, Mr. Modi on March 8 announced that he is handing over his social media accounts to seven achievers to share their life journeys as a part of International Women’s day.

Mr.Modi has also been active on other social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Instagram as well. He has used these social media platforms for Clean India campaign, women safety, and also to give up subsidy for the Ujjwala programme of the government which distributes LPG connections to financially weaker sections.

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