Axiom-4 Mission launch postponed to June 11 due to bad weather

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This episode of India First examines 11 years of the Narendra Modi government's foreign policy, focusing on India's global standing and diplomatic achievements.

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India Gazette

37 minutes ago

• India Gazette

'Op Sindhu' not only homecoming, but live example of Modi govt's 'nation first' policy: Tarun Chugh

New Delhi [India], June 22 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National General Secretary Tarun Chugh on Saturday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the successful evacuation efforts under Operation Sindhu, calling it a unique example of the Central government's 'nation first' policy. 'Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, even during a global crisis, India prioritises ensuring its citizens' security. In the middle of an ongoing war, a conflict-ridden country like Iran opening its airspace is a big win for India's foreign policy, diplomacy and India's reliability,' Tarun Chugh said while speaking to ANI. ''Operation Sindhu' is not only a homecoming of Indian students but is a live example of the PM Narendra Modi government's 'nation first' policy. Even earlier, during the Russia-Ukraine war or any natural calamity, India has given priority to security for its citizens,' he said. Meanwhile, a special flight carrying 290 Indians stranded in conflict-hit Iran landed safely in New Delhi on Saturday night, bringing the total number of evacuees under Operation Sindhu to 1,117. This marks the fifth batch of Indians evacuated from Iran as part of the ongoing operation. In a post on X, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated, 'Operation Sindhu gains momentum. 290 Indian nationals have returned home safely from Iran on a special flight from Mashhad that landed in New Delhi at 2330 hrs on 21 June 2025.' 'With this, 1,117 Indian nationals have been evacuated from Iran,' the MEA added. The evacuees, including students, shared their experiences of the tense situation in Iran and expressed deep gratitude to the Indian government and embassy officials. An Indian national from Bihar's Siwan, studying medicine at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, said, 'I am from Siwan, Bihar. I have been in Iran for the last 2 years. I study medicine at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The situation in Tehran is critical. Other places are normal. I am thankful to the government (for the evacuation).' Another evacuee, Naveed, a second-year MBBS student, added, 'I am from Kashmir. I am a 2nd-year MBBS student. I feel very good now. I am thankful to India. They evacuated us.'Describing the fear they faced, one evacuee said, 'I feel very good. There were missiles firing. We were feeling very afraid there. We were stuck there for 1 week.' Momin Ushtaq from Kashmir praised the government's efforts, saying, 'I am from Kashmir. The situation is not good there. We are very thankful to the government of India, Kashmir, and the Embassy. They deserve a special thanks, as they evacuated us and brought us back home.' Gratitude was also directed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Parveen, another evacuee, said, 'I am very happy. I am thankful to PM Modi from the bottom of my heart. Our government helped us to get back here.' Indira Kumari added, 'We have returned. I am thankful to the Indian government and the Prime Minister of India.' Earlier on Saturday, a special flight from Mashhad carrying 310 Indian nationals landed in New Delhi at 4:30 PM. Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes targeted a significant nuclear facility in Iran's Isfahan province, as reported by Al Jazeera. As per Al Jazeera, citing an Israeli military spokesperson, the air force struck the main complex as well as buildings involved in centrifuge production. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that a centrifuge manufacturing workshop was hit but clarified that no nuclear material was present at the site, so there were no radiological impacts. (ANI)

Time of India

an hour ago

• Time of India

Urban challenge fund to focus on revitalising core areas of cities

Danny generated AI Image NEW DELHI: The next phase of central assistance (seed funding) for states to take up transformative projects under the Rs 1 lakh crore Urban Challenge Fund (UCF) will focus more on revitalising core areas of cities and fixing legacy infrastructure gaps, such as bad drainage, sanitation and polluted water bodies. Officials said the focus of this funding will be on projects that have a transformative impact. Centre will provide such financial aids to 500-1,000 small cities as well to take up projects, they said. The housing and urban affairs ministry has finalised the UCF scheme and it is likely to be launched soon, sources said. TOI on Jan 13 had reported that PM Narendra Modi has directed ministry officials to focus more on creating facilities, amenities and better transportation network in those areas of cities which naturally attract people and businesses, rather than developing new cities. Following the PM's direction, more thrust is now on having a better framework for transit-oriented development (TOD) for cities to push intensive and planned growth along transportation networks, the sources said. Speaking at a CII-organised conference, additional secretary in the ministry, D Thara, said, "In UCF, we are looking at revitalisation of cities and fixing of legacy infrastructure as a primary goal. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Memperdagangkan CFD Emas dengan salah satu spread terendah? IC Markets Mendaftar Undo We are not in a hurry to fund. We are clear that these projects should bring huge transformation and big impact. It can't be unfixing small things here and there. The project could be of any size but it has to be make a lot of difference to citizens. " The focus is not about building afresh but about fixing what already exists, she added. Officials said under UCF, govt is also likely to provide seed fund for developing new greenfield areas, with good rail connectivity, as future cities. In her Budget speech, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the seting up of UCF to implement proposals for 'Cities as Growth Hubs', 'Creative Redevelopment of Cities' and 'Water and Sanitation'.

Indian Express

an hour ago

• Indian Express

Eleven years: a data-based critique

This is a sequel to last week's column (Eleven Years: A Critique, Indian Express, June 15, 2025). I am fond of data that is accurate and verifiable but, alas, most readers are not. Even educated persons shy away when presented with numbers. I believe that numbers capture the picture (of an economy) more truthfully than words. If the ultimate test of good governance is the well-being of the people, the question is, 'Does a person have enough income for necessities such as food, dwelling, education, healthcare, transport, family gatherings and recreation?' (I have left out other expenditure which, due to changing times, may be considered essential). The best official data available are in the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES). In my view, the metric of consumption, rather than income, measures the standard and quality of life of the average family. The last HCES was conducted in 2023-24, covered the whole country, and information was collected from 2,61,953 households (1,54,357 rural and 1,07,596 urban). Incidentally, Mr Narendra Modi's government completed ten years in 2023-24. HCES data is comprehensive. The heart of the survey is the data on average Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure (MPCE). What is a person's consumption expenditure in a month sums up the standard and quality of his/her life, whether rich or poor or middle class. Fortunately, the data is available by fractile classes of the population, i.e. by segmenting the population into each 10 per cent. Here is the data: 2011-12 2023-24 Fractile classes in Rupees in Rupees of MPCE Rural Urban Rural Urban 0 – 5 % 521 701 1,677 2,376 5 – 10 % 666 909 2,126 3,093 20 – 30% 905 1,363 2,833 4,353 40 – 50 % 1,136 1,888 3,498 5,622 70 – 80 % 1,645 3,063 4,885 8,353 90 – 95 % 2,556 5,350 6,929 12,817 95 – 100 % 4,481 10,282 10,137 20,310 Average All India 1,430 2,630 4,122 6,996 It will be seen that— 🔴 Expenditure is a proxy for income and borrowing. The persons in the bottom 10 per cent have an expenditure of Rs 50-100 per day. Ask yourself, with Rs 50-100 a day, what kind of food can a person consume? What kind of dwelling can a person have? What kind of medical care or medicines can the person afford? 🔴 Ten percent of the population is not an insignificant number: it is 14 crore people. If they were a separate country, it will be ranked 10th in the world in terms of population. Yet, the NITI Aayog and the government claim that the 'poor' are only 5 per cent or less of the total population. The claim is cruel and dishonest. 🔴 The most relevant comparator is the ratio of the per capita expenditure of the top 5 per cent and the bottom 5 per cent. Twelve years ago it was approximately 12 times; in 2023-24 it is still approximately 7.5 times. Government has claimed that agricultural growth is robust, but is the farmer's life robust? Data from NABARD (2021-22) showed that nearly 55 per cent of agricultural households are burdened with debt. The average outstanding loan per household is Rs 91,231. According to a Lok Sabha reply on February 3, 2025, 13.08 crore farmers owed Rs 27,67,346 crore to commercial banks; 3.34 crore farmers owed Rs 2,65,419 crore to co-operative banks and 2.31 crore farmers owed Rs 3,19,881 crore to regional rural banks. The PM Kisan scheme is riddled with holes. The peak enrollment was 10.47crore in April-July 2022. It declined to 8.1 crore in 2023 (15th installment) and government claimed it had risen to 9.8 crore in February 2025 (19th installment). The gyrations are inexplicable. Unjustifiably, tenant farmers are not eligible. The crop insurance scheme was refined and re-introduced by the UPA government. Private insurers were allowed and the government directed the insurance companies to run the scheme on a 'no profit, no loss' basis. On the other hand, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), implemented by the NDA, has become an extortionate scheme: the claims paid as a proportion of gross premiums collected has declined from 87 per cent in 2019-20 to 56 per cent in 2023-24. The critical social security scheme — MGNREGS — has received a stagnant allocation in the last three years. Over 1.5 crore active job cards have been deleted. The average number of days of work is 51 as against the promised 100 days. Instead of being a demand-driven scheme, it has become a fund-starved scheme. The 5 kg free grain per person to 80 crore persons leaves out 10 crore eligible citizens. Despite free rations and the mid-day meal scheme, stunting among children is 35.5 per cent and wasting among children is 19.3 per cent. In the Global Hunger Index, India ranks 105 out of 127 countries. The share of manufacturing in GVA has fallen from 17.4 per cent in 2011-12 to 13.9 per cent in 2024-25. The vaunted Production-Linked Incentive scheme is a spectacular failure: 14 sectors were allocated Rs 1,96,409 crore but only Rs 14,020 crore has been disbursed. Being the fastest growing large economy does not mean that the Indian economy is in good health or will eradicate poverty or make India a developed country. Every ten years, India needs another dose of structural reforms, decentralization of powers to States, massive de-regulation, more competition and the government 'getting out of the way'.