The face-off between the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration and the agitating students continued on Tuesday, with the university expressing shock at the "misinformation" being spread by the students community.

The university has implored the students, who are protesting its notification on an upper cap on the number of M.Phil. and Ph.D. students a faculty member can guide, to end their "siege" of the administrative block. 

"The university's website and media reports have plenty of appeals and requests made by the administration to these students to refrain from unlawful and harmful methods… and come forward for peaceful discussion and dialogue," the premier university of the country said in a statement. 

It also accused the students of misleading the public by showing their "illogical demands as genuine concerns". 

It is the 12th day since a hundred-odd students started their occupation of the building, blocking all entries to it and throwing, as the administration alleged, "the entire bureaucratic apparatus out of gear". 

"The agitators do not care at all when thousand plus contractual labourers suffer because of their agitation, and yet shed crocodile tears by invoking 'social justice' arguments," the statement said.

"Do they worry at all when the university has lost huge sums of money, that are actually the country's taxpayers' money, due to their occupation and blockade of the administrative building?" 

"Do they respect academics, when official papers of faculty and students related to their academic engagements in India and abroad are not processed due to their illegal siege of the office building?" the university said. 

It also reprimanded the JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA) for supporting the students and taking the matter out of campus instead of approaching the administration.

"The JNUTA has not even once given a call for ending the siege of the administration building…," it said.

"Some students have resorted to confining top JNU officials for above 20 hours, breaking open the doors and disrupting meetings, putting locks in various School Buildings to prevent classes,… All these incidents ironically are not considered law and order problems by JNUTA!" said the administration. 

The students decided to "occupy" the administrative block on February 9, following the adoption of a 2016 University Grants Commission (UGC) notification which recommended an upper cap on the number of M.Phil. and Ph.D. students a faculty member can guide. 

They alleged that the cap would mean a massive seat-cut in the admissions, although the university said it will not happen.

 The face-off between the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration and the agitating students continued on Tuesday, with the university expressing shock at the "misinformation" being spread by the students community.

The university has implored the students, who are protesting its notification on an upper cap on the number of M.Phil. and Ph.D. students a faculty member can guide, to end their "siege" of the administrative block. 

"The university's website and media reports have plenty of appeals and requests made by the administration to these students to refrain from unlawful and harmful methods… and come forward for peaceful discussion and dialogue," the premier university of the country said in a statement. 

It also accused the students of misleading the public by showing their "illogical demands as genuine concerns". 

It is the 12th day since a hundred-odd students started their occupation of the building, blocking all entries to it and throwing, as the administration alleged, "the entire bureaucratic apparatus out of gear". 

"The agitators do not care at all when thousand plus contractual labourers suffer because of their agitation, and yet shed crocodile tears by invoking 'social justice' arguments," the statement said.

"Do they worry at all when the university has lost huge sums of money, that are actually the country's taxpayers' money, due to their occupation and blockade of the administrative building?" 

"Do they respect academics, when official papers of faculty and students related to their academic engagements in India and abroad are not processed due to their illegal siege of the office building?" the university said. 

It also reprimanded the JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA) for supporting the students and taking the matter out of campus instead of approaching the administration.

"The JNUTA has not even once given a call for ending the siege of the administration building…," it said.

"Some students have resorted to confining top JNU officials for above 20 hours, breaking open the doors and disrupting meetings, putting locks in various School Buildings to prevent classes,… All these incidents ironically are not considered law and order problems by JNUTA!" said the administration. 

The students decided to "occupy" the administrative block on February 9, following the adoption of a 2016 University Grants Commission (UGC) notification which recommended an upper cap on the number of M.Phil. and Ph.D. students a faculty member can guide. 

They alleged that the cap would mean a massive seat-cut in the admissions, although the university said it will not happen.

Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh said today that he was ready for tripartite talks with the United Naga Council (UNC) to end the crippling three-month-long economic blockade.

He also accused the BJP of having a "tacit understanding with the UNC" and said the saffron party's "gameplan" will fail in the March elections.

The land-locked state is witnessing an indefinite economic blockade by UNC since November 1, 2016 against the state government's decision to create seven new districts by bifurcating the existing ones and upgradation of Sadar Hills to a full-fledged district.

Asked whether the state government is ready for tripartite talks with the UNC to resolve the ongoing crisis, Singh told PTI, "Yes, we are ready." 

Asked as to why the matter was not discussed with the UNC before bifurcating the districts, Singh said, "We tried to discuss, but they were not listening. We had to sit together but they did not respond when we invited them (for talks)".

The chief minister refuted Home Minister Rajnath Singh's charge that the blockade was a result of a "political conspiracy" hatched by the Congress government to divert attention from its "failures".

On the Home Minister's statement that Congress government did not use central forces, Ibobi Singh said, "If you go there you will see that womenfolk threatened by the NSCN (IM) are sitting on the highway. We cannot fire left and right to lift the blockade. The Centre needs to take steps," he said.

The Centre wanted to create such a situation, he charged and added that, "If something goes wrong and if someone dies, they (Centre and BJP) will blame us and say that law and order has broken down in the state. They would take advantage of that situation".

Supply of essential commodities including fuel in Manipur has been severely hit leading to exorbitant price hike of essential commodities after UNC declared indefinite economic blockade on NH2 (via Dimapur) and NH 37 (via Jiribam) — the two lifelines of the state.

Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh said today that he was ready for tripartite talks with the United Naga Council (UNC) to end the crippling three-month-long economic blockade.

He also accused the BJP of having a "tacit understanding with the UNC" and said the saffron party's "gameplan" will fail in the March elections.

The land-locked state is witnessing an indefinite economic blockade by UNC since November 1, 2016 against the state government's decision to create seven new districts by bifurcating the existing ones and upgradation of Sadar Hills to a full-fledged district.

Asked whether the state government is ready for tripartite talks with the UNC to resolve the ongoing crisis, Singh told PTI, "Yes, we are ready." 

Asked as to why the matter was not discussed with the UNC before bifurcating the districts, Singh said, "We tried to discuss, but they were not listening. We had to sit together but they did not respond when we invited them (for talks)".

The chief minister refuted Home Minister Rajnath Singh's charge that the blockade was a result of a "political conspiracy" hatched by the Congress government to divert attention from its "failures".

On the Home Minister's statement that Congress government did not use central forces, Ibobi Singh said, "If you go there you will see that womenfolk threatened by the NSCN (IM) are sitting on the highway. We cannot fire left and right to lift the blockade. The Centre needs to take steps," he said.

The Centre wanted to create such a situation, he charged and added that, "If something goes wrong and if someone dies, they (Centre and BJP) will blame us and say that law and order has broken down in the state. They would take advantage of that situation".

Supply of essential commodities including fuel in Manipur has been severely hit leading to exorbitant price hike of essential commodities after UNC declared indefinite economic blockade on NH2 (via Dimapur) and NH 37 (via Jiribam) — the two lifelines of the state.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who spearheaded BJP's campaign for the civic polls, on Monday exuded confidence that people will support the party on basis of the work it has done.

Fadnavis, along with his wife Amruta and mother, voted in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation election at a booth near their residence in Dharampeth here at around 11.45 am.

The Chief Minister, who is facing a battle of prestige in the election to 10 Municipal Corporation, including cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, told reporters, "I have full faith that on the basis of work we (BJP) have done, people will back us." 

He appealed to voters across the state to exercise their voting right in order to strengthen democracy.

Fadnavis said voting is the responsibility of citizens and they should participate in the democratic process.

Polling for Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and nine other civic bodies across Maharashtra got underway this morning with estranged allies BJP and Shiv Sena locked in an intense battle.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who spearheaded BJP's campaign for the civic polls, on Monday exuded confidence that people will support the party on basis of the work it has done.

Fadnavis, along with his wife Amruta and mother, voted in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation election at a booth near their residence in Dharampeth here at around 11.45 am.

The Chief Minister, who is facing a battle of prestige in the election to 10 Municipal Corporation, including cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, told reporters, "I have full faith that on the basis of work we (BJP) have done, people will back us." 

He appealed to voters across the state to exercise their voting right in order to strengthen democracy.

Fadnavis said voting is the responsibility of citizens and they should participate in the democratic process.

Polling for Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and nine other civic bodies across Maharashtra got underway this morning with estranged allies BJP and Shiv Sena locked in an intense battle.

An administrative botch-up has deprived hundreds of Delhi University (DU) retirees of their pension since 2014, with the varsity telling a court here that it cannot abide by an August 2016 order to pay as it doesn't have the money to do so. The case will now be taken up on April 17.

In the decade from 1989 to 1999, Delhi University (DU) gave its employees the option through circulars to choose between Contributory Provident Fund (CPF) or pension upon retirement. It gave this option not once or twice but 11 times in total.

However, the University Grants Commission (UGC), which funds central universities like DU, asked that the option be stopped in 1999 saying it did not have the power to do so. By this time several employees had exercised their choice in choosing for either pension or CPF through these circulars, while there were many who did not choose either.

The DU circulars had come following a central government order dated May 1, 1987. The order stated that "all CPF beneficiaries… will be deemed to have come over to the Pension Scheme" from the date mentioned before, unless they explicitly request to remain in CPF by informing this to their offices on or before September 30 of the same year.

Almost two decades later, in an unrelated case, a court here ruled in 2006 that a similar option given by the Bureau Of Indian Standards (BIS) was not in order as it was applicable only until September 30, 1987. Those who did not make a choice till that date would be treated as pensioners when they retired.

The court, then, ruled that the September 30, 1987, date was sacrosanct and all central government employees, as per the recommendation of the Fourth Central Pay Commission, will be deemed to have come into pension without their having specifically expressed so.

The BIS case galvanised into action scores of DU employees who either had expressed their desire to come into pension after the cut-off date of September 30, 1987, or had refrained from explicitly choosing either.

Many of these employees started approaching the Delhi High Court which consolidated all such pleas into three categories – category 1 and category 3 for employees cited above, and category 2 comprising those who chose CPF before the cut-off date — and delivered a combined judgement on April 30, 2014.

In a single bench judgement the court ruled that two categories (1 and 3) were eligible for pension and directed the DU to proceed accordingly. The court based its judgement on the ground laid during the BIS judgement in 2006, which upheld the indisputability of cut-off date as the final date before which an option to remain in CPF could be made, and which was irreversible.

However, DU decided to challenge this verdict.

Also in an open letter to teachers, unwittingly or wittingly, Dinesh Singh, the then Vice Chancellor, acknowledged that the university was not entitled to extend the option of choosing between the CPF and pension.

"During the period 1988 to 1999, the University had granted extensions to employees to move over from CPF to GPF-cum-pension scheme. The University and its EC (Executive Council) believed that they had the power to do so on their own and thus thousands of employees in all sincerity had exercised the above options and were drawing, or now expect to draw pension upon retirement," Singh wrote in his letter dated August 21, 2014, just days before the court judgement came.

But "unfortunately" in approaching the court, the employees, Singh continued, "ended up challenging the validity of the options granted by the University and the legitimate exercise of these options by all University employees between 1988 and 1999".

"It seems that the V C either wasn't aware of the BIS case which had, in effect, already rendered those circulars illegal, or, he didn't understand its implications," Amarnath Gupta, a retired Associate Professor from the university and an active member of Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) Pension Committee, told IANS.

"The DU staff moved the court after the very BIS case thinking that the option chosen by them for pension will not stand since the cut-off for doing was already pronounced to be long over on September 30, 1987… but they rightly got the succour from the court, since they didn't explicitly have to choose pension at any time, it was automatically done on October 1, 1987, if they hadn't explicitly selected for CPF," he said.

The DU then received another blow when a division bench of the High Court upheld the 2014 judgement on its ruling dated August 24, 2016, giving the university three months time to start paying the retirees which it had stopped after the 2014 judgement.

"In spite of being directed by the Delhi High Court to start disbursing pension, which ruled it in its August judgement last year, the university has not budged," Gupta complained.

After almost five months of the verdict, the university is yet to resume the pensions of the employees. It also seeks to challenge the verdict, as directed by the HRD ministry.

On the other hand, "a contempt of court notice was slapped on the university for not adhering to the court order," Gupta said.

He also added that during its first hearing on January 19 this year, the DU cited lack of funds for not being able to disburse pensions and the court reprimanded it for not fulfilling its responsibility as an employer.

The case is next due to be heard on April 17.

A total of 636 (teaching and non-teaching) DU employees stand to be affected by how things play out in the future. Of them, 518 are retired and have had their pension on hold and 118 are yet to retire.

On his first day in office, as chairman of Tata Sons, N Chandrasekaran on Tuesday outlined three strategies for further growth of Tata Group.

“In my new role, I will focus on three strategic priorities,” Chandrasekaran said, adding, “Bringing the group closer together to leverage its enormous collective strength" will be the first strategic priority.

“Reinforce a leader’s mindset among the operating companies and drive world-class operating performances across the group,” Chandrasekaran outlined as his second priority for Tatas' success.

Meanwhile, not leaving shareholders aside and focusing on capital allocation, he assured, "I will bring greater rigour to our capital allocation policies and deliver superior returns to our shareholders".

After a legal fight between ousted Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry and Tata Group patriarch Ratan Tata, it was extremely important for the group to have a strong and united leadership.

“I welcome Chandra, who has successfully displayed his leadership in his career at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS),” Ratan N Tata, Chairman, Emeritus of Tata Sons, said.

“I am sure he (Chandrasekaran) will bring considerable value to his leadership role in the Tata Group in the years ahead,” he added.

The face-off between the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration and the agitating students continued on Tuesday, with the university expressing shock at the "misinformation" being spread by the students community.

The university has implored the students, who are protesting its notification on an upper cap on the number of M.Phil. and Ph.D. students a faculty member can guide, to end their "siege" of the administrative block. 

"…The university's website and media reports have plenty of appeals and requests made by the administration to these students to refrain from unlawful and harmful methods… and come forward for peaceful discussion and dialogue," the premier university of the country said in a statement. 

It also accused the students of misleading the public by showing their "illogical demands as genuine concerns". 

It is the 12th day since a hundred-odd students started their occupation of the building, blocking all entries to it and throwing, as the administration alleged, "the entire bureaucratic apparatus out of gear". 

"The agitators do not care at all when thousand plus contractual labourers suffer because of their agitation, and yet shed crocodile tears by invoking 'social justice' arguments," the statement said.

"Do they worry at all when the university has lost huge sums of money, that are actually the country's taxpayers' money, due to their occupation and blockade of the administrative building?" 

"Do they respect academics, when official papers of faculty and students related to their academic engagements in India and abroad are not processed due to their illegal siege of the office building?" the university said. 

It also reprimanded the JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA) for supporting the students and taking the matter out of campus instead of approaching the administration.

"The JNUTA has not even once given a call for ending the siege of the administration building…," it said.

"Some students have resorted to confining top JNU officials for above 20 hours, breaking open the doors and disrupting meetings, putting locks in various School Buildings to prevent classes,… All these incidents ironically are not considered law and order problems by JNUTA!" said the administration. 

The students decided to "occupy" the administrative block on February 9, following the adoption of a 2016 University Grants Commission (UGC) notification which recommended an upper cap on the number of M.Phil. and Ph.D. students a faculty member can guide. 

They alleged that the cap would mean a massive seat-cut in the admissions, although the university said it will not happen.

Singer Ellie Goulding has sparked reconciliation rumours with her former boyfriend Dougie Poynter, after they attended London Fashion Week parties together.

Goulding and Poynter, who broke up in 2016 after two years of dating, were spotted together on Monday, reports aceshowbiz.com.

They attended Vivienne Westwood and James Jagger's Mad Max party. Goulding was seen wearing a black velvet dress, while Poynter sported a leather jacket and a printed shirt. 

The former couple looked cozy throughout the night at the event, which was also attended by Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, Winnie Harlow and Lily Donaldson. 
 

Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh on Tuesday urged the Centre to place INLD leader Abhay Chautala in preventive custody for threatening to dig the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal on the Punjab-Haryana border February 23.

The Congress chief also demanded deployment of armed forces at the border between the two neighbouring states to prevent any untoward incident.

Pointing out that the SYL issue had the potential to trigger the revival of terrorism in Punjab, Amarinder Singh said that the intelligence reports endorsing his apprehensions necessitated a strong crackdown on INLD, which is Haryana's main opposition party, and its leaders before the situation goes out of hand.

Amarinder Singh also sought the cancellation of INLD patriarch Om Prakash Chautala’s parole to control the situation.

Chautala, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Haryana Assembly, announced that thousands of INLD supporters will march from Ambala in Haryana to the Shambhu barrier, on the boundary of Haryana and Punjab, and start digging of the SYL canal.

Refusing to accept a ruling of the Supreme Court given in November 2016 which held the termination of water sharing agreements as "unconstitutional", the Punjab government has pitted itself to confront the court verdict.

The Punjab Assembly had in 2004 passed the controversial 'Punjab Termination of Water Agreements Bill' to end all water-sharing laws with other states.

The Trump administration is considering dropping an indefinite ban on Syrian refugees in a revised executive order on immigration that the President is expected to release this week, the media reported.

Trump's original order, issued a week into his presidency, barred citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries — Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen — from entering the US for 90 days, all refugees for 120 days and refugees from Syria indefinitely. However, his inital order failed to overcome legal challenges.

The new draft, in a major difference from the earlier order, contains an exemption for green-card holders from the seven countries included in the travel ban as well as those individuals who are dual citizens of the US, one of the officials said, ABC News reported on Monday.

The revised version of Trump's temporary travel ban could be issued as early as Tuesday, according to reports.

"The President is contemplating releasing a tighter, more streamlined version of the first executive order," US Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend.

The new order is also expected to address concerns of the 9th Circuit federal appeals court, which blocked the original order, that travellers' due process rights were not being respected by giving detailed notice of restrictions for those with current or pending visas, a CNN report said. 

Trump has expressed frustration in person and on the social media over his stalled travel ban, often targeting the courts and the judges who have ruled against provisions of the order.

"The new order is going to be very much tailored to what I consider to be a very bad decision," Trump told reporters at the White House last week, referring to a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that ruled against his earlier order.

As of Monday afternoon, the revised order was still considered to be in an early drafting stage, according to the administration officials.

Challengers to the original executive order were confident they'll prevail in court again because the second version has the same "core problem".

Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) who is challenging the order in New York courts, said he expected that the new order will exempt green card holders, but warned that he expected other aspects of the new order to present legal problems. 

"If the only real change is to exempt green card holders, then the legal challenges will continue full force," he said.

Immigration attorney David Leopold argued that the very fact that a new order is being drafted "is a clear admission by the Trump administration that the President directly violated immigration law and the Constitution when he ordered a sweeping ban on Muslims and Syrian refugees in late January."

West Bengal on Tuesday observed International Mother Language Day paying homage to those who laid down their lives for the cause of the Bengali language in Bangladesh in 1952.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took to Twitter in Bengali, stressing the importance of each and every language.

"Every language is equal. The mother tongue should be the medium to express one's views. My respect to the martyrs," she said.

In her homage, Banerjee highlighted the song "Ekusher Gaan" which is popularly known for its opening line "Amar bhaiyer rakte ranga Ekushe February, aami ki bhulite pari" (How can I forget February 21, it is soaked in the blood of my brethren), that was composed in memory of the martyrs of the language movement.

The day began with 'prabhat pheri' (morning march) as employees of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission went round the Park Circus area singing the iconic song written by Bangladeshi-born British writer Abdul Gaffar Choudhury.

Schools across the city took out rallies and several showcased marching band parades.

Local television channels and radio stations aired special programmes on the occasion, recollecting the history associated with the momentous struggle.

In 1948, Pakistan declared that only Urdu would be the official language for both West and East Pakistan. The people of East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, whose main language is Bengali, protested the declaration.

On February 21, 1952, students and political activists took out a procession protesting against Urdu being made the sole official language. 

The police opened fire, killing several protesters. This led to the protest spreading over all of East Pakistan, and finally the Pakistan government had to give equal status to Bengali.

Since then, the day is celebrated as the 'Language Martyrs' Day'.

In 1999, Unesco declared February 21 as International Mother Language Day, a day intended to promote free language choice everywhere in the world.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday exercised his franchise in a municipal ward where nine candidates are contesting and none of them belongs to NCP.

Pawar, along with son-in-law Sadanand Sule and grand daughter Revati, voted here at a polling booth in ward no.

214, which comprises landmarks like the Mahalaxmi Mandir, Jaslok Hospital and the historic Gowalia Tank ground.

There are nine candidates contesting from ward 214 in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections, including those from Congress, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and Shiv Sena.

Arvind Bane of Shiv Sena, Dhanraj Sahadev Naik of MNS, Kaushik Jasubhai Shah of Congress and Sarita Ajay Patil of BJP are some prominent candidates in the ward, where the number of eligible voters is 60,236.

Meanwhile, a 108-year-old woman voted at a polling booth in Fansavle village of Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district for the zilla parishad polls.

The woman, who came to the booth with the help of a 'walker', along with three generations of her family, also appealed people to vote.

AIADMK leader Sasikala, serving a jail term after her conviction in a disproportionate assets case, will have to serve 13 more months in prison if she fails to pay a fine of Rs. 10 crore imposed by the Supreme Court.

"Sasikala Natarajan will have to pay Rs 10 crore and if she fails to pay the punitive amount imposed by the Supreme Court, she will have to serve 13 more months in the jail," Prisons Superintendent Krishna Kumar said in a statement.

The AIADMK General Secretary is currently serving her sentence at the Parapanna Agrahara prison here.

The Supreme Court had on February 14 restored Sasikala's conviction in the disproportionate assets case, awarding four years jail term to her and her relatives, besides imposing a fine of Rs 10 crore each.

Sasikala will be in jail for three years and about 11 months, out of the four years sentence awarded by the trial court. She had earlier spent 21 days in Parappana Agrahara jail after conviction by the trial court in September 2014.

"The convicts–Sasikala, Illavarasi and Sudhakaran–are getting (the same) treatment in the jail as others are getting and they have not been given any special treatment," Kumar said.

For security reasons, Sasikala and Illavarasi have been lodged in the women's block and they are living in a small cell, Kumar said.

Sudhakaran is lodged in the men's block, he said.

Food prepared in jail was being served to them and prison doctors were regularly conducting medical checkups and administering medicines to them, Kumar said.

They are allowed to watch television at a common place, Kumar said.

Acknowledging the immense contribution of saints and seers towards India’s social reform, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday credited them for integrating the society.

Addressing the 7-day session of Sri Ramakrishna Vachanamrita Satram, Tiruvalla through video conferencing, Modi stressed that India was a land blessed with a rich cultural and intellectual milieu. 

“Our saints did things that may seem seemingly small but the impact was very big and this altered the course of our history… They integrated each and every citizen in their quest for social reform. Nobody was left outside the ambit,” the PM said.

Noting that a false perception was created about India that it needed social, political and economic reform initiated by outsiders, Modi said, “change has always originated” from India’s soil.

“And whenever the history of human civilization entered into the era of knowledge, it is India that has always shown the way,” he said.

“Our land is home to writers, scholars, saints and seers who have expressed themselves freely and fearlessly,” he added.

Acknowledging the immense contribution of saints and seers towards India’s social reform, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday credited them for integrating the society.

Addressing the 7-day session of Sri Ramakrishna Vachanamrita Satram, Tiruvalla through video conferencing, Modi stressed that India was a land blessed with a rich cultural and intellectual milieu. 

“Our saints did things that may seem seemingly small but the impact was very big and this altered the course of our history… They integrated each and every citizen in their quest for social reform. Nobody was left outside the ambit,” the PM said.

Noting that a false perception was created about India that it needed social, political and economic reform initiated by outsiders, Modi said, “change has always originated” from India’s soil.

“And whenever the history of human civilization entered into the era of knowledge, it is India that has always shown the way,” he said.

“Our land is home to writers, scholars, saints and seers who have expressed themselves freely and fearlessly,” he added.