Saying “there is excitement and enthusiasm in the entire country”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday described the Ram temple opening in Ayodhya on January 22 as a “historic moment” and urged people to share artistic creations depicting it on social media using a “common hashtag”.
“This compilation,” the PM said in his monthly Mann Ki Baat address, “will turn into a flow of emotions and devotion in which everyone will be immersively imbued with the ethos of Ram”.
Pointing out that he himself shared some songs and bhajans on his social media accounts, he said, “During the last few days many new songs and new bhajans have been composed on Shri Ram and Ayodhya. Many people are also writing new poems… I request you to share your creations on social media with the hashtag Shri Ram Bhajan (#shriRamBhajan)”.
In the radio address, his last this year, the PM recounted some of the country’s achievements, ranging from legislation to sports to space missions, and urged people to take “inspiration and pride” from these successes and “make new resolves”
“Today every corner of India is brimming with self-confidence, imbued with the spirit of a developed India; the spirit of self-reliance… we have to maintain the same spirit and momentum in 2024 as well,” he said.
The PM mentioned in particular the women’s reservation law, India’s emergence as the 5th largest economy and the success of the G20 Summit. He also spoke about the success of Chandrayaan-3, saying he and the entire country was proud of the scientists behind it, especially the women scientists.
Applauding the Oscars for the song Natu-Natu and the documentary ‘The Elephant Whisperers’, he said the world had seen “the creativity of India and understood our bonding with the environment”.
The PM said “our athletes…performed marvellously”, winning 107 medals in Asian Games and 111 in Asian Para Games. “Indian players won everyone’s heart with their performance in the Cricket World Cup. The victory of our women’s cricket team in the Under-19 T-20 World Cup is very inspiring,” he said. “Now, the Paris Olympics will be held in 2024, for which the whole country is encouraging her players,” he added.
Calling it his belief that “the development of a country which does not give importance to innovation, stops”, the PM said “India becoming an iInnovation hub is a sign that we are not going to stop”.
“In 2015 we were ranked 81st in the Global Innovation Index – today our rank is 40th. This year, the number of patents filed in India was high, of which about 60% were from domestic funds. This time the highest number of Indian universities have been included in the QS Asia University Rankings. If we start making a list of these achievements, it can never be completed,” he said.