Our govt has done more work in 100 days than previous govt: Delhi minister Parvesh Verma
Live Events
(You can now subscribe to our
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel
New Delhi [India], June 11 (ANI): Delhi minister Parvesh Verma said on Wednesday that the Delhi government under the BJP government has done more work in the first 100 days than the previous government could have done in 10 years.Parvesh Verma spoke to reporters after participating in the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' event organised by Delhi's Education Department."The education department of the Delhi government has organised 'Ek Ped Maa ke Naam' program. I appeal to all Delhiites to plant a tree in the name of their mother in the nearby park... We have taken steps to ensure that water reaches all homes. It will take some time to improve it further and see the changes. The demand for water has increased now. Our officers are monitoring that there is no shortage of water anywhere, and work is also being done on the problem of dirty water, "Verma told reporters."Our government has done more work in 100 days than the previous government could do in 10 years", Parvesh Verma told reporters.On Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta attended the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam 2.0' event in New Delhi. She asserted that the government has set up a target of planting more than 70 lakh trees in the present season.While speaking to the reporters, the Delhi CM expressed her happiness and stated that every Delhi department and school is joining the second series of 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam'.Rekha Gupta informed that the government has requested every person and social organisation to plant at least one tree in the name of our "Mother Nature and Earth" to make Delhi greener."I am pleased that every Delhi department and school is joining the second series of 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam'. We are requesting every person and social organisation to plant at least one tree in the name of our Mother Nature and Earth, making Delhi greener. We have set a target of planting 70 lakh trees this season and expect to improve Delhi's environment by doing this", she told reporters earlier in the month.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hans India
28 minutes ago
- Hans India
Ashok Gehlot questions Election Commission's voter list revision ahead of Bihar polls
Senior Congress leader and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has raised sharp questions on the Election Commission's move to revise the voter list ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections, alleging it is creating confusion among voters. Speaking to reporters at Patna Airport, Gehlot said: 'Before the Bihar polls, the Election Commission is adopting new tricks. What is the need to take such steps just before the elections?' Gehlot questioned the urgency and transparency of the voter list revision of nearly 8 crore voters within 25 days, stating that people are confused about the requirement of documents such as birth certificates. 'People of Bihar living in Delhi are asking where to get birth certificates from. This is creating confusion among the people,' he said. He demanded that the Election Commission immediately clear the confusion. 'This work is being done without taking the Opposition into confidence,' Gehlot said. Earlier, Krishna Allavaru, Bihar Congress incharge, alleged that the BJP was behind this conspiracy to suppress the votes of the poor, backward, and minority communities by removing their names from the voter list before the elections. 'Earlier, the BJP was using back channels to remove the names of minorities, poor, and backward caste people from the voter list. Now they are doing the same through the Election Commission in Bihar. We strongly object to this move by the EC. It is a big conspiracy by the BJP to prevent poor, Dalit, and minority voters from participating in the electoral process ahead of the crucial Bihar Assembly elections in 2025,' Allavaru had said. The Opposition leaders in Bihar, including the RJD's Tejashwi Yadav have strongly criticised the move of the EC, ever since it was announced and implemented in Bihar. On Sunday, Tejashwi Yadav expressed concern over the Election Commission's notification for preparing a new voter list of 8 crore voters within 25 days, alleging it was a conspiracy to remove the names of poor, Dalits, backwards, extremely backward, tribals, and minority voters from the rolls.
Economic Times
33 minutes ago
- Economic Times
A road less Chinese? India may find a strategic path through Kazakhstan
TIL Creatives AI generated image for representation purposes. As China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) continues to expand its influence over global trade infrastructure, India is exploring alternative pathways that reduce reliance on Beijing-led such emerging option is the Trans-Caspian Internationalindia-kazakhstan-middle-corridor-TITR-trade-route-alternative-to-china-briTransport Route (TITR), commonly known as the Middle Corridor, with Kazakhstan playing a central role in its has long objected to key BRI components, especially the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which cut through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The Indian government has consistently raised concerns over CPEC's implications for territorial sovereignty. Also Read: Kazakhstan, logistics hub of the Eurasia, rises on the world stage In 2024, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reiterated India's position in an interview with ANI, 'On PoK, we are very consistent in our position. We want to tell you, the whole of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the union territories, they are part of India, an integral part of India. They were an integral part of India. They are an integral part of India and they will remain an integral part of India.' 'Our position on CPEC also is well known to you. We are not in favour of it. We are against it. It goes against our territorial integrity and sovereignty,' he added. But now, a quieter alternative is gaining traction, and it doesn't start in Beijing. It begins in Kazakhstan. According to The Economic Times, Kazakhstan is emerging as Eurasia's logistics pivot through the Middle Corridor. While India is not directly connected to this network, its rapid expansion presents a vital opportunity for New Delhi to reduce reliance on Chinese-dominated infrastructure and diversify its trade routes. The Middle Corridor spans over 4,250 km of rail and 500 km of seaway, connecting China, Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus, and Europe, bypassing both Russian and Chinese per Indian think tank Observer Research Foundation, the corridor was born out of geopolitical necessity following Russia's 2014 Crimea annexation, when Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia sought to hedge against dependence on unstable or adversarial 2017, the launch of the 826-km Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway cemented the route's viability, allowing transit from China to Turkey in 12 days, and to Prague in Transport Ministry reported that in 2024, traffic on TITR surged by 62%, reaching 4.5 million tonnes. Container transport grew by 170% to 56,500 TEUs, with 35,600 TEUs moved along the China-Europe leg, 27 times more than the previous year. The 2025 target is 5.2 million tonnes and 70,000 these numbers are just one part of the story. TITR's real significance lies in the infrastructure push that's coming, data The Economic Times reported, Kazakhstan is investing massively in its logistics network. In 2025 alone, it plans to modernise 13,000 km of roads and 6,100 km of railways, expand six airports, and build new maritime terminals, including a container hub in Aktau with a capacity of 240,000 TEUs. By 2029, another 11,000 km of rail lines will be upgraded, and new corridors like 'North' and 'Sedmiddle' are in the Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, speaking at the Foreign Investors' Council plenary on June 24 (as per Akorda, the official website of the Kazakh Presidency), described Kazakhstan's economic strategy as future-ready, sustainable, and globally integrated. The country reported a 6% GDP growth in the first half of 2025, driven by logistics, trade, and construction. This is the fastest in 12 an interview with Al Jazeera, Tokayev projected GDP growth of at least 5.5% for 2025, but added that this was 'not such an ambitious outcome,' as the government seeks additional growth India is not directly linked to the Middle Corridor, several geopolitical and economic factors could make TITR relevant to Indian per rating agency ICRA, India relies heavily on maritime trade via the Suez Canal, a route that has become vulnerable due to Red Sea instability and Houthi attacks.'The recent escalation of the conflict in the Red Sea has resulted in a 122% increase in freight cost in the past couple of months. As a result, the majority of global container shipping companies are deciding to avoid the Suez Canal and instead take the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope,' ICRA to the World Bank, 95% of India's foreign trade by volume and 67% by value is seaborne. The Suez route is crucial for trade with Europe, North Africa, and the Americas, regions accounting for over 35% of India's total foreign TITR offers a land-sea multimodal alternative that could ease maritime congestion, reduce freight costs, and benefit Indian exporters, particularly those targeting European markets. More importantly, TITR intersects with India's International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a 7,200-km network linking Mumbai to Europe via Iran and Russia. While TITR and INSTC are separate, they share geographic nodes in the Caspian Sea and Caucasus, especially Azerbaijan. This overlap allows for synergy: Indian goods could travel via INSTC and switch to TITR segments to access Central Asia, Turkey, and delays in INSTC, caused partly by sanctions on Iran and slow progress on the Chabahar-Zahedan railway, its relevance has only grown. According to ORF, INSTC, initially proposed in 2000, has been ratified by 13 countries and comprises road, rail, and sea Eastern Route, or KTI Corridor, runs through Iran, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan, connecting Russia's Finnish border to Iran's Bandar Abbas reports that Russia and Iran are now fast-tracking key INSTC links like the Rasht-Astara railway, expected to be completed by 2027. The convergence of INSTC and TITR could thus form a formidable trans-Eurasian grid, one that reduces India's reliance on China or the Suez objections to the BRI, especially CPEC, are rooted in sovereignty concerns. More broadly, New Delhi remains wary of BRI's debt-driven model and China's centralised control over participating stands apart. It is not dominated by any one country, and is increasingly backed by Western actors, including the EU, Turkey, and 2024, Kazakhstan hosted its first working group meeting with China on TITR freight movement. As per the Kazakh Ministry of Transport, both countries agreed to increase container traffic on the China-Europe route to 600 trains annually by 2025–26, and up to 3,000 trains by China remains a partner, the corridor's multinational nature limits any single country's own connectivity vision, such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is aligned with this trend. Despite recent Middle East tensions slowing IMEC's momentum, a senior MEA official during the 2023 G20 Summit said that the project remains a priority, reported The TITR, INSTC, and IMEC develop in tandem, they could collectively serve as a resilient alternative to the BRI, multiplying India's strategic choices and reducing its vulnerability to reform-driven model further strengthens the case for deeper India-Caspian ties. According to the country's state news agency, President Tokayev has introduced a 'prosecutorial filter' to protect foreign investors and launched a National Digital Investment Platform. So far, 137 projects worth $70 billion have been facilitated, and 140 legal amendments India, closer diplomatic and economic ties with Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia can help secure energy supplies, mineral access and geopolitical balance in a region of growing global need not formally join TITR to benefit from it. What matters is that Kazakhstan's logistics vision, and the Middle Corridor it anchors, adds redundancy to the global trade architecture. The more corridors exist, the less India and others would need to depend on those dominated by strategic rivals.
Time of India
43 minutes ago
- Time of India
"PM Modi inspired countrymen with important topics": Uttarakhand CM Dhami praises Mann Ki Baat
ANI Image DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami listened to the 123rd edition of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat' program at the chief minister's residence, an official statement said. After the program, the chief minister said that the Prime Minister has inspired the countrymen with important topics like yoga, social unity, service spirit and women empowerment. The chief minister said that under PM Modi's leadership, India has got a distinct identity at the global level. "The International Yoga Day, organised on June 21, once again demonstrated that yoga has made its special identity not only in India but all over the world. He expressed pride in the achievements of the country being declared trachoma-free by the World Health Organisation and bringing 64 per cent of the population under social security in the report of the International Labour Organisation," CM Dhami said. The chief minister stated that under the able leadership of the Prime Minister, the country has achieved significant progress in the areas of health and social security. He appreciated the collective service highlighted in "Mann Ki Baat", the spirit of meeting during religious pilgrimages and the initiative to promote local products. He said that this program embodies the ideal of 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat' and urged the people of the state to adopt these messages in their daily routine and make Uttarakhand a proud part of self-reliant and prosperous India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday in his 'Mann Ki Baat' address lauded "Women Led Development" initiatives, noting the remarkable achievements which are through enterprise, self-reliance and innovation are shaping a New India. Addressing the 123rd episode of his monthly radio address, the Prime Minister highlighted that women labourers from Telangana's Bhadrachalam who used to toil in the fields to eke out their daily livelihood are now making products that reach markets from Hyderabad to London. PM Modi said that those pads were distributed to nearby schools and offices at a very low price. He noted that these women joined a Self-Help Group and received training for the same. "The mantra of 'Women Led Development' is ready to create a new future for India. Our mothers, sisters, and daughters are today lending a new direction not only for themselves but for the entire society. You will also feel good when you come to know about the success of the women of Bhadrachalam in Telangana. These women once worked as labourers in the fields. They used to work hard all day for their livelihoods," PM Modi said during the Mann ki Baat programme. The Prime Minister also spoke about how women from Karnataka's Kalaburagi have created a "jowar" roti brand. They produce over 3,000 rotis daily through a cooperative, which are now not limited to villages but are sold in Bengaluru and via online food platforms, he said. "The achievement of the women of Kalaburgi in Karnataka is also excellent. They have made jowar roti a brand. In the cooperative that they have formed, more than 3000 rotis are being made every day. The aroma of these rotis is no longer limited to the village. A special counter has been opened in Bengaluru. Orders are coming in over online food platforms. Kalaburgi roti is now reaching the kitchens of big cities. This has had a great impact on these women; their income is increasing," PM Modi said. The Prime Minister also mentioned a story of "self-confidence" and "self-reliance" from Madhya Pradesh's Balaghat. Suma Uike, who has received training in mushroom farming and animal husbandry, joined the Self Help Group and has increased her income and also expanded her work. "These stories from different states have different faces. But their glow is the same. This is the glow of self-confidence, of self-reliance. One such face is Suma Uike from Madhya Pradesh. Suma Ji's efforts are very commendable. She took training in mushroom farming and animal husbandry by joining the Self Help Group in Katangi block of Balaghat district. Thus, she found her path to self-reliance. When Suma Uike's income increased, she also expanded her work. This journey that started with a tiny effort has now expanded to 'Didi Canteen' and 'Thermal Therapy Centre'. In every corner of the country, countless such women are changing their fate and that of the country," PM Modi said.
