ITV

Tag: Narendra Modi

  • Al Jazeera ups its ante for general elections

    Al Jazeera ups its ante for general elections

    MUMBAI: We are three days away from the big fight. And as India goes into general elections, one of the international news channels, broadcasting in the country, is strengthening its election coverage that began from 1 April.

     

    Six Al Jazeera correspondents have been roped in to highlight crucial issues bothering the country- economy, food, health, corruption and security. The coverage will be in two phases- from now till the results are announced the focus will be on what the election means to India and the ground realities. The second phase, once the government is formed, will discuss on how the new government’s policies will impact the world.

     

    “In the first phase we will tell the people’s story through our news pieces. The issues they face, the reason they are choosing a certain party and whether the problems they are facing have been addressed by these parties. In the second phase we will show the impact of the new government on world affairs,” says Al Jazeera India bureau chief Anmol Saxena.

     

    The Al Jazeera correspondents will cover different issues from different regions of the country. So while Nidhi Dutt will explore the issue of food inflation and impact of rice farmers in West Bengal, Sohail Rahman will look at the maoist rebel attacks in Chattisgarh as well as internal security issues. Karishma Vyas will investigate the rise of Hindu nationalism from Gujarat, Faiz Jamil will look into the separatist issues affecting Assam. Baba Umar and Kamal Kumar will also assist the team. Apart from this, seven other freelancers have been roped in to help in both reporting as well as production.

     

    Special programmes include: One hour special show that analysis the measures taken by main political parties regarding healthcare facilities; ‘101 East’ that asks people if BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is the right person for India and ‘Inside Story’ that debates crucial points before and after voting.

     

    The news packages will be interspersed throughout the day with at least one news piece from one part of the country in a day.

     

    Not to forget that the channel will also indulge in live coverage on some of the polling days and specifically on the verdict day -16 May. Live output will be provided from three locations on 16 May- BJP headquarters, Congress headquarters and an Al Jazeera set up from a location for which one OB van, one fly away dish and one AVI vest have been hired. The first day of polling (7 April) will see live broadcasting from Assam and south India.

     

    Marketing plans to promote visibility of the shows as well as the channel will begin soon. Social media will be used extensively to lock in people using hashtags #AJIndia and #IndiaElections that will be tracked by its online team and the programme ‘The Stream.’

     

    Speaking about the coverage, Al Jazeera managing director Al Anstey said in a release, “India is the world’s biggest democracy and the country is diverse in opinion and sentiment. Al Jazeera will attempt to reflect the voices of people ranging from the metropolitan hubs of Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad; to the rural landscapes of Rajasthan and Kerala. Al Jazeera’s coverage will encompass TV, online and social media which will ensure real opinion, thought and voices that will be heard.”

  • Narendra Modi gets chatty with ETV

    Narendra Modi gets chatty with ETV

    JAIPUR: BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, while for the first time giving a long interview to ETV, during the electioneering environment, has expressed that in the Indian politics this will be an election of hope. Because, the people have lost faith not only on Congress Party and its Prime Minister, but also on the system named government. That is why the first priority should be to get back the faith of the people.

    The interview of Narendra Modi has been telecast on all ETV channels. It will be re-telecast at 8.30 pm during Central Hall Programme. Head of ETV News Network, Jagdish Chandra on this occasion said that during the Lok Sabha Elections, the channel has started a series of programmes for bringing national issues and opinions of national leaders on those issues to the common people. This series has started with the interview with Narendra Modi. Narendra Modi is believed to be very near to be the next Prime Minister. Nearly 240 channels’ applications are pending with Narendra Modi for getting his interview. But, to make reach his voice to 35 crore viewers, he chose first ETV.

    For ETV’s programme “Central Hall”, Senior Journalist Harishankar Vyas took interview of  Narendra Modi. In reply to his question on “Congress Free India”, Modi said that it means Corruption free India, Dynasty free India, Free from Undemocratic methods, Free from misuse of constitutional agencies of India, Free from price rise and free from threat to India. Because, Congress has become a medium for all these. Hence Congress Free India call has been given. When, he is saying Congress free India, that means he is calling to free from the work culture that has been developed in India over sixty years by Congress. And also for the free from vote bank policy adopted by Congress.

    On a question that previously some non-Congress governments also functioned similar to Congress during their tenure, Modi replied that except Atal Bihari Vajpayee, all others heading non-Congress governments, were having Congress Gotra (lineage). They had been groomed in Congress. Only due to personal differences or for any other political reasons they had been separated from Congress.

    Narendra Modi also said that he has a clear picture in mind on what will be his priorities after forming government. Administrative system has to be revived to uplift the poor. Modi asserted that he doesn’t consider himself as Hero. His commitment is for the poor, farmer, youth, women and jawans.

    Narendra Modi during his 66 minutes interview openly discussed on National and International issues, safety and army related issues and also on economic reforms issues. In between, the interview, ETV News Network Head Jagdish Chandra presenting the reviews said that Modi wants to implement the Gujarat Model across the nation, which will be a big challenge before him. In addition to this, Modi tried to refute the allegations labeled against him by highlighting economic issues. Assuring to spread Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s ambitious project of inter linking rivers, Modi hinted of bringing a new turn in economic system. Modi during the discussion also hinted that RSS life vision can be seen in his work style.

    Commenting on UPA government, Narendra Modi said that their policies are of vote bank policies. They run the government to win  the elections and we want to run the government to empower the people. For them, grabbing power is everything, and we want to empower the people. Vote bank based policies empty the government treasury and term these as economic reforms. There is a need to weed out huge obsolete laws. Even after the files complete 40 Dhams (holy places), it never completes the journey. Modi also expressed his views on development of agriculture, Shipping Industry and tourism. On replying to a question, Modi said that his think tank will be 125 crore public.

    Narendra Modi, showed interest in Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Sashtri. Replying a question on Health issues, Modi said that Gandhiji had always talked about hygiene, but we couldn’t teach our children about those culture. We will present a Clean India on Gandhiji’s 150th anniversary. We should think on being healthier than suffer from diseases. We want to set up one medical colleges in each district. Modi cleverly avoided the reservation issue and said that he raised the number of seats in Engineering and Medical Colleges to such an extent that everyone can get opportunity to study. He gave priority to increase job opportunities for youths.

    Narendra Modi, during his interaction with ETV, for the first time spoke about his personal life and interests. He said that he likes to listen music, especially instrumental music. He also likes to trek in mountains and Himalaya is his favorite place. He used to read lot of books in his village library during childhood. But, now he doesn’t get time to read. He also said that he never dreamed of being something, and never told young people to dream to become someone. But, yes, he dreams to do something and advises the young to dream of doing something. And he left home, left family, and left village, only to do something for Mother India. Not to be something.

  • BJP’s campaign is dull, drab and quite ordinary: Prathap Suthan

    BJP’s campaign is dull, drab and quite ordinary: Prathap Suthan

    MUMBAI: The upcoming election is possibly the only one in a long history of five-year polls, where political parties are unabashedly using media to promote their prime ministerial candidates and agendas.

    Thus we have both the main players – the Congress and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) – splurging crores of public money on election campaigns in a bid to outdo each other. Indeed, Congress was the first to jump into the fray with the tagline ‘Main nahi, Hum’ which attracted much controversy, what with the BJP claiming the punch line had originally been used by its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi at a ‘Chintan Shivir’ in Gujarat.

    However, the BJP lost no time in launching its own campaign with posters, TVCs, radio spots shouting themselves hoarse – ‘Ab ki Baar, Modi Sarkar’. The underlying message being that the common man’s woes such as inflation, lack of women’s safety etc. would be assuaged if Modi was elected for the country’s top job.

    With the political climate hotting-up this election season, both campaigns are attracting their fair share of bouquets and brickbats. But we thought it would be interesting to speak to Prathap Suthan – the man who created BJP’s earlier ‘India Shining’ campaign (2004) – and get his perspective. Excerpts…

    What do you have to say about the BJP slogan? Do you see it touching an emotional chord with urban and rural voters?

    Barring the fact that it rhymes, I don’t think it’s an inspiring slogan. It’s a mere auto suggestion as to what the voter should do. It doesn’t hold out any promise, mission and vision to people like us. It’s dull, drab and quite ordinary.

    Do you think the BJP has started too early or too late?

    The BJP campaign is at least a month late. Worse still, despite the fact they have started and bits and pieces are making their way onto social media, they have been invisible. Till yesterday, I haven’t seen their advertising in print or on TV. Anymore invisibility and they’d be sending out wrong signals to the electorate. But knowing them, and their almost strident confidence, I suspect their cause has been sabotaged by terrible media planning or a media boycott. I can’t think of any other reason why their campaign hasn’t broken out in media yet.

    Modi stands for development. Do you think the current campaign and slogan brings out this core message?

    If the Modi line of thinking has to do with progress and development, the campaign should have been a reflection of that. This is a boring campaign. I see no cues of development and young and contemporary thinking in this. Congress on the other hand, despite whatever else, has better looking advertising by far.

    What are your views on the AAP and the way they use publicity in their favour?

    I used to like the idea of AAP. But somewhere, they’ve changed into something else that they shouldn’t be.

    Considering that they don’t have the kind of media budgets that the main parties have, their public activist avatar keeps them in view. It is clever thinking because media will carry and play the de facto advertising vehicle. However, too of much of everything has a down side. You can’t be a serious national party when you pick up street fighting as a brand character. At some level, it will backfire. Leadership, and genuinely inspiring stewardship of the nation is what’s missing today, and AAP isn’t quite playing that wedge.

    One piece of advice you’d like to give to the creative and media agencies that are handling the BJP and Congress accounts?

    There is no point advising advertising agencies. I believe all of us are equally qualified and experienced to handle large campaigns. We do that day in day out, and on some very challenging focussed briefs. In this case, the client takes the call and at times, dictates. The fault, if any, doesn’t lie with the agencies. It has to squarely lie with the parties.

    Lastly, of the two parties, which is the campaign you are betting on and why?

    I think the country is loaded in favour of BJP – but they have an uninspiring campaign. One man almost looms over you. Congress, however, seems to have delivered the campaign better. It’s younger looking, modern, non-traditional, and in a strange way, more inclusive.

  • “TV news has changed and it won’t change back”

    “TV news has changed and it won’t change back”

    MUMBAI:  “It’s ironical that a journalist who has been labelled as ‘self opinionated’ has been called for the session on ‘The electronic news media: on fine balance?’” began television’s most vociferous anchor and Times Now editor-in-chief, who has often faced criticism for his in-your-face brand of journalism.

     

    Arnab Goswami was just being himself when he wondered aloud why he had been invited to deliver the keynote at the ongoing FICCI Frames 2014.

     

    Taking centre stage, he proceeded to narrate the incident that made Times Now a household name and the six mantras that he bears in mind at all times.

     

    “To all my critics I say that TV news has changed, and it won’t change back,” Goswami said to a loud applause from the audience.

     

    He recalled how Times Now had relentlessly pursued the story of a small child called Prince who fell into a borewell in 2006 to get people to take the channel seriously. At the time, the channel had become the butt of jokes for the political class. “In 2006, we were mocked by politicians who termed us as ‘Times When’ rather than ‘Times Now’ and I then found my voice through Prince,” said the presenter notorious for his irreverent style.

     

    Goswami went on to explain that the reason behind making Prince the talking point for days on end was to highlight the preferential treatment meted out to children of politicians and corporates vis-a-vis the common man of India.

     

    With the same passion (some call it aggression) that he displays while moderating his much viewed debates, Goswami revealed the six rules he keeps close to his heart. “The old media is dead or it is dying”; “Politicians will always be touchy to criticism; you don’t be touchy about their touchiness”; “Opinion is important; I believe in opinion without prejudice”; “TV story telling has changed”; “News is a form of social content” and “We make people talk and think”.

     

    The man who repeatedly drowns out all other voices on his show had to face a volley of questions at the session anchored by BBC senior correspondent Jon Sopel.

     

    When asked why he didn’t think of becoming a politician, Goswami quipped that he wanted to enter people’s ‘mindspace’.

     

    In reply to a question about the forthcoming elections, he said he would be unhappy if he didn’t get to interview Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi before the polls. He also said he wished the interview with Congress’ Rahul Gandhi had turned out better.

     

    Goswami revealed that from the beginning of April, Times Now would embark on a series aimed at unearthing the skeletons in people’s closets, in a bid to make them accountable for their actions or words.

     

    On the subject of journalism, he said there was a dearth of talent in the profession as the new generation was hungry for more assertive media. “Let me tell you that 2014 to 2025 is going to be the most amazing time for TV news to come,” he concluded.

  • Who will be the next PM?

    Who will be the next PM?

    MUMBAI: In a series of interrelated opinion and exit polls over the next two months NDTV will be conducting among the biggest and most rigorous polling exercises ever – covering over 350 (out of the 543) Lok Sabha constituencies with a total sample size of over 2 lakh. The sample selection methodology is based on electoral rolls to ensure a random sample with other technology innovations and new methods of interviewing voters (for example, wherever feasible, women field-workers interviewed female voters).

     
    Witness the biggest election coverage in the history of Indian television as NDTV presents the most credible, non-partisan, non-sensational election analysis.

    The channel will also undertake a separate re-contact exercise through phone calls just before the elections to gauge shift of voters’ opinion over time. More than 350 constituencies will be covered across the opinion polls and the Exit Poll will also cover more than 350 constituencies. These opinion polls will be conducted in three phases which will seek to understand the mood of the nation and electoral preferences for parties; get a pulse of the nation and analyse shifts in voter perception and preference followed by an Exit Poll for seat prediction state-by-state.

     

    NDTV will be using innovative methods to ensure  better data quality which will include regular updates and tracking through mobile telephonic-surveys, votes to seats conversion based on proprietary IPR using homogenous swing zones, multi-party swings and margins of victory and changes in the extent of vote-splitting in each homogeneous swing zone.

    Fieldwork and interviews conducted by Hansa Research Group. Watch Prannoy Roy and Dorab Sopariwala present India’s BIGGEST EVER Opinion Poll on Thursday 13 and Friday 14 March from 8-10pm

     

  • CNN-IBN & IBN7 are back with Kings & Queens

    CNN-IBN & IBN7 are back with Kings & Queens

    MUMBAI: Living up to its legacy of offering the most extensive and diverse election programming line-up in the industry, CNN-IBN & IBN7 are back with ‘Kings & Queens’. The show will profile key political leaders such as Narendra Modi, Arvind Kejriwal, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi to name a few, who are likely to play a central and defining role in the 2014 General Elections.

    Fronted by IBN Network’s senior-most and best known anchors-Deputy Editor Sagarika Ghose, National Bureau Chief Bhupendra Chaubey, Deputy Foreign Editor Suhasini Haidar and Senior Editor Anubha Bhosle, ‘Kings & Queens’ will examine the life and political careers of these key individuals, and will examine how they could emerge as a King or a Queen or be a King-maker. The documentaries will include people who are significant in their lives-their classmates, close relatives, mentors, friends, strongest allies as well as critics.

    Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief, CNN-IBN, IBN7 & IBN-Lokmat, said, “As we approach the most crucial elections in the history of India, we have a diverse and extensive election based programming in the pipeline. To help our viewers know their leaders better, we bring to you our much acclaimed documentary series Kings and Queens, which will trace the journey of political leaders who are set to influence the upcoming General Election significantly.”

    Don’t miss this special documentary series starting from 28th February, every Friday 10.00 PM only on CNN-IBN & 1st March onwards every Saturday 10.30 PM only on IBN7.

  • NBA asks politicians to keep political discourse civil and sane

    NBA asks politicians to keep political discourse civil and sane

    MUMBAI: New channels normally throw the spotlight on politicians. As the ensuing elections to the Lok Sabha are turning out to be the most bitterly fought, it is the new channels that are coming under attack from politicians.

     

    Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal recently lashed out at TV news channels. He accused the news channels of being biased towards BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Congress’ poll campaign chief Rahul Gandhi.

     

    On Monday, home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde shocked the media fraternity when he claimed that the intelligence wing had been keeping a tab on news channels and that the government would ‘crush’ the elements in electronic media engaged in spreading false propaganda.

     

    In the wake of these attacks, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has decided to hit back. It has objected to the kind of unwarranted criticism news channels are faced with.

     

    A statement issued by the NBA said:

     

    “News Broadcasters Association (NBA) objects to the unverified, unsubstantiated and highly defamatory charges being levelled against news channels by Mr Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and their members attributing corrupt motives and accusing the electronic media for not giving enough coverage or ignoring this or that party, without specific details to substantiate such charges. It is shocking to note that the very parties that gained immensely from media coverage are today turning against the electronic media, when they are under scrutiny on issues of governance.

     

    NBA is equally shocked by the statement of the Home Minister of India that he would crush the electronic media and that a “close watch” was being kept on them.

     

    NBA categorically states that a news channel’s endeavour is to cover news worthy events across all segments of national and international life and to present news to viewers, which is current and relevant. The media provides a service that is essential for any democratic society. This is particularly important when the most fundamental aspect of a democracy, the elections, are round the corner. At such a time, the media plays an indispensable role in enabling citizens to stay well informed and make important choices. There can be no acceptable reason for attacking the media on frivolous unsubstantiated grounds. Intimidation and preventing the media from performing its duties amounts to interfering with the freedoms enshrined in and guaranteed by the Constitution.

     

    NBA appeals to political leaders from all parties and public figures not to level baseless charges against the media and keep the discourse civil and sane.”

  • ABP NEWS NIELSEN – KAUN BANEGA PRADHANMANTRI – Modi most preferred as PM

    ABP NEWS NIELSEN – KAUN BANEGA PRADHANMANTRI – Modi most preferred as PM

    MUMBAI: NDA to bag 236 seats, BJP likely to get 217 seats in LS polls, AAP 10 and Cong 73 seats; Modi most preffered as PM: ABP News-Nielsen opinion poll

     

    BJP likely to emerge as the single largest party with 217 seats and NDA to get 236 in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, predicts opinion poll conducted by ABP News-Nielsen. Congress to confine with 73 seats and Kejriwal’s AAP likely to get atound 10 seats in the Lok Sabha polls. NDA has gained 10 seats as compared to the opinion poll conducted in January, 2014. NDA predicted to get a vote share of 46 per cent from Western India and around 38 per cent vote share in northern India.

     

    UPA  92

    NDA  236

    Left.  29

    Others 186

    Total 543

     

    As per the ABP News-Nielsen opinion poll, Narendra Modi seems to be a clear choice as Prime Minister. Over 57 per cent respondents want Modi to be PM. Rahul Gandhi scores over Kejriwal with 18 per cent. Only 3 per cent respondents have voted for Arvind Kejriwal as prime minister.

     

    Narendra Modi 57%

    Rahul Gandhi 18%

    Arvind Kejriwal 3%

     

    As per the opinion poll, the so-called federal front is predicted to beat the UPA with around 186 seats.

     

    AIADMK 19

    AITC 29

    BJD 16

    BSP 13

    CPM 18

    CPI 7

    DMK 13

    JDU 9

     

    According to the ABP News-Nielsen opinion poll, Inflation emerges as the issue which affects people the most in their day to day life with 46% respondents saying so. According to 34 per cent respondents corruption is the biggest problem and 18 per cent feel unemployment is a major problem.

     

    Price rise./inflation 46%

    Corruption.             34%

    Unemployment.      18%

     

    As per the opinion poll, BJP likely to get around 80 seats in north India. NDA to get around 88 seats of the 151-seat north India. AAP likely to get 9 seats and Congress 17 seats. UPA predicted to get 23 seats.

     

    UPA. 23

    NDA. 88

    Left. 0

    Others 40

    Total 151

     

    As per the ABP News-Nielsen opinion poll, NDA likely to get 88 seats in western India. BJP alone to get 79 seats. Congress likely to get 15 seats and AAP to get only one seat in the 116- seat western India.

     

    UPA. 22

    NDA. 88

    Left. 0

    Others 6

    Total 116

                               

    According to the ABP News-Nielsen opinion poll, UPA to lead marginally over NDA with 26 seats in southern India. Congress to get 23, BJP likely to get 20 seats in South.

     

    UPA. 26

    NDA. 21

    Left. 15

    Others 72

    Total 134

     

    As per the ABP News-Nielsen opinion poll, NDA to lead with 39 seats, BJP likely to get 38 seats. Congress predicted to get around 18 seats in Eastern India.

     

    UPA. 21

    NDA. 39

    Left. 14

    Others 68

    Total 142

     

    The opinion poll was conducted by ABP News- Nielsen in 129 constituencies with 29,252 respondents during 4th February to 15th February 2014.

  • CNN-IBN, IBN7 and ETV to work in sync for upcoming elections

    CNN-IBN, IBN7 and ETV to work in sync for upcoming elections

    MUMBAI: With the conclusion of an unremarkable 15th Lok Sabha, the lead-up to the general elections has well and truly begun.

     

    And not just Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind ‘Aam Aadmi’ Kejriwal but also their media and publicity machinery and news television channels are part of this unfolding political drama.

     

    With political parties estimated to spend nearly Rs 300 crore on advertisements on television and an additional Rs 400 crore to be pumped in by various brands, according to sources, news channels, especially the Hindi ones, stand to gain a fat load of moolah from election programming.

     

    Indiantelevision.com kicks-off its special weekly series exploring what news channels have in store for 2014 elections, starting with TV18’s English and Hindi channels CNN-IBN and IBN7, respectively.

     

    The network – which recently acquired ETV channels including ETV Uttar Pradesh, ETV Madhya Pradesh, ETV Rajasthan, ETV Bihar and ETV Urdu – is looking to dominate election programming through its national and regional channels.

     

    “Language capabilities play an important role during election time. Our synergy is the widest and now with ETV on board as well, we believe we have an edge,” says CNN-IBN and IBN7 managing editor Vinay Tewari.

     

    “Our programming line-up will also be extensive and will run over several months in order to do full justice to the scale of the upcoming elections. As a network, we take great pride in the quality and depth of our coverage on elections and thus are investing a lot of time and effort in ensuring that our coverage is unmatched. There is always a huge interest in elections, this year, it’s possibly the highest.”

     

    Indeed, shows such as Open Mike and Vinod Dua ka Prashnakaal have already begun showcasing public views and opinions.

     

    Led by editor in chief Rajdeep Sardesai along with Karan Thapar, Vinod Dua, Sanjay Pugalia, Sagarika Ghose, Bhupendra Chaubey, Sandeep Chaudhary, Suhasini Haider and Anubha Bhonsle, the channels will look at broad trends, analyse the importance of regions going to polls and engage in extensive discussions with key experts and political commentators such as Dr. Ramachandra Guha, Swapan Das Gupta, Surjit Bhalla, Kumar Ketkar, Dr. Sanjay Baru, Manini Chatterjee and Prof. Dipankar Gupta.

     

    The key shows include A Billion Votes / Mera Vote Meri Sarkar – 7 RCR Ki Race (Counting day Specials), The Election Tracker / Agar Abhi Chunav Ho Toh, India Decides / Vote India Vote, Kings & Queens, Campaign Trail, Follow the Leader, Chaupal, Election Gyaan with Ram (with noted historian Ramachandra Guha), MP ka Report Card etc.

     

    It is learnt that from the last day of polling till the formation of the government, 100 hours of non-stop programming has been planned. This will only help the network achieve the aimed viewership.

     

    Promotion of these shows will be amplified through a 360 degree campaign that will target key markets including metros and Hindi speaking markets. Print, outdoor, radio and digital will be the focus points.

     

    The creative for the campaign for CNN-IBN and IBN7 is being handled by Everest Brand Solutions. On the digital front, channels will interact with viewers through social media as well as upload content that will be edited due to restrictive on air timing.

     

    Going by TAM data during the last general elections, CNN-IBN was the number one channel (Source: TAM, TG: CS 15+, All India; Period: Wk 16-20 ’09, 16th April, 23rd April, 30th April, 7th May, 13th May & 16th May, 06-2400 hrs) on all polling and counting days whereas IBN7 was amongst the top 3 channels (Source: TAM, Markets: HSM; Period: Wk 20 ’09 (16th May ’09); Time 0600-2400 hrs).

     

    With such a comprehensive strategy, this time round too, the network may stand to be the winner…

  • “Cyber security should be an integral part of national security” Narendra Modi

    “Cyber security should be an integral part of national security” Narendra Modi

    NEW DELHI: Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s valedictory speech was the highpoint of the just concluded eighth India Digital Summit organised by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).

     

    Addressing the audience through video link, Modi outlined his vision of a ‘Digital India’. “India is a repository of knowledge. Time has come to create a high-speed digital highway so that knowledge can be shared easily to enable empowerment of the people,” said he. “Access to information should have no barriers. And when we create such a digital environment, not only will governance be transparent, technology will ensure citizen governance.”

     

    Modi stressed upon provision of easy access to and availability of government services to people on their mobile devices. He even spoke of empowering farmers through this medium. In order to boost the agricultural sector, farmers need to have access to global knowledge and information in real-time; he said.  

     

    Mirroring IAMAI chair and Google India managing director Rajan Anandan’s contention that India would have a US $100 billion e-commerce industry within a decade, the Gujarat CM said e-commerce should drive every industry and every sector.

     

    Speaking of the need to make the national capital entirely Wi-fi-driven, he said, “This is where the world is moving, and we have to ensure that we start by making Delhi a wi-fi equipped capital.”

     

    Pointing out how every political party today is actively using social media to reach out to the masses, he said, “With social media, the common man has become powerful and can raise concerns.” While emphasizing the need to link cyber security to national security, Modi concluded his speech on a positive note saying: “Digital India will ensure that the world looks to India for the next big idea.”