STATE TIMES NEWS
NEW DELHI: Asserting that so many products of India are in great demand all over the world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said Jammu and Kashmir is also not lagging behind in making local products global.
“What Jammu and Kashmir has achieved last month is an example for people across the country. The first consignment of snow peas was sent to London from Pulwama,” the Prime Minister said in his monthly Mann Ki Baat radio broadcast after assuming office for a third term.
Modi said this success opened new doors for prosperity of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“When we see a local product of India going global, it is natural to feel proud. One such product is Araku coffee”, he said, adding that Araku coffee is produced in large quantities in the Alluri Sita Rama Raju district of Andhra Pradesh and is known for its rich flavour and aroma.
“This coffee is amazing! Araku coffee has received many global awards. The coffee was also a hit at the G20 Summit held in Delhi. Whenever you get a chance, you must enjoy Araku coffee,” the Prime Minister added.
The Prime Minister said Indian culture is earning glory around the world and cited a host of developments to highlight increasing acceptance abroad of practices and products linked to the country.
In his monthly Mann Ki Baat, Modi played a clip of a Hindi programme broadcast on Kuwait Radio.
“The Kuwait government has started a special programme on its national radio. And that too in Hindi. It is broadcast every Sunday for half an hour on Kuwait Radio. It includes myriad shades of Indian culture. Our films and discussions related to the art world are very popular among the Indian community there,” he said.
He added that the local population in Kuwait was also taking a lot of interest and thanked its government and people for taking this “wonderful initiative”.
“Which Indian will not be happy with the way our culture is earning glory all over the world today! For example, in Turkmenistan, the 300th birth anniversary of its national poet was celebrated in May this year. On this occasion, the president of Turkmenistan unveiled the statues of 24 famous poets of the world. One of these statues is also that of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore,” Modi said.
This is an honour for Gurudev and an honour for India, he added.
Similarly, in June, two Caribbean countries — Suriname and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines — celebrated their Indian heritage with full zeal and enthusiasm, Modi said.
The Indian community in Suriname celebrates June 5 as Indian Arrival Day and Pravasi Din, and Bhojpuri is also widely spoken there along with Hindi, he added.
“The number of our brothers and sisters of Indian origin living in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is also around 6,000. All of them are very proud of their heritage. The way they celebrated Indian Heritage Day on June 1 with great jubilation reflects this feeling. Every Indian feels proud when such a spread of Indian heritage and culture is seen all over the world,” the prime minister said.
Noting that the entire world celebrated the 10th International Day of Yoga with great enthusiasm and zeal on June 21, the prime minister said locals, including women, joined him in participating in the yoga programme in Srinagar.
“As the observance of yoga day is progressing, even new records are being made. Yoga day has attained many great achievements all over the world. For the first time in Saudi Arabia, a woman, Al Hanouf Saad ji, led the common yoga protocol. This is the first time a Saudi woman has instructed a main yoga session. This time in Egypt, a photo competition was organised on yoga day,” he said.
Pictures of lakhs of people performing yoga on the banks of the Nile river, on the beaches of the Red Sea and in front of pyramids became very popular, he said.
Yoga sessions were held at Myanmar’s Maravijaya Pagoda complex, famous for its marble Buddha statue, for children with disabilities in Bahrain, at Galle Fort in Sri Lanka and at the Observation Deck in New York, among other places the world over, Modi said.
“A grand yoga day programme was also organised in Thimpu, Bhutan, in which my friend, Prime Minister Tobgay, also participated,” he said, adding that people should practise yoga regularly.
The Prime Minister said that people expressed their unwavering faith in the country’s Constitution and democratic process in the “world’s biggest” polls in which over 65 crore of them voted.
He thanked people and congratulated the Election Commission and every person associated with the process as he touched on a host of issues in the nearly 30-minute radio address, which was suspended in February due to the approaching elections.
The prime minister also cheered Indian athletes who will be competing in the Paris Olympics starting next month, and urged people to use “cheer4Bharat” hashtag to motivate them.
He said the performance of Indian players in the previous Olympics in Tokyo had won the hearts of every citizen, and the participating athletes have been since whole-heartedly engaged in the preparations for the Paris Olympics.
“If we take all the players together, then all of them have participated in nearly 900 international competitions. This is a very big number,” he said, adding that Indians will get to witness certain things for the first time.
“In shooting, the talent of our players is coming to the fore. Both men’s and women’s teams have qualified in table tennis. Our shooter daughters are also part of the Indian shotgun team. This time, members of our team will compete in wrestling and horse riding in those categories as well, in which they had never participated before,” he said.
One can make out that this time they will see a different level of excitement in sports, he said, noting that Indian contingent had shown its best performance in the World Para Athletics Championship as well.
“Our players have also won glorious laurels in chess and badminton. Now the whole country is hoping that our players perform well in the Olympics as well, winning medals in these games and also the hearts of the countrymen. In the coming days, I will also get an opportunity to meet the Indian team. I will encourage them on your behalf,” he said.
During the radio address, the prime minister spoke of the afforestation initiative named ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ launched on the World Environment Day.
Noting that he also planted a tree in memory of his mother, Modi said, “I am immensely happy to see that the campaign to plant trees in memory of the mother or in her honour is progressing rapidly.On social media, people are sharing pictures of planting trees with their mothers or with their photographs.”
This campaign will also help protect the ‘Mother Earth’, he added,
The prime minister paid rich tributes to tribal freedom fighters Veer Sidhu and Kanhu, who led the Santhal uprising against the British rule in 1855, much before the first war of independence in 1857.
Tribal population observe June 30 as ‘Hool Diwas’. This day is associated with the indomitable courage of Veer Sidhu-Kanhu, who strongly opposed the atrocities of the foreign rulers, Modi said.
With the monsoon season picking pace, he spoke of the ‘Karthumbhi’ umbrellas crafted in Attappady, Kerala, by tribal women.
He said, “Karthumbi umbrellas have completed their journey from a small village in Kerala to multinational companies. What could be a better example than this of being vocal for local?”
In his broadcast, Modi congratulated the All India Radio on its Sanskrit bulletin completing 50 years and said the ancient language has played a big role in the progress of Indian knowledge and science.
“The demand of today’s times is that we should respect Sanskrit and also connect it with our daily life,” he said, noting that locals at a Bengaluru park meet every Sunday to converse in the language.
