New Delhi, Sep 5: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asserted that India is not only growing at 7.8 per cent but also creating employment opportunities despite wars and disruptions, demonstrating the country’s strength, and said that those responsible for pushing the economy into the “fragile five” cannot digest it.

Addressing the centenary celebrations of the Delhi University’s Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), PM Modi also said that those who once spread terror have been silenced and if today Pakistan commits any misdeed, the Indian Army strikes back on their own soil.

He said from Jammu and Kashmir to the Northeast, there is peace and Naxalism has been dismantled.

Recalling that the country was struggling on every front in 2013, when he last addressed SRCC students as Gujarat chief minister, Modi said corruption, terrorism and inflation were unchecked, but India is now far more secure economically and socially.

However, some people’s frustration is increasing after seeing this, he said. “For such people, I had given a homoeopathy dose from the Red Fort (during Independence Day address)… ‘dimagi Naxal’.

“When I said ‘dimagi Naxal’, all such people came to the forefront and started criticising me. People who were promoting dimagi Naxalism, their true colour can be witnessed by the people,” he said.

The prime minister said the world was at that time worried about India’s policy paralysis, but today they are talking about India’s policy dynamism.

Modi said that in other words, India is not only growing, but also creating employment opportunities. “They once called us the ‘Fragile Five’. Today, they are talking about India as the fastest-growing major economy,” he said

He recalled that his address at SRCC in 2013 had made a “wave” and even today, 13-14 years later, its impact remains intact.

“In 2013, when I came to SRCC, I presented a vision. Whatever I said back then was my conviction… I gave the example of a glass filled with water. Some people see the glass as half full… It was a time when the country was lacking hope. So I said, ‘I see the glass as fully filled’,” he said.

“Those who saw the glass as half empty in 2013, when I had visited the SRCC, still chose to see it the same way today.

“India’s 7.8 per cent growth has also come at a time when the war in West Asia is ongoing and when disruptions related to trade have persisted. Achieving such growth during that time demonstrates India’s strength,” he said, referring to GDP growth rate for April-June quarter.

“We all know that those responsible for pushing India into the  ‘fragile five’ cannot digest the numbers of India’s growth,” he said in a veiled attack at the Congress and its allies that have questioned the credibility of the growth figures.

The prime minister said in the past six years, the country has faced many challenges, be it COVID or the conflicts in West Asia, and every time, it was said that PM Modi would not be able to survive these challenges.

“But India has such immense capability that the wishes of those who want to see India fail are repeatedly being left unfulfilled,” he said.

Referring to his 2013 visit to SRCC, just before becoming the prime minister of India, Modi said that 13 years ago, the seniors of the present generation of students could not dream of doing many things, but today, the current generation is dreaming big because India has created the ecosystem to achieve those dreams.

“I am happy that you are all ambitious. Ambition comes from the environment around you. Today, you talk about start-ups, becoming entrepreneurs and bringing innovation to agriculture,” he said.

Outside the campus, the prime minister said, the students will find two types of people–“those who positively transform the power of society into the power of the nation and the others who turn into angry uncles (naraz fufa) as soon as any work begins”.

He said such “negative people’s favourite activity is to oppose every task and they have just one dialogue – ‘What is the need for this’ “.

The prime minister said in 2013, when he talked about ‘Make in India’, people in that ecosystem thought it was not possible, and they still mock ‘Make in India’.

“But now, you are witnessing the brand value of Make in India. Today, every person has a smartphone. Made in India smartphones are reaching every corner of the world. In 2014, India used to import mobile phones. Today, India is exporting mobile phones worth more than Rs 2.5 lakh crore,” he said.

Modi said India will have its own space station, and everyone will witness that day too.

“When India one day hosts such Olympics that the world will be left in awe. These are not mere words; these are resolutions, and work is underway in the country to turn these resolutions into reality,” he said.

The prime minister said that earlier most things for India’s armed forces were bought from abroad, but he worked with the country’s armed forces to make a plan, prepared a list of items and told Indian companies to manufacture all of them.

“Today, the country’s defence manufacturing is at an all-time high. Today, India is producing defence goods worth nearly two lakh crore rupees. In 2013-14, we used to do defence exports worth 600-700 crore rupees; today, this figure has reached nearly Rs 40,000 crore rupees,” he said.

Lauding SRCC for shaping generations, PM referred to college alumni as “OG”, striking a chord with Gen Z.

“When a human being lives for 100 years, they are considered a person of deep knowledge and great experience. When an institution completes 100 years, it becomes an ocean of achievements. SRCC has shaped generations and connected them to a brighter future.

“In its 100-year journey, Shri Ram College of Commerce has shaped generations, connecting them to a bright future. Those who came, they studied; those who left, they left sculpted. SRCC alumni have been very special. In your language, they are OGs,” he said. The prime minister also released a commemorative Rs 100 coin to mark the centenary celebration.

Modi’s visit to the SRCC comes amid the BJP’s ongoing outreach to the young generation. In April this year, the prime minister met the governing body and a delegation from the college at his residence to mark the institution’s 100th anniversary. He also released a special commemorative postage stamp on the occasion.

New Delhi, Sep 5: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged teachers to stay vigilant against student drug addiction and help children tackle excessive screen time through sports, physical play, and creative activities.

Interacting with the national award-winning teachers on Friday, the eve of Teachers’ Day, Modi asked the teachers to preserve childhood and nurture children’s natural curiosity.

He said teachers should share creative approaches to make classroom learning more engaging.

The prime minister emphasised that teachers need to look beyond the academic performance of children and be attentive to their behaviour and everyday lives.

He said teachers have an increasingly important role to play in the lives of children now that there are fewer joint family set-ups.

On drugs, Modi said that in some big cities and universities, it is difficult to identify if anyone gets affected by the problem, as no one knows who gives whom what.

He said that in some big cities and universities, it is difficult to tell if anyone is being affected by the problem, as no one knows who gives whom what.

“In these circumstances, teachers should take the initiative for awareness and also observe minutely if any change (in behaviour) is witnessed in any child,” he said.

A video of the interaction at the prime minister’s Lok Kalyan Marg residence was released on Saturday.

The prime minister said the teachers should enter the lives of the students, going beyond books and syllabuses.

“You should not allow the childhood of a student to die. The biggest contribution can be given by the teachers by keeping childhood alive in students’ lives,” he said.

Modi also talked about how teachers can keep the students away from long hours of screen time and encourage them towards outdoor sports activities.

The prime minister said children have the same basic nature and curiosity, and if teachers nurture and channelise this curiosity, they can make a significant contribution to their development.

He said screen time has become a major concern among students, as he urged the teachers to speak to parents about how much time their children spend on screens and whether they continue using mobile phones late at night.

Screen time can be cut naturally by developing an interest in sports, physical games and creative activities, he said.

Referring to the National Education Policy, Modi stressed the importance of taking children outside the classroom and connecting them with real-world skills and forms of work.

The prime minister praised a teacher who spoke about making women in her vicinity aware of breast cancer, and said a breast cancer awareness campaign was launched by him in Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency.

“I am happy to share with you that more and more women are coming forward for screening (for breast cancer), even setting a Guinness World Record for it,” he said.

This year, 82 teachers and educators have been selected for the National Teachers Awards from three departments. These include 48 teachers from the Department of School Education and Literacy, 21 teachers/faculty members from higher educational institutions and polytechnics, and 13 skill trainers from the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

Thrissur, Sep 05: Eight engineering students from Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul were killed when their car rammed into a lorry parked “illegally” on NH-66 in Thrissur district of central Keralam, police said on Saturday.

The accident occurred around 11.40 pm on Friday at Panambikkunnu in Kaipamangalam, when the car, travelling from Guruvayur towards Kodungallur, collided with the rear of the Maharashtra-registered lorry, police said.

According to the FIR, the lorry was parked illegally on the right side of the highway near a barricaded stretch where traffic had been diverted as part of ongoing construction work.

Police said the car was travelling at high speed and its driver apparently failed to notice the diversion barricade before the collision.

Six students died on the spot, while two others were declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital, police said.

The deceased were students of an engineering college in Dindigul and were travelling towards Kodungallur along NH-66.

Police said five of the deceased—Surya, Yuvasanjith, Joshua, Murali and Jeeva—were from Dindigul, while Santhosh and Prasanna were from Madurai and Vishva was from Salem.

The students were pulled out of the mangled car during a rescue operation involving residents, fire and rescue personnel and police.

Their bodies were taken to the mortuary at Thrissur Medical College, police said.

Kaipamangalam police have registered a case against the lorry driver under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for culpable homicide.

The driver went into hiding soon after the accident, police said.

Police contacted the families of the deceased using student identity cards recovered from the victims. Some of the families were unaware that their children had travelled to Keralam, police said.

Relatives told police that Santhosh had recently purchased a car and that the group had planned a trip to Kochi. As the registration of the car had not been completed, they hired a rented vehicle for the trip, they said.

Postmortem examinations were conducted at Thrissur Medical College, where relatives arrived to receive the bodies.

Hospital authorities arranged ambulances to transport the bodies to their respective native places.

Thrissur Rural District Police Chief Mohammad Nadeemuddin said a preliminary investigation indicated that the accident occurred due to the lorry driver’s fault.

“It is definitely a mistake on the part of the lorry driver. An FIR has already been registered. Additionally, regarding the highway authorities and the contractor, we will inspect that as part of the investigation and take strict action,” he told reporters.

Nadeemuddin said the lorry driver was absconding, but the vehicle owner had been identified, and the driver would be apprehended soon.

He said that although a Highway Police patrol unit had been deployed in the area, lorry drivers often parked their vehicles and left the spot.

“Definitely, parking should not be done here. We will check whether the highway authorities and contractors have installed proper signboards. But as per the preliminary assessment, this is a mistake on the part of the lorry driver,” he said.

Nadeemuddin said the Kodungallur deputy superintendent of police had been assigned to investigate the case.

“Legal action has been initiated, and an FIR has already been registered. Given the gravity of the case, we have designated the deputy SP of Kodungallur as the investigating officer. There will be a thorough investigation, and immediate and strict action will be taken against whoever is at fault. Necessary preventive measures will be taken by the police,” he said.================