New Delhi, March 24 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met a delegation of leading Sikh intellectual voices from across the country at his official residence here.
The meeting witnessed freewheeling interaction by the Prime Minister with the delegation on diverse topics like farmer welfare, youth empowerment, drug free society, National Educational Policy, skilling, employment, technology and Punjab's overall development trajectory.
The Prime Minister, while expressing his happiness at meeting the delegation, said the intellectuals are opinion makers of the society.
Urging the members of the delegation to engage and educate the public and work towards making the citizenry properly informed, he emphasised the importance of the spirit of unity which acts as the central pillar amidst the wide and beautiful diversity of our country.
The Prime Minister talked about the significance of education in mother tongue.
"Efforts are being made to develop professional courses in Indian languages so that higher education in mother tongue becomes reality," the Prime Minister said.
It is learnt that the delegation thanked the Prime Minister for the invitation and said that they had never imagined that the Prime Minister of the country would engage with them in such an informal setting.
They also appreciated the continuous and multiple steps taken by the Prime Minister for the betterment of Sikh community.
On Wednesday, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal gave permission to the Jantar Mantar demonstration on the condition that a maximum of 200 protesters will be allowed till August 9 between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Sidhu sent an invite, signed by some 62 legislators, through working presidents, Kuljit Singh Nagra and Sangat Singh Gilzian, to the 'sulking' Chief Minister to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
In a statement here, Badal said it was condemnable that the NDA government had targeted Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar and the Bharat Samachar group because they had posed tough questions to the government in keeping with high standards of journalism.
In a written reply to parliamentarian Binoy Viswam in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State (External Affairs) V.A. Muraleedharan said during the unprecedented crisis, the international community came forward with offers of solidarity and assistance for specific medicines and equipment that were not immediately available in the country.
With the Pegasus snoopgate leading to ruckus in the Parliament, Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday that the news story on snooping was an attempt to malign India's democracy and its institutions.
Slamming the BJP leader for using derogatory language against the farmers, who have been peacefully agitating against the three Central farm laws for the past nearly eight months, the Chief Minister said that it reflected the party's anti-farmer mindset.
