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.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday defended its Punjab leader HS Phoolka who waded into a controversy with his remarks on a grenade attack in Amritsar, saying he has already regretted it and should not be defamed.
India is today the world's second most-polluted country, trailing only Nepal, it said and pointed out that loss of life expectancy was the highest in Asia, exceeding six years in many parts of India and China.
Four Australian citizens, too, are facing charges of convincing individuals to fraudulently marry non-citizens seeking to obtain permanent residency, the Australian High Commission said.
