PM’s speech at the Banquet hosted by Prime Minister of Bhutan

PM’s speech at the Banquet hosted by Prime Minister of Bhutan

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today described the relationship between India and Bhutan as “made for each other”, and said India stands committed to Bhutan’s happiness and progress. 

In a speech at the banquet hosted by the Prime Minister of Bhutan, H.E. Tshering Tobgay, he said this was his first visit to Bhutan, and the tremendous enthusiasm with which the people had greeted and welcomed him, right from the airport, and on the way to Thimphu, and throughout the day – would remain etched in his memory forever. 

Talking of the India-Bhutan relationship, Shri Modi said that the two countries share not just land boundaries, but a common glorious cultural tradition. Our passports may have a different colour, but our values and thinking are the same. We may wear different clothes and speak different languages, but our feelings are one. 

The Prime Minister said while the world talks of GDP, Bhutan talks of National Happiness. He said there could be many parameters to measure happiness, but he wished to suggest a new one – how is your neighbour. Among the many parameters on which Bhutan measures happiness, having a good friend like India should be one of them, Shri Modi said. 

The Prime Minister also said the way Bhutan has progressed despite natural constraints is commendable. The Government may have changed in India, but we will continue to build on our shared cultural values and make our relationship stronger, he said. He said the relationship should develop in a multi-faceted way, beyond just financial consideration. 

Shri Modi raised a toast to the long life of the royal family, the well-being and prosperity of the people of Bhutan, and the everlasting friendship between India and Bhutan.

PM’s address to Joint Session of the Parliament of Bhutan

PM’s address to Joint Session of the Parliament of Bhutan

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today addressed the Joint Session of the Parliament of Bhutan in Thimphu. 

The Prime Minister said that in the last century or so, while the global trend has largely been of expansion and centralization of power, Bhutan has been an exception. It laid the strong foundation for democracy, and has made the transition to a constitutionally established democracy. 

The Prime Minister said 7 years is a short time in the history of a country’s democracy. But in this short time, the people of Bhutan have developed faith in the institutions of democracy. There has also been a change in Government. This reflects the maturity and awareness of the people. Shri Modi said India had also witnessed an election recently, and the people of India had voted for good governance and development. 

Referring to the welcome remarks by H.E. Mr. Jigme Zangpo, Speaker of the National Assembly, that the stronger India is, the better it is for Bhutan, the Prime Minister said he agreed. He added that the entire region, especially the SAARC countries, would benefit if India is prosperous. Only a strong, prosperous India can help alleviate the problems that its neighbours face, Shri Modi said. 

Speaking about the India-Bhutan relationship, the Prime Minister said this is not just based on administrative ties. He said both India and Bhutan have seen transitions of power, but the relationship has remained strong. This is because the relationship is based on a shared cultural heritage. We have opened our hearts for each other, Shri Modi said, adding that leaderships may change, but these open hearts will not close, and the heritage that this relationship represented would be nurtured by future generations. India’s people and Government are committed to it, he said. 

Referring to the development that has been achieved in Bhutan despite the constraints imposed by nature, Shri Modi said that in future, many small countries across the world will treat this as a model. He said while the world talks of GDP, you talk of Gross National Happiness, and this is because the leadership is concerned about the last man in the line. 

Shri Modi said the plans to harness Bhutan’s hydropower potential were not just about Bhutan’s economy, or meeting India’s energy needs, but a small contribution to the fight against global warming. 

The Prime Minister also talked about the large contribution made for education in Bhutan’s budget, and said this reflected Bhutan’s investment in the future generations. He said India was keen to make a contribution to this cause. He said India would help set up an e-library in Bhutan, for the benefit of the youth, which would help them connect with the world. He said India would also double the scholarships that are being given to Bhutanese students. 

Stating that India and Bhutan must think of how to take the relationship even further, Shri Modi suggested that the Himalayan states of India, along with Bhutan, and perhaps Nepal, could hold a sports meet every year. He said connecting people through sports, brings sportsman spirit, and that contributes to happiness. 

The Prime Minister said India’s space technology could also be harnessed to help Bhutan develop even further. 

Shri Narendra Modi said people sometimes said the Himalayas separated us. But he thought the Himalayas united us, as they are a part of our common heritage. He said people on both sides of the Himalayas looked up to them as a source of strength. But the need of the hour is to study various aspects of the Himalayas. He said India had already set up a National Action Plan for Climate Change. He said a National Mission for sustaining the Himalayan System could also be considered. He said India also wanted a Central University for Himalayan Studies to be established, and Bhutan would benefit a lot from it. 

The Prime Minister said India and Bhutan could together form a holistic approach to tourism, and develop a circuit combining India’s North-Eastern states and Bhutan. He said “Terrorism divides. Tourism unites,” and added that if Bhutan’s natural wealth and capabilities join together, it will be a big invitation for the world. 

The Prime Minister referred to a quote from the third King of Bhutan: like milk and water, India and Bhutan cannot be separated. He said the friendship is everlasting, and based on shared cultural heritage. He also thanked the people of Bhutan for the warm welcome they had given him. 

The vote of thanks was given by H.E. Dr. Sonam Kinga, Chairman of the National Council. 

Workshop on Tolling of National Highways and Implementation of Electronic Toll Collection Begins

Workshop on Tolling of National Highways and Implementation of Electronic Toll Collection Begins
Electronic Toll Collection Across all the Toll Plazas on NHs by Year End -Shri Vijay Chibber

A day long workhop on tolling of National Highways and implementation of Electronic Toll Collection in the country began here this morning. Speaking on the occasion Shri Vijay Chibber, the Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said that the Government has decided to implement RFID (Radio Frequency ID) based Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system across National Highways. The Ministry aims to implement ETC across all the toll plazas on National Highways in the country by the end of this year. The RFID technology shall expedite the clearing of traffic at toll plazas and the need of carrying cash shall also be eliminated when Toll plazas shall be duly integrated with each other throughout India. 

Elaborating the steps taken Shri Chibber said, Government has issued orders to incorporate ETC lanes as a mandatory clause in the contracts awarded for all the Highways projects. Necessary amendments have already been made in the Central Motor Vehicle Rule, 1989 for fitment of RFID tag on vehicles for ETC. A pilot project on Interoperability of ETC system for 10 toll plazas between Mumbai (Charoti) and Ahmadabad has already been tested and successfully operational at present. For implementing ETC on pan India basis, a new Company “Indian Highways Management Company Limited”(IHMCL) with equity participation from NHAI (25%), Concessionaires (50%) and Financial Institutions (25%) has already been constituted. The objectives of the new Company are collection of toll through ETC and to manage the project strategically, administratively, legally technically, commercially and to provide services of a central system which includes toll transaction clearing house operations , help desk support and setting up of call centers for Incident Management. 

IHMCL has already finalized the Service Provider Agreement for Central Clearing House (CCH) Services for Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) with the ICICI Bank and has placed orders for 1st consignment of hardware’s for 20 toll plazas on NHAI managed highways stretches. The Ministry proposes to launch a seamless ETC service on the NH – 8 from Delhi to Mumbai in a couple of weeks. 

National Highways are tolled,under the provisions of the National Highways Act,1956.The first major National Highway stretch brought under toll was Kotputli-Amer section of NH-8 with effect from March 30,1998.Presently, 15,506 Km length of the National Highways is under tolling through 302 Toll Plazas. 

There are 374 toll Plazas in the country.Out of these 164 are underBOT(Toll),138 are under public funded and 72 are on bridges. 

Earliar Shri Alkesh Sharma ,Joint Secretary ,Ministry RTH welcomed the participants. The senior officers of the RTH Ministry, representatives from the states and UTs, transport organizations and other stakeholders are participating in the workshop.

Top and Bottom Parliamentary Constituencies in Terms of Voter Turnout in General Elections 2014

Top and Bottom Parliamentary Constituencies in Terms of Voter Turnout in General Elections 2014

The 16^th General Elections witnessed a record voter turnout of 66.4%. Dhubri of Assam is the parliamentary constituency that recorded the highest turnout at 88.22% followed by Nagaland at 87.82%; Srinagar of J&K recorded the lowest turnout at 25.90%, followed by Anantnag of the same state.

Table 1: Top 10 Parliamentary Constituencies in terms of Voter Turnout

Sl. No	Parliamentary Constituency	State/UT	Voter Turnout
1	Dhubri	Assam	88.22%
2	Nagaland	Nagaland	87.82%
3	Tamluk	West Bengal	87.59%
4	Bishnupur	West Bengal	86.72%
5	Lakshadweep	Lakshadweep	86.61%
6	Kanthi	West Bengal	86.61%
7	Bardhaman Purba	West Bengal	86.21%
8	Tripura West	Tripura	85.92%
9	Basirhat	West Bengal	85.45%
10	Birbhum	West Bengal	85.33%
Source: Election Commission of India

Table 2: Bottom 10 Parliamentary Constituencies in terms of Voter Turnout

Sl. No	Parliamentary Constituency	State/UT	Voter Turnout
1	Srinagar	Jammu & Kashmir	25.90%
2	Anantnag	Jammu & Kashmir	28.84%
3	Baramulla	Jammu & Kashmir	39.13%
4	Kalyan	Maharashtra	42.88%
5	Patna Sahib	Bihar	45.33%
6	Bhind	Madhya Pradesh	45.62%
7	Nalanda	Bihar	47.22%
8	Mumbai North Central	Maharashtra	48.61%
9	Arrah	Bihar	48.75%
10	Bansgaon	Uttar Pradesh	49.88%
Source: Election Commission of India

State-Wise Voter Turnout in General Elections 2014

State-Wise Voter Turnout in General Elections 2014
Female Voter Turnout Higher Than Male in 16 States /UTS.

The highest turnout in the 2014 Lok Sabha Election was recorded in the State of Nagaland (87.82 %) and the lowest turnout was recorded in the state of Jammu and Kashmir (49.52 %).

The highest male turnout was reported in Nagaland (88.15%) while the highest female turnout was reported in Lakshadweep (88.42%). Female voter turnout (in percentage) was higher than male turnout in 16 States and UTs.

Table 1 State-Wise Voter turnout in 2014 General Election

Sl No	State/UT	Electors		Voters		Voter Turnout
		Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Total Voter Turnout
1	Andaman & Nicobar Islands	1,42,782	1,26,578	1,01,178	89,150	70.86%	70.43%	70.66%
2	Andhra Pradesh	3,26,70,930	3,22,67,820	2,43,52,913	2,40,05,632	74.54%	74.39%	74.47%
3	Arunachal Pradesh	3,79,627	3,79,760	2,89,291	3,07,665	76.20%	81.02%	78.61%
4	Assam	97,87,209	90,98,065	78,76,763	72,09,120	80.48%	79.24%	79.88%
5	Bihar	3,40,92,938	2,96,68,858	1,87,79,230	1,71,06,136	55.08%	57.66%	56.28%
6	Chandigarh	3,33,621	2,81,593	2,44,956	2,08,499	73.42%	74.04%	73.71%
7	Chattisgarh	89,15,783	87,07,266	63,20,693	59,34,886	70.89%	68.16%	69.54%
8	Dadra & Nagar Haveli	1,06,215	90,402	87,800	77,486	82.66%	85.71%	84.06%
9	Daman & Diu	57,011	54,816	42,378	44,855	74.33%	81.83%	78.01%
10	Goa	5,28,308	5,32,469	3,95,766	4,21,234	74.91%	79.11%	77.02%
11	Gujarat	2,12,29,092	1,93,74,012	1,42,59,115	1,15,64,888	67.17%	59.69%	63.60%
12	Haryana	87,16,612	73,81,137	63,51,584	51,43,566	72.87%	69.69%	71.41%
13	Himachal Pradesh	24,74,430	23,35,641	15,69,632	15,28,869	63.43%	65.46%	64.42%
14	Jammu & Kashmir	38,02,021	34,00,142	19,27,584	16,39,279	50.70%	48.21%	49.52%
15	Jharkhand	1,06,85,149	96,41,594	68,60,476	61,22,464	64.21%	63.50%	63.87%
16	Karnataka	2,35,86,223	2,26,25,886	1,61,65,832	1,48,73,056	68.54%	65.73%	67.17%
17	Kerala	1,17,34,258	1,25,92,391	86,78,185	92,97,708	73.96%	73.84%	73.89%
18	Lakshadweep	25,433	24,489	21,585	21,654	84.87%	88.42%	86.61%
19	Madhya Pradesh	2,53,09,830	2,28,08,210	1,67,34,556	1,29,05,240	66.12%	56.58%	61.60%
20	Maharashtra	4,27,43,156	3,79,74,127	2,67,14,578	2,20,04,266	62.50%	57.95%	60.36%
21	Manipur	8,71,431	9,02,894	6,85,427	7,27,210	78.66%	80.54%	79.62%
22	Meghalaya	7,77,639	7,89,602	5,24,774	5,53,284	67.48%	70.07%	68.79%
23	Mizoram	3,46,219	3,55,951	2,16,167	2,17,034	62.44%	60.97%	61.69%
24	Nagaland	6,00,490	5,82,458	5,29,325	5,09,585	88.15%	87.49%	87.82%
25	NCT OF Delhi	70,51,098	56,60,138	46,53,522	36,18,244	66.00%	63.93%	65.07%
26	Orissa	1,51,94,309	1,40,01,732	1,10,32,523	1,04,99,752	72.61%	74.99%	73.75%
27	Puducherry	4,32,048	4,69,309	3,51,360	3,88,657	81.32%	82.81%	82.10%
28	Punjab	1,03,27,116	92,80,892	72,62,625	65,82,507	70.33%	70.93%	70.61%
29	Rajasthan	2,26,38,323	2,03,31,124	1,46,27,976	1,24,82,068	64.62%	61.39%	63.09%
30	Sikkim	1,90,886	1,79,725	1,58,222	1,50,745	82.89%	83.88%	83.37%
31	Tamil Nadu	2,75,71,785	2,75,42,720	2,02,49,949	2,03,70,491	73.44%	73.96%	73.70%
32	Tripura	12,17,575	11,71,244	10,35,722	9,88,137	85.06%	84.37%	84.72%
33	Uttar Pradesh	7,60,71,444	6,28,94,376	4,49,79,619	3,61,12,683	59.13%	57.42%	58.35%
34	Uttarakhand	37,51,098	33,78,841	22,68,767	21,23,123	60.48%	62.84%	61.60%
35	West Bengal	3,26,89,449	3,01,43,679	2,68,86,706	2,47,35,849	82.25%	82.06%	82.16%
	Total	43,70,51,538	39,70,49,941	29,32,36,779	26,05,65,022	67.09%	65.63%	66.40%