New Delhi: The government on Thursday said it did not incur any expenses for the 'Howdy-Modi' event in the US city of Houston in September last year and that it was organised by a not-for-profit group.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a thunderous reception when he, accompanied by US President Donald Trump, addressed a crowd of over 50,000 Indian-Americans at the event in a stadium in Houston on September 22, 2019.
"A US-based not-for-profit organisation namely the Texas India Forum Inc. organised an event titled, Howdy, Modi! Shared Dreams, Bright Futures' in Houston on September 22, 2019," Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said in the Rajya Sabha.
He was replying to a written question on the event.
Specifically asked whether the government incurred any financial expenses for the event or funded its organisers, Muraleedharan said "no".
He said the chairperson of the Texas India Forum Inc. was Jugal Malani, an Indian community member based in Texas.
"Prime Minister, as part of his visit to the US, participated in the event at the invitation of the organisers and addressed a gathering of members of the Indian-American community and many of their elected representatives," the minister said.
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Bengaluru (PTI): Terming former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's death a "great loss" for the nation, JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda on Friday credited him with "saving the country" from an economic crisis and preventing it from falling into a "debt trap".
The former Prime Minister described Singh as a simple, honest, and gentlemanly figure. Manmohan Singh, the architect of India's economic reforms, passed away in New Delhi on Thursday night at the age of 92.
Manmohan Singh served as the Finance Minister in the Narasimha Rao government in 1991, during one of the most critical economic periods in the country's history. He took on the responsibility and did his utmost to save the nation from the economic crises, Gowda said.
Speaking to reporters, he said otherwise, the country would have fallen into a debt trap. "Such was the severity of the situation. To address this, the Narasimha Rao government with Singh as the Finance Minister made the decision to pledge 130 tonnes of gold."
Singh then introduced economic reforms such as liberalisation, privatisation, and foreign direct investment, Gowda said, adding that all these initiatives were implemented by him as Finance Minister under Prime Minister Narasimha Rao.
Manmohan Singh was a distinguished economist who worked at the World Bank, served as the Reserve Bank Governor, and acted as an advisor to the Government of India. With his vast experience, he went on to serve the nation for ten years as Prime Minister. His death is a great loss to the nation, he added.