On Diwali, PM Modi bats for festival tourism
New Delhi: Extending Diwali greetings, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday batted for promoting "festival tourism" in the country, saying we should welcome people from other states and countries while celebrating festivals such as Holi and Pongal.
In his monthly Mann ki Baat radio address, he also referred to the unique "Swachh Siachen" campaign launched by soldiers to clean up the icy battlefield of 130 tonne of trash.
He said the feat is remarkable as nothing decomposes in the icy heights easily.
With the country celebrating the 550th Prakash Utsav or birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in November, the prime minister referred to his teachings of peace, harmony and equality.
Paying tributes to then prime minister Indira Gandhi ahead of her death anniversary on October 31, Modi also urged people to participate in large numbers in the "run for unity" on Thursday.
The marathon is organised every year on October 31 since 2014 to mark the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. While referring to tourism, he said the Statue of Unity in Gujarat has drawn 26 lakh tourists in its first year.
It has generated employment opportunities for locals also. Modi said festival tourism has its own exciting attractions. India, the country of festivals, possesses limitless possibilities in the realm of festival tourism.
"It must be our endeavour to ensure that we should welcome people of other states, other countries when we celebrate Holi, Diwali, Onam, Pongal or Bihu, spreading their true spirit," he said.
Every state, every region is replete with distinct festivals, generating a lot of interest in people from other countries, he said. The Indian diaspora has a significant role to play in promoting festival tourism in India, he suggested.
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SC to hear on May 4 PIL seeking stringent guidelines for issuing Aadhaar to adolescents, adults
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea seeking a direction to the Unique Identification Authority of India to issue new Aadhaar cards only to citizens up to the age of six years, and frame stringent guidelines for its issuance to adolescents and adults to stop infiltrators from masquerading as Indian citizens.
As per the apex court's causelist of May 4, the plea would come up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay has also sought a direction to the authorities to install display boards at common service centres stating that the 12-digit unique identification number is only a "proof of identity" and not a proof of citizenship, address or date of birth.
Besides all the states and Union Territories, the plea has made the UIDAI -- which is the authority that issues Aadhaar -- and the Union ministries of home, law and justice, and electronics and information technology as parties.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, said Aadhaar, originally intended as a proof of identity, has increasingly become a "foundational document" enabling individuals to obtain other identification documents, such as ration cards, domicile certificates and voter identity cards.
"The UIDAI has issued 144 crore Aadhaar and 99 percent Indians have been enrolled. Therefore, the petitioner is filing this writ petition as a PIL under Article 32, seeking a direction to UIDAI to issue new Aadhaar to children only and frame new stringent guidelines for adolescents and adults, so as to stop infiltrators from getting it and masquerading as Indian citizens," the plea said.
It said the need to file the plea arose when the petitioner came to know the manner in which infiltrators are able to procure Aadhaar through a verification process that is weak and can be easily manipulated.
"Foreigners apply for Aadhaar under the 'foreign' category. But infiltrators apply for Aadhaar under the 'Indian citizen' category and get it easily made. Thereafter, they obtain a ration card, birth and domicile certificate, driving licence, et cetera, essentially becoming indistinguishable from Indian citizens…," it said.
Besides seeking other directions, the plea has raised legal questions, including whether the Aadhaar Act 2016 has become "temporally unreasonable" for failing to keep up with the legislative intent of distinguishing foreigners from Indian citizens.
It said the alleged misuse of Aadhaar undermines targeted welfare delivery and leads to diversion of public resources.
