Mumbai, Feb 10: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said in the last few years an atmosphere of unprecedented trust has been created in the country as he reached out to the influential Dawoodi Bohra community and praised its members for changing themselves with the times.

Presenting himself as a family member of the community and not as Prime Minister at an event at Marol in suburban Andheri, Modi fondly recalled his decades-old close ties with the social group.

Inaugurating the fourth campus of Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah Arabic Academy, a premier educational institute of the Dawoodi Bohra sect of the Muslim community, he said the country has put an end to 40,000 compliances and decriminalised hundreds of legal provisions.

These laws adversely affected businesses of entrepreneurs, but the government is now standing firmly with job creators, said the PM on his second visit to Mumbai in less than a month.

"An atmosphere of unprecedented trust has been created in the last few years," he said.

The PM spoke about big fillip being given to medical education by his government and said a medical college is being opened in every district.

From 2004 to 2014, when the Congress-led UPA government was in office, 145 medical colleges were started in country. But after he assumed office in 2014, more than 260 medical colleges have been set up, Modi said.

"In the last eight years, every week, one university and two colleges were opened in country," he maintained and highlighted his government's push to higher education.

The PM said on one hand, the country is building modern infrastructure and on the other hand, it is investing heavily in social infrastructure.

In this year's Union budget, a provision has been made to digitise ancient texts, he said.

Effusively praising the Dawoodi Bohra community, Modi said its members have stood the test of transforming themselves according to changing times.

"l am here as a family member, not as Prime Minister," Modi said in his outreach to the community.

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Bengaluru: Karnataka High Court judge, Justice V Srishananda, on Saturday expressed regret in open court after facing backlash over his controversial remarks in his recent court hearings, reported Bar and Bench.

Two purported video clips from Justice V Srishananda’s court hearing that show him making inappropriate comments went viral across social media platforms.

On Saturday, Justice Srishananda invited members of the Advocates Association, Bengaluru, and senior lawyers to his courtroom at 2:30 PM, where he read out a note expressing regret for inappropriate comments.

Quoting Advocates Association President Vivek Subba Reddy, Bar and Bench wrote, “He expressed regret for the comments and clarified that it was not his intention to offend any community or members of the Bar. He also requested the association to relay this message to all members of the Bar.”

Reddy further stated, “We also advised him to encourage young lawyers in the courtroom and refrain from making any irrelevant remarks during hearings.”

Another senior lawyer present during the session confirmed to the legal news portal that Justice Srishananda also addressed comments directed at a woman lawyer, who was seen in one of the videos being reprimanded by the judge. The judge Justice Srishananda clarified that his remarks were not intended to target her (woman lawyer) specifically, but rather pertained to the appellant she was representing. “He explained that his comment was meant to imply that the appellant seemed to know a lot about the other party,” said the lawyer.

In addition, Justice Srishananda assured those present that he would avoid making such comments in the future.

The controversy came to light on September 19, when a video clip from an August 28 Court hearing surfaced on social media, showing Justice Srishananda referring to a Muslim-majority sub-locality in Bengaluru’s Goripalya as "Pakistan." Hours later, another video from the same courtroom emerged, in which the judge was seen making a gender-insensitive remark.

Following outrage over the viral videos, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant, and Hrishikesh Roy, on September 20 took a suo motu cognizance and sought a report from the Karnataka High Court Registrar General in connection with the viral video.

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