Uttar Pradesh: PM Modi launches 81 investment projects worth Rs 60,000 crores
Lucknow, July 29 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who on Sunday laid the foundation stones of 81 projects worth Rs 60,000 crore whose MoUs were signed in February this year at the UP Investors summit, lauded the state government and Chief Minister Adityanath for making this happen in a period of less than five months.
"I have been Chief Minister of Gujarat, an industry driven state and can well understand the number of difficulties and problems the team of adithyanath ji must have faced and hence kudos that you all made this happen," he said.
"It is a big, significant and an unconceivable thing where everyone from the Chief Minister to the last revenue official is involved," he added.
"This is exceptional success... I am speaking on basis of experience," Modi said while nothing that the ground-breaking ceremony which he was presiding over should ideally be called "record breaking" as the state had competed the journey from "intent to investment".
"My heart says that UP would soon be a one trillion dollar economy," he said, while stressing how the changes would open new vistas for the people of the state, including the unemployed youth.
"When I was elected an MP from UP I had promised the 22 crore people of the state that I will give back their love and trust with interest and this event is a part of it," the Prime Minister added.
He also informed that gathering that due to proactive policies of his government, the energy deficit in the country, which stood at 4.2 per cent in 2013-14 had now narrowed down to less than one per cent. A sum of Rs 50,000 crore has been saved by the people by way of replacing conventional electric use by green energy like LED and solar energy, he said.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was also present, said that he too had been the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh but had never expected such fast work as that the adithyanath government had rolled out.
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IPL first phase schedule announced amid travel concerns caused by war in West Asia
New Delhi (PTI): Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 opener in Bengaluru on March 28 as the BCCI announced the first phase of the tournament schedule amid concerns around players' travel arrangements due to the ongoing West Asia conflict.
All matches scheduled at the Chinnaswamy Stadium remain subject to clearance from the Karnataka government appointed expert committee, which is scheduled to meet on March 13 to assess venue preparedness in the wake of the deadly stampede at the stadium last season.
The BCCI announced the schedule of the first 20 games on Wednesday and will unveil the full schedule once the dates of elections in three states -- Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal -- are announced.
Besides the state elections, the escalating conflict in West Asia will also be at the forefront of BCCI officials' minds. The war has wreaked havoc to international travel with operations of major airports like Doha and Dubai being heavily restricted.
As a result of that, some of the squad members of South Africa and West Indies are yet to reach home a week after the completion of their T20 World Cup campaign.
It remains to be seen if IPL bound players of those two nations report to their respective teams in time.
"There was a substantial delay in departure of West Indies and South Africa players. It would be a tough task to get them back to India on time. Plus the airfares have gone up substantially due to the war in West Asia," a team official told PTI.
Additionally, hotels across India are facing cooking gas shortage due to the raging conflict and on Tuesday, the central government invoked Essential Commodities Act to ensure uninterrupted supply of domestic cooking gas.
Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanthan told PTI that he is expecting his players from the West Indies and South Africa -- Akeal Hossein and Dewald Brevis, to join the team well before their IPL opener.
"We are expecting no delays from their end," he said.
The second game of the opening weekend will see Mumbai Indians host Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium and the opening weekend will not feature any double-headers.
A total of 20 matches will be played across 10 venues: Bengaluru, Mumbai, Guwahati, New Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
"During the season, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play five home matches in Bengaluru and two in Raipur. Punjab Kings will play four home matches in New Chandigarh and three in Dharamshala, while Rajasthan Royals will play three home matches in Guwahati and four in Jaipur," said the BCCI in a statement.
"During this period (the first 16 days), the tournament will feature four double-headers, with the afternoon matches beginning at 03:30 PM IST and the evening matches commencing at 07:30 PM IST.
"Following the opening encounter on Saturday, Mumbai Indians will take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
"The matches scheduled in Bengaluru are subject to clearance from the Expert Committee constituted by the Government of Karnataka," the BCCI added.
