PM Modi gets 'Global Goalkeeper' award for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
New York: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Wednesday conferred the "Global Goalkeeper" award by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by his government.
In a series of tweets in Hindi, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said Modi lauded the countrymen for contributing to the grand success of the cleanliness mission, saying he shared the honour with them.
"Getting the award in the year of Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary is personally significant for me. When 130 crore people take a pledge, any challenge can be overcome," the prime minister said.
He dedicated the award to those Indians who transformed the Swachh Bharat campaign into a "people's movement" and accorded topmost priority to cleanliness in their day-to-day lives.
"No such campaign was seen or heard about in any other country in the recent past. It might have been launched by our government, but people took control of it," Modi said.
As a result, over 11 crore toilets were built in the country in the last five years, which was a record, he said.
Stressing that the success of the campaign could not be measured in numbers, the prime minister said the poor people and the women of India were benefitted the most by it.
"Due to lack of toilets, a number of girls had to drop out of schools. Our daughters want to study, but because of lack of toilets, they had to abandon their education mid-way and sit at home," he added.
It was the responsibility of his government to help the girls and women of the country come out of this situation and it had performed the duty with utmost sincerity, the prime minister said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) had also acknowledged his government's efforts in this regard and said due to the Swachh Bharat campaign, a possibility was created to save three lakh human lives, he said.
Modi said he was told that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had also reported that as rural sanitation had improved in India, it had led to a decline in heart problems among children and improvement in the Body Mass Index (BMI) among women.
Expressing happiness that Gandhi's dream of cleanliness was about to be fulfilled, he said, "Gandhiji used to say a village could only become a model when it was completely clean. Today we are heading towards making the entire country a model."
"The campaign has not only improved the lives of crores of Indians, but it has also played a significant role in achieving the goals set by the UN," Modi said.
One of the least talked about aspects of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was that the 11 crore toilets built under it had opened a new chapter of economic activity in rural India, he said.
Stating that the simple meaning of democracy was that people should be at the centre of policies and schemes, the prime minister said for decades, India had witnessed "constitutional federalism", but it was his government that attempted to change it to "co-operative federalism" and with time, it was now moving towards "competitive-cooperative federalism".
He also voiced satisfaction that there was a race among all the states in India now to bag the top spot in the "cleanliness ranking".
Reiterating the philosophy of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" (the whole world is one single family), Modi said India wanted to share its experience and expertise with other countries.
Besides the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, many other "people's movements" such as "Fit India" to promote fitness and preventive healthcare, the "Jal Jeevan Mission" focussing on water conservation and recycling were going on in India, he said, adding that the country was headed towards getting rid of single-use plastic by 2022.
The prime minister asserted that he had full faith that the strength and determination of 130 crore Indians would ensure the success of all such campaigns and thanked everyone associated with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for bestowing the honour on him.
The cleanliness campaign was launched by the Modi government on Gandhi's birth anniversary on October 2, 2014.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
T20 WC star Samson named ICC Men's Player of the Month for March
_vb_32.jpeg)
Dubai (PTI): India opener Sanju Samson was on Tuesday named ICC Men's Player of the Month for March, capping a stellar run that saw him play a defining role in the team's triumphant T20 World Cup campaign.
Samson did not get to play in the early part of the tournament but was the standout performer in the big games towards the end and helped India retain the title.
His latest honour also extends a unique streak, with players from different countries winning the award over the past five months including South Africa's Simon Harmer, Australia's Mitchell Starc, New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell and Pakistan's Sahibzada Farhan.
"Winning the ICC Player of the Month award is an incredible feeling, especially as it comes during what has been the most unforgettable phase of my cricketing journey. Playing a part in India's triumph at the Men's T20 World Cup was truly a dream realised, and it took some time for the magnitude of that moment to fully sink in," Samson said.
"This is an exciting era for Indian cricket, with immense talent across the board. I feel grateful for the opportunities I've received, and for the trust and support from my team-mates and coaching staff that have allowed me to perform at my best."
Not a regular part of the playing XI in the initial stages of the tournament, Samson was eventually called up for India's must-win Super 8 fixtures. After starting off with 24 against Zimbabwe, he picked form and didn't look back.
The opener missed out on a century against the West Indies by just three runs, but his attacking 97 not out set up India's spot in the semifinal.
A blistering 89 against England at the Wankhede helped India to 253 for 7, and the target proved elusive for the English who missed out by seven runs on March 5.
An equally amazing 89 was churned out during India's successful title defence in Ahmedabad, securing a 96-run win.
In the three crucial T20Is he was a part of in March, Samson notched up 275 runs at an astonishing average of 137.50 and a stunning strike rate of 199.27.
This is the first time that Samson has secured an ICC Men's Player of the Month honour.
New Zealand captain Melie Kerr won the women's honour for the third time, after an outstanding series against Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Taking over the white-ball teams from Sophie Devine, Kerr's captaincy seemed to have brought out the best in her with both the ball and the bat. In the Zimbabwe ODI series, she managed to snap 16 wickets in just three matches, including her career-best figures of 7/34.
Additionally, she also contributed with the bat, being the third highest run-scorer in the ODIs, scoring 140 runs across three games with an average of 46.67 in the counting month.
_vb_25.jpeg)
_vb_63.jpeg)
_vb_77.jpeg)