On November 9, 2019, the Supreme Court of India gave its final verdict on the Ayodhya dispute and declared that the disputed holy site of Ayodhya in northern India should be given to Hindus who want a temple built there, the country's Supreme Court has ruled. The verdict was touted as “a decisive turn away from secularism for India”.
However, in a letter to the Financial Times, Utkarsh Sharma of Somerville College, University of Oxford, UK wrote, “The temple is not being constructed after an order by Prime Minister Narendra Modi or the Bharatiya Janata Party, the political party with which he is associated, but following a final judgement from the supreme court of India after 134 years. As your correspondent also accepts, the construction was permitted because it was legally established that a mosque was built in the 16th century, by an invader, on the site of a temple, which was many thousands of years older. While actions of the mob, frustrated at the stalled court proceedings, in taking matters into their own hands in 1992, were reprehensible, I’d suggest that given the unique, irreplaceable and continuing importance of the birthplace of Lord Ram for the Hindus, the supreme court was correct to permit reconstruction of a temple on-site and to offer compensatory land for the mosque, after mediation failed. Finally, I reject your implication that the ceremony marked a triumph only for the Hindus or the ruling BJP. It is a moment of triumph for a nation which has had a long history of oppression at the hands of invaders, who merely happen to be of Islamic faith, like Babur who built a mosque on the site of a razed temple.”
Ahead of India’s 74th Independence Day, Modi addressed the nation at one of the most historic events of the century. He chanted "Siyavar Ram Chandra ki Jai!" and “Jai Shri Ram!” as he laid the foundation of the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple with a 40 Kg silver brick in Ayodhya on August 5, 2020. In the middle of a global pandemic in March 2020, the PM announced the re-telecast of Ramanand Sagar’s iconic TV show Ramayan on Doordarshan after three decades of its broadcast. It became the most-watched entertainment show in the world with 77 Million viewers on April 16.
According to figures released by Prasar Bharti, 160 million people tuned in to watch the live telecast of the Ram Temple ‘Bhoomi Pujan’ ceremony in Ayodhya on August 5, resulting in a viewership of more than 7 billion viewing minutes across the TV universe in India.
Modi’s mission “to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy” during the pandemic, led to the government’s biggest move with the launch of India's Covid-19 tracking app, Aarogya Setu. According to a report released by Sensor Tower, the downloads of Aarogya Setu app peaked in the month of April at an estimate of 80.8 million while the total downloads stood at 127.6 million as of July on Apple's App Store and Google Play Store. The ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’ App Innovation Challenge was announced by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) and MyGov in partnership with Atal Innovation Mission, Niti Aayog for Indian tech entrepreneurs and startups. This competition aimed to be a platform to promote existing apps and help develop new ones.
A powerhouse of talent
Consulting firm PwC and Payment Council of India reported that India’s share in the digital payments market will be around 2.2 percent, making it the world’s biggest digital payments market by 2023. The report titled Empowering payments said that digital India on the path of revolution, is likely to hit $12.4-trillion mark in transaction value by 2025 up from $3.7 trillion in 2019.
In a report published by the World Economic Forum in 2019, the three biggest challenges of India were listed as follows: Skill development and employment for the future workforce, Socioeconomic inclusion of rural India and a healthy and sustainable future.
Addressing the citizens of the country during his virtual and much awaited speeches to the nation during Covid-19 lockdown, the PM announced a Rs 20 lakh crore package which aims to make India a truly self-reliant country by developing and strengthening local supply chains. The economic package is for different strata of the economy including industries, MSMEs, and the common people.
Recently, the New Education Policy 2020 was introduced with the aim to promote sustainable development goals, use education as an economic booster, internalisation of higher education, have digitised pedagogy and classrooms with a layered accreditation system, aiming to equip teachers with the latest technology and education methodology.
Under the new Gram UJALA scheme, rural areas will get 600 million LED bulbs at INR 10 a piece without government subsidy. The Gram UJALA scheme will also help improve energy access in rural areas. Despite 78% of rural India finding no work in lockdown, a recent survey shows that 74%of rural India backs the Modi government in Covid-19 fight. Additionally, more than 68% rural Indians faced 'high' to 'very high' monetary difficulties during lockdown, the survey conducted by Gaon Connection and Centre for the Study of Developing Societies found.
On the Coronavirus vaccine front, the Indian Council of Medical Research and Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India (SII) Pune based firm have partnered to start trials of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.
Meanwhile, during FY 2019-2020, India became the second largest foreign investor in the UK. The Department for International Trade (DIT) inward investment statistics for 2019-2020 found India moving up from its previous third-largest spot, representing an overall 4 per cent FDI increase for the UK on 2018-2019 with 1,852 new inward investment projects in the 2019/2020 financial year.
Modi has paved way for the passage of legislation criminalising instant triple talaq, and abrogation of Article 370 stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its special status. “The work that was not done in the last 70 years has been accomplished within 70 days after this new government came to power,” he said last year at the Red Fort, projecting a dream of a 5 trillion-dollar economy by the end of his tenure.
Last year on 7 September, India attempted to make a soft landing on the lunar surface. However, lander Vikram missed the primary landing site and went for the second. If India does succeed, it will be the fourth country to land on the moon, after the erstwhile USSR, US and China, to cement its place among the world's space-faring nations. In a major milestone for India's second Moon mission, India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, GSLV MkIII-M1 had successfully launched the 3,840-kg Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft into the earth's orbit on July 22. The Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft had successfully entered lunar orbit on August 20 by performing Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) manoeuvre.
On a global scale, India now boasts 9 Nobel Prize winners out of which seven have been awarded in the past 74 years of Independence, Abhijit Banerjee being the latest to win a Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.
Amid a soaring pandemic, natural calamities and border dispute with China, Modi recently said that the "age of expansionism" is over as he lauded the bravery of Indian troops during a surprise visit to the Himalayan region of Ladakh, where thousands of soldiers are deployed amid a tense standoff with China. In a recent global virtual event, he said, “India is a powerhouse of talent, eager to contribute and ever ready to learn. Indians are natural reformers, India has overcome every challenge, social or economic.”
This year, the Independence Day event on 15 August is likely to consist of only Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech, a 21-gun salute, the National Anthem, and the unfurling of the National Flag. According to ANI, only 20 percent of the usual number of VVIPs and other invitees will be able to attend Modi's speech live this year. Earlier, thousands of people used to attend the celebration.
Asian Voice celebrates with India and the diaspora
Asian Voice has attempted to capture the essence of India’s 73 years of freedom in its Independence Day Special Edition (page 19-29). Our special coverage includes messages from Members of Parliament and peers, Mayor of London, Deputy Mayor of London for Business- for the Indian diaspora in the UK. We revisit Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s speech ‘Tryst with Destiny’ as India’s first Prime Minister in 1947. Our compilation consists of Indian start-ups key to restart British economy as well as India-UK trade partnership in a post-Covid Brexit Britain. There’s an account of how Indian students would drive the UK universities forward. We've also tried to profile the charitable work of UK-India charities and the evolution of the famous Indian curry over the years. We hope to add value and insight into your knowledge bank with our special edition. Happy Reading.
