NARENDRA MODI

Narendra Modi is an Indian politician and a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a right-wing nationalist party. He is currently serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi led the ruling BJP in the 2014 general election which gave the party a majority in Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian Parliament, the first time for any single party since 1984. The 71-year-old leader had also served as the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is currently a Member of Parliament from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

About Narendra Modi

• Name - Narendra Modi
• Born - 17 September 1950
• Birthplace - Vadnagar, Mehsana, Gujarat
• Caste - OBC
• Religion - Hindu
• Net Worth - Rs 2.51 Crore

Under PM Modi, the Indian government began various initiatives such as ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ - a high-profile sanitation campaign, ‘Digital India’ - a flagship programme of the Modi government to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy, demonetisation of high-denomination banknotes and transformation of taxation regime.

In September 2014, the Modi government introduced the ‘Make in India’ initiative to encourage foreign companies to manufacture products in India, with the goal of turning the country into a global manufacturing hub. The Modi government had in December 2014 abolished the Planning Commission and replaced it with the National Institution for Transforming India, or NITI Aayog. He also repealed 1,200 obsolete laws in his first three years as prime minister; a total of 1,301 such laws had been repealed by previous governments over a span of 64 years.

In October 2014, Narendra Modi started a monthly radio programme titled ‘Mann Ki Baat’. The Modi government has also launched several welfare programmes such as the Ujjwala scheme to provide free LPG connection to rural households, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) Mission which intends to provide housing for all in urban areas by this year.

Modi returned to power for a second term with the National Democratic Alliance securing 353 seats in the Lok Sabha while the BJP alone won 303 seats. Under his watch, the Indian government launched the 'Operation Ganga' initiative to bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. With this, India successfully brought back more than 22,500 of its nationals from the war-hit country.

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