PM Modi’s birthday: Wishes pour in from world leaders amid prayers and BJP’s ‘sewa’

A five-day exhibition on PM Modi’s life and works will be held at Kolkata’s Indian Museum from today.

The entire BJP family is behind this show, which will also highlight the 25 years of Modi as an administrator who became the chief minister of Gujarat in 2001 and Prime Minister in 2014, senior party leader Locket Chatterjee said.

“There will be photos marking the young days of Modiji till the later phase when he took the plunge into politics. Different phases of his life — from a tea vendor to a pracharak, from one who came in contact with spiritual gurus to and a mass leader who gained immense popularity — will be traced in the exhibition,” the former MP said.

The exhibition will continue till September 21. 

Founded in 1814, the Indian Museum is the earliest and the largest multipurpose Museum not only in the Indian subcontinent but also in the Asia-Pacific region of the world. It functions under the Union Ministry of Culture.

On the eve of PM Modi’s birthday, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday announced a scheme under which Rs 1 crore will be distributed to municipal councils and town councils for developing “Namo Parks”.

The scheme will benefit 394 municipal councils and town councils in the state, Shinde’s office said.

“These parks will be named ‘Namo Parks’. This is a gift of Maharashtra to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his 75th birthday,” said Shinde, who is also the Urban Development Minister of the state.

A competition will be organised at a divisional level in which three municipal councils/town councils will be given awards.

The first prize will carry Rs 5 crore, followed by Rs 3 crore for the second position and Rs 1 crore for the third spot.

The Delhi government is likely to launch a credit scheme for MSMEs on September 18 under the Sewa Pakhwada.

“The scheme is likely to be announced on September 18 as part of the Sewa Pakhwada that will kick off on Wednesday to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday,” said an official.

The Delhi Credit Scheme for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) was approved in the Delhi Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.

Under the scheme, MSMEs will be able to avail loans with the government acting as a guarantor, an official said.

The Delhi Fire Service will roll out 24 Quick Response Vehicles (QRVs), which will be deployed at locations vulnerable to traffic congestions and fire incidents, on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday on September 17.

The authority has earmarked 24 locations across the city with a higher incidence of fire and difficult accessibility. These include Janakpuri, Najafgarh, Vasant Kunj, Rohini Sector 16, Jahangirpuri, Lajpat Nagar, Geeta Colony, Paharganj, Bawana, Chanakyapuri, Dwarka and Moti Nagar.

Under this new initiative, DFS has integrated “an advanced Ultra High-Pressure Pump Extinguishing System and latest technologies into its compact XL6 vehicles, significantly enhancing its ability to respond to urban emergencies,” an official statement said.

The government has allocated funds for the project in three phases. In the first phase, 24 QRVs have been procured at a total cost of Rs 8.61 crore, covering both the vehicles and the specialized firefighting equipment, it said.

In the second phase, “tender for procurement of 26 Maruti XL6 vehicles was placed on GEM on August 21. High Pressure Pumps will be procured after delivery of XL-6,” the statement read.

Proposals for deployment of 50 more QRVs have been prepared under Phase 3, it added.

The launch of a host of welfare and development initiatives on Wednesday by the BJP and its governments at the Centre and in states will mark the 75th birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will kick off a fortnight-long nationwide health and nutrition campaign from Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar.

Here is a list of initiatives:

• Swasth Nari Sashakt Parivar and the eighth National Nutritional Month.

• More than one lakh health camps. Daily health camps will be held in all government health facilities nationwide.

• Blood donation camps across the country.

• Swadeshi fairs to promote made-in-India goods

• Modi Vikas Marathon

• Drawing contests on Viksit Bharat

• Interactions with intellectuals

• Cleanliness drives

• In Dhar, Modi will transfer funds under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana directly into the bank accounts of nearly 10 lakh eligible women

• Modi to unveil the Suman Sakhi Chatbot to raise awareness on maternal and child health. The chatbot will provide timely and accurate information to pregnant women in rural and remote areas, ensuring access to essential health services.

• Modi to give the 10 millionth Sickle Cell Screening and Counselling Card to MP.

• Under Adi Karmyogi Abhiyan, Modi to launch an exercise in MP that will symbolise the confluence of tribal pride and the spirit of nation-building. The initiative will include a series of service-oriented activities in tribal regions, focusing on health, education, nutrition, skill development, livelihood enhancement, sanitation, water conservation and environmental protection.

• In line with his 5F Vision — Farm to Fibre, Fibre to Factory, Factory to Fashion, and Fashion to Foreign — the prime minister will inaugurate the PM MITRA Park in Dhar.

The Varanasi Municipal Corporation will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of projects worth Rs 111 crore today.

The municipal body will also cut a 75 kg cake, Varanasi Mayor Ashok Tiwari said on Tuesday.

Road construction, repair and drainage work of 65.68 km length will be carried out in all eight zones, and five assembly constituencies of the city at Rs 63.76 crore, he said, giving details about the programme.

Cleaning and renovation of 75 wells in the city will be taken up, too, at Rs 1.18 crore. Besides, a shelter home for 30 people will be constructed under the Pandeypur flyover at Rs 30.28 lakh.

Registration of dogs at home will be started, and mobile animal capture vehicles will be inaugurated, he said.

Religious ceremonies are also being organised for PM Modi.

Jitendrananda Saraswati, general secretary, Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti Swami, said that for the good health of Modi, the unity of the country, and to keep him in the post of prime minister for the longest time, seers will perform sahastraarchan of Baba Shri Kashi Vishwanath with 1,100 lotus flowers, after which Maharudrabhishek will be organised. Saints and scholars of Kashi will participate in this ritual.

Cleanliness and public service programmes have also been planned for the day, said Dileep Patel, president, BJP (Kashi region).

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday launched a song, ‘Namo Pragati Delhi — From Children’s Voices to the Nation’s Voice’, on the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday.

The song has been sung by children from Delhi’s government schools and incorporates melodies from India’s diverse languages, said an official statement.

It stands as a powerful symbol of the Prime Minister’s nation-building journey and his commitment to the ‘Ek Bharat, Shresht Bharat’ vision, it added.

Over 400 students contributed to the creation, recording, and performance of the song dedicated to the Prime Minister.

In addition, students prepared over 300 handmade greeting cards, inscribed with personalised birthday wishes. These cards were handed to CM Gupta, who assured the students that she would personally deliver them, along with the song, to Modi.

Extending her wishes, Gupta said, “On behalf of myself and all residents of Delhi, I extend my heartfelt birthday greetings and best wishes to the esteemed PM Modi. May God’s blessings continue to be upon you and, through you, upon all of India.”

Gupta said that during the 15-day “Sewa Pakhwada”, the government will launch multiple initiatives in the field of education.

“From CM Shri Schools to new curricula, Rashtra Neeti, Neev and Nipun, multiple programmes will be launched to enable children to learn and for the development of their personalities,” she said at the song launch.

A special morning walk has been organised as well on Wednesday at 7 am on Kartavya Path as part of celebrations marking Modi’s birthday.

The Delhi government will launch 500 creches for children of women working as labourers in the city on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said on Tuesday.

“We are going to launch 500 creches named ‘Palna’ on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday, where children of women workers will be taken care of while they are at work,” Gupta said.

More than one lakh cataract surgeries will be performed in Maharashtra during a fortnight-long drive to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday, state BJP president Ravindra Chavan said on Tuesday.

The party will also arrange eye check-up of at least 10 lakh people and distribute spectacles to the needy during the drive, to be held from September 17 to October 2, Chavan told reporters in Mumbai.

“We will bring together NGOs, other organisations and social groups to perform more than one lakh cataract operations, ensure eye check-ups for 10 lakh people and provide spectacles to the needy, Chavan said.

Blood donation camps will also be organised during the drive, Chavan said. “We have chalked out 17 programmes to be implemented during this fortnight,” he added.

The Odisha government will plant 75 lakh saplings on Wednesday to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 75th birthday, an official said.

Additional Chief Secretary of Forest Satyabrat Sahu said saplings will be planted from sunrise to sunset and this programme will be implemented in “election mode”.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi chaired a meeting on Monday evening to review the preparations for the programme, he said.

The Forest Department has set a target of planting 15 lakh saplings, the Panchayati Raj Department will plant 34 lakh saplings, the Industries Department will plant 15 lakh saplings, Agriculture Department will plant 23 lakh, CAPFs in the state will plant 2.2 lakh saplings, police will plant 3 lakh saplings, and banks and financial institutions will plant 2 lakh saplings, he said.

Sahu said 2 lakh school teachers, 15 lakh school students, 76,000 Anganwadi workers, 17,500 forest conservation societies, 1 lakh NSS volunteers and 16,500 Mother India Volunteers will participate in the programme along with members of self-help groups, and employees of government departments and private organisations.

A total of 25 lakh people will participate in the programme, he said.

The CM urged everyone to click a selfie while planting trees and post it on social media.