New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday lambasted the Congress for continuous disruption in Parliament, which led to almost complete washout of the Monsoon Session, saying that the grand old party has become desperate.

Addressing the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) MPs, PM Modi equated Congress' attitude to Emergency days.

Commenting on the stalemate in Parliament that led to the washout of the Monsoon Session, the top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader launched a blistering attack on the grand old party, saying that the 'Congress is desperate as it wants power to remain concentrated with one family'.

Further targeting the Gandhi family, the Prime Minister asserted: “Congress wants to save the family, BJP wants to save the nation.”

At the end of the meet the NDA Parliamentary Party passed resolution against disruptions by Congress in Parliament and vowed vows "to expose" the grand old party before public in month-long campaign.

The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were today adjourned sine die after a 23-day Monsoon Session.

The session which began on July 21 was a complete washout due to protests by the opposition, chiefly the Congress, demanding the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for allegedly helping former IPL chief Lalit Modi and the Vyapam scam.

The Lalit Modi controversy and Vyapam scam dominated the session, resulting in paralysis of both Houses and provoking Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to suspend 25 of the 44 Congress members for five days.

Rajya Sabha was a complete washout while Lok Sabha managed to work during Question Hour amid din for a number of days and saw some legislative business in the absence of boycotting opposition parties.

New Delhi:  Girl students from the New Horizon Educational Institution, Karnataka, who had recently won the first prize in the Techno-Challenge 2015 competition in the United States, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi here today.

Inspired by the Prime Minister's Swachh Bharat initiative, these students have developed a mobile apparatus, which connects buyers and sellers of "waste."

The Prime Minister wished the students well in their future endeavors.

Union Minister Ananth Kumar, and MP Prahlad Joshi were present on the occasion.

The Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar Defence Services, Senior General U Min Aung Hliang, on Wednesday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.

During the meeting, Senior General U Min Aung Hliang appreciated India's role as a reliable development partner for Myanmar.

He said that Myanmar considers its relationship with India very important, not only as a neighbour, but also as a country with longstanding historical and cultural ties, shared interests and strong people-to-people ties with Myanmar.

He expressed his commitment to deepen defence and security engagement with India, including in the maritime security domain, adding that Myanmar will remain an important platform in support of India's Act East Policy.

He also conveyed the invitation of Myanmar President U Thein Sein to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Myanmar.

Prime Minister Modi said that he looked forward to visiting Myanmar at an early date. The Prime Minister also invited President U Thein Sein to visit India at the earliest.

Sr. Gen. U Min Aung Hliang expressed condolences on behalf of the people and the Government of Union of Myanmar on the passing away of former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated India's commitment to strengthen the bilateral relationship with Myanmar in all areas, including defence and security. The Prime Minister said that a strong and prosperous Myanmar was in India's interest, and expressed India's support to Myanmar in its endeavours for national development.

Prime Minister Modi said that Myanmar is 'India's gateway to ASEAN', and called for greater connectivity between the two countries and beyond.

The Prime Minister further said that he respects the desire of the people of Myanmar for a transition to a stable multi-party democracy, and conveyed his best wishes for the upcoming elections in Myanmar to be peaceful, free and fair.

Senior Congress leader B. Janardhana Poojary on Saturday castigated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s continued ‘silence’ even as farmers were ending their life across the country. “This silence is dangerous to the country,” he said.

Mr. Poojary told presspersons here that the Union government had a major role to play in subsiding farmers’ agony while State governments had a limited role. Instead of helping out farmers, the Prime Minister is doling out largesse to corporates, the former State Congress president alleged.

“If Mr. Modi has any guts, let him address a media conference. Why is he shying away from the media? Just delivering speeches and running away would not make a tall leader,” Mr. Poojary said.

The numerous foreign jaunts Mr. Modi is undertaking is not for the welfare of farmers, but for the corporate who have been supporting the BJP government, Mr. Poojary said.

While he doled out over Rs. 63,000 crore largesse to corporates in the last one year, nothing has come to farmers, he regretted.

On the spate of farmers’ suicides in Karnataka, Mr. Poojary said that he has already advised Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to visit the bereaved families.

New Delhi: The BJP is all set to launch a woman-centric social-cum-financial inclusion campaign on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.

The move is expected to pay rich political dividends in view of the crucial Bihar Assembly elections, which will be followed by polls in Uttar Pradesh. 

The campaign aims at bringing five crore women under the ambit of Narendra Modi government’s ambitious flagship social security progamme, Pradhan Mantri Bima Suraksha Yojna (PMBSY). 

The PMSBY is a renewable one-year accidental death-cum-disability insurance scheme of Rs 2 lakh for partial or permanent disability for a premium of Rs 12 per annum. It covers all savings bank account holders in the age group of 18- 70 years. 

While the PM had mooted the idea at one of the BJP’s ongoing zonal meetings in Bengaluru earlier this July, party president Amit Shah announced the campaign at a meeting in Delhi on Sunday. 

The direction is simple: Partyworkers at all levels, BJP MPs and MLAs should gift their sisters the Pradhan Mantri Bima Suraksha Yojna. 

Party functionaries and public representatives should also adopt women as sisters and gift them the life insurance cover in their respective areas, Shah said at the meet. 

“Minister for Human Resource Development Smriti Irani, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawar Chand Gehlot, Minister for Science and Technology Dr Harsh Vardhan and Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh have also been roped in to make the programme a success,” said BJP national general secretary Dr Anil Jain. 

Jain is the organisational in-charge of the campaign. The move is also aimed at empowering women in states such as Haryana. 

“This campaign can be seen as an extension of the Prime Minister’s ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ programme as it is aimed at the economic empowerment of women in India and to take the benefits of PM’s flagship social security schemes to women. It will prove extremely consequential in states such as Haryana,” said Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh, a Member of Parliament from Gurgaon, Haryana. 

The campaign is expected to enlist around 11,000 women in each legislative assembly of the country. According to BJP sources, the government has already notified the list of nodal banks and bank officials to be contacted for the purpose.

The BJP in Maharashtra on Saturday issued show cause notice to party MLA Raj Purohit and sought his response within three days over a sting operation video, purportedly showing him making caustic comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah.

The party said that Mr. Purohit’s action “breached” organisational discipline, and asked him to reply to its state president Raosaheb Danve within three days, failing to which action would be taken against him.

“Purohit, a former minister and MLA from Colaba in Mumbai, has been asked to explain his position and give a written explanation within three days,” a BJP spokesperson told PTI.

The video clip, aired by some channels and also uploaded on a few websites, has left the BJP red-faced, at a time when the party is under attack from its rivals at the Centre and in Maharashtra.

In the video, Mr. Purohit is shown to agree with the interviewer, whose identity is unknown, that Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah are the only ones wielding power in the party and there is no internal democracy in the BJP.

On the Centre’s policies, he was shown saying that “Narendra-bhai is doing good work, but he should avoid the mistakes he is making. Some of his decisions are alienating certain groups likes traders, who are the BJP’s hardcore supporters.

“People talk of collective leadership, but it is simply absent. This is a dangerous sign for the party,” he purportedly said.

He is also heard describing Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as “helpless” in the face of “pressure from above” and from influential individuals like builder and Malabar Hill MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha and ridiculing Raj Thackeray as a “bogus” leader.

The sting also shows Mr. Purohit claiming that he is the senior most BJP leader after Eknath Khadse (Excise Minister) in the state and “should have been made a minister”.

Mr. Purohit has claimed that the voice in the video was not his. He has demanded that the video be sent for forensic testing.

Meanwhile, NCP chief Sharad Pawar told reporters in Aurangabad that Mr. Purohit episode only reflected the general sentiment of many of the BJP legislators.

“The sentiments which a senior BJP legislator like Raj Purohit has expressed, is shared by many in that party,” Mr. Pawar said.

Despite displays of much political animosity at public events, two men at the helm of their respective power centres in the Capital are likely to brush shoulders thanks to their mutual admiration for yoga this Sunday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal are both expected to be in close proximity of each other while in attendance at the International Yoga Day celebrations, organised in the heart of New Delhi.

A senior Delhi government official said Mr. Kejriwal was “more than likely” to be present at the event given the “grand scale” at which the event is being organised in the Capital. The official could, however, not confirm whether the Prime Minister’s Office had extended an official invite for the same to Mr. Kejriwal.

“In any case, we don’t have any plans to organise a parallel event on similar lines,” the official told.

Another official said the Delhi government saw “no need to do so” due to the sheer financial burden and other ancillary preparations that could strain its resources, which organising such an event will require, and “will be more than happy to participate in the one already organised”.

While Mr. Modi’s inclination towards yoga is well-documented, Mr. Kejriwal has, on more than one occasion, expressed his proclivity for Vipassana meditation, going as far as declaring that he was in favour of dedicating the latter half of his years, post retirement from public life, to practising it.

The Chief Minister had devoted ample time to the same both after his hectic campaign for the Delhi Assembly elections, held earlier this year, in addition to a fortnight’s retreat to practice Vipassana at a prominent institution in Bangalore after assuming charge at the helm of the Capital’s government.

In fact, the Aam Aadmi Party-led (AAP) government even offered to send teachers deputed across schools in the Capital for Vipassana sessions to counter routine and work-related stress.

However, that did not find many takers among the teachers.

New Delhi: On the first anniversary of BJP-led NDA government in power at the Centre, the PMO website has been totally revamped, making it more user friendly and interactive.

According to reports, the new look of the website was unveiled on Tuesday marking the first anniversary of the Narendra Modi government.

PM Modi also took to twitter to confirm the development.

The website has a section by which anyone can directly reach the Prime Minister by writing an email.

“Write to the Prime Minister,” it says while giving the option of ‘Login/Register/Lost Password/Resend Activation Mail’

The website also has a section named ‘Our Government’ which has sub-sections of the President of India, Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, Cabinet Secretariat, Press Information Bureau, data.gov, India.gov.in, GOI Web Directory and MyGov.

The website also showcases latest news reports, the Prime Minister's photos, quotes, and full texts of his speeches.

Immediately after Narendra Modi took over as the Prime Minister in 2014, the look and feel of the PMO website was changed with more social media integration.