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India Celebrates Its 66Th Independence

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India Celebrates Its 66Th Independence A Publication of the Embassy of India, Washington, D.C. September 1, 2012 I India RevieI w Vol. 8 Issue 9 www.indianembassy.org President Pranab Mukherjee at the 'At Home' function, organized on the occasion of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh inspecting the Guard of Honor at the India’s 66 th Independence Day, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on August 15. Red Fort, on Independence Day, in New Delhi on August 15. India celebrates its 66 th Independence Day n Ambassador meets n Finance Minister n Veteran actor families of gurdwara unveils roadmap to A.K. Hangal passes shooting victims revive growth away at the age of 97 Ambassador’s PAGE The failure of the Indian power grid on July 30 and 31 attracted international media attention. However, an isolated incident should not be perceived as the final word of terminal illness in the Indian power sector. Excerpts from Ambassador Nirupama Rao’s blogs: India’s power sector: what you also need to know IT SEEMED the entire world sat up links, strengthen and re-inforce the of the 10 th Plan (2006-07) to 7.9 per and took note of disturbances in the weaker elements, impose substantial cent during April-December 2011, the Indian Power Grid on July 30 and 31, congestion charges to curb over-draw - peak deficit declined from 13.8 per 2012, which affected major parts of al by States, and so on. cent in 2006-7 to 10.6 per cent during Northern, Eastern and North Eastern During the 11 th Five Year Plan the same period. India. While alarm bells rang, and the period, spanning 2007-2012, India Let’s not make the power grid fail - commentariat was rife with advice added 55,000 MW of electric power ure the signature tune for India’s about what India should do to “fix” its generating capacity, which is almost power sector. The achievements to power sector, it went hardly noticed the same as was added during the augment our capacity in the last few that essential services in Railways, three preceding Plan periods. And, years have been significant, and we Metro Rail and Airports were restored, significantly, the capacity addition of must not fail to recognize them. For a on both days, within a few hours. 20,500 MW in the Financial Year (FY) country as large and as complex as By all accounts, the Grid is function - 2011-12 is the highest ever capacity ours, we’ve come a long way, in terms ing normally since, and is being close - addition in any year. In fact, this of progress, from where we were even ly monitored by a phalanx of engineers capacity addition led to the deficit in a few years ago. and specialists. At the highest levels of power supply, in terms of peak avail - Government there is the firm resolve ability and total energy availability, to The full text of the Ambassador’s that these instances should not happen decline during the 11 th Five Year Plan. blog can be viewed at: in future. Steps are being taken to While the energy deficit decreased http://www.indianembassy.org/news_f review trans-regional and other critical from 9.6 per cent in the terminal year iles/News_File_2017.pdf India ’s misunderstood electrical grid THE INTERNATIONAL media transmit and distribute power over the The federal government in India reacted with alarm last month when last decade. In 2003, India passed the has taken a series of steps to work major parts of northern India Electricity Act, which spurred open with states to bolster the financial suffered power outages. They access to the grid and cleared the way health of utilities. In addition, almost shouldn’t have. The failure of the for private participation in electricity all villages in the country have been electric grid on July 30 and 31 was an generation. As a result, millions of electrified under a program launched isolated incident. The government Indians have benefited mightily from in 2004. In his Independence Day and private sectors are working hard their new-found ability to receive elec - address earlier this month, Prime to prevent a recurrence. tricity. Minister Manmohan Singh said that No one would claim that delivering India added 55,000 megawatts of his next goal was to provide electrici - 2 reliable electricity to a country of more electrical capacity between 2007 and ty to every household in the nation in than 1.2 billion residents is easy. 2012. That was as much power as had the next five years. Certainly India, with its accelerating been added in the previous 15 years. The temporary lapse in India’s economic growth in the last few years, The 20,500 megawatts of capacity power grid last month was unfortunate has had its challenges in this area. But added in fiscal 2012 was the largest but was also an aberration. occasional problems should not yearly boost in India’s history and was obscure the substantial progress that a remarkable achievement given the The full text of the Ambassador’s has been made. fact that in 1947 — the year India article can be viewed at: The disruption of service had a lim - declared its independence — the http://thehill.com/blogs/congress- ited duration because India has steadi - country had a total generation capaci - blog/foreign-policy/246389-indias- ly improved its ability to produce, ty of only 1,376 megawatts. misunderstood-electrical-grid September 2012 India Review Cover STORY Peace must be our ideology: President President Pranab Mukherjee urged the citizens to embrace non-violence and carry out their duties with unflinching loyalty to the values enshrined in the Constitution 3 President Pranab Mukherjee addressing the Nation on the eve of India’s 66 th Independence Day in New Delhi on August 14. tressing that democratic extending green revolution to the east - tiny, Mahatma Gandhi, who fought temper calls for dignity of ern parts of the country and fast track - with selfless, unflinching conviction behavior and tolerance of ing the creation of high-quality infra - against the mightiest power in history, S contrary views, President structure. “Education and health serv - with a moral force that transformed Pranab Mukherjee in his address to ices have to reach the last man at the political thought and whose reverbera - the Nation on the eve of India’s 66 th earliest,” he said. tions echo in great events all around us Independence Day on August 14 said today. If the rise of European colo - that peace was essential for achieving Excerpts from President Mukherjee’s nization began in 18 th century India, progress. “We need peace for a new speech on the occasion: then the rallying cry of “Jai Hind!” also economic surge that eliminates the “We are all equal children before our signalled its end in 1947. The final call competitive causes of violence,” mother; and India asks each one of us, to victory, “Jai Hind!” was given by he said. in whatsoever role we play in the com - Subhas Chandra Bose, fondly known President Mukherjee underlined the plex drama of nation-building, to do to every Indian as “Neta ji ”. Pt. importance of Parliament in a demo - our duty with integrity, commitment Jawaharlal Nehru, Baba Saheb cratic set-up, calling it the “soul of the and unflinching loyalty to the values Ambedkar, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, people, the atman of India”. enshrined in our Constitution. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sarojini He said that the Indian economy It is important to remember, on Naidu and many others charted the was confident and resilient enough to Independence Day, that in the age of roadmap of independent India. These withstand the adverse external envi - empires freedom was never given; it extraordinary men and women sacri - ronment. The President called for fur - was taken. It was won by a generation ficed their todays for our tomorrows. ther strengthening the economy by of giants, led by a mighty man of des - That tomorrow has come, and there is September 2012 India Review Cover STORY a question we must ask ourselves: have we honored the great vision of these stalwarts, as a nation and as a society? Neta ji and Nehru ji believed that India could seize the future by an application of synthesis, samyavada , of what might seem on surface to be implacable opposites. They believed that free India would become, by example, an alternative model for a post-colonial world through economic equity and a social revolution inspired by harmony between communities that had been misled into hostility. Propelled by freedom of faith, gender equality and economic justice for all, President Pranab Mukherjee paying homage at the Amar Jawan Jyoti, India Gate, on the occasion of India will become a modern nation. India’s 66 th Independence Day, in New Delhi on August 15. Minor blemishes cannot cloak the fact that India is becoming such a modern Two decades of steady economic reforms have nation: no faith is in danger in our contributed to improvement in average income and country, and the continuing commit - ment to gender equality is one of the consumption levels in both rural and urban areas great narratives of our times. — President Pranab Mukherjee I am not a pessimist; for me, the glass is always half full, rather than half knowledge that will lift their skills; and to conserve her bounty during the empty. I would go to the extent of say - for opportunity that will put India on many seasons of plenty so that we are ing that the glass of modern India is the fast track to the first world.
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