Sir, Rahul Gandhi(#RAGA) Wishing You a Very Happy and Healthy Birthday !

A young man with a vision and one of the India's new ray of hope in the world of Indian politics. He is Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi is the Vice-President of the Indian National Congress party . he is Also a Member of Parliament Representing the Amethi constituency.

Childhood and Study

Rahul Gandhi was born on 19 June 1970 in Delhi, the first amongst 2 children of Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India and Sonia Gandhi, the present Congress President. His grandmother was former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and his great-grandfather was Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister.

He Attended Modern School, New Delhi before entering the The Doon School. Starting university at Harvard, I've got his B. A. from Rollins College, Florida in 1994 due to interruptions in his studies Concerns Caused by security after his father's assassination. I have received an M.Phil. in Development Studies in 1995 from Trinity College, Cambridge. Rahul Gandhi, after graduating worked with management guru, Michael Porter's Management consulting firm, Monitor Group for three years. He returned to India in late 2002.

His vision

Rahul Gandhi's vision of 'Internal Democracy' in the Congress party's Youth and the Students' wings has resulted in Reforms and transformations never seen before. From open memberships to internal elections under impartial in observers, the young Gandhi AIMS to infuse transparency and the concept of talent management and performance measurement in the organization, a huge effort to herald a positive change in one of India's oldest political parties.

Public life

I Appeared With His mother and Congress President Sonia Gandhi at public events and Congress meetings. Also I Traveled to Pakistan on a goodwill visit to watch the first cricket series Between the country clubs in 14 years in a One Day International with his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. As a politician I matured formulates his tactics very carefully. In March 2004, I have his entry into politics Announced by contesting the May 2004 elections from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha. In his first media interview with, you have condemned "divisive" politics in India, saying That I would try to reduce caste and religious Tensions. His candidacy was greeted with excitement by locals, who had a long standing affinity with the family's Presence in the area. I won with a landslide majority, retaining the family stronghold with a margin of over 100,000 as the Congress unexpectedly defeated the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. His campaign was directed by his younger sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

In January 2006, at a convention of the Indian National Congress in Hyderabad, Thousands of party members asked for Gandhi to take a more prominent leadership role in the party and Demanded That I address the Delegates. He said "I appreciate and I am grateful for your feelings and support. ECOG I you I will not let you down", but asked for patience and Declined to Immediately seek a high profile role.

Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra managed Their mother's election campaign in Raebareli in 2006, que was won with a margin Easily Greater than 400,000 votes. He was a prominent figure in a high profile Congress campaign for the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

As Congress General Secretary

Rahul Gandhi was appointed General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee on 24 September 2007 in a reshuffle of the party secretariat. In the same reshuffle, I was Also Given charge of the Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India. Rahul Gandhi Implemented some innovative metodologías in the process of choosing leadership in Youth Congress. Rahul Gandhi toured the country with a mission to Strengthen the Youth Congress and NSUI. He held interaction Sessions with the young buds in various colleges and universities. This new approach Helped create a fresh enthusiasm Among the young party workers and sympathizers. Rahul Gandhi always Believed That Unless the youth of this country Become active in Indian politics and be a part in the process of development, India can not prosper further.

Strengthening Youth Congress

It is a scene of a sea-change in the rank and file of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) and the National Students Union of India (NSUI), the youth and students' wings, Respectively, of the Indian National Congress. The reason is the Implementation of the vision of 'Internal Democratisation of Rahul Gandhi, the current General Secretary of All India Congress Committee (AICC). Along with the Strengthening of internal democracy in the youth and student wings of the party's Rahul Gandhi has not lost sight of the long term vision of political empowerment of youth of the country. In the Parliamentary and Assembly elections held recently, a large number of IYC and NSUI members Were Given opportunity to contest elections and a majority of them Have Been successful. This has ensured a two pronged rejuvenation and reformation in the IYC. By sending new talent into the parliament and State Assemblies Shri Rahul Gandhi has ensured That the young generation gets a firsthand exposure in the giant laboratory of Indian Democracy.

His mission to Promote youth

Rahul Gandhi focussed on the twin systems of open membership and internal elections as the major drivers of this Organisational transformation. His method of open membership Ensures That people interested in becoming members are inducted into the organization Directly. The aim is to Increase the cadre-base and to empower the youth of the country by helping them enter the political sphere. As a pilot, a month-long membership drive was Undertaken in Punjab in August-December 2008. Exceed The result saw 350,000 memberships, a ten-fold Increase vis-à-vis the previous membership drive Which Yielded approximately 30,000 memberships.

Greater arduous task That has-been driven by Rahul Gandhi is the process of conducting elections Within the organization, across the country. This was a step never before Undertaken in the organization, and is seen as a bold and decisive move to bring in transparency across the ranks and to give a fair chance to all members. The membership drive in the states was followed by elections at block, district and state levels in the organization. The election Also Ensures That All sections of society are Represented Within a committee it adequately. The result, According to the party, you has-been a younger, fresh lot of people from all sections of society, many amongst them, first-timers in politics. Rahul Gandhi's drive and vision has, According to the party, succeeded in its primary mission of opening the doors of politics to all who are interested, and ushering in organizational democracy, setting a benchmark across all political Organisations.

As a Congress campaigner

In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, I Amethi constutuency Retained his victory by a margin of over 333,000 votes. Rahul Gandhi pivatol Also played a role in reviving Congress in UP During this election by winning 21 out of the total 80 Lok Sabha seats. I spoke at 125 rallies across the country in six weeks. Rahul Gandhi, at present concentrates mainly on constituency issues and the politics of Uttar Pradesh.

"If the country is to be changed, it can not be changed from the top, it can be changed from the ground level. Policies can be from the top, ideas can eat from the top, thoughts can eat from the top, but Their Implementation has to be at the level of Municipalities, panchayats and wards. " These words of Rahul Gandhi prove That I've Understands the current value and strength of democracy UNDERLINES And Also The Importance of a visionary young leader like him.

Future leader

It is the future Which will prove the effectiveness of the endeavor of the young Congress leader. But his push at Reforms, Addressing rallies, conferences and meetings and interaction with young people of varied professions and socio-economic backgrounds across states to spread the awareness of his Organisational Reforms is an indication of his seriousness to bring in and to Establish a direct contact With the grassroots, an endeavor to inject vital life into the party and the youth of this country.

2 October: International Day of Non-Violence #NonViolenceDay

The International Day of Non-Violence is marked on 2 October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement and pioneer of the philosophy and strategy of non-violence.

According to General Assembly resolution A/RES/61/271 of 15 June 2007, which established the commemoration, the International Day is an occasion to "disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness". The resolution reaffirms "the universal relevance of the principle of non-violence" and the desire "to secure a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence".

Introducing the resolution in the General Assembly on behalf of 140 co-sponsors, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr. Anand Sharma, said that the wide and diverse sponsorship of the resolution was a reflection of the universal respect for Mahatma Gandhi and of the enduring relevance of his philosophy. Quoting the late leader’s own words, he said: "Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man".

Swachh Bharat #MyCleanIndia

This campaign was officially launched on 2 October 2014 at Rajghat, New Delhi, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself wielded broom and cleaned a road. The campaign is India's biggest ever cleanliness drive and 3 million government employees and schools and colleges students of India participated in this event.

The mission was started by Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, nominating nine famous personalities for this campaign, and they take up the challenge and nominate nine more people and so on(like the branching of a tree). It has been carried forward since then with famous people from all walks of life joining it.

History

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was announced by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on Indian Independence Day & launched on 2 Oct 2014, Gandhi Jayanti. On this day, Modi addressed the citizens of India in a public gathering held at Rajghat, New Delhi, India and asked everyone to join this campaign. Later on this day, Modi himself swept a parking area at Mandir Marg Police Station followed by pavement in Valmiki Basti, a colony of sanitation workers, at Mandir Marg, near Connaught Place, New Delhi.

I am honoured to be invited by our respected Prime Minister Shri Narendrabhai Modi to join the "Swachh Bharat Abhiyan". . . I dedicate myself to this movement and will invite nine other leading Indians to join me in the "Clean India" campaign. . .

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee asked every Indian to spend 100 hours annually in this drive. This campaign is supported by the Indian Army, Border Security Force, Indian Air Force and India.

Objectives

This campaign aims to accomplish the vision of 'Clean India' by 2 October 2019, 150th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi and is expected to cost over INR62000 crore (US$10 billion). The campaign was described as "beyond politics" and "inspired by patriotism".

More than 3 million government employees and schools and colleges students of India are going to participate in this event.

Nominees

Jitesh Trapasiya selected 9 notable public figures to propagate this campaign.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9. My all Friends from Facebook, Twitter and College

Top quotes of ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’

1. It is our social responsibility as citizens of India to help fulfil Gandhiji's vision of Clean India, by his 150th birth anniversary in 2019.

2. I am seeing that Gandhi is looking through these specs that whether we have made India clean or not, what we have done and what we have done.

3. Devote 100 hours every year towards the cause of cleanliness.

4. Cleaning up the country cannot be the sole responsibility of sweepers. Do citizens have no role in this? We have to change this mindset.

5. Though it is a difficult task, it can be achieved and for that people will have to change their habits.

Thank you @PMOIndia @narendramodi,I feel reassured now!

Yesterday, amid a veritable landslide of predictions and speculation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a speech in San Jose, California, mainly concerning his two favourite themes (at least from an international perspective) - "Make in India" and "Digital India". As an Indian student in an American university not far from the Silicon Valley, the atmosphere around the speech, akin to the energy and excitement surrounding the performance by a music band, had me riveted alongside the 20,000-odd adoring fans packed into San Jose's SAP Center and the lakhs watching from my motherland halfway across the world.

The address followed Modi’s meeting with CEOs of over 50 Fortune 500 companies in New York, and his one-on-one soiree with Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and founder of Facebook. While eager to support the Make in India and Digital India campaigns, the corporations were predictably concerned with India’s less-than-perfect governance, the hurdles to doing business, and the lack of adequate infrastructure (on at least two of these concerns, if not all three, China scores much higher, and Chinese President Xi Jinping was in Seattle during the same period to meet almost the same set of industry leaders to make a case for his efforts to further ease up foreign investments in China).

In his speech, the prime minister dealt with the issues of corruption and bureaucratic inefficiency, appealing not only to investors but also to the average Indian who dreams of a better quality of life abroad, mirroring the mindset of most Indian students who travel to the US for education and also hope to work in the US after graduation. Known to be an adept orator, Modi stressed that the Digital India initiative includes within its umbrella the concept of e-governance, allowing the government to implement laws through mobile technology and enabling citizens to have access to their constitutionally-guaranteed rights at the touch of a button. Much to the joy of someone who has spent many hours stuck in the melting tar that is Indian bureaucracy, the prime minister declared that the country, and its governance, has been lazy for the past few decades, but it is finally time to work.

I recall a statement made by Modi earlier that as part of the Digital India initiative, mobile-enabled emergency services will enhance personal security. For a young woman who calls India - a country with an average of 90 rape cases reported every single day and countless others unreported - her home, this thought holds immense potential. As Google CEO Sundar Pichai put it in his welcome video, perhaps it is time for “India’s own revolution” in the digital realm. Perhaps it is time for a change in the mentality of a soon-to-be better equipped and more resourceful population that will be kinder to the traditionally disadvantaged. To paraphrase the prime minister, those who do not want to change will become irrelevant in the 21st century. The hope of job creation is also promising for Indian students temporarily residing in the "Land of Opportunity", especially in view of an American job market that is still unyielding to a majority of foreign students.

Also refreshing was Modi’s optimistic and agreeable take on the somewhat-touchy topic of "brain drain", adopting the perspective that Indians living abroad are improving the image of their birthplace and working on the identity (“pehchaan”) of the nation. However, by viewing the outflow of Indians as a deposit waiting to be cashed in, the words of the prime minister could be construed by NRIs to imply a certain debt owed by persons of Indian origin living outside the country.

Irrespective of the outcome following this much-anticipated speech, it is safe to say that Modi has mastered the art of rallying a crowd with ambitious, desirable goals, the practised voice of assured certainty, and a demeanour powerful enough to dominate a stadium affectionately (and some would say, appropriately) nicknamed the “Shark Tank”. The prime minister’s "victory lap" around the stage, amidst chants of his name, balloons streaming from the heavens, and music from everyone’s favorite inspirational, beat-the-odds saga, Chak De India, reinforced the image of the politician as a celebrity. Modiji "left the building" while reaching out to touch the extended arms of the adoring, and perhaps blindly uncritical, hordes at San Jose.

International Day of Democracy

Democracy is a universal value based on the freely expressed will of people to determine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems and their full participation in all aspects of their lives. 

While democracies share common features, there is no single model of democracy.

Activities carried out by the United Nations in support of efforts of Governments to promote and consolidate democracy are undertaken in accordance with the UN Charter, and only at the specific request of the Member States concerned.

The UN General Assembly, in resolution A/62/7 (2007) encouraged Governments to strengthen national programmes devoted to the promotion and consolidation of democracy, and also decided that 15 September of each year should be observed as the International Day of Democracy. 

Globally, the role of civil society has never been more important than this year, as the world prepares to implement a new development agenda, agreed to by all the world’s Governments. However, for civil society activists and organizations in a range of countries covering every continent, space is shrinking — or even closing — as some Governments have adopted restrictions that limit the ability of NGOs to work or to receive funding.

That is why the theme of this year’s International Day of Democracy is "Space for Civil Society." It is a reminder to Governments everywhere that the hallmark of successful and stable democracies is the presence of a strong and freely operating civil society -- in which Government and civil society work together for common goals for a better future, and at the same time, civil society helps keep Government accountable.

Aylan Kurdi's aunt: this one small life has shown us the way to tackle the refugee crisis

One would argue there are no degrees of death. But the image of the drowned Syrian toddler washed up on the Turkey beach makes you believe otherwise. This death is unacceptable. It leaves you with inconsolable grief for it is untimely, unnatural, and brought upon by the irresponsibility of us adults and our agendas.

The tiny body, in a red T-Shirt and shorts had not dressed that day to be found, lying face down on a beach, dead. No doubt, the image has got itself etched in our hearts as a symbol of our shame and guilt as insensitive, selfish adults.

There is a fair chance, that nature gloved in the waves, washed the body of the three-year-old Aylan Kurdi ashore to make us see the deterioration of our humanity, the degeneration of our purpose, the devastation of our future - all at our own hands. And a big thank you to social media for making it go viral to land a rude knock on every compassionate soul that viewed it.

His family was one of the tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing the war in their homeland, descended on Turkey to board boats to Greece which, to them, could be their gateway to the European Union and also a chance for a normal future.

True, his is not the only life that has been cut short due to strife and war. But his is a death that inspires a gnawing pain and guilt for he had no role to play in bringing the world to this pass. He was neither fighting for the Islamic State nor was he with the Kurdish regional forces. He was just a toddler trying to survive strife and he failed! And in him, we all failed.

The image is a clarion call for all us "thinking adults" on how our children may end up paying for our failures. According to the UNHCR, so far this year, more than 2,500 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean, many of them children and teenagers. And this is only one refugee statistic.

If this does not shake us from our selfish slumber and inane political and religious agendas, God knows what will. Which God would forgive this murder?

Can any God forgive the murder of Aylan Kurdi?

Teachers' Day: To @PMOIndia @narendramodi Sir

 Last year when the Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that he was going to do an interactive session with kids on Teachers' Day alarm bells were raised about his real intent. There were heated, screeching debates in TV studios, as always. So much so one would have thought it was a dangerous idea to get children to attend school for one more day. For weeks there were loud protestations about how schools were being forced to give up a holiday. The cruelty, apparently, was being compounded by the fact that schools were going to be video linked with the prime minister. What could be more outrageous!

Now, the really shocking part is that the same event has taken place and gone by without anyone creating a big fuss about it. It seems usually vociferous TV channels completely missed the day in their calendar. So what has changed in this past one year ? Basically, perhaps Mr Modi reaching out on Teachers' Day has already become so routine that it is no longer threatening us or our children? Or that TV channels have found something even more trivial to discuss?

The ultimate victory for a good idea is when others begin to copy it. And so now we have the Aam Aadmi Party running away with the concept. Only - they brought in the president to deliver a lecture, as deep rivalry would have prevented them asking the prime minister to say the proverbial "do shabd".

One can thus wonder what the fuss was all about one year ago. Perhaps it was a concerted effort, obviously, by anti-Modi parties, to create a panic about how dictatorial things had become! Children were being forced to wake up early and meet the country's prime minister! How terrible!

But now that Narendra Modi spoke for a second year running perhaps this innovation will get noted in our calendar. Just like Yoga Day perhaps.

The real question, therefore, is whether we are resistant to change or, on the other hand, whether all changes can be resisted ? Or has the time come for all of us to become creatures of routine because it is safer. We are far more secure because we certainly do not want even a slight disruption of our lives.

And yet without change no one can evolve. Perhaps that's what the prime minister was trying to do when he decided to interact with students.

And this year he took the corollary still further, because he even attended an RSS function on the same day. Undoubtedly much will be made of it, and oblique references will be made about his childhood.

However, that link could be true, as one always feels that when the prime minister participates in a school function, he is also harking back to his own past when he had very little. He might not have even had a stable school life, and perhaps that is why, one can see his untiring efforts to reach out to school kids.

Nothing wrong with it, except when his intentions are always being questioned. Or, have we, finally as this Teachers' Day shows, got used to Mr Modi?