Red Fort

Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech sounded more like a snake oil salesman than a statesman

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, August 22, 2023

Narendra Modi’s tenth consecutive Independence Day speech as Indian prime minister, delivered from the Red Fort in Delhi on August 15, was long (90 minutes) and characteristically loaded with bombast.

Key Points: 
  • Narendra Modi’s tenth consecutive Independence Day speech as Indian prime minister, delivered from the Red Fort in Delhi on August 15, was long (90 minutes) and characteristically loaded with bombast.
  • At times, he resembled the old snake oil salesman cliché: he proclaimed the success of his product and ignored its side effects.
  • He was vague on detail and tried to distance himself from any problems his policies had caused.
  • India’s Independence Day speech is supposed to celebrate freedom from British colonial rule which ended in 1947.

Rhetoric versus reality

    • Sadly but predictably, few media organisations were brave enough to point to the contrast between his rhetoric and reality when he listed his government’s successes.
    • A blatantly assertive Hindu supremacist vigilante mob culture is on display where hate speech against Muslims and Christians has become normalised.
    • Were Modi a statesman worthy of his position, he would have assured India’s minorities that they are equal rights-bearing citizens.
    • He would have refrained from platitudes about peace and the “Indian family” and rather spelled out policy proposals to tackle ethnic violence in Manipur.

Stump speech

    • Modi’s speech spent some time accusing his political opponents of the “three evils” his government had worked hard to eradicate.
    • It is significant that the day before his speech, the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (named after India’s first and longest-serving prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru) was renamed Prime Minister’s Museum and Library.
    • Modi’s speech was nothing more than a stump speech for the 2024 election aimed firmly at the country’s Hindu majority.
    • Towards the end of his speech, Modi expressed his confidence that on August 15 2024, he would again address the country from the Red Fort after being reelected.

Cultural heritage and historic preservation: creating a digital twin of Shahjahanabad

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Despite the global recognition of cultural heritage’s importance and role in enriching our lives, it is under constant menace.

Key Points: 
  • Despite the global recognition of cultural heritage’s importance and role in enriching our lives, it is under constant menace.
  • Because these threats are complex and multi-layered, preservation and efficient management of cultural heritage demand robust information.
  • The goal of our ongoing research is to create a digital twin of Shahjahanabad across a spatio-temporal scale.
  • Created using geo-information tools such as photogrammetry in combination with archival research, historic maps and survey plans, the digital twin would be a model of Shahjahanabad as it once was.
  • Although photogrammetry and laser scanning have been used for creating historic urban environments, modelling dense and “living” heritage areas like Shahjahanabad using these methods takes on a different meaning.
  • From spatial-planning perspective, they can present different scenarios to planners and designers for fulfilling contemporary needs while at the same time preserving cultural heritage.
  • 50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention: World Heritage as a source of resilience, humanity and innovation.

Hitachi Receives 40 High-Speed Elevators Order from Unity Group for "The Amaryllis" in Delhi, India

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, September 7, 2022

NEW DELHI, Sept 7, 2022 - (JCN Newswire) - Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), today announced that Hitachi Building Systems Co., Ltd. and Hitachi Lift India Pvt.

Key Points: 
  • NEW DELHI, Sept 7, 2022 - (JCN Newswire) - Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), today announced that Hitachi Building Systems Co., Ltd. and Hitachi Lift India Pvt.
  • Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. which operates sales, installation, and maintenance of elevators and escalators in India, have received an order for 40 units of high-speed elevators from Unity Group for the first time for their super-luxurious residential complex "The Amaryllis" phase 2 in Delhi, India.
  • Hitachi established Hitachi Lift India in January 2008 and began full-scale operations in the elevator and escalator market.
  • Hitachi Lift India currently operates in all major cities in India, such as Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad.