Says all river water disputes need to resolved through talks; appeals to countrymen to opt for phone banking; thanks people for taking currency ban in stride

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday vowed to utilise “every drop” of the Sutlej-Ravi-Beas river waters that has been flowing over to Pakistan, for the benefit of farmers of border states, especially Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. “These rivers, as per the Indus water treaty, belong to India and our farmers. I will utilise every drop of it ,” Modi said at the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here on Friday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the gathering during the foundation stone­laying ceremony of

“Every drop will be utilised by the farmers of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir and other states. I am committed to this,” the Prime Minister said.

The PM’s statement also holds significance in the wake of the SYL canal imbroglio in which the Badal regime in Punjab refused to abide by the apex court judgment and returned the land acquired for the canal to the owners. Without mentioning the SYL issue, he said all water disputes could be resolved through talks. “We are with Badal sahib on water issue,” he, however, said.

He blamed the previous successive governments for water disputes and under-utilisation of the natural resources.

ROOTS FOR MOBILE BANKING

A day after the opposition’s uproar against demonetisation in the Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday looked rather firm on his move, appealing to the countrymen to go for phone-banking or e-banking.

“Mobile phones are your wallet and your banks now. Download the banking apps on your phones and curb corruption,” the Prime Minister said at the foundation stone-laying ceremony of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here.

He said the number of mobile connections was four times the number of family units in the country.

Acknowledging the harassment to the common people due to cash crunch, Modi said he was thankful to the people of the country “for standing by us (NDA regime) in this mission of demonetisation and bearing the shortlived brunt”.

The PM, however, skipped a reply to his predecessor Dr Manmohan Singh’s claim that this move initiated by Modi will lead to 2% decline in the growth of country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and people may “lose faith in currency and banking system”.

The PM also appealed to the information technology (IT) experts in universities and other agencies to train the people in net-banking. “We have taken this step to save the poor people and to save the middle class from exploitation. This will end all unaccounted transactions and rid us of fake currency,” he said.

ADVISES PAK TO FIGHT TERROR, NOT INDIA

The Prime Minister advised the regime in Pakistan “to fight corruption and black money in their country, if they want to fight terror”.

He said people in India were equally pained due to terror strikes in Pakistan.

“I want to tell the people of Pakistan that we are also pained for the deaths of children in Peshawar,” he said.

Punjab chief minister Parkash SIngh Badal, deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Union health minister Jgat Prakash Nadda were among those present on the occasion.