Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded India's 7.8 per cent GDP growth, achieved despite global conflicts and instability. He emphasised the importance of Swadeshi and self-reliance for a developed India by its 100th year of Independence, urging citizens to avoid unnecessary foreign expenditures.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has ruled out greater political autonomy for Tamils, saying ethnicity-based division was 'not practical' for the country, appearing to back away from his promise made as part of the country's reconciliation process.
Terming Bahujan Samaj Party member of Parliament Shafique-din Barq's walkout from the Lok Sabha when the national song was being sung as "Taliban-like conduct", the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said such leaders do not have a right to be parliamentarians or even citizens of the country.
