Make in India; Slogan for foreign investors

One daughter can serve parents more than five sons

• Greetings from the Pradhan Sevak. I stand before you not as Pradhan Mantri (Prime Minister) but Pradhan Sevak (Prime servant)
• It is a tribute to Indian democracy that a person from a poor family, an ordinary family, is today addressing the nation from the Red Fort.
• I tell the world - Come, Make In India. Sell anywhere but manufacture here. We have the skill and talent
• All previous governments have a hand in developing India. State governments have a hand in it as well. I offer my respect to all previous governments and Prime Ministers
• Every MP has to develop at least five villages over next five years
  
• We want to move forward not on the basis of our majority but on consensus.The session that just ended reflects our thinking. We don't believe in the force of majority. We worked with everyone. The credit for this goes not to the PM but
  
• the MPs and the opposition
  
• An outsider came to Delhi and got an insider view. I was surprised. It was as if in one government there were different governments.
  
• We have seen instances of communal violence for too long. How long will this go on? Be it caste or communal violence, they stall the growth of the nation
  
• Don't kill daughters in the womb, it is a blot on 21st century India. I have seen families where one daughter serves parents more than five sons
  
• The world used to think we are a land of snake charmers and black magic. But our youth has surprised the world with its IT skills

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday invited global business houses to set up manufacturing plants in India. He told them: “Come, make in India.” “Come here and manufacture in India. Sell the products anywhere in the world but manufacture here...we have the power, come I am inviting you,” he said.

He said global businesses can invest in a wide range of areas including electrical, electronics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, satellite and submarine. He said India’s youth have competent skills and talents to turn the country into a global export hub. For that, he said thrust must be laid on the manufacturing sector, which would in turn create employment for people. "Our manufacturing sector should strive to have zero defects, so that our products can sell easily in global markets. But, we should also bear it in mind that manufacturing sector does not have any negative impact on the environment," he cautioned.

Rousing the nation with his first Independence Day speech, delivered extempore, Modi spoke from his heart and spelt out his vision for a clean, healthy and prosperous India wherein common man would be empowered.

He thanked the nation for making the PM a person from "a poor and ordinary family." I stand before you today not as the Pradhan Mantri but as the Pradhan Sevak (Prime Servant)." The remark drew thunderous applause. "Such is the power of the Indian Constitution that a boy from a small town, from a poor family is at the Red Fort and is fortunate to bow before the tricolour. This is the power of Indian democracy.”

The 63-year-old prime minister reminded the country of its rich cultural and spiritual legacy and referred to various sages and Vedic wisdom. Indians should take pride in them and rebuild a national character. In the same breath, he spoke about the various ills plaguing India.

The Prime Minister spoke in Hindi for around 75 minutes from the ramparts of the Red Fort, after unfurling the national flag. Donning a cream short-sleeved kurta and a red turban, he reiterated his commitment to the nation and touched upon various topics from creating jobs to attracting investment to building world class standards for the people. A "Clean India" campaign would be launched on October 2, he said, to turn the country clean and hygienic by 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of the Mahatma.

"I want to make a beginning today itself -- all schools in the country should have toilets with separate toilets for girls," he said. He said people must resolve "not to leave a speck of dirt in our village, city, street, area, school, temple, hospital and what have you by 2019". Expressing concern over communal and caste-based violence, PM Modi warned the people of “the poison of casteism and communalism,” and called for an end to them: "How long should we allow these evils to continue? Whom is benefiting?”

"We have had enough of fights,” he said.Deploring rise in violence against women, he repeatedly referred to their issues. “We have to hang our heads in shame over any actions against women. Who is causing this imbalance? Certainly not God. I request doctors not to kill the girl child growing in the womb of a mother just to line their own pockets. I have seen families where one daughter serves parents more than five sons.” Modi also harked back to his favourite theme – Digital India. He announced a new initiative under which each MP would develop a model village in his/her area. The "Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojna" would be launched Oct 11, the birth anniversary of reformer and political leader Jayaprakash Narayan.

"After that every MP has to develop at least five villages over five years.” For the first time in years, there was no reference to neighbouring nations or foreign relations.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with wife Gursharan Kaur, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti, Delhi LG Najeeb Jung were some of the VVIPs present for the event.