Chaos at Delhi Airport as Terminal-1 roof collapses on cars amid rain; 1 killed, 6 injured

New Delhi: The people of India have given a clear and stable mandate to the Modi government for a third time, President Droupadi Murmu said on Thursday as she addressed a joint sitting of Parliament.

The President also congratulated the people of Jammu and Kashmir for the high voter turnout recorded in the union territory in the recent Lok Sabha elections and lauded the Election Commission for holding the world's biggest democratic exercise.

Congratulating the new MPs in her first address to the joint sitting of Parliament after the constitution of the 18th Lok Sabha, Murmu said she hoped they would act as the medium for fulfilling the aspirations of the people of India.

"A very good outcome has emerged from Jammu and Kashmir in this election. Voting records of decades have been broken," she said.

"In the last four decades, we only saw low voter turnout in Kashmir amid strikes and shutdowns. Enemies of India used to project it as the opinion of Jammu and Kashmir on the global stage. This time, the people of Jammu and Kashmir gave a befitting reply to such forces," she said.

Murmu said the whole world is talking about the 2024 elections.

"The world can see Indians have for the third time formed a government with a stable and full mandate," she said.

"This has happened after six decades. People have shown trust in my government for the third time. People of India are confident that only my government can fulfil their aspirations," she said.

"This is a stamp of approval for the mission of service and good governance that my government has run for the last 10 years," the President said.

The President added that many historic and major economic decisions will be taken in the upcoming budget.

The budget that will be presented by the government in the next Parliament session will be a document of its futuristic vision, the President said in her first address to the joint sitting of Parliament after the constitution of the 18th Lok Sabha.

"The budget will have major economic and social decisions and many historic steps will be taken. The speed of reforms will be increased to fulfil the aspirations of people," she said.

She said her government believes there should be healthy competition between states for investment. "This is in the spirit of competitive-cooperative federalism," she added.

AAP boycotts President Murmu's address to Parliament over Arvind Kejriwal's arrest

Murmu further said, "India has become the world's fifth-largest economy. There has been an average 8 per cent growth in the last 10 years, even though these were not normal times."

"This growth rate has been achieved despite a global pandemic and conflicts in different parts of the world. This is the result of the reforms of the last 10 years. India alone is contributing 15 per cent to global growth. My government is working to make India the world's third-largest economy," she said.

Amid the NEET row, President Murmu assured during her address that the government is fully committed to investigating the recent incidents of paper leaks and ensure that the guilty are punished.

Addressing the 18th Lok Sabha for the first time, the president said her government is working to create an environment to enable youth of the country dream big and achieve them.

As she mentioned steps taken by the government on the education front, some opposition members were heard shouting "NEET".

"If due to any reason there is obstruction in examinations it is not appropriate. Sanctity, transparency are a must in government recruitments and examinations," she said.

"The government is committed to conduct fair investigation and ensure the most stringent punishment to those guilty in the recent incidents of paper leak," she said.

There were incidents of paper leaks in some states earlier as well, the president said, stressing that there is need to rise above partisan politics and take strong steps at the national level.

The president added that Parliament has also made a strong law against paper leaks.

She added that the government is working to bring reforms in the examination process.

The United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF) has drawn attention to the number of child casualties in Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, saying thousands of kids remain buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Palestinian territory.

UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban made the remarks on Wednesday during a UN Security Council meeting on children and armed conflict.

He said that Palestinian children continue to endure “incomprehensible suffering,” particularly those in the Gaza Strip amid a “staggering” scale of death and destruction there.

Chaiban noted that more than 23,000 cases of children killed or maimed in 2023 have yet to be verified due to insecurity, movement restrictions and significant risks to humanitarian personnel operating in Gaza. 

“The bodies of thousands of missing children remain buried under rubble, and none of this includes the thousands of violations reported so far in 2024,” he added.

The UNICEF official also highlighted the obstacles that are impeding aid deliveries to Gaza and thus increasing the number of acutely malnourished children, noting “After nearly nine months of horrible conflict, UNICEF and other humanitarian actors are still struggling to reach those in need."

He further called for “a complete ceasefire” in Gaza, where many children are losing their lives due to Israel’s starvation imposed on the besieged territory.

Israel unleashed its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out its historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for the regime’s intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

So far, the Tel Aviv regime has killed more than 37,718 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured over 86,377 others in Gaza.

Also speaking at the Security Council meeting was Palestine's UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour who recalled that Israel has killed more children in recent months than in all armed conflict globally over the past 4 years.

He estimated that nearly 16,000 Palestinian children were killed in Israel’s aggression against Gaza while another 21,000 are missing.

The Gaza Strip, once a vibrant place where children set world records in sports, has now been reduced to a graveyard, Mansour said, calling for “collective resolve and responsibility to pressure Israel to stop the madness.”

‘Most of patients were children’

Meanwhile, Adam Hamawy, a former US Army combat surgeon who returned from a medical mission to Gaza, said that children made up most of his patients.

“The level of civilian casualties that I experienced was beyond anything I’d seen before,” the 54-year-old medic told AFP.

“Most of our patients were children under the age of 14.”

Hamawy also said that humanitarian aid must enter Gaza in “sufficient volumes to meet the demands”.

Henley & Partners Passport Index revealed India's passport strength improved by three position in 2024. The Indian passport is currently ranked 80th place as it has weakened during the past ten years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rule. It has dropped from 76th position to 80th. 

The Index is based on exclusive International Air Transport Authority (Iata) data. In addition, publicly available and reliable online sources were also used to cross-check each passport against all 227 possible travel destinations.

List of countries Indian nationals can visit visa-free or get visa-on-arrival in 2024:

Africa: Angola, Burundi, Cape Verde islands, Comoro Islands, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Zimbabwe

Asia: Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Laos, Macao (SAR China), Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines (valid or unexpired American, Japanese, Australian, Canadian, Schengen, Singapore or UK visa, or permanent residence permit from these states) Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste

Americas: Bolivia, El Salvador

Caribbean: Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago

Oceania: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Niue, Palau Islands, Samoa, Tuvalu, Vanuatu

Middle East: Jordan, Oman, Qatar

NOTE for UAE: As of December 6, 2023, Indian nationals with a normal passport valid for a minimum of six months from the arrival date, holding a visit visa or green card issued by the US which is valid for a minimum of six months or a UK or EU residence ID which is valid for a minimum of six months, can obtain a visa on arrival for a maximum stay of 14 days for a charge of Dh191 (subject to change). They can apply to extend their stay for an additional 14 days for Dh250 (subject to change) through Amer offices in Dubai.

Indian nationals holding an extension letter for US residency are not eligible for a visa on arrival. (According to a note published on Emirates airline website).