PM Modi favourite for 2019 Lok Sabha elections, say US political experts"

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emerged as a clear favourite for the 2019 general elections after the BJP's landslide victory in assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, top US experts on India have said.While one of the experts noted that the electoral results of the just concluded Assembly polls in five states show that the 2014 Lok Sabha election results were not an aberration, another noted that Modi would continue to lead India after 2019.The Assembly elections do not signal much of a change. The Uttar Pradesh election results showed that the 2014 general elections were not an "aberration". Same is the case with Punjab, Adam Ziegfeld, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the George Washington University said.Modi has been established by this election as the "clear and favourite winner" for the 2019 elections, Sadanand Dhume, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute said."Modi is the front runner (for 2019)," he said.Irfan Nooruddin, a professor at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at the Georgetown University predicted that in 2019, the BJP is unlikely to get a simple majority and Modi would rather be heading a coalition government.

Sole mission & motive is UP's development: PM on Yogi government

 As the Yogi Adityanath-led government took over in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the "sole mission and motive is development" of the state, in an apparent bid to allay apprehensions over the hardline Hindutva mascot becoming the Chief MinisterSole mission & motive is UP's development: PM on Yogi governmenAs the Yogi Adityanath-led government took over in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the "sole mission and motive is development" of the state, in an apparent bid to allay apprehensions over the hardline Hindutva mascot becoming the Chief Minister.Modi, while noting that BJP had formed the government in four out of five states that went to the polls recently, said, "Our unwavering efforts to create a 'Bhavya' (great) & 'Divya' (brilliant) Bharat (India) continue. India's Jan Shakti is powering the rise of a new transformed India.

Sebi to enlist resource persons to spread financial literacy

Markets regulator Sebi has decided to empanel 'resource persons' to help spread financial Sebi to enlist resource persons to spread financial literacy" Markets regulator Sebi has decided to empanel 'resource persons' to help spread financial literacy in select districts.The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) will empanel financial education resource persons (RPs) on part-time basis for various districts in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.he individuals will be part of the financial education efforts of the regulator for the districts where it does not have any financial education resource person and/or where there is deficiency of RPs.Sebi has invited applications from interested candidates by February 28."This empanelment is not a full-time job but an exercise to enlist experienced persons having good communication skills, including effective presentation ability and passion for social work along with knowledge of computer/net to spread message of importance of financial literacy among masses in their identified area of operations,"

Telecom minister Manoj Sinha says he's not in running for UP CM post

BJP sources say that Sinha is a front runner because he is an ‘Ajatshatru’ – a man without enemies.Telecom minister Manoj Sinha says he's not in running for UP CM post"Widely considered the favourite, Union Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said on Friday afternoon that he wasn’t in the race to become Uttar Pradesh chief minister.Sinha's remarks come a day before the Bharatiya Janata Party, which managed a three-fourths majority in the UP Assembly elections, holds a legislature party meeting on Saturday to zero in on a chief ministerial pick.Sinha, a three-time parliamentarian who represents Ghazipur in the Lok Sabha, told reporters outside Parliament that he is not in the race for chief minister nor does he know about any such race.Tipped by many to be the next chief minister, Sinha is a man without enemies.In 2014, a local BJP worker in Ghazipur opened a dhaba on the outskirts of the city. He invited Manoj Sinha, the local MP, to inaugurate the dhaba but did not expect him to turn up. Sinha was, after all, a Union Minister by this point. To the worker’s surprise, Sinha made it for the inauguration. This “connect” with his constituents is not uncharacteristic of Sinha.At least till late last year, he spent most weekends in his native Ghazipur.