Natural disasters testing country: PM Modi in 'Mann Ki Baat'

Prime Minister Modi praises Jammu and Kashmir's achievements amid natural calamity, highlighting the first day-night cricket match and water sports festival.

"The second event that caught attention was the country's first 'Khelo India Water Sports Festival' and that too held at Dal Lake in Srinagar. Truly, what a special place to host a festival like this."

Mr. Modi said more than 800 athletes from across India participated in it. "Women athletes were not far behind; their participation was nearly equal to that of men. I would like to congratulate all the participants," the Prime Minister added.

Mr. Modi announced the launch of a new digital platform ‘Pratibha Setu’ aimed at supporting aspirants of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examinations who narrowly missed making it to the final merit list.

PM Modi described the UPSC exam as one of the most challenging competitive tests in the country and referred to the inspiring journeys of several aspirants.

The Prime Minister, in his address, said, “My dear countrymen, you must have heard the name of UPSC. This institution conducts the Civil Services exam, one of the toughest exams in the country. All of us have heard many inspiring stories from the toppers of the Civil Services. These youngsters study under difficult circumstances and through their hard work, get a place in this service, but friends, there is another truth about the UPSC exam.”

He further added, “There are thousands of such candidates who are very capable; their hard work is no less than anyone else’s, but they are unable to reach the final list by a small margin. These candidates have to prepare afresh for other exams. That cost both their time and money. That is why, now a digital platform has been created for such sincere students and its name is ‘Pratibha Setu’.”

‘”Pratibha Setu’ stores the data of those candidates who cleared all the stages of various exams of UPSC, but their names did not appear in the final merit list,” PM Modi said.