PM: Saddened by insult to Tricolour on R-day

In his ‘Mann ki Baat’, Modi said India’s fight against Covid has been exemplary

NEW DELHI: The country has been saddened by the “insult to the Tricolour” on Republic Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday in his monthly Mann Ki Baat radio address, referring to the hoisting of the Sikh religious flag and a farmers’ union flag next to the national flag by protesting farmers at Red Fort.

In his first address to the nation in 2021, a day before finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents the Union budget in Parliament, Modi celebrated India’s vaccination drive against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and the Indian cricket team’s triumph against Australia in the Test series, and called for the infusion of a new hope.

“This month, there has been very good news from the cricket pitch too,” the PM said in his radio address, which he delivers on the last Sunday of every month. ”Our cricket team, after initial setbacks, made a grand comeback, winning the series in Australia. The hard work and teamwork of our players is inspirational. Amidst all this, the country was saddened by the insult to the Tricolor on the 26th of January in Delhi.”

He added: “We have to infuse times to come with new hope...last year, we displayed exemplary patience and courage {in the fight against the viral disease}. This year too, we have to work hard to attain our resolve.

NEW DELHI: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday will deliver her promised budget like no other that is expected to provide relief to the pandemichit common man as well as focus more on driving the economic recovery through higher spending on healthcare, infrastructure and defence amid rising tensions with neighbours.

As India emerges from the Covid-19 crisis, the ninth budget under the Modi government, including an interim one, is widely expected to focus on boosting spending on job creation and rural development, generous allocations for development schemes, putting more money in the hands of the average taxpayer and easing rules to attract foreign investments.

Sitharaman, who had in her first budget in 2019 replaced