Rajya Sabha’S 2018 Calendar refleCtS Modi’S global ViSion
A lot of research and planning has gone into Rajya Sabha’s 2018 calendar, which gives a glimpse of the transformation of India and the world and also reflects Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s global vision. The Chairman of the House of Elders, M. Venkaiah Naidu got the calendar unveiled by P.J. Kurien (Congress), Deputy Chairman. The calendar has pictures of 12 world leaders who addressed Members of both the Houses in the Central Hall of Parliament during 1955-2010 and their speeches capture the history of transformation of India and the world. The world leaders spoke of the ancient traditions of India and the country’s emergence as a vibrant democracy and a major global player. They had touched upon various issues relating to the Cold War, nuclear arms race, the non-aligned movement, multilateralism, peace, security, terrorism, international cooperation for sustainable economic growth for addressing poverty and the role India could play in addressing various challenges from time to time. The US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who addressed the MPs in December, 1959, had said “The welfare of America is bound up with the welfare of India.” Barack Obama, who addressed the MPs in November 2010, had said that “I am of the firm belief that relationship between India and the US will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century.” The President of Afghanistan, Mohammad Daoud said in March 1978, that “The non-aligned movement does not signify lack of interest in, or keeping aloof from international issues.” Russian President Vladimir Putin, in October 2000, had observed, “You have negated the deep rooted stereotypes according to which the principles of democracy are only successful in the UK type countries.” French President Francois Mitterand, in November 1982, recalled that it was Napoleon I who created the first Chair for Sanskrit in Europe. Some other world leaders in the calendar are Nikita Khrushchev, Mikhail Gorbachev and Margret Thatcher, among others.