Amaravati, May 2: Thousands of people from various parts of Andhra Pradesh have started arriving here on Friday for the re-launch of Amaravati state capital works by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

People from almost all districts were descending on the state capital to attend the public meeting scheduled to be held on Friday evening.

All roads leading to Amaravati were teeming with buses carrying people from all Assembly constituencies.

About five lakh people from across the state are expected to attend the public meeting.

There was a festive atmosphere in the villages in Amaravati as people, especially farmers who gave 43,000 acres of land for the state capital, were celebrating the re-launch of works after years of uncertainty, political turmoil and legal fight.

At the mega event, the Prime Minister will lay the foundation for Rs 49,040 crore worth of capital works in the presence of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, ministers and leaders of the ruling coalition.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to arrive at Gannavaram Airport, Vijayawada, at 2.55 p.m. The NDA leaders will receive him.

He will then reach Amaravati by helicopter. Governor Abdul Nazeer, the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister will welcome him at the helipad near the State Secretariat in Velagapudi at 3.15 p.m.

The Prime Minister will reach the venue of the public meeting at 3.30 p.m. He will unveil a pylon to formally re-launch the capital works. These include five towers of the Amaravati Government Complex, the High Court, the Legislative Assembly building, etc.

PM Modi will also lay the foundation stone for some works and inaugurate some other projects worth Rs.8,000 crore relating to the DRDO, the DPIIT, the NHAI, and the Railways.

He will spend one hour and 15 minutes at the public meeting before flying back to Delhi from Gannavaram Airport.

Authorities have made elaborate arrangements for the public meeting on a 250-acre area.

It was on October 22, 2015, that the Prime Minister had laid the foundation stone for Amaravati.

Few development works were undertaken by the then TDP government. However, the works came to a halt after TDP lost power in 2019 as the YSR Congress Party government headed by Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy decided to develop three state capitals.

This faced stiff resistance from farmers of 29 villages in Amaravati who had given their lands for the development of the state capital.

After the TDP-led NDA stormed to power in June last year, Chandrababu Naidu decided to resume work on his dream project.

The state government has decided to take up various works at a cost of Rs 77,250 crore. Tenders have already been called for works worth Rs 49,000 crore.

The Centre has assured all support in undertaking the works. The World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have agreed to lend Rs.15,000 crore. The Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) has approved a loan of Rs 11,000 crore.

Jammu, May 2: Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked small arms firing on Indian positions along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir for the eighth consecutive day on Friday.

Defence Ministry statement on Friday said, “During the night of May 1 and May 2, Pakistan Army posts resorted to unprovoked small arms firing from posts across the LoC opposite Kupwara, Baramulla, Poonch, Naushera, and Akhnoor areas of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.”

“Indian Army troops responded in a calibrated and proportionate manner.”

In addition to the LoC, Pakistan Army also violated ceasefire on the International Border in Pargwal sector of Jammu on Thursday.

Tensions have mounted between the two countries after Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorists sponsored and aided by Pakistan killed 26 innocent civilians, including 25 tourists and a local, on April 22 in Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam.

The entire country was outraged by the cowardly act of terrorists as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his first reaction to Pahalgam killings that the terrorists, their handlers and backers would be chased and hunted down to the ends of the earth.

The Prime Minister has given a free hand to the Armed forces of the country to avenge the Pahalgam carnage by deciding on the timing, targets and the magnitude of response to hunt down the terrorists.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had a 40-minute-long meeting with the Prime Minister on Monday.

The Defence Minister met the PM after he received a detailed briefing by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) on the preparedness of the country’s armed forces to meet any eventuality.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Manoj Sinha had a security review meeting with Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi in Srinagar a few days ago.

The L-G asked the Army to use whatever force is required to hunt down the perpetrators of the Pahalgam terror attack.

Meanwhile, to send a powerful message to terrorists, their overground workers and sympathisers, security forces continue demolition of the houses of terrorists.

Last Friday, two houses belonging to Adil Hussain Thokar and Asif Sheikh were demolished in the Tral and Bijbehara areas.

Both these terrorists were part of the LeT terrorist group involved in the Pahalgam killings.

Security forces have so far demolished the houses of 10 terrorists, who are reportedly still active in the Kashmir Valley.

On Monday, the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly unanimously condemned the dastardly terrorist attack and passed a resolution on this.

Mumbai, May 1: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said there is a dawn of the ‘Orange Economy’ in the country and India is emerging as a global hub for film production, digital content, gaming, fashion, music and live concerts.

In his speech at the first WAVES Summit here, the Prime Minister said, “To the creators of the world – dream big and tell your story. To investors – invest not just in platforms, but in people. To Indian youth – tell your one billion untold stories to the world.”

“In India, 10x growth has been witnessed in the OTT. Screen size may be getting small, but the scope is infinite. The screen is getting micro, but the message is mega!” he opined.

PM Modi said youth can play a major role in the content creation. “I believe in you and the Content Creators, and there’s a reason behind it. There are no boundaries or baggage in the youth’s spirit and working style. Therefore, your creativity flows freely, and it has no hesitation or reluctance.”

“WAVES is a wave of culture, creativity, and universal connect. It highlights India’s creative strengths on a global platform. The World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit, aptly abbreviated as WAVES, is more than just a name. It embodies a true wave of culture, creativity, and universal connection,” said the Prime Minister.

He added, “India, with a billion-plus population, is also a land of a billion-plus stories. Right from the first moment, the Summit is roaring with purpose. In the very first edition, the WAVES attracted the attention of the world.”

“From the Red Fort, I have spoken about ‘Sabka Prayas’. Today, my belief has become stronger that the efforts of all of you will take WAVES to new heights in the coming years. This is the right time to create in India and create for the world. The world is exploring new ways for storytelling, but India has a treasure of stories of a thousand years, which is timeless, thought-provoking and truly global,” he said.

“Over the years, I have sometimes met people from the gaming world, sometimes from the music world, sometimes I have met filmmakers, and sometimes I have met faces shining on the screen. In these discussions, issues of India’s creativity, creative capability and global collaboration often came up,” he said.

“Today, in Mumbai, artists, innovators, investors, and policymakers from over 100 countries have gathered under one roof. Together, they are laying the foundation for a global ecosystem that celebrates talent, creativity, and innovation on an international scale,” he said.

“Today, 112 years ago, on May 3, 1913, the first feature film, Raja Harishchandra, was released in India. Its producer was Dadasaheb Phalke, and yesterday was his birth anniversary. In the last century, Indian cinema succeeded in taking India to every corner of the world,” said the Prime Minister.