The nation had been consistently plagued by policy paralysis for a decade before the 2014 general elections. Tired of inaction and apathy, and clamouring for a strong leader, India voted in Narendra Modi with a thumping mandate. In the three eventful years since 26th May 2014, the promise of decisive, action-oriented governance has come alive, imbued with a new assertiveness.

The second meeting of the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) was organized by the Ministry of Home Affairs, as an initiative to bring together different stakeholders such as policymakers, disaster management experts, administrators, scientists, community leaders and private stakeholders for comprehensive consultation on disaster risk reduction and preparedness.

Prime Minister Modi during his Civil Service address on 21 April 2017 focused on five ideas – pursuit of excellence, ‘anamika’, burden of experiences, out-of-box thinking and focus on outcomes. The book, Hourglass Management Paradigm: Pathway to Excellence in Leadership (Bloomsbury 2014), also propagates similar ideas. Let us see what the hourglass paradigm says about these ideas.

महिलाएं किसी भी समाज की मजबूत स्तंभ होती हैं। जब हम महिलाओं और बच्चों की समग्र देखभाल करेंगे तभी देश का सतत विकास संभव है। एक गर्भवती महिला के निधन से ना केवल बच्चों से माँ का आंचल छिन जाता है बल्कि पूरा का पूरा परिवार ही बिखर जाता है।

CSIR Laboratories have developed and gainfully deployed significant knowledge base on water, ranging from source finding to mapping of water resources, from quality assessment to enhancing potability of water and from recycling to waste water treatment.