News
India: 53% want Modi to be PM in 2024 too
BY S VENKAT NARAYAN
Our Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI, August 13: Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains by far India’s most popular and tallest political leader despite inflation, raging Covid-19, surging oil prices, and a multitude of problems that have plagued the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-led government over the past two years.
According to the August edition of the Mood of the Nation poll by India Today news magazine, Modi’s popularity continues to remain ahead of his political rivals, even after being in office for over eight years. There is no one even close to him.Close to 53 per cent of respondents in the poll favoured Modi as the next prime minister. While only nine percent backed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and seven percent favoured of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal for the top post.
Forty percent of respondents rated Congress’s role as Opposition as ‘good’, while 34 per cent rated it as ‘poor’.
The survey revealed that 23 per cent of the respondents believed Rahul Gandhi to be best suited to revive the Congress, while 16 per cent backed former former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the role while 14 percent of those surveyed believed Sachin Pilot would be able to revive the Grand Old Party, with only nine percent favouring Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for the role.
The survey was conducted by India Today in association with C-Voter to gauge the nation’s mood The recent Bihar political upheaval would likely impact the alliance’s seat share, as per the August edition of the Mood of the Nation poll.
The survey found that, if the polls were held today, the NDA government would be in lead, but it will have to bear the brunt of Nitish Kumar leaving the alliance in Bihar.According to the survey, if the Lok Sabha elections were held by August 1, the NDA would have got 307 seats out of 543 in the Lok Sabha, UPA 125 seats, while other parties would have won 111 seats. But if elections are held after the change of government in Bihar, then the NDA would have a direct loss of 21 seats. The NDA would get 286 seats, while the UPA would get 146 seats, the survey found.
A large part of the poll was held before Nitish Kumar snapped ties with the BJP-led NDA in Bihar, but a snap poll on August 10 gave immediate fallout of Nitish Kumar’s dramatic shift in alliances.India Today and C-Voter conducted the survey between February 2022 and August 2022. A total of 122,016 respondents were interviewed to gauge the nation’s mood.
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Transport, Highways, and Urban Development to award the contract for printing and supplying vehicle number plates for the Department of Motor Traffic for a period of five (5) years to M/s South Asian Technologies based on the recommendations of the High-Level Standing Procurement Committee and the Procurement Appeal Board.
The National Lotteries board has been established subject to the Finance Act No. 11 of 1963. Having identified the requirement of amending that act which was imposed around 62 years to cater the current requirements of the lottery market, the Cabinet of Mnisters at their meeting held on 14.02.2017 granted approval to draft a new bill for the purpose.
Accordingly, the National Lotteries Board has recognized further amendments to be performed to the fundamental draft bill prepared by the Legal Draftsmen.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval for the
resolution furnished by the President in his office as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to direct the Legal Draftsmen to finalize the formulation of the draft bill for the National Lotteries Board as soon as possible including the proposed new amendments as well.
The Werahara office of the Department of Motor Traffic performs issuance of temporary driving licenses in this country based on the driving licenses issued overseas, and measures have been initiated to render the service from a service window of the Department of Motor Traffic established at the Bandaranayake International Airport from 03.08.2025.
The fees charged for issuing temporary driving licenses have been published in Motor Vehicles (Driving License Levy) Regulations No. 3 of 2022 prepared under the provisions of the Motor Traffic (Authority 203) Act.
But, as the fee of Rupees 2,000/- charged for the service is not sufficient, the requirement of amending the regulations has been recognized.
The regulations for introducing the revised fees have been published in the government extraordinary gazette
notification No. 2463/04 dated 17.11.2025. Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development to
submit the regulations to the Parliament for its concurrence.
Venezuelan security forces detain journalists as armed police patrol streets
Selfies and smiles: South Korea seeks ‘new phase’ in ties with China
M/s South Asian Technologies awarded contract to supply vehicle number plates
A new act for National Lotteries Board to be introduced
Motor Vehicles (Driving License Levy) Regulations No. 3 of 2022 to be amended
Mrs. P. K. L. S. Panduwawala appointed to the post of Surveyor General
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
News21 hours agoBroad support emerges for Faiszer’s sweeping proposals on long- delayed divorce and personal law reforms
-
News2 days agoPrivate airline crew member nabbed with contraband gold
-
News22 hours agoInterception of SL fishing craft by Seychelles: Trawler owners demand international investigation
-
News4 days agoHealth Minister sends letter of demand for one billion rupees in damages
-
Opinion6 days agoRemembering Douglas Devananda on New Year’s Day 2026
-
Features2 days agoPharmaceuticals, deaths, and work ethics
-
News7 days agoLeading the Nation’s Connectivity Recovery Amid Unprecedented Challenges
-
Latest News2 days agoCurran, bowlers lead Desert Vipers to maiden ILT20 title