'I apply sweat on face,' Modi's 'fair and lovely' formula

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared the "secret of his radiance" with winners of children's bravery awards, in Delhi for the Republic Day parade.

During a free-wheeling interaction with 49 recipients of the "Prime Minister National Children's Award 2020", PM Modi also gave them tips and life lessons.

"Someone asked me many years ago, how come you have such a radiant face? I had a simple answer. I said I work hard and I sweat so much that I massage my face with it and it gives me a glow," PM Modi said.

He advised that every child should learn to "sweat very hard" at least four times a day. The lesson to the gathered schoolchildren - 49 of them - was to work hard and never stop doing so, no matter how many awards came one's way.

"There are two paths to take. In one, when people win awards and honours, they become arrogant and stop performing. In the other, some people accept awards as encouragement to do even better," said the Prime Minister, asking his young audience which route they preferred.

"Awards are not the end-all. In a way, they are the start of your lives."

The 49 award winners were from different parts of the country including from Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.

They have won in art and culture, innovation, academics, social service, sports and bravery.

In May 2019, Modi had said that he gave the Indian Air Force the green signal to proceed with its airstrike on a target in Pakistan's Balakot area on February 26 despite bad weather because "the clouds could actually help our planes escape the radars".

Modi said that he used his "raw wisdom" to dispel the doubts of defence experts who planned mission. "I am surprised that the country's pundits who abuse me never figured this out," he said.

However, as many experts have noted on social media, Modi's observation has no scientific basis. Radar technology uses radio waves to detect objects that may be obscured by fog so the clouds over region on Balakot would not have given Indian planes any advantage.

Though the Twitter accounts of the BJP's India and Gujarat units shared the clip of the News Nation interview in which Modi makes these claims, these were deleted soon after.

The airstrike – which the Indian government described as a "non-military preemptive action" – was conducted 12 days after a terror attack in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir killed 40 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force. The Jaish-e-Mohammed group, whose leaders are based in Pakistan, had claimed responsibility.

India claimed that the strike resulted in the deaths of "a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis".