Start Up India, Stand Up India

• PM launches new initiative
• Vows to end corruption
• Assures OROP, but no timeline
• Silent on terror, foreign policy

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced a new campaign "Start-up India, Stand up India" to promote bank financing for start-ups and offer incentives to boost entrepreneurship and job creation. Addressing the nation on the 69th Independence Day, he said, "We are looking at systems for enabling start-ups.

We must be number one in start-ups... Start-up India; Stand up India." While stating that his government is determined to build a new India, including providing electricity to 18,500 power-less villages in the next 1,000 days, he said the new initiative will encourage entrepreneurship among the youth of India.

Each of the 1.25 lakh bank branches should encourage at least one Dalit or tribal entrepreneur and at least one woman entrepreneur. Under this, in addition to existing systems to facilitate start-ups, he said loans would also be given to help people. The initiative, he said, will give a new dimension to entrepreneurship and help set up a network of start-ups in the country.

The Prime Minister has also vowed to end corruption, but failed to announce the eagerly-awaited One-Rank-One-Pension scheme and gave a complete miss to foreign policy. Dressed in a cream kurta pyjama, beige jacket and mustard headgear, Modi said his 'Swachh Bharat' campaign was the biggest success of his BJP-led government which took office in May last year.

He, however, disappointed lakhs of ex-servicemen who were awaiting a concrete announcement on the One-Rank-One-Pension (OROP) scheme. In a first for August 15, the Prime Minister did not touch upon foreign policy - despite his numerous trips - and focussed wholly on domestic issues. There was no mention of India's neighbours, even Pakistan, in Modi's speech that began at 7.30 am and ended just before 9 am.

The miss is all the more stark as Modi had met Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif just over a month ago in Ufa, Russia - in a landmark move to ease tensions between the two neighbours. Barely hours before Modi spoke, guns boomed at India's border with Pakistan. The Pakistan Army used mortars and automatic weapons on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

However, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif greeted India and said "good neighbourly relations" will benefit both New Delhi and Islamabad. During his one hour, 23 minute long speech, Modi said the country can be free of corruption but we "have to start from the top". "It can be done... Corruption is eating up our country like termites. If you want to get rid of termites, you have to inject medicine."

Modi pointed out that there was no allegation of corruption against his government. "Corruption had become part of the system. Contractors were running the nation. We have taken steps to correct the system." In his speech, Modi repeatedly used the word "Team India" - to denote a united nation. "This is Team India, a team of 125 crore Indians. This is the team that makes the nation and takes our nation to new heights," he said.