Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday took an apparent swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi while addressing a gathering of young people in Gujarat’s Vadodara.

Speaking at the “NaMo for Viksit Bharat” event, PM Modi cautioned the youth against what he described as misleading claims and referred to “Jhooth Ki Goonj” in an apparent reference to Rahul Gandhi and the Congress’s “Chhatron Ki Goonj” campaign.

“People will try to mislead you through Jhooth Ki Goonj, but youth will stand with truth,” PM Modi said.

The Prime Minister was in Vadodara to announce new projects and inaugurate completed infrastructure works. He said development projects worth more than Rs. 35,000 crore would provide further momentum to the journey towards a Viksit Bharat.

PM Modi’s dig at Rahul Gandhi

PM Modi’s remarks came in the context of the political debate surrounding the Congress’s “Chhatron Ki Goonj” campaign.

He appeared to refer to a fact-check of Rahul Gandhi’s speeches by a satirical political website. According to the report, the website examined 40 statements made by Rahul Gandhi at four events associated with the campaign and described 29 as “false” and 11 as “misleading”.

The Prime Minister urged young people to distinguish between what he portrayed as misleading political claims and what he called the truth.

Double-stack freight train highlighted

During his address, PM Modi also highlighted the operation of a double-stack container freight train between JNPT in Mumbai and Vadodara.

He said the single journey carried a volume of cargo equivalent to more than 250 trucks. He also used the example to take a humorous swipe at critics concerned about the impact of infrastructure changes on truck operators.

PM Modi also referred to the Dedicated Freight Corridor and said that before 2014, not even 1 km of the project had been completed during the previous government’s seven to eight years.

Free online coaching initiative for students

The Prime Minister also spoke about the government’s move towards providing free online coaching by top teachers to students preparing for competitive examinations.

He said the initiative was aimed at reducing the financial burden of coaching on poor and middle-class families.

PM Modi said education is changing alongside the wider transformation in the world, with skills becoming increasingly important alongside formal degrees.

The Vadodara event combined announcements on infrastructure and education with political remarks directed at the Opposition.

The United States has warned that employment-based first-preference (EB-1) green cards for Indian professionals could become unavailable before September 30, as high demand puts pressure on the number of immigrant visas available under the category.

The warning was issued in the September Visa Bulletin from the US State Department. It comes as Indian applicants already face significant backlogs across several employment-based green card categories.

Why EB-1 availability is under pressure

EB-1 is an employment-based green card category for priority workers. It covers people with extraordinary ability, outstanding professors and researchers, and certain multinational executives and managers.

The State Department said that high demand and the use of visa numbers by applicants chargeable to India could result in the EB-1 category becoming unavailable in the coming weeks if India’s pro-rated limit is reached before the US fiscal year ends on September 30.

The department also said the situation would continue to be monitored and that necessary adjustments could be made.

This does not mean EB-1 green cards for Indians have already been stopped. The warning concerns the possibility that the available visa numbers could be exhausted before the end of the fiscal year.

EB-1 India cutoff date remains October 15, 2022

For September, the EB-1 final action date for India is October 15, 2022.

In general, an applicant’s priority date needs to be earlier than the applicable final action date for a visa number to be available for final action, subject to other eligibility requirements.

The September Visa Bulletin’s dates-for-filing chart provides a later date of December 1, 2023, for EB-1 India. However, applicants seeking adjustment of status in the US must check which chart the US Citizenship and Immigration Services has authorised for that particular month.

Other green card categories also face constraints

The pressure on Indian employment-based applicants extends beyond EB-1.

India’s EB-2 category is listed as “U”, meaning unavailable, in the September Visa Bulletin. The State Department uses this designation when visa numbers are not authorised for issuance in that category during the relevant period.

The EB-3 category also has a substantial backlog, with its final action date stretching back to January 1, 2014 for India.

Meanwhile, India’s unreserved EB-5 category is also unavailable for final action in September. The set-aside EB-5 categories for rural projects, high-unemployment areas and infrastructure remain current for all countries.

What the warning means for Indian applicants

The immediate concern is the availability of visa numbers before September 30, which marks the end of the US fiscal year.

If the pro-rated EB-1 allocation for India is exhausted before that date, the category could become unavailable for the remainder of the fiscal year. The State Department has indicated that it will continue monitoring demand and visa-number usage.

The situation is particularly significant for Indian professionals because employment-based green card applicants from India are already dealing with long queues and restrictions in multiple categories.

The Centre is considering a plan to conduct safety audits of Delhi Development Authority (DDA) buildings that are more than 50 years old, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Monday.

The proposal comes a day after a five-storey building in Delhi’s Satya Niketan collapsed, killing seven people and trapping several others under the debris.

Khattar said the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is examining the proposal for safety audits of older DDA buildings. Under the plan, such buildings could undergo audits at intervals of 10 years, five years and three years.

Safety audits proposed for older DDA buildings

According to the minister, the government is looking at a system under which DDA buildings crossing the 50-year mark would undergo periodic safety assessments.

The proposal is aimed at identifying structural safety concerns in ageing buildings and ensuring that necessary action can be taken.

Khattar also said the Municipal Corporation of Delhi should take action at its own level to prevent similar incidents.

“I am deeply saddened by the heart-wrenching incident that occurred yesterday at Satya Niketan in Delhi,” Khattar said.

Proposal follows Satya Niketan building collapse

The proposed safety audit plan comes after a five-storey building in Satya Niketan, near Delhi University’s South Campus, collapsed on Sunday.

The building collapsed during repair work, killing seven people. Twelve people were rescued during the operation, according to the report.

The incident has renewed concerns about the safety of ageing and vulnerable structures in the national capital.

Khattar’s proposal specifically concerns DDA buildings that are more than 50 years old, while the minister also called for action by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to prevent such incidents.

Possible audit intervals under consideration

The ministry is considering safety audits at different intervals, including:

• Every 10 years
• Every five years
• Every three years

The details of the proposed system, including how the audits would be implemented, are yet to be finalised.

The proposal comes amid heightened scrutiny of building safety in Delhi following the Satya Niketan collapse.