Mann ki Baat Highlights: India capable of becoming toy hub, says Modi

New Delhi, Aug 30: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on 68th edition of his monthly radio programme, Mann Ki Baat, at 11 am on Sunday. "Tune in at 11 am on 30th August," PM Modi said in a tweet.

Speaking on the toy industry, which he claimed was worth Rs 7 lakh crore, Modi said: "During these times, I have been thinking about my young friends. I have been thinking - how can my young friends get more toys. The best toys are those that bring out creativity. How can India become a toy production hub? This is necessary as toys can be used to build minds. Even Rabindra Nath Tagore has spoken about the importance of toys."

Here are the Highlights:

• In this movement pertaining to nutrition, people's participation is also very crucial. It is public participation that makes it successful: PM
• If you have had opportunity to visit Statue of Unity of #SardarVallabhbhaiPatel in Gujarat, and when it opens after #CovidPandemic ends, you will have opportunity to visit this spot. You can witness nutrition related education along with fun and frolic
• India is a vast country with a lot of diversity in food and drink: PM
• Dear countrymen, a few weeks ago, while we were celebrating our Independence Day, an interesting news caught my attention. This is the news of two brave hearts of our security forces
• Some time ago I got to know in great detail about the role of dogs in the security of the country and also got to hear many stories too : PM
• You might have seen very moving scene on TV a few days ago, in which #BeedPolice were giving their canine colleague Rocky a final farewell with all due respect. Rocky had helped the police in solving over 300 cases: PM
• In India, #NDRF, the National Disaster Response Force has specially trained dozens of dogs. In the event of an earthquake, building collapse, these dogs are experts in searching out people trapped under debris: PM
• I have also been told that Indian breed dogs are also very good and capable: PM
• In the recent past, Mudhol Hound dogs have been trained and inducted in the dog squad of the Army, CISF and NSG; Kombai dogs have been included by the CRPF: PM

• And you should not forget that the big companies which exist in the world today, were also, once, start-ups: PM
• Dear countrymen, for our children, our students to display their optimum potential,to show their mettle; Nutrition & proper nourishment as well play very big role. The month of #September to be observed as #NutritionMonth in entire nation
• There are many business apps and also gaming apps such as Is Equal To, Books & Expense, Zoho Workplace and FTC Talent. Search about them on the Net and you will find a lot of information about these apps: PM
• There is another app called, Step Set Go. This is a fitness app and it keeps a track of how much you walked, how many calories you burnt; it keeps track of the data and also motivates you to Stay Fit: PM
• Similarly, #ChingariApp too is getting popular among the youth. There is an app #AskSarkar. In this you can interact through chat bot and can get right information about any govt scheme - that too through all 3 ways- text, audio, video: PM
• AatmaNirbharBharat App innovation challenge : Among these there is an App '#KutukiKids Learning app. This is an interactive app for children in which they can easily learn many aspects of maths, science through songs and stories: PM
• Dear countrymen, everyone acknowledges the capability of Indians to offer innovation, solutions, when there is dedication & sensitivity, this power becomes limitless. At the beginning of this month an app innovation challenge was put before youth of country: Modi
• Be it virtual games, be it the sector of toys in the self-reliant India campaign, all have to play very important role, and therein lies an opportunity too

• Similarly in this era of computers and smartphones, there is a big trend of computer games. These games are played by children and grownups as well. But even in these games, their themes are mostly extraneous: PM
  Toys should be such that in their presence childhood blooms and smiles. Let us make toys which are favourable to the environment too: PM
• Further like, there is Mr. C V Raju in Vishakhapatnam of Andhra Pradesh. Once the Eti- Koppakaa #toys of his village were very popular. The speciality of these toys - these were made of wood, and secondly, you would not find any angles or corners in these toys anywhere:
• Now, just spare a thought for a nation which has so much of heritage, tradition, variety, young population, will it feel good to have such little share in the toy market? Not at all, you too won't feel good after hearing this: PM
• Friends, there has been a rich tradition of local toys in our country. There are many talented and skilled artisans who possess expertise in making good toys: PM
• Some parts of India developing also as Toy Clusters, that is, as centres of toys. Like, Channapatna in Ramnagaram, Karnataka, Kondaplli in Krishna, Andhra, Thanjavur in Tamilnadu, Dhubari in Assam, Varanasi in UP - there are many such places, we can count many names
• In the National Education Policy, a lot of attention has been given on the impact of toys on different aspects of children's lives
• Friends, whereas toys augment activity, they also give flight to our aspirations: PM
• My dear countrymen, during this #Corona time, Country fighting on many fronts simultaneously. But at same time, the question that frequently comes to mind is, how my young little friends are spending their time while they remain homebound for so long: PM
• Even during these trying times of Corona, our farmers have proven their mettle: PM