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As he took to the stage at the <keyword id="856630" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hindustan-Times-Leadership-Summit">Hindustan Times Leadership Summit</keyword> today, Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> said the country has heralded a new area in which the world sees it as a bright spot in the <keyword id="47890" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="global-economy">global economy</keyword>, owing to the fact that it has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies across the globe. 
 He called on states to collectively work hand in hand with the Centre to keep this pace going for achieving sustained success. “Going by statistics, we can say that India is moving at a steady pace towards a shining future. States &amp; Centre have to move together, shoulder to shoulder for a sustained level of success and to imporve the <keyword id="6354423" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ease-of-Doing-Business">ease of doing business</keyword>,” PM Modi said, while delivering the inaugural address on the theme “Towards a Brighter India”. 
 
Further highlighting the crucial role of states in India’s progress, he said: “Till now Delhi decided where states will spend money. Now chief ministers decide where the money will be spent. Each state has a different USP and we need to work in such a way so the world gets to know India beyond the metros.” 
 
India has been either constant or falling on ‘Ease of Doing Business’ index. “Progressing in those rankings was unthinkable in past,” he said, noting that to improve it, those states which were not expected to do well in ‘Ease of Doing Business’ rankings like Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have actually proven themselves. “Development of India's eastern part cannot be ignored. They are areas with great potential. We are linking east India with a gas grid, for the first time,” he said. 
 
Talking on subsidies, he reiterated what he had said during his high profile trip to the UK on NDA’s cash transfer scheme in LPG distribution. “If I cut down subsidy, I will be hailed as reformist, but if we do targeted delivery of subsidies, it is not seen as reform. We stopped the leakage of Subsidy by introducing cash transfer scheme in LPG distribution. Today, India has changed; an unprecedented 40 lakh people have given up gas subsidy,” the PM said, while he was stressing on the need of saving resources rather than pumping up investment, and citing smart ways to do it. 
 
Over logjam in Parliament, Modi said: “Parliament is working now. This is good news. The credit does not go to me but to all the parties.” 
 
Other key announcements Prime Minister Narendra Modi made at the Summit were: 
1. Ports will be connected with the railways as it is being seen as essential for growth and infrastructure by the Modi government. 
2. Work has begun on 60-65 long pending core industry projects, including in coal and power 
3. Modi government is trying to plug leaks in subsidy worth Rs 80,000 crore on urea so that only farmers benefit 
4. Work is on to build railway engines, factories in Bihar 
5. After Railway bonds, Modi government is considering raising rupee-dominated bonds for NTPC in London or Singapore stock exchange 
6. There are 18,000 villages which don't have even an electricity pole. Power generation capacity in India is growing annually at 8.5%. Switch over to LED lights completed in 20 cities, underway in 83 more, will save 21,500 MW of electricity. 
 Just a day ahead of the Summit, the Prime Minister was surrounded by controversy over a wrong image which was tweeted by Press Information Bureau that showed him taking an aerial survey of <keyword id="812408" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chennai-Rains">Chennai rains</keyword> and the damage it had led to. Twitter was abuzz over the faux paux for several hours demanding answers from the agency over the need to post a photoshopped image of Modi. 
 
Schedule of the 2-day HT Summit: 
 
On Day 1, besides PM Modi, minister of finance Arun Jaitley, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, minister for human resource development Smriti Irani, members of Parliament Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sitaram Yechury, Jay Panda and Supriya Sule will represent the political side of the spectrum. 
 Soli Özel, Cole Bunzel, Joas Wagemakers, Robert Blackwill, Daniel Kurtz-Phelan, Diane Farrell are the other speakers. Bollywood actors Kangana Ranaut and <keyword id="2165" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kareena-Kapoor">Kareena Kapoor</keyword> and filmmaker Imtiaz Ali will also take part in the discussions.

India is a bright spot on global economy: Key takeaways from PM Modi's speech at HT Leadership Summit today

Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> today announced an immediate release of Rs.1,000 crore for relief and rehabilitation works in <keyword id="20154" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="tamil-nadu">Tamil Nadu</keyword>, after an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas. 
 
"A sum of Rs. 1,000 crore will be released immediately by the Government of India to carry out relief works. This will be in addition to Rs.940 crore which was released earlier (by the Centre)," he said in a brief statement at the naval base "INS Adyar" here. 
 
Flanked by Governor K Rosaiah and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, Modi began his brief statement with a sentence in Tamil telling people of Tamil Nadu, "I will be in support of you". 
 
Switching to English, Modi said he has seen the damage and misery caused by the monsoon fury. 
 
"People of India stay with people of Tamil Nadu in this hour of need," he said after the survey in which he was accompanied by Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan, who hails from Tamil Nadu. 
 
Modi also tweeted later, "The Government of India stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of Tamil Nadu in this hour of need." 
 
"I have directed that Rs. 1000 crore be released immediately by the Govt of India to Tamil Nadu for immediate relief," he said in another tweet. 
 
"I have seen the damage and misery caused by the extremely heavy rainfall," said another of his tweet. 
 
The prime minister made the announcement after holding consultations with the Chief Minister at the naval base here. 
 Earlier, Modi arrived from Delhi at the naval working station 'INS Rajali' in Arakkonam, about 60 km from here, and made an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas of <keyword id="12864" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Chennai">Chennai</keyword>, its suburbs and Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur districts. 
 
After an earlier spell of heavy rains and damage in November, the prime minister had announced release of Rs.940 crore to Tamil Nadu. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announces Rs 1,000 crore relief for flood-hit Tamil Nadu

With every passing hour, the rains in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/ChennaiFloods-These-pictures-show-you-the-grimsituation-that-people-in-Chennai-are-facing-right-now/articleshow/50012695.cms">Chennai</a> are assuming an even dreadful throne, making the situation in the city more worrisome.

	Today saw houses and flats getting submerged, power grids being shut off, residents being stranded without food or a roof above their head.

	But, miraculously the city and its people are pulling through, aided by a lot of help from the good samaritans who've joined hands on social media to ensure they can provide all the help to everyone who's at the mercy of these incessant rains.

	And, they're not alone. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Now-Ola-ferries-to-the-rescue-of-water-loggedChennai/articleshow/49817058.cms">Companies </a>are also coming ahead to do their bit for the people of Chennai.

	After <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/ChennaiRains-Zomato-launches-Chennai-Food-ReliefMeal-delivery-service-pledges-to-contribute-a-meal-for-each-one-you-buy/articleshow/50009782.cms">Zomato's Meal Relief delivery service</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/ChennaiFloods-Paytm-vows-to-recharge-Rs-30-worth-oftalktime-free-of-cost-for-anyone-in-Chennai/articleshow/50010716.cms">Paytm's free recharge offer</a>, <keyword id="1042120" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Uber">Uber</keyword> now joins the herd by taking to Twitter to announce that all rides taken in Chennai would be free for their customers for today and the whole of tomorrow.

	In the tweet, Uber also advised people to keep trying on the app considering the demand is going to be high.

	Deepak Sridhar, who's in charge of Marketing for Uber took to the microblogging site to state that any ride would be free for today and tomorrow and asked Chennai and its people to stay safe.

	Uber's announcement comes hours after complaints on Twitter regarding the unavailability of cabs in most areas, especially Mylapore 
	 
	(Image credits: Twitter)

#ChennaiFloods: Uber offers free rides in Chennai for today and tomorrow

As intermittent rains continue to lash Tamil Nadu, flooding capital Chennai, assistance is coming from all quarters to reach out people who need help. 
 
To help people with doctors, Practo has put together a list of verified doctors and hospitals that people can call and go to. 
 
They will be updating this list every hour, based on the crowd sourcing inputs they generate through this initiative. 
 
READ ALSO<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/ChennaiRains-Zomato-launches-Chennai-Food-ReliefMeal-delivery-service-pledges-to-contribute-a-meal-for-each-one-you-buy/articleshow/50009782.cms">: #ChennaiRains: Zomato launches Chennai Food Relief Meal delivery service; pledges to contribute a meal for each one you buy</a> 
 
READ ALSO: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/ChennaiFloods-Paytm-vows-to-recharge-Rs-30-worth-oftalktime-free-of-cost-for-anyone-in-Chennai/articleshow/50010716.cms">#ChennaiFloods: Paytm vows to recharge Rs 30 worth of talktime free of cost for anyone in Chennai</a> 
 
Tamil Nadu is receiving heaviest rainfall in a century, crippling normal life and shutting down Chennai airport. 
 
The havoc is expected to continue as the national weather office predicted three more days of torrential downpours in the southern state of nearly 70 million people. 
 <keyword id="812408" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chennai-Rains">Chennai rains</keyword> also forced automobile sector and IT companies shut their operations.

#ChennaiFloods: Practo comes out with a spreadsheet with details of verified doctors for assistance

<keyword id="12864" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Chennai">Chennai</keyword> is experiencing its heaviest rains in over 100 years which not only brought the city to a standstill but have also claimed more than 200 lives. 
 
Waterlogged streets, shut power grids, a submerged airport, flooded houses, no transport, food or electricity have become a way of life for the people residing in Chennai, some of whom have also faced the fury of these unprecedented rains when they were left stranded sans transport or any help. 
 
Even as the MeT department predicted that the incessant rains are to last for four more days, the residents of the city are of the belief that Chennai will pull through as it always had. 
 
None of this however was enough for the national media to consider the floods as an important topic to be highlighted in its various mediums- be it newspapers or TV channels. Chennai barely found a mention in either of these places and the people of the city were ultimately left to fend for themselves. 
 
Chennai’s iconic newspaper The Hindu also became a victim to the vagaries of the rains when the paper was not printed for the first time in 137 years. 
 
According to the publisher, N. Murali, the employees were unable to make it to the printing press which is located 30 kms away from the city. 
At such a time of crisis, social media turned out to be the biggest saviours, which people from all over the country and the city co-operating to help out each other in whatever way they could. 
 
Actor Siddharth, best known for his role in Rang De Basanti have been one of the few people who were very active on Twitter highlighting helpline numbers, the grim situation due to the rains and arranging for food and rescue. 
 
Superstar Rajnikanth and his son-in law Dhanush weren’t far behind, either donating Rs 10 lakh and Rs 5 lakh respectively towards the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund. 
 
Have a look at what the people of Chennai are facing.

#ChennaiFloods: These pictures show you the grim
situation that people in Chennai are facing right now

The city of Chennai is continuing to face the fury of the unprecedented rains which have not only brought life to a standstill, but have also left people stranded without food, electricity or a roof above their head. 
 
Even as social media is being utilized to the brim by people residing in the city to help out those who are suffering and facing the wrath of the rains, it’s heartening to see brands making a conscious effort to to help out the people in need. 
 
It started a few weeks back when taxi aggregator app Ola was in the news for launching<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Now-Ola-ferries-to-the-rescue-of-water-loggedChennai/articleshow/49817058.cms"> Ola Boats</a> to help rescue people who were stuck due to the floods in Chennai. 
 
Then, last night Chennai’s iconic Sathyam Cinemas hogged the limelight for opening its doors to accommodate people who were looking for a roof above their head. 
 
And, now joining the bandwagon is none other than food delivery app<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=zomato"> Zomato</a>. 
 Just a few minutes back, <keyword id="830092" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Zomato">Zomato</keyword>’s CEO <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/This-email-sent-by-Deepinder-Goyal-days-after-Zomato-fired-10-of-its-workforce-is-a-ringing-alarm-bell-for-every-startup/articleshow/49632512.cms">Deepinder Goyal</a> shared a link on Twitter stating that the company has put together a ‘<keyword id="3157869" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Meal-for-Flood-Relief">Meal for Flood relief</keyword>’ delivery service for people stranded in the submerged parts in the city. 
 
Its meal plan is supported by seven famous city restaurants including Adyar Ananda Bhavan, Prems Graama Bhojanam, Kolapasi, Dindigul Thalappakati, Nawab Sheikh Biryani, Meat and Eat and Katti Roll. 
 
There are two meal plans in place as of now, both very economical choices. A meal for two is priced at Rs 100 while a meal for four is priced at Rs 200. Both meals will be delivered in half an hour. 
 
The company has tied up with multiple partners for speedy on-ground distribution of the meals, which includes Delhivery, RHA and Chennai volunteers. 
 
That’s not all, Goyal has also stated in his tweet that for every meal that is bought by anyone, Zomato will also contribute a meal from their side and ensure that it’s delivered to those in the flood-affected areas who need it the most. 
 As of two hours ago, the number of meals bought by Zomato's Chennai users have been estimated at Rs 15,000, with Zomato contributing an equal number of meals and making the tally to 30,000 meals. The same has been tweeted by Zomato's CEO <keyword id="476451" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Deepinder-Goyal">Deepinder Goyal</keyword>. 
 
If you wish to join Zomato’s relief efforts to help get food to areas affected by floods in Chennai, click <a href="https://www.zomato.com/chennai/chennai-flood-relief-nungambakkam/order">here</a>.

#ChennaiRains: Zomato launches Chennai Food Relief
Meal delivery service; pledges to contribute a meal for each one you buy

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=%E2%80%8BChennai">Chennai</a> has been suffering from floods for the last few weeks. The city’s infrastructure had been hit hard and life’s come to a standstill. The situation seems bleaker by the minute. 
 
However, the city’s trying hard to attempt a comeback. A crowd-sourced effort has built a digital map that shows flooded streets, vulnerable and inundated areas and most importantly the way to the nearest relief camps. The map currently shows over 1515 inundated roads. 
 
This free map is open to all and offers extensive access to the entire map of the city. Citizens can report newly flooded streets and other critical information with their <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=smartphones">smartphones</a>. 
 
You can access this map by clicking <a href="http://osm-in.github.io/flood-map/chennai.html">here</a>.

This ingenious Chennai Map shows which areas
are currently flooded #ChennaiRains

It has been tricky for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=technology+companies">technology companies</a> in Chennai to do a balancing act - ensure the safety of their employees and clients' requirements - as heavy rains in the past few days left the city marooned. 
 

	In the past week, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Infosys">IBM</a>, <keyword id="28721" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Cognizant">Cognizant</keyword>, <keyword id="6354512" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword> and other <keyword id="512000" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="technology-companies">technology companies</keyword> with significant presence in Chennai have been forced to relocate key personnel and functions to neighbouring Bengaluru and other cities to avoid disruption to business — all part of routine contingency plans. Several others have employees staying in the office for uninterrupted service to their clients and the companies have ensured proper facilities for their stay. 

	More unusually, especially in an otherwise parched Chennai, companies had to set up makeshift camps in their offices with mattresses and temporary shower stalls and deploy boats for rescue and in-campus transportation. 
 

	About 15 per cent of India's 3 million-strong technology workforce is in Chennai, handling projects for clients such as Walmart, Citigroup, AstraZeneca and JPMorgan Chase. Chennai is also one of the country's largest automotive hubs, with Hyundai, Ford and Renault-Nissan based in and around the city. 
 

	Chennai is being pounded by rains for the past few weeks, which has severely damaged the city's infrastructure, including roads and electricity lines. The Tamil Nadu government has estimated losses at nearly Rs 8,481 crore. Several have died. 
 Technology companies invoke business continuity plans during natural calamities and disasters, which involves moving critical employees and business functions to safer locations so they can continue to support clients. India's top IT firms — Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, <keyword id="10862" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Wipro">Wipro</keyword> and HCL Technologies — said they swiftly engaged their contingency measures as the weather in Chennai deteriorated. New York-headquartered <keyword id="10875" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="IBM">IBM</keyword>, which has at least 100,000 employees in India, one-fifth of them in Chennai according to analysts, moved key personnel from the city to Bengaluru, company employees aware of the developments said, requesting anonymity. 

	"Our clients remain a priority," an IBM spokeswoman said, "and we are continuing to provide 24x7 services to ensure business continuity and, where necessary, recovery solutions for impacted businesses."
 

	US-based Cognizant, which has a significant number of its 219,000 employees in Chennai, said it moved several employees to other centres within the city as well as to other cities and asked some to work from home to provide support to clients. 
 

	Also, "many of our employees working on critical projects volunteered to stay in offices to ensure uninterrupted 24x7 operations for our clients", a Cognizant spokesman said. The company stocked its offices with food and mattresses and built a small shower area for employees staying over. It accommodated employees' families as well after staff insisted they were worried about their folks at home. On Monday night (November 23), after traffic came to a standstill following another downpour, Cognizant arranged to accommodate a few employees at nearby hotels and lodgings inside campuses. "Employee safety and security is our top priority," the Cognizant spokesman said. 
 

	SIMILAR PROCEDURES IN INFOSYS
 

	Infosys followed similar business continuity procedures, moving several of its 25,000 employees to offices in Bengaluru and Hyderabad and asking others to work from home, according to the company's employees. "Infosys has taken several measures to ensure safety of employees and continuity of business at its centres in Chennai," a company spokesperson told ET. 
 

	The offices of India's fourthlargest software exporter, HCL Tech, on the IT corridor of Chennai along Old Mahabalipuram Road, were flooded last week, forcing the company to temporarily shut operations and seek the help of boatmen to rescue staff, according to company employees. HCL Tech flew some key employees to its offices in Noida and asked several others to log in from home. HCL and its subsidiaries employ 24,000 employees in Chennai. 
 

	TCS, the country's largest software exporter that has more than 65,000 employees in Chennai, managed operations and client interactions without having to move people but gave employees the option to work from home or from offices near them, a company spokeswoman said. 
 

	India's third-largest IT firm, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=wipro">Wipro</a>, gave its 18,000 employees in Chennai the option of working from home for most of last week.
 

	"We had moved out our employees to safer locations only after assessing the on-ground situation," a company spokeswoman said.
 

	"Electrical systems were strategically monitored to avoid any untoward incidents. Adequate fuel and food items were stocked... (And) Boats and large vehicles were arranged to allow in-campus commute." 
	 
	(Image credit: BCCL)

Chennai rains submerge Tech Inc; IBM, Cognizant, Infosys forced to relocate key staff

When you’re stranded in a flood-hit part of <keyword id="12864" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Chennai">Chennai</keyword>, it’s understandable that the last thing that would be on your mind is the fact that a boat might be sent to rescue you. 
 
Infact, even entertaining the very thought seems ridiculous when you’re knee-deep in water. Like any normal person, you’re expected to wade through the muck while fervently praying that you don’t catch a cold and look at your phone with puppy dog eyes waiting for your Uber/Ola/Meru cab to be confirmed so that you can be looted off of exorbitant amount of money under the guise of surge pricing. 
 But, as it turns out taxi aggregator <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword> did listened to your thoughts and deployed boats in water logged and partially submerged areas in a bid to help transport citizens stranded due to the Chennai floods. 
 All of the <keyword id="3139429" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Ola-Boats">Ola boats</keyword> (as they’ve been christened on social media) are manned by professional rowers and fishermen and these boats will also be used to provide food and drinking waster in specific areas which are reportedly short of basic supplies. 
 
 
 
Talking about the initiative, Ravi Teja, Business Head of Tamil Nadu at Ola said, “Thousands of citizens have been stranded and are suffering due to heavy rains and water logging in Chennai. While we are addressing the increased demand for transportation in the city through the Ola app, we are working closely with local stakeholders to help ferry those stranded in water logged areas. Boats deployed by Ola will help ferry people to safer areas and in distribution of essential supplies like food and drinking water in affected areas.” 
 
Each boat is said to be manned by two rowers and can ferry anywhere between five to nine people at one time. Rain-gear and umbrellas are being provided by Ola to the rowers and their respective boats to ensure people can be ferried without any hassle. 
 
The Ola team is being lauded for this clever initiative on social media with people hailing the management for being this efficient and thoughtful- however amidst all the appreciation, everyone seems to want to know the answer to the most important question- ‘Will Ola Boats have surge pricing too?’ 
 
On its behalf, Ola has confirmed that these services are being extended to the public for free. 
 
These services are expected to be available over the next three days and might get extended if water-logging continues in the city. 
 
Your turn, Uber?

You Searched For "chennai rain" and got 9 results

India is a bright spot on global economy: Key takeaways from PM Modi's speech at HT Leadership Summit today

Anushree Singh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announces Rs 1,000 crore relief for flood-hit Tamil Nadu

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#ChennaiFloods: Uber offers free rides in Chennai for today and tomorrow

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#ChennaiFloods: Practo comes out with a spreadsheet with details of verified doctors for assistance

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#ChennaiFloods: These pictures show you the grim situation that people in Chennai are facing right now

Poulomi Das

#ChennaiRains: Zomato launches Chennai Food Relief Meal delivery service; pledges to contribute a meal for each one you buy

Poulomi Das

This ingenious Chennai Map shows which areas are currently flooded #ChennaiRains

Saikat Pyne

Chennai rains submerge Tech Inc; IBM, Cognizant, Infosys forced to relocate key staff

BI India Bureau

Now, Ola ‘ferries' to the rescue of water-logged Chennai!

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