By Hemanta Kumar Nath

Cape Town [South Africa], September 18 (ANI): Assam Legislative Assembly Speaker Ranjeet Kumar Dass visited the Hindu Sewa Samaj Vishnu Temple in Cape Town's Gatesville and offered prayers for the good health of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

It was PM Modi's 76th birthday on Thurday. 

Dass is currently in South Africa to attend the 69th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, being held in Cape Town from September 13 to 19.

Earlier, on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed gratitude to leaders from across the world for their wishes on the occasion of his 76th birthday. 

In a series of posts on X, PM Modi thanked the World Health Organisation (WHO) Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and Dominica's President Roosevelt Skerrit. 

President Droupadi Murmu also extended birthday greetings to Prime Minister Modi, referring to his 25 years of public service and his contribution to good governance and inclusive development.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was born in 1950 to Hiraba and Damodardas Modi in Vadnagar in Gujarat's Mehsana district. On May 26, 2014, he took the oath as the Prime Minister of India, becoming the first Prime Minister to be born after India attained Independence.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is organising the 'Seva Sankalp Abhiyan' across the country from September 17 to October 17 to mark Prime Minister Modi's birthday, with a series of service-oriented programmes and public outreach initiatives. 

Ahead of the 69th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla chaired a high-level briefing meeting to review preparations and emphasised the role of the Indian delegation in discussions, according to an official release.

He urged all members of the delegation to actively participate in the sessions and workshops. He emphasised that members should articulate their views effectively during discussions so that India's national interests and viewpoints can be strongly presented and safeguarded on the global stage.

He specifically underscored that India's active participation in such global fora further strengthens the scope of our parliamentary traditions and democratic values. Additionally, he instructed all members to strictly maintain punctuality and discipline in all meetings and negotiations during the conference, ensuring that the country's delegation sets an exemplary standard.

The main conference theme has been set as: 'Strengthening International Law and Parliamentary Democracy in a Changing World Order: Commonwealth Leadership,' under which deliberations are taking place regarding the role of parliaments in the changing global landscape.

During the meeting, the agenda for six key Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) workshops for the Indian delegation was outlined. These workshops cover critical subjects including promoting inter-parliamentary dialogue for inclusive and fair trade in diverse economies, accessible parliaments and inclusion for persons with disabilities, parliamentary leadership in promoting climate adaptation and resilience, artificial intelligence (AI) in parliaments (current applications, prospects, and implementation strategies), protecting human rights and promoting peace, and post-legislative scrutiny, the release stated.

In addition to the main sessions, a Youth Roundtable focused on 'Rebuilding Youth Trust and Participation in Democracy' and a CPA General Assembly debate were scheduled to be held. Furthermore, under the 10th Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) Conference, four special workshops based on the theme 'Making Gender Sensitivity an Institutional Mandate: Ethics, accountability, and structural change' to serve as major highlights of the event.' (ANI)