State Of Indian Sports

PM Modi lays emphasis on developing sporting talent at grassroots level

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid stress on Thursday on developing sporting talent at the grassroots level and said the Centre has increased the sports ministry's budget by three times since 2014. He also highlighted the importance of promoting millets, popularly known as "mota aanaj", for the better health of youngsters. The prime minister was virtually addressing the "Saansad Khel Mahakumbh" event being held at Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and local MP Ravi Kishan were present at the venue of the event. Recalling the time when sports and games were part of village fairs where such activities were organised in the "akhadas", Modi lamented that these traditions are fading away. He referred to the physical education classes in schools that were relegated to "time-pass periods" and said this had led to the country losing three or four generations of sporting talent. Hailing events like "Saansad Khel Mahakumbh", Modi said, "Competitions at the regional

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Time for Olympics in India

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Shekhar Gupta: Three sports stories

Not for sports pages. Their essence isn't sport, but power. And how failure to use it ruins a sport