oppn parties Saurabh Choudhary: Exceptional Talent

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  • Supreme Court questions the continuing relevance of two-child norms. The Court observed that falling fertility rates have weakened the population-control rationale behind laws disqualifying people with more than two children from contesting local body elections. It referred the issue to a larger Bench for consideration
  • Supreme Court declines to shift Tirupati laddu case outside Andhra Pradesh. The Court rejected a plea seeking transfer of the trial, despite arguments that political statements by Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister could affect the fairness of proceedings
  • Supreme Court transfers Azam Khan's fresh ED bail plea to Allahabad High Court. The apex court declined to consider the Samajwadi Party leader's bail request in a fresh Enforcement Directorate case and directed that it be listed before a division Bench of the High Court on November 16
  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
  • Uttar Pradesh voter rolls show a 2.4-crore discrepancy. A difference of approximately 2.4 crore names has been reported between the state's panchayat and rural Assembly voter lists. The Election Commission has ordered the two sets of rolls to be matched
  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
  • Sensex and Nifty post their strongest single-day gains in months. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty 50 climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to 24,536.60. Financial and automobile stocks led the rally, supported by falling crude prices and renewed foreign investor buying
  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
  • Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympics badminton final. The 15-year-old defeated Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final, assuring India of a medal and becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the girls' singles final at the Youth Olympics
  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
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Saurabh Choudhary: Exceptional Talent

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2018-08-22 21:59:04

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack
A gold medal in any multi-nation tournament is an achievement in itself. But when it comes from a 16-year old lad who has just advanced to the senior stage, it is something to be immensely proud of. Saurabh Choudhary’s gold at the Asian Games is an extraordinary feat. He has beaten all odds consistently ever since taking up the shooting just three years ago. It needs to be remembered that first of all he is from a civilian background, second he comes from a small village called Kalina in Meerut district of UP and lastly, he is from a middle-class background. Yet, when he found he was not interested in studies his parents supported him and he proved himself regularly, first in India and then by winning the under-16 title at the Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany in June this year.

That event had made the world sit up and take notice of the rising star. But the senior stage is a different cup of tea. In the field in the Asian Games were former world champion Tomoyuki Matsuda of Japan and Jin Jongoh of South Korea, the gold medallist at the London Olympics. That Saurabh held his own against them speaks volumes for his maturity and expertise in the sport. He also demonstrated rare qualities often absent in Indian sportspersons – steely determination and lack of nerves. He was not flustered after being behind against Matsuda in the final clash. He picked himself up and shot above-10 scores in his last few attempts to overtake the former world champion and hand him a defeat, signaling the birth of a new shooting star.

Talented sportspersons like Choudhary must be nurtured and supported. If he is capable of beating seniors much experienced than him at this young age, he has the capacity to go after world record scores in future. Thankfully, many not-for-profit organizations have started working in the sports field and talent like Choudhary will have the opportunity to progress further without exclusively depending on government support or dealing with indifferent official machinery. These are exciting times for Indian sports when talent is emerging in various fields and from small towns and villages. If we can spot them and nurture them, we can hope to give tough competition to the assembly line players from China.