‍‍‍Teachers Are 'Real Architect' Of Children’s Future

On the special occasions like Teacher’s Day we say all sorts of noble words about the vocation of teaching, and some teachers are awarded by the State, the fact is that as a society we are not very serious about the role of teachers as the messengers of emancipatory education.

To begin with, let us dare to be “impractical” and imagine what the vocation of teaching ought to be. Well, we might find amid ourselves a spectrum of “knowledgeable” people — experts and specialists. 

But then, a teacher is not just a subject expert. She teaches not merely quantum physics or medieval history; she does something more. She walks with her students as a co-traveller; she touches their souls; and as a catalyst, she helps the young learner to understand his/her uniqueness and innate possibilities. She is not a machine that merely repeats the dictates of the official curriculum; nor is she an agent of surveillance — disciplining, punishing, hierarchising and normalising her students through the ritualisation of examinations and grading. 

Instead, she is creative and reflexive; and it is through the nuanced art of relatedness that she activates the learner’s faith that he is unique, he need not be like someone else, he must look at the process of his inner flowering, and the artificially constructed binary of “success” and “failure” must be abandoned.

There is another important thing a teacher ought to take care of. She must realise that there are limits to teaching and sermonising; and she is not supposed to fill the mind of the learner with a heavy baggage of bookish knowledge. 

Instead, her primary task is to help the learner to sharpen the power of observation, the ability to think and reflect, the aesthetic sensibility, and above all, the spiritual urge to experience the glimpses of the Infinite. In other words, once these faculties are developed, one becomes a life-long learner — beyond degrees and diplomas. 

In fact, teaching as an act of communion, and studentship as a project of the integral development of the physical, vital, intellectual and psychic states of being, can create the ground for emancipatory education. And emancipatory education is not a mere act of “skill learning”; nor is it pure intellectualism with academic specialisation.

On the other hand, on September 5, the Teachers Day is celebrated to honour the memory of India's first Vice President and to commemorate the importance of teachers in our lives. It is supposed to be a special day for the appreciation of teachers who are the real fountain head of a strong nation.

Indian culture had always treated them as most important pillars. Even Lord Krishna, Rama or any kings during medieval period who ruled the country had taken lessons under a Guru and this speaks a lot about the importance of a teacher.

The teachers have a very difficult task and play the role of torchbearers, work with dedication even in adverse conditions to make the young generation prosper in all respects. It is time for the political executive and the teachers to have a serious introspection about the role of teachers then and now and see what kind of reforms needed to be brought in the system to ensure that the core values of education and the healthy relationship between the teachers and the taught is restored.

As a matter of fact, emancipatory education is the willingness to live meaningfully, creatively and gracefully. It is the ability to identify and debunk diverse ideologies and practices of domination and seduction — say, the cult of narcissistic personalities that reduces democracy to a ritualistic act of “electing” one’s masters, the doctrine of militaristic nationalism that manufactures the mass psychology of fear and hatred, or the neoliberal idea that to be “smart” is to be a hyper-competitive consumer driven by the promises of instant gratification through the ceaseless consumption of all sorts of material and symbolic goods. 

And a teacher ought to be seen as the carrier of this sort of emancipatory education that inspires the young learner to question sexism, racism, casteism, ecologically destructive developmentalism, hollow consumerism, and the life-killing practice of “productivity” that transforms potentially creative beings into mere “resources”, or spiritually impoverished and alienated robotic performers.

Yet, the irony is that we do not desire to create an environment that promotes emancipatory education, and nurtures the true spirit of the vocation of teaching. Look at the state of an average school in the country. 

With rote learning, poor teacher-taught ratio, pathetic infrastructure, chaotic classrooms and demotivated teachers, it is not possible to expect even the slightest trace of intellectually stimulating and ethically churning education. It is sad that ours is a society that refuses to acknowledge the worth of good schoolteachers.

Moreover, because of nepotism, corruption and trivialisation of BEd degrees, there is massive devaluation of the vocation. 

Likewise, while the triumphant political class has caused severe damage to some of our leading public universities, and fancy institutes of technology and management see education primarily as a training for supplying the workforce for the techno-corporate empire, teachers are becoming mere “service providers” or docile conformists. Here is a society hypnotised by the power of bureaucracy, the assertion of techno-managers and the glitz of celebrities. Not surprisingly then, it fails to realise that a society that has lost its teachers is dead.

However, those who love the vocation of teaching and continue to see its immense possibilities should not give up. 

After all, ours is also a society that saw the likes of Gijubhai Badheka, Rabindranath Tagore and Jiddu Krishnamurti who inspired us, and made us believe that a teacher, far from being a cog in the bureaucratic machine, carries the lamp of truth, and walks with her students as wanderers and seekers to make sense of the world they live in, and free it from what belittles man. We must celebrate this pedagogy of hope.

Teachers Day should not end with some celebrations. Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan saw education as the most important tool to metamorphose our society into an inclusive one. The question now is whether our present education system is inclusive. Are teachers playing the role of Shilpis (sculptors) and making children strong enough mentally to face any situation in life?

The role of a teacher is multifarious one. "Teaching is an ongoing process, which like mercury never settles at a particular place but keeps flowing with everlasting grandeur." They should be sharp, enlightened, updated, innovative, perseverant and ever ready to learn new things and unlearn old ones so that they produce the best of human resources, who are not only employable but should have enough resilience to absorb highs and lows of life. Does such a situation prevail in our country? 

Under Gurukul system, the Gurus (teachers) used to lay emphasis on practical education, developing observation skills of a student and above all there used to be a system of questioning, discussion and debate. A week student was always attached to a bright student so that the bright student would help the weak student.

But now it is other way round. The weak students are segregated from so-called cream and made to sit in a separate section which leads to negative impact on them as they are stamped as weak students. All this is part of commercialisation of education.

The system of listening to what teacher says, copy what is written on black board, learn by rote the so-called important questions is resulting in a situation where students are committing suicide if one gets 85 per cent marks instead of 90 per cent.

There are also cases where students are committing suicide, thinking that they may not get good marks. The political executive of the country and the teachers should ponder over such issues and bring major reforms to restore the values of education and importance of teacher that was seen in the olden times. The governments too should free the teachers from doing other works like door-to-door enumeration work or drafting them for election related work. #KhabarLive #hydnews

‍Will ‍BJP Expose Ruling TRS Party Corruption In Telangana?

As a matter of fact, this time any political party will easily grab the power from ruling TRS party with gaining public confidence, solving the much awaited promises and assure the easy life without much hard work. All these BJP can provide in the state if the party becomes Secular and much transparent in terms of getting vote bank in Telangana.

https://youtu.be/W1ybKQKOsVU

Time is running out for the seven-year-long dictatorial rule of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.KCR has played with the lives of students who led the separate statehood movement. He became the CM by playing politics, not leading the movement.

In 2014, on the Floor of Assembly, he vowed to fill 1.07 lakh vacant posts in various departments. In 2017, he announced filling up of over 1.12 lakh posts and promised to issue notifications annually.

However, the number of vacancies in government departments has now piled up to 2.5 lakh. There are many vacant teaching and non-teaching posts in universities even as many government schools have been closed. There has been no instance of filling even one teacher post.

No efforts were made to fill Group-I, junior college, degree college teacher and university teachers posts. In fact, except in the police department, no other vacancy has been filled.The number of districts has been increased, but no effort was made to recruit people needed to administer the districts.

For the post of police constable, PhDs, and those who have done MTech have applied, indicating the desperation of the unemployed. The number of unemployed has shot past the 50 lakh mark if the number of applicants for various posts is any indication.

https://youtu.be/UqgXe-1HHUc

A glance at the Statistics and Programme Implementation Department’s periodic labour force survey statistics or state-wise unemployed data being maintained by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy reveals that the unemployment rate has reached 25 to 33 percent in Telangana. At many places, the unemployed are resorting to suicide.Is this the Bangaru Telangana promised by KCR?

It’s clear that KCR is victimising students who played a crucial role in the Telangana statehood movement.It’s clear that during the past seven years, those who benefited the most are his family members and those nursed by him.Corruption under the KCR regime has reached dizzy heights.

Thousands of crores of corruption is taking place in projects, contracts, construction of projects, sand quarrying, liquor sales and in almost every transaction but nobody raises a voice against KCR.For example, the Kaleswaram project, which was estimated to cost less than Rs 40,000 crore, has been revised to Rs 1.30 lakh-crore. Not surprisingly, the government is accused of swallowing the funds meant for migrant workers.

KCR has shown the door to many leaders – like Ale Narendra, Vijayashanti and now Eatala Rajender – who questioned his activities.His coterie consists of all those who play second fiddle to him. After coming to power for the second time, his ego has become inflated as he feels he cannot be challenged.

KCR went back on his promises like three acres of land to Dalits, construction of 7 lakh 2BHK houses, stipend for unemployed, waiver of crop loans, free KG-to-PG education and construction of a hospital in every constituency.

The Covid second wave exposed the shortcomings of the public health infrastructure. He is also accused of diverting BC, SC and ST Sub-Plan funds to other purposes. Besides misusing Central funds, KCR diverted the funds meant for infrastructure development projects to implement vote bank politics.

The government did not build new projects, but re-designed old ones and inflated the cost many times over to loot public money.KCR claimed credit for implementation of the free vaccination programme, five kg of rice to the migrant workers and old age pension. In fact, the Centre should be given credit for these programmes.

Buying votes by spending crores, bringing MLAs elected on other party tickets into the TRS fold, repressing those who question him are some of the skills nurtured by the CM.The debt burden of the State in 2014 was Rs 60,000 crore and has now risen to Rs 4 lakh-crore.

KCR promised to celebrate September 17 as Telangana Liberation Day, but failed to implement it. Moreover, KCR is in league with communal forces who are heirs to Razakars.

Against the Constitution, he provided 12 percent quota for Muslims. There is no check to the atrocities of the Majlis because of the appeasement politics being practised by KCR.

Majlis leader Asaduddin Owaisi, who opposed triple talaq, is supporting the atrocities perpetrated against women in Afghanistan saying that even more severe atrocities are being perpetrated against women in India.KCR joining hands with people like Owaisi, who wants to see Muslims confined to the Medieval Age to protect his interests, is atrocious.People are realising that the seven year rule of KCR exploited the state.

Cracks are now appearing in the fort of KCR.The people are witnessing the failures of KCR; his popularity graph is on the decline. People have realised that there is no congruence whatsoever between his sayings and doings.

That is why the Praja Sangrama Yatra by BJP Telangana president Bandi Sanjay has received overwhelming support. It shows the fall of KCR is imminent. #KhabarLive #hydnews 

‍‍Why ‍'Political Bazaar' Getting 'Hot' In Telangana?

Telangana people are quite surprised upon heating up the political activities in the state for a by-election in Huzurabad to dominates the supremacy over one and other political parties poll-strategies and electioneering tactics.

As #KhabarLive analyzed the entire situation, reveal the political supermacy dominates the major political parties. Its still more than two years for Assembly elections in Telangana but the series of yatras, rallies and meetings by the political parties have created a poll-like atmosphere in the state.

A series of developments and hectic activity by all major political players has increased the political temperature in the state, where elections are due towards the end of 2023.

Opposition parties are vying with each other in targeting Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) for its failures even as Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao himself is leading the counter-attack from the ruling party by rolling out a slew of schemes.

With the by-election to the Huzurabad Assembly seat likely to be held soon, both the ruling and opposition parties are going all out to woo the voters. By announcing 'Dalit Bandhu' and an insurance scheme for weavers and by luring some top leaders of the Congress, BJP and TDP into its camp, the TRS is leaving no stone unturned to ensure a victory in Huzurabad.

The by-election has become a battle of prestige for the TRS as Eatala Rajender, who was dropped from the State Cabinet in May following allegations of land grabbing, will be contesting as the BJP candidate.

As Rajender had been winning the seat since 2009, the BJP is hoping to ride on his popularity in the constituency to deal a blow to the TRS ahead of the next Assembly polls. The leaders of the saffron party hope that a win in Huzurabad will boost its confidence to achieve the goal of coming to power in the country's youngest state.

The recent elevation of G. Kishan Reddy as an independent minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet has boosted the morale of the saffron party, which had set alarm bells ringing in the TRS camp by wresting the Dubbak Assembly seat and by putting up an impressive performance in the elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) last year.

While returning to his home state after his elevation, union minister for tourism and culture Kishan Reddy mounted a scathing attack on TRS by undertaking a Jana Ashirwada Yatra from August 19. He slammed KCR and his family, for what he called massive corruption and for pushing the state into a debt trap.

Kishan Reddy's three-day yatra covered 305 kilometres across eight Parliament segments and 17 Assembly constituencies including Huzurabad.

The BJP is looking to mount further pressure on the ruling party as its state chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar will be launching a 'Praja Sangrama Yatra' from August 24.

The party says the walkathon, to begin from Bhagyalakshmi Temple at Charminar, is aimed at making citizens aware of the 'corrupt and dictatorial' family rule of KCR.

Sanjay, who is also the MP from Karimnagar, said the main objective of his walkathon is to enthuse the people to protest against the TRS government as it has failed to justify the reasons for which the separate state was formed.

"We need to free Telangana Talli (mother Telangana) from this corrupt family regime which is not at all concerned with people's issues. We have to take the failures of the government to the people at every booth level and understand the people's concerns which would help during our manifesto preparation," he said.

During the yatra, the BJP leader also plans to receive representations from people about the unfulfilled promises of the TRS government and also the complaints about not receiving the benefits under various welfare schemes. The saffron party will forward these representations to the government.

The BJP's central leadership will be keenly following the walkathon, which is expected to set the tone for the Huzurabad bypoll and the next Assembly elections.

The success of Sanjay's yatra will be crucial for the party to bounce back after receiving a jolt in the recent by-election in Nagarjuna Sagar Assembly constituency and the Legislative Council polls from the graduates' constituencies. The saffron party lost the lone Legislative Council seat it was holding and had a disastrous performance in Nagarjuna Sagar, where its candidate forfeited the deposit.

A rejuvenated Congress party has also stepped up its activities. With A. Revanth Reddy taking over as the president of the party's state unit last month, it has become aggressive in taking up various issues and targeting the TRS government over what it called its unfulfilled promises and failures.

During the last few days, Revanth Reddy led two major public meetings as part of its Dalita Girijana Atma Gaurava Dandora (Movement for SC/ST self-respect). Through this statewide campaign, the party is trying to woo Dalits and tribals by highlighting how the TRS government neglected them during the last seven years.

The Congress is upbeat over the huge public response it received at its meetings at Indravelli in Adilabad district and at Raviryala on the outskirts of Hyderabad. It is now planning to organise a third public meeting in Gajwel, the constituency represented by KCR.

The Congress, like the BJP, is also targeting KCR for announcing 'Dalit Bandhu' only to garner the votes of Dalits in the Huzurabad bypoll. "After the by-election, KCR will again forget Dalits. Why is he not implementing Dalit Bandhu across the state, why only in Huzurabad," asked Revanth Reddy.

The TPCC chief also recalled that KCR did not fulfil his promises of installing a 125-feet Ambedkar statue in Hyderabad, three acres of land to each landless Dalit family, KG to PG free education and a job to every household.
Buoyed by the huge public response to its meetings, the state Congress leadership has decided to invite party leader Rahul Gandhi to a series of public meetings in the run up to the 2023 Assembly elections.

Rahul Gandhi is likely to address a public meeting in Warangal next month as part of Dalita Girijana Atma Gaurava Dandora. The party is planning the meet as a massive show of strength before the Huzurabad bypoll.

The Congress party has started the groundwork for the next Assembly polls. Manickam Tagore, AICC in-charge of Telangana, held a review meeting with party leaders in Nagarkurnool parliamentary constituency on August 20 and directed all party leaders and those who unsuccessfully contested the 2018 and 2019 polls to start working in their respective constituencies by meeting the people.

"Talk to voters, spend time with them, list their problems and find out what they have to say about the unfulfilled promises of the TRS and BJP governments in the state and at the Centre respectively," he said.
Claiming that the political situation in the state is turning in favour of the Congress, Revanth Reddy said the party is certain to win at least 72 of the 119 constituencies in the elections to the Assembly whenever they are held.

The newly formed YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) led by Y S Sharmila has also launched its activities, adding to the political buzz in the state. The sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is undertaking a fast every week over the issue of unemployment. After calling on the families of unemployed people who committed suicide, she sits on a day-long fast every Tuesday. She is demanding that the government fulfil its promise of filling all vacancies in various departments and providing jobs to all.

Three days ago she also staged a protest in Mulugu district over the issue of podu lands or the lands tilled by tribals. She accused KCR of cheating tribals by not fulfilling his earlier promise to resolve the podu lands issue. She assured her party's support to tribals, demanding that the government give them ownership right of podu lands.

Amid the stepped up activity by the opposition parties, Chief Minister KCR visited Huzurabad constituency on August 16, launched his ambitious scheme 'Dalit Bandhu' and addressed a huge public meeting. The scheme was launched on a pilot basis in Huzurabad and he promised that all Dalit families in the state will receive benefits under the scheme. Every Dalit family will get a Rs 10 lakh grant under the scheme to start a business of its choice, he said. Hitting back at his political rivals, KCR asked why their governments in the states or at the Centre never thought of designing a scheme to empower Dalits.

The politics over Dalits in the state took an interesting turn this month when former IPS officer R. S. Praveen Kumar joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Kumar, who held the rank of Additional Director General of Police, took voluntary retirement last month. The officer urged Dalits to become rulers and not slaves. He joined the BSP at a massive public meeting at Nalgonda on August 8. On Dalit Bandhu, he said that the scheme was a constitutional right and not anybody's charity.

He told KCR that the money he was spending on the scheme was what weaker sections had earned by tilling the land. "If you have any love for Dalits, spend your money on them," he said. #KhabarLive #hydnews

Indian Squad's Passion, Patriotism, Hope And Desperation In Tokyo Olympics 2021

This is not a dampener. This is a reality check. While passion, patriotism, hope and desperation jostled for space on the Indian air waves one week into the Tokyo Olympics 2020, the air was also hanging heavy with a rather familiar déjà vu feeling about the whole exercise being largely a case of much ado about nothing yet again.

Late on a humid Friday evening at the Olympics, world champion Sifan Hassan, representing the Netherlands, appeared to be out of contention and altogether disinterested as she started and remained at the back of the field for the first half of the 5000m women’s heat in the track and field events. But a very subtle gear shift almost went unnoticed past the 2500m mark as she slowly made her way up midfield before appearing resigned to settle for seventh place until the penultimate lap.

On the seventh and final lap though, while her Kenyan and Ethiopian counterparts held steady ground at the front, Hassan quietly made her pitch for first and the finish line in such sublime fashion that they could only look on shocked, disgusted and most importantly, exhausted, as she gracefully moved past them and then into a league of her own.

Hassan, it turned out, had quietly executed a very stealthy and rather deceptive plan, building steadily and sure footedly, slowly at first and then with consistency, pushing past when it was time. This was only the first heat as she is expected to take part across three events.

As exhilarating as it was to watch, it was not easy to shake off the lingering feeling that India were continuing to miss a beat.

After all, what happened to the P.T. Usha’s of the country? What has happened to the next great hope? Where is the build up, the foundation, the steadiness, the consistency and the core, and the bench strength? The ceiling barriers are yet to be broken, once and for all and comprehensively at that as far as India at the Olympics are concerned.

This is not a dampener. This is a reality check.

When USA lost one of the world’s greatest gymnasts in Simone Biles at the last minute in the all round team gymnastics event, they found a new champion in Suni Lee who claimed gold in the individual event to add to USA’s prowess as the fifth successive champion to take the gold at the Olympics. Great Britain were rewarded for staying with Tom Daley and his ten year Olympics history of medals finally yielding him a gold in the 10m platform men’s synchronized diving. Michael Phelps’s Olympics record is being challenged as is Mark Spritz’, unbelievably so, by Caeleb Dressler in the swimming events.

One could not help but cut back to the picture earlier in the morning as Hassan silently disappeared into the background as did Dutee from Indian minds.

At the fifth heat of the women’s 100m, a relatively diminutive woman lined up at the very end in lane 9. More exalted champions such as Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce took their place in the middle. The commentator on air did not even bother to go to the end of the field to introduce the athletes and Dutee Chand remained largely incognito, finishing a rather lacklustre seventh in an eight women race and much behind her national record time. Finishing 45 out of 54 participants reminded one of the shoddy affair that passed for sports events at many a school.

Still Chand was at the Olympics. Getting here was a Herculean effort and could not draw comparison. But that summed up India’s campaign in a nutshell.

Getting here is everything and then being here is automatically translated to medal hope in the minds of a billion. Never mind the mental challenge of watching athletes around the world show up with a larger support staff and a more rounded practice and facilities behind them. Hurdles are often overlooked in the public eye.

After all, while the likes of Anurag Thakur and Kiran Rijuju can sing laurels of our athletes when they make progress, it could be argued that like India’s lamentably bleak Olympics history, much of India’s untapped sporting talent continues to remain hidden.

It can also explain the almost monotonous voice in which the electronic media were already talking medal even as family members of P.V. Sindhu and Lovlina Borgohain encouraged cautious optimism. “Going for gold” screamed the headlines even though both women were still only into the semi finals in their respective disciplines of boxing and badminton respectively and had to still get past one more opponent to throw the final gauntlet for gold.

Once over the euphoria on a rather quiet, less newsworthy Friday where the farmers protest and the opposition took a backseat, the overwhelming feeling returned once more at the end of another epic day at the Tokyo Olympics that it was better to read the list of who had made the leap ahead rather than read out the long list of Indian athletes who didn’t.

Why are India’s medal hopefuls over hyped before the Olympics and then reduced to less than a handful midway through the two week celebration of sport only for India to be able to count on one hand the number of medals returning home? What is wrong with this picture?

Consider the déjà vu. There lies the answer.

Consider this for comparison.

A billion plus strong nation and 128 athletes represent India. Australia boasts a train of over 450 athletes at the Tokyo Olympics and only has a population that is about 25 million. Yet Australia are sitting pretty at no.6 behind the Russian Olympics Committee with nine gold medals to their name against the leader China who have now leaped over Japan with eighteen gold medals. Australia have 22 medals by the end of a hot and muggy night at the Olympics. India, still just the one.

Missing the top spot in the headlines were the archery duo of Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das who were holding their respective ground in the women’s individual archery event and men’s recursive individual archery, heading into the quarterfinals. While their efforts are commendable, they still represent a tiny fraction of India’s athletes who made it to the Olympics which is a great feat in itself but also, an even more miniscule percentage of the population, which is blasphemous to say the least.

Women’s hockey also provided some hope and as rightly pointed out, a semi final place is a great place to be in a ten year development. The emphasis has to be on development.

On a day when the likes of P.V. Sindhu were being hailed, there was an out-of-touch-with-reality moment when actor R. Madhavan posted this reply to a picture of the Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Mirabai Chanu having food on the floor of her humble home back in Manipur:

“Hey this cannot be true. I am at a complete loss of words.”

Why, Madhavan? First of all, it has to be pointed out, there is nothing wrong with having one’s lunch on the floor. To put things in context here though, he should know better the plight of Indian sportspersons given that he has played a coach to one in one of his movies.

It certainly puts playing for honour and pride of the country in perspective. That is a school of thought that has been given much lip service but not much credence in the wake of introduction of a sporting culture such as the Indian Premier League.

But it highlights not just the humble conditions from which these sportspersons come from but also, of the great demands on them, sometimes on their own two legs and on their meagre resources to get as far as they do. Showering laurels when medals are won is easy. In that sense, walking that opening ceremony in Tokyo was already a dream too high but achieved. But what about those who made it on their own merit and great hard work but didn’t get far, like Dutee?

Often this is not a rags-to-riches story for many of these sports persons who achieve elite Olympics medal levels. Promises made to them – not incentives but rewards after they hit the spotlight – are not kept. Homes are denied, jobs going a-begging, their talent, experience and wisdom untapped as the governments fail to use their success as a slipstream to build a steady stream of athletes inspired in the wake of their accomplishments.

Then four years later, it appears the names once again come out of the woodworks, the politicians bring out their patriotic Indian montages and the fans their tricolour and march alongside the sportspersons to unrealistic dreams and expectations.

The dismay is obvious.

The handful of aspiring shooters have had enough turmoil on the results board and back in the dressing room with enough ruffles over rifts between shooters and coaches. Manu Bhaker, who was expected to be the flag bearer in the end leading the medals tally, had a run in with her coach, Jaspal Rana, and thereafter with a rare malfunctioning pistol that hurt her chances in the 10m air pistol qualification event.

As news headlines kept screaming… “so-and-so crashes out,” “so-and-so crashes out”, and “so-and-so crashes out”, once again it highlighted the great disparity of how sports like cricket are given deliberate vantage point and therefore, focus, while it is hard even for seasoned journalists to extrapolate on the goings-on back in Tokyo simply because they have been fed and raised on a consumption of mainly one sport and also, then forced into specialized fields that earn their employers and themselves bread-and-butter. This is simply a fact of life, which some journalists have been candid and also, brave enough to admit openly.

One had to go deeper and read in order to learn why the nineteen year old Bhaker “crashed out” (visuals were not made available at the time). Not mentioned were her still impressive scores while she lost time while her pistol was being repaired as opposed to replaced with a spare because of the time it would take to make adjustments.

While the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) stated that India’s performance at the Tokyo Olympics was “inexplicable” and the sports authority talking about an overhaul, what is not easily forgiven is the repeated manner in which sportspersons find themselves in needless tangles, whether off the field like Mary Kom is in her final Olympics showdown, calling out the IOC over unfair judging, or the “usual suspects” (for want of a better term) of the likes of Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza calling foul of the AITA over selection muddles and confusion.

Where is the next generation? And where is the accountability? Where is the quiet pacing from the back of the field to make track steadily and then to take the finish line?

To think India lacks talent is appalling given that despite this sudden euphoria that comes out of the closets every four years – from the government and sports aficionados alike – India, despite its vast wealth, has very little infrastructure to show why there is no great grassroot level at which India’s budding talent is given ground on which to train.

Budget reels every February rarely do the untapped and underprivileged talent in the country little justice, leaving sports on the backburner. Between politics, nepotism and corruption, even existing infrastructure is elusive to these athletes in their four year long training that demands endurance and commitment of an extraordinary nature. The Olympics highlights this fact amply.

It is not enough that somehow, Dutee Chand is India’s only athlete in the track and field with hope and even she finishes at the end of the tail. While India’s hopes now rest on Sindhu and Lovlina and on the archers to wipe out the dim spotlight over the coming weekend, something is wrong with this picture and has been for a very long time. #KhabarLive

#OpEd: Appropriation Bill Imbroglio In Andhra Pradesh A Blow To Polity

By Dr. Shelly Ahmed

The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, while commenting on the performance of duties, had once said, "The true source of right is a duty. If we all discharge our duties, rights will not be far to seek. If leaving duties unperformed, we run after rights, they will escape us like will­o'-the­wisp, the more we pursue them, the farther they will fly."

The imbroglio in the AP Legislative Council over the passing of the Appropriation Bill leading to sine die adjournment without even introduction of the Bill comes as a body blow to our polity. Does any government or its Opposition, for that matter, have a right to stretch its political agenda to such an extent that it buries its duty towards the citizens' fathoms deep?

“Babaji Only Wants To Sell”: A Former CEO Reveals The Inner Workings Of 'Patanjali' Company

Ayurveda giant Patanjali’s rise to success has been nothing short of a phenomenon.

The Haridwar-based company, which sells everything from herbal soaps and shampoos to ghee and honey, has become a favourite among millions of Indian households, chipping away at the dominance of big multinational firms.

Yet, few know about the inner workings of the Rs10,000 crore behemoth founded in 2006 by Acharya Balakrishna and yoga guru Ramdev. The latter rose to fame doing yoga asanas on TV in the mid-2000s, before playing a role in the anti-corruption movement that swept the country earlier this decade, gaining many political enemies in the process.

Straight Talk: Why It's 'Plain Stupid' To Buy A House In India?

The crash of the Indian housing market is imminent. Two incidents gave me pause for thought recently.

Firstly: Just as I was about to tee off at the Milpitas golf course in California this September I heard a "fore" and was fascinated to see a fellow golfer tee off from the backyard of his home. I thought, "What a life/luxury!"

I realised that this 7200 yard golf course is inhabited by a mere 50 families and Zillow (an app that dispenses info on real estate prices) indicated the price of each bungalow was in the range of US$1.1-1.3 million (approx ₹7.5 crore).

'Yes, we do sell affordable homes, if you happen to be Donald Trump.'
One cannot ignore that the US of A was built on the premise that infrastructure (rail, road, bridges etc) are the bedrock of economic activity and the growth of any nation. And the USA has by far the best infrastructure in the world.

Speciasl Report: Inside The Surreal Battle For Mind Control Playing Out In Rajasthan's Classrooms

From history to politics to math, text books are throwing caution to the wind, as teachers grow divided.

For someone who is courageously speaking truth to power, 51-year-old Mahavir Sihag is exceedingly soft spoken. On occasion, you have to remind him to speak louder, so that you can hear.

At The Root Of All Lynchings: Vigilantes Don’t Expect To Be Punished, Victims Don’t Expect To Get Justice

Pehlu Khan, a Muslim, was lynched by Hindu criminals, professing to be cow vigilantes. The incident fills one with grief and anger. Around the same time, Farook, a Muslim atheist in Coimbatore, was lynched by Muslim criminals, claiming to be true believers.

Search deeper and you will find the case of a Hindu doctor lynched by a mainly Muslim mob, over a cricket dispute. Hindu rail passengers lynched a Muslim youth, in what began as a dispute over seats.

Mother of all land scams has blown in the face of KCR government in Telangana

The illegal deal is reported to have caused a loss of Rs 587 crore to the state exchequer.

Just a week after K Chandrasekhar Rao claimed no government land in Telangana had passed on to private hands, the chief minister is on the back foot. It has now come to light that Telangana Rashtra Samiti senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Kesava Rao's family purchased 50 acres of land in Hafeezpur village in Ibrahimpatnam mandal near Hyderabad.

Is The Indian Railways' Ambitious Modernisation Plan In Danger Because Of Its Financial Mess?

"We have lost a lot of revenue to the road sector. So, now we have to bring back that share of traffic to the railway sector."

India's mammoth state railways, much of them stuck in colonial times, have missed earnings targets for the third straight year and debts have shot up, documents seen by Reuters show, raising doubts about an ambitious modernisation drive.

The previously unreported figures will make uncomfortable reading for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the son of a train station tea seller who set out plans to overhaul the world's fourth largest rail network after he took power in 2014.

Is it time to say goodbye to Rs 2,000 note?

It's up to none other than Prime Minister Modi to decide.

It seems the government is fed up of the “pink note” exactly as Indians are warming up to its shocking pinkness. According to a report in The Statesman, “The central government is preparing to gradually phase out the new Rs 2,000 note. The government is also preparing to bring in laws to take penal action against hoarders of the new Rs 2,000 note, according to people in the know of the development.” 

Any Solutions For The Illegal Organ Trade Thrives In India?

By LIKHAVEER | INNLIVE

Kidney and liver diseases are growing in India. But the number of cadaver donations remains low.

On June 24, Mukesh Chaddwa died of kidney failure in Mumbai. His name featured in a waiting list maintained by Mumbai’s Zonal Transplant Coordination committee for people requiring a life-saving kidney transplant. The patients registered by the committee are allotted a kidney when the family of a brain-dead patient consents to donate his or her organs.

Political Vultures, Real Estate Sharks And Criminals Ganged Up To Ruin Bengaluru

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

India's tech capital Bengaluru is falling apart - well, almost. A city, whose infrastructure can support just about 30 to 40 lakh people, is now home for more than double that number. In the first of a two-part series, INNLIVE traces the origins of Bengaluru's destruction which began even before the city was swamped by IT professionals.

EDUCATING INDIA 1 - The Haryana Paradox: As Enrolment Falls In Govt Schools, Teachers Competing For Jobs

By LIKHAVEER | INNLIVE

The fear of being declared ‘surplus’ is forcing government school teachers to canvass in their local communities for admissions.

Anil Kumar is a volunteer social science teacher at the Government High School in Umrawat, in Bhiwani district of Haryana. He teaches Classes 6 to 10, two hours a day on all school days. For a year until he came along, the school had no social science teacher. Principal Wazir Singh, a former high school mathematics teacher, and the school’s science teachers stood in during social science classes. “It's just not the same thing,” Wazir Singh said, “as having a trained subject teacher.”

Spotlight: More Than 10,000 Indian Companies Have Defaulted On 'Provident Fund' Payments

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

The numbers of defaulting companies and institutions is growing.

It should have taken 30 days for Sanjaya Kumar, 27, from Odisha to withdraw his father’s provident fund of Rs 40,000, the post-employment rainy-day or retirement stash that companies must compulsorily deduct from salaries.

What Should We Do, Apart From Voting, To Make Govts Accountable?

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

Since Independence, we have had governments that were supposed to have been established on the constitutional principle -by the people, of the people and for the people. The public is unconcerned whether a government has been by or of the people. Legitimacy of a government is best tested by the question whether it has been for the people?

Film Review: ‘Madaari’, A Common Man Saga Takes On The Epitome Of Reality!

By MUGGA SINGH | INNLIVE

India may top in corruption, but voices against it have been dime a dozen, and cinema has ever so often projected a rebellious shriek against the misdemeanors of the state.

Films like Dombivli Fast (remade in Tamil as Evano Oruvan/Someone) and A Wednesday (also remade in Tamil asUnnaipol Oruvan/Someone Like You) have shown us how the common man when driven to the desperate drop-off takes on the Goliath of a state. While Nishikanth Kamat’s Dombivli Fast uses violence to make its point, Neeraj Pandey’s A Wednesday applies a largely cerebral format to focus on the angst of a man living in times of terror.

Telangana Medical Exam Paper Leak Points At Corruption In TRS Govt

By LIKHAVEER | INNLIVE

`Dear, you have been shrtlstd for MBBS counselling in govt/Private medical colleges of Europe/Ukraine, No donation. For appointment call: 80107xxxxx'.

This was an innocuous SMS that landed in the inbox of several students appearing for the medical exam entrance test (EAMCET) in Telangana. This was followed by a phone call from a woman who claimed to represent a consultancy firm.

Diluted Lokpal Act Makes Transparency Wear A Cloak: Has India's Fight Against Graft Fizzled Out?

By NEWSCOP | INNLIVE

Recently,  Lok Sabha passed an amendment to the Lokpal and Lakayuktas Act, 2013 to extend the deadline for filing asset declarations beyond 31 July for 50 lakh central government employees and NGOs receiving government funds.

A day later, the Rajya Sabha on Thursday also approved the same amendment, called the Lokpal and Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2016. Ironically, this approval by the Rajya Sabha came just a day after the Congress had on Wednesday said that it was "not binding" on it to back the government on the issue in the Rajya Sabha where it does not have numbers.