Usha, who remained firm on the matter, even told some delegates from Kerala that as the president of the Indian Olympic Association, she couldn’t think from a state-specific perspective. This came despite Kerala’s impressive performance at the last National Games in Goa, winning 19 golds, two silvers, and one bronze. Usha didn’t budge despite nudges from the Sports Ministry.The situation escalated when Harshita Yadav, a Kalaripayattu practitioner from Haryana and a student of Delhi University, approached the Delhi High Court, which ruled in favour of reinstating Kalaripayattu as a competitive event. Harshita had trained under Dr PB Sumesh, a Malayali and Vice-President of the Indian Kalaripayattu Federation. The Indian Olympic Association is under pressure to either comply with the court’s order or challenge it in a higher court before the Prime Minister inaugurates the event on January 28.Rare recognition for Jaishankar at ambassadors’ meet in MadridThis moment stood out as quite unique in the realm of diplomacy, where optics matter a lot. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar received the rare honour of addressing the 9th Annual Conference of Ambassadors, organised by Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Madrid.Typically, such meetings are reserved for internal discussions among heads of missions and with their ministers and leadership. Jaishankar’s official visit to Spain on January 13-14, 2025, marked his first trip to Madrid as Minister, and it was undoubtedly a befitting honour.
Source link
