Thank god – India won an individual gold medal in Olympics!

Every Indian will be proud today that Mr. Abhinav Bindra won a first ever individual Olympic gold medal for India, in 10 m air rifle shooting at Beijing. Congratulations Abhinav.

It took a few decades for India to get one individual medal in Olympics!!
As it looks, Indian sports scenario is pathetic and stagnant for years. There is a Sports Ministry at the Centre and a ministry in every state. India has won gold medals in hockey several times earlier and this time, India could not even qualify to take part in the games! Mr. Suresh Kalmadi is sitting over the Indian Olympic Association now for years! He only talks rubbish. No action. India with more than a billion people could not produce a few good athletes to bring glory to the country in international sports? India should learn something from China.

There are several reasons: corruption at all levels, favoritism, regionalism, etc, etc. The governments are not serious enough to focus on competitive sports. Money is spent on officials traveling world-wide to study the facilities existing elsewhere! Heads of sports associations are immune to any changes. They behave like virtual dictators!

The only way is to change the system. The selection and decisions with regards to sports should be taken out of the government hands to some extent. The tenure of any sports-head should not be more than five years. Corporate houses should be encouraged to adopt one game to one corporate house basis. For example: Tatas can adopt Foot ball, Reliance – Athletics, Birlas – Hockey and the Indian Government can support Kabaddi, Kho-Kho like Indian games.

Let us hope somebody powerful at the top is reading this blog and do some thing.

China Olympics – Most spectacular show on earth

Billions of people world-over, just witnessed the most spectacular show on earth, never witnessed before in any Olympics. The show is the inauguration of the Olympics Games in Beijing, China.

It was the excellent blend of Chinese past, the present and the future. The biggest asset of the country, i.e., the man power was used splendidly with color to give a superb visual display of Chinese cultural heritage, grit, discipline and determination to show the world their ultimate capability to excel. The Games opening show was witness by an unprecedented 80 Heads of State! The world fell in love with China.

The Bombay High Court judgment - no for late-abortion

As per the existing Indian abortion laws on medical termination of pregnancy (MTP), the Bombay High Court judgment on refusal to abort 25-week old fetus baby with a congenital heart blockage is justified. It is a typical case of “Andha Kanoon”. It is high time that the government of India reviews all the laws, some of them are dating back to fifties and sixties so that the changes taken place over the years in the perceptions of right and wrong are addressed for.

In this case, the judgment is justified for the simple reason that the fetus is over 20 weeks old and the abnormality is related with the congenital blockage of arteries for which medical management is readily available in almost every Indian city. But, the same may not be applicable if the new-born is going to have a congenital severe mental or physical disability. In that case, the new-born will be too much burden on the family and the society in general. But, it amounts to mercy killing. Are we ready for it?