Schools, organisations should encourage traditional sports: Modi
New Delhi, May 27: Stressing that traditional Indian sports like kho-kho and gilli-danda were "fading into oblivion", Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged schools and youth organisations to promote them.
"Sports and games that were once a part and parcel of every child's life, in every lane in the neighbourhood, are fading into oblivion. These games used to be a special feature of summer holidays," the Prime Minister said in the 44th edition of his monthly radio programme, Mann Ki Baat.
"Children used to play with exuberant abandon for hours together. Some games saw the participation of the whole family," he said.
Naming pitthoo, kho-kho, gilli-danda, lattoo, kite flying as few among others, Modi said these games were an "inseparable part of every child's life from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Kutch to Kamrup".
"Of course, those games were known by different names, depending on the place."
"The unity, intrinsic to our country's diversity can be witnessed in these games. A single game is known by distinct names at different places," he added.
He then said that traditional games were structured in such a manner that along with physical ability, they would enhance logical thinking, concentration, alertness and energy levels.
"There is no age limit for participating in them. From tiny tots to grand-parents, these games were played together," Modi said, adding many games made people aware about the society, environment and other spheres.
"It is crucial that today, schools, neighbourhoods and youth organisations come forward and promote these games. Through crowd-sourcing we can create a very large archive of our traditional games," he said.
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Allahabad HC orders FIR against Rahul Gandhi in dual citizenship case
Lucknow (PTI): The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered an FIR be filed against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in connection with an alleged dual citizenship controversy.
The bench permitted the state government to hand over the probe to any central probe agency after registration of the FIR.
The order was passed by a bench of Justice Subhash Vidyarthi on a petition filed by S Vignesh Shishir, who had challenged a January 28 order of a special MP/MLA court rejecting his plea for an FIR against Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
The special court had earlier held that it was not competent to adjudicate on issues related to citizenship.
The petitioner, a BJP worker from Karnataka, had sought registration of an FIR and a detailed probe into the matter, levelling allegations against Gandhi under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Official Secrets Act, the Foreigners Act and the Passport Act.
The complaint was initially filed before the special MP/MLA court in Rae Bareli. However, on the petitioner's request, the high court transferred the case to Lucknow on December 17, 2025.
The MP/MLA court in Lucknow subsequently dismissed the plea on January 28, 2026, prompting the petitioner to approach the high court, which has now ordered registration of an FIR.
In its order, the bench said that from a bare perusal of the allegations, prima facie cognizable offences were made out against Gandhi and hence the allegations required to be investigated.
The bench said that the special court should have looked into whether the allegations prima facie made out any cognizable offences or not, but it failed to consider it.
Earlier, Deputy Solicitor General of India SB Pandey produced the central government's records in the court relating to the citizenship controversy surrounding Gandhi.
Government counsel VK Singh also consented on behalf of the UP government that the allegations prima facie made out cognizable offences.
After having a detailed hearing, the bench found that the material on records showed that Gandhi had committed "cognizable offences" in having dual citizenship, and these allegations required to be probed.
The petitioner has alleged that Rahul is a UK Citizen and incorporated a company named M/S Backops Ltd in August 2003.
It was further submitted that Gandhi categorically admitted and voluntarily declared his nationality as British, having a Director Identification ID and London and Hampshire addresses.
In his petition, Shishir claimed that Rahul submitted the company's annual returns in October 2005 and October 2006, listing his nationality as British.
Thereafter, the company was dissolved through a dissolution application in February 2009.
According to the petitioner, the material placed before the court includes records suggesting that Rahul Gandhi may have been listed as a voter in the United Kingdom and participated in electoral processes there.
During the course of the hearing, the high court earlier directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to place all relevant records, including classified documents, before the court.
