Coach Rana questions Sports Ministry, NRAI for ignoring Manu's credentials for Khel Ratna
New Delhi, Dec 24: Double Olympic medallist shooter Manu Bhaker's coach Jaspal Rana on Tuesday castigated the Sports Ministry, Sports Authority of India and the National Rifle Association of India, holding them responsible for "ignoring" his ward's credentials for the Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award.
The champion shooter's omission has sparked a controversy even though ministry sources have asserted that the names are yet to be finalised and her name will be there when the final list is released in a week's time.
In August, Bhaker became independent India's first athlete to win two medals in a single edition of the Olympics with her bronze-winning show in the 10m air pistol individual and 10m air pistol mixed team events.
"I will hold all of them responsible. How can anyone even say Manu did not apply? She made history by becoming the first Indian to win two Olympic medals in the same Olympics. Her name should have been there automatically. Don't the people at the helm know who Manu Bhaker is and what are her credentials? This humiliation might just affect her progress," Rana, who was the personal coach of Manu when she won the medals at the Paris Games, told PTI.
"I can say that a wrong precedent is being set. Things like this can destroy an athlete's confidence."
Reports of her omission from the national honours evoked shock with her family insisting that application was duly submitted.
"If this can shock the sports fraternity, if you are speaking to me regarding this, if people are writing about this, then how come the committee that decides the names fail to understand that she deserves the honour," Rana asked.
"What is their job otherwise. Isn't it to go through the performance of the athletes over the last cycle and then arrive at a conclusion and recommend the names. According to me this is not a mistake and this is not an oversight," Rana said.
The award selection committee is a 12-member panel headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice V Ramasubramam. It includes former athletes like women's hockey captain Rani Rampal among others.
The ministry norms allow athletes to self-nominate instead of relying on federations and other institutions for it. The selection committee is, however, allowed to consider names which may not be among the applicants.
While the ministry claimed that Bhaker did not apply for the award, her father Ram Kishan Bhaker, a chief engineer in Merchant Navy, said the youngster had followed the due process.
Rana added, "Even if the athlete was not able to apply for the award for some reasons, what is stopping the committee from recommending names. Hasn't she done enough to deserve an award."
"Anyway, it is not the first time. It has happened with me too. I have never received the Khel Ratna award," said the shooter who won three gold medals and equalled the world record in 25m centre fire pistol at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.
"It's really appalling. Why should a top sportsperson apply or request for an award? Awards should come naturally and automatically. How can it be ignored? There has to be some system in place," Rana observed.
"Does every athlete know how to apply? Does it make sense that only an athlete can apply? Why not the federation, Sports Authority of India (or the) ministry," the coach asked.
A ministry source had earlier told PTI that Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will decide on the recommendations of the 12-member award selection committee and, in all likelihood, Manu's name will be there in the final list.
"There is no final list of nominees at this point. Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will decide on the recommendations in a day or two and her name, in all likelihood, will be there in the final list," the source said.
The legendary Rana returned as Bhaker's coach exactly one year before the Paris Olympics, and was by her side as she went on to create history in the French capital.
Under Rana's guidance, Bhaker enjoyed a fruitful period between 2018 and 2021, during which she won multiple ISSF World Cup medals and became a Commonwealth Games champion at Gold Coast 2018.
However, the two parted ways in 2021 ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in which Bhaker would go on to endure a disastrous outing while suffering a pistol malfunction.
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Army showcases several AI-driven applications at AI Summit, Rajnath visits pavillion
New Delhi (PTI): From a climatology and diaster prediction system to a device that detects driver's fatigue to avert accidents, the India Army has showcased a slew of artificial intelligence-based applications at the AI Impact Summit here, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visiting the Army pavilion on Friday.
The Indian Navy has also put up a pavilion as part of the summit expo.
The AI Impact Summit is being held from February 16-20 at Bharat Mandapam, in which several heads of state, many global AI leaders, academicians and researchers, and heads of global tech giants, and philanthropists have taken part.
The Army has showcased several AI-based applications at its pavilion in Hall no. 4, and Defence Minister Singh interacted with military officials who gave him a tour of the pavilion, which has attracted both young and old-age visitors.
"Delighted to visit the AI Impact Summit at Bharat Mandapam today. India is rapidly emerging as a global leader in Artificial Intelligence and advanced technologies. The Summit showcases the immense talent of our innovators, researchers, startups, armed forces and industry leaders. India's AI vision MANAV, articulated by PM Shri @narendramodi at #IndiaAIImpactSummit2026, sets humanity’s direction towards a secure and future-ready world," Singh later posted on X.
"Guided by principles of morality, accountability, national data sovereignty, accessibility and robust systems, India is helping shape the next civilisational leap through responsible AI.
"AI is not just a driver of economic growth, but also a force multiplier for national security and good governance. I thank PM Modi for hosting the AI Summit in India. Compliments to the organising Teams and all participants for making this Summit a grand success," he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the summit on Thursday and unveiled the 'MANAV' vision for a human-centric approach and use of AI with a strong accent on sovereignty and inclusivity.
"Army officers and personnel, researchers and scholars, of course have come to our pavillion in the past few days, but youths too are showing keen interest in AI-based military applications. And, today the honourable defence minister visited and showed keen interest in knowing more about these applications," a senior Army official told PTI.
Some of the AI-based applications which have been showcased include 'Prakshepan' a military climatology and diaster prediction system; Xface -- a facial recognition system for rapid image and video-based verification in boosting security and surveillance mechanism; Nabhdrishti -- a telemetry reporting system which can capture positional data, imagery and orientation, "even based on images of an unidentified drone in flight"; and an AI-based device that detects driver's fatigue and alerts the person behind the wheels to avert accidents.
Lt Col A R Packianathan said 'Prakshepan' was launched by the defence minister last November.
The name draws from Sanskrit word 'Prakshepan', which means projection, he said.
At the Army pavilion, a dashboard has been displayed showcasing how the system works, with "near-live data".
"This application is a cutting edge military climatology application developed in-house by the Army's Directorate General of Information Systems. It has been powered by scientific and technical collaboration from several ministries with agencies like India Meteorological Department, National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, Central Water Commission, North East Space Application Centre, Geological Survey of India and Defence Geospatial Research Organisation," Lt Col Packianathan told PTI at the pavilion.
It has three prediction modules -- prediction of flood, of landslide and of an avalanche.
"This is India's first hybrid military climatology system capable of predicting landslides and avalanches 3-7 days in advance using multi-agency scientific datasets, terrain intelligence, and AI/ML (AI/machine learning) modelling," another Army official said.
The Indian Army in January had declared 2026 as the 'Year of Networking & Data Centricity' and said that this initiative will enhance connectivity, real-time decision-making and combat effectiveness, thereby strengthening resilience and agility for a future-ready force.
In line with the vision, the pavilion also showcases visual representations of Army assets and weaponry using holographic projections.
The Army has said that beyond military use, man of these application can have dual-use and help civilian administration and the masses as well,
So, 'Prakshepan' can provide early warnings to civil administration in remote areas, contributing to national disaster resilience and capacity building, Lt Col Packianathan said.
Similarly, the AI-based device that detects driver's fatigue and alerts the person behind the wheels can help avert accidents on highways for civilian drivers too, another official said.
