Shot putter Kiran Baliyan wins India's first athletics medal in Asian Games
Hangzhou (PTI): Kiran Baliyan became the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games medal in shot put event in 72 years as she picked up a bronze on the opening day of competitions here on Friday.
The 24-year-old Baliyan hurled the iron ball to a distance of 17.36m in her third attempt for her best effort of the day to open India's medal account.
Baliyan, thus, became only the second Indian to win a medal in women's shot put in Asian Games after Barbara Webster, an Anglo-Indian from then Bombay, won a bronze in the inaugural edition in New Delhi in 1951.
Baliyan has a season's as well as personal best of 17.92m which she had produced while finishing second in the Indian Grand Prix 5 in Chandigarh on September 10.
"I did not know the history (first Indian woman shot putter to win an Asian Games medal after 1951). My focus was to produce my best performance. I could not do that and I am not happy with my performance. But I won a medal, so I am very happy," she said later.
Baliyan, daughter of a traffic police head constable in Meerut, was an accidental shot putter as her name was entered in a junior tournament by mistake nine years ago.
The other Indian in the fray, Manpreet Kaur finished fifth with a best throw of 16.25m.
In women's 400m race, Himanshi Malik ran an excruciatingly slow race for the second time in less than three weeks as she finished fifth in her heat and failed to qualify for the finals.
The 21-year-old Malik clocked 57.82 seconds in heat number three, even worse than the 57.59 second effort at the Indian Grand Prix 5 in Chandigarh on September 10.
She ran the race at the 'Big Lotus' stadium here with a knee brace, giving credence to the murmur that she was injured and could be left out of the Asian Games team.
Her timing on the opening day of athletics competition was more than six minutes outside her season's as well as personal best of 51.76 seconds which she had clocked while finishing second in the National Inter-State Championships in June.
Interestingly, in a video uploaded by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) earlier in the day, Malik said she was ready for the race.
"I am running my 400m race in the Asian Games today and hopefully I will do well," she said in the video.
The other Indian in the fray, Aishwraya Mishra qualified for the final round after finishing second in heat number one with a season's best time of 52.73 seconds.
In the men's 400m race, Muhammed Ajmal qualified for the finals after finishing second in his heat with a time of 45.76 seconds while Muhammed Anas Yahiya failed to make the grade after clocking 46.29 for a third-place finish in his heat.
The first two in each heat and the next two fastest across the three heats advance to the final.
In the women's hammer throw final, Tanya Chaudhary and Rachna Kumari finished seventh and ninth with performances of 60.50m and 58.13m respectively.
In the morning, national record holder Priyanka Goswami finished fifth in women's 20km race walk event with a time of 1 hour 43 minute 7 seconds, well outside her season's best of 1:28:50 and personal best of 1:28:45.
In the men's 20km event, Vikash Singh, who was drafted in the team due to injury to national record holder Akshdeep Singh, also finished fifth, clocking 1:27:33. He has a season's as well as personal best of 1:20:05.
The other Indian in the fray, Sandeep Singh was disqualified during the race.
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'Made in India' must become symbol of excellence, global competitiveness: PM
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called upon states to encourage manufacturing, boost 'ease of doing business' and strengthen the services sector to make India a global services giant.
Addressing the 5th National Conference of Chief Secretaries here, Modi emphasised the need for quality in governance, service delivery and manufacturing, and said the label 'Made in India' must become a symbol of excellence and global competitiveness.
He said India has the potential to become the world's food basket and the country must move towards high-value agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries to become a major food exporter.
"Called upon states to encourage manufacturing, boost 'Ease of Doing Business' and strengthen the services sector. Let us aim to make India a Global Services Giant," Modi said in a series of posts on X.
The theme of the three-day conference, which began on December 26, was 'Human Capital for Viksit Bharat'.
Modi observed that this conference marks another decisive step in strengthening the spirit of cooperative federalism and deepening Centre-State partnership to achieve the vision of a 'Viksit Bharat'.
Highlighting India's demographic advantage, he said nearly 70 per cent of the population is in the working-age group, creating a unique historical opportunity which, when combined with economic progress, can significantly accelerate the journey towards a 'Viksit Bharat', according to an official statement.
Modi said India has boarded the "Reform Express", driven primarily by the strength of its young population, and empowering this demographic remains the government's key priority.
He noted that the conference is being held at a time when the country is witnessing next-generation reforms and steadily moving towards becoming a major global economic power.
Underlining the need to strengthen 'atmanirbharta' (self-reliance), he said India must pursue self-reliance with zero defect in products and minimal environmental impact, making the label 'Made in India' synonymous with quality and strengthening the commitment to "zero effect, zero defect".
The PM urged the Centre and states to jointly identify 100 products for domestic manufacturing to reduce import dependence and strengthen economic resilience in line with the vision of 'Viksit Bharat'.
In higher education, too, he said, there is a need for academia and industry to work together to create high-quality talent.
He highlighted that India has a rich heritage and history with the potential to be among the top global tourist destinations.
Modi urged the states to prepare a roadmap for creating at least one global-level tourist destination and nourishing an entire tourist ecosystem.
He said it is important to align the national sports calendar with the global sports calendar.
"India is working to host the 2036 Olympics. India needs to prepare infrastructure and sports ecosystem at par with global standards," he said.
The prime minister said the next 10 years must be invested in the states, only then will India get the desired results in such sports events.
Every state must give this top priority and create infrastructure to attract global companies, he said.
In the services sector, Modi said, there should be greater emphasis on other areas like healthcare, education, transport, tourism, professional services and artificial intelligence, etc. to make India a global services giant.
He said India will soon be launching the National Manufacturing Mission (NMM).
States should work in tandem with the discussions and decisions emerging from the conferences of both chief secretaries and DGPs to strengthen governance and implementation.
The PM said similar conferences could be replicated at the departmental level to promote a national perspective among officers and improve governance outcomes in pursuit of a 'Viksit Bharat'.
In conclusion, he said every state must create a 10-year actionable plan based on the discussions of this conference with one, two, five and 10-year target timelines wherein technology can be utilised for regular monitoring.
The conference featured a series of special sessions that enabled focused deliberations on cross-cutting and emerging priorities.
It marks another important milestone in strengthening the Centre-State partnership through structured and sustained dialogue on national development priorities, according to the statement.
The PM's principal secretaries P K Mishra and Shaktikanta Das, Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan, members of the NITI Aayog, chief secretaries of all states and Union territories, and domain experts attended the meeting.
Anchored in the prime minister's vision of cooperative federalism, this conference serves as the forum where the Centre and states collaborate, designing a unified roadmap to maximise India's human capital potential and accelerate inclusive, future-ready growth.
It has been organised annually over the past four years.
The first conference was held in Dharamshala in June 2022, followed by subsequent conferences in New Delhi in January 2023, December 2023 and December 2024.
