Allocation for sports increased by over Rs 200 crore in 2019-20 interim budget
New Delhi, Feb 1 : The government on Friday increased the sports budget by Rs 214.20 crore for the financial year 2019-2020, including a hike in funds for the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and incentives for sportspersons.
In the interim budget presented by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal, the overall sports budget for 2019-2020 was increased from Rs 2002.72 (2018-2019) crore to Rs 2216.92 crore.
The significant gainers in the interim sports budget are SAI, the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) and the corpus meant for giving incentives to sportspersons.
The allocation to SAI has been increased by Rs 55 crore. From Rs 395 crore, the allocation has been increased to Rs 450 crore in the fresh proposals. The SAI is the nodal organisation to manage nationals camps, provide equipment and other logistics to the country's sportspersons.
Besides, the allocation for NSDF has increased from Rs 2 crore to Rs 70 crore.
The Finance Minister also proposed an increase in the incentive fund for the sportspersons, from Rs 63 crore to Rs 89 crore.
However, the assistance to National Sports Federations (NSFs) has been slashed slightly from Rs 245.13 crore to Rs 245 crore.
The overall encouragement and awards to sportspersons have been increased by Rs 94.07 crore. The previous allocation stood at Rs 316.93 crore and will now be Rs 411 crore.
The Khelo India National Programme for Development of Sports too got a hike of Rs 50.31 crore and from the previous allocation of Rs 550.69 crore, it is now Rs 601 crore.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
PM Modi speaks to Iranian president, discusses 'serious' situation in West Asia
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday night spoke to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian over the phone and discussed the "serious situation" in West Asia.
Modi expressed deep concern over the escalation of tensions in the region and the loss of civilian lives as well as damage to civilian infrastructure.
The prime minister told the Iranian President that the safety and security of Indian nationals, along with the need for unhindered transit of goods and energy, remain India's top priorities.
“Had a conversation with Iranian President, Dr Masoud Pezeshkian, to discuss the serious situation in the region. Expressed deep concern over the escalation of tensions and the loss of civilian lives as well as damage to civilian infrastructure,” Modi said in a post on X.
The prime minister also reiterated India's commitment to peace and stability and urged dialogue and diplomacy to end the crisis.
The prime minister had spoken to leaders of several West Asian countries in the last 10 days in the wake of the coordinated offensive launched against Iran by the United States and Israel, in which the Islamic country's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed last month.
In retaliation, Iran has fired drones and missiles at Israel and US military installations around the Gulf region, including the global business and aviation hubs of Dubai and Doha.
Modi earlier spoke to the leaders of Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Israel and Qatar, and expressed concern over the attacks on their countries, and condemned the violation of some nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
He also discussed the welfare and security of the Indian community residing in those countries.
Around 1 crore Indians live in the Gulf and West Asia. While about 10,000 Indian citizens live, study and work in Iran, more than 40,000 live in Israel.
