PM’s words of praise boosts local hero Mohsin Ali who set Dal Lake ablaze during KIWSF
Srinagar (PTI): Eighteen-year-old Mohsin Ali had been earning accolades ever since he set the Dal Lake ablaze by clinching gold in the 1,000m kayaking event at the inaugural Khelo India Water Sports Festival (KIWSF) held here recently.
On Sunday, Ali became a local hero after receiving a special mention from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who praised the Srinagar boy for his achievement in the 125th edition of his monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’.
Organised from August 21-23 at the iconic Dal Lake, the KIWSF featured six sporting disciplines – rowing, canoeing, kayaking, water skiing, shikara race, and dragon boat race – in which 28 states and Union territories took part.
Ali now has his sights fixed on the ultimate goal – an Olympic gold.
The 18-year-old’s story is proof that greatness can be found anywhere, even on a single-paddled boat across a glinting lake.
“I was thrilled to speak to the prime minister. His words will work as an encouragement not only for me but for the youth in general, who want to represent the country at the highest stage,” Ali told PTI.
In 'Mann Ki Baat', the prime minister singled out Jammu and Kashmir for two special achievements – holding the water sports event successfully, and the inaugural day-night cricket match in Pulwama.
Modi spoke to Ali and another sportsperson – Odisha's canoeing champion Rashmita Sahu.
The KIWSF was a collaborative initiative of the Jammu and Kashmir government and the Sports Authority of India (SAI), which saw more than 800 participants from across the country, with female athletes almost matching their male counterparts.
While Madhya Pradesh bagged the most number of medals, Ali's triumph triggered a renewed interest in water sports in the Union territory.
Ali, whose father works as a labourer to support his family of seven, said he was motivated to take up kayaking after seeing shikaras (boats) on Dal Lake.
He attributed his achievement to his coach Bilquis Mir, a prominent canoeist and kayaker from Srinagar, who became the first Indian woman to serve as a jury member at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
According to Mir, Ali's triumph is a reflection of the talent present in Jammu and Kashmir. She also said his victory at the KIWSF motivated new athletes, with 80 youths enrolling in the training programme at the end of the festival.
“It was a moment of pride for all of Jammu and Kashmir that a local boy won gold at the KIWSF. Ali’s performance will surely boost water sports in J-K, more so as he won in a field where most of his competitors had a lot of foreign exposure and access to state-of-the-art facilities,” Mir said.
Talking to Ali, the prime minister complimented his family and Mir on his success.
After Modi said the youth of Jammu and Kashmir have so much potential, Ali said, "My dream is to win a medal in the Olympics.”
The prime minister replied, "Wow! Well done! Look, I got goosebumps just by hearing that from you. When the son of a labourer's family dreams so big, it means the country is going to progress a lot.”
Modi concluded the four-minute conversation by saying, "Really enjoyed talking to you. Please convey my special thanks to your father, because he made your life by working as a labourer. On your father's words, you worked hard for 10 years without taking any rest. I also congratulate your coach, who worked so hard to train you.”
On Srinagar successfully hosting the water sports event, Modi said, “What a special place to organise such a festival. The objective was to make water sports more popular in Jammu and Kashmir. More than 800 athletes from all over India took part in KIWSF. Women athletes were also not far behind… Their participation was almost at par with men.”
The prime minister also mentioned the Royal Premier League cricket tournament in Pulwama, in which 12 teams from Jammu and Kashmir are taking part.
“Thousands of enthusiasts, especially youth, are enjoying cricket at night in Pulwama... It is truly a sight to behold," Modi said.
Royal Premier League organiser Irfan Ahmad thanked the prime minister for appreciating their efforts, and invited him to the last match of the tournament to be held in September.
Ahmad said the event aims to serve as a healthy outlet for the young people amid increasing unemployment and drug use in the area.
“I am really thankful to the prime minister for taking note of this event. The whole of Kashmir, especially Pulwama, is happy that he talked about it in ‘Mann Ki Baat’.
“The youth are depressed amid growing unemployment, which needs to be addressed. We organised the league to encourage the youth and keep them away from drugs," Ahmad said, adding that he rented lights from Delhi to facilitate day-night cricket in Pulwama.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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