'Standing on shoulders of UPA': Chidambaram's dig at Modi govt
New Delhim (PTI): Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday took on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over her listing the Centre's achievements, saying that if the Modi government stands tall in some areas, it is because it is standing on the shoulders of its predecessor UPA.
Chidambaram countered Sitharaman's comments made in an article about the achievements of the Modi government in the last nine years.
"The Hon'ble Finance Minister has penned an article on the achievements of the Modi Government. Many examples she has cited are true as would be true of EVERY government that has ruled for 5 or 10 years," the former finance minister said on Twitter.
The finance minister has cited five examples of the Opposition taking the government to court and losing the case, Chidambaram noted.
"She is wrong at least in three: The SC had declared triple talaq illegal even before Parliament passed a law. The Article 370 case has not yet been heard by the Court. Numerous cases under the GST laws are pending," Chidambaram argued in his long Twitter post.
The finance minister claims credit for India achieving top ranks in production of milk, honey, fruit and vegetables, he pointed out and added that these ranks were achieved years ago and "we retain those ranks".
"The Hon'ble FM claims credit for Direct Benefit Transfer. She forgets that Aadhaar was conceived, created and rolled out by the UPA government and the first transfers under DBT were done by the UPA government," Chidambaram said.
The finance minister boasts about the 11.72 crore toilets built. She should read her own government's reports on how many of them are unused and unusable because they lack water, the senior Congress leader said.
"Every government will have achievements to its credit. So does the Modi government. If the Modi government stands tall in some areas, it is because it is standing on the shoulders of the UPA government," Chidambaram said.
In an article in The Indian Express, Sitharaman had also criticised the Opposition and said that its role had, sadly, been less in Parliament.
"It has been more to disrupt and delay through filing petitions in the courts of law rather than debate and discuss in the House. Over 15 cases, including on the GST, Article 370, vaccination, triple talaq, Central Vista, were vigorously argued only for them to lose in each one of them," she had said.
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Dhyan Chand lifetime award to be replaced by Arjuna lifetime
New Delhi, Oct 24: The sports ministry on Thursday announced the discontinuation of the Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime achievement from this year onwards and the introduction of the Arjuna Award Lifetime in its place in a bid to "rationalise" the various sporting honours of the country.
Instituted in 2002, the Dhyan Chand Lifetime Award, named after hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand, is given to individuals in disciplines that are part of the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, among others.
In 2023, the award was given to former shuttler Manjusha Kanwar, ex-hockey exponent Vineet Kumar and kabaddi player Kavitha Selvaraj.
"The various schemes for sports awards have been rationalised wherein Arjuna Award (Lifetime) has been introduced in place of Dhyan Chand Award. To recognise the efforts of coaches at grassroots/development level, they are now eligible for the Dronacharya Award," said a ministry statement.
"The Arjuna Award (Lifetime) has been introduced and will be given for life time contribution to sports development.
"Further, to recognize the Khelo India scheme, the Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy will be given to the University for Overall Top Performance in Khelo India University Games," it added.
The last date for applying for the national sports awards for 2024 is November 14.
