Indian 'Super moms' competing at Asian Games
New Delhi (PTI): Returning to work after giving birth to a child is a difficult task but an increasing number of Indian athletes are now smashing stereotypes by continuing to compete.
Perhaps the most well-known sporting moms in the country are legendary boxer Mary Kom and six-time Grand Slam winner Sania Mirza.
PTI takes a look at the Indian mothers who will be competing at the Hangzhou Asian Games beginning on September 23.
Dipika Pallikal (Squash)
The poster girl of Indian squash, Dipika Pallikal has been a consistent performer for the country. She paired up with Joshna Chinappa to win India's first Commonwealth Games gold medal in squash in the Glasgow edition of CWG in 2014.
Her other accomplishments include several medals in World Championships, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, besides becoming the first Indian woman to be ranked in the top 10.
In October 2021, she and her husband Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik were blessed with twin boys -- Kabir and Zian. A few months later, Dipika was back in the squash court and went on to win the mixed doubles bronze medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
The Hangzhou Asian Games, where Dipika will compete in the mixed doubles event, are expected to be her swansong.
Koneru Humpy (Chess)
The Grandmaster is one of India's finest chess players. She became the youngest woman ever to achieve the Grandmaster title at the age of 15 years, one month, 27 days in 2002, and became the second female to exceed the 2600 Elo rating mark.
She gave birth to her daughter Ahana in 2017 following which she took a maternity break.
Humpy returned two years later to become the women's World Rapid champion in 2019 and was the runner-up in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2019-21 edition.
The 36-year-old will be competing in the singles as well as team events in Hangzhou.
Harika Dronavalli (Chess)
The Indian Grandmaster is a three-time World Championship medallist.
The 32-year-old is an inspiration to women across the world. Harika played a high-pressure Chess Olympiad in her ninth month of pregnancy last year.
To prepare for the event, she would join her teammates online during the preparatory camps.
Alongside Koneru Humpy, R Vaishali, Tania Sachdev and Bhakti Kulkarni, Harika won the women's team bronze in Chess Olympiad -- the first-ever for India in the women's section.
She was blessed with a daughter-- Hanvika -- a few days later.
She will be looking to add another Asian Games medal to her kitty, having won the bronze in the individual section at the 2010 Guangzhou Games.
Manpreet Kaur (Shot put)
Manpreet Kaur will be in action in the women's shot put event. A national record holder, Kaur hails from Sahauli village in Patiala. She had represented India at the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010. She then took a break of three years following her marriage and the birth of her daughter -- Jasnoor.
She returned to the competitive arena in 2016 and became the only Indian woman to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics in her field.
Kaur was handed a four-year doping ban in July 2017. But she made strong comeback last year by hurling the iron ball to a distance of 18.06m to not only break her own national record but become the first Indian woman to cross 18m in shot put.
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Karnataka Assembly passes bill on Palace Grounds amid opposition protest
Bengaluru, Mar 6 (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed the Bangalore Palace (Utilisation and Regulation of Land) Bill, reaffirming state ownership over 472 acres and 16 guntas of land here, amid protests by the opposition BJP.
During the discussion, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the state government would have to provide Rs 200 crore worth of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for each acre of land, which means that for 15 acres, Rs 3,000 crore worth of TDR would be issued.
“If we accept it, then this 2-km stretch of road will become the costliest road in the world. If we accept it then how are we going to develop the city in later stages? How will you carry out development works?” asked Patil.
He also pointed out that this question was raised not only under the Congress government but also during the previous BJP regime.
However, the BJP-led cabinet has opposed the project.
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“Suppose we agree to it then, what will be the valuation of the 472 acres? It will be lakhs and lakhs of crores of rupees. Can we accept?” Patil wondered.
The Minister said the government had previously exercised its executive powers to issue an ordinance, which was approved by the Governor. Now the government is bringing a bill with two amendments.
“In this bill, we have made provisions either to develop or drop the road development work,” Patil explained.
However, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and BJP MLA Arvind Bellad opposed the move, alleging that the government was targetting Yaduveer Krishna Datta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of the Mysuru royal family, and the BJP MP from Mysuru-Kodagu constituency out of political vendetta.
“We talk of 472 acres of Mysuru Maharaja but here there are many Maharajas who too own 400 acres, 500 acres and thousands of acres of land, which is known to everyone,” Bellad said.
He slammed the Congress government, saying political power should not be misused for personal vendetta.
“Why (the then Deputy Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah brought the law in 1996 pertaining to the Bangalore Palace? Why are you setting eyes on the Bangalore Palace?” he asked.
Vijayendra charged that Wadiyar won the election on BJP ticket so the state government realised that it should acquire it.
“This bill has been brought for political vengeance. We are not discussing whether Rs 3,000 crore is exorbitant or not but the moment Yaduveer became MP, the state government woke up. You should be ashamed. This house should not be used for political vendetta,” he said.
Intervening, Minister Priyank Kharge said Vijayendra should not have raised it because the intention behind building the road was noble.
According to him, the BJP too had the same plan when it was in power.
He sought to know whether thousands of crores of rupees be spent on a road which should have cost significantly less.
In response, BJP MLA B A Basavaraj (Byrathi) said issuing TDR will not be a burden on the state government and appealed to the ruling Congress to reconsider its stance.
Minister Ramalinga Reddy too explained that the Karnataka government acquired the entire land way back in 1996.
The Mysuru royal family went to the High Court, which gave ruling in favour of the state government. The royal family then approached the Supreme Court, where the case is still going on, the Minister pointed out.
“The final judgment is pending in the SC to decide whether the acquisition was right or wrong. If the SC says it’s the royal family’s property then let it be so. If the order is in the state government’s favour then we can take a decision. The bill is only about it,” Reddy explained.
Speaker U T Khader then called for a voice vote and the bill was passed by the Assembly amidst opposition BJP’s discontent.
