Patna, May 4 (PTI): Teenager Vaibhav Suryavanshi's astonishing batting skills have captured the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who on Sunday hailed the 'son of Bihar' for working immensely hard on his craft which helped him play fearless cricket on the big stage.

Modi mentioned Vaibhav's batting exploits in his video address during the inauguration of the Khelo India Youth Games in Bihar.

The 14-year-old Suryavanshi, who hails from Bihar's Samastipur, became a toast of cricketing world when he hit a stunning 35-ball hundred for Rajasthan Royals against Gujarat Titans recently in the IPL.

"I have seen in the IPL, the son of Bihar, Vaibhav Suryavanshi's spectacular performance. At such a young age, Vaibhav has set such a great record. There is a lot of hard work behind Vaibhav's performance," Modi said in his address.

Modi said single-minded training and several matches he played to be ready for the big challenges contributed to Suryavanshi's success and encouraged the youth to put in the hard yards and compete intensely.

"To bring his talent to the forefront, he has played many matches at different levels. The more you play, the more you will shine. Competing in matches and competitions as much as possible is very important. The NDA government has always given it the highest priority in its policies.

"The government's focus is on giving our athletes the opportunity to play new sports. That is why the Khelo India Youth Games included Gatka, Kho-kho, Malkhambh and Yogasana. In recent days, our athletes have performed very well in many new sports like Wushu, Lawn Balls, Roller Skating."

Modi said sports holds a significant place in his government's policy making.

"There is a new national education policy, in which we have made sports a part of mainstream education. The aim of this policy is to create excellent sports professionals along with good players in the country.

"My young friends, we know that sportsmanship plays a very important role in every aspect of life. We learn team spirit in the field of sports. We learn to move forward together," he said.

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New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Culture allegedly spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print advertisements marking the 100-year celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), according to a Right to Information (RTI) reply.

The information was sought by RTI activist Ajay Basudev Bose, who filed an application seeking details on expenditure incurred by the ministry for advertisements commemorating the RSS centenary.

Bose shared a picture of the reply from the ministry on his official ‘X’ handle.

“It is informed that an amount of Rs 76,13,129 has been spent on advertisement given in various print media by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the completion of 100 years of RSS,” the government’s reply stated.

Bose questioned the expenditure in the post X, “when Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??”

Reacting to the development, Karnataka’s IT-BT and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge also criticised the spending.

In a post on X, he asked why public money was being used for what he described as a “private ideological project.”

"Modi Sarkar spent Rs 76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS. Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to celebrate their centenary?," he added. 

According to reports, the RSS describes itself as a volunteer-based organisation and has stated that it functions as a body of individuals rather than a registered entity.

Founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, the organisation is marking its centenary year beginning from Vijaydashami in 2025, with the milestone observed on October 2.