PM Modi hosts India Paralympic contingent, presented with autographed stole
New Delhi, (PTI): India's Paralympians presented Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an autographed stole on Thursday during a breakfast hosted by him to felicitate the contingent at his residence here.
The Indian para-athletes returned from Tokyo on the back of a sensational campaign that saw them win an unparalleled 19 medals, including five gold, eight silver and six bronze.
This was the country's best-ever Paralympics campaign as it finished 24th in the overall tally.
The PM was presented with a white stole signed by all the medal winners, which he was seen wearing around his neck.
Modi, who has been the first to congratulate the para-athletes on call after their medal winning feats, was seen talking to shuttlers Suhas Yathiraj, the District Magistrate of Noida, who won a silver, gold medallist Krishna Nagar (badminton) and young Palak Kohli (badminton).
Indian shuttlers bagged four medals including two gold, in para badminton, which made its debut in the Paralympics.
Shooters Avani Lekhara and Singhraj Adana, who both won two medals each in the Tokyo Games, also chatted with the PM.
Lekhara, who was paralysed waist down after being involved in an accident, had scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic gold before adding a bronze to her kitty.
The 39-year-old Adana, who is afflicted with polio, clinched a silver and a bronze.
The PM also interacted with veteran javelin thrower Davendra Jhajharia and high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu, who won gold medals in 2016 Rio Games. The duo finished on podium again, this time with silver medals.
Also present were table tennis player Bhavina Patel, who won a silver, and bronze medallist recurve archer Harvinder Singh.
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SGPC writes to Mann, seeks ban on 'Emergency' in Punjab a day before release
Amritsar, Jan 16 (PTI): The SGPC on Thursday wrote to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, seeking a ban on the release of Kangana Ranaut's movie 'Emergency' saying it "tarnishes" the image of Sikhs and "misrepresents" history.
Actor and BJP MP Ranaut's 'Emergency' is slated to release in cinemas on January 17.
In the letter to Mann, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Harjinder Singh Dhami expressed strong objection to Ranaut's film.
Dhami said that if the film is released in Punjab, it will spark "outrage and anger" in the Sikh community and therefore it is the responsibility of the government to ban its release in the state.
The SGPC, an apex gurdwara body, had earlier also protested the film.
"It has come to our attention that the movie 'Emergency' produced by BJP MP Kangana Ranaut is going to be released on 17th January 2025 in cinemas in different cities of Punjab and the tickets have also started to be booked," its letter to Mann read.
Dhami said the SGPC had also protested the release of the movie in a letter to the Punjab Chief Secretary on November 14 last year.
"But it is sad that the Punjab government has not taken any step till now. If this film is released on January 17, 2025, then it is natural to create outrage and anger in the Sikh world," the current letter read.
Dhami said the SGPC will submit a letter also to all the deputy commissioners in Punjab, seeking a ban on the film in the state.
The SGPC denounced the "character assassination" of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the Khalistani militant killed in 1984 in a military operation.
"If this film is released in Punjab, we will be forced to strongly oppose it at the state level," Dhami said.
In August last year, the SGPC sent a legal notice to the producers of the 'Emergency' film, alleging that it "misrepresented" the character and history of Sikhs, and asked them to remove the objectionable scenes depicting "anti-Sikh" sentiments.
In the notice, the producers of the film, including Kangana Ranaut, were asked to remove the trailer released on August 14 from all public and social media platforms and tender a written apology to the Sikh community.
The SGPC objected to film writing separate letters to the Minister of Information and Broadcasting and the Central Board of Film Certification.
