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@Evening: India Ka Game Hockey Gets Little Sports Coverage Ahead Of World Cup?
1. What's New: đź“° Catch-up
PM Modi flagged off the world's longest river cruise, MV Ganga Vilas.
Five things Gen Manoj Pande said at the presser ahead of Army Day.
India-China trade touched an all-time high of $135.98 billion in 2022.
Know about Anji Khad bridge, India’s first cable-stayed railway bridge.
Pakistan to supply weapons to Ukraine in return for aid from the West.
2. Twitter Think: đź™…đźź° Unequal coverage of various Indian sports?
Cricket may be religion, but India isn't monotheistic. Then, why is it that hockey got so little buzz in India despite the country playing host to this year's world cup? At least, that's the thinking of some, including prominent sportspersons.
Former captain of the Indian hockey team Viren Rasquinha took to Twitter to say he was "extremely disappointed" on the "lack of Hockey coverage" in "mainstream media & top Indian newspapers."
"Disappointed to see no media coverage & publicity for this worldclass event! Will this happen for cricket? Why this stepmotherly treatment?" tweeted Alisha Abdullah, an icon of Indian car and bike racing.
"Hockey has been India’s pride & it’s heartbreaking that WC hosted by our own country is not getting mainstream coverage. How will sports grow if we discriminate? Time to change!" former Indian cricket player Gautam Gambhir said in a tweet.
But, is Indian hockey owed lots of media coverage?
"Media coverage has always been proportional to success, and that isn’t going to change," sports website RevSportz said in its editorial, saying that resenting cricket's popularity isn't going to help a sport.
After several highs, Indian hockey has gone through a prolonged period of lows.
India has not finished on the world cup podium in 48 years, since winning the gold in 1975 under the captaincy of Ajit Pal Singh.
In 2021, a medal came finally, at the Tokyo Olympics, as a bright light at the end of an annoyingly long tunnel.
Indian hockey gets another shot at better days over the course of this month.
India goalkeeper P R Sreejesh, who is playing in his fourth world cup and the third on home soil, believes his team can even finish on top of the podium this time.
"We were the King. I'm extremely hopeful that India's golden period in Hockey is returning. I am confident that India will win this hockey World cup and once again to re-establish India's Glorious Hockey Moment," Kiren Rijiju has tweeted rather aptly.
3. Word Watch: đź“š His Words. His Story
Prince Harry's memoir, Spare, was released worldwide on 10 January.
The book is out in 16 languages.
An unabridged audio edition of the book, read by the author, is also available.
In Spare, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, is apparently telling "his own story" with "raw, unflinching honesty."
>> In her review of the book for Swarajya, San Francisco-based writer and programmer Lila Krishna says it's "hard to feel sympathy for Harry when you read Spare." Find out why.
4. Picture Speaks: 🏑Let's go, hockey!
The 15th edition of the hockey world cup kicked off today. This is the fourth time India is hosting this event.
>> Pictured is a creation by renowned sand artist and Padma Shri awardee Sudarsan Pattnaik, on the banks of the Mahanadi river in Cuttack.
India plays Spain today; two days later, it will take on England.
Odisha hosted the mega event previously in 2018, in Bhubaneswar, making it the world cup host two times in a row.
The matches will be held at the Birsa Mundra Hockey Stadium in Rourkela and Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar from 13 to 29 January.
While 20 matches will be played at Rourkela, 24 matches will be held in Bhubaneswar, which will be the stage for the final as well.
India topped their pool in the 2018 world cup after winning two matches and drawing one, but lost to eventual runners-up Netherlands in the quarterfinals.
India has never won the title at home.
The Odisha CM has announced a reward of Rs 1 crore for each player of the Indian hockey team if they win the world cup.
5. Culture Cutlet: 🛕 The Kumbh of the North East
The Parshuram Kund Festival 2023 is underway currently in Lohit district, Arunachal Pradesh.
The five-day mela began on 12 January and will conclude on 16 January; this is the time of Makara Sankranti.
The festival — a regular event since 1972 — is known as the "Kumbh of the North East."
"With improved roads, your sojourn will be of a lifetime to the place encompassed by magnificent Mishmi Hills & dense forests, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu said in a tweet drawing pilgrims to attend the mela.
Pilgrims typically take a dip in the Lohit river, on the banks of which lies the Parshuram Kund, to wash away their sins.
The Kund bears a strong mythological link with the legend of the sage Parsurama.
The Kund is surrounded by Rudraksha trees, the fruit of which is considered sacred in Hinduism.
"Looks like a blissful experience, a unique opportunity to explore Arunachal Pradesh," PM Narendra Modi said in a tweet.
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