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Abhijeet Kulkarni

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Abhijeet Kulkarni

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Abhijeet Kulkarni worked as a sports journalist for over a decade and is currently associated with LAKSHYA, a non-governmental organisation which identifies and nurtures sports talent at the grass-root level.

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For Kidambi Srikanth, Gopichand’s nudge was a big chance

Jun 10, 2013

A few years ago, the last two days of any junior tournament in India would provide some frustrating moments for the lanky Kidambi Srikanth. The youngster from Guntur would give his all in the singles category only to come out second best to the likes of Sameer Verma, Pratul Joshi #Badminton #Boonsak Ponsana #Inpraiseof #K Srikanth #Sports #Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold
Gutta and Ponnappa: A sad end to a sparkling partnership

Mar 21, 2013

It’s now official that the most successful women’s doubles pairing in Indian badminton – Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa - will not been seen again playing together on the international circuit, and the process to build from scratch has to begin with earnest from here. The World championship bronze-medallist-combination had not #Ashwini Ponnappa #Badminton #Jwala Gutta #OnOurMind
Deborah’s story: from near disaster to cycling role model

Mar 12, 2013

Deborah was just nine years old when the deadly tsunami struck the Car Nicobar air base where her father works. Her entire family was displaced due to the natural calamity and she had to spend a whole day on a tree to survive before rebuilding her life from nothing. The 18-year-old #Cycling #Deborah #OnOurMind
Why Saina Nehwal is now favourite to win the All England

Mar 8, 2013

When Saina Nehwal takes on Shixian Wang in the quarterfinals of the All England Super Series Premier in Birmingham later today, she would know very well that there cannot be a better opportunity for her to stake claim for the coveted title. In the last few years, the major tournaments have #OnOurMind
Will India’s wrestlers go back to akhadas and mud wrestling?

Feb 13, 2013

Nineteen-year-old Vikram Kurade and his friends learned the ropes of wrestling in the mud wrestling rings of western Maharashtra and used to make decent pocket money through the year. But for the last few years the entire group is seen training at the Motibaug Talim in Kolhapur during the mud #India #Olympics 2020 #OnOurMind #Wrestling
New BAI rules will force Saina Nehwal to play in the Nationals

Jan 18, 2013

World number two Saina Nehwal could be seen in action in the next senior nationals after a gap of five years if the Badminton Association of India (BAI) enforces the new Players’ guidelines issued on Thursday in letter and spirit. In a bid to give a new lease of life to #Badminton #ConnectTheDots #Saina Nehwal
IPL-style League or IPL-style disaster?

Jan 2, 2013

I grew up in Nashik district, about 200 km from Mumbai, and every year we witnessed mass protests over the cost of onions – it would alternate between a new low due to excess supply and then shoot up exorbitantly the next year because of not enough production. It was difficult #CriticalPoint #Hockey India League #Indian Badminton League #Indian Premier League #Indian Volleyball League #IPL
From injury to titles, 2012 has been Kashyap’s year

Dec 24, 2012

The Mayan theory had predicted the end of the world in 2012. The world survived and in the case of P Kashyap it actually came alive as the shuttler began transforming his potential into success after years of hard work. On Sunday, the 26-year-old became the first Indian men’s singles player #Badminton #P Kashyap #Rear View 2012 #Syed Modi International
The next big star of Indian badminton is making her move

Dec 20, 2012

While the focus of the media and the badminton loving crowd in Lucknow at the 2012 Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament was only on world number three Saina Nehwal, an unassuming 16-year-old playing in only her second senior international tournament was very easy to miss. Answering to the name #Badminton #Ruthvika Shivani #Saina Nehwal #ThisisNext
Don’t blame Gopichand, the selectors are at fault

Dec 12, 2012

The Bombay High Court's observation that a national coach should not run a private academy due to the conflict of interest involved is the most ideal scenario. But an unfeasible one at this stage in Indian badminton. If the High Court's order in the case filed by Prajakta Sawant against chief #Badminton #InMyOpinion #Prajakta Sawant #Pullela Gopichand

The best from the blog

Need your self-esteem shredded? Come on a makeover show in India

Sep 6, 2012
We don’t have the stomach to watch Tendulkar fail

Sep 6, 2012
Why Mumbai’s prime office rates are rising in a depressed mkt

Sep 6, 2012
Does a disrupted Parliament mean electoral reforms are in the offing?

Sep 7, 2012
Was Arsenal’s win over Chelsea down to sheer luck?

Oct 31, 2011

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Editor's picks

Lok Sabha polls 2014: Back to basics for Congress and BJP

With the playing field level, from now on it will be a battle of strategies for the Congress and the BJP
Chidu's 'Ferrari' of reforms has an autorickshaw engine

A slew of economic reforms has been promised this month, but one should not expect anything more than fancy footwork from the FM.
From a fed-up, die-hard fan: An open letter to SRK

Forget all this surrogacy business. The reason we love Shah Rukh Khan is that he’s been one of Bollywood’s smarter actors. But of late, SRK’s been a bit disappointing, complains a fed-up, die-hard fan.
Dhoni has Ganguly's touch but with a difference

Rohit, Kohli, Raina, Jadeja, Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar, Umesh – that’s the core of the Indian team today and perhaps it wouldn’t be wrong to say that they are Dhoni’s boys.

Vajpayee, Advani, Modi: Every leader has given Hindutva a twist

From Vajpayee to Advani to Modi –the Sangh Parivar has come a long way, presenting before India every few years a Hindutva face rendered presentable through a shrewd makeover
Why Nitish 'really' dumped the Modi-led BJP

While prima facie it might seem to be a clash of two strong personalities i.e. Modi and Kumar, there is much more to the split than that.
3 Indias at war: Sensex India, Maoist India, and Bharat

The current tensions in India can directly be traced to three visions of India – one of which will involve breaking the country
Last man standing: Why it's easy to feel sorry for Misbah

Sympathy for a Pakistani cricketer, especially a batsman, is a novel emotion for those of us coming from the 90s.

Fear of the unknown grips the BJP in Bihar

Although the party is maintaining a brave face, the eventuality of a split has left many leaders on tenterhooks.
In Mamata's Bengal: Zero tolerance for rape or protesting against rape?

Bengal tops the list in violence against women. There have been several reports of gang rape in the past few weeks. The Mamata government has taken quick and stern action – against the women protesting the rapes in front of the CM’s residence.
Food security: For poor’s sake, jholawalas must speak up

The subsidy to the rich accounts for more than 7 percent of the GDP while that for the poor, with the food security act, would account for 1.1 percent.
Patients get HIV in Assam hospital after blood transfusion, panic spreads

Many patients who were administered blood from the same blood bank fear the worst.

Why a BJP-JD(U) split will be good for India

Neither UPA nor NDA is an alliance. And the BJP and JD(U) were mere power-sharers, not allies. To grow, alliances have to be built around principles not just power-sharing
Chidu takes comfort in Fitch upgrade, but where are real reforms?

At a press conference, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, however, did not reveal any concrete steps but promised more reforms by August. He said the rupee’s decline is in line with that of the currencies of other countries with high current account deficit like India.
Why cutting interest rates will have little impact on industrial production

The index of industrial production (IIP), a measure of the industrial activity in the country, grew by a meagre 2% in April 2013, in comparison to the same period during 2012. The index was expected to grow by around 2.4% (source: India: Weak growth and sticky retail inflation. Sonal Varma and Aman Mohunta, Nomura). In [...]
Why 'Sir' Ravindra Jadeja is a people's genius

If one was simply to go by numbers, young and jolly Jadeja is on course to be a great. That’s not overrating him — it’s the simple logic of statistics one cannot argue against.

The Aurangzeb factor: 5 lessons from Modi-Advani tussle

Political parties need to have a process for electing leaders. This problem relates more to cadre-based parties such as BJP and CPM.
Why 55-60 to the dollar may be the new normal for rupee

A drop in the US dollar index does not seem to help the rupee; this shows that the Indian currency seems to be marching to its own gloomy beat.
Critics split on Apple iOS 7: Hideous, unoriginal or a thing of pure beauty?

The new design has sparked debates over whether Apple stole the design from Android or Windows 8 or just created an unholy union of the two. We take a look at what the critics are saying:
Is Putin the Salman Khan of international politics?

Is Vladimir Putin the Salman Khan of world politics? Our new columnist, stand-up comedian Gursimran Khamba pontificates.

Advani wins: No free hand for Narendra Modi just yet

What was the senior leader’s specific problem? Well, one is the indecent hurry in which Modi’s is being shoved down the throats of other leaders in the party.
Obama's second innings? As a junior engineer in govt service in India

Is Barack Obama about to sit for an exam for a junior level engineer in India? A man in Rajasthan says he’s got an admit card with Obama’s picture on it from the Staff Selection Commission. Actually on second thought that might not be such a bad second career for the President.
How US industries are trying to use 'treaties' to arm twist India

US companies are blatantly violating international agreements or purely lying, when they accuse India of using TRIPS flexibilities. Americans have spoken the same language against other countries such as Brazil and Thailand, but failed.