SHIVA KESHAVAN: INDIAN LUGE RACER

Shiva Keshavan (born 25 August 1981) is a five-time Olympian and the first Indian representative to compete in Luge at the Winter Olympic Games. He set a new Asian speed record at 134.3 km/h (83.5 mph) after beating the previous record of 131.9 km/h (82.0 mph) and won a gold medal in Asia Cup 2011 at Nagano in Japan. In 2012, he set a new Asian track record at 49.590 seconds. He is the reigning Asian Champion.

Personal Life

Keshavan is the son of an Indian father from Kerala and an Italian mother. He was born and brought up in Manali, Himachal Pradesh and attended Lawrence School, Sanawar. He married Namita Agarwal, a former classmate at school, who is also his sports manager. He studied humanities and political science at the University of Florence and received a Master's degree in International relations from the University of Florence.

Career

Keshavan picked up luge when he was selected at a training camp in Himachal at the age of 15. Keshavan won the Junior National Ski Championship in 1995 at the age of 14. He attended a luge camp conducted by world champion Günther Lemmerer. Keshavan was selected as a promising young athlete and went on to become the youngest person to ever officially qualify for the Olympic Games in luge. In 2002, Keshavan was offered the chance to represent Italy but he declined the offer. In 2014, Keshavan walked as an Independent Olympic Participant at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Sochi due to the suspension of the Indian Olympic Association. However, later on during the Sochi Winter Olympics, Indian Olympic Association made a comeback as a recognized country by the International Olympic Committee resulting in Keshavan competing under the Indian flag.

In November 2014, Keshavan collaborated with Duncan Kennedy to train for 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Duncan will act as Keshavan’s personal coach while leveraging his technical expertise to improve Keshavan’s sled.

Keshavan gained some fame after a training session during which he fell off his sled and yet managed to climb back on and complete the run; the video of the training run was shared widely on the internet.

Awards and Achievements

• Arjuna Award, Government of India - nominee, 2012
• Parshuram Award, Government of Himachal Pradesh - nominee, 2012
• NDTV Outstanding performer of the year award- winner, 2012
• Asian Luge cup – Gold Medal, 2011 & 2012
• Asian Luge cup – Silver Medal, 2009
• Asian Luge cup – Bronze Medal, 2005 & 2008
• World record for youngest ever Olympian
• First Indian to qualify for the Winter Olympic Games

Activities

Keshavan has been promoting the cause of winter sports in India. A grassroots level luge camp was held in India by Keshavan in 2009 for 50 young athletes interested in trying the sport. 10 were selected to form the Junior National Luge team to train in Japan.

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Constitution of India

OVERVIEW OF INDIAN CONSTITUTION

Introduction

Constitution is a living document, an instrument which makes the government system work. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishes the structure, procedures, powers and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles and the duties of citizens. It is the longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world. Originally Indian Constitution had 395 Articles, 22 Parts, and 8 Schedules, Now, it has 465 Articles, 25 Parts, and 12 Schedules. The Indian Constitution is unique in its contents and spirit. The constitution of India has several different salient features that distinguish it from the constitutions of other countries. It is borrowed from almost every constitution of the world and Government of India Act of British Rule.

Background

• An Idea for Constituent Assembly of India is suggested by M N Roy in 1934, a Constituent Assembly was formed in 1946 and on January 26, 1950, the Constitution came into being.

• Constituent Assembly took 2 years, 11 months and 18 days to complete its historic task of drafting the Constitution for independent India.

• The first President of the Constituent Assembly was Dr. Sachchidanand Sinha as the temporary President. Later, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the President of the Assembly.

• On 29 August 1947, the Drafting Committee was appointed, with Dr. B. R. Ambedkar as the Chairman along with six other members assisted by a constitutional advisor.

Borrowed Features of Indian Constitution from other Constitutions

British Constitution 

• Parliamentary form of government 
• The idea of single citizenship 
• The idea of the Rule of law 
• Institution of Speaker and his role 
• Lawmaking procedure 

United States Constitution 

• Charter of Fundamental Rights, which is similar to the United States Bill of Rights 
• Federal structure of government 
• Power of Judicial Review and independence of the judiciary

Irish Constitution 

• Constitutional enunciation of the directive principles of state policy 

French Constitution 

• Ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity Canadian Constitution 
• A quasi-federal form of government (a federal system with a strong central government) 
• The idea of Residual Powers 

Australian Constitution 

• The idea of the Concurrent list 
• Freedom of trade and commerce within the country and between the states 

Soviet Constitution 

• The Planning Commission and Five-Year Plans 
• Fundamental Duties

Preamble

The Preamble highlights few fundamental values and guiding principles on which the Constitution of India is based. It serves as the guiding light for both, the Constitution as well as the judges who interpret the Constitution in its light. The opening few words of the Preamble - "We, the people" - signifies that the power is vested in the hands of the people of India. The Preamble is as follows:

“We, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:

JUSTICE, Social, Economic and Political;

LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all;

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November 1949, do HEREBY

ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION”.

Introduction

Hello Friends,

I'm Deepak Kumar. I write my blogs especially on India, like Indian History, Indian Geography, Indian Polity, Famous Personalities of India, Indian Culture, etc.
I hope my blogs are helpful for all of you.

In this blog, I write little about INDIA.

INDIA

• India is the country of South Asia. New Delhi is the capital of India.  India is world 7th largest country by area and 2nd largest country by population and the world most populous democracy in the world.

• India is the land of diversity because it has different cultures, religion, languages, communities etc. People of many different religions live here. It has the 4th largest number of spoken languages per country in the world. The thousands of distinct and unique cultures of all religions and communities. India has 29 States with different culture and languages.

• India has the largest movie industry in the world which is based in Mumbai. It is known as Bollywood. It produces movies about twice as many as Hollywood in a year.

• India has many sports like Kabbadi, Cricket Football, Kho Kho etc., but there is no National Game in India. India wins all the World Cup of Kabbadi. Many games invented in India like Chess, Snakes and Ladders.

I hope it is useful for you. I write more blogs on India with the different subject like I mentioned above.