Finance
By: Shree1news, 28 MAR 2021
Bhubaneswar: In yet another landmark achievement for Odisha, renowned sports magazine Sportstar today honoured the State with the Decade’s Best State for Promotion of Sports award for the period from 2011 to 2020. Odisha received the Sportstar Aces Award that honoured the Giants of the Decade.
Renowned Hockey star MM Somaya handed over the award to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at a particular perform organised at the convention hall of Loka Seva Bhawan in presence of eminent sports personalities of the nation.
“I dedicate this award to the 4.5 crore people of Odisha, especially the youth,” the Chief Minister mentioned after receiving the award.
“Sports for youth and youth for future,” the Chief Minister mentioned with great confidence on the youth of Odisha and referred to as upon them, “let’s shine in each area and move towards a new Odisha, empowered Odisha.’
The Chief Minister further mentioned that whether it’s disaster management or it’s Covid management, now we have faced every challenge boldly, come out with flying colours, and have set new benchmarks.
Accepting the award on behalf of the people of Odisha, the CM mentioned that it’s certainly a moment of great pride for us in Odisha.
Thanking the Jury headed by Sunil Gavaskar for choosing Odisha as the best state for promoting sports activities, the Chief Minister mentioned that for generations in India, Sportstar was the window to the world of Sports. It has been a source of inspiration and motivation for decades earlier than the era of television and internet, he added. Expressing his happiness over Sportstar’s continuing its rich tradition of promoting and recognizing sporting achievements in India, he wished the Sportstar group the very best in the coming years.
He further mentioned that sports has a major role in building a healthy and disciplined society. The youth need to be guided to productively utilise their energies and make them well-rounded personalities. With this vision, we have been pro-actively supporting sports across the State, he added.
Speaking in regards to the success of Asian Athletics 2017 within just 90-days’ time period, he mentioned that Odisha has now become famous for its flawless conduct of national and international sports events, even at a short notice.
He further mentioned, “We have organized the Men’s Hockey World Cup 2018 and will be hosting the next version as well in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela in 2023. Odisha is building the largest Hockey Stadium within the nation in Rourkela for the Hockey World Cup. We’re also constructing India’s first indoor athletics track. We will be most likely the only State to plan for the indoor sports halls and fields throughout all of the urban local bodies. The project is to be launched shortly and will be accomplished by next year.”
He mentioned that Odisha has began the unique partnership model with the corporates and eminent sports individuals to begin high performance centres in various sports disciplines. Kalinga Stadium sports advanced is rising as a major destination for sports activities in India. Recently, the Indian Javelin team has camped in the Kalinga Stadium for their Tokyo Olympics preparation, he added.
He further mentioned that we have also launched large scale grassroots programs. In Sundargarh district, which has produced many international hockey players, we’re going to construct synthetic hockey turfs in every block of the district, he informed.
Speaking on the event, veteran Hockey Star MM Somaya mentioned that the Chief Minister is a sports lover at heart. He mentioned that the jury thought of the award for Odisha on three key areas. They’re the ability to harness expertise of the sports individuals with tremendous infra amenities, the High performance centres with partnership of industry and sports persons, and ability to organise international events.
In his welcome address, Ayan Sengupta, Senior editor of the Hindu Group mentioned that Odisha has ushered in a revolution in sports in the past decade. He mentioned that ace cricketer Sunil Gavaskar was highly impressed with the performance of Odisha.
CEO of Hindu Group LV Naveneeth thanked the Chief Minister and Team Odisha for promotion of sports and mentioned that the Starsports will be with Odisha for building a greater sporting future.
Veteran Sportspersons Sunil Gavaskar, Baichung Bhutia, Viswanathan Anand, Aparna Popat — all sent their video message for the programme. They all congratulated for the award and appreciated the efforts Odisha has made in championing the cause of sports.
A video on the sporting efforts and occasions in Odisha was screened.
Amongst others, Sports Minister Tusharkanti Behera, Vetrearan Hockey star Dillip Tirkey, Sports Principal Secretary Vishal Dev, Secretary to CM 5T VK Pandian and other senior officers were present.
