Narendra Modi inaugurates Khelo India University Games, says event marks next step in country's sporting revolution

-

Cuttack: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first-ever Khelo India University Games in Cuttack on Saturday and said the event marks the next step in the country's sporting revolution.

As many as 3400 athletes from 159 universities across the country will vie for top honours across 17 disciplines, including rugby which is among the six team events.

The prime minister launched the multi-disciplinary sporting event through a video conference facility. He called it a historic moment for Indian sports."It marks the next step in the country's sporting revolution,"  Modi said in his address.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the first ever Khelo India University Games, a through a video conference. PTI

"A new history has been made in Odisha today. This is not only a historic moment in Indian sports but also a big step for the future of Indian sports," he added.

Present at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, among others, were Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, union sports minister Kiren Rijiju and Dharmendra Pradhan, who holds the petroleum and natural gas portfolio in the union cabinet. Sports secretary Radhey Shyam Julaniya was also there.

Modi said the KIUG will provide a big platform for young athletes to fulfill their dreams. "In the coming days you have the chance to win over 200 gold medals. You also have the chance of bettering your performances, you have the chance to give new heights to your capabilities," he said.

Ace sprinter Dutee Chand, who is a student of KIIT, the host university, was also a part of the event. Besides Dutee, there are other talented athletes like Mangalore University's triple jumper Jay Shah, his team-mate long distance runner Narendra Pratap Singh, Pune University's long distance runner Komal Jagadale and Acharya Nagarjuna University's sprinter Yarraji Jyothi, who can lift the quality of the competition in track and field sport.

The prime minister said, "You will not only compete against each other but the most important thing is that you are competing against yourself. Your hard work here will take your, your family's and India's dreams forward."

Lauding the government's initiative, the prime minister said: "The Khelo India program has played a vital role in attracting and identifying young sporting talents from across the country. The Khelo India initiative has improved the level of sports and sportsperson in the country. It has improved the sporting infrastructure in the country," Modi said.

The prime minister said it was heartening to see talented youngsters coming out of the Khelo India initiative are not from big cities but from small places. "They are from poor background, common people from tier 2, tier 3 cities. They have generated a new hope for the country," Modi said. "We are promoting transparency in identification and selection of athletes, which has resulted in better performances from our athletes at the international stage."

A colourful 45-minute cultural-cum-entertainment show marked the opening ceremony in which 390 students performed and showcased the rich cultural heritage of Odisha.

Padma Shri Aruna Mohanty choreographed a sequence which showcased dance forms such as Odissi and Sambalpuri. Composer Ram Sampath and singer Sona Mohapatra performed a song which urged athletes to participate with pride during the Games. Music composer Nakash Aziz motivated the athletes with his song 'Khelo Khelo', which talks about taking sports to the next level.

Rijiju said India will see many international champions coming through KIUG. "I'm sure we will find more Olympians and unearth more talent from the Games. It gives a platform for athletes to showcase their talent at the highest level and also to share expertise," he said during his address.

The games will be staged across 10 venues in Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack, with the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology being the main centre.



from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/2TaM3ki
Press Trust of India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Both COVID-19 vaccine doses needed for good protection against B16172 variant

-
It’s been a concerning few weeks in the UK, with the B16172 variant first taking hold and then spreading to become dominant. This more infectious form of the virus, initially identified in India, is what we’re now going to have to live with – unless it is out-competed by another variant in the future. Worryingly, experts had predicted that B16172 might be able to escape some of the effects of vaccines, which if true would threaten to derail the UK’s plans to finish lifting restrictions from the end of June. However, Public Health England (PHE) has looked at the ability of various variants to evade immunity and says that the UK’s vaccines remain effective against the variants circulating, including B16172. On the surface, this looks like good news. But delve a bit deeper, and things get more complicated, says Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia. PHE’s research found a little drop-off in protection against B16172 among people who were fully vaccinated.
Read more

New coronavirus variant emerge in India: How should our COVID response change?

-
Image
After genome sequencing of over 10,000 COVID-19 cases in India, researchers have discovered a new variant with two new mutations which may be better at evading the immune system. In 15-20 percent of samples from the Indian state of Maharashtra (the state accounting for 62 percent of cases in the country) a new, double mutation in key areas of the virus has been detected. These are now known as the E484Q and L452R mutations. What makes the variant different? Both these mutations are concerning because they are located in a key portion of the virus – the spike protein – that it uses to penetrate human cells. Spike proteins attach via a “receptor binding domain”, meaning the virus can attach to receptors in our cells. These new mutations include changes to the spike protein that make it a “better fit” for human cells. This means the virus can gain entry more easily and multiply faster. Given what we have seen with other similar mutations , it might also make it harder for our immu
Read more

Aditya L1 Mission: Spacecraft is nearing its final phase, says ISRO chief

-
Aditya L1 spacecraft is nearing its final phase, and manoeuvres to enter the L1 point are expected to be completed by January 7, 2024, according to ISRO Chairman S Somanath. “Aditya is on the way. I think it has reached almost its final phase,” the ISRO chief told PTI on the sidelines of an event organised at VSSC to commemorate the 60th year of the First Sounding Rocket Launch. Aditya L1, India’s first space-based mission to study the Sun, was successfully launched on September 2 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota. The spacecraft, after travelling about 1.5 million km from Earth over 125 days, is expected to be placed in a Halo orbit around the Lagrangian point L1, considered closest to the Sun. He said that the last preparations for the spacecraft’s entry into the L1 point are currently underway incrementally.”Possibly by January 7th, the final manoeuvres will be done for entering into the L1 point,” Somanath added. Among other tasks, it will capture and tr
Read more