KIIT Conferred FICCI India Sports Award, Rakesh Rao gets Sports Journalist of the Year Award

Khel Today Bureau

New Delhi: KIIT-DU has been awarded FICCI India Sports Awards by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in recognition of the University’s outstanding contribution to the field of sports. The Best Educational Institute Promoting Sports award was received by the Director General of KIIT Sports Dr Gaganendu Dash.

The award for Sports Journalist of the Year- Print was given to Rakesh Rao of ‘The Hindu’ Newspaper.

The award for Sports Journalist of the Year -Electronic was given to Nikhil Naz.

From the latest and greatest sports infrastructure to creating Olympians, KIIT has made a name for itself around the sporting world. – Dr Achyuta Samanta

Founder of KIIT and KISS Dr Achyuta Samanta in his congratulatory message said the award will continue to inspire KIIT to contribute more to the development of sports in India. KIIT has been promoting sports and athletes for over 20 years. “From the latest and greatest sports infrastructure to creating Olympians, KIIT has made a name for itself around the sporting world,” Dr Samanta said.

FICCI has been presenting this award for the last 10 years to the best achievers and various stakeholders in the field of sports. The FICCI award comes close on the heels of KIIT being conferred the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2022 under the category of ‘Encouragement to sports through Corporate Social Responsibility. The announcement was made recently by the Centre while declaring the recipients of the National Sports Awards 2022.

former Haryana Ranji cricketer Sarkar Talwar was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement of the Year award.

Apart from Talwar, Avani Lekhara, who won two medals at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, was recognised as the Para Sports Person of the Year, while Shrey Kadyan was recognised as the Special Sportsperson of the Year.

For their remarkable work over the past decade, Odisha was recognised as the best state for promoting sports. The All India Chess Federation won the National Sports Federation of the Year Award for hosting another successful edition of the Chess Olympiad this year.

 

FULL LIST OF AWARDS:

Best Educational Institute Promoting Sports: Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT)

Sports Journalist of the Year – Print: Rakesh Rao

Sports Journalist of the Year – Electronic: Nikhil Naz

Best School Promoting Sports: Manav Rachna International School

Best NGO Promoting Sports: Special Olympics Bharat

Best Corporate Promoting Sports Development: JSW

Best Equipment Company Promoting Sports: STAG

Best Sports Infrastructure Construction Company: Trans Stadia

Excellence in Sports Governance: Sports Authority of India

Coach of the Year – Male: Shri RB Ramesh

Coach of the Year – Female: Smt. Nonita Lal Qureshi

Sports Franchise of the Year: Bengaluru Bulls – Pro Kabaddi League

Best States Promoting Sports: Odisha

National Sports Federation of the Year: All India Chess Federation

Emerging Sports Person – Male: Payas Jain, Table Tennis

Emerging Sports Person – Female: Linthoi Chanambam, Antim Panghal

Sportsperson of the Year – Special: Shrey Kadyan

Sportsperson of the Year – Para: Avani Lekhara

Lifetime Achievement Award: Shri Sarkar Talwar

The latest edition of FICCI Turf 2022 was a star-studded affair, witnessing participation by renowned sportspersons, including Ms Manika Batra, Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awardee, Smt Anju Bobby George, Padma Shri, Khel Ratna, and Arjuna Awardee, former Indian Cricketer and Lok Sabha MP Mr Gautam Gambhir, and Ms Mithali Raj, Former Captain, Indian Women’s National Cricket Team.

In addition, seven focused plenary sessions throughout the day saw eminent sports industry personalities engage in wide-ranging discussions over various aspects concerning the sports sector.

In Session 1 of the day on Rising Culture of Sports League saw Mr Sanjog Gupta, Chairperson, Sports & Youth Affairs Committee, FICCI and Head – Sports, Disney Star, Mr Yannick Colaco, Co-Founder, FanCode, Mr Parvin Dabas, Co-Founder, Pro Panja League, Mr Tenzing Niyogi, CEO, Ultimate Kho Kho, and Mr Ryo Takahashi, Major League Baseball India, discussing the importance of fan engagement in the continuous growth of league-styled sports in India.

Session 2 on How Fantasy Sports Enhances Sports Experiencesaw Mr Joy Bhattacharjya, Director General, Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports, and Mr Amit Purohit, CEO and Founder, Fantasy Akhada addressing how leagues can use the FS platforms for better fan engagement, and the need to create platforms of knowledge to improve the experience for FS users.

Session 3 on Technology Revolutionizing Sports Industry saw Mr Subhayu Roy, Head-Brand Partnerships, Sportskeeda, Mr Dipankar Mukherjee, VP-Innovation, Nihilent, and Mr Mukul Choudhari, CEO, Jamshedpur FC and Chief of Sports Excellence Centres, Tata Steel discussing how Technology and innovation have changed the way people both participate in and consume sports.

In Session 4, former India Men’s Cricket Team Captain Gautam Gambhir engaged in a fireside chat where he spoke on the current state of sports in the country, and the need to engage more Indians in the development of cricket in India.

Session 5 on India’s Special Sports Strategy saw Shri Kunal, Joint Secretary (Sports – Development), Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, GoI giving a motivating speech after which, Ms Sunayana Arora Singh, CEO, Organ India, Mukta Narain Thind, National Director – Organizational Development at Special Olympics Bharat, Ajay Kumar Reddy, Captain of the Indian Blind Men’s Cricket Team, and Mr Sumit Jain, President of the Indian Deaf Cricket Association engaged in an interactive session on the need to support special athletes in India.

Session 6 on the Role of Sports Science & Nutrition for Athlete Development saw Shri Kunal, Joint Secretary (Sports – Development), Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, GoI, Ms Tajinder Kaur, Sports and Clinical Nutritionist, Olympic Gold Quest, Mr Siddharth Batra, Senior Director-Commercial & Marketing, South Asia at Glanbia Performance Nutrition, Ms Swati Bathwal, Sports Nutritionist, and Dr GL Khanna, Pro Vice Chancellor, MRIIRS engaging in a discussion of the rising application of advanced science and nutrition in sports that are allowing athletes to perform optimally.

The final session of the day saw former Captain, Indian Women’s National Cricket Team, Mithali Raj engaging in a discussion on Empowered Women Leading the Way in Sport, along with Ms Kirthi Muralikrishnan, CEO, Bengaluru Bulls, Mr Tuhin Mishra, MD & Co-Founder, Baseline Ventures, and Ms Shruti Sharma, Partnerships & Resource Mobilisation, UNESCO.

The FICCI award function was attended by Subhrakant Panda, President-Elect, FICCI and Managing Director, Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Ltd; Sanjog Gupta, Chairperson, Sports & Youth Affairs Committee, FICCI and Head – Sports, Disney Star, and Dr Amit Bhalla, Co-Chair, Sports & Youth Affairs Committee, FICCI and VP, Manav Rachna Educational Institutes.