FIH-certified Rourkela hockey stadium world's largest in terms of seating capacity: Odisha govt
Bhubaneswar (PTI): Amid a row over the status of Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela among major stadia across the globe, the Odisha government claimed that it is the world's largest facility in terms of seating capacity and certified by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
The Rourkela facility will host the Men's World Cup Hockey, organised by the FIH, along with Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
The tournament will be held between January 13 and 29.
After Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the "world's largest hockey stadium" in Rourkela on Thursday, a BJP MLA contested the claim and asserted that it is "the fourth".
"Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela is the world's biggest. We are not saying this. It has been certified by FIH that the stadium is the biggest in terms of seating capacity," Sports and Youth Affairs Minister T K Behera said.
BJP lawmaker Shankar Oram from Biramitrapur in Sundergarh district claimed that the National Hockey Stadium in Pakistan's Lahore with a capacity of 45,000 people is the world's largest.
It is followed by Chandigarh Hockey Stadium (30,000) and Weingart Stadium (multipurpose) in Los Angeles in the US (22,355).
"Bisra Munda Hockey Stadium comes at number four", he said wondering how the chief minister called it the world's largest.
Odisha's Sports Secretary R Vaineel Krishna had earlier clarified to PTI that the Bisra Munda Hockey Stadium is the largest as 20,000 people can formally seat and witness a match which is not available anywhere in India.
Other stadia in India might have the capacity to accommodate more people but that includes "standing accommodation", he said.
The Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar has a seating arrangement for 15,000 people.
The Birsa Munda Stadium also has a World Cup Village with 225 rooms to house 400 players and officials. Of the total 44 matches of the World Cup, 20 will be played in Rourkela.
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Karnataka Media Academy announces awards for 2023, 2024
Vartha Bharati's Editor-in-Chief gets Lifetime Achievement Award
Bengaluru: The Karnataka Media Academy announced its Lifetime Achievement Awards, Annual Awards, and Endowment Awards for 2023 and 2024 on Thursday.
The prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award for 2023 was presented to veteran journalist A.C. Shivanna. For 2024, Abdussalam Puthige, Editor-in-Chief of Vartha Bharati, received this honor for his significant contributions to journalism.
Among the Annual Award recipients for 2023 was Ibrahim Adkasthala from Vartha Bharati, recognized for his outstanding work. Muhammad Akheel, also from Vartha Bharati, received an Endowment Award for his impactful reporting.
Several other journalists were acknowledged for their exceptional contributions over the two years. Notable recipients of the 2023 Annual Awards included Gangadhar Modliyar, Prof. Usha Rani N., Sushilendra Nayak, Vasudeva Holla, Alfred Tennison, and others who excelled in various fields of journalism.
For 2024, recipients of the Annual Awards included Prof. A.S. Balasubrahmanya, Rishikesh Bahadur Desai, Subhash Huggar, and several other notable journalists whose work brought significant attention to pressing issues in society.
The Endowment Awards highlighted excellence in specific categories. The Kannadamma Patrike Award was given to Ravi Kumar Channabasappa Kagganavar for his report on KYC updates and Vijay Kotiyaan from Vijay Karnataka for his feature on intellectuals. The
Mysuru Diganta Award recognized Shivananda Gombi of Kannada Prabha for his report on villagers emptying lake water and Sandhya Hegde of Prajavani for her feature on a beedi worker’s dream cut short.
Other significant awards included the Praja Sandesha Award for Shilpa P. of Deccan Herald for her report on manual scavenging, the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Mookanayaka Award to K. Neela from Kalaburagi, and the C.V. Rajagopal Memorial Award to K.M. Ravishankar from Kannada Prabha.
Special mentions for 2024 included Muhammad Akheel from Vartha Bharati for his report on untouchability in Koppal, B.K. Devayya from
Republic Kannada News for his report on delayed pensions, and Nandeesh Mallenahalli from Suvarna News for a series on land allocation for the specially-abled.
