Live
- Punjab DGP, MHA official request farmer leader Dallewal to end 20-day fast
- Stage Collapse During Swearing-In Ceremony of KUDA chairman in Kakinada
- Govt unveils ‘Jalvahak’ to boost inland waterways
- List of criminals: Delhi BJP chief on AAP panel of 38 candidates
- PSBs in India clock record Rs 1.41 lakh crore in net profit in FY24
- Telangana Government Announces Key Development Plans: Bhatti Vikramarka
- Crackdown on illegal poppy farming in Manipur: Assam Rifles destroyed 6,228 acres in 5 years
- South Korea's ruling party leader cancels press conference amid calls for resignation
- AIADMK's big meet discusses 2026 polls, prospective alliances
- BJP questions Congress-Shiv Sena (UBT) alliance over Aaditya Thackeray's Savarkar-Nehru remark
Sports promote unity
Around 3,500 athletes from different States are participating in the three-day event. This is for the second time, the city is hosting NIDJAM.Speaking on the occasion, he described sports as a powerful social tool which brings together people from different ethnics and cultures under one platform.
Visakhapatnam: Union Minister for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the 14th National Inter District Junior Athletics Championship at Col CK Naidu Stadium in Steel City on Friday.
Around 3,500 athletes from different States are participating in the three-day event. This is for the second time, the city is hosting NIDJAM.Speaking on the occasion, he described sports as a powerful social tool which brings together people from different ethnics and cultures under one platform.
Sharing his fitness mantra to the budding athletes, Venkaiah Naidu said that every morning, he spends at least one-hour in playing table tennis which keeps him fit even at this age.
“I am 67 now but keep moving all over the country. I was in Parliament yesterday morning and by the evening I was in Telangana and now in Vizag for the NIDJAM. Playing table tennis for one hour, keeps me fit and healthy at this age", Venkaiah Naidu added.
The Union Minister also said that the Government of India as well as AP State government have been committed to promote sports as priority and have taken several initiatives for development of sports with the main objective of empowering youth. Praising Sindhu’s achievement, Venkaiah Naidu said that there was a need of more Sindhus.
“Some people think that sports is important only for physical well-being, I feel sports is important for overall development of an individual. Healthy people make a healthy nation,” Venkaiah Naidu said.
Around 3,500 young athletes, including around 2,000 boys and 1,500 girls from as many as 324 districts are competing in this three-day event.
The 100-m run for boys and girls in both categories of U-14 and U-16, long jump, short-put and few other sports were conducted on day-one.
Blaming the education policy for paying more emphasis on marks and ranks, the Union Minister said there were no effort for all-round development of personality of millions of students, of which, sports shall be an important and integral component.
In the US and other countries, good sportsmen are encouraged through attractive fellowships and admissions in prestigious institutions. There is competition for such students.
He suggested that school and college curriculum should be recast with at least 10 per cent weightage for sports, quotas in admission for students who do well in different sports.
