Articles by "Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore"
New Delhi, Jan 9 : Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore played table tennis with both hands and spoke at the same time while launching a '5MinuteAur' challenge as part of the Khelo India movement.
Rathore, an Olympic silver medallist in shooting, urged India's leading athletes and actors to share their childhood stories when they would ask their parents to let them play for that five extra minutes.
He tagged Virat Kohli, Saina Nehwal, Deepika Padukone and Salman Khan to share their stories.
"Remember when we used to play in our childhood, that was the exact time when our parents would remind us of our homework. And we would say 'just five more minutes'," Rathore said in a video message on twitter.
"There was no one to speak for us then but now we have a voice. So why don't we all speak up for all the kids in the country and say 'let them play', five minutes more, play India. Use #5MinuteAur and #KheloIndia and share you five minutes more story."
In 2017, Rathore had shared a workout video and challenged athletes and film personalities to share there regimens.
The Khelo India Youth Games 2019, which will see a host of athletes in action, officially kick off in Pune Wednesday.
Among those in action will be champion shooters Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary, world cadet champion wrestlers Anshu and Sonam, Olympian athlete Jisna Mathew, Youth Olympics gold medallist weight-lifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga, budding tennis player Mahak Jain and swimming star Srihari Nataraj.
The athletes will compete in 18 different disciplines, of which six are team sports.
At the Khelo India School Games 2018, Haryana won 38 gold, 26 silver and 38 bronze medals, while Maharashtra finished with 36 gold, 32 silver and 42 bronze medals. PTI
New Delhi, Sep 5: Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has promised "surgical" precision in distribution of funds to athletes preparing for the 2020 Olympic Games, asserting that centralisation of the process has made bureaucratic hurdles a thing of past.
Speaking to on the sidelines of a function to felicitate medal winners of the recently-concluded 18th Asian Games in Indonesia, Rathore elaborated on the initiatives, that he feels, have put India on the path of becoming a sporting powerhouse.
"We have very clearly and very professionally divided our working between grassroots and elite sportspersons. The elite athletes are being looked after by a different set of professional people so that there is no bureaucracy," Rathore, an olympic silver-medallist in double-trap shooting, said.
"We have just begun working on systems that can connect the athletes to the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) absolutely straight, transparent and quick," he added.
TOPS was instituted in 2014 to fund athletes considered strong medal prospects for the Olympics. Currently, the athletes are picked by a committee and the Mission Olympic Cell (MOC), under the Sports Authority of India Director General, is entrusted with the task of disbursing funds to those selected.
The MOC has representation from the national federations and various project officers appointed by SAI.
Rathore said funds are no longer an issue for Indian sports as lot of corporate houses have started contributing "generously".
"We have now funds available for grassroots to elite. A lot of corporates are coming on board. They are putting in funds. Earlier, the funds were going in different directions but now we are combining and concentrating the flow," he said.
Asked about his expectations from the Tokyo Olympics, especially after the country's best ever medal haul of 69 in the Asian Games, he said no effort would be spared in making the athletes battle-ready for the challenge.
"We have already started working for 2024 and 2028 Olympics. The 2020 Olympics is right next around the corner and in our celebrations (for the Asiad success), we haven't forgotten (that) and reminded the athletes (as well).
"Our real achievements will come in 2024 and 2028 Olympics. But nothing will be left undone even now. Very precise and surgical support will be provided to each athlete so that they give their best (in Tokyo). This period of 600 odd days is a lot, a lot can change positively for us," the Minister said.
Explaining the workings of the TOPS committee, Rathore said members are not just tracking the performances of athletes but also their rivals. The committee comprises, among others, badminton great Prakash Padukone and former boxing federation secretary General P K M Raja.
"These professional people of TOPS are not just following our own athletes but they are following their opponents as well.They are connecting with sports science and trying to give the athletes the best," he explained.
The Minister said the performance of the coaches and the concerned National Sports Federations (NSFs) is also being periodically monitored by the government.
"Every three month, one sport has to give a presentation on what it has achieved so far. This team (the TOPS committee) is professionally observing the improvements, it is also looking after what's happening on the injury front for an athlete so that it can be kept to minimum," he said.
Rathore was critical of the state governments' role in promotion of sports.
"...sports is a state subject but citizens ask me and the central government 'what are you doing'?. The Prime Minister is living upto (these questions) and doing much more," Rathore said.
"We have a supplementary role, however, we are doing in every aspects. It is the state governments who should be responsible for sports. How many state governments have supported sports and what is their budget?" he questioned.
"We have the Sports Code and we are working on it. We are also combining the efforts of various federations," he said, referring to the long-pending national sports bill, which is expected to streamline administration.
Lauding India's haul of 15 gold, 24 silver and 30 bronze medals in the Asiad Rathore said it was heartening to see youngsters such as the teenage shooters deliver at the big stage.
"It's very promising. The personal best scores have come at the Asian Games, usually they happen at practice. This is a new-found confidence among the athletes," the Minister said.
Rathore reiterated that the Khelo India School Games, which started only this year, will be a game-changer for Indian sports.
He, however, remained non-committal on the possibility of India hosting any big-ticket event like Commonwealth or Asian Games in the near future.
"If the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games were held in your own country, you could decide which events to skip and which event to include to increase your medals tally.
"We have gone out and performed outside the country against odds," he signed off. (PTI)
New Delhi, Jun 19 (PTI) Films have the power to unite people belonging to different skin colour, cultures and countries, said Information and Broadcasting Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore here.
Rathore, who inaugurated the European Union Film Festival last evening here, said cinema highlights the unity of human emotions.
"Having joined the Army at the age of 16 and served for 23 years, I would always see people with suspicion on the other side of the border but once I started travelling the world, I realised that the colour of our skin may be different, our cultures may be different, the clothes we wear may be different but we are one people in this one planet and I think when we see these films, this aspect is reiterated," he said in the inaugural speech.
"They may be short stories from Europe, India or other Asian countries but the message that these stories deliver can be connected to any person from any country. I think that is what makes us one people. The emotions, pains and joys are the same and therefore, even if it is a film in any other language, one can still understand and appreciate it."
The minister said despite technological advancement, film festivals have their own charm.
"I think the charm is as much to see a story on the screen as it is to meet people there. I think this is the essence of the film festival. I've spent a lot of years travelling in Europe and many countries in Europe are like my second home," he said.
Organised by the Delegation of the European Union and embassies of EU Member States in partnership with the Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India and various city film clubs, the 23rd edition of the festival will showcase 24 latest European movies from 23 European countries.
The EUFF will screen movies from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.
The festival will traverse through 11 cities in India starting the capital to Chennai, Port Blair, Pune, Puducherry, Kolkata, Jaipur, Visakhapatnam, Thrissur, Hyderabad and Goa.
The movie extravaganza will be held in city from today onwards to June 24.
The EUFF runs till August 31.PTI
