Majhi seeks global recognition for local games
Bhubaneswar: Seeking global recognition for local games, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Saturday said Odisha will continue to ensure that indigenous sports get their rightful place on the world stage.Majhi said this in his keynote address at the WAVES (World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit) 2025, held at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai, a CMO release said.
Speaking at the special session titled 'Indigenous Sports – From India to the Global Stage,' the Chief Minister spotlighted the cultural, social and global significance of India's traditional sports.'We will continue to work with the Government of India and global federations to ensure that indigenous sports get their rightful place on the world stage,' Majhi said.
Drawing from his own upbringing in Keonjhar, a tribal-dominated hinterland district of Odisha, the Chief Minister reflected on his early sporting experiences with 'kabaddi' and 'khokho'. 'These were more than games,' he said, adding that they were expressions of teamwork, resilience and identity rooted in the soil of our communities.
Majhi informed the gathering that Odisha is the first State in India to establish a dedicated High-Performance Centre (HPC) for an indigenous sport like kho kho, in collaboration with a steel company.This landmark initiative redefines the narrative around traditional sports, recognising them as professional disciplines worthy of structured training, infrastructure and innovation, he said and highlighted the success of Odisha Juggernauts.
Odisha is the only State government-owned franchise in the Ultimate Kho Kho League, which won the league's inaugural season in 2022, he said, adding that'it stands as a testament to what focused support and strategic investment can achieve.'
Majhi further said: 'As we say in Odisha, Khela re sanskruti achhi, sanskruti re asmita achhi (In our games lies our culture, and in our culture lies our identity.)'.
WAVES 2025 featured an esteemed panel of speakers during the session, including Pro Kabaddi League Commissioner Anupam Goswami, global kabaddi icon Fazel Atrachali and indigenous sports advocate Sudhanshu Mittal.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hans India
a day ago
- Hans India
Under BJP govt, Yoga Day to make official debut in Delhi on June 21
New Delhi: In a first, the BJP-led Delhi government will celebrate the upcoming International Yoga Day on June 21 at 11 sports complexes, marking an end of a blanket ban on official events on the occasion imposed by the previous AAP government, an official said on Saturday. Education Minister Ashish Sood said that for the first time the Delhi Government, in collaboration with the Government of India, will officially host International Yoga Day events in the capital. Sood chaired a review meeting at the Delhi Secretariat to oversee the preparations for the upcoming International Yoga Day and the "Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam 2.0" campaign. Chief Secretary, Delhi government, Director, Directorate of Education, among other senior officials also attended the meeting, an official said. The Minister said International Yoga Day celebrations will be held at 11 key locations including Thyagaraj Stadium, East Vinod Nagar Sports Complex, Jhilmil Colony, Bawana, Prahladpur, Bharat Nagar, Yamuna Bank, Najafgarh Stadium, Dwarka Sector-6, Ashok Nagar Hockey Stadium, among others. Sood emphasised that the primary objective of the initiative is to promote physical and mental wellness while encouraging the practice of yoga among students, teachers, and the community. Nearly 20,000 participants are expected to join, including students and teachers from Delhi government schools, yoga instructors, NSS/NCC cadets, and civil defence volunteers. Chhatrasal Stadium has been selected as the main venue, where around 10,000 participants will engage in yoga practice, supported by 5,000 volunteers from the Bharatiya Yog Sansthan. Each of the other 10 venues will host approximately 1,000 participants each. The Minister also stated that all participants will be provided T-shirts, water, refreshments, and yoga mats. Each yoga venue will be equipped with medical facilities, ambulances, fire safety arrangements, mobile toilets, sanitation, fogging, electricity, and water supply. Additionally, Delhi Police will handle security and traffic management. All major venues will feature CCTV surveillance, traffic signages, colour-coded parking passes (Red, Green, Yellow), and special arrangements for emergency services. He said District Magistrates have been directed to ensure participant transportation, safety, refreshment distribution, and availability of yoga mats and T-shirts in their respective areas. They have also been instructed to invite schools, colleges, community leaders, yoga instructors, and heads of government offices to participate and promote yoga. The event will be broadcast live on the website. Talking about 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam 2.0', Sood said on June 9 Chief Minister Rekha Gupta will plant a sapling at Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya, Shalimar Bagh, to popularise the campaign. The initiative supports the Government of India's target of planting 10 crore (100 million) saplings. He said to complement the Centre's campaign, the Delhi Government aims to plant 3.7 lakh saplings in 2025-26, including 1 lakh trees, 2 lakh shrubs, and 70,000 bamboo plants in schools, near main roads, and in large parks.
India Gazette
2 days ago
- India Gazette
Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami attends 'Pran Pratishtha' at Kalusiddha Temple in Haldwani
ANI 07 Jun 2025, 13:09 GMT+10 Haldwani (Uttarakhand) [India], June 7 (ANI): Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday took part in the three-day Prana Pratishtha ceremony held at the historic Kalu Siddha Temple in Haldwani, according to a CMO statement. On this occasion, he duly worshipped and offered a canopy in the temple and prayed for the happiness and prosperity of the state's people. On this occasion, he also inspected the newly constructed grand temple complex. The Chief Minister said that Kalu Siddha Temple is the main centre of faith for the area's people. He said that the government prioritises forwarding development works while preserving the state's spiritual and cultural heritage. Earlier today, Dhami planted a tree in Pant Park this morning during his stay in Nainital and administered the oath. The Chief Minister also participated in cleaning activities under the Swachhata Abhiyan. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami arrived in Nainital on Friday for a two-day visit. On the first day of his stay, he inspected the beautification and redevelopment works going on at Mallital at a cost of Rs 1,101 crore under the Manaskhand Mandir Mala Yojana. Under this scheme, 12 new shops are being developed, and they were also inaugurated. On this occasion Chief Minister Dhami announced: work will be done to improve the Dhunighat and Ratighat footpath; Shahid Sanjay Bisht Motor Road (Kainchi-Hartapa-Hailimotor Road to Titoli) will be upgraded and improve; sections of State Highway No. 71 (Ramnagar-Bhandarpani-Amgari-Bhaurakot-Betalghat-Bhujan Richi-Billekh) will be strengthened; DSA ground will be developed as a model sports center for national level sports competitions and training; alternative parking will be constructed in Nainital; hockey turf and boxing ring will be built in the flats ground; flats ground will be used only for sports and cultural events, other commercial activities will be prohibited; Nainital bus stand complex will be redeveloped through lightweight structure to increase public transport facility and reduce traffic jam. (ANI)
Mint
2 days ago
- Mint
For Sai Srinivas of Mobile Premier League, the game is always on
It's easy for people to put a value to a loss they've had," says Garimella Sai Srinivas Kiran, the co-founder of gaming company M-League, which runs the Mobile Premier League (MPL). '(But) It's hard to put a value to these intangible gains, right? You only notice them in the long term. In the short term, you only see the pain." Startup founders tend to be philosophical, a by-product of betting big on a non-existent product and making it work, despite the obstacles and the body blows. The seven-year-old skill-gaming platform MPL. which has free and paid components and a portfolio of over 60 games, probably does not qualify as a startup anymore, but tends to fall into the bracket by virtue of being a tech company. M-League, which now has five companies including the Berlin-based GameDuell, has a portfolio that includes skill gaming, free-to-play games, game publishing and AAA game studio (high-budget, high-profile games). With over 220 million users across MPL and GameDuell in 32 countries, a unicorn valuation as of the last fund raise in 2021, presence in Asia, Europe, North America and Africa, and 600-odd employees, the company straddles the challenging business of skill gaming. Its revenue in FY24 was $130 million. Sai was in Mumbai in early May for the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (Waves), a government-sponsored event. In the business centre of the Sofitel Hotel in Bandra Kurla Complex, close to the venue for Waves where MPL had a booth, the 37-year-old, dressed casually in a collared T-shirt, slacks and a cap, orders an Americano. He has an easy-going manner, and a dimpled boyish smile that he uses liberally. Sai is temporarily stationed in Singapore these days, where M-League is headquartered, while his co-founder Shubh Malhotra and Galactus Funware Technology Pvt Ltd, the operating entity for MPL, are based in Bengaluru. Since losing his father last year, Sai says he has started valuing his time more and separating his professional and personal identities. 'One of my core philosophies in life is anonymity. I want to focus on my business," he explains. 'I really enjoy travelling; I can travel literally 60 days with one suitcase, keep moving from one place to the other." Born in Hyderabad—his father was a deputy manager in a bank, mother a teacher in a government school—Sai's academic journey fell into two innings. He was 'not very good" in the beginning, but an inexplicable switch turned after class VI. By the time he reached the board exam stage, he wanted to study aerospace engineering. Also read: What Siddharth Roy Kapur wants: Fresh stories told in unique voices He got into IIT Kanpur which had, among other things, a dedicated leased line for fast (for those times) internet speed. However, he soon became disenchanted with the education system there and his enthusiasm for making aircraft withered away. 'For people coming from a normal background like us, the first important level of freedom we need to attain is mastery of our time," says Sai, who graduated in 2010 as one of the few in his batch without a campus placement. One of his highlights at IIT turned out to be organising the cultural festival, Antaragni, which included the music festival Synchronicity. What this first, quasi-entrepreneurial voluntary role did was to get him access to his first job, which was a brief stint as product manager with a digital company in Delhi. He was soon recruited by Zynga in Bengaluru as a game designer, though he had no such experience. 'I played a lot of games while growing up," he admits. 'My dad and I were always particular about getting new gadgets, like the Nokia 3310 and the (gaming console) Super Nintendo." Zynga, with its popular game Farmville, was going 'absolute gangbusters" at the time, which put Sai in the 'right place, right time". It also helped that he didn't like Delhi too much and moving to Bengaluru was not a challenge. The third benefit, unbeknownst to him at the time, was that the friend's place he temporarily stayed at had another roommate, Malhotra. A year-and-a-half later, Sai and Malhotra got ready with their first venture, CREO Tech. Their first product, Tewee, was a wireless HDMI dongle to stream videos over a Wi-Fi network, like the Amazon Firestick. The idea seemed to fit in at a time when streaming services were making their forays into the country. 'We were foolish enough to say let's make hardware," he says now. 'We used to download these documents in Chinese and spend days translating them and figuring out what they hacked our way to getting the product out." They sold over 50,000 units, but making hardware was challenging. Other similar products were getting into the market; the duo realised they needed to pivot. In the company of some 'smart engineers" they hired through their college network, their next venture was an Android-based operating system and smartphone, which also turned out to be an error in hindsight. 'I'll tell you the problem with making a phone and with hardware in general," he says. 'For example, let's assume I ship software and I left a bug in it. I'm just going to patch the software and I'll fix it. Life is okay, all good. With hardware, even if you make one mistake, the amount of time it's going to take to correct that mistake in the next iteration and then get it right—it's just massive." After several struggles, managing to make only a few thousand of the product Creo Mark 1, they sold the company to messenger service Hike in 2016-17. 'If a river is flowing downstream and you're standing on the bank and you see this guy on a boat going really fast, you tend to assume that it's the person rowing. But it's actually the underlying river. That's the market: If you're in the right place, right time, right market, even if you are really stupid, you'll be okay," says Sai. After going through a period of angst, when they felt like they would never work together again, Malhotra and Sai made a deal not to have friends as employees, and that 'the outcome is always more important than output". Having decided that their next turn would be in the field of online gaming, because of his experience in the field, the newly formed Galactus Funware went live with the MPL in September 2018. With about $5.5 million ( ₹36.5 crore at the time) at the get-go, a fairly large seed round, from Sequoia Capital, their ascent was rapid—a term sheet in April, an early team by May and the first prototype by July. A friends and family round by end of August leading up to the launch. By December, MPL had a million daily active users. But the challenges were continuous and constant. In May 2019, MPL was kicked out of the Play Store due to Google's developer policy (it relaxed its policy on real-money gaming last year), along with other gaming platforms like Dream11. 'We would be the only company in India's ecosystem that started, raised a lot of money, got to a million daily active users and shut its doors within the year," Sai says grinning. Then by the second half of 2019 they almost ran out of money, looking to raise a bridge round which came in the form of $90m led by Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital. '2019 for me was the most foundationally painful year. If Creo was tough from a different standpoint, this was toughness induced by my own stupidity," he says. Cricketer Virat Kohli came on board as their brand ambassador. The following year, MPL signed on with the Board of Control for Cricket in India to be the kit sponsor for the Indian team. With the pandemic, the founders had to navigate working remotely, and between 2020-21, the company went from 120 employees to 1,200, perhaps hiring too many people too fast. 'In my 10 years of doing start-ups, I believe, that is the most unpardonable mistake," he admits. As MPL went global, especially into the US in July 2021, and acquired European company GameDuell in early 2022, 'one of the smartest things to have done", it also laid off 10% of its force and shut down its Indonesia office. But the business, on the back of the pandemic-induced lockdown that catalysed the online gaming industry, grew by 50%. Just when 2023 seemed on the up, hitting 200 million users and a foray into Africa, the government in August announced a 28% GST on funds online gaming companies collect from customers. Mint had in November quoted a report by gaming-focused venture capital firm Lumikai, which had India's gaming market growing 23% year-on-year by revenue to $3.8 billion in 2023-24 despite 28% GST on online gaming. Propelled by the pandemic-induced lockdowns, online gaming is booming, despite some amount of social stigma, and some legal battles, most of which have been dismissed by the courts. 'We looked at this entire GST thing and said this is essentially the start line being redrawn," remembers Sai. MPL laid off 350 employees—half of its force—to survive the tax burden in 2023. Recovery was aided by GameDuell, which helped grow revenue more than three times. MPL started to take off in the US and Brazil, with 40% of its current revenues coming from abroad. 'It's a personal ambition that we want to build a product that stands globally," Sai explains. 'The professional ambition is that things are evolving in a developing country, so there is no certainty for a business to thrive." While MPL as a business competes with platforms like WinZO and Zupee among others, it is more comparable to Nazara Technologies, which is publicly listed. Sai, though, prefers to see his competition coming from Chinese gaming conglomerate Tencent. As he gets ready to head back to Waves, he talks about reading, spending a lot of time just being idle, really enjoying the mundane. 'One of the reasons why I enjoy living in Singapore," he says thoughtfully, 'or spending time with my partner in Dubai, is that in India, these amazing pleasures of doing your own domestic chores have been taken away thanks to the massive amount of help, which is great. But I really enjoy doing my breakfast, putting my clothes in these daily rituals." Also read: Vaibhav Kala of Aquaterra Adventures: The outdoors man
