KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Experience the Sochi Games at The Olympic Museum

©IOC/Arnaud Meylan

02/02/2014

If you are in Lausanne between now and 9 March, come to The Olympic Museum to celebrate the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. One month after its reopening, The Olympic Museum is letting its visitors discover the Russian city on the shores of the Black Sea by hosting, from 24 January, an exhibition called “Sochi Live”.

In an atmosphere obviously inspired by Russia, visitors will discover Olympic locations such as the Olympic Park and its stunning venues (the Iceberg Skating Palace and the Bolshoy Ice Dome), as well as the 12 new events making their debut at the Sochi Games.

They can learn about the design of an Olympic downhill course, as explained by the famous ski slope designer and Olympic downhill champion, Bernhard Russi, and discover the symbolic icons of the Games, such as the torch (they can get their photo taken with it), the medals, the mascots, the emblem, the pictograms and the route of the longest ever relay in the history of the Winter Games (123 days).

This will also be the opportunity for them to discover the soul of Russia through the Look of the Games, a patchwork inspired by Russia’s most famous craftsmen.
Ceremonies, competition and culture
True to its mission to enable as many people as possible to take part in the Olympic experience, The Olympic Museum will broadcast the Opening and Closing Ceremonies – to be held on 7 and 23 February 2014 respectively - live on a big screen, as well as the Olympic competitions in Sochi. In conjunction, cultural events will be held every weekend from 8 to 23 February, such as a Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky concert, a presentation of Russian culture in collaboration with the Association Léman Russe or discovering Russian gastronomy at the TOM Café. There will also be the chance to meet the French adventurer, writer and filmmaker, Nicolas Vanier, who will be present on 27 March to speak about his incredible Siberian odyssey by dog sled, a voyage of more than 8,000 kilometres from Lake Baikal to Moscow.

Finally, until 11 May 2014, through an exciting exhibition, the public can also discover how, in the 1920s and 30s, sport became a source of inspiration and a field of study for Avant-garde artists in Russia, in particular in the fields of cinema, photography and design. For this project, The Olympic Museum is cooperating with the Swiss Film Archive (Cinémathèque suisse) which is showing a cycle of eight films dedicated to Avant-garde Russian directors who took sporting activities as one of their themes.
The Museum also present in Sochi
As for every edition of the Games, The Olympic Museum will be in Sochi to collect donations from athletes – objects retracing Olympic history: equipment worn or used during the competitions, hi-tech material and everything that symbolises the spirit of the Games through fair play or friendship.

Some of these donations are exhibited at The Olympic Museum or loaned to other Olympic museums throughout the world. Another area of this collection of items will concern the intangible legacy, i.e. interviews with athletes. They will be asked about their experiences and memories of the Games, as athletes, as well as about their career and childhood.

See the full “Sochi Live” programme here.

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KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Olympic Games Knowledge Management programme supports organisation of the Games

©Getty Images

02/02/2014

The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC)  Olympic Games Knowledge Management (OGKM) programme plays an important role in the organisation of each edition of the Games by ensuring that future host cities have access to the latest knowledge that has been gained from the hard work and experience of the previous Games hosts.

The programme was created during preparations for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and since then has evolved into an integrated platform of various knowledge services, which assists organisers in their Games preparations, lets them compare their progress and success, and helps them to define the future of their own Games.
The OGKM resources provide invaluable support to Organising Committees of the Olympic Games (OCOGs) during their planning and preparations, according to Gilbert Felli, the IOC Executive Director for the Olympic Games.
“Managing knowledge is at the core of our mission,” he says. “Carefully documenting what Games organisers do, sharing best practices and making available everything we’ve learnt from the recent past has become an invaluable support to the OCOGs and their partners. Successful knowledge management and transfer are about checking there is always enough high-quality oil in your engine. It enables you to perform and it contributes largely to organisational excellence.”
An integral element of the OGKM platform is the IOC Observer Programme, which allows future Games organisers to attend an Olympic Games and observe the operational demands of hosting such an event.
This experience represents one of the key components of the knowledge transfer process, providing a unique opportunity to live, learn and observe real Olympic Games operations through a number of visits to various Olympic sites during Games-time.
The programme allows each future Organising Committee to not only witness how things are done, but also study specific areas so that they can learn and improve upon those subjects within their own organisational and cultural context.
During the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, the Observer Programme will involve more than 300 participants from three Organising Committees of the Olympic Games (Rio 2016, PyeongChang 2018 and Tokyo 2020) and five Applicant Cities for the Olympic Winter Games in 2022 (Krakow, Oslo, Almaty, Lviv and Beijing).
From 4-24 February, participants will take part in 66 visit sessions, including 10 roundtables, visiting almost all competition and training venues, with the main purpose to observe and discuss the Games-time operations and activities of different functional areas.

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KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Rio 2016 announces Organising Committee budget

©RioTour

24/01/2014

The Rio 2016 Organising Committee has announced that its budget for organising the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2016 will be balanced at BRL 7 billion. The funding will come from only private sources such as sponsorship, ticket sales, licencing and a contribution from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

IOC President Thomas Bach said, "We congratulate Rio 2016 on announcing a balanced Games budget. We are happy to be contributing over USD 1 billion to the Games and to see that Rio is aiming to deliver its operations with only private financing. They conducted a very thorough budgeting process to reach this result and we believe that they can look forward with confidence, as they work to deliver successful Games in 2016. "

The budget covers all expected revenue and expenses of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee, as it works to deliver both Olympic and Paralympic Games. This endeavour is the equivalent of organising 65 Olympic and Paralympic championships, with 16,000 athletes and officials from 204 National Olympic Committees, 4,500 technical officials, 70,000 volunteers, and over 25,000 media representatives, along with all of their logistical needs in terms of accommodation, food and transport.

Rio 2016 Organising Committee President Carlos Arthur Nuzman said, “Our obligation to Rio de Janeiro, to Brazil and to the worldwide sporting community is to deliver a memorable Games, since we are talking about the biggest celebration of sport in the world. We are undertaking the mission of planning and organising the Games in a responsible manner.”

The Rio 2016 Committee confirmed its commitment to balancing revenues and expenses during the budget announcement. Sidney Levy, Chief Executive Officer of Rio 2016, noted that “the good results achieved with sponsorship and licensing allow us to forecast sufficient private revenue to cover the costs outlined in the budget we are presenting today”.

More information can be found at www.rio2016.com/transparencia .

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

IOC awards Sochi 2014 broadcast rights in Caribbean

22/01/2014

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has awarded the exclusive broadcast rights in the Caribbean* to International Media Content Ltd. (IMC), the parent company of SportsMax, for the XXII Olympic Winter Games in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

IMC has acquired exclusive English language broadcast rights on all media platforms, excluding internet and mobile rights.

IOC President Thomas Bach said: “This agreement is another step in ensuring the universality of the Olympic Games. Having worked with IMC to broadcast both the Vancouver and London Games, we are very pleased to be able to rely on their expertise once again in Sochi.”

IOC member Richard Carrión, who led the negotiations, said: “IMC will provide live and delayed coverage on their own SportsMax channels, and work with free-to-air broadcasters across the Caribbean, ensuring daily coverage of the Sochi Games for sports fans.”

SportsMax will provide live coverage of the Games on SportsMax and SportsMax2, starting with the Opening Ceremony on 7 February straight through to the final competition day on 23 February.

Chairman of IMC, the Hon. Pat Rousseau, OJ, stated that: “This is part of IMC’s commitment to delivering to the Caribbean the most premier sporting events in the world. The addition of Sochi 2014 to IMC’s programming makes for an incredibly exciting broadcast year, with the 2014 FIFA World Cup also coming from IMC.” He added: “In 2010, IMC broadcast the Olympic Winter Games for the first time in the region, and we are expecting a similar strong response from our subscribers for Sochi 2014.”

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* Includes: Anguilla, Antigua-Barbuda, Commonwealth of the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cooperative Republic of Guyana, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Surinam, Turks and Caicos, Trinidad and Tobago

For more information, please contact the
IOC Media Relations Team: Tel: +41 21 621 6000 e-mail: pressoffice@olympic.org, or visit our web site at www.olympic.org

IMC/SportsMax:Tanya Lee, Regional Marketing Manager, SportsMax Limited Tel:(876) 757-6361 (Tel), (876) 901-8133 (Fax), tlee@sportsmax.tv.

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SaraShankha, Dantan, West Midnapore, West Bengal, India

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

SaraShanka, the huge aqua tank or reservoir, is a famous name in Indian history. The Pandava Ghat describing in the Mahabharata is related to the SaraShankha.  The greatest watercress with an ecosystem in biodiversity and environment is one of the largest and oldest formation of water ponds in the planet. This is called 'SaraShankha Pushkarini or Dighi or Pokhar or Gadiya or Tala' in many local languages. During the mid - January every year the Sankranti or Makar Sankranti Mela, the SaraShankha Fair is held where a big crowd congregate. SaraShankha is a sanctum. The christian, buddhist, hindu, muslim, jain, persi, naturist, shikh, tao or dao, shinto believe the place a naive regarding  religious prosperity. The Sankhawar, the people belong to sankhawar gotra or clan, avestan and svatesvatara regarded Sarashankha one of  the holiest destinations in the world. The holy bath water tank reminds 'the city lost into water' - the Mahata civilization of Kharbela or Khadwal in Mahad or Magad dynasty.  The connectivity to the great pond - 1. Dantan Railway Station  in South Eastern Railway and 2. National Highway 60. I take pictures on 23rd January, 2014. Camera : SONY DSC-WX200.



SaraShankha - photo one


SaraShankha photo two

                                    SaraShankha photo three
                                                                     
                                                     
                                          SaraShankha photo four
                                                                         
                                                                         

                                                                     
                                                               SaraShankha photo five
                                                                         
                                                                           

                                                                                               
                                                          SaraShankha photo six

                                                                         

                           


                                       SaraShankha photo seven

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SaraShankha photo nine

                                                              photo ten

                                                            photo eleven

                                                            SaraShankha photo twelve

                                                             A landmark -  photo thirteen

                                                                    SaraShankha photo fourteen

SaraShankha photo fifteen

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SaraShankha photo seventeen

SaraShankha photo eighteen

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

IOC Medical Commission to reveal new insights into the Female Athlete Triad

©IOC / Stephen Munday

17/01/2014

A group of high-level experts recently reviewed the science of the syndrome of the Female Athlete Triad - a phenomenon which affects the athlete’s health and performance - and has recommended practical clinical models for the health care management of affected athletes.

Under the leadership of the IOC Medical Commission and its Chairman, Arne Ljungqvist, the group set up a brand-new “Sport Risk Assessment and Return to Play model” – which categorises the syndrome into three groups, from low to moderate to high risk, and translates this classification into practical recommendations ranging from “No Start” to “Full Participation” for competing athletes. Another unique feature of the Consensus Statement is a review of the scientific literature on this syndrome as it pertains to male athletes, athletes of non-Caucasian ethnicity and athletes with a disability.

Beyond the Female Athlete Triad: Relative Energy Deficiency in SportAfter a thorough review of the latest scientific evidence, the experts decided to introduce a new term for what has so far been called “Female Athlete Triad” syndrome and call it “Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport” (RED-S), which points to the complexity involved and the fact that male athletes are also affected.

Decoding RED-SThe scientific evidence shows that the cause of RED-S is an energy deficiency relative to the balance between the dietary energy intake and the energy expenditure required to support health and the activities of daily living, growth and sporting activities. It is also evident that the clinical phenomenon is no longer only a “triad”, or constellation of the three entities of energy availability, menstrual function and bone health, but rather a syndrome that affects many aspects of physiological function, including metabolic rate, menstrual function, bone health, immunity, protein synthesis and cardiovascular and psychological health.

Athletes’ health a top priority

IOC Medical Commission Chairman Arne Ljungqvist said: “RED-S concerns quite a number of athletes across different sports, and I am glad we took the decision to gather top experts in this field to update and deepen our previous reviews of the research on this syndrome. We translated the new findings into useful tools to help affected athletes and their entourage and, even more importantly, to prevent RED-S when possible.”

Claudia Bokel, Chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission said: “This consensus statement demonstrates once again that the protection of the athletes’ health is of major concern for the IOC and its Medical Commission. Such findings are not only of huge direct benefit for all concerned athletes, but also help to break taboos and raise awareness about topics that are not necessarily openly addressed on the field of play.”

A new assessment tool to help athletes and their entourageA key feature of the Consensus Statement is the presentation of a “Sport Risk Assessment and Return to Play model” that outlines classification criteria for the designation of the athlete with RED-S into one of three categories:  “High Risk - Red Light”, “Moderate Risk – Yellow Light” or “Low Risk – Green Light”.  Sports participation based on the athlete classification is recommended, ranging from “No Start” in the Red Light category to Full Participation for athletes classified in the Green Light category.  Recommendations for the prevention and management of RED-S are provided for members of the athletes’ entourage, including health care professionals, and sports organisations.

In addition, the Consensus Statement provides an update on the latest scientific evidence for the screening for and diagnosis of the syndrome. Treatment strategies for energy deficiency, menstrual dysfunction, bone health, eating disorders and other psychological sequelae are also included. Research gaps are identified and recommendations for future research directions are proposed.

Where to find the Consensus StatementThe RED-S Consensus Statement will be published in the IOC Injury and Illness Prevention issue of the British Journal of Sports Medicine in April 2014,and subsequently on the IOC website.

RED-S a topic at upcoming IOC World ConferenceThe new findings, recommendations and tools presented in the Consensus Statement will also be presented at the IOC World Conference on Prevention of Injury & Illness in Sport, set to take place in Monte Carlo, Monaco, from 10 to 12 April 2014. 

Learn more about this key event for world-renowned sports and medical experts here.

Find the detailed list of the expert group members here. 

KALYAN KUMAR MAHATA The true appellation of Apu.

Transport infrastructure provides lasting legacy of Nagano 1998

©Getty Images (1), Mike Powell/Allsport (1)

16/01/2014

Sixteen years after it hosted the 1998 Olympic Winter Games, the improvements made to the local transport infrastructure are still benefiting the Japanese city of Nagano.

Before the Games, it took up to three hours to travel between Tokyo and Nagano by rail, but the extension of the Shinkansen Bullet Train from Takasaki to Nagano – which was completed five months before the 1998 Opening Ceremony – reduced the 200km journey to less than 80 minutes.

The city's main railway hub, Nagano Station, and the smaller Shinonoi Station, were also expanded ahead of Nagano 1998, with the line carrying up to 60,000 passengers per day during the Games.

The route now carries more than 10 million passengers each year, and the train line is currently being extended from Nagano through the Hokuriku region to Toyama and Kanazawa, with the route expected to be operational by 2015, while construction of a further section is set to reach Fukui and Tsuruga by 2026.

Ahead of the 1998, improvements were also made to the local road network in the Nagano prefecture, with two main expressways – the Nagano expressway and the Joshinetsu expressway – being built to improve access between Nagano, Tokyo and other prefectures, as well as the competition venues.

A local road network linking the Olympic venues was also created, with almost 115km of road improved ahead of the Games. In particular, the 25.2km Shiga Route helped improve access to the Shiga ski resort area, while also providing direct access to the Shiga Kogen national park.

But the new transport links are not the only legacy of the 1998 Winter Games.

After the Games were finished, the Nagano Olympic Museum was established inside the M-Wave arena, which was the venue for the speed skating events. Today, the Olympic torch, medals, video images and other items are on display there.

Each year in April, the city also hosts the Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon, which sees participants run past four of the former Olympic venues.

Information on tickets for Sochi 2014 is available here: http://www.olympic.org/news/sochi-2014-olympic-winter-games-tickets/190291