GAIL - Indian Speed Star : A Revolution in the Field of Athletics

On 22^nd March 2016, at the Constitution Club of India, New Delhi, GAIL (India) Limited and national Yuva Cooperative Society (NYCS), launched a grassroots athletics program called ‘GAIL Indian Speed Star’, which is aimed at unearthing young talent across the length and breadth of India.

NYCS has tied up with Anglian Medal Hunt Company as its Technical Partner for project. The relentless and game-changing ‘GAIL-Indian Speed Star’ endeavours to create a group of athletes with talent which will very possibly bring glory for India in the track events at the world’s most prestigious sporting event - the Olympics 2020/2024. Renowned sportsperson P.T. Usha launched the program along with the organizers Dr. Ashutosh Karnatak, Director (Projects), GAIL (India) Ltd, Rajesh Pande – President, national Yuva Cooperative Society Ltd (NYCS) and Maneesh Bahuguna- CEO, Anglian Medal Hunt Company.

The objective of ‘GAIL-Indian Speed Star’ program is to recognize, pick and care for the hidden talent in athletes. The targeted age group for the project is 11 - 17 years in 100 meters, 200 meters and 800 meters track events across.

Renowned sportspersons like P.T. Usha, Rachita Mistry, Anuradha Biswal and Kavita Raut are the members of the selection committee that will support the selection process and guide coaching camps. As members of the committee their role would include formulating the selection criteria for the 'GAIL-Indian Speed Star' program, and developing the training plans and modules for the selected athletes at the national Level. District trials were organized under the observation of vigilant coaches and selectors, appointed by the selection committee. The selection of the athletes was based on talent identification and the selection criteria set by the selection committee.

Although the project has launched very recently, trials were organized at 55 districts across 10 states in which more than 25,000 children participated out of which 850 children made it to the state level!

Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of state (I/C) Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dutee Chand, Anuradha Biswal and Purnima Hembram; chose determined young athletes from Bhubaneswar, Odisha. 14 boys and girls have qualified for the national level trials while Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan appreciated and inspired the candidates chosen for national level trials

Camp and Selection: The first state level camp and trial was conducted on 27^th -28^th of February, 2016 in SawaiMaan Singh Stadium, Jaipur where 60 children participated out of which 4 qualified for the next level. The state trials were held in Odisha (14 Selected), Delhi (28 Selected), Kerala (28 Selected) and Jharkhand (4 Selected) followed by Maharashtra and Gujarat in the last week of April. The boys and girls shortlisted from the state trials will now participate in the national camp and selection which is scheduled to be in May 2016 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi. Shortlisted candidates from state trials will attend the rigorous national level camp. After the coaching camp, final trials will be held. Winners will be selected based on the selection criteria and their potential. The winners will be given thorough training throughout the year. The top 9 candidates will then be provided with world class coaching for over a period of 5 years with an ultimate objective of one of these athletes to representing India at the Olympics.

For more information on Gail-Indian Speed Star please visit http://www.gailindianSpeed Star.org

Also, check out this cool video: 

https://www.facebook.com/GAILIndianSpeedstar/videos/951014715012524/ 

My Experience at Quaker Bowl Indiblogger Meet

Chef Vikas Khanna

Today, Indiblogger along with Quaker, organized an elaborate surprise for bloggers at Mumbai. I attended the event which was at J.W. Marriot (Yeah, Indiblogger always picks swanky places) and found my beloved fellow bloggers waiting for the long over due Indimeet (We were starting to think that the Indiblogger team hated Mumbai weather!). The event began with us bloggers being subjected to third degree torture, by being made to watch Tahir Shah’s, “Angel”. This was followed a light and fun work-out session.  Anoop, our host and dost, then asked first-timers to introduce themselves. Now when you go to an Indiblogger event you can usually expect that something unexpected will happen. This time, the big revelation was that speaking to us about the importance of nutrition was none other than celebrity chef Vikas Khanna! 

Chef Vikas Khanna was a gentlemen and excellent orator. His talk was not restricted to just nutrition and oats, but went into the realm of fruits that come from roses and places to visit in India. He also shared with us some hilarious anecdotes about Punjabis, his life in USA and adventures while at work. The guest of honour also provided us the opportunity to take ‘soup-shots’ (Yes, apparently that’s a thing now) and guess the ingredients contained therein. Chef Vikas Khanna also quizzed us and Quaker gave away goodies to all those who could answer the questions.

If you smmeeeelllll... what the Rock is cooking - It's oats!

Just when we thought that the fun was about to end, we were segregated into teams and got to cook our own oats dish. We were provided with oats, chocolate, vanilla ice cream, dragon fruit, jaggery, chili flakes and many other ingredients. There were so many ingredients that even after preparing the dish there was plenty of chocolate and vanilla ice cream to eat for us. Chef Vikas Khanna then proceeded to taste all the oats-based dishes and rate them based on taste and presentation. We really felt bad putting him through that torture. However, our celebrity chef mustered the courage to eat our creations and survived! Here's some videos of my team preparing a delicious oats meal:-

For those who are interested in knowing the recipe of the dish we prepared for Chef Vikas Khanna, here it is below:Ingredients:-

• 100 gms oats

• 20 gms diced carrots

• 10 gms peas

• 20 gms corn

• 15 gms Brocolli

• Chopped Chilli

• Oil

• Water

Preparation:-

• Heat the oil a bit and add the carrots, chillies, peas, broccoli and corn

• In a separate pan heat the mixture of water and oats.

• Mix the above mixtures.

Serves:- 1

When it comes to oats, the first thing that comes to mind is Quaker. In fact, because of the reputation Quaker has gained over the past 139 years, ‘Quaker’ has become synonymous with oats. Unfortunately, oats has only gained a reputation as a healthy breakfast, when it can actually be included in any meal of the day. Oats need not be the base ingredient of a food. Due to its mild flavour, oats can be added to almost any other food item, including rajma and palak panner. It is an excellent substitute for rice, maida and other grains.

Awesome Recipe Book provided by Quaker

We come to this world with empty hands and leave with empty hands. But one never leaves an Indiblogger meet empty handed. At the end of the event we were all given a packet of healthy Quaker oats and a recipe book providing a plethora of different ways to use them in our food. We all went home with nutritional food, useful information and great memories. I think that in a couple of months, not only will I be healthy and fit, but also happy and energetic. I recommend all my readers include Oats not only in your breakfast, but all other meals as well. Bon appetite!  #QuakerBowl 





Oh, by the way, the above #QuakerBowl event was covered by Bombay Times. Do have a look:

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Food, Oats, Celebrity