By Vanshika Kohli
The true essence of yoga revolves around elevating the life force or ‘Kundalini’ at the base of the spine. It aims to achieve this through a series of physical and mental exercises. At the physical level, the methods comprise various yoga postures or ‘asanas’ that aim to keep the body healthy. The mental techniques include breathing exercises or ‘pranayama’ and meditation or ‘dhyana’ to discipline the mind.

“Yoga accepts. Yoga gives.” – April Vallei

The ultimate goal of yoga is, however, to help the individual to transcend the self and attain enlightenment. As the Bhagavad-Gita says, “A person is said to have achieved yoga, the union with the Self, when the perfectly disciplined mind gets freedom from all desires, and becomes absorbed in the Self alone.”
Importance of Yoga
Yoga is not a religion; it is a way of living that aims towards ‘a healthy mind in a healthy body’.

Man is a physical, mental and spiritual being; yoga helps promote a balanced development of all the three. Other forms of physical exercises, like aerobics, assure only physical well-being. They have little to do with the development of the spiritual or astral body.

Yogic exercises recharge the body with cosmic energy and facilitates:
Attainment of perfect equilibrium and harmony
Promotes self- healing.
Removes negative blocks from the mind and toxins from the body
Enhances personal power
Increases self-awareness
Helps in attention, focus and concentration, especially important for children
Reduces stress and tension in the physical body by activating the parasympathetic nervous system
The aspirant feels rejuvenated and energized. Thus, yoga bestows upon every aspirant the powers to control body and mind.

Benefits of Yoga
The art of practicing yoga helps in controlling an individual’s mind, body and soul. It brings together physical and mental disciplines to achieve a peaceful body and mind; it helps manage stress and anxiety and keeps you relaxing. It also helps in increasing flexibility, muscle strength and body tone. It improves respiration, energy and vitality. Practicing yoga might seem like just stretching, but it can do much more for your body from the way you feel, look and move.

Yoga asanas build strength, flexibility and confidence. Regular practice of yoga can help lose weight, relieve stress, improve immunity and maintain a healthier lifestyle.

In 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested United Nations to celebrate June 21 as the International Yoga Day as it is the summer solistice; the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.

“Yoga is an invaluable gift of India’s ancient tradition. This tradition is 5000 years old. It embodies unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfilment; harmony between man and nature; a holistic approach to health and well-being. It is not about exercise but to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature. By changing our lifestyle and creating consciousness, it can help in well being . Let us work towards adopting an International Yoga Day.” — Narendra Modi, UN General Assembly, September 2014.

By: Smarth Bhatia
Sports marketing is a subdivision of marketing which focuses both on the promotion of sports events and teams as well as the promotion of other products and services through sporting events and sports teams. It is a service in which the element promoted can be a physical product or a brand name. The goal is to provide the client with strategies to promote sports or to promote some other product, service, business or cause through sports. Sports marketing is also designed to meet the needs and wants of the consumers through exchange processes.[1] These strategies follow the traditional four “P”‘s of general marketing Product, Price, Promotion and Place; another four “P”’s are added to sports marketing, relating to the fact sports are considered to be a service. The additional 4 P’s are: Planning, Packaging, Positioning and Perception. The addition of the four extra elements is called the “sports marketing mix.”[2]

Sports marketing is an element of sports promotion which involves a wide variety of sectors of the sports industry, including broadcasting, advertising, social media, digital platforms, ticket sales, and community relations.[3]

Sports marketing is divided into three sectors. The first is the advertising of sport and sports associations such as the Olympics, Spanish Football league and the NFL, as well as sport teams like Real Madrid and the New York Yankees. The second concerns the use of sporting events, sporting teams and individual athletes to promote various products. The third category is the promotion of sports to the public in order to increase participation

By: Smarth Bhatia

P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will hope to win India their first gold medal at the Asian Badminton Championship in nearly 6 decades. The tournament gets underway in Wuhan, China, on Tuesday.
HIGHLIGHTS
All England Champion Tai Tzu will not play the Asian Badminton Championship
Sindhu will face Sung Ji Hyun if she advances further
P V Sindhu hasn’t reached any final in 2019
Indian Olympic badminton players P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will look to win the country’s first gold medal since 1965at the Asian Badminton Championship in the absence of Tai Tzu Ying – their biggest competitor in the international arena. The Asian Badminton Championship begins on Tuesday in Wuhan, China.

Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu have poor 5-15 and 4-10 head-to-head record against Tai Tzu Ying, the world no. 1 Chinese Taipei player.

Sindhu will face Sayaka Takahashi of Japan in the first round of the Asian Badminton Championship women’s singles. Sindhu has defeated the world No. 16 at Japan Open last year.

The Rio Olympic silver medal winner Sindhu seems to be struggling since becoming the first Indian to win the BWF Finals last year. She was ousted by Sung Ji Hyun in the pre quarter-finals of the Malaysia Open this year. There are chances that fourth seed Sindhu might face her again in the quarters.

If everything goes well for the Indian, Sindhu might run into run into world no. 2 Nozomi Okuhara or world no. 7 He Bingjiao in the semi-finals.

Saina Nehwal, on the other hand, will have to overcome Han Yue who defeated her at Syed Modi last year. The path further isn’t easy for the London Olympic bronze medallist as she has chances of facing world No. 4 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the next round.

At a later stage of the tournament, she might come across world No. 3 Chen Yufei of China to make it into the final.

In the men’s category, Kidambi Srikanth will face Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia in first round. If Srikanth wins here, he is likely to face world champion and Olympic champion Chen Long in the next round.

The Indian shuttler was ousted in the quarter-finals by Chen Long in the Malaysia Open earlier this month.

Another Indian in contention, Sameer Verma will face Kazumasa Sakai of Japan in the first round.

In women’s doubles, the pair of Pooja Dandu and Sanjana Santosh, Aparna Balan and Sruthi K.P and the team of Jakkampudi Meghana and Poorvisha S Ram will be seen in action in China.

In men’s doubles, the lone pair of M.R. Arjun and Ramchandran Shlok will contest.

By: Ojasvi kapoor

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately 9.4 inches (24 cm) in diameter) through the defender’s hoop (a basket 18 inches (46 cm) in diameter mounted 10 feet (3.048 m) high to a backboard at each end of the court) while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own hoop. A field goal is worth two points, unless made from behind the three-point line, when it is worth three. After a foul, timed play stops and the player fouled or designated to shoot a technical foul is given one or more one-point free throws. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but if regulation play expires with the score tied, an additional period of play (overtime) is mandated.

By: Skandh Budhiraja

Cricket is the national game of the English. Of all outdoor games, it requires the most of the skill for playing. It is played in India also and has got so much interest that it has even well said it is worshipped as a new religion of Indians.

Cricket requires a very large ground covered with smooth, level, closely cut and well-rolled turf. It is played with a hard leather ball, bats made of willows wood fitted with one handle and wickets. There are two wickets, places twenty-two yards apart, each consisting of three short posts called stumps stuck upright in the ground and surmounted by two small wooden pegs called ‘bails’.

The players consist of batsmen, bowler and fielders. The essence of game is as follows. The bowler delivers the ball from one wicket to the batsman stationed at the opposite wicket. The object of the bowler is to get the batsman out by striking his wicket with the ball so that the bails are knocked off or by forcing him to strike the ball up in air so that it can be caught by one of the fielders before it touches the ground. In either case, the batsman is ‘out’ and another roof the same side must take his place.

The object of the batsman is to defend his wicket and get as many runs as he can. A run is taken when batsman strikes the ball to such a distance that he and his fellow batsman at the other end have time to run across to each other’s wicket. Every run counts a point and the side that gets the greatest number of runs before it is put out, wins the match. The business of fielders is to stop the ball when struck by the batsman and return it to the wicket keeper or bowler quickly so that the batsman gets no time to make a run.

Each match has two teams consisting of eleven players each. Cricket is a fine open-air exercise and also a good mental discipline for it trains the judgment and promotes good fellowship.

By: Vanshika Kohli

Hockey is our national game. The game is played all over the country in all the states. India was the world champion in hockey for many years. Hockey has now become popular in many countries. Pakistan, Holland, Germany, England and Australia play the game very well. There is a keen competition at the international level.

Hockey is a fast game. Players can be seen running in the field all through when the game is in progress. Every minute there is a mo0ve, which may change the chances in the game. Hence everyone is alert all through. The goal keeper, the centre forwards, the right and left backs are all important in the game. It is a team work that leads to success. Our country has produced a number of world class players. Dhyan Chand is one such, who is called the wizard of hockey. In fact Punjab contributes more number of players to the game of hockey.

India first became the world champion, in hockey, in 1928, by winning the Gold Medal at Amsterdam Olympics. Since then, it continued to be the champion till it lost in the Rome Olympics. It came down to the seventh place in the Montreal Olympics. India regained the Gold Medal at Moscow Olympics in 1980. We lost the Gold Medal in 1984.

Hockey, kike cricket, is a popular game in our country. It is not a costly one. Hockey is played both by men and women. Inter-school competitions and state level competitions are held for schools. The following trophies are associated with the game of hockey (1) Dhyan Chand Trophy (2) Lady Ratan Trophy (for women) (3) Nehru Trophy (4) Scindia Gold Cup and (5) Ragaswamy Cup.

I had the opportunity to be a member of the winners of a State-level hockey match at Kurnool this year. This important match was between Andhra Pradesh Residential School. Tadikonda and the Coles High School, Kurnool. As you know the game of hockey is very popular in Kurnool district. Before the game commenced at 3.30 P.M. the contesting teams were introduced to the chief guest.

The Andhra Pradesh Residential School boys were on the offensive right from the beginning. They were quick in moving the ball deep into the enemy’s camp. They succeeded in getting two penalty corners. However, they could not succeed in scoring the goals as the Kurnool goal keeper succeeded in stopping both the penalty corner shots. He looked every formidable indeed; although the Kurnool team dominated during the first-half of the game, the Coles school team stole the thunder during the second half. They also succeeded in getting two penalty corners during the last ten minutes of the game. They succeeded in scoring two goals. Bhasker, the centre forward of the Kurnool team, scored these goals, and became the ‘Star of the evening”. Thus the game ended in favour of Coles school team. They won the state level hockey championship on account of their superior skill in the game.

The chief guest congratulated both the teams for their excellent performance. He gave away the trophy to the winning team. The Residential School Boys, who did their best, accepted the verdict in good spirit. There is a great truth in the saying “Failures are the stepping stones for success”.

By: Ojasvi Kapoor
India is home to a diverse population playing many different riding on it sports across the country. Cricket is the most popular sport in India. Field hockey is the most successful sport for India at Olympics in which India has won eight Olympic gold medals Kabaddi is the most popular indigenous sport in the country. Other popular sports in India are badminton, football, basketball, chess, shooting, wrestling, boxing, tennis, squash, weightlifting, gymnastics, athletics and table tennis. Some indigenous sports are also popular in India such as Kho-kho, Kabaddi, Leg Cricket, Fighter kite, Polo and Gillidanda among others. There are some popular sports which have originated in India such as Chess, Leg Cricket, Snooker and Kabbadi. India has won Olympic medals in Badminton, Wrestling, Shooting, Weightlifting, Boxing and Tennis. India has also won World Cups in Cricket, Field Hockey and Kabbadi.
Local sporting events broadcasting is in a stagnant stage in India due to the mandatory sharing of sporting events of live feed and rights made by ordnance in favour of Prasar Bharathi. Thus, all sports broadcasters playout from outside the country, which only allows the capability to produce international events and fades the production, distribution, invention of the new local field of sporting events.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton