By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: Former Union Minister and India’s top Hotelier, Dilip Ray, has turned very emotional after he came across a rare photo of him with late legendary Biju Babu, which was shared by Internet Researcher, Prashant Sahu.
Sharing this old photo titling it “Some rare moments with Biju Babu !!!”, Ray, who owns , Mayfair Group of Hotels, wrote in his Facebook timeline “ It will be now more than 23 years since he left for the heavenly abode but the charm of his personality has only grew with the passing time. Very few leaders in the history of our country have commanded such unwavering love, respect & admiration of the masses like him and this only reminds me of his lesson on Statesmanship to me,”
“Truly, Policitians come and go but Statesman remain indelibly engraved in the memory of the masses forever because they think not of the next election but of the next generation.Pic courtesy- Prashant Sahu,” Ray wrote.
In his earlier post, Ray, hailed Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for State Government’s decision to come up with India’s largest Hockey Stadium in Steel city of Rourkela, the home turf of Ray. Ray wrote with more than over 50 Hockey Players from here having represented India at the International level, Sundargarh district can rightfully be described as the Cradle of Indian Hockey and the decision of Hon’ble Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to establish India’s largest Hockey Stadium in the district is a much-deserved tribute to the district where Hockey is not just a sport but a way of life.
“This announcement along with the one to develop synthetic turf in each of the 17 blocks of Sundargarh will certainly give a big boost to the sports ecosystem in the region and as someone belonging to the district, I wholeheartedly express my gratefulness to him for this historic decision,” he wrote.
“Odisha over the last few years has made major strides in the development of Sports Infrastructure and it is a matter of great pride for all of us that our State’s Capital is now gradually being recognized as the Sports capital of the country. However, to ensure that the players of the State benefit from this, I would like to take this opportunity to urge the Chief Minister to consider establishing a #World_Class_Sports_University in Sundargarh district with ultramodern training facilities,” he said.
“Chief Minister himself stated that Sundargarh is a powerhouse of Hockey talent and I am more than sure that he will appreciate the fact that establishing such a university will go a long way in helping the athletes from the region further advance their career in the field of sports and bring laurels for the State as well as the Country,” Roy wrote.
“This apart, with Rourkela being on the list of cities that are scheduled to host the 2023 Hockey World Cup, I also urge the Chief Minister to do the needful at his level to ensure early operation of #commercial_flight_services from Rourkela as well to ensure the expeditious execution of Projects under the #Smart_City Scheme. International teams will be visiting Rourkela during the World Cup and it is necessary that adequate arrangements are accordingly made to beautify and develop the town from this perspective,” he mentioned.
“Projects sanctioned under the Smart City, upon completion will give a complete modern makeover to the city while the expansion of the runway would qualify the airport to handle 72 or more-seater aircraft. Therefore, emphasis on an urgent basis have to be accorded to both these aspects, along with other works that might be necessary,” he added.
