Bhubaneswar: Odisha Sports Journalists Association (OSJA), a state unit of Sports Journalists Federation of India (SJFI) celebrated the World Sports Journalists Day 2025 with a meeting at Utkal Karate School in Bhubaneswar on July 2.
Paralympic badminton champion Pramod Bhagat, woman cricket international Rasanara Parwin and eminent karate coach Hari Prasad Pattanayak joined the programme as guests and lauded the contributions of sports journalists for the promotion of sports in Odisha.
The official theme of the year was: Championing Fair Play: Reporting with Integrity and Impact. The theme highlights the responsibility of sports journalists to promote transparency, ethics and positive values in sports reporting, while also engaging audiences globally.
OSJA president Sandeep Mishra, former president K Ravi, secretary Suresh Swain and former secretary Sanatan Pani expressed their views on the challenges sports journalists of Odisha face in carrying out their responsibilities and how they can perform better in their profession.
Suresh Swain and Sandeep Mishra were felicitated on the occasion on being elected as the SJFI vice-president and executive committee member respectively during the annual general meeting of the National body, hosted by OSJA in Bhubaneswar on 29 June 2025. The cover of OSJA souvenir was unveiled on the occasion.
JM Sports Academy, a Bhubaneswar-based private training centre, specialising in gymnastics, also celebrated the World Sports Journalists Day at its home in Chakeisiani, Mancheswar. Legendary Odisha woman athlete Anuradha Biswal graced the programme as chief guest.
Sports journalists Niranjan Reddy, Surya Prasad Rath, Kusum Manjari Das and Anadi Kar were felicitated on the occasion. Former Boudha Collector Lalatendu Mishra and Perspective bytes editor Akshay Mishra were among dignitaries present in the function, which was supervised by JM Sports Academy chairperson Mirarani Das.
