Manipur Chief Minister Presented with Book On Meghalaya Culture

Imphal: A book on indigenous art and culture of Meghalaya was presented to Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh and Th. Radheshyam Singh, chairman, organizing committee and president, Manipur Olympic Association by, Meghalaya State Olympic Association working president, John F Kharshiing, at the opening ceremony of the 1st North East Olympic Games 2018, in Imphal on Wednesday.

A message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where he praised the talent the Northeast has in sports and the performance of the athletes to bring laurels to the country was read out by The secretary general of Manipur State Olympic Association.

The Northeast Olympic torch was lit by top athletes of Manipur, who had excelled in different sports and brought laurels to the region by winning medals at both National and International level. The Chief Minister of Manipur, Mr. N.Biren Singh had expressed his appreciation and gratitude to the North East Council for their timely assistance of Rs. 20 lakh to the state Government for organizing the event in the most befitting manner. The director of North East Council was also present on the occasion. A grant of Rs. 50 lakh was released by the Manipur Government for organizing the Games.

It may be mentioned that the first edition of the North East Olympic Games is being organized by the Manipur Olympic Association under the aegis of the North East Olympic Association. Around 2000 thousand athletes will compete in 12 disciplines including Athletics, Archery, Badminton, Boxing, Football, Judo, Karate-Do, Shooting, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Weightlifting and Wushu. Over the next five days, 236 participants from Arunachal, 246 from Assam, 134 from Mizoram, 165 from Meghalaya, 224 from Nagaland, 128 from Tripura, 179 from Sikkim and 248 from Manipur will compete in the Games. The Curtain for the five days sporting event, which is expected to give a boost to the sporting talents of the region, will come down on 28^th of October.

Earlier, the Manipur chief minister North East Olympic Games was declared open at the Main Stadium Khuman Lampak Sports Complex, Imphal. in the presence of all state Olympic Association presidents and secretaries from Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura. Speaking at the inaugural event, the Chief Minister said that it has been a long cherished dream of the region to create a platform to bring peace and friendship through sports.“A lot needs to be done to optimally utilize and unlock the full potential of the talents in the region,” he said.