Why in News?

=> Chief Secretary, Uttarakhand, SS Sandhu inaugurated the three-day National Winter Games (National Skiing Championship) at Auli, a famous snow sports site located in Joshimath, Chamoli district. The competition will run till February 9.

Key Points:

=> 250 participants from 17 states including Uttarakhand, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir are participating in this sports competition being organized in collaboration with Tourism Department, Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam, District Administration, ITBP, Skiing and SnowBoard Association of Uttarakhand.

=> Uttarakhand, Army, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir won gold medals on the first day. On the first day, four competitions were held in the men's and women's categories, which included players from Uttarakhand, Himachal, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Bihar.

=> The Giant Salaam Competition was held under Alpine Skiing at the start of the competition. A total of 55 players participated in the men's section of the Giant Salaam Race, in which Sena won all three medals.

=> In the second competition Alpine Skiing Women's category, Giant Salam was dominated by Himachal's team. Himachal players won all three medals in this.

=> In the Alpine Giant Salaam Under-21 women's race, Uttarakhand won the gold, Jammu and Kashmir won the silver and Delhi won the bronze. In the men's Under-21 category, Jammu and Kashmir won gold, Bihar silver and Himachal Pradesh bronze.

=> Salaam and Giant Salaam competitions are being organized under alpine skiing. In these, competition is being organized between men and women in senior category, junior under 21 age group, junior under 18 age group, sub junior under 16 age group and sub junior under 14 age group.

=> Under snowboard, there will be men's and women's salaam competitions in the senior category, while there will be competitions between the under 19 age group and 17 age group.

By: ASRAF UDDIN AHMED