Meghalaya will host the 2nd edition of the North East Olympics 2022 in Shillong, from October 30, 2022, to November 06, 2022.
- This edition has taken on a special significance as 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of Meghalaya becoming a state.
- The state of Meghalaya was established on January 21, 1972, with Shillong as its capital.
Background
i. In 2018, Manipur hosted the first edition of North East Olympics Games, which featured 12 disciplines.
ii.The second edition was supposed to take place in Arunachal Pradesh, but it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
iii. The North East Olympic Games 2.0 in Shillong in 2022 aim to bridge the gap for aspiring sportsperson in the region to improve themselves.
Key Highlights:
i. Around 4,000 athletes from eight North Eastern states—Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura—will compete in the second North East Olympics 2022.
- The participants will compete in 18 different disciplines at 13 different locations across Shillong.
ii.Participants will compete in disciplines such archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, judo, karate, shooting, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, wushu, cycling (mountain bike), golf, weightlifting, and wrestling.
- The sports selected were determined based on infrastructure availability and suggestions from the Meghalaya State Olympic Association (MSOA).
IIT Guwahati Partners with AICTE to Provide Solutions to North-East India
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, Assam, has collaborated with the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to provide solutions to problems of accessing water, electricity and internet for the AICTE-affiliated technical institutions in North-East India.
- The first-of-its-kind project was launched under the ‘Grant for Augmenting Infrastructure in the North Eastern Region,’ which provides assistance to improve the functional efficiency of technical institutions in remote areas.
Key Points:
i. Most institutions in the North-East region are located in remote areas due to the hilly terrain, making access to adequate power and safe drinking water challenging.
ii.The capacity-building efforts of IIT Guwahati and AICTE will focus on promoting Research & Development (R&D) in AICTE-affiliated institutions and prioritizing raising educational standards in North-East India’s remote regions.
iii.The project’s steering committee is made up of Sharad B Gokhale, Head, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Guwahati; Gopal Das, Head, Department of Chemistry, IIT Guwahati; Santosh Kumar Dwivedy, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Guwahati &ChandanMahanta, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Guwahati.
Phases of the Project
i. The phase-1 project is slated to be completed in August 2022, while phase-2 has recently begun and will cover 33 new institutions with internet access as well as solar and water infrastructure.
ii.About 27 institutions received funding of Rs. 5.4 crore for the installation of solar power plants during the project’s first phase, and 16 institutions received Rs. 1.92 crore for water treatment facilities.
iii. The Phase-I project addressed several concerns of these organizations with respect to power and water infrastructure.
About Meghalaya:
Chief Minister – Conrad Kongkal Sangma
Dance – Do Dru-su’a; Laho dance; Behdienkhlam
Lakes – Umiam Lake; Ward’s Lake
About Assam:
Chief Minister – Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma
Classical Dance – Satriya Nritya; Bhor Tal Nritya
Lakes – Chandubi Lake; Haflong Lake
