Patanjali Yogpeeth celebrated its twentieth foundation day in Haridwar on Monday with its main focus on boosting indigenous games like wrestling and kabbadi. On this occasion, Patanjali National (Wrestling and Kabbadi) Championship for both men and women was organised.
Inaugurating the championship, Swami Ramdev himself whistled for the inaugural round. The maiden round was played for male under medium weight category of 85 kg between Gurupal Singh and Sanjay in which Gurupal won. Second round was also played for the male groups under super- heavy weight category of 125 kg. Satyender and Hitender participated. Satyender won.
Third round for male groups under super- heavy weight category of 125 kg was played between Commonwealth winner Satyavrat Katyan and Sumit of the Railway. Satyavrat won after a tough fight.
In the female group, the first round was played between Asiad winner Nikki and Commonwealth winner Kiran under super- heavy weight category, in which Nikki won. Second round was played between Silver medal winner in commonwealth games Navjot Kaur and Shilpi under the super- heavy weight category. In this round, Navjot Kaur was the winner.
This is for the first time in Uttarakhand that wresters of Commonwealth and Asia Games fame participated. The game was played under ‘Hindkeshari’ and ‘Bharatkeshri’ categories. Under Bharatkeshri category for female group, Nikki won the cup while for Hindkeshri, Navjot Kaur won the cup. For male group, under Hindkeshri category, Commonwealth winner Satyavrath Katyan won the cup and for Bharatkeshri, Satyender Mehar did the same.
In Kabbadi match for male group, the match was played between Haryana and Punjab. For the female group too, Haryana and Punjab took part.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, the Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar lal Khattar and Union Minister of Sports and Youth Welfare, Sarvanand Sonowal were among those present. This aside, several other dignitaries like Haridwar Member of Parliament Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, Acharya Blakrishan, Dr Vijay Kumar Mishra, Dr Yashdev Sastri, National Wrestler Sushil Kumar and Padamshree Satpal, coach of Sushil Kumar, were present. Padamshree Satpal added that presently, wrestling is played in 186 countries around the world.
890 km roads to be constructed to connect Char Dhams: Gadkari
Haridwar: The Union Minister for Roadways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari, has said 890 km roads would be constructed to connect the four Dhams - Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri- in order to facilitate smooth pilgrimage. Besides, the Delhi-Dehradun National Highway would also be readied before the 2016 Ardh-Kumbh to be held in Haridwar. He said his ministry has sanctioned over Rs 13,000 crore for building new infrastructure to connect the Char Dham in Uttarakhand. Referring to the services rendered by Ramdev, the Minister said the UNO has declared June 21 as International Yoga Day. It would lend respectability to the legacy the yoga guru embodies. The Prime Minister’s positive approach to Indian heritage has played its role too, he added.