PM Modi to inaugurate Khelo India University Games via video conferencing 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, February 22 will kick off the first-ever Khelo India University Games in the country. He will inaugurate the event with the opening ceremony at Bhubaneswar via video conferencing at 6 pm. Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju took to Twitter to apprise about the same.

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Earlier, Rijiju had called the inter-university games festival a revolutionary step in the country. "The event is funded by the Sports Ministry in association with the state government. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and National Sports Federations (NSF) are also supporting the event. This is a revolutionary step by the government as we started the University Games in India for the first-time," the Sports Minister had said.

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"Earlier, the inter-university games did not get government support. It was all self-funded tournaments by the universities in different sports like athletics, football, volleyball, and table tennis to name a few. From this year onwards, all universities around the country will get recognised under Associations of Indian Universities and will take part in Khelo India University Games," he had added.

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Khelo India University Games

The Khelo India University Games will be held at KIIT University in Bhubaneshwar from February 22, 2020, to March 1, 2020. In the event, 17 games will be held for the individual athletes as well as team sports. The games include archery, athletics, boxing, fencing, judo, swimming, weightlifting, wrestling, badminton, basketball, football, hockey, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, rugby, and kabaddi. Approximately 4,000 athletes from around 80-100 universities, apart from technical and supporting staff, will take part in this event. The event will be broadcast live on the sports channel and digital streaming platform as well.

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