India looking for another record medal haul in Hangzhou, this time in Para Asian Games
Hangzhou (PTI): Tokyo Paralympics gold medallists Avani Lekhara and Sumit Antil will be leading India's biggest-ever contingent as the country aims for a record medal haul in the Para Asian Games, which commence here on Sunday, a fortnight after the able-bodied athletes achieved historic success at the same venue.
Star shooter Avani, who won a gold and a bronze medal in Tokyo Paralympics, and javelin thrower Antil, who also clinched a yellow metal in the Japanese capital in 2021, will be among a host of Indian medal contenders in the continental showpiece, which will continue till October 28.
Another para shooter Manish Narwal as well as shuttlers Pramod Bhagat and Krishna Nagar, who all won gold in the Tokyo Paralympics, will be among the 313 Indian athletes at the Hangzhou Para Asian Games, the most in any edition.
India is participating in 17 out of the 22 sports in the Hangzhou Para Asian Games. The country is fielding athletes for the first time in rowing, canoeing, lawn bowl, taekwondo and blind football.
Nearly 4,000 athletes from 43 countries will be competing across 22 sports in 566 gold-medal events in the Para Games.
The Para Asian Games were originally scheduled to take place from October 9-15, 2022 but were postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
China, who have topped the medals table by an overwhelming margin in every edition so far, are fielding 439 athletes. The host country won a whopping 319 medals (172 gold, 88 silver, 59 bronze) in the 2018 edition.
The first Para Asian Games was held in 2010 in Guangzhou, China, where India had finished 15th with 14 medals, including one gold.
In the 2014 and 2018 editions, India had finished 15th and ninth respectively, and this time, the country would be looking to move up the medals table, taking inspirations from the unprecedented success achieved by their able-bodied counterparts.
With 51 of the 54 athletes who took part in the Tokyo Paralympics competing in Hangzhou, India is hoping for its best-ever medal haul here. India won 72 medals (15 gold, 24 silver, 33 bronze) in 2018 Para Asian Games, the best so far.
Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), the governing body of the sport in the country, is expecting to touch the 100-medal mark, which, if achieved, will emulate the historic success in the Hangzhou Asian Games of the able-bodied athletes, where India won a record 107 medals.
"It will be a record this time also. We are hoping for 100 medals," PCI secretary general Gursharan Singh told PTI.
The high expectations stem from the fact that India can win more medals in sports like shooting and archery -- which did not yield too many medals in 2018 -- while also increasing the contribution in athletics, badminton and chess.
The last time around, athletics contributed 36 medals (7 gold, 13 silver, 16 bronze) -- exactly half of India's total count. This time, the PCI is hoping at least 45 medals in athletics.
The Indian athletics team will be led by Antil, the reigning Olympic and world champion in javelin throw F64 category. The 25-year-old is also the world record holder with his 70.83m throw while winning gold in the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships in Paris.
Sandeep Chaudhary is defending his javelin throw F44 title he had won in 2018 in Jakarta. In javelin throw F46 category, India will have reigning world champion Ajeet Singh and Sunder Singh Gurjar who had won a bronze in the Tokyo Paralympics and silver in the 2018 Para Asian Games.
Gurjar had also won a bronze in the discus throw F46 event in 2018.
In the 2018 edition, India had won just three medals, including a gold, in shooting and Avani was not there in Jakarta. With Avani in tow this time, India can increase the number of medals from shooting.
In the Tokyo Paralympics, Avani had won 10m air rifle gold and 50m rifle 3 positions bronze in SH1 category.
In pistol events also, India will be looking for a rich haul after the impressive show from their youngsters at the 2023 Lima World Championships.
While Tokyo Paralympics champion Manish Narwal returned to winning ways with his first Worlds title in P1 10m air pistol in SH1 category, 16-year-old Rudransh Khandelwal won gold in the P4 mixed 50m pistol SH1 category.
Another Indian athlete to look out for is table tennis player Bhavinaben Patel who had clinched silver at the Tokyo Paralympics. She won silver in the 2018 Para Asian Games and would be looking to convert it into gold this time around.
Bhavinaben will have her group match on Sunday. Apart from the opening ceremony and table tennis preliminary round matches, there is no competition on Sunday.
In para sports, athletes are classified according to the degree of activity limitation resulting from the impairment. Classification determines which athletes are eligible to compete in a particular event. This is done to ensure fair competition.
North Korea has withdrawn from the Hangzhou Games after the Asian Paralympic Committee refused to allow it to use their national symbols following sanctions by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for non-compliance with anti-doping regulations.
This is in contrast to the able-bodied Asian Games (September 23-October 8) where North Korea was allowed to use its symbols by the Olympic Council of Asia in spite of the WADA sanctions.
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'Made in India' must become symbol of excellence, global competitiveness: PM
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called upon states to encourage manufacturing, boost 'ease of doing business' and strengthen the services sector to make India a global services giant.
Addressing the 5th National Conference of Chief Secretaries here, Modi emphasised the need for quality in governance, service delivery and manufacturing, and said the label 'Made in India' must become a symbol of excellence and global competitiveness.
He said India has the potential to become the world's food basket and the country must move towards high-value agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries to become a major food exporter.
"Called upon states to encourage manufacturing, boost 'Ease of Doing Business' and strengthen the services sector. Let us aim to make India a Global Services Giant," Modi said in a series of posts on X.
The theme of the three-day conference, which began on December 26, was 'Human Capital for Viksit Bharat'.
Modi observed that this conference marks another decisive step in strengthening the spirit of cooperative federalism and deepening Centre-State partnership to achieve the vision of a 'Viksit Bharat'.
Highlighting India's demographic advantage, he said nearly 70 per cent of the population is in the working-age group, creating a unique historical opportunity which, when combined with economic progress, can significantly accelerate the journey towards a 'Viksit Bharat', according to an official statement.
Modi said India has boarded the "Reform Express", driven primarily by the strength of its young population, and empowering this demographic remains the government's key priority.
He noted that the conference is being held at a time when the country is witnessing next-generation reforms and steadily moving towards becoming a major global economic power.
Underlining the need to strengthen 'atmanirbharta' (self-reliance), he said India must pursue self-reliance with zero defect in products and minimal environmental impact, making the label 'Made in India' synonymous with quality and strengthening the commitment to "zero effect, zero defect".
The PM urged the Centre and states to jointly identify 100 products for domestic manufacturing to reduce import dependence and strengthen economic resilience in line with the vision of 'Viksit Bharat'.
In higher education, too, he said, there is a need for academia and industry to work together to create high-quality talent.
He highlighted that India has a rich heritage and history with the potential to be among the top global tourist destinations.
Modi urged the states to prepare a roadmap for creating at least one global-level tourist destination and nourishing an entire tourist ecosystem.
He said it is important to align the national sports calendar with the global sports calendar.
"India is working to host the 2036 Olympics. India needs to prepare infrastructure and sports ecosystem at par with global standards," he said.
The prime minister said the next 10 years must be invested in the states, only then will India get the desired results in such sports events.
Every state must give this top priority and create infrastructure to attract global companies, he said.
In the services sector, Modi said, there should be greater emphasis on other areas like healthcare, education, transport, tourism, professional services and artificial intelligence, etc. to make India a global services giant.
He said India will soon be launching the National Manufacturing Mission (NMM).
States should work in tandem with the discussions and decisions emerging from the conferences of both chief secretaries and DGPs to strengthen governance and implementation.
The PM said similar conferences could be replicated at the departmental level to promote a national perspective among officers and improve governance outcomes in pursuit of a 'Viksit Bharat'.
In conclusion, he said every state must create a 10-year actionable plan based on the discussions of this conference with one, two, five and 10-year target timelines wherein technology can be utilised for regular monitoring.
The conference featured a series of special sessions that enabled focused deliberations on cross-cutting and emerging priorities.
It marks another important milestone in strengthening the Centre-State partnership through structured and sustained dialogue on national development priorities, according to the statement.
The PM's principal secretaries P K Mishra and Shaktikanta Das, Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan, members of the NITI Aayog, chief secretaries of all states and Union territories, and domain experts attended the meeting.
Anchored in the prime minister's vision of cooperative federalism, this conference serves as the forum where the Centre and states collaborate, designing a unified roadmap to maximise India's human capital potential and accelerate inclusive, future-ready growth.
It has been organised annually over the past four years.
The first conference was held in Dharamshala in June 2022, followed by subsequent conferences in New Delhi in January 2023, December 2023 and December 2024.
