Winter Olympics:
The Russian President, Pakistan Prime Minister and five Presidents from Central Asia will reach China for the opening of the Winter Olympics.
- The Russian President will discuss the ongoing crisis with Ukraine with the Chinese President.
- China has close relations with Russia but has been largely silent on the crisis in Ukraine amid a build-up of Russian forces along its borders.
- The Pakistan Prime Minister is expected to discuss investments from China and speed up the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) plan.
- China has also declared that it sought to discuss developing communications satellites for Pakistan and to cooperate on the construction of the Pakistan Space Centre.
- Due to the alleged human rights voilations in the Xinjiang province of China, the US, the UK, Canada and Australia have announced a “diplomatic boycott” of the games.
Winter Olympics:
- Winter Olympics is the premier competition for sports that are played on ice or snow.
- It is held every four years and features participants from across the world.
- Ice skating, ice hockey, skiing and figure skating are some of the popular sports that are played at the Winter Games.
- The first Winter Olympics were held in 1924 in Chamonix, France.
- Winter sports were initially played at the Summer Olympics, with the 1908 London Olympics hosting four figure skating events and Antwerp 1920 having figure skating as well as ice hockey.
- However, in 1924, a separate event was created for winter sports, called the International Winter Sports Week.
- It was held in Chamonix, France – the host country for the 1924 Summer Olympics.
- Two years later, the International Winter Sports Week in Chamonix was officially recognised as the first Winter Olympic Games.
- This years’ edition of the Winter Olympic Games will be held in Beijing, China from 4th February to 20th February 2022.
- India has been participating in the Winter Olympics since 1964.
