Mysore/Mysuru: Maintaining that Yuvajanotsava provides a notable platform for unearthing young talents, District Minister S.T. Somashekar said that the youths must utilise this opportunity for taking forward their career. He was speaking after inaugurating Mysuru District-level Yuvajanotsava event organised jointly by Zilla Panchayat (ZP), Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES), Nehru Yuva Kendra and NSS, at Chamundi Vihar Stadium in Nazarbad here on Monday.

NR MLA Tanveer Sait, in his address, said that Chamundi Vihar Stadium must be thrown open for all members of the public to carry out physical exercises and sporting activities.

Maintaining that the Stadium has been out of bounds for public after a synthetic track was laid and developed, Sait observed that this has hindered the public to carry out physical exercises.

Stressing on the need for appointment of more physical education teachers in schools, he noted that such a step will help in making the children get more active and motivated. He further said that sports will help in developing a spirit of patriotism and discipline among youths.

Mayor Sunanda Palanetra, MLA L. Nagendra, Chairmen of various Boards and Corporations — H.V. Rajeev, L.R. Mahadevaswamy, N.V. Phaneesh and Hemanth Kumar Gowda — DC Dr. Bagadi Gautham, DYES Director K. Suresh, Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK) Deputy Director S. Siddaramappa and others were present.

Winners of various contests organised as part of District-level Yuvajanotsava are as follows:

Classical Dance — Bharatanatyam: Moulya Venkatesh – 1st prize, M.H. Divyashree – 2nd, M.K. Tejaswini – 3rd; Odissi: Aradhana Rahul – 1st, Kuchipudi: Indushree – 1st.

Instruments — Tabla: Sujayindra Rao – 1st, R. Puneeth Kumar – 2nd, Akshaya A. Patil – 3rd; Mridanga: V. Varchas – 1st; Harmonium (Light): Somesh – 1st, Mahadevaprasad – 2nd.

Karnatak Classic Vocal: S. Akshatha – 1st, C. Aruna Thyagaraju – 2nd, Manogna S. Jamadagni – 3rd; Hindustani Classic Vocal: Shruti R. Jois – 1st.

Extempore Speech (Hindi or English): Tejaswini – 1st prize, Razeeq Rasheed – 2nd, K. Ragunandan – 3rd.

Folk Songs: Aishwarya Nagaraj and team – 1st, Adarsh and team – 2nd, Chandru and team – 3rd; Folk Dance: Chandru and team – 1st, Rakshith and team – 2nd, Pratap and team – 3rd.

Only 1st prize winners are eligible to take part in the State-level Yuvajanotsava competitions.