KHANAPARA: The 36th Inter-University Youth Festival 'Yuva Pratibha' concluded at the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) on Sunday. For the first time, the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) has created the NE zone for the festival and the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) hosted this mega event.
The Manipur University of Culture emerged as the overall championship winner, followed by Cotton University as 1st runner-up and Manipur University as the 2nd runner-up, apart from the winners from others participating universities in different categories. Twenty national-level expert and veteran jury members from AIU judged the various competitions at this successful five-day-long youth festival, stated a press release.
In the closing ceremony, Dr Baljit Singh Sekhon, joint secretary, Youth Affairs and Sports, AIU was the chief guest. The prizes were handed over to the winners by Dr Baljit Singh Sekhon; Mahbubul Hoque, Chancellor of USTM; Prof GD Sharma, VC of USTM; Prof SK Sharma, IIT (BHU), Observer from AIU in the presence of the esteemed judges, faculty members from 15 different universities who are staying along with their teams at the university campus during the youth festival. Addressing the gathering, Dr Sekhon said, "I am amazed to see the cultural showcase of the NE region by the talented students. USTM has created history by organizing this festival for the first time, and I wish that next year the number of participants from NE should be double for the national and international competitions".
In the cultural procession, Cotton University was winner, followed by Tezpur University as the 1st Runner-up and Manipur University of Culture as the 2nd Runner-up. In the music category, the 1st prize in classical vocal solo went to Sanjukta Phukan of Cotton University, 2nd prize to Akham Jullee Devi of Manipur University of Culture and 3rd prize to Brainy Yumlembam of Manipur University. In the debate competition, the 1st position was taken by Dhanamanjuri University, the 1st runner-up was Manipur University, and the 2nd runner-up was USTM.
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