PM inaugurates National Youth Festival in Hubballi

Hubballi (KTK): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated the National Youth Festival here on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.
The 26th edition of the National Youth Festival, which will be held till January 16 at Hubballi-Dharwad, is being organised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in collaboration with the Government of Karnataka.
The inaugural event was held at the Railway Sports Ground here, was attended by Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi and Anurag Singh Thakur among others. The day is commemorated across the country to celebrate the ideals and teachings of Swami Vivekananda. The government had declared the day as the National Youth Day in 1984 to honour and cherish Vivekananda’s ideals, teachings and contributions, and encourage youth to follow his footsteps.
The theme of 26th Nationa Youth Festival is ‘Viksit Yuva – Viksit Bharat.’ The youth summit will have discussions surrounding five topics covering diverse areas of work, industry and innovation, climate change, health and peace.
A special Yogathan will also be conducted which is expected to mobilise around 10 lakh people to do Yoga and it is said to be a key attraction in the festival. Food festivals, artists’ camps, adventure sports activities, special ‘Know Your Army’, Indian Navy and Air Force camps are also scheduled in the 5-day youth festival.
More than 7,500 delegates from all over the country are expected to participate in the youth festival. It is also decided that the arrangements for the event will be looked after by young legislators, MPs and other elected representatives of the state. The Karnataka government recently unveiled the logo of this National Youth Festival which was selected through an open competition. It was designed by Bansilal Ketki of Odisha whose design won accolades in the competition.