Youth Carnival starts

PESHAWAR: The 3rd edition of the National Youth Carnival (NYC) Mega Challenge-2017 kicked off at the Peshawar Sports Complex here on Saturday.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Sports, Tourism and Youth Affairs Mehmood Khan as chief guest formally inaugurated the NYC at a colourful ceremony.Secretary Sports Tourism and Youth Affairs Muhammad Tariq, Additional Secretary Babar Khan, Director General Youth Affairs Asfandyar Khan Khattak, other officials and a large number of spectators were also present.

The youth will compete this time in the event like drama, thematic art, painting, calligraphy, short film, Urdu, English, Pashto singings, traditional dance, music band, Qiraat, spelling bee, sell-it, Na’at, English, Urdu declamation, Urdu and Pashto essay writing, bait bazi,

quiz competition, business plan, ad making, standup comedy, extraordinary and unique talent, console gaming (FIFA-2017), chess and spot photography.

Mehmood Khan welcomed the participants of the NYC who had come to take part in the mega event from across the country.As many as 2000 male and female students and youth selected in trials are participating in the carnival.

Mehmood Khan said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government attached great importance to the youth and arranged a number of productive activities for them.

He said the government for the first time announced policy for the youth.He said the province had suffered a lot due to militancy but now peace had been restored and life returned to normalcy.

The government was spearheading efforts to kick start the sports and other social activities to bring smile on the faces of the entertainment-starved people of the province, said the minister.He said the NYC was the biggest activity arranged for the youth, which carried a prize money of Rs5 million.

The minister said the participants would take part in 30 different activities this year. He said the youth were future of the country and the event objectives were to provide them opportunities to come and explore their hidden and skills and talents.

The event would also help portray soft image of the country, particularly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the world, he added.He said the culture of all the provinces would also be presented during the event. Various stalls showcasing the culture and traditions of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan,

Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, tribal areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had also been installed at the stadium.The students of public and private sector universities, colleges and seminaries were selected after trials to participate in the event.  Apart from competitions, he said that an international standard Education Expo in which representatives of reputed international educational institutions and multi-national firms would provide guidance to the youth for career building would also be held during the event.