Bhubaneswar: Droupadi Girls High School of Nishaposi, Mayurbhanj won the first prize, with a monetary reward of Rs 21,000, in ‘pipe band’ category at the National School Band Competition jointly organsied by the Defense and Education ministries at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi for the Republic Day celebrations, Monday.
School Education and Literacy department secretary Sanjay Kumar gave the cash prizes to winners along with trophies and certificates. The jury appointed by the Defence Ministry, which included members from each wing of the Armed Forces, selected the winners of the competition after the culmination of the grand finale January 21 and 22. In addition to performances from the participating teams, there was a special performance by the Government Sardar Patel Senior Secondary School of Kalpeni, Lakshadweep. The competition was organised at three levels, including the state and zonal, across all states and Union Territories (UTs) for all schools from all boards (CBSE, ICSE, KVS, NVS, and Sainik schools). A total of 486 teams, comprising 12,857 students, participated in the state-level competitions, while 73 teams of 2,002 children took part at the zonal level. At the grand finale, 457 students from 15 states and Union Territories competed for the titles in each category.
ARINDAM GANGULY, OP
