Nabarangpur, Dec, 04: : On the occasion of the full moon, the district-level debate competition of Odisha’s leading daily newspaper Sakala was held at Saraswati Shishu Vidyamandir, located in Gudha Mirigani, Nandahandi block near Nabarangpur town.
On this occasion, around 30 students from approximately 14 schools and colleges of the district participated. These included Saraswati Shishu Vidyamandir, Bapuji Public School, Unique Public School, Techno Gurukul Public School, Vidya Niketan Mahavidyalaya, Smart Gurukul Mahavidyalaya, Science Mahavidyalaya, Ukral Mahavidyalaya, Nabarangpur Binod Bihar Mahavidyalaya, Model Degree College, and P.M. Shri R.C.D. Nodal High School.
The debate topics for the competition were:
- Senior Category: “The First Spark of Rebellion: Is it the Impulse of Youthful Zeal?”
- Junior Category: “Essential Needs or Unnecessary Burden? Is there decreasing interest in books?”
In the junior category, V. Tanushree, a student of P.M. Shri R.C.D. High School, Nabarangpur, secured first place. Abhipsa Pariha, a student of Saraswati Shishu Vidyamandir, was second, and Avinash Sahu of Saraswati Shishu Vidyamandir, Nabarangpur, took third place.
In the senior category, Soumya Nanda of Binod Bihar Mahavidyalaya, Nabarangpur, won first place, Priyanka Nayak of the same college was second, and V. Anita Achari of Science Mahavidyalaya, Nabarangpur, secured third place.
The meritorious students were honored with mementos and certificates by the chief guests and dignitaries.
The chief guest for today’s competition was the distinguished social worker of Nabarangpur district, Jagannath Mahapatra. Special guests included Narasingh Nath Tripathy, Raj Purohit of Nabarangpur district, and the Vice President of the State Lawyers’ Association.
The keynote speaker was Dr. Vijay Kumar Mishra, retired Political Science professor of Nabarangpur College. Other honored guests included Prasad Patra, former editor of the district Lawyers’ Association and district editor of Bhagirath Sahitya Sansad; Guruji Prabhanjan Tripathy of Saraswati Shishu Vidyamandir; and several other distinguished educators and community members.
The competition began with an opening musical performance by the teachers and students of Saraswati Shishu Vidyamandir. The judges for the event were Dr. Vijay Kumar Mishra, Prasad Patra, Dr. Sai Ramesh, Meenakshi Padhi, Akhel Kumar Bhatt (Raja Cham