The cultural show by students from St. Gerosa School and the vintage vehicle rally drew good response from the crowd gathered for the Republic Day celebrations held at the Nehru Maidan on Thursday.
Wearing saffron, white, and green costumes, the schoolchildren presented patriotic songs with élan. They began with the song Yeh Duniya, ek dulhan… from the Hindi film Pardes . Then children danced to the song Yahan Har Kadam Kadam Pe Dharti Badle Rang… from the film Fanaa . Elegant use of paper plates added colour to their presentation.
Showcase
Around 50 cars and two-wheelers took part in the ‘Vintage and Classic Car' carnival held at the end of the day's programme. Among those showcased included the 1932 Austin 10/4 car owned by Girish P.V.
“This is one of the five vintage cars I have. I have 45 vintage two-wheelers,” Mr. Girish said.
The 1946 Doge Power Wagon of Veerendra Heggade was on display.
After taking a look at the vintage vehicles, district in-charge Minister J. Krishna Palemar drove the Austin car and a vintage motorcycle. “I would love to purchase this car if offered,” Mr. Palemar said as Mr. Girish smiled.
The function began with a march-past by the city police, Home Guards, Bharat Seva Dal volunteers, Scouts and Guides, and, the junior and senior divisions of National Cadet Corps.
The march by the girls from Bharat Seva Dal was adjudged as the best while the display by NCC Air Wing seniors was ranked second.
The district administration felicitated John Vegas from Bantwal and P. Shankar Bhat from Vittal, who have won Krishi Pandit award for integrated agriculture and crop diversification.
While Mr. Vegas won the award for 2009-2010, Mr. Bhat won the award for 2010-2011.
The administration felicitated farmers for getting good paddy yield. They are Anand Shetty from Bantwal, Shankar Prabhu from Belthangady, Kamala Rai from Sullia, Eliyas D'Souza from Panjimogaru, D. Abubakar from Belma, Ramesh N. Rao from Talipady, and Sudari Shedti from Srimanturu.
Suprita, who won gold in the recently held the Commonwealth Unequipped Power-lifting and Bench-press Championship in London, was felicitated.
Dream
In his address, Mr. Palemar said there was a need to work for realising the dreams of elders for building a strong nation. He spoke about the money spent by the State Government for social welfare schemes and development of infrastructure in Dakshina Kannada.
Legislative Assembly Deputy Speaker N. Yogish Bhat, MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, MLC Ganesh Karnik, and Coastal Development Authority Chariman B. Nagaraj Shetty participated.
