Southern districts too fare well

THRISSUR: Northern districts Kozhikode and Malappuram and hosts Thrisuur topped the chart on the final day of the 52nd State School Youth Festival. But the southern districts did not find any reason to lose heart, as their score sheet were well within the 600-700 range. Kottayam was right behind the leaders with 745 points, followed by Ernakulam and Thriuvananthapuram with 739 and 735 points.Durga Higher Secondary School Kanjangad came first in the Higher Secondary School section with 137 points with Silver Hills, Kozhikode with 98 and MKNMHSS, Kumaramangalam, Idukki, with 86 points at 2nd and 3rd places. In the High School section, BSSGHS, Alathur came first with 81 points, while St Teresa’s AIHSS, Kannur, and St  Joseph’s Anglo Indian Girls HSS, Kozhikode, came 2nd and 3rd with 75 and 56 points, respectively.Sanskrit and Arabic competitions again saw Durga HSS coming first with 43 points, with MMHSS Idukki and Vidyadhiraja Vidyabhavan EMHS, Aluva, finishing 2nd and 3rd with 39 and 30 points in Sanskrit. PSVPMHSS, Pathanamthitta claimed first with 39 points in Arabic, while HSS Vallappuzha, Palakkad, with 30 points came second and MRVHSS, Padne, Kasaragod, came third with 25 points.  The closing ceremony at the Corporation Stadium was inaugurated by the Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. He congratulated the winners and all who made the festival a grand success, while Education Minister Abdu Rabb said the government will consider restoring Kala Thilakam and Kala Pratibha titles.  Minister for Social Welfare M K Muneer, Minister for Cooperation C N Balakrishnan, MLAs Therambil Ramakrishnan, P A Madhavan, M P Vincent and Thomas Unniyadan were also present, along with the corporation mayor IP Paul and other dignitaries.  The Chief Minister  presented the Gold Cup to Kozhikode, while other  officials gave away the rest of the trophies.