Curtains come down on 17th National Youth Festival

January 16, 2012

Mangalore, January 16. Curtains came down on the five-day long 17th National Youth Festival on Monday with the Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda laying emphasis on the urgent need to infuse young blood and vigor at the all levels of administration especially at the grassroots levels of the Department of Youth Services and Sports.

The valedictory ceremony got off to a colourful start with cultural troupes from various states of India once again unleashing the mesmerizing hues of Indian cultural through a vibrant procession in front of the tens of thousands of spectators at Mangala Stadium in this coastal city.

Addressing the national assembly of youth, Mr Gowda pointed out that the Mangala Stadium, which was jam-packed with young crowd, was an evidence to the fact that the India's folk culture can still connected with Gen Y and enthuse them.

“We have all heard and read about India being a land of diverse cultures and talents. Over the last five days, the people of Mangalore, Karnataka, India and SAARC countries have witnessed and experienced the concept of 'Celebrating Diversity in Unity' coming to life with young talented delegates coming together, demonstrating their rich cultural heritage and weaving a magical tapestry of India”, the CM said. “We have felt the true warmth of this big family we shared during the past five days”, he added.

Reaffirming the state government's commitment to provide greater platform for the youth, the CM said more of such platforms need to be provided to youth of India to discover their roots, strengths and talents, become confident, develop self-worth to lead society; lead India.

“My government is committed to this by enabling the latent potential of youth power in its entirety to work towards nation building activities”, he assured.

He also said that the youth I see in front of him as the ambassadors of cultural heritage and unity, would be tomorrow's leaders who would take India forward.

Pointing to the surge in the population of youth in Asia and India, he lamented that the work towards enabling the youth of this nation has hitherto not been given the importance it deserves.

The Chief Minister pledged to take a lead from this youth festival and to revamp the schemes and introduce new programmes through the Department of Youth Services and Sports in the larger interest of youth.

“The Youth Rally will be modeled more on the lines of the youth festival. We will broad-base it by introducing new competitions and events, inspiring fresh talent”, he said.

He said that the training programs in life skills development will be strengthened and the scope will be expanded to imbibe the teachings of Swami Vivekananda.

He also said that the State Government has decided to celebrate Youth Week in a more meaningful way from now on. “Steps will be taken to connect the ideals of Swami Vivekananda with the values our youth and our people require for everyday life”, he added.

In his welcome address, Principal Secretary of Youth Services and Sports I R Perumal informed that as many as 6,318 participants from across the 28 States and seven Union Territories along with SAARC delegates took part in the event.

Chairman of Legislative Council D H Shankar Murthy presided over the programme.

Minister for Medical Education and Technical Education and Youth Service and Sports, in Government of Jammu and Kashmir Rajendra Singh Chib, Dakshina Kannada District In-charge Minister Krishna J Palemar, Mangalore MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, Deputy Speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly N Yogish Bhat, Mulky-Moodbidri MLA Abhayachandra Jain Coastal Development Authority Chairman B Nagaraj Shetty, former international athletes Uday K Prabhu, Sri M P Ganesh and Arjun Devaiah were present among others on the occasion.

Glimpses of 17th National Youth Festival (Album 1)

Glimpses of 17th National Youth Festival (Album 2)

Glimpses of 17th National Youth Festival (Album 3)

Glimpses of 17th National Youth Festival (Album 4)

Glimpses of 17th National Youth Festival (Album 5)

Glimpses of 17th National Youth Festival (Album 6)

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HC refuses to quash probe against Mangaluru WhatsApp admin over offensive posts

News Network

February 1,2026

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has refused to quash an investigation against a WhatsApp group administrator accused of allowing the circulation of obscene and offensive images depicting Hindutva politicians and idols in 2021.

Justice M Nagaprasanna observed that, prima facie, the ingredients of the offence under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code were made out. “The offence under Section 295A of the IPC is met to every word of its ingredient, albeit prima facie,” the judge said.

The petitioner, Sirajuddin, a resident of Belthangady taluk in Dakshina Kannada district, had challenged the FIR registered against him at the CEN (Cyber, Economics and Narcotics) police station, Mangaluru, for offences under Section 295A of the IPC and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act. Section 295A relates to punishment for deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class of citizens.

According to the complaint filed by K Jayaraj Salian, also a resident of Belthangady taluk, he received a WhatsApp group link from an unknown source and was added to the group after accessing it. The group reportedly had six administrators and around 250 participants, where obscene and offensive images depicting Hindu deities and certain political figures were allegedly circulated repeatedly.

Sirajuddin was arrested in connection with the case and later released on bail on February 16, 2021. He argued before the court that he was being selectively targeted, while other administrators—including the creator of the group—were neither arrested nor investigated. He also contended that the Magistrate could not have taken cognisance of the offence under Section 295A without prior sanction under Section 196(1) of the CrPC.

Rejecting the argument, Justice Nagaprasanna held that prior sanction is required only at the stage of taking cognisance, and not at the stage of registration of the crime or during investigation.

The judge noted that the State had produced the entire investigation material before the court. “A perusal of the material reveals depictions of Hindu deities in an extraordinarily obscene, demeaning and profane manner. The content is such that its reproduction in a judicial order would itself be inappropriate,” the court said, adding that the material, on its face, had the tendency to outrage religious feelings and disturb communal harmony.

Observing that the case was still at the investigation stage, the court said it could not interdict the probe at this juncture. However, it expressed concern that the investigating officer appeared to have not proceeded uniformly against all administrators. The court clarified that if the investigation revealed the active involvement of any member in permitting the circulation of such content, they must also be proceeded against.

“At this investigative stage, any further observation by this Court would be unnecessary,” the order concluded.

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