SHILLONG: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has acknowledged the contribution of achievers who had brought laurels to the state during his Independence Day speech on Thursday. He said that Meghalaya has a huge young population and 68 per cent of the population is below 29 years of age.
“Our youth are immensely talented and several of them have brought laurels to the state and the country in the recent past,’’ he said.
Blessilla A Sangma, a nine-year-old athlete from Tura, brought laurels by winning gold in the 4th Child Cup and 10th Mini National Fencing Championship held at Maharashtra recently.
“In other sporting disciplines, one of our youths from South West Khasi Hills, Tlanding Wahlang, who is also India’s fastest Ultra-marathon runner represented India in Portugal and participated in the World Trail Championship,” he said.
Records were broken by a youth from our state, Winward Sangma, by pedaling through the Himalayas from Nepal.
Another of the state’s champions, Phoebe Dale Nongrum, created ripples by being the first Formula-4 racer from North East.
Keeping alive the spirit of music, the students of Kiddies Corner Secondary School won gold and silver in the 8th International Choir Festival held at Bali this July.
Aroha Choir also made the state proud by representing the country and winning the 1st prize in the acapella category at a competition in Wales.
He said in the field of visual arts, a very talented filmmaker, Dominic M Sangma, directed the national award-winning film Ma.Ama.
‘‘In the fashion arena, one of our girls, Tanvi Raksam Marak emerged as the winner of Mega Miss Northeast 2019,” the chief minister said.