Bhubaneswar, Jan 27: Barnali Sahu, a Class XI student of DAV School at Cuttack in Odisha hogged the spotlight during Project Veer Gatha 3.0 felicitation ceremony of ‘Super-100’ winners at New Delhi on Thursday.
She delivered the speech on behalf of Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and received a standing ovation.
The Defence minister took everyone by surprise when he handed over the podium to Barnali - one of the Super-100 winners - to read out his speech without any prior preparation and Barnali accomplished the job like a pro.
Despite hailing from a non-Hindi state, Barnali read out the Hindi speech fluently and her exceptional effort was appreciated by Singh and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Voicing his views through Barnali, Singh said Project Veer Gatha was an endeavour to introduce the bravehearts of the nation to the youth and take the tales of valour by the young minds. The project was launched with the combined efforts of Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Education to strengthen the values of ‘Nation First’”.
A majority of the girls from the state got the award which is a collaborative initiative of Ministries of Defence and Education in wake of Republic Day celebrations.
A cash prize of Rs 10,000, a medal and a certificate were given to each of the 100 winners.
