The festival’s closing ceremony was held on Nov 5 with the major highlight being the Dubai Kreeda Ratna Award which was conferred upon Arjuna Awardee Dr Honnappa C Gowda, former captain of the Indian national and Karnataka state Kabaddi team.
On the occasion of Mysuru Dasara and Kannada Rajyotsava, and in support of Dubai Fitness Challenge launched by the Crown Prince of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Dubai-based Kannada association Hemmeya UAE Kannadigaru celebrated Dubai Sports Festival 2021 at Kent College in Nad Al Shiba, Dubai.
The festival’s closing ceremony was held on Nov 5 with the major highlight being the Dubai Kreeda Ratna Award which was conferred upon Arjuna Awardee Dr Honnappa C Gowda, former captain of the Indian national and Karnataka state Kabaddi team.
Dr Gowda thanked the whole Kannadigas diaspora the honour . During his speech he urged parents to encourage children to eat healthy and engage in physically active sports and activities rather than mobile games.
During the prize distribution ceremony, a specially designed medal and certificate and trophies were given to the winners of sports, arts, literature, talent and cultural events.
Kannada students based in UAE who scored highest marks in SSLC and PUC exams as well as winners of Sheik Hamdan and Dr Sultan Awards were honoured with the Student Excellence Award.
Mohammed Mustafa, the owner of EMSquare Engineering Consultancy was also honoured with the ‘Apath Bhandava’ award for his social service and commitment to support Kannada communities in India and around the world.
Main guests of the event included Praveen Shetty, president of Karnataka NRI Forum and owner of Fortune Group of Hotels, Shekhar Reddy, owner of Gulf Stream Contracting, Dr Rashmi Nandakishore, owner of Riva Laser Medical and Institute, Raghavendra Manbol, head of PAN World Education Solution, owner of The Fresh Online Sri Hidayat Addoor, Naveed Magundi, vocalist and businessman, Dubai Advocate Khaleel Kasargodu, a UAE KMCC legal adviser, and bollywood filmmaker MS Khan.
The programme was chaired by Mamatha Mysore, president of Hemmeya UAE Kannadigaru. The event started with a Bharatanatyam performance by Iswarya Bharadwaj Dubai, the first Indian artist to perform solo classical dance at Expo 2020, followed by the official opening speech which was delivered by Vishnumurthy Mysuru.
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