Today, sports are no longer an extra-curricular activity. Name, success, prestige and money are all at stake. Sports plays an important role to shine the name of the country all over the world. Tripura Badminton Association President and Deputy Chief Minister Yishnu Devabarma said this while inaugurating the 4-day North Eastern Inter-State Open Badminton Competition organized by Tripura Badminton Association at NSRCC Indoor Stadium today. This competition will continue till September 11. Badminton players from 8 states of North Eastern region participated in the championship. The guests exchanged greetings with the players participating in the event. While speaking at the event, Deputy Chief Minister jishnu Debvarma said that the North Eastern states are the sports powerhouse of the country. Athletes from the North-East bring home medals in all kinds of sports at the state and inter-state levels. People in the Northeast are more into sports than any other part of the state. From time to time this region has given the country various role models in the field of sports. He also said that there is a dire need to include sports as a subject in every educational institution these days. Players develop the mentality to cope with any situation in life. Sports play an important role in keeping the youth away from drug addiction. On the occasion, the Deputy Chief Minister praised all the states, people and natural beauty of the North Eastern region. He asked all the participating players to accept defeat and victory with a positive attitude. Agartala Pur Nigam Mayor Deepak Majumdar, Tripura Legislative Assembly Chief Conscientious MLA Kalyani Roy, Tripura Gymnastics Association President Rajeev Bhattacharya, Tripura Tea Development Nigam Limited Chairman Santosh Saha and others were present on this occasion. President of Tripura Football Association Ratan Saha delivered the welcome address on the occasion.