Kazakhstan launches national superhero contest

Astana: Kazakhstan has announced a contest to create a national superhero who will be named after the Central Asian country`s capital.

A total of 123 people, including 37 Kazakhs, will take part in the contest, to be held July 1-3 during an action movie festival. The participants are supposed to add a Kazakh member to the pantheon of Batman, Spiderman, Captain America etc., and invent his biography, costume and appearance. Organisers said Astana the superhero should become "a symbol of the young, energetic and rapidly developing capital of Kazakhstan" and should embody the values, traditions, culture and history of the Kazakh people. Astana became the capital of Kazakhstan in 1997. The capital was moved from Almaty to Astana due to its more centralised location. IANS