Keekli Reporter, 6th August 2015, Shimla
Students from various schools of Shimla City spent an interactive morning session as they participated in the Inter-School Quiz Competition organized by the Municipal Corporation Shimla — “Eco-Buzz” — under the Swacch Bharat Mission, here today at the Multipurpose Hall, Gaiety Theatre. The aim of this event was to create awareness among children about the growing problems relating to cleanliness, to make the City clean and to stop open defecation. The chief guest for the event was Mayor Sanjay Chauhan, and the guest of honour was Dr Sonam Negi, MC Health Officer.
Mayor Chauhan inaugurated the event, after which he addressed the students outlining the aim for organizing the quiz. He said, “That under the community development programme the Swacch Bharat Mission was launched first in 1951, under which toilets needed to be constructed in each household and completely stop open defecation. You are the future of the society and it is imperative that you are made aware about such sensitive issues. To clean the society you need to become the future leaders and need to actively participate and become responsible citizens of Shimla City”. He further emphasized that we need to stop littering the place and set positive examples for others as well.
The screening of schools was done on the basis of a written quiz test. A total of 26 schools participated in the competition with 66 teams, with a maximum of three participants from any school. The quiz started at 10 in the morning as students received a questionnaire with 30 multiple choice questions on environment. Based on this result, seven teams qualified for the final round namely — Dayanand Public School; Portmore School; Government Summerhill; Auckland House Girls School; DAV New Shimla; Kendriya Vidyalya, Jakhoo; and Shimla Public School, Khalini.
The quiz competition was held in three rounds, wherein the students were required to answer questions mainly on environment and history of the Shimla city. It also included a picture identification test and a rapid fire round. Some very interesting questions were asked by the Quiz Masters Katiyana and Pawan, which had been prepared by Baldev Bharti, SWM Specialist, and his team.
Aditya Sharma and Kanchan Sood from Kendriya Vidyalya, Jakhoo bagged the first position by scoring 70 points in all the three rounds, followed by the Sarthak and Abhimanyu from Dayanand Public School and Nataliya and Kuldip from D.A.V. Public School, New Shimla. The prize money received by the winners was Rs. 10,000/-, 6,000/- and 3,000/- respectively. All the other teams among the top seven, Auckland House School, Shimla Public School, Portmore and Govt. High School, Summer Hill, were also given consolation prize of Rs. 500/- each.
The Director, Urban Development, Captain JM Pathania gave away the prizes to the teams and enlightened them about the about the Swachh Bharat Mission as he complimented the Municipal Department for their initiative and the whole-hearted participation of the students. He said, “Self-help groups should be created and schools should invite members from various departments to inform the students about latest policies and programmes launched by the government for their successful implementation. If children are educated then the impact of that programme will be a very positive one”. He further emphasized on programmes related to solid waste management and recycling.
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