Students from Doha school crowned Green Ambassadors

New Delhi, Nov 25 (UNI) Two students from a school in Doha have been crowned Green Ambassadors at an international inter-school environment quiz competition here, aimed at creating greater environmental consciousness and support for sustainable development.

Moiz Bohra and Sreelakshmy Koonath from Al Khor International School, Doha, were adjudged winners of the 9th TerraQuiz 2007, a one-of-its-kind international inter-school environment quiz competition organised this weekend by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Hero Honda Motors Ltd, in association with the Ministry of Environment&Forests (MoEF).

In a keenly contested competition among 32 schools, both from India and abroad, Moiz Bohra and Sreelakshmy Koonath came up as winners and were crowned the "Hero Honda Green Ambassadors" for 2007-08.

The title confers upon the winners with a responsibility to undertake initiatives to broaden and strengthen awareness on environmental issues among fellow students.

Close contenders were Delhi Public School, Bokaro, Smt Sulochana Devi Singhania School, Thane and Indian High School, Dubai, which emerged as the first, second and third runners up respectively.

The TerraQuiz 2007 is a culmination of India's only environmental examination, the GREEN Olympiad.

This year, the GREEN Olympiad witnessed participation from over 80,000 school children, from 1400 plus schools from across the country and from Indian schools in the Middle East and South East Asia .

Speaking on the occasion, Dr R K Pachauri, Director-General, TERI, said,''Hero Honda has been our partner for the Green Olympiad since its inception. This programme has an enormous potential for transforming Indian society towards greater environmental consciousness and support for sustainable development. It is really the children of today who would be the leaders of tomorrow, and in their role as the 'Hero Honda Green Ambassadors', they can be major agents of change for a sustainable future.'' Speaking on the occasion, Pawan Munjal, Managing Director and CEO, Hero Honda Motors Ltd said,''we believe in the potential of this project to help spread environmental awareness among the next generation and are delighted to partner with TERI on this initiative. It is indeed a laudable endeavour which, over the years, has continued to encourage children, teachers and parents to join hands for a cleaner, greener future.'' The TerraQuiz this year was a combination of fun, entertainment and interactive programs for the school children. To keep the tradition of having a popular television personality to host the show - the anchor for TerraQuiz 2007 was Manpreet Brar, a well-known TV personality, Model and Former Miss India.

R Mehta, Advisor MoEF while congratulating the winners was confident that India , through such initiatives, would positively have a well-informed and a 'Better Tomorrow' for our future generations.

UNI