‘Prize distribution to winners of Bharat Ko Janiya quiz’.
High Commission of India, Sri Lanka felicitated a special Virtual Prize Giving Ceremony for ‘Bharat Ko Janiye’ (Get to Know India), today. The winners of the First Round of the third edition of the ‘Bharat Ko Janiye’ Quiz for the year 2020-21 were announced in the virtual ceremony. Mr Vinod K. Jacob, the Acting High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, was the Chief Guest at the event.
The four-round Quiz ends with the winner getting a tour of India sponsored by the Government of India. The ‘Bharat ko Janiye’ Quiz was launched in 2015 to strengthen engagement with the Indian diaspora and friends of India by encouraging them to know more about India.
The 8 winners from Sri Lanka are- Ms Fatima Hilma, Ms Kalani Thilakarathna and Ms Kaushalya Dassanayke under the foreign national category; Mr Jayant Agarwal, Mr Vikash Singh Under the NRI category and Mr Nitish Mishra, Ms Thashalini Sivagnanam and Ms Darshi Sritharan under Persons of Indian Origin category. They are among the 163 youth from all over the world who qualified for the 1st round.
Mr Jacob underlined the ambitious plan developed by the High Commission for the immediate future in taking forward people-to-people links and cultural exchanges in line with Covid restrictions. These included collaboration under the special grant of USD 15 million to promote Buddhist ties; skill development and facilitation for professionals and workers; cooperation in maritime disaster management, as in the case of MT New Diamond and MV X Press Pearl incidents; continuing development cooperation partnership; encouraging sports & youth linkages and promoting connectivity for greater prosperity by resuming Chennai-Jaffna flight and commencing ferry between Karaikal in India and Kankesanthurai in Sri Lanka.
During the virtual event, the prize winners shared their experiences and thanked the Government of India for allowing them to participate in the international quiz competition. They appreciated the initiatives of the High Commission of India and the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Center in promoting people-to-people ties and expressed their admiration for India and its people and culture.
