Colombo, July 26 (newsin.asia): At a special Virtual ceremony held on Monday, the High Commission of India awarded prizes and felicitated the winners of the First Round of the 3rd edition of ‘Bharat Ko Janiye’ (know India) Quiz for the year 2020-21.
Vinod K. Jacob, Acting High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, was the Chief Guest at the event.
Launched in 2015-16, ‘Bharat Ko Janiye’ Quiz is an initiative of the Government of India to strengthen engagement with the Indian Diaspora and friends of India by encouraging them to know about India.
The quiz has 4 rounds and the final prize is a tour of India, sponsored by the Government of India. The 8 winners from Sri Lanka are- Ms. Fatima Hilma, Ms. Kalani Thilakarathna and Ms. Kaushalya Dassanayke under the foreign nationals 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 in the 1st round.
Thanking all the participants from Sri Lanka, the Acting High Commissioner congratulated the winners and highlighted the strong people-to-people links between India and Sri Lanka. He acknowledged that such events, even though happening in the virtual mode since last year, had been immensely useful in bringing people together.
The Acting High Commissioner 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 the development cooperation partnership; encouraging sports & youth linkages and promoting connectivity for greater prosperity by resuming Chennai-Jaffna flight and commencing a 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 giving them an opportunity 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,its people and culture.
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