By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, SEPT 28, 2017: The Environment Ministry has extended the qualifying round of 'Prakriti Khoj' - the online Environment quiz, upto October 8, 2017. Earlier, the qualifying round was open only upto September 29, 2017. The quiz, a new initiative of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is providing a unique platform to the school students to develop a scientific temperament, especially in the field of environment.

The first round began on September 25, 2017. So far, nearly 13, 000 registrations have been received. During the first two days, nearly 1500 students from 15 States have already participated in the quiz. Looking into the interest generated among students in different States, even up to the village level and based on the feedback received from the State Nodal Agencies under the Eco-club programme of the Ministry, the qualifying round of the quiz has been extended upto October 8, 2017.  The second, third, fourth and fifth rounds will be held subsequently thereafter, on October 30 to November 3, 2017, November 20-24, 2017, December 4-6, 2017, December 18-20, 2017 respectively.

The quiz is being conducted online though multiple choice questions. The first phase of the quiz is open to only students of Eco-clubs (NGC programme of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change). Schools are forwarding the names of students who are members of Eco-clubs for registration through the respective State Nodal Agency. Thematic areas like climate change, biodiversity, forest and wildlife, pollution, waste management, rivers and lakes, natural history, international conventions such as convention on biological diversity, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), United Nations Convention To Combat Desertification, Convention On International Trade In Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora have been chosen for the quiz.

A separate web portal containing information on the quiz has been also developed by the Ministry. All relevant information viz. list of state nodal agencies in states, FAQs, contact information, E-mail Id, user manual and information on quiz can be accessed from the website. A space for providing feedback by the participants has also been provided on the web portal.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has requested the Chief Secretaries and Principal Secretaries (Primary and Secondary Education) and District Collectors or District Magistrates of all the States, for wider dissemination of information on the quiz. 'Prakriti Khoj'- the environment awareness initiative had been launched on September 5, 2017, with the aim to reach out to young aspiring minds of school students through a fun-filled interactive learning mode for triggering a sense of awareness towards environment protection and conservation.