‘Environment Day’ painting contest winners picked

The winners of the annual World Environment Day 2012 painting competition in Qatar have been announced at a event held at Al Rayyan Theatre in Doha recently.More than 2,000 entries had been received for the competition which was held under the theme, ‘Save the Environment’ as part of the global World Environment Day theme ‘Green Economy – does it include you?’ – an initiative promoted by the UN Environment Programme. A total of 90 children and adults were recognised at the awards and finals ceremony which was jointly organised by International Academy for Inter-cultural Development (IAID) and Friends for the Environment Centre for the sixth consecutive year, under the auspices of FEC chairman Dr Saif Ali al-Hajri.Dr Saif told the gathering that safeguarding the environment was everyone’s responsibility and that this starts at home with the family, for the benefit of future generations, especially the youth and children. “This year’s theme reflects our environmental challenges as we realise how investment in new technologies and expenditure on human behaviour can help protect environment,” he said.Al Khaliji Commercial Bank was sponsoring the event for the second consecutive year. Its PR and Communications head Abeer al-Kalla also emphasised that the protection of the environment was everyone’s responsibility.She said that the environment was one of the most pressing issues the world faced today, citing an example that if the impact of climate change and sea-level rise was not mitigated within the next 50 years, the Doha Corniche would be under water and City Centre mall would be at the seafront. Oryx GTL Limited Public Relations and Communications acting manager Katia Abboud Saba congratulating the winners for their efforts said: “We’d like to congratulate each participant. Everyone is a winner for us because in their own way, they have raised awareness about environment. Oryx GTL considers environmental issues as a core initiative and sustainable development is a key value.”There were six categories of winners and three winners were recognised in each category. The Birla Public School was awarded the ‘Best Participating School’.Other winners were: Adult: Sauman Pal (first), Mahesh Kumar (second) and Dr Sreekumar Padmanabhan (third).Category A (for age group four to six years): Maryam Sohail of Al Khor International School (first), Mohamed Rayan Savad, Birla Public School (second) and Jai Murli Kannan, Doha Modern Indian School (third). Category B (for seven to nine years): L Raman Kishore of DPS- MIS (first), Dhruv Rao of Birla Public School (second) and Labiba Tasnim of The Next Generation School (third).Category C (for 10 to12 years): Deepak Sajikumar, MES Indian School (first), J M Adhetya Narayan, MES Indian School (second), Johara Ahmad al-Slaten, Cambridge Int’l School for Girls (third). Category D (13 to 15 yrs): Cut Izza Fildza Alyssa of Al Khor International School (first), Ju Myoung Lee, Compass International School (second), Abraham of Birla Public School (third). Category E (16-18 yrs): J M Soorya Narayan of MES Indian School (first), Tharindu Gamage of Doha College (second), Ameena Abdulla Ali-Almalik of Al Wakra Secondary School for Girls (third).Highlights of the award ceremony event included dance performances from IAID students. IAID director Rajesh Jadhav said the year’s competition was an overwhelming success as they received the biggest number of entries since the launch of the WED painting contest. He also said that in the process it had helped to raise awareness about environmental issues in Qatar and globally.Among the supporters of the the WED 2012 celebration in Qatar were diamond sponsors, Al Khalij Commercial Bank (al khaliji), platinum sponsor, Oryx GTL Limited and gold sponsor, Gulf Agency Company Qatar. It was also supported by event partners Faber-Castell, InterContinental Doha, Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, ILoveQatar.net and Al Rayyan Theatre.