New Delhi, Aug. 17 -- FICCI CASCADE on Monday hosted the 8th edition of its Inter-School Competition, themed "ZERO-EVASION: Youth Driving Change Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting", at FICCI, Federation House, New Delhi.

The event saw participation from 620 students representing more than 91 schools across Delhi/NCR. Students competed in Elocution, Poster-Making and Jingle Writing, using their creativity to highlight the economic, social and national security implications of smuggling and counterfeiting.

The jury comprised Hem Kumar Pande, Former Secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India and Think Tank Member, FICCI CASCADE; Sanjeev Tripathi, Former Chief, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Think Tank Member, FICCI CASCADE; and Deep Chand, Former Special Commissioner of Police, New Delhi and Advisor, FICCI CASCADE.

Pande said young consumers' purchasing choices can have wider implications for legitimate businesses, consumer safety and the economy, and stressed the need to foster informed and vigilant citizens. Tripathi said awareness among young citizens is crucial to addressing illicit trade and that programmes such as ZERO-EVASION enable students to understand the challenges and inspire greater awareness. Deep Chand called for collective efforts involving society and enforcement agencies, saying young citizens can become advocates for responsible choices.

In the Elocution competition, Abeer Dubey of Indirapuram Public School won first place, followed by Sanjana Prasanth of Mother Mary's School, Mayur Vihar, in second and Sumit Singh Dhillan of Evergreen Public School, Vasundhara Enclave, in third.

In Poster-Making, Anaya Trivedi of Birla Vidya Niketan, Pushp Vihar secured first place, Biswajeet Saha of Mount Columbus School, New Delhi was second, and Aaradhya Negi of Lotus Valley International School, Gurugram was third. Akshi Jain of Salwan Public School, Gurugram received the consolation prize.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.