Nisitha Pattnaik, a student of the Bhubaneswar Kalinga Nagar DAV Public School, has stood first in an all-India essay competition held on the occasion of the World Agroforestry Congress. She received a cash prize of Rs 25,000 and a certificate of merit from President Pranab Mukherjee at a function held recently in New Delhi.
Nisitha, daughter of Kshitish Pattnaik, wrote an essay of 3,000 words on the theme “Trees for life” to achieve this distinction. Boys from Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh ended up second and third in the competition, respectively. Another Odia girl, Bidyasha Harichandan, a student of the Stewart School, Bhubaneswar, secured the second position in the all-India drawing competition held on the same theme. She received a cash prize of Rs 20,000 and a certificate of merit from the President. Girls from Tamil Nadu and Gujarat were first and third, respectively. Students from 18 States had participated in the essay and drawing competitions organised by the Indian Society for Agroforestry.