Kochi student wins quiz contest

Organised by Consumer Affairs dept. and The Hindu

Koushik of Green Valley Public School, Kochi, won the first prize in a quiz competition organised by the Kerala Consumer Affairs Department and The Hindu as part of National Consumer Day 2019 celebrations.

Aashmi Ajay of Lourdes Public School and Junior College, Kottayam, and S. Adwaith of Sreenarayana Public School, Chenkottukonam, won the second and third prizes respectively. The winners will receive ₹10,000, ₹7,000 and ₹5,000 respectively.

Draw of lots

The winners were decided by a draw of lots at the Consumer Affairs Minister’s Chamber in the Assembly complex on Thursday.

P. Thilothaman, Minister for Food, Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Legal Metrology, drew the lots to select the first-prize winner.

Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar and P. Venugopal, Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, drew the lots to choose the second and third prize winners respectively.

N. Tej Lohit Reddy, Director of Civil Supplies, and K. K. Joshy, Senior General Manager (Advt), The Hindu , were present on the occasion.

The prizes will be given to the winners at a function to be held in the State after the current restrictions on public meetings over the COVID-19 threat are lifted.

396 contestants

In all, 396 contestants had submitted the correct answers and qualified themselves for the prizes. Each of them will receive a gift by post.

The quiz contest was included in ‘Be a Smart Consumer’, a booklet brought out by the Kerala Consumer Affairs Department and The Hindu .

T.J. Vinod, MLA, released the booklet by handing over a copy to Cherian K. Kuriakose, president, District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Kochi, at a function in Kochi on December 23.

16-page booklet

The 16-page booklet focussed on consumer rights and responsibilities, consumer protection laws in the country and the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection (UNGCP).

It gave details about consumer helplines, consumer disputes redressal fora and their pecuniary jurisdiction, legal metrology issues, standards formulated by the Bureau of Indian Standards that cover important segments of the economy, food safety rights, e-commerce, and consumer rights protection in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.