In a bid to create awareness among people against the use of plastic and to promote awareness for protection of environment, on World Environment Day, India Eye IHRO, an NGO, hosted a daylong event at the India Islamic Centre in the capital. Speaking at the event held here on Tuesday, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, said, “We cannot ignore the growth of the country, but we also need to focus on the environment. Our development should not harm mother earth.” Stressing on the need for awareness for protection of the environment, Rakesh Sharma, Managing Director of India Eye IHRO, said: “People should take the United Nations’ slogan seriously which encourages people against the use of plastic.” The keynote address was by Sadhvi Bhagwati, an American environment activist working for cleaning of Ganga in Uttarakhand. Among those felicitated with awards for their contribution towards environment protection were Vijay Darda, a former Rajya Sabha MP, and Professor Rajgopalan Vasudevan, a scientist popularly known as “Plastic Man of India”.