Bangalore:
Climate change may have been pushed off the headlines, amidst news of scandals and the recent visit of US President Barack Obama.
But days ahead of the Cancun climate change summit 2010 in Mexico, India's premier science institute in Bangalore, Indian Institute of science (IISc), kept the debate alive, for hundreds of engineering students.
However, are tomorrow's engineers clued in enough on the great climate debate? NDTV visited the campus and came away with a few home truths.
Why does it take less time on a flight `to' India from the US, than the other way round?
Bet you wouldn't have thought this question connects with climate science. Indeed it does.
"There are strong winds called Westerlies that blow from the West to the East, and that is why," explained a professor at the institute.
The prestigious Indian Institute of Science was the venue for a climate science quiz.
The participants included engineering students from over 70 colleges in and around Bangalore.
The stakes: 20,000 rupees for the winning team. A lot of money - but there were more zeroes than that, on the scoreboards.
Maybe the quiz was a bit too technical but the students were never promised an easy run.
"We never expected them to ask what parts per million of Carbon Oxide, what Sulphur-di-Oxide in the atmosphere, it was statistical oriented. We are used to answering general knowledge quizzes," said Vikram Ponna, a participant at the quiz.
"Generally what happens, is all these guys read Wikipedia or something, just so they keep in touch with normal newspapers, but that would have been sufficient for normal quizzes, but this was IISc," said the proud winner Raviteja.
But the man who earlier headed India's Space Research Organisation (ISRO) did have a kind word.
"Well, I look at it the other way. When we were students, we didn't even know this much. Over a period of time, partly because of Google and Internet things have changed," said UR Rao, Chairman, ISRO.
Hopefully, climate awareness too will change for the better.