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City Lad Shines At International Astronomy Olympiad

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  • City Lad Shines At International Astronomy Olympiad

    CITY LAD SHINES AT INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMY OLYMPIAD
    by Payal Gwalani

    The Times of India
    October 30, 2012 Tuesday

    NAGPUR: A boy belonging to the city soared high earning himself a gold
    medal at the International Astronomy Olympiads held in South Korea
    recently. Arindam Bhattacharya, currently studying in Bangalore,
    was the part of a three-member team that represented the country to
    the Olympiad. The team bagged three medals - one gold and two silvers.

    The team that also had Seshaansh Agrawal of Jaipur and Ayush Kumar of
    Jodhpur, competed with children from 22 countries making up 17 teams in
    the junior and 16 teams in the senior group. Union ministry of culture,
    National Council of Science Museums, Nehru Science Centre and Homi
    Bhabha Centre for Science Education were among the organizations that
    supported the team. Arindam's score was 58.2 out of a possible 88,
    putting him very close to the highest scorer Grevorg Martirosyan from
    Armenia who scored 59 points.

    "The Olympiads are not just some competition but a platform for
    sharing ideas among people of different nationalities who have similar
    interests. The selection procedure, that is a three-tier process in
    India, is also a tough one," said Arindam. Those wishing to compete
    internationally first need to appear for the National Standard
    examination conducted by Indian Association of Physics Teachers. The
    top 300 scorers of the examination qualify for the Indian National
    Astronomy Olympiad which also consists of a three-week camp at the
    Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Mumbai. The top three
    performers of the camp can represent the country at the Olympiads.

    Despite not being taught in school, Arindam developed interest in the
    subject after a chance reading of Stephen Hawking's 'A Brief History
    of Time'. "I started reading more about astronomy after that. Later,
    I came across the information about the Olympiad and was determined
    to participate. So, I began preparing for it. It was only after
    having studied one year that I attempted the first examination,"
    he said. He believes the subject should be introduced at high school
    level as it helps develop independent thinking and problem solving
    ability of a student.

    The subject, Arindam believes has not got its due importance. "We
    do not have astronomy as a subject in school. Most of us don't even
    know the basics of the subject,' rued Arindam who wishes to take up
    nuclear engineering for his undergraduate studies. "This is because,
    we have reached a stage where we can no longer depend on traditional
    sources of energy and nuclear power," he said.

    Ends


    From: Baghdasarian
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