Students from India made the country proud as they won the International Biology Olympiad medal for the first time with an all-gold performance. Their win came at the 34th edition of the competition held in Al Ain, UAE, from July 3 to 11, in which 293 students from 76 countries participated.
Sharing details of the students with the media Prof. Anwesh Mazumdar, National Coordinator, Science Olympiads, at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education said the Indian team included Dhruv Advani from Bengaluru; Ishan Pednekar from Kota, Rajasthan; Megh Chhabda from Jalna, Maharashtra; and Rohit Panda from Risali, Chhattisgarh.
Apart from India, Singapore was the only other country to win four gold medals in the Olympiad.
Praising the students and the Indian delegates who accompanied them for this astounding performance, Mazumdar remarked: “The teachers and mentors from across the country and the Biology Olympiad cell of HBCSE deserve appreciation for training the students during the orientation and pre-departure camps at HBCSE. We thank the national steering committee, all the teacher organisations and the funding agencies of the Government of India for their continued strong support of the Olympiad programme.”
This is not the first time that India is topping the medal tally. In the past, India has topped in other disciplines of International Science Olympiads. In Astronomy & Astrophysics the country topped in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015 and 2021; in Physics in 2018; and in Junior Science in 2014, 2019, 2021, and 2022).
International Science Olympiads are annual competitions in various areas of the formal sciences, natural sciences, and social sciences.
The team was guided by Prof Madan M Chaturvedi, former senior professor, Delhi University and Dr Anupama Ronad from Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. The scientific observers of the contingent included Dr. V.V. Binoy from National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru and Dr. Rambhadur Subedi of National Institute for Research In Reproductive Health, Mumbai.
