“Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world.”– Louis Pasteur

Samriddhi Agarwal of Class IX finds a place among the top 20 winners of the 12th edition of Tata Steel’s Young Astronomer Talent Search (YATS) programme 2018-19. It is organised by Tata Steel in collaboration with Pathani Samanta Planetarium, Bhubaneswar. The winners were felicitated by Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik on Thursday, December 13, 2018 at a function held at Pathani Samanta Planetarium.

The competition held on the theme ‘Imagine space exploration, 50 years from now’, saw participation of around 63,000 students from 300 different schools. The coveted group will visit one of the premier facilities of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to get a first-hand experience of space science in action.

Earlier, the preliminary round of the YATS was conducted at SAI International School on Monday, October 29, 2018. An Open Quiz Competition on Astronomy was held for students from Class VI to VIII. Around 150 interested students took part in the competition, out of which 16 students received prizes for giving the correct answer. For Class IX and X students, an Essay Competition was held on the theme ‘Imagine Space Exploration 50 years from now’. Forty-one interested students took part in the competition.

In the preliminary round held in various schools of the state, sixty students were selected, two from each district. It was followed by a personal interview held on Wednesday, December 12, 2018 at the Planetarium. The final list of 20 students were declared in the grand award ceremony.

The YATS annual competition aims to foster the intellect of students on space science and astronomy as well as seeks to identify and promote the talents of school students in the field of space science by providing them platforms to test and express their knowledge. It also aims to promote the contributions of legendary Odisha astronomer, Pathani Samanta in the field of Astronomy.