top of page

By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 11:29:11 am

Indian students strike gold

Mumbai: India’s brightest young scientific minds have once again proven their mettle on the global stage, securing exceptional medal hauls at two of the world’s most prestigious science competitions for secondary school students. Showcasing unprecedented academic prowess, the Indian delegation brought home a historic all-gold sweep at the 58th International Chemistry Olympiad in Uzbekistan, alongside an impressive haul of one gold and three silver medals at the 37th International Biology...

Indian students strike gold

Mumbai: India’s brightest young scientific minds have once again proven their mettle on the global stage, securing exceptional medal hauls at two of the world’s most prestigious science competitions for secondary school students. Showcasing unprecedented academic prowess, the Indian delegation brought home a historic all-gold sweep at the 58th International Chemistry Olympiad in Uzbekistan, alongside an impressive haul of one gold and three silver medals at the 37th International Biology Olympiad in Lithuania. These stellar performances cement India’s position as a powerhouse of STEM talent, reflecting the rigorous training and dedication cultivated by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE) and a nationwide network of educators, said national coordinator of Science Olympiads Prof. Anwesh Mazumdar. In a landmark achievement, all four students representing India at the International Chemistry Olympiad, held in Tashkent from July 10 to 19, bagged gold medals. This marks India’s first-ever all-gold sweep in the history of the competition. The victorious quartet includes Debadatta Priyadarshi from Bhubaneswar, Harshit Singla from Mandi Gobindgarh, Kabeer Chillar from Delhi, and Sandeep Kuchi from Hyderabad. This year’s event was the largest to date, featuring 363 students from 93 countries. India’s flawless performance tied the nation for the top spot in the country-wise medals tally, sharing the first position with China, Vietnam, and an individual participant from Russia. The students navigated highly complex experimental and theoretical tasks, including decoding the composition of historical and natural artifacts, calculating the mass of uranium used in a 1966 detonation, and performing advanced pH-metric titrations. The team was guided by Head Mentor Professor Subhajit Bandyopadhyay, Mentor Dr. Indrani Sen, and Scientific Observers Dr. Anubendu Adhikary and Dr. Jayasree Gopalakrishnan. Running concurrently in Vilnius from July 12 to 19, the International Biology Olympiad saw the Indian team secure one gold and three silver medals against a highly competitive field of 307 students from 78 nations. Bhavyaa Gunwal from Mahendragarh clinched the gold medal, while Soumil Maity from Howrah, Nishit Kalani from Pali, and Anmol Kumar from Mansa each brought home silver. The biology competition pushed the boundaries of secondary education with a gruelling six-hour theoretical exam and an intensive six-hour practical laboratory test designed by the Vilnius University Life Sciences Centre. In the labs, students executed complex molecular biology tasks like restriction digestion, evaluated the pharmacokinetics of aspirin, performed precise insect morphology dissections, and utilized cutting-edge digital software for plant transcriptome analysis. The delegation was led by Professor Rekha Vartak and Dr. Anupama Ronad, alongside Scientific Observers Dr. Ranjithsinh Devkar and Dr. Siddhesh Ghag.

Mumbai 2023 Learjet crash probe in final stages

Mumbai: In a significant development post-Baramati Learjet 45 crash on Jan. 28, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said that the probe into a disaster involving a similar aircraft at the Mumbai Airport on Sep. 14, 2023, is now in the final stages.

 

The AAIB statement came amid embarrassing questions after the Baramati incident in which Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party President Ajit Pawar and four others were killed. The small aircraft in both crashes were owned by VSR Ventures Pvt. Ltd.

 

Mumbai Crash

On the Mumbai crash, the AAIB said that a Learjet 45 aircraft (Reg. No. VT-DBL) took off from Visakhapatnam on Sep. 14, 2023, but nosedived, veered off the runway at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and crashed in heavy rains and poor visibility conditions.

 

“The aircraft had earlier taken-off from Visakhapatnam Airport and while landing at Mumbai airport, the aircraft continuously drifted to the right of Runway 27 and crash landed at the shoulder of the intersection of Taxiway W and N,” said the AAIB today on that incident.

 

The 8 persons aboard were identified as the pilot Capt. Sunil, and Capt. Neil, the First Officer, plus passengers and 2 crew Dhruv Kotak, K. K. Krishnadas, Aakarsh Shethi, Arul Sali, Lars Sorensen from Denmark and Kamakshi.

 

“The co-pilot suffered serious injury whereas the pilot-in-command and 6 passengers suffered minor injuries. The co-pilot could not be interviewed for a long time since he was in bad shape. The aircraft was destroyed during the accident,” it said.

 

Thereafter, the probe team prepared a detailed preliminary report on the disaster including the initial outcome of the flight recorders and published it on the AAIB website.

 

“The investigators analyzed all the evidence and other documents. The investigation is in final stages. The investigation team is trying their best to finalise the report on top priority,” the AAIB said, without mentioning the causes of the tragedy or fixing responsibility on anyone.


Opposition Ruckus

The AAIB’s affirmation came as the Maharashtra Opposition Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Nationalist Congress Party (SP) and other leaders raised suspicions over the Jan. 28 Baramati crash.

 

SS (UBT) Rajya Sabha Member Sanjay Raut even hinted at a conspiracy by drawing parallels with the death of Justice B. H. Loya (Dec. 2014) in Nagpur, while West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also smelt intrigue seeking a Supreme Court-monitored probe, though NCP (SP) President Sharad Pawar declared that it was ‘an accident’.

 

Raut alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party had threatened the late Ajit Pawar with files related to the purported irrigation mega-scam after he tried to become cosy with the NCP (SP), and was open to a merger with his party, as asserted by Sharad Pawar.

 

“Something had happened behind the curtains… Ajitdada was keen for a reconciliation (with Sharad Pawar) after which the BJP warned him. Ajitdada responded to those threats and barely 10 days later, was killed mysteriously in the plane crash,” claimed Raut.

 

Comparing it with Justice Loya’s death, Raut cautioned that “questions are bound to be raised on Ajit Pawar’s death”, and the manner in which a tall leader like him was killed must be probed in the light of facts coming to light. “It think there is something dubious. Even his own (NCP) people are finding it suspicious,” he said.

 

Congress Legislature Party Leader Vijay Wadettiwar contended that “80 pc of the people in the state believe there is something fishy going on” in the whole matter.

 

“A CID probe will not solve anything… Why was the pilot changed at the last minute? How did negligence happen in the case of such a big leader... What does it point to… The NCP leaders should demand a proper investigation from the PM Narendra Modi. Even before Ajitdada's funeral rites were completed, everyone rushed to grab power,” said Wadettiwar, without taking any names.

 

Interestingly, Ajit Pawar’s close aide and MLC Amol Mitkari questioned the last-moment change of pilot, how the number of persons allegedly 6 during take-off changed to five after the crash landing, though the documents were safe, the passengers perished.

 

BJP trashes allegations

Ace criminal lawyer Ujjwal Nikam, a BJP Rajya Sabha Member, downplayed all allegations, terming them as ‘false’.

 

“It's shameful that they are doing such petty politics on the departed soul. We all know it was an accident. It is a pure accident, and I don't think there is any conspiracy in it," Nikam declared.

 

The Baramati Police Station has lodged an ADR into the plane crash and transferred it to the Pune CID for further probe, while the DGCA and AAIB are also investigating the crash separately.


Comments

bottom of page