The Hindu : Front Page : Two city lads make it to ICHO finals

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Sunday, Jun 08, 2008
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Two city lads make it to ICHO finals

Staff Reporter

— PHOTO: K. RAMESH BABU

Well done: M. Srujan and Praneeth Srikanti, who will represent India at the ICHO to be held in Hungary.

HYDERABAD: Two youngsters from city have made it to the International Chemistry Olympiad (ICHO) to be held at Hungary from July 12 onwards.

Short-listed from over 28,000 students across the country, M. Srujan and Praneeth Srikanti are among the four students all set to represent India in the 40th edition of this prestigious olympiad.

The journey to stand among the four was not easy for the 17-year-olds, who maintain that their determination and love for chemistry helped them make it to the finals.

“We feel ICHO is an ideal platform for us to meet students from different countries with similar interests,” opines Srujan who did his Intermediate from Vijayaratna Junior College.

“It’s a lifetime experience for students to take part in ICHO and all one needs is to have basic analytical skills and strong fundamentals. Rest of the training, including food and accommodation, would be provided by organisers,” adds Praneeth, also from the same college. While Praneeth scored 8th rank in IIT-JEE-2008, Srujan bagged 36th rank and the duo want to pursue chemical engineering at IIT, Mumbai. Every year, nearly 65 countries take part in ICHO, a ten-day competition conducted to promote interest in chemistry among students and provide a platform for the best minds to exhibit their latent talent. The Indian Association of Chemistry Teachers conducts a nation-wide examination every November to select students for Indian National Chemistry Olympiad.

“Based on the performance in the national olympiad, this year, 42 students were selected to attend an intensive ICHO training camp at Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), Mumbai,” says M. Srujan.

“In tune with the ICHO pattern, aspects pertaining to effective problem solving, steps involved in analysis of a given chemical sample, including quality and quantity composition were taught to us during the ten-day camp,” explains Praneeth Srikanti.

ICHO winners will be given gold medals and certificates and special honorary mentions will be announced for students for solving problems effectively.

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