Indian students shine at 17th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics with 5 medals

Indian team of five students bagged one gold and four silver medals at the 17th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics held in Rio de Janeiro, Vassouras, Brazil, from August 17 to 26, 2024.

Daksh Tayalia from Bengaluru won the gold medal, whereas Aayush Kuthari and Sanidhya Saraf from Pune, Banibrata Majee from Hyderabad, and Panini from Bihar secured silver medals. In the medal tally, India was placed in the eighth position, behind Iran (5



golds), the USA (3 golds), Romania, South Korea, Singapore, Slovenia, and Canada (2 golds each).

The team was led by Prof. Bhargav Vaidya from IIT Indore and Mr. Pritesh Ranadive from HBCSE-TIFR, Mumbai. India will be hosting the next IOAA in August 2025 at Mumbai, and the event will be organized by HBCSE. The Center Director, HBCSE, Prof. Arnab Bhattacharya, received the IOAA flag from the present hosts.