The four students who represented India at the 56th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) 2024 held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from July 21 to July 30, 2024; have all bagged medals – one gold, two silver and a bronze.
Devesh Pankaj Bhaiya (Gold) from Jalgaon, Maharashtra; Avaneesh Bansal (Silver) from Mumbai, Maharashtra; Harshin Posina (Silver) from Hyderabad, Telangana; Kashyap Khandelwal (Bronze) from Mumbai, Maharashtra; were the medal-winning students.
There were four Jury Members from India: Prof. Gulshanara Shaikh (Formerly, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai) as Head Mentor, Dr. Shraeddha Tiwari (ICT, Mumbai) as Mentor, and Prof. Seema Gupta (Acharya Narendra Dev College, Delhi) and Dr. Amrit Mitra (Govt. General Degree College, Singur (WB)) as Scientific Observers.
This was the 25th appearance of India at the IChO. In all these years, 29 percent of Indian students have got gold medals, 53 percent silver, and 18 percent bronze. In the last ten appearances, the percentages of gold and silver medals have been 33% and 57%, respectively. This year, 327 students from 94 countries (including 5 observer countries) participated in the IChO. Eight countries and two teams competing under the IChO flag, were ahead of India in the medals tally.
The competition had both experimental and theoretical components. The experimental examination consisted of two tasks. One task required identification of colour transition pHs of four acid-base indicator dyes by thin layer chromatography (TLC), and using these indicators to identify eight unknown solutions. The other task involved mass-based titrations of potassium permanganate in acidic and alkaline conditions with different titrants. The theoretical examination consisted of nine problems from diverse chemical fields such as semiconducting metal oxides used as gas sensing resistors in devices, production of neurotransmitter dopamine, a synthetic route to antibiotic penicillin, and formation mechanisms of ethene-base polymers and of self-healing polymers.
The Chemistry Olympiad cell of HBCSE and the resource pool of external teachers and mentors also deserve appreciation for preparing the team well during the orientation and pre-departure camps held at HBCSE, which is the nodal Centre for training and selecting students to represent India at various International Olympiads in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Astronomy & Astrophysics. The National Olympiad Examinations conducted by HBCSE serves as the gateway for final team selection.
