5 Indian students selected for International Physics Olympiad

Five meritorious Indian students including a girl were selected today to represent the country at the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) to be held at Bangkok from July 10-18, a top official said here.Sumegha Garg from Bathinda in Punjab is the third girl to be representing India at IPhO in the last 14 years of participation, National Science Olympiad Coordinator Dr Vijay Singh told PTI.Prudhvi Tej (16), hailing from Dwaraka Tirumala, a rural locality of coastal Andhra Pradesh is the youngest among the five students selected today by the National Physics Olympiad here, he said.The other three bright students comprise Burle Sai Kiran from Hyderabad, Nisheeth Lahoti from Jaipur, Rajasthan and Shubham Mehtra from Kota, Rajasthan. All of them were felicitated by the director, Indian Institute of Geomagnetism professor Mita Rajaram in Mumbai.The team will be accompanied by two leaders professor Charudatt Kadolkar, College of Engineering, Pune and Dr MK Raghavendra, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The scientific observer, Praveen Pathak is from Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), Mumbai.Indian teams in the past have done extremely well bagging several gold and silver medals and also bronze medals, Singh said. "We are optimistic that the current team will continue this glorious tradition," he said.Singh said the IPhO is a unique event designed to discover, to encourage and challenge exceptionally gifted young students from all over the world.