Mumbai: The Indian students once again showcased their talents on the Global platform. All four Indian students bagged medals, one Gold , 2 silver and 1 bronze at the recently held 56th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) 2024 held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from July 21 to July 30, 2024.  Two Students from Mumbai showcased excellent prowess in Chemistry by securing Silver and Bronze medals respectively.

This year, 327 students from 94 countries (including 5 observer countries) participated in the IChO. 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 ( Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education , Mankhurd) and the resource pool of external teachers and mentors deserve appreciation for preparing the team well during the orientation and pre-departure camps held at HBCSE.

Devesh Pankaj Bhaiya from Jalgaon, Maharashtra secured Gold Medal while   Avaneesh Bansal  from Mumbai, Maharashtra and Harshin Posina  from Hyderabad, Telangana won Silver Medals. Kashyap Khandelwal, another student  from Mumbai, Maharashtra, bagged the bronze medal.

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.