Indian team shines at International Linguistics Olympiad 2025
A four-member student team from India bagged a gold, one silver and a bronze along with two individual and a team-level honourable mention at the 22nd International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) 2025, held in Taipei, Taiwan from July 20 to 27, officials said.
The Indian contingent comprised Vaageesan Surendran (gold), Advay Misra (bronze), Nandagovind Anurag and Siripurapu Bhuvan (honourable mentions) and was led by Professor Parameswari Krishnamurthy from IIIT-Hyderabad.
Observer Anshul Krishnadas Bhagwat, a former IOL participant and an undergraduate researcher at IIIT-Hyderabad also accompanied the team, officials added.This year's performance marked a historic milestone for India, with each member winning an individual award, since the country began participating in 2009. It is also the first time the Indian team has won a team-level honourable mention.The IOL is one of 13 International Science Olympiads and brings together high school students from across the globe to solve complex linguistic problems. In 2025, 227 contestants from 57 teams representing 42 countries competed in the event.
Vaageesan, a native of Chennai, is fluent in multiple languages and scripts. He has credited his passion for linguistics and problem-solving for the win.The youngest in the group and a known academic prodigy, Advay (12) from New Delhi, called the event a celebration of linguistic diversity.Nandagovind, who is based in Bengaluru and is headed to Oxford, highlighted the global friendships and deeper appreciation of language that the Olympiad fosters. Bhuvan from Hyderabad echoed a similar sentiment.
The journey to IOL begins with the Panini Linguistics Olympiad (PLO) held in India, including two selection rounds and a training camp in Hyderabad. Finalists receive intensive training before representing the country internationally. The students advised future participants to enjoy the journey and cherish the global community IOL creates.
"You learn just as much from the friendships as from the problems," Nandagovind said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hans India
an hour ago
- Hans India
Breaking language barriers: Indian teens triumph at IOL 2025
Hyderabad: In a dazzling display of logic, teamwork, and linguistic flair, four young boys from India emerged victorious at the 22nd International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) held in Taipei, Taiwan, clinching a gold, a bronze, two individual honorable mentions, and one for the entire team. The contest, which concluded on July 30th, gathered 227 contestants from 42 countries, challenging them to decode unfamiliar languages and analyze puzzles rooted in linguistic logic. Team India, led by Prof. Parameswari Krishnamurthy of IIIT Hyderabad, and accompanied by observer and past IOL medalist Anshul Krishnadas Bhagwat, brought together prodigies from Chennai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. The lineup included 15-year-old polyglot Vaageesan Surendran, 12-year-old prodigy Advay Misra, 18-year-old Oxford-bound Nandagovind Anurag, and thoughtful linguistics convert Siripurapu Bhuvan. Prep, Passion, Puzzle-Solving The IOL format consists of two rounds: an individual competition with five grueling problems tackled over six hours, and a four-hour team problem designed to stretch collaborative problem-solving. For Nandagovind, diving deep into past papers and tapping into mentorship resources proved key: 'Group solving with teammates helped refine my thinking,' he shared. Their linguistic adventure began at the Panini Linguistics Olympiad (PLO), India's gateway to international glory. With selection rounds held across major cities and intensive camps hosted by IIIT Hyderabad, the journey to Taipei was marked by rigorous training and immersive learning. 'The final camp built both camaraderie and confidence,' noted Prof. Krishnamurthy. Voices from the team Vaageesan, who secured the gold, stands out not only for his brilliance but for his sheer love of languages—he reads 34 scripts and is fluent in five languages. 'What IOL offered was unlike any other challenge. The puzzles were tough, but thoroughly enthralling,' he beamed. Youngest on the team, Advay, amazed onlookers with his intuitive grasp of problems. 'The 'aha' moment came when zero simplified an entire puzzle!' he laughed. A three-time Asian Science Bee champion, his excitement also peaked during a sky lantern ceremony at Shifen, where messages in mother tongues lit up the night sky. Bhuvan's linguistic curiosity bloomed late. 'I always thought linguistics was memorizing languages. IOL changed everything—it revealed the logic and elegance of language itself,' he reflected. His teammate Nandagovind echoed the sentiment: 'It wasn't just a competition—it was a chance to connect across cultures.' Beyond the medals Despite their accomplishments, the team and mentors highlighted an urgent need to broaden PLO's outreach. Prof. Krishnamurthy urged wider participation from tier-2 and rural areas, contrasting India's reach with countries like Bulgaria and the UK, which dominate consistently. For aspirants, Bhuvan offers advice: 'Solve lots of problems, ask for help—and most importantly—enjoy the ride.' As these boys return home decorated, they carry with them not just medals but memories that span languages, laughter, and late-night linguistic epiphanies. Their triumph is a testament to curiosity, culture, and the power of decoding what lies beneath the words we speak.
Hans India
an hour ago
- Hans India
Indian scientists develop new approach for treatment of liver cirrhosis
New Delhi: A team of Indian scientists has found a new way to treat liver cirrhosis, by targeting the lymphatic vessels in the liver and intestine that fail in case of cirrhosis. Chronic liver disease can progress from mild disease to fibrosis to cirrhosis (also known as scarring). Cirrhosis is accompanied by the distortion of both blood and lymphatic vessels in the liver and the intestine. Patients with advanced cirrhosis often develop complications like fluid accumulation in the abdomen. A team of scientists from the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), New Delhi, and National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Guwahati, focussed on improving the drainage capacity of lymphatic vessels in the liver and intestine by using nanocarriers filled with a powerful protein called VEGF-C. 'Vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C) is a key pro-lymphangiogenic factor that activates lymphangiogenesis or new lymphatic vessel growth. It does this through binding to a cell membrane tyrosine kinase receptor, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3 (VEGFR-3), the activation of which is essential for the growth and development of new lymphatic vessels,' said the researchers. The team probed the therapeutic efficacy of VEGF-C in ameliorating gut lymphatic dysfunction and improving lymph drainage. Owing to the hydrophilicity, short half-life, and systemic side effects of VEGF-C, the team led by Dr Subham Banerjee from NIPER Guwahati first focused on the development of VEGF-C encapsulated reverse micelle-based nanocarriers, which specifically bind to VEGFR-3 homodimers. Next, the ILBS team, led by Dr Savneet Kaur, tested the developed VEGF-C nanocarriers extensively in animal models of advanced cirrhosis and portal hypertension. The developed molecule was delivered via the oral route to ensure its gut lymphatic vessel uptake in the animal models. The team showed that VEGF-C nanocarriers significantly increased mesenteric lymph drainage, which reduced ascites. Importantly, the treatment also led to an attenuation of the portal pressures, improved cytotoxic T-cell immunity in mesenteric lymph nodes, and reduced local and systemic bacterial load. The research, published in the JHEP Reports journal, is the first to highlight that therapeutic lymphangiogenesis with VEGF-C is a promising treatment for reconstructing the fragmented lymphatic network and restoring lymphatic function and drainage in advanced cirrhosis.
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Re-skilling techies, compute capacity & geopolitics in focus for second IndiaAI report
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Jobs displacement due to adoption of artificial intelligence , re-skilling of the tech workforce, raising compute power and addressing geopolitical challenges are some of the issues that are expected to be among the main agendas ahead of the government as it prepares for the second edition of the IndiaAI report , officials report is planned to be readied before the key AI Impact Summit that India will chair in New Delhi in February 2026. Requests for feedback submission will soon go out to all central ministries, autonomous bodies as well as state governments, officials at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in October 2023, the first IndiaAI report had laid out the full fulcrum of India's AI aspirations, with detailed inputs from seven working groups. These had recommended the setting up of 3 AI centres of excellence, development of large, multimodal AI foundation models trained on Indian languages and datasets, and driving cross-sector development in areas like health, agriculture, education and governance through AI."The previous report had laid out the foundational strategy and roadmap for India's national approach to artificial intelligence. The next one is planned to build on it to further fine tune targets to meet the goals under the Viksit Bharat 2047 initiative," an official the approval of the IndiaAI Mission, the government had allocated Rs 10,300 crore over five years beginning March 2024 to strengthen AI capabilities. The upcoming report may call for augmenting that amount considering the central position that AI has acquired in innovation and governance since then, he government wants solutions to emerge for large-scale re-skilling of the technological workforce, much of which in India's IT industry remains anxious of retrenchments due to AI. Similar to last time, senior executives from the private sector and academicians are expected to be part of the working groups that will give recommendations for the computing power would also be a key focus, people in the know said. While the government had initially targeted the development of a high-end common computing facility equipped with 10,000 graphics processing units (GPUs), India has successfully overshot the mark by empanelling 34,333 GPUs through the IndiaAI Compute platform . But the government is wary of export controls on critical hardware being placed by foreign governments, specifically the the previous Joe Biden administration's Artificial Intelligence Diffusion Framework, the US had placed India among Tier-2 countries with a volume cap of 50,000 H100-equivalent GPUs through 2027. Under Donald Trump, US' new AI policy has called for exporting the full US AI technology stack to 'allied nations' willing to join America's AI alliance, but also stresses on denying foreign adversaries access to US compute power citing geostrategic competition and national security. These two categories are not defined, and India would need to quickly find its feet, an official said."This and other geopolitical challenges such as the rapidly evolving AI power dynamics beyond nations have pushed the government to hold the summit in India next year,' this official said. 'It will build on the 2025 AI Action Summit in Paris co-chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It will showcase India's emerging leadership in creating consensus for global AI governance frameworks ."
