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Pune boy wins bronze at International Linguistics Olympiad.
Alok Sathe, a class XII student from Sir Parashurambhau College, Pune has won bronze at the International Linguistics Olympiad. India was represented by 10 students selected at the national level through the Panini Linguistics Olympiad.
Alok Sathe, a class XII boy from Sir Parashurambhau College, Pune has bagged Bronze at the 14th International Linguistics Olympiad promoted by Microsoft Research India.
“I am extremely elated at this achievement and would wish to carry forward the learnings – to next year’s competition. My experience at this year’s Olympiad has helped me widen my horizon to understand that global languages vary to a considerable extend and hold different perspectives. One can undoubtedly learn more about global languages and gain analytical skills by studying linguistics. Linguistics is a logical discipline and is increasingly becoming an important study in fields such as cognitive science and artificial intelligence,” says Alok Sathe.
The linguistics Olympiad is one of the 12 international science Olympiads held at a global level. The contest evaluated participants’ computational thinking, analytical reasoning and logical deduction. Jaeyeong Yang from Republic of Korea, James Wedgwood from USA and Liam Robert McKnight from UK emerged as top individual scorers while the teams from Sweden, Australia and UK took the top three positions in the team contest.
The global competition for secondary school students has been held annually since 2003. This year saw an enthusiastic participation by over 170 students from 30 different countries including India, the US, Japan, Germany and Singapore. The contest tested their skills in tackling some of the toughest puzzles in language and linguistics.
“India was represented by 10 students shortlisted through the Panini Linguistic Olympiad, the national programme for selection and training of the candidates for the International Linguistics Olympiad. Microsoft Research India has been one of the key drivers in establishing Linguistic Centres in five cities across India. After selections, students are trained for the global meet at these centres. The group is also involved in promoting awareness among students and schools by hosting various events periodically, and by driving interest within institutes and companies in the country,” a press statement said.
The event saw 2 competitive individual tests, team contests, jeopardy-style quizzes and cultural performances spread over a 5-day period.