Twenty winners of the 10th Edition of Young Astronomer Talent Search (YATS) Programme-2016-17, organized by Tata Steel in collaboration with Pathani Samanta Planetarium, Bhubaneswar were felicitated by Chief Minister of Odisha, Shri Naveen Patnaik. The event was organized on 13th December, 2016. They were felicitated in the grand finale function organized on the occasion of the Birth Anniversary of legendary astronomer of Odisha, Pathani Samanta in Bhubaneswar. Tata Steel will take these 20 winners for an exposure visit to one of the facilities of ISRO in 2017.

Commending Tata Steel and Pathani Samanta Planetarium for organizing the event, Shri Patnaik, said, “I am very happy that Pathani Samanta Planetarium along with Tata Steel is working sincerely to promote scientific legacy of Pathani Samanta in Odisha. This event has been successful in encouraging budding talents of our state in the field of space science. It is an opportunity for the students of rural and remote areas to exhibit their talents in astronomy. I hope this endeavor will be successful in helping our young students to become space scientists in future.”

Addressing the gathering, Shri T V Narendran, MD, Tata Steel, India & South East Asia said, “Tata Steel takes pride in conducting YATS. We have covered many numbers of students across 27 districts of Odisha. Our relationship with Odisha is very long and we are very much grateful to Odisha government and the Chief Minister for their continuous support.”

After a four-month long exercise to find 20 best young talents in the state, YATS concluded today. The 10th Edition witnessed participation of nearly  34,000 students from over 300 schools, spread over 27 districts of Odisha in the essay and quiz competitions.

YATS is organised to acknowledge the exemplary contribution of Pathani Samanta, and encourage youngsters to display their talents in scientific innovation and concepts on various themes of space science and astronomy. Dr Pradeep Kumar Panigrahy, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology and Rural Development (Rural Water Supply), Government of Odisha, Shri Kailash Chandra Sahoo, Director of Pathani Samanta Planetarium and Shri Arun Misra, Vice President, Project Gopalpur, Tata Steel and Managing Director, Tata Steel SEZ and Shri Chanakya Choudhary, Group Director, Corporate Communication and Regulatory Affairs, Tata Steel were among the dignitaries present on the occasion.

About Tata Steel

Tata Steel Group stands among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 28 million tonnes per annum (MnTPA) and a turnover of US $17.69 billion in FY16. It is the world's second-most geographically-diversified steel producer, with operations in 26 countries and commercial presence in over 50 countries. Established in 1907, the Group’s vision is to be the world steel industry benchmark in “Value Creation” and “Corporate Citizenship” through the excellence of its people, approach and overall conduct. Underpinning this vision is a performance culture committed to aspiration targets, safety and social responsibility, continuous improvement, openness and transparency. Having bagged the Deming Application Prize and Deming Grand Prize for continuous improvement in 2008 and 2012 respectively, Tata Steel has now been recognised as the global ‘Industry Leader’ in ‘Steel category’ by Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Besides being one of ‘worldsteel’s’ Climate Action members, it has also been awarded the CII ITC Sustainability Prize, the ‘Best-in-class Manufacturing’ by TIME Award, the Prime Minister’s Trophy for the best performing integrated steel plant, among several others.

Chief, Corporate Communications, India & SEA