BHUBANESWAR: The students of Orissa excelled in the 9th Abacus Mental Arithmetic Competition held in Chennai on July 5.
About 5,000 students from across the country participated in the competition and P. Aswin Kumar of Balasore and Siddharth Naik of Bhubaneswar emerged the National Champions in various categories.
Sixteen more students like Aahnik Mohanty, Manas Ranjan Rath, Simran Das, Ramanjani Swain, Anuska Routray, Manitej Mohanty, Swetapadma Hati, Sachi Nandan Mohanty, Amartya Kumar Jena, Prabhu Prasad Mohanty, Mayank Ranjan Bhakat, Bhargav Rao, Nishant Das, Sikta Mohanty, Tanisha Mohanty and Madhusmita Samal were declared runners-up in their respective categories. As many as 28 students were awarded consolation prizes.
Member of Parliament Kanimozhi gave away prizes to the winners and lauded the efforts of UCMAS Bhubaneswar Genius Academy and UCMAS as a whole for their work. She observed that in this competitive age, it is not possible to excel without such skills and education.
Master franchise Sanjukta Shadangi said Orissa has made a mark at national level competition this time and will continue to do better. Â