HT Code-a-thon 2021 winners announced: Here is the full list
Hindustan Times, along with its partner SpeEdLabs, initiated the HT Coda-a-thon in August last year with an aim to promote this booming technical skill among school children and allow them to showcase their talent at a national-level competition held. This 4-month-long programme had participation from students all over the world. The winners have been announced today from 11:30 am to 12:15 pm on HT official YouTube channel. Speaking at the event, Vivek Varshney, the founder of SpeEdLabs, said, “Code-a-thon is a perfect initiative and one that SpeEdlabs is proud to be a part of. We wholeheartedly support the vision of upskilling and future-proofing students through coding. Armed with conceptual understanding, and new-age thinking that can come via coding as a problem- solving approach, students can be future ready. They can take up any field once they understand the mechanics of coding – as it triggers many actions and decisions they will make in the future. That is the future we are rooting for.”
The keynote speaker, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship of India emphasised the importance of skill learning among the youth for digitalisation as well as the indispensable nature of technology in today’s world. According to him, “The future is going to be an even more accelerated digitization of governments, businesses and consumers’ lives. The rate of digitization presents to India a tremendous opportunity.”
Vinayak Garg, Commissioner of Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti also expressed his views on how beneficial HT Code-a-thon has been in instilling STEM skills in children living in rural areas, especially girls. “With support of IBM and Code-a-thon, more and more girls will be able to achieve growth and reach high heights in their future, and contribute to the growth of the nation,” he said.
The importance of STEM learning and IBM’s mission to promote it was elaborated by Manoj Balchandran, Head, CSR, IBM India and South Asia. “We are committed to nurture a diverse pool of critical thinkers, problem-solvers, and next-generation innovators with the IBM STEM for Girls Program. The integration of our initiative with the Code-a-thon is further helping students learn coding and build their careers in technology. We are extremely excited to extend this initiative for girl students of the Vigyan Jyoti Programme, a Department of Science and Technology initiative. It is a great milestone for IBM and an important step towards realising the shared vision of the Skill India mission,” said Balachandran.
Echoing the same spirit, Deepali Naair, Chief Marketing Officer, IBM India and South Asia, said, “Stem for girls is one of IBM’s largest CSR initiatives. It aims at driving young students towards Technology and digital literacy. Our Program at IBM plans to prepare 200,000 girls across 12 states in India to pursue and understand their potential in "New Collar" careers. And these girls would be from 120 districts from tier 2 and tier 3 cities, and we would prepare them over a three-year period. The HT Code-a-thon gives students across society an opportunity to learn to code remotely and teaches them basic programming skills, with the freedom to build projects of their choice. Our collaboration with HT is helping in strengthening the focus in 21st century skills.”
Who are the winners?
The Code-a-thon was divided into three phases: The learning phase, the qualifier round and the final competition. The last phase, i.e., the final Olympiad was organised jointly by IBM and SpeEdlabs. The top 600 qualifiers from the second phase competed in the finals. In total, 18 winners emerged as the round was divided into 2 zones: North and South. They walked away with exciting prizes which included laptops, smart watches and tablets. Here is the full list of names.
North Zone (App development): Class IV-V
1st place: Mihika Ghai, Somerville School, Noida
2nd place: Aanya Singh, Little Flowers Public School, Delhi
3rd place: Samridhi Mehta, Delhi Public School, Noida
South Zone (App development): Class IV-V
1st place: Ajaay Akaash, K.C High International School, Chennai
2nd place: Rajath Sukreeti B, Harvest International School, Bengaluru
3rd place: Trisha Chauhan, Suyog Sundarji Wisdom School, Pune
North Zone (Website development): Class VI-VII
1st place: Saion Gupta, Springdales School, New Delhi
2nd place: Veeranjay Singh, Ryan International School, Gurugram
3rd place: Akshat Gupta, Rukmini Devi Public School, Delhi
South Zone (Website development): Class VI-VII
1st place: Saurish V Bihani, R.N Podar School, Mumbai
2nd place: Anshveer Singh, Oberoi International School, Mumbai
3rd place: Param Dipak Vasoya, MKVV International Vidyalaya, Mumbai
North Zone (Game development): Class VIII-IX
1st place: Sahil Gupta, Somerville School, Noida
2nd place: Amogh Gupta, Piet Sanskriti Sr. Sec. School, Panipat
3rd place: Ashmeet Singh, Delhi Public School, Greater Faridabad
South Zone (Game development): Class VIII-IX
1st place: Shashwat Singhal, Reliance Foundation School, Navi Mumbai
2nd place: Tejas, Eggheads Education Pvt. Ltd, Bengaluru
3rd place: Ameeth Kulkarni, D.A.V. Public School, Thane