Report by OD bureau, Bhubaneswar: The Zonal Competition of the Young Astronomer Talent Search (YATS) programme, organised by Tata Steel in collaboration with Pathani Samanta Planetarium was held today at Bhubaneswar.

One hundred and thirty short listed students hailing from different schools located in Khurda, Puri, Cuttack, Kendarapara, Angul & Jagatsinghpur districts took part in the Zonal level competition.

To popularise the excellent contributions of the legendary Pathani Samanta in the field of astronomy and to spot and encourage the young talents in the field of astronomy and space science among the school going children, Tata Steel, in collaboration with Pathani Samanta Planetarium (PSP) is organising YATS since 2007.

The YATS competition was open for students of Standard – 8 to Standard – 10 in all schools of the State. It was conducted in three stages at eight different zones such as, Belpahar, Balasore, Keonjhar, Joda, Jajpur, Bhubaneswar, Berhampur and Jeypore. In the first stage, the participating students were required to prepare a synopsis of 'India and Space Research". The short listed students were called for zonal competition.

Simultaneously, one hundred and seventy students participated in the preliminary round of Tata Steel Inter-School Quiz held at Bhubaneswar.