Faridabad boy Nitin Jain has been declared the winner at the International Science Olympiad held in Tehran, Iran.

The announcement was made late on Monday night. Approximately, 100 students from 21 countries had participated in the Olympiad, which was held from October 17 to October 26. Nitin, a resident of Sector 21D, Faridabad, took part in the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics.

The youth, who will celebrate his 18th birthday on Wednesday, had hit the headlines after securing the top slot at IIT-JEE and AIEEE this year.

This time, he has not only won the gold at the Olympiad, but has also been awarded the “Absolute Winner Trophy” for the year.

This was not his first brush with the Olympiad though. Last year, he had won the first prize in the same competition held in Indonesia.

Nitin will join his family on Wednesday, confirmed his father N C Jain, the CEO of a Delhi-based firm. “This is probably the best birthday gift he has won for himself,” he added.

A first year student of Computer Science at IIT-Delhi, Nitin was chosen by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, the country’s nodal centre for Olympiad programmes in mathematics, astronomy and other sciences.

“The first round of tests for the present batch of students from across the country was conducted last November,” said Jain. After that, more exams were conducted to shortlist them. Those who made it to the final list were called to Mumbai in May-June and given extensive training. “They underwent approximately 200-300 hours of training before they were sent for the Olympiad,” Jain said.

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