Banita Dash, a young astrophysicist from Odisha’s Nabarangpur district, has won the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar for the year 2022.
Kumari Banita das was born on 24th May 2005. She is 16 years old. She is a young astrophysicist with having a keen interest in Pattachitra. She has been recognized as a citizen scientist by NASA and IASC.
Her father’s name is Bana Bihari Dash and her mother’s name Anita Dash of Gadbaguda street here, Banita, harbors an interest in exploring small planets.
She has designed an automated sanitizing school bag which has been recognized at the National level.
She received a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and an e-certificate from Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a function held on virtual mode on the occasion of National Girl Child Day.
She has been recognized as a Citizen Scientist by NASA and IASC. She has also designed an automated sanitizing school bag for school children, which was recognized at the national level.
She is a Class-X student of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Anupur. who hails from Nabarangpur, attended the virtual conference from Anupur district collector’s office.
Banita, a student of the Navodaya Vidyalaya has a keen interest in astrophysics. She became famous after discovering an asteroid in space, which was later validated by NASA in the USA.
Besides astrophysics, she devotes her time to easing out pressure from the students. As per reports, she has designed an automated sanitizing school bag for students. She is an ardent lover of traditional Pattachitras as well and trying her hands in creating some.
Daughter of Bana Bihari Dash and Anita Dash of Gadbaguda street here, Banita, harbors an interest in exploring small planets.
The youngster designed an automated sanitizing school bag, for which she received global recognition.
Banita had hogged headlines after she discovered a small planet in 2021 during her stint at the Khagolala Asteroid Search Campaign (KASC). As part of the campaign, the children were trained in the detection of asteroids. Banita had detected one which later was recognized as a planet by NASA, Hardin-University, and the International Astronomical science and named it after her.
