Seven students to represent India at US science fair

New Delhi, April 26 (IANS) Seven school students from across the country who excelled in a national science project will go to the US to compete with more than 1,600 others from over 60 countries at a global fair, officials said Thursday.

Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal Thursday congratulated the seven students, who won the national level science projects-India Initiative for Research and Innovation in Science (IRIS).

The seven students who won the IRIS projects will now travel to the US to compete with more than 1,600 students from over 60 countries around the world, at the 2012 International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Pittsburg, an official statement said.

Congratulating the seven students, Sibal said: "Through this programme, we are endeavouring to reform the current state with an emphasis on skill development by unlocking the creative talent within the child. The paradigm shift is on the anvil."

"Learning and education must be child-centric to enable a child to explore the world around him and face the future with confidence and assurance," he added.

Among the seven students, three are from Delhi - Saral Baweja, Nishi Paliwal (both from Maharaja Agrasen Public School) and Shubham Goyal (DPS). Raghavendra Ramachandran from Chennai, Gargi Pare from Madhya Pradesh, Omkar Singh Gujaral from West Bengal and Sindura Saraswati from Karnataka are the other four who will be going to the US.

The week-long science fair beginning in the second week of May is an opportunity for the best young minds in the world to come together to share ideas and showcase cutting-edge projects, the statement added.