Kapil Sibal announces RISHI to promote scientific temper Eight Young Innovators Felicitated

Eight young scholars were today felicitated by Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Shri Kapil Sibal, for their innovative projects which won recognition for the country at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the largest science competition for pre-college students, held this year at Atlanta, USA.

Congratulating the young innovators in New Delhi, today, Shri Sibal announced yet another initiative called Regional Innovation Science Hubs for Inventors, RISHI, to promote scientific temper in the country. He said there will be 7 hubs with a core set of common activities & one specialization. The structure will vary to allow for plurality so that effectiveness of RISHI can be assessed & the best model adopted for wide scale replication. The hubs would be located in the following host organizations:

• progressive school
• University (with a center for science education)
• Science Centre
• Science City
• science based voluntary organization
• Society/Foundation promoting science talent
• Bal Bhavan

Core facility in each RISHI will address class XII level Physics, Chemistry, Maths & Biology. Each of the centres will have the choice to select one or more of the following:

• Robotics
• Biotechnology
• Ocean Sciences
• Biomedical engineering
• Agricultural & rural development

1. Science & Mass Communication

2. Renewable energy sources & applications

The Minister also announced an Art and Drawing Competition involving children below 12 years of age which will be organized in partnership with Pidilite.

Following is the list of the awardees:

Ambud Sharma of Sunbeam School, Varanasi, an awardee of the Intel Foundation also won a four-year Scholarship of $12,500 per year by Florida Institute of Technology for his project on A Low Cost Water Based Evaporative Cooling Device for Computers.

Swathi Soman of Bhavan’s B P Vidyamandir, Nagpur bagged the Environmental Management Award of $1,000 presented by Kendeda Fund for her work “Fusarium Pallidoroseum, II: Can It Control Water Hyacinth?”. She also won the American Psychopathological Society Award of $500.

Divya Venkataraman and Neha Kulkarni of the Modern English School, Mumbai won the $1,000 award for Team Projects presented by Science News and the Ashtavadhani Vidwan Ambati Subbaraya Chetty (AVASC) Foundation Award of $500 U.S. Savings Bond for their Larvicidal and Insecticidal Properties of Carica papaya Leaf Extract against Mosquitoes.

Riddhi Dasani and Pooja Dholakiya of the S G Dholakiya Memorial High School, Rajkot won the $1,000 Award for Team Projects presented by Science News for their Eco-Friendly Ink for Color Pens.

Lavanya Giriraj of the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Mandya won the American Society for Horticultural Science Award of $500 for her project on Natural Color from Ixora Flowers.

Vishakh Hegde from M E S Kishora Kendra, Bangalore, Karnataka, also participated in the ISEF with his project called Blind Mind Busters which aims at providing entertainment to the blind. He, however, could not be present today due to ill health.

As the world’s only International science fair, ISEF is a unique platform for students to demonstrate their prowess across all life sciences. ISEF is organized by the Society for Science and is sponsored by Intel since 1996. Started in 1950, with 30 participants from the US with prizes in the form of scholarships for US $1,000, Intel ISEF today receives participation from over 50 countries and 1,500 participants, with prizes exceeding US $4 million.

Within the Indian context, ISEF participants are selected through IRIS (Initiative for Research and Innovation in Science) - a program in conducted in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, Intel and CII. This initiative is the merger of Intel’s “Intel Science Talent Discovery Fair” and DST’s “Steer the Big Idea”.

The primary objective of IRIS is to promote and nurture science and scientific research amongst the young Indian innovators in secondary and higher secondary schools. This is done by recognizing and rewarding outstanding research based projects. The program offers a platform for the participating students to interact with some of the best scientific minds in the country who are involved as judges and hone their scientific talent. It also provides a public platform of recognition to those students who excel in science and scientific concepts. Students compete in 10 different subject categories including, Biochemistry, Botany/ plant science, Chemistry, Computer science, Earth science/ space science, Engineering, Environmental science, Mathematics, Physics and Zoology/animal science.

Source: Press Inormation Bureau
Date: May 22, 2008