Date:24/02/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/02/24/stories/2006022421390200.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Bangalore girl wins prize in contest

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: A paper titled "Cancer gene therapy: killing the killer" presented by B.S. Harshavardhini, a ninth standard student of Bangalore's Jnanodaya School, has won the third prize in the junior category in the DuPont India Challenge - 2005, a science paper competition.

The competition was conducted in schools around the country from July to December 2005. Each science paper went through a two-tier evaluation process. First was the technical evaluation process which qualified entries based on their adherence to the rules of the DuPont India Challenge. The second was a rigorous three-stage evaluation by an external jury drawn from different research institutions in the country. The jury judged the merits of each science paper on the parameters of relevance and originality of the topic, research undertaken and writing skills. Over 4,000 students from 300 schools participated in the competitions.

The first prize in the junior category was won by Sahir Maitreya Doshi of Cathedral and John Cannon School, Mumbai, for her paper titled "Using genetics in wildlife conservation." The second prize went to Suraj Shankar of St. Gregorios High School, Mumbai. In the senior category, Prateek Jain and Anubhav Gupta of New Delhi won the first prize for their paper "Why junk is not junk."