Top 10 winners from among the 130 odd finalists selected nationally, along with one parent and a teacher each will fly to NASA. The NASA trip is tentatively scheduled for May 08. The winners will also have a special meeting with Aamir Khan.

Destination NASA, ran across 13 cities from November 28, 2007. The qualifying rounds have been conducted in 2 phases in which over 49000 students from different schools registered. The contest was organised by 24X7guru.com and Radio Mirchi and was launched by Aamir Khan, prior to the resounding success of his block-buster, Taare Zameen Par.

"We are thrilled with the overwhelming response weve had to this contest," said Sanjeev Gupta, Director, Learnsmart India, which owns 247guru.com. "With such a great and nationwide reaction to our first "Destination NASA" contest, we plan to make such challenging and exciting contests an ongoing feature in future @ 247guru.com."

"Another unique aspect of our contest is to reward not only the child but also their parents and teachers. There are many occasions when we find, the teachers do not receive recognition and appreciation for all their toil and effort. We are particularly happy to have created this unique event involving them and demonstrate our gratitude to the respected teaching fraternity who put in lot of hard work that helps in molding a childs intellect and sensibilities. " Sanjeev, added

The finalists spread across 12 cities  Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, New Delhi, Pune, Kolkatta, Indore, Patna, Mumbai, Ahmdeabad, Lucknow and Jaipur. Speaking on the occasion Mr. Nandan Srinath  COO, Entertainment Network (India) Limited (ENIL), said, "Radio Mirchis association with Destination NASA in honoring the smartest kids of the country has been very successful. As we come to the end of this event, Radio Mirchi is proud that weve helped create a platform for young achievers who we believe will earn fame for themselves, their parents and eventually, for India."

The basic idea behind "Destination NASA Contest" is to reward well performing kids and also drive the values of a concept and fundamentals based education system in the country. We need THINKING children. We do not need parrots.

The whole programme has been designed with the objective of encouraging students, help them take more interest in their studies and polish their online skills. The contest is essentially to create this competitive environment and make them better equipped as well as reward the teachers who play an invaluable and pivotal role in molding the kids. The other 120 runners up will be awarded with gifts ranging from computers to ipods. The names of the finalists and their respective school are listed in http://www.247guru.com

URL: http://ahmedabad-info.blogspot.com/2008/02/130-students-to-vie-for-destination.html