Jorhat, Aug. 6: The Assam government-sponsored annual exposure trip for top students will be closer home this time.

It will not be Nasa but centres of excellence within India that the students, who secured berths in the top 10 positions of HSLC examination and the top three ranks holders of the Assam High Madrassa Examination 2015, will visit.

Topping the list are premier scientific research and educational institutes and places of historical importance, including Isro headquarters and its satellite centre (Bangalore), Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh). The selection is being seen as a tribute to former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who passed away recently in Shillong.

These places are closely identified with Kalam, who was associated with the country's indigenous space and missile development programmes.

Under the Debo Kumar Bora Memorial visit - an initiative started by the government in 2012 - the first three rank holders of HSLC examinations, Assam High Madrassa examination and the first three position holders of higher secondary (HS) examinations in the arts, science and commerce were taken on tour to Nasa.

The scheme is dedicated to the memory of Deba Kumar Bora, former minister, press adviser and a close aide of chief minister Tarun Gogoi.

Altogether 40 students are eligible for the tour, slated for the first half of October. On the earlier trips, the number of students was about 15.

R.C. Jain, director of Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyan (Assam), which is in charge of organising the trip, told The Telegraph from Guwahati today that this time the government was thinking of taking the toppers somewhere else instead of Nasa, as in the past three years students from the state had visited the world's premier space research organisation and their experiences have been shared with their friends and the media.

Jain, also an education department secretary, said the chief minister was thinking about taking the students this time to premier scientific research and educational institutes and places of historical significance in the country.

He said the chief minister was of the view that with India making tremendous strides in the fields of space science and Kalam being a pioneer in this field, the Isro centre should be included in the trip.

"Kalam and Jitendra Nath Goswami (a key scientist in Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan missions hailing from Assam) are inspirations for the upcoming generations and hence the trip to top scientific and educational institutes has been planned," Jain said.

He said the tour to places where the former President worked will be a kind of tribute to the great man.

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (Mumbai), IIT Mumbai, National Stock Exchange, Bombay Stock Exchange, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, IIM Calcutta, University of Calcutta, Santiniketan, National Law School of India University (Bangalore), IT hubs in Banglaore and Chennai, AIIMS, JNU, Rastrapati Bhavan, Parliament and historical monuments and sites in Delhi and Agra, including the Taj Mahal, are other places in the tour itinerary of the students.