Survey conducted by Quest Alliance in Mysuru and Tumakuru districts of Karnataka * Kantar in association with IBM and Quest Alliance to provide experiential science education to 40,000 high school students in 9 districts of Karnataka to encourage scientific temper
November 02, Bengaluru: A survey among high school students has revealed that only 13% of the students are curious to explore technology behind gadgets used in daily life.
The survey on ‘behaviour and attitude of high school students in Karnataka towards technology and 21st century skills’ was conducted by non-profit organization Quest Alliance among 1,572 high school students of Karnataka. The research revealed that only 11% of the girls and 16% of the boys are curious enough to explore technology behind day-to-day gadgets. The survey was conducted in as many as 27 schools in Mysuru and Tumakuru districts of Karnataka.
Announcing the survey findings at a press conference in Bengaluru on Wednesday, Neha Parti, Director (Schools), Quest Alliance, said that the research clearly highlights the need for improving 21st century skills and scientific temper among our students in rural areas.
In this context, Kantar, a leading global insights firm and IBM, a global technology firm, have come together to launch a programme to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education among 40,000 high school students in nine districts of Karnataka. Quest Alliance, the knowledge partner, will roll out the programme in Mysuru, Tumakuru, Bengaluru Rural, Chitradurga, Yadgir, Raichur, Gadag, Hassan and Chikkaballapura districts.
“This programme will provide experiential learning to students through ‘learning by doing’ approach. This means that these 40,000 high school students will no longer need to memorize complex scientific concepts from textbooks. Through this programme, students will get an opportunity to tinker and build tech-based solutions to problems that they identify,” Neha added – 9341997936)
Technology an instrument to contain human folly, temptation in governance: FM Nirmala Sitharaman at GITAM’s NTR Memorial Lecture
Good governance is about looking for instruments with which you can implement the objectives, said the FM while addressing students and guests at GITAM
The event marked the centenary celebrations of NT Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996) a public figure who stood tall in the public life of Andhra Pradesh
Visakhapatnam, October 29, 2022: Technology has come as a very big instrument through which human folly and human temptation can be contained in governance, said Hon’ble Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman while delivering the NTR Memorial Lecture on ‘Empowerment – Road to Good Governance’, marking the centenary celebrations of NT Rama Rao — actor, politician and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister popularly known as NTR. The Hon’ble FM attended the event as the chief guest at the Visakhapatnam campus of GITAM (Deemed to be University).
“A former Prime Minister lamented that if I send a rupee down to the people, only 15 paisa reach them. What Prime Minister Modi has done is, by adopting technology he has contained the leaky bucket process. There are no leaks, the beneficiary who must get that money gets it. Not 15 paisa to a rupee, but one rupee to a rupee. Technology has come as a very big Instrument through which otherwise the human folly and the human temptation is contained. The human tendency to take something out which probably does not belong rightfully to one, is there, one cannot bypass that. Today, the way we have adopted technology is ensuring that benefits reach common public, one of the goals of good governance has been achieved.
“I am not saying this is fool proof. Ingenuity will have some element in which people will know to hack even this, but now it is for sure that who should get what, is going absolutely without any kind of pilferages. Good governance is about looking for instruments with which you are able to implement the objectives,” she said.
“I pay my humble respects to a leader who’d be 100 had he lived today, and to his family. I feel touched that in a yearlong celebration, I’ve been given a small role to play. Whether it is Rama or Krishna, until modern day there is nobody else who can bring that image so perfectly than NT Rama Rao. The films had a very good blend of authentic references to the Puranas. There were no fabrications, and the acting was just incomparable,” said the Hon’ble FM while paying her respects to NTR. She added, “Today when we talk about good governance, you have so much to speak about the time when NT Rama Rao was the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh.”
Hon’ble FM Nirmala Sitharaman also invoked the messaging of ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’, and said there should be adequate presence of a government where required, and no more. She added that building trust in people is crucial for good governance.
The event was presided by Daggubati Purandeswari, National General Secretary, BJP, and the daughter of NT Rama Rao. She spoke about her father NT Rama Rao and his welfare schemes. She mentioned that most of NTR’s schemes were later followed by the Central government. She added that they are planning to conduct year-long programs as part of NTR centenary celebrations.
Speaking on the occasion, Jaya Prakash Narayana, Founder, Loksatta, said, “In the midst of an extraordinary crisis, bucking the trend, against enormous pressure from the so-called scholars, experts and intellectuals, the union government and the finance minister did a remarkable job in the fiscal management of a country of India’s complexity and magnitude. If you did not do that, and instead intimidated the countries that that went on a certain path, we simply would not have the growth dividend today. If India can genuinely contemplate a 7+ per cent growth rate for the next 20-30 years, it is because in a critical moment when you an easy path could have been taken, you gave us a chance, and at the same time, took care of the people. In governance, you must take care of the immediate (needs) but also balance it with long-term growth.”
Starting by remembering the extraordinary life of NTR, Madan M. Pillutla, Dean, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad delved into the literature on good governance. He said, “Governance means trying to make the best use of resources, and shepherd the resources in a way that you can get the best possible outcome. Ultimately whether a society chooses to provide opportunities to the poor, vulnerable, is the moral choice. It’s not an economic one. It is a moral choice.” Referring to the book ‘Why Nations Fail’ by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson; he mentions how there is a natural ceiling on growth for countries that don’t attempt to grow for all. “While I say this is a moral claim, there might even be an economic basis to why we need to be thinking about growth about all.”
Among the dignitaries present were Mathukumilli Sri Bharat, President, GITAM (Deemed to be University) and sons, daughters, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren of NT Rama Rao. K. Niveditha, the granddaughter of NT Rama Rao, delivered the vote of thanks. The NTR Centenary Celebrations concluded with the felicitation of three social workers.
Today’s certificate distribution event was addressed by Mr. Subramanya Sharma ( Chairman , Sudeeksha Group ) who is also the Grandson of Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishna , The Ex – President of India .
HK Cyber Security Foundation was founded and kick – started in the year 2019 , inaugurated by Former ADGP Shri . Sanjay Sahay IPS along with other dignitaries at The Jain Management Institutions Auditorium .
The objective of this foundation is to educate and train Govt . college and financially challenged students to become cyber security professionals at Zero Cost . Just so that they need not work for any BPOS or as food delivering agents etc , with this as his mission and vision our Founder and President Dr.Harsha , PhD ( Info Sec ) approached the Director of Collegiate Education , requesting the Govt . of Karnataka to nominate a few colleges . The department had suggested a few colleges . Hence HKCS foundation has selected Govt . First Grade College , started training their students with almost 80 % completion of training at zero cost to the students .
It was unfortunate , that during their onset , the pandemic started and all colleges were shut down and they were not having any facilities to take Online Classes . Hence Post pandemic they started recollecting training and interactions with college management and students for the successful conclusion of their course and training . With continuous . efforts from Dr. Harsha and the Management team of HKCS foundation , they were able to successfully conclude with the first batch .
Meanwhile , HKCS Foundation started working on computer Lab renovation of the above – mentioned college , as the lab was not in functioning conditions . consequently , HKCS Foundation came out with the strategy to offer cyber security courses to other institutions where students could afford to pay the course fees . Then they engaged with St.Joseph College and began to offer paid courses , With this small revenue generation , they started supporting Govt . First Grade college further and for the upcoming batch of students . During the pandemic , their parent entity HKIT Security Solutions supported the Foundation Activities without any challenges .
HKIT Security Solutions also approached many of its clients for supporting this initiative and continues to put efforts to date .
With the commitment to charity and to enlighten financially challenged students across Karnataka and India , their journey kick – started with a single dot.Which is expected to spread across Karnataka and other states of India .
Government of India’s flagship entrepreneurship initiative Startup India is the partner for SmartIDEAthon 2022 and has lent its platform for the submission of students’ ideas
The best of 32 ideas from the five most burning social themes — Food and Agriculture, Clean/Green Technology, Waste Management, Health Tech and Assistive Technology, and Water Management have made it to the coveted semi-finals
The top scalable and saleable ideas will get a chance to make a splash at the grand finale on stage in Vizag
Bangalore, August 1, 2022: Following multiple rounds of shortlisting from a pool of 1200+ entries and bootcamp-style coaching, the coveted SmartIDEAthon 2022 Challenge has announced the top 32 teams set to compete it out on the semi-finals stage at GITAM (Deemed to be) University’s Vizag campus. Six talented teams from Karnataka have made it to the final 32 with their ambitious social innovation ideas carrying potent answers to five of the most burning issues India faces.
The 32 teams will now sculpt their ideas even more in an Advanced Bootcamp on July 30, followed by semi-finals on August 10 and a grand on-stage finale on August 11, 2022.
Dubbed one of India’s biggest social innovation pitchfests, the competition is organized by GITAM’s Venture Development Centre (VDC) in association with Startup India (a flagship initiative of the Government of India), Invest India, Northeastern University Center for Emerging Markets (NUCEM), Boston and Northeastern University Center for Entrepreneurship Education (NUCEE), Boston. To boost India’s growing startup culture, the mega pitchfest will culminate in sponsored trips to Boston and cash and grants worth Rs. 30 lakh for winners and runners-up.
The grand-scale event comes at a time when India registered a staggering rise of 15,400 per cent in the number of startups from 2016 to mid-2022. SmartIDEAthon 2022 witnessed undergraduate and postgraduate students pursuing engineering and science courses from universities and colleges all over India.
Of the 32, the maximum number of shortlisted venture ideas belong to the Health Tech and Assistive Technology (20) theme. On its heels are Food and Agriculture and Clean/Green Technology (4 each), and Waste Management and Water Management (2 each). These themes align with not just the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but also the nation’s Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebration.
The competing ideas are targeted towards addressing pertinent social issues. In Health Tech and Assistive Technology theme, most of the ideas work towards making health care services accessible and affordable even to the remotest part of the country. Under Waste Management and Water Management theme, students have come up with ideas to solve the burning issue of waste management while a few venture ideas focus on water scarcity and availability of safe drinking water. Students also submitted ideas to address depletion of natural resources by using renewable energy in the Green/Clean Tech theme. In the Food and Agriculture theme, the ideas support agriculture, aquaculture and different food and allied areas.
SmartIDEAthon 2022 has registered participation from 28 states, including 3 Union Territories and some remote cities, proving that it has reached the grassroots of India. From the initial 1200+ entries, 100 longlisted ideas received preparatory mentoring in an online Bootcamp by Dr. Ravi Shankar Saripalle, Founder, Inspire to Innovate Storytelling and Prof Balkumar Marthi, Dean – Faculty of Sciences at GITAM University.
In the second Bootcamp, highly-experienced professors and venture coaches from VDC will groom the ideas and participants, before they take to the finale stage in front of judges including Prof Shameem Javed, Chair, Entrepreneurship Development, IIM Vizag; Malini Parmar, Co-Founder at StoneSoup; and Ramjee Pallela, COO, Atal Incubation Centre – CCMB. Renowned industry stalwarts such as Ajay Ponna Venkatesh (Co-Founder, Scapic, Currently building Flipkart Camera Platform) and Yamuna Sastry (Chief Impact Officer, Dvara Money and Founder – Cabdost) will inspire the students with their words.
Creating awareness by educating the consumer to make informed healthy choices for food and beverages
20th July 2022, Bangalore: ICMR- National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN) and Ind Food & Beverage Association (IFBA) come together to create awareness among the Indian consumers by educating them about the need of diversified diet that is healthy, hygienic, safe food. The paramount focus for both organisations is to advocate consumer health and food safety.
Today, consumers have access to a plethora of information from various social media platforms with scant regard for authenticity, relevance and use. Studies show that over 71% consumers are likely to make a purchase based on social media referrals than the science behind the product. The pandemic has deeply impacted food consumption habits and made the consumer wanting to learn more about the food. ICMR-NIN and IFBA will jointly conduct webinars, regional workshops etc. to help consumers understand the science behind food consumption for better health.
Together both the esteemed organizations, will make efforts to enhance awareness on importance of nutrition, food processing and food safety to help consumers make informed food choices. Essential aspects like relevance of a balanced diet; consumer perception about food safety; and the impact of the consumption patterns on health; reading and understanding food labels are a few of the key issues that will be highlighted. IFBA will continue to engage with its members to develop healthy and nutritious food products using current Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) and dietary guidelines for various population groups.
ICMR-NIN is a national premier research institute which has achieved close integration in its research activities between the laboratory, the clinic and the community. Dr. Hemalatha R, Director ICMR-NIN said, “This collaboration will be a right step towards enhancing interactions of the industry with the scientific community to understand the current developments in nutrition science and the priorities of the nation. ICMR-NIN is joining hands with IFBA to disseminate scientific and factual information pan-India to create awareness about the need of diversified diet consisting of good quality, hygienic, safe food.”
Mr. Deepak Jolly, Chairperson, IFBA, said, “We are thrilled about partnering with NIN, which has done pathbreaking research in nutrition & dietetics to protect & safeguard public health. India is a huge and a varied country with a variety of nutritional needs that are region specific. One size does not fit all, therefore making it imperative that people should make informed choices through awareness and education based on Indian studies & research that are relevant for Indian people.”
Both the organisations will jointly work towards achieving the following objectives:
To share knowledge about the scientific studies conducted by NIN and other international credible and scientific institutions on food and nutrition
To create an enabling environment through communication and education for consumers to make informed healthy choices of sustainable and nutritious foods and beverages
To share knowledge on advanced food processing techniques to maintain food safety and nutrient value of the food
IFBA is a food industry association formed earlier this year with a vision of “food for a better tomorrow”. IFBA is a strong conduit for the food industry that actively engages with regulators, institutions and consumers to ensure food for a better tomorrow.
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