by admin | May 25, 2021 | Markets, News, Technology
New Delhi (IANS) : In a bid to foster curiosity, creativity and imagination among young innovators, NITI Aayog on Tuesday signed a two-year statement of intent (SOI) with tech giant Intel India to set up the first 10 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) in the country.
Part of the government’s flagship Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), the tie-up will lead to the creation of laboratories at schools aimed at teaching skills such as computational thinking, adaptive learning, physical computing and developing a design mindset among students between 12-18 years of age.
Over a period of five years, $15 million are set to be spent on building and managing 500 ATLs in schools and communities around the country and these first 10 ATLs will act as exemplars for the remaining 490.
“The Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) will provide school students the opportunity to work with tools and equipments, fostering inventiveness. Students will also be able to exchange knowledge and learn from one another through regional and national-level competitions, exhibitions, workshops on problem solving, designing and fabrication of products, so that,” Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, told reporters here.
The signing event at the NITI Aayog office in the capital was attended by Kant, Rosalind Hudnell, Vice president (Corporate Affairs) at Intel Corporation and President of the Intel Foundation and Kishore Balaji, Director of Corporate Affairs Group, Intel South Asia, among others.
“We are proud to be part of the Atal Innovation Mission to launch tinkering labs throughout India, which will ultimately help millions of children across the country develop the skills they need to be competitive as tomorrow’s workforce,” said Hudnell.
The first 10 labs intend to impact 250,000 youth with innovation skills for the future across 500 communities and schools.
As part of the initiative, Intel India will facilitate ideation, design thinking and prototyping workshops through industry experts and co-lead an innovation festival.
“This collaboration is part of our endeavour to nurture local innovation and promote a culture of tinkering among our future citizens,” said Balaji.
NITI Aayog also organised an expert consultative group meeting on creating a framework for operationalising 500 ATLs.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate finance
The Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu and the Vice Chairmen of NITI Aayog, Shri Arvind Panagariya at the International Conference on Sustainable & Inclusive Urban Development in India, in New Delhi on August 01, 2015
New Delhi:(IANS) Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said Rs.50,000 crore have been earmarked to develop 100 smart cities in the country, with each selected city to get annual central assistance of Rs.100 crore for five years.
Naidu, the union urban development minister, was speaking at an international seminar on sustainable and inclusive urban development organised by the National Institute for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, the Institute for Human Development (IHD) and Department of Urban and Regional Planning of the University of Florida here.
The Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu addressing at the International Conference on Sustainable & Inclusive Urban Development in India, in New Delhi on August 01, 2015 (Photo:PIB)
“Special emphasis will be given to citizen participation while developing these smart cities. To recast the urban landscape of the country and make lives of urban people comfortable is the need of the hour,” he said.
Stating that “sustainable and inclusive urban development is the main focus of the government and there is a need to go for reforms in a big way”, he said, “rapid urbanisation poses grave challenges for sustainability of the human race”.
“To ensure that urban development is sustainable, the government is going to promote rainwater harvesting, replace green buildings with conventional buildings, replace conventional power with solar power, replace conventional lights with LED lights for conserving energy and create community toilets to ensure access to toilets for all,” the minister said.
Stating that “Smart cities need smart leadership”, Naidu said, “The smart city movement was classified as a mode of making life more comfortable for everyone, connecting the smart city initiative with the inclusive development mindset.”
“Good urban life also requires housing, office space and good transportation. Biggest challenge in the country has been one of creating space for cities and availability of land,” NITI Aayog vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya said at the event.
Naidu also launched the online e-learning portal for Clean India which would impart training and education to field functionaries and workers involved in helping realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream to ensure a clean India.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business
NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy, (Photo Credit Financialexpress)
Kolkata:(IANS) Observing that India cannot grow without the development of its eastern parts, economist and NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy on Saturday said economic integration with neighbouring countries was imperative for the prosperity of the region.
Speaking at an Indian Chamber of Commerce organised event here, Debroy said the region’s potential lies in agriculture and not manufacturing alone.
“India cannot grow at the desired level until the eastern parts of India also grow. By eastern part I mean, eastern part of UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and the entire north eastern region.
“The eastern part of the country can only prosper when economic integration happens with neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, (others in) southeast Asia and even parts of China,” he said.
Asserting that ‘Make in India’ doesn’t means manufacturing alone, Debroy said decentralisation of governance and development of physical infrastructure was essential for the region to grow.
“There is enormous amount of slack as well potential here. But that doesn’t mean, to grow it has to manufacture in the strict corporate sense of manufacturing. Make in India doesn’t necessarily mean manufacturing alone.
“The great growth potential of this part lies in agriculture and agr0based stuff, because that is where the slack is the largest,” he said.
Claiming there was excessive government interference, Debroy said decentralization was essential for effective distribution of public goods and services.
“If the public good and services are delivered efficiently then there is no need for subsidies. To ensure efficient delivery of public goods and services, it is extremely important to emphasize on the need for decentralization and devolution not only within the central and state governments but also down to the local governments.
“Since the past 60 years, there is an excessive degree of govern interference and one of the tasks of reforms is to reduce this malign role of the government,” added Debroy.
