by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, Markets, News, Politics, Technology
Dharmendra Pradhan
New Delhi : India cannot afford to ignore the challenges of new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, and miss out on Industrial Revolution 4.0, Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Friday.
“We had lost out on the opportunities created by the Industrial Revolution because of colonialism, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pointed out… and that we cannot afford to miss out on Industrial Revolution 4.0,” Pradhan said.
The Minister was addressing the 10th Global Skills Summit here organised by industry chamber Ficci. “We cannot ignore the challenges of technologies of the future like artificial intelligence and automation.”
“Our responsibility is to speed up the creation of an ecosystem in which all the workforce being added to the country every year gets a dignified life through a collective effort of all stakeholders,” he added.
Noting from his experience in India how technology is no longer a “high-end” product and has been adopted by the common people, the Minister said the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data did not properly reflect the level of skilling in the country.
“India has 50 crore people in the notified employable age of 15-59 years. Of this, the skilled manpower is just 10 per cent as against 50-90 per cent skilled manpower in the robust urban economies like Germany,” Pradhan said.
“It is not that just 10 per cent of India’s population is skilled. The biggest challenge is to put our records straight on the table,” he added.
In this connection, he recalled the marvellous architectural, engineering and technical skills of ancient India as seen in temple construction, for instance, that had spread to distant parts like Southeast Asia.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Employment
New Delhi, (IANS) The Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and National Skill Development Fund (NSDF) for scaling up skill development initiatives in the country.
According to the tripartite agreement, the AAI has committed Rs.5.25 crore contribution from its CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) funds to the NSDF along with land and premises for setting up skill development centres in the country.
Commenting on the ‘strategic partnership’, Civil Aviation Minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju said the skilled workforce was required to improve airport infrastructure across the country.
“As we gear up for a new civil aviation policy, for more new airports, we will have to source skilled workforce. Any vibrant programme needs a skilled workforce. This strategic partnership will certainly help us ready that workforce right now,” he said.
Under the MoU, the AAI will align its ongoing skill development programmes with the Skill India mission so that all courses are taught under the ‘National Skill Qualification Framework’, which is recognised by the industry.
The programme will be managed by the NSDC and its training partners who have till now cumulatively skilled more than 80.33 lakh youth.
Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy said this partnership will cater to the workforce requirement of the civil aviation industry.
“By 2035, the civil aviation sector will employ an estimated eight to 10 lakh people directly and another three lakh indirectly. To cater to this requirement, we introduced a new Sector Skill Council exclusively for preparing a job-ready workforce for the aerospace and aviation sector last year,” Rudy said.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, News
Guwahati (Assam): As a part of scheme of Skill Development for Minorities, Najma Heptulla, Union Minister for Minority Affairs inaugurated Skill Development Centers under Maulana Azad National Academy for Skills (MANAS) for Madrassa students in Assam.
Using remote video link, Heptulla on Saturday inaugurated the Skill Development Centers in four different madrassas in the district of Kamrup from the campus of University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya (USTM). She also inaugurated one such centre at USTM.
Before this, she launched four Skill Development Centers on Friday in Nagaon and Morigaon districts.
Government’s objective behind launching of this scheme is to highlight the significance of skill, vocational education and entrepreneurship amongst the minority community of the country and to make them feel that by getting skilled at their door-steps they shall also become an integral part of the Skilled India Mission.
Launch of the Skill Development Centers through traditional educational institution is considered as an important milestone towards achieving the objective of providing skills to the minority community with speed, scale and standards across the country.
The launched facility of the Development Centre at USTM will also be availed by the Christian minority residing in its neighborhood. USTM will provide the technological support for the programme. In future MANAS is expected to implement this scheme at more institutions in the remote interior regions.
On this occasion, Heptulla also inaugurated the Maulana Azad Academic Block and laid the foundation of Maulana Azad Central Library of USTM.
Moreover, Heptulla also chaired a meeting at Assam Administrative Staff College to review the implementation of schemes and programmes for welfare and development of minorities of northeastern states.
She examined the progress of 11th and 12th Five Year Plan of northeastern states and evaluated the progress of schemes like Multi-sectoral Development Programme (MsDP), Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme, Scholarships, National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC), Maulana Azad National Academy for Skills (MANAS), Waqf Matters and National Waqf Development Corporation (NAWADCO).
Heptulla declared that henceforth all welfare schemes for the minorities will be based on the 2011 census. “In this regard, the union ministry of minority affairs has made a comprehensive survey of the population of minorities up to the block level so that fund distribution for minorities reaches the target audience,” she added.
At the review meeting Heptulla asked the states to come up with proposals based on the needs and demands of the market. She further deliberated that the final focus should be on employment generation of individuals at the micro-level.
During the review meeting, Amarendra Sinha, secretary of the ministry of minority affairs asked senior officials representing the NE states to set up under-graduate and post-graduate women’s hostel and working women’s hostel at respective state headquarters for the benefit of women.
