While reflecting on innovation ecosystem for national transformation a few days ago at an apex industrial association forum, I had to ask the industry representatives as to why were they so complacent in seeking ideas from outside? Many MNCs with even a very large market share and no imminent threat to their dominance seem more worried about…
SRISTI and BIRAC-DBT (http://www.birac.nic.in/desc_new.php?id=98) have decided to facilitate the Innovations by students and support value addition by students in grassroots innovations and outstanding traditional knowledge. The purpose is to support early stage student led ideas and innovations even at proof of concept level for recognition and further development in the field of medical devices, diagnostics,…
SRISTI celebrates the creativity and innovation of young technological students by recognising their outstanding projects with Gandhian Young Technological Innovation (GYTI) Awards. These awards are given every year during the Festival of Innovation (FOIN) at Rashtrapati Bhawan in the month of March. Next year, these awards are due tentatively on March 5, 2017 at FOIN.…
Every time there is a tragedy, the parliament discusses the issue and then business resumes as usual. I hope things will change this time. Not because in the presence of thousands of people, a farmer was allowed to commit suicide. But because the conditions which lead some farmers to take extreme step have their…
Ignite awards for creative and innovative children announced on Oct 15, 2014, Bharat Ratna Dr A P J Abdul Kalam’s birthday celebrated as children creativity and innovation day by NIF. Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam will kindly give away the awards at 3.30 pm on Nov 19, 2014 at iima rjm auditorium. Those interested…
What can a District Collector do to promote innovations: an open letter Dear District Collector I have had the chance to meet many of you at LBSNAA foundation program during the last five years. LBSNAA Mussoorie and IIMA are likely to get into a longer term cooperation soon to promote inclusive and empathetic innovations in…
There has been a considerable confusion created by many scholars who have not used the terms carefully and therefore, have made the task of cumulation of knowledge difficult. Honey Bee Network has used the term grassroots innovations for last 25 years in a particular context of informal sector. For the growth of knowledge, comparative research…
Sustaining Frugal green innovations: a new paradigm of empathetic and evocative ecosystem Frugality is not just about affordability. Even I had not stressed enough about circularity (that is, cradle to cradle approach of not developing a waste oriented economy) in my earlier talks and writings. It has of course been a core issue in the…
Making budget more responsive to the aspirations of the youth There have been several welcome announcements in the budget that deserve appreciation, even if some of them are symbolic and segmented. For instance, the venture capital fund for MSME, district level incubation and accelerator programme, startup village entrepreneurship programme for rural youth, technology research centre…
Time for change: an avalanche of expectations Never before so many people expected so much of change in such a little time. The election has given a clear verdict in favour of decisiveness, democracy and development. Whether the secular structure will evolve through demolition of caste and region based identities is an issue to be…