Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi interacts with participants of Smart India Hackathon 2024

UPSC Prelims 2025 Notes


azadi ka amrit mahotsav

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacted with young innovators on the inaugural day of the Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon 2024, via video conferencing. Addressing the gathering on the occasion, he said that the India of today can progress at a fast pace with ‘sabka prayas’ or everyone’s effort and that today’s occasion is an example. “I have been eagerly waiting for the Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon”, the Prime Minister said highlighting that he gets an opportunity to learn and understand something new when he is among young innovators.

During the interaction with the Prime Minister, Team leader of Mystic Originals from Wellingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, Mumbai informed about tackling a security challenge provided by Bharat Electronics Limited namely Micro Doppler based target classification which helps in distinguishing if a given object is a bird or a drone. She explained that a bird and a drone appear the same on the radar and can lead to false alarms and other potential security threats, especially in sensitive areas. Another team member delved into the details and explained that the solution makes use of Micro Doppler signatures which are the unique patterns generated by different objects, similar to unique fingerprints in human beings. Upon the Prime Minister’s enquiry if the solution could identify the speed, direction and distance, a team member replied that it would be achieved soon. Noting that drones have various positive uses, the Prime Minister pointed out that some forces are using drones to harm others and this has become a security challenge. Upon the Prime Minister’s enquiry if the solution provided is capable of dealing with such a challenge, a team member explained the process and said that it is a compact solution which could be used on cost-effective devices and is also adaptive to different environments.

The Prime Minister highlighted the use of drones in various sectors of the country and gave the example of the Namo Drone Didi scheme. He also mentioned the use of drones for the transportation of medicines and essential supplies to remote areas in the country, whereas enemies use them for smuggling firearms and drugs across the border. The Prime Minister expressed happiness that the young innovators are working with extreme seriousness to tackle such issues of national security. Find out more about the Prime Minister’s interaction with participants of Smart India Hackathon 2024 here.

Earlier in the day, Union Minister for Education, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, virtually inaugurated the Grand Finale of the Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2024. Union Minister of State for Education and Development of the North Eastern Region, Dr. Sukanta Majumdar was also present at the inauguration. Read more about the inauguration here. The 7th edition of the Smart India Hackathon (SIH) began concurrently at 51 nodal centres nationwide on 11th December 2024. The Software Edition will run nonstop for 36 hours, while the Hardware Edition will continue from 11th to 15th December 2024.

In Maharashtra, the cities of Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur hosted the Grand Finale of the Smart India Hackathon 2024. A local inauguration of the event preceded the national inauguration in all three centers.

The Smart India Hackathon 2024 in Mumbai is being organized at S.P. Mandali’s Prin. L. N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research. Present for the inauguration of the event were Chief Guest, Shri. Yogesh D. Brahmankar, Innovation Director at the Ministry of Education, Government of India and Guest of honour Mr. Rahul Chandalia, CEO of WOL3D, Shri Nilesh Lele, President, Chamber for Advancement of Small & Medium Businesses, Captain Mayank Kukreti (National Security Guard) and Mr. Venkata Nagabhushanam Jetty, Deputy General Manager- Bharat Electronics Limited. At the center 34 teams competed on AI/ML, Analytics, and Image Analytics problem statements. The Smart India Hackathon in Mumbai will conclude in the evening after a Valedictory Session on 12th of December 2024.

Muskan Mishra, from Oriental Institute of Science and Technology, Bhopal who is participating in Mumbai expressed, “The topic we have chosen is Women’s Safety based on the challenges faced by women in their lives. We have made an app that works on an algorithm to solve the problem and we hope to win this competition.”

Smart India Hackathon was hosted by MIT Art, Design and Technology University in Pune. The event in Pune was graced by several dignitaries, including Abhishek Ranjan, Innovation Officer from the Ministry of Education, Dr. Mohit Dubey, Pro-Vice Chancellor of MIT ADT University, Dr. Mahesh Chopde, Registrar, Dr.Rekha Sugandhi, Nodal Officer and many others.

G. H. Raisoni College of Engineering in Nagpur has also been selected among the 51 nodal centers in the country for the Smart India Hackathon 2024. The center is seeing a participation of 20 teams, 120 competitors and 24 mentors in the Software edition taking place on 11th and 12th of December 2024.  Present for the inauguration of the event earlier were Shri. Sunil Raisoni, Director, Raisoni Group,  Mr. Shiv Soni, Senior Technical Architect, Infosys, Dr. Rizwan Ahmed, Chief Technology Officer, Delaplex and Shri. Sunil Untwale, Director of G. H. Raisoni College of Engineering, Hingna, Nagpur,

About Smart India Hackathon 2024

Smart India Hackathon (SIH) is a premier nationwide initiative designed to engage students in solving some of the most pressing challenges faced in everyday life. Launched to foster a culture of innovation and practical problem-solving, SIH provides a dynamic platform for students to develop and showcase their creative solutions to real-world problems. Find out more about SIH here.

This year, more than 250 problem statements have been submitted by 54 Ministries, Departments, State Governments, PSUs, and Industries. A 150% increase has been recorded in internal hackathons at the institute level, growing from over 900 in SIH 2023 to around 2,247 in SIH 2024, making this the largest edition so far. More than 86,000 teams have participated in SIH 2024 at the institute level and around 49,000 student teams (each consisting of 6 students and 2 mentors) have been recommended by these institutes for the national level round.

Like past editions of the Smart India Hackathon, this year too, the student teams will work on either the problem statements given by Ministries or Departments or Industries or submit their ideas in the Student Innovation Category against any of the 17 themes linked to sectors of national importance. These sectors are – Healthcare, Supply chain and Logistics, Smart Technologies, Heritage and Culture, Sustainability, Education and Skill Development, Water, Agriculture and Food, Emerging Technologies, and Disaster Management.

Some of the interesting problem statements of this year’s edition include ‘Enhancing Images of Darker Regions on the Moon’ presented by ISRO, ‘Developing a real-time Ganga Water Quality Monitoring system using AI, satellite data, IoT, and dynamic models’ presented by Ministry of Jal Shakti, and ‘Developing a Smart Yoga Mat integrated with AI’ presented by Ministry of AYUSH.

****

NJ/EC/DY

Follow us on social media: @PIBMumbai   Image result for facebook icon /PIBMumbai    /pibmumbai  pibmumbai[at]gmail[dot]com  /PIBMumbai    /pibmumbai





Source PIB

Current Affairs for IAS Exam