Page 85 - CTB-1 10 May

PIONEERING A NEW FUTURE 85
AWARDS
& OPPORTUNITIES FOR INNOVATORS NIF has not only provided innovators with the required platform to demonstrate the strength of their innovations but also managed to significantly improve the innovations from a day zero crude look and feel to an
aesthetic appeal
for occasions
when it mattered
most. The
annual Festival
of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (FINE),organized Innovator
by NIF and DST
under the aegis
of Rashtrapati
Bhavan has been one
such premier platform. Innovators are recognized by conferring the Biennial National Grassroots Innovation and Outstanding Traditional Knowledge Awards, INSPIRE Awards – MANAK (flagship
scheme of DST for school students
coordinated by NIF), or other initiatives like
Innovation Scholar In-residence
programme. The Micro Venture
Innovation Fund
(MVIF), instituted by NIF in association with SIDBI, facilitated a timely
availability of capital for innovators.
Mansukhbhai Jagani with his Bullet Santi
Participants at
response from farmers. On similar lines, another farmer Hariman Sharma from Himachal Pradesh, has had his apple variety HRMN 99 widely disseminated (more than 70000 saplings have been planted) with the support of NIF.
Innovations like bamboo splint making machine, cow dung pot making machine and multipurpose food processing machine have been even implemented in correctional homes in various states.
NIF’s Challenge COVID-19 Competition
(C3) during this spring season is another example. While a major part of the world was confronted with a strict lockdown on account of the pandemic, innovators in different parts of
our country worked closely with NIF to solve the problems
at hand. On similar lines, during 2019 while some parts of the country were facing natural calamities
like cyclone Fani in
Odisha, NIF took upon
the responsibility to
execute a science and technology intervention that could contribute towards relief measures in the larger interest of society. •
ASEAN event, The Philippines, in 2019