"We need to get away from rote learning and focus on a more practical learning approach. Engaging students in projects, workshops, webinars, and competitions are the way to go. In addition, it'll encourage them to learn new things since this way of learning is fun. We are very pleased that the New Education Policy (NEP 2020) has already suggested these changes. Hopefully, in a few years, our education system will be more practical-oriented and less theory-oriented," said Alka Kapur, Principal, Modern Public School.

In an attempt to make school students familiar with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its practical applications in modern life, NITI Aayog's Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), in collaboration with NASSCOM, has launched Artificial Intelligence step-up modules for school students across the country. The latest modules follow the AI Base modules which were launched by the NITI Aayog in February this year. Students with the help of the Learn it Yourself advanced modules will be able to expand their knowledge base of AI and its applications, according to a press note released by the NITI Aayog. The modules which have been designed to impart a deeper understanding of Artificial Intelligence to the students are graphic-based that will help students from varied rural and urban backgrounds understand the modules effectively. Even those students who could not complete the basic modules released in February will be able to understand the Step-up modules as basic definitions and concepts have also been elaborately explained in the modules.

The AI-Base Module will be implemented across 5,000 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL), empowering 2.5 million students. The module is likely to be introduced to ATL students on 27 February. The module contains activities, videos and experiments that enable students to work through and learn the various concepts of AI. Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said the AI module was critical since it was targeted at young children. "This is path breaking, it combines playing and academics and our job is to make things very interesting. We want to make artificial intelligence a great fun, so that children can enjoy it, they can evolve and learn and take India forward," said Kant. "This is the first ever industry government academia initiative on such a scale to keep the school students abreast of latest technologies," said Mission Director Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog R Ramanan.

With an imperative to empower the youngest minds of the country with the latest technologies, NITI Aayog, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) in collaboration with the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) today launched an AI based Module rolled out for students in Indian schools. The AI-Base Module has been introduced with an objective for students to leverage the full potential of AIM's Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) and further empowers them to innovate and create valuable solutions benefiting societies at large. The module contains activities, videos and experiments that enable students to work through and learn the various concepts of AI. Sharing his thoughts, CEO, NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant said that India can add 1.3% to its GDP on an annual basis through the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence. "Indians can find solutions to the challenges of a shared connected zero emission world, improving learning outcomes, disease like tuberculosis, cancer etc. If we are able to find solutions to these challenges for the 1.3 billion people of India, we can find solutions for the 7.5 billion people of the world too," he said.

In one season, it rains heavily, cities get flooded with water, and life comes to a halt. In another season, there is a scarcity of water and thousands of lives are affected every year with drought. Can I harvest the rain water and manage water scarcity? This is one student thinking differently, observing a problem, asking questions and challenging situations, developing a solution and creating an impact. As a society, we often discuss problems, share our views and opinions, but how many of us really contribute towards developing innovative solutions to address the problem?

NEW DELHI: To counter China's commitment towards artificial intelligence, the government has formed a high-level committee headed by NITI Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar to lay out a roadmap for India's research and development on AI and its applications. The panel, which will be a mix of government, academia and industry officials, will be notified soon. The government wants to ensure India does not fall behind in emerging technologies and hence the urgency to roll out a nationwide AI programme that will include robotics and data analytics. China has prepared a threestep roadmap to become the world leader in AI by 2030. A preliminary meeting on AI was held in January and was attended by NITI Aayog member VK Saraswat, the secretaries of biotechnology and science and technology, former Nasscom head Kiran Karnik, former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai, IIT faculty members including Pankaj Jalote and Pulok Ghosh, besides top officials from Flipkart, NetApp and TIE Ventures.

The government will soon offer incentives to startups and venture funds that undertake application-oriented research on artificial intelligence across key sectors including banking, insurance, education, health, retail, and transportation. Financial allocation under the Atal Innovation Mission will be used to fund the programme on a nationwide scale and projects will be granted on the challenge mode, a senior government official told ET. The government is already providing support of up to Rs 10 crore to already established and upcoming new incubation centres depending on the set criteria laid under the Atal Innovation Mission, for which an allocation of Rs 500 crore was made in 2015-16. The original allocation under AIM for 2017-18 stood at Rs 112 crore, which has been revised to Rs 150 crore while Rs 200 crore has been allocated for 2018-19. "It has just been announced. Niti (Aayog) has been working on the subject for a while and will be coming out with a roadmap shortly," the official said requesting anonymity.

New Delhi:The government will soon offer incentives to startups and venture funds that undertake application-oriented research on artificial intelligence across key sectors including banking, insurance, education, health, retail and transportation. Financial allocation under the Atal Innovation Mission will be used to fund the programme on a nationwide scale and projects will be granted on the challenge mode, a senior government official told ET. The government is already providing support of up to Rs 10 crore to already established and upcoming new incubation centres depending on the set criteria laid under the Atal Innovation Mission, for which an allocation of 500 crore was made in 2015-16. The original allocation under AIM for 2017-18 stood at Rs 112 crore, which has been revised to Rs 150 crore while Rs 200 crore has been allocated for 2018-19. "It has just been announced. Niti (Aayog) has been working on the subject for a while and will be coming out with a roadmap shortly," the official said requesting anonymity.