INSPIRE AWARD

The INSPIRE Awards - MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspiration and Knowledge) 9th National Level Exhibition and Project Competition (NLEPC) recently began.

The INSPIRE Award is for innovation in science pursuit of inspired research.

About:

• It is being carried out by DST (Department of Science and Technology) in conjunction with National Innovation Foundation - India (NIF), an independent DST agency, and is in line with the "Start-up India" initiative.
• In accordance with this, pupils are invited from all public and private schools nationwide, regardless of the educational boards (national and state).
• They would receive financial assistance of Rs 10,000 each so they could create prototypes of the ideas they submitted for the program.
• They then participated in the corresponding District Level Exhibition and Project Competition (DLEPC), State Level Exhibition and Project Competition (SLEPC), and eventually the National Level Exhibition and Project Competition (NLEPC).
• To inspire kids to think critically and innovate in the future.

Goals:

• To encourage a culture of creativity and inventive thinking among schoolchildren, we want to target one million unique ideas/innovations with scientific and societal implications.
• To use science and technology to address societal challenges while fostering the development of tomorrow's sensitive, accountable, and innovative leaders.

How well do we understand the INSPIRE Scheme?

• One of the Ministry of Science and Technology's premier initiatives is the INSPIRE (Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research) program.
• Its goal is to inspire young people in the nation to pursue science in a creative way, to draw talent to the subject at a young age, and to create the crucial human resource pool needed to strengthen and grow the country's scientific and technology system and research and development foundation.
• Since 2010, the INSPIRE program has been effectively implemented by the Indian government. The program has five components and is available to students between the ages of 10 and 32.
• One of its elements is the MANAK category of the INSPIRE Awards.

What other initiatives are related to this?

Draft National Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy, 2020

• In order to spur socio-economic development in the nation and increase the competitiveness of the Indian STI ecosystem on a global scale, it aims to identify and solve the strengths and weaknesses of the Indian Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) ecosystem.

SERB-POWER Plan

• It is a program created specifically for female scientists to reduce gender disparity in science and engineering research in various S&T (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs at Indian academic institutions and Research and Development (R&D) laboratories.

Swarna Jayanti Fellowship:

• This program offers specific help and support to a small group of promising young researchers so they can pursue fundamental studies in cutting-edge fields of science and technology.