Srinagar, Feb 20: National Innovation Foundation (NIF) has shortlisted 942 innovative ideas from students in Jammu and Kashmir for the INSPIRE Awards – MANAK Scheme 2023-2024, out of a total of 35,211 submissions.
Dr. Sajad Ahmad Mir, the Nodal Officer of INSPIRE MANAK for Kashmir at SCERT- J&K told the Rising Kashmir that they had received 35,211 innovative ideas from students in grades 6 to 10 for the INSPIRE Awards – MANAK 2023-2024.
Out of these, 942 ideas have been approved by the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) across the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory.
“The National Innovation Foundation of India (NIF) will select only the top 10 percent of innovative ideas from students across the country. The chosen students will receive a monetary reward of Rs 10,000, which will be directly deposited into their bank accounts,” Mir said.
He said that this select group will have the opportunity to develop prototype models of their innovative ideas under the guidance of the National Innovation Foundation of India.
The Nodal officer said that the INSPIRE scheme, which is one of the flagship programmes of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, is being executed by DST in collaboration with the National Innovation Foundation – India (NIF), an autonomous body of DST. Its primary goal is to inspire and motivate students in classes 6 to 10 to engage in the study of science.
“The scheme aims to cultivate a culture of creativity and innovative thinking among school children by targeting one million original ideas and innovations with scientific and societal applications. As part of this scheme, schools have the opportunity to nominate the 5 best original ideas and innovations of their students,” he added.
