President Inaugurates L&T Skill Training Hub in Her Hometown in Odisha To Upskill Tribal Youth

The Honourable President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu, today inaugurated the L&T Skill Training Hub at her hometown Pahadpur, Mayurbhanj in Odisha. The historic event was also graced by Ms Meena Subrahmanyan, President of Prayas Trust - an L&T-funded non-profit organisation, along with senior officials of L&T and the Odisha-based non-profit SLS Trust. The historic event was also graced by Ms Meena Subrahmanyan, President of Prayas Trust - an L&T-funded non-profit organisation, along with senior officials of L&T and the Odisha-based non-profit SLS Trust.

L&T, in collaboration with SLS Trust, has established the Skill Training Hub across a land parcel of five acres. The state-of-the-art facility was completed in a remarkable five-month timeframe and aims at providing underprivileged youth in the region with training in construction skills, thus enabling them to become self-reliant. SLS Trust, led by its President, Ms Itishree Murmu, has been instrumental in creating opportunities for the marginalised sections of society.

President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated a Skill Training Centre at Pahadpur in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha and visited SLS Memorial residential school in the same village where she interacted with the students. pic.twitter.com/jmy4PuxKQK

— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) November 21, 2023

Commenting on the launch of project, Ms Meena Subramanyan, President of Prayas Trust said, “This training center will enable candidates to fully focus on learning and developing their skills in an enabling environment with a strong focus on life skills and personality development. We believe that empowering the underprivileged youth through accessible skill training is not just an investment for their future but a promise of a brighter and more inclusive tomorrow.”

The project, which includes operations and maintenance, is a significant opportunity for the tribal youth in the area, connecting them with opportunities beyond their immediate surroundings.

Complementing her comment, Ms Mabel Abraham, Joint General Manager - Corporate Social Initiatives, L&T, said: “Transforming dreams into opportunities, L&T is dedicated to making a lasting impact by equipping underprivileged youth with valuable skills. Our commitment to empower these young individuals is a testament to our vision for a more promising and inclusive society.”

The Skill Training Hub is equipped with contemporary infrastructure, featuring an administrative-cum-institute building, a multipurpose hall, an e-learning hall, a digital training room, separate hostels for both boys and girls (each accommodating 120 individuals), dining facilities, practice yards for various trades, and a dedicated workshop for learning pipe welding.

Additionally, the training center is equipped with state-of-the-art simulators with AR/VR technology to enhance the learning experience.

President of India Droupadi Murmu is an inspiration for all of us”- Women Gamers said at Skyesports Grand Slam 2023

Skyesports organised the first event all-female Valorant LAN event in India

The visit by the President highlights the government’s commitment to bolster the promotion of female empowerment in Sports and Esports

The Honorable President of India, Droupadi Murmu presence at the India Gaming Show (IGS) during the country’s first-ever all-female Valorant event organized by Skyesports recently has created a long-lasting impact on the female gaming community.

Skyesports, one of the leading Esports tournament organizers in India, had orchestrated the all-female Windows 11 Skyesports Grand Slam, powered by AMD, featuring the top 3 all-women teams from India competing for glory. The event happened at the JetSynthesys Gaming Arena in the IGS.

The Hon’ble President discussed the scope of women empowerment in the gaming industry whilst also understanding the ways and means to develop the sector in a more inclusive manner with Mr. Rajan Navani, the Founder and CEO, JetSynthesys and also Mr. Shiva Nandy, Founder and CEO, Skyesports.

Commenting on the unique opportunity, Shiva Nandy, Founder and CEO, Skyesports said, “It was really exciting to meet our Hon’ble President Shrimati Droupadi Murmu at the India Gaming Show 2023. The Indian gaming and esports industry is in its golden age currently with huge growth opportunities in store. Skyesports has always aimed at ensuring gender parity in the Esports industry by organizing all-female tournaments and I am grateful for this chance to showcase what we’ve built as it motivates us to push harder and contribute to developing India’s gaming and esports industry in a much more inclusive manner. While India is slowly becoming a big player in the global games and tech market, we will be here to support that growth trajectory and put the country on the world map.”

The Honorable President of India, Droupadi Murmu presence at the India Gaming Show (IGS) 2023

Addressing the recently held IGS 2023, Rajan Navani, Chairman and MD, JetSynthesys said, “The Hon. Droupadi Murmu's inspiring presence at the CII's Indian Gaming Show 2023 was a reminder of the immense potential of India's gaming and esports industry. The show highlighted the brilliant minds driving this revolution and the enthusiasm of the millions of gamers in India. Skyesports has revolutionised the gaming industry with the Windows 11 Grand Slam receiving an overwhelming 5 million views across two days. Remarkably, female gamers have made their mark in gaming and esports, bringing in a new level of enthusiasm and excitement to the Indian gaming community.”

According to a report ‘Gaming: Tomorrow’s Blockbuster’ by TeamLease Digital, the Indian gaming industry is estimated to grow by 20% to 30% by 2023 and create approximately two lakh jobs by 2024.

The interactions with the president of the country was equally an opportunity to remember for the gaming girls who are now motivated to make a mark for themselves not only in gaming but in life too.

“I feel really great,” said Grace Esports’ Meow16k after becoming the Champion of the tournament as well as getting an opportunity to showcase her skill in front of the Hon’ble President; “first of all, this is the first all-female VALORANT LAN. Thanks to Skyesports for organizing such a great event and bringing a chance for us to play on stage. And yes I am feeling fabulous, first LAN and it's in our pocket.”

By regularly organizing women-only Esports tournaments as well as cross-regional competitions across various titles, Skyesports aims to provide a strong platform for budding athletes, especially women talents and also aims to capitalize on the ever-growing Esports industry by becoming a pioneer in the industry.

The Tournament was an initiative by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and supported by the Government of India.

About Skyesports - Skyesports is a leading esports and gaming venture based in Chennai, renowned for hosting major esports tournaments. Founded in November 2018 by Shiva Nandy, Skyesports has quickly grown to become one of the largest esports companies in South Asia. They have has an impressive range of original IPs, which include the Skyesports Championship, Skyesports League, Skyesports Grand Slam, Skyesports Skirmish Series, and more, through which Skyesports has touched millions of gamers across South Asia and beyond. Skyesports is a part of the digital entertainment and technology company, JetSynthesys.

President of India to Confer the Digital India Awards 2020 on 30th December

President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind will virtually confer the Digital India Awards 2020 on 30th December 2020 at 11:00 AM via video conferencing. In line with Digital India’s vision, this is the first time that the entire process of the Digital India Awards is being conducted online from nominations to screening to the final awards ceremony. National Informatics Centre (NIC) under Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) has been conducting the biennial Digital India Awards (DIA) to promote innovation in eGovernance and digital transformation of government service delivery mechanism.

Union Minister of Law & Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Secretary (MeitY) Shri Ajay Sawhney and other dignitaries will attend the event virtually from different locations including the Plenary Hall, Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, and Kolkata, Bhopal, and Chennai.

The event will commence on 30 December 2020 at 11:00 AM. The event will be telecasted live on Doordarshan and will also live streamed on NIC Social media platforms:

NIC Webcast- http://webcast.gov.in/digitalindiaawards

YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/nationalinformaticscentre

Twitter- https://twitter.com/NICMeity

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/NICIndia

Digital India Awards have been institutionalized under the ambit of National Portal of India to honor exemplary initiatives/practices in Digital-Governance. The National Portal of India (https://india.gov.in) is a Flagship Project to facilitate single window access to Government Information and Services in cyberspace.

The awards have been held for 5 seasons earlier, in 2009, 2012, 2014, 2016 & 2018. The Awards were initially known as Web Ratna Awards until 2014 and were re-named Digital India Awards from the 2016 season.

The 6th Digital India Awards 2020 have been announced under the following six categories:

1. Innovation in Pandemic: To felicitate a Government Entity which has developed an outstanding, innovative digital solution to facilitate the citizens to undertake various activities with ease during the time of pandemic in areas like communication, health, education, travel etc. or to ensure continuity of government services.
2. Excellence in Digital Governance – MINISTRY / DEPARTMENT (Central): To felicitate a Ministry or Department of the Government of India which has a comprehensive digital presence and displays a high level inter and intra-Department Integration in its digital initiatives. Integration with electronic authentication and digital payments are also assessed.
3. Excellence in Digital Governance – STATE / UT: The Award acknowledges the State/UT of India that displays exemplary initiative in establishing comprehensive digital presence in sectors like health, labour, finance, social justice and environment leading to the accomplishment of sustainable development goals.
4. Excellence in Digital Governance – DISTRICT: To reward the accomplishments of the District administration which has displayed exemplary focus on providing comprehensive information to the citizens in the regional language. Entries must display the spectrum of coverage highlighting the important facets of the district in terms of tourism, art, culture, handicraft and access to utilities.

Open Data Champion: Open Data Championship Award is to acknowledge the Ministries/ Departments/ Organizations/ States for proactive, timely and regular release of datasets/resources through Web Services/APIs on the Open Government Data (OGD) Platform (https://data.gov.in) in compliance with the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP).

Exemplary Product: The award honors those products that have made their mark in the field of Digital Governance. The product must have shown a high degree of replicability, scalability and must be successfully implemented by government departments / entities. Aspect of Digital security is a primary criterion of evaluation.

In addition to above six categories, Jury Choice Award will be conferred to honour excellence in design and implementation of National Public Digital Platform.

Central Government Ministries /Departments /Offices /Institutions, State Government Departments /Offices /Institutions, District Administrations and Indian Missions Abroad were eligible to apply for the Digital India Awards (https://digitalindiaawards.gov.in). A project could be nominated for more than one category.

In order to initiate and steer the activities for the Digital India Awards 2020, a high level Jury under the Chairmanship of Secretary, MeitY with representation from government, industry and academia was constituted.

Online nomination process for DIA 2020 commenced from the 23rd October and was open for one month, during which 402 nominations were received. Shortlisting and ranking of the nominations is done by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi who have been associated with the previous editions of the awards as nomination processing partners. Shortlisted nominations in each category were presented to the jury to finalize the winners in each category through online presentations.

Over 5.54 Cr Entrepreneurs availed Loans under Mudra; Rs 10L Cr Sanctioned under this Scheme: Prez

More than 5.54 crore new entrepreneurs have availed loans under the Mudra scheme so far whereas credit in excess of Rs 10 lakh crore has been sanctioned under the scheme, President Ram Nath Kovind said on Friday.

In his address to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament, the President said start-ups in India's small cities have grown at a rate of 45 to 50 per cent since 2014 whereas recognition has been accorded to 27,000 new start-ups under the StartUp India campaign across the country. He also added that India is home to the world's third-largest start-up ecosystem.

"The number of patents granted in the country has increased four times in the last five years, whereas trademark registrations have increased five-fold," said the President.

Describing the 21st century as the "Century of Knowledge", the President said the government's priority is to prepare the youth to provide leadership in this field and stressed that the youth will be at the forefront in this decade especially in research, innovation, incubation and start-ups.

"The youth are benefitting continuously from the policy decisions taken by my government in this regard," the President said.

The President in his address noted that tier-II and tier-III cities are emerging in a new role towards achieving the goal of a USD 5-trillion economy.

He lauded the progress achieved by small cities in areas related to sanitation, amenities, start-ups and other commercial activities.

"Through the Skill India Mission and National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme, along with skill development, the youth are also being provided with necessary funds for self-employment. More than 5 crore 54 lakh new entrepreneurs in the country have availed loans under the Mudra scheme. So far, credit in excess of Rs 10 lakh crore has been sanctioned under this scheme," Kovind said.

Asserting that coordination among departments and dismantling of silos are absolutely essential for successful implementation of schemes, he said new ministries have also been created to facilitate better target orientation of schemes.

"Creation of the Ministry of Skill Development and the Ministry of Jal Shakti by the government is an example of this thought process," said the President. PTI RSN

India 2nd Largest Mobile Manufacturing Hub Globally: Kovind

India is making rapid strides in electronics production and has emerged as the second largest mobile phone manufacturing hub globally, President Ram Nath Kovind said on Friday.

Addressing a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament, Kovind said the value of electronic equipment manufactured in the country has increased to Rs 4.58 lakh crore in 2018-19 from Rs 1.90 lakh crore in 2014-15.

"In 2014, there were only two companies manufacturing mobiles in India. Today, India is the second largest mobile manufacturing hub in the world," he said.

He noted that the government is promoting manufacturing of mobile phones, TVs and other electronic devices, and National Policy on Electronics has been formulated in this regard.

Over the last few years, the government has been bullish on making India a manufacturing base for the world and has set a target to promote domestic manufacturing in the entire value-chain of ESDM (electronic system design and manufacturing) to achieve a turnover of USD 400 billion (Rs 26 lakh crore) by 2025.

For mobile handset segment alone, the government, under the National Policy on Electronics 2019, had set a target of making 100 crore mobile handsets indigenously by 2025, valued at about Rs 13 lakh crore.

Out of the 100-crore mobile handset manufacturing target, 60 crore units will be for exports valued at about Rs 7 lakh crore.

According to industry body Indian Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), mobile handset exports grew over eight-fold to Rs 11,200 crore in 2018-19 and exceeded imports for the first time.

The President, in his address on Friday, said technology is playing a major role in bringing cities and villages closer.

"So far, more than 1.25 lakh Gram Panchayats have been connected with high speed broadband under the BharatNet scheme," he said.

In 2014, there were 60,000 Common Service Centres in rural areas, a number that has now increased to more than 3.65 lakh. "This has provided employment to more than 12 lakh villagers. Through these centres, the government is delivering more than 45 services in rural areas," he said.

Asserting that digital technology is the foundation of the Industrial Revolution 'Industry 4.0', he said the government has focussed on digital access, digital inclusion and digital empowerment in an "unparalleled manner" through the Digital India Programme.

"It is a matter of pride for the country that digital systems developed in India during the last five years have been a source of inspiration for several countries of the world," he said.

Kovind said more than 121 crore people in the country have Aadhaar cards and about 60 crore people possess RuPay cards.

"A record value of Rs 2 lakh crore has been transacted through UPI in December 2019," he said adding the government has also launched a new version of the BHIM App.

The government has linked about 450 schemes to Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) by using the `JAM Trinity' of Jan-Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile.

He said over Rs 9 lakh crore has been directly transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries through DBT in the last five years. "By plugging the leakages, my Government has saved about Rs 1.70 lakh crore from going into the wrong hands," he added.