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The decision was taken by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, after his recent visit to six districts to hold the Janashirwad Yatra in Karnataka.

To improve internet connectivity in a few districts in Karnataka, the Union IT ministry constituted a task force Wednesday.

The decision was taken by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, after his recent visit to six districts to hold the Janashirwad Yatra in Karnataka.

“There were numerous requests to improve the speed and access of internet connectivity in some parts of each district. Minister had promised a task force would be sent to study the same in each district,” a release by the ministry said.

“In response to this commitment, a task force consisting of officers of National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) and Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) has swiftly commenced their visit and work,” the release added.

The objective of this CoE is to create the holistic ecosystem for encouraging innovation, R&D and entrepreneurship in agritech domain and to address the problems of farmers in the region to increase their productivity and profitability in Akola-Vidarbha region

Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) has launched an open challenge program (OCP) 1.0 of FASAL (Fostering AgriTech Startups for Augmenting Livelihood), a Centre of Entrepreneurship (CoE) for IoT in Agriculture at Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth (PDKV), Akola, Maharashtra in association with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The objective of this CoE is to create the holistic ecosystem for encouraging innovation, R&D and entrepreneurship in agritech domain and to address the problems of farmers in the region to increase their productivity and profitability.

While launching the OCP FASAL 1.0, Dr. Omkar Rai, Director General, said, "All those who are participating in the challenge program should understand the agricultural challenges of the Akola and Vidarbha region to convert their ideas into innovative agritech products. You can see how Israel has addressed the agricultural challenges of the country by leveraging the innovations in the agricultural technologies and empowering the farmers to adopt the modern technologies to enhance yield. We have the similar kind of innovation ecosystem at FASAL. Our 20 CoEs are well integrated in terms of facilities, mentoring and labs. So, any startup being incubated in a CoE can access all the facilities that we provide to startups on pan-India scale."

Anand Deshpande, founder-CMD, Persistent Systems and Chief Mentor, FASAL, said, "We have to look at the agriculture sector as an industry. There is a tremendous opportunity for startups focused on agriculture to build smart agritech products to significantly improve productivity of farmers by enabling them to leverage smart agricultural technologies apropos farmers’ needs. FASAL will address these challenges in a more streamlined manner."

Centre will focus on areas of high-tech, including artificial intelligence, blockchain, cybersecurity and hyper-scale computing, says Union minister of state for IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

The IT sector is betting big on recovery from the economic downturn following the second Covid-19 wave hitting hard the hopes of a revival. In line with the trend, Union minister of state for electronics and information technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar has set his eyes on an ambitious IT export target of $400 billion by March 2022.

“The IT industry is one of the important sectors for exports in India, and we have set a target of achieving $400 billion exports by March 2022. We are working closely with the IT industry leaders to ramp up exports,” Chandrasekhar told ETGovernment.

According to the industry body Nasscom report, the Indian IT-ITeS sector is expected to grow by 2.3% to $194 billion in the 2020-21 financial year. The trade body’s strategic review for the year showed that IT exports might swell to $150 billion, a 1.9% growth over the previous year.

The global research firm Gartner has estimated IT spending in India to grow at 8% to $92.7 billion in 2021. “The growth at 8% is a shade less than the world average of 8.6%,” Gartner said, adding that global spending on information technology is estimated to come at $4.2 trillion.

In India, the overall IT spending growth slowed down to 1.5% to $85.865 billion in 2020, probably hit by the pandemic.

This trend is also reflected in the IT companies’ performance attached to the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) — they have registered exports to the tune of ₹1.20 lakh crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2021, marginally lower than ₹1.27 lakh crore recorded in the same quarter last year.

“Despite the unprecedented pandemic, the Indian IT industry has shown remarkable resilience,” said STPI DG Omkar Rai, adding that focus on next-generation technologies and the digitisation by MSMEs (micro, small and medium) will drive the growth for the industry.

India is the third-largest startup market globally. In order to promote entrepreneurship, Software Technology Park of India has initiated a plan to set up Center for Entrepreneurship to promote industry 4.0 technologies in AP

Omkar Rai, Director General, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) on Tuesday said that self-reliance in technology adoption to industry is promoted through the initiatives of Make in India and Made in India.

He was speaking at a conference organised by CII on digital manufacturing with a focus on “Industry 4.0 Strategies”, in virtual mode.

He said that accelerating growth in manufacturing sector is vital to create a demand for service sector.

Referring to growth of startup ecosystem, he pointed out that India is the third-largest startup market globally. In order to promote entrepreneurship, Software Technology Park of India has initiated a plan to set up Center for Entrepreneurship to promote industry 4.0 technologies in the State. The proposed Center of Excellence would encourage young talent and will be a big push to startups, he added.

Women entrepreneurs can apply for CHUNAUTI 2.0 before August 31, 2021. Seed funding of up to Rs 25 Lakhs will be provided through Financial Institution to each winner based on innovative ideas, novel solutions, strong team and sound business proposal.

The central governmnet has invited applications from women entrepreneurs for CHUNAUTI 2.0 before August 31, 2021. NextGen Startup challenge contest (CHUNAUTI - Challenge Hunt Under NGIS for Advanced Uninhibited Technology Intervention) is a series of online Challenges under Next Generation Incubation Scheme (NGIS).

"Women tech entrepreneurs, apply for CHUNAUTI2.0 before August 31, 2021. Seed funding of up to INR 25 Lakhs will be provided through Financial Institution to each winner based on innovative ideas, novel solutions, strong team & sound business proposal," Digital India tweeted.

In this video:
Special Address: Dr Omkar Rai, Director General, Software Technology Parks of India(STPI), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India

Topic: Making India a Product Nation in Times to Come

Key Highlights:
+ Aadhaar offers multiple linked services to the citizens.
+ The Indian IT Infrastructure has contributed to the largest startup ecosystem in the world.
+ ‘Centres of Excellence’ are promoting and training various technical departments like agritech, fintech, edtech etc.
+ The Centre of Entrepreneurship Initiative provides support to learners and promotes Innovation.
+ Advance technology adoption has laid a foundation for smart projects in the future.

Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), an organization under MeitY, on Wednesday signed an MoU with Wadhwani Foundation’s National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) to promote entrepreneurship and create a nurturing ecosystem for startups incubated at STPI.

The STPI has been working for creation of the startup ecosystem in the country and establishing 25 Centres of Entrepreneurship (CoEs) in various emerging technologies, it said in a press release.

Wadhwani Foundation (WF) through NEN will be conducting a 14-week bootcamp programme “NextGen IGNITE” for startups selected in Chunauti 1.0.

The India BPO Promotion Scheme (IBPS) from the Government of India has played a pivotal role in setting up BPO/ITES operations in several small cities across the country and thus creating employment opportunities for local youth. Under the aegis of IBPS, rProcess Outsourcing Services Pvt. Ltd. has established a centre at Mysuru in 2019 and is empowering the youth through skill development and generation of employment opportunities. The centre employs about 150youths,where nearly 50% are female employees.

rProcess Outsourcing Services had been allocated 100 seats under IBPS. The IBPS scheme was notified by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) under the Digital India Programme. Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) is the executing agency of the IBPS scheme.

Founded in 2010, rProcess Outsourcing Services provides services in the area of image and video annotation for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Computer Vision companies worldwide, including Fortune 500 corporations. Cost-effectiveness, high- quality delivery and complete data security are the hallmarks of its services. It is an ISO 9001 Certified, ISO 27001:2013 Certified (Information security) and GDPR Compliant company helmed by a team of experts. The successful operation at Mysuru under IBPS has motivated the company to now aim to further expand its operations in other Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.