Pics: Justin D'Silva
Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (JD)
Udupi, Dec 19: Smart India Hackathon 2023 organized by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, Institutions Innovation Council, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal was inaugurated by MAHE vice chancellor Lt General Dr MD Venkatesh at MIT.
Speaking on the occasion, Lt General Dr M D Venkatesh said, "Our founder Dr TMA Pai started these institutions 75 years ago to tackle the three major challenges of illiteracy, poverty and ill-health. Due to this, high quality healthcare services are available to the people, especially in the rural areas too of the erstwhile South Canara. The UN sustainable development goals of 2017 literally revolve around these three concepts, but our founder had versioned this years ago. The erstwhile South Canara had the best rated infant mortality, maternal mortality rate and literacy rate to be ranked amongst the best in the country. That is the effort of social commitment. As our Prime Minister mentioned that Indian youth have the ability to find solutions for world problems, we have teams from across the country. MIT is known for its hospitality, meticulous planning, and to embrace everyone who comes their way with a spirit of friendship. In this hackathon we are going to find solutions to some of the problems proposed by Ayush department, Gujarat government and Kerala government through hackathon. About 22 teams from Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and other parts have arrived here. May all your next projects be successful. Come out with a solution which will have lasting impact. We are happy that MIT has been chosen as one of the nodal centers. We are always in the forefront of conducting hackathons. We are the largest multidisciplinary university in the country. At MAHE focus has always been to be the number one in quality education. We are a local institution with a global mindset. It's our commitment to quality education. I thank the ministry of education, AICTE and the innovation council for recognizing MIT's capabilities, come out with such products which will make betterment for humanity. One of your product may come to the medical device development hub funded by Government of India. " he said.
The hackathon will be held for five days. As many as 22 teams from across the nation are participating in this hackathon. The teams have been given problem statements from the Ayush department, governments of Gujarat and Kerala.
MIT director Dr Anil Rana, single mode of contact Dr Cyril Joseph, AICTE Education Ministry assistant director Kamal Singh, Poonam, MIT joint director Dr Somashekhar Bhat and others were present on the occasion.