PIB 6th October

Contents

1. National Startup Awards 2020
2. Role of AI in driving social impact: RAISE 2020
3. MEITY: PLI Scheme
4. Wildlife Week

NATIONAL STARTUP AWARDS 2020

Focus: GS-III Indian Economy

Why in news?

The Results of the National Startup Awards 2020 were released by Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry Shri Piyush Goyal.

National Startup Awards

• The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has conceived the National Startup Awards to recognize and reward outstanding Startups and ecosystem enablers that are building innovative products or solutions and scalable enterprises, with high potential of employment generation or wealth creation, demonstrating measurable social impact.
• The measure of success is not only the financial gains for the investors, but also the contribution to social good.
• The first edition of the Awards invited applications across 12 sectors, which were further sub-classified into a total of 35 categories.
• These 12 sectors are: Agriculture, Education, Enterprise Technology, Energy, Finance, Food, Health, Industry 4.0, Space, Security, Tourism and Urban Services.
• Apart from these, startups are to be selected from those which create impact in rural areas, are women-led and founded in academic campuses.

Startup India Programme

Startup India Programme is a campaign based on the Startup Action Plan by Government of India, aimed to promote entrepreneurship.

What is a Startup?

As per the notification dated February 17, 2016, Ministry of Commerce and Industry has described an entity as a ‘startup’:

• Up to five years from the date of its incorporation/registration,
• If its turnover for any of the financial years has not exceeded Rupees 25 crore, and
• It is working towards innovation, development, deployment or commercialization of new products, processes or services driven by technology or intellectual property.

Key features of a Startup:

• Any such entity formed by splitting up or reconstruction of a business already in existence shall not be considered a ‘startup’;
• In order to obtain tax benefits a startup so identified under the above definition shall be required to obtain a certificate of an eligible business from the Inter-Ministerial Board of Certification consisting of: a) Joint Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, b) Representative of Department of Science and Technology, and c) Representative of Department of Biotechnology.
• An entity shall cease to be a startup on completion of five years from the date of its incorporation/registration or if its turnover for any previous year exceeds Rupees 25 crore.
• Entity means a private limited company (as defined in the Companies Act, 2013), or a registered partnership firm (registered under section 59 of the Partnership Act, 1932) or a limited liability partnership (under the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2002).

Other Initiatives

The government has already launched PMMY (Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana), the MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency) Bank, a new institution set up for development and refinancing activities relating to micro units with a refinance Fund of Rs. 200 billion. The Standup India initiative is also aimed at promoting entrepreneurship, but among SCs/STs, women communities.

Impact

• The awards will generate excitement and enthusiasm among the young entrepreneurs in taking their innovative ideas to the higher levels and propel the startups to expand and serve new geographies and large numbers of people.
• This will help in generation of employment and achieving the goal of Atmanirbhat Bharat (Self Reliant India).

ROLE OF AI IN DRIVING SOCIAL IMPACT: RAISE 2020

Focus: GS-III Science Technology

Why in news?

Experts from across the world spoke on the second day of RAISE 2020- ‘Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020’ summit, discussing themes like the role that artificial intelligence can play in powering financial inclusion, and its potential to empower over a billion Indians by helping build robust and ahead-of-the-curve public digital platforms.

Highlights

• The role of AI in empowering over a billion people was the theme of the second session of the day, which was discussed by a specially-curated all-women panel.
• AI will dominate the core of the next exponential enterprises, rewriting the fundamentals of the establishment and this is the opportunity to capture.
• UIDAI is developing a face authentication system which will be available to all the Aadhaar holders. The goal is to make it extremely secure and make it available for all smartphone users in the country.
• Globally, only 22% of AI professionals are women. Now, after COVID 19 has led to rapid digitization, the need to focus on digital inclusion has never been clearer.
• According to independent studies, AI has the potential to raise India’s annual growth rate by 1.3% and add USD 957 billion to the country’s economy by 2035.
• As part of the summit, the Government of India organized the AatmaNirbhar Bharat AI Solution Challenge with the aim of promoting and showcasing innovative AI solutions developed by Indian start-ups.

RAISE 2020

• RAISE 2020 will be a global meeting of minds to exchange ideas and chart a course for using AI for social transformation, inclusion and empowerment in areas like Healthcare, Agriculture, Education and Smart Mobility, among other sectors.
• At the RAISE 2020 Summit, delegates and experts in research, policy and innovation on Artificial Intelligence will join from across the globe.
• Keynote speeches and panel discussions will frame the summit, on cross-sector subjects like ‘Leveraging AI for Pandemic Preparedness’, ‘The Impetus that Innovation Places on Digitisation’, ‘Inclusive AI’, ‘Partnerships for Successful Innovation’ etc.
• The Summit will explore in-depth, the role of AI in accelerating social empowerment. RAISE 2020 has tracks like AI for Health, Agriculture, Education, Skilling, Mobility, Fintech, Research, Inclusive AI, Future of Work, and Responsible AI, and the Summit will serve as a platform for the meeting of some of the best minds in the world on AI.

Conclusion / Introduction

• Home to the world’s third largest startup ecosystem, elite science and technology institutions like the IITs, robust and ubiquitous digital infrastructure, and millions of newly-minted STEM graduates every year, India is well-positioned to become a global leader in the development of artificial intelligence.
• AI has emerged as a catalyst across industries and can play a transformative role in accelerating development.
• Industry analysts predict that AI could add up to more than 950 billion $ to India’s economy by 2035.

Relating India and AI

• In the spirit of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas India plans to leverage AI for inclusive development, representing the country’s ‘AI for All’ strategy.
• RAISE 2020 is a first of its kind, global meeting of minds on Artificial Intelligence to drive India’s vision and roadmap for social transformation, inclusion and empowerment through responsible AI.

Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI)

• India became one of the founding members and joined the league of leading economies including USA, UK, EU, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore to launch the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI or Gee-Pay).
• GPAI is an international and multi-stakeholder initiative to guide the responsible development and use of AI, grounded in human rights, inclusion, diversity, innovation, and economic growth.
• This is also a first initiative of its type for evolving better understanding of the challenges and opportunities around AI using the experience and diversity of participating countries.
• In order to achieve this goal, the initiative will look to bridge the gap between theory and practice on AI by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities.
• In collaboration with partners and international organizations, GPAI will bring together leading experts from industry, civil society, governments, and academia to collaborate to promote responsible evolution of AI and will also evolve methodologies to show how AI can be leveraged to better respond to the present global crisis around COVID-19.

National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence (AI)

NITI Aayog had published the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence in 2019, wherein it identified five core areas for application of artificial intelligence.

1. Healthcare: for increased access and affordability of quality healthcare.
2. Agriculture: for enhanced farmers’ income, increased farm productivity and reduction of wastage.
3. Education: For improved access and quality of education.
4. Smart Cities and Infrastructure: For efficient and connectivity for the burgeoning urban population.
5. Smart Mobility and Transportation: For smarter and safer modes of transportation and better traffic and congestion problems.

ASEEM digital platform

• Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) launched ‘Aatamanirbhar Skilled Employee Employer Mapping (ASEEM)’ portal to help skilled people find sustainable livelihood opportunities.
• ‘Atma Nirbhar Skilled Employee Employer Mapping (ASEEM)’ portal is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based platform to help in recruiting a skilled workforce that spurs business competitiveness and economic growth.
• ASEEM is developed and managed by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in collaboration with the Bangalore based company
• ASEEM will refer to all the trends, data, and analytics describing the workforce market and map demand of skilled workforce to supply.
• Through ASEEM, agencies, employers, and job aggregators who are looking for a skilled workforce in the specific sectors will have access to the required details of the availability of skilled workforce and formulate their hiring plans.
• It will be used as a matchmaking engine to map skilled workers with the jobs available.

MEITY: PLI SCHEME

Focus: GS-III Industry and Infrastructure

Why in news?

• Ministry of Electronics and Information and Technology (MeitY) has approved 16 eligible applicants under the PLI Scheme.
• Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing 2020, extends an incentive of 4% to 6% on incremental sales (over base year) of goods under target segments that are manufactured in India to eligible companies, for a period of five years subsequent to the base year (FY2019-20).

What is the PLI scheme?

• As a part of the National Policy on Electronics, the IT ministry had notified the PLI scheme on April 1 this year.
• The scheme will, on one hand, attract big foreign investment in the sector, while also encouraging domestic mobile phone makers to expand their units and presence in India.
• It would give incentives of 4-6 per cent to electronics companies which manufacture mobile phones and other electronic components.
• According to the scheme, companies that make mobile phones which sell for Rs 15,000 or more will get an incentive of up to 6 per cent on incremental sales of all such mobile phones made in India.
• In the same category, companies which are owned by Indian nationals and make such mobile phones, the incentive has been kept at Rs 200 crore for the next four years.

Which companies and what kind of investments are considered?

• All electronic manufacturing companies which are either Indian or have a registered unit in India will be eligible to apply for the scheme.
• These companies can either create a new unit or seek incentives for their existing units from one or more locations in India.
• Any additional expenditure incurred on the plant, machinery, equipment, research and development and transfer of technology for the manufacture of mobile phones and related electronic items will be eligible for the incentive.
• However, all investment done by companies on land and buildings for the project will not be considered for any incentives or determine the eligibility of the scheme.

WILDLIFE WEEK

Focus: GS-III Environment and Ecology

Why in news?

Every year National Wildlife Week is celebrated in India between October 2nd and October 8^th, celebrated since 1954.

Details of Wildlife Week

• The main objective of celebrating the day is to save the lives of Indian animals by taking critical steps.
• Wildlife Week was conceptualized in 1952 with the overall goal of raising awareness to serve the long-term goal of safeguarding the lives of wildlife through critical action.
• In addition, the Indian Government established an Indian Board of Wild Life which works to improve awareness towards the preservation of wildlife.
• Though the day is celebrated by several organizations all over India, the celebrations are mainly organized by National Board of Wildlife.
• The forest departments organize bird watching in wetlands. Conferences, Workshops, symposiums, education trainings and lectures are organised.

Theme: RoaR (Roar and Revive) – Exploring Human-Animal Relationships

Objectives

1. To make people aware of the protection and conservation of wildlife
2. To implement services that preserve wildlife
3. To discuss and identify issues related to wildlife preservation.