The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Tuesday released a circular on the implementation of the INSPIRE Award - MANAK Scheme 2021-22.
The INSPIRE Awards - MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspirations and Knowledge), executed by DST with National Innovation Foundation – India (NIF), an autonomous body of DST, aims to motivate students of classes 6 to 10 to excel in innovation and studies.
The objective of the scheme is to target one million original ideas/innovations rooted in science and societal applications to foster a culture of creativity and innovative thinking among school children. The online nominations for the year 2021-22 will remain open till October 15, 2021.
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“Students in the age group of 10 - 15 years and studying in classes 6 to 10 are invited to submit their ideas to their schools, which in turn should shortlist and submit the top 5 ideas through the E-MIAS web portal www.inspireawards-dst.gov.in in any Indian language,” the CBSE circular read.
As per the circular, the best one lakh ideas / innovations will receive Rs. 10,000 cash prize each and the winners will get a chance to participate in the District Level Competition.
Apart from this, 10 per cent students will be shortlisted further to participate in the State Level Competition. One thousand students will showcase their innovations at the National level and finally, 60 innovative projects will be incubated completely (patent filing, value addition in technology and product development etc.) by NIF and will be displayed at the annual Festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (FINE).
The scheme is aligned with the Action Plan for "Start-up India" initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.