Will 2016 be different for innovation-based startups?

When the whole world looking at Indian renaissance as a sign of hope for pulling the global economy out of recession, the policy ambivalence is difficult to understand.  In the year about to pass, several initiatives took shape.  But a very few could get concretized.  One good example is that of BIRAC [Biotechnology Industry Research … Continue reading →

How to listen, learn and leverage ideas of the young innovators

Designing an empathetic start-up ecosystem needs an administrative culture that trusts young people and builds upon their creative ideas. It has to be flexible enough to adapt rules and regulations to match their aspirations without violating ethical norms of transparency and social accountability. Let me explain. There will always be some people who will not … Continue reading →

Looms for physically challenged- Wings to imaginative children:Indian children refuse to live with problems unsolved indefinitely

The two sisters Pavithra and Elakkiya from Tamil Nadu wanted to help their elderly neighbour and created a special handloom, replacing the pedal with a motor and gearbox. “Our innovation will help those who are disabled to be self-employed and independent,” says the elder one, Pavithra Continue reading →

Rethinking entrepreneurial policy: Agriculture and food sectors

India has rightly embarked upon a very vibrant and supportive plan for encouraging startup enterprises to generate jobs and achieve socio economic growth.  However, our analytic lenses are still biased towards IT based enterprises.  Not that these are not important, but for them a reasonably robust ecosystem already exists.  It is the manufacturing technology as … Continue reading →

Stress monitoring mechanism in animals- Wings to imaginative children:Indian children refuse to live with problems unsolved indefinitely

Diva Sharma from Delhi has created an alert for injured or sick animals to identify the most serious case of injury or sickness among all other ailing animals so that can get immediate attention from the veterinary doctor . An animal lover, Diva Sharma has developed an application, which records the respiratory rate, temperature, pulse … Continue reading →

Body Suit- Wings to imaginative children:Indian children refuse to live with problems unsolved indefinitely

As it turns out, children are born with a very compassionate heart fueled by an unbounded imagination; an undaunted determination and most importantly an immense sense of servitude. They naturally identify with the pain of the lesser privileged and they go out of their way to help them. Ayush and Arnov from Haridwar, were so … Continue reading →

Seed container that indicates growth of germs- Wings to imaginative children:Indian children refuse to live with problems unsolved indefinitely

Pests and germs in stored grains could be a thing of the past if Dipti’s seed container with an indicator for temperature, sees the light of the day. Whenever Dipti’s mother stored food grains,pests, insects and micro-organisms used to attack the grains, damaging them. They would not come to know if the stored grains got affected … Continue reading →

Umbrella for more than five persons- Wings to imaginative children:Indian children refuse to live with problems unsolved indefinitely

Eleven-year-old Tarna has given the idea of an umbrella, which could be held by two children from two sides under which other children can stand and thus go to school together without getting drenched.Whenever it rained, Tarna and his schoolmates walked to school under a shared umbrella as most students in his village could not … Continue reading →

Pebble indicating system for cooking vessel- Wings to imaginative children:Indian children refuse to live with problems unsolved indefinitely

Mohammad Tawseef from Jammu & Kashmir could not attend school regularly during the last academic session due to the 15 surgeries that he had to undergo. His pain did not deter him from thinking about how he could change the lives of people and to begin with he chose the problem his mother faced persistently. … Continue reading →