Innovation takes centre stage at Youth Ideathon

New Delhi: The fourth edition of Youth Ideathon 2024, an entrepreneurship competition for school students, saw the participation of over 1.8 lakh young innovators from more than 5,000 schools across India. The contest culminated on Thursday with a showcase of groundbreaking ideas from the top 100 teen innovators at IIT Delhi.Biswajit Saha, director (skill education & training), CBSE, said: "The overwhelming response is a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit of India's young minds. We are proud to support initiatives like this, which cultivate creativity, problem-solving skills, and an entrepreneurial mindset from a young age."During the event, participants had the opportunity to present their innovative projects, demonstrating creativity and entrepreneurial spirit. Organised by ThinkStartup and Management Entrepreneurship Professional Skills Council (MEPSC), in association with Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) and IIT Delhi, Youth Ideathon is said to be India's biggest innovation and entrepreneurship competition designed specifically for school students from classes IV-XII."This competition is not just about innovation; it's about building a stronger, self-reliant India driven by young entrepreneurs," said Anil Pokhriyal, CEO of MEPSC. The top six teams selected for a Rs 1 lakh per idea incubation grant were Vidyashilp Academy's NIRI, a water conservation business; Sanskriti School's PadhAI, an affordable AI-based multilingual learning platform; Lilawati Sr Sec School's clean air chimney solution for MSME; ODM Public School Bhubaneswar's Project Skymist, which generates water from the atmosphere on the concept of the Peltier effect; Army Public School Kolkata's AI-based homework checking and assessment solution; and Aditya Vidyashram Residential School Puducherry's all-in-one solar-powered car for agriculture.