Dharamsala:  On the occasion of World Environment Day, Governor Shri Shiv Pratap Shukla visited the Agricultural University in Palampur and planted a sapling of Rudraksh. The Governor urged the students to actively participate in tree plantation and contribute to the protection of the environment. The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Dr. H.K. Chowdhary, Deputy Commissioner of Kangra, Dr. Nipun Jindal, Superintendent of Police, Mrs. Shalini Agnihotri, and other dignitaries were also present during the plantation.

Before his visit to Palampur, Governor Shri Shiv Pratap Shukla arrived in Kangra for a two-day stay in the district. He paid a visit to the residence of former Chief Minister Shri Shanta Kumar at Yamini Complex and had a courtesy meeting with him. During their interaction, they reminisced about their past parliamentary tenure and discussed the development of Himachal Pradesh, as well as the state’s rich culture and geographical features.

Additionally, on World Environment Day, Deputy Commissioner Kangra, Dr. Nipun Jindal, initiated the ‘Plastic Free Temple’ project from Shri Chamunda Mata Mandir. He inaugurated a flower nursery and cultivation project for temples at Sri Chamunda Nandikeruvar Dham near Dharamsala. During the event, he planted Tikoma (bell flower) saplings and started the marigold flower nursery in the temple premises. The project aims to replace plastic flowers with real flowers in temples and gradually implement it in all major temples of the district. The cultivation of real flowers for worship within temple premises will also be encouraged as part of this initiative.

A girl from Himachal Pradesh has achieved a remarkable feat by winning the prestigious Fulbright-Kalam Climate Postdoctoral Scholarship. This scholarship is awarded to exceptional individuals who have demonstrated a deep understanding of climate change and its impact on the environment

The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in Dehradun, an autonomous institute under the Government of India, announced on twitter that Dr. Aashna Sharma has been awarded the prestigious Fulbright-Kalam Climate Postdoctoral Scholarship. This scholarship is a two-year program for Indian fellows, and Dr. Sharma is one of only three scholars from India to have been awarded this prestigious Indo-US fellowship for the 2023-2024 session( The other two Are from IIT Kanpur and IIT Gandhinagar ). She will be the first from WII to receive this award. She will be hosted by the Illinois State University in Normal, IL, USA and aims to strengthen climate change research back in India.

Dr. Sharma’s project will focus on the impact of climate change and land-use changes on India’s freshwater mega fauna. Indian rivers need better protection by science-backed policy decisions as compared to Indian terrestrial ecosystems, she says, and the ongoing climate change will only make things worse. As such, her project will be valuable in generating novel scientific information on the river segments that need most protection in the future warming conditions.

Dr. Aashna Sharma, a native of Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh, has made history by becoming the first person from her state to receive the prestigious Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship. This achievement is a source of immense pride for the people of Himachal Pradesh. Dr Sharma did her schooling from the Sacred Heart School and the Army School in Dharamsala. The recipient of this scholarship, the Himachal Girl, has made her state and country proud by earning this honor. Her dedication and hard work have paid off, and she is now recognized as one of the budding experts in the field of climate change biology.

Dr. Sharma is currently a Senior Project Associate at WII, where she has been working on assessing the impact of climate change and invasion on native Himalayan fishes. She completed her B.Sc. (Hons) and M.Sc. (Hons) in zoology from Panjab University in Chandigarh and received her Ph.D. from the Department of Zoology at Panjab University and WII under the joint supervision of Dr. Y.K. Rawal and Dr. JA. Johnson, respectively. Her doctoral research focused on developing state-of-the-art models for the conservation of native Himalayan fishes.

Dr. Sharma’s dedication to her field and her groundbreaking research have made her a role model for aspiring scientists and researchers. Her achievements serve as a testament to the power of hard work, perseverance, and a passion for making a difference in the world. Dr. Sharma’s achievement is a source of pride for WII, Himachal Pradesh, and India as a whole. Her research will contribute to the global effort to combat climate change and protect our planet’s biodiversity

Kangra-Chamba Lok Sabha member Kishan Kapoor (BJP)has requested Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav on the telephone today to reconsider the decision taken regarding the permanent campus of the Central University established at Dharamshala,( district Kangra’s headquarters). He has said that the decision taken by the Ministry of Environment in this regard is inconsistent and illogical.

An objection has been registered by the Ministry of Environment regarding the construction of this campus as it rains excessively in Dharamsala and it is a seismic zone, so the permanent campus of this university cannot be constructed here.

After talking to the Union Forest and Environment Minister, Lok Sabha member Kishan Kapoor also wrote a letter to the Ministry, in which the MP informed the Ministry that when Himachal Pradesh Central University was announced in the year 2009 for Dharamshala , it was decided that all the faculties of this University will be opened in Dharamshala only but later its faculties was divided into three parts and its campuses were also opened in Dehra(the area in the constituency of Union Minister Anuraag thakur ) and Shahpur (Kangra). For many years there was uncertainty regarding the setting up of the permanent campus of this university. He said in the letter, “Now that the land etc. for the permanent campus has been selected in Dharamsala by the district administration, the above objection seems inconsistent and illogical.” He said that Dharamshala is the headquarters of the largest district of Himachal in terms of total population of the State. All the important offices of the state and central government are located here. Apart from this, the army corps headquarters and the capital of Tibet’s government-in-exile are also located in this area. Apart from this, there is also an airport here and all the facilities are available which are necessary for the operation of the faculties, then what is the hitch to establish a permanent campus of CU HP here. He asked the ministry to reconsider this decision. Reconsider the construction of a permanent campus of State Central University, Dharamshala.

Member of Parliament Kishan Kapoor informed that in a telephonic conversation, the Union Environment Minister has assured of positive action in this regard.

On the other hand, Congress MLA from Dharamsala, Sudhir Sharma also criticized the Center Government and the BJP and said, “Himachal’s only Central University has been stuck in politics for the last 15 years. There has been fierce politics in Dharamshala, Dehra and Shahpur regarding its campus. Now politics will not be allowed on this subject. Former Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma further said,”This city has a fundamental right to the Central University.”

He asked “If the Tibetan government in exile can run from Dharamshala then why not Central University?

“The city has the most beautiful cricket stadium in the world. There are one thousand hotels. Many of these have five star facilities. All these facilities in Dharamshala make this city different from others. With CU’s campus in Dharamshala, students and teachers will get an education environment. With CU being in a smart city, students and educationists will come from India and abroad. This city has a fundamental right to the Central University.

“BJP has always conspired against Dharamshala, it will not be allowed to happen now,” said Sharma

“As a futuristic organisation that promotes design thinking and design education globally, the World Design Council is pleased to support the Government of Karnataka in this initiative. WDC will extend the global design thinking curriculum and help schools and colleges set up design clubs in their institutions. On behalf of the World Design Council, I wish all the very best for this unique initiative,” stated Paula Gazard. The Bengaluru Design Festival, initiated by ISDC Global and Jain School of Design, began on 11th November ’22 and will last until 12th December ’22. The festival includes 500+ ongoing events, 200+ global speakers, and a massive gathering of many design professionals, architects, thought leaders, policymakers, government officials, creative minds, and students.

Speaking on the closing ceremony of the month-long Bengaluru Design Festival 2022, Dr. Ashwath Narayan C.N, Hon’ble IT Minister, Govt. of Karnataka, said, “I am extremely proud of this initiative and would like to congratulate the entire team of the Bengaluru Design Festival. This event is the first successful step in energising the creative ecosystem through interactions, networking, exchanging ideas and, more importantly, positioning Bengaluru as a global creative design hub. Given that the city already offers a vast pool of talent, atmosphere, and technology-led infrastructure – comprising a robust ecosystem, it is not far from emerging as a Global creative destination. Our key focus area in the coming years will be to strengthen the talent pool, a vision we are embarking upon by introducing Design Thinking education at the school level. Towards this, I would like to thank the World Design Council for their support. As we successfully conclude this edition, the design professionals worldwide and I eagerly await the next edition in 2023.”

MANDI : Indian Institute of Technology Mandi celebrated its 10^th Convocation, with a graduating class of 462 students (348 male & 114 female) today, 5^th December 2022. This year, the Institute awarded 64 PhDs, which is the highest number of PhDs awarded at IIT Mandi in an academic year till date.

Prof. Stuart R. Hameroff, University of Arizona, U.S.A., graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Dr. Akhilesh Gupta, Secretary, Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), New Delhi; Dr. Kingshuk Banerjee, Director, Hitachi India Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru, and Mr. Woochan Chang, Director, KOICA India, New Delhi, were the Guests of Honor. Prof. Prem Vrat, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Mandi, presided over the Convocation event.

Congratulating the students at the 10th Convocation of IIT Mandi, Chief Guest, Prof. Stuart R. Hameroff, said, “Consciousness is a fundamental property of the universe. An ‘inward hierarchy’ in quantum brain biology is consistent with Indian Knowledge systems (e.g. 5 Koshas). Quantum state reduction can occur at various levels of the brain hierarchy – ‘Atman from Brahman’. At deeper inward levels, consciousness may exist in spacetime geometry independent of biology. While therapies aimed at microtubule resonance e.g. with painless, safe and pleasant brain ultrasound can treat mental and cognitive disorders.”

Further, advising students to consider Quantum Computing and Quantum Biology which will be the future, the chief guest ended his speech.

Prof. Stuart R. Hameroff, M.D. is the Director of the Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. Prof. Hameroff is responsible for over a hundred scientific articles and book chapters, lectured around the world. Prof. Hameroff taught a course on science consciousness to establish collaborative research with researchers at IIT Mandi.

Degrees awarded were:

The Institute has seen a rise in the number of girl students passing out in different streams. This year a total of 33 female students in undergraduate programme; 49 in postgraduate and masters’ programmes, 28 in Ph.D. programme and 04 in iPh.D. programme have graduated from IIT Mandi surpassing the numbers from the previous years.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Prem Vrat, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Mandi, said, “IIT Mandi has equipped the students with good attitude, knowledge and skill to be a good human being and a successful professional. Now is the time for ‘guru dakshina’. Nothing better, nothing more valuable than to live the rest of their lives with the learning they have received from IIT and teachers who inspired and helped to imbibe the values of inclusive and sustainable development. Continue to remain a student all life; keep an open mind, and keep learning from life.”

Congratulating the graduating batch, Prof. Laxmidhar Behera, Director, IIT Mandi, said, “I wish my heartiest greetings to all our graduating students. They will become the torch bearer of the Institute. I am sure that their professional competencies and uncompromising character will empower them to lead the society in various ways. Their success will also be the success of IIT Mandi.”

Further, highlighting his vision for the Institute, Prof. Behera, said, “In the coming years, my focus will be to encourage faculty members and research scholars to publish impactful research works that are at par with the best Universities across the world. We must be solving real-live problems around us that will impact the lives of the people around. To encourage the research ecosystem, we have raised the seed grant to faculty members from 5 lacs to15 lacs.”

Delivering this year’s Valedictorian’s address, Mr. Ashish Anand, Institute’s Silver Medal, B.Tech, Electrical Engineering, 2022 batch, said, “After joining IIT Mandi, we started to go through the part of life which we lived for the last 4 years, i.e., lectures, labs, assignments, quizzes and end semester examinations and participation in intercollege events. In parallel with these academic engagements, we were also creating memories: be it playing table tennis in common rooms after the lectures or campus tours or celebrating birthdays at midnight or going on treks and trips or celebrating festivals. I would like to thank the IIT Mandi community for endless memories and faculty members for teaching us with utmost passion.”

MANDI : Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi have developed a new photovoltaic material that can generate power when irradiated with light produced in household light sources like LED or CFL.

The findings of the research have been published in the journal, Solar Energy, in a paper co-authored by Dr. Ranbir Singh, Ramanujam Fellow faculty, and Prof. Satinder Kumar Sharma, School of Computing & Electrical Engineering from IIT Mandi along with Dr. Vikrant Sharma, National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Gurugram, Dr. Vivek Kumar Shukla, Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, and Mr. Mritunjaya Parashar, University of North Texas, Denton, USA.

This research supports IoT technology that is finding increasing adoption in society today. IoT devices are being increasingly used in mobile phones, smart homes, and other applications that require various kinds of real-time data. These IoT devices are required to run independently without being dependent on electrical grids for power supply; primary and secondary batteries are currently used to power such devices. All batteries, irrespective of their kind, have a finite lifespan and are neither cost-effective nor eco-friendly.

Light-induced power generators are promising alternatives to batteries for powering such devices. Solar cells use the light from the sun to produce power, but since many of the IoT are used indoors, the solar light is not an option. An alternative is to find methods to harness light from indoor lighting sources to generate enough power to run indoor devices such as sensors, gadgets, Wi-Fi routers, RFID readers, etc.

The multi-institutional team has developed thin-film efficient photovoltaic cells that can generate power from any kind of light. These cells are based on perovskites – a family of crystals that can absorb sunlight and generate power. Perovskites have been studied for a long time for solar power generation. This team of researchers has explored new perovskite materials that can be used to harvest indoor artificial light and not just sunlight.

Explaining the technicalities of this work, Dr Ranbir Singh, IIT Mandi, said, “We have synthesized a photoactive quasi-cubic structured perovskite material by incorporating Formamidinium (FA+) cation in Methylammonium Lead Iodide (MAPbI3) perovskite material.”

The light absorption, morphology, charge transport, and electron trap states of the perovskites were examined and the device physics under indoor lighting conditions has been explored in detail. The fabricated PVs demonstrated a photoelectric conversion efficiency of 34.07% within indoor illumination conditions.”

The photoelectric conversion efficiency values are on par with the best-in-class perovskites for indoor applications. The lead researcher also says that this work presents a potential candidate for the development of photovoltaic material to capture the energy of indoor light using quasi-cubic perovskites.

Indoor light-induced power generation will be increasingly sought in the near future due to the exponential growth in the use of smart devices in applications such as wellness and health monitoring, smart homes, logistics, smart manufacturing, etc.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today inaugurated the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Kothipura in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh. Spread over an area of about 247 acres, this 1471 crore rupees 750 bedded premier medical institute would provide super specialty medical treatment to the people of the region.

Prime Minister also inaugurated 140 crore rupees Government Hydro Engineering College at Bandla in Bilaspur. He also laid foundation stones of 350 crore rupees for Medical Devices Park to be set up at Nalagarh and Pinjore-Nalagarh four-lane road project to be constructed under the Bharat Mala project with a cost of 1692 crore rupees.

While addressing a mammoth public meeting at historic Luhnu ground in Bilaspur, Prime Minister greeted the people in the local Bilaspur dialect. He said that AIIMS at Bilaspur would be known as the ‘Green AIIMS’ as it has been built in an eco-friendly manner. He said that AIIMS Bilaspur would not only increase access to affordable healthcare in the State, but also provide specialized healthcare facilities to the people of the region nearer to their homes.

He said, the Centre Government during the last eight years have worked to ensure that the benefits of development reach the remotest parts of the country.

Prime Minister said that the State of Himachal Pradesh has played a crucial role in guarding the frontiers of the nation (Rashtra Raksha) and now the AIIMS would go a long way in making Himachal a destination for ‘Jeevan Raksha”.

Narendra Modi said that Himachal Pradesh was one of the three states chosen for establishing a Bulk Drug Park and one of the four states chosen for a Medical Device Park. He said that credit for this goes to the faith and support the people of the state have provided to the Centre Government.

He said Medical tourism was another important sector that needed to be promoted in Himachal so that when people from across the world would come to India, they shall visit Himachal as the State has a beautiful and healthy environment.

Prime Minister also appreciated the good work done by the State Government in the Covid-19 vaccination drive and the effective implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission. He said that the social security cover provided by the State was also laudable. He also termed Himachal Pradesh a land of opportunities.

Earlier, on his arrival at AIIMS Bilaspur helipad, the Prime Minister was accorded a warm welcome by Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, National BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur and the state cabinet Ministers.

The Prime Minister made a walkthrough of the Hospital Block, CT Scan Centre and Emergency and Trauma area of the AIIMS. The AIIMS authorities also made a demonstration of the 3D Model of AIIMS before the Prime Minister.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur while welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Dev Bhoomi Himachal said the people of the State would always remain indebted to the love and benevolence showered by the Prime Minister to the State. He said that providing AIIMS to a small State like Himachal Pradesh with only 70 lakh population shows the concern of the Prime Minister towards the development of the State and the welfare of the people of Himachal Pradesh. He also thanked the Prime Minister for dedicating developmental projects worth Rs. 3653 crore to the State today.

Jai Ram Thakur said, the present State Government is about to complete its five years tenure and during this period, the State Government ensured that State progress in all spheres of development.

Chief Minister said the Centre Government provided all possible support and cooperation to the State Government during this developmental journey. He said that developmental projects worth 10,000 crore rupees were sanctioned for the State during this period by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said these projects would go a long way in giving a boost to the development of the State.

Chief Minister expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing Bulk Drug Park for the State. He said that this Park would be spread over 1,405 acres in Haroli and would prove a game changer for the people of the region.

Member of Parliament and National BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda said that setting up of AIIMS outside Delhi was a vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the first AIIMS was established in Delhi way back in 1960. He said that the foundation stone of this institution was laid about four years back by the Prime Minister and despite the pandemic, this ambitious project was completed in a record time. He said that Hydro Engineering College at Bandla in Bilaspur is also a big gift of the Prime Minister to the State. He said that the Kol Dam Project was also started during the tenure of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and dedicated to the State by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He said that the Congress Government always ignored the interests of the State, whereas the status of the special category state was restored by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that the 90:10 ratio for Central-State share for centrally sponsored projects was also restored during the tenure of the BJP. He said that Hatti Community of Sirmour district was also accorded tribal status by the Prime Minister and with this their long pending demand was fulfilled. He also thanked the Prime Minister.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur while welcoming the Prime Minister on the auspicious occasion of Vijayadashami to the Dev Bhoomi Himachal thanked him for dedicating developmental projects worth crores of Rupees to the State. He said that Himachal Pradesh has been fortunate to always have benevolence of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that it was through the strong leadership provided by the Prime Minister that India was today emerging as a world power. He said that administering over 200 crore vaccine dosages free of cost to the people of the country against corona vaccine and free ration to 80 crore people for 28 months during the pandemic and providing PM Kissan Samman Niddhi of 6000 rupees per annum to the farmers of the country was only possible due to dynamic leadership of Narendra Modi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Himachal Pradesh tomorrow to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of projects worth over three thousand 650 crore rupees.
During the visit, he will inaugurate AIIMS Bilaspur, which foundation stone was also laid by the Prime Minister in October 2017.
The AIIMS, constructed at a cost of over one thousand 470 crore rupees, is a state-of-the-art hospital with 18 specialty and 17 super specialty departments, 18 modular operation theaters and 750 beds. Spread over 247 acres, the hospital is equipped with 24 hours emergency and dialysis facilities.
The hospital will admit one hundred students for MBBS Course and 60 students for nursing courses every year.
During the visit, Mr. Modi will also lay the foundation stone of around 31 km long project for four laning of the National Highway from Pinjore to Nalagarh on NH-105, worth over one thousand 690 crore rupees.
The project road is a major connecting link for the traffic from Ambala, Chandigarh, Panchkula and Shimla going towards Bilaspur, Mandi and Manali.
The Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of the Medical Device Park at Nalagarh, which will be built at a cost of about 350 crore rupees. He will also inaugurate the Government Hydro Engineering College at Bandla.
During the visit, the Prime Minister will participate in Kullu Dussehra celebrations. The festival is unique in the sense that it is the congregation of more than 300 Deities of the Valley.
It will be the first time ever that the Prime Minister of the country is participating in the Kullu Dussehra celebrations.

Delhi: Hon’ble Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Shri Jai Ram Thakur and Hon’ble Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Gen. V.K. Singh (Rtd) has inaugurated a direct flight from Delhi to Shimla at Hindon Airport, Ghaziabad today on 26th September 2022 under UDAN scheme.

The inauguration was graced by Shri Rajiv Bansal, Secretary MoCA, Smt. Usha Padhee, Additional Secretary, MoCA, Shri Suresh Kashyap, Hon’ble MP (Lok Sabha), Principal Secretary to the GoHP, Shri Devesh Kumar, Shri Vikram Dutt, CMD AIAHL, Shri Vineet Sood, CEO Alliance Air, and other dignitaries from MoCA, AAI, Govt of Himachal Pradesh and Alliance Air.

To offer enhanced air connectivity between Delhi and Himachal Pradesh, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Alliance Air have recommenced the Delhi-Shimla-Delhi flight which will operate daily effective from 26th September 2022. This flight will operate with a brand new ATR42-600.

Initially, this flight of Alliance Air was flagged off by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in 2017. After operating for more than 2 years under UDAN, this flight was discontinued due to the renovation of the airport and the unavailability of suitable aircraft. Meanwhile, AAI has renovated Shimla airport and Alliance Air has inducted ATR-42 aircraft exclusively to connect airports of Himachal Pradesh.

In his address, Hon’ble MoS’ Gen. Dr V. K. Singh (Rtd.) has said that this flight will create convenience for the people of Shimla and Delhi NCR. The ministry is working to further increase this ATR connectivity from Shimla to Kullu and Shimla to Dharmshala. He congratulated the state government and thanked them for their support and cooperation.

Shri Jairam Thakur, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh expressed his thanks towards the Ministry of Civil Aviation for providing the ATR connectivity based on the need of the region. He further said that the state government is working towards creating more air connectivity in the state in collaboration with the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

In her closing remark, Smt. Usha Padhee, Additional Secretary Ministry of Civil Aviation thanked and congratulated the present dignitaries and all the stakeholders involved and said that this flight will play an important role in supporting Himachal’s tourism industry and other economic activities.

Flight 9I 821 will depart from Delhi at 0710 hrs and arrive in Shimla at 0820 hrs. Flight 9I 822 will depart from Shimla at 0850 hrs and arrive in Delhi at 1000 hrs. The introductory all-inclusive Fares for Delhi-Shimla and Shimla-Delhi will be INR 2141 /-.

 ConveGenius Insights (CGI), an educational assessment platform, has conducted a first-of-its-kind state-wide assessment for the Himachal Pradesh Samagra Shiksha department in partnership with Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. The large-scale assessment using 1,900 tablets will help develop a remedial learning strategy for the state after understanding the post-COVID student learning outcomes.

The digital assessment took place among 21,309 students across 1,115 schools in 12 districts of Himachal Pradesh. The students of Class 4, 6 and 9 were assessed for mathematics and language using scientific assessment methodologies like Item Response Theory and Rasch Model. The assessment registered a participation rate of 83% (w.r.t the enrolments) as all stakeholders provided their full support to successfully implement this forward-looking

digital assessment model despite logistic challenges in the Himalayan state.

Varun Dutt, Assessment Lead, ConveGenius Insights, said, “This is a watershed moment in the landscape of large-scale education assessments. CGI, with HP Samagra Shiksha’s support, has successfully executed the largest tablet-based assessment in India and probably globally too. The learnings from this study will be critical and will act as a guiding light for executing similar large-scale digital assessments in other geographies.”

“Technology gives us the power to constantly innovate and improve assessment platforms (with built-in features to reduce malpractices during assessments), better student experience and improve data quality. It provides near real-time data to support administrators and policymakers to nudge education. Digital assessments are the future and are here to stay.”

Jairaj, Co-Founder & Managing Director at ConveGenius, said, “Himachal’s tab-based assessment is the first time that an education assessment has been conceptualised and implemented across the state using tablets. It is a technology-led disruption in the assessment segment as earlier, the assessments were done on pen and paper, which took 2-3 months. Our model helps improve the pace and integrity of data collection. We have also solved an online-offline problem, especially for remote areas where internet connectivity may be intermittent.”

Aditya Chopra, Vice-President of Samagra, said, “We were pleased to partner with ConveGenius Insights (CGI) for conducting a first-of-its-kind tablet-based third-party assessment for the state of Himachal Pradesh. The assessment has helped the state government to establish a baseline of learning levels of students, which was essential post-shutdown of schools due to Covid-19. Leveraging insights from this assessment, we are designing programs under the Samarth program for the systemic transformation of education in the state. The government has adopted technology and data in a big way, and we are excited with the opportunities ahead.”

Samar Bajaj, Director, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation India, LLP, said, “Apart from the extensive use of technology, where tablets were used to test 20,000+ students, CGI stands out for reliable and faster testing. The large-scale assessments have provided a ‘system-level’ view of learning and identifying trends, leading to interventions like an intensive catch-up program, each student’s workbooks, and a digital content repository. We are hoping other states will replicate implementing similar data-driven solutions.”

ConveGenius Insights (CGI) has pioneered models to develop modern measurement techniques in education. The services include a range of assessments that suit the requirements for action on the ground and the diversity of India.