Participate in Techfest,Indian Institute of Technology Bombay appealed to engineering students.In a communique issued today IIT Bombay students said that Techfest,born in 1998 with the motto of promoting technology,scientific thinking and innovation,is well established as Asia’s largest science and technology festival,patronized by UNESCO.
Techfest 2012 saw a footfall of more than 92,000 students with over 25,000 students from India and abroad participating in various events.
Techfest has diversified into an organisation that apart from showcasing the pinnacle of technical advancement,also strives for the betterment of society with unique initiatives. Be it a campaign focussed at promotion of futuristic and eco-friendly technologies or technical innovations aimed at eradicating problems faced by the common man, these initiatives to address social and environmental causes have set Techfest apart from any other college festival and added a whole new dimension to this organisation working on a non-profit basis. So Techfest 2013 has begun with a bang targeting each and every aspect of the society I one or the other way and is determined to do something productive for our India.
GIVE A COIN – Promoting Financial Child Adoption
We’re all well aware of the fact that a prodigious percentage of Indian children are deprived of the basic necessities of life while higher education is still only a dream in the minds of many. Most philanthropists willing and able to help out the weaker sections of society don’t have the time to make sure that their hard-earned money reaches the desired recipient. To bridge this gap, Techfest in association with Pratham Council for Vulnerable Children, (PCVC) a pilot program of Pratham introduces the Give-A-Coin initiative to promote Financial Child Adoption. In this process, donors provide funds for the education, shelter, nutrition and medical care of incarcerate souls, while the NGO handles their allocation, constantly giving a blow-by-blow account of the expenditure to the donors and can also arrange the personal meetings of the donor and the child.
Spreading its wings over 11 cities, and promulgating the humble idea of Financial Child Adoption across students of top 40 colleges of India, Give a Coin is a one-of-a-kind nationwide initiative that takes the message across. Give-A-Coin, as the name suggests will appeal to the masses to drop in a coin. It’s NOT a fundraiser drive but strives to spread awareness about Financial Child Adoption. We believe that by giving a coin, college students would get aware about the cause and may be willing to take it up in the near future.
The campaign has received the best possible start where Hon’ble Mr. Nitin Gadkari, Bhartiya Janata party (BJP) National President commenced the campaign by giving a coin .
The first phase of this 45 day campaign has already started in 5 zones covering colleges of Jaipur, Surat, Hyderabad, Bhopal and Mumbai. The participation and the response in these colleges is far beyond expectation and the enthusiasm which college students have displayed reflects the success of this campaign and hence the secure future of our Indian society. By this campaign, Techfest team, IIT Bombay has truly displayed the power of Indian Youth and the confidence it has in itself to work for the betterment of our tomorrow, India’s tomorrow.
Techfest Green Campus Challnge
Not just social , But Techfest being the Asias’s largest Technical festival understands the importance to promote Green Technology which is the need of the hour. Innovations promoting Green Technology, cleaner India, Greener India are aims for which Techfest is striving hard. Born with a vision to make every campus in India sustainable, green and eco-friendly and educate the youth about the importance of sustainable development, Techfest Green Campus Challenge is a first of its kind initiative in India by Techfest 2013, IIT Bombay. The “Green Campus Challenge” is the continuation of our efforts in direction of promoting and establishing sustainability which we took under the name of “Green Campus” in the year 2010-11 but at that time it was limited to IIT Bombay only, thus we wish to spread this campaign to each and every college in India. With a Total prize money worth 2.5 lakhs, The challenge involves the Green Clubs of all colleges to be a part of this event and perform tasks to win the event. The challenge involves 99 tasks in all of various difficulty levels that have been divided into 11 genres which include: Energy, Climate and Air, Sustainability, Social Outreach, Bio-diversity and Land –management, Green, Food, Waste, Social Media, Water, Design and Creatives,
Teams have to do the maximum no. of tasks before 20th December by first forming a green club and then register themselves on the website and take a step forward in making our Campus, our India little more Greener. The submissions start from 20th august for the event all over India.
Techfest International MUN
This year for the first time, Techfest is organizing Techfest International MUN with an aim to provide cultural and technical exchange between different countries of the world. Model United Nations (also Model UN or MUN) is actually an academic simulation of the United Nations that aims to educate participants about current events, topics in international relations, diplomacy and the United Nations agenda. The event to be held during the festival will involve representatives from each country discussing their Nation’s policies and ideologies and finally coming up with Fruitful policies or amendments that can be incorporated in the existing structure of a nation. The list of committees of TI-MUN 2013 reflect a broad spectrum of the United Nations’ scientific, economic, and political organizations The 6 committees are:
Commission on Science and Technology for development, Disarmament and International Security Committee, Legal, Security Council, Economic and Financial Committee.
Registrations for chairperson of MUN are now open and can be done from Techfest official website.
Participation from 6 countries has been assured till now and the number is surely going to rise significantly in the coming months.
IDEATE
With a motto to discover the best ideas and innovations from across the nation that would reform and revolutionize the present day scenario in India, Ideatae has become one of the most important and popular competitions of Techfest . Ideate invites everyone to lend a helping hand to our very own society and improve the lives of millions. Ideate urges everyone to think and act so as to bring about changes in the life of millions. If you have any idea then bring it to the surface because“The value of an idea lies in the using of it” – Thomas A. Edison. With 5 genres of Ideate this year, Techfest aims to broadly cover all the predominant problems of our society.
1.Inspire India – Inspire India invites ideas for changes which can have a strong and lasting impact on the society to tackle the problems head on, pertaining to the society in general. Inspire India beckons the visionaries and innovators to chalk out plans and models that can benefit the society.
2. Earth– Our mother Earth is dying because of our abominable deeds, and for its resurrection we need to take the mantel upon us. Implementing green technology in day today activities is one the ways to save our Earth. The competition aims to question today’s youth : The bottom of the oil barrel is now visible, are you the answer ‘Earth’ is looking for?
3. Ummeed- For a better tomorrow – Children are our first priority not because they are the most vulnerable, but because the foundation for lifelong learning and human development are laid in the most crucial years of early childhood. India’s growing status as an economic superpower is masking a failure to stem a shocking rate of the ever increasing number of underprivileged children.The desire for quality upbringing for all children is noble and surely one shared by all. Ummeed, for a better tomorrow invites ideas for the upliftment of children
4. Utkarsh- Rural Development in India is one of the most important contributor to the development of Indian economy. India is primarily an agriculture-based country with nearly one-fifth of total GDP of the country being contributed by this sector. Technological and planning based innovations are acute demand of time, especially in Indian social structure where not only the benefits of the new changes matter, they would only be implementable if they could be socially, ideologically and economically fit into the Indian society. There is a need of implementable and economic ideas to uplift one of the most integral part of India- the Rural India.
5. Vidyaarth – The architects of oue Educaional System are stalwarts in their own right and have tried to leave no stone unturned in their quest to design an infallible education framework. Howsoever great their efforts might be, the Indian education system has always been criticized for promoting rote learners and blind curriculum abiders rather than independent and creative thinkers. The onus is therefore on you, who are ever so close to the system, besides being the storehub of novel and extremely potential ideas to revolutionize the system as we know it.
