About the Programme

• • Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) is an innovative programme sponsored and managed by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) for attraction of talent to Science. 
  • The basic objective of INSPIRE is to 
    • Communicate to the youth of the country the excitements of creative pursuit of science, 
    • Attract talent to the study of science at an early age and thus build the required critical human resource pool for strengthening and expanding the science & technology system and r&d base.
    • A striking feature of the programme is that it does not believe in conducting competitive exams for identification of talent at any level. 
    • It believes in and relies on the efficacy of the existing educational structure for identification of talent.
  • INSPIRE has three components:

• Scheme for Early Attraction of Talent (SEATS)

• Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE)

• Assured Opportunity for Research Careers (AORC)

INSPIRE Award MANAK

• The INSPIRE Awards – MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspirations and Knowledge), being executed by DST with National Innovation Foundation–India, aims to motivate students in the age group of 10–15 years and studying in classes 6 to 10 to become future innovators and critical thinkers.
• 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.

Why in the news?

• The 8th National Level Exhibition and Project Competition for the INSPIRE Awards – MANAK Million Minds Augmenting National Aspiration and Knowledge began recently. 

Reference:

1. https://newsonair.gov.in/News?title=National-Level-Exhibition-of-the-INSPIRE-Awards-%e2%80%93-MANAK-featuring-student-innovations-from-all-over-India-begins&id=425526