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Current Affairs 2023

Atal Innovation Mission - UPSC Current Affairs

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is a flagship initiative of the Government of India to promote culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country. It comprises of the Atal Tinkering Labs in schools, Atal Incubation Centres in universities and other initiatives like Atal Community Innovation Centres, Atal New India Challenges and ARISE-ANIC challenges to foster innovation and support startups and entrepreneurs.

Jan 13, 2023

2 min read

The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog is a flagship initiative of the Government of India that was established in 2016 with the goal of promoting a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country. To achieve this, AIM has taken a holistic approach to fostering a problem-solving mindset in schools and creating an ecosystem for startups and entrepreneurs in universities, research institutions, and the private and MSME sectors.

One of the key components of AIM is the Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs), which are state-of-the-art spaces established in schools to foster curiosity and innovation in young minds. These labs provide students with access to cutting-edge tools and technologies such as the Internet of Things, 3D printing, and robotics. To date, AIM has selected 10,000 schools in 680+ districts of the country for the establishment of ATLs, with more than 2 million students having access to them.

AIM also includes the Atal Incubation Centres (AICs), which provide support and resources to startups and entrepreneurs. These business incubation centres aim to foster and support world-class innovations and dynamic entrepreneurs. To date, AIM has successfully operationalized 69 AICs in 18 states and 3 UTs of India, supporting more than 2,900 startups and creating 30,000+ jobs in the ecosystem.

In addition, AIM has launched several other initiatives such as the Atal Community Innovation Centres, Atal New India Challenges, and ARISE-ANIC challenges to promote innovation in unserved and underserved regions, create product and service innovations with national socio-economic impact and improve research capabilities in the startup and MSME ecosystem.

Overall, the Atal Innovation Mission is a comprehensive program that seeks to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in India, by providing young people with access to resources and opportunities to explore and pursue their ideas, and by supporting early-stage startups and entrepreneurs. AIM is helping to drive economic growth and social development in India by fostering a problem-solving innovative mindset in the younger generation, and creating an ecosystem of startups and entrepreneurs. Image: Atal Innovation Mission.