New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually interacted with the participants of the Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon 2023 on Tuesday.
Smart India Hackathon (SIH) is a nationwide initiative by the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell to provide students a platform to solve the pressing problems of the government, ministries, departments, industries and other organizations.
“I was waiting to talk to all of you since morning. I took updates about you during the day. You all work hard at the Smart India Hackathon but I get the opportunity to learn as well. This is the reason I try to interact with you all whenever there is a Smart India Hackathon”, he stated while addressing the event.
PM Modi enquired about the team's project of developing an IoT-based system for Railway Cargo. He also expressed happiness upon seeing Bangladeshi students as part of the team. "I was told that this team is working to develop IoT based system for Railway Cargo and there are Bangladesh students in the team as well," he said.
Modi further stated, "Indian Railways is going through its transformational phase. Central Govt is spending thousands of crores on this and our focus is also on logistics. Your innovation will be of great help. I felt good seeing students from Bangladesh in your team. We have started 'Study in India' program for students from foreign countries to come to India for higher studies."
While addressing the event, Modi stated that everyone should be cautious about the use of the latest technology.
"We need to be cautious about the use of latest technology. It could be very useful if it used in a regulatory manner. However, it could really be dangerous if used in a wrong way; for instance, deepfake videos. Therefore, we need to be cautious before we trust a video or a photo. India is also pushing for a global framework for AI," he said.