Education Technology | Innovations and Insights - Edinbox

How does one live in New York City on a Rs 1.6 crore salary? Ask Google software engineer and social media influencer Maitri Mangal, who says the experience is not as glamorous as it seems.

In a now-viral video interview with podcaster and author Kushal Lodha, Mangal gave a frank glimpse into one month of her expenses in one of the world's most expensive cities—showing that even with a seven-figure salary, rent and living expenses can still make it a tight squeeze.

Lodha, sharing the clip on social media, had captioned: "What's the average package at Google? I asked Maitri, a Software Engineer at Google, and she told me it's about Rs 1.6 crore on an average for overall roles." But it was Mangal's open description of how much she spends every month that really caught the internet's eye.

Standing in her Manhattan apartment, Mangal disclosed that she spent around $5,000 (approximately ₹4.2 lakh) per month. An astonishing $3,000 (₹2.5 lakh) is paid only to rent. The rest—the food, entertainment, groceries, and transport—vary from $1,000–$2,000 (₹85,000–₹1.7 lakh), with transport alone taking up to $200 (₹17,000).

"New York living on this wage is comfortable, but it's not extravagance people would imagine," Mangal said. "It's balancing lifestyle, saving, and experiences."

Most social media users responded with a mix of feelings—some shocked at the high expenses, some others appreciative of the candor in opening up about what it really is like to spend and earn in a global tech city.

With more than 173,000 Instagram followers, Mangal frequently posts about career in tech and living in the U.S., giving a glimpse behind the check of high-paid tech careers.

Her video is a wake-up call for aspiring professionals: high paychecks tend to be accompanied by equally high bills.

A good example of how digital infrastructure can fill educational gaps, students of the Zilla Parishad High School (ZPHS) in Peddapalli district's Adavi Srirampur village are embracing state-of-the-art artificial intelligence tools like Perplexity.ai, thanks to high-speed internet availability under the T-Fiber project of the Telangana government.

T-Fiber, the flagship project of the government, aims to connect each home with affordable, high-speed broadband. With its Proof of Concept deployment, Adavi Srirampur is one of four pilot villages experiencing the force of digital inclusion.

A new video created by the T-Fiber team presents students at the Adavi Srirampur school utilizing Perplexity.ai, an AI-based research assistant, to question, clear confusion, and learn more about topics beyond their textbook through voice-based queries. The video drew praise from Perplexity Co-founder and CEO Aravind Srinivas, who reposted it on social media platform ‘X’, noting: “It is great to see schools in India having their students learn with Perplexity as a tutor. Our founding mission is to make the world’s knowledge accessible, and I’m glad it’s having its impact.”

Responding to the post, IT Minister D Sridhar Babu recollected encountering Srinivas in August last year and reaffirmed the government's determination for technological parity.

Min: 1 cr houses getting T-Fiber

Through our administration, one crore houses are being connected with T-Fiber to introduce Silicon Valley-standard technologies like Perplexity.ai to even students of remote villages like Adavi Srirampur (200 km away from Hyderabad). A school girl of a government school performing Perplexity in her classroom is proof that this vision is being realized," he said.

T-Fiber MD P Venu Prasad underscored the larger picture of the initiative, saying, "This is a glimpse of what can be achieved when we bridge the unconnected. With T-Fiber, we are not merely offering the internet; we are offering opportunity, access, and a platform for rural students to thrive in the digital world. Telangana is determined to leave no village behind."

Apart from Adavi Srirampur, the Proof of Concept deployment of T-Fiber also spans three other pilot villages, namely Hajipalle in Rangareddy, Maddur in Narayanpet, and Sangupet in Sangareddy districts.

A Chennai startup that is working on fiber-optic sensors to monitor aging infrastructure took the first prize of 3 lakh at Sangam 2025, the global innovation and alumni meet of IIT Madras and its alumni association.

Folium Sensing emerged victorious at the startup pitchfest held on July 4 in Bengaluru. 20 deep tech and AI startups presented their ideas to over 250 venture investors and capitalists there.

The product of the company is based on fibre-optic sensing technology, which monitors infrastructure in real-time, whereas its scalable product allows it to detect structural gaps in factories, bridges, and buildings. Its technology has the ability to transform infrastructure safety, particularly that of ageing urban infrastructure.

Q-AXIS MOTORS AND ZENTOR MEDTECH WINNERS TOO

Q-axis Motors ranked second by creating India's first sub-100rad precision gimbals that are designed to be utilized in the defence, drone, and surveillance industries. Their precision motion control products deliver stunning enhancements in targeting and stability to unmanned vehicles and platforms.

Third place went to Zentor Medtech for its breakthrough of the world's first patented solid-state laser technology for ophthalmic surgery. The technology offers enhanced precision and safety of ophthalmic treatments, offering a substitute for conventional laser systems with the solidity of dependability.

CELEBRATING AI, INNOVATION, AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Organized on July 4 and 5 in Bengaluru, Sangam 2025 had more than 500 delegates from the entrepreneurial community, faculty, alumni, and investors. The issues of interest covered Artificial Intelligence, innovation, and entrepreneurship that reasserted IIT Madras as a national leader in deep tech research and commercialisation.

Talking about the event, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said: "I have observed the passion, the enthusiasm, the good ideas and the desire to attempt the new, the curiosity with which all of you have conducted your work, it actually makes all of us proud of your work a lot that now, after already allocating the entire first tranche of 'Fund of Funds' of Rs. 10,000 Crore in the last budget, now extra Rs. 10,000 Crore has now been approved as Tranche 2."

He also instructed that a $12 billion (Rs 1 lakh crore) interest-free loan has been approved by the Cabinet for the Department of Science and Technology to fund next-generation technology by providing flexible funding schemes to be reinvested again as success builds innovation.

IIT MADRAS POURS PRESSURE FOR 'VIKSIT BHARAT 2047'

Last week, while delivering a speech, IIT Madras Director Prof. V Kamakoti had mentioned, "IIT Madras will spearhead the efforts to translate 'Viksit Bharat 2047' into reality. Entrepreneurship and innovation are at the top of its agenda and are the ones that drive National progress. The upcoming 'Sangam 2025' event is a reflection of the vision in the form of a well-thought-out series of events to make India a country of entrepreneurship and product innovation world champion."

Other dignitary guests are Kris Gopalakrishnan, Chairman, Axilor Ventures & Co-founder, Infosys, Dr S Somanath, Vikram Sarabhai Professor and ex-Chairman, ISRO -- both eminent alumni of IIT Madras -- and Shri Tejasvi Surya, Hon'ble Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), Bengaluru South.

The conclave also featured top-level interactions with Aparna Chennapragada (Microsoft), Srinivas Narayanan (OpenAI), Tarun Mehta (Ather Energy), Kris Gopalakrishnan (Infosys), and Dr S Somanath (former Chairman, ISRO) -- all IIT Madras alumni.

FROM STARTUPS TO GLOBAL IMPACT

The Pitchfest witnessed the presence of AI, health, biotech, quantum computing, logistics, and climate tech startups. All the shortlisted startups will now be incubated by the IIT Madras Innovation Ecosystem, which has incubated more than 500 startups in the past decade.

As Shyamala Rajaram, President, IIT Madras Alumni Association, aptly put it: "Sangam 2025 is the collective strength of IIT Madras and its global alumni -- driving audacious debates on innovation and entrepreneurship."

Through all such initiatives, IIT Madras is reasserting itself as a center for technology of global transformation and economic development.

ISRO Chairman Dr. V. Narayanan honored Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday during his visit to Lucknow.

The move was a day before the scheduled visit of Dr. Narayanan to the state capital and was a demonstration of ISRO's heightened drive to strengthen regional coalition in space research, tech, and education. The move was seen as a sign of Uttar Pradesh's heightened interest in building science and generating student interest in the study of space.

The two dignitaries, according to reports, had talks to enhance the presence of ISRO within the state of Uttar Pradesh. On the agenda was the initiation of space awareness programs in government institutions and colleges and encouraging more students to study in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) with emphasis on space sciences.

The class comes at a critical moment for ISRO, which itself is ramping up its operations with satellite mission success and prospects of carrying out interplanetary missions. As India's space mission picks up across the world, Uttar Pradesh states are moving ahead to be a part of the nation's vision by introducing space studies in school curriculum.

It was the department of science and technology senior government officials, department of education members, and scientists from local research institutes that attended the session. The exercise itself underlined the shared commitment to democratizing science and equipping the next generation with employment opportunities in the high-technology industry.

This dialogue is expected to lead to further dialogue between ISRO and Uttar Pradesh in terms of capacity building programs, school infrastructure, and talent identification at the rural and semi-urban level.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the education industry by personalizing learning, helping the instructors, and streamlining school administration. It helps students with numerous languages, helps the visually impaired children, and offers diverse testing environments. Although AI has a lot to give, data privacy concerns as well as rural connectivity levels need to be addressed. More here.

The Education System itself is changing at a rate that is mind-numbing, and one of the biggest factors for that is Artificial Intelligence (AI). Something that was some kind of tomorrow yesterday is being implemented in schools, colleges, and learning websites on a daily basis. Not only is AI helping the educational process in 2025 and thereafter, but it is also revolutionizing the manner in which we learn, teach, and design classrooms.

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is helping all kids to learn as individuals who are just right for them. Khan Academy's Khanmigo, for example, can modify the degree of difficulty of questions as the child learns based on what they respond to.

Embibe, an Indian app, offers practice questions, videos, and exercises customized to be for what the student is stuck on. Schools in America like ALT-School and learning programs like Gooru Learning help teenagers understand where they are doing it wrong and how to get it right, step by step. It is a form of smart learning that is referred to as hyper-personalised learning, and it is revolutionizing the way in which children are learning at an incredible pace. AI is a teaching assistant. It never replaces them but makes their job easier. In India, there are platforms like Teachmint and Scribetech which assist teachers in carrying out actions like attendance, classroom management, and report generation without any hassle. There is in America software called Century Tech that assists teachers in assessing the manner in which children are learning and then providing the concept of teaching them in a better way.

AI is enabling more children to learn and be learned about. Google's Read Along application is simplifying learning to read for rural Indian children in certain Indian languages. Duolingo-type apps are making learning any language fun for all humans on Earth. These AI applications are used in Japanese schools and the UAE to translate while the teacher talks.

This is easier for foreign students to comprehend. Visually challenged children in rural Karnataka are assisted by Microsoft AI tools through Kannada and English reading. This is easy for children to master who are unable to read well.

AI is transforming how we test and examine students. As an example, the GRE test today uses AI to make it easy to mark written answers quickly and fairly.

In India, Embibe not only verifies if a child has answered or not but also why he/she has answered so, i.e., hesitated or time taken.

Even the CBSE schools are employing AI to assess speaking English and writing skills and offering instant and useful feedback to the students.

AI is not merely about learning, but also makes school effective. An example of how Georgia State University in the US employs an AI assistant called Pounce is as follows. It answers questions from students and retains students at school.

In India, Manipal Academy deploys AI to arrange class hours, predict the number of students to be enrolled, and give support needed by the students. Podar International schools employ AI to update parents regarding attendance, homework, and exam dates so that parents won't be left behind.

While it's good, there are problems with AI. There have been some strict controls in Europe so that schools cannot utilize deceptive or unfair AI software.

India does have some data privacy concerns because there are so many students online. There is the Digital Personal Data Protection Act to protect students' data, but it needs to be actively enforced.

AI would not replace teachers but would help teachers in the future. AI is used in Finnish schools as well as project-based learning to encourage students and make their classes more interactive and engaging.

In India, AI classes have already started from Grade 8 under the CBSE board in collaboration with Intel. Some of the next-generation schools are also hiring AI Coaches to train students on how to leverage AI tools for maximum benefit in a safe and smart way.

Twelve-year-old Jesna Fathima was fluctuating between medicine and teaching as a future vocation when she learned: "If I do engineering, I can do a lot more things." That idea did not pop into her mind randomly, but instead came about because of the STEM camp held in her school by the Centre for Learning Engineering and Sustainable Education and the department of education, under the University of Kerala.

From 2023, the centre has been conducting training camps in the STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics for students -- from Class 7 to 9 -- from weaker socioeconomic sections. Already, two camps have been held, one in Kollam and the other in Thiruvananthapuram, the second of which Jesna participated in. The centre plans to conduct more camps, one per district, in this academic year and culminate the series with a project exhibition.

The students, in the camp, were introduced to a whole new world of breadboards, resistors, sensors, and Arduino, where they learned and discovered the fundamentals of robotics, programming, and electronics. Five days of training and the students were requested to pick real-life problems, solutions for which can be discovered using what they learned in the camp. Their problems, from drying clothes during monsoon to potholes on the roads, were sorted and solved with the aid of mentors.

The initial camp, held at the Government HSS, Puthur, during the first week of May, had more than 30 students. "We had already been told by the centre that they don't require a batch of exceptional students, but those who can be developed through a camp like this," said Pradeep B, a school teacher, who accompanied the students during the camp.

Finance Minister K N Balagopal also visited the camp on the final day. Thanks to the camp, the students who shied away from answering questions earlier have now started engaging in the class proactively, Pradeep said. Such camps remain the sole hope for students outside the proficiency belt.

The second camp was held at the Government VHSS, Thiruvananthapuram.

"The centre gives prominence to girls of the marginalised groups through various projects," said Divya C Senan, honorary director, Centre for Learning Engineering and Sustainable Education.