Education Technology | Innovations and Insights - Edinbox

They could touch great heights as tech wizard children someday. But currently, a group of girl students has to go down to the low - as janitors, cleaning toilets of their own engineering school in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur.

Cleaning toilets is one of the chores Vani (name changed) must perform before attending class at 9am, while the rest are watering plants or helping out in the college kitchen. Why? These part-time jobs allow Vani to pay for the hostel in the engineering college - something her daily wager parents cannot afford. The 21-year-old is in her third year of BTech in AI/ML (Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning).

As it happens, Vani's college has about a dozen such girl students - pursuing various branches of engineering - who have adopted similar works to pursue their dreams of further studies.

And they would only be delighted to do the same. "I am well aware of the financial situation at home. I don't find anything wrong with taking up any job that could bring relief to them," said Vani in an interview to TOI, suggesting that she did not want to be an encumbrance to her parents.

A local of Guntur's Bellamvaripalem, Vani's mother makes Rs 700 to Rs 800 a day, and her father another Rs 250 at the maximum. She started working during BTech when her parents borrowed money to pay her hostel fee.

Part-time work to gain confidence: Principal

Vani's hostel fees are Rs 37,500 per year. "I did not want them (her parents) to borrow once again. That's why I went to the management and enquired if I could earn some money. I never felt shy to clean toilets, as we are the ones who use them. It felt like keeping our house tidy," Vani said, indicating that she works early morning before going to college or working at night after returning from classes.

Her fellow classmate Sravya also maintains the same schedule. "We work in the morning for a week and in the evenings for another week. It takes two to three hours to complete our work. From cleaning rooms, restrooms, and gardening, we do all the work along with other staff," explained the final-year AI student.

With these responsibilities, though, this group is also the guardians who wake up other students early to study and share food among other duties.

Although these students admit to some disagreements with the seniors regarding how they abuse their authority now and then (when they demand that they go to class or switch off the lights), they say it is worth it for the advantages.

"My family was already in debt of Rs 3 lakh. So, I knew that I had to do these jobs to survive. Whenever I faced some resistance, I used to approach authorities for help," said Aarti, a first-year engineering student from Kurnool. Raised by a single parent, she said the family was welcoming to whatever support came their way since seven children are completely dependent on their mother since their father passed away when she was in class 9.

The college principal came forward and said that students were being encouraged to take part-time work so that they could be sure that they could sustain themselves. "We receive approximately 200 students annually who are interested in working part-time, but we consider only 8 to 10 who are genuine. They are the ones who are largely in need and possess a strong mindset," the principal further said.

In a nation where millions of people search for improved livelihoods every day, employment continues to be painfully behind the times for most blue-collar workers. That is where Vahan.ai, a Bengaluru startup, comes in, changing recruitment in the background with artificial intelligence—filling the gap between workers and India's thriving gig economy.

Started in 2016 by AI specialist Madhav Krishna, trained at Columbia University, Vahan.ai is today one of the country's largest blue-collar job portals. How did it get here? An AI recruiter that makes the usually disorganized, time-consuming recruitment process easier, linking candidates to roles in large employers such as Zomato, Swiggy, and Flipkart.

"Triples recruiter productivity—from one per day to three," Krishna states. The website now puts around 40,000 employees on the job per month, and over a period of time it has put over 10 lakh employees into jobs in India's major cities.

Vahan's story started with a basic WhatsApp chatbot for upskilling workers. But then the team realized that though upskilling is useful, getting a job is the game-changer. In 2019, Vahan fully pivoted into hiring and joined Y Combinator, supported by Khosla Ventures.

What makes Vahan’s approach stand out is its use of advanced AI models, including OpenAI’s GPT-4, to manage conversations and documentation in both English and Hindi—with plans to expand to eight more Indian languages. The AI recruiter now handles nearly 20,000 calls daily, working to understand the nuances of local dialects and speech patterns. "Even the humble 'haan' can be used 20 different ways in India," Krishna asserts, citing how difficult it is to create technology that truly speaks locally.

For Vahan, AI does not equal replacing human touch but scaling it. In India's very personal employment culture—where a bhaiya or chacha is the first person one approaches for a job—Vahan's model does not rely on the agencies and recruiters but enables them with better tools instead of eliminating them from the picture.

Looking forward, Krishna's vision goes beyond gig economy. Vahan is already expanding into industries such as manufacturing and transportation, with the goal of applying its success to other industries.

In a nation of vast labor potential, Vahan's fusion of AI and human-centered design presents a vision of the future that is positive—one in which technology is an enabler, not a replacement, for good work.

The Bihar government has launched a new startup scheme for youth who are pursuing technical courses. Based on this scheme, all 38 government engineering colleges in the state have been instructed to create separate startup cells. The instruction was issued by the Department of Science, Technology and Technical Education.

As a part of the plan, Rs 10 lakh as seed money will be given to every college for supporting innovative startup thoughts during the 2025-26 financial year. It is being done with the view that students should think seriously about entrepreneurship and help in creating an ecosystem that fosters innovation and technology.

Bihar Startup Scheme: Startup Cells To Act As Support System

The officials from the department said that the startup cells would serve as a helping hand for students who want to start their own businesses. The cells will take students through the start-up process, assist them in coming up with ideas, and connect them with potential funding agencies.

The overall objective is to foster the emergence of startups that leverage technology to address real-world problems. The state hopes these firms will contribute to local, as well as global, socio-economic advancement. The venture is also intended to foster closer connections among students, faculty members, and the general startup world through mentorship and networking.

Focus areas among the startups will be emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, blockchain, cloud computing, data science, embedded systems, renewable energy, the Internet of Things, drones, AR/VR, and others.

In a key policy initiative, the Indian government has announced elaborate guidelines for the Rs 23,000-crore Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS) to drastically increase domestic value addition in electronics manufacturing in the next six years, The Economic Times said.

Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said companies with good indigenous design strength and 'six sigma' quality compliance will be given priority. Companies without in-house design centers run the risk of being "left out" of the "phenomenal change" that will transform India's electronics industry.

The applications will be filed through an online portal from 1 May 2025. The Union Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had cleared the ECMS last month to bring large domestic and international investments, strengthen manufacturing ecosystems, and connect Indian companies to Global Value Chains (GVCs).

1. Krishnan, a Secretary in the Electronics Ministry, pointed out that the scheme's launch coincides with international geopolitical shifts that can redefine supply chains. Krishnan estimated that India's share of global electronics manufacturing can increase from the present 3 per cent to 8 per cent over six years.

The ECMS is aimed at new investment of Rs 59,350 crore, generation of 91,600 direct employment, and estimated production worth Rs 4,56,500 crore. Incentives will be offered on turnover and capital expenditure basis, subject to the component category produced. Employment generation too will be incentive-linked.

The following products are eligible under the scheme: sub-assemblies like display and camera modules, core components like multilayer PCBs and lithium-ion cells, as well as certain bare components and supply chain critical equipment. The timelines for applications are different: three months for sub-assemblies and bare components, and two years for supply chain infrastructure and capital equipment categories.

Atul Lall, Managing Director and Vice Chairman of Dixon Technologies, ratified the firm's intention to invest heavily in at least four component categories under the scheme.

Industry insiders emphasized the need to enter into international partnerships and establish strong alliances with Indian states in order to intensify the impact of the scheme.

Union Minister Vaishnaw further reported that India's electronics manufacturing increased five times and exports six times in the last decade, producing an annual production of over Rs 11 lakh crore (approx. $129 billion). Production is expected at $300 billion by 2026 and at $500 billion by 2030-31.

Independently, Bengaluru-based Sarvam AI was declared the first startup to be selected to create an indigenous base model under the Government's IndiaAI Mission, another strategic step towards enhancing technological self-reliance.

Speaking on ECMS, Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman of the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), said, "We expect states to compete fiercely to attract investments, just as the mobile phone industry grew to a $62 billion base."

Ashok Chandak, SEMI India and India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA) President, termed the ECMS as "key to enhancing component manufacturing and synergizing with the India Semiconductor Mission."

The scheme defines clear investment levels by component category, providing turnover-linked incentives for investments of Rs 50 crore to Rs 500 crore, along with additional capital expenditure incentives for selected groups.

In a stunning display of how the new technology is transforming day-to-day communication, a Bengaluru teen recently leveraged ChatGPT to settle the fare for an auto ride — bridging a language gap that otherwise might have made it difficult to communicate.

The student, having newly arrived in Bengaluru and being unfamiliar with Kannada, was in for a challenge when an auto driver asked for ₹200 for a pretty short distance. Not knowing how to haggle properly, he asked ChatGPT for help.

Through the voice assistant option of the AI chatbot, the kids asked ChatGPT to utter in Kannada, thereby filling the communication gap with the driver. The fare was initially negotiated at ₹150 under ChatGPT's instructions. With more dialogue facilitated by the AI, the fare was agreed upon at ₹120 eventually.

This breakthrough application of artificial intelligence to unlock a common concern has gone viral on all the social platforms as many admire the timely sense of humor of the young respondent with others mentioning ways technology, by extension AI, is quickly becoming life to which one cannot pose or do without, from translation to haggling.

The experience also highlights the increasing use of AI to cover language gaps, making it easier for people in new cities or countries to interact. What would have resulted in communication gridlock became a successful interaction due to the perfect blending of technology and human requirements.

This, according to experts, is just one of the many ways AI applications such as ChatGPT are transforming communication between cultures and communities. "Technology is no longer just a helper for big things — it's becoming a helper for small but important human moments," added a technology analyst.

As sophisticated artificial intelligence evolves, so will its power to help with real-time communication, problem-solving, and integration into society, and accounts like these are just a glimpse at the future of daily life.

The new intersection of high-tech technology and medicine is transforming future healthcare in a basic sense. New-age technologies like personalized medicine, telemedicine, health informatics, artificial intelligence in healthcare, and genomics are spearheading a revolutionary change, offering healthcare experience that is more precise, accessible, and efficient.

Personalized treatment, a.k.a. individualized treatment according to one's unique genetic template, has finally started straying away from theory and breaching the mainstream, sending patients treatment painstakingly crafted according to each patient's unique biological print. Telemedicine, too, has done away with the shackles of space, placing top-notch quality medical care in patients' hands, regardless of where.

Health informatics is another game-saver, cutting through huge piles of medical information to enhance patient care and decision-making. From data analysis to electronic patient records, informatics is accelerating healthcare and making it smarter. Artificial intelligence is also a cool technology on the rise — assisting with diagnosis, forecasting patterns of health, and even assisting robotic surgery with unprecedented precision.

Genomics, the analysis of the complete genetic constitution of organisms, is paving the way for things previously unimaginable, from pre-symptomatic diagnosis of disease to preventitive, genetically directed treatments.

Through this kind of expansion, these markets are not merely transforming healthcare delivery but also unleashing fantastical new careers. Such experts with the talent to bridge worlds — of medicine and of technology — are in big demand — AI creators collaborating with healthcare teams, genomics-reading bioinformaticians, or telemedicine coordinators staging seamless virtual consultations.

This technology wave is not technology for technology's sake but about better patient outcomes, giving more people care, and redefining the very act of getting medical care. Where health and technology intersect are the healthcare heroes of the future, walking the tightrope of innovation and compassion to build a healthier world.

The word is out: for people entering the field of healthcare today, technology isn't a choice — it's a requirement. The jobs of the future will be held by those who are capable of utilizing these game-changing technologies to provide smarter, more personalized, and more equitable care.