After ban on bouquets, guard of honour on its way out in Karnataka
Mangaluru, Aug 12: After doing away with the practice of giving bouquets, garlands, and memorabilia at government events, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai said on Thursday that he would soon issue an order banning guard of honour given to him and other ministers at every district and public places during their visits.
"I have said that there is no need for a Guard of Honour at airports and other public places. It is not required at the district level every time I visit. I will issue a direction soon after going to Bengaluru tomorrow," Bommai told reporters.
According to government sources, Bommai asked officials in Mangaluru that there was no need for such "pompous show".
On Tuesday, the Chief Minister said gifting memorabilia, garlands and shawls, were unnecessary expenditure. He insisted that officials give Kannada books instead.
The Chief Secretary had issued a circular directing not to give garland, shawls, flower bouquets, fruit baskets, and memorabilia at meetings and events by the state government and the government-run institutions. All department heads and government undertakings have been asked to comply with the directions, it said.
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FM Sitharaman launches 'VijAIpatha' labs in govt schools in Karnataka
Hampi (PTI): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday launched Cyient AI Labs (CyAILS) -- 'VijAIpatha', aimed at democratising access to Artificial Intelligence, STEM and Robotics education in government schools here.
In a series of posts on 'X', the minister's office shared pictures of the initiative launched at a girl's government school in Hosapete taluk and said that under the pilot phase, five world-class AI, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and Robotics laboratories are being established in government schools.
Each lab will be equipped with high-performance computers, AI-ready software, robotics kits, IoT devices, sensors and secure broadband connectivity.
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"Aligned with NEP 2020, Digital India and Hon'ble Prime Minister @narendramodi's mission of Viksit Bharat 2047, the programme integrates CBSE's AI curriculum and strengthens technology-enabled learning in public education," it said.
Focusing on rural and semi-urban India, the initiative introduces future technologies at the school level, helping build early digital fluency, computational thinking and innovation capacity among students, the minister's office said.
"Benefiting over 2,000 students and training more than 200 teachers, 'VijAIpatha' is a scalable CSR model fostering innovation, career readiness and grassroots digital empowerment," it added.
According to the office, the initiative has been designed as a scalable, replicable and sustainable model that can be adopted across districts and states in collaboration with government education departments, positioning it as a benchmark CSR model for a national AI education rollout.
