Page 1
YOJANA February 2023 43
n recent time, the world has started viewing
the youth as a vital demography and a
powerful agent of change and progress. They
have the power to shape policy, influence
markets and reimagine social structures. Youth are at the
forefront of harnessing the power of technology in all
spheres and serve as a critical component in the larger
vision of AatmaNirbhar Bharat.
1
Youth Icons of India
(Technology, Spacetech & Sports)
I
“The whole world is looking at India’s youth with hope. Because you are the growth engine of
the country and India is the world’s growth engine. This is a huge honour and responsibility on
all of you. ”
– Prime Minister Narendra Modi
success stories Science & Technology
Google CEO Sundar Pichai
2
was honoured with
Padma Bhushan Award 2022 for his contribution in trade
and industry. India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh
Sandhu while handing over the award to Pichai in San
Francisco, said that his “inspirational journey reaffirms
Indian talent’s contribution to global innovation”. On
Image Source : Freepik
Page 2
YOJANA February 2023 43
n recent time, the world has started viewing
the youth as a vital demography and a
powerful agent of change and progress. They
have the power to shape policy, influence
markets and reimagine social structures. Youth are at the
forefront of harnessing the power of technology in all
spheres and serve as a critical component in the larger
vision of AatmaNirbhar Bharat.
1
Youth Icons of India
(Technology, Spacetech & Sports)
I
“The whole world is looking at India’s youth with hope. Because you are the growth engine of
the country and India is the world’s growth engine. This is a huge honour and responsibility on
all of you. ”
– Prime Minister Narendra Modi
success stories Science & Technology
Google CEO Sundar Pichai
2
was honoured with
Padma Bhushan Award 2022 for his contribution in trade
and industry. India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh
Sandhu while handing over the award to Pichai in San
Francisco, said that his “inspirational journey reaffirms
Indian talent’s contribution to global innovation”. On
Image Source : Freepik
44 YOJANA February 2023
9 December 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met
Sundar Pichai and discussed innovation & technology
among other things.
3
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was also honoured
with Padma Bhushan Award 2022 for his contribution in
trade and industries. He received the award from India’s
Consul General in San Francisco, Dr TV Nagendra Prasad.
Satya Nadella thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and
people of India for the award. He said that he looks forward
to continuing to work with people across India to help them
use technology to achieve more.
4
Naveen Tiwari founded Glance in 2019. Glance
is a consumer internet company that has created highly
disruptive digital platforms including Glance and
Roposo. Headquartered in Singapore, Glance is an
unconsolidated subsidiary of InMobi Group and is funded
by Jio Platforms, Google and Mithril Capital. Glance is
one of Asia’s largest lock screen platforms. Over 400
million smartphones now come enabled with Glance’s
next-generation internet experience. Glance’s AI-
powered personalisation enables consumers to enjoy
content, products, and services of their choice, all
delivered in an intuitive and visually attractive format
on the lock screen of their smartphones. Glance can be
credited for redefining the way internet is consumed on
the lock screen, removing the need for searching and
downloading apps.
Nikhil Kamath and Nithin Kamath have built
a full-service discount brokerage business which, last
year, on the revenue of Rs 4,300 crore raked in a net
profit of Rs 1,800 crore. Sons of a middle-class Canara
Bank employee, the Kamath brothers, in a little over a
decade, have become a force to reckon with on India’s
financial landscape, having built ‘Zerodha’ with zero
external capital.
Ravi Ramu Patel developed a Translator robot that
can translate 14 different languages. He did this after
winning a district-level competition for an IIOT-based
home automation model that syncs smart home appliances
with voice commands. The son of a pool cleaner, Ravi
first learned about robotics in eighth grade after going to
a Salaam Bombay Foundation programme. Ravi worked
independently on a variety of projects, from a cardboard
and LED model house to several Smartphone-based
games. His most recent invention is the robot translator
named ‘TORO’. The unique feature of the translator is that
one does not have to choose the language for translation—
it can discern the target language from your voice and
respond in it.
5
Spacetech
On 23 June 2017, India broke a global space record
by launching the world’s lightest satellite weighing
a mere 64 grams, called ‘KalamSat’, designed and
developed not by professional space scientists and
engineers, but by a 18-year-old Tamil Nadu student
and his team. The tiny satellite, named after A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam, was flown by a sounding rocket and
the lift-off was from the space agency’s Wallop Island
facility around 3 pm (IST). Weighing just 64 grams,
the satellite was designed by Rifath Sharook along
with six other teammates. The satellite, which is lighter
than a smartphone and made of reinforced carbon fibre
polymer, operated for 12 minutes in a micro-gravity
environment of space after its flight.
Page 3
YOJANA February 2023 43
n recent time, the world has started viewing
the youth as a vital demography and a
powerful agent of change and progress. They
have the power to shape policy, influence
markets and reimagine social structures. Youth are at the
forefront of harnessing the power of technology in all
spheres and serve as a critical component in the larger
vision of AatmaNirbhar Bharat.
1
Youth Icons of India
(Technology, Spacetech & Sports)
I
“The whole world is looking at India’s youth with hope. Because you are the growth engine of
the country and India is the world’s growth engine. This is a huge honour and responsibility on
all of you. ”
– Prime Minister Narendra Modi
success stories Science & Technology
Google CEO Sundar Pichai
2
was honoured with
Padma Bhushan Award 2022 for his contribution in trade
and industry. India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh
Sandhu while handing over the award to Pichai in San
Francisco, said that his “inspirational journey reaffirms
Indian talent’s contribution to global innovation”. On
Image Source : Freepik
44 YOJANA February 2023
9 December 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met
Sundar Pichai and discussed innovation & technology
among other things.
3
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was also honoured
with Padma Bhushan Award 2022 for his contribution in
trade and industries. He received the award from India’s
Consul General in San Francisco, Dr TV Nagendra Prasad.
Satya Nadella thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and
people of India for the award. He said that he looks forward
to continuing to work with people across India to help them
use technology to achieve more.
4
Naveen Tiwari founded Glance in 2019. Glance
is a consumer internet company that has created highly
disruptive digital platforms including Glance and
Roposo. Headquartered in Singapore, Glance is an
unconsolidated subsidiary of InMobi Group and is funded
by Jio Platforms, Google and Mithril Capital. Glance is
one of Asia’s largest lock screen platforms. Over 400
million smartphones now come enabled with Glance’s
next-generation internet experience. Glance’s AI-
powered personalisation enables consumers to enjoy
content, products, and services of their choice, all
delivered in an intuitive and visually attractive format
on the lock screen of their smartphones. Glance can be
credited for redefining the way internet is consumed on
the lock screen, removing the need for searching and
downloading apps.
Nikhil Kamath and Nithin Kamath have built
a full-service discount brokerage business which, last
year, on the revenue of Rs 4,300 crore raked in a net
profit of Rs 1,800 crore. Sons of a middle-class Canara
Bank employee, the Kamath brothers, in a little over a
decade, have become a force to reckon with on India’s
financial landscape, having built ‘Zerodha’ with zero
external capital.
Ravi Ramu Patel developed a Translator robot that
can translate 14 different languages. He did this after
winning a district-level competition for an IIOT-based
home automation model that syncs smart home appliances
with voice commands. The son of a pool cleaner, Ravi
first learned about robotics in eighth grade after going to
a Salaam Bombay Foundation programme. Ravi worked
independently on a variety of projects, from a cardboard
and LED model house to several Smartphone-based
games. His most recent invention is the robot translator
named ‘TORO’. The unique feature of the translator is that
one does not have to choose the language for translation—
it can discern the target language from your voice and
respond in it.
5
Spacetech
On 23 June 2017, India broke a global space record
by launching the world’s lightest satellite weighing
a mere 64 grams, called ‘KalamSat’, designed and
developed not by professional space scientists and
engineers, but by a 18-year-old Tamil Nadu student
and his team. The tiny satellite, named after A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam, was flown by a sounding rocket and
the lift-off was from the space agency’s Wallop Island
facility around 3 pm (IST). Weighing just 64 grams,
the satellite was designed by Rifath Sharook along
with six other teammates. The satellite, which is lighter
than a smartphone and made of reinforced carbon fibre
polymer, operated for 12 minutes in a micro-gravity
environment of space after its flight.
YOJANA February 2023 45
On 1 July 2022, 17-year-old Snehadeep Kumar
was awarded the Kentucky Colonel, by the United States
Government, courtesy of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
He is one of the few Indians to receive the honour, which
has been given to icons like Muhammed Ali, Bob Dylan,
Ansel Adams, George Clooney and George HW Bush.
In 2021, the aspiring young astrophysicist founded the
Nebula Space Organisation, a first of its kind, student-run
initiative.
The 26-year-old entrepreneur, Nikhitha C, has co-
founded the hugely popular Society for Space Education
Research and Development (SSERD) – an NGO and the
startup, GenexSpace with the vision to train students in the
field of space education and outreach in India and abroad.
It all began while pursuing bachelor’s degree in aerospace
engineering from Alliance University in Bangalore that
she started a space club in her college in 2016, teaching
subjects like model rocketry to students.
Sports
At Commonwealth Games 2022, India finished fourth
in the overall medals tally with a total of 61 medals including
22 gold, 16 silver and 23 bronze.
6
Indian contingent gave
a commendable performance at the games, winning
unexpected medals in sports like lawn bowls, judo and
athletics. Wrestling topped the medal chart with 12 medals
including six gold while weightlifting accounted for 10
medals. The Men’s Hockey team won silver, which was
the last medal of Commonwealth Games 2022 for India in
this edition.The President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu
presented the National Sports and Adventure Awards 2022
on 30 November 2022.
7
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2022 was
conferred to Sharath Kamal Achanta
8
(Born in July,
1982). He is one of the most outstanding Table Tennis
players of the country. He has won three gold medals
(Individual, Mix Doubles & Team) and one silver medal
in Commonwealth Games, 2022. Previously, he had
won two bronze medals (Mix Doubles & Team) in Asian
Games 2018 and one gold medal (Team), one silver medal
(Mix Doubles) and one bronze medal (Individual) in
Commonwealth Games 2018.
This year 25 athletes across the Olympic sports,
Paralympic sports and Deaflympics sports have received
the Arjuna Awards.
9
Seema Punia (Born in July, 1983) received Arjuna
Award 2022 for her outstanding performance in the
discipline of Athletics. She won the silver medal in
Commonwealth Games, 2018 and bronze medal in Asian
Games, 2019. Other awards given out to her include the
Dronacharya Award, Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime
Achievement in Sports and Games, the Rashtriya Khel
Protsahan Puruskar, the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad trophy
as well as the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award.
23-year-old Neeraj Chopra created history by wining
India’s first ever athletics Gold in men’s javelin throw
at Tokyo Olympics 2020. Chopra gave his best throw of
87.58 m to bag the gold medal. With this, he has become
the first Indian athlete to win gold ever in athletics and
India’s second ever individual Olympic gold medalist
Page 4
YOJANA February 2023 43
n recent time, the world has started viewing
the youth as a vital demography and a
powerful agent of change and progress. They
have the power to shape policy, influence
markets and reimagine social structures. Youth are at the
forefront of harnessing the power of technology in all
spheres and serve as a critical component in the larger
vision of AatmaNirbhar Bharat.
1
Youth Icons of India
(Technology, Spacetech & Sports)
I
“The whole world is looking at India’s youth with hope. Because you are the growth engine of
the country and India is the world’s growth engine. This is a huge honour and responsibility on
all of you. ”
– Prime Minister Narendra Modi
success stories Science & Technology
Google CEO Sundar Pichai
2
was honoured with
Padma Bhushan Award 2022 for his contribution in trade
and industry. India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh
Sandhu while handing over the award to Pichai in San
Francisco, said that his “inspirational journey reaffirms
Indian talent’s contribution to global innovation”. On
Image Source : Freepik
44 YOJANA February 2023
9 December 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met
Sundar Pichai and discussed innovation & technology
among other things.
3
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was also honoured
with Padma Bhushan Award 2022 for his contribution in
trade and industries. He received the award from India’s
Consul General in San Francisco, Dr TV Nagendra Prasad.
Satya Nadella thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and
people of India for the award. He said that he looks forward
to continuing to work with people across India to help them
use technology to achieve more.
4
Naveen Tiwari founded Glance in 2019. Glance
is a consumer internet company that has created highly
disruptive digital platforms including Glance and
Roposo. Headquartered in Singapore, Glance is an
unconsolidated subsidiary of InMobi Group and is funded
by Jio Platforms, Google and Mithril Capital. Glance is
one of Asia’s largest lock screen platforms. Over 400
million smartphones now come enabled with Glance’s
next-generation internet experience. Glance’s AI-
powered personalisation enables consumers to enjoy
content, products, and services of their choice, all
delivered in an intuitive and visually attractive format
on the lock screen of their smartphones. Glance can be
credited for redefining the way internet is consumed on
the lock screen, removing the need for searching and
downloading apps.
Nikhil Kamath and Nithin Kamath have built
a full-service discount brokerage business which, last
year, on the revenue of Rs 4,300 crore raked in a net
profit of Rs 1,800 crore. Sons of a middle-class Canara
Bank employee, the Kamath brothers, in a little over a
decade, have become a force to reckon with on India’s
financial landscape, having built ‘Zerodha’ with zero
external capital.
Ravi Ramu Patel developed a Translator robot that
can translate 14 different languages. He did this after
winning a district-level competition for an IIOT-based
home automation model that syncs smart home appliances
with voice commands. The son of a pool cleaner, Ravi
first learned about robotics in eighth grade after going to
a Salaam Bombay Foundation programme. Ravi worked
independently on a variety of projects, from a cardboard
and LED model house to several Smartphone-based
games. His most recent invention is the robot translator
named ‘TORO’. The unique feature of the translator is that
one does not have to choose the language for translation—
it can discern the target language from your voice and
respond in it.
5
Spacetech
On 23 June 2017, India broke a global space record
by launching the world’s lightest satellite weighing
a mere 64 grams, called ‘KalamSat’, designed and
developed not by professional space scientists and
engineers, but by a 18-year-old Tamil Nadu student
and his team. The tiny satellite, named after A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam, was flown by a sounding rocket and
the lift-off was from the space agency’s Wallop Island
facility around 3 pm (IST). Weighing just 64 grams,
the satellite was designed by Rifath Sharook along
with six other teammates. The satellite, which is lighter
than a smartphone and made of reinforced carbon fibre
polymer, operated for 12 minutes in a micro-gravity
environment of space after its flight.
YOJANA February 2023 45
On 1 July 2022, 17-year-old Snehadeep Kumar
was awarded the Kentucky Colonel, by the United States
Government, courtesy of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
He is one of the few Indians to receive the honour, which
has been given to icons like Muhammed Ali, Bob Dylan,
Ansel Adams, George Clooney and George HW Bush.
In 2021, the aspiring young astrophysicist founded the
Nebula Space Organisation, a first of its kind, student-run
initiative.
The 26-year-old entrepreneur, Nikhitha C, has co-
founded the hugely popular Society for Space Education
Research and Development (SSERD) – an NGO and the
startup, GenexSpace with the vision to train students in the
field of space education and outreach in India and abroad.
It all began while pursuing bachelor’s degree in aerospace
engineering from Alliance University in Bangalore that
she started a space club in her college in 2016, teaching
subjects like model rocketry to students.
Sports
At Commonwealth Games 2022, India finished fourth
in the overall medals tally with a total of 61 medals including
22 gold, 16 silver and 23 bronze.
6
Indian contingent gave
a commendable performance at the games, winning
unexpected medals in sports like lawn bowls, judo and
athletics. Wrestling topped the medal chart with 12 medals
including six gold while weightlifting accounted for 10
medals. The Men’s Hockey team won silver, which was
the last medal of Commonwealth Games 2022 for India in
this edition.The President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu
presented the National Sports and Adventure Awards 2022
on 30 November 2022.
7
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2022 was
conferred to Sharath Kamal Achanta
8
(Born in July,
1982). He is one of the most outstanding Table Tennis
players of the country. He has won three gold medals
(Individual, Mix Doubles & Team) and one silver medal
in Commonwealth Games, 2022. Previously, he had
won two bronze medals (Mix Doubles & Team) in Asian
Games 2018 and one gold medal (Team), one silver medal
(Mix Doubles) and one bronze medal (Individual) in
Commonwealth Games 2018.
This year 25 athletes across the Olympic sports,
Paralympic sports and Deaflympics sports have received
the Arjuna Awards.
9
Seema Punia (Born in July, 1983) received Arjuna
Award 2022 for her outstanding performance in the
discipline of Athletics. She won the silver medal in
Commonwealth Games, 2018 and bronze medal in Asian
Games, 2019. Other awards given out to her include the
Dronacharya Award, Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime
Achievement in Sports and Games, the Rashtriya Khel
Protsahan Puruskar, the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad trophy
as well as the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award.
23-year-old Neeraj Chopra created history by wining
India’s first ever athletics Gold in men’s javelin throw
at Tokyo Olympics 2020. Chopra gave his best throw of
87.58 m to bag the gold medal. With this, he has become
the first Indian athlete to win gold ever in athletics and
India’s second ever individual Olympic gold medalist
46 YOJANA February 2023
after shooter Abhinav Bindra, who bagged gold in Beijing
2008.
With this outstanding performance, Neeraj also took
India’s medal haul to seven in the Tokyo Olympics— the
country’s highest ever, beating the tally of six medals won
at the London Games in 2012.
10
Indian teen Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa made
history by defeating the noted World Chess Champion
Magnus Carlsen of Norway. The match was held on 23
February 2022 in an online setting as part of the Airthings
Masters (part of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour
events being held in 2022). At the young age of 16, R
Praggnanandhaa completed the feat in 39 moves. Apart
from Viswanathan Anand and Pentala Harikrishna, he
is only the third Indian to defeat Magnus Carlsen.
11
Praggnanandhaa has three world youth titles: U8 in 2013,
U10 in 2015, and U18 in 2019. In 2019, the 13-year-old
prodigy won the Xtracon Chess Open with an undefeated
8.5/10 points, overtaking a field featuring 13 GMs ranked
over 2600. In April 2021, he won the Polgar Challenge and
qualified for the next leg in the Champions Chess Tour.
He won a bronze medal with the Indian team at the 2022
FIDE Olympiad, scoring 6.5/9 on the third board for a
performance rating of 2767. Later in 2022, he won the
Asian Continental Chess Championship. ?
(PIB Research unit)
Endnotes
1. https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/docu-
ments/2022/may/doc20225553401.pdf
2. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1792640
3. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1884948
4. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1792640
5. https://amritmahotsav.nic.in/stories-of-change-detail.htm?323
6. https://newsonair.com/2022/08/09/curtains-come-down-on-22nd-
commonwealth-games-india-finish-fourth-overall-with-61-medals-
including-22-gold/
7. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1880090
8. https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/userfiles/file/Sportsandad-
ventureawards2022GFXF.pdf
9. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1880090
10. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1743629
11. https://ddnews.gov.in/sports/16-yrs-old-indian-chess-player-r-prag-
gnanandhaa-stuns-world-no1-magnus-carlsen
References
1. PIB Press Release on Year End Review: Department of Sports dated
20 December 2022.
2. PIB Press Release on Year End Review 2022: Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) dated 15
December 2022.
3. PIB Press Release on Ministry of Civil Aviation notifies liberalised
Drone Rules, 2021 dated 26 August 2021.
4. PIB Press Release on PM inaugurates India’s biggest Drone
Festival- Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022 dated 27 May 2022.
5. PIB Press Release on The Government has prepared a new draft of
National Youth Policy dated 19 July 2022.
6. PIB Press Release on Introduction of National Youth Policy-2014
dated 09 January 2014.
7. PIB Press Release on Year End Review: Department of Youth
Affairs dated 28 December 2021.
8. PIB Press Release on Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports announces
National Sports Awards 2022 dated 14 November 2022.
9. https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/docu-
ments/2022/jan/doc202212810601.pdf
10. https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/docu-
ments/2022/nov/doc20221125136001.pdf
Page 5
YOJANA February 2023 43
n recent time, the world has started viewing
the youth as a vital demography and a
powerful agent of change and progress. They
have the power to shape policy, influence
markets and reimagine social structures. Youth are at the
forefront of harnessing the power of technology in all
spheres and serve as a critical component in the larger
vision of AatmaNirbhar Bharat.
1
Youth Icons of India
(Technology, Spacetech & Sports)
I
“The whole world is looking at India’s youth with hope. Because you are the growth engine of
the country and India is the world’s growth engine. This is a huge honour and responsibility on
all of you. ”
– Prime Minister Narendra Modi
success stories Science & Technology
Google CEO Sundar Pichai
2
was honoured with
Padma Bhushan Award 2022 for his contribution in trade
and industry. India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh
Sandhu while handing over the award to Pichai in San
Francisco, said that his “inspirational journey reaffirms
Indian talent’s contribution to global innovation”. On
Image Source : Freepik
44 YOJANA February 2023
9 December 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met
Sundar Pichai and discussed innovation & technology
among other things.
3
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was also honoured
with Padma Bhushan Award 2022 for his contribution in
trade and industries. He received the award from India’s
Consul General in San Francisco, Dr TV Nagendra Prasad.
Satya Nadella thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and
people of India for the award. He said that he looks forward
to continuing to work with people across India to help them
use technology to achieve more.
4
Naveen Tiwari founded Glance in 2019. Glance
is a consumer internet company that has created highly
disruptive digital platforms including Glance and
Roposo. Headquartered in Singapore, Glance is an
unconsolidated subsidiary of InMobi Group and is funded
by Jio Platforms, Google and Mithril Capital. Glance is
one of Asia’s largest lock screen platforms. Over 400
million smartphones now come enabled with Glance’s
next-generation internet experience. Glance’s AI-
powered personalisation enables consumers to enjoy
content, products, and services of their choice, all
delivered in an intuitive and visually attractive format
on the lock screen of their smartphones. Glance can be
credited for redefining the way internet is consumed on
the lock screen, removing the need for searching and
downloading apps.
Nikhil Kamath and Nithin Kamath have built
a full-service discount brokerage business which, last
year, on the revenue of Rs 4,300 crore raked in a net
profit of Rs 1,800 crore. Sons of a middle-class Canara
Bank employee, the Kamath brothers, in a little over a
decade, have become a force to reckon with on India’s
financial landscape, having built ‘Zerodha’ with zero
external capital.
Ravi Ramu Patel developed a Translator robot that
can translate 14 different languages. He did this after
winning a district-level competition for an IIOT-based
home automation model that syncs smart home appliances
with voice commands. The son of a pool cleaner, Ravi
first learned about robotics in eighth grade after going to
a Salaam Bombay Foundation programme. Ravi worked
independently on a variety of projects, from a cardboard
and LED model house to several Smartphone-based
games. His most recent invention is the robot translator
named ‘TORO’. The unique feature of the translator is that
one does not have to choose the language for translation—
it can discern the target language from your voice and
respond in it.
5
Spacetech
On 23 June 2017, India broke a global space record
by launching the world’s lightest satellite weighing
a mere 64 grams, called ‘KalamSat’, designed and
developed not by professional space scientists and
engineers, but by a 18-year-old Tamil Nadu student
and his team. The tiny satellite, named after A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam, was flown by a sounding rocket and
the lift-off was from the space agency’s Wallop Island
facility around 3 pm (IST). Weighing just 64 grams,
the satellite was designed by Rifath Sharook along
with six other teammates. The satellite, which is lighter
than a smartphone and made of reinforced carbon fibre
polymer, operated for 12 minutes in a micro-gravity
environment of space after its flight.
YOJANA February 2023 45
On 1 July 2022, 17-year-old Snehadeep Kumar
was awarded the Kentucky Colonel, by the United States
Government, courtesy of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
He is one of the few Indians to receive the honour, which
has been given to icons like Muhammed Ali, Bob Dylan,
Ansel Adams, George Clooney and George HW Bush.
In 2021, the aspiring young astrophysicist founded the
Nebula Space Organisation, a first of its kind, student-run
initiative.
The 26-year-old entrepreneur, Nikhitha C, has co-
founded the hugely popular Society for Space Education
Research and Development (SSERD) – an NGO and the
startup, GenexSpace with the vision to train students in the
field of space education and outreach in India and abroad.
It all began while pursuing bachelor’s degree in aerospace
engineering from Alliance University in Bangalore that
she started a space club in her college in 2016, teaching
subjects like model rocketry to students.
Sports
At Commonwealth Games 2022, India finished fourth
in the overall medals tally with a total of 61 medals including
22 gold, 16 silver and 23 bronze.
6
Indian contingent gave
a commendable performance at the games, winning
unexpected medals in sports like lawn bowls, judo and
athletics. Wrestling topped the medal chart with 12 medals
including six gold while weightlifting accounted for 10
medals. The Men’s Hockey team won silver, which was
the last medal of Commonwealth Games 2022 for India in
this edition.The President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu
presented the National Sports and Adventure Awards 2022
on 30 November 2022.
7
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2022 was
conferred to Sharath Kamal Achanta
8
(Born in July,
1982). He is one of the most outstanding Table Tennis
players of the country. He has won three gold medals
(Individual, Mix Doubles & Team) and one silver medal
in Commonwealth Games, 2022. Previously, he had
won two bronze medals (Mix Doubles & Team) in Asian
Games 2018 and one gold medal (Team), one silver medal
(Mix Doubles) and one bronze medal (Individual) in
Commonwealth Games 2018.
This year 25 athletes across the Olympic sports,
Paralympic sports and Deaflympics sports have received
the Arjuna Awards.
9
Seema Punia (Born in July, 1983) received Arjuna
Award 2022 for her outstanding performance in the
discipline of Athletics. She won the silver medal in
Commonwealth Games, 2018 and bronze medal in Asian
Games, 2019. Other awards given out to her include the
Dronacharya Award, Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime
Achievement in Sports and Games, the Rashtriya Khel
Protsahan Puruskar, the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad trophy
as well as the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award.
23-year-old Neeraj Chopra created history by wining
India’s first ever athletics Gold in men’s javelin throw
at Tokyo Olympics 2020. Chopra gave his best throw of
87.58 m to bag the gold medal. With this, he has become
the first Indian athlete to win gold ever in athletics and
India’s second ever individual Olympic gold medalist
46 YOJANA February 2023
after shooter Abhinav Bindra, who bagged gold in Beijing
2008.
With this outstanding performance, Neeraj also took
India’s medal haul to seven in the Tokyo Olympics— the
country’s highest ever, beating the tally of six medals won
at the London Games in 2012.
10
Indian teen Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa made
history by defeating the noted World Chess Champion
Magnus Carlsen of Norway. The match was held on 23
February 2022 in an online setting as part of the Airthings
Masters (part of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour
events being held in 2022). At the young age of 16, R
Praggnanandhaa completed the feat in 39 moves. Apart
from Viswanathan Anand and Pentala Harikrishna, he
is only the third Indian to defeat Magnus Carlsen.
11
Praggnanandhaa has three world youth titles: U8 in 2013,
U10 in 2015, and U18 in 2019. In 2019, the 13-year-old
prodigy won the Xtracon Chess Open with an undefeated
8.5/10 points, overtaking a field featuring 13 GMs ranked
over 2600. In April 2021, he won the Polgar Challenge and
qualified for the next leg in the Champions Chess Tour.
He won a bronze medal with the Indian team at the 2022
FIDE Olympiad, scoring 6.5/9 on the third board for a
performance rating of 2767. Later in 2022, he won the
Asian Continental Chess Championship. ?
(PIB Research unit)
Endnotes
1. https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/docu-
ments/2022/may/doc20225553401.pdf
2. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1792640
3. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1884948
4. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1792640
5. https://amritmahotsav.nic.in/stories-of-change-detail.htm?323
6. https://newsonair.com/2022/08/09/curtains-come-down-on-22nd-
commonwealth-games-india-finish-fourth-overall-with-61-medals-
including-22-gold/
7. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1880090
8. https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/userfiles/file/Sportsandad-
ventureawards2022GFXF.pdf
9. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1880090
10. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1743629
11. https://ddnews.gov.in/sports/16-yrs-old-indian-chess-player-r-prag-
gnanandhaa-stuns-world-no1-magnus-carlsen
References
1. PIB Press Release on Year End Review: Department of Sports dated
20 December 2022.
2. PIB Press Release on Year End Review 2022: Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) dated 15
December 2022.
3. PIB Press Release on Ministry of Civil Aviation notifies liberalised
Drone Rules, 2021 dated 26 August 2021.
4. PIB Press Release on PM inaugurates India’s biggest Drone
Festival- Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022 dated 27 May 2022.
5. PIB Press Release on The Government has prepared a new draft of
National Youth Policy dated 19 July 2022.
6. PIB Press Release on Introduction of National Youth Policy-2014
dated 09 January 2014.
7. PIB Press Release on Year End Review: Department of Youth
Affairs dated 28 December 2021.
8. PIB Press Release on Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports announces
National Sports Awards 2022 dated 14 November 2022.
9. https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/docu-
ments/2022/jan/doc202212810601.pdf
10. https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/docu-
ments/2022/nov/doc20221125136001.pdf
YOJANA February 2023 47
articipatory Governance is based on citizens’
involvement and voice in policy formulation,
implementation and governance that impacts
or influences them. From the district to
the national level, the participation of citizens acts as a
Feedback Loop for respective governments to formulate
appropriate action-plans and to amend them, whenever
necessary. The Government is more effective and makes
better decisions when the public is involved; citizens also
profit from having access to the knowledge widely spread
in society.
India has one of the largest youth
populations in the world; around
66 per cent of the total population is
below the age of 35. India’s demographic
dividend is pivotal in propelling economic
and societal growth. It is imperative to
involve youth in participatory governance
because youth may be a fraction of the
population in the present, but they are 100
per cent of our future. Youth involvement
in participatory governance is critical to
building civic capacity and long-term
community sustainability. When youth develop valuable
skills and build self-confidence, we prosper multi-fold as
a country. The Hon’ble Prime Minister has emphasised,
“Mere good governance is not enough; it has to be pro-
people and pro-active. Good governance is putting people at
the centre of the development process.”
Leading India towards Techade
Akash Tripathi
P
p articipator Y goverNaNce To place people at the centre of development, the
Hon’ble Prime Minister launched MyGov on 26
July 2014. MyGov is Government of India’s citizen
engagement platform. It works with numerous
government organisations and ministries to involve
citizens in the policy-making process and solicit their
opinions on matters and subjects that are important to the
welfare of the general public. MyGov has not just aptly
used technology to reach out to the masses but has also
developed avenues through which citizens from the flip
side of the Digital Era can be a part of this collaborative
platform. MyGov has adopted multiple
engagement methods like discussions,
tasks, polls, surveys, blogs, talks,
pledges, quizzes and on-ground
activities by innovatively using the
internet, mobile apps, IVRS, SMS and
Outbound Dialling (OBD) technologies
for reaching out to the citizens. MyGov
has also launched State instances in 19
States and has over 2.9 crores registered
Saathis (companions).
The youth is the backbone
of MyGov’s outreach platform. MyGov facilitates
participatory governance or Jan Bhagidari by:
• y Information Dissemination: One of the significant
hindrances in policy implementation is reaching
out to the last beneficiary in the line. Inability to
disseminate information effectively often results in
India, being the world’s largest democracy, is embedded with the values of Sarvodaya and
Antyodaya. Sarvodaya is a compound word comprised of sarva (all) and udaya (rise/uplift) which
means rise/upliftment of every citizen. Antyodaya signifies the rise of the last person standing
in the line. These values cannot be achieved by a single organisation, company, individual or
Government; these values can be accomplished when every stakeholder in our country joins hands
to work for the greater good. Sarvodaya and Antyodaya can be achieved through participatory
governance, and the same is the backbone of democracy.
The author is CEO of MyGov. Email:ceo@mygov.in
The logo of citizen-centric
platform, MyGov
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