Google Unveils AI Innovations for India’s Agriculture Sector

• A special POCSO court in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal sentenced three men to death for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl in 2020.

• The victims were abducted, sexually assaulted, and strangled.

• The crime was deemed the “rarest of the rare.”

• The National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS) has started a program with UNICEF to provide psychometric assessment, career-counselling, and life-skills and self-esteem training for 1.38 lakh students enrolled in Eklavya schools.

• The program, TALASH, is an innovative digital platform designed to equip students with essential tools for self-discovery and career planning.

• A common aptitude test will be designed on the platform, resulting in a “career card” for each student.

• Career counselling services and special sections will be provided to train students in life-skills such as problem-solving, communication, and handling emotions.

• NESTS has signed memoranda of understanding with Tata Motors and the Ex-Navodayan Foundation to start coaching programmes for Eklavya school students aiming to crack competitive exams like IIT-JEE and NEET.

• Google has unveiled new open-source AI innovations and initiatives aimed at strengthening India’s agriculture sector and making AI models more sensitive to India’s linguistic and cultural diversity.

• Google DeepMind researchers have collaborated with IIT-Kharagpur to build localised datasets on India’s rich cultural tapestry as part of Google’s Amplify Initiative.