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Bengaluru: Last week, <keyword id="19902762" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Google" meta.hostid="265" meta.entityid="Google">Google</keyword> unveiled a series of new AI-powered partnerships aimed at advancing healthcare, <keyword id="19895783" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sustainability" source="keywords">sustainability</keyword>, and agriculture in India The tech giant is collaborating with both local and international organisations to implement AI-driven solutions in <keyword id="21690244" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="diabetic-retinopathy" source="keywords">diabetic retinopathy</keyword> screening, urban waste management, and agricultural development. According to Google, these announcements were made during a roundtable in Bengaluru, marking the fifth anniversary of Google's Research Lab in the city. This follows the 10th edition of the Google for India event, which showcased the potential of AI to benefit individuals, businesses, and society at large. Dr Manish Gupta, Research Director of Google DeepMind, stated, "Collaborating with key Indian organisations, our focused research in India across language understanding, healthcare, agriculture, and sustainability is helping tackle many of the country's unique challenges and creating AI-led solutions that will improve billions of lives." Google is working with <keyword id="23588208" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Forus-Health" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Forus Health" meta.hostid="265" meta.entityid="Forus Health">Forus Health</keyword> and AuroLab in India and Perceptra in Thailand to provide 6 million AI-assisted screenings for diabetic retinopathy over the next decade. These screenings aim to detect and prevent blindness in diabetic patients, particularly in resource-limited communities. The AI model has already supported over 600,000 screenings worldwide, with initial research and deployment carried out in India. Sunny Virmani, Group Product Manager, Health AI Research at Google, remarked, "From our initial research to the first patient screening in Madurai, India, we've been committed to translating AI's potential into meaningful change for people globally. And now the partnerships with Forus Health, AuroLab, and Perceptra are helping us expand on this commitment, as a global network of innovators comes together to eradicate preventable blindness due to diabetic retinopathy." Google's CircularNet, an AI-driven computer vision model for waste management, is being deployed in partnership with Bengaluru-based Saahas Zero Waste. CircularNet helps identify and sort plastic waste, facilitating recycling and reducing the strain on landfills. Powered by Google's TensorFlow, the model has shown approximately 85% accuracy in detecting plastic waste during a pilot programme, potentially boosting revenue for material recovery facilities by 10-12%. To support data-driven decision-making in agriculture, Google is also opening its Agricultural Landscape Understanding (ALU) Research API to developers. The API leverages satellite imagery and machine learning to provide farm-level insights, such as field boundaries, water bodies, and vegetation. The technology aims to optimise resource allocation and guide sustainable farming practices in India. (ANI)

Google announces AI-led collaborations for India's health, sustainability, and agriculture sectors

The pre-budget <keyword id="20613906" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Economic-Survey" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Economic Survey" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Economic Survey">Economic Survey</keyword> on Monday called for urgent reforms in India's <keyword id="19915424" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="agricultural-sector" source="keywords">agricultural sector</keyword>, warning that the structural issues could impede the country's overall <keyword id="19900794" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="economic-growth" source="keywords">economic growth</keyword> trajectory. The survey, tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister <keyword id="19916618" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nirmala-sitharaman" source="keywords">Nirmala Sitharaman</keyword>, highlighted the untapped potential of the <keyword id="20682012" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-agriculture" source="keywords">Indian agriculture</keyword> sector compared to other economies. Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran called for a pan-India dialogue on the agriculture sector. The survey, presented ahead of the annual budget, emphasised that India has yet to fully leverage its agricultural sector for economic growth and job creation, unlike East Asian economies and Western developed nations. "Indian agriculture is not in a crisis now but requires a serious <keyword id="20544318" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="structural-transformation" source="keywords">structural transformation</keyword> because climate change and water criticality loom large in the times to come," the survey stated. The CEA advocated for a reassessment of existing policies, despite current government subsidies and support measures for farmers. "The payoff will be immense if we untie the knots that bedevil farm sector policies," Nageswaran said in the survey's preface. While the government provides substantial support to farmers through subsidies on water, electricity, and fertilizers, along with income tax exemptions and minimum support prices, there is room for improvement in policy implementation, he added. The survey identified several key challenges, including balancing growth with food inflation management, improving price discovery, and addressing land fragmentation. To address these challenges, the survey recommends multi-pronged reforms, which include: upgrading agricultural technology, enhancing marketing avenues, adopting farming innovations, reducing input wastage, and improving the agriculture-industry linkages. The document stressed the need to shift focus from basic <keyword id="19992806" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="food-security" source="keywords">food security</keyword> to nutritional security, aligning with a 'demand-driven food system' that is both nutritious and environmentally sustainable. The survey suggested that policymakers must strike a delicate balance between incentivizing farmers to increase production and keeping food prices within acceptable limits. "This dual objective requires careful policy interventions." The survey also emphasized the need for a farmer-friendly policy framework to ensure markets function in farmers' interests. It recommended avoiding bans on futures or options markets at the first sign of price spikes; invoking bans only under exceptional circumstances; re-examining the inflation-targeting framework; increasing the total net irrigated area, and aligning farming practices with <keyword id="22505922" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="climate-considerations" source="keywords">climate considerations</keyword>. Looking ahead to 2047, the survey highlighted the potential of agriculture and allied sectors (horticulture, livestock, fisheries, dairy, and food processing) for sustained <keyword id="20268655" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="employment-generation" source="keywords">employment generation</keyword>. "To sustain growth for nearly a generation up to 2047 or more and to ensure that it makes people's lives better and fulfills their aspirations, bottom-up reforms are necessary," it noted. It suggested that India may need to reconsider the traditional development model of transitioning from agriculture to industry and services.

Economic Survey calls for urgent agricultural reforms; cites growth hurdles

<keyword id="19902762" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Google" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Google">Google</keyword> is intensifying its focus on <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="India" source="keywords">India</keyword> with the introduction of advanced AI tools aimed at breaking down <keyword id="20932433" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="language-barriers" source="keywords">language barriers</keyword> and enhancing agricultural practices, a senior company official said. Abhishek <keyword id="22795920" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bapna" source="keywords">Bapna</keyword>, Director of Product Management at Google <keyword id="20260498" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="DeepMind" source="keywords">DeepMind</keyword>, highlighted the importance of reducing language barriers in India's economic development. "Language is very essential for economic development. For instance, a language barrier should not hinder someone from explaining their medical issues to a doctor or accessing banking services," Bapna said during his short visit to IIM Calcutta. The tech giant has launched Google <keyword id="19896990" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gemini" source="keywords">Gemini</keyword>, formerly known as Bard, an artificial intelligence chatbot that supports more than 40 global languages, including nine Indian languages. Bapna added that Google's ongoing focus is on continuously improving language quality and expanding support for more Indian languages in the future. Currently, the chatbot supports nine Indian languages - Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. Bapna noted the complexity of India's multilingual environment, where people often use multiple languages simultaneously. This presents unique challenges for AI models, as they must correctly identify and apply the appropriate dictionaries to understand and generate accurate responses, Bapna said. To empower developers in India, Google is expanding <keyword id="22364430" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Project-Vaani" source="keywords">Project Vaani</keyword> in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). The project offers developers over 14,000 hours of speech data across 58 languages, collected from 80,000 speakers in 80 districts. Additionally, Google introduced IndicGenBench, a comprehensive benchmark designed specifically for Indian languages. This initiative aims to assess and fine-tune language models for more accurate and effective use in India. In a parallel effort to support India's agricultural sector, Google is working towards launching the Agricultural Landscape Understanding (ALU) Research API. This limited availability tool is designed to make agricultural practices more data-driven and efficient. The ALU API aims to enhance farm yields, improve access to capital, and provide better market access for farm products. "On agriculture, right now we are conducting a pilot with the Telangana government that is already underway. Once the pilot is complete, we plan to scale it up and engage actively with state governments," Bapna said. He emphasized that Google's agricultural initiatives are driven by two major goals: improving livelihoods and addressing climate change through necessary interventions. "Banks and insurance companies could also be end users. Right now our focus is to make sure that the technology works properly," Bapna said. By offering granular landscape insights at the farm field level, the ALU API is expected to transform India's agricultural ecosystem.

Google to expand AI initiatives in India, targeting language barriers, agricultural efficiency

The Budget 2024-2025 announcement by Union Finance Minister <keyword id="19916618" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nirmala-Sitharaman" source="keywords">Nirmala Sitharaman</keyword> saw productivity and resilience in <keyword id="19931887" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="agriculture" source="keywords">agriculture</keyword> being prioritised above all else. With a desire to turn focus on <keyword id="19934969" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="farmers" source="keywords">farmers</keyword>, or Annadatas, ₹1.52 lakh crore has been allocated for agriculture and its allied sectors. This is quite an increase from the Interim Budget announcement of ₹1.27 lakh crore in February 2024. It is being speculated that this substantial focus on the agricultural sector stems from the BJP's vote share dipping in semi-urban and rural areas during the recent Lok Sabha elections. In fact, when Prime Minister <keyword id="19895781" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="narendra-modi" source="keywords">Narendra Modi</keyword> returned for a third term in office, the first file he signed was for the release of the 17th instalment of the PM <keyword id="22000840" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kisan-nidhi" source="keywords">Kisan Nidhi</keyword> scheme, ET reported. However, the government's commitment to transforming agriculture and potentially the lives of Indian farmers could lead to the agricultural sector growing at 3.7% in the current fiscal, compared to 1.4% last year, as per the CII. <h2>Key initiatives in agriculture</h2>Transforming Agriculture Research The government is set to conduct a comprehensive review of the agricultural research framework, with an emphasis on enhancing productivity and developing climate-resilient crop varieties. Funding will be allocated on a challenge basis, including to private sector initiatives. This research will be overseen by domain experts from both governmental and non-governmental organizations. Release of New Varieties A total of 109 new high-yielding and climate-resilient varieties of 32 field and horticulture crops will be introduced for farmers to cultivate. Promoting Natural Farming In the next two years, the government plans to transition one crore farmers to natural farming practices, supported by certification and branding efforts. This initiative will be carried out through scientific institutions and willing <keyword id="20030597" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gram-panchayats" source="keywords">gram panchayats</keyword>, with 10,000 bio-input resource centers to be established based on need. Missions for Pulses and Oilseeds To achieve self-sufficiency in pulses and oilseeds, the government will strengthen their production, storage, and marketing. As outlined in the interim budget, a strategy is being implemented to attain 'atmanirbharta' (self-reliance) for oilseeds like mustard, groundnut, sesame, soybean, and sunflower. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111930255" title="Economic Survey calls for urgent agricultural reforms; cites growth hurdles" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>Vegetable Production &amp; Supply Chains Large-scale clusters for vegetable production will be developed near major consumption centers. The government will support Farmer-Producer Organizations, cooperatives, and startups to streamline the vegetable supply chain, including collection, storage, and marketing. Digital Public Infrastructure for Agriculture Building on the success of a pilot project, the government, in partnership with states, will facilitate the implementation of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for agriculture over the next three years. This year, a digital crop survey for Kharif crops will be conducted in 400 districts, integrating details of six crore farmers and their lands into registries. Additionally, Jan Samarth-based Kisan Credit Cards will be issued in five states. Shrimp Production &amp; Export Financial support will be provided to establish a network of Nucleus Breeding Centres for shrimp broodstocks. NABARD will facilitate financing for shrimp farming, processing, and export. National Cooperation Policy A new National Cooperation Policy will be introduced to promote systematic and comprehensive development of the cooperative sector. This policy aims to fast-track rural economic growth and create large-scale employment opportunities. <h2>Budget allocation highlights</h2><ul><li>PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi: Will be retaining its allocation of ₹60,000 crore to provide direct financial assistance to 11.8 crore small and marginal farmers.</li><li>Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana: Allocated funds to provide crop insurance to four crore farmers, protecting them from adverse weather conditions.</li><li>e-NAM Expansion: Integration of 1,361 mandis into the e-NAM platform to enhance market efficiency and transparency, benefiting 1.8 crore farmers with an expected trading volume of ₹3 lakh crore.</li></ul><h2>Government committed to Polavaram irrigation project in Andhra Pradesh</h2>The Finance Minister said that the government is fully committed to financing and expeditiously completing the Polavaram irrigation project, which is considered a lifeline for Andhra Pradesh and its farmers. <h2>Future directions</h2>The government aims to increase public and private investment in post-harvest infrastructure and supply chains, promoting aggregation, modern storage, and efficient processing to reduce losses and improve food security. Additionally, the dairy and fisheries sectors will see significant development, with initiatives to boost productivity and exports, contributing to a sustainable and prosperous agricultural ecosystem. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111951205" title="Budget 2024-25: Changes to tax slabs, increased standard deduction and other changes to direct taxation" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

What does Union Budget 2024-2025 have in store for farmers and the agricultural sector?

Union Minister of Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday stated that <keyword id="19916120" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="5G" source="keywords">5G</keyword> technology is expected to inject around $450 billion into the <keyword id="19948184" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-economy" source="keywords">Indian economy</keyword> by 2040. The minister highlighted this during his address at the Global Standards Symposium at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, one of the world's largest telecom events. He said, "In India alone, for example, 5G is anticipated to inject an astounding 450 billion dollars into the economy by 2040." The minister emphasized that 5G is not just about faster internet or low latency, but is laying the groundwork for <keyword id="20006420" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="smart-cities" source="keywords">smart cities</keyword>, advanced infrastructure, and autonomous innovations. Scindia further noted that 5G has already been rolled out across all 36 states and Union Territories, covering 98 per cent of districts and 80 per cent of the population in just 22 months. He said this achievement showcases not only India's technological prowess but also the transformative power of standardized innovation. He added "We are unlocking new Reims of possibility in health care, education and agriculture and Manufacturer" The minister stressed the importance of international collaboration in unlocking the full potential of technologies like 5G, <keyword id="19904566" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="artificial-intelligence" source="keywords">artificial intelligence</keyword> (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT). He stated that the global standards are key to ensuring that these technologies work harmoniously across borders. "The import of dialogue cannot be overstated. The wonders of 5G the brilliance of artificial intelligence and the interconnected marvels of the Internet of Things. Things are transforming industries, societies and manufacturing processes and economies on a global scale," he said. Scindia also pointed out the need for robust governance in emerging technologies like AI and IoT, emphasizing the importance of ethical considerations and regulatory frameworks to address concerns around privacy, bias, and transparency. He called for a comprehensive policy framework to ensure that future innovations, such as the upcoming 6G technology, benefit everyone equitably and do not deepen existing digital divides. "We are today poised at the edge of a new technological era, the dawn of the 6th generation of mobile network 6G and this is a gateway to the future where communication will become boundless where innovation will know no limits and by humanity, interconnectedness becomes the corner stone of our shared global destiny" he said. Scindia also urged the global community to work together in setting standards and nurturing partnerships that will define the future technological landscape, ensuring technology serves as a force for good. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/hyundai-ipo-review-everything-you-need-to-know-about-indias-biggest-ipo/articleshow/114203740.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/hyundai-ipo-review-everything-you-need-to-know-about-indias-biggest-ipo/articleshow/114203740.cms" target="_blank">Hyundai IPO review – Everything you need to know about India’s biggest IPO</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/the-ola-electric-saga-are-surge-in-complaints-and-declining-market-share-a-wake-up-call-for-bhavish-aggarwal/articleshow/114120828.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/the-ola-electric-saga-are-surge-in-complaints-and-declining-market-share-a-wake-up-call-for-bhavish-aggarwal/articleshow/114120828.cms" target="_blank">The Ola Electric Saga: Are surge in complaints and declining market share a wake-up call for Bhavish Aggarwal?</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/samsung-leads-the-first-phase-of-festive-sales-with-a-20-market-share/articleshow/114070723.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/samsung-leads-the-first-phase-of-festive-sales-with-a-20-market-share/articleshow/114070723.cms" target="_blank">Samsung leads the first phase of festive sales with a 20% market share</a>

5G to inject $450 billion into Indian economy by 2040: Telecom Minister Scindia

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Google announces AI-led collaborations for India's health, sustainability, and agriculture sectors

ANI

Economic Survey calls for urgent agricultural reforms; cites growth hurdles

PTI

Google to expand AI initiatives in India, targeting language barriers, agricultural efficiency

PTI

What does Union Budget 2024-2025 have in store for farmers and the agricultural sector?

BI India Bureau

5G to inject $450 billion into Indian economy by 2040: Telecom Minister Scindia

ANI

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