Kerala launches search for five bright students

TRIVANDRUM — Kerala has launched a unique search for bright students as part of its effort to transform the youth from jobseekers to job providers. Five students who come up with the most innovative projects/ideas will get a chance to visit Silicon Valley, the cradle of tech revolution in the United States, and meet IT wizards like the founders of Facebook and Google. All what the students need to do is to upload their ideas on the Youtube. An eminent jury chaired by Prof Anil Gupta of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) - Ahmedabad representing academia and Kiran Karnik, former president of National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) representing the industry will pick up the five students based on these videos. The unique competition named ‘SV Square’ will be conducted by the Cochin-based Startup Village, set up by the Kerala government with the objective of nurturing 1000 student start-ups in the next ten years in partnership with Rajeev Motwani Foundation from Silicon Valley. The competition formally opens from February 1 and ends on February 10. Students from schools, engineering and arts colleges can participate by submitting applications at website /www.svssquare.in/>www.svssquare.in and uploading the uploading the video spanning two to three minutes on the Youtube. The winners will be formally announced on February 15 and the selected students will travel to Silicon Valley in March when they will be able to interact with revolutionary IT minds at the Rajeev Circle gathering organised by Rajeev Motwani Foundation. Rajeev Circle, formed in memory of Rajeev Motwani, who was professor a computer science at Stanford University, is a gathering of highly accomplished entrepreneurs in the tech world. Rajeev was an early advisor and supporter of companies including Google and PayPal, and a special advisor to Sequoia Capital. Asha Jadeja of the foundation said Rajeev was keen on supporting the genius others, especially the young people. Chief Minister Oomen Chandy had announced this ambitious programme during his visit to Startup Village recently to provide right exposure to the bright kids and thereby motivate the younger generation to innovate and turn entrepreneurs. Khaleejtimes.com