The 6th annual Yuva Summit, an international youth conference was held in Hubballi, on leadership, entrepreneurship, and innovation. The event is put on by Leaders Accelerating Development (LEAD) program of the Deshpande Foundation, which fosters innovative and entrepreneurial thinking within college students by exposing them to social issues and by encouraging them to volunteer their time and effort into the community.
Raibag Polytechnic was the winner of the Best Performing College award, and Gogte Institute of Technology Belagavi was the winner of the Best Supporting College Award and also
Santosh Patil from Jain College of Engineering were presented Best LEADer Awards for their respective project for application in his village, Santosh Patil has turned his village into a model for how youth leadership and innovation can make big changes. His projects include an organic pesticide made from an extract in a weed normally tossed away as waste, a library of books Santosh and his team got donated to them, and applying radium bands to the railway boom after an initial survey. Apart from all this he has been an inspiration and channel for his juniors to the path of leadership, he has inspired 400+ students from his own college and has been continuously helping and supporting his junior in all the projects.
Soujanya, Dipika, and Deepali from Smt. A.A. Patil Women’s College Chikodi, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, under the Clean India Mission, makes toilets available to villagers who apply for them.
However, Soujanya, Dipika & Deepalifrom Smt. A. A. Patil Womens College noticed the implementation of scheme was extremely slow, partly because of hesitation and lack of knowledge of the villagers. Soujanya and her team went door-to-door in nearby villages, educating about sanitation and helping the villagers apply for a toilet as well as holding rallies to garner support. Thanks to the team’s canvassing and following up to make sure the toilets were built, over 250 toilets have been installed, with the goal of 400 well in sight. This has generated a worth value of Rs.30 Lac from the government to the village people.
Sharad Patil and team from KLE’s MS Sheshagiri college of Engineering, developed a mobile dry seeder which carries 15-20 kg of fertilizer or seeds, does the work of 4 labourers at once, and does it twice as fast as the average human being can sow fertilizer or seeds. This final product also addresses issues including weed growth, seed wastage, and high equipment and maintenance costs.In testing, Sharad’s Mobile Dry Seeder increased crop yield by 30-40%, reduced labour costs by 75%, reduced seed expenses by 15%, and reduced fertilizer expenses by 25%. Currently, 18 farmers are using prototypes of his mobile dry seeder.
Dr. Jayashree Nagaralli from Smt. A.A. Patil Women’s College Chikodi was the winner of Best Faculty 2016 award- Dr. Nagaralli has worked tirelessly to inspire the young ladies at her college to go out into the community and make a difference. 50+ students and 100+ projects have gotten involved, including three students who created a project also awarded a Best LEADer award at the night’s ceremony. Dr. Nagaralli personally mentors and “leads from behind” to help the young ladies gain confidence and unleash their leadership potential.
Ms. Anousheh Ansari (first private female astronaut), Ms. Malathi Holla (internationally acclaimed para-athlete), Mr Muhammad Yunus (Nobel Laureate and Founder of the Grameen Bank), Mr. Narayana Murthy (Chairman Emeritus of Infosys), Mr. Shekhar Gupta (acclaimed journalist) and Mr. Gururaj Deshpande (Co-Founder of the Deshpande Foundation) werer present on the occasion.