I&B Ministry
I&B names 9 social media contest winners to witness Republic Day Parade
NEW DELHI: Nine winners whose names were announced today by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in contests organised on its social media platforms as a part of Republic Day celebrations, will get invitations to attend the Parade.
The contests were held on Ministry’s platforms of Facebook (facebook.com/inbministry), Twitter (@MIB_India) and specially designed webpage (http://www.graffiti.inbministry.in) where graffiti were invited from participants on various flagship programmes of the Government.
The competition was open for a fortnight from 1 to 14 January. The travel and accommodation arrangements of all these winners are being sponsored by Ministry.
For the graffiti wall, the themes were Start Up India, Stand Up India; Digital Empowerment; Entrepreneurs of Young India; Skilled India, Powerful India; Make In India; Financial Security to All and Housing For All.
The response on graffiti was over-whelming with 419 entries across all themes. The first prize in the graffiti contest was awarded to Narendra Kumar Singh for his work captioned Housing for All. “He has beautifully captured the idea of ‘Housing for All’ by using a metaphor of Weaver Birds’ nest. It shows independent and affordable housing for everybody across various income categories,” the jury said.
The second prize was awarded to Narendra Borlepwar’s artwork Skill India, which depicts “the fusion of Education and vocational training leading to recognisable improvement in the economic graph.”
The third prize was awarded to Vimal Kumar’s artwork Make In India showing “ladders, which visually double up as scaffolds on construction sites best captures the idea of ‘making.’”
For the Twitter contest, netizens’ responses were invited on Twitter on three hashtags; #VisionofTeamIndia, #MyIdeaofIndia and #RDayNotJustaHoliday. A total of 888 tweets were received by @MIB_India. The winners of the tweet contests across three theme segments taken collectively are as follows in order of first, second and third places:
Bhaiya ji Joshi @Igjganesh –“#MyIdeaofIndia For evry Mouth there is Meal for evry girl there is life For evry head there is roof For evry foot there is road (sic).”
The I&B Ministry said that the user has summed up in very simple terms that everybody in the India should have the basic needs satisfied.
N. Vinayak @vinumon2016 “#VisionofTeamIndia centre and states working together in the great act of nation building in spirit of ‘all for one and one for all.”
In this, the user has drawn our attention to cooperative federalism, said the ministry.
Neer Joy @neerjanni2000 – “#RDayNotJustaHoliday It is a moment2get inspiration 4rm freedom fighters & to taking up new initiatives4making India No1 country. (sic)”
Via this message, the user has invoked the sacrifices and sufferings of freedom fighters for whom India became independent and a constitution was framed, the ministry said.
Regarding the Poster making contest on Facebook, participants were invited to send posters on three themes; Give It Up – LPG Subsidy, Per Drop More Crop and Save the Girl Child. A total of 432 posters were received by the Ministry. The jury awarded first prize to A. Parag Chitnis for his artwork captioned “Save the Girl Child” where “the artist has highlighted a graphical representation of a female gene, which is led to the noose, whereas a male foetus seldom faces this ordeal.”
The second best poster was designed by Sudhir Komawar for his artwork captioned “Per Drop More Crop,” which “brilliantly captures super imposed image of the leaves of crops inside huge drop of water reminding that how a universe of microscopic can subsist in a drop of water.”
The third place was awarded to Anunay Arko for his painting captioned “INDIA where we worship goddess and a child is being killed, for being a GIRL.” It captures “a brilliant truism that women are the substratum of mankind.”
I&B Ministry
Government sets up AI governance group to steer policy
AIGEG to align ministries, assess jobs impact, guide AI deployment.
MUMBAI: If artificial intelligence is the engine, the government is now building the dashboard and making sure everyone reads from the same screen. The Centre has constituted a new inter-ministerial body to coordinate India’s approach to AI, formalising a key recommendation from its governance framework and the Economic Survey. The AI Governance and Economic Group (AIGEG), set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, will act as the central platform to align AI-related policy across ministries, regulators and departments, an attempt to bring coherence to what has so far been a fragmented and fast-evolving landscape.
The group will be chaired by union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, with minister of state Jitin Prasada as vice chairperson. Its composition reflects both technological and economic priorities, bringing together the principal scientific adviser, the chief economic adviser, and the CEO of NITI Aayog, alongside key secretaries from telecommunications, economic affairs and science and technology. A representative from the National Security Council Secretariat is also part of the group, while the MeitY secretary will serve as member convenor.
At its core, AIGEG is designed to do two things: coordinate and anticipate. On the policy front, it will review existing regulatory mechanisms, issue guidance across sectors and ensure companies remain compliant with evolving legal frameworks. Beyond that, it will oversee national initiatives on AI governance, with a focus on enabling responsible innovation rather than merely regulating it.
The economic dimension is equally central. The group has been tasked with assessing how AI-driven automation could reshape jobs identifying which roles are most at risk, where those impacts may be geographically concentrated, and whether technology will augment or replace human labour. Based on these assessments, it will develop mitigation strategies and transition plans, signalling a more proactive stance on workforce disruption.
In parallel, AIGEG will work with industry stakeholders to chart a long-term roadmap for AI adoption, categorising use cases into “deploy”, “pilot” or “defer” buckets depending on readiness factors such as data availability, skill levels and regulatory clarity. The aim is to move from broad ambition to structured execution deciding not just what can be built, but what should be built now.
The group will function as the apex layer in India’s AI governance architecture, supported by a Technology and Policy Expert Committee that will track global developments, emerging risks and regulatory priorities. Together, the two bodies are expected to shape both the pace and direction of AI adoption in the country.
In a landscape where technology often outruns policy, the creation of AIGEG signals an attempt to close that gap ensuring that India’s AI journey is not just rapid, but also coordinated, accountable and economically grounded.
