A team of six students from Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) under the name ‘Monks’ won Software Edition in problem statement NS275. The students from the faculty of engineering and technology won a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh as well. The team had built a software system that could predict crop production for the next year and could help the government to plan their policies by anticipating problems of low rainfall and flood, even before they happen. The team was given a problem statement by the Bihar government as it faces flood problem almost every year and the students solved it within 36 hours. Apart from team Monk three other teams from the Faculty of Engineering and Technology, JMI reached up to finals of different problem statement but they could not win. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the grand finale of the Smart India Hackathon (SIH) this week and said, "I believe that there is no challenge that our youth cannot solve." Read | Covid-19 impact: Unaided private schools fear closure as fees slashed, students switching to govt schools Addressing the students he asked them to remember three things in life. "Do not stop three things - Learn, Question, Solve. Learn so you can question things, question and you will be able to create solutions. When you solve problems and make efforts, with your efforts, you grow and with you, India grows." This year, over 4.5 lakh entries were received under the Smart India Hackathon. In the hackathon, problem statements are submitted by central departments, state ministries and industries etc on which students have to develop real-life solutions. The first stage is a college-level hackathon and teams who got selected from their respective colleges, chose problem statements in which they wanted to work and sent their entries with theoretical solutions. The team from Jamia was working under the guidance of Prof Tanvir Ahmad. The students were Gaurav Chaudhary (team leader), Pranav Gautam, Neetesh Kaushik, Lakshya Chaudhary, Ashish Singh, and Nashrah Naseem. For problem statement NS275, four teams were selected for the final hackathon after qualifying college hackathons and evaluating theoretical submissions.
