 "Amitabh Kant")
When NITI Aayog chief executive officer Amitabh Kant said India was in a "disruptionist age", the 60-year-old bureaucrat, creator of the 'Incredible India' tourism campaign, wasn't off the mark.
Kant was chief guest at the Marico Innovation Awards, a biennial event that honours what Marico chairman Harsh Mariwala calls "impactful ideas". The ceremony was here on Wednesday and the winners this year included GIBBS, Concept Medical and xBits in the business category. In the social category, Eram Scientific, Agastya International and The Better India.
Concept Medical was feted for a drug delivery device that uses a balloon to administer sirolimus, a medicine to prevent lesions in the arteries during surgery for coronary heart disease. GIBBS or Green India Building Systems and Services has developed energy-efficient products and xBITS has developed an affordable point-of-care device for testing antibiotic sensitivity.
Better India is a platform that shares positive news about people, companies and issues, and their impact on the ground. Eram Scientific is a maker of e-toilets, designed to address the issue of open defecation, for schools. Agastya International takes education to children in villages with the help of an instructor who travels on a motorbike. These instructors are equipped with a Lab in a Box, a set of boxes covering a variety of subjects.
